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�COVER
Sunday, February 7, 1943. Fr. John Foley beside a dugout at
the edge of Henderson Field’s “Fighter 2” runway on Guadalcanal. The residents of the dugout, whom Foley refers
to on the back of this photo as “The guys at the end of the
runway,” are “John Kerr, son of Mrs. Mary Kerr” of Newton,
Massachusetts, and “William Walters, son of Bessie Walters”
of Medford, Massachusetts. Foley doesn’t note which is
Photo credit: Foley family.
which. He frequently recorded domestic contact information for servicemen he met so he could write and report that
they were well. He wrote many condolence letters as well.
[See page 83.] When Catholic men had received Holy Communion prior to their deaths, he took particular care to tell
this to the survivors.
�for god and country
Table of Contents
introduction
3
A Man for All Seasons
chapter 5
63 South Pacific Task Force
chapter 6
chapter 1
5 Chaplains’ School
chapter 2
18 Anchors Aweigh
chapter 7
218 Destination: Tokyo
chapter 3
233
Photographs
238
Acknowledgements
31
208
USS Vella Gulf, Aircraft Carrier
Journey to Morocco
chapter 4
46 What a trip !!!
2 | table of contents
�for god and country
Introduction
a man for all seasons.
Rev. John P. Foley, S.J. was born on June 6, 1904 in
Motherwell, Scotland, of Irish parents who emigrated to the United States when he
was six weeks old. He grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. And
after graduating from Boston College High School at the age of nineteen, he entered
the Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, on August 14, 1923, to begin a
thirteen year course of study and spiritual formation that led to his ordination to
the priesthood in 1936. As part of his training he studied at Heythrop College, in England, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in classical studies. He was later awarded a
Master’s degree in Classics at Boston College.
Along the way he gave
evidence of gifts of capable
leadership that led to his appointment in 1939 as Dean
of Admissions and Assistant
Dean of Freshmen and Sophomores at Boston College. On
December 8, 1941, a day after
the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor, Fr. Foley volunteered for service as a
Chaplain in the United States military. One of his
favorite quotes from Horace: “Cras ingens iterabimus
aequor” came to life. “Tomorrow we set out on the
enormous ocean.”
He was commissioned as a Lieutenant (j.g.) in the
Navy on February 22, 1942; promoted to Lieutenant
on March 1, 1942 and to Lieutenant Commander on
October 3, 1945. From the day he began his assignment to Chaplain’s School in Norfolk, Virginia, on
April 15, 1942, until he was discharged on October
7, 1945, he kept a diary of his experiences as a Navy
Chaplain assigned to warships, first on the USS
George Clymer, an attack ship and troop carrier, and
then on the USS Vella Gulf, an aircraft carrier. He
3 | introduction
seems to have kept the diary for the benefit of family and particularly his mother, who was widowed
when Foley, the oldest of eight children, was a teenager, and for his sister Catherine, to whom he was
particularly close. The diary includes details that
would have been of particular interest to members
of his family, particularly his visits with his brother
Edward, 12 years his junior, who was also serving
in the South Pacific, and his practice of making the
Stations Of the Cross in memory of his father at
each church he visited, whether in Wellington,
New Zealand, or at a mission station on one of the
Solomon Islands.
But his central focus, as captured in the diary,
was the war he witnessed. A keen observer whose
Roman collar allowed him access to places, on board
and on land, normally closed to men of his rank,
Fr. Foley took careful notes of the horrors and heroism, and the young men he served, comforted and
buried—and they were of all faiths; the Navy could
only staff one chaplain on a ship that might be carrying 3,000 men. He also wrote about the nature of
war propaganda, the difficulty of holding religious
services under dangerous and distracting condi-
�for god and country
Introduction (continued)
tions, and the people he met over the course of three
years at sea. And his humor, his personal warmth
and generosity, his intellectual curiosity, his love of
the natural world, his keen appreciation for human character, wherever he found it, as well as his
priestly example, high principles, and his affection
for and devotion to the young men—though not a
great deal younger than him—for whom he served
as minister, surrogate father, and counselor, come
across clearly. Although after his return to civilian
life he could never read enough about World War II
and adorned his room at St. Mary’s Hall with photographs from the war, he rarely spoke about his years
in the Navy unless he was questioned. As one of his
fellow Jesuits said, “He was too much of a gentleman to dominate a conversation with endless tales
of his experiences, and indeed it is very difficult to
share such experiences with people who have never
had them.”
Fr. Foley returned to Boston College after the
war and resumed for the next five years his position
as Dean of Admissions and Assistant Dean of Freshmen and Sophomores. During that time he had
4 | introduction
his secretaries type up his war journals, and a copy
found its way to the archives of the New England
Jesuit Province. In 1951 he was selected to serve as
principal of Boston College High School and in
1955 as Rector at Cheverus High School in Portland,
Maine, and then in 1961 as as the first Rector at
Xavier High School in Concord, Massachusetts.
In 1968, at 64 years of age, Fr. Foley began a new
career that lasted 27 years, giving the Spiritual
Exercises of St. Ignatius, mostly to women religious
in the United States, Canada, England, Ireland,
Scotland, Italy and Malta.
In 1994 Fr. Foley received a diagnosis of terminal cancer. He maintained a cheerful spirit and a
genuine interest in others as he prepared to “set out
on the enormous ocean” that leads to the shores of
eternal life with the good Lord he served so long and
so well. “Home is the sailor, home from the sea.”
John. P. Foley, SJ, died on October 21, 1995, at age
91, and is interred at the Jesuit cemetery in Weston,
Massachusetts.
�chapter 1 | for god and country
Chaplains’ School
Wednesday, April 15, 1942
Bade farewell to family, several of whom saw
me off on the midnight train out of [Boston’s]
South Station for Philadelphia.1
Thursday, April 16, 1942
7:30 a.m. – Arrived in Philadelphia. After
struggling into my clothes in the Pullman upper
berth, I discovered that my new life as a Naval
Chaplain with collar and tie was starting inauspiciously. I began the day by losing a collar button.2
8:30 a.m. – Celebrated Mass at St. Joseph’s
Church in Willings Alley, the oldest Church in
Philadelphia. Fr. [Leo H.] O’Hare, S.J. was a
princely host. Called home.3
11:10 a.m. – Took the train for Norfolk, Virginia via
Delaware, splitting the State down the middle with a
ride to the tip of Cape St. Charles (Chesapeake Bay).
No sooner was I settled in my seat than a man of
about 42, with a splendid physique, maneuvered
down the aisle with a pronounced list to starboard.
He spotted the Chaplain’s cross and greeted me
like a long-lost friend, a soldier in World War I.
“Hi, Chaplain!”
His life history followed. The conductor came along,
to whom the drunk said, “Hey look at that rank,”
pointing to my gold braid, Lieut. j.g. “I’d shoot the
Gospel for a rank like that.” Then he wandered off
down the aisle, war-whooping “Deep in the Heart
of Texas.” Then back to me, now writing, with the
conductor. “Look at that, writing about me. He’ll
use me in a sermon. This is what he’ll say: ‘My
dear brethren, once I was riding on a train down to
Norfolk, Virginia from Philly and on that rain was
a man who was a drunkard. He had been dissipating for three days.’” Then he sailed off down the
aisle again, singing his song, “Deep in the Heart of
1 Born in Scotland, Foley was raised in the Boston metropolitan area, the oldest of eight children of Irish immigrant parents, Francis and
Catherine. Francis died when Foley was a young man. Diary keeping, it should be noted, was a practice forbidden to American officers
and enlisted men for fear the documents would fall into enemy hands and provide useful intelligence. Foley’s diary, which he wrote for his
family in the event he did not return, seems particularly problematic, with notes on ship movements, “scuttlebutt,” personnel, morale, and
military installations that could well have been of some interest to German or Japanese military intelligence. Shortly after Foley enlisted,
Navy Secretary Frank Knox issued a general communique that began: “The keeping of personal diaries by personnel of the Navy is hereby
prohibited for the duration of the war. Personnel having diaries in their possession are directed to destroy them immediately.” Foley makes
no reference to this order in his diary, and writes about openly making entries in a notebook as he went about his duties aboard ship.
2 Originally assigned to the Army, Foley convinced his Jesuit superiors to see to it that he was appointed to the Navy. In a March 3, 1995
interview with Steve O’Brien, then a history doctoral candidate at Boston College, Foley notes “having learned to swim in salt water at
eight years old and liking the ocean and living next door to it and having taken a voyage [to England, for his Jesuit studies] . . . I had salt in my
veins. It had to be the Navy.” O’Brien’s thesis, based on Foley’s diary, was published as Blackrobe in Blue: The Naval Chaplaincy of John P.
Foley, S.J. 1942 –1946 (iuniverse 2002).
3 Founded in 1733 by Joseph Greaton, an English Jesuit, Old St. Joseph’s, as it’s referred to, is the oldest Catholic Church in Philadelphia.
A wall plaque in the church pays tribute to William Penn (1644–1718), who founded the colony of Pennsylvania in 1687. Penn died in 1718. In
1701, as the colony’s “first proprietor,” granted religious toleration. The plaque reads “When in 1733 / St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church
/ was founded and / Dedicated to the Guardian of the Holy Family / it was the only place / in the entire English speaking world / where
public celebration of / the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass / was permitted by law.”
5 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�Texas.” Another song of his was “Hey, Screwball,
chapter
1 | for god and country
Screwbowski.”
4:30 p.m. – Boarded a ship with the melodious name
of Virginia Lee at Cape Charles, Delaware, for a 2½
hour sail down Chesapeake Bay, touching in for a
few minutes at Old Point Comfort, Virginia.
7:30 p.m. – Landed at Norfolk and put up at Hotel
Monticello for $3.00 a night. No facilities of any
kind; just a room — and what a room!4 I called the
nearest pastor, Fr. Blackburn of St. Mary’s Church,
who graciously granted me permission to celebrate
Mass there in the morning. At 8:20 p.m. I checked
in at N.O.B. [Naval Operating Base] to the Duty
Staff Officer.5
Friday, April 17, 1942
8:00 a.m. – Celebrated Mass at St. Mary’s.6
and lasts six weeks, followed by two weeks of field
work. Classes are held in the Chaplains’ Building.
A story told by the lecturer, P. Robinson: “Admiral
Pratt states that all men eventually reach the metallic age – get silver in their hair, gold in their teeth
and lead in their stern.”
Went for lunch in the Officers’ Mess and purchased
a $5.00 book of food tickets. All colored help.8
A young naval aviator, a 1940 Harvard graduate, was
killed today. Also today, a German sub surfaced two
miles off Norfolk, either by accident or design. Our
shore guns pounded it to pieces. Twenty-nine were
dead from concussions; five Germans survived.
They were attended by Fr. [Wilbur] Wheeler who
remarked, “Just boys.”
Saturday, April 18, 1942
Again celebrated Mass at St. Mary’s.
9:00 a.m. – Off to the Naval Base where I
reported to Commander [Captain Clinton. A.]
Neyman and Lt. [John F.] Robinson.7 Our
Chaplains’ School begins on Monday, April 20,
Mrs. Hagan, 524 Warren Crescent, called up
Mrs. Cecilia A. Taylor, 4107 Gosnold Avenue, sister
of Fr. Tom Delihant, S.J., Park Avenue, New York
4 The six-story, twin-towered Monticello Hotel opened in 1898 and was for many years said to be the most elegant hotel in the South.
It closed in 1970.
5 The Norfolk Naval Operating Base, to which Foley was assigned, was the headquarters of the Atlantic Fleet during World War II.
6 Unless noting an early morning call to battle stations, nearly every entry in Foley’s diary begins with a reference to celebrating Mass.
7 Neyman, a Joliet, Illinois, native who had just founded the Navy chaplain’s “indoctrination” school at the service’s request, was a Northern
Baptist. Robinson was a diocesan priest from New York City. Assigned to the Marines, he would die of injuries received in an airplane accident in Virginia on February 23, 1945, one of 24 Navy chaplains who were killed during the war. It’s recorded that a scribbled note was found
tucked into his belt: “Dear Mom and Pop, I have had time to say my prayers.” Foley graduated in Class E, the school’s fifth class. Among the
14 trainees were six Catholics, three Baptists, two Episcopalians, and one Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist. In addition to learning practical military matters and attending classes in physical fitness (not a favorite pastime for Foley), prospective Navy chaplains learned
how to conduct a burial at sea or “rig” a church service on a ship deck. Moreover, they were taught to minister to all on board—few ships
carried more than one chaplain—and to organize “general” religious services for men of varied denominations and faiths. Protestant and
Jewish chaplains, for example, learned how to lead the rosary and recite Catholic prayers for the dying. Chaplains also received introductions
to a range of theologies and were ordered to respect theological differences and avoid religion-based quarrels, a practice the Army and Navy
carefully referred to as “cooperation without compromise.” Foley records no quarrels among chaplains in his diary. He himself appears to
have been easy in his relationships with other chaplains (see entry under May 25, 1942), and generous in his ministry, offering counseling,
comfort, and prayer where it was requested or needed.
8 In 1942, Norfolk, like many southern cities, operated under Jim Crow law. Segregated schools, restaurants, rest rooms, and residential
neighborhoods were the rule. The Armed Forces were segregated as well. They were not formally freed of discrimination “on the basis of
race, color, religion or national origin” until July 1948, under an executive order signed by President Harry Truman.
6 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�City, a lovely and loveable grandmother who lives
chapter
| for
god
and
country
alone. She1 gave
me the
best
upstairs
room in her
9
eight-room house.
Sunday, April 19, 1942
11:30 a.m. – Celebrated Mass at St. Mary’s Church
in Norfolk. In the small cemetery between the rectory and the Church, there is the following striking
epitaph on three sides of a tombstone: “In memory
of Heloise Lepage, wife of Wm. S. Camp, who died
December 4, 1842, aged 25 years. Devoted in her
conjugal attachment with ardent affection, kind,
gentle and dutiful, she was all that could be desired–
the cherished object of parental fondness and the
joy and delight of numerous relatives and friends.
Her sudden and untimely end filled many fond
hearts with keen anguish, mingled with high and
holy hope, that her rare virtues had commended her
to the favor of heaven.”
Monday, April 20, 1942
First day of Chaplains’ School. The day began with
a lecture by Chaplain Neyman and ended with drill
and a physical in Drill Hall. Almost had a blackout
after one anti-tetanus inoculation.
Tuesday, April 21, 1942
Second day of Chaplains’ School. There were
two lectures; one on pay and the second on
naval etiquette.
5:00 p.m. – While I was standing near the Marine
sentry at the entrance to the Base, a colored man
came running along, showing his pass for exit. The
Marine said, “See those railroad tracks? Go back to
them and walk out. Nobody runs out of here.”
The Negro turned without a word and meekly did
as he was told. Then, as soon as outside the gate,
he bolted again; he wanted to catch a car for home.
The color line is rigid here; streetcars, trains, pay
stations, toilets.
The Naval Base is just boiling with activity. Ten
thousand rookies are cleared through each seven
weeks: a) Air Station; b) Naval Operating Base;
c) Training Station.
The teachers in the Chaplains’ School were
Commander Neyman, an Episcopalian; Commander
[Stanton W.] Salisbury, a Presbyterian; and Lieutenant Robinson, a Catholic. Salisbury to Robinson,
“Converted a boy to the true Church today.” “What
Church?” “Yours, of course.”10
There are 125 priests in our class “E”, and, God save
the mark, [James W.] Kelly from Memphis, Tennessee, a hard-shelled Baptist!
Wednesday, April 22, 1942
Happy surprise today. Bernard Nice, a freshman at
Boston College two years ago, who left at the end of
that year because of financial difficulties, called at
Chaplains’ School about eleven o’clock. He was the
first Boston College man I met.11
There were two lectures this afternoon. The first by
Fr. Hughes, Chaplain on the USS Enterprise.12 Aircraft blasted Marshall Island [on February 21, 1942],
which was under attack for 13 hours. One bomber
fouled up going off the flight deck and was left to its
9 Foley sometimes recorded full home addresses in his diary, likely so he could later write to people he met. As the chaplain for nearly two
years on a ship, the USS George Clymer, that carried infantrymen and marines to beach landings in Northern Africa and the South Pacific,
he sometimes wrote to parents or wives to let them know that their sons or husbands had died with courage and, in the case of Catholics,
that they had received Communion prior to their deaths. For an example of such a letter, see entry for May 5, 1943.
10 Like Foley, Salisbury would serve in the Pacific Theater during the war; in 1949 he would be named a vice admiral and head of the Navy
chaplaincy.
11 Nice, a submarine spotter, would not return to Boston College but served in the Navy until he retired. He became a high school teacher
and died in 1969 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
12 The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise would survive the Pearl Harbor attack and receive 20 battle stars for service in the Pacific Theater.
Decommissioned in 1947, she remains the most decorated ship in Navy history.
7 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�fate. The second lecture was by Chaplain Salisbury
chapter
| for
god on
and
who was at1 Pearl
Harbor
thecountry
Island of Oahu on
December 7. “Why caught with pants down?” The
aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, [was] reported off
shore. It was usual for the line of planes to come in
first from our carriers. So when the line came in,
even though they were Japs, they were allowed to
come in scot free!
Thursday, April 23, 1942
An officer informed us today that German subs
can be heard signaling to each other off shore. In
the afternoon we made a tour of inspection of the
Wyoming and Arkansas, worlds in themselves
with sick bay, wardrobe room, bakery, kitchen, soda
fountain. Both of these ships were located in the
Portsmouth, Virginia, Navy Yard across Chesapeake
Bay, a place humming with activity with ships
being reconditioned, guns remounted, whole signal
systems overhauled and getting scraped from stem
to stern. Heard one sailor say to another as we
passed by, “There are the ‘Come to Jesus boys’.”
Friday, April 24, 1942
Chaplain Salisbury told us today that Retired
Admiral Taussig had a run-in with a young
Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World
War I. They crossed swords and the Assistant
came off second best. Later that Assistant became
President. Taussig prophesied that war with Japan
was inevitable. President Roosevelt cashiered this
brilliant tactician.13
There have been reports lately of bombing of Tokyo.
[The bombing took place on April 18.] Chaplain
Salisbury told us that move was the direct personal
inspiration of the President, although other Navy
heads opposed it. Hence the Army did the job off the
Navy carrier, USS Hornet.
Saturday, April 25, 1942
On a streetcar in Norfolk I said “Hello” to a sailor
from Louisiana. “Chaplain, Sir?” “That’s right.”
“Are you Catholic or non-Catholic?” “Guess.” “Well,
you’re from the North; not many Catholics there.
Priests are either Polish or Italian, so I guess you’re
non-Catholic.”
Sunday, April 26, 1942
Third Sunday after Easter. I drove out by car to the
Naval Air Station for two Masses at 7:30 and 8:45.
The chapels were packed (125) for both Masses. It
gave me a thrill to hear the prayers at Mass and
at the end of Mass being said by the strong, vibrant
voices of the young men who are defending the
things that we value most. After Mass, Bill Martin,
a Boston College freshman last year, came in and
introduced himself. He is now an instructor in radio
mathematics. During Mass all kinds of planes–fourmotored bombers, scouts, flight training – were taking off and landing regularly. Noise from them and
from washing machines gave sharp competition for
attention to what the celebrant preached on.
Three men lost in crashes at our Station today.
After lunch today in Hotel Monticello, Fr. Fred
Gallagher and I drove through the Negro section
of Norfolk. You have seen the last word in clothing
when you have seen a Negro or Negress walking
along Church Street in his or her Sunday best on a
sunny Sunday afternoon. They are animated rainbows. Women — weirdest combinations of red and
green and yellow and blue; young bucks — pancake
hats, trousers tight at the ankles, bags at the knees.
Monday April 27, 1942
Went back to the Naval Air Station. On the outskirts
of the baseball field, I saw naval air barracks beyond
right field; a field hangar beyond center; and beyond
left, a landing field for 20 four-motored bombers.
Tuesday, April 28, 1942
Attended regular morning classes. Later, with
Fr. [Frederick A.] Gallagher, visited the USS Alcoa,
a repair ship, and a destroyer, USS Herbert.
13 Rear Admiral Joseph Tausig was retired in 1941 on account of his age. He did in fact predict the war with Japan. He was reappointed to
the Navy in 1943, serving in an administrative capacity, and died in 1947.
8 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�Men moved out today on the USS Indiana. Depth
chapter
| destroyer
for godmay
andbe
country
charges on1 the
set at any depth
from 50 to 350 feet. A sailor told us that they cruised
from Norfolk down to Kittery Point, spending five
days out and two days in.
Wednesday, April 29, 1942
Met two English sailors looking into a jewelry store
window. One boy, from London, had not seen [England] for two years. The other, Donnelly, a Catholic,
was from Liverpool. He remarked that every church
in his home city was “bombed down.”
Thursday, April 30, 1942
Regular lectures this morning. This afternoon ten
of us took a trip in a Douglas Transport, (first in the
formation), to Elizabeth City, North Carolina.14 As
we headed for the stairway leading into the plane,
Rev. Kelly, the Baptist from Memphis, remarked to
me, “Wall ah can appreciate now the celibacy of
the clergy. You don’t have to worry about your wife
and child.”
After we got inside the plane, an enlisted man instructed us to tie safety belts around us while taking
off and landing. Meanwhile, two pilots were tuning
up the engines. In a jiffy they were roaring out their
deep tones; yet, strangely enough, we could enjoy
conversation by lifting the voice volume slightly.
The cabin of the plane was quite bare. It had
aluminum seats running down each side with a
safety belt and a parachute in each. We first tested
the former and then donned the chutes.
As we looked out the cabin windows, we could see
the propellers spinning their thousand-odd revolutions a minute and the enlisted man piloting the
cockpit men out onto the main take-off lane of
the airport. A PBY [Patrol Bomber] was taking off
just ahead of us on its 20 to 30 hour tour of duty.
Gracefully, it soared up, and almost immediately we
swung onto the main stem, turned around and the
pilots gave her the gun. We ran down for a mile and
then gradually and slowly our big ship, a giant silver
swallow in the afternoon sun, swung up and out
over Elizabeth River. The Naval Operating Base was
laid out in perfect pattern on our left. Down over
the river we flew at 175 per hour, and took in the
constantly changing panorama underneath us. Here
a new housing development was all spruced up —
fresh blue, green and red roofs; there a farm of oil
tanks tried to merge with the background, their tops
painted grass green. Off to our right, smoke was
belching from three tankers moving out of Hampton Roads for a life or death trip down the coast for
another load of black, liquid gold.
All the time, our pilots were talking with the Operations Tower. After two miles down stream, communications were broken and we were on our own.
A young doctor from the Naval Air Station was our
first casualty. He and his dinner parted company.
Soon Rev. Kelly was in difficulty. The chicken salad
started sending messages to the potato chips that we
had had three hours before at the Officers’ Mess.
After a while, I stepped forward into the cockpit.
The two pilots were conversing in a tone slightly
higher than conversation level. The cockpit was
a maze of clocks; I counted 28 of them. The two
pilots, former commercial fliers, were conversing
about trips they had made.
Far below, the panorama was constantly changing;
the horizon in back of us fading as the one ahead
opened out. The channels of the rivers could be
made out very easily. An ensign along with us
remarked that a blimp could spot a sub 90 feet
below the surface.
Within half an hour, we arrived at Elizabeth City
[North Carolina]. We landed gracefully, as easily
14 The plane was likely a C-47 Skytrain, which was used as a personnel transport during the war. Elizabeth City was the site of an important
shipyard, a Naval station, and a Coast Guard station.
9 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�as on a sofa. Bombers, heading out for a 20 or
chapter
1 | for
andaboard
country
30 hours cruise
withgod
14 men
and hot loads
of live bombs, were taking off alongside of us.
Friday, May 1, 1942
Dinner this evening was in the “Old Southern
Grill” where the following motto framed on the
wall intrigued me:
“A wise old owl sat on an oak.
The more he heard, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard.
Why not be like that wise old bird?”
The scene is Blessed Sacrament Church. Two
stalwart young boys, 22 years old, were making an
evening visit at 7:30. The warm glow of the setting
sun flooded through the amber-stained glass window bathing both boys in gold as they knelt before
their Captain and King. They are strong in faith and
brave in war.
Saturday, May 2, 1942
11:30 – We took off in a Douglas Transport plane for
Cherry Point, North Carolina, on a glorious sundrenched morning. With a roar, our giant silver
plane soared up and we are on our way to our
destination. Thirty-five hundred feet below is a
crazy quilt of farm land, river woods and doll houses. On our left is James River carrying fussy little
tugs on its bosom. The tugs chugging along tried to
make up in braggadocio what they lacked in size as
they warped an aircraft carrier into her berth.
Soon we were sailing through the Alps in the sky.
Some were dark mountains at the base and at the
top crested with snow. Occasionally, a tuft of cotton
would sail by, boastfully, on its own after cutting its
mother’s apron strings. Then a proud craft would
move along majestically, obviously an old-timer.
Far below, white strips of yellow adhesive tape
crisscross the face of the country. Occasionally they
would meet and little black tugs came to a stop at
their juncture. An enlisted man informs Chaplain
Weise and me that the body of water we are passing
over now is Albemarle Sound. Soon we have left that
behind and we are flying over Pamlico River. Now
a haze obscures the ground, a misty reminder of
forest fires that carelessness or sabotage have lighted
in the Carolina woods.
At the end of an hour, we land at Cherry Point,
North Carolina [site of a Marine Corps airfield],
and disembark on a three mile runway, the longest
in the country. This camp is in the pioneer stages.
There are only 1000 men here, a combination of
Army, Navy and Marine Corps. I sleep in the temporary quarters of 22 Naval fliers in an enlisted men’s
barracks while their own is being built. One of them
falls into conversation and speaks of his Commanding Officer, Commander [John] Yoho. “He never
asks us to do anything that he hasn’t done himself.
Not all COs are like that, Chaplain. He is up for
every patrol.” “You like him then?” “Like him? Why
every one of us would fly to death for that man.”
On the way down to mess an hour later, the assignments were up for the next day, Sunday. Dawn Patrol,
Noon and Dusk Patrols. The first name under Dawn
Patrol was Yoho, C O.15
Sunday, May 3, 1942
4:30 a.m. – Both men on either side of me are routed
out of bed by an enlisted man for their dawn patrol.
These men keep the subs under from Cape Lookout
to Cape Hatteras. All are splendid young men, college
grads, e.g., Anderson, Dartmouth; Grace, same.
In the Marine Barracks there is one of the men with
the Bible open on the bed. “Read it every single day,
Sir,” he says. I was drumming up trade at the time,
announcing the time of Mass on the morrow.
In the Officers Wardroom, Commanding Officer
Yoho says, “I want to prepare whichever one of you
gentlemen is the Protestant for a poor attendance
tomorrow. Catholic boys turn out but not the Protestant.” [Methodist Chaplain John W.] Weise says,
“Well, I guess I can take it.”
15 Yoho would die in January 1943 in the crash of a training flight he was piloting.
10 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�At Mass in the morning there are 105 by actual
chapter
| for godatand
count. Six 1Communions
the country
nine o’clock Mass;
those boys fasted until eleven o’clock for their meal.
Their faith is living.
Took off at 4 o’clock. Although 175 per hour was the only
indication of our speed, our own shadows were racing
across the farms and rivers and the forests below. Like
Charlie McCarthy, it mowed everything down.16
Wednesday, May 6, 1942
10:30 a.m. – Visited the aircraft carrier, USS Charger,
formerly the South American luxury liner, Rio de Plaza, that weighs 15,000 tons with a flight deck, hangar
deck and below deck quarters. With openness and
airiness, it is different than the line’s other ships. On
the flight deck I saw how planes are suddenly stopped
as a little jeep was testing the operating gear.
The plane alights, having let down a hook; across the
deck are half a dozen cables, stretching the width of
the deck and spaced out about ten yards apart. These
cables are released, shoot up, catch the hook of the
plane and suddenly check it. Similar to running into
a clothesline in the dark.
environment. Question by yours truly, “Any room
allowed for the exercise of free will in that analysis?”
His reply, “I don’t know what you mean by free
will.” “You have a choice of two alternatives – to walk
or to ride in a car.” Finally, after another priest, Fr.
[Michael] Doody, and a minister, Mr. [Will-Mathis]
Dunn, peppered him also, he admitted free will in
practice but not in theory.
Saturday, May 9, 1942
Went to Barracks “B” and visited survivors recently
brought in from a torpedoed ship. The ten American sailors were members of a gun crew aboard the
British steamer, Irma, that was sent to the bottom on
Good Friday, 350 miles off the coast of South Africa.
There was one Catholic among them – Thomas Caddigan of 77 Granite Street, Biddeford, Maine. They were
drifting for four hours before they were picked up. A
British Corvette with them at the time of the torpedoing scooted away and returned four hours later to
rescue them. They were bitter about what they called
its desertion.18
Sunday, May 10, 1942
It being Mother’s Day, I sent my mother some flowers and called her on the phone.
Thursday, May 7, 1942
Received a letter today from Fr. John Long, S.J., in
which he stated that he has the [Boston College]
President’s permission to volunteer for Chaplaincy.17
A lecture on Psychiatry was given by Lt. Levine,
28 years old. He reduced human personality to the
resultant of two determining factors – heredity and
At 6:30 I heard confessions for an hour in the Base
Chapel. It was most edifying to see the large number of blue-jackets receiving Communion for their
mothers whether they were at home with their
families or at home in heaven with God, Our Lord
and His Mother.
16 “So help me, I’ll mow you down!” was a phrase “spoken” by the puppet “Charlie McCarthy” on ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s “The Edgar
Bergen-Charlie McCarthy Show,” a radio staple from 1937 to 1957.
17 Because Jesuits generally held wide-ranging responsibilities in civilian life—Foley held three administrative titles at Boston College—
those who wanted to enter the military chaplaincy sometimes found it difficult to obtain permission from their superiors. John Long,
who had succeeded Foley at Boston College, became an Army chaplain, serving until 1956. He served as a dean at the College of the Holy
Cross and then at Boston College. He died in 1964.
18 A good example of some of the minor errors that crept into Foley’s diary, likely on account of his relying on memory and testimony
rendered from within the general “fog of war.” The ship torpedoed by U-Boat 505 in the Atlantic off the coast of Mali on Good Friday,
April 3, was the West Irma (the Irma was, in fact, a German vessel), and was an American, not British, cargo ship. The ship that rescued
99 American sailors was the HMS Copinsay. U-505 later surrendered to the American Navy and was gifted to the Chicago Museum of
Commerce and Industry, where it remains on exhibit.
11 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�Wednesday, May 13, 1942
chapter 1 | for god and country
Gasoline rationing went into effect yesterday for our
car. That “our” is not quite accurate. Mr. Hagan, host
of Fathers Gallagher and Doody, has lent them the
use of his two-door Ford for the duration of our stay
in Norfolk. When Fr. Doody appeared for his ration
card yesterday, he was restricted to the three-gallon
ration like everybody else. This morning Chaplain
Kelly informed me that he had secured one of the
cards marked “X” which do not limit the amount of
gas which may be obtained. Last night a regulation
was set up exempting all ministers from the ration.
I passed the word along to Fr. Doody this morning.
Fr. Doody, “Mike” to all his fellow students in the
Chaplains’ School, was a Jesuit Chaplain with an
Irish face – open, expansive, with the corners of his
mouth always turned up in a smile – even a splitsecond before an explosion. Acting on the disturbing information, he drove over to the Base Office
that handed him his limited card yesterday, inquired
about the possibility of getting an unlimited card and
wound up being deprived of his three gallons a week
because his borrowed car was not properly registered.
He came back to the Chaplains’ School, told his tale
of woe and was greeted with gales of laughter instead
of the sympathy he expected. During the afternoon,
he turned the Base Office over on its keel and finally
secured a card entitling him, like all the other Chaplains, to an unlimited supply of gasoline.
This morning I was on my way back to the School
after paying a visit to the Chapel. To return to the
School, one had to pass the Negro detention unit.
Inside were the boots [recent recruits] of two or
three weeks’ experience. Outside the cyclone fence a
gang detail of twelve more colored youngsters, fresh
from the train and bus, dressed in all the colors of
the rainbow, marched by in charge of a Negro boot.
As they passed, one of the boys inside the fence
sang out to them, “Yea, man, you had a good home
and you left it. Oh, what you done!”
Thursday, May 14, 1942
This morning the Chaplains visited the USS Wakefield, formerly the luxury liner, USS Manhattan of
the United States Lines, a 30,000 tonner now converted into a transport. She had just returned from a
five and a half month voyage. They took Canadians
and Englishmen, Suffolk and Wessex men, to Singapore – 4500 of them. As one of the young sailors put
it, “We delivered them safely to the Japs.”19 This ship
was hit by five bombs, direct hits, suffered the loss
of 30 men killed and a smaller number wounded.
She is now taking on stores for another trip.
At noon today I looked up Chester Gladchuk, a B.C.
graduate of 1941, now in the [chief petty officer] division. Both tickled to see each other. Chet is still the
salt of the earth; goes to Mass every morning in the
Catholic Chapel. He likes the life but hopes to get a
transfer to the anti-aircraft battalion.20
Saturday, May 16, 1942
7:30 – All the Protestant Chaplains in groups
D & E of the School attended Mass in the Chapel of
Our Lady of Victory on the Base. At the end of Mass
the Catholic Chaplains filed over to the Protestant
Chapel with their non-Catholic brethren. There the
head of the School, Chaplain Neyman, showed us
how he runs services on Sunday. Prayers, hymns and
a sermon comprise the program. After the service, a
Presbyterian, Chaplain [Paul C.] Edgar remarked to
me that he was as much mystified by that Protestant
service as by the Catholic. He said his was entirely
different. “It is ridiculous when you come to think
of it. There we were, Protestant ministers of every
denomination, each with his own brand of service,
whereas no matter where you go, you priests always
and everywhere have the same Mass.”
19 The disastrous Fall of Singapore to the Japanese, in February 1942, resulted in the surrender of 80,000 British and Commonwealth troops.
20 A Naval lieutenant when he was discharged, Gladchuk had been an All-American football player at Boston College and would spend seven
years playing for the New York Giants in the National Football League. He died in 1967, following a career as an athletics administrator at
the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
12 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�Sunday, May 24, 1942
chapter 1 | for god and country
Flew down from Norfolk to Elizabeth City, North
Carolina, to celebrate Mass at the Coast Guard
Station there. Commander Burke, a splendid
Catholic, was in charge. The plane was a Beechcraft
that covered the fifty miles in 22 minutes.
Elizabeth is the taking-off place for England. Our
men fly the big bombers here from the Coast, then
the Limeys take over. There they fill their airships
with, above all things!!, ladies’ silk stockings, cosmetics, onions and lemons. Their wives are tickled to get
all these for this is what they lack in England.
Elizabeth City, with a population of 12,000 people, has
40 Catholics. The arrival of Catholic officers at this
station with their families boosted the number to 100.
Monday, May 25, 1942
Mr. [Kermit S.] Combs, a [Baptist] minister from West
Virginia, a member of our class, expounded his conviction today that since the body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost and liquor is poison, then anybody who
drinks liquor of any kind is polluting the temple of the
Holy Ghost. In the group listening to him were two
other ministers and yours truly. [Benjamin B.] Brown,
an Episcopalian, explained his position that all creatures were created by God either directly or indirectly.
Liquor was one of the creatures, therefore it couldn’t
be evil in itself. Good, sound doctrine. I inquired of
Combs how he could explain the miracle at Cana
when Christ Our Lord changed water into wine at the
wedding breakfast. “Well,” was his answer, “first of all,
I wasn’t there. Secondly, there was only a little liquor
in the work performed by Christ.” Brown popped up
this time, “Then your position is ruined if there was
any alcoholic content to the wine.” Combs answered
that difficulty by saying that in the communion service in his church, all difficulty was avoided by using
grape juice.
Tuesday, May 26, 1942
On a ship, Chaplain Neyman once heard a crowd
of sailors in a working party outside his door swearing their heads off. He was on his way out when he
heard one of the Chief Petty Officers censure the
boys by saying, “G-d ---- it. Haven’t you any respect
for the Chaplain?”
Wednesday, May 27, 1942
Visited the destroyer, USS Benson, built at Fore
River [in Quincy, Massachusetts] three years ago. In
the crews’ quarters one sailor was sleeping directly
over a box of TNT explosives. Twined around his
bedspring was a pair of Our Lady’s Rosary.
At the physical drill today, planes as usual were coming in to alight just about 50 feet over our heads as
we went through the Gene Tunney exercises. The
new men in the “F” group of Chaplains found it a
bit disconcerting. The rest of us who had witnessed
and heard the same for six weeks were not surprised
at their reaction. Theirs was ours at the beginning.21
Thursday, May 28, 1942
As we toured a light cruiser today, there was
evidence on all sides that these sailors have taken
the zipper off their courage.
Read Fr. [William] Maguire’s book, Rig for Church
[Macmillan, 1942], the story of his 25 years in the
Navy. Intensely interesting and most readable. In it he
tells of the sanctity one finds in the Navy. One young
man, a machinist’s mate, came to him to tell him he
wanted to be a Trappist. He had schooled himself to
wake up in the middle of the night to say his Rosary.
He is in the Trappist monastery today in Kentucky.22
�Friday, May 29, 1942
The three ingredients of success according to
Chaplain Salisbury, a good Presbyterian:
21 Tunney, the retired heavyweight boxing champion, had been commissioned a Navy captain and charged with developing physical fitness
programs within the service.
22 Captain Maguire, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his work rescuing sailors during World War I, was the senior chaplain for the Pacific
Theater during World War II. He is best known for his book, The Captain Wears A Cross, in which he describes his experiences during the
Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor.
13 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�i) Grace – God will give you that in abundance;
chapter
1 | – that
for Igod
ii) Knowledge
haveand
donecountry
my best;
iii) Common sense – “If you haven’t this, then
neither God nor man can help you.”
Saturday, May 30, 1942
A street scene. In the evening on Monticello
Avenue in the downtown section of Norfolk,
a blind street singer is playing his guitar and
singing. Sailors strolling along singly and in
pairs are dropping coins into his tin cup.
Sailors are proverbially generous.
Sunday, May 31, 1942
Telephone call at 5:30 from the Base. Chaplain Robinson calling for me to offer Mass on the battleship
North Carolina, anchored two miles out in Hampton
Roads. Took the seven o’clock boat from Pier 2 that
was bringing back the liberty party of Saturday night.
Like going out to a ship anchored off Boston’s Castle
Island.23 Beautiful sunny morning. Hopped up the accommodation ladder, saluted the flag and the Officer
of the Deck. Heard confessions in the library until
0815, then celebrated Mass at 0830 in one of the mess
compartments. About 130 were present. Flags took
the place of stained glass windows and a whitewashed
overhead24 for a beautiful ceiling, but I’m sure that
Our Lord was immensely pleased with the shining
faces of those splendid young men. John J. McLoughlin of 254 Market St., Brighton, Mass., played the
organ while the men sang lustily. An example of zeal:
McLoughlin ran two classes aboard that ship which
had no Catholic Chaplain, one for boys who wished to
learn how to serve Mass and the other for non-Catholics who wished to know something about the Catholic
Church. About ten officers formed the congregation
in the first row. Among them was Bill Kelly, B.C. ’40,
who escorted me around the ship after Mass. A ship
magnificently appointed, with a wardroom of hotel
spaciousness, spick and span from stem to stern, a
superb man-of-war, ready for the best and the worst. I
had to decline an invitation for breakfast and make a
23 A public park beside Boston Harbor.
24 Underside of the deck.
25 “Junior Grade,” equivalent to the rank of first lieutenant in the Army.
14 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
getaway for Mass at noon in the Sacred Heart Church,
Norfolk; made it without trouble. A beautiful church
with a high nave and long transepts.
Today I met Bill O’Brien whom I had as a sophomore at Holy Cross [College]. Now a doctor, he is a
Lieutenant (j.g.).25
Tuesday, June 2, 1942
Yesterday began the field work of the Chaplains’
course. I am assigned to Fr. Robinson’s office.
He is the Catholic attached to the lecturing staff
at the School.
Thursday, June 4, 1942
Learned today that [Congregationalist minister
[Donald A.] Sterling, Kelly and Fr. [Charles J.] Covert
are assigned to the Base here as chaplains. They are
the first men from our class to be notified of their
appointments. Meanwhile, the rest of us are on the
tiptoe of expectation, wondering where our billets
will be. Shall we be assigned to ship or shore duty?
May the Lord deliver me from being an office boy
for some senior chaplain. Close, immediate contact
with the men is what I wish and opportunities to
administer the Sacraments.
Friday, June 5, 1942
Editorial in the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch on John
Barrymore’s death expressed regret for the amusement that he furnished during the last years of his
life, when he was burlesquing himself. As the editorial put it, “It was tragic to see him sliding down the
banister of his own reputation. Let us think of him
as he was when he was the number one Shakespearean actor of the stage.”
Saturday, June 6, 1942
Thirty-eight years old today. Greetings and remembrances from mother and family and Sister Flavius
did not let me forget the anniversary.
�This afternoon I set out for Portsmouth where
chapter
1 the
| for
god place
and country
I am to take
weekend
of Fr. Creviston,
Catholic Chaplain, who is on leave for his retreat.
Met Chaplain Huske, non-Catholic, who was gracious and hospitable. Billeted in Ward A-2 for the
night. Heard confessions in the Red Cross building in which the recreation hall and the Chaplain’s
office are located from 4 to 5:30. In the evening
attended “Hullabaloo,” a Hollywood-sponsored,
travelling USO show, made up of dancers, acrobats,
jugglers, jokesters and roller-skaters. A good professional show that lasted for an hour and a half.
In the ship’s service store I met Schoonhover,
1 cl. fireman, 14 years in the Navy, a convert. Drank
like a fish for five years until he met “the” girl who
converted him and “Dried me up,” he said.
Sunday, June 7, 1942
Up at 0530; Confessions at 0600 in the Recreation
Hall. Mass at 0630 with 200 present and about 20
Communions. Taxied down to the Navy Yard. Confessions at 0830 in the Yard Chapel; Mass at 0900
with 225 attending. Mrs. Pearson, a charming 55
year-old lady and grandmother three times over,
played hymns such as “Mother Dear, O Pray for Me,”
“Star of the Sea,” etc., on the chimes of the beautiful
Yard Chapel shortly before the 0900 Mass, the bells
reminding the men that Mass was about to begin.
ing the hall. Footlights blinded the preacher when he
turned around to read the Gospel!
1205 – Started for the USS Woolsey. At Pier 4 I
boarded the first destroyer tied up, the Lansdowne
that was about to leave when an ensign hailed me
– a Bill Dunn from Holy Cross ’35, for one year,
then to Annapolis, who wished to be remembered
particularly to Fr. Barrett. He came from Troy, N.Y.
Bill remarked that I had been in the Navy some
time judging from the sermon that I had delivered.
“What do you mean?” “Well, expressions that only
a Navy man would use, e.g., lashed ourselves to our
ideals, everything squared away, etc.”
Left the Lansdowne and went to the Woolsey where
I was greeted by Bill Connelly. We had dinner in the
wardroom; excellent roast duck with all the fixings,
topped off by ice cream. Stayed about two hours. I was
sent across the Elizabeth River in one of the boats of
the ship and so ended another eventful weekend.
Monday, June 8, 1942
At 1100 today I learned that I was assigned to the
USS George Clymer, an attack naval transport. The
news means that I am going to the far off places of
the globe – with American boys. May God always be
with us as we go down to the sea in our ship!26
Tuesday, June 9, 1942
After Mass, Bill Connelly, a B.C. graduate, came into
the sacristy. I had met him two weeks ago on Granby
St., Norfolk. Since then he has been down to Panama, helping to give Wallie Cuenin and 7900 other
Marines a good start to New Zealand. He invited me
to dinner aboard his ship, the USS Woolsey. At the
1000 Mass in the theatre of the Marine barracks,
with 30 in attendance, there was a dim-out throughout with only the low lights of a movie theatre light-
Last Saturday while in the Chaplain’s Office at the Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, a young Marine approached
me to state that his brother had to be back at New
River within two days because his outfit was pulling
out. However, he didn’t have sufficient fare in cash.
Although he had a check for $20, he could not get it
cashed. This boy said he and his brother were identical
twins and had never been separated until now when
he had been detached to the hospital because of an
26 The Clymer, on which Foley would spend 21 months in two theaters of war, was close to 500 feet long and could carry 1,300 troops and
2,300 tons of cargo. Her crew numbered some 600 and she could cruise at better than 18 knots. Her armament comprised eight antiaircraft cannons, four .50 caliber machine guns, and four .50 caliber guns capable of firing at targets on the sea or in the air. During the
war she acquired the nicknames Greasy George and Lucky George, the latter because while frequently in battle zones she was only once
struck by a shell, bomb or torpedo. (A shell damaged her communications antenna.) She served in Korea and Vietnam accruing 13 battle
stars before being decommissioned in October 1967.
15 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�epileptic fit that he took at New River. I gave him
chapter
| the
foremergency
god andand
country
$5 cash to 1cover
prevent his brother
from being tossed in the brig. My first investment of
cash in the Navy. I didn’t bother to get the boy’s name.
Today I received the $5. and the following letter:
NORFOLK NAVAL HOSPITAL
Dear Sir:
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
(signed) Pvt. Harold R. Hartin
the sentry advanced ominously, I found my voice
and cried out “Officers.” “Advance and give the
countersign.” Being ignorant of that, we simply sat
and waited until he came abreast of us, with the
pistol still pointed up in the air, fortunately. He
smiled when we told him we were a couple of
priests who had lost their bearings. He set us on
our course again.
Sunday, June 14, 1942
Celebrated Mass at Oceana, Virginia. One hundred
at Mass with five Communions.
Wednesday, June 10, 1942
Monday, June 15, 1942
In Norfolk (population about 200,000) there are
217 churches by actual count in the telephone
directory. 6 Catholic; 7 Jewish; 204 Protestant
(45 Baptist; 20 Methodist; 14 Presbyterian;
10 Episcopal; and the rest, assorted varieties).
Detached at 1200.
5:15 – Sailed up Chesapeake Bay with Fred Gallagher,
Washington bound.
Tuesday, June 16, 1942
Dinner Grace (á la Navy): “Dear Lord, bless this our
food and meat / And please hurry up and give us
something to eat.”
Took the Colonial out of Washington for Boston;
arrived at 8:15 p.m. On leave until June 25th
when I pick up the George Clymer at Charleston,
South Carolina.
Friday, June 12, 1942
Wednesday, June 24, 1942
Graduation of our Chaplains Class
Speakers: Paul Edgar, Fred Gallagher,
Captain Mack, Chaplain Neyman.
Graduates: Paul Edgar, Fred Gallagher,
Ben Brown, Bill Lumpkin, Glyn Jones,
Ansgar Sovik, Donald Sterling, James Kelly,
Fred Gehring, Henry (Cy) Rotrige, Charles (Chuck)
Covert and John P. Foley.
Took the Colonial out of South Station after
celebrating Mass at St. Clement’s Church with
family in attendance. Goodbye to all. When shall
we be together again?27
Dinner in the Officers’ Mess. Mrs. Hagan and
Mrs. Taylor were guests.
Saturday, June 13, 1942
When leaving the base, Fred Gallagher lost his way.
Suddenly, we found ourselves riding down one of
the vital roads of the airport. Quick as a flash three
guards stepped out upon us, one with his pistol
cocked, and challenged us: “Who goes there?” Both
of us were so petrified that we could say nothing. As
On the Colonial I had dinner with Dr. Bowen, a former
B.C. professor. Arrived in Washington at 7:30 p.m., one
hour late. Then caught the train for North Charleston
at 8:15 p.m.; dumped out from the Miami Special
at 5:30 a.m. in North Charleston, nine miles from
Charleston. Said Mass in Sacred Heart Church. The
Pastor, Fr. Wolfe was a most gracious host. Went
to the Navy Yard and met Chaplain Sitler. The ship
was moored to the dock when I boarded her at about
4:00 P.M. Stepped aboard with my heart beating
fast, for “my” ship was in.
USS George Clymer. Principal dimensions: Length
–489 feet; Height –70 feet; Tonnage –16,730 (full
27 St. Clement’s was the Foley family’s parish church, in Medford, Massachusetts,
16 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
�load displacement), –233. The ship was originally
chapter
1 Planet
| forofgod
and country
the African
the American
South African
Line, built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Co. of Birmingham, Alabama, at their Pascagoula, Mississippi Yard. She is one of triplets; the others being
the African Comet and the African Meteor. Now as
the USS George Clymer, she has 33 officers and 314
men, with 400 more expected. She came up from
her birthplace without an escort, was chased by
three subs, but her speed enabled her to outdistance
them. Lt. Crawford on duty one night of a full moon
thought it would never set. Lt. MacRae said that
17 | chapter i: chaplains’ school
during the five-day trip up the officers had only five
hours sleep. He, as Communications Officer, identifies himself to the other ships of ours that were met.
He said that there are special signals which change
within three hours. Before a ship signals, she has
her guns trained on you!
What kind of a ship is she now? An attack naval
transport, a member of the Amphibious Combat
Force, with 32 landing boats and accommodations
for 2000 troops. Captain A. T. Moen, Commanding
Officer; Commander M.C. Erwin, Executive Officer.
�chapter 211 | | for
forgod
godand
andcountry
country
Anchors Aweigh
Sunday, June 28, 1942
For the first time – Mass at 0900. Attendance: 20;
Communions – 3; Confessions – 10. Plan of the Day
reads: 0830 – Chaplain Foley will hold Confessions
in Troop Commander’s Stateroom. Church Call.
Divine services on board. Protestant services will be
held in the Yard as noted below. Men desiring to attend will be permitted to do so.
Young enlisted man cried yesterday when told that
I was a Catholic priest. He said that he had been
praying since he heard that a Chaplain was coming
aboard and that he would be Catholic.
Charleston, a Southern city, that is damp, with soggy
tropical heat. Intermittently the clouds spill out their
loads without warning. One street will be drenched;
the next will be as dry as a match. Fr. Wolfe took me
all around the city. I saw old slave trading posts, an
old French Huguenot church de-christianized with
no altar and only a cold pulpit in its place. Today no
congregation; just a museum for tourists to visit and
pay their respects.
A sailor beside me in a drugstore said, “Sometimes
as you walk along the streets in a strange city and
see the nice homes, warm lights on, you feel like
walking up, ringing the doorbell and asking if they
would mind if you came in and sat down on a sofa
for a little while.”
I buy the Atlanta Journal at the hotel stand. Its
byline: “Covers Dixie like the dew.”
Monday, June 29, 1942
The HMS Ilex is tied up in dry-dock just behind us.
18 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
Philipps, an English able-bodied seaman on guard
duty, said her back was broken by dive bombers in
the Mediterranean. He had just received word that
his mother was going blind.
2130 – Down in the engine room, I met one of the
men on duty at the generator with the temperature
105. He says two Rosaries every time he stands his
four-hour watch.
Tuesday, June 30, 1942
0900 – Off to the city jail to handle the case of
Sayvitch, A. S., in prison for appropriation of a car
without permission and for careless and reckless
driving. Arrived at the dingy Charleston City Jail and
identified myself. The boy, who had been drinking,
was brought out. The owner of the car parked it;
then five minutes later it was missing. Sayvitch’s
story, “A stranger in beer parlor offered to lend him
his car for $10.; he beat him down to $5. First thing
he knew an officer forced him over to the side of
the road.” The owner, officer and self went over to
the Magistrate’s Court. Judge Matthews presiding.
The square room was coming apart at the seams. A
white and colored line of flotsam and jetsam queued
up outside it. Judge was trying a case of a colored
man accused of molesting people in a house with a
knife at midnight. Judge: “Understand me distinctly.
If you so much as set foot inside that house again,
I’ll send you under the bridge. You will go under the
bridge. Do you hear?”
They took us into a small anteroom. In the meantime the owner has been persuaded not to press
charges of misappropriation. Judge informed the
boy of the seriousness of the offense and told him
�that the next time “the church would be closed and
chapter
for
god have
and gone
country
the parson11and| the
sexton
home.”
Back to the police station where the charge of careless and reckless driving was filed. The boy was
held in bond of $5 on this and told to forget about
appearance in court on the morrow. “You’re a lucky
boy,” said the officer in charge of the court. “Marine
in here the other day for the same offense was held
in bail of $5000.”
Thursday, July 2, 1942
Appointed as Mess Caterer. That means that I am in
charge of the mess for the Officers and of the keeping of the Officers’ rooms and Troop Officers’ mess
and staterooms.
One of the boys remarked that it was a good
addition to have a priest on board on our ship for
she was a suicide scow, i.e., red-hot invasion ship.
Saturday, July 4, 1942
Vignettes of Charleston.
– Gas station with black hoods over tops of its
two pumps and the following sign:
RATIONITIS – NO GAS
– Most of the houses look as though they have been
running away from paint for years. Simply put a
house up and let the elements beat the outside
boards into a dull, dirty brown. Negro hovels are
just that. God never intended either man or beast
to live in what they dwell. Slats thrown together
on the worst sites, next to railroads or gas tanks,
on the swampiest land. All huts built on stilts.
Constant daily rains soon make what passes
for yards or streets between hovels a quagmire.
Youngsters, coal black, splashing around in the
mud present a pitiful sight.
– Crepe myrtle bushes and palmettos fringe the
streets. All growth a lush, tropical green. No
matter how fair the day in the morning, somewhere along the line, clouds come along in
19 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
massed array, thunderheads among them on the
growl, and spill their cargo and mutter away with
their unspent fury.
– Number of Catholics on board: 60 enlisted men;
5 officers.
– Navy man’s life described in three “Ss”: sea, ship
and sky.
– Charleston Negro dialect: “draft questionnary”
and “that is a worryation to me.”
Captain Moen called for a conference of all Officers
and censured those guilty among the Department
Heads for breach of confidence. He had informed
them the previous day that we would be sailing shortly. Within two hours it was brought back to him. “I’ll
be damned if I will stand for that. I tell you that if that
happens again, I’ll have a general court martial on
that officer.” Wound up his talk by saying that “Ours
not to reason why but ours to do or die.”
Had dinner with Fr. Bob Sheridan, S.J., B.C. High,
at the Overseas Depot and Replacement Center.
Negro soldier is pushed to the back of the bus from
his seat up forward. “Good enough to stop a bullet but not to ride up front in a bus,” I inform the
driver, who didn’t like my observation one bit.
Sunday, July 5, 1942
Mass in Troop Officers’ Mess. Sunday was a regular
work day.
Saturday, July 11, 1942
An incident that gives rise to race riots. On bus
returning to the Navy Yard from the city were two
white men, about 25 years old, sitting in a seat behind me. A Negro, who had taken too much, tried to
sit down beside me. No objections from this quarter.
Two white men: “Push him off, Captain! Hey, nigger, don’t you know where you belong? Get down
in the back of this bus.” Opposite were sitting two
young bucks about 22. In the back of them, half a
dozen more bucks. As the two white men got off at
their stop, I looked at them going out through the
�rear door. The second of the two punched one of the
chapter
11 | infor
and
Negroes sitting
thegod
seat by
thecountry
exit, in the back.
Then they were off through the door. At the next
stop six of the Negroes jumped off, and bolted back
for the white men. I doubt whether either one of
them could recognize his face the next morning.
Sunday, July 12, 1942
Thursday, July 16, 1942
Appointed Insurance Agent aboard ship, also. The
jobs are multiplying like rabbits.28
Sunday, July 19, 1942
Confessions at 0830; Mass in Troop Officers’
Wardroom at 0900. Thirty at Mass with five
Communions.
Mass in the Troop Officers’ Wardroom.
Had Fr. Henry F. Wolfe, Pastor of Sacred Heart
Church, Charleston, and Fr. Lee of Worcester as my
dinner guests aboard ship this evening.
I met Carver, one of our Clymer crew, on the way to
Church. He is a devout non-Catholic. Talking about
swearing and recalling when he had used a vulgar,
indecent or obscene word or phrase. “I’ve been in
the Navy for five and a half months and in all that
time I have never said anything that I wouldn’t have
said before my mother.”
Tuesday, July 14, 1942
USS Clymer undocked this morning about 10:30.
Fussy little tugs came chugging alongside of her
about 9:30, making quite a fuss with their whistles,
as if saying, “We may be small; you may be big,
16,000 tons, but this is a job that requires us to
bring you safely without mishap into that dry dock
over there. Don’t forget that good things come done
up in small packages.” After the lines were pulled
aboard, they pulled us out gradually into midstream.
When we were apparently going too fast, they would
slow us up by putting on full speed, snuggling up
right under our hull and pushing with might and
main. Coasted gradually into dry-dock, which, when
it was drained, revealed hundreds of catfish caught
ashore. Negro women collected them in baskets.
Wednesday, July 15, 1942
On Sunday afternoon took the bus out to
Folley Beach for a swim. The water was glorious;
stayed in it off and on from 1430 until 1945 with
the sun beating down all day. The whole shoreline
is fringed with palms; mile after mile of beach
stretched away with hard sand making an ideal
roadway for the cars that drove up, backed in and
unloaded their passengers. Next morning’s paper
said the official temperature for today was 101!!!
Tuesday, July 21, 1942
First instruction to Norman Middleton, Hospital
Apprentice, who intends to marry Marie Burns of
Philadelphia. Used “Why Six Instructions? Arranging for a Mixed Marriage,” by Bishop Schlarman of
Peoria. (B. Herder Book Co., 15–17 So. Broadway
St. Louis, Mo.)
On Tuesday afternoon knocked off about 1630, went
down to Meeting St., took a bus for the Isle of Palms
where I swam until 1930. Beach of golden sand,
nine miles long, with just a handful of cottages
along isolated sections of it.
Thursday, July 23, 1942
Walk through the oldest section of Charleston. Interest awakened in books by a sign in the front window
of an old, old house, “Books – Old and New – For
Sale.” Entered by the front porch that faces south as
do all Charleston houses, for the prevailing breeze
is from that direction. Lovely old lady rented front
Appointed Education Officer.
28 It was not unusual for chaplains aboard ship to be asked to handle an array of responsibilities no other officer wanted to manage. In addition to Insurance Agent—selling life insurance to soldiers and sailors; some $3 million worth of it, Foley would recall—and Education
Officer and Mess Caterer, Foley would eventually be responsible for managing the ship library and acquiring movies for the entertainment
of sailors and military passengers. He was also privately engaged as a bank by sailors who asked him to hold their savings from salaries.
20 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
�room to a lady of 45 who ran a lending library, but
chapter
11 | out
for
and Miss
country
now was going
of god
business.
Mary Adger,
102 years young, owned the house that was built in
Revolutionary days. When complimented on her
youthful appearance, “You don’t look a day over
65,” she replied, “We don’t grow old in Charleston,
we just dry out from the heat.” Despite her century
age, she was in full possession of her faculties. Her
only concession to age was glasses. Slightly built,
she wore a white dress, flecked with little black
polka dots. She just bubbled with life and energy
that showed themselves in lifting her shoulders only
to let them fall as points of emphasis in her story
required. She remembered the soldiers of General
Sherman kidding her and threatening to take her
back north with them. Though she stresses her
opinion of them and their General with foot stampings, she remarked, “All the same, they were nice
boys.” She was a girl of twenty-two then!
Sunday, July 26, 1942
Mass at 0900 in the Officers’ Mess with about 25 in
attendance and 5 Communions.
Monday, July 27, 1942
Finally underway after being in Charleston since June 24,
1942. No casualties as we pulled away except that Miller, the
station wagon driver, and Loftus, the postman, arrived
after the gangway was hoisted aboard. They caught
us downstream with the ship underway, climbing up
Jacob’s ladder, portside, forward.
Degaussing practice up and down the stream
below the two and a half mile bridge over the
Cooper River; then we anchored in the harbor at the
junction of the Cooper and Ashley Rivers between
which Charleston is situated on a peninsula.29
Gorgeous sunset. Steeples of old Charleston churches were silhouetted against the evening sky like
pencils poised to write but they never did get around
to writing before the night closed in and swallowed
them up.
Tuesday, July 28, 1942
3:00 a.m.–Rose for Mass this morning. 0400–
Breakfast.
1) Charleston now bathed in the soft, radiant light of
the setting moon. The small net tenders bob quietly
on either side of the ship, their riding lights paling
now in the growing dawn. We steer through and
immediately there is a sudden transformation. The
ship is now fully alive; all her faculties at work as we
swing into full speed.
2) The whole world seems at peace but it is not.
3) Harbor tug chugs alongside to pick up some
gear left behind by Navy Yard workmen on an emergency welding job.
4) Blahnik, Bosun 1/c, shouts gruffly at the tug
Captain to keep his boat in one place alongside for at
least three minutes so that the welding machines can
be placed aboard her. Tug skipper retorts something
but it is lost to us as wind carries it away, and in a
few minutes the tug casts off and we are underway.
5) We slow down as we maneuver through the
minefields and bear for the net, the last barrier
between the marauders of the sea and the safety of
the harbor. The gate is open.
6) 0555 – Navy planes on dawn patrol pick us up. As
dawn breaks slowly, we can make out faintly on the
horizon five ships clustered together. Dr. Daniels,
Lt. Commander Crawford and I wonder if we are to
join them for our trip north to what we guess is our
destination, Norfolk. Sun is beginning to streak the
eastern horizon now with fingers of gold as we head
out to sea.
Dr. Daniels hopes that since it is so bright that we
won’t have General Quarters. We concur. Lt. Crawford talks about Hendrik [Willem] van Loon’s books;
his books as gargantuan as his size.30
29 Degaussing—generally accomplished by the dragging of an electric cable along the hull—was a process for weakening a ship’s magnetic
field so it would be less likely to attract magnetized mines. The work had to be done periodically, as the effect wore off.
30 General Quarters is an all personnel call to battle stations. Van Loon (1882–1944) was a prolific, popular and sizeable American historian
and writer of children’s books. He was the author of Our Battle, a retort to Hitler’s Mein Kampf, and was a friend of President Roosevelt.
21 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
�Suddenly, General Quarters comes over the broadchapter
11 | Ifor
andGeneral
country
casting system.
givegod
the ship
Absolution
and I head, as does everybody else, for my battle station; everybody with a tremendous, deliberate speed,
yet no confusion for every man has a definite destination. General Absolution may be administered
when a group of individuals are in danger of death.
In sick bay, my station, are 10 hospital corpsmen,
Dr. Daniels, Dr. Harris, senior medical officer, and
myself. Dr. Harris gives all of us a talk on first aid,
prefacing his lecture, which is informal, with the
observation that as the “Plan of the Day” noted, the
ship is passing through highly dangerous submarine
waters. Forty-seven contacts made this past week. All
of us are ready for action; our life preservers secured
on us. We listen to the doctor as he talks about the
first aid for burns, for hemorrhage, shock, chest
wounds and suffocation. He breaks out human
plasma and suddenly the generosity of blood donors
all over the country comes home vividly alive. At
any moment something may happen that will bring
a man into the sick bay whose life will be saved by
this plasma. The atmosphere is a strange one in the
sick bay. There is no nervousness of any kind but in
the back of everybody’s mind is the thought that “it”
may happen any minute.
0715 – Secure from General Quarters. We have made
the first part of our trip successfully. There has been
no need to use the Holy Oils that I carry with me all
the time and none for Holy Viaticum, the Eucharist
administered to the dying. “What need is there for
us to fear?”, as I asked the men last Sunday. Christ
is with us; that is the one thing that matters; everything else is secondary.
Out on the deck at the end of General Quarters,
25 miles off the coast. High aloft are the lookouts
on the bridge in the crow’s nest. Sun dazzling in its
brightness. Sky a cloudless blue; water, clear blue.
Ship is headed straight for the sun as though her
rendezvous was in it. In the next few minutes she
has turned completely away as the rudder is turned
to zigzag her and prevent the subs from getting
aim on us.
22 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
Up on the flying bridge, Commander Irwin complained about stopping to put the pilot off at the
buoy outside of Charleston Harbor. “Why, just two
days ago a sub was sighted lying in wait there by
that very buoy.”
Suddenly one of our dive bombers comes sweeping over our fo’c’s’le, the men at the guns getting
practice training, following her all the way with
their sights. Off portside half a mile, a slow PBY
circles like a hawk in the clear summer sky around
us, keeping down any subs that may be lurking.
Mr. McRae mentioned yesterday that daytime is
very dangerous for us and night is not. Must ask
him why today. He looked sleepy this morning; had
been waked at 0100 to decode a set of identification
signals after getting to bed at 2330. Their challenge –
FF. Reply – 0. One set of signals for major war
vessels, another set for minor ones, and these
change every four hours.
Hour is still only eight o’clock though it seems the
time since three o’clock has been long enough for
two days.
Wednesday, July 29, 1942
0300 – Up at this hour for Mass. Starting off
the new day with the privilege of offering His
Holy Sacrifice. Quartermaster Kirk called me and
inquired if I wanted the door “cracked” (opened).
Replied: “All the way.”
0415 – Beautiful moonlit morning. Six huge black
shadows are anchored here in the same roadstead
with us, the convoy that we passed yesterday afternoon, all of fifteen hours ago. It is a peaceful sight to
see them all swinging idly at anchor peaceful and silent but the silence is tense, a pregnant one. Though
we are in a protected area, a sub could sneak up and
send a “fish” into us.
On deck below, mess attendants, sleeping topside,
are awakened by man on watch, one of their own
company of twenty. Waker goes around, yelling at
them: “Rise and shine, boys; rise and shine.”
�Door to my stateroom is open when I return and I
chapter
| for
god
countryCrawford,
read some11of my
Office.
Lt.and
Commander
who had been on the midnight watch until 0400,
enters, excuses himself, says that it is none of his
business, but he would like to know why I get up
one hour before the rest of the ship. Four o’clock is
bad enough, but three! Told him that I say my Mass
every morning here in the room, rising about one
hour before the ship, when battle operations prevent
men attending in the Mess Hall.
0445 – Breakfast in a still darkened ship, by the light
of two emergency flashlights.
0530 – We are underway, escorted by two PCs that
race along on port and starboard, about a mile off,
and two minesweepers about two miles ahead of us
fishing the waters for our big ship. Meanwhile we
await the signal for General Quarters, for the ride is
beginning to crimson the east.31
0555 – Two planes roar overhead; dip in salute, challenge us, “FF,” reply “D”, our challenge “RRR,” then
they soar on ahead, flying in circles of about five
miles around us.
So the morning starts. We are flanked with protection on the sea and in the air against whatever
may be on or under the surface. We are travelling
through, as one man on the ship termed it yesterday, with the aptness and incisiveness of a phrase
characteristic of the bluejacket,“Torpedo Junction.”32
Sunrise about 0630 and no General Quarters;
ample protection frees us from the “Man All Battle
Stations” signal. Glorious sunrise; sun comes up
through a cloud formation, craterlike. It promises
to be another ideal day at sea, same as yesterday.
Met Mr. McRae who answered my doubt about what
his code statement meant. “We anchor tonight.”
During the morning we are making 17 knots, faster
than any sub can make under water. But eternal
watchfulness is the price of safety. Lookouts are
posted everywhere; crow’s nest, sky, platform, fore
and aft. Captain and Executive Officer and Officers
on bridge are constantly scanning the waters all
around us with their glasses for the tell-tale white
feather of the sub that wants to send a “fish’ into us.
The morning is one that would delight the heart of
anyone who likes to travel on a ship. Ship is rolling
a bit but not enough to send men to sick bay with
seasickness; only one mess attendant complains of
feeling unwell. Sea is an amethyst blue; white foam
is curling over forward both port and starboard as
we plough ahead. Occasionally a porpoise sticks his
rudder bow and stern up and lookouts identify it.
After reading my Office on the searchlight deck, I
turn to work in the library. Finally have all squared
away and send a billet-doux to all the Officers with
a mimeographed list of all books, fiction and
non-fiction.
Noontime dinner in peace; after dinner, a catnap
and then back to the library after a stroll around the
boat deck.
Finally we have General Quarters again after dinner from 1830 to 2030. When we secure, we discover that we are anchoring for the night inside
Cape Lookout.33 On our starboard the moon, a disk
of beaten gold, is coming up to enhance the quiet
beauty of the night at sea. Meanwhile the ship has
been “darkened” with all lights cut off from outside
vision; battle ports are installed and all hands turn
31 PC was an acronym for Patrol Craft, often referred to as “submarine chasers.”
32 Bluejacket is slang for sailor. Torpedo Junction was a phrase applied by sailors to areas of the ocean that saw high levels of enemy submarine
traffic. An area near the Solomon Islands in the Pacific and east of the Carolinas in the Atlantic were so designated. The phrase was a play on
“Tuxedo Junction,” a song made popular by the Glen Miller Orchestra in 1940. Foley sailed on the Clymer in both Torpedo Junctions.
33 On the North Carolina coast, some 250 miles from Norfolk.
23 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
�to bunks for we have an early rising again tomorrow
chapter
| for
god
country
morning. 11
Thanks
be to
Godand
for His
guidance of us
today. He was with us when we zigged and when we
zagged. “Thank you, Lord.”
Thursday, July 30, 1942
0730 – I start to fall asleep standing up as the
gentle rhythm of the boat rocks; incidentally, I
seem to be a good sailor – no ill effects of any kind.
Lie down for an hour to make up for the early
(0300) rising. Read some Office; work away in the
library, then stroll along the flying deck bridge.34
A day made in heaven; indescribably blue sea, sky
unflecked even by the slightest wisp of a cloud, foam
cresting over endlessly as we plough ahead zigzagging with a purpose.
Remained on General Quarters until 2:30. The rest
of the afternoon passed uneventfully but at night
at 6:30 once more had General Quarters and we
stayed on until 11:00 when we were approaching
Hampton Roads [Virginia]. Turned in while the
rain howled outside.
Friday, July 31, 1942
Anchored; learned that we finally dropped the
hook at 3:00 this morning. Another safe voyage.
Deo gratias.
Sunday, August 2, 1942
Dinner with Fr. Dan O’Connor, S.J., a new Chaplain, and friends at 1526 Ocean View Avenue, Norfolk. Afterwards I took them around the ship.35
Thursday, August 6, 1942
Dinner is served without interruption, then I go
up on the bridge, talking with Dr. Daniels when
the Executive Officer called over and asked us if we
wanted to see the sunken ship about five miles off
the port bow. Just before starting over, I noticed the
PC ahead of us that had been crisscrossing in wide
sweeps suddenly cut across our bow at right angles,
hell bent for leather. I remarked her hectic gyrations
to Dr. Daniels, heard the Captain speak to Navigator
Eden, “Watch that PC.” I had just spotted the hull
of the sunken ship sticking up out of the water five
miles away with her flag still flying when I heard
peep, peep, peep, peep, peep, peep, peep, etc. at one
o’clock. The PC was signaling that she had made
contact. I dashed with controlled speed to my battle
station in the sick bay. I had hardly reached it when
the 5” gun on the stern blasted away. I thought at
the first blast that we had been torpedoed. A second
and a third blast followed in quick succession and
then silence. Learned later that she had contacted
two subs operating together, evidently aiming at
what would have been a prize catch to report to
Adolph on their return from fishing in these waters.
Met Mrs. Taylor again; a happy reunion.
Sunday, August 9, 1942
Chesapeake Bay. Yesterday we pulled up the hook
in Hampton Roads and made one trip up the Bay to
Wolf Trap, the degaussing station. Before pulling it
up, Boat Group tactics for invasion engaged the men.
Today enjoyed good weather in the afternoon
after a squally morning. An unusual sight was a
liner dressed in normal colors of white superstructure, black hull and red trimmings. She made a
lovely picture, cruising along slowly in the setting
afternoon sun that showed her off to excellent advantage. Reason for the normal dress was explained by
the identification on her side. “Portugal,” painted in
letters that could not be missed.36
Monday, August 10, 1942
Anchored off Cove Point on portside. Cove Point
Lighthouse is on a finger of land reaching out from
the Maryland shore. She is a little doll lighthouse
that apparently moved off a birthday card and forgot
34 An open area above the main bridge, with wide-ranging views of the surroundings. Often the highest point on a ship.
35 Like Foley, O’Connor taught at Boston College.
36 Portugal maintained neutrality during World War II.
24 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
�its way home. Dutch is the word for her. Beside
chapter
| for
god and
her is the 11
keeper’s
residence,
itscountry
red roof forming a
beautiful contrast with the white of the lighthouse.
Against the background of trees and thick foliage,
the whole scene is ready to be moved onto the
canvas of an artist, the setting sun lighting up all.
Standardization tests today: speed, forwards, backwards, the work of the compasses, the radio, etc.
Hoisting out of boats at 8:30 in the dark well done,
considering the greenness of the crew.
Tuesday, August 11, 1942
Went 40 miles up the Chesapeake for runs over
a measured mile. Off portside had first sight of
Annapolis, city of Anna. How beautiful she looked
bathed in the radiance of the morning sun! Unlike
buildings at Norfolk, her white and green and red have
not been transformed into war gray and dark green.
Mosquitoes are bad tonight. Men sleeping topside
complain of them. One of them visiting sick bay
said he woke up to hear them arguing whether
to finish draining him there or take him ashore.
Finally settled by one hummer who said, “No, if
we take him ashore, the big shots will get him!”
1800 – First invasion test opposite Cove Point. Out
in the stream with us are three of our sister ships.
We watched them last night; tonight we provide the
show. All invasion boats are hoisted out in amazingly quick time – 27 minutes. As they go over the
side, they cruise out to a predetermined circle until
all are over, then they come back in, one by one,
pick up troops, steam out to a designated new circle
off the starboard bow, then divisions cluster into a
flotilla under the command of Lt. Cmdr. Olsen in
Eureka boat.37 He gives the signal and they start for
the “enemy” shore, cross path of water between them
and us ablaze with the fire of the setting sun. Roar of
fourteen “Invader” motors breaks the quiet summer
peace of Chesapeake. Suddenly all the boats, now two
miles away, turn at a given signal, make for the shore,
let down their ramps, rush back to the ship and then fol-
low the same pattern as the first. So on indefinitely until
the assault troops are all ashore.
Later in the evening I answered Jim Gormley’s letter
informing him about intimate details of our ship:
“You will be glad to know that she has a bow and a
stern. The former is pointed and the latter is streamlined. You will also be interested in learning that she
has a number of decks, above and below the waterline. On these decks we walk. When we do, we wear
regular clothes, not bathing suits. Come the war,
bathing over the side went out. Our ship also cuts
a mean prow. Like other ships, she can cleave the
incredibly blue waters, turning them over and over
into endless waves of milky foam. You must know
also that she can churn a good wake. Seagulls coast
along effortlessly behind her, breasting the air. Occasionally they vary their routine and then resume the
even tenor of their flight. Once in a while they must
veer off their course when the engineers start to feed
their big pipe. Lastly, you must know for your complete satisfaction, that the chaplain is not the only
one on board. There is a skipper and a crew as well
as other staff officers. Now you know all about us,
so if we ever steam by your front porch, you won’t
be excused for failing to give us the 21 gun salute!” I
hope the censor doesn’t strike too much of this out!
Friday, September 8, 1942
Sailor, apparently unbalanced, tried to commit
suicide by hanging himself from the ramp of one of
the invasion boats topside. Fortunately, he is seen in
time and cut down before he strangles himself.
Saturday, September 9, 1942
During an interim in the morning’s business, I sit
me down to pick away at a letter to my big sister.
“A young fellow just left me who was stunned by
some news from home about the serious illness
of his mother who lives in San Francisco. Since
he was a Catholic boy, I could tell him there was
only one thing for him to do; kneel down before
the crucifix and on his Rosary ask for strength
37 A shallow-draft personnel landing craft that was widely deployed in WW II.
25 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
�from Our Lord to bear his cross. Precisely there
chapter
| for god
in their11background
our and
boys country
have a tremendous
advantage over the others, in the motives that
carry them through. Unfortunately, many of these
men from the South come from religiously illiterate families. God means absolutely nothing to
them. I try to steer them around to what they are
lacking, but it is a long voyage most of the time.”
“How is baseball coming along in Boston?
Marvelously, you say. That’s right by the Boston
papers. I pick them up in Norfolk when we go
ashore occasionally. You would never guess
where one Red Sox pitcher of the past wound up.
Pitching for Portsmouth here in the Piedmont
League; by name, ancient Jack Russell. How the
mighty have fallen! Tony Lazzeri manages the
team. Ben Chapman of explosive temperament is
also directing the fortunes of a team in the same
league. The salad days of both are now over
and it is rough going trying to please fans in
the hinterlands.”38
“In the meantime since I wrote to you last what
have we been doing? Running up and down
Chesapeake Bay practicing drills; fire, abandon
ship, gunnery. It is quite an experience to be
aboard ship when the guns are booming by day
but particularly by night. The nights are inky
black but starry. The target is idling at anchor
two miles away with a big canvas about ten
feet square riding on it. Suddenly our powerful
searchlight picks it out of the dark as we are making a starboard run. All the guns on that side are
manned. The orders come clear from the bridge
over the telephone; are repeated by the gunnery
officer. “Five minutes to go.” The men seem
almost indifferent as they stand around with
the refills. “Three minutes to go.” The trainer,
sighter, loader, powderman automatically tense
themselves. “One minute to go.” They are all
poised. “Commence firing.” The roar of thunder
fills every corner of the quiet night. A tremendous burst of orange flame licks out savagely at the
darkness. The hot blast wraps itself around us for
a split second even though we are thirty yards away
on the boat deck. The ship has shivered from stem
to stern but is herself again quickly. Meanwhile
the shell is whistling its way to the target – a silver
streak of destruction. Somebody shouts in admiration, “On the nose!” And there is a murmur of
approval from the crew; no histrionics of any kind,
just a Navy man’s approval of a good job. Again and
again at three second intervals the operation is repeated for half a dozen times until we steam by the
target, cease firing, and turn back for another run
with another gun crew to test its accuracy. Quite
an experience; a test of the caliber of the men.
Between ourselves, two broke under it: a young
Jewish ensign who thought he would have a shore
assignment and a fifteen-year old boy who falsified
his age to enlist. Both are now back in civilian life.”
Sunday, September 10, 1942
Met Lt. Owen Gallagher from Boston as he stepped
into the bus at Portsmouth; a B.C. graduate who
is now an officer aboard the USS Santee, a new
aircraft carrier.39
Tuesday, September 12, 1942
We are out in the stream again. A couple of PT
boats, black, lethal weapons roar by us.
Monday, September 18, 1942
I make a trip to the Norfolk City Jail this Monday
morning to rescue some of my men who had run
afoul of the law. I sit in the courtroom waiting for
their cases to come up. Before they do, five unfortunate women, none older than twenty-three, have their
cases called. The Army calls them camp-followers,
38 Russell was a journeyman pitcher who played for the Red Sox from 1926–1932. Lazzeri was a Hall of Fame infielder who played for the Red
Sox from 1926–1939. Chapman, a pitcher and outfielder who played for the Red Sox from 1937–1938, was noted for intemperate behavior
and brawling.
39 Gallagher (1902–1977) was a 1923 graduate and lawyer. A lieutenant commander in the Navy, he later represented the 8th Suffolk District
in both houses of the Massachusetts legislature.
26 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
�while the sailors label them seagulls. The five of
chapter
| for
godwhere
and country
them pass11
by the
benches
the spectators in
the jammed courtroom are sitting. They are the most
tragic specimens of womanhood I have ever seen.
As they were marched out of their common pen in
the rear of the courtroom, some of them were absolutely crestfallen, keeping their eyes on the floor,
their heads down. Others, apparently caring nothing
for the world’s opinion of them, wore an air of false
bravado but they were poor actresses. Their transparent braggadocio gave them away. All of them had
the stamp on their faces of what they were, women
of easy virtue. I don’t think they were to blame. I am
sure they must be victims of broken homes or of
vicious persons in this big port town. But all of them
confirmed the truth that when a woman loses her
purity, “in the love that blights and sears,” she loses
her dearest possession. Her soul as well as her body
is permanently scarred. She has lost faith in herself.40
When all of those sad creatures have been sent away
for indefinite terms for the protection of themselves as well as of society, the next case is of a girl,
a secretary at our Naval Base. She is obviously of
a different type. She has been caught “in articulo
amoris flagrante delicto.” The judge asks, “Where is
the man in the case?” as the police officer concludes
his evidence. The brave man is nowhere to be seen.
The judge warns the girl in a strict but paternal tone
that, if she appears before him again on a morals
charge, she will have the same sentence as those
who just preceded her. The judge fines her fifteen
dollars. Her sister, from Washington, D.C., is standing near her all the time and is almost beside herself
with grief. She is crying as though her heart would
break as she pays the fine and leads her sister, who
is dry-eyed, out of the courtroom.
My two sailors come up next. The judge listens to
my pleas on their behalf and then releases them into
my custody with a warning to them not to get into
trouble again while our ship is in Norfolk. “If so,
there will be no manifestation of leniency the next
time,” he tells them.
Thursday, September 21, 1942
Four new doctors come aboard; Anderson, Deaton,
Cassidy and Hughes. Cassidy is the only Catholic
among them.
Friday, September 22, 1942
I give out the heavy sweaters, helmets and sox donated by the Red Cross to the crew. This evening we
steam up the Chesapeake which is a moon-lit bay
this night.
Saturday, September 23, 1942
0730 – Word is piped down by the boatswain’s mate:
“TROOP LANDING CONDITION A.” We are
rehearsing for the invasions. All invasion boats,
the entire thirty-two of them, are manned by their
crews, the tank lighters, the Higgins and the Eureka
boats.41 Cargo nets are dropped over the sides of
the ship; the order is given to lower away. Down
the boats swing out of their nest over the side and
“Boats Away.” Meanwhile the light cruiser, USS
Wichita, off our starboard beam sends five seaplanes
aloft, her contribution to our umbrella of planes.
The aircraft carrier, USS Charger, steams by at full
speed, launching her planes from her flight deck
with split second precision. A battlewagon, the USS
Texas, on our port side cruises back and forth, forming part of our protecting screen. The men play their
part as though this was their tenth rehearsal instead
of only the second.
Tuesday, September 29, 1942
Dale Sparr, a storekeeper, starts to talk about the
movie we had last night, which he didn’t like. He is
from Hollywood. Tells me that one night he sat near
[actresses] Kay Francis and Miriam Hopkins in a
restaurant. They were worn-out women, he says. It
40 Foley taught literature, and “love that blights and scars” is from a popular romantic ballad—“The Barrel-Organ”— by the English poet
Alfred Noyes (1880–1958).
41 As with Eureka boats, noted earlier, Higgins boats were shallow-water craft designed to ferry troops from ship to landing beach. Lighters
were barges.
27 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
�was disillusioning to see them. The reality of what
chapter
11 like
| contrasted
for god and
country
they looked
so sadly
and sharply with
the fiction of the movies.
Wednesday, September 30, 1942
Carver, a Methodist, tells me that his one aim in life
is to be as much like Christ as he possibly can be.
again.” Noticed that none of them were as young as
our sailors, most of whom are around 18.
1300 – Six fussy tugs come steaming into sight
ready to shepherd us out into the stream, the
USS Allen, flagship, USS Susan B. Anthony, and
ourselves. Susie escorted out first, then the Allen
and lastly ourselves.
Convoy practice today. Behind us are the USS Penn
and the USS Electra. Signalman by the forward
starboard gun mount fails to make contact with his
flag with the signalman on the Penn, so he yells up
to the bridge to another signalman, “Give that guy a
growl with the light.”
Indian file, the USS Allen, USS Anthony,
USS Penn, USS Algorab sail up Chesapeake Bay
for maneuvers.43 Soldiers are enthusiastic about their
new home. “Chow excellent, quarters clean, etc.”
Thursday, October 1, 1942
Sunday, October 18, 1942
Invasion rehearsal again today. Location is shifted
down Lyndhaven Roads a bit. Beach is on our starboard side. Off our portside, a torpedoed tanker is
bottoms up in the roadstead, tirelessly washed by the
waves. She was being towed in when she gave up
the ghost and rolled over. She is now a melancholy
marker of the effectiveness of the German subs.
Mass at 0430. Crews’ Mass at 0700. Invasion
operations. Soldiers debark over side, down nets
loaded with their gear. One man first casualty; hit by
gas mask as he descended. Strange note to orders
introduced by orange butterfly with black-tipped
wings hovering near me, a reminder of a better and
happier world.
Ensign Mitchell Disney comes aboard, a transfer
from the USS Augusta, just a short distance away.
On her decks was held a meeting of Roosevelt and
Churchill when they signed the Atlantic Charter.42
Another casualty; Tom Delaney, soldier of the 60th Infantry. Ramp of forward tank lighter released without
warning and smashed his head. Nine stitches taken to
close the wound; broken vertebra and fractured rib.
Friday, October 2, 1942
Monday, October 19, 1942
First Friday. Better attendance than at daily Mass
during the week.
Mock invasion of Solomon Islands in Chesapeake
Bay. All troops disembarked without casualty; beach
taken at 1500. Quietness of scene only emphasized
the grim business that was at hand. All tanks, jeeps,
live ammunition taken by the troops.
Friday, October 16, 1942
Loading of troops and equipment that started last
Thursday finally comes to a halt at 12 noon. Soldiers
struggle up the gangplank with their packs, some
weighing over 175 lbs.; preparations are at an end
for a while. Now they can rest while we take them
out to sea or to the Chesapeake.
As he sat on a stanchion, I overheard one soldier say
to another, “I just know that I will never see my wife
Saturday, October 17, 1942
John Burke of Waltham, a B.C. sophomore, is a
member of the troops. He and his friend, Jack Bennett, a junior at Notre Dame, talk over collegiate
days. Both spin their dreams of what the future will
be when they get back home. Both are determined
to return to college to complete their education.
Then Bennett is going on for law, as his father wish-
42 The Augusta was a battleship that on several occasions served as Presidential Flagship, carrying FDR and President Truman.
43 All were battleships but for the John Penn and the Algorab, which, like the Clymer, were battle transport ships.
28 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
�es. As they talk, I wonder what lies ahead of them.
chapter
11 | for
godmy
and
country of youthA picture flashes
through
imagination
ful forms lying inert on a hostile shore. Will these
two splendid specimens of young American manhood, representative of all that is fine and decent,
be among them, their dreams snuffed out by enemy
machine guns? May God bless and protect them and
bring them safely back to their own.
Thursday, October 22, 1942
We put back into Norfolk from Chesapeake Bay. We,
the only ship of the force, fuel at Craney Island, take on
additional stores and ammunition. Also some strange
looking rafts that have paddle equipment with them.
Soldiers stay aboard and crew as well. I went ashore
and returned with two tenor saxes, one slide trombone, a set of drums; the beginning of an orchestra.
1700 – We head back up to the Chesapeake, drop the
hook and are back in our old stamping grounds.
Friday, October 23, 1942
0700 – We heave right up – 35 fathoms of chain –
tremendous power and strength that have held our
huge ship of 18,000 tons so loaded that there is gear
adrift all over the deck. No place below to stow it.
The anchor grinds up as though reluctant to leave
the soft mud of Chesapeake Bay. The hook finally
breaks the water.
0715 – Underway, we are the leader of the seven
other ships, all Indian file. On our starboard eight
lean destroyers, one flanking each ship. Oh, for a
camera to take a picture! On the horizon off our
starboard bow, a big battlewagon. Speculation rife
on whether or not she will be with us. We don our
life belts. When do we take them off?
way at last! Where? Tot sententiae quot homines –
Dakar, Solomon, France, Ireland, Middle East?
One guess is as good as another.44
Destroyers have now broken formation and are
scouting the sea lanes all around us, anxious to
make deadly contact with any lurking subs. We catch
up with the battlewagon that loitered along for us,
USS Texas, a massive floating fortress. She swings
in miles ahead of us, eyes the water below for our
natural enemies. Now we have a seagoing tug with
us, the USS Cherokee. We are running down the
Virginia coast; recognize the Cavalier Hotel where I
spent a delightful Sunday only four weeks ago.45
We look back, and as far as the eye can see, ships
are still in Indian file. We make a hard turn to port;
turn and count. Now in all there are 15 ships in our
convoy; two battlewagons, New York and Texas; one
tug, Cherokee; and eleven others. We are growing!
One of the doctors remarks, “Hitler, here we come!”
Another chimes in, “And does he know it!” Protection
all around us. Dirigible scouts, PBY [patrol] bombers,
surface craft – destroyers (12 now), minesweepers,
sub patrols, battlewagons.
As many as can, go topside to drink in the beauty of
the October harvest moon. The inspiration seizes me
and I write:
The time is 7:30. The place, somewhere on the
broad sweep of the Atlantic. Two hours ago the
sun, after shining in a cloudless blue sky all day,
dipped slowly below the horizon. In a last fling
of extravagance, as if to hint what colors it could
throw on the canvas of the sky if it had a mind to,
the sun painted the western horizon, crimson,
gold, then flaming orange, as if reluctant to leave
us at the end of a day that would eventually be
written into all the history books of the world.
1000 – We pass Cape Henry, Virginia, and weave
through the minefields. A subtle transformation
runs through crew and soldiers. We are on the
Accepting the challenge to paint a more glorious
picture, a full Harvest Moon slowly climbs in the
44 Foley intended the Latin proverb, from the poet Terrence, quot homines tot sententiæ—as many men as there are opinions.
45 Launched in 1912 and decommissioned in 1948, the Texas was active in both world wars. It is now a museum ship in San Jacinto, near Houston.
29 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
�East. Back home in New England, the nights are
chapter
11 farmers
| for god
and country
crisp. The
are getting
in the fat pumpkins and the overgrown squashes. The first hoar
frost is on the meadows in the morning and the
corn is stalked on the vacant lot down the street.
They are thinking of Halloween day a week away.
The leaves on the maples, oaks, elms are dressed
in a thousand radiant colors.
Now the same Harvest Moon looks down on our
tense convoy that has long since left behind the
protecting nets guarding the harbor of Norfolk
and Chesapeake Bay from the marauders of the
deep. We have eased out into the Atlantic. Our
formation is now three lanes of five abreast, now
five lanes of three, with the pattern constantly
shifting.
Suddenly, the ship swings hard to port and the
lanyards lace the face of the moon, changing it
every minute. They wrinkle her face; now vertically, now horizontally, now on a slant. Now the
20mm AA gun competes with its own design; its
hooded nose ready to be stripped in a split second
so that it can start to write its grim message across
the night heavens in the tracer ink supplied by its
crew that is alert.
We look down to the bow. There the spray is
tossed back endlessly, a cascade silvered by a full
Harvest Moon in the Atlantic. What a night! All
the massed power of modern warfare; soldiers
lining the rails and regretting that they didn’t join
the Navy – unforgettable!”
Saturday, October 24, 1942
We stand on the AA [anti-aircraft] gun deck,
leaning on the gun shield, silently admiring
and drinking in the strange, silent beauty of the
scene. From our middle lane we see big ships
like ourselves ploughing ahead with not a single
light showing, greyhounds straining to cover the
distance that separates us from our destination.
Off our starboard, a lane of hammered silver runs
from our ship to the little destroyer directly under
the moon in the quarter sky and steadily climbing, a ghostly galleon. Off our starboard, the USS
Texas, with reduced speed, leads the parade while
we keep on her stern. Even looking at her, you
sense the massive floating fortress that she is. If
we should happen to meet the Prince Eugen or
any sister ship of the ill-fated Bismarck, she and
the New York could take care of it. Her steel sides
bathed in the soft radiance of the moon, all her
war features are subdued.46
The world is wondering when and where the second
front will open. We know we are it, the spearhead
steaming across the broad bosom of the Atlantic.
Ashore, too, the President must be wondering how
we are making out. Hope he will be able to say,
“Fine, they made it!” Soon we shall be in the headlines. Wherever we are going, the scuttlebutt says it
will take 17 days.
1100 – General Alarm for sub.
1130 – Learned that French Morocco is our
invasion point, Port of Lyautey.47
In Major Dilley’s room I saw exact relief map of territory to be taken. He hopes that natives will offer no
resistance. Men are to land and take fort and airport.
I am bewildered by the complexity of detail necessary for an operation of this kind, yet we are but a
fraction of the entire USEFNA [US Naval Expeditionary Force].
46 The Bismarck, one of Germany’s largest battleships, was sunk by the Royal Navy in May 1941, following a now-famous nine-day pursuit
and battle in the North Atlantic. Its companion ship, the cruiser Prinz Eugen, escaped, survived the war, and was acquired by the United
States and used in the testing of atomic bombs at Bikini Atoll in 1946.
47 Site of a Vichy-held airport, some 75 miles northeast of Casablanca, that, once captured, served as a launch point for Allied sorties
over Germany.
30 | chapter 2: anchors aweigh
�3 | for god and country
Journey to Morocco
Sunday, October 25, 1942
Feast of Christ the King
0530 – General Quarters. Mass on boat deck aft at
0630, half an hour before sunrise. The altar is set
against the shield of the #16 and #18mm AA guns,
with crews manning them. Portside aft of boat deck,
as I turn around to start the Mass, the full moon
is setting in the west, a bit pale after its long trip,
looking as though it needed a rest. Stray clouds drift
along slowly, keeping company with the moon to
make sure that she will not be lonely. They are just a
handful who apparently detached themselves from
their brothers and sisters and went on their own.
The others have gone to parts unknown.
The winds are blowing a bit but nothing of consequence to disturb me during the Mass. Men, hundreds of them, stand in the three lanes looking at
the altar. A strange setting for Holy Mass but one
that is pleasing to Our Lord and that the men will
not forget. One regret – the celebrant has to keep
a silent tongue in his head when he had so much
to say; an unexpected and most untimely attack of
laryngitis hit the Chaplain, first ever of its kind.
Printed a dope sheet to familiarize men with some
necessary points. Gave General Absolution.
Lieut. [Mark] Starkweather, leader of 15 Commandos, taken aboard at the last minute. They are to cut
the sub net up the river where we are to land. He
tells me that the 5th Columnists of ours have been
doing their work in Morocco for a long time.48
Just before he left Washington on this trip, he said
goodbye to an officer who told him that he would
meet him on the dock in Morocco.
Lieut. Starkweather sent one of his Commandos,
Ernest J. Gentile, to me with offers to help me in
any way that he could. Later in the afternoon he
visited my room. He told me their job is to cut
the net silently for passage up of a destroyer; they
have rubber boats with paddles on board. Hope to
take charge of the net tenders without resorting
to bloodshed.
Why did he sign up for this volunteer work? “I told
my wife that I would give everything I’ve got; this
was a chance to give. Will be doing our bit to bring
the war to a close in a hurry. I’d hate to think that
my two little girls would have to live in a world ruled
by Hitler and his gang. That’s why I signed up.”
Calmly he spoke of his ambitions and ideals, the
long preparations made for this raid, how he used
to read about such things in books as a boy, without
ever dreaming that he would take part in one
some day.
48 Mark Starkweather was a munitions expert working in salvage diving at Pearl Harbor when he and a small group of men with experience
working under water were brought together to take part in the North Africa landing at Port Lyautey, forming a unit charged with disabling
underwater defenses that blocked battleship access to the Sebou River and the nearby Vichy fortress and airfield. The unit’s effort was
successful, as Foley relates in his diary, and each member would be awarded the Navy Cross—second in distinction only to the Medal of
Honor—for his work. The ad hoc unit was then disbanded but is considered the forerunner of the Navy Sea, Air, and Land Teams, known
as the Seals.
31 | chapter 3: journey to morocco
�Monday, October 26, 1942
2000 – I go looking for Chaplain Tepper, a Jew-
Today, our fourth day at sea, is fairly rough for landlubbers. Yet, Mr. Kreutzer, 2nd Division Officer, asserts that this amounts to nothing. He was crossing
the Pacific once, when his freighter tried to climb a
wall of water three times and slid back three times.
Yet it is rough enough for us strangers to the sea.
Last night in my bunk, I smacked my head against
the portside bulkhead as the ship rolled way over.
ish Rabbi, to obtain one of the harmonicas that he
brought aboard. One of his soldiers wants to make
the night loud with music. Before leaving he presented me with one of the pocket knives that will be
given as tokens of friendship to the native Moroccans. Brightly colored blankets and cloth are also
among the goodwill offerings that make up a part
of our strange cargo.
Out on deck after celebrating Mass with a dozen men
receiving Holy Communion. As far as the eye can see,
white horses are on the rampage. One of the ships
behind is really pitching. Her keel is visible ten feet
below the waterline as she rises up on the huge waves.
1200 – A new convoy of four ships joins us, the
battlewagon Massachusetts, two heavy cruisers,
and a tanker. They flank our starboard side of the
convoy, sliding along slowly, their horsepower cut
down to keep company with us fellows who are
making only 15 knots.
2200 – I go to the chart room directly behind the
bridge and discover what our course has been.49
First we sailed directly south until we were north of
Bermuda, east of Charleston, S.C., then we sailed
directly east, then north, then east again until at
this hour we are about 800 miles directly east of
Baltimore. We delayed to allow the convoys departing after us an opportunity to catch up.
Lt. Robbins of the Army stops me on the way out
from the wardroom. Wonders if it would be possible
for me to mail a message to his wife after his outfit
leaves the ship. “Just in case I am ploughed under,”
he says, “I would like her to have a last word from
me.” He speaks quietly of his little girl four months
old whom he hopes that he will see again. He will
write a letter to her also. But his problem, “What if I
write, yet nothing happens and I manage to be one of
the survivors of the initial attack?” He remarks that he
will wrestle with the problem for a while, then let me
know his decision. He is a young fellow, well-educated, who speaks in soft tones; yet through those tones
runs the quiet determination that must make him a
good officer for his men. I don’t like to think of him
lying, a crumpled piece of humanity, on the French
Morocco shore. He, like all the others aboard our
ship, has so much to live for. May God bring them
back safely to their own some day.
2230 – Discussion in the passageway with Lt. Gilchrist and Dr. Walker. They tell me this will be the
largest number of ships ever to sail together in
history. We have now picked up three subs that are
riding straight ahead of us on the surface. When we
start landing operations, they will help to form part
of the protecting screen with orders to shoot anything in sight that heaves.
Also learn from them that the password is
“Bordeaux,” for our friends ashore. They speak the
word, then show the inside of their hats on which
the same word must be written. Practically all of our
fifth column groundwork in Northern Africa has
been done by Free French sympathizers.
One hour before “H” hour all the governors of
Northern Africa with the exception of Spanish
Morocco will be handed a letter informing them of
the turn of events. They are expected to take the
correct decision.
49 Perhaps because he was a chaplain and Catholic priest, Foley seems to have had access to areas of the Clymer and to information that
were not accessible to the average officer of his rank.
32 | chapter 3: journey to morocco
�Tuesday, October 27, 1942
Friday, October 30, 1942
5th Day at Sea. Mass at end of General Quarters
as usual in the library.
8th Day at Sea.
Today a fairly smooth sea running after the heavy
weather of the last two days. Taking advantage of the
change, three planes from the four carriers astern
of us put off and go long range scouting overhead.
Before long their reports come back to our ship indirectly – four German submarines 25 miles directly
ahead. Immediately, we strike off to starboard on a
new course to avoid those who would at least try to
detain us, if not permanently detach us and as many
as possible from our convoy.
0730 – At breakfast we learn that the new convoy
has arrived. Promptly we stow the rest of the toast
down the hatch, then make for the flying bridge.
Then a sight! As far as the eye can see, ships of all
sorts, shapes and sizes. Aircraft carriers, battlewagons – three more of them; 25 more transports,
innumerable destroyers and SPs, heavy cruisers, all
rolling in the heavy sea. It is an impressive, aweinspiring sight, one that never does tire the eyes.
Suddenly, the formations are shifting. We slacken
our speed, they cross our bow at a slight angle; we
pick up speed and move out to their portside. Our
two middle lanes of ships move into the middle of
their lineup and our starboard line shoots far out
to form the starboard column of the entire convoy.
Again, the sight is most impressive. As far as the
eye can see, in every direction, ships are ploughing
ahead while our watchdogs now steam alongside of
us; then turn back. Then they shoot in between us
to nail any sub foolish enough to try to do damage
within the columns.
0815 – Quarters Commander Irwin informs us that
we must all be inoculated against typhus now
for those germs have no respect for gold braid.50
He tells us that November 7 is the “H” day; that in
this convoy he counted 49 ships and then gave up.
“Business is meant on this trip and we must do our
part; we will do it, so let no officer consider it beneath
his dignity to grab a line that needs attention when
we are engaged in the unloading operations.”
1030 – I continue instructions in the faith with
Washington, Mess Attendant. My question is
“Who is God?” He answers, “God is a being who
is infinitely perfect,” and I ask him, “What do
you mean by infinitely perfect?” And he replies,
“Nothing no better!”
The one carrier that has been with us since the
second day of the trip has her flattop jammed with
Army planes. They will land after the capture of the
airport at Port Lyautey before they start winging
their way east to battle the German Luftwaffe.
Spend most of this day laying the keel for Sunday’s
sermon when the men will be at Mass probably for
the last time, for “H” hour is 2400, midnight Saturday. It is hoped that all good Frenchmen and native
Moroccans will be sleeping the sleep of the just.
Before retiring I step out on the flying bridge. A
destroyer is only 50 yards off our port beam, hugging
close to keep off those four subs sighted earlier.
Saturday, October 31, 1942
To the soldiers a letter from General George Patton
is read in which the reasons for this expedition are
outlined. At the close of the letter he writes: “The
eyes of the world are watching you, the heart of
America beats for you, God’s blessing is with you.”
50 The gold shoulder braid worn by aides to senior Navy officers.
33 | chapter 3: journey to morocco
9th Day at Sea.
I go topside after breakfast. Far off on the horizon the
tankers are feeding their black gold to the cruisers and
destroyers. We have slowed down to eight knots to keep
the convoy together during this fueling at sea operation.
Using the glasses of one of the lookouts, I count
�73 ships within sight. There are others, how many
I do not know, making up the rest of our armada.
After the heavy weather of the last three days, we
find the sea smooth-surfaced this morning. The
planes off the four carriers astern also finally have
another opportunity to go aloft to scout hundreds
of miles afar for our natural enemies.
0900 – At this hour we were supposed to have
emergency drills. At 0930, the tweet, tweet, tweet,
etc. of the public address system sends us to General
Quarters, forward by starboard and aft by port.
Contact with a sub is made by a destroyer off portside aft. Our ship shivers twice as two depth charges
are dropped over the side. We sit in the sick bay,
our battle station, and again the ship shivers as
one more can is let go at the one who would dare
approach us with our ample protection.
In the Junior Officer’s Wardroom this evening we
were listening to the broadcast of the WisconsinOhio State football game with Ted Husing announcing. It sounded strange to hear him say: “I hope
you’re enjoying this game as much as we are no
matter where you may be listening to it!” We were,
at the time, sitting in practical darkness with illumination provided by just one small blue battle light,
for “Darken Ship” had gone into effect two hours
previously. We were getting ahead of the folks back
home on time with every passing day. Eventually we
would be six hours ahead of them.
This evening three depth charges make things
uncomfortable for subs that dared venture too
close to us.
Our ship is a floating arsenal. If she is hit, the report
will be that she “disintegrated.”
Sunday, November 1, 1942
Feast of All Saints and 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
0650 – Mass at the end of General Quarters; about
350 in attendance, 125 Communions, a most edifying sight. Very windy. God is pleased with our surroundings. Overhead is the blue canopy of the sky.
We have no walls broken by stained glass windows,
just sterns and bows; we boast no marble inlaid
floor, just a wooden deck; no fluted columns soaring aloft and carrying on their shoulders tons of
masonry and steel; only a strong king post adorned
with cables and pulleys and lines that are whistling
in the wind.
0900 – General Service. About 200 there, including
Major Dilley. I speak of Jesus Christ and loyalty to
Him, the need for a man to examine the foundations of his life at this crucial time.
0330 – In the afternoon, Benediction on the boat
deck aft; the first with my Benediction kit. Rosary;
full-throated response by Catholic men most inspiring. Altar is placed against the side of one of the
invasion boats. To the left is an AA [anti-aircraft]
station; men manning it over the side. Starboard are
ships of our convoy, all steaming south away from
the western sun that is slanting its rays on us. Three
hymns: “Mother Dear, Oh Pray for Me”; “Holy God We
Praise Thy Name”; “Tantum Ergo.” Unforgettable –
men remark on it later!51
Jack Bennett, Notre Dame boy, 15006 Fenway
Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio, serves my Mass. He is
one of the soldiers aboard ship. He says that he gets
more of a thrill out of serving my Mass on the boat
deck aft, flush against the side of an invasion boat or
up against an AA gun mount shield, than he did the
times he served in Cathedrals.
Friday, November 6, 1942
Ship vibrates violently; four depth charges dropped
by destroyer ahead of us. Later tremendous oil slick
floats by our starboard side.
“Wallace Beery” Johnson, member of Naval Commando Net Party, weight 225, infectious smile,
gentle as a kitten, pounds out a good tune on the
51 Benediction is a devotional ceremony whereby a priest blesses the congregation with the Eucharist.
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�piano, his favorite – “Indian Love Call” by Victor
Herbert.52
0330 – Tea and toast.
0500 – Five French ships, merchant-men, pass right
Saturday, November 7, 1942
ahead of us, blue, red, green; “Foudrayante Domremy” unmistakably painted on the sides.54
Mass at dawn; about 50 received. Our planes are
flying in formation over us. THE DAY! Men give me
letters to mail “just in case they are killed;” give me
money to hold for them or to send home.
0545 – Lieut. Starkweather sends up red cluster that
shows the net has been broken and that the destroyer USS Dallas can go up the river to the fort and
then on to the airport.
0900 – Soldier on deck singing as he makes his way
aft – “Give My Regards to Old Broadway.”
0605 – Tremendous barrage of red hot steel laid
0330 – Benediction and Rosary; 300 present.
down on the beach. Broken arc of red dashes against
the black velvet of the night sky.
Saturday Night, November 7, 1942
10:00 p.m. – Jagged lightning behind what appear to
be hills in the distance.
12:00 – Midnight Patrol Boat – if it fires, “Blast her
out of the water.” We also passed a Portuguese ship
last night brightly illuminated. She did not see us;
if she had, she would have been sunk after her
passengers were taken off.
Dawn. A cloudy day. Lieut. Haile returns to the ship
and remarks that the first three waves got ashore
without difficulty. Commando Net Party returns
to ship; net not broken. Searchlight picked them
up – crossfire of machine guns nailed party down
helplessly.
0740 – Shore batteries open fire on us alone; we
12:45 – Go topside, inky blackness; can’t even see my
are the biggest of eight ships with all invasion boats
clustered around us like a hen with chicks – eight
near misses. Wheeeeeeeeee-----then tremendous
geysers; one shell right over the forecastle. We could
follow the course of the shells coming from the fort
on the crest of the hill.
hand in front of me. Two clusters of light ashore;
boats going over the side.
0800 – “Enemy Bombers Overhead!” from
I give out Viaticum53 to the Catholic men in the
library after hearing confessions.
Executive Officer.
I stand by silently and bless the men as they start
their battle operation. The President speaks four
hours before we land.
0805 – USS Pennsylvania AA guns fire –
two puffs – plane aflame, plunges into ocean,
disintegrates.
0230 – Mass in library with Jack Burke present.
0315 – Topside. Cmdr. Irwin is directing traffic on
the bridge.
0815 – USS Savannah and USS Texas pour tons
of steel into the fort. Ammunition dump ashore
a pillar of smoke.
52 Beery (1885–1949) was a large, beloved, rough-hewn character actor.
53 Eucharist offered to those in imminent danger of dying.
54 Foley’s reference to “French ships” in this case is to vessels sailing for the exiled Free French government. In most cases, the French he
refers to in the diary are Vichy troops, whom the Americans—and Free French—fought in North Africa. “Foudrayante” is a French verb
meaning to strike powerfully, while “Domremy” is a misspelling, and should read Doremy, which was Joan of Arc’s birthplace.
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�0945 – Three casualties; two serious – Lt. McCrackin
Monday, November 9, 1942
and Kolfenbach, a Catholic to whom I administer
the Last Sacraments when he was dying after being
on the operating table for two hours. Four bullets
drilled him; strafed by planes as his boat hit the
beach. “All hands to General Quarters; enemy
submarine sighted off starboard beam.”
Arose at 0700. Mass attended by Commando Party
in gratitude for their safe return. Day is a bit cloudy;
“rainy sunshine.” We move closer, within four miles
of beach. Tremendous surf crashing on the jetties,
ship rolls on the swell. Fifteen more wounded. We
move within one mile of the beach. Picturesque
summer colony of light brown cottages with
red-tiled roofs. On this beach our men landed
yesterday morning.
1230 – In sick bay. Depth charges rocking ship during operations on wounded. We maneuver wildly to
escape subs.
1330 – We have command of the air with our planes
cruising in formation over us. Topside, heavy firing
shoreward and seaward. Radio man tells me last
report. “Co. F reports that it is completely surrounded by the enemy.”
1630 – Six more casualties; three ambulatory.55
Lieut. Starkweather of Net Party reports that
“we were spotted immediately and caught in
searchlights, withering crossfire of machine guns,
both jetties, and then we had to run for it as the
fort laid it on us also.”
Young sailors who wouldn’t wear life jackets once
now all wear them; wouldn’t wear helmets either.
“Enemy bombers overhead” cured them. Strange,
even at that announcement, how one could be so
cool, stand watching them, and go to bed at 2015
and sleep through a quiet night.
Four men dumped out of boat as she was being hoisted in; dangerous but nobody is injured, fortunately.
One man wounded in arm; was ducked once on beach,
then again as he was being lifted into the ship.
Twenty-three American bombers fly over us. Last
night two destroyers pour hot metal over the hills at
some objective which we cannot see; arc of red hot
dashes for miles.
Boat #5 spills being lifted up with one wounded
man who gets ducked. Inboard guy loose. Five
dumped when Penn tanker hit sandbar, then surf
upended, nosed her over with men in tank.
Report on radio: “Fierce fighting north of Casa
Blanca.” “That’s us,” says Perkins, E. M. 1/c.
Sick Bay Cases:
1. Machine-gunned by plane before hitting
beach.
2. Machine gunned on shore.
3. Shrapnel cases.
55 In the winter and spring of 1995, Foley was interviewed several times at Boston Collège by Steve O’Brien, who was writing a thesis based
on Foley’s diary. Foley was ill with cancer at the time, and he would die on October 21, at age 91. The following, in which Foley reflects on
his encounter with the wounded of Port Lyautey, is from a March 6, 1995 interview and appears in O’Brien’s published thesis Blackrobe in
Blue. “War wounds are not the neat wounds inflicted by a surgeon’s scalpel by any means. You wonder where flesh begins and where the
sand begins. Grenades hitting people or something like that. The bullets. The grenades. The human body is just a mess. I was only afraid
once in the Navy, when I went down with that purser to sick bay with the doctors. By then the German submarines were bothering us and
we were ‘dogged down’ as they say. So if a torpedo comes in, only that particular place would be lost, flooded completely. And here I am,
about 100 wounded aboard the ship and they are lying on the tables in the mess hall and boy did I play the hypocrite. I was deathly afraid
for the first time. As Shakespeare said, ‘My seated heart knocked against [at] my ribs.’ It was pounding. Pounding. And here I am going
around as a hypocrite telling the poor wounded boys who were moaning, ‘We’ll be alright.’ And here I am. I never met a man yet who was
in danger, whether from shore batteries or from bombs or submarines who wasn’t afraid, no matter who the officer was. That was the
only time in all my service days that I was ever afraid. After that, I had had my baptism, and I wasn’t afraid.”
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�4. Concussion – Jack Bennett.
5. Man blinded in whose face gun exploded.
6. Crushed by boats against side of ship.
7. Crushed by boat broached on the beach.
8. USS Penn: Seven drowned in tank boat nosed
over by surf-heavy swell, i.e., way ship rolled.
One man about 26 was quietly sobbing to himself. “If I can help you, I’d be glad of the privilege.
What’s the trouble?” “Nothing, sir.” After a while,
he said that he went to pieces under the gunfire,
machine gun, plane strafing, and coast artillery and
men crumbling on every side of him.
1000 – Commando Net Party tries again. I give
Catholics Viaticum; six of them.
1015 – They shove – portside aft – pitch dark down the
landing net. Just before they go, “Kneel down, men.”
Benedictio Dei, etc. “May the blessing of Almighty
God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost descend upon you
and remain forever. May He be with you in your
mission and bring you back safely.”
Tuesday, November 10, 1942
There was a knock on my door at 0400. Three men
of the Party, Chief and two others. “Well, Padre, we
made it.” Congratulations and then the story. Ran
out of fuel first, came back at midnight to the ship,
then started in again, black as coal. Tremendous
surf. Got by the jetties, being carried down the river.
No Colonel Henny on the dock of the fish cannery
as expected. Suddenly swept onto the net; rocket
guns cut steel cables one inch thick – one cut, current
forced most of cable out; then cut the other and both
of the two dories at either end of them swept out to
sea and they swept out after them, raked by machine
gun fire from nests south of the fort and by 75mm
from near the fort; shell about 18 feet long and eight
inches in diameter. Green, the bow hook,56 Southern
youngster. “Did you ever operate a machine gun before?” “No, sir, but ah sure operated this one!” (Quiet, soft-spoken, yet to shave.) Courage and bravery of
56 Look-out who sits forward in a boat or ship.
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these boys under fire – don’t worry about American
youth, one and all of them. Surf 30 feet high on way
out. Boat about 30 feet long pointed bow rides up
to the crest and then drops as if going over a cliff.
Lt. Starkweather lifted up bodily, flung nose first on
the deck– sprained ankle, smashed fingers. “Would
rather face hell of machine gun fire than that surf
again.” Afraid – all of them grown men but got used
to it after a while.
0700 – Destroyer Dallas goes up the river 48 hours
late with 80 Rangers to take the airfield.
1030 – Seven casualties brought alongside; four
brought aboard when General Quarters was sounded.
First Aid station was set up on the beach, then carried
out, ferried to us on ship in tank lighter. Three left
behind in lighter as we got underway on sub alarm.
I stayed with a Lutheran who remarked, “I sure
would appreciate a prayer.” He had been wounded
by shrapnel in the arm badly, in the forehead, on
the left eyebrow, left hip, left leg in front and right
calf. “Sweet Jesus, mercy. I offer up this suffering
for you in union with your sufferings on Calvary for
my sins, for my buddies wounded and lying ashore
without protection or attention.”
1345 – Just met Lt. Gilchrist outside my door. He was
in the tank lighter that capsized yesterday 300 yards
from shore, in 30 feet of water, nosed over by 30 feet
of surf. Four soldiers in tank trapped and drowned,
sunk not like a stone but like what she was – a tank.
1350 – End of General Quarters.
1430 – Dive bombers, three of them, circled over
target on hill, then leveled off, came in and blasted;
then Texas on north and Cruiser on south poured in
their salvos of shellfire.
1500 – Tug pulls alongside with two Frenchmen;
name of tug – Moumein. Two family men said that
�Germans took them to Dakar. They jumped off the
ship and swam ashore. French think they are fighting
the English. Took both of them to wardroom for coffee. They asked for milk for the children. Loaded them
with food and their tug with supplies for men ashore.
Situation ashore: Airport taken today at 1200. Our
P-40s land; five nose over. A Major, one of our
patients, was the only one seriously hurt.
This afternoon casualties started to flow back to us;
lose first man, Huffstutler, from a bullet wound in
stomach.
A Protestant carried over his heart a copy of the Gospel according to Mark, small copy – bullet cut through
it and picture of his girl and left only a black and blue
bruise. “Supply your own explanation, Father.”
1800 – Dinner in wardroom, radio turned on.
Englishman broadcasting from Berlin remarked that
Mehdia Beach had been captured. First mention of
us at all by any commentator. Oran and Tangiers
fell last night, Monday.
2000 – Executive Officer informs me that the
Captain desires burial of soldier who died this
evening to be done ashore tomorrow morning.
Wednesday, November 11, 1942
0900 – I go ashore in support boat with body of
Huffstutler. Two machine guns on either side and
cases for 48 rockets, 4 lbs of TNT, racks six on either
side with four slots on each.
We hug the south jetty on the northern side. Swirling current and surf about ten feet high. See tragic
reminders of inexperience of coxswains with this
shore; overturned lighters near the rocks. River runs
parallel with ocean after a sharp turn.
We hit Brown Beach and as I step ashore on African
soil for the first time I raise my hand in blessing.57
The entrance to the fort is just off the narrow catwalk.
Off to the left is the house where temporary headquarters have been set up. I inform the doctor present
of my mission and am directed to Blue Beach where
a cemetery is being built. On the way up I see the
roadway lined with bodies of Americans and Moroccans. Directly overhead are the frowning walls of the
old sandstone Moroccan fortress that our men took
by storm yesterday. After a mile and a half ride in an
Army jeep I met Dr. Cassidy, our young doctor, who
went ashore with the medical detachment Sunday
morning. He is happy to see me and all his corpsmen
sing out a “Hello, Father!” They are working like slaves
taking care of the American, French and Moroccan
wounded. A hospital has been improvised of a large
summer residence. Twenty beds have been set up and
there the wounded are being attended to. I give the
Last Rites to two badly hit Frenchmen who will die.
Mehdia Plage itself is a picturesque little summer
resort of 154 houses by actual count. French love of
color in evidence – buff, cream-colored walls, blue
blinds, red and green tiled roofs.
I am told that Army Chaplain Tepper, the Jewish
Rabbi for whom I am searching, is up at the cemetery just over the brow of the hill behind the town.
On the way up I see three women and a cluster of
half a dozen children about four and five years old.
I tell Conway the bugler and the soldier accompanying me to wait for a minute while I go down and
identify myself as a Catholic priest and give them
some medals of Our Lady and the Little Flower.
The eyes of the mothers light up at the mention
of St. Therese de Lisieux.
Pass gabled house – seven gables and cone-shaped
roof, along a sand road, down, then up a slight incline,
a turn to the left through the short cedars, where an
American flag identifies the location of seven American bodies. There is a sailor from the Anthony Cooper
who is awaiting burial. He was killed when his tank
lighter capsized and his head struck the side.
57 Foley had a practice of blessing every shore he landed on while in the Navy. He also blessed, from a distance, men in sinking ships or
under fire on shores or trapped in airplanes he saw fall from the sky.
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�Chaplain Tepper is now down at the fort I am told,
so I start down for the Mehdia Plage again and
receive a ride up to the fort there and meet Tepper
who is directing the collecting of the bodies. The
fort was a formidable military installation, a steep
precipice on one side and three slopes leading up to
it on the other side, pitted with foxholes and trenches. Flanking its approaches are large concrete square
houses with half a dozen compartments. These
presented an obstacle to assaulters that was costly,
as the corpses stiff, cold, and frozen in the grotesque
positions of their death agony testified.
What a hideous, repulsive countenance war has.
It tears the heart to see the tragedy of young faces
upturned to the sky, staring with glazed eyes
meaningless at the sun.
When half a dozen bodies had been collected in
addition to my two boys – sailor and soldier, I started
the service at about one o’clock just outside the east
end of the fort by a Moslem cemetery. Along the
south wall were lined the bodies. Along the east wall
the graves were being dug by 50-odd Arab prisoners.
They stopped, flanked me on the right, with 50 of
our soldiers on my left, the bugler on my rear.
I read our prayers over them after the soldiers and
Arabs and a few French have snapped to attention
when the order was given them. “May the Angels lead
thee into Paradise, may the Martyrs receive thee at thy
coming, etc.” Never shall I forget the circumstances
under which I conducted that funeral service. Overhead the blue sky was cloudless, a gentle Moroccan
breeze stirred the air of a day warm with sunshine.
At the foot of the hill, swinging idly at anchor, were
our eight ships, commando and cargo, while the
protecting screen of destroyers and patrol craft and
the battlewagon Texas kept away the marauders of the
sea. Straight ahead stretched away the broad reaches
of the Atlantic. Over the edge of its horizon was
country, home, dear ones, for all of which these boys
from New York and Michigan and Texas had died that
the foul breath of Hitlerism might never come close
enough to blight those near and dear to them.
Here these boys lie on the crest of this hill on which
they gave their last measure of devotion. The bugler
sounds taps and we have paid them our last respects.
“Eternal rest grant unto to them, O Lord, and may
perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls
and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in
peace. Amen.”
The simple but impressive ceremony is over and the
Arabs go back to their task of digging the graves. A
Catholic boy who comes up to me regrets that there
was no Catholic priest aboard his ship on the way
over. I hear his confession then and there on the hill.
I wander around the hill and the fort to give my
blessing to men whose bodies have not yet been
brought in, twelve in all. A young officer, Lt. Sharf,
is one who ate in our wardroom; a splendid young
Jewish boy who wondered when he left the ship at
midnight Saturday if he would see his wife by her
next birthday in May. He lay where he fell, 200 yards
from the east wall of the fort, dying as he led his
men in charge. Inside one of the small rooms in the
glorified pillbox are two Catholic boys who managed
to get in alive but will be brought out differently.
They are lying in their own dry caked blood, their
heads horribly gashed, brain of one of them completely exposed.
Off to the west are two long trenches protecting the
line of six 5” guns that lobbed shells at us Sunday
morning. One had been blasted by a direct hit. At the
base of the other lay a boy by the name of [Michael]
Hastings from New York City. His mother, mercifully,
will never know how he looked in death.58 To one and
all of them I give my blessing. The last has a small funeral group as three sailors join me in saying prayers
over a boy from Indiana. At the lighthouse one of the
Lieutenants whom we carried over the ocean informs
me that he will be grateful if I would explain to the
58 Foley would later write to Hastings’ mother. See entry for May 5, 1943.
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�Arab family in the square white house next to the
lighthouse that they may stay if they wish. I tell them,
“S’il vous plait, restez ici.” The man of the family is
grateful for the information and stops carting out
their pitifully few possessions. Their mule that had
given them, I suppose, patient dogged service, is
dead alongside their door.
Returning down to Brown Beach we see more
evidence of the murderous efficiency of the dive
bombing that finally crushed all resistance.
I speak with French boys 16 and 17 years old. They
say that they did not know that they were fighting the
Americans; they thought they were English – for whom
they have apparently only a bitter hatred and would
fight to the year 2000 against them.
1600 – We return to Brown Beach where the prisoners are industriously unloading our boats of their
supplies. A squadron of deadly tanks roar out of
the temporary garage on its way to a rendezvous
somewhere.
Chaplain Tepper in charge of the personal effects of
the dead boys gives me something that touches me
deeply – a copy of Joyce Kilmer’s “Prayer of a Soldier
in France,” that I had mimeographed and gave out
at the last Sunday Mass aboard ship. Yes, this day
will be among one of the unforgettable!59
Upon returning to the ship I learned that the
Armistice had been signed at 1 p.m. this morning.
Thank God this needless bloodshed is over, in at
least one section of a bloodstained world in which
Germans are killing Russians and English, Italians
and Americans, French.
Climb up the side of the ship by Jacob’s ladder hand
over hand up 50 feet of landing net. Pitch dark ship
rolling in the long swells swings us out away from
the side and then in to it.
Thursday, November 12, 1942
Unloading of ship continues. I visit the wounded in
their staterooms; we have 65 aboard.
Friday, November 13, 1942
I go ashore in the afternoon to visit the American
wounded in the French hospital in Port Lyautey. I
step ashore at Brown Beach, arrange for transfer of
all wounded – 60-day convalescent cases, beg a ride
in an Army jeep to the town over the crest of a hill.
The town stands out dazzling white in its African
colonial setting against the white green of the surrounding hills. At its entrance soldier guards challenge us. I identify myself and my mission to the
two soldiers who recognize me as off the Clymer;
recently they were two of the passengers. Off down
the long paved highway flanked with quaint houses
of varying design – some modernistic, square-boxed,
cream-colored walls, blue blinds, yellow roofs. I
guess that they are, or rather most of the buildings
are white to lessen the heat of the Moroccan sun. In
the hospital I greet two of our boys badly wounded;
one will die, the other will live minus his left forearm. I give out cigarettes – worth their weight in
gold, chocolate bars, and apples; people have had
a lean time these last few years.
Visit with two Salesian Fathers who greet me affectionately. A trip to the Church which has a most
emphatic tower, its most striking feature. The young
priest with me identifies the architecture as grotesque. Inside are the statues of Our Lady, St. Anthony
of Padua, The Little Flower. It is the Church of Christ
the King. Although the Catholic population of the
town is 17,000 and the Moroccan is 8000, most of
whom are destitute, the practicing Catholics are not
too many. One church is adequate for the needs of
the entire town.
We pass the Municipal Building which is also
striking to the eyes of an American in its design.
59 A Chicago native, Chaplain Irving Tepper was an Orthodox rabbi attached to the Ninth Infantry Division in North Africa, Sicily, Britain, and
France. He landed on Utah Beach on D-Day. Described by a fellow officer as “a frail bundle of enthusiasm, 120 lbs. dripping wet,” he died
in France on August 13,, 1944, at age 31, of wounds received from a German bomb.
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�On the way back to Brown Beach in the jeep, I espy
Major Dilley of the Army. We have a happy reunion
for a few minutes. When we last heard of him, he was
shying away from shrapnel thrown by a French shell.
It was good to see him safe and sound after so many
wounded. He informed me that 74 Americans were
killed, about 700 Frenchmen and Moroccans. Their
firepower could not match our rifles, more rounds,
grenades, machine guns, artillery, etc.
Saturday, November 14, 1942
Sperry of the Commando Party presents me with a
beautiful picture of the fort. I shall always treasure
this tangible evidence of their thoughtfulness. It will
also help to freeze in my memory the spot where I
counted 58 crosses last evening.
Lt. Mark Starkweather, 3174 165th Street, Cleveland,
Ohio (his permanent address) finds that he has a
broken heel as another souvenir of his trip up the
river to break the net.
Sunday, November 15, 1942
Although we were supposed to start out for sea
yesterday afternoon, we didn’t pull up the hook until
0630 this morning.
0715 – Mass. End of General Quarters. “Where are
we going?” is the question on everybody’s lips. Casa
Blanca is the answer to the question; again, only a
guess but a good one for our ship has only one-third
of her cargo unloaded and it would seem the height
or the depth of inefficiency for us to carry back again
all this most important material.
1210 – We sight the Electra sinking. She was one of
our group which, for some strange reason, ventured
out alone last night and caught it early this morning.60 At two o’clock we make out, on the shoreline
with which we have been running parallel all the
way, a beautiful town – Casa Blanca, with the hills
rising directly behind it. Most modern in design;
apartment houses, corner windows, ten stories high,
cream and buff colored buildings.
As we come in behind the breakwater we see evidence
of the naval struggle that took place last Sunday, melancholy reminders of what might have been.
Dr. Walker mentions that four of our transports
were sunk just off this breakwater while unloading
Wednesday after the Armistice had been signed.
About one hour ago just outside the harbor the
sea was littered with our life rafts and sea rations;
tangible evidence of something that was hit.
Tied up alongside of us and the French freighter on
the south side is a torpedoed destroyer that shipped
the tin fish just above her waterline. Just the other
side of the little railroad, off our starboard, is a French
destroyer and a battleship burned at the water’s edge.
Sermon today at Mass. Introduction – eventful week,
recollections of things seen and heard, impressed
indelibly on the memory. Each man has his own
recollections. Mine: Saturday – Mass – Benediction,
Viaticum – stories – St. Mark’s Gospel copy shot –
Big One – Funeral Service – Setting. One thing we
all share is our obligation of gratitude to God and
remembrance of the souls in Purgatory.
1900 – Just back from the USS Hambleton, destroyer
tied up alongside of us. It was a torpedo that wrecked
one of her engine rooms, one fire room, and the electrician’s room, killing eighteen and wounding six.
The four ships sunk, Adam, the fireman, tells me
were Rutledge, Scott, Hughes, and Bliss – all transports. Tanker Winooski that came across the ocean
with us also caught two torpedoes. Scuttlebutt has
us unloaded by tomorrow night and then setting
out for home once again.
60 The Electra, a cargo transport that was carrying wounded from North Africa when she was struck by torpedoes from a U-Boat, did not in
fact sink, but was saved by a salvage crew and beached on North African soil. Once repaired, she returned to duty and later served in the
Pacific Theater.
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�RADIO PRESS RELEASE. Churchill announced
yesterday that subs hunting in packs off the
N. W. Africa coast had paid a heavy price for their
foolhardiness; thirteen were sunk in the last three
days, five yesterday.
Monday, November 16, 1942
Casa Blanca is indescribably beautiful in the morning
sunrise. Lt. Ellery of the USS Hambleton, moored
on our portside for steam and electrical facilities,
inquires if I am a Catholic priest. We make arrangements for Confessions at 1600. I hear them and then
I go into the machinist’s shop to bless the bodies of
the three men taken out of the gaping hole in her
portside that was the engine room until a torpedo hit
her three nights ago at Fedela, where the tanker, the
Winooski, also caught it along with the Rutledge, the
Hughes, the Scott, and the Bliss.
2000 – 150 English soldiers and merchant marines
come aboard. They were torpedoed on September
12; lost 2000, 1400 of them Italian prisoners, when
their ship, the Laconia, was torpedoed. Since then
they have been in a prisoners’ camp. Remarks: ”It
was music to our ears to hear the noise of your
guns.” “I think that this meal is all a dream after the
stuff they have been giving us.” “Sir, I have been in
the desert for two and a half years but I never did
see such beautiful dive bombing as on last Sunday
morning.” One youngster, Paddy Kenny from Liverpool, is only fifteen years old; shipped in the merchant marine. “We all thank God that we are here
this evening.”
leave granted anyone. Just before we leave the Commander calls me to pacify Raymond Colle, a French
boy of 18 who is sick with anxiety about what the
[Vichy] French will do to him if he is put ashore.
He was a member of the Army that swung over
to General de Gaulle. Now those who did that are
being shot as deserters as quickly as they are apprehended. Outfitting him in an American coverall
and soldier’s jaunty cap and putting him under the
special protection of Lt. Brooks quiets him. He will
proceed to Port Lyautey where he will join up with
the de Gaullists there.
I meet Major Creedon, one of our guests, and find
that we have a common friend in Fr. Webb of Woodstock, England, fame.
Some English were saved after their ship, the
Laconia, was torpedoed. They would sail by day;
then at night the sub would insist on towing them
back to the spot they had left in order to be picked
up by the [Vichy] French cruiser which the sub
had contacted. Men aboard the sub who hailed the
Limeys spoke perfect English. On one occasion they
had to put four Italians over the side. “It was a case
of either them or us.” Sub apparently saw the operation, came alongside, challenged them about it; the
German remarks, “Good work, after all, they were
only Italians.”
1300 – We carefully nose out of our pocket in Casa
Next an Italian sub contacted them and asked if they
had any Italians aboard their ship when she was hit.
“Yes; they are aft about five miles.” “Thank you; do
you need anything?” “Could use some water.” Gave
them six bottles of water and same amount of very
good wine. The irony of this gesture!
Blanca Harbor as #23 on the list of ships that have
been shoving off all morning. Goodbye to Casa
Blanca without seeing her obvious beauty at close
range; too dangerous to venture ashore. Hence no
The Laconia lost 2000 souls when she went down
in about twenty minutes even though she was about
18,000 gross tons.61
Tuesday, November 17, 1942
61 The Cunard liner RMS Laconia was torpedoed in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa by a German submarine on September 12. It was carrying 1,800 Italian prisoners of war as well as British passengers and military personnel. One thousand and four hundred of the prisoners,
locked in their quarters, drowned when the ship sank. Others, along with the British crew and passengers, escaped to lifeboats and were
picked out of the sea or taken in tow by four U-boats that then signaled their intention to bring the survivors to waiting Vichy craft. The
submarines were nonetheless attacked by an American B-24, resulting in the loss of several hundred survivors. The Laconia Incident, as it
became known, was raised during the Nuremberg Trials in defense of German naval practices in World War II.
42 | chapter 3: journey to morocco
�Wednesday, November 18, 1942
When daybreak comes we are well on our way out
to sea with land no longer visible. Our small convoy
of eight ships finds its number increased in the
afternoon when three huge Army transports loom
up on the horizon, headed directly for us. They are
former Grace liners, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil;
each about 25,000 tons and used exclusively for
transporting troops, unlike ourselves who are
combat ships.
Thursday and Friday,
November 19 and 20, 1942
Sea is a bit choppy.
Saturday, November 21, 1942
Sea really begins to kick up after fueling of
destroyers, one on either side of tanker. During
this evolution we slow down to about five knots
per hour.
Sunday, November 22, 1942
0650 – Mass in Junior Officers’ Wardroom; crowded
with about 70 present.
1000 – General Service in NCO Mess. Largest
attendance since I came on the ship. We are growing. The first Sunday total number of non-Catholics
two, then five, now eighty. I gave them a Catholic
sermon without the word “Catholic.”
1530 – Rosary and Benediction. I am sure Our Lady
is pleased with the mixture of Scotch, Irish, Cockney
and Yankee dialects making answer to the first part
of her Hail Mary.
Ocean really boisterous, in fact boiling today,
whipped by a 20 mile wind that we push up to
35 by our speed. Shrouds are constantly moaning;
everything is securely lashed both inside and on
the weather decks.
Sea is alive with white caps and waves that rise to a
crest of 30 odd feet. Foam lashed off the tops by the
wind forming rainbows on every side of us. Suddenly
43 | chapter 3: journey to morocco
a three-decker rainbow colors the sky in the west
where we could see a rain squall a short while ago.
Ships on every side rolling and pitching violently.
Chenago, aircraft carrier, taking water on the nose
of her flight deck; tanker shipping water regularly.
We, I imagine, are like the ship in front of us. When
her bow plunges down, her stern rises high and the
propeller, apparently angry at being lifted out of her
element, lashes out blindly for the sea that wouldn’t
stay altogether with her and white spray is thrown
five feet on all sides.
The piece-de-resistance is furnished by the Chaplain
[Foley] at dinner. We had been sliding a little bit in
our chairs which were not lashed to the deck. Whenever we felt a move coming, we held onto the table
until the roll stopped, but for this one there was no
warning. Dr. Harris asked the Chaplain for the bread.
The Chaplain had just finished putting a piece of
white turkey in his mouth. With the other hand he
picked up the dish of bread to pass it. Then, the roll.
We slid to the portside, three feet, myself and the tailman, then a long ride of fifteen feet to the starboard.
All had grabbed something by this time except the
Chaplain. I set sail again for the portside, holding out
a loaded dish of bread in one hand, trying to make a
sale, and armed with a fork in the other. “Look at the
Chaplain,” I heard as I went sailing by the customers!
Then my ride was over.
Thursday, November 26, 1942
Thanksgiving at sea. Catholic Mass at 0700.
Standing room only. Congregation – Yanks,
English, Irish, Scotch.
1000 – General Service. Congregation the same;
standing room only.
Dinner. Rough sea like a street on a windy day when
the snow is falling, streaks of snow everywhere, not
an even blanket. Streaks of foam; combers breaking all over the face of the ocean. Spray whipped off
the crests lashes me in the face as I look over the
starboard side. Forty winks. Visit to the wounded.
Instructions to two potential converts.
�Sermon: “Today, men, is Thanksgiving Day. This
morning we are gathered together here to take part
in a service of gratitude to Almighty God for the
blessings He has bestowed upon us.
“Although at first sight it may seem that out
here on the Atlantic, 1100 miles from home,
our little service is slight and inconsequential
but that is not the case. It would be if we were
alone but we are not. By prayer, the strongest of bonds, we are united to countless other
services being held all over the globe, at home
and abroad.
“At home in our own country, the memory
of Thanksgiving is being renewed in every
section. The day has been consecrated to
prayer by our President. So in the majestic
cathedrals and modest churches back home,
our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters,
wives and sweethearts and friends are raising
their voices in song and prayers of Thanksgiving. Perhaps they are worrying, wondering
how we are faring, little dreaming that their
fervent prayers have stood us in good stead.
“Abroad, wherever American soldiers are
stationed, on ships of our Navy at sea, divine
services are being held. For the first time in
history, Thanksgiving ceremonies are being
conducted in Westminster Abbey with an
American Chaplain presiding. Aboard ship,
we too render homage to God and join with
all those services everywhere. Our prayers do
not ascend to the white throne of God as single, isolated fragments but as part of a mighty
host of prayer, welling up from hundreds
of thousands of hearts all over the world in
Thanksgiving.
“As one of the Officers remarked this morning,
‘We indeed have much to be thankful for.’ The
personal blessings that God has conferred upon
us, we alone know their number. What they are
is a sacred secret between us and our Creator,
but we do know that deep down in the sanctu-
44 | chapter 3: journey to morocco
ary of our hearts where we walk alone with God,
where no man treads without intruding, that the
protecting arm of God was not foreshortened.
One and all of us can look back upon moments
when we were intimately aware that God was
with us, moments either of the remote or of the
recent past – as recently as two months ago or
two weeks ago.
“Some among you now listening to the sound
of my voice looked death in the face for six harrowing days and five nights in small lifeboats
on shark-infested waters. Death stared at you
and passed you by – for others. Others among
us apparently had a rendezvous with their last
hour when landing upon Mehdia Beach and
after landing upon it. Yet death stared at them,
too, and passed them by –for others.
“Those of us left aboard ship know that we
were enveloped by God’s protection. It was
there for all to see it. Shells whined aft of us,
over us, and off our forecastle. They fell all
around us from coastal guns. Yet not one hit
its target.
“Now go back, for a moment, to that historic
day when we steamed out of Hampton Roads
on our way at last to open up the much-heralded second front. If any man had ventured
to predict that we would return home with our
ship intact, except for the loss of a few boats,
and more wonderful by far, with our crew unharmed, he would have been labeled “crazy” for
ignoring the percentages of modern warfare.
Yet here we are – ship and personnel intact.
“The same cannot be said of other ships and
their personnel. If I may be pardoned for injecting a personal note, I buried sailors from
other ships. I have conducted funerals before
as an ordained ambassador of God but never
shall I forget the service on the top of the hill
next to Fort Mehdia. The Armistice had been
signed a few hours before. A number of bodies were hastily collected. I faced them, the
�long row of them. Beyond them I could see
our ship and her sisters peacefully swinging
at anchor out on the broad Atlantic. The time
was one o’clock. The day was beautiful with
a clear, blue sky overhead and warm with
Moroccan sunshine. On my right, 50 Arab
prisoners of war who had been digging the
graves. On my left, our own American boys
– comrades of the fallen. The age-old prayers
for the dead, always moving in their simplicity began:
“May the Angels receive you into Paradise;
May the Martyrs take thee at thy coming;
May thou, with the once poor Lazarus,
Have rest everlasting.
“I am the Resurrection and the Life.
He who believeth in me, even though
He be dead, shall live,
And everyone Who liveth and believeth in
Me, Shall not die forever.
“Eternal rest grant to them, o Lord,
And may perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls and the souls of all the
faithful departed,
Through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.
“Taps were sounded and when the last note
had died away, the final blessing was given to
our heroic dead. They lie buried on the crest
of that hill looking out over the broad reaches
of the restless Atlantic, toward country, home,
friends, and those near and dear to them for
whom they gave the last full measure of devotion. God, we may be sure, is mindful of their
sacrifice. He is mindful, too, of the honored
45 | chapter 3: journey to morocco
dead of our allies, soldiers, sailors, and members of the merchant marine. We pause to
pay them all our meed [share] of tribute and
remember them in our prayers where prayers
count most, at God’s altar.
“In the words of Scripture, ‘They had girded
themselves, they were valiant men, they were
ready against the morning – they had fought
the good fight, they had finished their course,
they kept the faith.’
“What of us? We must make certain that we,
too, have girded ourselves with the double
bond of loyalty to God and to country that we
may be valiant men in the discharge of our
duty to both, that we may be ready against
the morning when the white tremendous
daybreak of eternity dawns for us. We must
also bend every effort to fight the good fight,
to finish our course, to keep the faith. Then,
and only then, are we making the best possible return to Almighty God for the blessings
and favors that He has showered upon us.
He will know that our thanksgiving is not an
empty, hollow phrase, but a sincere, honest
expression of gratitude that rises straight
from hearts of men whose lives are a living
confirmation of what they profess with
their lips.”
Monday, November 30, 1942
HOME, NORFOLK, VA.!!! Minus four ships that
went East with us – they are now filed in Davy
Jones’s locker. Thank you, Lord, for bringing
us safely back again. We, indeed, have much to
thank you for! Thank you, Lord, again, for a safe
7000 mile round trip.
�chapter 4 | for god and country
What a Trip!!!
Monday, December 14, 1942
In port at Army Base, Norfolk, Virginia; ship is
moored to the dock. I go ashore to secure some
sheet music for our musicians and have dinner in
the City Market. Imagine Faneuil Hall Market [in
Boston] in one big cement building. At one end of
it is a lunch counter. “This will be a good place for
me to get a fine steak.” Girl, “No steak, but you buy
it and we’ll cook it.” To the man at the meat stand
in back of me, “I want a good steak.” T-bone, one
pound, $.65. Back to the counter with it, wrapping
and all. “Here it is.” “What else?” “One raw onion,
tomatoes, mashed potatoes, a glass of beer, dessert
– apple pie and two big scoops of ice cream.” Best
steak I have had in Norfolk in a blue moon. Happy
surprise! Frank MacDonald, S.J., one of our passengers. “Goodbye” at BC., now he shows up as
Chaplain of the CBs.62
Young sailors; an 18 year old taking his first shave;
boys standing around, kidding him. “Just put a little
cream on your whiskers and let the cat lick it off.”
Wednesday, December 16, 1942
Nine days before Christmas we leave the Army
Base, anchor out in Hampton Roads on a morning
harshly raw, grey and cold; in the afternoon, snow
falls. First time for Kendrie, a Southerner. Scoops it
up with delight.
Thursday, December 17, 1942
We begin the first lap of our second cruise. Heave
up the anchor at 0830 on a bright, crisp December
morning; temperature about 35 degrees. Sun is shin-
ing in clear sky but coldly. It is too far down in the
sky. Our passengers this trip different from the last.
Then they were assault soldiers; Commandos and
Rangers. These are Construction Battalion men,
not Army. They are an older group; men who had
already established themselves as machinists, welders, divers, electricians, etc. They line the decks as
did the last passengers. For the large majority, this
is their first ocean trip. As I go topside with some
of their Officers to identify for them the landmarks
on the Virginia shore and Cape Charles, Delaware,
I speak to some of the enlisted men. Ask them how
they feel as we get underway. Reply, “This is what
we have been waiting for.” “What kind of sailors will
you be?” “That’s what we are wondering about, too.”
“Well, we’ll find out shortly.”
Within ten minutes we have passed through the
submarine nets, pulled back by their little tenders
on the north and south side. The order comes from
the bridge: “All hands wear life belts.” Once more
we are on our own, with destroyers on ahead of us,
in Indian file, seven of them. We too are steaming out, Indian file, the second of the ships in our
division, following the USS Allen, our flagship. We
are making about 15 knots with the rudder pushed
over hard to port and to starboard alternately, as we
weave through the minefield. At the end of an hour,
the destroyers fan out into picket lines on either side
of us. We pick up a cruiser and an aircraft carrier,
her flight deck loaded down with planes. The
USS Chenango is the same one that travelled with
us to Africa last month.
62 A reference to Naval Construction Battalions, commonly referred to in writing as the “Seabees.”
46 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
�By the way, this is [one month since] we left
Casablanca. We have a feeling that it will be much
longer than a month before we see home again,
if ever.
As we stand up forward on the flying bridge, the
edge on the sharp wind is knifing into us. One of
the doctors, a Southerner, can stand it only a short
time and goes below.
We guess where we are going. Consensus of opinion
is that we are headed for the South Pacific, New Caledonia. Chief Jenkins has a hunch that we are on our
way to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic which
he visited some years ago. Wherever it is, these men
will not have to fight for their landing beaches as
did the last passengers. Our cargo this trip is not
ammunition, aerial bombs, tanks, jeeps, half tracks,
etc. We could build a city with what we have on
board. Cement mixers, cranes, derricks, bulldozers,
lumber, etc.
We head directly east and follow the buoy-marked
channel for 60 miles, while the destroyers keep tabs
on any marauders of the deep that may decide to
send a “fish” into us.
die or not.” The afternoon continues cold, the winter
sun sets and the bugle plays the “Darken Ship” melody. At the evening meal, some of the officers who
are passengers are conspicuous by their absence.
Seasickness is no respecter of persons.64
In the evening, in the wardroom, two movies are
shown. How War Came, propaganda film, worthless.65 And an educational picture on Tracer Firing,
actual shots taken aboard the HMS Excellent during attacks by Heinckle dive bombers on this ship.
At their conclusion, I go topside before turning in
and am amazed at the change in the weather. The
temperature has climbed thirty degrees to 65. I go
into the charthouse where Sutherland, QM1/c, tells
me that we are 200 miles out to sea and close to the
Gulf Stream and that the temperature of the water
is 72 degrees. Now our course is directly south.
Fr. Frank MacDonald, S.J., Chaplain of the
CB’s is sick! May have to put him ashore at first
port touched.
Friday, December 18, 1942
Second day out.
0650 – General Quarters. All hands don life jackets;
After dinner I notice one of the CB’s leaning
his head against the Welin davit.63 Ask him if he is
seasick. “Yes, sir.” “That’s too bad; sorry to hear it.
How does it feel?” “It makes you feel as though
you don’t want to stay alive.” Others are leaning
over the rail parting company with their meal.
Their look alone would generate sympathy from
the oldest seadog aboard. Seasickness, as somebody
once described it: “The first day you’re afraid you’re
going to die, the second day you’re afraid you won’t
die, and the third day you don’t care whether you
to battle stations one hour before dawn. Thick weather; ship rolling and pitching. Off Cape Hatteras.
0750 – Secure from General Quarters. I celebrate
Mass in the Library.
0830 – Reading my Office in my room, starboard side,
which is four decks above the water line. Suddenly a
crash of thunder against the side of the ship, a splintering roar and water pours through my porthole. Torpedo hit? No, thank God. We shipped a big wave. Boat
63 A davit is a small shipboard crane used for such purposes as raising and lowering lifeboats. The Welin Lambie company, based in
England, was (and remains) a leading manufacturer of davits.
64 Darken Ship is the order to close off all light that could be seen by an enemy.
65 Produced by Columbia Pictures in November 1941, How War Came is a brief animated documentary in which Mel Blanc, who voiced Bugs
Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and hundreds of other cartoon characters, provides the voice for Hitler. It was nominated in 1942 for an
Academy Award for “best Short Subject.”
47 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
�swung outboard and the Welin davit is smashed, her
portside stove in against the second boat in the nest.
Water is cascading over the side from the deck. Members of the 2nd Division rush to the spot to secure her
before she becomes a total loss. Soon they have her
lashed securely to the other boat and to the rail. Men
lying stunned on the deck; two injured by water that
flung them against the bulkhead.
Weather is really rough. CB’s are seasick on every
side. My room boy, Godwin, is sitting in a corner,
picture of dejection; smiles wanly as I ask him,
“Has it hit you again?” He had had a bad cruise
on the way to Africa. “Yes, sir.” “How do you feel?”
“I got misery in my stomach again.”
Walking around the ship on the stern are the
hardy members of the Seabees, enjoying the mountainous sea right on the fantail. Suddenly we all
duck. A big wave breaks right on our starboard
quarter. We don’t take her aboard but we are
showered by spray. Intermittent rain squalls with
beautiful rainbows on every side. This is Cape
Hatteras in winter. Old seagoing chief tells me
that Limey sailors have a saying that “If you get
by Bermuda in winter, watch Hatteras.”
Saturday, December 19, 1942
Third day out.
Heavy seas still running. Many passengers stay
below deck, lying on their bunks hoping that mal
de mer will stop plaguing them.
1145 – Tables all set in Officers’ Wardroom. Suddenly a
tremendous roll; every dish and piece of silverware and
glass is sent crashing to the deck. Imagine going into a
china store and tipping over a dozen showcases packed
with crockery and you have some idea of the racket.
The Plan of the Day carries a notice for the first
time that a party is on tap when the ship crosses
the Equator. Hosts will be shellbacks, sailors who
have already crossed the line and been initiated into
the SOLEMN MYSTERIES OF THE DEEP; guests,
victims rather, the uninitiated, the Pollywogs.66
NOTICE
all ye pollywogs beware for on that day king
neptunis rex, ruler of the raging main with davey
jones, his majesty’s scribe, the royal scribe, the
royal judge, the royal doctor, the royal dentist,
the royal barber, the royal undertaker, the royal queen and her two royal babies and the remainder of the royal party will initiate you into
the solemn mysteries of the ancient order of
the deep. from now on all ye trusty shellbacks
observe these scum of the earth, these landlubbers, pollywogs, marines, and what ye have, and
turn in the charges you prefer against them to
the royal scribe who will preserve same until
the day of reckoning. the day of reckoning.
Sunday, December 20, 1942
Fourth day out. Enroute to Panama.
Plan of Day nominates me for special duty.
NOTICE: One of the foremost and holiest pollywogs
on board, namely, Chaplain Foley, was overwhelmingly nominated to compose the “POLLYWOG
THEME SONG” which all Pollywogs will be requested to sing to the tune of “How Dry I Am” before the
august presence of the great Father of the Sea “King
Neptunis Rex.” Of course, the penance to be administered for failing to learn the words of this song is
withheld for obvious reasons:
I’m a pollywog,
A low pollywog
How low I am,
No shellback knows.
I grunt and groan,
I sweat and moan,
How much I moan,
No shellback cares.
66 Ceremonies that mocked pollywogs—sailors who were crossing a latitude line for the first time—were well-established by the
18th century.
48 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
�He breaks my back,
My spine’s a crack
Despite the fact,
No shellback cares.
He thinks he’s comical,
When he’s anatomical,
He whacks my fanny,
Till I ain’t got any.
A shellback’s tough,
He boasts he’s rough,
There’ll come a day,
He’ll cry “Enough.”
I’m a pollywog,
A low pollywog,
How low I am,
No shellback knows.
Weather moderates; beautiful summer day,
sunshine streaming down on us, a West Indian
sun. At night full moon under Southern skies. Back
home, folks are hustling along the street trying to
keep warm by walking briskly. They are standing on
the corner wondering if the bus will ever show up.
They shift from foot to foot, clap their hands together and here we are, walking around the deck in
summer khaki clothing, sleeveless sport shirts.
Mr. Oleson, First Lieutenant, old merchant marine
captain, blonde, blue-eyed Norwegian, tells me of
Pat, the dog on one of his ships. Ugliest face in
creation; always assaulted newcomer to ship with
unbounded display of affection; weighed about
100 lbs. Meanwhile an apologetic stump of tail
wagged furiously. Newcomers mortally afraid of
him. Boatswain’s Mate came aboard one night; dog
made for him, picked up chair to protect himself.
Oleson, “He won’t bite you; look at his tail.” “Am I
going to believe his tail or his face?”
Talk: This morning, men, is the most eventful
day in your lives. For many of you it marks
the first time that you are attending the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass in a setting that must
seem strange to you at first sight. Instead of
kneeling on the steady deck of a shore chapel,
you are kneeling on the rolling deck of our
ship and perhaps you wonder whether it is
you or the deck that is rolling.
Yes, our setting is a simple one, yet most
impressive in its simplicity. It is true that
we have no expensive stained glass windows
breaking our bulkheads, only the bow and
stern and the sides of invasion boats We are
open to the blue ocean on both our starboard
and port sides. It is true also that our altar
background is not some costly marble hewn
from a famous quarry but only steel plates.
And as we look forward we see no slender
columns soaring aloft, carrying on their
strong shoulders tons of masonry. We see
only massive kingposts adorned with guys
and cargo booms hugged close to them. It is
true also that overhead we see no vaults lined
with delicate stone tracery. Yet we have the
blue canopy of God’s sky which no architect
can rival. He can only hope to copy it. Yet the
very simplicity of it brings us closer to God as
those of our ship’s company will testify and
best of all, Jesus Christ, true God and true
man, feels perfectly at home in this setting.
He is one with us for we should remember
that sometimes we are inclined to forget that
He also went down to the sea in ships. He
chose men who wrested a hard living from
the depths of the sea to be the first members
of His Apostolic Company. To St. Peter, a fisherman, He said, “Follow Me and I will make
you a fisher of men.” He knew what it was to
sleep on the fantail of a ship. He knew what
it was to feel a ship roll and pitch under him
on the surface of Lake Gennesaret67 in Galilee, a huge inland sea, that was no lily pond
67 A place name applied in the New Testament to a stretch of land at the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee; in Luke, the name is also
applied to the body of water itself.
49 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
�but a body of water where storms rushed and
whipped down from the mountains, lashing thousands of white horses and made old
hands like Peter cry out, “Lord, save us or we
perish.” Christ also mustered men for His
ship’s company like St. Paul who knew the
privations and hardships of duty ashore and
afloat even to the point of being shipwrecked
three times. Yes, Christ is no stranger to our
way of life. But the questions arises, “Are we
strangers to His way of life? To Him?” That
question was put and answered in the days
of Christ by one who said, ‘He stood right in
your midst and you didn’t know Him.’
He was a plain, blunt man, John the Baptist.
He spoke straight from the shoulder. He was
not brought up in the lap of luxury but in the
dust of the desert; his rations were locusts
and wild honey. Since he was the man who
was to introduce Jesus Christ, the Savior for
whom the world was sorely waiting, he prepared himself by long years of solitary prayer
and meditation in the desert. Then when all
men were on the tip-toe of expectation, John
suddenly appeared and delivered his message
and the burden of that message was the need
of repentance. “Make ready the way of the
Lord.” At this time of year shortly before the
anniversary of the first coming of Our Lord,
once again John’s message of preparing our
souls for the appearance of Jesus Christ is put
before us for our sober consideration and the
best way today as then is repentance.
Repentance. What is it? Fundamentally, it is a
change of heart, leading to a reformation of life.
A man looks into himself and asks himself a
question, ‘How do I stand with God?’ He
hears God asking him the question, ‘Is your
heart right with mine as mine is with yours?’
And by a right heart God means a good heart.
For a heart is either good or bad in the sight
of God. If it is a good heart, then it is a stranger to mortal sin, that deadly enemy of the
50 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
soul that lurks on every side to torpedo it on
its voyage to eternity.
Thank God for it, if our heart is a good heart
and has avoided the enemy; remember here
as elsewhere eternal vigilance is the price
of safety. If the heart is a bad heart, then
unfortunately, mortal sin has sent its deadly
destructive message home into it and the soul
has sunk to the bottom of the ocean of life.
But unlike the sinking of other ships, this
sinking is not permanent for the soul can be
raised and be built as good as new by Jesus
Christ, the Carpenter of Nazareth. If only He
is given a chance in the Dry-dock of Confession where the salvage operation takes place.
Once He works on the soul, then it is ready
again for another cruise much stronger and
more certain of arriving safely at the harbor
of eternity for Christ is on the bridge with it,
directing its course.
We must have Christ, Our Lord with us on
the bridge of our life. If we haven’t, then we
are foolish indeed, no matter what our rank
or rating. Some years ago I was stationed
in a hospital acting as Chaplain. One of the
patients in that hospital was a man who was
slowly wasting away and who was also stone
blind. After the noon hour when things were
quiet, I used to drop in to pass the time of
day with him for a few minutes. On this
particular day I stayed for one hour while he
rehearsed the story of his life. As I was leaving I asked him, “As you look back over your
life have you any regrets?” He replied, “Yes, I
have one regret. That regret is not because I
didn’t know what it was to know success and
fame and fortune; I drank deeply of all three.
As a young man in my thirties, I tried every
major murder case in my state. My name was
on everybody’s lips so much that I was elected
with a large majority to the State Legislature,
and I was wealthy as men of this world measure wealth. But I was poor; I thought in my
�pride that fame and success was due to my
own unaided efforts. I said I have one regret.
You are a young priest. Burn these words that
I forgot into your soul and wherever you go
tell my story. I forgot those words of Christ,
“Without Me you can do nothing.”68 Happily,
before it was too late, before I met Him at the
Judgment Seat of Almighty God, I saw the error of my ways and mended them. Wherever
you go, Father, tell my story; I hope that it
may jolt some men’s souls out of their indifference to the one person without whom they
can do nothing.
“Without Me you can do nothing.” That is the
stark truth. We can do nothing that counts
for eternity, or for time for that matter, which
has lasting value in the sight of God unless
Jesus Christ is on our side, unless He is with
us. And He is only with us when our heart is
a good heart; when, as it were, it is afloat on
the ocean of life and buoyant with His grace,
not a torpedoed wreck on the bottom through
mortal sin.
As we look forward to Christmas, the latest
anniversary of His coming, let us make sure
that it will be a memorable one, that it will
live in our memories, not merely because we
shall attend Christmas on the high seas but
because this year we were closer to Him than
ever before, because He found in our hearts,
alive and warm, the welcome that, with His
grace, was so conspicuous by its absence on
the first Christmas morn.”
Monday, December 21, 1942
Fifth day out.
between San Domingo, the other end of Center
Island, and Puerto Rico. Named Mona after the
island at the southern end of it.
Distance so far: Norfolk to Bermuda – 725 miles;
Bermuda to Puerto Rico – 950 miles; Puerto Rico
to Canal – 1060 miles. Total – 2730 miles.
Landfall at 1000. Gibraltar-like island, rising sheer
out of the sea, steep sides; hard to say whether
inhabited or not.
Temperature: Summer; men picking up
deep sunburns.
1230 – Love, SC 2/c69 has appendectomy. Sub alarm;
General Quarters in the middle of it. Sub, 1000 yards
off Montpelier, cruiser on our port, crash dived immediately. Destroyer sent back; stays there all night
to keep her under so that she can’t catch up with us
during the night.
Tuesday, December 22, 1942
Sixth day out.
CB Mike Rice, 43 year old lay apostle, brings me a
man who has been away from the Church for quite
some time. He introduces him with the following
words, “Father, this is Jimmy. I just did a greasing
job on him. Now you give him a change of oil.”
Wednesday, December 23, 1942
Seventh day out.
Dark plottings by the shellbacks who intend
to scalp us as we cross the Equator.
Thursday, December 24, 1942
Christmas Eve. Eighth day out.
We sight land at 1000; the land is Desecheo Island.
We are passing through the Mona Passage. There
are two passages on the way to Panama; Windward
Passage between Cuba and Haiti; and Mona Passage
68 John, 15:5
69 Ship’s Cook, Second Class
51 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
We arrive at Cristobal, Panama, about three o’clock; two
jetties protecting the harbor. Sailor and I remark on the
four shades of blue that stand out distinctly. The blue
�of the cloudless sky; the blue of the Montpelier, the
cruiser; the blue of the sea; and the blue of our ship.
All the same color but strikingly different shades.
First reaction to the sight of Panama, after the heat,
is the luxuriant growth of the vegetation. The low
hills are densely covered with trees and underbrush.
The color is the greenest of the green.
I go ashore to pick up some things for the Crew’s
Mess. Streets are palm-lined. Houses are roofed
with red tile. Walk down the main street. Stores
are set back from the curb stone; all have pillars
supporting the second deck that in turn is supported by pillars resting on the curb. All the stores
protect themselves from the heat by awnings that
carry all the colors of the rainbow. Houses are like
New Orleans French Quarter. Call on St. Joseph’s
Church. Fr. Mischotti is fixing up the altar; mutual
introduction; informs me that three other priests
are from Boston, all Vincentians.
1:30 – When I disembarked, stores closed for
afternoon siesta.
2:00 – Bustle of excitement; streets come to life.
Taxis cruising up and down, guitars making loud
gay music, voices rising and falling in harmony,
high laughter on a corner. One colored man is
threatening to whip another with a strap that he
waves menacingly in his hand.
Church is second floor; big hall. Colored youngsters
running around, having a high old time.
Street scenes: Woman balancing a basket that must
have been her own weight dexterously on her head.
Huge Negro sitting before a pile of coconuts, slashing
them open with a murderous looking machete and
eating the small nut about the size of an egg. Then
draining the watery colored fluid into a bucket.
Madames, over-rouged and underdressed, shamelessly sitting outside houses, soliciting their customers; love for a price.
52 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
We are to transit through the world famous Canal
built between 1904 and 1914. The Canal Zone is
500 square miles, 50 miles long and 5 mile strips
of cleared land on either side. Water of Canal: 85 feet
above sea level; 35 miles fresh; 15 miles salt – 8 on the
Atlantic and 7 on the Pacific. Width of Canal: 300 feet
at its narrowest; 1000 feet at its widest. Location:
Directly south of Pittsburgh. Locks: From Atlantic
end. Lake Gatun, largest artificial lake in the world;
164 square miles. Pedro Miguel, Miraflores, Chagres
River, a torrential, tropical stream fills Lake Gatun.
General Gorgas, Army Doctor. Yellow fever and
malaria decimated the workers; new arrivals heard
of deaths and sought immediate passage home.
Panama changed by him from the pesthole and
death trap of centuries into the healthiest area on
earth. Today its death rate is lower than New York’s.
How? By killing off the female mosquito, “Little Fly,”
and setting up 25 sanitation districts. Man in charge
had 20 to 100 laborers. Their work? At first, one
mile territory on either side of the Canal, cut brush
within 200 yards of all dwellings, drained standing
water, trimmed grass a foot high. Why? Because
mosquito easily destroyed by wind and sunlight;
sought grass and foliage for protection.
The Pacific end of the Canal is 20 miles east of the
Atlantic end. How explained? Well, the Isthmus
runs northeast and southwest and the Canal runs
more nearly north and south than east and west.
Fifty miles long, extends from Limon Bay on the
Caribbean to Balboa on the Bay of Panama. Canal
Zone: Owned and governed by the United States,
but political sovereignty technically remains in
Panama. The Canal shortens the distance between
New York and San Francisco by 8000 miles.
Friday, December 25, 1942
Christmas. Ninth day out.
Midnight Mass in the Officers’ Wardroom at 0000.
Altar looked lovely with my mother’s poinsettias in
Christobal vases that she will eventually have when
we get near home again. Choir did marvelously well
�singing the old hymns that are traditional for Christmas. Silent Night, O Holy Night, Hark the Herald
Angels Sing. Standing room only, 250 at the Mass,
Catholics and non-Catholics.
10:00 a.m. – General Service. At the end I am told
2:30 A.M. – To bed after my second Mass, but not
that a photographer has taken some colored movies of
the Service. I am happy to learn of it, but ask him to
take some of my Mass which follows immediately. He
does; a Christmas gift that I think I shall always cherish, but I don’t get the film. Security rules prevent it!!!
until visit to topside; full tropical moon directly
overhead.
12:00 – Christmas dinner with all the fixings.
3:00 A.M. – Underway, in transit through the Canal.
4:00 – To the USS Allen for Rosary and Benediction,
Slowly following the markers, white circles with
black crosses on them, all in pairs. Ship keeps its
nose pointed at the pair until it sees only one circle;
then it knows it is on the right course. Water is a
dirty brown color.
on the invitation of Lt. Hackett and Lt. Franceski,
USMC. Delighted to give men the opportunity of
having some Service on Christmas Day. We are now
at the Pacific end of the Canal, Balboa.
8:30 a.m. – Pass Army encampment along the
shores and Officers’ homes. Folks line their piazzas and banks of the Canal to greet us. I organize
a “Merry Christmas to You” greeting up at the port
gun station, and we sing until the echo bounces
back from the hills. Drop a lot of green ice cream
scoops all over the place for an idea of the landscape.
We weave in and through them, and the locks, of
which there are three.
We see for the first time the “rubber cows,” the balloon barrage in the sky. At one lock I count 42 of
them. They look like silver fish pinned against the
sky permanently. I remark to an Officer beside me,
“What a picnic a youngster would have here with a
BB rifle.” High poinsettia trees.
At some places you would be able to dive off our
ship and make the shore in one scoop, only about
twenty feet away. One place, Culebra, cut, gouged
out sides of the hills which tower over us as we
steam through. High, soggy temperature of about
110 in the sun; 85 by check on shaded thermometer
on the bridge.
Saturday, December 26, 1942
Tenth day out.
Shove off from Balboa at 1000, after being tied up at
dock. Directly behind it, a towering hill with a little
radio station atop of it.
We swing around after five subs go out first. As ship
carrying the “Flag,” alias “Admiral,” we break out his
ensign.70 Start out Indian file as usual. Five transports and cargo ships, plus the Montpelier and the
Chenango, the aircraft carrier that lost a plane that
plummeted into the sea the day before we arrived at
the other end of the Canal. Scouting ahead of us are
MTPs.71 They roar by us as if we have thrown out
both of our anchors. One CB remarks that he would
give half of his remaining years for the opportunity
of shipping aboard one of them for duty. Most sailors are like that; they want duty that is most dangerous. The bigger the spice of danger, more desirous
they are for it.
I am puzzled by the land that is on our starboard side.
I thought that since we were slipping down the coast
of South America that the land should be on the port.
70 Flag flown at the stern of a ship.
71 The MTP, or Motor Torpedo Boat, was a British Navy vessel. Foley, however, was certainly referring to Patrol Torpedo Boats, generally
called PT boats, and an American craft.
53 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
�Then I look at a map and find that we are in the Gulf
of Panama and we are hugging its northern shore.
The picture as we steam along: green mountains
capped with white clouds, soft lazy veils across the sky.
Occasionally, a little mountain about 200 feet high
that once decided to go in swimming and found
itself permanently attached to the floor of the sea.
Rich colors all around us; deep green of the mountains, the blue of the sky, of our ships, of the water,
and of the dive bombers.
its two spires but its whole body bathed in the glory
of the setting sun.
One of the Officers, a non-Catholic, informs me
that he attended Midnight Mass, as he has done for
years. Wrote to his wife and two youngsters and told
them that he was united to them as in the past, for
they always went to Midnight Mass together. Ended
letter by saying that he hoped they didn’t miss him
as much as he missed them.
Sunday, December 27, 1942
At 2:00 three of them, our own, thank heaven, come
in upon us with all throttles wide open. They are
giving gun practice to our men. I am standing on
the flying bridge, just above the bridge deck as the
first one comes in. He has leveled off about 200
yards away, shut off his engines, heads straight for
the bridge deck at a blinding speed of 300 miles an
hour. Officer in charge of gun crew, upon receipt of
signal from gunnery officer, “Fire! Let ‘em have it.”
But the nose of the plane seems to me an amazingly
small target, which it is. The plane is apparently
coming straight at us, then about 50 yards from us,
rises sharply, soars over our heads, almost directly,
banks quickly, gone. #2 roars in the same way,
and also #3. Speed is so fast that gunners have only
about three seconds to hit them. First they came
over the starboard; next trip they come from portside, parallel with the ship. Planes seem almost alive
as they bank and turn and dive and climb up into
the blue summer sky, join up and then turn again
for another attack upon us. For half an hour we are
treated to all the realism of an all-out bombing attack without the live bombs.
3:00 P.M. – Convoy lanes form up and we are the
leader in the center of the three lanes. The ocean is
Pacific. The ship has not even the slightest roll or
pitch. Incredibly calm. Now see why she rates her
name. Even the Mystic River near Medford Square
is rougher than this surface.
First Pacific sunset. First, yellow color, then yellow
warms into red, and the red flames into gold. Cloud
formation, a cathedral , on the right, with not merely
54 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
Eleventh day out.
Norfolk to Canal – 2700 miles. Now 600 miles out
from Canal; 6999 miles to go. What a trip!!!
Fr. MacDonald celebrates Mass at 6:45 Upper Deck
Aft. I have mine at 0900 and General Service at 1000.
I kneel in the stern of Fr. MacDonald’s congregation. He is not in the sunlight at the beginning of
Mass. Then we make a hard port turn and the early
morning sun plays on his red vestments, worn in
honor of the feast of St. John. John, fisherman that
he was, looked down from heaven with pleasure
upon the setting, I am sure. Then we make a hard
turn to the starboard six minutes later, and the sun
has swung away also. Our zig-zag plan #43.
3:30 – Rosary and Benediction.
In the evening songfest I lead the pollywog song.
Pollywog: “A blob plus a tail.” That’s the name for us
who have never crossed the Equator before. We are
expecting heavy weather from the shellbacks when
they bring us before King Neptune for judgment,
come the day of initiation into the solemn mysteries
of the sea.
Monday, December 28, 1942
Twelfth day out.
Staging for Father Neptune is rapidly approaching
completion on the boat deck forward. We pollywogs
are evidently going to catch it properly. First Lt.
Oleson wears a big, broad knowing grin every time
�he meets me, breaks out into a hearty chuckle, and
says, “I ain’t saying nothin’.” Wet stormy day; big
run on the library.
Tuesday, December 29, 1942
Thirteenth day out.
Beautiful day, cloudless sky, warm. Incongruous
note: Gas masks issued at 1100. New Year’s Eve, a
bit of old time harmony is furnished in the Officers’
Mess by a quartet.
Friday, January 1, 1943
Sixteenth day out.
Day dawns fair and warm. We are presented with
the Plan of the Day that carries the notice of the
arrival of Davey Jones, advance guard for Father
Neptune. Reads charges against pollywogs. First
dose of punishment, five whacks on keel by pirate.
Wednesday, December 30, 1942
Fourteenth day out.
Beautiful clear sky. Father Neptune arrives. Punishment for me: Step onto wooden griddle, electrified;
made to kiss the Royal Baby, First Lt. Oleson; then
sat in Royal Barber chair, upended into pool, clothes
and all. Uniforms of Shellbacks: Long underwear,
marked with skull and crossbones, slit dungarees,
green pajamas, suspenders, green helmet, white
collar and tie. Ended at noon.
3:40 – We crossed the Equator, but we can’t see its
green line.
1800 – At supper ship shivers from stem to stern.
Two depth charges go off from destroyer off port
quarter, two miles away. She cruises around, fairly
leaping out of the water with her 35 knots. Ten minutes later, four miles away, drops three more; then
hovers around the spot where Hirohito’s men may
be lurking.72
Emergency turns – 45 degrees. Blasts on horn to
inform other ships in the convoy.
1:30 – Five of our subs ghost through our lanes in
opposite direction.
Thursday, December 31, 1942
Fifteenth day out.
72 The 124th emperor of Japan, Hirohito reigned from 1926 to 1989.
55 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
All through the night blasts on ship horn; other
ships answer like melancholy whistle of far off
trains echoing back from the hills.
Tragic note: Cruiser Montpelier catapults her planes
off in a routine scouting operation. One rises slowly,
the other suddenly explodes about twenty feet in air
and plummets into the sea. There is a terrific explosion as her two depth charges go off. Water sent high
over the cruiser. Boat put over her side; rescues
survivor and recovers pilot’s body.
In the afternoon, broadcast of the Rose Bowl
football game.
Mike Rice, Pontoon Assembly Detachment, and I
passing the time of day topside watching the sunset.
Looks over to the Montpelier at the single plane at
her stern under the catapult where there had been
two until this morning and remarks, “She looks
lonesome, Father.”
Saturday, January 2,1943
Seventeenth day out.
Bad language from some Southerners during Mass
on the Upper Deck Aft. My Apostle, Mike Rice, quietly
but distinctly remarks to the group: “Quiet, please;
Church Service going on.” Someone in the group
retorted, “If you were paying attention to the service,
you wouldn’t hear it.” After Mass is over, Mike, “Just
came over to say that I was the man who asked for
quiet. I heard that remark that was passed. Let the
man come topside, put on the gloves, and we’ll settle
the argument then and there.” Nobody moved.
�Southerners, incredibly ignorant, believe the most
awful stories about us priests. Some of the Catholic
men told us what they were. They are to be pitied,
although at first the reaction of the Catholics to the
stories is one of anger because they are so vicious.
Some refuse to go to General Service for non-Catholics because it is run by a Catholic priest, “the guy
with the nightgown on when he says his Mass,” as
one of them put it. Ignorance like that is to be pitied
and enlightened.
Burial at 2:30 p.m. of Ensign Thompson, pilot from
USS Montpelier plane that crashed yesterday. All
the flags are at half-mast on our convoy. Up on
the flying bridge I borrow binoculars from one of
the members of the gun crew. Men of the Montpelier are standing in close-packed ranks, facing
aft, dressed in blue pants and white skivvy shirts.
Honor Guard of Marines in khaki. Platform erected
under the catapult where the plane and its pilot had
taken off many times. Clear blue sky overhead; sun
drenching the entire crew and officers. Prayers are
being said over the corpse wrapped in national ensign [ flag]. They end; three volleys crack out sharply
on the summer Pacific afternoon, the canvas with its
precious burden slides over the side and the waters
of the ocean swallow up the weighted sack quickly.
Beside me a sailor remarks, “If I have to die, Chaplain,
I hope that I will be buried at sea, and not on some forgotten island of the South Pacific; at least my wife can
cast some flowers on the water back in San Diego.”
Sunday, January 3, 1943
Eighteenth day out.
First Mass at dawn, 5:45; Upper Deck Aft. Overhead
the Dawn Patrol takes off from the USS Chenango
scouting for any marauders of the deep that may be
waiting for us. The overtone of their motors is now
a commonplace musical background for Mass.
every single corner of the deck. Sun streaming down
on us makes us realize that it is mid-summer here.
3:30 – Benediction and Rosary with the men.
Monday, January 4, 1943
Nineteenth day out.
The end of General Quarters came during Fr. MacDonald’s Mass at dawn this morning. When he came to the
Consecration the ship made a sudden sharp turn to
the portside so that our stern faced east. The sunlight
caught Our Lord as He was raised on high for the adoration of the men. It seemed that the sun itself wanted
to pay tribute to the One who hung it in the sky.
Tuesday, January 5, 1943
Twentieth day out.
Preparations made for any burial that may have to take
place aboard our ship. Platform is rigged on Boat Deck
forward starboard side. Canvas sack is readied. Procedure for committal at sea determined. One case of
spinal meningitis aboard; very sick man from Virginia.
Wednesday, January 6, 1943
Twenty-first day out.
Feast of the Epiphany. Our Lord’s appearance to the
Wise Men. Haunting music, soft tropical moonlight,
palm branches caressed by trade winds. As yet we see
no land. One of the men remarks that he would be
happy just to be able to set foot on Tahiti for a minute. We are directly north of it, passing between the
Marquesas Islands and the Tuamotu Islands, both
French possessions. Tahiti is west of the latter group.
Flying fish on the road to Mandalay are sporting on
all sides of us; some of them actually flying through
the air for about 15 yards, then plunging into the
ocean like a dive bomber.
Thursday, January 7, 1943
0900 – Mass. Boat deck forward, with a canvas to
Twenty-second day out.
break the wind blowing in from the portside.
1000 – General Service. About 300 present, jamming
56 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
Gunnery practice. Strange how routine it can become. At first when a plane towed a white canvas
�sleeve across the sky as a target for our anti-aircraft
gun crews, we rushed topside to witness the accuracy of the crews. Now I am sitting in my room as the
staccato bark breaks out on the Pacific morning air
and continue to carry on a conversation with a man
who is desperately homesick.
At 7 o’clock after dinner all hands on topside to have a
look at two warships on the horizon. Fortunately, they
give back the proper signals when they are challenged
and then stay on their course which is northeast for
Hawaii. They were a heavy cruiser and a destroyer.
Friday, January 8, 1943
Twenty-third day out.
General Quarters at 0505. I went to bed last night at
2030; 8:30 p.m. for landlubbers. Apparently slept out,
for I woke up at 0430, shaved, stepped out on deck
in the early morning darkness and looked up to the
bridge. Lookouts are peering out, dark forms outlined
against the still starry sky that gradually loses its lights
as the east begins to brighten. Sky lookouts and gun
crews on highest decks are scanning their sectors. As
I move among gun crews and through them, exchanging a good morning, they remark that there is no excitement yet; however, they are keyed up and waiting,
their tenseness further sharpened by the rumor that
swept the ship yesterday that in a big naval battle with
Japs, we were on the receiving end.73
I stand on the boat deck and watch the dawn. Only
[Robert Louis] Stevenson, who spent some time in
these islands, could describe what this dawn in the
South Seas is like. He wrote somewhere: “The dawn
– when darkness trembles into light and the stars
are extinguished like the street lamps of some human city, when the whiteness brightens into silver,
the silver into gold, and the gold kindles into pure
and living flame and the face of the East is barred
with elemental scarlet.”
There are clouds along the horizon this morning,
clouds and cloudlets. Where the sun will come up,
there is long horizontal break in them. As the sun
throws its light long distance into that break, it
resembles a lake with its vivid blue waters. On its
nearest shores are mountains, crested with snow,
one towering high above all the others. Gradually
the blue of the lake changes into gold. The rims of
the mountains, even the lowest, are tremulous with
orange, so tremulous that it seems that they must
give way, too; but still the sun does not raise its
head. Then its rim arches over the cloud’s edge
and another day has dawned. “Good morning” is
the spontaneous greeting of the heart to the sun
as it begins another day’s journey.
I go down a deck to the upper deck, vest for Mass
after reading part of the Divine Office. The lines
in the hymn for Sext in the Office “Qui splendore
mane illuminas.”—“Thou who lightest up the
morning with splendor, with glory” convey a
meaning to me that they never had before.74
Quietly the Mass proceeds; softly the little Mass bell
rings out into the open air and the heads of my men
and passengers are bowed in adoration as the One
Who hung the sun in the sky is raised aloft after the
Consecration.
Meanwhile the dawn patrol of two planes from the
carrier Chenango roar by overhead, their lights now
dimmed for it is day again. Another beautiful day,
temperature about 85. Some of the men now brown
as nuts from the tan they have acquired. I lay the
keel for Sunday’s sermon.
In the evening after chow, about 5 o’clock, songfest
on the boat deck forward. As the ship rises and falls
ever so gently, the voices of the men fill the soft Pacific night with the old favorites, “Carry Me Back to
Old Virginia,” “Old Black Joe,” “I’ll Be Down to Get
73 A good example of “scuttlebutt.” No such battle occurred. The Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal took place on November 14 and 15,
and was judged a decided American victory. No other major naval conflicts in the Pacific Theater took place later in 1942 or in the first
week of 1943.
74 The Latin phrase is from “Rector Potens, Verax Deus,” a hymn for the Midday Office in the Roman Breviary.
57 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
�You in a Taxi, Honey,” “There’s a Long, Long Trail Awinding,” “Into the Land of My Dreams,” etc. They
continue singing as darkness falls. One of the ship’s
crew remarks, “If homesickness were five cents a
pound, those fellows would be wealthy.”
Nightfall under a South Seas moon. Sky is spangled
with myriad stars, every available inch sown with
them, not like any sky back home. Clusters and then
other stars, but in an incredible number. Sky seems
alive with them.
Off in the distance our convoy partners are steaming
ahead silently under the January summer moon. It
seems strange to write that combination, but we are
down under the Equator.
Saturday, January 9, 1943
Twenty-fourth day out.
Go up on deck after General Quarters. Looks like
a stormy morning. Sleepers out last night driven
in at 0300 this morning. Sky overcast. Men cluster
around the altar, wondering if rain will catch us
before we can start the Mass. We venture it, though
ominous clouds overhead. Mass is finished without
them emptying their cargo.
After breakfast, topside; water a deep indigo blue
from the storm clouds coming in massed array from
the west. Not a white horse on the water anywhere.
Off to the west rain is pouring down; it is foul
weather over there. Heading in our direction, two
planes streak by overhead. Standing just outside
door talking to Ensign, one of our passengers who
is trying to catch his ship. Talking about how serious a man becomes at sea, thinking thoughts which
peace time distractions may have kept in the background. An enlisted man passes by and asks if it is a
plane that has crashed into the sea off our starboard
near the carrier. We join the group on the bridge.
Yes, another crash. Borrow a pair of binoculars and
train them on a destroyer. I raise my hands, giving
absolution from a distance. Plane swerved in over
the carrier, about to land when the pilot changed his
mind, swept low over the sea and then spun in.
58 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
Through binoculars can vaguely make out in mist
and rain the destroyer heading about and making
back for scene of crash. Everyone hopes that the twoman crew has been saved. Message comes in about
five minutes later; both pilot and radio man rescued.
Meanwhile the other plane is hovering aloft, speeding through the mist and rain, trying for a spot for a
landing. All eyes glued on her as she heads in over
the flight deck, passes by, completes another circle,
then tries again, makes it this time and everybody
breathes a sigh of relief. Message comes through
from destroyer that all hands aboard and unhurt.
Sunday, January 10, 1943
Twenty-fifth day out.
0425 – General Quarters. “Man your Battle Stations”
Ship shrouded in darkness; a finger of light off on
the horizon, identifying the east for us. Ships seem
asleep, but tremendously alive. Every man intensely
alert. Up in the Crow’s Nest, forward and aft, horizon
lookouts scanning the distant verge. On the bridge,
lookouts on the watch are ranging over each square
foot in their assigned territories. Sky lookouts on the
guns are peering overhead for anything that might
suddenly drop down on us.
Crow’s Nest lookouts forward scan the horizon from
0 to 90 degrees, from 360 to 270 degrees. In other
words, to the starboard beam and the port beam. Lookouts in the aft Crow’s Nest scan from 90 to 180 and
from 180 to 270. Two lookouts in each one and the
watch is two hours. This is a dangerous hour in the
morning when subs can create a disaster in seconds.
We are moving in our old formation, two lines
of three abreast, with the aircraft carrier, Chenango,
bringing up the rear. Three combat transports lead,
while two cargo ships and the cruiser, Montpelier,
complete the second line.
In the evening the sun starts to set about 6 o’clock;
darkness falls down quickly from above. Songfest
being held on the boat deck forward. Slender crescent moon lazily lying on its back hangs high just
�Ensign Schula, with a voice that is a dead ringer
for Lawrence Tibbett’s,75 sings tunes from Stephen
Foster, “Beautiful Dreamer,” etc., then arias from
the operas. Greeted with tremendous applause.
Meanwhile up on the bridge the watch and officers
are scanning the waters.
are the unsung heroes of the ship. They give their
sweat every minute they are on duty. If the ship
should be torpedoed, they will be the first to give their
blood, for this engine room is the vital part of the ship.
If the worst should come, they are hopelessly trapped.
If the water doesn’t get them, 400,000 pounds of live
steam will. Down there, deep in the engine room, one
becomes acutely conscious of how these men, above
all others, are living on borrowed time.
Monday, January 11, 1943
Tuesday, January 12, 1943
Twenty-sixth day out.
Twenty-seventh day out.
Two months ago today I buried the sailors and
soldiers at Port Lyautey in North Africa. Today
I am in the South Seas, just about 500 miles from
Samoa on the way to Noumea, New Caledonia.
The Allen is about to leave us so her escort vessel,
USS Taylor, comes alongside for her orders. She
will shepherd the Allen to her destination, where
her 1000 Marines will be unloaded.
0450 – General Quarters. “All hands man
off the forward mast on the portside. We make a
sharp turn to port and the moon shifts to starboard.
Sea is a glassy calm, unbelievably smooth, as
smooth as the birdbath in the garden back home.
This evening a visit to the Black Gang in the Engine
Room. As I open the door, I am met with a withering
blast of suffocating hot air. Deep below about forty
feet is the deck of the Engine Room. Looking down,
one sees nothing but a maze of ladders and catwalks.
I seize the handrails on the ladder but quickly release
my hold. They are scalding hot. Down the ladder I go,
gingerly, into the bowels of the ship where I meet the
chief. When I remarked about the heat of the handrails, he humorously remarked that he asked the
men on watch if they had turned the steam on them.
“What is the temperature of this engine room?” I ask
him. He takes a look at the thermometer which reads
116 degrees.
The members of the watch, six of them, are dressed,
or rather undressed, in dungarees, stripped to the
waist with perspiration pouring from them as they
obey the various signals from the bridge. These men
Battle Stations”
Mass as usual at the end of General Quarters on the
Upper Deck Aft. Of the fifty who attend, about ten
men receive Holy Communion. Splendid Catholics,
these men, the pride and joy of their temporary Pastor.
Conversation with Dr. Arnold LaPierre, graduate of
Sheffield, Yale and Columbia Medical School. Regrets
his highly scientific, specialized training; too much
science and too little of the literature of the ages.
Mr. Pound informs me that, although he has been
24 years in the Navy, this is the longest cruise he has
ever taken.
Lt. Kreutzer’s Beach Party is toughening its muscles
for their next landing party; this time a battle with
the Japs. When? He guesses that it will be in about
six weeks. He is the ideal man to lead them into
action. Absolutely fearless and courageous, not as a
callow youngster, but as a man who has seen action
as he did in Africa.
Africa. Yesterday, two months ago, I buried the first
soldiers and sailors who died in the North African
Campaign. May God have mercy on their souls.
Nobody thinks of them now except their dear folks
who received the short notice from the Government.
Their buddies have gone on to meet a far fiercer foe
75 Tibbett (1896 – 1960) was a star baritone with the Metropolitan Opera.
59 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
�in Tunisia, and the shipmates of the sailors are now
with us streaming for New Caledonia, also to battle
a foe that is a formidable one, in capital letters.
like this help to convey to all of us better than words
that we are approaching one of the worst battle areas in
the world.
If anyone doubts this, let him read the news in
today’s press release from the Radio Shack.76
Yesterday Washington gave out the news that we
have lost in the last three months, here in the Southwest Pacific, ten men o’ war, as follows: one aircraft
carrier, the Hornet; one heavy cruiser, the Northampton; two light cruisers, Juneau and Atlanta; and
six destroyers, the Benham, Cushing, Barton, Laffey,
Monseen, Preston and Walker. These ships were put
to the bottom with equipment no stronger than peashooters and slingshots. I confess to a misgiving that
we have been undermanned and undergunned ever
since we started the offensive down under. Perhaps
the tide will begin to turn now.
At Quarters for Officers the other morning, the Executive Officer informed us that we have a hundred to
one chance of coming out of our next battle operation
alive. Lt. Commander Oleson expresses my sentiments
when he comments, “Well, I have one chance, haven’t
I?” That remark is the key to his character; optimistic
through and through, he never could be cast in the role
of Jeremiah.
The acute problem of communications has been
hammered home to us on this trip. Here we have
been at sea since December 17 and have yet to
arrive at our destination. In the same time, similar
Jap ships can make approximately eight round trips.
We are handicapped.
While reading one of the old Commonweal magazines, I learn that George M. Cohan died about three
months ago. The news came as a start. Although I
never had the good fortune to meet him in the flesh, I
had the pleasure of seeing him act in a play in Boston
about three years ago and once in the movies. Clean
through and through, he would be like a breath of
fresh air in the theaters and movie mansions of today.
Westbrook Pegler wrote his epitaph when he concluded his column by saying that “He was too clean
for the stage of today.” A scathing condemnation of
today’s stage, playwrights, and actors and actresses.
May the Lord have mercy on his soul.77
Today the ship’s company have two suits of whites dyed
khaki to lessen their visibility for bombers. Little things
One of the enlisted men turns over $200. to me for safekeeping. I jolly him about how he managed to collect
such a staggering amount in one month. His rejoinder,
“I come by it honestly, Father.” Then he remembers
what a chief told them in boot camp when they got their
first five dollar pay. “Spend one-third on women, onethird on liquor, and save the rest.” Instructions like that
are damaging, to put it mildly, perhaps diabolical is the
correct word for it, for a youngster away from home for
the first time. What strikes me is that, though he must
have heard scores of talks in his boot days, this was one
of the observations, granted that it may have been only a
stray one, that stuck with him.
Chief Frank Gordiano from Springfield talks about the
folks back home. We have in common one man who
rode the crest of the wave of fame, fortune and success,
then slipped back into the trough as he crossed into his
fifties and finally died a poor man in a hospital. The
chief remarks, “Well, Father, I have always said that it is
a local on the way up, but an express coming down.”
Wednesday, January 13, 1943
Twenty-eighth day out.
0000 – USS Allen leaves us with the destroyer, Taylor, for her destination, to proceed on duty assigned,
which happens to be Samoa.
76 The room that housed a ship’s communications equipment..
77 Cohan (1878–1942) born Keohane to Irish immigrant parents, was a popular singer, dancer and playwright in vaudeville and on Broadway.
Played by James Cagney, he was immortalized in the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy.
60 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
�0830 – Just returned from the bridge. The Algorab78
8:15 p.m. – South of the Fiji Islands we listened to a
has taken the position vacated by the Allen, and the
aircraft carrier, Chenango, slips in behind us.
radio station in Seattle, playing the “[“Song to the]
Evening Star” from Tannhauser!
Mr. Sebrell informs me that we missed some
excitement last night. About twenty minutes to twelve
a ship loomed up on the horizon off the port bow,
unidentified. Three destroyers rushed over, formed
a protecting screen and were poised to go into action
within seconds when the ship revealed her identity.
She proved to be a US Navy tanker, without escort.
Thursday, January 14, 1943
Know now what is meant by the phrase, “As suddenly
as a tropical shower.” Without warning, the clouds
come on in massed array out of a perfectly blue
sky, rush pell-mell along, empty themselves of their
cargo, then are away as quickly as they arrive. Before
leaving today, one of them put on a gala display of a
three-decker rainbow.
Train the long glass on the aircraft carrier. On her
portside forward make out a pilot seated on a chair
reading. He apparently is the ready pilot, primed to
take off at a split-second’s notice to scout or to fend
off enemy planes.
Read in National Geographic magazine for July a
description of New Caledonia. Must tell my mother
about it in my letter.
New Caledonia. Its climate from May to December,
mild like Florida in winter with average temperature
of 72. December to April is cyclone season; temperature 65. Population: 53,000 of whom 5000 are
grown white men. Island is about 250 miles long
and 30 odd miles wide and is located about 750 miles
north of Australia.
Twenty-ninth day out.
0420 – General Quarters, General Quarters,
All Hands Man Battle Stations, All Hands Man
Battle Stations!
Mass at 5:20 Upper Deck Aft, as usual. During Mass
tropical shower without warning spills down on
celebrant and parishioners.
Breakfast at 6 o’clock, then topside to flying bridge
deck alongside of the Stack, lying in deck chair,
letting the warm sun beat down on me. Morning
is refreshingly cool after the rain of yesterday. Sky
seems to have its face washed. Ahead of us two
destroyers are scurrying back and forth across our
bows like big water bugs as they shoot to port and
then wheel around sharply, retrace their tracks, then
double back and forth again, incessantly nervous.
Believe it or not, we actually loaned out our library’s
prize volume, “How to Raise Chickens for a Profit.” A
member of the Construction Battalion, former chicken
farmer, wanted to check theory against practice.
Friday and Saturday,
January 15 And 16, 1943.
Thirtieth day out.
Crossing the International Dateline we lose a day.
Friday is the casualty.
0435 – General Quarters. My, but these are early
Mr. Oleson looks up into the sky and remarks,
“Mares’ tails there mean that we will have a wind.”
Starting at one o’clock, rains all day long.
78 Like the Clymer, an attack cargo ship.
61 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
hours. Dawn rises early here south of the Fiji Islands.
Mr. Meyer predicted a few days ago that when we hit
this part of the trip, we would strike weather that was
really cool. It is, pleasantly so. Last night was a bright
�cool night, such as we would have back home in the
Spring. Now I am curious to know what the temperature is this minute, so a halt while I go up to the
bridge to find out. The thermometer reads 85, yet it
doesn’t seem to be that warm.
Remark overheard as I pass along the Main Deck
where our passengers, Construction Battalion, Pontoon Division, are lined up for chow. “A lot of red
water rushing down a gulley in Georgia would look
good now.” It has been a long trip for men who are
not sea-going sailors.
1130 – General Quarters. Unidentified plane sighted
on port horizon. Good news or bad? We wait to see,
even though it may be thirty miles away. These
planes can make 300 miles per hour, so that stranger, if stranger she is, would be on top of us in five
minutes. It passes away.
1200 – Aircraft carrier, Chenango, steams by us at
full speed, about to send aloft six scout bombers.
She moves so fast we are like an old Model T, while
she is the latest Packard. By she steams, wheels to
the port side into the wind. Up to the bridge I go to
train the long glass to watch the maneuver closely.
The first two planes she catapults off her crowded
decks; ponderously and slowly they lift themselves
like some giant bird a bit uncertain of itself. The
others make the 20 yard run and then all six swing
into formation and they are off on their assigned
mission. An hour later they are back.
Destroyer Chevalier comes alongside to deliver mail
from another ship, along our port quarter about 100 feet
away. A rocket gun is fired from us to her, a miniature
breeches buoy is rigged and the mail sack is hauled
along the line by hand on a pulley. Meanwhile both
ships are making 15 knots. The line is no help to either
bridge to keep the ships on course. Bridge has to be
keenly alert, for ships have a tendency to run together,
closing the distance between them. The reason? Water
between is travelling faster than the water outside.
Sunday, January 17, 1943
Thirty-first day out.
0455 – General Quarters.
0555 – Mass. Fr. MacDonald says this first Mass of
our floating parish. He has a bad cold; started the
cruise with one and finishes with one.
0900 – Second Mass by yours truly. I compliment the
men on their splendid example during the trip.
1000 – General Service.
1530 – Rosary and Benediction.
1630 – Unidentified ship on the horizon. After one
hour she uses her searchlight signal to inform us
that she is the Santa Anna. The men on the bridge
look her up and the information they have says that
she is a ship of the Grace Line.
At table Mr. Kreutzer informs us that we are now
members of the South Pacific Task Force and that
eventually the following ships will join us: the Washington, the Indiana, the Idaho, the North Carolina, and
that we will be formidable with them alongside of us!
Up on the bridge at nightfall. Tell the Captain how
much I like the word of Departure that he gave a
short while ago over the public address system to our
passengers, CB’s and PAD’s. I tell him that, when he
finished, the men spontaneously applauded as they
stood in the chow line. He is naturally gratified that
they liked it. The man shows long days and nights of
anxiety that have been his lot since we left Norfolk on
that cold, raw, snowy morning in December.
No man, officer or enlisted man, need have any fear
about the safety of the ship while he is our skipper. May
God grant him long life and permanent days with us.79
79 Captain Arthur T. Moen (1894–1962) was a 1917 graduate of the Naval Academy. He commanded the Clymer from December 1942 to
October 1943, for which service he was awarded the Legion of Merit. He retired with the rank of rear admiral in 1948.
62 | chapter 4: what a trip!!!
�chapter 5 | for god and country
South Pacific Task Force
Monday, January 18, 1943
Noumea, New Caledonia.
0420 – General Quarters. The earliest yet.
Was I sleepy getting up at this hour!
0515 – Mass as usual on the Upper Deck Aft. Quite
gusty. Sky looks threatening but fortunately continues to only look so.
This day we make port. All hands on tiptoe of expectation as we steam ahead. About 1000 we have
General Quarters, a sure sign that we are nearing
our destination, even though we sight no landfall.
1100 – Word
runs through the ship like a prairie fire.
“Land! On our starboard side!” Sight of the good
earth again.
Just a short distance away, surf is breaking over the
coral reefs. As the article in the National Geographic
magazine for July described it, this island, New
Caledonia, is surrounded by coral reefs that extend
from one to ten miles off shore. We can see indistinctly mountains in the distance; even through the
long glass they are vague.
At twelve we take the pilot aboard and snake our way
up the channel to anchorage. On our port, a lighthouse, immaculate white on a little fifty-foot island.
We turn back on our wake; on the south side of the
island is the whitest sand we have ever seen and the
greenest of water. Day is now sunshiny, clouds have
burnt away and a pleasant breeze is blowing. Suddenly it gets very humid. The mountains apparently
shut off the wind.
63 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
The mountains are intense purple in the distance,
primitive looking, as though they were built at the
very dawn of creation. One of the men standing up
on the gun platform group #3 remarks: “They don’t
believe in foothills here, Father.” First there are little
mountains out wading in the sea. Then there are
three tiers of them, the next higher than the one
ahead of it. The last tier pushes its head up into the
clouds. All of them look as though they were fashioned when the world was young. Another sailor,
a CB this time, remarks, “You get mighty close to
God looking at the tops of those peaks.” How do our
passengers feel about their new home? One of them
put it this way, “We have our job to do here and we’ll
be happy doing it.”
We make our way in slowly for two hours. Now we
can see the scenery at close range. The coastline is
like a comb, cut in by innumerable inlets. As we skirt
them, we note that ships are hiding around the hills
at the mouth of each of them. We make our entrance
into one of them. It is a narrow passage, only about
300 feet wide. Carefully we nose in, while searchlight signals are concentrating on us from four different places, two ships and two shore stations. We
are amazed at the collection of shipping. First, about
30 freighters are counted. As we come by the two
little hills rising sharply and standing guard at our
inlet, we count many more, 28 in all, plus the 30 others. We now descry men of war, a big battlewagon,
destroyers and minesweepers. Something is being
built here alright. We had seen the same building
up before we set out for Africa. May God be as good
to us and as generous with His protection on our
new mission as He was then – rather may we show
ourselves worthy of His protection and care.
�The mountains are sharp cones; not green in color
but a slate-like brown. A PBY Martin Patrol Bomber
cruises overhead, banks sharply against the backdrop of the mountain, then taxis into her berth after
landing on the water.
The temperature is very humid, like Charleston,
South Carolina, in July.
At 4:30 we anchor but nobody goes ashore. We find
that we are in Noumea, New Caledonia. The town is
nestled at the foot of the mountains. Red-tiled roofs and
cream-colored stucco fronts to the houses, all of one
and two stories. Impression from where we are is much
80
the same as that of Panama, Colon and Cristobal.
We have travelled 10,300 miles since leaving
Norfolk on December 17, 1942.
Tuesday, January 19, 1943
Unloading of ship has been going on since we anchored last night. First batch of CB’s and PAD’s go
ashore. I set foot on land at 9 o’clock, equipped with
a box of apples, one of oranges and 100 pounds of
sugar. Mr. McRae, our Communications Officer,
informed me yesterday that he had been told that
the Sisters who ran the local hospital would be glad
for some fruit. I have two aims as I step ashore. First
blessing the land, as is my custom whenever we hit a
81
new beach. And I want to meet my brother Ed, and
to help the Sisters. On the shore there are no docking
facilities. We run the invasion personnel boat alongside of a temporary 10 foot wharf built by another
detachment of CB’s who have been here since November 11, 1942. A pile driver is hammering in piles as
foundation for a future dock and cranes and bulldozers are doing the work that was meant for them.
I look around, speak to a couple of Marines in a
truck, ask them if they will carry the box of apples
and the bag of 100 pounds of sugar to the hospital
for me. No Marine ever says “no” to a priest, so off
we go to the hospital. There I learn that it is run by
the government, not by the Sisters who were kicked
out by the government, and all are admitted “sans
distinction.” I take my two boxes with me, decide to
give them to the priests that staff the Cathedral that
was our guide as we came in yesterday.
Up we climb the hill to it in a truck. I find out from
a barefoot Melanesian boy in the Church where
the priests’ house is, and the box of apples and the
sugar are dumped in front of it. Meanwhile before
going in, I make a visit to Our Lord in His New Caledonian home and I say the Stations of the Cross for
my father. At the altar rail I whisper a prayer for all
the family back home and all away from home.
The Cathedral is built of local sandstone, cruciform.
And on an altar that was rebuilt lately, there are two
dates, 1870 and 1914. The Church looks as though
it was built on the earlier date. On the way out, the
door frames one of the most beautiful scenes I have
ever caught anywhere. As you start back from the
altar you see only the ocean, just a couple of miles
away. Then proceeding down the aisle, you suddenly
notice that two little islands have come into the
picture, the two through which we passed yesterday. As you walk nearer to the back of the Church,
more islands swing into view, until finally standing
on the porch you have the whole island at your feet.
I repeat again the wish so often in my mind, “My
kingdom for a camera.”
I swing left to the priests’ house in back, am introduced by the barefoot Melanesian boy and present
my calling cards, apples and sugar. They are happy
to receive both, invite me to dinner, but I want to see
Ed as soon as possible. They press their invitation
for today is the one meat day of the week, they say.
“Why not take advantage of it with us?”
80 The city of Noumea, capital of the French colony of New Caledonia, originally served as a French penal colony. It was headquarters for
American military forces in the South Pacific.
81 Edward C. Foley (1917–2005) was an Army lieutenant stationed in the South Pacific. He was 12 years younger than his
chaplain brother.
64 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�However, Ed is uppermost in my mind and I must
see him as quickly as possible.
At the Army Headquarters they tell me that Ed left
for Guadalcanal six weeks ago. I am disappointed
to hear it but do not give up hope of seeing him
shortly at “Cactus,” the code name for red-hot
Guadalcanal.
I forget to mention that the priests at the Cathedral
informed me that there are Sisters of St. Joseph of
Cluny here who run a school. I decide to present
82
them with some calling cards tomorrow.
I wander around the old town to verify for myself
somebody’s observation that when France fell this
little place was hard hit. She was. The stores are bare
for the most part. What is on their shelves will not
be there long unless Uncle Sam replenishes their
stock of things like soap, etc. What of the people?
They are French, their white faces standing out in
the polyglot collection of people that make up the
population. Now I see for myself for the first time
in the flesh the men and women in the National
Geographic for July. There are Chinese, Javanese
and the natives, the Melanesians. The Javanese
women, beautiful and petite, are dressed in multicolored blouses and long skirts. Round their waists
are swathed the sarongs. Now a mother comes along
with her sarong slung across her right shoulder for
her youngster, riding cheerfully in his chair that
the sarong makes on his mother’s right hip. The
youngsters look too large a burden for such delicate,
slender mothers.
Over a little brown stucco house I read “Blancherie.”
It is the Chinese laundry, doing a rushing business
for les Americanes. All over the town the Chinese
families are doing laundry.
Suddenly I hear a shrill squeak of a 1920 horn of
rubber, operated by hand. One of the priests of the
Cathedral is blowing for my attention. I hop into his
ancient Renault and he takes me to the Sisters who
run the Ecole Libre. There Sister Joseph, who speaks
English, is most charming. She tells me that she
would be delighted to have some fruit and sugar for
her poor. I promise to have some brought back tomorrow. School is out for the summer, she informs me.
Summer here is winter. Back home the folks are slipping along on icy sidewalks, boys are playing hockey,
girls are trying to make figure eights and the first-timers are assuming horizontal positions. Here coconuts
are ripening overhead on tall trees about as high as
telegraph poles back home, with fronds only at the top
of them. Flamboyant trees, spreading foliage about
20 feet high, are in full bloom with their gorgeous red
blossoms. How my mother would love to have one of
them on the lawn. The Sister takes me through the
school where the desks are now empty. On the walls
are the maps, all in French. Sister is amazed when she
learns that we were in Africa recently. I leave her and
promise to surprise her in the morning.
Back through the town to the temporary dock. The
native men are dressed in shorts, blue and multicolored shirts, red for the most part. Their hair is
thick and jet black, except for the top, where they
have dyed it with peroxide! Queer combination,
reddish yellow and black. These are the men only.
I decide that I will surprise the Sisters this afternoon. So back to the ship immediately. Chief Bonnette, Chief Commissary Steward, gives me three
100 pound bags of sugar, the same of rice, and three
big boxes of apples and of oranges. Back to the town
where the Marines again give me a lift to the Convent. The eyes of Sister Joseph almost popped out
when she saw the load of food. The men carried it
in. The Sister rang the house bell and all the Sisters
then and there ate an apple. They hadn’t had one
for two years. No importation from New Zealand for
that length of time. Their eyes sparkled with evident
pleasure at the goodness of Providence, to which
82 The Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny are a worldwide missionary order founded in France in the early 19th Century and focused on charitable
work and education.
65 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�they attributed their windfall. Sister Joseph wanted
to know if I had stolen them, to which I said: “Yes,
of course, Sister, every Chaplain is an honest thief.”
French wine and insisted that I take two glasses;
the homemade cookies that accompanied them
were delicious.
“Maman,” the Superior, was as overjoyed as the rest
of them with the foodstuffs and she insisted that
I take some of the handiwork of the nuns to my
Maman, some delicately embroidered table cloths
and doilies. I was delighted with them and shipped
them home immediately upon my arrival back on
the ship. I wonder when she will get them.
In the afternoon I leave them to wander around the
town. To the Cathedral for Stations of the Cross for
my father. There I meet Chief Callahan of the USS
John Penn, who ran the Rosary for his men on his
ship while we were on the way down south on our
cruise. They did miss the priest, he said, and he felt
that something should be done to signalize Sunday
from the other days of the week. We have a pleasant
reunion. Also meet Fr. [Ozias B.] Cook, Chaplain on
the Saratoga. His parish is a large one; 3200 men
aboard her. She is lying off us, still a magnificent
fighting ship, although the Japs have reported that
83
they sank her.
In the center of the town of Noumea is the Place des
Cocotiers, a long rectangular shaped park. The lower
portion of the park comprises a small botanical garden
surrounding the statue of Governor [Jean-Baptiste]
d’Olry, famed for his pacification of the natives after
the 1878 revolt. Place des Cocotiers is a misnomer because the only coconut trees are a few planted around
the edges. Most of the trees are the wide spreading
flamboyants. The winter, their flowering season, has
transformed the whole place into one blazing mass of
color with their broad crimson flowers.
Two American soldiers pass by, one asking the other,
“What does ‘merci beaucoup’ mean?” Other laughingly replies, “Thanks a million.”
Wednesday, January 20, 1943
Back to the Convent again in the morning; this
time with another box of apples and one of oranges.
Again the house bell rings and the eighteen nuns
flock around me for an orange personally distributed. What surprises them is that they are still cold.
They had just come out of the refrigerator on the
ship and moisture was still condensing on them.
This time Sister Joseph gives me an alb that I sorely
needed for my altar equipment.
I forgot to mention that on each of my visits,
Sister Joseph brought out the very best bottle of
At the corner of the Rue de la Somme and Auvergne
is a garage where a couple of men are repairing a
car. Standing against the wall are two bicycles. On
my inquiring about the chance of hiring one of
them for the afternoon, I obtain the permission,
providing that I sign a promise to meet all expenses
for “destruction,” spoken in melodious French. Off
I wheel on my latest 1925 model. Suddenly three
pedestrians loom up on my port bow. I yell at them
to watch where they are going. When Commander
McRae, Communications Officer, Lt. Oliver, one
of our doctors, and Ensign Eccleston saw me they
shouted, “Where did you dig that out?”
I bike here, there and everywhere all over the town.
Somebody identified a brown stone group of buildings as a leper colony so I investigate. It turns out
that it was the town prison. Right next to it, sailors
and Construction Battalion men are putting up
Quonset huts. One of them informs me that here
will be the location of the COMSOPAC, Commander
of the South Pacific Headquarters.
83 One of three American aircraft carriers in the Pacific Theater, the Saratoga was twice torpedoed by the Japanese but never sunk. The fog of
war knows no boundaries, and as Foley notes, the Japanese did report that they had sunk her in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942,
but they had in fact sunk a sister ship the Lexington. The Saratoga served out the war and was finally sunk in an atomic bomb test in July
1946. She presently serves as a recreational diving site off Bikini Atoll.
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�Down a twisty, little street to a corner where a small
house is being built. The cement is being shovelled
into empty gasoline cans and is carried shoulder high
by hod carriers, Melanesians in shorts, as usual. Two
of my CB’s come along, laugh at my bike and stand
to watch the operation. One of them tells me that he
once read the biography of one of the gas cans. It had
travelled all over the world serving every conceivable
purpose and some purposes that were beyond the
fondest imaginings of the manufacturers. As he put
it himself, “I have seen them used for everything
from kitchen utensils to baby carriages.”
I climb up a little side street with its picturesque onestory houses. One catches my eye particularly. It has
two wooden cones at either end. In the middle is a
door. Inside an elderly maman with snow white hair
is reading with absorbing attention a letter, perhaps
from the home country. By her is a little table with her
basket of handiwork and at her feet is the dog sound
asleep. The house is painted a warm brown and looks
like what it is, a home with a mother presiding over it.
The next street brings me to a hospital where some
of our Guadalcanal veterans are recovering from
their wounds and some of the non-wounded are enjoying their leaves. They stay on the island for three
months and then get about three weeks liberty before
they go back to battle the Japs.
8000 miles for the 35th CB Battalion. Giant cement
mixers, cranes, tractors, bulldozers, scrapers, rooters,
all of which will be put to work shortly building airports, warehouses, etc. This place is now an advanced
base, the nearest jumping off place for the Solomons,
about 800 miles from Australia and 1150 from the
Solomons.
On the little fishing boats in the harbor, as we make
our way back to the ship, only five minutes from
shore, we see what is now familiar, the Cross of Lorraine and the Free French Flag of De Gaulle. The
Cross of Lorraine is a double one, blue on a white
field. The Free French Flag has a blue, white and red
pattern, same as the regular French flag, but for its
arrangement, which consists of three simple perpendicular blue, white and red squares. This flag starts
with blue, has a white diamond and a red ending.
Upon my return to the ship this afternoon I meet
the Chaplain of the USS Montpelier, Mr. Leonard
Dodson [a minister in the Church of the Nazarene],
originally from Plymouth. He invites me to conduct
services aboard his ship. I leave with him, hear confessions from 7:20 p.m. to 9:20 p.m., then cross the
gangplank to the USS Chicago, another cruiser tied
up to the Montpelier. I finish hearing confessions at
10:40 p.m. and start back for the Clymer.
Thursday, January 21,1943
At the Convent where I dropped in before going back
to the ship, I met one of the nuns who escaped from
the Japs in the Solomons. She, 28, and a companion
65 years-old fled 35 miles over the mountain passages before they made contact with the Americans. The
Japs killed two Sisters and two priests, one a Frenchman, the other Fr. Duhamel, because they refused to
84
give information to their captors.
Back to the beach where I see on the street approaching it the massive equipment that we have carried
Up at 0430. Start at 0500 for the USS Montpelier
where I am to say Mass at 0600. Fr. MacDonald,
still aboard, will say Mass for my men. Aboard the
Montpelier I praise the men for their splendid turnout for Mass and Communion. Learn at breakfast
from the senior aviation officer the circumstances
of the death of Ensign Thompson, the pilot killed
in the plane crash. Plane didn’t get sufficient impetus from the catapult. When the two depth charges
exploded, he was killed instantly. Radioman was
not open in the cockpit as he was, but enclosed in
84 Japanese treatment of Catholic clergy in the Solomon Islands was particularly brutal. Arthur Duhamel, a Marist priest from Massachusetts,
was executed at a mission station on Guadalcanal on September 3, 1942 along with a Dutch priest—to give Foley his due, the man’s name
could be read as French—and two European nuns. They’d been accused of communicating with the Allies.
67 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�85
pliofilm. When he recovered consciousness, he
was upside down in the water in the plane. Smashed
fist through the pliofilm, freed himself from the seat
to which he was strapped, recovered the body of the
pilot, clung to a piece of debris until boat from his
ship rescued him.
strap for my watch right on the spot. Stepping into
his shop you actually caught the smell of the cattle,
the leather is so fresh.
Men from the USS Chicago also at Mass. Their ship
has been through three major battles: Midway, Coral
Sea and Guadalcanal. Has suffered only one hit in
86
which four men were killed.
Fr. MacDonald leaves me so once again I am a pastor
without a curate. He was a tremendous help to me,
both hearing confessions and interviewing men.
They liked him exceptionally well, which augurs well
for his 37th CB Battalion and their relations with
him. He should make an excellent Chaplain for them
in their camp six miles back of Noumea in the hills.
1000 – Back
Friday, January 22, 1943
to the Clymer, then ashore where I
meet, above all people, Fr. Dan Meehan, whom I last
saw at Camp Allen in Norfolk last June. He is with
the 19th Construction Battalion. Out to his camp
four miles from Noumea in his jeep. Dinner with
his officers, a most hospitable group. Shows me his
quarters; tent with concrete floor. Cot has mosquito
netting to protect him from nature’s dive bombers
who do their work under cover of darkness.
Met Fr. Molloy, Army Chaplain in town where his
unit is quartered in one of the parks. Am highly
amused at the sign the Massachusetts boys have
placed outside a head, “Boylston and Tremont Sts.”
Fortunately our boys have their sense of humor even
10,000 miles away from home. A barbershop owns
the unique name of Scuttlebutt Center, Scuttlebutt
being the Navy name for idle rumor. “Scuttlebutt
says” is something we are hearing all the time when
we are underway and know not our destination.
Walking back to our miniature dock where our boats
are ferrying the cargo to be trucked away by the
CB’s, I almost bump into a black native Melanesian
who is wearing a triangular fern on his head. He is
a magnificent physical specimen, is dressed in blue
shorts and a dark blue shirt. I met him just as I left
the shop of a saddle maker who made me a leather
We finish discharging our cargo and get underway,
nose our way around the little hills bathing their feet in
the sea, turn hard to starboard where we tie up alongside the tanker Gulfport for fueling. We lie to all night.
Mr. McRae, Communications Officer, informs me
that I may have a chance to see Ed at Guadalcanal, for
that is where we are eventually going. First we head
for Viti Levu, one of the Fiji Islands, then back north
to Guadalcanal. However, we may stay there only during the daylight for submarines make life miserable
at night for ships there.
We take aboard hundreds of sacks of mail for Suva,
the port of Viti Levu and for Guadalcanal. Their
Christmas mail is just catching up with the boys.
Saturday, January 23, 1943
87
Underway again, for Suva 850 miles away. We
go out unescorted; will make run for it alone since
we are a fairly fast ship, 18 knots, and these waters
are not too dangerous; safer, surprising to say, than
outside Norfolk or Boston Harbor.
Men are cleaning up the ship after the unloading.
The dry cement powder left the boats, holds and the
85 A transparent, plastic membrane used for waterproofing.
86 The Chicago, a heavy cruiser, was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese aircraft eight days later, on January 30, 1943, in the Battle of Rennel
Island, part of the Guadalcanal Campaign. More than 1,000 personnel were rescued. Sixty-nine were killed. Foley refers to the ship’s fate
later in the diary.
87 A harbor city on Viti Levu, the largest of the Fiji Islands.
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�decks in a sorry condition, but our men turn to it
with a will and scour and scrub all day.
Evening sunset in the South Seas. Sky is liquid gold
as the sun gives us her parting benediction of the
day. Clouds are on fire with her glory. Nature is lavish
with her masterpieces down here. Last night we saw
a tropical moonrise. Again a full moon. We have seen
the moon full at sea for the last four months; the October Harvest Moon on the way to Africa, the November Hunter’s Moon on the return trip, the December
on our cruise down here, just outside of the Panama
Canal, Pacific side, and now moonrise over the Dumbea Mountains, our anchorage last night. Through a
cleft in the mountains she slowly raises her head in
full blown beauty.
Off to our portside red lights top the masts of 20 odd
ships that are riding at anchor, men o’ war, combat
transports like our own and ferry transports, tankers
and minesweepers. On the top of one of the mountains a searchlight is chattering away unceasingly to
one of the ships on the other side of us. The night
is filled with silence. The moon is riding in and out
through the clouds. Mr. Townsend by my side remarks that the mountains are as beautiful in the half
shadow as in the full moon. We stand on the bridge
deck aft, drinking in the quiet beauty of it all. Suddenly at 8:30 p.m. General Quarters and we rush to
our battle stations. Alarm over in half an hour.
Sunday, January 24, 1943
Up at 0410. Is that early! Once again we are at sea
taking all possible protection against anything that
might be bent on our destruction. While in port we
enjoy a sound night’s sleep without making any provisions for going over the side at night. Now that we
are underway again we are back in our old routine.
“That thought” is always in the back of the mind,
“It may happen at any time, so be prepared.”
0510 – I have my first Mass on the Upper Deck Aft
when dawn has grown bright and the best hour for
submarines has passed and the worst hour for us.
A dozen men receive Holy Communion. My parish
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is reduced to normal numbers, for we have disembarked all our passengers. Shortly we expect to take
more aboard.
0900 – Second Mass, which I offer for my family
that God will continue to bless us all and bring us
safely and shortly home again. By the way, as yet
no mail from home. Not to be surprised at this, as
I write to my mother, for our ship did a lot of travelling since last December 17, 1942, and mail will
have a devil of a time catching up with us.
Today “Up Rugs.” The deep cushiony grey rug on
my deck goes the way of all rugs on our ship. She
is taken up and stored away against a better day, for
we must cut down the fire hazard. When we are hit
(How optimistic!), there will be less to burn.
1000 – General Service. Protestant boys are most
attentive listeners to the sermon on the leper and
the Centurion, the Gospel for the third Sunday after
Epiphany. They get the same sermon today that the
Catholic men got and they seem to like it.
We have aboard with us Captain Shull and Sgt.
Snyder, Marines attached to the Quartermasters’
Division; both splendid young fellows. Shull attends
General Service and Snyder Catholic.
Monday, January 25, 1943
0445 – General Quarters. We are old hands now at
getting up an hour before dawn but we never get
used to it. Mass as usual and then breakfast when
the chimes sound at 0700.
Ship seems very quiet during this 850 mile run
for we have no passengers on board. We will start
picking them up when we reach port at Suva on Viti
Levu. A week ago we ran south of it on the way
to Noumea.
What about the weather these days! One beautiful day follows another. Only once in the past four
weeks have we had a bad day. It is glorious summer
weather; temperature a comfortable 80 degrees.
�At Noumea I bought some of the latest magazines.
January 20 was the day I purchased the October 17,
1942 issue of the English Sphere, an illustrated
weekly of a type far superior to Life. This one carries
excellent book reviews and articles on the current
stage. One book review was [titled] a “Word in
Your Ear,” an anthology [of word histories] by Ivor
88
Brown. The following struck me for its original
turn of expression in the review. “At least it will
never be able to be said of him that a weary reader
might be found gathering wild adverbs on the northwest slopes of his Sunday article.” Never before
came across such an original metaphor. The advertising section for hotels in the country is most decorous.
In order to have an ad appear, you must write a letter
89
to Ashley Courtenay. Upon his endorsement your
ad breaks into print. This one really captured my
fancy. “clematis cottage hotel, Washington,
Nr. Worthing. A haven of content and character for a
weekend or longer in the fold of the Sussex Downs.
Noted for the discerning people who repeatedly stay
here. Inclusive terms 4–41/2 guns.” (guineas)
At 2:30 p.m. up to the flying bridge, sight wild
mountains covered with dense, green growth;
apparently uninhabited. Down this way as in New
Caledonia, the world still wears the fresh look of
the morning of creation.
I try out new hand range finder on Gun Group #8.
It is like a woman’s hand mirror with an open circle
in the center across which run two perpendicular
hairs. On the face is a gadget like the dial on a circular radio front. It can be manipulated all around.
Numbers 45, 60, 90, etc. are the wing spread of the
plane, on the same face. Get the spread, twist the
hairs and you have the exact distance of the planes.
On the face also are the readings Zero, Focke, Wolf,
Messerschmitt, Junkers, Savioa; all the enemy planes
set according to their relative size.
3:30 P.M. – “Station all special sea details.” We are
supposed to dock at 5 o’clock; looks as though we
90
are a bit ahead of schedule.
4:00 p.m. – We steam through the end of the Kan-
Two o’clock we begin to sight high mountains on
both sides of us. We are entering the Bay, passing
through Kandavu Passage.
Planes circling overhead on patrol reassure us on
our lone wolf trip. Hear one rush by at deck level.
Out to see it but has come and gone. Chief Bonnette
sitting out on the deck, man in charge of crew’s
mess, enjoying his rest smoking a cigar, shoes off.
Say to him safer than we would be outside Norfolk.
His reply, speaking English as quickly as he does his
native French, “No, no, no, no, Father. Here’s where
the Jap boys take inventory. No patrol ships around,
they pick what they want.” The Chief has been 24
years in the Navy. His ship, the Utah, was put under
in 11 minutes at Pearl Harbor on that fateful December 7, 13 months ago.
91
davu Passage. Tremendous island mountains on
both sides of us, clad in dense foliage. On starboard
side is the Matuku Range, one peak after another.
One sunburst in particular catches Suva in the distance. If it is half as beautiful as it appears to be, it
will be well worth a stay at shore. Snow-white business houses, white stucco residential sections with
red and green tiled roofs, all brilliantly alive in the
afternoon sun and set against a deep green background make a fit subject for an artist’s brush.
4:10 p.m. – We take the English pilot aboard, a Naval
Lt. dressed in tropical naval uniform, British, white
sport shirt and white shorts, white long stockings,
shoes to match. He just exudes coolness. We follow the tortuous path through the minefield, being
saluted en route by two scout planes from the local
88 Brown was a prolific anti-modernist British journalist and critic.
89 Courtenay was a noted hotel reviewer whose name later appeared on a series of popular travel guides to haute Great Britain. Foley, who as
a Jesuit had taken a degree in classics at Oxford, was something of an Anglophile.
90 Special sea details are manned when a ship is entering or leaving port.
91 The passage runs through the Fiji Islands.
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�base, who scream at us at deck height and wave
a greeting.
4:30 p.m. – We are closer and are struck by the lovely
fresh beauty of the place. It is set directly on Suva
92
Bay with the South Seas sunset playing upon it.
5:30 p.m. – We moor to the dock. Note that even here
camouflage is in order to mislead any Jap raiders.
Preparations are made to take on cargo and passengers immediately, with plans noised about that we
are getting underway two days from now.
Tuesday, January 26, 1943
I go ashore on this island of the Fijis “where winter
never comes.” Note the lush tropical growth everywhere. Traffic cop in color is one for the candid camera fiend. He is dressed in a blue jacket with a red
belt and white skirt, scalloped at the knees. His hair
is a thick mop of black that is almost another head.
The creek I immediately cross is the Numbukalou.
The street to the right leads down to the main shopping center. On the right is the “All Nations Street.”
I meander down that one. Here are the fish and fruit
markets, shops run by enterprising Chinese, Indian
barbers, shoemakers and the ubiquitous Bombay
tailor. It is a polyglot collection. On the streets are
the natives, Fijians, the women dressed in long
dresses, reaching down to their ankles, in colors of
red, green and black, yet nothing garish about them.
Though they are black in complexion, they have no
Negroid features.
The women are distinctly beautiful and the men
are fine physical specimens, dressed in brown
shorts and shirts. Both have the outsize head of
hair. Mixed among them are the women from India,
dark complexioned with the most delicate features.
Two that come along must be the child brides I have
read about in the tales of the missionaries. They
cannot be a day over fourteen, yet are mothering
little youngsters obviously their own. Suddenly two
Fijian boys of ten dash in and out of the shoppers,
one trying to catch the other; white, black or brown,
boys are the same the world over. Both incidentally
are barefoot, like all the Fijians, while the Indian
women are sandaled. The dress of the latter are long
flowing gowns of beautiful colors, pink and white.
Two sweep by that are really striking. They are dark,
very dark complexion and are robed in snow white
from their headpiece to their sandals.
I step into one of the shops staffed by Indians to
purchase something for my mother and sisters. Hope
they will like them when they receive them. It will
probably be months but they will get them eventually, before New Year’s Day, 1944. Some tortoise shell
souvenirs, a necklace and a pillow slip.
An Indian lady strolls by with an earring placed
in her right nostril. This is quite common among
them. Some of them also have earrings, even the
men. A black priest walks by on the other side of
the street. I make bold to chase after him, identify
myself, and the tie that binds all priests together
the wide world over breaks down all formality and
he tells me about his mission in the hills. Fr. Julian
Owanga is his name. I part from him to run into
Brother Patrick, a Marist Brother teaching in the
school they run here.
In another shop I buy a hand-painted scene with a
piece of bark from the Baka tree used for canvas.
The young Indian boy speaks fairly good English.
He informs me that he is 15 years old and goes to
school still, but this is summer here. I ask him what
school. The answer is still vague. Finally he makes
himself perfectly clear. These people, his teachers
“teach for Jesus Christ.” He has summed up the
entire life of a Catholic lay person, Sister, Brother
and Priest perfectly.
To the Church, a beautiful Cathedral, with a lovely
life-sized statue of the Sacred Heart, hands outstretched in welcome looking down from the main
entrance. It is built of brown sandstone, is cruciform,
92 Suva, on the island of Viti Levu, was the capital of Fiji, itself a British colony.
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�with an altar to Our Lady on the Gospel side of the
High Altar and another on the left which remains
unidentified. Still in front of it is the Christmas crib
with massive life-sized Wise Men and 11 other figures
also. On the walls are the Stations of the Cross. Again
I say them for my father. One strikes me particularly, “Our Lord Is Stripped of His Garments.” In it,
one of the Roman soldiers is leaning against a post,
legs crossed, utterly indifferent to the tragedy being
enacted. To him Christ was just another Jew to be
executed. “Part of the day’s routine in this forgotten
hole of creation,” as he might have said.
Notice a nun in the first row. When she finishes
her prayers, I introduce myself. We go over to the
Mother who, unlike the first nun, is straight from
Ireland; the first one is from England. She is outnumbered, for of the four, three are from the Emerald
Isle. Then in comes Father [Robert] Foley, Marist like
the Sisters, and we sit and talk for an hour. One of the
Sisters gives me some seeds for my mother. Hope
they get to her in good condition.
Walk along out of town up a long hilly street. One
lawn is fringed with long palms of banana trees,
with the stalks growing in a way that appears to
me to be upside down. Right alongside of them are
the marigold flowers at home in Fiji as well as in
the garden back home. What of the weather? Tropical showers are the rule, not the exception. People
don’t, however, wear raincoats or carry umbrellas
because the clouds empty their cargo in four or five
minutes, the sun comes out and everything is dried
out in short order.
The tanker forward of us shoves off and anchors out
in the stream to allow a British passenger liner to
berth. She is evidently a luxury liner converted to a
transport. Is she? Not at all. In her case appearances
are amazingly deceitful. As she slowly steams by us,
we note on her promenade deck three huge six inch
guns swung inboard parallel with the lines of the
ship. She has the same on her other, the starboard
side, and, in addition, two three inch forward and
aft. She is a raider, powerfully equipped and could
wreak havoc on a Jap or German ship that would
take her for what she appears to be from a distance.
No doubt there is the same chattering going on
alongside of her as there was alongside of us when
we docked. The natives shout out “Boula,” whatever
that means. “Hello?” They will put on board her oil
drums as they did aboard us. They roll them down
the length of the dock, pushing them with their bare
feet. They come alongside of the hatch where they
93
are hoisted aboard.
Wednesday, January 27, 1943
We are supposed to be underway today, but remain
at anchor all day. Word comes of intense enemy
activity where we are going so we ride idly in Suva
Bay about a mile off shore. Meanwhile the USS
Buchanan steams in and drops her hook. She will
be our escort on the trip north to Espiritu Santo and
then Guadalcanal? We shall see. The Buchanan has
done her damage out here. She has painted along
her bridge shield one plane with five Jap flags alongside of it. The Radar Shack high up over the bridge
has a destroyer with a Jap flag alongside of it. One of
the torpedo tubes amidships indicated by her little
cruiser and flag that one fish found its home in a
Jap cruiser that she came upon sound asleep. Three
torpedoes were fired into her and she went down in
three minutes.
Today is feast of St. John Chrysostom. Sixteen years
ago tonight I was delivering a Latin sermon, praising him in the refectory at Shadowbrook at the
94
evening meal. This evening I am aboard a fighting
ship of the United States Navy, a combat transport
anchored one mile off the biggest of the Fiji Islands
in the South Seas. “Tempora mutantur et nos mu-
93 Boula is a Fijian greeting meaning “life” and implying a wish for good health.
94 Celebrated for his eloquence, John Chrysostom (c. 347 – 407) was an early church father and archbishop of Constantinople. Shadowbrook
was a Jesuit novitiate in Lenox, Massachusetts, founded in 1922. A decline in the number of Jesuit aspirants forced its closure in 1970.
72 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�tamur in illis.” The Latin poet was right; times do
95
change and we change with them.
the first. These Army boys hate their canned rations.
Confessions this evening for soldiers.
We get underway at 0900 this morning with a load
of soldiers bound for Espiritu Santo, an island north
of New Caledonia, the stop before Guadalcanal.
In code we are on our way to “Button” first, then
to “Cactus.” There I hope to see Ed. We leave the
tropical showers behind us. Forgot to mention that,
when I went ashore at Suva, during two hours of the
morning from about 10 to 12 o’clock there were five
showers. The people ashore simply waited under the
roofs extending out from the houses and stores to
the curbstones and then went about their business,
with the longest shower lasting about four minutes,
the shortest two. There might be clear sky overhead,
yet suddenly a downpour would break with the rain
clouds miles away in the sky.
Saturday, January 30, 1943
0430 – Up at this unearthly hour again for General
Quarters. Dawn comes early in this part of the world.
0515 – We pass through Selwyn Straits, with Pentecost Island on our starboard and Abrim on our port
side. Passage is about two miles wide with mountains rising up sheer on both sides. Are heavily
wooded; no signs of life except on starboard mountain. A modern house with red-tiled roof and white
stucco front all by its lonesome down on the shore.
Perhaps in it lives somebody who wanted to get way
from it all. Not satisfied with the South Seas alone,
he even picked himself a deserted island.
0815 – We suddenly answer an alarm for General
Our escort, the USS Buchanan, is ahead of us kicking up a tremendous wake as she cruises back and
forth across our bow. We are doing 16 knots, about
101/2 land miles, while the Buchanan is doing about
25 knots, in land miles about 29. Looking down
from the flying bridge to the bridge I note that on
the splinter shield protecting the bridge is written in
chalk the following: “Course T 202; Course T 201;
Convoy Speed 16; Present RPM 74 (Revolutions of
[propellers] per minute); Zigzag Plan #38.” Heading out to sea we have a lovely summer day, for it is
always summer here in Fiji.
Friday, January 29, 1943
0430 – Up for General Quarters again.
We forge ahead making excellent speed on our own,
like this is not part of a convoy. Soldiers are playing
cards, sleeping on the decks, developing their suntans. As we go down a starboard ladder, strong odor
of bacon. One soldier yells out to another, “Smell
that rasher of bacon!” Other replies, “The kind that
mother used to cook.” “Almost” was the rejoinder of
Quarters. Sub reported in the channel. This is one
of the places where, according to Chief Commissary
Steward Bonnette, the “Jap subs take inventory.”
After half an hour we are secured from General
Quarters. One depth charge dropped overboard to
keep Hirohito’s boys down.
We proceed slowly up the mined channel, using
extreme care. As we pass between two marked buoys,
we are told that here is where the USS President
Coolidge, one of our biggest ferry transports, went
down last month. She struck one of our own mines,
swung around and hit another. An attempt was made
to beach her. She headed for shore, came to rest on
a ledge, later slid off and went to her death. Coolidge
lost only four soldiers. She was within 100 yards of
96
shore, but all equipment went down.
Air is filled with odor of what seems to be pine trees.
Reminds me of Lexington Park [in Somerville, Massachusetts], where our parents used to take us when
we were small. Man after man of us fills his lungs
with the pungent sweet smell.
95 Foley attributes the line to Ovid, as was believed at the time; but it is now said to be a 16th century German invention.
96 The Navy records two deaths; 5,440 Army troops were on board the former luxury liner.
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�Make out large plantations on the shore, row upon
row of tall, palm-crested trees about as high as a
telegraph pole. Civilian standing near me, Mr. Beveridge, informs me that they are coconut trees. In
the distance, tops of mountains on every side of us
wearing lovely blue color that deepens into purple as
they fall away to the horizon. Again we see the sandy
shore of the channel, the greenest of green water and
the whitest of white sand. Channel is lined with long
stretches of sand that are never stepped on by human
feet. What crowded beaches they would be at home!
Off in the distance off our port bow is a mountain that
has a cloud spiraling up. Has appearance of a volcano
sending up lazy white steam. Plane suddenly roars by
at deck height, dips its starboard wings in salute, so
close to us that we can see the pilot and his radioman
smiling as they wave.
We maneuver through the minefield, pass through
the anti-sub nets, make a turn to port and suddenly
find that we are in the presence of 32 other ships of
all descriptions; cruisers, minesweepers, destroyer
tender with three of her children tied to her apron;
British cruiser Achilles that helped us put Graf
97
Spee under off east coast of South America. There
are cargo ships and ferry transports and fighting
transports like our own. On either side of the channel that runs between the two islands slowly rises
a line of mountains, either densely clothed with
tropical growth or neatly laid out in square patterns
of coconut trees. Suddenly down the sloping side
of the mountain off our starboard, a seaplane is
coasting as she comes down to make a landing on
the water, then a little lower, and the first spray flies
from under the gentle touch of her under carriage.
Pontoons, another white plume, another, another,
until she has landed; another scouter back
home safely.
This island right here is bombed regularly, about
every two or three nights by Joe Lone Wolf, but he
does little damage, being able to see nothing in the
black darkness. His objective is the airport just over
the brow of the mountains. Meanwhile we see scores
of seaplanes riding at anchor. They are spaced about
100 yards apart and line the starboard bank. Training the glasses of the sky lookout in Gun Group #2,
I espy a nest of six small bomber seaplanes hiding in
a coconut grove. A mile downstream there is another
group; this time about ten of them. Meanwhile there
are a number of them up in the air, patrolling their
regular stations, high in the skies.
Peace and war are sharply contrasted by the sight of
cows grazing unconcernedly in between the wings of
the planes parked in the groves.
There is no sign of habitation except an occasional
little house of white with a red-tiled roof. In the
distance we can make out a cluster of about six of
them, with a lovely little church painted white with
red piping. Nearby are two long buildings with Red
Crosses on them, indication of Hospital. The Church
is Catholic and has a statue directly in front of it.
Shortly after passing the island, we drop anchor just
before the channel as this end opens out to the sea
again. Alongside, the cruiser Minneapolis shows her
scars after a recent brush with the enemy. Her bow
is patched up. Sun is boiling hot. A ten minute session with it is a big dose, as some found out to their
sorrow when big blisters formed on their backs. We
lay to the rest of the day. I read some of the Office,
then submit the schedule of services for tomorrow
to the Executive Officer.
Sunday, January 31, 1943
Espiritu Santo.
0500 – Deep throated roar of seaplanes taking off
on dawn patrol wakes me up. One after another they
soar off to the horizon on their scouting mission.
97 The Admiral Graf Spee, a German battleship, was deployed to the South Atlantic to attack merchant ships believed to be carrying material from South America to Great Britain. In December 1939, following a celebrated naval battle with British forces in which she was
severely damaged, she was scuttled by her captain off the coast of Uruguay.
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�0600 – Reveille. First Mass 15 minutes later
with practically all of the thirty men going to
Holy Communion. The soldiers are grateful for
the opportunity for they have no Catholic Chaplain.
0900 – Another Mass at which attendance
is excellent.
1000 – Chaplain
Goodhand, Chaplain with the
troops, conducts church service on the boat deck
forward for non-Catholics. Weather frightfully
warm, sun beating down upon us in full force.
I ask the Executive Officer for permission for the men
to have a swimming party. Off we go at one o’clock
up the channel about a mile, where a river flows
into it. We, 100 of us in three boats, go up about
200 yards till we hit a pontoon bridge erected by the
CB’s; there we disembarked, hopping out of the
way of Army and Marine trucks rumbling over the
bridge. A quick rush up an embankment to a grove
and through it for a couple of minutes and off a 10
foot diving platform into the cooling fresh water of
this swift river, about 100 yards wide. Somebody has
rigged a long rope to the limb of a tree, put a stick
about a foot long through the end of it. We stand on
the top of the platform, about 25 feet high, especially
built for this game. Grab the rope as it swings back
from the man ahead of you and then out and up,
sailing with the greatest of ease until you let go and
then drop about 30 feet. That swing is kept busy all
afternoon. Down about 25 yards is one that is really
a breath-taker. You climb a tree to grab that rope,
swing out over the bank which is about 20 feet over
the water, then at the end of the long arc, let go and
drop 50 feet. It is too much for some of our boys;
they swing way out and hold on until they swing
back again. I, too, am content with the one of moderate height.
I have my first sight of the natives; half a dozen men
or boys. It is hard to tell their ages for they are all
coal black and wear only loin cloths. They are sitting in a group watching the American sailors enjoy
themselves. There are men from other ships as well
as ours. One boy sailor, as he steps out for his swing
over the water just ahead of me, sings out, “This is
the life, January 30, swimming in the old river. We
didn’t do this in New York.”
The water is a light blue color, lined with thick tropical
vegetation right down to the edge. We are swimming
in a clearance made for a coconut grove. Overhead
are the big trees loaded with their fruit, growing in
clusters of nine or so with about three clusters to a
tree. Right alongside a little bush on which I hang my
clothes is an old monarch of the forest whose trunk
goes into a fancy dance just before it disappears into
the ground. Instead of being round like the other
trees, this one spreads out into five legs, as it were,
about three feet high and very slender.
We swim about three hours, from one to four, and
then head back for the ship. Before leaving I pick up a
coconut, endeavor to open it, but fail. Its shell is hard.
Monday, February 1, 1943
0615 – Mass on Boat Deck Aft.
1630 – We
are underway for the most talked of place
in the South Pacific, Guadalcanal, and with us are
three other attack transports and four destroyers for
98
protection. We make our way, oh so cautiously,
through the minefield and the nets and once more
98 Guadalcanal, the largest island in the Solomon’s and 1300 miles northeast of Brisbane, Australia, was taken by the Japanese in July 1942 with the
aim of siting an airfield that would allow them to strike New Guinea, Australia, and eventually the American West Coast. The Battle of Guadalcanal, the first American offensive thrust in the Pacific, began with a Marine landing in August in which the Americans took the nearly completed
Japanese airfield and named it Henderson Field,. In the six months of battle on land and sea that followed, 24,000 Japanese and 1,600
Americans lost their lives in combat while thousands more died of tropical diseases. Several of the battles within the Guadalcanal campaign—such as the Naval engagements at Cape Esperance and Santa Cruz and the Marine Battle of Edson’s Ridge—soon entered military lore, and the Battle of Guadalcanal has itself been the subject of scores of books and movies, the first of which, journalist Richard
Tregaskis’s Guadalcanal Diary (see Foley’s February 3 entry), was published on January 1, 1943. The last Japanese troops withdrew from
the island on February 7, 1943.
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�we are on our own. Four cruisers steam by our starboard side, heading for the place we just left. One
sailor remarks, “Chaplain, they are going the wrong
way. We need those fellows.” Overhead planes are
flying about ceaselessly searching the waters below
for Jap subs. Our zigzag plan is #38 with turns that
are the sharpest that we have ever made. They are
99
almost complete right angles.
they are either in an intellectual coma, are ignorant
or are hypocrites. I am in the first class!! He has no
beliefs. He will die like a dog, i.e., no immortality of
the soul; blind extinction at death. No belief in God or
in Christ. “Schopenhauer,” he says, “was right. The
only thing for a man to do is to put a bullet through
his head.” Although only twenty-three years old, he is
a confirmed atheist and a cynic.
Underway about an hour when five destroyers, a
cruiser and an aircraft carrier loom up on the horizon
forward of us, again going in the opposite direction.
The carrier is the Saratoga which was reported sunk
100
only three days ago. She is still a good fighting ship,
without any scars of the battle in which she took part.
We are steaming directly for a big mountainous island
straight ahead. Over it and the other mountains that
line our sides are lazy white clouds; some big white
blankets, others just powder puffs. One sailor remarks
that he slept topside on one of them last night and
forgot to take his blanket in.
First letter from my mother arrived today, along with
Christmas cards. About twenty pieces of correspondence; mother’s letter was dated December 31, 1942.
Books from “Book of the Month Club” also arrived.
The first has a cover that contrasts sharply with our
present weather. It shows a cottage in the Maine
woods buried in snow. Here we are on our way to
Guadalcanal with the warm South Seas sun beating
down on us, the temperature being about 90. In the
“Book of the Month Club News” there is notice of a
book, “Light on the Jesuits in China,” telling of our attempts to form a link between the East and West. The
last sentence of the review reads, “The Chinese and
the Jesuits both have a reputation for mysterious and
devious ways; if you would like to know how
justified that theory is, you may well start your
investigation here.”
Uneventfully, the day grows old until 11 o’clock when
we have a sub alarm. “Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet”
goes off over the public address system and every man
on the ship springs to his battle station. We are keyed
up for half an hour when we are “secured” as the Navy
calls “Dismissed”! I ask my room boy, Godwin, how he
would like meeting the Japs. He answered, “I wouldn’t
mind if we had some more battlewagons with us.”
In the evening a discussion with two Army Lieutenants on matters religious and otherwise. One has a
sophomoric mind, was a Catholic, lost his faith at
Union College, New York. We are both frank with
each other; the discussion runs for two hours. Four
others join in. An ex-Catholic is firmly convinced that
people who practice religion are one of three types;
Wednesday, February 3, 1943
0455 – General Quarters. Out on the deck in the
dark as usual, setting up my altar at the “Church of
the Anti-aircraft Battery.” I wonder how Lt. Welch,
who coined that title, is. I hope he is still of one
piece fighting now in Tunisia against the Germans.
Cerise sky at sunrise, never seen before by men
aboard. Cerise at sunset, yes, but not the first coloring at dawn.
99 These defensive maneuvers were a commonplace in Foley’s life at sea, and while the command of them lay outside the responsibilities
of chaplains, he had studied these procedures as he did many aspects of Navy life. Naval regulations prescribed zig-zagging as the
principal defensive measure to be undertaken by surface vessels in waters known to harbor enemy submarines. “The primary purpose,”
notes Naval War Instructions (1944) “is to reduce the accuracy of torpedo fire, rather than to evade the submarine, since evasion is not
feasible.” While promulgating guidelines as to speed, turning periodicity and turning angles to be employed under various conditions,
Instructions left final determination of such matters to the judgement of a ship’s senior officer.
100 See note 83.
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�Learn when rigging the altar that we have reversed
our direction. We are beating a hasty retreat right
back to where we came from, Espiritu Santo. Japanese task force was headed in our direction; 35 ships
reported ahead of us! We are going all out; ship just
quivering under the forced draft. We would have
been in Guadalcanal in two hours at eight o’clock.
Now the boys there and brother, Ed will have to wait
for the sorely needed replacements that we are carrying. Word came through last night at 8 o’clock that
a task force was headed in our direction. All other
forces headed for Guadalcanal like ours were told
to reverse direction. We received no word. For six
anxious hours, since no word came, we continued to
head right into the mouth of the big guns of the Jap
ships. Then at one o’clock this morning word finally
came through to us to turn back. Meanwhile two
of the destroyers leave us and go straight ahead to
join battle with the Japs in union with our other big
ships that are with them on their way to engage the
Japs. So Communications Officer McRae informs
me. He said that he was sick with anxiety last night
waiting for the big message to come through on
the radio. Air traffic was extremely heavy. Yet in the
coding room message after message was broken for
hours until the one came through.
Army Officer informs me that when he came on
deck and noticed that we were steaming south
again, since the sun was on our port instead of our
starboard side, he inquired of one of our Officers
if we were going in the right direction. The answer
was, “It’s the right direction for us in view of what
is ahead.”
After breakfast I thumb through the latest ”Book
of the Month Club News.” It tells us that one of the
books for next month is “Guadalcanal Diary”. In the
review I read that boys ask questions like the following: “Why was this spot chosen to send our men to, so
remote that the supply line seems impossibly long?”
“Why don’t reinforcements come?” “Why does it seem
easier for the Japs to get new forces than for us?”
We on our ship know why we couldn’t get in there
this morning, as we were scheduled. May God be
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with Ed and the rest of the boys during their hours
of isolation and apparent neglect. May their sore
trial be a short one. All morning we continue to
rip along, kicking up a tremendous fuss between
us as we endeavor to put mileage between us and
the Japs.
About two o’clock a plane, a dive bomber, is sighted
on the horizon off our starboard beam. What is she?
Has a carrier caught up with us through her flying eyes? Fortunately, it turns out to be one of our
own from Espiritu Santo. Shortly a large PBY patrol
bomber cruises leisurely by. Meanwhile the [dive]
bomber goes up high behind a big white pillow
of a cloud. He suddenly pierces through it, diving
straight down in a power dive at an incredible speed
of 400 miles per hour. Then climbs out of it perpendicular again, but this time straight up, he turns
over on his back, describes a loop, is once more on
an even keel and makes away to catch his breath.
This boy certainly handles his plane magnificently.
He is lost behind another cloud, rides through it,
straightens out and is away, after giving us a firsthand demonstration of what a dive bomber does in
actual operation. Now he knows, if he didn’t know
before, what his good ship will do, what strains she
will stand, how obedient she will be when the hour
of testing that means life or death comes.
.
One of the Army Officers remarks that he used to
think that the Air Corps were the glamour boys of
the fighting forces. He had his ideas changed radically one day at Fiji. He was at the airport when five
four-motored long distance bombers came in. They
had been on a long raid to the Solomons. The first
plane that came in had 111 bullet holes through her.
Her five crew members struggled out of their ship
and collapsed in a pile, completely exhausted. For
three hours off and on they and the other ships had
fought off one fighter attack after the other.
The Morning Press from the Radio Shack carries the
following paragraph radioed from Los Angeles. “Knox
and Nimitz and Halsey were under Jap air attack twice
within the past two weeks – first at Espiritu Santo, of
short duration, second of 7 hours duration at Guadal-
�canal.” “That’s us,” says one of the sailors. Just at this
101
moment we are between both of [the islands].
4:30 p.m. – Off on the horizon three squadrons of
bombers are winging their way north, no doubt bent
on giving aid to their brothers in arms on land and
sea on and off Guadalcanal.
7:30 p.m. – We drop anchor in Segond Channel,
where we were when we first arrived last Saturday.
We note on our way in that there is not a single
fighting ship in these waters. Only last Monday
when we were leaving there were at least twelve.
Then on the way out, four sleek light cruisers were
heading into port here; they didn’t remain long!
Over the radio comes the report: Big sea battle
being waged off Guadalcanal. Losses suffered by
both sides. All-out battle by Japs to retake “Cactus.”
Again may Our Lady and her Son and St. Joseph be
with Ed and his buddies in their hour of agony. Here
we swing with the rapid current of the stream while
102
they perhaps battle with the Jap reinforcements.
Yet here we must stay. If we ventured out, we would
be liabilities to our own fighting ships; besides
fighting the battle they would be endeavoring also
to protect us. God grant that the battle be decided in
our favor so that we may hurry to their assistance.
Then the report of a possible enemy offensive was
an accurate prediction that held us over for a day at
Suva, Fiji. Had we not stayed over, we should have
by this time been filed away in Davey Jones’ Locker.
Thursday, February 4, 1943
0600 – Reveille.
outcome is in our favor, we should shortly move north
again to Guadalcanal. If against us, then we will stay
here until the balance is adjusted in our favor.
After breakfast, go topside to the flying bridge to
read my Office. Skirting the shore on our starboard
side about a mile away are ten one-story shacks of
corrugated tin, white on the sides and red on the
roof. Between the fifth and sixth is a little lean-to
with Chinese writing over its entrance. Apparently
it is a shrine. Out of one of the houses comes a
Tonkinese woman with two gasoline tins straddled
across her shoulders. She makes her way to the
community well, dips down with the bucket three or
four times, balances her burden and goes back into
her house. From another shack a little Chinese tot,
about three or four, toddles out, dressed in a black
skirt and a multi-colored blouse. Behind the little
one is the mother, dressed also in a black skirt but
a white blouse. Both of them also make their way to
the community well.
These houses are only about twenty feet from the
river bank. Green lush grass grows right down to
the water’s edge. In back of the houses are orderly
coconut trees. Under them placidly chewing their
cud are half a dozen cows, utterly indifferent to the
ships anchored at their front door.
On deck below two of our soldier boys are scrapping.
One is trying to dust the head of the other with a floor
broom. Suddenly both of them are rolling on the
deck, trying to secure headlocks on each other. The
impromptu wrestling match in a twinkle gathers an
audience soon split into two camps that cheer along
the contenders. A referee steps in, umpires the match
and hoists the arm of the winner after five minutes.
0615 – Mass on Upper Deck Aft. At breakfast Radio
Press carries news from Washington that American
and Jap air and sea arms are locked in a major struggle for the control of the Solomons. That means that
we stay here at least until the issue is decided. If the
On the other side of the deck men are sleeping after
breakfast. They sleep everywhere; in the stern of the personnel boats, under them, flat on the deck, on top of the
fire hose locker, at the base of the 20 mm guns, on top
101 Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox had just paid a visit to Guadalcanal. Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, was commander of the Pacific Fleet.
Adm. William F. Halsey was commander of the South Pacific Fleet and had led Naval forces at Guadalcanal.
102 The Battle of Rennell Island (January 29-30) was the last naval engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign.
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�of the ammunition boxes, every conceivable place, some
of them positively defying the laws of gravity.
Alongside, moving slowly, maneuvers a native
canoe made out of tree bark, which is still green.
It should hold only two natives squeezed into the
bow and stern, but she carries two more who are
precariously balanced on a network of bamboo poles
criss-crossed over her middle. The starboard extension is about four feet out over the water with a little
pontoon to help keep the nervous craft on an even
keel, and the port extension is out about a foot; on
both sit the two extra passengers. In the canoe are
bananas and coconuts. Presently they are engaged
in bartering, dictating by pointing to a sailor’s white
undershirt that they want clothes in exchange for
their fruit. Vigorous shakes of the head turn down
the dollar bills sent down to them on the end of a
rope. They are swarthy, black, magnificently proportioned and ominous-looking until they smile. Soldiers
ashore told us that they are very friendly. Their barter
goods are the chief products of the island of Espiritu
Santo. They complete their business satisfactorily
and paddle away, while we wonder why they don’t
tip over when it seems that a deep breath would
dump them.
Friday, February 5, 1943
First Friday.
0430 – Reveille
0500 – Station all special details.
0615 – Mass of the Sacred Heart.
Read in an old Time magazine that Admiral Halsey,
the boss out here, throws everything, including the
kitchen stove when he goes into action against the
Japs. The officer who supplies him added that he
then comes back for more lids. Halsey is now engaging the enemy where we came from. As yet no word
beyond a noncommittal Washington Navy communiqué yesterday that a battle of major proportions is
being fought. So yesterday’s communiqué.
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Today’s – “An air of impending crisis hung over the
Pacific where there were indications that a great
and perhaps decisive American-Japanese sea battle
might be developing in the Solomon Area.” Another – “The Area is Guadalcanal.” So the morning
radio news. However, we get underway at 0530, so
that means we must have the upper hand. Otherwise we would not be making another attempt to
get through to Cactus, as Guadalcanal is known.
We figured when we reversed course in a hurry two
days ago that, if we were victorious in this sea battle,
we would be on our way again shortly. If our forces
were worsted, we would not return. We are underway! The vagueness of the report must be to mislead
the enemy.
Just before dinner at noon up to the flying bridge for
a little sun where I meet Mr. Beveridge, our civilian passenger bound for Guadalcanal where he has
spent the last five years of his life. Most interesting
life. Was a member of the Ninth Scottish Division
in the last war. Southern Highlanders, one of the
units of the “Ladies from Hell,” called that because
of their fierce fighting qualities and their kilts.
Quiet, soft-spoken man, of the type who has helped
England to rule in the far off places of the world for
these long years. Was a prisoner for a year during
the last war in Germany; found the common man
as sick of fighting as the common man of England
and France and Scotland and the States. Has greatest respect for Sisters and Priests who have given
their lives to converting and consequently civilizing
the natives, some of whom are less than a 100 years
away from cannibalism.
Three o’clock in the afternoon, heart skips a couple
of beats as word is passed down from the bridge
over the broadcasting system, through 50 odd outlets of the ship, “Stand by for enemy planes.” On the
way down to sick bay, my battle station, I can make
out on the horizon about three miles away, a big
plane off our starboard beam, headed straight for us.
“Is this it?” I ask myself. Go on down another deck,
adjusting my sturdy helmet and lifebelt. After two
minutes, roar of motors passes over us, no noise of
any kind, word is piped down: “Secure from General
�Quarters.” Plane was a big Patrol Bomber, Seversky
[Aircraft Company], returning from the north, the
direction in which we are headed. She was homing
for Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. All breathe a sigh
of relief as we turn back to the tasks that were interrupted by the alarm. Then five minutes later another
alarm; same as before, same issue, another of our
PBY’s. Back again to packing my zipper bag that I
got three years ago Christmas from “All of Us” as
the card was signed, which meant the whole family. And now look where we are! Why pack the bag?
I am getting ready with some “Oh, Henry’s” and
cigarettes, etc. for Ed whom I hope to see day after
tomorrow at the end of our trip. I hear that we [will]
get up at one o’clock that morning of our arrival.
Gore, Mess Attendant, leaves $15.00 with me for
safekeeping. I ask him, “How do you like going to
Guadalcanal?” Reply:, “Can’t say that I do. But anything to help the boys there.”
One of the men comes in for a talk, is despondent
because in the letter from home, wife told him that
the baby had a bad case of whooping cough, is worried about the youngster. Moral: don’t tell boys news
like that, of minor importance, about which they can
do nothing but worry. Tell them about the dinner on
Sunday, who was there, what his friends are doing,
what the latest story is from the corner where he
used to stop for the bus for work in the morning.
Anything but the bad news.
Saturday, February 6, 1943
0500 – General Quarters.
they roll over into a white wake. Occasionally on
the bridge right over us, the port wing of it, Quartermaster sings out his bearings; 220 on the American
Legion, 220¼ on the American Legion, another ship
103
in our task force. Sun rises during Mass. After
Mass one of the men says that he will never forget
the beauty of the setting. Sun rising to pay tribute of
adoration to Our Lord also.
After breakfast men turn to have everything shipshape for unloading. Standing by the after hatch
#4 watching soldiers having boat drill, one of them
trips over cable, goes headlong. Roar of laughter
greets his plight; rises with a smile as one of his
buddies sings out, “What’s the matter? Got a case
of the Solomon shakes?”
Before seeing the Captain about permission to see
Ed ashore tomorrow, I whisper a prayer to Our Lady
that request will be granted. That after Executive
Officer first seen said the chances were very slight.
Captain most graciously granted permission. At the
same time, doesn’t want me left behind if we have
an attack from land, surface vessels, subs or planes.
Thank you, Our Lady. It is to you and your Son that I
owe this favor.
At table one of the Army Officers is Walter Cox of
Clemson, member of team, guard on eleven that
beat B.C. at the Cotton Bowl three years back. Splendid young man with highest of respect for our men
104
against whom he played.
Sunday, February 7, 1943
0300 – Mass in the Library.
0600 – Mass on the port side of the boat deck
forward with about 50 men attending. Site changed
from the usual location, Upper Deck Aft, due to
preparations for unloading at Guadalcanal. Set altar
up around the corner due to the wind coming in
over the starboard side; is a quiet spot. Over on the
horizon sun streaking the eastern sky with fingers
of gold. Only sound is crisp fizzing of the waves as
0330 – Distribution of Holy Communion to soldiers
in the Library.
0400 – Boat teams are forming to put soldiers over
the side.
0430 – I go up on the bridge. Hear the Assistant
103 Like the Clymer, the American Legion was a troop transport.
104 Cox (1918–2006) would enjoy a long career as an administrator at Clemson, including a stint as interim president in 1985–86.
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�Navigator giving the bearings, “188 on highest peak
on Guadalcanal.”
We are here at last. On our port side is the island
which has been the cause of so many sea battles and
whose soil has soaked up so much blood. Skyline is
humpy, indicating mountains. Off in the east over
the end of the line of mountains, sky is beginning to
whiten a bit. Night is black as pitch, yet ship is wide
awake, men are loosing all lines, grips ready to hoist
27 boats over the side as soon as we slow down.
Decks are alive with activity as men go through
tasks which are now second nature to them.
Up on the bridge is the air of expectancy always in
evidence when we are striking a strange anchorage.
Figures of the officers and men on watch are darkly
outlined against the sky. Man brushes by, says familiarly, “Hello, Father.” Can’t identify the owner of the
voice in the dark. Over against the backdrop of the
dark mountainside red and green lights are moving forward rapidly, then two more and two more.
It is the dawn patrol of planes taking off, beginning
another day’s work.
Day is brightening quickly. Dawn breaks and the
tips of the mountains and the green pastures on
their sides are bathed in the fresh morning sunlight.
Now Henderson Field is identified behind a row
of coconut trees. A pillar of black smoke is rising,
whose base is being licked by angry flames. Makes
a somber contrast with the lush green of the mountainsides and the fleecy white strips of cloud that
lace their tops. Is this a melancholy reminder of last,
that is to say, this night’s raid on Henderson Field?
The other three ships with us turn off to starboard
anchor and we are the last to set our boats in the
water. In they go; order is given for boat teams to
come topside for their nets at 6 o’clock. I climb
down the net port side with my black bag loaded
with Oh Henry’s, apples and Chesterfields for Ed.
We head for the beautiful shoreline, fringed with
coconut trees. The boat runs up on the beach with
its 35 troops and myself; out we hop and following
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my custom, I bless the land as I set foot on it for the
first time. Surf is rolling in gently, no angry waves
at all, most unlike Africa where boats capsized with
loss of life even before they hit the beach.
I identify myself to a Marine Officer when suddenly
our conversation is drowned out by the roar of an
Aircobra, a P-38 climbing from behind the row of
coconut trees. Up she starts, then soars straight up,
turns to port and is followed by three others, deadly
looking planes with their double tails and long nose
between two motors.
One of the soldiers standing by, asked as he stood
gaping up at them in wonderment, “How do you like
them?” answered, “I like them with that star on them.”
I start walking along the road to find Ed, who is
somewhere in that coconut plantation. A jeep comes
along; I bum a ride along a road constructed right
through the heart of a coconut grove. Suddenly
through a line of trees pockmarked by shell fire, I
see the fire sending up the pillar of smoke; a plane
that crashed. Now she is only a smoking ruin. On
we bump by Henderson Field where hundreds of
our planes are lined up, some at ease, others coming down the bomber strip, still more being serviced
even at 6:30 in the morning.
We skirt the edge of the field when I see a sign
“101st Medical Regiment” tacked onto the trunk of
a coconut tree. “Thanks a lot for the ride,” and I am
hotfooting it down the dirt road indicated by that
arrow. I meet a soldier who is walking up, asked
him if he knows Ed Foley, says that he just went
down to the Chapel for Mass. Two tents down I see
a priest vesting, walk up to identify myself. He is
Fr. Ed Flaherty, brother of Fr. Tony Flaherty,
Director of Charities in Somerville, Mass.
In a split second Ed is up and we both burst out
in a long delayed “Hello!” right on the altar steps!
We look at each other for a few seconds, all smiles,
and then postpone our chatter till after Mass. To
hear confessions I sit on a stone to the right of the
Chapel which is only a canvas of a couple of Army
�tents stretched from coconut trunks. I am sitting
between two Chevrolet trucks that brought some of
the men for Mass. The men have to speak up to be
heard, for all the time the planes are taking off just
200 yards away and trucks are rolling back from the
front just 2 miles away. “Front Line Specials” as the
drivers have painted on them. A pet dog of the soldiers comes along to make friends, but I am cold to
him. He doesn’t realize I’m hearing confessions. The
song of the parakeets flying from the palm head of
one coconut tree to another adds another element that
is missing when hearing confessions in the Churches
back home. In the distance can be heard the rumble
of gunfire where our artillery are hammering the Jap
front lines. Quite a combination of noises!
Mass over, we chin together, Fr. Flaherty, Ed and
myself. He looks wonderful, is tanned, hadn’t lost
any weight since the early days of the service. As
usual, he is smiling all the time. Says that he hasn’t
been sick a day of the two months he has been here.
He and Father exclaim “Oh, boy!” when I open
the contents of the black bag. Nothing but canned
rations in their Army menu.
Fr. Flaherty goes off to get ready for another Mass.
Ed takes me down to see some sick Jap prisoners.
About twenty of them who were starving when they
were captured. One speaks a bit of English, is most
105
friendly. All look woefully undernourished. The
ambulatory cases are wearing shoes like our old onefinger mittens. The big toe is alone. They are of black
cloth composition. Most of them look at me with a
quizzical expression, wondering what I am.
Meanwhile fighter after fighter plane is taking off
right over our heads. Ed says that they have had
twelve bombings during the last 14 nights. He tells
me that they are so used to the roar that they sleep
right through it at night. They have nicknames for
the Japs coming over, such as Maytag Charlie; his
engines aren’t synchronized, don’t hum together,
it seems. And there is Pistol Pete who has a loud
staccato bark, and Millimeter Mike who talks like
a 20 mm machine gun.
Ed finishes his breakfast and then Fr. Flaherty takes
us for a ride in his jeep. We bounce along the roads
made by the CB’s straight through the coconut
plantations where the natives work for 6 pence a
106
day for Lever Brothers. The main road is all right
but when we strike off it, then the jeep sinks up to
its hubs in black oozy mud, oceans of it. We swim
around in it as well as the ten wheel Army trucks
that nudge against us. We ride about five miles
along and then turn back. Just as we turn there is
a little cross indicating the last resting place of a
Marine Corporal. RIP. Ed tells me that the Marines
were pushed back 7 miles right to the edge of Henderson Field when no reinforcements came to help.
We drop off at Ed’s regal apartment of a tent in
the coconut grove. He has a mosquito netting up
around his bunk in this tent which he shares with
three other buddies. His and their personal conveniences here are absolutely zero. The boys have given
up everything. A turn of a switch means civilization
to them, Ed says.
Pair of us go walking down to Henderson Field; we
hit through one jungle. On every side tremendous
giant hardwood trees tower well over a 100 feet into
the sky. They have boles about 6 to 8 feet in diameter flared out at the base by great buttressing roots.
Among the trees and beneath them thrives a fantastic
tangle of vines, creepers, ferns and brush. Up above
some white exotic bird flies away. Insects are all over
the ground; ants “whose bite feels like a live cigarette
against the flesh,” giant spiders and wasps 3 inches
long, scorpions and centipedes. There are strange
kinds of rats, too, said to be distant relatives of the possum; lizards from 3 inches to 3 feet and a few snakes.
The air is motionless and stifling. The hot humidity is beyond the imagination of anyone who hasn’t
been here. Rot lies underfoot everywhere and the
105 Japanese soldiers were dying of hunger in the last weeks of the campaign and began to call Guadalcanal “Island of Death.”
106 A British soap manufacturer, Lever Brothers owned coconut plantations in the South Pacific.
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�ground is springy and mushy with decaying vegetation giving off a sour, unpleasant odor. We are constantly fighting off mosquitoes, bearers of malaria,
dengue fever and other fevers. Ed tells me that in
the Lunga River are giant crocodiles. This type of
jungle is the type known as “rain forest” from the
unbelievably torrential rains that come down. It is
not surprising that a thick and heavy dampness is
everywhere. What a terrain to have to fight through!
It is really the “green hell” of popular imagination.
Coming out at the other side, we pass the powerhouse on which is written “Tojo’s Powerhouse, Now
107
Under New Management.” The boys haven’t lost
their sense of humor. As we stroll through a long
coconut grove, we are amazed at the lighting effect;
sun is boiling hot, yet is filtered down through the
palms in a sort of polaroid shade. Green sward below, whitish trunks about 100 feet high with green
crests of palm leaves, gives the light green effect.
Out onto Henderson Field where we see the planes
in dirt revetments tossed up on three sides so that
only one plane will be hit by bomb fragments.
I espy a Marine sitting under a sunshade that walked
off Nantasket Beach. He says that the Japs left it
behind right by his bomb shelter. In we go, Ed and I,
and see the Jap handiwork, a very good dugout. Now
occupied by John Kerr, son of Mrs. Mary Kerr, 344
Cherry Street, West Newton, and William Walters,
son of Mrs. Bessie Walters, 326 E. Border Road, Medford. We have a picture snapped that should provide
some smiles back home. [The photograph can be
found on the cover.]
This is the bomber strip of the airport, which is a
portable one with the steel mats laid down for a mile
on end. High above are cruising four murderous
looking P-38s, the Aircobras. Furnishing protection
to my ship and her sisters lying along the shore.
Through a break in the trees she can be seen riding
peaceably at anchor.
Back to the quarters, which are located between
the bomber and fighter strips of Henderson Field.
Because of their location, they do catch it on the
bombing raids!
After dinner Ed and I start for my ship. He is taken
with the lines of her as is everybody when she is
seen for the first time. Up the landing nets, we
climb onto the main deck and Ed is aboard. Up to
the room where he gasps at the appointments. A
good wash-up and some ice cream for him are just
what the doctor ordered. The hour is two o’clock.
We get permission from the Captain to have him
stay aboard for the night; then we order two big
steaks with all the fixings. Another box of ice cream
and now he says he won’t have any more until after
the steak. We wander around the ship on a tour of
inspection. Then at 4:45 the Executive Officer sends
word down that Ed is to leave the ship immediately.
Disappointment but the reason is clear later. Jap
task force is on the way; may be invasion force that
is expected. Over the side goes Ed and we promise
to see each other first thing in the morning. A long
letter to our mother to let her know the good news
about Ed. She will be tickled to hear that he is so
108
well. We up the anchor hook in a hurry.
Monday, February 8, 1943
We are still running for all we are worth away from
the Jap task force which we learn comprises one
carrier, two cruisers, and six destroyers, 150 miles
astern. Aboard we have about 100 Marines, the first
of the contingent. Half a dozen of them are down
with malaria that the female mosquito pumped into
them. One has two shrapnel wounds, souvenirs of
the bombing the other night. Ed told me a funny
story about Fr. Flaherty. He asked Ed if he minded
breaking his stride on the way to the bomb shelter,
107 Hideki Tojo was general of the Japanese Imperial Army and prime minster of Japan during much the war, and “Tojo” was American slang
for the Japanese military. Convicted of war crimes, Tojo was hanged in 1948.
108 On the previous evening, 20 battleships of the Japanese navy had evacuated the last of some 10,600 men from Guadalcanal, seeding the
notion that the Japanese were about to try to retake the island.
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�a roughly dug tunnel, when the alarm went off during the night. They had 10 bombings in 14 nights.
The first night after Fr.’s request, Ed jumped up at
the alarm, grabbed three shoes as he told me, and
started out on a hundred yard dash, wildly swinging
the shoes, looked into Fr. Flaherty’s tent, but neither
hide nor hair of him did he see. Fr. Flaherty broke the
world’s record for getting up out of bed to the tunnel.
These Marines aboard are manning our anti-aircraft
guns; have had six month’s experience on Guadalcanal. Knocked down over 700 planes. One day
they informed me that out of 23 torpedo planes that
came in to attack the shipping on the beach, only
one managed to get away. What they and all others
dreaded more than anything else was the Japanese
naval shelling. That was a killer for the morale. Just
sit and hear the ghostly whining of the big shells
coming, crouch and pray that they wouldn’t kill you
but be able to take no action in self-defense. Most of
them are young boys about 21. A tough, hardened
crew, happy to get away from it all for a while. As
one of them put it, “I’ve seen enough dead men to
last me for a long while.” There is no glamour or
romance or desire for battle action on their part.
4:00 p.m. – We turn back to Guadalcanal! Something
must have happened to that Jap task force that was
on the way. Destroyer that had been out in front of
us about two miles also turns and steams by us as
though we had both anchors thrown out. No more
beautiful sight than to see one of the tin cans underway at full speed. Her prow is cutting the water
like a knife, cleaving a line of unbroken white waves
about five feet high while her stern is deep down,
leaving a wake of boiling foam. With every line of
her a thing of beauty, she leaps by to resume her station up forward to fend off the Jap subs.
What kind of a day is it? Same as usual; warm and
summery, temperature about 85. Our sailors are taking advantage of it to deepen their tans. We left about
100 on the beach with their boats with whom we
shall embark again tomorrow morning. These Marines have been on Guadalcanal since the first landing last August. Their stories are hair-raising. They
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thought their last days had come. Bombed from
the air, shelled from the sea and attacked from the
land, they thought their last hours had come half a
dozen times in September and October.
Tuesday, February 9, 1943
We drop anchor off Guadalcanal at 1230. I rush
ashore immediately in a personnel boat to see Ed
with a package for him that contains a radio, a box
of Oh Henry’s, one of Hershey bars, two dozen apples, a couple of apple pies, some air mail envelopes
and paper. After landing on Kokum Beach about 7
miles south of where we were Sunday, I beg a jeep
and travel through a coconut grove to the main road,
down about five miles where I meet Ed and start
right back with him for my ship. Fr. Flaherty starts
to hunt up a jeep but we bum a ride before he shows
up. Then when we come to a turn, he is right behind
us. We hop in; join four others for the ride of our life.
There was no road, just a mud ditch through this
coconut grove. We slew from side to side, almost take
off when we hit the deep gullies, all of us roaring with
laughter at Fr. Flaherty, the driver, who Ed tells me is
notorious for his chauffeuring.
We disembark safely on the beach where we talk
for about fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, prisoners are
boarding our PA boats, hospital cases are carried on
stretchers and Marines are being added also. While
we take in the scene and talk, big four-motored
bombers are coming down about 200 yards overhead after their long raiding trip. P 38’s are flying
high up in pairs cruising around looking for any
trouble that may materialize.
The setting is anything but warlike; the gentle breakers, spent, are fading away at our feet, the sun is beating down from above, the coconut trees twenty feet
away make a vivid contrast with the white strand of
the beach, which is the exact place where the Marines
landed last August 7th. The black, black mud Fr. Flaherty’s jeep kicked up is still with some of us; we wash
it off. Recalls a remark of one of the Marines aboard,
that this soil is so rich that if you stuck a match or a
toothpick in the ground it would grow.
�I tell Ed that we will be known as the Guadalcanal Local before long. Like all train schedules, ours too will
have a footnote, “Subject to change without notice.”
After about half an hour I hop into one of our invasion boats to start back for the ship anchored about
two miles off shore. Goodbyes all around while Ed
breaks out into his best smile and says, “Oh, you’ll be
back again. The next time you’ll take me with you for
a change of scenery.” I certainly hope so; meanwhile,
“so long,” and I’m away, as casual as that, although
neither of us knows which one may go first.
On board the ship we now have about 1000 Marines
and soldiers and 110 Jap prisoners of war. The soldiers and Marines are tired looking boys, obviously
in need of a long rest, good food and clean sheets.
Their officers are the same. One remarks at mealtime that this will be the first time that he has slept
between sheets in six months and the second time
that he has taken his clothes off.
Mr. Graves, the ship-fitter, meets his son, Donald,
whom he has not seen for three years. Both of
them fill up when they see each other. “Hello, son.”
“Hello, Dad.” And they are in each other’s arms.
The Jap prisoners for the most part are a ragged lot.
About twenty of them are so weak that they have to
be carried up the side of the ship on stretchers. They
were cut off from their own men and were starving
to death when they surrendered. They are the same
men I met with Ed over at the 101st Field Hospital
last Sunday when I saw him for the first time. As
they came aboard one of the two officers with them
lined them up on the quarterdeck in twos and they
bowed in salute to the Executive Officer. Then they
were escorted by Marines to a compartment below
while the sick men are treated as tenderly as if they
were our own. Yet they had been told that we would
torture them. The Army guarantees good treatment to Japs who surrender by dropping down on
them safe conduct slips. Some of them work. The
Marines, who report that some of their men were
tortured, refused to take any prisoners.
What kind of fighters were these men? Long after
the heat of battle subsided an American staff officer
wrote: “The Japanese soldier fought as an individual,
as well and as bravely as any warrior the world had
ever seen. He bore privation and hardships that
would have put out of action most of the troops of
the Allied Forces.”
We hear the boom of our artillery ten miles down
the coast. One of our dive bombers is operating
on enemy lines. Black puffs of smoke blossoming around him indicates that they are giving him
a warm reception. But he manages to fly through
unharmed, then lands on Henderson Field.
Savo Island, where we lost four cruisers one awful
night in August 1942, is just off our port bow. Marines tell us that this water has been the graveyard
of many ships, ours and Japs. They point out four
Jap transports that were hit and beached just north
of us on Cape Esperance. They were some of the
victims of the November 12 to 15 battle when Halsey
slugged it out with the Japs who were making an
all-out effort to retake Guadalcanal. Halsey’s sea and
air forces sank one battleship, 3 heavy cruisers, 2
light cruisers, 5 destroyers and 12 transports. Our
losses were 2 light cruisers and 6 destroyers. The 4
beached transports are now on the shore 7½ miles
109
north of us at Tassafaronga.
As the sun goes down, we are on our way to
Wellington, New Zealand, according to rumor.
Wednesday, February 10, 1943
Another beautiful summer day. Our passengers, soldiers and Marines, are interested only in catching up
on their sleep and eating hot food. These Marines have
been close companions of death for six months. They
have seen their friends dying around them, yet what
109 The Battle of Guadalcanal was in fact led by Rear Admiral Richmond Turner. The Japanese lost two battleships, one heavy cruiser, three
destroyers and 11 transport ships. American losses were as Foley describes, with the exception of one additional battleship. The third of
three major naval battles in the Guadalcanal campaign, it was the first that ended in a decisive victory for the United States.
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�do they ask for now? First Marine who came into the
Library asked for an anthology of poetry. The next one
with whom I was speaking wanted one thing when we
got to our destination. “A long, long quart of milk.”
We are sliding down the slot of the Hebrides and the
Loyalty Islands, with islands, isles and islets on both
sides of us. In the afternoon one of the destroyers
quickly changes her position and drops three depth
charges as we pass through a very narrow passageway about a mile and a half wide.
Some of the Army personnel have no extra clothing of
any kind. They are outfitted with an emergency issue
until we get to our destination. All of them are sick
patients being evacuated for one reason or another,
about 100 of them. Most of them, like the sick Marines, have had three or four bouts with malaria.
Lt. Scott, sitting beside me at table, tells me that 91%
of his battalion of 1000 men have had malaria at least
once. Some of the men have had it four times.
The following note appeared in the “Plan for the Day.”
“The following dispatch from Task Group Commander is quoted for the information of all hands:
‘in six trips on the cactus ferry i consider
the present performance outstanding in all
respects well done.’
“The above dispatch is reward enough for a job well
done, but I would like to add my observation of all
indicated an even better performance than usual and
is greatly appreciated. It is hoped that at our next destination you may all have a real liberty which you all
so richly deserve. A. T. Moen, Cptn., U.S.N.”
He didn’t redeem his hope!
Thursday, February 11, 1943
0450 – General Quarters.
110
Among the prisoners is a Zero pilot. He tells the
interpreters, two Marines, that Guadalcanal was nicknamed by them the “Island of Death.” Their losses
were terrific. The Tokyo radio announced the withdrawal of its men from Guadalcanal and reports that 139
planes were destroyed from both the Buin and Guadalcanal areas. Anti-aircraft units of Marines aboard smile
their incredulity. “Why we alone were credited with 769
shot down. Twice squadrons of 24 big bombers came
over, once one got away, the next time not even one.
111
We probably shot down about 700.”
The hit parade! “When it’s Mitsubishi Time on Tu112
lagi,” “Stars Fell on Lunga River.” Even with death
raining down on them from the skies and pouring on
them from below the horizon of the sea, the sense of
humor of our boys did not desert them. One tells of
how one night when he hopped into his foxhole this
tremendous weight landed on him, a horse that stumbled and fell down on top of him. He never felt safer.
Prisoners aboard are small men about 5 feet in height
and weighing about 100 pounds. With good food they
are beginning to regain their normal weight. Marines
tell us that Japs on Tulagi were magnificent physical
specimens, a picked group, “The Imperial Marines.”
113
They had to be killed to the last man.
Friday, February 12, 1943
0430 – General Quarters.
110 The Mitsubishi Zero was a single-seater fighter aircraft known for its speed and maneuverability. It was superior to any fighter plane the
U.S. possessed when the war began.
111 The number of Japanese aircraft lost during the Battle of Guadalcanal is today estimated to fall between 680 and 880.
112 “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” was made popular by Louis Armstrong in a 1942 recording, “When the Stars Fell On Alabama”
was first recorded by the Guy Lombardo Orchestra in 1934.
113 Another instance of the fog of war. The Japanese had no “marine” force, imperial or otherwise. Its navy assumed responsibilities that the
Marines took on in the American military. And while belief in a military force of six-foot tall Imperial Marines bred on an isolated northern
Japanese island was commonplace among American forces in the South Pacific, there was no such group. A photograph of 27 Japanese
officers who led the defense of Gavutu in the Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo shows them to be of near average height for
Japanese men during the war years: 5’3”. Virtually all of them died in the battle for the island. See entry for April 7, 1943.
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�0530 – Mass
One of the Jap prisoners died this morning, a victim
of beriberi and a bullet wound in his chest. Captain
calls me to say he has decided that funeral will be at
114
0400 tomorrow morning.
Saw the doctors taking care of the wounds of our
prisoners today. Couldn’t be more solicitous if they
were our own men. Has made a deep impression
on them. Quite contrary to what they expected. One
Marine said that when taken prisoner a Jap pleaded
with him to kill him with the first bullet.
Jap pilot is best physical specimen of prisoners.
Unlike the others who were cut off in the jungle,
he was forced down in the water. He pantomimed
for me the whole operation. A steady hum was his
flight, then a coughing noise to indicate the sputtering motor, a down swoop with his hands for the
nose dive into the sea, then he was swimming. He
was lucky to be picked up.
Jap prisoners were wise to surrender. Marines tell
of how they trapped a battalion of 900 in a ravine.
During the night they put up two rows of barbed
wire around the Japs. Even then they wouldn’t surrender. Those who climbed over the first line of
wire were caught on the second by the crisscross of
machine gun fire.
Weather changes sharply today. From December 8
to today, lowest temperature was 85. Highest 106 on
Guadalcanal. Now as we are nearing New Zealand
where their Fall is beginning, temperature drops to
70. Marines feel the drop, for they have been in the
tropics for over a year.
Saturday, February 13, 1943
0330 – Called by the Quartermaster. After saying
some prayers in my room, go to the stern of the
ship, the fantail, where four figures are holding a
stretcher with the body of the Jap who died yesterday. I say some brief prayers over him, by pencil
flashlight, asking God to count in his favor the
circumstances of his death and burial, in strange
surroundings, under foreign skies far from those
near and dear to him. When I give the word, they lift
the stretcher high. There is a grating noise and the
body is consigned to the swirling waters. It is so dark
that I recognize only one man and that by his voice,
McGarry MM 1/c [Machinist’s Mate 1st Class] from
Kenmore Square. Along the eastern horizon there is
not even a flicker of light yet. We make our way back
gingerly to the ladder that leads to the next deck up.
A simple ceremony but one that I shall never forget.
Sunday, February 14, 1943
Steaming to Wellington, New Zealand. Marine Officers at table hear that “Battle of Midway” was filmed.
“Would they like to see it?” “Not at all, not for three
months at least.” “We went through that.” Presently are noise conscious. Were on Guadalcanal for
7 months from the first hour of landing. Most critical time was in early October. Could see Japs landing
troops and supplies down the beach from them. Could
do nothing about it. Nothing coming for them, except
from the enemy naval shellings by night from below
the horizon from unseen battlewagons, bombings day
in and day out. Had only enough gas to put up one
scout plane a day. Decided that they would “die in
a manner that would make the folks proud of them.”
Would not surrender but take to the hills and wage
guerilla warfare. The while they were discussing this,
between listening to the radio and the latest news dispatched from Frisco, a smooth-tongued commentator
on a national hookup out of Frisco told his millions
of listeners “not to be surprised if Guadalcanal fell,
that it was not important after all.” “Then what in the
hell did we come up here for? If we had that guy in our
hands, we would have choked him to death, Father. We
would die before surrendering, yet that guy and a lot
like him had given up on us.” Such were the remarks
of these Marines to us today.
114 Beriberi was caused by a thiamine deficiency often linked to an inadequate diet, such as the rations of white rice that sustained Japanese
soldiers during island warfare in the South Pacific.
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�Read Naval Intelligence reports on Jap prisoners. Most
of them are very interesting. Story of military career,
where they have fought, period in service, casualties
in their regiment. All reluctant to talk until pressure
exercised by telling them that names will be forwarded to Japan as prisoners of war. Then resistance collapses for if that information were received at home,
they would be a disgrace to the family, the nation and
the emperor.
One of the prisoners said that he knew Ralph
Metcalfe, Eddie Tolan, Jesse Owens, all Olympic
sprinters in ’32. He had raced against them. He was
Director of Physical Education at a high school in
Tokyo when called to the colors.
One hill on Guadalcanal known as “Bloody Ridge”
from number of Japs killed there; 700 of them to
84 Marines. Attack was one of three heavy ones, an
all-out effort to retake Henderson Field. Other two
were repulsed also. Had they been coordinated as
they were supposed to be, as we found out from a
captured Jap’s diary, the Marines would have been
wiped out. General [Alexander] Vandergrift did a
marvelous job manipulating his few men to the
115
point that was being attacked.
One of the Marine officers shows me a translated
page of a Japanese soldier’s diary found on his dead
body. Translation of one page of Japanese diary:
“Today the weather became very fine. We worked
in the telephone office for four hours today, two
hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. We
exchanged thirty rounds of artillery ammunition for
thirty which we had previously issued. Evidently the
old ammunition had become useless. We have not
fired our guns since we landed. When the fighting is
ended, we will probably have fired all our ammunition. Our intimates in our native land would be
uneasy for us if they knew we were fighting. However, at the present time things are very easy.”
Tuesday, February 16, 1943
We sight land on our port side, our first glimpse of
New Zealand. We really are down under at last. Rugged, volcanic mountains rise up. Densely forested,
save for an occasional one that, unlike the others, is
out of step with its bare sides. The day is a stormy,
windy one, with the wind howling in the shrouds,
but the weather cannot dampen the spirit of the Marines. They are buzzing with animated conversation
as they stand in line for breakfast.
About one o’clock we make a hard turn to port and
head into what is said to be one of the most beautiful
cities in the world. Wellington, named after the Duke
who immortalized himself by saying that the “Battle
of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.”
There is no question that it is beautiful. The harbor is
ringed by mountains rising up sheer from the shoreline. Here are real cliff dwellers. Houses are built right
on the steep sides of the mountains. Apparently, no
height is too steep to put up a home.
Ashore in the afternoon. My years in Heythrop from
116
1927–1930 return with a rush.
This is a corner
of the Empire. When inquiring for directions, once
again a bobby is the guide. The ironmonger’s shop is
here and the chemist’s and the draper’s. The streets
are alive with mid-afternoon shoppers. Department
stores are doing a rushing business and the ubiquitous Woolworth’s is too small for its patrons. On the
trams the conductorettes are taking the tuppence and
threepenny bits from the passengers.
I learn from a native of Wellington that an earthquake
is responsible for the repair jobs being performed
upon a dozen odd buildings in the heart of the busi-
115 The critical defense of the airfield, which took place over September 12-14, 1942, is better known as the Battle of Edson’s Ridge, for Lieut.
Col. Merritt A. Edson, whose Marine battalion played the critical role in the engagement. It is now estimated that the Japanese lost some
830 men. Foley’s 84 Marine dead is accurate. Alexander Vandergrift, who commanded the 1st Marine Division at Guadalcanal did indeed,
do “a marvelous job,” as Foley put it, and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for “tenacity, courage, and resourcefulness.”
116 Heythrop College was a Jesuit institution near Oxford where Foley pursued graduate studies as part of his Jesuit “formation.” Selection to
Heythrop was a mark of honor for American Jesuits.
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�ness section. Last October was the month of the visitation. A lady ahead of me with her daughter points
out as she remarks in what sounds cockney to me,
“This is one that was knocked about badly.”
What I am thirsty for is a glass of milk after a long
drought, so I pop into a tea room where I perform
the old English ritual. First a plate is picked up, then
a choice made of half a dozen kinds of sandwiches
neatly cut into diamonds, then another choice of
the cakes, delicious upon tasting, a baker’s dozen
of those to choose from; whipped cream puffs are
mine plus tarts. Puffs are running over with the
cream. Here is abundant measure, pressed down
and running over. I pick a table; the waitress inquires for my drink. “A glass of milk, please.” It is
the richest, creamiest milk I have ever drank. It is
so delicious that another one is ordered immediately. I haven’t had a glass of fresh milk since I was
home in December. Norfolk’s product was reportedly not pasteurized so I didn’t venture that. But this!!
In one of the tobacco stores a typical English shopkeeper, the essence of courtesy and consideration,
sets before me three booklets with views of the city.
At another shop where I am puzzled by the rate of
exchange, I ask the girl if she gets tired of being
asked, “How much is this worth?” She replies,
“No, as a matter of fact, I enjoy you Yanks.”
On a tram car I find myself sitting beside a
Mr. Hunt, a man about 75 who informs me that
he spent some time in Samoa with Robert Louis
Stevenson. He seemed to be unacquainted with Stevenson’s famous letter to Mr. Hyde. Hunt was with
Stevenson ten days before he died [of tuberculosis];
117
said that he kept himself alive by sheer will power.
The only level streets in the city are those near the
beach. The others climb right up the sides of the
mountains, with houses seemingly precariously
perched on the sides, all of them surrounded by
flowers. It is midsummer here, corresponding to
the month of July back home. The rest of the
year the temperature is slightly lower, but the
only real difference is that it rains heavily in the
non-summer months.
Wednesday, February 17, 1943
Ashore early to purchase some needed altar supplies; incense, charcoal, vigil lights, etc. Some
books also, one of which would please my brother.
America Speaks by Philip Gibbs [a prolific Catholic
journalist], whose European Journey he gave me for
Christmas some time ago.
Pass a tea shop; see in the window a luscious
whipped cream pie, the kind that used to be in
Lyndell’s shop window back home [in Somerville,
Massachusetts], only not folded over. This acre of
whipped cream is sitting on a deck of sponge cake
with flaky macaroons on the top and a spoonful of
strawberry Jello to add a flash of color. I collapse and
sit down with a glass of rich creamy milk and that
pie; the one and three is well invested!! I am making
up for lost time. If my mother were with me, her
diet would be thrown overboard before the lusciousness of the same whipped cream. This is no imitation either. Once in Norfolk [Virginia] I saw whipped
cream éclairs, eight cents each in the window of a
bakery. Two of them were full of marshmallow; both
wound up in the street.
I visit the Church again, St. Mary of the Angels;
kneel before the Pieta group, Our Lady holding Our
Lord in her arms. The statues are life-size and the
most striking I have ever seen. Our Lord is a dead
man! There is no doubt of that. “There is no beauty
in Him.” His eyelids are half open, the eyeballs have
the dull glazed look of death, are half hidden under
the eyebrows. His mouth is bloody, stained, cracked.
117 Stevenson’s letter, published as a pamphlet and much celebrated by Catholics, offers a spirited defense of Fr. Damien, a Belgian missionary Stevenson had met and who, from 1873 until his death in 1889, ministered to lepers isolated on the island of Molokai. Shortly after
Damien’s death, the Congregationalist missionary Charles M. Hyde, also of Hawaii, wrote a personal letter critical of the priest. The letter
found its way to publication in an Australian newspaper, ultimately eliciting Stevenson’s response. Fr. Damien was canonized by Pope
Benedict in 2009.
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�He is what He was, a shattered remnant of a man,
whose manhood was ploughed and furrowed by the
lash of the Roman soldiers until He was no longer
Himself. Our Lady is looking off into space with
eyes that are most expressive. It seems that she was
looking off to Bethlehem. There are a few teardrops
around her eyes. She is heartbroken. Her skin has
the warm color of life, but her eyes are what catch
me. Then I discover the real reason. They are glass
eyes, as natural as real eyes. This is the most life-like
statue I have ever seen. One would have no hesitation in bringing a heartbroken soul in here. No
words would be necessary. No matter what the cross,
the soul would rise strengthened from seeing the
agony written on Our Lady’s face and the drained
white countenance of Our Lord.
From the Church to the Botanical Gardens where salvia, bleeding hearts, carnations, azaleas, peonies, sweet
williams, hydrangeas, larkspur are all in bloom. Recognizing the visitor as a stranger, an elderly lady instructs
me to visit the Begonia House. I tell Mrs. Butcher about
my mother and her love of flowers and how she would
revel in the profusion of blossoms here.
Dropped into Rectory of St. Mary of the Angels to go
to confession; met Fr. Stewart, a Marist. Had evening meal with them; mutton with carrot gravy.
Our passengers this trip are a variegated lot. Carlson’s Raiders, the Marines who raided Makin
Island, a Jap possession, last August, destroyed all
the installations, killed about 200 Japs, lost 34 of
their own men. Before leaving the island, one of the
officers told me that Col. [Evans F.] Carlson personally visited the body of every boy who was killed and
folded his hands across his breast, took his personal
possessions and sent them home to the boy’s folks.
There were two Japs who took to the hills, but “The
natives would take care of them,” as one of the
118
Marines put it.
Other passengers: New Zealand Radio Detection
Group also bound for Guadalcanal; among them six
Catholics. Also two Koreans with us who are in the
Intelligence Department of the Marines.
Friday, February 19, 1943
Up at 0430 again as we head back north to Ed’s
territory. Temperature begins to climb to 100
degrees. We are hitting the tropics once more.
With us are the [attack transports] Hunter Liggett
and American Legion.
Saturday, February 20, 1943
Thursday, February 18, 1943
The other two ships break off for Noumea, New
Caledonia. We continue on our way to “Button,”
code name for Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. Ultimately we shall be at Ed’s home in Guadalcanal.
A blustering day with the wind howling down over
the mountains as we put out to sea. Instead of the
four days here we expected and the eight that were
asked for, we wind up with two. Men are disappointed for it is a delightful city. People are extremely
friendly and courteous. As we make our way out of
the harbor, everything is secured for sea. Wind “has
a fit,” as one of the passengers put it, howling in the
shrouds again.
We learn today that the casualties of the battle of
the Solomons from January 29 to February 9 cost
the Japs 15 ships sunk or damaged and 60 planes.
Our forces lost 22 planes and two warships, including the heavy cruiser, Chicago. Happily I had gone
aboard her and heard confessions and gave Holy
Communion one week before. May all her boys who
went down with her rest in peace! She was sunk [in
118 Makin Atoll was actually a botched affair, with the Marines forced to retreat from the island in disarray. (They left behind 12 prisoners, who
were beheaded by the Japanese.) But as indicated in Foley’s entry, the action—along with Carlson, a charismatic figure and an inventive
tactician—was widely celebrated in the United States as a victory, with a movie account, titled “Gung-Ho!: The Story of Carlson’s Makin
Island Raiders” released in December 1943. Gung-Ho was a phrase Carlson had invented based, he said, on a Chinese expression he’d
learned while serving in the 1930s as a military observer embedded with the Red Army. Carlson and the Marine Raiders 2nd Battalion
redeemed themselves with their legendary “Long Patrol” behind enemy lines on Guadalcanal.
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�the Battle of Rennel Island] south of Guadalcanal
the night of January 29, 1943 while protecting transport movements. She went down after two torpedo
plane attacks. The second night, January 30, 13 planes
attacked her while she was being towed. They got her,
although 12 of the 13 were shot down after the attack
119
by our own aircraft that intercepted them.
Savo Island. Twenty destroyers approached there the
Sunday night that we ran out. They were evacuating
Japs from Guadalcanal. Wouldn’t we have been duck
soup for them! The place where they were taking off
their men we could easily see when we came back the
next day. After three Motor Torpedo Boats attacked
them, two of the MTB’s were unfortunately lost. It is
clear now that both we and the Japs paraded a heavy
array of naval strength, air-supported in the Solomons
area. The Japs did not take advantage of Halsey’s offer
for combat. Then it became clear that the enemy was
concerned only with evacuating its forces from Guadalcanal and hindering the arrival of our reinforcements, which again meant us!! The result was, instead
of a big naval battle, a series of dogfights, all of which
were fought between air and surface craft. The ships
120
of the line never met each other.
Sunday, February 21, 1943
0445 – Up again at early hour as we head
back north.
0530 – Mass Upper Deck Aft.
Bit of a blow this morning. Wind whipped linens
off the altar as we started to rig Church. Finally were
secured, fastened down with all-service thumbtacks.
Candles were lit behind the stern of one of the boats.
Placed on the altar, one puff of wind blew them out.
The stars paling before the dawn will have to serve
for illumination, those that will be staying out late.
During Mass, the rubric about extending the hands
suffers a modification. Hands are occupied in keeping
the missal pages from flying over and over. At Gospel
time the sun crept over the horizon to adore with its
fresh, clean rays the Lord who made it as He was
elevated at the Consecration. In the west, the full
moon has definitely lost her color. She can no longer,
as the poet puts it, “look around her when the heavens
121
are bare, for the sun has displaced her.”
Sitting next to me at table is a Lt. from Belmont who
was torpedoed on the Yorktown and the Hornet.
Yorktown was bombed at 930, 230 and 430. Finally
torpedoes from our own destroyers put her under
when she was dead in the water. She was their coffin
122
for a lot of good men.
Monday, February 22, 1943
Washington’s Birthday.
“Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis.” Times
123
change and we change with them, says the poet.
Fifteen years ago today Ronald McGilvary and I in
England thumbed a ride from Heythrop [College]
to Stratford on Avon where we paid our respects to
Shakespeare Country. Today I am steaming east of
New Caledonia on the way north to the New Hebrides, 15,000 miles on the other side of the world.
Tuesday, February 23, 1943
Up at 0330 this morning! Are we early birds! As
usual, glorious morning. I say Mass at 0430, go up
to the flying bridge, read my Office, watch a South
Seas sunrise. I set the deck chair toward the east and
note the moon is three quarters down in the sky and
is rapidly growing paler and paler. Some forget-menots of the angels, as Longfellow called these stars
that bloom in the infinite meadows of heaven, are
lingering to keep the moon company.
119 See entry under January 21, 1943.
120 See entry under February 8, 1942.
121 From Wordsworth’s “Ode on Intimations of Immortality.”
122 The Yorktown, a decorated aircraft carrier, was sunk in the battle of Midway in June 1942, with the loss of 141.
123 See entry and footnote under January 27, 1943.
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�The sun will have to climb the mountains off our
port side before it greets this new day. Once again we
are running through the slot, islands on both sides
of us as we get closer to “Button” [Espiritu Santo].
This long island on our port is densely covered with
trees that begin right at the water’s edge. The tops of
her mountains are wreathed with darkish clouds that
will soon be bursting with light for their edges are
beginning to be silvered. Then the white of the sky
grows pink, then into a warm red. The clouds are
on fire with flaming gold when the sun lights a rim
slowly, but steadily, up from behind them. Another
day is born. Now the mountains are a deep purple
and on the ocean is a path of light as the waves
sparkle in the early morning sun.
From the west two STDs, Scout Torpedo Dive
Bombers, swoop down on us in greeting, then
climb up into the blue sky. They are the dawn
patrol, swinging up and out to keep the lines of
our communication intact. “No interruptions,”
is their motto.
To shore; visit Church of St. Michael, little French
Chapel seating 150; say Stations of the Cross for
my father. Concrete floor; statue of St. Michael over
altar. Into the corrugated tin-roofed, white-walled
rectory where I met Fr. Jacque, 43 year old Marist,
who has been in these parts for 16 years.
His dinner guests are a French trader, father of nine
children who has been here for 28 years, and another priest, bearded, with twinkly eyes and a most
kindly face, who has been here for 36 years, with
one visit home after 21 years out here.
I forgot to mention that a native boy, nine years
old, brownish black in color with yellow dust in his
kinky hair, was the one who directed me to the rectory. In English he told me that his name was Joseph
and that he liked Americans. He was a keen youngster who had picked up English from the American
soldiers. Back to the ship where I count 52 ships; a
lot of us here.
Thursday, February 25, 1943
Now we begin to see landmarks. We are back where
we were on January 30, 1943. We disembark the
Raider Battalion of Marines and anchor for the day
at Espiritu Santo.
Wednesday, February 24, 1943
I board the USS Alcheeba [a cargo ship] with some
books and magazines for her crew. One of them tells
me that they have been sitting here in the channel
for two months. On their sixth trip to Guadalcanal
last November as they were about to drop anchor,
Jap sub broke her periscope inside the screening
force of destroyers, sent torpedo home into forward
hold. Two soldiers lost who, panic stricken, jumped
overboard and were caught in the suction of the
propeller. Ship beached for four days. Unbeached
shortly, she shipped two more torpedoes in engine
room; lost seven sailors. Dead in the water, she was
towed back to here. Decks like tiddly-winks [ from
“tiddly,” slang for drunkenness] from the heat of the
explosion. Port side same wave motion. Holes in her
side like piece of paper pierced by a pencil.
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Sitting topside on the flying bridge this morning
when seven dive bombers flew over, going north
in V formation. Five minutes later they were back
over us, practicing strafing the shipping. In broken
formation on their own, they swooped and rose,
banked and climbed up straight. It was frightening
to watch them and to recognize that three seconds
was the maximum time for getting a sight on them
and firing had they been enemy planes.
We embark the 35th CB Battalion, bound for [the
Russell Islands], our most advanced base north of
Guadalcanal.
Friday, February 26, 1943
Second trip to Guadalcanal.
0445 – Up again early as we head north through
Torpedo Junction, islands flanking us on both sides.
We are going at a slow 11 knot speed. Two Liberty
ships – what slow scows! – hold us and the John Penn
down. Three destroyers screening in front of us
assure us of ample protection.
�Rain is driving down hard. I hear confessions at
night; excellent turnout. These men, majority of
them Catholics from New England with Bostonians
abounding, have no Chaplain. They seize the opportunity to go to confession and Mass.
Saturday, February 27, 1943
Up at 0430. Mass at 0530 at which over 40 men receive Holy Communion. Day dawns bright and fair
but promises to be extremely hot. Heat rash breaks
out on us again. Doctors have it, too.
Sunday, February 28, 1943
0445 – General Quarters.
0555 – Mass in Mess Hall; pouring rain outside so
we’re driven in. Again a splendid number of Communions. I compliment the men on their virile faith
and their closeness to Christ. Day is dark, windy and
stormy. We seem to be proceeding at a snail’s pace
when we can make 18 knots and are now down to 11.
Overhead Patrol Bombers, long distances, salute us
with a dip of the wing on their port side as they fly
by. They are the men who would report anything
that might be lurking ahead for us in the shape of
surface vessels.
Monday, March 1, 1943
0330 – Reveille. 0400 – Mass. 0445 –
General Quarters.
0730 – I shove off in a boat to track Ed down, for we
are outside Guadalcanal once more. In ten minutes
we run up on the beach, leap out into the surf, the
tail end of a spent wave just grazing my heels and I
start after Ed. Now he is twelve miles from here; the
last time he was only one mile. The beach has no
signs of habitation. About a quarter of a mile down,
the first Army tents appear in the coconut groves
and jungle. I identify myself and ask for permission
to use the field phone. While waiting for the call to
go through to Ed I notice a beautiful shadow cast
on the tent side by a palm tree outside. The sun is
throwing it full against the tent as though it were an
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artist. “Study in Silhouette” would be an appropriate
name, I muse to myself.
No business on the telephone call. Current is too feeble. I start hitch-hiking. A truck going for water is my
taxi. Off we go through a field of cane grass. Whenever the makeshift road is too mucky even for a jeep,
the driver swings off right into the cane grass that is
higher than the jeep, puts it into four wheel drive and
we swish through the new territory. Suddenly in the
road a lake appears. The jeep can’t make it. We swing
off to blaze a new trail, then stop. We are in water up to
our hubs. Out we climb and wade, one of the men and
myself, he to get a service truck for the pulling job, I to
hop another car if possible. No luck for a long while, so
I take a swim then and there. Warm salt water rolling
in on the beach that is about ten miles long, fringed by
palm trees and coconut trees.
Finally it is noon time. I beg a sandwich at an Army
camp down the road, then start again after Ed. This
time I make it. Two detours through oceans of black
mud that smells to high heaven hold us up for a
while but we swim ahead. The mud is up to the
hubs, but these jeeps are endowed with amazing
drive. They roar ahead. We look back and the tracks
have closed just as soon as we have passed; primeval
ooze this. Overhead the parrots and parakeets are
shrilling, talking; now and then a beautiful white
bird about the size of a pigeon flies away in fright.
Onto the main road built by the engineers. From
it clouds of dust are rising as heavy traffic crowds
both sides of it. Over the Lunga River where Ed took
some pictures on last meeting. I recall how utterly
unconcerned he answered my question concerning
something that started away from under our feet. A
fleeting glimpse of it didn’t allow me to identify it.
“Just a lizard,” says Ed, as though he had been living
here all his life.
This is the jungle. By the water station a few miles
back on the road, water is being sucked up from a
fresh water stream, being purified before poured
into big containers. While the driver was filling
�up, I wandered back in behind the tanks. No sun
pierced the heavy growth overhead. Tall trees were
being strangled by thick vines; some were dead
already, mats of heavy vines hung from others. The
atmosphere was dank and the ground was alive
with creeping, crawling things, lizards, bugs, etc.
Through here the sun never came. The trees were
alive also with talking things, toads and what not.
The green hell of popular imagination all right.
My recollection of that bit of jungle was cut short by
a sign now familiar to me after my last two visits,
101st Field Hospital. In three minutes Ed and I were
together again, a happy reunion. Fr. Flaherty came
along and I invited the pair of them to the ship. A jeep
with Father as chauffeur started back again. He gave
me the ride of my life, through black oozy mud and
dusty roads until we hit the beach. Then he imitated
the racers on the beaches of Florida. We raced along
the hard-packed sand for about five miles. Every once
in a while we would meet a group of soldiers and Marines whose day’s work was done at 4:30 p.m. taking
a swim in the blue waters off Guadalcanal. I pointed
out one spot of historic interest, where I swam about
11 this morning. Onto our beach, into a boat, up the
side of the ship on nets, decks, and the landlubbers
were in my room. A steak dinner with all the fixings;
fresh vegetables, real butter, (they hadn’t had any for
months), fresh peaches with ice cream, lemonade,
Coca Cola, orange juice, etc., helped to atone for what
they had been putting into themselves from cans. After
the meal about 7 o’clock they relaxed in deck chairs for
the next two hours. They were having the time of their
lives just relaxing, drinking in the beauty of the starfilled tropical heavens and the lights of Tulagi off our
port side. When they were ushered into the staterooms
for the night they were afraid that they wouldn’t be
able to sleep because the mattresses were too soft after
they had been sleeping on cots for months.
We fuel the destroyer USS Soufley on our port side.
Ens. Lucier knows Fr. McInerney, CSC, a professor at
Notre Dame, brother of the secretary to Fr. O’Connell
at B.C. He helped to engineer the change of Football
Coach Frank Leahy to Notre Dame from B. C. He
spoke individually to the members of the Notre Dame
124
graduate board, then saw Leahy in Cleveland.
One of my men in an interview tonight said that he
was reading the New Testament, the section about
“Knock and it shall be opened to you.” “I’m going
to keep pounding until I get what I want!”was his
observation.
Tuesday, March 2, 1943
0600 – I celebrate Mass with Ed serving and receiving Holy Communion. The folks back home will be
glad to learn that our Mass was offered up for the
entire family, living and dead. Fr. Flaherty followed
125
on with his Mass and I had the privilege of serving
him. After breakfast they retire to the bridge deck by
the Radio Shack where they ease themselves into deck
chairs again and watch a destroyer come alongside the
port side for a fueling operation.
Chief Bonnette calls up to say that they have some
nice hot doughnuts below. Perhaps they would like
them. They do! For dinner they choose another steak
and fresh drinks, orange juice and lemonade. Believe
it or not, but Ed and Father had to call a halt on their
dessert; their capacity was exhausted!!! In the meantime, down below a box of oranges and apples and
chocolate bars was being filled for the two generals.
When they left the ship about one o’clock, they
were a full and happy pair. Fr. Flaherty said that the
experience was as good as a furlough. Ed said that
he might be in Fiji the next time I come around.
Unfortunately, their regiment is being broken up
and that means he and Father separate. May God
124 Francis W. Leahy (1908–1973) led the Boston College football Eagles to 9-2 and 11-0 records in 1939 and 1940. He then signed as head
coach with the football program at Notre Dame, his alma mater, breaking his BC contract. Boston College contemplated a lawsuit but
did not file. Under Leahy, Notre Dame teams won 87 games and four AP-designated national championships over 11 years.
125 Consecutive Masses—rather than concelebrated Masses—were the rule prior to the Second Vatican Council.
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�bring them together before long! They climb out of
the bakery opening two-thirds of the way down the
ship. The box is lowered after them into their taxi, a
tank lighter, and they are on their way. I hope they
enjoyed their visit half as much as I enjoyed having
them with me.
Hatteras on December 18, 1942. Some of the men
complain of seasickness. We are steaming south
through the Coral Sea, sliding down the west coast
of New Caledonia. This is the graveyard of the Wasp,
127
our splendid carrier.
Friday, March 5, 1943
5:30 – We get underway once more, this time bound
for Noumea, New Caledonia. A dozen Marines and
two Army stowaways comprise our full passenger list. It seems strange to have no personnel to
carry beyond those few. Usually we have thousands
aboard. Our home is very quiet.
One of the Marines: “Where you people were is
known as Steel Bottom Bay, there are so many of
our ships and the ships of the Japs down there.”
The comedian, Joey Brown entertained the boys last
night. “Never knew I could swim so well until I tried
to navigate your roads in a jeep.” Charlie Kirby, Jr.
met him, excused himself after a minute. “We get to
go up and bomb Buna [New Guinea]; see you when
we get back.” As casual as that. Never knew when he
126
might have a rendezvous with death.
Wednesday, March 3, 1943
0510 – General Quarters. 0610 – Mass.
Cleanout of ship after the loading and unloading
operation at Guadalcanal. A quiet day without any
passengers aboard, the first time in months that we
have been without some passengers. Ship is a quiet
as a house after all the guests have departed.
Thursday, March 4, 1943
Rough weather today, the first day since we left Cape
Rough weather still with us in the morning, then it
clears beautifully about noon. At 1:30 we sight an
old friend, the postcard lighthouse on the strip of
golden sand that we first sighted on last January 18,
after our long trip from Norfolk. It is still as beautiful as ever, and the mountains in the distance and
the coral reefs with the surf breaking lacy foam over
them here ten miles off shore still fascinate us as we
stand on the flying bridge.
Beside me, Van Auken, Electrician’s Mate 1/c, says
that he intends to have some duty “round the anchor;”
in other words, to take it easy while in port. He has
been busy day and night. Says of one of his shipmates
that he is a “bit left rudder,” i.e. slightly pixilated. He
asks, “Do you remember how good the sight of this
land was about two months ago?” Now we notice
much more patrol activity. Lead destroyers are slicing the water on every side of us and a squadron of
21 planes deafens us with its roar overhead. They are
flying in beautiful formation. Six fighters, Grummans
leading the echelon, three torpedo planes following
them and two more formations of six Grummans, an
awesome sight as they streak over us lightning-fast.
Saturday, March 6, 1943
I make arrangements today to have Mass aboard ship
for men from the USS John Penn [an attack transport]
126 Joseph E. Brown (1891–1973) was a convivial, rubber-faced movie and stage comedian who during the war traveled at his own expense to
put on shows in military camps and hospitals. (The USO was at the time a domestic program.) In 1942 he lost a son in a military airplane
accident. He was one of two non-combatants to be awarded the Bronze Star for service during the war.
127 The grave of the Wasp, which was struck by three submarine-fired torpedoes on August 15, 1942, would have held particular resonance for
Foley. Among the 193 men who were lost was Commander John J. Shea, a 1918 graduate of Boston College who was last seen directing a fire
suppression unit on the stricken vessel and who left behind a powerful legacy in the form of a letter he’d sent to be held for his young son in
the eventuality of his death. John, Jr. was five when his father was killed, and the elder Shea’s “Letter to Jackie,” was published in Boston after a
family member brought it to the attention of a local newspaper. Shea offered plain-spoken counsel. “[T]ake good care of your mother. Be a good
boy and grow up to be a good young man. Study hard when you go to school. Be a leader in everything that is good in life.” A sentence that
Catholics found particularly appealing—as did the military, which assisted with the letter’s wide dissemination—read “Be a good Catholic, and
you can’t help being a good American.” Shea was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, the military’s second highest award recognizing valor.
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�tied up on our starboard side, the USS Argonne repair
ship on her starboard side and the USS San Juan, one
of the cruisers in the task force of the USS Saratoga,
carrier. Latter is riding proudly at anchor about a mile
from us. I still marvel at the number of men aboard
“Old Sara.” Mr. Pound, Navy for 26 years, is the only
man whom I have asked who came within 1500 of
guessing how many officers and men she carries. He
guessed 3000, only 200 short.
little fellow in the front row about six years old, all eyes,
follows suit and then blesses everybody.
To the Movie Exchange Special Services where I
128
pick up The Story of Irene and Vernon Castle for
tonight’s show.
0900– Another Mass with about 150 men
Ashore at night, the sentries look like men from
Mars. They are hooded, with anti-mosquito nets to
protect them from the hordes of nature’s dive bombers; they wear gloves, and their trousers are tightly
bound around their ankles. They make a weird
sight as they step out from the pitch darkness into
the glare of the headlights to challenge the jeep in
which we were riding.
present from the ships around us, followed by
Benediction.
Wednesday, March 10, 1943
Sunday, March 7, 1943
Mass at 0630. About 40 Communions, with most
of the 150 from my own ship.
I stay aboard this afternoon cleaning up a lot of odds
and ends that were clamoring for attention.
Monday, March 8, 1943
At five o’clock I go ashore to see Fr. Frank MacDonald, S.J., B.C., who is in excellent shape and has his
little parish with the 37th CB Battalion on a straight
course with smooth sailing all along.
Tuesday, March 9, 1943
To the Convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny to
have linens done. Sister Joseph introduces me to the
Sisters as Pere DePomes, “The Apple Father,” from my
previous visit when I was loaded with apples for them.
Into the classrooms also; about 80 little tackers, Japs,
Chinese, Javanese, Melanesians. I give my blessing to
all of them. As I extend my hands and close them, a
Ash Wednesday. I distribute ashes at Mass this morning. Fr. Fred Gehring is my dinner guest. He was on
Guadalcanal from September to February. What was
most devastating and most frightening was the naval
shelling from Japanese battlewagons below the horizon. Definition of courage framed by one of his men,
“Fear saying its prayers.” Those men on Guadalcanal
waded through blood and sweat, both their own; and
their tears flowed for the days on which Fr. Gehring
was burying 200 Marines a day for a stretch. Most effective page in one of the current magazines comes to
mind. Soldier lies on his side dead, rifle stuck in the
ground beside him, question is asked, “And You Talk
129
of Sacrifice?”
Two deserters we carried down from Guadalcanal are
taken ashore. Two rosy-cheeked boys about twenty-two
years old. Trouble? One of them told me that they were
working the Officers’ Mess; were ordered to kill flies
128 A 1939 RKO musical with a patriotic theme, in which Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers play Vernon and Irene Castle, a British couple who
made up a wildly popular ballroom dance team in the early years of the century. The movie ends with Vernon Castle’s death in a training
accident after he enlisted with the British Air Force during World War I.
129 Perhaps the most celebrated American chaplain of the war, Frederic P. Gehring (1903–1998), whom Foley had met at chaplain school,
was a Vincentian priest attached to the 1st Marine Division who became known as “The Padre of Guadalcanal.” During the campaign he
deliberately place himself on the front lines, made several forays behind enemy lines to find and rescue Catholic missionaries, and presided over and played the violin at a celebrated religious service held at midnight on Christmas Eve 1943, with 700 Marines gathered in darkness beside an open wooden church structure on the site of a previous church the Japanese had destroyed in a bombing raid. He was also
known for his rescue of a wounded Chinese child, who was found abandoned on the island, and whom he named Patsy Li, nursing her to
health and eventually bringing her to the United States for adoption. He was awarded the Legion of Merit “for conspicuous gallantry.
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�and did so. During the meal officers glared at them,
made things most uncomfortable otherwise also. Commanding officer insisted they carry on without interruption; damned if they did, damned if they didn’t. So
refused to carry out the order, went over the hill. Were
not front line troops. Such at least was their story.
During visit to Fr. MacDonald, man half-lit came in
with friend; had just received word that his wife had
dropped dead. Reproached self endlessly because in
all her letters, including the last one, she begged
him to go to church, but he still had yet to go. “Now,
if only I could write to her and make her happy by
telling her that I had gone. But she is dead.”
Sunday, March 14, 1943
First Mass at 6:30 with about 75 attending, the
majority of whom receive Holy Communion.
Second Mass at 0900. Church parties from other
vessels come aboard. Fine looking young fellows,
uniformed in their immaculate white. At the end
of Mass, five men from a net tender ask for prayer
books which I am only too happy to give them.
131
Benediction at the end of Mass.
Day passes quietly; unloading operations being carried out on a minor scale. Crew not thus engaged is
busy painting the ship a deep blue color. Movie at
130
night. The Magnificent Dope. We had movies every
night for a week. Army Special Services Department,
Major Donnell in charge, generously allows me to
borrow his films. Each morning I go ashore and surrender the old one and obtain another. Street scene:
Three coal black natives who are talking at express
speed in their own language.
This afternoon I was in the Cathedral ashore for the
Vespers Service, Rosary and Benediction. Men on
right hand side, led by the rich deep-toned voice of
one of the Marist Fathers. On left, women and Sisters sing the alternate versicles. Directly behind me
are three native women, rolling out the rich vowels
of the Latin psalms and hymns as though they were
to the language born. Universality of the Church:
In the Cathedral are these native Noumeans, black,
“Nigrae [sum] sed Formosae,” French men and
women, the French priests and Sisters, Marists and
Sisters of the Order of St. Joseph of Cluny, American soldiers and sailors. Beautiful, as the full tones
of the Gregorian chant fill the nave and echo back
132
from the transepts.
Friday, March 12, 1943
Monday, March 15, 1943
Same routine as yesterday. Restful to go to bed these
nights with no conjectures in the back of my mind.
“Wonder if we will have to get up for General Quarters
during the night.” Don’t have to rise at the peep, peep,
peep General Quarters alarm in the morning either.
I am having Mass each morning in the Junior Wardroom with about 25 men in attendance.
Word that we may be underway tomorrow for New
Hebrides. Last movie tonight: The Male Animal,
133
with Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland.
Thursday, March 11, 1943
Tuesday, March 16, 1943
Last trip ashore; return the movie. Send a cable
through Army PX for flowers for mother for Mother’s
Day. Also put an order in for Ed.
Saturday, March 13, 1943
Confessions aboard my own ship this evening at
1800 o’clock, then I switch over to the USS John
Penn where I hear them for an hour.
Jones, PHM [pharmacist’s mate] 3/c attempted to
commit suicide last night by taking about fifteen
sleeping pills. Stomach pumped out, he is sent
130 A thin 1942 comedy starring Henry Fonda and Don Ameche.
131 A net tender is a small vessel that maintains harbor fortifications.
132 “Nigrae [sum] sed Formosae references Song of Songs, 1:5, “I am black and beautiful.”
133 A Warner Brothers comedy of married life, starring Henry Fonda.
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�ashore. Had been brooding recently. Talked with
him about his mistake at Suva, Fiji, when he took
too much aboard on the one shore liberty the crew
had. Seemed utterly disgusted with his performance.
Since then read a good deal of Poe for whom he had
great admiration.
Wednesday, March 17, 1943
Feast of St. Patrick and Dismas. Underway
for Espiritu Santo again with about twenty-five
passengers.
Running each evening a Catechism class for four
Mess Attendants. In the question period at the end,
one of them wanted to know when Ash Friday was.
Street scene comes back to mind in Noumea. Tonkinese women with their coffee rolls doing a rushing business with our sailors. Their ice cream also
goes quickly. They soon found out that an American
sailor is always hungry.
Another street scene. On my way to the Movie
Exchange, where Major Donnell is, hear somebody
whistling the Woodpecker Song – do me sol ti re
la; turn around expecting to see one of our soldier
boys. It is a native dressed only in blue shorts, with
a green fern strung through his mop of thick black
hair. His black face breaks out in a broad smile
when I look around at him. He guessed what I
134
was thinking and said, “Me know too.”
Thursday, March 18, 1943
Making good speed with the John Penn, the
Algorab and a tanker. Stormy weather today;
some cases of seasickness. One sailor to another,
“Are you weak?” “I’m throwing it just as far as
the other fellow, ain’t I?”
Arrive at Espiritu Santo at five in the afternoon.
Dull rainy afternoon; same pungent smell, piney,
rolls down with the wind from the densely covered
hills between which this channel runs.
Friday, March 19, 1943
Back to our old stamping ground; third trip here.
Sailor remarks, “We’ll know this part of the South
Seas as well as our own back yard after a while.”
Saturday, March 20, 1943
Letter from sister, Mary, informing me that they had
received word that Ed and I had met.
Off our port side, seaplanes are tuning up their motors preparing to take off on their patrol. They spin
around and around in the water as the pilot tunes
them up to a full-throated roar, then lets them die
down to a mutter. They straighten out for the long
run between ships, trailing a white plume of spray
as they increase their speed. After a mile run, almost
imperceptibly they rise very slowly, then make a turn
out to sea.
About nine o’clock a deafening roar as I sit in my
room. Step outside. Fifteen Grumman fighters are
flying in formation fairly low, patterns of 4, 4, 3, and
4. Suddenly they peel off to practice dive-bombing
the ships in the stream. They swoop down, twisting and rolling mast high over the ship at blinding
speed. A thrilling sight but we are grateful that this is
a dry run, not the real thing.
Aboard come the soldiers of the Vermont National
Guard with their Chaplain, Fr. Mahoney. Both of us
hear confessions at night.
Sunday, March 21, 1943
Up at 5 o’clock rigging the altar for Mass at 6 o’clock.
Large number of Communions.
Fr. Mahoney says the 9 o’clock Mass. Splendid group
of Catholics in his outfit, one of the finest we have
carried. Three o’clock in the afternoon, Rosary and
Benediction; about 300 in attendance.
134 “The Woodpecker Song,” recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, was a best-selling recording in 1940.
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�We get underway at 8:30, beautiful summer morning. Blue of the water contrasts sharply with the
fresh green of the shore. Set against the green
background is the little French Church with the half
dozen houses, white-walled and red-roofed clustered
around it. Outside a church party from one of the
ships stands around, sailors in their immaculate
white uniforms adding a lovely touch to the picture.
Slowly we make our way through the submarine net,
then head out for the wide stretches of the open sea.
As we steam along, one of the soldiers points out the
spot where the USS President Coolidge went down.
These men were aboard her. When the men got
ashore they had to cut their clothes off, for they
135
were covered with oil.
Today is the first day of Spring back home. In their
letters my mother and sisters are describing the fuel
shortage and how cold it is. Here we are sweating
in the summer heat. Three men aboard have heat
prostration.
Monday, March 22, 1943
0500 – General Quarters. Once again we are underway and answer the peep, peep, peep of the GQ
alarm by going quickly to our battle stations an hour
before dawn, 0430!
if it hasn’t gone already. Here’s hoping that he is a
passenger. How pleased the family would be to learn
that we had a cruise together again.
Tuesday, March 23, 1943
0330 – Up and say Mass, breakfast, then ashore at
0730 to see Ed. This time fortunately we land just at
the place desired, opposite Henderson Field. Down
over the side in a cargo net, then into the beach in
an invasion boat, with souvenirs on every side of
the attack by the Marines last August; amphibious
tanks, that are rolling back and forth with the tide;
some of them within five yards of the shore, some
overturned on the beach.
Thumb a ride with Red Miller of Granville Avenue,
Medford; learn that he is to board our ship. Within
ten minutes I am with Ed and Fr. Flaherty again.
Ed gets permission to spend the evening with me;
Father also. We drop in on Fr. Brock who is wrestling with his mattress, trying to beat it into some
normal size before it is taken aboard. He is one of
our passengers, which makes both of us very happy.
Ed and Fr. Flaherty are staying behind to be picked
up later. Ed is still trying for a psychiatric position
with Captain Peel. He and Fr. Flaherty may be in a
cadre that will be formed and then shipped back to
the States. Here’s hoping and praying.
0600 – Mass. And Fr. Mahoney says his with a good
number receiving Holy Communion.
Gunnery Officer says that they have received a report
that enemy air activity is expected today. All the gun
crews are alert, for two other convoys were attacked in
this area recently. We are within easy bombing range
of New Georgia, a Jap air base north of Guadalcanal.
Rain comes down heavily and closes in all day, so
elements help us and no planes bother us.
Captain gives me permission to go ashore tomorrow to see Ed again. We hope to take him and his
buddies aboard. His outfit is due to be moved to Fiji
135 See entry for January 30, 1943.
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Ed and I sit under a palm tree on the second fighter
strip at Henderson Field and watch the squadrons
of Lightnings and Aircobras come in, then climb
up, swing the turn, peel off and follow each other
at intervals of about three minutes. The last man
of the second four almost met with disaster; I was
just about to raise my hand in absolution from a
distance. He landed at an angle, with his port wing
almost touching the ground, then his starboard
wing dipped dangerously. He made his decision in
a split-second to swing up and come in again. Ed
tells me that a slight puff of wind coming from an
unexpected quarter sometimes causes these crack-
�ups, one of which we almost witnessed but happily
missed. Up and out he soars over where my ship is
anchored, then coasts in and makes a perfect three
point landing this time.
As we sit and talk under the palm tree, the fronds
overhead are gently waving in the slight breeze. In
the shade it is pleasant enough, but in the sun –
oh my! about 120.
Suddenly a machine gun barks sharply three times,
zing, -ng, -ng, the bullets sing as they fly across the
airport. Ed casually informs me that the aviation
mechanic pressed the wrong button on the plane and
the bullets sped out. “Dangerous?” “That’s why the
men duck instinctively around here.”
About one o’clock we make our way out to the ship,
embarking in one of our invasion boats. The three
of us, Fr. Flaherty, Ed and I, climb the gangway,
look around the ship, meet Fr. Brock who is aboard,
like everybody else surprised at the appointments of
our vessel. I leave them to themselves, scout up the
steaks for tonight, the peaches and cream. They sit
down at 5 ‘clock to a meal which only ends when they
have to admit that they can’t put any more away.
Ed leaves at 8:30. As we say goodbye, he says that
he expects me back shortly. He is not disappointed
at being left behind while the rest of his outfit goes
aboard, for there is a good chance of his being a
member of the cadre, the nucleus of a new division.
If so, then he would be sent back to the States.
We learn this morning that while we were cruising
last night, Maytag Charlie bombed Henderson Field,
destroying four big planes, one Boeing 25 and 3 Liberators, and fired an ammunition dump. Lucky hits all.
Recall the Photo Reconnaissance planes that Ed and I
inspected. He said that they were blinding fast. Their
one job is to take pictures, without a single gun aboard.
They simply outrun anything that comes after them.
On the nose of the fuselage of one was painted a
queer little fellow. He wore a top hat and tails, was
apparently flying, with four legs dangling down;
in his hands was a camera that he was pointing at
the earth below. On his face was a big broad smile.
We asked the mechanic what he was. “Shutterbug”
was the answer. Same mechanic told us that the top
speed of the plane was four hundred miles an hour.
Her best weapon when she gets in trouble, speed.
Thursday, March 25, 1943
Nightfall we get underway, cruising to get away
from the Japs. The crowd of us go topside to drink
in the beauty of the full tropical moon. We are sailing directly into it as it rises. The ship ahead of us
is directly in her path and we quietly remark on the
beauty of the setting. On our left is Guadalcanal
bathed in the soft light of the moon. On our right
is Florida and Tulagi. Ahead of us a ship, like ourselves, behind us the same, while on our starboard
our three destroyers patrol for us. Off in the distance
are remote flashes of gunfire.
En route to Espiritu Santo.
0445 – Rise; Mass after General Quarters.
Beautiful summery day. We are bumping our heads
against sunshine and tripping over fresh air as we
slide through Torpedo Junction again. Mountains
on either side of us wreathed in white cloud veils,
without a sign of habitation on them; just dense
foliage. Fr. Brock and companions enjoying every
single minute of the trip.
Friday, March 26, 1943
At 10:00 the boys retire to soft mattresses again.
0500 – General Quarters.
Wednesday, March 24, 1943
0600 – Mass, with Fr. Brock’s 182nd Regiment
Mass at 5:30 served by Ed. We offer Mass for all
the family, living and dead. The three of them, Frs.
Flaherty and Brock and Ed look fine after their restful
night. Fr. Flaherty leaves at 6:30 to say Mass ashore.
making a splendid showing, both here and also at
Rosary in the afternoon.
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�Read of controversy in papers back home started
by Rex Stout, Chairman of War Writers Board. His
gospel is one of hate, according to the article that he
wrote for the N.Y. Times in one of its January issues.
Strange, spreaders of gospel of hate are those sitting
behind comfortable desks, far from the front lines.
I have spoken with men who fought in the second
front in Africa, when soldiers from our own ship were
assault troops; I have been with Marines on Guadalcanal, with soldiers of the 147th, 164th and 182nd
Regiments and Carlson’s Raiders, and not one of
them ever said that he was motivated by blind hatred.
Yet these are men who have killed their fellow man.
Marine guarding Jap prisoners on their way to New
Zealand, “I felt like a bully standing over these fellows with my club.” Yet he had killed his share of Japs.
Attitude of Leslie McNair, General of the Air Ground
Forces, who made a speech in a similar vein, hardly
squares with President Roosevelt’s expressed wish
that this war must result in a re-Christianization of
the world. That means not when war is over, merely,
but now also. Our boys are still Christians when they
fight, not pagans. Their spirit with others is a duty to
fight but not to nurse vindictive hatred. Their spirit
within themselves is one of unselfishness, self-sacrifice, self-denial, unity, and cooperation for the com136
mon good.
Flare dropped on us by Jap plane last night at 10:45;
we ran all out, fortunately nothing happened. Arrive
at Espiritu Santo at 11:00. Word that we leave at 1430,
but stay overnight. I slip ashore and try three other
ships for 16 mm movies but have no luck.
Saturday, March 27, 1943
0600 – Awakened by roar of motors of planes
tuning up for their dawn patrol trick. There are
the big four-motored giants and the little scout
planes. Day is a wet one underfoot and a cloudy
one overhead.
1000 – We pull up anchor and start our journey
to Suva, Fiji. Day clears toward evening just before
we have General Quarters. Fr. Brock and I hear
confessions at night.
Sunday, March 28, 1943
0500 – General Quarters. 0600 – First Mass
at which about 85 boys receive Holy Communion.
0900 and 1100 Masses which Fr. Brock celebrates.
1000 – Protestant Service conducted by
Chaplain Franklin.
I must be the only Catholic pastor in the world
who has three curates like my present passengers,
a Catholic priest, a Protestant Minister and a Jewish Rabbi; the last ran his service at 1000 yesterday
morning. All told we had the following services:
Saturday: 1000 – Jewish; Sunday: 0600, 0900, 1100 –
Masses; 1000 – Protestant Service; 1500 – Rosary and
Benediction; Christian Endeavor Meeting.
Day indescribably beautiful; blue water, blue sky,
blue mountains, blue ships, all of a different shade
and all bathed in the brilliance of the tropical sun-
136 The Writers’ War Board was formed early in the conflict by a group of volunteers who offered to produce articles that would support war
aims and American morale. By early 1942, under the leadership of the writer of popular detective fiction Rex Stout, the Board had more
than 3,000 members. Stout’s views on exacting harsh terms of peace from Germany, however, brought controversy to the group. Germans,
he said, suffered from “pan-Germanism,” a political sentiment that had led to two world wars and that needed to be harshly curbed if a
third World War was to be avoided. The Foley-referenced article by Stout appeared in the Times on January 17th, and was titled “We Shall
Hate, or We Shall Fail: If we do not hate the Germans now, we shall fail in our effort to establish a lasting peace.” The article explicitly
rejected the Christian ideal of love for one’s enemy. While several liberal Protestant clergy rejected Stout’s views, leaders of the Catholic
Church were silent. Stout’s views, it’s worth noting, while radical, came relatively close to aligning with some American war propaganda,
as in a War Department orientation film, This is Germany, produced in 1945 for American occupation forces. McNair was a senior Army
staff officer who in December 1942, gave a controversial speech in which he told assembled soldiers “It is the avowed purpose of the Army
to make killers of all of you . . . . [W]e must hate with every fiber of our being. We must lust for battle; our object in life must be to kill; we
must scheme and plan night and day to kill.” He himself was killed—by American fire, it’s believed—in Normandy in 1944.
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�shine. We slide along through “Torpedo Slot” with
two destroyers, three in fact, patrolling for us. We
steam between Amboina and Pentecost Island, pass
Lopevi Island, active volcano, shaped in a perfect
137
cone; last eruption in 1883.
Monday, March 29, 1943
0315 – General Quarters. Torpedo reported fired at
us. We are at our battle stations quicker than you
138
could say “New England T and T stock”.
General Quarters for half an hour. A near miss is as
good as a mile. One more instance when the prayers
of family and friends back home assured us of the
protection of God and Our Lady.
General Quarters over, I say Mass immediately.
No sooner finished than GQ again. This sub is persistent. However, he is apparently left behind after
half an hour and we are on our way safely again.
Down in the sick bay at my battle station with Dr.
Harris and Dr. Daniel. Cooped up in the hermetically sealed compartment with all port holes dogged
down and all watertight doors slammed shut, we sit
and sit and sit. Only later do we below find out what
the excitement is topside.
At 0445 topside, on way up to flying bridge to catch
the sunrise. Five miles off our port side is a line of
low mountainous islands, with a destroyer between
us and them about half a mile away. Behind the
islands are cloud mountains, not clinging to the top
of the islands but rising up sheer as though somebody had them by the hair of the head. One of them
soars up like the Empire State Building, stately and
magnificent over those around it. The upper part all
along both sides, its pinnacle, is fringed with white
that reddens into gold. The formation changes into
two cloudlets with a deep dip between them. This
valley is now crimson, now gold and then the sun
lifts its head slowly up over the window of another
day to see if we are still afloat. Meanwhile along the
near horizon, companion clouds are purple on their
peaks as they are touched by the rays of the sun
that are arching now all over the blue morning sky.
Another one of the masterpieces of God the Divine
Architect who paints a different one every morning
and never tires of His work.
Fr. Brock says Mass at 0600 for his men and members of my crew who were not free during my Mass.
He finds the breeze blowing a bit sturdy but I tell
him it is just a gentle zephyr.
The example of the Catholic men from Somerville
and Medford, Charlestown and Cambridge, has been
139
most inspiring. They have attended daily Mass in
large numbers and have honored Our Lady with her
daily Rosary and sung out her “Mother Purest, Mother Fairest.” The sight of them kneeling on the rolling
deck stirs the heart. Young, yet men who have been
close to death, have seen their friends, over three
hundred of them, die, men themselves who have
killed an enemy who tried to do away with them by
all kinds of tactics, e.g. two men advancing to surrender with hands over their heads, then when within a
short distance of our boys, falling flat on their faces,
while the machine gun strapped to the back of the
first is operated by the second. No wonder our boys
demanded that they surrender stark naked.
137 Foley here names some of the islands in the Solomon Archipelago that run parallel to each other, forming a navigable channel —
“the torpedo slot”— through which both American and Japanese warships engaged in the Guadalcanal campaign had to pass and in
which they were vulnerable to attack. Generally, American forces ruled the slot during the day, while superior radar technology enabled
Japanese forces to command the slot at night.
138 The region’s first telephone service, New England Telephone and Telegraph, was founded in 1878 and subsumed a year later into the National
Bell Telephone Company. Foley may have been referencing a Boston colloquialism relating to the speed with which the company vanished.
139 Somerville, Medford and Cambridge are cities near Boston. Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston.
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�Now these boys are going to Suva to engage in
maneuvers for a future attack on New Georgia!
They are due to stay in Fiji for ninety days.
At two in the afternoon we sight the lovely town of
Suva once more, as picturesque as it was on its first
appearance. The afternoon sun is bathing everything, the green of the hills is as fresh as ever and
the houses and buildings as sturdy as when we saw
them on January 26 for the first time.
It is now about six o’clock so there is no prospect of
going ashore this evening even though our big ship
has been carefully nursed through the minefield and
is safely anchored port side to the dock.
I say goodbye to Fr. Brock, Dr. Whelan, who had
Fr. [John L.] Bonn in class at B.C., and a classmate
of mine, Col. Hogan, who received every day while
aboard and knelt every afternoon for Our Lady’s
Rosary, a splendid example to his men. Chaplains
Rothschild and Franklin also say goodbye. The
182nd Regimental Band that put on a jam session
for the crew last night also leaves us, still happy
over the steak dinner and apple pie and ice cream
dinner we gave them in gratitude.
Tuesday, March 30, 1943
Peaceful night’s sleep tied up to the dock.
0600 – Mass, breakfast, ashore, after I say goodbye
to Fr. Brock who stayed aboard after all with Col.
Hogan from Wakefield. His boy was at B.C., one
of my entering class when I was first appointed
140
Freshman Dean.
Ashore where I buy two dozen bottles of Mass wine,
which should keep me going for a while now, from a
priest at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.
Suva still as picturesque as ever. Muscular native
policemen in their native scalloped white skirts,
knee length blue jackets and blue belts, are in their
glory as they direct traffic flowing by in English
style. Forward on the left hand side of the road and
aft on the starboard. Huge heads of wooly black hair
give them a formidable appearance.
Day is very hot. At noon everybody drops out of sight
for an hour and a half. Noel Coward’s song with the
line in it about “Only mad dogs and Englishmen go
out in the noonday sun” should substitute the word
American for English, for only sailors and soldiers
could be seen around here.
Overhead a dazzling blue sky, cloudless except for a
space directly over the mountains, rising right over
our shoulders. Those clouds are the signals of a hot
moist climate down below.
Wednesday, March 31, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Into town again, walking leisurely along the road
that leads to the Grand Pacific Hotel. There the
romantic pictures of the travel books come to life.
The hotel is situated right on the ocean front. Palm
trees lean lazily over the waters of the blue Pacific,
noiselessly rolling up on the beach. Out on the horizon
lie purple mountains drenched in the brilliant sunshine. On the water a million and one diamonds are
sparkling. Looking around the porch of the hotel are
a few strangers like myself, admiring the manicured
lawns tended by natives in shorts only. The hot sun
makes no impression on their black backs. Parakeets
and orange doves and wrens and finches are chattering away in the fronds of the palm trees overhead. One
tree in particular has been so trained that it is a big fan,
standing about 20 feet above the ground. The grass was
refreshed about an hour ago by a shower, so it wears a
wide awake look. It is as dry as a match shortly, for this
hot sun challenges anything to stay moist under its rays.
I lie down to snatch forty winks on the sacred
precincts of the lawn. The contented cluck, cluck
140 Foley’s full title at the time he entered the Navy was Dean of Admissions and Dean of Freshmen and Sophomores. He had previously
taught Greek and English literature.
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�of a maternal hen foraging for her eight chicks,
a domestic touch on the commercial lawn, wakes
me from my South Seas slumber. After a half hour
I am on my way back to the ship after saying the
Stations of the Cross for my father in the Cathedral.
Thursday, April 1, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Ashore to the Red Cross outfit. On the way I pass a
native fish market where the fishermen are selling
their early morning catches to the native women.
They are lined up together outside a square, wireenclosed space in which the seller holds up the fish
and seeks bids. The purchasers shrill out their prices
good naturedly and smile at the one who has made
a successful bid. The Mother Hubbard dresses are
something to see on these women. They are of all
colors, brilliant red, yellow, black or white or green or
plain gingham. One gargantuan woman was adorned
in a white one that housed her ample 250 pounds.
Majestically, she swept along in her bare feet, while
three youngsters clung to her for protection. Gaily
she chatted with other women, utterly oblivious of the
attention she was exciting. These people are delightful
in their childlike simplicity. They are always smiling,
men, women and children, with not a worry in the
world. Beautiful regular features mark the women.
The men are handsome also; they are black in color
but not Negro in features.
From Red Cross, Mr. Asquith, Mr. Dyer and I obtain
some gum and candy and peanuts. Clerk there asks
me what kind of a Chaplain I am. “Catholic priest.”
She tells me, “I am the wife of a priest, the Anglican Bishop here.” For a second I was flabbergasted.
What does one say when told that you are speaking with the wife of the Anglican Bishop of Fiji? It
seemed utterly incongruous to me as for a nun to
say that she has a husband. I simply spoke a noncommittal “Is that so?” and let it go at that.
Suva Street Scenes:
– Two swarthy native women wrenching away
with their teeth at a foot of bamboo, tearing off
the brown outside skin of the stalk and chewing
the white celery-like rind and then spitting it out.
Later I learn that they were munching sugar
cane, not bamboo.
– A big, handsome physical specimen taking his
morning market stroll with his wife and little
youngster. He is wearing a white blouse and a
red checkered wrap-around skirt that might have
been taken from an Italian spaghetti restaurant
back home. Sharp contrast with his outsize head
of black hair and jet black skin. Feet, of course,
are unshod. Wife is wearing a white petticoat down
to her ankles with a pink dress almost the same
length. Little girl is robed in flowing cerise dress.
– Indian woman silently pads by, on her face the
tired look of centuries of oppression, it would seem.
She is wearing a shawl of green looped around her
head, over her shoulder and down to her ankles.
A purple blouse and an immaculate white skirt
make a beautiful color ensemble.
– By the side of a store, sitting on a box cross-legged,
two East Indians are playing checkers. They are
wrapped up in their game and don’t mind the Yankee
kibitzer rubbernecking at them. He makes only eight!
However, he keeps his tongue. The others give oral
suggestions about possible moves. Both of the players
pick up their checkers quickly and slap them down
hard every time a move is made, like the flourish that
some men make when they are playing cards.
Friday, April 2, 1943
0530 – General Quarters. From Suva to Guadalcanal,
again to flirt with death.
0600 – First Friday Mass. Fine turnout of men of
this 147th Infantry outfit. Catholics have had no
priest for three Sundays. About 60 receive Holy
Communion. Busy all morning attending to these
141
men, most of whom come from Ohio.
141 The 147th Infantry Regiment was an Ohio National Guard unit that took part in the difficult island battles of Guadalcanal, Saipan, Tinian,
Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Separated from the 37th Infantry Division in 1942, they were posted to the Pacific Theater as a “lost regiment.”
They fought alongside the Marines but, to the chagrin of some, did not achieve similar approbation for their work. They were known as
the “Gypsies of the Pacific” or the “147th Marines.”
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�Day is usual one; drenched with sunshine. Passengers are looking forward to their arrival in Guadalcanal, foolish boys, not realizing that they were well
off at Fiji. Healthy, with good blood now in their
veins, they will return, some of them, in fact the
larger percentage, with unhealthy malaria germs
in their bloodstream. The percentage has been as
high as 91% with Marines.
On both sides islands have their headdress of clouds.
1500 – Rosary
and Benediction on Boat Deck Forward.
1800 – 1930 – Confessions
in my little cubby hole.
Saturday, April 3, 1943
0530 – General Quarters.
0600 – Mass in crew’s mess hall. Temperature must
have been at least 98. I do not perspire easily, yet my
habit, alb and chasuble were all soaked with perspiration at the end of Mass.
0900 – Mass in Senior Wardroom.
1500 – Rosary
and Benediction; excellent turnout.
Monday, April 5, 1943
Chaplain took care of him. Chaplain Uphall, the
Army Chaplain travelling with the outfit.
Tuesday, April 6, 1943
0245 – We rise to bugle of reveille! What an hour!
0300 – Mass. We are arriving at Guadalcanal. As
dawn begins to break, we make out what is now a
familiar shoreline. Along the edges are the deep
green coconut trees and in the background the light
purplish blue of the mountains, wreathed as usual
in their morning mists and veils of clouds. The sun
starting to climb below the horizon and giving advance notice of its coming will soon dissipate them.
Hurrah! We are anchoring off Henderson Field, Ed’s
stamping ground. The landing nets are lowered.
Down climb the soldiers ever so cautiously. It is their
first trip over the side with or without loaded packs.
Three of them lose their grip and drop down about
twenty feet. Fortunately none of them is seriously
injured. They had landed on their buddies and the
thick pack they carry broke the force of the fall. Down
I go over one on the port side aft. In the boat are about
forty soldiers anxious to set foot on Guadalcanal. In
we make our way to our landing beach, hit it with full
speed, lower the ramp and over it the soldiers and I
step on the famous blood-soaked soil of this island.
0445 – General Quarters.
whose birthday it was. In the evening, General
Quarters from 8:30 to 9:10. Three Jap planes
headed in our direction; fortunately they were
turned back and we had a good night’s sleep.
I thumb a ride in a jeep to Ed’s location. I thumb
really well now; simply stick out the thumb and the
taxi, checkered or yellow, grinds to a stop. I pile in
over assorted cargo, gasoline cans, water containers,
picks and shovels and guns; secure a good grip on the
canvas overhead, if there is one, and then take off.
Bad accident at 3:00 p.m. Heavy ramp on tank
lighter gave way when the chain holding it snapped.
Three men struck by it. One with a fractured skull,
broken spine and severe internal injuries died three
hours after the accident. Second man has concussion with split head requiring six stitches and the
third has a shoulder that may be broken. Teeter
from Oklahoma is boy who died; was college graduate. May he rest in peace! Protestant, so Protestant
This morning within five minutes I am on the way
after saying goodbye to Chaplain Uphall, a fine fellow. Fr. Flaherty is in his tent talking with one of the
men when I stick my head through the flap. “Well,
it’s about time. Heard the ship was out there and
was expecting you at any minute.” He looks hale and
hearty, pulls out a picture of Commando Flaherty,
taken by one of the boys. As the boys drop in he tells
them that Life [Magazine] is looking for his picture.
0600 – My Mass was offered for my sister, Kay,
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�Shortly, Ed is rounded up. He looks as well as ever.
I notice that his hair is quite reddish as he stands in
the sun; in fact, some of the men call him “Red.” Ed
is now working temporarily with Mr. Gralnick, Red
Cross representative. His work with Dr. Peel, the
psychiatrist, has washed out. The Doctor whom we
visit is flat on his back with jaundice and malaria.
This afternoon Ed takes his physical for Officers
Candidate School. That decides him and Fr. Flaherty
to go out to the ship immediately so that Ed will
be back by 2 o’clock. In the meantime Fr. Flaherty
manages to get two movies for me that will come
in handy on the way back to Suva. Into the jeep we
hop and are soon on the beach, then we climb up
the long side of the ship, hand over hand on the
ladder on the port side aft. Immediately the order is
put through for filet mignons. Once again they feed
their appetites, hungry for a good steak and finish
up with ice cream and rich chocolate cake.
I pack a case with apples from the ice box, peanuts,
gum and cigars for the boys. Fr. Flaherty needs
some wine and hosts so I help him out with two
bottles and 40 large hosts and 250 small. Down the
landing net we go and head for the shore. Guadalcanal, just as the movies picture the South Seas
Islands, clear blue water, white sand on the beach,
fringed with overhanging palms and then a background of purple mountains. A remark about the
beauty of it all leaves the pair of them cold. They
want to see it from the stern on a ship shoving off
for some other place.
The ramp is let go on the front of our boat. We wait
for a small wave to recede so that we won’t get
wet and then hop ashore. There we visit “Tojo’s
Powerhouse – Now Under New Management” sign.
It furnishes the power for the airport, the saw mill,
water purificator, laundry, etc. There are two diesel engines built on a solid concrete foundation. A
little platform about ten feet in height runs around
it. Must have been small men to operate the plant.
Back of the powerhouse is the river where the men
are repairing the two bridges washed out by the
heavy rains of a few nights ago. Men in their birth-
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day suits are washing their jeeps and trucks of the
mud collected on their trips.
Back in Fr. Flaherty’s tent I meet Frs. Dwyer and
Frawley, Army Chaplains who arrived this morning
on the ships in our convoy. Fr. Flaherty passes around
the lemonade drinks to all and gives me a copy of a
cartoon, “Midnight on Guadalcanal” showing what
happens when Maytag Charlie starts the alarm. All
the incidents actually happened. One man, a Colonel
in the original story, is running in the dark plum into
a coconut tree. Two others are arguing over who is
the owner of a helmet, two more over the foxholes
they belong in. One fellow is gingerly stepping along
in the pitch dark, another is daintily carrying his two
dog tags in his hand while a sophisticated cigarette
hangs from his mouth. One moment later the driver
of the jeep will make immediate and unexpected contact with a coconut tree, etc.
While we talk, music is echoing around the coconut
grove from six loud speakers rigged in pairs. One
pair is fastened to a coconut tree with a fine head of
palms, another pair to a tall stump, souvenir of Jap
naval shelling. The sun is high in the sky; now and
then we must stop talking while a P-38 or an Aircobra roars by after taking off down the road. This
morning we saw the tragic remains of O’Sullivan,
a P-38 pilot. He underestimated the landing strip
coming in at night and cracked up. Only a shell of
the plane remains. The boy, 22, died from his injuries. He had been in 30 combats without suffering
a scratch.
On the way back to the ship, farewell till the next
time. Ed is told that his eyes are so poor that there is
little chance of his making OCS. He is disappointed.
What a waste of talent in that Army. He is typical,
I am told. College graduate, equipped for a specialized branch, psychiatry, yet he mixes unguents and
ties knots in bandages.
Off our port side, a P 38 well shot up, pancakes into
the water, plunges down immediately. Pilot, thank
God, bobs to the surface after some seconds although
it seems hours. “As many planes smashed in this
�drink and on the field as are lost in actual combat,”
comments a soldier who has just left the island.
We steam over in the direction of Tulagi at dusk.
General Quarters about 6:20, over in half an hour.
I go topside, step outside the door leading to the
deck, looking for a light here and there on Guadalcanal. Wonder if one spot that I see is where Ed
and his friends are looking at Priorities on Parade,
the movie for tonight.142 After a few minutes three
planes with their port red and starboard green lights
are landing on Henderson, its strips lit up by the
yellow smudge pots. Suddenly everything is inky
black. One searchlight reaches up and out through
the South Seas summer night and fingers the heavens, then another and another, until there are half
a dozen. They converge on one spot. The shoreline
suddenly breaks out in a sullen roar at the juncture of these lights. The Fourth of July has arrived
a bit early. Overhead five inch shells are exploding
all over the sky. They explode, blossom out into all
colors. On the shore there is an angry roar of guns
and tremendous puffs of white yellowish smoke illuminating their location for a fraction of a second.
I go to tell the doctor to come out to see the free
show. Then “Tweet, Tweet, Tweet, Tweet, Tweet.”
General Quarters. We sit and sweat in the sick bay
for one hour as the shore installations try to beat off
the four Jap planes that dropped flares just where we
were anchored two hours ago. Tulagi also opened
up on the raiders. Perhaps tomorrow we shall know
what the damage is. General Quarters over. One casualty, one of the soldiers who had just come aboard
fell four decks down into an open hatch. Back injury;
saved from death by landing on cargo nets.
Wednesday, April 7, 1943
0500 – General Quarters. 0540 – Mass.
After cruising up and down all night, we are
anchored in Tulagi Harbor. Round us are three
cruisers and six destroyers.
Tulagi is a small island ringed with the usual palms
at the water’s edge. Up the face of it rise sheer cliffs
of dark brown stone. On top of it are gun emplacements to knock off the Japs. One tip of it is a narrow
finger with 28 coconut trees lacing its shoreline. On
this are USA Army troop tents. Directly behind is
Florida Island and over to the north, Gavutu, which
cost the lives of hundreds of Marines. For here was
the bitterest opposition in the whole Solomons,
from the Imperial Marines, six footers from Northern Japan. There is just a small landing beach which
was completely dominated by Jap machine guns. As
on the rest of these islands, the growth of vegetation
is apparently overnight. The green of the trees and
coconuts has the freshness of the spring green
back home.143
At 1000 we hoist the anchor and start across the
water for Guadalcanal, one destroyer clearing the
lane for us. Although she looks close, Guadalcanal
is 20 miles away. At 1100 we are coasting along,
when the order is suddenly passed to secure for sea.
The trip ashore of the mail orderly is cancelled.
Fr. Flaherty and Ed are left on the beach. We are
underway; the Hunter Liggett has left most of her
boats ashore with their crews. Jap plane raid on the
way. “Air attack developing.” Day is now cloudy,
ideal one for the planes to cruise high and then
swoop down through.
1205 – Had
just sipped a glass of lemonade, about
to start dinner when General Quarters sounded –
“Tweet, Tweet, Tweet.” We have been running
about an hour, seventeen knots south of Henderson.
Wonder if this is it. So far we have been extremely
lucky, being either too early or too late for a date
with Tojo’s boys.
Air Attack – Guadalcanal.
2:40 p.m. – From the bridge, “60 enemy planes
over Guadalcanal.” We are about 40 miles south
of Guadalcanal.
142 Priorities, a 1942 patriotic trifle, tells the story of a struggling big band (“Jive Bombers”) whose members work in an aircraft factory.
Discovered by a talent agent, they are invited to play in New York City. They decline, preferring to continue in their defense work.
143 The Marines lost 122 men on Gavutu–Tanambogo. In re the Imperial Marines, see Note for February 11, 1943.
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�2:45 p.m. – Also from the bridge, “Enemy
planes astern!”
Dr. Harris and I go out topside to the main deck.
Five miles astern is a tanker with a destroyer escorting her. About eight planes are wheeling over them,
dropping patterns of bombs on tanker. Two seem to
be near misses. Torpedo planes start to peel off one
by one, level out, then three of them hit the water.
High up in the sky are the black blossoms of the
anti-aircraft shells. Later, destroyer reports that she
brought down four planes, three Jap and one of our
own, a Marine Captain, whose body was recovered.
Off to the west, squadrons of planes darting in and
out of the clouds look like black flies from the ship
and are about ten miles away.
ship, even though within two minutes we could have
been the targets.
Friday, April 9, 1943
0515 – General Quarters. 0600 – Mass in Junior
Wardroom.
One of the Officers aboard tells me that a Holy
Cross football guard by the name of Carroll, a
Marine 2nd Lt., with two other Marines put ashore
the other day at Munda, a Jap held island, to act as
spy and lookout. Three Sisters were evacuated by
submarine from the same island a short while ago.
They are aboard one of our ships, either the Hunter
Liggett, the Fuller or the Penn.
Saturday, April 10, 1943
No General Quarters. 0600 – Mass.
4:40 p.m. – We are finally secured from General
Quarters, an afternoon that we won’t forget for a
long time. No rest for the wicked.
10:00
p.m. – General Quarters; lasts only ten min-
utes. Destroyer astern reports to the Commodore of
the Division that she has just destroyed a Japanese
submarine. It was surfaced; she fired a broadside,
then laid a pattern of depth charges. Debris, clothing
and food came up from the depths.
We wonder how the boys on Guadalcanal made out.
This has been a hectic trip. Last night, a night attack;
today, another attack; tonight, a sub following us. Our
Lord, however, has been taking care of us. The folks
back home certainly are praying for us. Without a
doubt, prayers are winning God’s protection.
Thursday, April 8, 1943
0510 – General Quarters. 0600 – Mass on Boat Deck
Forward.
A quiet day after yesterday’s excitement; we appreciate it. Yet strangely enough, after the initial skipping
of the heart at the General Quarters alarm, one can
watch with amazing detachment an attack on another
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Navy issues the following communiqué about the
battle on Wednesday: “The Japanese, in their greatest
aerial thrust against the Guadalcanal area since last
November, hurled almost 100 planes against American shipping yesterday off that battle isle. American
fighters, rising to intercept, shot down 37 enemy
planes and lost seven, the Navy disclosed today, a ratio
of one to five.” Whether any bombers got through to
attack the ships was not made known. Here is what
happened to the force of 50 Jap bombers and 48 fighters escorting them, according to the Navy. Twenty-one
zero fighters, five dive bombers and 10 planes of types
unreported destroyed, and another Jap plane crashed.
United States planes lost were one Aircobra fighter
and six wildcat fighters. One American pilot was
rescued. The Navy communiqué at which Secretary
of War Stimson said that Jap air strength is growing
in the Lower Pacific, he added that American strength
has increased also and further increases are in prospect in China, India and the Southwest Pacific.
“Whether any bombers got through to attack the ships
was not made known.” A significant omission! We lost
six ships! Jap version over the radio. Losses: Six planes
�sunk; five medium freighters (Liberty ships?), one eight
144
thousand ton transport, one cruiser, one destroyer.
12:45
p.m. – Concert by Regimental Band, Boat Deck
Forward. Solo: “I’ve Got a Date with a Foxhole.”
145
Smash hit!
Sunday, April 11, 1943
While sitting on the Collins’ porch a party of four
suddenly came through the screen door from the
dining room with a General. When he entered, all
rose to their feet, the five of us. He looked at me and
said: “This place looks like hell; clean it up.”
Monday, April 12, 1943
0600 – Mass.
0600 – Mass. 0900 – Mass.
At ten o’clock we are heading into another port of
Viti Levu, Lautoka; much different in its approach
from that to Suva. Here are low foothills with cultivated farms along the shoreline. All over the sea
for five miles are driblets of islands, some of them
only about 1000 feet square, yet densely wooded.
Looks as though farmer scattered his seed over a
watery pasture.
Tom Keenan from South Boston comes aboard when
we anchor off the one dock in the stream with invitation from Major Jim Collins, MC, for dinner. Had Jim
in class as a sophomore at Holy Cross. Away to their
screened-in dining room overlooking the South Seas,
shoreline scalloped with a dozen inlets.
Meet Doherty, Zagami, McLoughlin, McKeon and
Misses Flannery and Downer, Army nurses from
Worcester and Cambridge respectively. Visit Church
and say the Stations for my father. Meanwhile birds
of brilliant plumage are flying overhead in the trees.
One of them with the melody of a robin in his song;
he is no red breast but green, orange and white.
We debark 1600 troops, 132nd and 182nd, Colonel
Goggin and Major Granstock.
We embark 1700 troops, 200 of whom will be
debarked at Suva. Half an hour before midnight I
go out for a breath of air before turning in. Scene
of beauty in capital letters. Moon is half size and
about one-third up in the sky over the sea horizon.
No ghostly galleon tonight, just as lazy as the clouds
which are motionless, only a handful of them. Water
is gently rippled by a South Seas zephyr. To the left
of the moon something I have never seen before.
She lights up a path along the water to the ship. Two
stars are shining so brilliantly that their star light silvers a lane to us also. The sentry and I drink in the
lovely beauty of the scene. His name, Milt Brown
from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He reckoned, “I’s never
seed anythin’ so pretty.” Slender pencils of starlight
on waters of Fiji will not be forgotten for a long,
146
long time.
Tuesday, April 13, 1943
0600 – Mass
0900 – We leave Lautoka and steam leisurely
down the coast and anchor at Suva at three in
the afternoon.
Wednesday, April 14, 1943
Anchored at Suva. I have two movies; “Death of
147
a Champion” and “The Saint in New York.”
144 Operation I-Go, which included 350 aircraft, was a Japanese aerial offensive in the Solomons that ran from April 1–16 with the goal of
damaging American facilities, air forces and craft sufficiently to buy Japan time to strengthen defensive positions to the north. The Japanese
lost 55 planes in the operation; the Allies lost some 25 aircraft and five ships. Japan claimed to have destroyed 175 aircraft and 28 ships.
145 “I’ve Got a Date With an Angel” was a 1931 British pop hit later covered by many American performers.
146 Brown, was a member of the Army’s 147th Infantry Regiment [see note for April 2, 1943]. He returned to Tuscaloosa after the war, where he
raised a family and worked for a tire manufacturer. At the time of his death, on March 21, 2004, he was 83.
147 A low-budget Paramount who-done-it about the “murder” of a dog, and a popular RKO film about the murder of a policeman.
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�Thursday, April 15, 1943
3:30 P.M. – Underway for Guadalcanal again with
145th Regiment. Officers and men extremely
apprehensive when they learn that we were under
attack last trip. Betray anxiety in questions they ask,
remarks. “Quicker we get there and get off, better
we’ll like it.”
Soldier, as we leave harbor and slip between two
coral reefs, takes a last look at Suva and says,
“Love and mud, goodbye. How I’d like to be back
with you.”
Saw a very good appraisal of Rex Stout’s hate article in the New York Times, last January issue. “The
bloodthirstiness increases with the square of the
distance from the actual battlefield.” Would apply
148
also to Gen. McNair, of Army Ground Forces.
Friday, April 16, 1943
0555 – Mass; excellent turnout.
Soldiers and their officers are lost when they ask for
directions and receive them in Navy language, e.g.,
Starboard side inboard on the Upper Deck Forward.
One officer asking directions instructed the sailor,
“Now don’t tell me, just point.”
Captain Love: Reconnaissance problem in Fiji. For
40 miles in the hills, no road, only a trail. French
missionary and entire village of 500 Catholics started the day with Mass and ended it with night devotions, Rosary and Benediction. When this officer
and his four men on their scouting problem first
arrived, they made themselves known to the priest.
Young natives and old didn’t know what to make of
them. The five Americans decided to go swimming.
The officer emptied his pockets while the native
youngsters stood around in wondering silence. As
the contents of the pocket of the officer saw the light
of day, knife, coins, etc. came out, then a Rosary, one
of the native boys let out a shriek, bolted away and
told the priest. The priest came and told the officer,
148 See entry for March 28, 1943.
149 Four aircraft with two in front and two behind, wingtip to wingtip.
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”Youngster tickled beyond description to find that
you were a Catholic same as the rest of them.” From
that moment the boys and the soldiers were friends.
They went off down the road on the way to the
river together.
Saturday, April 17, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Our convoy is steaming ahead making good time as
we head north to Guadalcanal. With us are the USS
Penn, Fuller and Hayes, three combat ships like our
own. Sub contact but no General Quarters, for it is
off to a distance, destroyer reports.
Sunday, April 18, 1943
0600 – Mass, Boat Deck Forward
0900 – Mass.
1000 – Protestant Service. Chaplain Wearing
from Ohio.
2:30 P.M. – Rosary and Benediction. Over 250 men
present to sing Our Lady’s hymns, to say her Rosary
for the folks back home and for God’s protection on
our trip.
Planes overhead from carrier nearby give us a feeling of confidence as we come closer to Guadalcanal.
149
They are flying in square formation over us, and
their carrier floating base and protecting destroyers.
Monday, April 19, 1943
0500 – Mass.
About 7 o’clock we find we are running alongside
of Guadalcanal on our starboard side. Off in the distance is Florida with Tulagi in front of it and far on
the northern horizon, Savo, of melancholy memory
where we lost four cruisers in a sudden attack of the
enemy last August.
�The peaks on Guadalcanal are now familiar friends.
A deep purplish blue in the distance, they contrast
sharply with the green of the palm trees and coconut
groves near the water’s edge. As usual, the day is a
drenchingly beautiful one. Not once have we had a
bad day for our unloading operations.
I wonder how the boys ashore are. Last night we
150
know they had trouble, for “Condition Red” was
set on Guadalcanal all night. Shortly I shall have
the story from Ed and Fr. Flaherty.
I climb into the net over the side, drop into a
boat and we are off to shore before the ship has
stopped. We run for about three miles and ground
on Kukumbona Beach, the scene of bloody fighting between us and the Japs. Just off to the north
are beached two Jap transports, one on its side, the
other half way up on the shore. Just a shell of her
former self; apparently was a passenger liner. Was
a victim of “Slaughter Run” of our bombers from
Henderson [Field]. Dropped their eggs, then landed
at Henderson for more, repeated trips until Jap
151
transports, five of them, were pulverized.
Just behind the beach coconut trees have their heads
sheered off, grayish white trunks are scarred and
slashed by shells from artillery and naval guns.
Have steaks and candy and cigars for Ed and
Fr. Flaherty. Thumb a ride from Major Beal of the
147th. As we bump along a trail, see grim reminders
of the savage struggle. Here a hastily dug grave with
a cross over it. There a piece of Jap artillery that had
been abandoned. Alongside the road, two tremendous
bomb craters from our own flyers who were pounding
the Jap front lines at the time — November, December,
January — located in this area, which is about 12
miles north of Henderson Field.
After a half hour ride I am saying hello to Ed and
Fr. Flaherty, both of whom are in the pink of condition, though they could use a little sleep. They were up
all night. Tojo’s boys called on them and dropped his
mailing cards. Really is pouring it on these days. Said
they were worried about us a week ago Wednesday
when 98 planes came over. Fortunately, none of us
the worse for the wear.
We visit the refugees whom we are to take aboard our
ship; three nuns, Marists, and 34 assorted Chinese,
Fijians and half castes. Nuns have been through a lot.
Two months running from the Japs over mountains,
across rivers, living in the bush, with one Sister having to be assisted by the other two, ages of two about
55 and the other about 45. They say they will be happy
to come aboard after the bombing of last night.
Leave them and go to Henderson Field Cemetery,
bordered by palms. Poignant graves there. Pilots
killed have blades of propellers stuck in their cement headstones. One also has two noses from
engine heads. Another propeller blade has a hole
gashed in it about an inch and a half in diameter.
Did this kill him eventually?
Some of the soldiers have the aluminum tin tip
of their mess gear set in the cement square marker
with appropriate epitaphs by their buddies. One
of them:
“Here sleep the brave who sink to rest,
By all their country’s wishes blest.”
152
Name: Eugene Bober, Radio Gunner
Another grave has written, not in flowers as back
home, but in machine gun bullets. The name
“Eddie Grave” is ringed with clips of same bullets.
150 Slang for “Readiness Condition”
151 On November 14, 1942, a large group of Japanese troop transport ships entered waters near Guadalcanal without escort vessels. Over
the next days, 11 were destroyed, most by aircraft from Henderson Field, from which pilots made sorties, returned for fuel and ordnance,
and set out again.
152 Eugene Louis Bober, assigned to the First Marine Aircraft Wing, is listed as killed in an aviation accident on January 21, 1943.
111 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�Another epitaph: “A fine Marine; a fighter all the way.”
On that grave are two shell cases standing at its head.
Draped around one cross is a Rosary, rusted, weathered, but still with its owner.
Breathe a prayer that God will have mercy on all
their souls, Catholic, Protestant and Jew.
Life, March 1, 1943 edition, has picture of Memorial
Mass celebrated right here. I stand at the altar looking
over the broad acre of God’s dead who now sleep the
sleep of the just, with their arms stacked forever. Buried far from home, with their graves being tended by
two dozen swarthy natives, one wonders at the senselessness of man warring on his own kind. How many
careers here are blighted forever, how many blasted
ambitions, above all, how many broken hearts back
home. May God give these eternal rest and those back
home the courage to carry their heavy cross. These
pictures in Life will bring tears to the eyes of about
1400 mothers, the number of boys buried here. Such
are the spoken thoughts of Fr. Flaherty, Ed and myself
153
as we wander slowly around.
We leave behind the cemetery and call on Fr. O’Neil,
Navy Chaplain, who has as his guest Bishop Aubin
who is out at the time we call. Receive some palms
154
that he blessed.
Call at Port Director’s Office where I pick up two
charts of the waters here around Guadalcanal and
Tulagi and Florida Islands for the Navigation Officer.
Learn that transportation has already been arranged
for refugees to go out to our ship.
Decide not to wait but into the jeep again for the
12 mile trip, over good road for 7 miles and no road,
just a wide trail through the jungle for five. Dust is
flying as we rush along in a “hot car,” one that Moe
Edman “appropriated” on the beach one day. We pass
a number of MP’s who don’t stop us to find out what
our number is; they have an order to pick up every
unregistered car. This jeep is one that isn’t registered.
After bouncing along for forty-five minutes we
debark at my little beach. There Fr. Flaherty espies
a beautiful seashell which he gives to me. Off in the
155
water of “Steel Bottom Bay” our ship is swinging
around her anchor leisurely while the unloading
operations carry on. I say goodbye again to the boys
and board a boat for the ship. Right here just ten
days ago on our last trip four ships went to the bottom, one of them a destroyer which lost forty men,
a victim of a Jap dive bomber. One of the coxswains
of the boats picks up a skull that floats ashore, a
grim souvenir. Bloody waters, these.
Aboard once more, when the Captain calls to find out
the story of the refugees. No sign of them as he scans
the horizon with his glasses. The trip from Kukum
[Airfield] to here should take about an hour and a half.
About five-thirty, after we are underway in their
direction about 15 minutes, we take them aboard.
They are huddled in a tank lighter as they come
alongside. I introduce the Sisters as they come
aboard. The little Chinese kids are howling with full
lung power as they are carried up the ladder by our
strong sailors. They want their mamas. Set down
on the quarterdeck, they instantly quiet down when
mother climbs the starboard gangway and slings
them in the saddle, multi-colored, black, green and
red on her back. One little tacker about two years old
is screeching at the top of his lungs until his little
sister, all of four years old, swings him on her back.
Off we go, Sisters, Chinese, Fijians, myself leading
the procession to their staterooms where they marvel at their quarters. A bath, a cold drink and a
153 The Life article is: “Guadalcanal Diary,” by Richard Tregaskis. The Christmas service, described above in a note to March 10, 1943, is pictured.
154 Born in France, Jean-Marie Aubin (1882–1967), of the Society of Mary, came to the Solomons in 1909. He was bishop of a portion of the
Solomon Islands from 1835 to 1858.
155 See entry for March 3, 1942. Also referred to as Iron Bottom Bay or Iron Bottom Sound, the stretch of water south of Guadalcanal and
the Savo and Florida islands is formally known as Savo Bay, and scores of ships, American and Japanese, were sunk there, including the
light cruiser USS Juneau, whose casualty list famously included the five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa.
112 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�hot meal make them forget their ordeal. Before long
they are sound asleep in bed.
Tuesday, April 20, 1943
0500 – General Quarters.
first time the youngsters have had it. They are pleasantly surprised at the coldness of it. After a mouthful
they rush their hands to the mouth and look around
with expressions of shocked yet pleasant surprise.
They obviously fall in love with the vanilla flavor and
chocolate syrup. And so to bed.
0600 – Mass. Three Sisters receive Holy Communion
first. Quite a cosmopolitan congregation I have.
Sisters names are Mother Ignatius, Sister Mary
Adelberta and Sister Mary Martian. They tell me that
since December 28, 1942, they have been playing
the unpleasant role of refugee. Then they took to the
jungle on Bougainville when the Japs were chasing them. From that date until April 1, 1943, they
climbed mountains, slid down trails, forded rivers,
slept in the jungle, hid in the bush, always running
from Mr. Jap when warned by the natives. Finally
they made contact with some Australian lookouts,
our spies who notified Guadalcanal by radio. Then a
submarine, the Nautilus, came up to take them off.
On the afternoon of the scheduled evening of their
departure, two Jap boats landed, in plain view of the
Sisters in hiding in the hills. Then after a while the
troops shoved off with pigs and hens in their possession. Nightfall, from every side canoes came into
the cove. The party of 37 shoved off in them, onto
the deck of the submarine and then two days and
two nights below in the cramped sub quarters until
a sub chaser took them off a couple of miles from
Guadalcanal and debarked them there.
One of the Sisters was barely able to make the
gangway. She limped badly. She tells me that she
has a sprain from sliding down a mud bank into a
river. For the youngest it is her second trip “aboard
a steamer” in 25 years! The first was the one that
brought her out here!!
Dr. Oliver and I are in charge of the big family, myself
eating with them at all meals. They spend the afternoon enjoying the sunshine and the breeze. Fortunately these are the days of summer glory, just what
these poor victims of the war of men need to build up
their strength again. At supper we have ice cream, the
113 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
Lt. Oliver, one of our ship’s doctors, had an intelligence
session with our guests. This was his report to the Captain to be submitted to Naval Intelligence Headquarters
on our arrival in Noumea, New Caledonia.
Refugees from Bougainville
As we approached Guadalcanal on April 18, 1943
we were notified that 38 Chinese and Fijian women
and children were to be sent aboard for evacuation
from the island. After we arrived the next morning
word was sent out from shore that there were three
Catholic Sisters, three Fijian women with eight children, and five Chinese women with their 18 children who would be sent out to the ship at 1300.
We awaited their arrival until late in the afternoon
when we had to get underway without them. But
had gone only a short distance when their boat
arrived so we stopped and they all came aboard
up the gangway. In spite of their long trip with
its hardships they were all in good health. The
children were all sleepy as there had been an air
raid the night before which kept everyone awake.
The refugees had all arrived at Guadalcanal on
April 2, 1943 after escaping from Bougainville in
an American submarine. They had been gathered
from all parts of the island to meet the submarine
at Tjop on the NE aspect of Bougainville. Two of
the Fijian women were the wives of Methodist missionaries and originally had been on Buka Island
where their husbands had been at the mission for
23 years. In January, 1942 the first Japanese visited
Buka but only stayed two days. A few days later
they returned to gather more information and
killed an Australian living there when he could not
or would not tell them what they wanted to know.
He was tied, both eyes poked out, his throat cut
and a bayonet run through his skull and then the
�Japanese left again. The missionaries then sent
their families to Bougainville to hide in the bush.
About this time four Australians landed at Buka
with radio equipment to report on the movement of Japanese shipping, and they stayed at the
Methodist Mission. In March 1942 the Japanese
returned to Buka in force, landing troops from
seven cruisers and one destroyer. The Australians
had started building an airfield which the Japanese
completed. Mr. Sodutu had hoped to remain on
the island and continue his missionary work, but
felt he had to help the Australian observers escape
from the island. He took them to Bougainville
and then stayed there to work with the Australian
intelligence officer as the Japanese had found out
about his aiding their enemies. They would send
native boys to work for the Japanese who would
gather information about their number and plans.
Mrs. Sodutu told of one native boy whom they discovered carrying food to the women and children.
The Japs decided to burn him and gathered wood
and benzene. Then took the native boy a short distance from the pile of wood and turned him loose
telling him to run in the direction of the wood.
Soldiers were standing around with rifles ready to
shoot him as he ran. But he was near a twenty foot
cliff and he jumped over this. Then he outwitted
the Japanese by climbing back up the cliff and hiding in a hole covered by vines and creepers. That
night he was able to reach the water and swim
to freedom on another island about a mile away.
As the Japanese brought more soldiers to the
island they used less native labor and information
became harder to get. In December of 1942 there
were over 9500 Japanese soldiers in the Buin area
and since that time little has been found out about
their activity.
American plane from Port Moresby would drop
them food. These planes also brought arms and
ammunition to the 26 Australian soldiers still on
the island. Early in March of this year the women
were notified that an American submarine would
be at Tjop on which they could leave Bougainville
on March 28th. They traveled over fifty miles
crossing a 14,000 foot mountain in the next two
weeks to reach the rendezvous area. Upon arrival
they were dismayed to find a Japanese schooner in
the harbor. However the schooner left on the 29th
and the American submarine surfaced; it had arrived on the 28th to find the Japanese present, so
had stayed submerged in the harbor. As the harbor was deep the submarine was able to get within
20 yards of the beach and the passengers were
taken out to it in canoes under cover of darkness.
There were twelve Australian men also leaving the
island on the submarine.
Living in the bush since March 1942 the Fijians
have been moving from place to place as they
would hear of Japanese approaching. They hid
most of the time along the NW coast of the island
as here the surf is rough which made it difficult
for the Japanese to land searching parties in small
boats. They obtained food from the natives and
ate the wild fruits and roots. Occasionally an
The three Catholic Sisters have been on the island
about twenty-five years. They are French Nuns of
the Marist Order. Sister Mary Adelberta and Sister
Mary Martian were last stationed at Sivii. They left
there on December 28, 1942 when they heard that
the Japanese were approaching. Since that date
they have been fleeing to escape capture, living
in the bush and native huts when possible. They
114 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
The Chinese women and children came from the
SE aspect of Bougainville and it is here that most
of the Japanese forces have landed. The Japanese
had visited the Chinese settlement several times
and forced them to trade them pigs and chickens for dry Japanese food. The women were not
molested by these first Japanese and had stayed
in their homes. Later a different group of Japanese soldiers came and they caught the women
and raped them. Mrs. Heeyou was assaulted by
a group of over fifty soldiers and several abused
Mrs. Pitts. Why they were not killed is not known,
unless the Japanese hoped to return. Following
this incident the Chinese women and children
took to the bush and stayed there until they were
notified to come to the rendezvous to be taken
from Bougainville.
�wandered from one district to another until the
latter part of March. At that time they met a party
of four Australian soldiers who arranged for them
to leave the island on the American submarine due
March 28th. They were dismayed to see the Japanese at the rendezvous area, but these left after
gathering some chickens and pigs and the Sisters
were able to reach the submarine. Sister Mary
Ignatius was last stationed at Turi Boiru in the
Buin District. She left there on October 14, 1942.
The Japanese had entered the convent earlier and
carried off seven other nuns, leaving Sister Mary
because of her advanced age. When the Japanese
left the area the natives assisted her to the point
of evacuation.
The party spent two days and two and a half nights
on the submarine, which they say has sunk five
Jap ships. When a few miles from Guadalcanal
they were transferred to a sub chaser which took
them ashore. They have been at an Army Field
Hospital since that time.
The rest of the family is doing nicely except for one
Chinese mother whose four out of six children as
well as herself are seasick. They carefully avoid
the Wardroom.
Rest of the youngsters are bouncing around on the
Boat Deck Forward, having the time of their lives.
A box of hard candy to each mother makes their
happiness complete. As they enjoy their floating
playground, they see off the port side two destroyers
zigzagging back and forth to waylay any subs that
may be lurking for us. We had two alarms yesterday,
necessitating emergency turns. God grant that if
we are to ship a torpedo, it happens on some other
trip rather than this one. On the starboard side, they
can see a big aircraft carrier sending its birds aloft
to make sure the skies overhead are safe from the
hawks that would wreck us.
Thursday, April 22, 1943 Holy Thursday
0515 – General Quarters.
0600 – Mass.
The Sisters are deeply grateful for the hospitality
given them since boarding the George Clymer.
For the first time in months they feel free from fear
of the Japs. As one of them said, “We are in the hands
of friends again.” They wished their gratitude to be
conveyed to the Captain, the Executive Officer (“the
Officer we met when we first came up the stairs.”)
and to Dr. Oliver.
Out of their poverty they bring the riches of their
prayers that “God will bless your ship and take care
of her men always.”
Wednesday, April 21, 1943
0510 – General Quarters.
0600 – Mass.
At Mass a cosmopolitan group; three French Missionary Sisters receive Holy Communion. With
them a Chinese mother and her youngster, a half
caste and her son, nine years old.
At the end of Mass I say a few words: “This morning,
men, we had a great privilege in being able to have Holy
Mass. Not every priest can say Mass on this anniversary
of the institution of the Holy Eucharist, but through a
special concession granted to Chaplains in the Armed
156
Forces, each priest is allowed to say Mass today.
“For another reason also, this Mass is an extraordinary one. Among our congregation are three
Missionary Sisters of Mary and other passengers.
Perhaps you may have heard of their harrowing
156 Foley is referencing an “exception” granted during the war, permitting individual priests to celebrate Mass on Holy Thursday, when
under normal circumstances only the Mass of the Lord’s Supper would be celebrated. Other exceptions included eating meat on Fridays,
celebrating Mass late in the day or in the evening, and the granting of “general absolution,” or absolution of sins without first hearing
confession. See entry for May 8, 1943.
115 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�experiences of the last few months. They have been
walking in the footsteps of Our Lord, yes, literally
stumbling as He stumbled on the road to Calvary.
Their road has been a bloody one. You would never
guess it from speaking with them, but the truth
shines through their humility. Our ship is blessed
in having them aboard. It is an honor to serve them
and a privilege to carry them as passengers. They
won’t be with us much longer but they go their way
attended by our prayers. We hope they will never be
the innocent victims of a war as men wage it. And
we ask God to bless and keep them always.”
Ten minutes after we finish, a sailor, Grymen, Bo’s’n’s
Mate, approached me with a bomb helmet full of bills
and change. “Some things for the poor kids. Looks
like they hit on hard times. Here’s something to buy
them shoes and clothes. That flour sack Aloysius is
wearing is funny but it is tough, too. Boys thought you
could give this to the Sisters who would know how to
take care of it for the kids.” Total: $286.00.
One little tyke was up long before the rest this
morning. He has made a hit with everybody. He is
about three years old and has an infectious smile
that breaks every time you look at him. His name
is Aloysius Chinyung. At table he stands up on his
chair the better to wrestle with the chicken on the
bone. He makes most efficient headway with intermissions, occasionally while he dries his hands on
his shorts, made from a flour sack, all he is wearing,
by the way. On the front of them are the surviving
letters, on back the brand “Perry.” He is a picture for
Life as he puts away his chicken.
My family present again. Six of them are seasick.
They spend all the time in their staterooms lying
down trying to forget their misery. The others are
topside, enjoying sunshine and slowly regaining
their shattered health. We drop anchor at 9:00 a.m.
but passengers will not go ashore until tomorrow.
Rosary and Benediction at 3:30 p.m. on the Boat
Deck Forward. First time musical voices of women
have been heard aboard our ship. They join our
men in singing of “O Salutaris” and “Tantum Ergo,”
known wherever the Church is by all her children.
(T27 V G01) Z OAF3 232231 T27 GR 89 BT
COMSERON SOPACFOR
USS GEORGE CLYMER
REFERENCE MYDIS 230521 X REQUEST YOU DISEMBARK
38 EVACUEES VIA SHIP’S BOAT WITH COMMISSIONED
OFFICER IN CHARGE AT SUCH TIME AS WILL PERMIT
BOAT WITH EVACUEES TO ARRIVE AT NAVY LANDING AT
1300 TODAY X REQUEST BOAT BE INSTRUCTED TO TAKE
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE AND HIS FINGER PRINTING EQUIPMENT ABOARD AT NAVY LANDING AND
THEN PROCEED TO NOUVILLE ON ILE NOU AND LAND
COMMISSIONER AND EVACUEES X REQUEST YOU SEND
WITH GROUP A LIST OF NAMES OF EVACUEES AND ANY
OTHER AVAILABLE INFORMATION FOR DELIVERY TO
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE REF: (230521) UNFORSEEN
DIFFICULTIES HAVE DELAYED THIS EMBARKATION OF
38 EVACUEES DUE TO THE LACK OF PREPARATION OF
THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES X EXPECTED THAT THIS
EMBARKATION WILL TAKE PLACE APRIL 24
This evening about 7:30 I get some ice cream for the
Sisters. Running around the passageway and making friends with every sailor he meets is Aloysius
Chinyung. I get him a box of ice cream also, dip the
wooden spoon into it for him, feed it to him. He no
sooner has it in his mouth than he takes it out in his
hand and puts it back in the paper cup. The coldness of the ice cream was too much for him. About
20 sailors standing around joined in the laughter
of Aloysius. We try again with a small soft dose
this time. He tastes it gingerly, experiments, rolls it
around his tongue for a moment, then he is converted, provided the spoonful isn’t too big.
116 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
Friday, April 23, 1943, Good Friday
0600 – Mass of the Presanctified and Adoration of
the Cross.
Saturday, April 24, 1943, Holy Saturday
0600 – Mass.
0900 – The Captain shows me the order that he has
received from shore:
�At 10 o’clock the Commissioner of Police of
Noumea comes aboard. He and I discuss the status
of the refugees. A man about 40 years old, quite
conscious of his own importance, he briskly instructs me that Sister Martian and Sister Ignatius
will be allowed to go to the local convent but Sister
Adelberta will be confined in the local prison. The
reason? She is an enemy alien since she is from
Alsace-Lorraine originally. Quietly, I explain to him,
that no matter what the law reads, she is no more an
enemy alien than he or I are. He takes an adamant
stand. Finally, when all efforts at gentle persuasion
fail, I tell him that if one of the Sisters goes to the
jail, the three of them go. He steps aside to talk
with his aide and agrees that the three may go to
the convent on one condition, that I will guarantee
their good behavior. I agree; sharply adding with a
gesture to our thirty odd ships anchored around us
in the harbor, “And the U. S. Navy stands behind
the guarantee.” My opinion of this local functionnaire was not improved when a priest chaplain based
ashore, told of the incident later, informed me that
the same Chief of Police had a substantial interest,
not professional but financial, in the biggest house
of prostitution in Noumea, catering exclusively to
American service personnel.
At 1230 I start out for the shore with my family, all
38 of them, in boat LCP [Landing Craft Personnel].
Although it is a calm sea, before we proceeded very
far, about 12 of them suffered with seasickness. We
follow the instructions. At the Isle of Nou, where
Pontoon Assembly Division we carried from Norfolk
to Noumea is stationed, the mother and their children
are placed in a house adjoining a hospital. Pictures of
all of us are taken by Frank Wells [a Seabee photographer], who promises to let me have some the next
time we are over. At 3:30 the Sisters and I start back
for Noumea about a half hour’s run where they are
placed in the clinic run by their own Sisters, Missionary Sisters of Mary. At last their long journey is over
and they are with their own again. Touching reunion
as they are welcomed back to their own.
157 See entry for Tuesday, January 19, 1943
117 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
Sunday, April 25, 1943, Easter Sunday
0600 – Mass.
0800 – Mass aboard the battlewagon, the USS Indiana, with confessions beforehand. At Mass about
500 in attendance with about 178 Communions.
Location, directly under the after turret, the middle
16” gun. Can’t raise host to normal height for long
rifle is directly overhead, stretching out over the
heads of the parishioners in the first rows. Ample
space. Inspiring sight as the men file up, row upon
row, for Holy Communion.
These 16” guns fire a shell that weighs 2700 lbs.,
over a ton! Back to Clymer for General Service.
Great consolation as I write home to realize that unless I were a Naval Chaplain there would be no Mass
or other service for the men today. Easter would be
drab indeed. Afternoon meet Frs. Daly and Malloy,
who dedicated their new Chapel this morning.
Monday, April 26, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Mail begins to come in, and calls increase on the
Chaplain. Bad news comes with good. One boy
learns the sad news that his mother attempted to
commit suicide. Another is notified that his wife is
suing him for divorce; a third that his wife has run
away and abandoned their three youngsters.
157
Visit Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny again. No fresh
vegetables this trip, so bring ashore a side of beef
and a bag of sugar.
Tuesday, April 27, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Visit the Nickel Works this morning while waiting for
the boat to come in from the ship which is anchored
about three miles out in the stream. Slave labor pushing hand cars loaded with smelted ore, shooting it
down through a funnel at white hot heat. Javanese
barefooted on all those cinders and coal, walking
�along the narrow gauge tracks. One comes along, sits
down beside a friend; evidently he is on the next shift.
French foreman appears, barks at him in French, clips
him across the side of the head. Javanese meekly picks
hat up off the ground, again a clip, a stoop; then the
foreman goes his way. Indentured labor, i.e. out from
Java for 5 years on contract, then back home with the
pittance saved up.
Movie tonight; Gallant Lady.
158
Wednesday, April 28, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Frank Wells, photographer of Pontoon Assembly
Division, takes some pictures of me. Those taken
last Saturday of my family, Sisters and mothers and
children, came out excellently. Oh, to be able to send
them home. Some day, yes, please God in the future.
Thursday, April 29, 1943
Good pictures of me; send to my mother by airmail.
Hope they get through; think she will like them. Ed’s
pictures also developed, those he took at Guadalcanal.
Movies each night while we are in port. “Major and
the Minor,” “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “The Fleet’s
In,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”
Sign at Marine Triangle in center of Noumea where
beer and ice cream are dispensed to enlisted men:
Truk
1849 miles
Auckland 998
San Francisco 5563
Tokyo 3837
New York 9936
Beer 39 feet
We swing around the buoy in busy Noumea Harbor
until May 3, when we are underway for what we
think is Guadalcanal again.
Wednesday, May 5, 1943
0500 – Mass.
0600 – Mass; Fr. Tennyson, Chaplain of 4th Spec.
CB’s stevedores.
0700 – Mass; Fr. Carroll, Chaplain of 390 Bomber
Squadron.
Underway again at 1000 with two Liberty ships. Day
is crisp one, like a clear October day back home. Blue
sky overhead; line of horizon seems twice its usual
distance away. Islands and hills on our port all clear
cut in outline.
If we are headed north again to Guadalcanal, this
climate will change rapidly. The hot, steaming
jungles of Guadalcanal will shoot the temperatures
way up again.
Ed will be surprised to see me so shortly, for I
thought that our last meeting would be the last
for quite some time. We were due for a Navy Yard
overhaul. When and where we don’t know.
Confess to a feeling of uneasiness this trip. We
are practically dragging anchor. Two Liberty ships,
(“Submarine Bait,” the boys call them), are with us,
159
reducing our speed to 11 knots an hour. Our
normal cruising speed is 17 knots when we are
alone. Ahead of us are three APD’s, attack personnel destroyers, little craft of old World War I vintage;
don’t look particularly formidable out there ahead
of us. Rumor had that we are headed for Efate, the
southernmost island of the New Hebrides.
I write to Mrs. Hastings, 720 Columbus Avenue,
New York City:
Dear Mrs. Hastings:
Yesterday I received a copy of the New York
Times, Sunday, March 28th issue, in which a
list was published of the New York boys who
158 1933, British import. IMDB plot description: “Unwed mother gives up baby for adoption and hopes to get it back when adoptive mother dies.”
159 Some 2700 Liberty ships were built as merchant marine cargo vessels for the war. Constructed quickly and cheaply, they were underpowered
and under-gunned, and highly vulnerable to enemy attack.
118 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�died at Fort Mehida, Port Lyautey, French
Morocco. On that list was the name of your
son, Michael. Please accept my sincere condolences on the occasion of your sad bereavement. If military reasons had not prevented
me, I would have written to you sooner to extend my sympathy.
It so happened that as a Naval Chaplain I was
in a position to know the circumstances of Michael’s death. Thinking that knowledge of them
may help to lighten the burden of your sorrow, I
am writing to acquaint you with them.
On the morning of November 11, 1942, it was
my priestly privilege to bless, and later to bury,
the bodies of the first boys who died in the battle that raged for three days and three nights.
I came upon Michael lying at the base of one
of the coastal guns that had been shelling our
ship heavily. He died taking it by storm. He
gave his life that we might live. Because of his
bravery, our ship and her men were not at the
bottom two miles off shore.
About one o’clock in the afternoon of the same
day, Michael was buried a short distance from
the spot where he fell. It was a beautiful day,
clear blue sky overhead and warm with sunshine. As I started the burial service, fifty of
our soldiers flanked me on the left and fifty
native Moroccans, prisoners of war, on the
right, all of us facing Michael and his brave
comrades. When the order was given, the
entire group snapped to attention. I read the
prayers for the dead, taps were sounded and
the last blessing given.
Michael is buried on the crest of the high
hill next to Fort Mehida that looks out over
the broad reaches of the Atlantic toward
country, home, and those near and dear to
him for whom he gave the last measure of
devotion. God, I am sure, has been mindful
of his sacrifice.
May these details of the death and burial of
your boy help to console you in your loss. You
have my heartfelt sympathy and assurances
that Michael will have a constant remembrance
in my daily Mass.
Sincerely yours,
John P. Foley, S.J.
Chaplain, USNR”
Thursday, May 6, 1943
Routine at sea. Catching up on my mail; have a lot
of it to answer before we hit port again.
Started day as usual with General Quarters followed
by three Masses. Three o’clock Rosary and Benediction on the Upper Deck Aft; excellent attendance.
Offer them up for two intentions, folks back home
and God’s continued protection over us in these
submarine-infested waters.
Confessions in the evening for First Friday tomorrow.
My mother and sister write that my letter to Bishop
[Richard] Cushing appeared in The Pilot. Glad he
160
was pleased with it.
Friday, May 7, 1943
0445 – Mass, Fr. Foley
0600 – Mass, Fr. Tennyson
0700 – Mass, Fr. Carroll
Learn that our destination is the southernmost
island of the New Hebrides group, Efate. On all our
other trips we have steamed by this island wonder-
160 The editors were unable to find a letter in the Boston Pilot, which was published by the Archdiocese, signed with Foley’s name. Foley was likely
referencing an unsigned article that appeared in the Pilot early in 1943, calling for financial contributions to missionaries in the South Pacific.
119 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�ing if there were any inhabitants aboard her. Now
we shall see at close range.
Rosary and Benediction at three o’clock this afternoon, as we are passing through a narrow channel
preparatory to anchoring. Fr. Tennyson has an organ
that makes melodious music as we sing the hymns,
the “O Salutaris” and the “Tantum Ergo”.
When we finish we take a look at the country. On our
starboard is a lovely island, which is Efate. Its hills are
not very high and on the sides of them are fields that
look like good grazing spots for cows and goats. The
weather overhead is cloudy with mist rising from the
heads of the hills. With a pair of glasses we can make
out on the shore a number of Army tents beside two
native huts of bamboo. Off to the port side are three
small islands with very high mountains on them; in
fact, the islands are the mountains. As usual, there
seems to be no life on them, but Protestant Chaplain
Bartholomew, whom we just took aboard, tells us that
the natives are numerous there. When he arrived a
year ago, he was the only chaplain in these parts with
8,000 men to take care of. He found the French Missionary Fathers a Godsend for the Catholic men while
he took care of his own flock.
Here in Undine Bay we are alone, for the two Liberty
ships left us at noon today. Everybody happy to see
them go, at their speed of 11 knots, to which we had
to reduce ours. After leaving them we proceeded
immediately to shoot up to our speed of 17 knots;
one destroyer, our escort.
Saturday, May 8, 1943
0805 – Chaplain Bartholomew and Fr. Tennyson in
my room. I leave after a few minutes to carry out a
request of one of them. Go down to the Quarter
deck, starboard side aft to see Captain Shull. On way
back go up ladder to Upper Deck Aft. Suddenly a rush
of passengers and sailors to the port side. Overhead a
P-40 Army fighter is flying over us. Half a mile astern
is a blazing fire on the water. Another P-40 with
the one that just flew over us was dipping over the
destroyer. An Army Flying Major who was watching
informs us it came down too close to the surface, wing
touched, then plane end over tea kettle, now down at
the bottom. Happened just a minute ago. No sign of
plane or pilot. Smoke billows up from the deep; gas
tank evidently broken feeding the fire on the surface
like a lamp. I give the dying or dead boy absolution.
“Ego te absolve ab omnibus censuris et peccatis in
161
nomine Patris et Filii at Spiritus Sancti. Amen.”
Some time in the future, near or remote, a cold
telegram will be delivered at a front door that will
plunge a family into grief. The first intimation before
the telegram arrives will be the stopping of letters
from him. Fears will begin to arise, suspecting the
worst and then the proof. May the Lord give that
boy’s good mother the strength to bear her cross
and give eternal rest to his soul. Amen.
One of the Army flying officers just told me that the
plane that crashed was doing what they call “buzzing” the destroyer, i.e. saying hello to her and stunting for her edification.
Sunday, May 9, 1943 – Mother’s Day
0500 – Mass
0500 – Mass
0600 – Mass, Fr. Fessenden
0600 – Mass, Fr. Tennyson. I remind the men that
0900 – Mass, Fr. Carroll
tomorrow is Mother’s Day. Best possible gift is to
offer up Mass and Communion for her.
0700 – Mass, Fr. Carroll
Large number of men receive Holy Communion
in honor of their mothers. Day is windy and rainy.
Benediction in the afternoon. After it is over, one
of the men, Chief Donovan from Dorchester,
161 I absolve thee from all censures and sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Foley would have made
the sign of the cross as he offered this general absolution.
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�remarks, “Didn’t it remind you, Father, of the
Immaculate Conception Church, crowded with
men, to hear the boys singing.?” Two hundred
and fifty of them sang out the magnificent hymns
162
of the “O Salutaris” and “Tantum Ergo.”
Monday, May 10, 1843
Monday starts as usual with three Masses after
General Quarters.
It is the stormiest day we have had on the Pacific
since we came through the Panama Canal on December 26, 1942. Driving rain, swollen clouds, sullen sea,
mountainous waves, wild wind. Ship is rolling and
pitching, making many of our passengers seasick.
About 9 o’clock, five ships pierce through the fog
astern of us, three destroyers and two like ourselves,
Titania and Crescent City. We slow down to enable
them to catch up with us.
One destroyer, the USS Stack, cuts close across our
stern. A veteran of Midway and Coral Sea, in which
163
battles she distinguished herself. Her bow goes
under repeatedly as she steams along to take up her
appointed station in the convoy. Deep under dips
her nose and then she rears high out of the water
while tons of foaming water cascade over her sides.
Nobody topside on her. Everything, as on our ship,
securely lashed to the decks.
During a lull in the storm Fr. Carroll and I go up just
aft of the starboard wing of the bridge. Our signalmen are blinking the destroyer 1000 yards off our
starboard side. Conversation is one-sided; only an occasional affirmative from the destroyer. A rain squall
suddenly blots her out completely. Our topside decks
are covered with water that flows off as soon as it hits.
Signalmen are dressed in foul weather clothing, short
raincoats, rain trousers and hats. They are padding
around in their bare feet. Fortunately this is not the
Atlantic where besides being stormy, it is also cold.
Our weather is summer temperature as it always is
when we approach Guadalcanal.
In the afternoon get ready for Ed; peanuts, candy, cigars,
matches, airmail stamps and stationery and hosts for
Fr. Flaherty. Also have the pictures that Ed took some
months ago. He will be pleased to see them.
Day continues to be blustery throughout with no
letup until darkness when the wind dies down,
the sea subsides, skies clear up with a few stars
and ship only occasionally rolls and pitches.
Tuesday, May 11, 1943
Three Masses as usual these mornings start the day
after General Quarters. All hands are wearing helmets as we are in the zone where we were attacked
on our trip one month ago. Day dawns bright and
clear, a welcome change after the pounding of the
sea and the rain and wind of yesterday.
164
About 7 o’clock we sight Malaita on our starboard
side. We have never been as late as this before. All
morning we are approaching Guadalcanal.
One p.m. we drop anchor. I go over the side at Koli
Point which is about 12 miles south of Henderson
Field. Will I have the difficulty of transportation
as last time we landed at this Point? Then it took
me five hours to cover the distance. Ashore I learn
that there has been a tropical rainstorm of two days
which has wiped out the three bridges between here
and Henderson. Nothing to do but to go back to
162 “The Immaculate,” as locals called it, was a Jesuit church in Boston’s South End neighborhood, and the home church for Boston College
from its founding in 1863 until the college moved to a larger campus in 1913. The church closed in 2007.
163 The Stack was part of a Task Group that on August 6-7 1943, in what became known as the Battle of Vella Gulf, sank three Japanese battleships and damaged a fourth without incurring a casualty. The ships were carrying Japanese soldiers to reinforce positions in the Solomon
Islands. Stack would survive the war, ultimately earning 12 Battle Stars. It also survived two atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946 and
was then decommissioned and sunk.
164 A volcanic island northeast of Guadalcanal.
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�the ship after scouting around. A CB informs me
that Carney Field is just two miles inland, built by
the 36th Construction Battalion. [Capt. J.V.] Carney
[USN], their Commander, an old flyer, wanted to be
the first man to take a plane up off her and to put
her down on the field. Took off nicely but crashed
in the waters where we are anchored on this return
trip. Overnight, we cruise around as usual to avoid
being a sitting duck for submarines.
Wednesday, May 12, 1943
In the morning we anchor at Kukum Beach. Fortunately Ed is only a few minutes away from there. At
8:30 ashore with two big boxes for Ed; apples and
oranges in one and peanuts, chocolate bars, cigars,
a big baked ham, air mail envelopes and stamps,
matches, developed pictures, etc. in the other.
Dr. Kirkpatrick with me.
Our boat heads into the beach where the Marines
landed last August. Little surf, golden sand, coconut
palms; birds singing overhead belie the days when
men died by the hundreds on this beach and corpses floated from the 64 Jap ships and the 32 American that lie at the bottom of these waters, called
165
“Steel Bottom Bay.”
quickly dispatched for the patients; the natives munch
on the apples and candy, etc. Ed is wrapped up in the
pictures that he took. Fr. Flaherty gives Dr. Kirkpatrick and myself pictures of his Cathedral decorated
for Easter Sunday. Ed lent a helping hand to the floral
decorations. Looks lovely among the coconut palms,
fronds of which are profusely displayed everywhere.
A couple of Marines pass by with their skin smeared
with a brown solution. One of them remarks to me
that he has a case of what the boys call “Guadalcanal
Rot,” a skin infection. While we wait, Dr. Kirkpatrick
inspects a dugout that controlled the crossing of the
Lunga at this particular point.
“Honk, honk.” Our jeep, with Moe driving it, catches
up with us and we are racing by Henderson Field. We
note the tremendous number of planes visible in the
distance. Directly on our left is a palm-concealed bombgarden, where hundreds of bombs, 100 pounders; one,
five hundred; and the big 1000 babies are lying around
until lifted up by crane onto a truck, then to the belly of
the planes that are off in the distance.
As we near the beach we brace ourselves for the sudden stop when the nose of the boat will ground. She
does, we jump and are ashore once more. Dr. Kirkpatrick speaks to another Doctor. Arrangements are
made to transfer the sick Army patients from our
ship to Ed’s hospital. We bum a ride to his outfit.
Dr. Kirkpatrick all agog over evidence of the sanguinary struggle on every side. Coconut trees scarred
by shot and shell, barbed wire entanglements, signs:
“Mined Area,” “Ammo Dump.” Tops of coconuts
shot away, standing headless among their more fortunate brothers. Black muddy roads until we hit the
main stem built by the CB’s.
About 10:30 we arrive at Naval Operating Base.
Owens goes looking for his brother. We meet Bishop
Aubin, missionary of these islands who has seen
hard times at the hands of the Japs. He is dressed
in U.S. Army outfit, khaki trousers and shirt, open
collar, wearing sun helmet and around his neck the
Bishop’s pectoral cross. He is a kindly faced man,
about 65, I should say, white haired, with gentle
eyes that mirror many experiences, a lot of which
might not be forgotten for a long time, if ever. He
speaks quietly, asking my name and ship. After a
few minutes, Fr. Dwyer and a New Zealand chaplain
come along also, and there are mutual introductions
all around. The Bishop gives me his episcopal
blessing as we part. I thank him. It is not often
that one has the opportunity to be blessed by a
saint in the flesh.
In a few minutes we are shaking hands with Fr. Ed
Flaherty and Ed and Moe Enderely. Ambulance is
On our way, Moe, our chauffeur, drives us right up
to Henderson Field. We see a hospital plane take off
165 While Foley was right about losses over the long course of the Guadalcanal battle, the Marine landing on Kukum Beach on August 7-8
1942 was virtually unopposed, Japanese forces having withdrawn inland in the face of aerial and Naval bombardment prior to the landing.
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�for a southern point loaded with sick. One of these
took off last November the same way; never heard of
again. May have been shot down by a Jap plane.
Four-motored bombers, pursuit planes, P 38’s and
P 39’s, the new Aircobras, are scattered all around
the field. Some are coming in, others are taking
off. Overhead, 21 Navy fighters and torpedo planes
wheel by in formation. They may be the ones that
climbed over our ship this morning. They took off
from the field one by one, headed into the sun,
made a turn after a mile, then grouped together
information; a beautiful sight.
Lunga is a mad stream this morning, carrying down on
its bosom all kinds of debris; trees, boards, coconuts,
fronds of coconut palms, all swirling by, madly. This
two day storm wiped out a 250 bed Army hospital.
We pass a bulldozer yanking out of the ground the
stumps of coconut trees. The roots don’t go very
deep; they are stringy, swab-like, very tough. Step
into the jungle; even the bright day is dim in it.
You can see to the end of nothing. No matter which
way you look, the dank matted growth, a green hell
envelops you. Occasionally a butterfly flies by. It is
gone and the jungle focuses attention on itself again.
Back at Fr. Flaherty’s tent, Ed tells me that he heard
we were in yesterday afternoon, went down to Lunga
Point looking for us, but we were not in sight. Hence
his greeting when I called out to the nearest soldier,
“Know Ed Foley?” “It’s about time,” he yells.
Fr. Flaherty tells us that he is packing for New
Caledonia where has been assigned. Hopes to get
back to the States by rotation.
Since it is nearing 12 o’clock when we must be back
to the ship per orders of the Captain. We say goodbye again and Moe drives Ed and the Dr. and myself
down to the beach. In a jiffy Ed takes a picture of the
ship, we are in the boat, underway and wave farewell
till the next time. Aloha!
Thursday, May 13, 1943
Underway at 0400. We are convoy guide with USS
Crescent City and Moracuron. Three destroyers
166
screening us.
6:00 – Aboard we have 200 Marines and the 147th
Regiment, 2nd Battalion, whom we carried in early
February. They are happy as the day is long to be
aboard again. The day is a beautiful one, light fluffy
clouds, blue sky behind them. Men are lighthearted
around the decks, their worries left behind them on
Guadalcanal [along with] buddies killed in action
and accidents.
1230 – Seated in the Wardroom when it came. Enemy
bomber overhead, a four-motored Mitsubishi long range
bomber. General Quarters; everybody to their battle stations. A loud whistle, then a roar as the bomb exploded
off our port side. I am in the sick bay on the same side.
Another explosion. Humphries, who has been a patient
in the sick bay recuperating from a hernia, comes in
from topside; the second bomb off the stern sprayed
him with water. He is itching to get to his gun but he
must obey the doctor’s orders. Although we cannot
see the turns, our ship is changing course violently,
trying to get out of the way of the bombs. She heels
over to port, to starboard, then back again, repeating
the movement. I slip topside. One of the gunners tells
me that the Jap bomber came directly over us from
bow to stern, then withdrew into the sun; suddenly she
comes in again on us. Our whistle is blowing emergency turns; destroyer is describing circles as she obeys
the blasts. Now she boils past us at 35 knots, her forward
guns blazing skyward. Another bomb drops; geysers
all around us and Mitsubishi roars away unscathed.
Half an hour later, one of our planes flies into sight,
hovers aloft over us, cruising round and round.
About 0210 General Quarters are over and we are
free again. Meanwhile I finish my Office for today.
God’s Providence and prayers back home protected
us once again.
166 The Crescent City was, like the Clymer, an attack transport. The editors can find no record of the Moracuron.
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�Our distance from Guadalcanal is approximately
300 miles, so Tojo came a long distance to drop
his calling cards. At least an 800 mile trip for him.
Radar caught him first 18 miles astern, then he
swung ahead of us and came in straight. Afternoon
passes quietly. At Rosary and Benediction I emphasize to the men that at all times like that this noon
we are keenly aware of how intimately we depend
on God. It strikes with overwhelming force. Yet the
fact of our dependence as close is true at all times,
not merely in moments of crisis. For two intentions
we say Our Lady’s Rosary and Benediction. 1. For the
folks back home. 2. For God’s protection. Rosary has
an added meaning this afternoon.
General Quarters as per schedule this evening but
no untoward event.
Beauty in the South Pacific
Sunrise – “Qui . . . splendore mane illuminas”
“You [Who]. . . with splendor the morning illuminates.”
Stevenson, who died on British Samoa at Apia,
describes Dawn as:
“That moment when the darkness trembles
into light,
When the stars of heaven are extinguished like the
street lamps of some human city.
When the whiteness brightens into silver,
The silver warms into gold,
The gold kindles into living flame, and
167
The face of the east is bared with elemental scarlet.”
The Ocean
“Where breathless beauty lies blue-eyed,
Upon the noon-day sea.”
Colors – Violent and intense
Sky is a blazing blue
Sands of shore are dazzling gold
Blue is the blue of the Pacific,
Beautiful almost to the point of pain.
Friday, May 14, 1943
0500 – General Quarters
0600 – Mass
Day is a clear one with a brisk, cool wind that will
help clear up a case of heat rash that I have. This
tropical warmth, loaded with humidity and temperature crowding 90 degrees does make us men from a
temperate clime really sweat. Just sit, doing nothing
and the sweat rolls off us.
Afternoon about 2:30 we anchor at Espiritu Santo
again to debark about 200 Marines. Approach as
beautiful as ever. Little islands skirt the channel we
are passing up. Serene blue sky for background,
luxuriant green growth right down to the water’s
edge, golden wave-washed sand, light blue water
close to shore at this quiet little spot and then the
deep Pacific blue. Off to our port side where the
wind is whipping into the shore of a small island,
combers fringe the shore with a necklace of white
in perpetual motion. Signalmen are blinking the
shore to find out our berthing space. We coast in
slowly over the grave of USS Coolidge and are soon
168
at anchor after what has been a short trip in time.
Two days from Guadalcanal but long in experience;
nobody will forget that bombing for a long time.
Saturday, May 15, 1943
Quiet morning; starts not with General Quarters but
with Mass. In port we are free of all drills. This “port” is
nothing but a channel between two islands. Presently
there are at least 50 ships anchored here; fighting ships,
dry floating dry docks, destroyer, cargo ships, combat
transports, sub chasers, mine sweepers, etc.
1000 – Underway for Samoa. This trip should be
fairly uneventful after the excitement of the last few
days. Saturday goes off without incident. Rosary and
Benediction in the afternoon.
167 From Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Black Arrow: Prince Otto (1902). The passage was written as prose.
168 See entry for January 30, 1943.
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�Sunday, May 16, 1943
0445 – General Quarters
0600 and 0900 – Mass
Strong headwind today, cuts our speed down to about
13 knots, trying to keep USS Moracuron, last of the
three ships, with us. She has trouble staying up with
us. Finally she is given the word that she is on her own
with a destroyer as escort. We open up to 17 knots an
hour; should be at Samoa in about three days. This trip
from Espiritu is about 1200 miles, that much nearer
home! Home. It will be a long time before we see it
again, at least a couple of years, although we don’t like
to think the date of our trip east is that far away.
Off in the distance we see a large island, about three
miles off our port side. Protecting her shores are
coral reefs that stretch for miles in front of her.
The surf is booming across them, judging from the
spray that is being tossed high in the air by the long
combers breaking over them. Here as all along our
course that is studded with islands, the waters
“Are at their priest-like task of ablution round the
169
earth’s shores.”
General Quarters at 1000. Unidentified plane on the
horizon astern of us 30 miles away. Apparently shadowing us. Climbs high out of contact, then contact is
reestablished after ten minutes. Thirty minutes later
she veers off to the east and then we are alone.
Day is clear with a bracing wind blowing. I read my
Office up on the flying bridge, letting the sun dry out
the heat rash that broke out the other day on my back.
Monday, May 17, 1943
We lost an hour yesterday as we headed east.
0600 – Memorial Mass for one of the 147th Infantry
who learned just before he came aboard that his
mother had died in April. Another clear, bracing day,
with mild temperature.
About 5:30 p.m. General Quarters. Submarine
contact at 1600 yards off our starboard side.
Destroyer races over. Sends message to our Captain
who is the Convoy Captain, “Think I’ll drop an
embarrassing particle.” Two depth charges send
geysers of water boiling into the sky, then cascading
down from their peak like a fountain. Angrily the
destroyer steams around the spot, hovering for the
kill if the submarine should be forced to surface.
General Quarters over about 7:30 p.m.
In Chief Engineer’s room when Mr. Mills, Lt. (j.g.)
comes in and tells us that about 8 o’clock unidentified craft ahead was scouted by destroyer. Communication over TBS radio telephone must always be
in clear but unintelligible language for the Japs. E.g.,
“Guess I’ll go to the outfield.” “She bats in the same
league with us.” “Guess I’ll go back to the infield.”
Translated: “Going ahead to inspect and challenge
this newcomer.” “She is one of our own.” “Returning to my position again.”
Mr. Mills remarks that Jap submarines are now
active in these waters. Night before last they sank a
cargo ship just outside of Suva, Fiji Islands. We are
passing north of them now.
Tuesday, May 18, 1943
0500 – General Quarters
0600 – Mass
Day is a bright clear one. Men are recovering their
pep and energy now that Guadalcanal is a good
1200 miles northwest of us. Eddie Rickenbacker
called it “A hell-hole of mud and corruption.” He
was right. The boys who haven’t picked up malaria
have a skin infection of some kind. Others have yellow jaundice, kidney trouble, rheumatism and what
not. One of them told me today that their first night
169 A mildly misremembered line from John Keats’s “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art.” The original reads “The moving waters
at their priest like task / Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores.”
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�ashore when we carried them last February was
170
spent in a marsh.
One of the soldiers aboard us claimed that he could
do something that he saw sailors doing. He had seen
them washing swobs [mops] by hitching their handles to a line and then swinging them over the side.
The threshing and thrashing they get from the ocean
while the ship is underway soon purges them of all
their deck grease, dirt, etc. The soldier got a bright
light. “Water, line, khaki pants.” It looked so easy; no
soap, no scrubbing. A minute later water, line, no
pants. They were filed away in Davey Jones’ locker.
That boy took a ribbing from the sailors and from
his buddies about the knots that he didn’t know how
to hitch. He presented himself to me girt in his loin
cloth. I managed to rustle up a pair of our dungarees
for him. The incident is one of the lighter ones that
help to relieve the grimmer episodes of our life. One
of the Catholic officers informs me that the Catholic
boy is a good fighter under any conditions, but when
a priest is by his side, he is superb. This officer was
an Army Captain whose outfit saw bloody fighting on
Guadalcanal.
5:30 p.m. – “Darken Ship.” “No smoking on the
weather decks.” “No white clothing to be worn
topside.” “Pipe down [stow below] all scrubbed bedding.” Such is the word that goes down every night
at sea. Then immediately after that we have General
Quarters at night.
ernmost island of the Western Samoan Group which
belongs to England. Long, low-lying mountains, lit up
in bright purple by the rising sun, sunrise made in
heaven. In the distance, Upolu, our destination. We
are about two hours away from it. Apia is the town on
our northern side where we will unload our cargo by
our own boats and debark our troops.
0800 – We are now much closer; make out deep purple
backdrop of forest clad mountains not touched by the
sun. In the foreground, the ever fresh tropical green of
the trees, the palm fringed shoreline. Directly ahead of
us is one high hill that is separated from the rest. It is
close down by the waterfront. Directly in front of this
hill is a twin-steepled church of white, obviously Catholic, with the long building beside it that may be a school.
Along the shoreline are white-fronted houses with red
and green tiled roofs, the whole a symphony of color. An
artist would be in heaven here.
As we get closer and closer, see a beautiful waterfall cascading down the mountains. Near this, Ens.
Littlejohn, who was on duty here for two years, tells
171
me that Robert Louis Stevenson is buried here.
At one o’clock I go ashore, blessing as usual the land
as I step on it. Wander down the street fronting the
shore, find all the stores closed, the siesta hour.
0600 – Mass. Splendid attendance as usual by 147th
Infantry. I commend them on their loyalty to their faith.
To the Church where I say a prayer for my parents
and everybody back home and Ed on Guadalcanal.
Church is big one, cruciform, with seats and kneelers
only along the sides. Two-thirds of the space in the
center is covered with mats for the natives to squat on.
Altar is a beautiful piece of marble work. Our Lady’s
“M” in blue hangs high over the middle of it and her
lovely blue color dominates the sanctuary walls.
At the end of Mass we notice that there is land off our
starboard side. We are steaming by Savaii, the west-
Onto the post office to buy some stamps for Lt. Cmdr.
Oleson who is collecting them for his little girl back
Crossed the International Dateline.
0445 – General Quarters
170 Edward Rickenbacker (1890–1973) was a WWI flying ace with 26 aerial victories, and a Medal of Honor recipient. On a government
mission in October 1943, Rickenbacker’s plane crashed into the sea in the central Pacific. He and other survivors spent three weeks
on life rafts before being rescued in the Solomon Islands.
171 An inveterate peripatetic, the much beloved Scots author spent the last three years of his life on the Samoan island of Opolu. He died
in 1894, at age 44, and is buried atop a mountain at a site that offers views of the sea.
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�home. Politely told that no stamps are sold to
American military personnel. Outside to say hello
to a couple of Marines who have been on duty for
10 months here. Tell them of my predicament. They
take me to a general store now open to meet Mr.
McKenzie, the proprietor. Informed of my wishes,
he sends out one of his Samoan girls, who comes
back with the stamps for me. Mr. McKenzie used to
sing in the choir of St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco before the earthquake. He is a kindly-faced,
white-haired man of about 75, owner of this store.
Wants to take me to meet the priests in the rectory
but I must hurry back to the ship.
On the way back, pass Marist school run by the
Brothers. Meet Brother Christopher who tells me,
in answer to a question, that he was out here before
I was born, 40 years. He is Swiss, his vigor of speech
belying his years. Tells me that first the Germans
ruled them, then the English, and now the Americans. We say goodbye and he marches away with a
spring in his step that would do credit to a twenty
year old boy.
No chance to see Robert Louis Stevenson’s grave. It is
six miles by automobile to the mountain on which he
built his home and where he is buried, then a walk of
six more on foot to reach his place. At 5 o’clock we are
underway.
Wednesday, May 19, 1943
0530 – General Quarters
0600 – Mass
We are underway alone with one destroyer as
escort. The other is left behind to convoy the Crescent City tomorrow morning to American Samoa.
Even though it is dark, we can make out a line of
mountains directly ahead of us. We seem to be passing through islands yet they aren’t, for they are not
broken. It is the mainland of each side.
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As dawn breaks, we find that we are in a sheltered
anchorage slowly cruising into Pago Pago. (Pronounced Pango Pango by the Samoans.) It is the
American Naval Station. High mountains range on
either side of us. We are apparently heading directly
for land, then make a turn to our starboard, slow
down to three or four knots, head in through the
mine net and find that we are to anchor in a narrow
“U”. On either side, high mountains, enchantingly
green, tower over us. They are covered with luxuriant
tropical foliage. The day is a bit overcast. Clouds and
cloudlets are sitting on the mountain tops that seem
ready to fall on us, they are so close. Suddenly there
is a burst of sunshine that makes the green come
vibrantly alive. Ten minutes later it is over, and then
the mountains start to steam. Same effect as dropping water on a hot stove.
Directly on our starboard is the first object we saw
from a distance while out to sea, the Catholic Church
painted white, a beautiful contrast against the luscious
green of the mountain directly behind it. As usual, the
immediate shoreline is fringed with coconut palms.
The mountains drop away so sheerly that it is surprising to find a road skirting the water’s edge. But jeeps
scooting around it prove such to be the case. Half an
hour goes by, another downpour.
1:30
p.m. – I go ashore with Glynn Jones, Congrega-
tional Chaplain, stationed here with the Marines, who
met me on the ship a few minutes ago. Glad to see
him for we were classmates together at the Chaplain’s
School in Norfolk. In jig time we are at Fr. Burns’s,
one of the Catholic Chaplains stationed here. A bottle
of beer with him, we toast the day of our return to the
States. We borrow his jeep for a run around town, visit
the Church where I say a prayer for all the family. We
bump into Fr. Frothingham, New Zealand missionary,
who is pastor of the Church. We exchange greetings
on the road. On the way we pass many native “falis,”
their term for their homes. They are circular, thatchedroofed affairs with open sides. Everything in them is
wide open to the gaze of the passerby, with mats that
fall down when privacy is desired.
�The natives are big and muscular, like the Fijians,
and like all South Seas Islanders, they are easy marks
for colors. The women are dressed in the colors
of the rainbow, not loud but beautifully blended
combinations. The outside dress reaches just below
the knees and the under dress, petticoat, to the ankles. Shoes are strangers to them. They are copperskinned with no Negro features at all. The men wear
skirts, with blouses. Some of them, however, are
American in their dress.
We buzz around the shore while the mountains
tower over us. Up we climb on the north side of the
little harbor to the fali of Chaplain Jones. The dense
tropical growth on both sides of the makeshift road
is loud with songs of native birds. A ten minute ride
and I am in the tent of the Marine Chaplain, right
where Fr. Frank Sullivan, S.J. of Boston College was
quartered until he was evacuated home for a bad
172
heart. Captains Woodworth and Aplington and all
the other officers I meet are loud in their praises of
Fr. Frank. Missed him sorely when he left.
We are sitting in a screened tent with a board floor
raised about three feet off the ground on the side of
the mountain. Suddenly another tropical downpour
and the water in a few minutes is cascading right
under us. All over in a few minutes. Outside, palm
trees shelter us and every inch of ground is covered
with a rich green growth.
There are vines and short plants that look like the
wild rhubarb back home, but have big rubbery
leaves. Vines twisting round and round and round
the trunks of trees. After a pleasant evening at the
Officers’ Mess, we start back to the ship in an open
jeep. As we begin the ride down the side of the
mountain, the rain is coming down in torrents. This
is the daddy of the rainstorms, six of them today.
It is pitch dark as we roar down. How Jones is able
to see, let alone drive, mystifies me. I can’t even
keep my eyes open in the driving rain and I have
difficulty getting my breath. Within three minutes,
raincoat, shirt, pants, shoes, everything on me is
dripping. “How do you like it?” asks Jones. “I’ll
never forget it; I’m drenched through from stem
to stern!” I shout through the rain. He shrieks that
they have been here for eight months practicing
jungle warfare in this weather. This place has 300
inches of rain a year. Back home the average rainfall is 30 inches a year.
We arrive at the dock where the Marines are loading the ship. Lakes of water all around us. How these
American boys can take it! They are struggling under
the heavy bags that they must carry aboard by hand.
On top of that they are soaked through and through.
Yet they slosh through the mud and rain and occasionally fall down under their burdens, but not a
growl out of them. They are a magnificent crowd.
Jones informs me that they have been on jungle
maneuvers for the last eight months. They are razoredge for combat. Three divisions of Marines out here,
about 50,000 of them. Means that our ship is to go
into battle again before long. Six weeks is the guess
of Jones. Mine is about three months or perhaps four.
Never have to worry about winter coming to this part
of the world to cancel operations. It is the land of
the always summer. My, how a good breath of cold,
sharp air would taste now.
173
Movie tonight for officers only. Random Harvest.
Thursday, May 20, 1943
No General Quarters this morning. Didn’t have
to put away the emergency abandon ship outfit
that I lay out every night; heavy underwear, jar of
Vaseline, pair of sun glasses, sweat shirt and white
hat. As an amateur, I think those articles would be
172 Sullivan went on to serve as head of a school for military chaplains at the College of William and Mary and then as a chaplain in London
until 1946.
173 A 1942 Oscar-nominated film from Loews about a WWI American soldier who loses his memory as a result of shellshock and goes on to
live a new life in France.
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�most useful if I have to hang on to a plank or squat
in a life raft. Survivors report that they cooked by
day and froze by night.
Ashore at 9 o’clock to return the movie and pick up
174
movie, Seven Day Leave, with Lucille Ball. Also
beg a 35mm slide projector from Col. Peard of the
Marines. Welcome addition to our ship.
Today, rain, steady downpour only, not intermittent showers of yesterday. I thumb a ride to the
other side of this U-shaped harbor where I visit the
Church, Catholic, as they always are in these far-off
places of the world.
It is a lovely place, the Church of blue, white and
gold inside. The walls are painted white with a band
of blue halfway up the walls. Gold is the trimming,
circles around the windows up in the clerestory that
keeps out the rain that is pouring from the clouds.
Directly behind the Church is the mountain called
by the Samoans “The Rainmaker.” Clouds, we can
see tumbling over it, are pierced by his high head
and then they spill their rain.
In the Church the statues of Our Lady, St. Joseph, the
Little Flower and the Sacred Heart make the visitor
from across the seas feel perfectly at home. I make the
Stations of the Cross for my father, head out into the
driving rain again, down the U, and stop at the school
run by the Marist Sisters. This is one for the boys and
girls who cannot speak English or who have a little
difficulty with it. I say a few words to them, ask for
prayers for my ship and her men. Sister informs me
that the English-speaking Samoan boys and girls are
in a school down the road a bit. I tramp down, walk in
and introduce myself to Sister Mary Florentine. She is
from Lynn, Massachusetts, and also Sister Mary Isa175
dore from Rigaud, Quebec, both SMSM. I promise
to write to their mothers, Mrs. James Joseph Powers,
170
South Common Street, Lynn and Mrs. Isadore
Chevrien, Rigaud, Quebec.
The boys and girls from six to fourteen are playing around the yard. They are called to attention
by a bell which is the signal for them to recite the
[Easter Hymn] “Regina Coeli laetare, alleluia, quia
quem meruisti portare, alleluia, resurrexit sicut dixit,
176
alleluia.”
In they file. Sister Mary Isadore introduces me to
120 dark-skinned handsome youngsters and I tell
them something about my ship, where we have been
and what has happened to us. I tell them about the
bombing last week and ask their prayers.
They sing in beautiful harmony the Samoan song,
“Tofa me feline,” “Goodbye my friend,” and then
Bishop [Richard] Cushing’s composition of “Mother
Dearest, Mother Fairest” for our soldiers, sailors and
Marines. Music is in the blood of these young boys and
girls as in that of all South Seas Islanders. Again I speak
to them, tell them how much I have enjoyed it and give
them my blessing. Before leaving, tell Sisters about
Sisters Adelberta, Ignatius and Martian whom we carried aboard from Guadalcanal to Noumea. They were
overjoyed to hear the good news of their arrival.
With “Goodbye, Father” ringing in my ears, I left
them. The setting of the school? Right on the beach
fringed with palm trees hanging over the water’s
edge. Lovely hydrangeas, roses growing in profusion, some of which decorated Our Lady’s shrine in
the little classroom that I just left behind. Directly
behind the little school, the mountain rising straight
up, covered with luxuriant tropical growth. Can see
flamboyant tropical birds flying from one treetop to
another. Crest of the mountain wrapped in clouds.
My ship just about four minutes out on the water
so that when I spoke of her I just pointed out of the
windowless window.
174 A light romantic comedy from RKO, 1942.
175 Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary
176 A Marian hymn dating to the 17th century. “O Queen of heaven rejoice! alleluia: For He whom thou didst merit to bear, alleluia, Hath
arisen as he said, alleluia.”
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�Another unforgettable experience hearing the lilting
melody of the Samoan song and the lovely verses of
Bishop Cushing’s. And one more yet unmentioned,
how Sister Mary Florentine’s blue Irish eyes trickled
a tear when she learned that I was [raised] so close to
her home. She told me that she was the last white
person allowed to enter Samoa from the outside,
that was three years ago. Sister Mary Isadore has
been here for 11 years. Both were here a year ago
in January, 1942, when the Jap submarine lobbed
shells over these hills from the other side of the
island, which is only three miles wide here, into this
landlocked harbor. Nobody was hurt, fortunately.
more are being serviced on the long runway, 6000
feet that ends right on the ocean edge.
Friday, May 21, 1943
I buy a circular tappa cloth made by a native woman,
from the bark of a tree. The design is laboriously
worked into the material by hand. Is a lovely reminder of Pango Pango. There I go spelling it as it
is pronounced, not as it should be, Pago Pago.
0600 – Mass
Day dawns the same as the previous two, with
intermittent showers in the morning. Off in the
distance on the port side can see a little car pulled
up to the steep side of the mountain on a cable.
Three Marines in it. They are on their way to their
gun emplacement which is completely disguised
with the green growth all around. This harbor was
once the pit of an active volcano. The high mountains all around us were the lava tossed up by the
volcano in its angry moods. Here and there where
gashes have been made in the sides for the road that
runs along the palm-fringed shore reveal hard rock
that was molten fire.
At 2:13 I thumb my way out to the airport ten miles
outside Pago Pago. We are driving right along the
shore. Many sharp turns in the road, with the mountains towering right over us. On very sharp turns
we can’t see what is on the other side until we get
around them. Road surface built by CB’s is of hard,
white coral dug out of the sea that is thundering
in a few feet away, is dried out by the sun, when it
shines, and then put to work affording a hard top
for our jeeps, trucks, ambulances, etc.
At the airport the normal signs of activity. Some
planes are warming up preparatory to going out on
patrol, others circling around in the sun-drenched
sky waiting to land from their work out to sea. Still
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Sunlight this afternoon for about half an hour. Sunset
is a striking one. Right hand side of the mountains behind which it is setting is a deep dark green; left hand
side of those on the other side of the shaped harbor is
slashed in vivid green patches by the bars of sunlight
slipping through the clouds. The Rainmaker, directly
on our left, has his head in the clouds as usual, tickling them until they spill their moisture. As soon as it
lands, up it rises again from the hot, steaming earth
and he has more clouds to play with.
Saturday, May 22, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Meet Protestant Chaplain Justice who wants me to
go aboard the Crescent City for Mass tomorrow for
his Catholics. Learn that we’ll be underway early so
those boys will have no Sunday Mass.
Sunday, May 23, 1943
Mass at 0600 and 0900.
Protestant Service conducted by my Chaplains’
School classmate, Glyn Jones, Baptist USMC, at
1000. Fine fellow, about 29, who would be a Catholic if he were not married and the proud father of a
little girl two months old, whom he has never seen.
Glad to have him aboard.
About 0800 we are underway to Auckland, so scuttlebutt has it. Good old New Zealand. We will be glad to
see that again after our months in the hot tropical seas
and islands. We want to see the frost on our breath
once more and snow on the mountain tops.
This morning we saw a sunrise for the first time since
we anchored on Wednesday. Setting is the reverse of
�the sunset on Friday. Now the mountains here on our
right are barred with slashes of sunlight. However,
old Rainmaker salutes us with a parting shower as we
leave. It rains just a short distance from him while the
rest of the harbor escapes the sudden downpour.
Last night we had a movie, Pardon My Sarong,
with Abbott and Costello. The tropical paradise
of the screen was just a faint approximation of
the reality. Like “Pago Pago,” with Dorothy Lamour,
the scenario writers are miles away from the truth,
177
both pictorial and human, in their script.
Our passengers are the 3rd Marines, men who are
all set for anything the Japs may throw at them
when they make their landing operation on ?????.
One guess is as good as the next.
No mail for five weeks now. The sailors miss it.
Morale is made up of the following factors: plenty
of mail regularly, good chow and good liberty, and
movies. And work!
Tuesday, May 25, 1943
0545 – General Quarters
One of the Marines points out the Rainmaker to me.
He says that Fr. Sullivan climbed up that on Sunday,
straight up the steep face of it, with no road whatsoever, to celebrate Mass for his Marines who were
stationed there on a maneuver. No wonder Fr. Frank
Sullivan of B.C. is home with an enlarged heart.
0630 – Mass These Marines are splendid Catholic
fellows, their average age being about 19. They are
attending Mass daily in large numbers and many of
them receive Holy Communion. They are present also
for Our Lady’s Rosary and Benediction in the afternoon at 3 o’clock on the Upper Deck Forward.
Rainmaker is a sharply tipped mountain peak, the
next to the highest one around the harbor that has
clouds on top of it when the others have none. The
rain always started with him. Sometimes, as the
other day when I was walking along the main street,
sheets of rain were backgrounded against Rainmaker, coming across the harbor, but before they
travelled one mile they had spent themselves, so
we didn’t need the raincoats after all.
Wednesday, May 26, 1943
Ship scene at nightfall after darken ship. Two
Marines singing in harmony “There’s a Star
178
Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere.”
Monday, May 24, 1943
General Quarters as usual, at 0545, Mass at 0630. Very
late means that we are headed for cool climate. We are
used to General Quarters at 0445, not this late, but still
it is pitch dark at 6 o’clock. Reminds us of home.
No General Quarters! Remarkable event, for this marks
the first morning in months at sea that we have not
risen one hour before dawn to man our battle stations.
0630 – Mass
Mr. Mills, Lt. (j.g.) tells me later that we almost had
G. Q. this morning, for a sub contact was made
at 0600 and two depth charges were dropped on
Tojo’s steel cigar.
Day is delightfully cool. We feel it bracing after the
enervating heat of these last few months when just
sitting doing nothing was no cure for perspiration
rolling off us. But we plugged ahead, working as
though the temperature were about 70 instead of
100. Now instead of the hot burning sun overhead,
diffusing a warm glow over the surface of the ocean,
the sunlight is a clear, blinding light where it hits
177 “Pardon My Sarong” (Universal, 1942) is a comedy featuring Bud Abbot and Lou Costello as urban bus drivers who flee gangsters by
driving onto a ship and are then transported in their vehicle to a tropical island. And Foley seems to be referring to the 1939 movie
Hurricane, which stars Lamour—queen of the sarong films—and was filmed on the island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia.
178 A hit song for a short time in 1942, it celebrates an American Valhalla, where the flag is “Waving o’er . . . heroes brave and true”
including George Washington, Nathan Hale, and George Armstrong Custer.
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�the sea. Even the rays of the sun are cool now, like
one of those crisp, bracing October days back home,
that are now only a memory.
Beal, 1st Division, fell today on the way up to the
Crow’s Nest. Ship lurched as he was going up hand
over hand, fell backwards about 20 feet; fortunately
just a three stitch wound in the head and a bruised
right leg. Fell on another man whose lips are puffed
and teeth loosened. Beal badly frightened.
Friday, May 28, 1943
One o’clock in the morning, I am all but rolled out of
my bunk. Ship starts to roll and pitch violently. We
have hit right into a storm. Outside can see nothing,
for it is a black night and the rain clouds are spilling
their loads. Everything on my desk: vigil lights, clock,
desk blotter, three books, ash tray, small crucifix lands
on the deck with a crash. Noises all over the ship as
whatever is not securely lashed down hits the deck.
To bed after arranging the goods on the deck. No use
putting them on the desk again; they will promptly be
on the deck in a hurry. Unanchored chairs are slithering around the room and protesting in squeaky tones
at the unusual treatment.
Back to bed. Up again at three when something else
gives. One of the drawers in the desk shot out and
the bottle of ink high up on my wash stand found a
resting place with the other gear on the deck. Why it
didn’t break when it fell five feet I know not.
Back to bed but up again, unable to sleep as I roll
from one side to the other. Oh, my aching back!
Reveille at 0545. Whole ship is up anyway, so bugler
is just exercising his lungs.
Mass at 0630 topside. One Marine holds on to the
right hand side of the altar with the left secured to the
bulkhead. After Mass at which about 20 boys receive
out of attendance of 120, look at the sea, a sullen
creature this morning. Angrily raising itself to the
full height of its snowy crests. Skies are gray and the
surface of water is leaden.
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Back on the fantail, waves rise high over the side
when we slip down into the trough of the big fellows.
No breakfast this morning, just a ham sandwich to
take the edge off our appetites. Cooks can’t cook this
morning. Fortunately I am not seasick as are so many.
One of the colored messmen is telling a Marine
about the bombing of our ship on our last trip. He
remarked that he lost his appetite not merely for
that day, but for 24 hours.
Saturday, May 29, 1943
0545 – Reveille
0600 – Mass
Day is raw and blustery as it begins. Darkness still
broods on the surface of the waters as late as 6:30.
White caps still riding the crests and squally rain
drives in.
0800 – Landfall on our starboard side, jagged islands
of rocks, New Zealand from the north. May be wild,
but she looks good to us and the Marines. We are
entering the 80 mile channel through the waters to
Waitemata Harbor, meaning Shimmering Waters in
Maori, the language of the natives of New Zealand.
After half an hour of steaming, huge mountains rear
themselves up on both sides, no foliage clothing their
nakedness. Their bare sides drop precipitously into
the waters below, that are lashing their feet relentlessly, tirelessly. As yet no sign of habitation. This is
wild country.
1200 – Day clears into sharp, cold one, much like
our late October, early November days. Wind is
sweeping the bare headlands, seagulls are chasing
our wake, rhythmically, turning their heads this way
and that in quest of food.
2:15 – Still making full speed ahead. Now it is a real
football afternoon, cold clouds overhead through which
the rays of the sun slant down. Rays only visible. No
sun through the gray blanket that hides it from view.
�5:30 – At dusk we nose slowly into our berth, the last
of the four ships. On the dock is a 24 piece New
Zealand band to welcome us. Marines cheer themselves hoarse as the band breaks out the “Anchors
179
Aweigh” and “Amapola.” Their enthusiasm rents
the skies when their own Marine Hymn “From the
Halls of Montezuma” is played. Nothing is too good
for this Third Regiment of Marines. They have been
rotting in the jungles of Samoa for 8 months. A half
hour ago when a train hove into sight, they pounded
each other on the back as they called attention to the
plume of white smoke.
6:00 – Ashore down Queen Street, main street of
Auckland, which like our own [Boston’s] Washington St. or Times Square, N.Y. City, is blacked out.
Bobby, alias a cop, tells me that stores close at noon
on Saturday. Back to the other ships at the dock
where I meet Fr. Kemper, Chaplains Reeves and
Justice. Arrangements for Mass in the morning.
Sunday, May 30, 1943
0530 – Confessions
0600 – Mass
Walk over to Crescent City, our sister ship.
0730 – Confessions in Dr. Cronin’s
Dental Office.
0830 – Mass in Officers’ Lounge. Back to George
Clymer for Mass at 1015, followed by Benediction.
Ashore to have a good steak. Find that all restaurants and tea shops are closed on Sunday also. Visit
St. Patrick’s Cathedral; tall stately columns, reminding me of the Cathedrals of England. Inside half a
dozen men and women in the evening of life kneeling before Our Lord, and perhaps asking Him to
stay with them now more than ever, for “it is toward
evening and the day is far spent,” as the disciples on
180
the way to Emmaus expressed it.
Ride in a tram car to the top of Three Kings Mountain where a magnificent view of Auckland and its
houses and tall buildings, with their people spread
out before me.
In the evening with Fr. Kemper to the Cathedral
again where we meet Fr. Curran, who brings us to
the Catholic Service Club. There Bishop [James]
Liston greets us and we exchange experiences over
crumpets and a cup of tea before the open fireplace. Lord Mayor of Auckland, Mr. [James] Allum,
graces the gathering after a few minutes and we
have an enjoyable time for half an hour before
breaking up.
Auckland Street Scenes:
– Elderly man seated in a doorway off the main
street selling lottery tickets. Is muffled up against
the chill air as he sits before his makeshift desk
with his books of tickets. A kerosene lamp lights
up the deep lines on his face as he leans over to
complete a transaction with a customer who hopes
that he is the lucky winner.
– In a doorway loiter two unfortunate girls, who are
obviously catering to the “love that blights and sears.”
They are waiting for the sailor boys and their money.
– Though it is May, all the leaves on the trees are
changing from green to crimson and gold. It is the
Fall of the year here.
Monday, May 31, 1943
0600 – Mass. Ashore this morning to beg, borrow
or steal a movie that we can take with us. Succeed
through the generosity of Battman EM 1/c, who gives
181
me “Singapore Lady” with Brenda Marshall. In the
afternoon the streets are thronged with shoppers,
much like Washington and Tremont Streets in
179 A Latin song, often played as a rhumba, that became a top-hit in a version by The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra in 1941. https://www.youtube.
com/ watch?v=4ZppcSYxL20
180 Luke 24:29
181 The movie, which was actually titled Singapore Woman (Warner, 1941), featured a heroine who, with the help of principled men, managed
to correct her life course.
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�Boston. Day is clear, cold with a sharp blue sky and
not a cloud across its face.
Tuesday, June 1, 1943
0600 – Mass
0730 – Underway. Day is sharp one with a weak
white sunrise this morning. Clean cold mist rising
from the waters of the harbor. We back out of our
berth with the aid of a fussy tug, swing around and
are underway again, regretting that we didn’t stay
long here at all to enjoy the Boston or the New York
of New Zealand.
With us the Crescent City, Hunter Liggett, American
Legion. Hunter Liggett breaks down and cuts down
our distance to 80 miles for ten hours while she makes
repairs. That delay means that instead of arriving tomorrow we will hit Wellington on Ascension Thursday.
1100 – Guns have firing practice at a sleeve towed
by a plane. The three inchers boom away while
the 20mm chatter like old hens.
Wednesday, June 2, 1943
0600 – Mass
Ship is very quiet these days, like a house after visitors leave. Then walking around the deck, young
soldiers and Marines are not having to pick themselves up out of the way of the ship’s personnel.
As I pass along the deserted starboard side of the
Upper Deck, I recall that here under this Boat #4, on
the way down from Samoa, two young Marines, with
youthful voices were trying to harmonize “There’s a
Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere.” As their
voices floated out on the South Pacific evening air, it
came home to me that the boys like those two were
the reason why the flag was flying in the strangest
places on the face of the earth.
Spend the day making out insurance policies. In
the evening classical music is in the air in the Mess
Hall. Mitchell, BM 1/c and Snyder, Marine Sgt. are
playing a duet, piano and violin respectively. Song, a
182
waltz in A Flat by Brahms.
Hunter Liggett breaks down. What a barge! She falls
behind for about five miles. Soon repairs damage
and rejoins us.
Thursday, June 3, 1943, Ascension Thursday
0600 – Mass
We have slid all the way down the east coast of New
Zealand. Weather, quite blustery. Seagulls keeping
us company all the way. Ship is as quiet as a morgue
since we debarked all our passengers in Auckland.
0900 – Wellington once again. From here I sent our
mother the first cable about Ed and myself.
Sight of it is just as thrilling as the first time. Steep
mountains all about the harbor, not bare but covered
for the most part with lovely homes. They are riding
right up the sides into the clouds. Shore; onto a tram
with a conductorette. Jam-packed. Instead of saying
“Step forward in the car, please,” she pleads, “Come
on now, give the others a bit of a go, too.”
Into a tea shop where I demolish a triple-decker
whipped cream pie with a couple of cups of tea.
Good to see the city again. How I wish Ed could
come down here for a change of scenery instead
of sweating on malaria-infested Guadalcanal.
Friday, June 4, 1943
In the afternoon I accompany Chaplain Bill
183
Lumkin as he makes a number of calls on
Marines at various outlying camps. Maori names
are quite musical, e.g., Papatoetoe, Kiki Wawa. Why
182 As part of his duties as chaplain, Foley was assigned to prepare life insurance policies for military personnel. The Brahms Waltz in A-Flat
Major, Op. 39 No. 15, is a brief well-known encore piece written for piano.
183 William W. Lumpkin (1910 –1969) was an Episcopalian priest from Charleston, South Carolina.
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�the duplication of syllable? As we start out here we
skirt the shore of the bay, suddenly turn in, make a
hairpin turn, three more of them and we are three
quarters up the side of the mountain where the
Marines have pitched their tents. While business is
being transacted, I look down on the harbor, a beautiful sight as it spreads itself out before us. Blue sky
with lazy white clouds drifting across them, white
houses standing out against the brown of the hills
and mountains, the high modern skyscrapers in the
business section of the town, the little bugs moving,
which we know are men and women, larger objects,
slow moving — the trams and autos. A picture that
frames itself in our memory.
ushered into the presence of Col. Laue, who was a
splendid host, made us share and share and share
his hospitality. Sat down and chatted with him for
a while before we began our return trip. Stepped
out onto the porch of the clubhouse and received a
shock. Thought we were inland but the sun is setting in an old rose sky over the waters.
Out to Hutt, an old race track, whose enclosure is
now peopled with our boys, Marines who survived
the Guadalcanal campaign.
Saturday, June 5, 1943
As we ride along with the mountains as a backdrop, I ask, “What’s behind those hills?” “You’ll see
shortly.” And we did. We started climbing and then
hit a gorge behind the first foothill and rode down it
between two high mountains. We twisted right and
left with that gorge for about ten miles. On the sides
of the mountains were dirty white blobs, the sheep
munching away on the grass. The weather here is
now supposed to be winter. It was summer when
we were here in January. This day is a bit on the raw,
damp side with clouds scudding down the sky. Here
as we ride along are clusters of houses, parked along
the side of the railroad that twists between the gorge
like ourselves. The road is a splendid one, hard
macadamized surface with a line of shrubs dividing
the two lanes. On our left we pass a native Maori
communal house where they hold their tribe meetings. It has a huge, wild-looking figure carved at the
top of the intersection of the roof beams. Maori boys
and girls are romping around, chasing each other as
do youngsters all over the world. Some of the girls
are playing hopscotch, a universal game for girls.
We slow down before what was a golf clubhouse, are
The little harbor, semicircular in shape, is guarded
by two pillars of Hercules. A sublime peace and quietness broods over the entire scene. Then from the
sublime to the ridiculous, a piglet is honking at our
feet. “Our pet,” remarked the Colonel. “When we find
an apple, no more piglet.” “Goodbye” to a perfect host.
0600 – Mass
At noon I go over to the Hunter Liggett where I have
lunch and then hear confessions of the men aboard
her. Back to the Clymer.
In my room at 1645 (4:45 p.m.) when a knock informs
me that two men from the Seamen’s Institute are
awaiting the pleasure of my presence there. Ten minutes later Fr. Noel Gascoigne introduces himself. He
is the chaplain for the ships that come in who have no
Catholic priest aboard. He is attached to the Cathedral.
Seamen’s Institute is at 11 Vivian Street.
Father was educated in Rome, then won his
master’s degree in education at Oxford. He is a big
man, dark-complexioned with keen, alert eyes, a
pleasant smile lighting up an intellectual face.
We run over to 1 Glencoe Avenue, Wellington, where
184
I meet Miss Eileen Duggan, poet of New Zealand.
With her lives her sister, Mrs. Dennehy and a friend,
Miss McLeely. They live on a street that is parallel to
the main street but is about 200 feet higher than it.
Their house is one of those that is built on the side
of the mountain. A narrow passageway leads to it
184 Eileen Duggan (1884–1972) was a popular journalist and New Zealand’s first celebrated poet, earning an international reputation and
receiving an OBE in 1937. Her work was particularly prized by Catholics for its religious themes. Though she lived a long life, she was
often ill, and the tremor Foley noted was a manifestation of Parkinson’s Disease.
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�from the street about 25 yards long when one comes
to a footbridge over a gulley, then through a green
painted latch gate, up a steep walk, a long flight of
high steps and you are in front of her door bell.
Mrs. Dennehy, white haired, about 55, with a pleasant smile, lets us in. “I am glad to meet you, Father,
and you are very welcome indeed.” With those
words she makes me feel perfectly at home.
Miss Duggan extends a warm hand of greeting also.
She is a slightly built woman, about 42 years old,
with grey hair and a pale sensitive face. Her eyes are
Irish blue, her most striking feature. There is a trace
of tiredness in them. Her face is that of one who has
known physical suffering. Premature lines crease it
and she is older than her years. A slight trembling
of her hands is a relic of a nervous breakdown some
years ago. When she speaks it is with a gentle, quiet
deliberation.
During our forty-five minutes together, she is sitting at
the right hand side of the fireplace with its red flames
throwing dancing patterns on the floor before us. On
a chair close to it, the big black cat sits curled up in
unconscious contentment. What do we talk about? The
chaplains who have passed through and dropped in
to say hello. Among them Fr. George King, who, she
quietly remarks, “would take nothing from anybody
sitting down except the Pope.” She laughingly remarks
that when Fr. Gascoigne told her my name she looked
me up in the Jesuit Seminary magazine that had the pictures of the Jesuit Chaplains. Beside me was Fr. Clancy’s
picture; “the two types, the ascetic and the opposite.” I
express a hope that she isn’t frightened by the appear185
ance of the owner of that face in person.
She is a person whose sanctity shines through her
face. It is a privilege just to speak to her. Tomorrow
we shall have another get together. However, first
she asks me to visit the Missionary Sisters of the
Society of Mary, three of whose members we
carried out of Guadalcanal from Bougainville.
Sunday, June 6, 1943
0600 – Mass aboard the USS George Clymer.
0730 – Mass aboard the USS Crescent City.
0915 – Mass aboard the USS Hunter Liggett.
Back to the ship where I have dinner and then start
out for Miss Duggan’s house again. But first I stop
at the Sisters’ convent on Aurora Terrace. They
are overjoyed at the news about the safe arrival of
Sisters Adelberta, Ignatius and Martian at Noumea.
First definite word they had had about them. Fired
questions at me one after another in their happy
eagerness to know the full story.
3:30 – To Miss Duggan’s where I had a delightful
afternoon. We talked about books and poets; found
her very sharp in her analysis. She was overjoyed
when she learned that I know something about
Heythrop College, Oxfordshire. A very dear friend of
186
hers, Mrs. Helen Parry Eden lives in a cottage at
the end of the drive in Enstone [a village near Oxford].
Had evening meal together and then off to the
Catholic Seamen’s Institute, 22 Vivian Street, where
Fr. Gascoigne introduced me to Mr. Mallia, the zealous pioneer of the house. It was crowded with men
and women dancing, playing cards, etc. Benediction
given by myself at 9:15. Visit Fr. Gascoigne’s room
where I am amazed at the marvelous collection
of pictures he has. The one of Cardinal Faulhaber
depicts his massive character. Superb courage in
every line of his granolithic square face. Determined
chin, straight eyes relay a warning not to cross him
in the interests of his flock. He has been an outspoken critic of Nazism. Gratified to see also an auto187
graphed picture of Archbishop Goodier.
185 George King (1907 –1965) was an Army chaplain and a Jesuit of the New England Province. He joined the faculty of the College of the Holy Cross
after the war, where he taught history.
186 A Catholic convert, Eden (1885 –1960) was a popular author of devotional poetry.
187 Michael von Faulhaber (1869 –1952), archbishop of Munich from 1917 until his death, was celebrated for his opposition to, and critique of, the
Nazi regime. Goddier (1869 –1939) was a British Jesuit and the author of devotional books. He served as Bishop of Bombay from 1919 to 1926.
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�Fr. Gascoigne a most generous host; heedless of
time, he gave me the use of his car with himself as
the chauffeur.
Monday, June 7, 1943
0600 – Mass
Today I have the duty watch so I stay close to the ship.
Recall that one of the Marines yesterday said that the
people here were extremely hospitable to the Americans. He was a boy who is a veteran of Guadalcanal.
A fine type of young man, clean-cut, clean-tongued,
clean-eyed. One of his friends wrote to his girl about
how nice the New Zealand girls were. She wrote back a
bit indignantly, asking what they had that the American
girls didn’t have. He answered, “They have it here.”
autographed volume of her poetry. Very gracious of
her. We talk literature.
In the evening a meeting at the Bishop’s house,
Anglican Barb-Holland, Archdeacon and Canon
Robertshaw. Canon Kilroy, a Scotch Presbyterian. Also
present Frs. Kelly and O’Neil, Marine Chaplains; Chaplains Willard, Eckhardt, Magyar, Tolafson, Lutherans,
but of different branches, and a Rabbi Katz, who is
dressed in black with a Roman collar to boot! In fact of
all the civilian ministers there of the Protestant persuasion and there were nine, only two were not wearing
188
the Roman collar.
Wednesday, June 9, 1943
0600 – Mass. On board today for duty.
Tuesday, June 8, 1943
Thursday, June 10, 1943
0600 – Mass
0600 – Mass
To the Convent of the Sisters of Mercy on Abel
Smith Street where I pick up the linens that were
left there on Thursday. As usual the Sisters are most
gracious. Set me up to a cup of tea and cakes. Their
Convent perches on the side of a mountain, one of
the many that ring the city. Made land of all of this,
a tribute to the energy of the people who were not
at all thwarted by sheer faces of mountains.
Loading 3rd Regiment of Marines and their cargo.
These 3rd Marines are an Infantry Regiment. As somebody said, “Real estate comes very high for them.”
From that Convent to the one on Aurora Terrace where
I pick up the hosts, go through the school, speak to the
boys and girls in the classes, asking their prayers. In
the last class, commercial, I ask the girls if they would
like to serve aboard the ship. We could make sailorettes
of them. The little boys and girls in the infant class
catch my fancy. They are little irresistible tackers, about
four and a half to five years old. Their prayers will help
to keep us afloat. They sing a song for me with the
greatest gusto. Before I leave I give them my blessing.
Spend afternoon with Miss Duggan who gives me an
Ashore for odds and ends, e.g., pick up pictures for
McElrath, books for Vogel, phonograph needles, etc.
New Departure. Again lowering the men in the first
wave in the boats from the ship. Hope there are no
casualties either now or in the actual operation. Overheard on deck, two Marines talking. “What wave are
you in?” “Sixth, what’s yours?” “First wave, first boat.”
“Boy, oh boy, I’ll put a blanket on you as I go by.”
Friday, June 11, 1943
0600 – Mass
Third Regiment of Marines aboard for drills preliminary to landing on a hostile shore. Many of them
are veterans of the landing on Guadalcanal last August.
188 Foley may well have been surprised to find a rabbi in a clerical collar, but in the Anglican world, clerical collars were sometimes worn by
non-Christian clergy, and the practice was well established among rabbis in New Zealand, a devotedly Anglican nation. Rabbi Katz was
Solomon Katz, who served as a rabbi in England, the United States, and New Zealand, where he led the Wellington Hebrew Congregation synagogue from 1931 until his death in 1944. Like Foley, he was a military chaplain, with a special appointment to serve JewishAmerican military men stationed in New Zealand.
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�We shove off at 0730, stand out in the harbor until
1030 when we start our run on the degaussing
189
range. That run takes about two hours. The picture
of Wellington changes each time we shift course. Now
she stands out clearly in the morning sun, her white
houses sharply backgrounded against the dark hills
wrapped in somber autumn brown. Now pale light of
the sun illuminates them feebly with a short slanting
ray before withdrawing hurriedly into the protection
of low-hanging clouds. Drill. For the first time men
go down in the boats instead of waiting for them to
come back after being put over the side first. Some
doubt whether or not the boats will be able to stand
the strain. Just in case the bottoms should give way,
lines hang down from the cross bar of the Welin davit
to save the men from drowning. Hoisting out the
boats loaded will save valuable time in the actual battle
operation. When will that be? One guess was ventured
today as of next August, to time with the anniversary
of Guadalcanal. Boy, oh boy, what a long war if we
have to take one island a year. Meanwhile Japan has
built up a string of unsinkable aircraft carriers, hun190
dreds of these in tropical South Seas Islands.
Overheard one sailor saying to another that after
this war, “I’m going to get me a wife and build a
house with portholes in it. If I don’t, I’ll get homesick.” On street in Wellington, one sailor obviously
lost, sends out an SOS to his mate on the other side
of the street whom he recognizes. “Will you give me
my bearings? I don’t know fore from aft.”
191
Receive a copy of the April 5th “Heights,” in which
I read of the death of John J. Gallagher of Framingham, the first of the many boys I had in class who
gives the last measure of devotion for his country. He
was killed in an air crash back home in Ohio.
Also read that Captain Arthur Cullen of the Army Air
Force is missing in air operations over Hamburg. The
192
war is beginning to cut into the folks back home.
Saturday, June 12, 1943
0600 – Mass
193
0730 – Underway for Paikakariki [Paekakariki] ,
thirty miles up north, for maneuvers. Day is a crisp,
clear one as we head out into Cook’s Straits, the channel between the North and South Islands that are New
Zealand. Read my Office in the room for half an hour
and then lay the keel for the Sunday sermon.
Outside for a breath of air at 8:30; then a dream of
beauty. Off on our port side, Mt. Cook, 3800 meters
[12,200 feet] high, raises her majestic snow-crowned
peaks into God’s azure blue. The color contrasts are
breathtaking. The blue sky, the white of the snow, the
slatey gray of the mountain below the snowline, then
the blue of the Tasman Sea washing the feet of the
mountains; and over all, the clear bright sunshine
flooding the crisp day.
1200 – Set
condition 1-A troop landing. Over the side
go the troops to take by storm the shore eight miles
away. This operation is just child’s play, spirit of the
game about it, but there isn’t one of those men who
doesn’t know that some one of these days they are going through the same operation; may be in this life one
194
moment and then out of it forever in the next.
189 See note, July 27, 1942.
190 “Unsinkable aircraft carriers” was military slang for islands.
191 Boston College’s student newspaper.
192 Arthur Cullen (1929–2006) was the pilot of a B-24 Liberator that was brought down by enemy fire over France on February 15, 1943.
Of the 11-member crew, four survived, including Cullen, who was taken prisoner and repatriated at the conclusion of the war.
193 Paekakariki was a large Marine base on the southwest coast of New Zealand’s North Island. It was abandoned four months after Foley
visited, when the war moved north.
194 The Second Marine Division was training for landing on Tarawa Atoll, the first central Pacific island to be attacked by US ground forces.
Some 1,000 Marines would be killed in the first three days of combat, November 21-23. (See Foley’s entry for December 1, 1943.) A
documentary film, With the Marines at Tarawa, was developed by Warner Bros and the Office of War Information, and can be viewed at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbX6Uvn2vME
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�Marines debarking over the side. Stand by watching and thinking that when this is the real attack,
I shall silently be giving them my blessing. Notice
one lad about 20 shivering with the cold. Ask him if
he has a sweater, but he hasn’t; bring him into my
room. “Fr. Foley is my name.” “Mine is… Sorry that
I’m not a good Catholic, Father.” “How long since
last confession?” “--“, Father.” “All right, but you’ll be
squared away before tonight, right?” “Right, Father.”
A sweater is the means of grace being given to that
boy. God works in wondrous ways.
A simulated bombing attack by the Air Army of the
RNAF [Royal Naval Air Force]. Eight of them run in
on us from all angles, strafing, wiggling, swooping
in low, then soaring up just when it seems that they
will crash into us. All the AA guns of the ship are
manned and are blazing away at the dry run.
Sunday, June 13, 1943
0600 and 1000 – Mass
Another landing drill begins today. Men go over
the side in the first operation at 1245. Look on the
map in the Chart House up by the bridge. Names
of the points of operation here are amusing; suitcase, ash tray, pencil, flat hat, chicken, apple seed
and horse radish.
After the landing drill of yesterday, a dozen of the
Marines come down with malaria. They had to wade
ashore in water up to their waist, cold water too, for
these days are bright, clear and crisp. Not cold if one
is moving, but if standing still two to three hours as
these boys must do after landing, the chill gets into
the marrow of the bones.
Monday, June 14, 1943
0600 – Mass, with Reveille at 0445!
0650 – Attack the enemy-held shore. Once again
over the side, onto the beach that lies at the foot
of these brown mountains.
Tuesday, June 15, 1943
0300 – Reveille, Mass following.
Tempo is stepping up. This attack is a coordinated
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one with the USS Hunter Liggett, American Legion
and Crescent City. Morning, but black as pitch outside; sharp reminder of the November 8th battle
in Africa. Note that we were first at Guadalcanal
on February 7th and 8th; that we were attacked by
bombing planes on April 8th. Wonder if we are
now practicing for a battle that will take place on
the anniversary of August 8th when the Marines
first hit Guadalcanal?
0815 – Simulated dive-bombing attack. Eight fighters
and dive bombers come in from all angles repeatedly, strafing and bombing and torpedoing our
ships. They wiggle as they come in to splatter their
machine guns over a wide area, i.e., their bullets to
knock out as many men as they can; then the work
of the dive bombers and the torpedo planes will be
so much easier. Were these the real thing, we should
have been at the bottom in two minutes after the
first wave came in on us. This squadron is a unit
from the New Zealand Air Force that has been doing
such splendid work in the Middle East and Tunisia.
Letter from one of my sisters in which she quotes
my mother, “It took a long time for his ship to get
started, but boy, oh boy, it is taking a longer time
for it to come back for repairs.” If she only knew
that it may be two years before our ship puts back
into a home port again, her morale, which has
been wonderful so far, would slip a bit.
Wednesday, June 16, 1943
0600 – Mass
Another dawn attack on the summer resort of
Paekakariki. Day is a miserable one with cold rain
driving down, heavy sea running. Off in the distance
the defending forces have prepared themselves for
the attack. Boats shove off dangerously from the
ship. Watching personnel boat being hoisted over
the side on port quarter. Bill Olsen from Concord is
the boat engineer. Hook lifts the boat off the hatch,
swings it too freely over the water. Ship is rolling
with the swell, causing the swing. Down into the
water, Olsen unhooks the steel circle, the ring that
carried the boat. It gently pins his head between itself
�and the side of the boat. Had there been any momentum behind it, he would have had at least a fractured
skull. As it is, he is dazed, slumps down to the deck
rubbing his head. Quickly recovers and is away.
Six miles off shore when we put off the assault
waves. Two machine gunners talk about their job.
“Secure the nearest elevated spot, Father, then spit
hot lead at the defenders.” “Any danger of hitting
your own men?” “Yes, but it is better to hit a couple
of our men and save two hundred. They expect it.”
We move in about two miles off shore. Reports come
back about abominable conditions on the beach.
Heavy surf has wrecked eight boats already. Men
have flung selves on shore through cold water,
shoulder high in places where the boats could not
get any closer. Defenders had them at their mercy
due to wretched conditions.
But where I am, I needs must be
And where I would be, I cannot.”
“The magic of sanctity is nothing but the good will
of a mortal added to the grace of God.”
Friday, June 18, 1943
0600 – Mass
Into Wellington after all those boats that were
casualties on the beach are towed back to the ship for
repairs. We pound down along the coast in a heavy,
rolling sea, dark, lowering clouds overhead, no sun at
all and white caps rearing their heads on the waters.
Finished maneuvers on this trip. Two boys killed at
Pa[e]kakariki; one a sailor who was trapped under
a ramp of one of the personnel boats. The boat
ground him under and the stern of it finished him.
The propeller cut him badly.
Thursday, June 17, 1943
0600 – Mass
Day is another cold, blustery one with half a dozen
casualties picked up from the heavy running sea;
smashed ankles, sore heads.
195
Finished “Whistles of Silver” by Helen Parry Eden.
“Devotion standeth in man’s soul
With shoes of swiftness shod,
‘Tis thy prompt will to yield thyself
To the high nests of God,
‘Tis the surrender of desire
To serve His lightest nod’.” (p. 67)
“Devotion keeps not back one grain;
She is God’s loving-cup to drain,
His managed stead to spur or rein,
His purse to spend (If He but deign)
To the last piece of gold. (pp. 67–68)
O that I was where I would be,
Then would I be where I am not
I spend the evening with Miss Eileen Duggan, Mrs.
Dennehy and Miss McLeely. As on the previous visit,
her “hearth flowers into flame” before me as we talk
of books and people and the things of the soul.
I have difficulty finding the place for it is pitch dark
when I get ashore at 7 o’clock. Pass it by; no one of
six people I met know where it is. Suddenly stumble
into it when I had given up the search as a bad job.
Miss Duggan remarks that our boys have captured the
hearts of everybody by their utter unselfconsciousness,
their open approach and their pride in their religion.
Saturday, June 19, 1943
Dark as usual until 0730 in the morning. RainRain-Rain. Beginning to doubt that Wellington
people will see the sun again. Out of total of eight
days spent there on two visits, only saw the sun
once. Rest of the time, cold, murky mists, either
riding in from the sea or blowing down from the
mountain tops.
195 Helen P. Eden (1885–1960) was a British author of devotional poems and stories whose work was praised by G.K. Chesterton and
Joyce Kilmer. These lines are from her book, A Dialogue of Devotion, published in 1922.
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�On trams, conductorettes are dressed in blue trousers and heavy overcoats of the same color. On empty
one the girl asks me how I like the country. Irishman’s answer, I made my own, “Good country if it
had a roof over it.” She says that her job as a conductorette is a tough one. Not every girl can stand
it. Public is a hard-driving customer. “However, you
tyke it and come up with a smile.” Her remark on
the weather: “An extraordinary bad spin of it we are
having lately.”
About 12 o’clock we heave up anchor for Pa[e]kakariki
again, make the run in about four hours. It is a much
shorter distance than the time indicates, but we have
to swing in and around a number of islands.
In the evening the sun tries desperately to come out
from behind the clouds, but does not succeed except
in spots. She restricts herself to indirect lighting.
Not shining down on us as we swing at anchor, but
a mile away without showing her pale features.
Sunday, June 20, 1943
0300 – Reveille!!! Those early hours, only three after
midnight.
0400 – Mass, private; no public Mass even though
it is Sunday for this morning there is full combat
attack; men are to go over the side shortly, viz. at
0430. I step out, murmur a prayer that casualties
will not be heavy. Ominous looking sea is running
high, most dangerous for invasion boats and tank
lighters. At 0430 landing postponed until daylight
for the danger is obvious.
0700 – Men start going over the side for the enemyheld shore. Some boat casualties after the first wave
hits the beach. Surf tosses them wildly about and
flings them up on the shore. They have smashed
propellers, bent screws, holes in their sides. Some
struggle back under their own power, others are towed
by those fortunate not to be casualties themselves.
Morning drags with unloading of troops; the
Marines and cargo far behind schedule. Boats available dwindling with every load. So far no men hurt,
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thank God. Day is overcast with a high wind blowing and a rough sea tossing.
Same holds for the afternoon; no attempt made to
keep up with the debarkation, for it is an impossibility. We are supposed to unload both troops and
cargo and make a getaway within eight hours lest
we be sunk. According to the plan, the Crescent City
has already gone under from enemy planes in the
simulated attack. She is nowhere to be seen. Has
been dispatched to Wellington, four hours away.
7:30 in the evening I have Mass in the Mess Hall,
starboard side, the first night Mass celebrated
aboard the ship. There are about 25 men present. I
thought I might have all Catholic men on duty, but
right after I started the word was passed, “First Division stand by to hoist in boat # 6.” That took away
some of my flock. Then five minutes later another
word passed from the bridge, “Second Division
stand by to hoist in the gig.”
Seemed strange to myself and the men to have Mass in
the evening. We were deeply grateful for the privilege.
At 10 o’clock before turning in, I step outside
onto the catwalk outside my room. Cloudy sky has
cleared, neither wind nor sea have abated. Moon
is full, sky wears windswept face, no clouds, just a
few stray slashes of white as if an artist took a huge
brush and swished it carelessly across the heavens.
Monday, June 21, 1943
Shortest day of the year.
0400 – Reveille
0500 – Mass
Underway according to the plan of the day but we
postpone the start. At breakfast I learn the reason.
Last night a heavy sea was running. Salvage parties
were trying to get the stranded boats off the beach.
All three ships, the Crescent City, Hunter Liggett
and ourselves had some on the beach.
�At breakfast Mr. Trapp informs me that the Hunter
Liggett salvage party in their boat capsized with the
loss of fourteen sailors, drowned. Seventeen men
were saved. The huge seas turned their boat over
one mile off shore. For the rest of the night until five
this morning, in accordance with orders from the
American Legion, Flagship PF Comm. Trans. Division, “Search for Survivors.” They travelled back and
forth over the watery grave of those boys. Thank God
the number of deaths has been revised downward
to eight enlisted men and one officer. Mr. Kreutzer
informs me that just before he left the beach yesterday, two bodies, one of the officer and the other an
enlisted man were washed ashore. Both of them had
nasty gashes across their foreheads, where the boat
had evidently hit them when she capsized.
May the Lord have mercy on their souls and the
souls of all the soldiers, sailors and Marines who
have died so far in the struggle.
0600 – We drop anchor again in Wellington Harbor.
Later tie up to the dock and unload the rest of the
cargo. I call up Miss Eileen Duggan to inform her
that since I have duty this evening, I am ship-bound
and cannot share her hospitality.
She tells me that they had a big fire burning last
Saturday, but I failed to put in an appearance. She
knew the reason without being told.
Picked up Auckland paper. Amazed at the details given of the casualties the other day on the
100-plane raid on Guadalcanal: 25 American Flyers
killed, 22 injured, 29 missing. These enlightening
details glaringly omitted from all American accounts. No wonder 17 men recently resigned from
the Office of War Information, complaining that
instead of news, the American People were getting
196
the product of slick salesmanship.
Tuesday, June 22, 1943
0600 – Mass
Rain-Rain-Rain-Rain again for sixteenth time in
Wellington. Happy meeting of Barrett, B.C. ’41 and
Jack Sheehan, Holy Cross ’37 on the dock here. We
shoot the breeze for a while, chasing our memories
197
back to Mt. St. James and Chestnut Hill.
Mail arrives today, as always bringing good news and
bad. Holtz, 2nd Division, learns that his mother was
severely injured in an explosion in the munitions
factory where she was working. Green, Radar man,
learns that his steady for two years has jilted him
after he lavished money and gifts on her. I will write a
letter for him that will go to the girl. A letter such that
when she receives it, she will say, “And I gave up that
kind of a man. What a mistake I made.” He signs it.
Wednesday, June 23, 1943
0600 – Mass
0800 – Off to Auckland. Heavy casualties have finally
convinced the big shots that boats and men can take
only so much punishment. Total: Ten deaths and dozens
of invasion boats ruined, either totally or temporarily.
Thursday, June 24, 1943
0600 – Mass
One year ago today I came aboard; 12 months sea
duty and still floating, thank God. May Our Lord
and Our Lady continue to take care of us during this
198
coming year.
196 Established by President Roosevelt at the beginning of the war, the Office of War Information was repeatedly accused by Congress of concealing
truth from American citizens. On April 14, 1943, a group of writers resigned from the OWI, stating that their attempts to provide an objective
view of the war was being subverted by “high-pressure promoters who prefer slick salesmanship to honest information.” President Truman
closed the office in September 1945, a month after Japan surrendered. As to the air attack on Guadalcanal on June 16, 1943, the Auckland paper
was mistaken, The Japanese lost 15 fighter planes and 13 dive bombers while the United States lost six fighter planes and five pilots.
197 The hills — 40 miles apart — on which the College of the Holy Cross and Boston College campuses, respectively, stand.
198 The Clymer was the first American ship to serve in both the European and Pacific Theaters, and it sailed 163,000 miles over the course of the war.
It was struck by enemy fire only once, when a shell damaged its radio antenna during the Africa campaign, and it acquired the nickname “The
Lucky George.” It served in the Korean and Vietnam wars and was awarded a total of 15 battle stars before it was sold for scrap on July 26, 1968.
142 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�Auckland, city of sunshine. Glorious sun beating
down on us in this winter month, strange to say, in
June, but overcoats in order.
Friday, June 25, 1943
0600 – Mass
Ashore look for Convent of Good Shepherd and Sisters of St. Joseph teaching, but wind up in Church
of Good Shepherd. Pastor Dean [William J. Murphy’s assistant Fr. Linehan takes me to Convent
where I first started, then to Franciscan Friary,
then to Hospital of Sisters of Mercy.
Convent on high mountain, on left side, Tasman
Sea, on right, Pacific Ocean. What a view! Purpleclad mountains falling away on the horizon, blue
ocean waters below and modern city buildings
raising their stone fingers to the blue skies above.
Our Lady’s statue on top of Hospital.
Saturday, June 26, 1943
We are anchored out in the stream for there is no
docking space available for us. Off to our port side is
a Liberty ship that had an unwelcome visitor recently. A torpedo let in daylight from port to starboard;
went clean through her.
Today we take aboard the 1500 Marines for Guadalcanal. They are the 9th Marines, all primed for
fighting. Have been in training for over a year. Scuttlebutt has it that we will ferry them to Guadalcanal;
in the meantime after we have shoved off, they will
strike somewhere; then we are fetching reinforcements back from either Auckland or Wellington.
Hear confessions aboard the Liggett for two hours.
Tuesday, June 29, 1943
0600 – Mass
Dinner today at the Church of the Good Shepherd;
Pastor is Dean Murphy, Curate Fr. Linehan. During the afternoon meet two other pastors, Shaw and
Donnelly. Stay for supper when we have blood pudding. Years since I had that good English meat.
Talking with Marine and what lies ahead of him. He
remarked that it was not the bullet or shell that had
his name on it that worried him. It was the kind that
simply said, “To whom it may concern.”
In the afternoon we tie up to the dock, start loading
Marines, not for maneuvers, either for Guadalcanal
or the real thing. Namely, BATTLE.
At night before getting into bed, set up again outfit
that I would take over the side with me if “it” happened, long-handled underwear, Vaseline, white cap,
sweat shirt, colored glasses. We are back in the old
routine again. I don’t want to cook by day and freeze
by night if I have to hang onto a plank or squat in a
life raft.
Sunday, June 27, 1943
Wednesday, June 30, 1943
0600 – Mass. Anniversary of the first Sunday Mass
aboard the Clymer at Charleston, S.C.
0600 – Mass
Still dark until 0730 in the morning, for these are
the winter months in this part of the world; June,
July and August. Spend day cleaning up office. Hear
about 25 confessions. Night, very little sleep. We
run into heavy ground swells, ship rolls and pitches,
shattering of china below in Wardroom. Everything
is adrift in everybody’s room until firmly secured.
Not more than two fitful hours of sleep all night.
0900 – Mass aboard the USS Hunter Liggett for her
men and those of the American Legion. Splendid
turnout, 500 present. Stay aboard Sunday, for I have
duty. Fr. Linehan, Auckland priest, my guest for
evening meal.
Monday, June 28, 1943
0600 – Mass
Thursday, July 1, 1943
0600 – Mass; about 25 Communions.
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�Heavy sea still running. Hear confessions in preparation for tomorrow, which is the Feast of the Sacred
Heart and also First Friday.
Operations are afoot in the Solomons again. Our men
have taken Rendova Island, five miles south of New
Georgia, and have attacked New Georgia itself. We have
pushed steadily north. Eventually hope to take Bougainville or isolate that by capturing Rabaul.
1200 – Dinner.
Had just sat down when General
Quarters peeped. All bolted from the table; unidentified plane on the horizon. Ten minutes later we
are secure; it is one of our own. Back to a good big
Sunday meal.
1500 – Rosary and Benediction; about 200 present.
After it, take names of men who wish me to inform
their mothers that they have been to church aboard
our ship.
Friday, July 2, 1943
First Friday and Feast of the Sacred Heart.
0630 – Mass; about 50 Holy Communions.
Day is warm, for we are now about 700 miles north
of New Zealand. Yesterday afternoon the cold weather
started to fade out. Now we have dropped the jackets
and the heavy socks until we hit winter months again
when we return to Auckland as scuttlebutt has it.
Radio News Release this morning reports that we
have attacked an island five miles from Munda,
Rekata. These men will either go straight on there as
reinforcements or will be left at Guadalcanal. Latter
seems to be probable for ships of this nature and big
tonnage are not normally sent within fifty miles, let
alone five of an enemy-held airfield.
Saturday, July 3, 1943
0600 – Mass; about 75 present.
Overheard on the Boat Deck, one sailor telling another
“Go take a long walk on a short deck.” On Main Deck
about an ensign, “He’s just a spare gear,” i.e., no good.
Confessions at night.
Sunday, July 4, 1943
0615 – Mass; about 200 present. 0900 – Second
Mass. 1000 – General Service.
Picked up radio telegram in Commander Olesen’s
room. “Gives position, then men in foxholes and
machine guns set up to attack immediately.” Lot of
drama packed into those few lines.
Remark at table: Captain Schaub says that the men
there on New Georgia are learning the lesson now of
actual combat. He hopes that the tuition will not be
too high. Another Marine Officer remarks that “we are
engaged in a new real estate development.”
We learn that the USS McCawley has been sunk some
199
miles north of us. She was a ship about our size.
My mother writes in her latest letter that although
her sons are not in actual combat, she knows that
they are doing their part. If she only knew! Ed spends
hours during the night in foxholes, while we occasionally are ducking and weaving and twisting and
turning as Jap bombers drop their calling cards on
us or subs tickle us.
Monday, July 5, 1943
0615 – Mass
During Mass a plane roars by at deck level so it is obviously one of our own. We have an aircraft carrier out
ahead of us that is sending her birds aloft. We are
carrying our heaviest cargo load of all our seven trips
to Guadalcanal and the precious human freight.
199 The McCawley was said to have been torpedoed by Japanese planes off Guadalcanal while delivering cargo. Nearly all the crew were saved
before the ship was scuttled on June 30, 1943. It was soon determined that the torpedoes that destroyed the ship were fired in error from
American torpedo boats. A redrafting of PT boat communications protocols followed.
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�These boys are highly trained Marines with the best
of equipment who are on razor edge to get into battle.
Morale in the Navy is made up of four elements:
mail, movies and meals with liberty to complete the
quartet. Officer says work should be included. He is
right. Work, something to do, is a blessing in war as
well as in peace.
Tuesday, July 6, 1943
0615 – Mass on Upper Deck Aft; attendance of
about 150.
We should anchor about noon today. Lot of wellorganized bustle aboard the ship as Marines prepare
to debark. On the decks are stacked their barracks
bags and bed rolls, 1400 of each.
0945 – General Quarters. Submarine alarm; Tojo’s
underwater express is trying to crowd us off the surface. Destroyer sows depth charge pattern. Ship shivers
slightly even though dropped a good two miles away.
1000 – Report
from bridge. “All Marines below deck;
enemy planes en route.”
are secured from General Quarters.
Thank God no hits, no casualties. “How are your
nerves, Joe?”
Beach is a long strip of smooth sand, fringed with
palms. Waves are breaking high on her, for it is apparently flood tide. Wait around for a while, bum a
ride after fifteen minutes to a Raider Camp where
Bob Laverty, whose father E. V. Laverty is manager
of Liggett’s drugstore at [Boston’s] South Station,
is stationed.
At 1:30 with Hutchins and Simmons, two enlisted
men, we start for Henderson Field from this place
called Teteri. I have to be back to the ship by four
o’clock, so time is precious. Before we start I see
some reports of the story on the action up north on
New Georgia. “Bomb hit; twenty of our men killed.”
“200 wounded.”
Visit bamboo Church of St. Bartholomew, native
church, bamboo slats tied with strips, not a nail in it,
about thirty feet high, twenty yards long and thirty feet
wide. Sand on the floor, bamboo altar, one big cross
beam in the center resting on two big beams, no nails,
bound together with wooden pegs. On this beam are
crude decorations in white paint of the Cross, a chalice, IHS, a crown of thorns. Here the natives gather
round their French Marist missionary to hear the
story that never grows old, Our Lord’s life.
1030 – We
Now I start to get Ed’s bag ready; some filet steak,
peanuts, Milky Ways, Nestle’s chocolate bars, Griffin’s Bars, fresh apples, cigars, fountain pen and
pencil, leads, matches, Wrigley’s gum, etc.
1145 – Boat
#6 is lowered to the rail. While we are
still underway she is lowered into the water and off
we are to the beach. The day was cloudy; now it has
broken beautifully and once again a hot tropical sun
is streaming down on the twenty of us in this boat,
15 Navy men and 5 Marines. We head in, ride the
crest of a wave and brace ourselves. We run into the
beach head on, drop with the rudder, down drops
the ramp and we run out through the water.
A shout from Simmons; he is set to go off. We buzz
for the fourteen mile trip along a sandy road, first
parallel with the beach, then within a couple of
miles we see and hear the four-motored bombers
200
roaring overhead, either returning from Munda
bombing or on their way out. On out to the main
stem where traffic picks up; water trailers, gravel
trucks, ambulances, jeeps, gas trucks moving
smoothly over coral roads built by the CB’s. After
about ten miles I am in familiar territory again. We
are crossing the Tenaru River, the Lunga, where Ed
and I first crouched in a Jap dugout.
Down to the Field Hospital where I hear a record
being played over the amplifying system. I wonder if
that is Ed working the machine from the Red Cross
hut. I meander down to the Recreation Tent, inquire
200 Settlement on New Georgia Island, where military operations were in progress, and the site of a Japanese airfield.
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�of three sick men lounging around in pajamas if Ed
Foley is around. A bellow from inside, “Where have
you been?” I explain about my wintering in New
Zealand, invite him to have a bite of an apple from
the same island. After a few minutes we retire to the
outskirts of “town” as Ed facetiously calls his new
home. There he investigates the contents of the egg
crate that I have brought with me. The Schaeffer
fountain pen and pencil catch his eye. What catches
my eye are the small rubber boots he is wearing, an
inheritance from some of the boys who have gone
back to the States for Officers Candidate School.
Ed informs me that he has received word that his
application has been duly received. I hope that such
a notice is not the forerunner of a rejection slip later.
taking off from Henderson Field and Carney Field
“like flocks of ducks” as one of the sailors described
it. I count 41 in the sky at one period. These Flying
Fortresses! They go out without any sort of protection. As a squadron of eight of them roar overhead
we can plainly see the murderous snouts of their
guns and cannons in their nose, in their tails, top203
side, where their blisters glance back at the
setting sun. But the plane that takes my fancy is
204
the P-38. I never tire watching them soar up
off the landing strip and then climb straight up,
power unlimited.
How does Ed look? As well as ever. He feels fine but
misses Fr. Flaherty who has been transferred to Australia. “Things just sagged when he left. Now Mass
is celebrated only on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
and we miss daily Mass.”
Wednesday, July 7 1943
Marty McDonough, one of Ed’s mates, enters the
tent, and we shake hands. Now the fifteen minutes
of my visit are up and back to the ship. “So long,
Ed.” “So long, John.” A shake and we are off again.
Back to the Tetero Beach where necks are strained
upwards at an 18” dragon-like lizard that is ambling
down a coconut trunk, looks bewildered about half
way down, at the crowd of Marines that are gaping
at it, one of whom unsheathes his knife for an immediate operation. Lizard refuses to christen said
knife with its blood and goes back to roost in the
coconuts at the top of the tree.
Heavy action is taking place a short distance from
201
here. Heavy Army bombers, Boeing Fortresses ,
202
Billy Mitchell dive bombers , torpedo planes are
We continue unloading cargo all night. If I only had
known that, I could have had Ed aboard!
0600 – Mass
1000 – Destroyer
Renshaw comes alongside for
fueling. I climb down a ladder over our side, slip
across, see the Executive Officer and ask for permission to hear confessions of the Catholic men.
“Certainly.” The Catholic men come and make
their peace with God through me while I sit in the
forward ammunition clipping room just aft of the
second turret under the bridge. My chair is an
ammunition box loaded with 20 mm bullets ready
to tear into a Jap plane. This destroyer last night
shelled the New Georgia installations of the Japs
heavily. It is only a three-hour run for them from
here. They made thirty-three knots an hour.
6:00 p.m. We take aboard some of the human debris
of war, about ninety wounded, the first casualties of
the action up north. Tragic some of the cases. Some,
loss of vision; others, mangled arms and legs, victims of bullets and shrapnel bombings. This group
201 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.
202 B-25 Mitchell bombers, named for William Mitchell, an Army officer in World War I who was instrumental in the development of American
military air power.
203 Transparent plastic mounts for machine guns.
204 Lockheed P-38 Lightings were among the fastest planes used in WWII. They accounted for more Japanese aircraft “kills” than any airplane
in the American arsenal.
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�205
is from Vanganu and Rendova. At latter place,
fifteen Jap two-motored bombers dropped their load
of bombs on the beachhead with twenty killed and
two hundred wounded.
the other insists that he wants to see no more blood
for the duration.
Friday, July 9, 1943
0600 – Mass
Some concussion victims whose ears were deafened
and whose eyeballs are still enlarged. Some of the
men ask, “Do you recognize me, Father?” We carried them here a few months ago. “I never thought
I would be coming back this way, Father.” Blindness
cases most tragic of all.
8:00 p.m. – Underway again, this time we believe
for Noumea.
Thursday, July 8, 1943
0615 – Mass
Busy taking care of the material needs of the
98 wounded we have aboard. They are a pitiable
lot, this sample of the human debris of war, most of
them bombing victims. One squadron of 15 bombers did this work. What must it be like over Europe
where hundreds of them concentrate on one area in
a thickly congested modern city?
McMullen, from Bangor, Maine, is stone blind; will
always be. Was a clerk in a Division Headquarters;
bomb fragment scooped across center of his face,
wrecking both eyes and leaving only the tip of his
nose. Pathetic, as he asks me to describe the Purple
Heart to him, award for Military Merit. Purple and
white ribbon, medal is heart-shaped, with medallion
of Washington in the center, is bronze colored. Some
of the concussion cases are still stunned psychologically, others deafened, others with both eyes black and
blue, bloodshot. Concussion breaks blood vessels.
Hand out cigarettes to the men. They have only what
they brought on their backs.
Two Army officers, Captain and Lieutenant, are psychoneurotic cases. One imagines he has a bad leg;
Today I am in the dry goods business distributing
shirts, sox, shoes, pants, etc. to the wounded men who
came aboard without anything literally, with nothing
but the sheets that covered them on stretchers.
Visit from Murov, Jewish boy from Louisiana, who is
haunted by the feeling of remorse that he is running
away from the zone of combat. Sight of the wounded stabs his conscience. Feels that he has disgraced
his family because he is a coward, so he says. After a
chat of half an hour he leaves, feeling better.
Saturday, July 10, 1943
0600 – Mass
Ensign Panitz leaves us tomorrow. Came aboard
only six weeks ago, thinks that he would be able to
do better work in another branch of the service rather than aboard a combat transport. Lt. Morey, “Hope
he gets reassigned [to a combat unit], Father, and he
is with us when we are making the next beachhead.”
Sunday, July 11, 1943
0600 – Mass
0900 – Mass
No General Service, for at 1000 we are anchoring
[at Noumea]. First and Second Divisions are busy
hoisting out boats. Hospital Division arranging for
transportation of wounded men; Supply Division
making up a working party to take on stores. Such
assignments wreck my plans for General Service.
1100 – Ashore to Red Cross first, where I pick up
magazines for the men, meet Mr. Mason, boss,
and Robert Atmore, assistant, and Miss Martin from
18 Pritchard Avenue, Somerville [Massachusetts].
205 Islands in the New Georgia chain that were invaded as part of a campaign to capture the Japanese airfield at Munda Point on the
central island.
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�1130 –To
Ecole de Libre where Sisters Joseph and Guy
and Mother Superior extend a royal welcome. Want
to know what my “harrowing experiences” have been
since last we met in April. Have been praying faithfully since then for my ship and her men.
General Quarters at 6:30; submarine alarm. Ship
quivers as she boils ahead at full speed, executing at
the same time evasive maneuvers. What a life!
Wednesday, July 14, 1943
0615 – Mass
1:00 – Out to Manse Vite to see Paul Doherty who
is ill with pneumonia, now well on the road to
recovery. Looks as well as ever; must have been quite
plump for he says he has lost weight. His mother
will be glad to learn that we met.
3:00 – To the USS Prometheus where I pick up six
films for later showing to the men. We must return
each one of these to the ship when we put into
Noumea again. Write to mother and sister about
the day and how it was spent.
Monday, July 12, 1943
0600 – Mass
Chief Bill Hughes informs me that he just lost his
father in Lawrence, 37 Bowdoin Street. Promise to
offer Mass for him tomorrow morning.
3:00 – Underway for Auckland, New Zealand, again.
Tuesday, July 13, 1943
0615 – Mass for Bill Hughes’s father.
Aboard we have the survivors, fifty of them, from
the USS McCawley, torpedoed by a plane at New
Georgia, ten to fifteen men in the engine room
[were killed]. Japs went straight for McCawley,
apparently aware that aboard her were Admiral
Turner and General Harmon. Passed over
206
President liners.
Speaking with members of the gun crew on port
side aft, two of them new men. They were aboard
two AK-cargo Liberty ships that were torpedoed
south of Guadalcanal at 4:45 a.m. on June 23, 1943.
Of the thirty-five soldiers that one was carrying,
twenty-seven were killed as they slept on hatch
number one. Torpedo came into hold number
one. The ships had destroyer escort but subs still
slipped in and put their fish into her.
Calloway, one of the new men, wants shore duty,
for he has a case of chronic seasickness. Has been
retching badly all day. Doesn’t seem to be feigning,
for Gorman, painter, with whom he has been working reports that he has been deadly sick all day.
Universality of the Catholic Church. Captain Ross,
Marine Corps ace, downed more planes than any
other flyer. Motor failed, set plane down near a small
island, Malaita,”inhabited by the worst natives on
the Solomons,” said the Chicago Tribune. There
Ross met a French Archbishop and four priests,
Dutch, Norwegian, Italian and American. Next Ross
went to Mass where the “worst natives” assisted and
207
sang hymns.
Thursday, July 15, 1943
0600 – Mass
Ship has been fairly quiet these days, for we have it
once more to ourselves. Morning breaks bright and
cool, clear, bright sky as the windswept headlands
206 Re McCawley: see entry under July 4, 1943. Richmond K. Turner was in charge of amphibious forces in the Pacific; Millard F. Harmon
was a lieutenant general in the Army Air Force. The presidents were a fleet of passenger ships named for American presidents. The
military purchased them in 1938 from a bankrupt shipping company.
207 Joseph Ross (1915–2003), who shot down 25 Japanese aircraft in the Guadalcanal Campaign, received the Medal of Honor from
President Roosevelt. Ross may well have sung hymns with his Catholic rescuers, but he did so as an Evangelical Protestant. He would
serve two terms as governor of South Dakota.
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�of New Zealand come into view about 9 o’clock. No
sign of habitation along these volcanic hills. They rise
brown and bare to the skies, awaiting the day of development as the places near the big cities of Auckland
and Wellington are being opened out. Only signs of
life are the ducks, little ones, scores of them that are
loafing on the surface as we steam by. Now and then a
school of porpoises arch their backs rhythmically and
slowly as they rise out of the water and quickly
dive again.
3:00 p.m. – We dock again where we were two weeks
ago. Meet Fr. [Robert] Minton who helps me to arrange a dance that eventually petered out, unfortunately, because Captain said we would not be in long
enough. Fr. Minton aboard for dinner this evening;
he hails from Indianapolis. We have a delightful two
208
hours together.
Friday, July 16, 1943
0600 – Mass
[In Auckland] we begin loading the Marines whom
we are to take to Guadalcanal. In the evening I stroll
209
down the main stem. At a corner of a street is a
fruit and vegetable store. Looking for some grapes,
I step in. “They are out of season.” Espy a bunch of
heather and some lovely flowers with small purplish
faces. Buy bouquet for 6d, ($12) each. They, the heather sprigs, really perfume the room. Dr. Walker and Lt.
Cdr. Gilchrist both remark on intoxicating odor.
Meet Jim Lynch, 57 Vernon Street, Waltham
[Massachusetts]. He tells me that he is going ashore
to see his girl, a Navy nurse. How did he pick her?
He noticed that she went to Mass and Holy Communion every morning, crossing the Pacific on
the [USS] Lurline. “That’s the kind of girl I want.”
Engineered an introduction. They like each other after
going around for a while. Now after four months, they
are engaged.
Saturday, July 17, 1943
0600 –Receive some 1200 books from the
210
Victory Book Campaign. Some good, some so so.
Weather here now in Auckland is bright and clear.
No rain since we have moved in. Unusual, for now it
is winter. Last month, twenty-five out of thirty days
were rainy. Then the last two times we were in, it
poured and poured.
Sunday, July 18, 1943
0630 – Mass aboard own ship.
0900 – Mass aboard the Hunter Liggett.
1030 – Mass
aboard the American Legion.
Chaplain Barnes of the latter detached as of this
morning at 0830. On his way home to his wife and
four children in California after sixteen months at
sea. In the evening Fr. Minton and Jack Convery
from New York City come aboard for dinner. Both
pleasant company. They stay for the movie, the
“Great Dictator” with Charlie Chaplin.
Monday, July 19, 1943
0600 – Mass with 100 Marines in attendance, about
half of whom receive Holy Communion. All young
boys about 18 to 20, anxious to be on their way to
actual combat. As yet they have seen nothing of the
horrors of war, the blood, the stench, the filth. They
haven’t seen men alongside them blown to bits,
blinded, disemboweled. They haven’t walked over
their dead bodies, they haven’t sat in the stench of
their corruption, the fellows they talked with about
home and sports and their favorite ball club, to whom
208 Robert M. Minton, an Army chaplain, served as a pastor in the Indianapolis archdiocese after the war. Posted to Guadalcanal,
he appears in six of Foley’s entries in 1943 and 1944.
209 “Main Stem” is naval slang for the forward part of a ship.
210 The Victory Book Campaign was a short-lived morale-booster program run by civilians and “designed to provide entertaining and
instructive reading” for American troops. Used books were donated by civilians—Boy Scout troops collected volumes by going door-todoor—and Foley’s complaint may have to do with the fact that the books were seldom of literary quality.
149 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�they confided their hopes and ambitions about what
they would do when they got home, when “this is
over.” One taste of all this and then they will no longer
be clamoring for action, as they are now. They have yet
to learn the face of war is a savage, repulsive one.
Tuesday, July 20, 1943
tle things that are the big things, e.g. liberty, water for
the showers; when he does grant liberty, holding them
back for hours needlessly and then bringing them back
earlier than the other ships. I share their opinion.
Friday, July 23, 1943
0630 – Mass
0630 – Mass
Men and Marines are getting restless that we have
not shoved off yet. Waiting period is always tedious
for them, especially when they have no liberty. Little
for them to do all day aboard ship. Many read, but
find that ship is rather restricting. They can’t take a
walk down the main stem.
Wednesday, July 21, 1943
0630 – Mass
21st and some of the 9th Marines aboard. Three
travelling chaplains, Fr. Joe Conway, Chaplains
Ribble and Reeves. Fr. Conway says Mass at
0800 in the Library.
No liberty for the crew!!! What a skipper! Men
211
wouldn’t go through tissue paper for him!
Thursday, July 22, 1943
0630 – Mass
Men of ship’s company boiling last night and today.
No liberty granted by the Captain. Why? No doubt
has a reason, but whatever it is, it works a hardship
on the crew. To be in port without any ostensible
reason for cancelling liberty when the other ships in
our Division have liberty and the Officers aboard our
ship have it and the men don’t does not make for
good morale.
Unfortunately, the men will be happy when he is
transferred. He is not liked by his men. He has the
reputation of being inconsiderate of his crew in the lit-
In retrospect: Last Saturday when all arrangements
for Ship’s Dance were completed and at once called
off by Captain because it was to be on Sunday night.
One hundred cases of beer that were bought for the
crew sold to the Marines aboard. When I remonstrate, he said that “They can get plenty here. If they
haven’t any money, we’ll give them some.” Suspect
his promises from past performance. If and when
men find out these things, will make them unhappy.
Later learn that Officers are having a dance on
Sunday night. When Sunday night comes, Captain
attends. Hypocrite! Told me that we would scandalize New Zealanders by Sunday dance, then Officers
have one with him there! I had an invite, supposed
to go, as usually did, to put in an appearance, but
stayed aboard with the men.
I had all the arrangements made, even to making a special call to the Lord Mayor of Auckland to
grease the way. Captain asked me, “Do you approve
of dance Sunday night?” “If they start the day right
by going to church, there is nothing wrong with a
dance on Sunday night under the circumstances, for
it is impossible to hold it on any other night.” “No,
we might cause surprise to the New Zealanders.”
1030 – Underway for Noumea, four of us, Crescent
City, American Legion, Hunter Liggett with us. Trip
is uneventful down the long channel. Passengers
marvel at the rugged scenery that flanks our port
side as we snake through the narrow passageways.
One rock, tooth-shaped at the top, stands out lonesomely about two miles off shore. It is a lava souvenir from some hot volcano long ago. It is leaning
211 As Foley elsewhere speaks well of Captain Arthur T. Moen, a 1917 graduate of the Naval Academy who had been the commanding officer
of the Clymer since December 1942, he must have been referring to Captain Frank R. Talbot, a 1921 graduate of Annapolis who briefly
served contiguously with Moen before taking command of the ship in September 1943.
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�toward the shore. All three hundred feet of it is like
a willow sapling as though it had been straining to
keep up with its mates as they made land and then
having failed, it was frozen in its present position.
Saturday, July 24, 1943
0600 – Mass
No stormy night as the last time we headed out of
Auckland. Fr, Conway sleeps the sleep of the just
and celebrates Mass at 1730 (5:30 p.m.) This evening both of us hear confessions in preparation for
tomorrow.
0600 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000 – Protestant Worship. 1500 – Rosary and Benediction. At all the services some of the finest turnouts that we have ever
had aboard. Marines are excellent Catholics. Most
of them are appallingly young. No wonder they are
called the kids of the service.
Plane zooms overhead. One Marine remarks to the
other, “Boy, I sure like to see those babies over us.”
Feeling is shared by all. Sight of our own planes
generates a feeling of security and confidence. While
they are over us, we know that none of Tojo’s boys
will bother us.
1000 – Three
ships on the horizon, two cargo and
one patrol craft. Last joins us and others go on their
way to Auckland unattended. All passengers crowd
the rails to catch sight of strange ships at sea.
Day is beautiful one; weather has grown warmer as
we go tieless and coatless once again. Marines stand
up in the bow of the ship watching the crisp lines of
creamy spray curving over and over endlessly and
tirelessly.
Monday, July 26, 1943
0600 – Mass
We arrive at Noumea, the Dumbea Harbor area,
about 0930. I go ashore to pick up some Red Cross
gear, newspapers, magazines and comics.
Ship is loading the invasion barges that we lack. Won’t
be long before we pull out, fully equipped again. Captain Jack Delahanty of the Marines stays in my room
until midnight, telling me that he asks God for two
things every day, that he will not be a coward in
battle, and that God will spare him if it is His Holy
Will. Earnest, strongly emotional in all his speech
and gestures, manly to his fingertips, he need have
no worry about his qualities of leadership.
Tuesday, July 27, 1943
0630 – Mass
This morning bright and early we shove off for the
Canal again. These Marines are the readingest public
we have had aboard. They have over 700 books out.
One of them is John King of 1387 Mt. Auburn Street,
Cambridge [Massachusetts], who went three years to
Harvard, then jumped into the Marine Corps. Army
Air Corps was slow in picking him up, though he had
made his application, so he acted on the spur of the
moment and found himself in a Marine uniform. “Why
didn’t you try for an officer’s commission?” I asked him.
“Because my father was an officer in the last war and he
told me to be content with an enlisted man’s status.” He
said he did not want to live with his conscience if he was
at all responsible for the death of men under his command due to his own incompetence and ignorance.
Wednesday, July 28, 1943
0630 – Mass. Well attended by the Marines who, as
usual, are excellent churchgoers. Most of them are
amazingly young, some of them having yet to shave.
This is a well-drilled outfit, excellently equipped
and headed by good officers. They should give a fine
account of themselves in actual battle.
Thursday, July 29, 1943
0630 – Mass
General Quarters alarm at ten o’clock that spices
the routine of the morning. Passengers freeze to the
bulkhead while we hurry to our battle stations.
Friday, July 30, 1943
0630 – Mass
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�1430 – We arrive at our debarkation point, Teteri, which
is the same as our last trip here to Guadalcanal. However, the Captain has informed me that I will not be
able to go ashore to see Ed. A new order has just been
issued from Noumea stating that nobody may go ashore
here unless on duty. I ask if I may go over with the sick
patients, but the answer is negative.
Refusing to be stumped, I type out a letter for Lt.
Bob Laverty of the First Raider Battalion, whom I
met the last time ashore. In it I explain my plight
and ask him to jeep Ed down from Henderson to
see me if it is at all possible. At four o’clock the radio
from the beach sends the word, “OK, Laverty.”
miss out on our connections this trip. I must see that
big shot at Noumea who authorized that order.
1500 – We
receive 250 wounded and casualties
aboard. Stories: Jap pillboxes guarding airfield at
Munda difficult to take. Casualties very high. Overhead 60 planes take off from Henderson Field.
Every two and a half or three minutes a plane soars
up from the main field and from the two fighter
strips. As they roar over us, they are loaded up with
their death-dealing black eggs. There are dive bomb213
ers, mediums and escorts of fighter craft.
What a picture they make, lazy powder puffs of white
clouds are drifting across the face of the blue summer sky. The sunlight is sparkling and dancing on a
million waves. West of us the sun herself is beginning
to slip down the sky as day is about two hours from a
close. Into that sun as though they had a rendezvous
with it, fly the planes north to Munda and beyond. As
they wing their way out, a prayer follows them. “God
keep them and please bless them and bring them
back safely.” Out here the long days of training are
over, every trip they make is a matter of life and death.
From all their trips some of them do not return.
1830 – Ed and he come aboard. Bob has to return
immediately but not without a big flitch of bacon,
30 dozen eggs, filet de boeuf, a crate of apples, a box
of cigars and a box of Milky Ways. Over the side in the
dark he clambers down the net until we meet again.
Ed meanwhile digs into a steak with sides of onions,
celery, etc. with ice cream for dessert. The meal
over, he relaxed in the easy chair in the room and we
discussed the folks back home, the good word about
our brother making the grade in AA School and the
212
President’s speech. A good night’s sleep in a soft
mattress and a breakfast of bacon and eggs help to
make a new man of Eddie Boy. Unfortunately, he
received word that his OCS application was made
in a file which is presently overcrowded. However,
nothing daunted, he is applying again for the medical
administrative end of the business.
again for Noumea with our
wounded. Many of them neurotic cases, shell shock
victims, hands and legs quivering from the effects
of bomb blasts and mortars. Others a bit unsettled
by the sight of so much bleeding and dying going on
around them on every side.
Saturday, July 31, 1943
Sunday, August 1, 1943
That his application this time will be successful
is the intention of my Mass which Ed served and
received for the same intention.
0830 – We say goodbye again, grateful for the time
spent together when it seemed as though we might
1730 – Underway
0630 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000 – General Service.
Wounded, the ambulatory cases, present in large
numbers, grateful to God for having spared them for
some special reason while their mates and buddies
were dying on every side of them. Learn from one
212 Roosevelt had spoken in a Fireside Chat on July 28 regarding the fall of Benito Mussolini, progress in Italy and North Africa, and plans
for the post-war that would include a “G.I. Bill of Rights.”
213 The battle for the airport at Munda Point, for which the American had sorely underestimated the size of the defending Japanese force
and the difficulty of the terrain, lasted from July 2 to August 5. Five thousand American troops were killed.
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�of the sailors that two of the men who were recently
members of our ship’s company and were transferred
to LST’s, were killed outright when their ship was
torpedoed on the way to Rendova. In our prayers we
make a special remembrance of them today.
forward to the attack, were slaughtered. No impression had been made by the preliminary softening up
of planes and artillery on the coral pillboxes built in
depth defense. Five hundred yards advance there at
214
Munda is equivalent of five miles on Sicily.”
Some of the wounded cases are pathetic; still
dazed expressions on their faces from the horrible
experience they have been through recently. In the
afternoon we have a small but select group at Rosary
and Benediction. Since we have only a handful of
passengers aboard, the normal two hundred of
them who would be present are conspicuous by
their absence.
Day is a lovely one, same as yesterday, warm blue
cloudless sky with occasional strips of white crowning the mountains on the islands that flank us on
either side for a while. Men we are carrying say that
the Japs are a resolute and powerful enemy and that
their flyers are excellent, almost as good as our own.
These boys are mute evidence that this war is one
of mechanized might and high explosives in which
human bravery and the strength of manhood count
for very little against monstrous instruments of
destruction.
One of our officers tells me a story about that destroyer, the Renshaw, that we fueled on our previous trip
to Guadalcanal. From destroyer flotilla commander
came the order, “Run into X anchorage and shell
the Munda Airfield.” Skipper of Renshaw replied,
“According to my charts, sir, X anchorage is mined.”
“According to mine also, area is mined. Execute
orders.” “Aye, aye, sir.”
She made a run through the mine field at 33 knots
per hour, with all her guns blazing away, not knowing whether or not the next second would find her
blasted into eternity. Yet she lived to tell of it, with
only one transfer the next day for nerves.
Monday, August 2, 1943
0630 – Mass after General Quarters.
Wounded and convalescent soldiers of the 150 we
have aboard are rapidly becoming themselves again.
Many shell shock cases among them. Some come
to, to find that soldiers around them were corpses.
Have the shakes, no control of their hands. Some
have lost power of speech, others stammer and
stutter. Even so, decided improvement among them
since they boarded us last Saturday. “Casualties
heavy?” Infantry officer answered, “Heavy barrage
was laid down for half an hour, then dive bombers
did their work. When hour broke, men swarmed
Tuesday, August 3, 1943
0530 – General Quarters. 0630 – Mass.
Sea is a glassy mill pond this morning. Ships make
excellent headway. What ships? The Crescent City,
Hunter Liggett, American Legion, Algorab, Libra,
and our old friend, the John Penn. Later the John
Penn breaks off for Efate in the New Hebrides. The
Algorab and the Libra, both cargo ships, slip into
Espiritu Santo and we four remaining continue to
Noumea.
Day is another delightful one. Passengers have picked
up remarkably; good food, a long sleep and rest will
bring them back to themselves eventually. Blue on
every side of us. Blue of the sky; battle blue of the
ships, seven of us; purplish blue of mountains; deep
blue of ocean shined up into light marine blue by our
propeller; all shades of my favorite color.
Sunset this evening is a quick one. Cloudless blue
sky all day at sunset, line of the horizon is razor
sharp; sun slips down rapidly creating an optical
illusion. Even though she was partly below the
horizon, it was still round; suddenly it is gone.
Within ten minutes no trace of it. Darkness came
214 The fighting for Munda was notable for the 700 men who were removed on account of “battle neuroses.”
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�very quickly; may have seemed quick because there
were no clouds to catch the rays below the horizon.
In “The Cross of Peace” by Philip Gibbs I come
across his description of Armand Batiere’s reaction
to the scenes of normal life after he had looked long,
215
yet dry-eyed at the frightful harvesting of war.
Unit. Are a quiet, subdued group as they sit in their
serried lanes. Hope that all will be themselves shortly.
A wave of the hand from our men lining the rails and
we have said goodbye to another crowd.
Thursday, August 5,1943
0630 – Mass.
He was looking at some youngsters, little girls, playing at crowning a Queen of the May in a field covered
with wild flowers. He was surprised to find that his
eyes were wet. Why? Because he could only figure that
here was a sharp reminder of the happiness and joy
of childhood and the boyish memories that contrasted
with the bloody memories of his days in the line.
Wednesday, August 4, 1943
Another beautiful day here, after their mild winter;
never see [the mountains] blanketed with snow but
only rain, and rain, and rain, and more rain. We swing
around the buoy expectantly hoping to up the anchor
[drop anchor] at any moment but we don’t. I’m sorry
that I miss the good Sisters again. Am afraid that I
will miss the ship if I go ashore. That would never do.
0530 – General Quarters. 0630 – Mass.
Friday, August 6, 1943
Hit a heavy ground swell today for about five hours;
we and the other ships rise and fall sharply. As I get
up from the breakfast table, almost fall back on the
deck when the ship suddenly pitches sharply. Mess
Attendant Gore remarks, “Almost came loose from
yourself that time, Chaplain.”
Another day like yesterday, both for weather and
shoving off. It seems that we have no escort available so we wait and wait. Meanwhile some Gold
Braid [senior officer] comes aboard. We are to be the
flagship of Admiral [Theodore S.] Wilkinson until
his vessel, the Appalachian, now being built in the
States, puts in an appearance.
Soldier to whom I give an outfit of clothing tells me
that he laid in his foxhole for five days and nights
without being able to move. Japs controlled position. Didn’t dare sleep at night. One night watching
nervously, sensed that something or somebody was
out ahead of him. Let forty-odd bullets rip along the
front of his foxhole. In the morning about fifteen
feet away three dead Japs.
Uh, uh; means that we old timers will be dispossessed and shipped down below to the Main Deck.
Gold Braid only will be topside.
In the evening movies as usual, “Roxie Hart,” the
picture which does little credit to the author of the
216
story, the producer or the star, Ginger Rogers.
Saturday, August 7, 1943
4:30 – We slide between the coral reefs guarding the
entrance to Noumea. Waves are boiling over them on
both sides of us as we single up to the slide around
Isle Nou and then to safe anchorage again, thank God.
Passengers debark about 5:30. All squatting on a big
pontoon barge, fashioned by a Pontoon Assembly
Scuttlebutt. Was decided at conference of the big
shots the other day that we would not go back to
the States for some necessary repairs but would go
to New Zealand; there to be remodeled at Auckland
and, if possible, to have our fouled bottom scraped of
all the accumulated growth of the last ten months.
215 Gibbs (1877–1962) was a British, Catholic journalist and writer. His The Cross of Peace (1931) drew from his experiences as a reporter on
the Western Front in WWI.
216 Based on “Chicago,” a 1926 stage play about showgirls, murder, and civic corruption, the movie would be revived as a hit Broadway
musical in 1975 and an award -winning film in 2002. It is easy to see why Foley didn’t find it to his taste.
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�1030 – We
shove off with a destroyer and a President
liner cargo ship. We are hitting 17 knots, with the
other ship following us.
At 9:30 p.m. I go out topside just in time to catch
the crescent moon, about to slip below the rim of
the night horizon. The moon is in her lowest quarter, and the moon really is what the poet calls her
217
somewhere, a Ghostly Galleon. Slowly she slips
below the horizon, a perfectly outlined ship until
only the tops of her bow and stern are visible, then
a dull pale glow marks the spot and black sablevested night is in complete charge again.
Sunday, August 8, 1943
0600 – Mass Upper Deck Shop Area.
the buoy won’t disappoint us at all for a while, then
we’ll begin to itch to put out to sea again. One bad
feature of it all, this new duty means that I won’t be
seeing Ed for some time. I do hope his application
for Officers Training School is acted upon favorably.
Ed is beginning to get sick of Guadalcanal. Who
can blame him after being on that island since last
December? Ducking into foxholes and bombings
gets tiresome.
Very rough today. Night is no better. We always,
with one exception, have struck bad weather a short
distance north of New Zealand. Here are in it again.
We roll and pitch all night long until General
Quarters. No sleep.
Tuesday, August 10, 1943
0900 – Mass Junior Wardroom.
0600 – General Quarters. 0700 – Mass.
1000 – General
Sea is a heavy rolling one; wind is strong as we sight
the headlands, now familiar, of New Zealand on
port side. They are wild and rugged and stern, and
the ocean waves are lashing angrily at their feet. We
anchor in the stream at 4:30 p.m.
Service Junior Wardroom.
This morning we are no longer three ships together.
President liner leaves us to break off for Australia.
Destroyer heads back to Noumea. Now we are on
our own again. May God be with us as we head for
way down under. Just learned at table that tanker
that was in our convoy on our last trip to Guadalcanal has been torpedoed. Day is bright with
occasional squalls.
Monday, August 9, 1943
General Quarters as usual to start the day when we
are alone on the wide open seas. Day passes quietly,
though I am putting on the last drive for insurance.
Campaign that got started in May ends tomorrow.
Having executed over $300,000 in insurance policies
218
since May, must be at least a million since last year.
Wednesday, August 11, 1943
0630 – Mass.
We move into the dock at Devonport across the
Waiamata Harbor, which word in Maori means Placid
Water. In the one dry dock is the New Zealand
cruiser Leander with a gaping hole amidships port
side where Jap torpedo hammered home and killed
28 men. At the time one of the officers counted 31
torpedoes in the water. Two of our vessels were also
hit, but not so seriously. One had her bow shot off,
the other a small piece of her stern.
We lose an hour today, so that daylight doesn’t begin
now until about 7:20. Back in the land that is like
our own at home.
Thursday, August 12, 1943
A lot of remodeling must be done to equip us for
the Gold Braid coming aboard. Swinging around
Ashore this morning to clean up some odds and
ends. In the evening spend some time with Jim
0630 – Mass.
217 The traditionalist poet Alfred Noyes (1880-1958) in his popular “The Highwayman” (1906).
218 In an interview with Steven O’Brien in 1995, Foley estimated that he had sold $3 million in insurance policies during his service.
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�Grant and Jack Convery, both of them Naval Officers
living at the Grand Hotel. Visit MOB [Main Operating Base] 4 to see Fr. Riedel, but missed him; also
called up MOB 6 where Fr. Minton is, but no reply;
both away on business.
Back to the ship where I find letters from my mother
and brother waiting for me.
Friday, August 13, 1943
This morning I went over to the USS Relief Hospital
ship where I met Fr. Joe Lynch, S.J. He has another
chaplain with him, Schonz, to take care of the men
of the Protestant faith. It was good to meet both of
219
them again.
0630 – Mass.
Sea gulls here looking for their usual feast. Have
beautiful color scheme. Some have white bodies and
black wings with a white piping around the borders;
others have an all white body and wings, but a black
stripe across the tip of their wings.
Saturday, August 14, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Work is proceeding apace in the Yard. It seems that
we are after all to be the Admiral’s temporary flagship
and then when he departs, we shall carry the Commodore of our division of ships. Radar equipment to the
tune of $400,000, from Raytheon, Newton, Massachusetts, is being installed aboard. All officers topside
except me and the Communications Officer who have
been moved below to the Main Deck.
Sunday, August 15, 1943
Monday, August 16, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Tuesday, August 17, 1943
Fr. Furlong’s remark in sermon last Sunday, “God
never gives suffering for suffering’s sake,” still
sticks with me. How true. He gives us suffering to
help us to become saints. “He learned obedience
through suffering,” as St. Paul says of Our Lord.
Wednesday, August 18, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Out to Mobile Hospital #4 to see Fr. Riedel, Chaplain. Dinner with him and then to the boxing bouts
there in their recreation hall at 7:30. Interesting two
hours watching the lads box, some of them New
Zealanders, all the way down to nine years old.
Mass at 0630 and 0900. Feast of Our Lady’s
Assumption. Protestant Service in the Yard Chapel.
Thursday, August 19, 1943
Today I have been twenty years in the Jesuit Order.
Offer up my second Mass in thanksgiving to God
for all His blessings of all those years. Later in the
morning I visit Fr. Furlong at St. Leo’s Church in
Devonport. He has been here for 38 years. In the
afternoon to Papatoetoe. What a name for a town;
Maori as usual.
Commander Olesen looks at the paper, remarking
about the fall of Sicily that it was quick work. Points
out the channel three miles wide separating Sardinia from toe of boot where he used to take his ship in
the Merchant Marine.
Then later to Fr. Shore and Fr. Fahey in Otahuhu,
who are in charge of the little station chapel that I
saw early in the afternoon.
219 Lynch and Schonz had trained with Foley in chaplain school.
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0630 – Mass
Reflection on the religion of the men. Many experiences serve to prove the basic goodness and deeply
religious spirit of all the men and the strong faith
and solid piety of our Catholic men.
�A catchy ditty, quoted in a letter home: “While sitting at
the table, he needed elbow room. He looked at Dad and
said, ‘Say, Mate, rig in your starboard boom.’”
FRIday, August 20, 1943
0630 – Mass.
42 years, before I was born! In the afternoon to
MOB [Main Operating Base] 4 to see Fr. Bob Minton. We have dinner together, then repair to Mechanics Bay for movies, both pictures of the class B type.
Monday, August 23, 1943
0630 – Mass. Routine day.
Out this afternoon to Fr. Maurice Hunt’s parish
where we visit the Maori College run by the Mill
Hill Fathers of England. One of them, a Hollander,
remarks that the Japanese just could not exploit the
East Indians worse than did his own Dutch. The 18
Maori boys put on a Maori Battalion song and some
dances for me. They were quite energetic during
their war dance. I thank them at the end and ask for
a remembrance in their prayers.
Saturday, August 21, 1943
0630 – Mass.
We are still tied up at the Navy Yard dock here in
Devonport just across the Waitemata Harbor from
Auckland. Workmen are busily engaged in transforming us, putting new equipment aboard, hoisting the cradles for our attack boats, putting in a new
fire main to help extinguish the bomb fire that will
not start aboard us some day, with the help of God
and Our Lady. However, we soberly think of our predecessor, the USS McCawley that went to the bottom a short while ago. May ours not be a like fate.220
Sunday, August 22, 1943
0630 – Mass. 0900 – Mass.
Tuesday, August 24, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Learn that Crescent City and Hunter Liggett
suffered hits recently. There but for a reassignment of
orders go we. First it is said that what the John Penn
had to do was originally our job. She was sunk. Now
our division is plastered with bombs.
Trust that our day of reckoning isn’t merely being
221
postponed, just hope it isn’t on the books at all.
Wednesday, August 25, 1943
0630 – Mass.
In the evening to the boxing matches in the Town
Hall where one of our men, Dale Spar, boxes an exhibition match of four rounds with a local boy. Since I
have two tickets I take along Ivan Robinson, one of the
NZ Air Force who lives 30 miles north of Wellington
at Johnsonville. We have a pleasant evening together;
fine Catholic boy about 22 years old who was returning home from Canada; accident in his flight training.
Thursday, August 26, 1943
0930 – Mass.
Dinner today with Fr. Furlong, pastor of the
little church around the corner. His home is located
about a fifteen minute walk from the church. It
is a lovely spring day. We have good food, good
wine and good conversation. He has been here for
Routine day aboard the ship, after securing movie
for tonight, “Arise My Love,” with [Claudette]
222
Colbert and [Ray] Milland.
220 See entry under July 4, 1943. Foley mentions the loss of the McCawley four times in his diary. Like the Clymer, she was an attack transport.
221 An attack transport mentioned 20 times in the diary that sailed with the Clymer and on which Foley had said Mass many times, the
Penn was sunk in an airborne attack on August 13, 1943 while off-loading supplies near Guadalcanal. A list of the dead and their ages,
hometowns, and survivors can be found at https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?107884. Also, see entry under September 23, 1943.
222 A 1940 Paramount production that featured Milland as an American pilot who flies for Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War,
the film advocated for American intervention in what was then a European conflict. Foley may (continued on page 158)
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�In the afternoon to Boys’ Orphanage run by Sisters.
Bring them chocolate bars and hard candies; all glad
to get them. Range in age from 2 to 13, fine healthy
group of lads who find in the Sisters the motherly
affection which has been denied them. They give me
a rousing cheer when I leave them.
Later in the evening to Dean Murphy’s where I have
supper, leave some cigars and cigarettes for him
and for Fr. Linehan. On the way home, stop off at
theater to see Snow White and Bing Crosby in the
223
Starmaker.
Friday, August 27, 1943
No word piped down for bugler is ashore. I visit
with the Captain!! What an interview. What a man!
Lovely Spring day, like those preceding. We are leaving here at the wrong time. Tomorrow we leave for
Wellington where our bottom will be scraped. Walk
along the Devonport beach where many folks are
strolling along, taking a look at the beach where they
will be swimming when summer waltzes in, spring
having tripped north again.
Monday, August 30, 1943
0630 – Mass.
At 0730 ashore to return movies.
0630 – Mass.
Movie tonight, “They Knew What They Wanted
[RKO, 1940],” fine sermon on the remorse that
224
sin breeds.
Harding of the 1st Division comes in with Gomez to
the office. He is all but bursting into tears. Finds the
going rough; wants a transfer to another ship. Is 16
years old; falsified his age to get into the Navy. Boatswain’s Mate, he says, seems to be picking on him.
A good piece of cake after he had talked himself out
makes up for the chow that he missed.
Saturday, August 28, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Fr. Linehan calls that he will ring me on Monday to
cook up something for a day’s outing.
Sunday, August 29, 1943
0630, 0900 – Mass.
At 1000 underway for Wellington where Eleanor
Roosevelt is hibernating. What a woman.
Tuesday, August 31, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Day is a dull, cold one. Read this today; worth
remembering. A quotation from the diary of an
American soldier, Martin Treptow, written shortly
before he died for his country at Chateau Thierry
in 1918, for those flaming words of his should
constitute a guiding torch that every red-blooded
American should take up and carry with proved
determination to victory: ”I will work; I will save; I
will sacrifice; I will endure; I will fight cheerfully
and do my utmost, as if the whole struggle depended
on me alone.” Quoted by Joseph C. Grew in Introduction to Report from Tokyo: A Message to the
225
American People [Simon & Schuster, 1942].
Mr. Mays, Warrant Machinist, when he saw in the
Press Release from the Radio Shack [shipboard room
have felt a special appreciation for a scene in which a priest is sent to comfort Milland’s character on the eve of his execution. “This is
my first execution,” the priest confesses. “Don’t worry, it’s mine too,” is Milland’s cool response.
223 The Star Maker (1939) is a wholesome Paramount production in which Crosby plays a would-be song-writer who, with the support of his
wife, gives up his job as a clerk and founds a children’s chorus.
224 Foley’s approbation is understandable. The plot features Charles Laughton as a well-off vintner whose young wife (Carole Lombard) has
an affair with an orchard worker, but who is persuaded, by “Fr. McKee,” to take back the remorseful woman and her young child.
225 Grew had been the US ambassador to Japan when war broke out. Treptow, who Foley must have known was a Catholic, became latterly
famous in 1981, when President Ronald Reagan quoted the young private’s diary during his first inaugural address, on January 20, 1981.
158 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�housing radio communications] about promise of a
tremendous offensive in the Pacific, “Halsey is the
226
fightingest man I have ever seen.” Mays is a quiet
fellow with a very pleasant disposition who has seen the
horrors of war close up. The Lexington went down under him with many of his friends trapped below in her.
Received 30 new books today; clipped jackets and
posted them on the forward bulkhead of the Library.
Sun goes down in flaming gold, with mountains
on starboard side wrapped in haze of light purple.
Promises well for tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 1, 1943
0546 – General Quarters.
0646 – Mass.
Clear, crisp day as we head through Cook’s Straits
led on by two distant shore lights that look very
friendly in the early morning darkness. Anticipate
with pleasure seeing Fr. Gascoigne and Miss Eileen
Duggan and her friends again: her sister Mrs.
Dennehy and Miss McLeely.
0930 – We dock at Wellington, back to our first love.
Why? I think that the reason we love Wellington
more than Auckland is not that we like the latter
less, but because this was the first really civilized
place we struck after being up in the Solomons.
I call up Miss Duggan who has just received the first
227
copy of Commonweal, to which I subscribed
her. When liberty is given, I go ashore and immediately head for Glencoe Court where I have evening meal and then tea about ten o’clock. All sorts of
ugly rumors had been heard about my ship, e.g., had
been badly torpedoed, etc., all of them utterly without
foundation, thank God. Fr. Gascoigne is away on his
holidays without any school worries to bother him, for
the youngsters have their six weeks of holidays now.
Thursday, September 2, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Ashore at 11 o’clock to arrange for movie, “Tin Pan
228
Alley,” with Jack Oakie. Then to a café where I
have a steak. No greens, so I go out to a vegetable
store where I buy a head of lettuce and a bunch of
celery. Back to the restaurant where they clean them
for me and I bore into the steak.
Chaplain Vernon of the Marines introduces himself.
He is just in the Navy, fresh from Chaplains’ School.
When he leaves, Mrs. Sepia of Wakefield-Nelson,
17 miles by bus, introduces herself with her girl
who goes to convent school. Wants me to visit them
some time. If I can, will take perhaps a bus trip out
there Sunday if we are in that long. Out to the street;
overhear two young Marines in conversation. One
says to the other, “This reminds me of home.” Main
thoroughfare is crowded with thousands of shoppers
flowing past in both directions. Note a good sign
in a souvenir store window: “Don’t trouble trouble
until trouble troubles you.”
Take a Wadestown tram just for the ride and start
to make hairpin turns until we have ridden right
over the crest of the mountain [Mount Victoria] that
commands a marvelous view of the harbor. Can look
down and see our ship nosing her way cautiously
into dry dock. Scene is breathtaking in its clear,
clean beauty. Houses are perched, it seems precariously, on the sides of the mountains all around us.
Below are the deep blue waters of the harbor, ringing it are the mountains, the highest wearing clouds
and cloudlets on their heads. Off in the distance
hugging the shore line a white plume of smoke
226 Admiral William (Bull) Halsey was commander of the Pacific Fleet.
227 The American magazine of religion and culture published by lay Catholics and established in 1924.
228 A 1940 musical by 20th Century-Fox, featuring Betty Grable and Alice Faye as sisters and vaudeville singers, and Oakie and John Wayne
as their romantic interests . It received an Academy Award for Best Musical Score. The movie concludes with the male leads returning
from WW I to find that Grable and Kaye had been faithfully awaiting their return.
159 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�from a fast suburban train floats lazily skyward on
the horizon. Behind the crest is a little town in the
fold of the hill, Wadestown. Houses as though somebody had set them down by hand.
Make arrangements to say Mass aboard the Crescent City and the USS Feland, new arrival from the
230
States just across the dock from us.
Sunday, September 5, 1943
Back to Miss Duggan’s where we leave after tea for
a visit to the House of Parliament where I also meet
Mr. [Rex] Mason, Minister of Education, and his
secretary, Mr. Smith. The latter with a delightfully
ironical twist of wit.
Friday, September 3, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Wild, blustery day with rain pouring down. It is
blowing from the southwest in sheets, smack into
the side of the mountain on whose sides so many
houses seem to have such a precarious hold.
Good day to stay on board ship. Every now and then
she rocks a bit in her cradle as we watch the full
force of the wind sweeping across the harbor.
Read this today by Belloc in book loaned to me by
Eileen Duggan: “There is about the Catholic Church
something absolute which demands, provokes,
necessitates alliance or hostility, friendship or enmity.
That truth you find unchangeable throughout the
ages, and therefore it is that on the first appearance
229
of the Church, the challenge is already declared.”
Saturday, September 4, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Day is just as mean as yesterday. No sign of wind
abating. One of the dock workers says, “Normally
we suffer this weather for three days.”
0700 – Mass aboard the Crescent City.
0900 – Mass aboard the George Clymer.
1000 – Mass
aboard the USS Feland.
Another day unfit for man or beast to be abroad.
Paper says that many new born lambs have suc231
cumbed to the wild stormy weather. People hug
their fireplaces except those who have to be abroad on
business. Rain is still smashing relentlessly into the
sides of the mountains in back of us. On the shore
line, spray is flung high as it crashes on the artificial
seawall that protects the narrow gauge railway that
skirts the shoreline at the base of the mountains.
These mountains are so steep that right in the center
of the town just fifty yards off the main street behind
one of the department stores is a cable car that pulls
folks living up on the precipitous sides to their homes.
Weather abates a bit toward 4:30, so I wend my way
ashore to spend the evening with Eileen Duggan,
her widowed sister, Mrs. Dennehy, and their friend,
Miss McLeely. Delightful evening before the open
fireplace, talking about literature, the Liturgy and
things Catholic with an occasional story about
our American boys. Dinner of chicken, mashed
potatoes, vegetables and dessert, fresh pineapple
and whipped cream.
Monday, September 6, 1943
0630 – Mass.
I make arrangements for tomorrow to pay my
movie bills to Fox Films for all the pictures we have
232
been having, the latest, Sun Valley Serenade.
229 From Hilaire Belloc’s On Patmos. The borrowed book was most likely Places: Essays by Hilaire Belloc (1942).
230 Like the Clymer and Crescent City, the Feland was an attack transport.
231 Wool was New Zealand’s leading export in terms of value.
232 A 1940 20th Century-Fox musical comedy about a band (Glenn Miller Orchestra), a ski resort (Sun Valley, Utah), a pin-up girl, and an
exotic ice skater (Sonja Henie).
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�Story is that now we are out of dry dock and get
underway for Lautoka, Fiji, tomorrow.
report, the last to be submitted by this Captain
233
before he leaves us at Lautoka, Fiji.
Meeting with Mrs. A. C. Scott, 13 Raukau Road,
Haitaitai, tel. 55230, whose sister, Nellie, 25, asserts
that one of our men has gotten her in trouble. Who
is he? Only knows his nickname, Fritz, has a tattoo
mark, “Mother,” on right arm and two others on left
arm. Wears silver ring with initials FLR. With her to
doctor; report no definite signs of pregnancy. Another
report in a month. As I shook hands with the doctor,
who glared at me, he said in a cutting voice, “Are you
the man behind all this?” Would have laughed if the
situation was not fraught with possible tragedy.
11:15 – Voice
over loudspeaker. “Attention, please.
Word has just been received that Italy has surrendered unconditionally to the United Nations and to
Soviet Russia.” The silence is suddenly broken by
a loud, wild burst of cheering all over the ship and
shrill whistling. The first sailor I meet who is chipping rust off the deck remarks, “Well, Father, that’s
strike No. 1. Now we’ve got to get the other two.”
Receipt of this word merits a fervent prayer of thanksgiving to God and a renewed plea to Him that the end
of all fighting will come as quickly as possible.
Tuesday, September 7, 1943
Saturday, September 11, 1943
0630 – Mass.
0515 – General Quarters.
A rush down to Fox Films in Courtenay Place to
pay the movie bill of one pound for “Sun Valley
Serenade” and then at 1000 we are underway once
more on a dull, raw day. We swing out around
Wellington to travel up the east coast of the North
Island. Two Captains aboard, Moen, old, and
Talbot, new, until arrival at next destination.
0615 – Mass.
Wednesday, September 8, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Day is much warmer as we head north. In a few
days more we will strike tropical weather again after
our month’s sojourn down under.
Thursday, September 9, 1943
0537 – General Quarters again. We are in dangerous
submarine waters, so we are once more at our battle
stations one hour before dawn. A little chilly this
morning as we head directly north. Looks as if it
will be a gray, overcast day.
Communications Officer, Lt. Cdr. McRae comes
into my room at 11 o’clock to hand me my fitness
233 The “fitness report” is an evaluation document for Navy officers.
234 The Marist sisters founded a mission school in Levuka in 1892.
161 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
2:30 – Through reef channel about 20 miles from
Lautoka, Fiji. On both sides of us waves breaking
over the coral in dazzling blue and white colors.
4:30 – Anchor about a mile from the narrow
dock. Make arrangements for Mass aboard the
USS Sampson, destroyer, for tomorrow.
Sunday, September 12, 1943
0330 – Mass on George Clymer. Since today is
loading day, we have to get an early start.
0900 – Mass on USS Sampson. Out to her, anchored
about two miles away. Mass in crew’s mess hall
where it is so hot that sweat just pours from priest
and congregation.
3:30 – Marist Convent. Sister Fabian and Sister Geraldine, Marist Sisters, who had heard of me from
Dick Collins and Chief Callahan of the John Penn,
of pious memory, now at bottom. Met Sister Geral234
dine when she was visiting in chapel.
�6:00 – Meet Lt. Tom Keenan who informs me that
Jim Collins is now Lt. Colonel in the Medical Corps.
Fr. Flaherty is in Suva and Fr. Brock is doing his
priestly work up and down the island.
Like last night, the moon is full and when I go out
on deck at 10 o’clock to see it, it is straight overhead.
Night is one of peace and beauty. Star-filled sky,
moon lighting up the ridges of the mountains, all
their harsh lines softened by her mellow rays. Water
is calm as a mill pond. Not a sound breaks the stillness of the tropical night. We are in a backwater of
the world where all the feverish activity of big cities
is as unknown as an Eskimo, except through movies.
Monday, September 13, 1943
0445 – Up before dawn for a shave and a shower
before leaving the ship to go to destroyer Sampson.
Still dark when I reach her, two miles out. Hop
aboard, set up altar on the fantail, directly between
the after-gun turrets. Altar is framed between the two
long rifles, projecting on either side. I hear confessions, facing aft on port side. Sun comes up brilliant
gold over the shoulder of the mountains. Men kneel
down on the deck, one after another, while I raise
my hands in absolution over them.
Mass at 0630 with the skipper of the ship, Lt. Cdr.
Flick, whose father is German and mother Irish,
giving fine example to his men by kneeling in the
first row and receiving Holy Communion.
Back to the ship, then down the gangway to visit the
Convent again, where I go through the school with
its three castes, European, half-caste and Fijian and
Indian. Just a handful of Catholics, perhaps one in six
among the boys and girls. School is situated right on the
curving shoreline with overhanging palm trees leaning
down to the blue water rolling in gently from the sea.
In the afternoon Fr. McInnis and Tom Laurence
from Elm Street drop in to say hello. Happy to meet
another S.J. He leaves with two crates of eggs, a side
of beef and six large hams. In turn he hands me a
235 A fire-extinguishing chemical substance.
162 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
box of foamite
of the same.
235
in its cardboard carton and a case
Troops coming aboard all day. We shove off to
anchorage five miles down stream.
Tuesday, September 14, 1943
0600 – Reveille. No Mass, for I decide to have it this
afternoon for the benefit of the passengers. Say my
Office early and Rosary also.
Beautiful sunrise from the boat deck forward. We
are anchored about two miles off shore of Viti Levu,
largest of the 250 islands of the Fijis, of which about
80 are inhabited. Directly off our starboard side is
shore with a ridge of mountains rising and falling
away to a slope.
Off our starboard side is a cluster of three islands, two
small ones, one of fair size. Last has about six mountain peaks. Sun hidden behind the mountains suddenly illuminated the east side of these three islands
with lovely bluish purple while their other sides are
still dark; color is whitish also. Lovely contrast, blue of
the sea, verdant green of the shore and the clean, white
blue of the early morning sky overhead. God paints a
masterpiece every morning. Higginson, sentry from
Washington, remarks about the beauty also.
Underway at 12:30. Mass this afternoon at 2:30;
excellent attendance of about 150 men. Inform them
of writing letters to their folks if they wish me to do
so, letting them know that they have been to Mass
and received Holy Communion aboard the ship.
Night is again a warm tropical one with full
moon rising slowly and majestically over the rim
of the sea, huge as it pokes its head up onto the
world; gradually secures a hold and then rises
easily and steadily.
Wednesday, September 15, 1943
We are ploughing ahead with a mixed crowd aboard.
Soldiers and sailors of all sorts and descriptions,
�among them a commando outfit that has volunteered for a particularly dangerous piece of work in
236
Burma. Merrill’s Marauders.
Thursday, September 16, 1943
Ashore to purchase some beer tickets for the men
and to make arrangements for a recreation party
this afternoon at Acre Park, the Fleet Rec. Center
here. A hundred men go over there this afternoon
for swimming, games, etc.
0615 – Mass.
Off our starboard side is a task force with the aircraft
carrier, Enterprise, two AA cruisers and two destroyers. They are cruising leisurely on an AA run; sleeve
is being towed by a plane across the early morning
sky. We are sliding between two islands, with ourselves and that task force filling in the gap between.
About 1000 we pass a smaller force of the Montpelier, the cruiser that helped to escort us out here, the
Denver and two destroyers.
1100 – We
approach the channel, Espiritu Santo,
and about 1130 gingerly pass over the grave of the
Coolidge again, feel our way to our anchorage and
marvel at the transformation that has been effected
since we were here last.
While waiting for a pickup down to the dock,
Dr. Conway from Milton and Bill Wright, Supply
Officer from a CB Battalion, rescue me from my
stand. Dr. says that at last he caught up with me. He
had instructions from Fr. George Murphy to keep his
eye out for a Fr. John Foley on a combat transport here
in the South Pacific. Had a great chin fest for an hour.
Movies at night, boat deck forward.
1000 – Conference of Chaplains aboard the Saratoga. Meet [Robert] Metters. [John] Mitchell, [John]
237
Sheehy, etc. What a large ship. 3200 men aboard
her, 2 Chaplains, Sheehy and Minister Cole.
Tremendous length of flight deck, like a football
field. Meeting in ready room. Board gives all necessary information to the pilots about to take off, e.g.
nearest land-bearing district, nearest airfield-bearing
district, alternate field-bearing district, return to
carrier by 12 degrees.
New docks have been built, ships are moored to
them, traffic is heavy along the well built roads.
There are 18,000 Naval personnel alone on this
island and perhaps three times as many Army.
Scenery is beautiful as ever, long sloping hills with
their coconut groves, lined up in martial array, not
one out of line. Sun is blistering hot, as usual.
Grumman planes, scouts, dive bombers, torpedoes,
etc. Amazing arsenal; hanger deck with tremendous
elevators.
Friday, September 17, 1943
Sunday, September 19, 1943
0630 – Mass.
0630 – Mass, Clymer.
0900 – Mass, Clymer
1015 – Mass, USS Cleveland, Chaplain Bob Metters.
2:00 p.m. – Dance Orchestra aboard for an
hour’s concert.
4:00 p.m. – Rosary and Benediction
5:30 p.m. – Confessions
6:30 p.m. – Movies
We note that this channel is choked with shipping,
all kinds. Three aircraft carriers, anti-aircraft cruisers, destroyers, escorts, cargo ships, combat transports and the other auxiliary ships needed to fuel
and recondition the Navy.
236 The Marauders— formally known as 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) and named for their commander Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill—
comprised some 3,000 volunteers who fought behind enemy lines in the Burmese jungle. Following their five-month, 750-mile campaign,
only 150 remained “combat effective.” Their story would become the subject of a book and a 1962 film.
237 Fellow students at the Norfolk Chaplains School,
163 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�Met Chaplain Ben Brown yesterday, toured the
island for an hour, then visited his air strip. Met
youngster, Baker, redhead from Tennessee, who
took a passenger’s hop with Navy pilot and radio
man. Crashed into mountain; he, the only survivor,
made beach from crash after six days, picked up,
now 54 pounds lighter. Was lost for 43 days after
crash into the jungle here on Espiritu Santo.
USS Souflee sank a sub a few nights ago that had
sunk four ships in two weeks. Sowed four patterns
of depth charges. When Tojo’s boys were forced to
surface, they were smashed to Kingdom Come.
Five destroyers: DeLevy, 162; Phelps, 498;
240
McCall, 488; Bennett, 473; Sampson, 394.
9:10 p.m. – Sitting in my room when ship shivered
two or three times as though we were dragging anchor. Everybody rushed topside, bearings were taken,
soundings also. Hadn’t moved a foot. Report came
that a slight earthquake caused the shivers. So we
have shivered with an earthquake even on water.
No alarms or excursions as yet on the trip. Learn
that 93 men were lost aboard the USS John Penn
when she was torpedoed last month at Guadalcanal,
as yet unannounced, because the Japs don’t know
whether she was sunk or not, unlike the Macauley
that they saw go down.
Monday, September 20, 1943
First day of Fall back home, but we sweat like stuck
pigs out here. This trip is the worst yet for heat. One
reason, wind is a tail one; doesn’t clear ship during
the day as head-on one always does. Holds stuffed
with troops, smell heavily of human bodies. These
boys give up a lot of comforts and the little but better
things of life every day in this war, yet never complain.
0450 – General Quarters.
0600 – Mass, with excellent attendance. Am writing
about 125 letters to parents of men informing them
that they have attended Mass and received Holy
Communion.
Underway at 1000. We swing out through the
mined channel alone, with no escort, but outside we
pick up five other ships and five destroyers. Since
238
the Nips have been prodigal with their torpedoes
in this area of late, we have the maximum protection, more than we have ever had before.
Ships in convoy: USS Typhon, Crescent City, Morma239
curom, Carlson and the Alcheeba. Last was torpedoed twice last November, but is still sailing the ocean.
Lovely sight as we steam ahead, riot of blues all
around us. Some of the shades: cobalt sky above,
deep blue of the Pacific, battle blue of the ships to
blend with the ocean, light marine blue of our wake,
the deep purplish blue of the heavily wooded islands
on our port and starboard and a sullen, blackish
blue on some thunderheads on our port side, where
we hear the distant rumble of the ninepins. Overhead blistering tropical sun shining down on us.
Tuesday, September 21, 1943
0500 – Mass.
0600 – Mass. Last one for these men, one of whom
is cousin of Fr. Pat Cummings of Holy Cross.
Caught just before Communion by rain, finish
Mass, then distribute Holy Communion forward.
0700 – Guadalcanal on our starboard again.
Passengers are all crowding the rails to glimpse
the most famous of this group.
238 From Nippon, a Japanese word for Japan, and a derogatory term.
239 The editors can find no record of a USS Typhon prior to 1944. Nor is there any record of the Mormacurom or Moracuron—as Foley had it
in his May 13, 1943 entry. The Mormacgull was a small cargo ship and the Morachawk was a cargo and combat ship. The latter is known
to have served in the South Pacific. The Carlson was a destroyer, and the Alcheeba was an attack transport.
240 The editors can find no record of a USS DeLevy.
164 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�1130 – Over
the side and down the net to thumb a
ride in a jeep to Ed, “Long time no see.” Out to the
ship with his three mates for dinner of steak and all
the fixin’s; aboard for four hours, then back to the
tent where he lives. Letter to our mother, trying to
recapture some of the happiness of these visits so
that she may share it by proxy.
Wednesday, September 22, 1943
0445 – Reveille.
0600 – Mass.
Thursday, September 23, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Island Mail leaves us to slip into Efate while we slide
around the end of the New Hebrides after travelling
through the famed Coral Sea, where Commander
241
Shea met his death aboard the Wasp.
High over the smoke stack one radar is operating,
the whiskers twitching, feeling tentatively for any
craft that may be on the surface or up in the sky.
The other radar, the coffee grinder, so called because
of its whirring noise, is silent atop the searchlight
deck, topmost deck of the ship.
0450 – General Quarters.
0600 – Mass.
Sunday, September 26, 1943
Day is almost unbearably warm, blistering sun
beating down on us. Last trip up to Guadalcanal was
about the hottest of the ten. Reason? A favoring tail
wind that didn’t benefit the ship at all.
0530 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000 – General Service.
Communique day’s news. “John Penn sunk while
returning to Guadalcanal from an advanced base.”
Why this report about the location of the sinking?
She was sunk right at Guadalcanal at anchor. Effort
to save somebody’s face?
0600 – Mass.
Friday, September 24, 1943
0450 – General Quarters.
0432 – Rise and shine for General Quarters.
Monday, September 27, 1943
0445 – General Quarters.
Overhead even early, dive bombers, our own, shrieking down with their high-pitched, down-scale whistle
as they lay into us and then peel off and up and
over and then into us again. Anchor about 1000
at Noumea, then ashore to get a movie, “Stage
242
Door Canteen.”
Tuesday, September 28, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Lovely day, a bit cooler as we slide along down the
slot away from hot steaming Guadalcanal. With us
the USS Margaret Fuller and the Island Mail. Our
speed, 16 knots. General Quarters each night for
an hour after sunset which, as usual, is beautiful
this evening.
Amos, Mess Attendant, catches 18 pound fish off the
fantail, like a big mackerel. Javins hooks a 12 pounder. Have fish for supper; meat of it is delicious and
snow white. They start a fad. We are anchored in
Dumbea Bay. Fish in abundance, for all who throw
a line over the side catch something.
Saturday, September 25, 1943
Wednesday, September 29, 1943
0442 – General Quarters. Getting up earlier every
morning! We never get used to it!
0630 – Mass.
241 See note under March 4, 1943.
242 A 1943 United Artists release with appearances by nearly 70 Broadway and movie actors who serve food and entertain in the legendary
club for servicemen in a basement in New York City’s theater district.
165 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�Ashore in morning for movie. Meet Fr. MacDonald
and spend the day with him at MOB [Main Operating
Base] 7. Lovely setup. Native grass compound, huts
constructed of dried palm branches and reeds.
Thursday, September 30, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Friday, October 1, 1943
0630 – First Friday Mass.
Ashore with John Manoski and Marvin Irving
Metzger where I baptize Metzger in the Cathedral,
St. Joseph’s of Noumea. He is a very happy boy. Later
we purchase some lithographs of the Cathedral.
Meet Fr. Foley of the Jackson with Cdr. “Pug”
Crawford, former Gunnery Officer aboard our ship.
Word from the Crescent City for Mass Sunday.
Saturday, October 2, 1943
0630 – Mass. Metzger makes his First Communion.
“Happy beyond words,” he tells me. “Happiest day
243
of my life. Will my wife be happy, too?”
Sunday, October 3, 1943
0630 – Mass.
0900 – Mass aboard the Crescent City.
Afternoon return movie to exchange. Javanese
parading around the town in the coconut park. Do
they love colors. Men and women dress in the colors
of the rainbow, e.g. one little tacker about 21/2 years
old toddling along with a firm grasp of mother’s
green skirt, is wearing a blazing orange little
blouse, green long trousers, and a white straw hat.
A native woman of gargantuan size sails majestically by, rigged out in a Mother Hubbard dress
that is a light blue with a white border around it.
Our military men do some serious thinking. They
are puzzled. They wonder what kind of deal they
are getting out of life. Sometimes they feel that they
have been let down badly. Those who are old enough
remember the farce of Prohibition days and what
excesses it led to. All of them are old enough to have
suffered through the depression of the early Thirties. And now they have to go to war. Feel that there
must be a reason for the handicaps that have dogged
their footsteps. Are bound, as far as they are concerned, it won’t happen again.
Monday, October 4, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Our boys will be mission-minded after this war.
In fact, they are now. They now realize as they
never did before, the universality of the Church.
At the Communion rail, native Solomon Islander,
Fijian; beside him a native priest, black as the ace
of spades. They have seen priests and Sisters from
New England and other parts of the country putting their sickle into the harvest. They have seen the
remains of churches destroyed by the fortunes of
war, work of years gone in a second. The word mission is no longer a foreign word to them. It is home,
even if only temporarily. Tremendous respect for the
missionaries. If they don’t get to heaven, no hope
for the rest of us. What they have given up and what
they received in exchange for their sacrifice! We
think it is tough for a few months; they have been
here for years, 15, 30, 36, 44. They will carry their
memories back with them to civilian life. Instead of
giving a dime, they will give paper. Collections, $10
and $20 bills, several thousand to Bishop [Jean M.]
Aubin and Bishop [Thomas J.] Wade here 20 years,
14 of them as Bishop; spontaneous collection.
Tarpaulin collection for refugees we carried during
the Holy Week. Generosity of Chief Callaghan of the
USS John Penn, “The $100 Chief,” as the Sisters in
Fiji, Latoka called him. The two Sisters from England,
New Zealand and from Ireland.
243 Apparently, yes. Metzger, a Nebraska native, returned to his wife Helen after the war. A successful rancher and noted horseman, he died
in 2011, leaving six children, 25 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren, according to his newspaper obituary.
166 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
�Tuesday, October 5, 1943
I am a wholesale liquor dealer, purchasing 600 cases
of beer for use at our future recreation parties. Spend
day at Ducos Peninsula [Noumea]. Mr. McLanahan
arranges the necessary deal; price $1.55 a case of
24 bottles.
Wednesday, October 6, 1943
Movie exchange.
Mass at 3:00 at which I tell the 1500 passengers
about daily Mass.
Thursday, October 7, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Underway for Guadalcanal with all our passengers,
among whom is Bob Power, B.C. ’41 from Waltham
and a medical outfit that has at least one-third Catholic
officers among its personnel. Hear confessions
at night.
Friday, October 8, 1943
Uneventful; following usual routine.
Saturday, October 9, 1943
Today it begins again, i.e. the heat to close in on us.
Sunday, October 10, 1943
0423 – General Quarters.
0600 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000 – General Service.
1500 – Rosary
and Benediction.
Excellent attendance at all the exercises, even
though the men are preparing to unload the ship
tomorrow.
Monday, October 11, 1943
0630 – Mass.
Over the side and down the net to see Ed who is
20 miles away, for we are anchored at Tassaferonga,
just south of Cape Esperance. Captain Ellis, Medical
167 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
Officer, gives me a jeep to take me down; have ten
minutes with Ed who informs me that tomorrow or
the next day he leaves by plane for New Caledonia,
109th Station Hospital, APO 502. He is as happy as
a lark to be moving out after being marooned here
since last December.
Back to the ship, passing hundreds of mules and
horses that should shortly see action. Through a
river about three feet deep, about 20 yards wide as
its bridge is being repaired.
On the way to Henderson Field this morning, we
passed a Liberty ship burning furiously in the number three hold. We learn that she was one of two hit
this morning at 0400. Now this evening she is still
a bonfire. Her cargo consisted of gasoline in drums!
Ed remarked the thunder that they heard last night.
Jap planes blasted them again.
Last Saturday in the morning the gunners had AA
practice with live ammunition. Star shells were shot
into the sky. Even in the bright sunlight they stood
out brilliantly. Down they floated slowly for about
30 seconds after the shell carrying them exploded.
First, three-inch guns emitted their dull roar, the
angry lick of orange flame leaped from their mouths
and their big shells exploded around the star shell.
Then the chattering of the 20 mm began. Some of
the marksmanship was good, some of it was poor,
e.g. the shells exploding behind the star.
We lift anchor about 6 p.m. to cruise round all night
lest the same fate happen to us as happened to the two
Liberty ships last night, both torpedoed. All four of us,
the three President ships and ourselves run Indian file,
ahead of a sharp black silhouette and astern the same.
Overhead a most unfriendly full moon that is the
bosom friend of bombers. Orders from the beach
are, “Shoot down any and all aircraft within a radius
of 40 miles. Our planes all grounded tonight.” Everybody nervous after last night’s raid; too successful.
Tuesday, October 12, 1943
Columbus Day back home, but not out here.
�0445 – General Quarters. 0600 – Mass.
We steam back after running around for about
100 miles. Still a blazing pyre is the Liberty ship,
26 hours after she was hit. We speak of 24 hours
as a long time, yet Hell burns forever! A toothache
lasting for five minutes seems interminable, etc.
Out we steam at night to be on the safe side.
Standing in the forward boat deck right after dinner
when Army transport plane takes off from Henderson. Can it be that Ed is aboard her? Must ask him
in the next letter. Wonder if he could recognize
us below?
Thursday, October 14, 1943
0453 – General Quarters. One of the men of the
beach party told me an amusing story today. A new
man, a boat-hook fresh from the States five weeks
ago, had his first air raid alarm two nights ago. He
was on the beach at the time, worried sick. He heard
some CB yell, “Make for the woods!” So he ran as
far as his legs could carry him; in fact, till he came
out of the other side of the woods. Then he decided
that the only thing to do was to go back to the boat,
which he did and found the old experienced
coxswain, sleeping by his wheel.
12:10 – General
Aboard the destroyer, USS Buchanan, lashed to us
for fueling, for confessions at 3 o’clock when General Quarters goes – dee-dee-dee-dee-me-me-meme-me-do-sol-sol-sol-me- as quickly as the bugler
can play. Officer aboard breaks into my stateroom;
informs me that General Quarters is on.
I rush out with habit in one hand, cincture in the
other, stuff them and stole into my budge, inside
shirt, then up the rope net on side of Clymer, into
our sick bay, losing on the way my cincture and
stole. Destroyer casts off all lines. We are both underway. General Quarters is over in 15 minutes and
I start retracing my steps to find cincture and stole,
succeed, then aboard the Buchanan for more confessions. This time uninterrupted to the end.
Wednesday, October 13, 1943
0445 – General Quarters. 0600 – Mass.
0800 – Aboard USS Tracy, mine sweeper, for
confessions. Afterwards into the wardroom for a
glass of fruit juice when General Quarters goes
again; once more out and clamber up the ladder
alongside of our boom, monkey style. If I slipped,
it would be a 30 foot splash into the drink.
Quarters; unidentified plane.
3:30 – Mass, with attendance of about 35; very good
for the first afternoon.
4:10 – General Quarters; that makes the third time
today. This is getting monotonous! Will the enemy
ever take a rest?
6:00 – “General Quarters. All hands darken ship.
The smoking lamp is out on the weather decks; no
white clothing will be worn topside, keep silence
about the decks.” This goes over the loudspeaker
every night just before General Quarters.
“Sweepers, man your brooms. Clean sweep down
fore and aft.” These poor men travelling aboard a
ship. They sweat, they smell, they suffer.
This evening full moon over our port side. As
Mr. Townsend and I stand on starboard, can clearly
see the silhouette of the ship outlined on the foam
tossed back from our flanks. A beautiful sight as
shadow moves along speedily, a perfect outline of
our shape. A beautiful night above, but a bad one
for us. The subs can now get us between themselves
and the moon and then we make a perfect target.
Loading 2nd [Marine] Raiders aboard for maneu244
vers. [Co. Evan] Carlson’s men! Makin veterans.
244 On August 17, 1942, Marines took Makin Atoll, one of the Gilbert islands, in a night raid launched from two submarines. The Japanese
returned in force and would be driven off the island by Army and Navy Forces in a costly battle that ran from November 20-24, 1943.
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�Friday, October 15, 1943
0423 – General Quarters. 0600 – Mass.
Today I learn that our next operation is against Bougainville. These Marines we have aboard are to go
secure the beachhead, hold it for two weeks until the
Army takes over. Presently it seems the Der Tag [the
245
day] is November 3rd.
We are going on maneuvers at Vila Bay at Efate, one
of the New Hebrides Islands. About the ship men are
cleaning their rifles as they haven’t cleaned them for
months, say the officers. I see a young officer with
a cluster of 20 of his men around him, listening intently to something he is telling them. He is liked by
them. He is a tall, sandy-complexioned fellow about
25 years old. Most of his men are 18 to 20.
Dog Platoon! Up forward on the port side is the
strangest cargo that we have carried yet, 24 dogs,
that are scouts and messengers. They are all
Doberman Pinchers with the exception of four
German Shepherds. They should do valiant work
246
in Bougainville.
This day like all others recently is blistering hot. Sun
is beating down from a blue, cloudless sky. One of
the Marine officers informs me that Bougainville
has eight airstrips that must be neutralized to assure
us of escaping from the Jap bombers. They will be
softened up for days prior to the push.
We drop about 8 a.m. in the harbor of Vila, Efate
Island, a lovely South Seas place with deep blue and
purple and light marine blue waters all around us.
Vendors come gliding out in their outrigger canoes
selling their coconuts and their grass skirts for “un
dollar” to the boys left aboard while their mates are
on maneuvers on the other side of this little island
that is just off our port side.
Saturday, October 16, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Men go out in boats at 0800 for maneuvers, steaming for the enemy-held beach which is 4200 yards
away, just about 6 nautical miles. They are laden
with their combat gear.
We are located in a semi-circular harbor which has an
island in it on the sea side of arc. It is the kind of South
Seas island that you read about. The water where we
are anchored is the Pacific blue; 600 yards in, close to
shore, where the white coral is the bottom, the water
is the lightest of light blue, turquoise; then there is
the white sandy beach fringing the shore and leaning
down over the water’s edge the fronds of the coconut
trees. Hid in beneath them are the huts of the natives,
swarthy blacks. They are trying to barter their goods,
grass skirts for money and clothing. Learn today purpose of making beachhead at Bougainville: to secure
sites for airstrips to neutralize Robaul, enemy stronghold in New Britain, Naval Base particularly, and staging area for the Solomons. Purpose was put inelegantly
by a Marine Commanding Officer, “To secure that lousy
piece of real estate so that we can get the hell off it.”
Sunday, October 17, 1943
0515 – Reveille.
0530 – Mass with Fr. Camler, celebrant.
0630 – Mass with self as celebrant, with two
parties from destroyers attending.
6:45 p.m. – Mass for those who missed
this morning.
245 The battle for Bougainville, the largest and northernmost of the Solomon Islands, would not go as easily as Foley imagined or had been told.
The Marines Foley referred to would not be replaced until December 15, and while American forces moved on to the north after airfields were
constructed, the island would remain a battle zone until the war ended, the action eventually engaging 174,000 American and Australian troops.
246 The First Marine War Dog Platoon brought messenger and scout dogs to Bougainville. The dogs were reported to have worked well in the
field and were later utilized in other Marine engagements in the Pacific. https://www.historynet.com/a-few-good-marines-dogs-in-wartime.htm
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�One boy came to me this afternoon who was
desperately homesick. He sat down and we talked,
i.e. he did most of the talking. When we were parting, he remarked, “Father, did I feel good when I
heard that there was a priest aboard.” He is worried
sick about the invasion that is ahead. Learned this
afternoon the D-Day is the Feast of All Saints. If we
are to die, good day to go home to heaven.
Monday, October 18, 1943
0615 – Mass.
he says with a wry smile. We are “sunk” by five of our
bombers that spilled out of bank of white clouds.
I wrote my final letter to Sister Flavius to be given
to my mother in case anything happens to me.
Wednesday, October 20, 1943
0600 – Mass aboard the USS Anthony with
USS Wordsworth men also aboard at gun turret
in foc’sle. White sunrise, white sky, sun shining
in full glory on Host and Chalice, blinding me as
I turn around for “Dominus vobiscum.”
Ashore in the morning where I met Fr. Sculley,
secular, from Westport [Massachusetts], who used
247
to go to Keyser Island frequently. Town has a
lovely church and a convent staffed by Marists. All of
them are French with the exception of Fr. Libelle, an
American who was on Bougainville, but skipped the
clutches of the Japs by evacuating on a submarine.
Messer, always knelt down morning and night
for prayer, says mate asked another sailor, “I don’t
know how to pray; will you say a couple for me?”
Tuesday, October 19, 1943
Admiral Halsey comes aboard at 3:30, a man of
63 years, slim build, who looks his years, weatherlined face, of an officer carrying tremendous
responsibilities. Gold Braid conference on impending battle, going over battle plans.
1:15 – Reveille.
1:30 – Breakfast for the troops and crew.
2:30 – Breakfast for the Officers.
248
0330 – Set condition 1:A.
0345 – Man all boats.
0400 – Lower all boats.
0433 – First wave; first section leaves
rendezvous circle for the beach.
0439 – Second section, first wave leaves.
0448 – Second wave leaves.
0453 – Second section of second wave leaves, etc.
Beach being assaulted. At daylight we are viciously
strafed on dry run by our own dive bombers; then following them, the torpedo planes roar in, shrieking, to
deliver their fish into us. Blinding speed and descending, they head in the ascending whine, as they climb
out after their operation, makes the practice all too real.
Officer from recently torpedoed and sunk John Penn
is extremely nervous, “I don’t like that kind of music,”
Movie: Men of Boys Town, with Spencer Tracy.
No hint of spiritual life of the institution, of Mass
249
or other exercises.
Thursday, October 21, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Marines return from their maneuvers that they
enjoyed. Our ship receiving a commendation from the
CONTRANS GR for speed in unloading. First time
he has ever complimented a transport in the SOPAC
[South Pacific Fleet]. Fr. Foley from Philadelphia
comes aboard from the USS Jackson. Also one priest
at least aboard each transport in our attack division.
Friday, October 22, 1943
We are underway at 4:30 p.m. The thickly-forested
mountains all around Vila and her environs slip
away onto the horizon and we are headed for our
247 A Jesuit vacation house and retreat center in Connecticut.
248 Condition 1 is Navy jargon for general quarters; Condition 1A calls for all personnel responsible for a safe embarkation to be in place.
249 A sequel to the popular Boys Town (1938), the MGM film starred Spencer Tracy (Fr. Flanagan) and Mickey Rooney and was one of the
most popular movies of 1941. That it featured no Mass or “other exercises” was likely one of the reasons for its wide popularity.
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�next destination, so much nearer the day of attack.
Flag officers leave us for the Hunter Liggett, which
has just arrived for her maneuvers with the Crescent
City, the American Legion and the Margaret Fuller.
Overhead this afternoon 18 torpedo planes circle in
squadrons of three sixes, describing a circle of about
five miles. A Marine looks up and says to the man
beside him, “Brother, I hope they put layer after
layer of those birds over us at Bougainville.”
Saturday, October 23, 1943
0418 – General Quarters.
0615 – Mass, Upper Deck shop area.
We steam along under a lovely blue sky in company
with the Presidents Hayes, Adams, Jackson, bound for
Pakkelulo Bay, 20 miles north of the usual anchoring
place at Espiritu Santo. Bay is a channel between a
small island standing out to sea and the main island
of Espiritu Santo.
Sunday, October 24, 1943
Latest song hit: “Don’t Sit Under the Coconut Tree
with Anyone Anytime, and I Ain’t Fooling You.”
Jewish boy visits me in the office, asking me to see
his friend, Nick, another dog handler who has not
gone to church since he ran away from home when
he was 14. “Father, he is 18 now and I know that he
is unhappy because he is not doing the right thing.”
Straighten him out with confession and Communion. Jewish boy, 17, overjoyed when he meets me.
“Nick’s a new guy.”
0615 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1530 – Rosary and
Benediction.
Tuesday, October 26, 1943
Recreation parties are organized to relieve the
pre-battle strain for both the 2nd Raider Marines
we are carrying and our own crew. All realize the
exceptionally dangerous nature of the mission
we are embarked upon. The more they have to
take their minds off it, the better they will be the
moment of strife and stress arrives.
We are told at Quarters today that there will be a
simulated bombing attack at 0915 this morning.
At 0815 the planes start taking off from the field on
the south side of the channel. They take off with a
clock-like regularity for 30 minutes, one every few
seconds. They come roaring out over our heads, one
after another head out to their rendezvous area, the
dive bombers and the torpedo planes. They wheel
into formations. High above over us majestically
speeds along a squadron of 18 torpedo bombers.
What a beautiful picture they make against the clear
blue morning sky. Then they disappear below
the horizon.
The dog platoon goes ashore also for some
tactical exercises. I should hate to meet these
dogs unleashed. They scared the life out of me
the other night when I had to go by them in the
dark. In their pens topside one started to bark
viciously at me. The others joined in the chorus
and made the night wild with savage snarling.
Monday, October 25, 1943
0615 – Mass.
Still anchored here in Pallkulo Bay with swimming
parties going ashore to the island on our starboard
side both morning and afternoon to help relieve
the tension of the men who will shortly be engaged
in battle.
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0615 – Mass.
At 0910 General Quarters alarm is piped down,
“All hands to General Quarters.” Peep-Peep-Peep
all battle stations are manned. Since this is only a
dry run, I go to the flying bridge deck to watch the
show. Suddenly as from nowhere, torpedo planes
are skimming over the surface of the water. As they
get within 100 yards of us, they open their torpedo
bays, then swing up over us. The roar is deafening
and frightening. Everywhere, from every side they
come in on us. The gunners are training the guns
on one plane when another is on top of them. Then
�suddenly there is a whine straight over ahead; no, it
is a few hundred yards away. Six dive bombers are
plummeting straight down on us, with a zing-zing
noise that makes us happy that they are our own. As
they drop their eggs, dry run, they zoom up and over
us, vapor streaking from their wing tips. There is a
lull for about ten minutes, then the fighters, strafing
the gun crews, come in over the low hill straight for
the ships. We are all being sunk, the four of us. The
other three are the President ships. We automatically duck as we think they are going to crash into us,
then they gun her up and away they have gone. For
one hour intermittently, these attacks go on. When
they are over, we know what to expect when D day
arrives next Monday. We learn also from scuttlebutt
that we are to have 18 destroyers and 6 battle wagons,
plus four aircraft carriers with us, meaning 8 attack
transports and four cargo ships.
Wednesday, October 27, 1943
0615 – Mass.
Swimming party as usual both morning and afternoon at the little island that lies off our port side. I
take it in the afternoon. The sand is yellowish-white,
amazingly fine, the finest I have ever seen. It is of
that color and fineness due to it being coral originally but washed away by the sea. There are about 500
of us swimming in this man’s paradise.
To see the Marines and sailors making human
pyramids on the beach and then tumbling the apex
man into the water, to see them chasing each other
up and down the beach, one would never think that
within five days these men will be locked in mortal
combat with the enemy. While I’m floating lazily
on my back looking up at God’s blue sky, I catch a
glimpse of four planes about two miles up. They put
on a show for my pleasure. They flip over and over,
turn on their backs, sweep down and up while I
lazily take it in with my head cradled in my hands.
A short distance down, the 44th CB’s are working
with a couple of bulldozers, tearing down the jungle
primeval to make the land clear for a recreation park
for the men of the fleet and the shore stations who
will be stationed nearby.
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A further distance down in the stream a floating dry
dock is being slowly built. Judging from the long
term preparations being made here, the brass hats
expect the war out here to last for a long time.
One Marine reads to his mates a joke from a magazine. Colored soldier in England playing poker. Picks
up four aces. One of the Englishmen bids a pound on
his very good hand. Colored boy, “I don’t know what
you use for money over here, but I’ll bet a ton!”
I notice that as day for attack approaches, all of
us become sensitive to the simplest experiences.
Things that we have been taking for granted have
their attractiveness infinitely enhanced by the
thought that we may be looking on them for the last
time. The sun over head, its rays slanting down on
the ocean, the intense blue of the water, the green
of the trees. What if I should be blinded like that
soldier McMullan. All these impressions stored in
the memory, with almost conscious effort to freeze
them for use.
Thursday, October 28, 1943
0615 – Mass.
This morning there is another swimming party over
to the small island on our port side. This will be the
last one for quite some time. The plan of the day has
us shoving off at four this afternoon.
1600 – We are off on the big adventure to pick up
Admiral Wilkinson at Guadalcanal, then on to Bougainville which we attack on Monday, All Saints Day.
Men are glad to be on the way. There is an attitude of
expectancy but at the same time, one of relief, for the
long months of preparation and training and monotonous maneuvers are over for these Marines. Now
\they are about to go into the real battle operation.
With them is also a group of CB’s whose job it is to
build as quickly as possible an airport for immediate
use. Two weeks is the time they have been allotted to
have it built and planes taking off from it. “Can’t be
done? We’ll do it!” typifies their spirit.
�Friday, October 29, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Around the ship junior officers are holding meetings with their men clustered around them, telling
them the details of the coming operation. I listen in
on one, who is instructing his men that when they
take prisoners, to separate the men from the officers
immediately, for the men have been known to “sing”
when the separation has been effected immediately.
Another Lt. tells his men not to shoot everybody and
anybody out in front, for it may be a friendly patrol.
The men are cleaning their rifles, oiling the machine gun parts, straightening the clips of bullets so
they feed into the gun smoothly. Others are sharpening their trench knives on the pocket whetstones.
One Marine down in the galley tells me that “It is
the third time for me, Father. Boy, how I sweat as I
crouch in that boat waiting to hit the beach. I lose
ten pounds on each trip.” Col. Shapely informs
men over the PA system of the coming operation:
“Bougainville is the place, Monday is the day,
coverage air and sea; battlewagons, carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and planes. Also destroyer escorts
and mine sweepers. Operation will be preceded by
a barrage laid down on the beach. It will be a tough
job. That’s why they picked the Marines to do it.”
Regret: No mention of God in this whole talk except as
an expletive. “For God’s sake, don’t get trigger happy.”
Saturday, October 30, 1943
0600 – Mass.
We drop hook at 4 p.m. off Lunga Point where we
pick up Admiral Wilkinson and General Vandergift and Air General Harris and staff, among them
Captain Sullivan, formerly of the Crescent City.
Also 200 more Marines who will sleep on the deck.
Learn that cargo ships have gone ahead of us; also
four other attack transports. Underway for the attack
250 Tank Landing Ships.
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point at 0900. Fr. Camler and I hear confessions
for hours.
Sunday, October 31, 1943
Feast of Christ the King.
0600 – Mass. 0900 – Mass.
1000 – Chaplain
McCorkle’s Service.
At five-thirty I count four cruisers and 14 destroyers
with us, not to mention sundry destroyer escorts
and mine sweepers, a total of 36. Also pass ten land250
ing craft. The LST’s have barrage balloons tied
to their top deck to drive off attacking planes. They
move very slowly.
0830 – High overhead are black specks, 16 of them,
patrolling “among the sun-split clouds, high in the
sunlight-silence, topping the windswept heights
with easy grace.”
We hear them before we are able to see them. Over
the TBS, “Bogie overhead,” i.e. Jap plane. May be
high altitude reconnaissance plane. Later P 38
knocks him down. We are twelve ships in the convoy
at this hour when I’m typing. It is now 11 o’clock
and we are just off New Georgia Islands, hoping
Japs haven’t spotted us.
At 1 o’clock I count 24 destroyers, two for each
[transport] ship. Also a couple of ocean-going tugs
in case any of the vessels run into trouble, going
aground, etc. Learn that our code name is DESTINY.
Other ships in our column with names, Barber,
Half-Moon, Palmer, etc.
One of the Australians aboard remarks, “I wouldn’t
miss this bloody mix for all the tea in China.”
3 p.m. – Rosary and Benediction and Consecration to
the Sacred Heart. Confessions in the evening with
Fr. Camler.
�6 p.m. – Twenty planes fly overhead as we head into
the lion’s jaws. Tomorrow morning the DAY! I hear
confessions till almost midnight.
Monday, November 1, 1943
fire for the destroyers that are aiming to knock out
anti-aircraft and shore batteries of this rugged
terrain. Jungle seems to come right down to the
shore. Mountain rises thousands of feet about
five miles inland.
Feast of All Saints.
Bougainville.
The very first thing to do before putting down a single line about this day is to speak a fervent “Thank
You” to God for having brought us safely through
this historic day. Today we attacked Bougainville,
west side, Empress Augusta Bay.
0315 – Reveille. I distributed Holy Communion as
Viaticum for 25 minutes immediately after Reveille to
these boys who would be in battle shortly. Breakfast
following immediately for them, while I offered the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
0550 – All boats were hoisted to the rail as we made out
in the dark the outlines of high mountains ashore. I go
out on deck at 5:15, no moon shining down, only a star
sending its peaceful beams down on a scene that will
shortly find all hell breaking loose over it. We are nosing
cautiously into a big U-shaped bay.
251
One minute after six, word is passed over the TBS ,
“Stand by to synchronize watches.” All ships in the
attack, the cruisers, destroyers and the rest of us are
now on exactly the same second.
A couple of minutes later the destroyers open up a
terrific bombardment on the shore. The sun is reddening the east directly behind the mountains on
our starboard side as we swing into the shoreline.
It is a morning made in heaven and man is making it a hell. We see the angry flames leap from
the mouth of the guns of the destroyers and then
14 seconds later, timed by one of the sailors, we
get the noise of the explosion from the guns. What
happens on shore we don’t hear, but we see earth
thrown up and then lazy smoke drifting skyward.
Three planes high up, ours. They are spotting the
251 Talk Between Ships radio network,
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0615 – Glorious sunrise. 0616 – Crescent City, the
first one to make the turn broadside to the beach,
lets go with all her port guns, 20 mm and threeinchers. Tracers spurt out angrily from former to
shore. Can see them ricochet off the water onto
the beach. Meanwhile in the background is a coneshaped mountain [Mt. Baranga] that resembles
a lazy active volcano, for it has a big veil of white
cloud spiraling slowly heavenward from her top.
0620 – Destroyers angrily sending salvo after salvo
into the beach, way in, rather than on the beach,
and the thunder reverberates in the valleys and hills.
Boats in water.
0650 – Communion to Captain Sullivan of the
Admiral’s staff.
0713 – Five dive bombers fly high in formation, our
own, until they are just directly over the approach
to the beach when they let go their messages, black
messages of death that we can see hurtling earthward, then a tremendous explosion that we can feel,
even three miles off shore, and they are away again.
0720 – Six destroyers astern open up in bombardment
again on the shore. Makes me skip a few breaths. Glad
to be on the giving and not the receiving end.
0721 – We swing into line parallel to the beach
which is now about a mile away and then we open
up with all our port guns; ship is shivering. Roar is
deafening as they spit fiery death at the shoreline.
How anything can survive is a mystery. Two ships
ahead of us have done same, and so do all the ships
after us. Meanwhile all the boats have put off from
the ship an hour ago. They are circling in the rendezvous area, ready to hit the beach at 0730-H hour.
�0725 – Twenty-one dive bombers, ours, come over;
then all hell breaks loose. They are torpedo bombers loaded with twelve clusters of bombs each, 100
bombs. They come roaring in over the beach, open
their bomb bays and then are gone until they return
at another level and strafe. One of the sailors remarks that the way they ease the “dusters” out of
their bays reminds him of pouring rice out of a cup.
0730 – The assault troops, first wave of second battalion of the 2nd Raider Regiment storm ashore and
some crumple immediately; in fact, the machine
guns from the well dug-in positions are spitting at
them as they make for the beach.
and beach which slopes steeply. Through the glasses
I see complete disorganization. The surf is so high
that the boats are broached as soon as they hit and
the men and their gear are spilling out. It was later
decided to abandon this section of the beach after
we lost about 90 boats.
0745 – Enemy planes on the way. Ten minutes later
four high altitude bombers drop their loads and
scoot. We cruise around until 0930. In the meantime our P 38’s appear in the sky, lightning fast as
they fly over us in protection. We are occasionally
under savage air attack.
1005 – Underway
First wave of third Marines, ninth Marines and Raider Bn. moves in. Here things stop going according
to plan. As raiders on right pass two small islands,
Puruata and Torokina, lying a couple of hundred
yards off shore, they come under heavy machine
gun and small arms fire, bullets spitting into boats.
A raider outfit debarks from the USS Fuller and
starts to clean up the two little islands which are
only about two hundred yards long. The boats make
for the beach, but these boys on the right flank run
into small arms fire again from the shore with artillery now and mortars lobbing shells in and around
them. Learn later that Japs had moved 300 men into
the area after our amphibious scouts had visited it
sometime previously to gain an idea of the strength
of the enemy installations.
again; big formation of Jap planes
14 miles away. In five minutes they are over us. We
execute evasive maneuvers frantically. Two peel off
for us, one comes in, then catches the full load of
hot steel in the face of his plane, drops his bomb,
then starts to climb up, bursts into flame and then
plummets straight into the ocean. Other frightened,
runs away; broke off run.
Destroyer nearest the shore attacked by six dive bombers; they let go stick after stick at her but all miss her,
miraculously so, and she knocks down three. Into the
anchorage area again, with Deo Gratias once more.
Unloading continues. Meanwhile, ashore.
1100 – First
wounded return to the ship.
1255 – Lt.
The noise of the intermittent cough of an enemy
machine gun winnowing the ranks of our boys is a
chilling noise. In the face of withering fire the boys
press forward.
On left flank of the beach, boys are luckier. They have
no opposition from the Japs, but plenty from the surf
Col. Joe McCaffrey dies with a bullet in his
shoulder and one in his back that cut his spine,
paralyzing him from his hips down. Give him the
252
Last Sacraments.
1:20 p.m. – Studer dies with a badly mashed left leg
and other severe wounds; caught full force of hand
grenade, front view.
252 McCaffery, 37 when he died, was a native of Chester, Pennsylvania. He was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously. The citation reads, in
part: “When the initial assault wave under his command landed out of position and became momentarily confused, Lieutenant Colonel
McCaffery, realizing the danger of immobilization by enemy fire, immediately organized his command, fearlessly exposing himself to
heavy fire from mortars and automatic weapons while proceeding from unit to unit in order to direct the disposition of his troops for
maximum effectiveness. Initiating a daring attack, Lieutenant Colonel McCaffery personally led his men against Japanese positions until
he was mortally wounded.” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92741011/joseph-patrick-mccaffery
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�2:30 p.m. – Small island, Puruta, just before coming to the beach still being cleaned up by the Third
Raider Battalion. Machine guns are still barking
death. Japs don’t surrender.
3:30 p.m. – Bullet from that island hit man aboard
the USS Fuller; she moves further out.
American Legion is aground on a shoal; tugs pull
her off, but only after she had been peppered by
bombs from a 40 bomber squadron of Japs, most of
whom decide to pick on her. Fourteen Lightnings
break up their formation. They jettison their bombs
and run. Meanwhile, we, after running out again,
move in. Shall we pull through? Good folks back
home know nothing of all of this.
4:00 p.m.– Sullen, black clouds move down from
mountains, nature in an angry mood. Black clouds
hide the sun, then thunder and lightning, tropical
storm of severe intensity. Thunder growls and growls,
then sharp cracks split the silence, as if she was saying, ”I can make noise also.” Our man-made thunder
of the morning was much harder on the ears. Lt.
Mills says that the Japs were just getting their breakfast when they looked out to see us. Some of the kettles with hot water were still boiling as our men went
through the dugouts and the bivouac area.
6:00 p.m. – Underway again, Deo Gratias, with instructions that ships that did not finish loading will
return tomorrow morning to finish the job.
Tuesday, November 2, 1943
talking with his flyers. “Homer, don’t get into
a fight and find out that you haven’t enough gas.”
“What’s the matter, Beaver?” “These ships are
taking cracks at me. Tell them to cut it out.”
“Get up higher where you belong.”
Lt. Callaghan, censoring reporters’ dispatches in
the Executive Officer’s office, remarks that flyers
did a wonderful job. On one occasion there were
40 Jap bombers with 60 fighters on the way to
attack us. Our boys intercepted them and they
never got through.
Boat from USS Adams, which has the worst beach,
suffered a direct hit from a mortar which killed most
of the Marines and the boat crew. Our two wounded
men were in our boat #5 when a mortar hit directly
behind the coxswain on the wooden stern of the boat.
Wood took most of the shrapnel, so explaining the
light wounds of Cox, Foster and Richardson.
Puruata Island, 11 o’clock. Turn glasses on the
beach; signalman says Marines are stalking along.
Can’t see them at first, they blend so perfectly with
the background, then catch them. They are separate,
five of them, cautiously jumping from one coconut
tree trunk to another over the ground.
See one Marine crouched down behind an uprooted
tree; intermittent barks of a machine gun. He peeks
up, ducks down as gun spits out at him again. Three
or four times he looks up and then reached for a hand
grenade, pulls the pin and lets it fly through the air.
All Souls Day.
0445 – General Quarters. 0530 – Three Masses.
Everybody is dog-tired today. Recollections of yesterday: Two Jap bombers parachuting out of their
planes; one floats down slowly and settles on the
water, machine-gunned to death, other tangles
self in his chute and falls like a stone to his death.
General Harris, Air General of the Marines
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Dr. Connor went ashore with the beach party. We
lose 60 good men to Boat Pool # 11. These men will
be in for a rough time of it for a few days until reinforcements come in.
Coughing of a Jap machine gun is a chilling thing to
hear. Immediately wonder how many boys it knocks
over. These guns cough for a minute or so, then follow it with a spasm at the end, as if to finish whatever is in front of them.
�Wednesday, November 3, 1943
0615 – Mass.
Anchored in this little haven with the other ships of
our convoy with the exception of those that had to
stay, the Crescent City and the Hunter Liggett.
Four heavy cruisers come in at dusk, battle worn and
scarred. Fr. Steve Hannon comes aboard at 8:30 p.m.
from the USS Columbia that suffered three hits, all
minor; two on gun barrels and one forward on starboard bow that took the heads of some canned hams
in the storeroom.
Battle was Sunday night; sank two destroyers and
one cruiser. Battle raged at ten miles distance for two
hours in the early hours of the morning. Cruisers
Denver, Columbia, Steves, Cleveland and Montpelier, the flagship, patch their wounds, refuel, rearm
themselves, lie to during the night.
Thursday, November 4, 1943
0615 – Mass.
Press report this morning states that a Jap cruiser
and four Jap destroyers were sunk in a naval battle
on Tuesday morning with slight material damage to
our ships and some casualties to personnel. Action
took place 40 miles from Empress Augusta Bay
[where the Marines from the Clymer had landed ].
One of our destroyers limps in today, the Foote, being
towed by a tug. Her stern was shot away. In the naval
battle the Japs lost 17 out of the 67 planes they sent
over to help their surface units in their attack.
Four cruisers steam out this evening at sundown,
the place of the Denver being taken by the Nashville.
They are lean and hungry, looking for another kill.
Friday, November 5, 1943
0615 – Mass.
This little hidden away Bay used to harbor the Jap
fleet until Marines captured the surrounding islands
last August. When Tulagi and Gavutu fell, then this
anchorage was available for our ships. In the taking of both of these small islands, the Marine losses
were very heavy.
This little scooped out harbor is U-shaped with a
right angle approach to it. It is completely screened
from the sea.
Low mountains ride up from its shores on which
are not half, but wholly hidden oil and ammunition
dumps. Coconut trees lean down to the water’s edge
on the sides of the small mountains, fresh wounds
in the red earth give away the location of the dumps.
Camouflage will shortly disguise them.
Half hour ride to Tulagi to pick up a movie for
253
tonight, “Rio Rita,” with Abbott and Costello.
Meet Fr. McGowan, OMI, from Lowell who expects
a change of duty shortly to Noumea. Also there is
Chaplain Blackwood.
Saturday, November 6, 1943
0615 – Mass.
Make arrangements for Sunday Mass aboard the Liggett.
Two task forces of cruisers operating out of this anchorage. They burn up fuel very quickly, for after being out
for only three days, they return for another long drink.
Sunday, November 7, 1943
0615 – Mass. 0915 – Mass aboard the Hunter Liggett.
Quiet afternoon; another recreation party goes
ashore with a couple of bottles of beer for each man.
Monday, November 8, 1943
0615 – Mass.
0830 – To Hunter Liggett; discover they are about
to get underway, hastily beat retreat, not knowing
where I might wind up.
253 Comedic duo fights and defeats Nazi spies on the Mexican border. (MGM, 1942)
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�Tuesday, November 9, 1943
Committee visits American Legion to report on her
need of Navy Yard overhaul. Back to Tulagi, ashore
for movie, meet Fr. McGowan, have him aboard for
dinner tonight. He stays for the movie.
Wednesday, November 10, 1943
0600 – Mass.
We anchor outside the nets at 0700, see task force
limp in. USS Birmingham fresh from the States on
her first mission has her port bow shot away and
her stern badly damaged. In this battle area only two
days when she catches it. Daylight visible through
her bow at her waterline.
Thursday, November 11, 1943
To Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal where we load up the
129th combat team for actual fighting duty in Bougainville. Finish loading at 5:00. In the meantime I went
ashore to put through a call for Ed at the 52nd Field
Hospital; learn he has been transferred to Noumea as of
a month ago. Confirmation of the transfer pleases me.
Underway at 6:00; down about 30 miles where we
anchor for the night under a bomber’s moon. No
trouble, Deo Gratias.
Friday, November 12, 1943
0600 – Mass. Excellent group of Catholics, about
100 at Mass.
0800 – Underway. Six ships in convoy, Liggett,
Legion, Crescent City, Alhena, and the Alchiba, with
seven destroyer escorts and plane protection overhead. As usual, sun is a scorcher overhead. Hear
confessions morning and afternoon.
Cruise north slowly for most of the night and then
in the morning will head north to Bougainville,
into the jaws of the Japs again. May Our Lady, Star
of the Sea, protect us as she has in the past.
6:38 – General Quarters. Looks as though it might be
a bad night for us. There is a bomber’s moon overhead, bursting with fullness. Easy to read a paper on
deck, I pull my notebook out of my pocket and read it
254
with the greatest of ease. Passengers loll on decks,
drinking in the silent beauty of the tropical night. Sea
is hammered silver. Other ships are no longer dark
silhouettes on the ocean; they are as brightly lit up
as we are. A short distance away three cruisers and
five destroyers come up on our port quarter going the
wrong way, then they turn around and steam ahead to
intercept any Jap task force that may be trying to annihilate us. Report on battle yesterday, results satisfactory. Operations hampered by bad weather. Aircraft
carrier Essex radioed that she was being attacked by
dive bombers; managed to get away from them.
Ten o’clock to bed with instructions to call me
at four. I want to give Viaticum to the men going
over the side. Will be large number, judging from
the confessions heard both this morning and this
afternoon.
Saturday, November 13, 1943
12:30 – General Quarters. Enemy planes overhead.
Moon lighting us like a Christmas tree. Destroyers
open up with their guns on our starboard side.
General Quarters lasts for half an hour.
1:55 – General
Quarters again. “Prepare to repel
enemy planes,” word is passed to all ships through
TBS. In distance see angry red flashes of gunfire.
Our task force is engaging the Japs. We are not molested. Lasts for half an hour. I celebrate Mass and
consecrate hosts.
254 That Foley used a pocket notebook to take contemporaneous notes for his diary would explain the sharp detail in many entries. At the
same time, one must wonder why, if he was seen to take notes, no one reported him to a senior officer, since the keeping of journals
by servicemen was for security reasons forbidden under military law. As with what seems his easy access to communiques in the ship’s
“Radio Shack,” the explanation may lie in his status as a priest and chaplain.
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�0400 – General Quarters again. What a night!. Or
rather, morning. Kip Morey tells me that there are
four enemy planes tailing us and four cruising overhead. Cruiser Denver was hit by a torpedo plane that
has left her dead in the water. An ocean going tug is
dispatched from our task force to help her. She also
asks for fire support, thus indicating that her guns
have been put out of commission. We stay on GQ
until 0715.
Out on deck for another look at Bougainville. Much
different approach this trip. No tenseness, we know
our men are on the beachhead, no firing of our
guns, no bombing by our planes. Still as beautiful as
ever, sun comes up blood red behind the mountains
on our starboard. This land must make for hard
fighting. Growth of jungle down to water’s edge.
About two miles back a level shelf of plateau about
a mile high, then a comforter of clouds sitting on it,
snow white. Directly behind them, a ridge of four
mountains, about a mile higher. To the right the
plateau breaks off sharply into a gorge, then rises
again. Directly behind this section of it, is a 10,000
foot volcanic cone. Once again the clouds are spiraling up from it and trailing off on to the horizon, like
a white scarf on a girl’s head streaming in the wind.
Beauty beyond description, yet there is hell below,
for the thunder and crack of gunfire are breaking
the morning peace and silence.
0800 – First troops go over the side and in to the
beach. Dr. Connor comes aboard looking decidedly peaked. He has been a busy man attending the
wounded. Says the Japs gave them hell at night with
their bombing, whereas we plaster them with our
bombs during the daytime. Casualties among our
boys are high, but Jap’s are astronomical.
Beach is littered with our landing boats that were
piled high by the surf, over a million dollars worth
in the one day, November 1st. Beachhead is now six
miles long and about three miles deep.
Unloading of ship proceeds satisfactorily until 11:30,
when air attack begins to develop. However our
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interceptors keep them off and we are back at the
transport area in half an hour.
Kip Morey informs me the reason for the long and
numerous General Quarters alarms this morning.
The Jap planes would come in, say from port quarter, [compass] bearing 215 first, 14 miles out, then 8,
6, 4, 2, when destroyer on the line of attack would
open up, then Japs would veer off and out again to
20 miles, then start to slide in again, 16, 13, 11, 6,
[compass] bearing 175, two miles off starboard beam
and destroyer there would open fire. So it went for
all the early hours of the morning, the Japs trying
to slip through the cordon, attempting to find out
where there was an opening.
3 p.m. – Heavy firing off our port side where the Japs
are in command. They are being shelled by our artillery, who, according to Marine Officers aboard, have
been doing a murderous job on the Jap concentrations
of men. Have taken aboard about a dozen wounded,
none of them seriously wounded except for one Jap
pilot who was shot through the right cheek. The bullet caused his left eye to disintegrate and the swelling
from the wound has puffed his face up and closed his
remaining eye tighter than a drum. Men who brought
him aboard inform us that when he first was questioned, he refused to talk, but he was killed with kindness. Amazed, he spilled all the information that his
questioners desired, an interpreter helping them along.
4 p.m. – General Quarters again. Jap planes on the
way once more. We leave behind two boats and head
for home again.
6:37 – General Quarters. Bombers’ moon again.
Hope for the best, expecting the worst. Fortunately
clouds come up and they promise to escort us home
in darkness. Admiral Halsey should be safely back
in Guadalcanal from Torokina Pt. [on Bougainville]
in a PBY escorted by six fighters, where he left
this afternoon.
�Sunday, November 14, 1943
Tuesday, November 16, 1943
0515 – Mass. 0615 – Mass.
Mass starts off each day. We are quietly anchored
as before with movies at night to refresh the crew.
Fr. McGowan and Chaplain Markley aboard tonight
for dinner.
0900 – Mass. 1000 – General Service.
1100 – We
sight on the horizon the cruiser Denver
being towed by a tug. In the battle of two nights ago,
that we could see about 20 miles away, she was hit
by a torpedo from a plane. Casualties, 19 killed and
one critically wounded. We come abreast of her and
pass by quickly, for she is making only five knots;
hit was on her starboard side aft. Major Kenneth
Neville, USMC, informs me this morning that
we are bound for New Zealand after we get into
Guadalcanal. Cheers.
Monday, November 15, 1943
0600 – Mass.
We anchored last night at midnight; moved in this
morning to the shelter of Tulagi Harbor. I visited
the hospital ashore where I pass a cemetery where
there are buried about 300 American Marines and
sailors. Nearby the dock overlooking the anchorage
is a sign:
“Admiral Halsey says:
Kill Japs, Kill Japs,
Kill more Japs.
You will kill more yellow Bastards
If you do your work well.”
Wednesday, November 17, 1943
0615 – Mass.
Tom Quinn, editor of the Boston College Stylus for
’38 and ’39 comes aboard from the Titania for a visit.
We chew the fat for a while about events at B.C.
Thursday, November 18, 1943
0615 – Mass.
Wally Boudreau, B.C. ’43, aboard for the evening. No
accommodations ashore so he uses us for a hotel for
the night. His roommate is Bubber Ely of Tulane, both
bound for PT boats around the corner of the Bay.
Friday, November 19, 1943
In the afternoon put up graveyard markers in the
Tulagi Cemetery for “Lt. Col. J. P. McCaffrey, USMC
wounded at Empress Augusta Bay, November 1, 1943.
Died aboard the USS George Clymer November 1,
1943.” Also for PFC. J. S. Studer.
About 400 men buried in the cemetery ashore; 19
more to go in today from the USS Denver, hit protecting us a week ago tonight by torpedo plane.
Comment: Chinese are yellow also.
We send ashore the Jap pilot who was our prisoner
shot down from out of the skies over Empress
Augusta Bay by our anti-aircraft fire on the shore.
One eye has been completely destroyed by the shell
that lodged behind it; the other is swollen tight.
He leaves after kind treatment, looking better than
when he came aboard. War is so senseless. He is a
pleasant enough boy, about 25; would make a good
companion, but is now a deadly enemy, one of the
yellow Bastard Rot! The spirit evidenced by that
sign is what brought on the war and will hinder the
peace. Are we Americans still color conscious?
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Learn that the campaign is going along well, but
that it has its bad drawbacks as well as good features. Here are some of them:
1. The rain is terrific. It is described by a Marine
combat correspondent “With commendable understatement” in a brief three word dispatch: “Bougainville, November 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, it rained!”
These torrential downpours handicapped operations
unimaginably. Everything bogged down. Men living
in sheer, wet misery.
2. During attack on enemy positions, some of our
light tanks, confused, attacked our own men.
3. Just when our men were about to jump off to the
attack, enemy artillery ranged in perfectly, opened
�up fire at virtually the exact minute of jump-off with
heavy accurate fire that inflicted the worst casualties
of the entire campaign up until that time.
4. Koiari Beach Raid. This place was about ten miles
south of our beachhead, seemed to be main communication center of the enemy and had a lot of supply
dumps established here with perhaps 900 men.
Same number of our men went on raid to wipe it
out. Went ashore in early dawn, but probably never
would have made it except that they were mistaken
by Japs for their own. They had been expecting
reinforcements. A Jap officer sauntered out of the
jungle, began conversation with the first man he
met, to their mutual astonishment and his “ultimate
mortification.” Their initial surprise over, the enemy
reacted violently. They had almost 2500 men in the
area. Our boys were penned in on the beach perimeter only 350 yards long and 1800 feet deep with the
sea at their backs. By noon it was obvious that attempt was doomed to failure and they would have to
get off. Japs killed first two attempts by mortar fire.
After dark invasion boats finally made it, got last
man off at 2100, with dead and, unhappily, some of
the wounded left behind.
Today the Hunter Liggett and the American Legion
ships from our transport division leave for home.
They steam slowly by us. We line our decks, they
line theirs, everybody waving. “Lucky birds, “ we
all remark. For ourselves, we say that our motto is
“Frisco in’48.” Both ships are badly in need of repairs; job will take about four months, then they will
come back to help us seize Rabaul [on New Guinea].
Saturday, November 20, 1943
0615 – Mass.
Today we take aboard the 8th Field Artillery veterans
of Guadalcanal and New Georgia. They are bound
for a vacation in New Zealand, which they have so
richly earned. With them is Fr. McGoldrick, their
Chaplain. Fr. McGowan, Navy, relieved at Tulagi,
also is a passenger bound for Noumea where he
will be stationed at the hospital.
Sunday, November 21, 1943
0600 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000 – General Service.
One of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever
seen last night. Went ashore at Tulagi to pick up
Fr. McGowan’s typewriter which he forgot in his
packing haste. Tent on the crest of the hill overlooking the bay to the west down below; directly below,
Navy tents along a palm-fringed shore. Across the
bay, a chain of lovely mountains. Sun had set half an
hour before. Sun was reflecting its glory from beyond
the horizon. Palm fronds etched vividly against the
lavender skyline. Clouds of all formations like cathedrals with pinnacles and arches suffused with dark
lavender. Not a sound broke the tropical stillness. The
day’s work was ended, the men were sitting patiently
below on the level ground for the movie, “Here We
Go Again,” with Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen
255
and Fibber McGee to begin. If an artist could have
caught the rich warmth of that lavender in the sky, its
reflection on the waters of Tulagi Bay, the dark purple
of the mountains and the black silhouettes of the
coconut trees, he would approach genius.
2:30 – Underway for Noumea with the Jackson,
256
Hays, Adams, Alhena and Titania and six escort
vessels. If we all go to New Zealand, it will be a
mighty invasion on their hospitality. Signalman on
sub on port side signals “Good Luck.” Must think
that since we are fully loaded, we are on our way to
another invasion.
Monday, November 22, 1943
0436 – General Quarters.
0600 – Mass.
255 The salt-of-the-earth couple “Fibber McGee” and “Molly”—stars of radio and vaudeville—were the featured players in this RKO comedy
(1942) about a man who believes, incorrectly, that his wife is in love with an old flame. Antics ensue.
256 All, like the Clymer, attack transport ships.
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�Once again we are up at the unearthly hour for
General Quarters, as we steam south in convoy
bound for Ed’s new home. Weather is still very
warm, but passengers have been out in these
parts for almost three years, some of them, so
they don’t mind it too much.
Forgot to mention that last Saturday the USS
McKean, APD, was lost. Attacked 20 miles away
from Empress Augusta Bay. With her went down
one-third of her passengers and crew, well over
100 men. Her squadron came in with their colors
dipped, one less than they went out. “We were
257
four, are now three.”
Tuesday, November 23, 1943
0416 – General Quarters. We’ll be up at midnight if this keeps up.
0600 – Mass.
Passengers are enjoying every moment of the trip.
They are veterans of two hard campaigns, Guadalcanal and Munda, New Georgia. Are regular Army
except for a handful of draftees. Outfit is the 25th
American Division. Like all the other outfits, they
have a low opinion of Americal; can afford it, not
258
knowing the hells those men went through.
Wednesday, November 24, 1943
No General Quarters.
0600 – Mass.
This noon we had our Thanksgiving Day dinner.
Today rather than tomorrow because men will be
very busy bringing the ship into port and then,
when we have dropped anchor, in collecting out
standing requisitions. No turkey, but very good
beef steak.
Thursday, November 25, 1943
0900 – I speak over the loud speaker on Thanksgiving Day and end with a prayer.
Once again, officers and men, we find ourselves
on board ship on Thanksgiving Day. Those who
were members of our ship’s company a year ago
will recall that on this day we were one thousand
miles out of Norfolk on our way back from Casablanca. Our passengers were survivors. A year
later we are steaming in convoy on another ocean
under the Southern Cross, making our way into
harbor. Our passengers now are veterans of
two hard campaigns against a savage and determined foe.
Looking back over the twelve months that have
gone by since last Thanksgiving, it is safe to say
that there isn’t one of us who wouldn’t agree that
we have much to be thankful for to Almighty
God. We made the 10,300 mile cruise without
mishap or incident. Month after month we have
operated in enemy submarine waters yet we have
never been the victim of a successful attack. We
have been bombed from the air and the bombs
have fallen wide of their mark. As last November
so also this, our ship participated in a major offensive action. Shortly after we returned to court danger and again we escaped unharmed while other
ships suffered hits on their second trip. For the
entire year’s operation our sum total of casualties
of the ship’s crew is two and those were of a minor
nature. Happily, both men are again on active duty
with us, none the worse for their wounds.
These facts are reviewed simply to show how fortunate we have been. Of us the words of Scripture
are eminently true: ‘The lines have fallen to us in
259
goodly places.
257 A destroyer, the McKean was sunk by airborne torpedoes, on November 17, 1943, in Empress Augusta Bay.
258 Composed shortly after December 7 of “orphaned” National Guard regiments from North Dakota, Illinois, and Massachusetts, the Americal Division—named for its first posting in New Caledonia—fought on Guadalcanal and in the Bougainville and Leyte campaigns, and then
took part in the occupation of Japan. It was later named the 23rd Infantry Division and was active, under the Americal name, in Vietnam.
259 Psalms, 16:6.
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�Our passengers also, as some of you have told
us personally, have abundant reason to be grateful to Almighty God. There were many occasions
when His Providence watched over you in your
operations. Each man alone knows their number.
We are glad, then, to have you join with us in our
prayer of Thanksgiving.
‘O Almighty and Everlasting God, You who stand
by to protect those who put their trust in you,
with a full heart we offer a prayer of thanksgiving
for the blessings visited upon our ship and upon
us, soldier and sailor, since last Thanksgiving
Day. For the future we ask you, through your Son,
Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, who stilled
the stormy sea, to keep watch upon our bridge, to
protect us windward and lee. Teach us to be generous and strong in serving you and our country
with courage. Teach us to give and not count the
cost, to fight and not heed the wounds, to labor
and ask for no reward save that of fulfilling your
Holy Will in all things, through Jesus Christ our
260
Lord. Amen.’
Go ashore at 1000 to dig up Ed who is at Hospital
#109 at St. Louis about 15 miles outside the city of
Noumea. He and I meet at 2 o’clock on the Navy
landing with Charlie Bushois, then out to the ship
where they spend the night after a good dinner and
261
a movie, The Road to Singapore.
Friday, November 26, 1943
0600 – Mass at which Ed attends. Unfortunately,
although Ed looks well, his looks belie his condition.
He has had a long and serious bout of malaria. It
finally emerged from its suppressive state when he
changed climates from hot and tropical to cool and
comfortable.
Saturday, November 27, 1943
0600 – Mass.
0700 – Underway for Auckland. With us in convoy are
the President ships, the Jackson, Adams and Hayes
and three KA’s — Libra, and two others whose names
262
escape me presently. The men who are our passengers find that the now beginning to cool a bit is
a decided change from what they have been used to
for the last 18 months. They are looking for blankets!
Blue sky, blue sea, blue ships, lovely contrasts.
Gorgeous sunset this evening. As sun slanted down
the sky about fifteen minutes before it set, it was
hidden from the eye in a cloud bank that stretched
straight across the sky. Between it and the horizon was
clear blue. This was gradually changed into pink, then
amber, then gold and then into a lovely lavender. Mr.
Racey and I stood on the flying bridge and marveled at
the masterpiece that God was painting in the sky.
Sunday, November 28, 1943
0615 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000 –
General Service.
Passengers are eagerly asking questions about New
Zealand. Our men eagerly praise it very highly, both
the people and the country (and the food.)
One of our PhM’s [pharmacist mate], Roy, has a bad
case of rash still plaguing him. The rest of us have
had ours cleared by the change of climate. “What are
you taking to cure it?” I asked him. “Only one thing
will cure this, Father, and that is the hills of New
Hampshire.”
Monday, November 29, 1943
0600 – Mass.
260 The last sentence is an adaptation of St. Ignatitus’ “Prayer for Generosity.”
261 Musical comedy in which Bing Crosby and Bob Hope vie for the love of Dorothy Lamour. It was the first of what would be seven popular
“road films” featuring the three stars.
262 KA is an abbreviation of the acronym AKA, which designated an attack cargo ship.
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�Fr. McGoldrick enjoys every minute of the trip,
relaxing after his 18 months of combat with
this artillery outfit. He is from Los Angeles;
excellent priest.
Tuesday, November 30, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Men are very talkative in breakfast line. Have the
spark that sight of land always generates in everybody after some days at sea. Since half past five, we
have been passing land on our starboard side, the
headlands of New Zealand. They are as rugged looking as when we first saw them months ago. Strange
rock formation, the very first we saw, still standing
guard out in the water about three miles off shore. It
is an inverted U with its feet in the water forming an
arc, with one prong of the arc much thicker than the
other. Looks like the upper tooth of a giant that fell
out and stuck in the bottom of the ocean where it
fell. Only trouble is that it had a big cavity in it that
now lets us see daylight on the horizon.
3 wounded. We had those men from the Second
Marine Division aboard last June for maneuvers
at Paikakariki, north of Wellington. It was a mass
sacrifice on the part of the Marines; in fact, massacre of them. One correspondent counted 105 dead
Marines is a space of 20 yards, which is 60 feet or
263
that is two to a foot.
Thursday, December 2, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Dance beginning to assume some shape; all
arrangements practically completed.
Friday, December 3, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Dinner with Fr. Linehan at Telford Ave., Balmoral.
Dean Murphy is on retreat. Rectory is lovely, for it
is summer here.
Saturday, December 4, 1943
0600 – Mass.
We steam along the long 100 mile channel in single
file, four ships, the others having left us for Wellington. About two o’clock we sight the first houses on
the shore. Trim, neat, multi-colored. Overhear one
soldier say to another, “Say, doesn’t the sight of a real
house make you feel like a million dollars?”
We dock at 2 p.m., then down the gangway to
arrange for ship’s dance at the Metropole Ballroom.
Wednesday, December 1, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Statistics revised on the Marine casualties. At
Tarawa: 1026 killed; 2557 wounded. At Makin:
65 killed; 300 wounded. At Apemama: 1 killed;
Visit five other ships to inform them of Mass
aboard Clymer tomorrow.
Sunday, December 5, 1943
0630– Confessions aboard the Crescent City,
followed by 0700 Mass. Then back to the FFF for
0900 Mass, attended by many men from nearby
ships. Altar looked lovely with fresh flowers,
264
gladioli and jebras.
At 1230 out on a Mt. Roskill car to the end of the line
and then a four mile walk out to the crest of the hill,
on one side the Tasman Sea and on the other, the
Pacific. It was a beautiful summer day, corresponding
to about the third week of June back home.
263 Marine deaths on Tarawa are now counted at 1,009, and wounded at 2,101. These were incurred over the course of only 72 hours. The
Makin Island figures for the Marines are 51 dead and 14 wounded. Foley may have conflated Army and Marine wounded. The report
of Marine bodies tumbled together on beaches at Tarawa is borne out by photographs. Foley would have known many of the dead
and wounded.
264 A tropical sunflower.
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�Flowers in profusion on every side, luxurious beds
of pansies, geraniums, trellised roses, seven foot
high, sweet peas, Easter lilies. At the end of the car
line, concrete road led out onto section that finally
ended in wide open summer meadows with pine
trees bordering the road. Lovely summer afternoon.
Off in the distance a plane visible and faintly audible, so far away seems to be drifting lazily across the
sky. On my left a skylark is pouring forth its soul “in
265
profuse strains of unpremeditated art.” I cannot
see him overhead. In the distance the mountains fall
away, fold upon fold, and a green house in the distance catches the full brilliance of the sun and gives
it back a thousand fold.
Wednesday, December 8, 1943
The sharp, fresh green of early Spring is upon the
fields, contrasting with the dark green of the pines.
Along the road ride a young couple on a bicycle,
singing in harmony, “I’ll see you again,” beautifully
rendered. On the other side of the road, sheep are
grazing on the side of a hill and at the foot cows are
266
munching away.
Friday, December 10, 1943
One house I passed has the father of the family
playing with his two youngsters, about four and five
respectively. They climb up on his back and then
tumble off onto the lawn and shout their happiness
and laughter.
A rooster far away crows his tune with no echoing
reply. The summer wind is sighing in the pines. The
whole scene breathes of peace and happiness. I can’t
help thinking of the boys up north, pouring out the
red sweet wine of their youth on Bougainville and
those others who died in Tarawa recently.
Monday and Tuesday,
December 6 and 7, 1943
Dance at Metropole for ship’s complement.
Feast of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception.
0630– Mass with confessions preceding.
Church parties from the Crescent City and the flagships alongside. Visited Fr. Linehan at Good Shepherd Church. Telford Avenue. Had dinner with him,
then visited the House of the Good Shepherd.
Thursday, December 9, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Tried to send mother flowers for Christmas but was told
that the practice had been discontinued by the bank.
0600 – Mass.
Ashore first to the Little Sisters of the Poor with a
case of Baby Ruth bars, then to the orphanage at
Northcote with another case for the boys there, and
then to the pastor of Northcote Church, Fr. Hunt,
with cigarettes for himself and Norine, his housekeeper. Visit with Fr. Hunt to one of his excellent parishioners, a florist. He tells me, “You will enjoy his
family. They are the salt of the earth.” We approach
the white farmhouse. “Hope he is in,” says Fr. Hunt.
No answer to our knock. “Perhaps he is out working
on his flowers.” We make our way around the back
of the house into a big cultivated garden, through
beds of flowers, some in blossom, others just seeded
in neat, trim rows. Down in the far corner of the
field, four figures, industriously working by hand a
horizontal screen back and forth, are sifting loam.
Wave of hand from Fr. Hunt is reciprocated by Geraldine, the gardener’s daughter, big girl with auburn
hair creeping out from under a boy’s cap. About
28 years old, ruddy-faced, with sparkling blue eyes,
contagious smile, wearing a faded blue sweater and
265 From Shelley’s “To a Skylark.”
266 “I’ll See You Again” is a melancholy waltz written in 1928 by Noel Coward. One of his most popular songs, it’s been recorded by pop,
opera, jazz and rock performers. The lyrics Foley heard sung on the road to Auckland’s Mt. Roskill might have included “I’ll see you
again / Whenever spring breaks through again / Time may lie heavy between / but what has been / Can leave me never.”
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�five gifts, three foot statue of St. Patrick, lovely lace
alb, pen and pencil desk set, a clock made of kawhri
wood, with three kiwis perched on top, and an order
for $25 worth of photographs. Grateful to the men;
tell them I hope that I will prove worthy of the spirit
267
behind the gifts.
trousers, dusty face, streaked with lines of honest
sweat, strong hands, barefooted, beautiful face even
beneath the grime, completely unconscious of it.
Would make a debutante jealous of her beauty. Will
make a fine wife for some lucky man. Introductions,
“Happy to meet the visitor from overseas.” “Where’s
your dad?” “Just a moment, Father, think he is in the
greenhouse.” We make our way to it. “Dad?” “Hello.”
“Have a surprise for you.” He comes around a corner
of the greenhouse, is about 68, stoop-shouldered,
originally from Alsace-Lorraine. Lived on a farm
all his life. Bowed graciously as he shook hands.
“Honored, indeed, to have as my guest an American
Priest.” All the old-world courtesy is in his voice and
movements. “Sit down, please, Fathers, and have
some of my home made cider.” We sip it seated in
his greenhouse without any panes of glass. “Too
expensive, Father, these days.”
In the afternoon went to the zoo with Fr. Minton,
then had dinner with him at Albert’s and later we
ended the day with a visit to the Christian Brothers
College. We parted and he boarded the Rixey for
transportation to Lunga Point.
Son, about thirty, comes in, just released from the
Army. Strapping man with complete absence of
pretense, just like his sister. What a contrast
between them and the Back Bay [Boston] couple
wasting their time and their youth in overheated
night clubs, getting their pictures in the papers,
as they nurse their fifth cocktail or lead their Afghanistan hound on a leash down Commonwealth
Avenue. Over to the city again to see Mrs. Keenan,
70 Richardson, to tell her about her daughter,
Sister Geraldine at Latoka, Fiji.
As we stand topside, one of the men, Abe DiBacco,
informs me that yesterday during Mass, there
were three Sisters on the ferry that was standing in
its slip during the Mass. The ferry like all the others
was jam packed with folks on their way to the beaches to spend a lovely summer day. When the blessing
came at the end of the Mass, the three Sisters stood
268
up and received Our Lord’s blessing a longinquo.
Saturday, December 11, 1943
0600 – Mass.
One of the men still missing since last Monday
night, J. W. Castle, BM1c.
Sunday, December 12, 1943
0900– Mass with Church parties present from other
ships. After the Mass, word passed down, “All hands
not on watch report to the Boat Deck Forward.”
There Grymen delivers a speech, presents me with
Monday, December 13, 1943
0600 – Mass.
0800 – Underway. Ferries crowded with people going to work are crossing the harbor as we shove off,
a beautiful sight with our long lines and our fresh
coat of paint.
Funeral of Castle, BM1c, today at 1300 ashore. Yesterday viewed the body and said some prayers over it
at Morrison’s Funeral Parlor, Parneel St., Auckland.
Since the body had been in the water of the harbor
since last Monday night, Castle was completely unrecognizable. Body decomposing after week in water.
Happened when drunk; fell overboard?
Steam out of Auckland Channel without escort.
Tuesday, December 14, 1943
0600 – Mass.
267 Native to the North Island, Kauri’s are New Zealand’s largest and longest-living trees, analogous to the California Redwood.
268 Longinquo: Latin for at a distance.
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�Underway on this beautiful day when we hate to
leave the city and its hospitable people. Christmas
with them would have been delightful; had three
invitations to spend the day with different people,
however we have grim business up north with Tojo.
side of these shore mountains are a deep dark green,
lovely contrast in this world of contrasts.
Steam in slowly to our berth and are greeted by the
natives shouting “Boula,” their native hello greeting. Immediately we start taking aboard cargo of the
164th Infantry Regiment, outfit which distinguished
itself on Guadalcanal last year.
With us are the Crescent City, the Libra, and the
Fuller. Rixey brings up the stern; aboard her are
Paul Goode, B.C. ’32 and Galvin, also B.C. She
leaves us when we turn to the headlands of New
Zealand, about 100 miles north of Auckland. Once
again we are on our own. One of the flag officers
informs me that when we were coming in here,
we altered our course on receipt of the word that
269
a Jap sub was directly athwart our path.
Meet Fr. Flaherty in town; we dine together aboard.
Later meet him and Fr. Tracy and the three of us
have dinner in the evening at the Sisters’ convent.
Bring Sisters two crates of oranges and two hams
to help replenish their larder. Also say hello to
Fr. Dooley out at the hospital in Sanamboula.
Wednesday, December 15, 1943
Saturday, December 18, 1943
0600 – Mass.
0600 – Mass.
Am packing the clock the men gave me last
Sunday, hoping and praying my mother receives
it unharmed. Send it fourth class, cost $2.80.
Wonder when she will receive it.
Ashore to wander around the town for a couple of
hours, absorbing local color. Go out to a Mr. Turner’s
half-caste, [who was] recommended by Red Cross for
purchase of flowers. I buy gorgeous golden roses and
pink baby roses, and deep rich crimson, and Pentheus,
a big blossom of red, and a flower that resembles Sweet
William, lavender and white colored blossoms, two
bouquets of them for $.50! Half a crown in his money.
Natives throng the streets as they did on our first trip,
big outsized heads of hair, half-castes, Europeans, Indians, child-mothers. All nations under the sun and our
American soldiers in their khakis; quite a mélange.
Send cables home for Christmas for the men, about
180 of them.
Thursday, December 16, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Uneventful trip so far; have plane coverage now as
we near the Fiji Islands.
Friday, December 17, 1943
0600 – Mass.
A year ago today we left Norfolk to start our 10,300 mile
trip out here. It has been an eventful year, but none of
us is any the worse for the wear, thank God. We have
much to be thankful for to Almighty God.
We are approaching Suva, as lovely as ever in the early
morning. The hour is six o’clock. The town seems to be
still asleep from ten miles out as I train the long glass
upon it. On our port side, the sun has hit the mountains
behind the shoreline mountains, and they present a
vivid washed green color under its rays, while the near
Sunday, December 19, 1943
0615– Mass. 0900– Mass. 1000– Protestant
Worship, Chaplain Byrd.
1500 – Rosary
and Benediction.
Lovely morning for Mass topside. We heave up anchor at 1130. Lovely Suva fades gradually out of view.
Red merges into the white and the green into the
blue of the sky as we head out to sea.
269 The USS Rixey, a former ocean liner that could accommodate 1,000 passengers, served as a floating hospital or “casualty evacuation” ship.
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�Train long glass on the Church and the school and
the convent. Sisters said that they always know
when we arrive and leave. Notice that one of them is
at the third window from the front. Convent on high
ground gives them a commanding view of the sea
and the approach to Suva. We have the blessing of
their prayers as we make our way north again. Their
holy prayers will keep us safe, we are sure.
4:00 – Topside; green dumplings of islands on our
starboard side as we head to sea again with the
Crescent City, the Fuller and three escorts. Bright,
shining expanse of the waters around us, blue sky
overhead, white combers breaking over the coral reefs in
the distance on our port side. Scenery made in heaven.
Music on the foc’sle by the 164th Infantry Band; one
trumpet, one sax, two mandolins, one violin, accordion
and the piano. Fine group of boys. Everybody enjoys
their songs and their solos. They are good.
Monday, December 20, 1943
Each one of these days starts as usual with Mass excellently attended by these boys. They are a splendid group.
A sub scare today. One of the escort vessels drops
half a dozen ash cans sending shafts of water high
to the heavens. Soldiers cluster on the weather decks,
a subdued group as they watch the destroyer stalk
back and forth over the area in which she picked up
Tojo’s undersea craft.
Tuesday, December 21, 1943
0600 – Mass. At table we have music furnished by
Sid Feldstein of 15 Michigan Avenue, Dorchester.
They are an excellent outfit with an accordion, a
trumpet, violin, bass viol and piano.
3:30 p.m. – Sub contact; shafts of water mount to the
skies suddenly as one of the vessels drops her ash
cans on the marauder of the deep.
At dinner, soloist Bucky Connors sings in the wardroom. Among other songs, “When the lights go on
again all over the world.” When he finishes, notice
many of the officers, Army and Navy, blinking back
270
the tears.
Thursday, December 23, 1943
Make arrangements with Chaplain Byrd for services
tomorrow for the Protestants.
Friday, December 24, 1943
0500 – General Quarters. Dangerous waters again.
Late yesterday we hit Guadalcanal and then lifted
the anchor sometime during the night.
We have left behind the “four pipers,” old World War
I destroyers and taken on the new destroyers for
271
our escorts. Now we are ready for the men of Tojo
as we start to go up the slot once again to Empress
Augusta Bay, Bougainville. May the Lord be with us
as He has been in the past.
Gore makes me laugh. A mess attendant, he informs
me that his father is a blacksmith back home. When I
asked him why he didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps, he replied, “Ain’t no mule gonna kick me.”
1000 – Protestant
Church Service.
Day is rainy one, with squalls intermittent.
Slide down the Russell Islands where Elizabeth
Brennan’s brother died. RIP.
Wednesday, December 23, 1943
0600 – Mass.
270 A soulful 1942 hit record for baritone big-band singer Vaughan Monroe, the song concludes “When the lights go on again all over the world
/ And the boys are home again all over the world / And rain or snow is all that may fall from the skies above / A kiss won’t mean Goodbye
but Hello to love.
271 Replaced by newer battleships as the war went on, the “four pipers” were named for the distinctive outline of their four smokestacks.
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�Hearing confessions afternoon and evening in preparation for tomorrow. This is an excellent Catholic
272
outfit, the 164th Infantry.
Saturday, December 25, 1943
Christmas Day.
0300 – I get up and rig the altar in the Mess Hall.
No lights topside prevents me from having it under
the stars.
0350 – Mass with the organ Fr. Flaherty gave me at
Suva, being used for the first time by soloist, Bucky
Connors, one of the soldiers. Hot, sticky and sweaty
in the Mess Hall with the entire ship buttoned up,
but men are close to Our Lord.
Setting is stark in its simplicity, but it helps us to recapture the spirit of the first Christmas very easily. Right
after Mass they go to breakfast, preparatory to going
over the side to face the enemy before the day is out.
Immediately following the first Mass, I celebrate
the second in the Library. Then, after thanksgiving,
topside, still dark. Men are at their battle stations
with helmets and guns all ready for firing. Streaks of
light, faint in the east behind the long black ridge of
mountains. We are now in single file, with destroyers still deployed on scout patrol on either side of us.
0620 – Sunrise; a very weak yellow sun trying
honestly but fruitlessly to break through the clouds.
A heavy black cloud crossed the horizon a short
while ago and emptied its wet cargo. Now the sky is
washed white in the east and the sun’s light is white
also. Still it makes the trees on an island between it
and us stand out like matches. Soon the clouds ride
into another tropical shower.
0655 – Two squads of Hellcats, one six and the other
273
seven, are overhead.
0710 – Sky cleared of all the storm clouds and we recognize familiar territory on our starboard side. Background of the mountains and the volcano with a cloud
wrapped around its head like a scarf in the wind, as
before, streaming south for about ¼ mile. See the
airport and gasp with astonishment. It is crammed
with planes. Where six weeks ago our dive bombers
were pounding, it is now a smooth strip with planes
roaring off at a dizzy pace.
0725 – Lower all boats is the order from the bridge.
They head in after debarking the men over the side to
the beach with none of the tenseness that filled them
on November 1st when the enemy was waiting on the
shore. Day follows routine of all unloading operations.
These boys we put to shore will be in the lines before 24 hours are out. Aboard come the men we put
ashore on November 1st. They are a tired, dirty lot,
with sleep-less nights taking their strength and their
weight. Many of them wounded and bloodstained.
Most of them just barely make the nets on the way up.
I spy Fr. [Alfred] Kamler and his mate, Chaplain Duplessy from Stoughton, Mass. We have a great reunion.
Unlike our first days here, we have no bombings from
Tojo. We have air control here– definitely. All the
Marines are loud in their praise of the CB’s. They
built an airstrip in 19 days with the worst conditions
confronting them. Either the elements or the Japs
opposed them unceasingly at first. But, “If it is impossible, we do it.” They live up to their motto.
No dinner, just sandwiches. Christmas dinner next
Tuesday. At 4:00 p.m. we are underway again without
any casualties, thank God.
6:00 p.m. – Mass in the shop area with about 300
Marines present and some of my sailors. They raised
the roof with their singing of the Christmas carols.
“Bougainville and Vigor,” Father Kamler called it.
272 Foley was with the 164th Infantry Regiment—a North Dakota National Guard group—from his first days at Guadalcanal to the
Bougainville Campaign. He praises the unit several times.
273 The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a carrier based fighter plane introduced during the second year of the war and widely used in the Pacific
Theater, where, unlike its predecessors, it competed well with the Japanese Zero.
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�Sunday, December 26, 1943
Tuesday, December 28, 1943
0600 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000 – Protestant Service.
0600 – Mass.
1500 – Rosary
Quiet ship again with only ourselves aboard. Press
release says today the Marines have made two more
landings on New Britain, really beginning to close
in on the Japs in Rabaul; will further make untenable the plight of the Japs on Bougainville and speed
276
their evacuation.
and Benediction.
Quiet day with everybody relaxing after the work
of yesterday.
Monday, December 27, 1943
0600 – Mass.
The Marines leave us this morning for we have arrived
at their destination, the Canal [Guadalcanal]. They are a
tired group; would much prefer to be going on to New
Zealand or some other place than the Canal.
Two memories stand out in my mind most vividly
of this trip besides the one mentioned of the Christmas Masses. 1. The airfield with the fighter planes
stacked like peas in a pod. 2. The same fighter
planes dive bombing a hill about three miles back
of the strip. They swooped in and down and then
soared up again after dropping their black messages
of death. Two attempts had been made before to
take this hill, both ineffectual. Now after the dive
bombing another attempt will be made. Hope that
the boys succeed this third time and so lose no more
men. Plan seems to be not to attack beyond this
beachhead, to force the Japs to evacuate their men
who are south of this point as they did at
274
Kolombangara.
We are underway again tonight at 6 o’clock for Nandi, Fiji, to pick up another Army outfit for service in
275
Bougainville.
Wednesday, December 29, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Days are hot; sea is smooth as a millpond today. Men
are chipping rust and re-leading the decks. Lost some
good men on Monday by transfers to other ships.
Received some in turn from them. They are beginning to find their way around.
Thursday, December 30, 1943
0600 – Mass.
Quiet routine day at sea, which is so smooth that
there isn’t a ripple on the surface. Only indication
of movement is the breakers being thrown back by
our prow.
Friday, December 31, 1943
0600 – Mass.
We will see the old year out here about six miles
south of Latoka where we have been before. Drop
the anchor in the afternoon; start to load the 132nd
Infantry Regiment who are slated for Bougainville.
That means we go north again.
274 One of the Solomon Islands, and the site of a Naval battle 14 days earlier.
275 The Bougainville Campaign, which had an immediate goal of placing an airfield closer to Japanese headquarters in the South Pacific,
began on November 1, 1943. Fought in two stages, it would not conclude until August 21 1945, fifteen days after the atomic bomb was
dropped on Hiroshima and six days after the Japanese surrender was announced.
276 Rabaul was a port on the island of New Britain in the then-Australian territory of Papua New Guinea. The Japanese seized it early in the
war and made it a major garrison. As with Bougainville, and in accordance with an American strategy of “cartwheeling” through the
South Pacific toward Japan and leaving behind isolated, if still potent, Japanese forces, Rabaul did not come under the full control of the
Allies until the end of the war.
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�Confessions this evening in preparation for the holy
day tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 4, 1944
Saturday, January 1, 1944
Steaming north on convoy with four other ships of
which we are the flag. Our new Commodore is our
ex-Captain Talbot, a distinct loss to our ship. He is
succeeded by Captain Farrar who has a tremendous
277
pair of shoes to fill. Talbot was 4.0 in everything.
New Year’s Day
0600 – Mass. 0900 – Mass, with many Church
parties from the surrounding ships. To the convent
about noon with a turkey, two hams and some
oranges. Not having met for six months, we are
glad to see each other again.
Sunday, January 2, 1944
0600 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 2:00 p.m. – Rosary and
Benediction, then to the Libra and Fomalhault for
confessions.
5:30 p.m. – Confessions on board the Clymer again,
followed by movies at 7:30 p.m.
Day is lovely one, hot as the hottest day back home.
Bright sun in blue sky flecked with clouds; on the
shore a mile away, green clad mountains with a
crest of white clouds.
I heard confessions on the fantail of the Fomalhault
directly alongside their six-inch guns. Lovely panorama
as I looked into shore, blue water, yellow beach, green
clad mountains, white-tipped combers breaking over the
coral reef in rainbow sprays, all of this bathed in golden
sunlight with an occasional lazy cloud drifting across
the sky. Off in the distance could be heard the drone of
a lone seaplane returning from a long patrol at sea. The
afternoon was ominously peaceful.
Monday, January 3, 1944
0600– Mass.
Underway at 1 p.m. for Guadalcanal again with the
132nd Infantry Regiment.
Excellent attendance at Mass. Confessions at night
at 7 p.m.
0600 – Mass.
Day is a blustery one, hot and sticky as usual in this
land where it is always summer. Word comes in that
a patrol plane out of Fiji scouting for submarines
has failed to return to her base. We make one of our
intentions at Rosary this afternoon that the men will
be picked up before they starve to death.
Wednesday, January 5, 1944
0600 – Mass.
New Captain believes in far more drills than the other. He seems to be regulation also, for orders have
been issued about uniforms, jackets, etc. All will be
well, provided he is generous to the men with liberty
when we hit a New Zealand port. He stands or falls
there with the men. They will slave for him if he is
considerate of their desires in a liberty port.
Rosary this afternoon as usual with about 175
men present.
Thursday, January 6, 1944
Feast of the Epiphany.
0600 – Mass. About 200 Communions.
Today two more men of the ship’s company
approach me for instructions in the faith.
Friday, January 7, 1944
We continue to slide through the slot with no air
opposition as yet. Weather fortunately is foul; heavy
driving rains with low clouds, poor flying weather.
277 Captain Murvale Talcott Farrar (1902–1974) was a 1923 Annapolis graduate. He commanded the Clymer from January 1, 1944 to
September 5, 1944.
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�Bless the Russell Islands where Ed Brennan is
buried, as we steam by them.
from Syracuse.” “Hello, Father. Syracuse is a great
place, suburb of Boston.”
Saturday, January 8, 1944
Letter to my sister Kay informing her of the
happenings of the day.
0600 – Mass.
Confessions tonight as usual with big business
tomorrow; will be the last chance for some of the
men to go to Holy Communion. As usual, I am
writing letters to their folks informing them of
the fact of Confession.
Sunday, January 9, 1944
0345 – The bugler sounds Reveille, “You got to get
up, etc.” Ten minutes later, 0355, Mass starts on the
starboard side of the mess hall while the men begin
breakfast on the port side. I praise the men who are
about to leave us for their splendid attendance at
daily Mass and Rosary and promise them a remembrance in my Mass that God will be with them now,
when they will need Him most, for they are where
we were on November 1st, wherever that is.
(Bougainville)
0500 – Breakfast, after which I sandwich in a half
hour sleep before we all take our battle stations. I
slip out topside and watch an old maneuver now for
us, men going down over the side, this time none of
the tenseness we have known on other occasions.
0700 – I read the Office for a while, then go topside,
look out at all the big ducks with their ducklings
around them, scooting here and there, apparently
without rhythm or reason, yet all following a definite
plan. Oh’s and Ah’s on all sides on the flying bridge
up next to the stars as our planes, dozens of them,
form an umbrella over us that is constantly changing shape but is always over us.
0745 – A stranger with a cross approaches me,
“Fr. Foley?” “That’s right.” ”Fr. McNeil is my name;
Well, Kay, he was sorely in need of a priest to offer
Mass ashore, so in about fifteen minutes I was on
my way down the net with my kit having preceded
me and Fr. McNeil had his shirt stuffed with two
boxes of cigars rustled up for him. In we bounded,
braced ourselves as the boat hit the beach, then
to his tent, meeting some Captain on the way. In
about ten minutes we were ripping along the road.
Yes, that’s right; the road had been a marsh but
the CB’s do the impossible. A sharp right turn, the
ocean on our left, just ten yards away; on our right
an airstrip and at the end of the mile run, a little
cemetery bordered with coconut trees. A makeshift
altar rested against a coconut tree for it slanted
right in on me very graciously. It wasn’t a thing
of beauty for we had just punished it and those
around it on November 1. It was just a long stem
with no head of fronds waving in the breeze. Can
you picture the setting, Kay, the bluest of blue water
is boiling in, in mile long breakers just about 30
yards on my left as I begin the Mass? On my right,
just ten yards away, planes are intermittently taking
off, not on any picnic either. Under my feet is sand;
three feet away on the Epistle and Gospel sides are
the first graves. My congregation that numbered
fifteen when I started is fifty when I turn around to
read the Gospel.
Shining down on the whole scene is the hot sun
from a cloudless sky. I start to preach a few words
on the Gospel despite the competition. As I casually look around the congregation, I am distracted
by the face of a boy whom I spot immediately as
Terry Geoghegan, who graduated from B.C. year
278
before last. He is disguised behind sun glasses
278 Terrence J. Geoghegan was a Navy ensign and a 1942 graduate of Boston College who studied physics and played on two of most
successful football teams in the school’s history. Following training at Harvard he became a mobile radar operator in the Pacific Theater.
An engineer and business executive, he died in 2006 at age 85.
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�but I still know him. I am just winding up the
talk when there is a roar on my left as a plane
takes off into the morning sky. I pause for I know
when I am licked; let her roar down the strip and
soar up and then I close.
Mass over, Terry comes up and half a dozen other
young fellows and a priest with Fr. McNeil. The
only boy you know is Bud Hines from Brookline.
We had a grand reunion; said his mother was
pleased beyond words at your last call and the letter. When you call this time, Kay, tell her that Bud
looked marvelously well, although I accused him
of wearing a disguise. He had a beautiful handlebar moustache that blossomed red. The priest
was none other than Fr. Brock, none the worse
for the wear since I last saw him. I unrigged my
altar, piled into his jeep with Terry and out we
bounced in one of our boats to our ship. Up the
side like three bugs, over the rail, up to my room,
where they sat down to two cups of ice cream and
a glass of coke.
While they feasted on what they thought “they
would never see again,” I rustled up a sheep,
two hams, four boxes of cigars, five boxes of Oh
Henry’s, etc. Then I told them to get off the ship in
a hurry unless they wanted to take a trip for which
they had made no provisions with their commanding officers. So over the rail and down the side they
slid again and were on their way with the duffle
they picked up. Our visit was short and sweet on
both ends. Well, about this time it was high noon
so I snagged a couple of sandwiches, for you see,
we eat on the fly on days like this. Said goodbye to
the last of the men leaving us and then snatched
40 winks. The afternoon was taken up with the account of the exploits of the men we had put ashore
on November 1st somewhere out here; you guess
where. A session with the Office, then at 6:00 p.m.
my third Mass with about 150 boys fresh from the
shore and happy to be moving away. There they
were boys on October 31st. Now every one of them
is a man. Since it is still the Christmas season, they
sang the Christmas hymns, as on Christmas Day
so also today these boys raised the roof. How Our
Lord must have been pleased with their songs.
7:00 p.m. – Have a good fat steak and potatoes
and asparagus, the regular meal saved for me by
the cook. 7:30 p.m. – Confessions for these boys
just aboard until nine o’clock. A coke bought on
the way up to my room and here I am finishing
this letter to you at 10:30 p.m. – Are you tired? If
you aren’t, you should be because I am, as this
abominable typing indicates. It has progressively
gotten worse, and SO, SO, SO, as Ed Wynn used
to say, I am going to say my prayers, thanking
Our Lord and Our Lady for letting me do another
day’s work for them, and then fall asleep. You
have good reason for thinking that I typed this
279
with one eye shut.
Other features to be added, thrilling sight of bombers
flying in close packed formation and fighter escorts
above and below and alongside of them both port
and starboard; I count 74 of them as they roar north
to Rabaul. They are all heavily loaded with bombs
for their job. They return overhead at 3:30 p.m.,
51 of them. May those boys rest in peace who came
hurtling through the skies to their deaths or to
something worse than death.
A few days ago these bombers went north, our Liberators, with a heavy escort of fighters, and met no opposition. Then, two days later, went north again without
an escort. Apparently no need for it. Then, in the
meantime, about 150 fighters had been rushed down
from the Dutch East Indies by the Japs. The score was
16 Liberators shot out of the skies. Jap losses were
undetermined, but not nearly as heavy as ours. Bad
mistake in judgment on somebody’s part. Tragedy is
that mistakes by Brass Hats are paid for in lives.
279 Ed Wynn (1886–1966) was a popular comedian and actor, whose exit line, which Foley pastiches here, was “Be back in a flash with
more trash.”
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�Captain Jack Delahanty of the Marines comes
aboard to be moved south, apparently in excellent
health. A brave man, was put ashore in a rubber boat
with five Fijian scouts at Empress Augusta Bay, five
days before D-Day, November first, from a submarine. Scouted Jap’s position and strength. Met 150
natives, saw crucifix, medal of Our Lady around his
neck; “Catholique, Catholique,” they exclaimed with
joy. Every one of them knelt before him, kissed his
hands, thought he was a priest, tears of joy in their
eyes. He said he couldn’t let them down, gave them
all an Irish blessing. Knew he was safe in their hands
then. Had been touch and go, said his Rosary for five
intentions. 1 – Thank You for protecting me. 2 – To
St. Joseph for the grace of a happy death. 3 – Souls in
Purgatory. 4 – Men dying now. 5 – Mother’s intentions.
280
Recited the “Memorare” at night,
“Remember, O Most Gracious,” very slowly, “never,” etc.
Back on Guadalcanal Lt. Kelliher was saying the
Rosary for him every night. Splendid fellow. Day
before attack, moved the natives two miles so they
wouldn’t be massacred by the bombardment that
we would make.
Monday, January 10, 1944
0600 – Mass. Marines present who had done the
fighting on Bougainville since November, fine group
of Catholic lads among them. Day is lovely restful
one after the hectic moments yesterday. Mass in
the morning, Rosary in the afternoon, Confessions
at night.
This evening Captain Jack Delahanty and I have
a toast together. Then we go out on the boat deck
forward when we hear planes overhead. We are anchored again about a mile off Teteri, Guadalcanal.
Night is a cloudy one, with occasional raindrops falling. Moon is making a brave effort to break through
but just can’t. Over on the shore, tremendously powerful searchlights flash on and off down the runway
for the Liberators taking off into the night. They roar
over our heads, their running lights on. As they go
by, I bless each one of the eight, asking God to bring
them back safe. They douse their lights in a couple
of minutes, soon are swallowed up in the darkness
of the night and are away on their long distance
bombing mission.
Many a prayer is being said for the ten boys in each
plane by mothers, wives, sisters and sweethearts
back home that God’s blessing will also be with
them every mile of the way. There is something melancholy about the whole setting and the atmosphere
as we stand out on the deck and watch them disappear into the night. Young men, in love with life, to
whom killing is alien, bound for a mission whose
sole purpose is to wreak death and destruction on an
implacable foe. They are gone and the silence of the
tropical night wraps everything again. We are alone
with our thoughts.
I think of what Terry Geoghegan told me at Torokina [an Allied airport on Bougainville]. One of these
bombers couldn’t make her base, she was riddled by
anti-aircraft over Rabaul, struggled back to Torokina,
made a belly landing, pilot and co-pilot dead; gunner
brought her in.
Tuesday, January 11, 1944
0600 – Mass.
We are hidden away from sight of friend and enemy
here in this anchorage that used to harbor enemy
craft a short 18 months ago. We are in the midst of
the rainy season. Small mountains rise up on every
side of us. Rain spills out of the clouds, then shuts
off after ten minutes or so and steam rises from
the earth. Everything is hot, soggy and steamy here.
Sun burns even from behind the clouds. Rash starts
to pester us again. Need another trip to cure us.
Advantage of hideout is also a handicap, cuts off all
air, no breeze, just motionless surface of water and
warm air.
280 A modern version of “Memorare,” a Marian prayer dating to the 15th century,
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�Wednesday, January 12, 1944
0600 – Mass.
Movies tonight as usual.
Sunday, January 16, 1944
Today we take aboard about 200 members of Standard Landing Craft Unit #16. These boys will form
Boat Pool 3-12 at our next landing point on enemy
held territory. We expect another invasion about
March first, either one of the small islands to the
north or New Ireland itself.
0600 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1600 – Mass aboard the
USS St. Louis, cruiser, anchored like us in Purvis
Bay. Sixteen destroyers here, about four AK’s, four
merchant ships, one repair and four oil tankers;
tremendous concentration of shipping. This is our
Advanced Naval Base.
Presently the Japs are south of us on the Shortland,
where one of our task forces bombarded them last
Saturday night as we were steaming in at 11:00.
How about their airfields, Ballale, Buin, Faisie,
Kahili and Kieta still in their hands? Still doing
some damage but not what they used to, thank God.
St. Louis had her bow shot off in the battle of Kula
Gulf last July. Same happened to cruisers Honolulu
and the Leander, a NZ cruiser. Caught her torpedo
amidships and had 29 men killed. Honolulu has
a queer camouflage job, blue gray paint like ours
with black in between two shades of it. Huge sevenshaped daubs of it that run from the waterline right
up to the turrets. Captain is an individualist who
282
likes a paint job that is Daliesque in design.
Thursday, January 13, 1944
0600 – Mass.
Every night the crew has movies and
enjoys them.
Friday, January 14, 1944
0600– Mass.
Still swinging around the buoy here in Purvis Bay [off
Florida Island] with the men practicing boat, division,
flotilla and group maneuvers. We should go out before
long for AA drill. Report has it that plane attacks on
ships at Gilbert Island were severe and prolonged. May
be the same at our next attack point, New Ireland???
Happy surprise this afternoon. Tom Quinn B.C. ’39
shows up again from the USS Titania; write to his
281
mother to tell her that he is well and happy.
Saturday, January 15, 1944
0600 – Mass.
Excellent group aboard the St. Louis for Mass.
They listen attentively while I tell them the story of
Cana and speak of devotion to Our Lady. Mass was offered in the Mess Hall since both of her planes were
stacked in the hangar below, the norm for Mass.
Monday, January 17, 1944
0630– Mass.
Today is the same as all the other days we have
experienced here, intermittent rain showers all
day long. One result is that when we try to have
movies topside, the rain drives us below. Sudden
rain squalls that blot everything from view; when
it blows over, hot steam rises from the earth,
forming thick white clouds.
Alongside the water’s edge are camped half a dozen
anti-aircraft units, utterly cut off from civilization.
281 Quinn also appears in entries for November 17, 1943 and January 25 1944.
282 The Honolulu was struck by enemy bomb or torpedo three times during the war: once at Pearl Harbor, once in the battle that Foley references, and then again during the Battle of Leyte, in October 1944. The distinctive paint scheme that Foley references consisted of three
sets of steps, one black and two in shades of grey, running from below the water line on the bow up to the midship superstructure. The
design appears to have been applied when the Honolulu was repaired after Pearl Harbor. Foley’s entry here and under January 30, 1944
would indicate that captains determined how their ships would be painted.
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�Day in and day out nothing but the gray monotony
of what must seem to them a purposeless existence.
I go topside up to the flying bridge deck between
starboard and port batteries, just aft of smokestack
and can look down on five other batteries aft.
Tuesday, June 18, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Today the ultimate in contrasts of shipping. A native
canoe, without any outboard rigger, filled with three
Solomon Islanders, paddled by us, an 18,000 ton
modern 20th century steamship.
Wednesday, January 19 to Saturday,
January 22, 1944.
Still anchored at Purvis Bay.
Sunday, January 23, 1944
0630 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000 – General Service.
We lifted anchor this morning at 0700 so I had to
cancel arrangements to offer the Holy Sacrifice on
the USS St. Louis and the USS Honolulu, two cruisers that have anchored here for some time.
Sleeve comes into view, guns start to chatter, flame
spurts angrily from mouth of guns at canvas sleeve,
black blossoms fill the summer air from the three-inch
guns, tracers make a line of red fire as they head into
the target. Air is filled with acrid smell of cordite from
three-inch guns. Tom Quinn comes aboard at 5:30 and
informs me that he is going back to the States.
Wednesday, January 26, 1944
Mr. McRae, Communications Officer Cmdr. of
Mobile, Alabama, informs me that tomorrow he
leaves to report to his new ship in Boston after, he
hopes, 30 days leave. Day is another one of antiaircraft firing practice for the men on all the guns,
all the ships taking part in it, as well as practice on
surfaced submarines with five-inch and three-inch
guns. USS Libra knocks sleeve down on first shot.
Thursday, January 27, 1944
Out we go to the Iron Bottom Bay for fleet maneuvers
with the other five ships in our transport division. We
zig and we zag, we have emergency turns, we run full
steam astern to avoid imaginary collisions, we execute
evasive actions to avoid bombers, imaginary, coming
in on us at all angles and so Sunday passes.
Monday, January 24, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Dry runs today on imaginary attacking planes. All
ships “fire” as planes come in on us. Is wearisome
for the men; they like to fire live ammunition.
Tuesday, January 25, 1944
Fleet maneuvers as usual today. At 1:30 p.m. live ammunition runs, sleeve being towed by a plane. Lasts
two hours, during which three sleeves are shot down
by our five ships steaming in Indian file.
283 Lavery was an award-winning playwright and screenwriter.
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0630 – Mass for Mrs. Townsend who died a year
ago today, mother of Mr. Townsend, Electrician’s
Warrant Officer.
Again fleet maneuvers and firing practice. This afternoon our men knock down the sleeve towed by the
plane on the first burst; cheer from the men topside.
Read article today in an issue of Commonweal, in
which Emmet Lavery stated that man was part hero
and part heel, he had one foot in the mud and the
other in the stars; in other words, he was a being
283
made up of two elements, body and soul.
Friday, January 28, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Fleet maneuvers again today. In the afternoon invasion of Malita shore by all boats in the task force.
�Read in a book today that swearing is made up of
emotional expressions of inarticulate people with
284
small vocabularies. “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”.
Saturday, January 29, 1944
0300 – Reveille for pre-dawn invasion. Last day
grand dress rehearsal goes off very smoothly without
a single casualty. But in the real thing, how many?
Sunday, January 30, 1944
0630 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000 – General Service.
We are underway at 6 o’clock so I had to forego my intention of having Mass aboard two other ships this morning.
Out we venture with our escorts leading the way.
Day is a lovely one as usual with blue sky overhead,
blue water under our keel, ships on both sides of
us; a newcomer, the USS Rochambeau, a straight
transport running between here and the States. She
presents a striking contrast with the other grayish
blues of the ships for she is many-hued. The skipper
must be a rugged individualist.
Off in the distance is a long island that has tier upon
tier of mountains rising up from it. Then tier upon tier
of cottony clouds, like Alps themselves, rise over the
land mountains and over all the blue canopy of God’s
sky. How He scatters beauty with a lavish hand.
Monday, January 31, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Sgt. Snyder, Marine attached to the ship, informs
me, when we are speaking about the firing practice
of last week, that he was frightened almost beyond
endurance. Once when we were being bombed and
his station was on the 5” gun aft, the first bomb just
missed the stern. His first inclination was to run for
protection. But he mastered the desire and stood his
ground the same as the rest of the men.
Tuesday, February 1, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Aboard we have a PT Squadron and Lt. Commander
[Robert] Kelly, [the subject] of “They Were Expendable”
fame. Quiet blond Irishman who is fearlessly brave
285
from his repeated encounters with the enemy.
Also have Argus 5 Radar outfit with Terry Geoghegan
aboard. We chat about times gone by on the Heights
and about my Mass on Bougainville on January 9th.
That jungle! Thick wall of trees, clotted vines, hanging branches, slimy marsh and rotten tree trunks
and everything colored a sickly green underfoot, the
rays of sunshine filtering down, having lost all their
strength and bright brilliance in making the journey
down from the sun.
Wednesday, February 2, 1944
0630 – Mass.
This morning we cut through Havana Straits never
before traversed by a ship our size. A small canal,
New Caledonia mountains on either side of us; a
cut of about two miles we slide through, zigzagging
here and there; bare mountains, no vegetation on
them, only at water’s edge where is square of flat
land. Occasionally a clump of palms bravely raise
their heads.
284 The 1943 novel by Elisabeth Lillian Wehner (she published under the name Betty Smith) concerns the life of an impoverished, striving family
in Brooklyn, New York, in the early part of the 20th century. A story of hope, the book struck home with an American public that had been
through the Depression and was now involved in a draining war. It was a best-seller and was widely distributed by the Armed Forces.
285 Published in 1942, William White’s best-selling They Were Expendable: An American Torpedo Boat Squadron in the U.S. Retreat from the
Philippines followed the ultimately tragic fate of a Torpedo Boat squadron during the disastrous Philippine Campaign, from December
8, 1941 to May 8, 1942, when some 78,000 American troops surrendered to Japanese invaders. It was later made into a movie directed
by John Ford and starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne, who plays the Robert Kelly role but under the name Rusty Ryan. Though
critically acclaimed, the movie, deliberately released on December 7, 1945, did not find an audience in a nation weary of war.
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�At 2:30 p.m. we drop anchor; ashore to see Ed,
no contact. Tomorrow better luck.
Saturday, February 5, 1944
7:30 p.m. – Received mail, among the letters one
from the Bureau of Naval Personnel, informing
me that my orders were on the way. Letter is dated
December 15th, so before long I should be pulling
up my anchor for a new duty. Where???
Rough sea today head on and a strong wind. We pitch
quite a bit making some of the sailors a bit seasick. In
the morning the freighters, AK’s Titania and Libra,
leave us for Auckland. Now we are on our own without any escort. We are making good speed. Day is
sunshiny without much warmth, a white sun and sky.
Thursday, February 3, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Ashore at 0800 to see Ed. Put through a telephone
call. We make a date at 1045. Wander around
Noumea until ten, call Sister Joseph, then later meet
Ed at the Navy Landing. We walk down to the park
in the center of town and sit on a bench where we
chew the fat about persons, places and things back
home. I inform him about my change of duty on
the way. He is happy and looks forward to a return
home himself at the end of six months when his
two years out here will be over.
We leave at 1200, have a coke and an ice cream by
the side of the road, then I hop into the boat for the
ship at 1:30. Shake hands, “So long, Ed.” He walks
away, the dead image of our father in his walk. As
we move out into the harbor, he waves his hand in
a final salute and we have parted for good? Hope
that when we finish our stay in Wellington that we
return to Noumea so we can meet again. I want to
get Ed a radio if possible.
Underway at 4 p.m. with the Formahault, Libra,
Crescent City, Titania and three destroyers, our
escort. We head directly south into a smooth sea.
As we go out by the lighthouse, I try to pick out
Ed’s camp ashore but have no luck. He can see us
but not we them.
Friday, February 4,1944
Aboard still have PT men, Squadron #19 and some
New Zealanders being evacuated home for sickness.
Day is much cooler and sea is rolling a bit.
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0630 – Mass.
USS Formahault can’t keep up with us, so she drops
behind while we go on our own, with the Crescent
City hitting 16 knots against a strong head wind and
a running sea.
1145
– Pay a visit to the Captain, which has some
startling consequences. Showed him the notice I had
received that my orders were on the way. Remarked,
“Well, we were just about to get to know each other
when you leave.” “Yes, it looks as though I shall be
leaving before long.” Then handed me three typewritten sheets with liberty regulations for the men in Wellington. One section was headed as follows:
“Venereal Disease: Overlooking the after-effects of
Venereal Disease on your life and health, a man
on the sick list due to not taking the necessary
precautions during and after sexual intercourse
is a damned slacker. He becomes a burden to his
country in time of war instead of pulling his own
weight in the war effort. A green box with a red
cross painted on it will be handy to the gangway and
will contain sanitubes. If you feel that there is any
possibility of exposure, take a couple with you. This
is not to encourage intercourse but to provide you
with some protection. In addition you must report
to the sick bay on return to the ship, sign the book,
and take supervised treatment.” I handed back the
sheets to the Captain and said I could not give my
approval to that section.
“Why not?”
“What you intend is an insult to every decent
clean-minded man aboard this ship, besides an
�encouragement to vice.” “Be practical.” “Not by
flying in the face of God’s law.” “Fornication is
not forbidden in the Bible!” “Shocked by your
ignorance.” “State law doesn’t arrest a man for it.”
“State doesn’t make morality, God does, etc., etc.
You don’t encourage stealing. ‘If you’re going to
steal, here’s the way to avoid being caught.’ I have
friends in Wellington, Captain. What you are doing
will get around to these people. They will ask me, ‘Is
it true what I hear about your ship and that box on
the quarterdeck?’ I will hang my head in shame and
say ‘yes’ and they will say, ‘Well, you have some
Captain.’ I had intended speaking on this very subject tomorrow, Sunday, to the men. Now I must speak
on it. I send letters home to parents of these boys
informing them that they have been attending
Church services. Suppose I send a copy of what
you have written to them and to higher authorities,
what do you think their reaction would be?”
“Parents would approve.”
“I disagree with you there most emphatically. Fifteen girls pregnant in Wellington on last trip from
Marines. You know that those Marines are now lying
at Tarawa. You will be the means of bringing the
same tragedy into other lives if you carry out your
intention. Furthermore, you will have to answer to
Almighty God for your action.”
“Have a lot to answer for. Further, I did this on
other ships.”
“That does not make it right. Captain, had it been
done without consulting me, I would have been up
here immediately, for I have a solemn obligation to
oppose it. You put this in the notes and it will be the
talk of the ship and men will ask, ‘I wonder what the
Chaplain thinks of this.’ I shall publicly proclaim
my opposition to it and the immorality of it. Now
I register my most emphatic disapproval of it.”
Captain retorted, “Registered.”
This interview confirmed previous observations
of officers and men. This new skipper, one month
old, is tainted with a most undesirable streak of
sarcasm. What I did not know is that his moral
ignorance is so appalling.
Later inquired of senior medical officers if there
were a high rate of venereal disease aboard. Did not
ask Captain, for whether high or low, still, suggested
actions immoral. Doctor reported four cases on our
last liberty of two weeks at Auckland, four out of
529 men. If it had been a large percentage, could
understand but not excuse his distorted reasoning.
Sunday, February 6, 1944
0630 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000 – General Service.
At all services spoke on subject of man’s sexual relations with women. Topic an urgent one in view of
what my Captain’s professed policy is, should my
orders come through shortly. Gave right and wrongness of sexual relations, obligations of single men,
abstinence of married men, fidelity to their wives.
286
And words of St. Paul, 1st Corinthians, Chapter 6.
“Men, if anybody speaks differently, counsels differently, makes it easier to act differently, makes temptation easier by putting in your path the means of
avoiding the consequences of misdeeds, no matter
who that man is, whether he is low or high, whether
seaman second class, whether wearing two stripes
of gold braid, or four, or an admiral’s, that man is
going against God’s law. Have nothing to do with
him or his doctrine which is hot from hell.”
Aftermath: 1. Captain not present at Church.
2. Just before dinner at noon, Dr. Walker came into
my room, said that he was pleased with the sermon
at the General Service this morning. He has been
sick at heart seeing the way some of the officers carry
on. “It took courage to deliver that sermon. I admire
you for it.” “My obligation is to deliver it, Doctor.”
286 “Keep away from sexual immorality. All other sins that people may commit are done outside the body; but the sexually immoral person sins
against his own body. Do you not realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you and whom you received from God?”
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�3. Navigation Officer Paul Myers in Dr. Walker’s
room that night remarked that he went by Captain’s
emergency cabin yesterday while I was in there. Saw
look of amazement on Captain’s face; wondered what
I was saying to him. “Straightening him up on his
morals.” “You are the first man who has talked up
to him. He came into the chart room after you left,
highly indignant, remarked, ‘Chaplain is opposed
to a prophylactic box on quarterdeck. I wanted to
throw him out of my room. He said it was opposed
to his beliefs.’” “Opposed to my beliefs, which are
God’s also. They were God’s before they were mine.”
Myers, “He’ll be glad to see you leave the ship.” Self,
“’I told him that if the President contemplated such
action, he would have to be opposed.”
Monday, February 7, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Not much sleep during the night, for we were bucking a 54 mile headwind. It killed our speed to about
two knots and made us pitch badly.
Day is like a November football one at home. Clear
blue sky with a cool but not cold wind blowing. Giant seagulls are following us, have tremendous wing
spread of four feet overall, with black bands marking the tip.
Islands begin to appear on starboard side. Ninety
passengers, New Zealanders, overjoyed to see their
homeland again. Some of them have been away for
over three years. They are Vella Lavella veterans and
Treasury Island men as well. Their average age is
about 43, rather high for soldiering in the Solomons.
Saw some statistics on the rainfall at Bougainville
today; is 124 inches a year. Their seasons: wet, wetter,
wettest. We can vouch for the storms we had on three
of our four trips we made to Empress Augusta Bay.
Visited the M.S. convent with some linens to
be washed. Mother Theophile informed me that
Bishop Wade wrote her informing her that both
Frs. Lebele and Fluitt were back at Noumea, thanks
to the machinations of the Australian overseers
who wish to have complete charge of the native boys.
Resent the good influence of the priests, missionaries.
200 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
They prevent exploitation of the natives. However,
he intends to see Admiral Halsey to endeavor to
have the situation straightened out.
Visited Miss Duggan this evening. She and her sister, Mary and Mac are fine. Eileen has a letter which
she intends to write my mother through me. I took
it on condition that I send it unread.
Start making arrangements for another dance for
the men. No corsages this time, according to Captain
M. T. Farrar.
Good to be in the city again, to hear the sounds of the
streets, the policemen’s whistles, the car horns, the clang
of the tram car bells. Good to walk down the streets, to
go into the stores, to linger over a counter, to look at the
ads. Good to be part of the brisk rhythm of the city again.
A light today about sanctity. “A saint is one who suddenly finds that something he may have been taking for granted suddenly blazes up inside him, and
that something is the love of God and the fire once
started is never extinguished, but grows in intensity
as long as the saint lives.”
Tuesday, February 8, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Took the tram to Wadestown this afternoon; tram
U’s its way around these shores. Rises over the top,
then leaves one with a short mile walk into a “scenic
reserve,” as it was called. Here native shrubs and trees
abound, such as blistered myrtle, honeysuckle trees, etc.
It was late afternoon as I pursued the devious windings of the path down in the gorge between the rugged hills. The scenery was very soothing. One side of a
gorge would be shrouded in shadow, the other bathed
in the late afternoon sun which sets at quarter of
eight here now. One stand of pines is amazingly
thick. It was a hand and knee operation to navigate
up its thick carpet. A green cathedral was the impression it created; so thick was the umbrella it put up
that only an occasional shaft of sunlight penetrated
through. The brook running along the gorge was for
�the most part, quiet, except when a stone objected to
its forward progress; then said brook became quite
voluble as it forced its way past. The only ones sharing the afternoon with me were the birds that silently
flew here and there with an occasional fantail cheeping like a chickadee back home.
pick me up, slipped his mind. “Happens in the best
of families.” He rushed down after I had my dinner,
drove me to his house, failed to see the Archbishop.
Housekeeper much put out with Dr. Gascoigne.
“Her splendid meal went untouched by American
naval chaplain.”
Peace and happiness were in the air. As Eileen Duggan writes, “The green calm flowed in and around
me.” Such a lovely contrast to the scenes we were
witnessing of late up north in the Solomons.
Arranged for Mass aboard the Formahault and the
LST for tomorrow. Heard confessions aboard the
Formahault.
Sunday, February 13, 1944
The climate here now is late summer. Days are
delightful, evenings on the coolish side, people as
hospitable as ever.
0530 – Mass aboard our ship. 0615 – Mass aboard the
Formahault.
0730 – Mass aboard the LST.
Wednesday, February 9, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Finally manage to book the Majestic Cabaret for our
ship’s dance next Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
Thursday, February 10, 1944
0630 – Mass.
In the evening, dinner with Frs. Blake and Kennedy
288
at St. Patrick’s College in Wellington. Ten other
priests joined the recreation for a couple of hours.
Good to be among priests again and to relax among
them swapping yarns about seminary days.
Monday, February 14, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Trying to extricate Sailor Escudero from trouble;
breaking and entering. Drunk again!!!
Friday, February 11, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Made preparations to baptize three Mess Attendants
on Wednesday at St. Mary’s Church. Dance details
being attended to, printing of programs, flowers, etc.
Tuesday, February 15, 1944
Dinner this evening with the Duggans. Later
Fr. Blake and Fr. Kennedy dropped in. Former had
attended Campion in Oxford; we had met many
mutual friends over there.
Saturday, February 12, 1944
0630 – Mass.
287
Date with Fr. Noel Gascoigne for lunch with Archbishop [Thomas] O’Shea at his Episcopal Residence.
Time 12:30. Dr. forgot all about the date, supposed to
0630 – Mass.
Out to Fr. McGlynn’s St. Columban’s residence, ten
miles outside the city for a delightful dinner with him
and Frs. O’Shea and Cunningham and Fr. Seward,
an Anglican convert with his lay brother. We walked
around the lovely grounds before dinner, admiring
the profusion of flowers, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, lilies of the valley, roses, etc.
287 Gascoigne was a diocesan priest and director of Catholic schools in Wellington.
288 A Marist secondary school
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�Wednesday, February 16, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Men today agog with preparations for the dance this
evening. Confusion with Fr. Maurice Foley finally
ironed out to the satisfaction of both parties.
Thursday, February 17, 1944
0630 – Mass.
drinks, he stopped me as I was maneuvering around
the Officers’ table and said, “Chaplain, when we had
that talk, I was thinking of the fighting efficiency of
the ship.” I said nothing, but gave him a non-committal smile. That was no place to reopen the discussion. If he wants to see me later aboard ship about
289
it, fine, “Barcus is willing.”
Friday, February 18, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Dance again tonight; just as pleasant as last night,
no untoward incident of any kind, thank heavens.
Management and men and officers enjoyed themselves. Captain at his table, “Chaplain, it does my
heart good to hear the men say to me, ‘Good evening, Captain.’ I love all those men,” he says, “They
don’t know it yet, but they will one of these days.”
Poor man doesn’t know how they love him. Reminds
me of what the Rector, Gomez, wrote to St. Francis
Xavier. He was head of the Seminary at Goa, a sprig of
a lad brought out from Portugal to head it. Thought
St. Francis a bit on the slow side, not new enough
in his methods, etc. Ruled with an iron hand; had to
be censured by Xavier. Gomez wrote back, ”I’m not
interested in learning that you love the men, but in
finding out whether or not the men love you.”
If the Captain only knew!!! Some of the men of the
1st Division managed to obtain hold of his gin bottles. They emptied them of three quarters of their
contents and poured water back in!
Man sidled up and said [of Foley] to the Captain,
“Great guy, Chaplain; now we are losing him. Never
get another like him.”
Captain, “Nonsense, son, we’ll get another and he
will be a lot better.” Good thing I’m not sensitive! I
smiled and answered, “I sincerely hope so, Captain,
for the sake of the men.”
He is still smarting from the interview of February
5th about venereal disease. After he had a couple of
Aboard ship this afternoon, Miss Duggan, her sister
and Fr. Gascoigne for about an hour, then went for a
drive and had tea at their residence.
Saturday, February 19, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Arranged for Masses aboard the Formahault.
British aircraft carrier attended to by Fr. Gascoigne.
Sunday, February 20, 1944
0630 – Mass aboard the Formahault tied up
forward of us. Mass aboard our ship.
1200 – High
noon. Lovely summer day. Alone I
decided to take a train out into the country, one hour
ride all the way to Upper Hutt, a lovely valley nestling between mountains towering on either side of
it. A day when the world is completely at peace.
We twist and turn and finally arrive at Maidstone
Park where the ticket taker asks me if I am a member of the Lower Hutt Workingmen’s Club who are
having their annual picnic. Lovely afternoon; hear
the shrill ring of the bagpipes. Under each tree are
parked families with the inevitable pot of tea; youngsters running races, men playing cricket on three
different pitches. I wander around enjoying the
scene of happiness far from the maddening flashes
of modern warfare.
In the evening to Miss Duggan’s and to 22 Vivian
Street, the Catholic Seamen’s Club where I met
Fr. Noel Gascoigne.
289 “Barkis is willin” is a phrase often repeated by the ever-accommodating “Mr. Barkis,” a character in Dickens’ David Copperfield.
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�Monday, February 21, 1944
Underway about noon for Auckland with the PT-19
with us again, their period of recreation and liberty
over once more.
together. She collects some fare from me, chocolate
rations for her poor.
Tuesday, February 29, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Wednesday, February 23, 1944
0630 – Mass. Distribution of ashes for it is
Ash Wednesday.
Ashore to see Fr. Hunt and Fr. Murphy of Church of
the Good Shepherd.
Thursday, February 24, 1944
0630 – Mass.
0730 – Underway. Have aboard the 7th and 161st
Infantry with Frs. Scannell and McGoldrick, Chaplains. We have three Masses in the morning. Men are
a tired group after their three weeks of recreation and
liberty in New Zealand. Once again they will go on
maneuvers before engaging in another attack.
Friday and Saturday,
February 25 and 26, 1944
Not much to report save the sea is unusually calm
for this stretch of the ocean. Customary for us to
roll and pitch in these parts. Temperature is mild,
too; a sudden change from the cool weather below.
Sunday, February 27, 1944
0630, 0730, 0900 – Masses. 1000 – General
Service. 2:00 – Moored to Nickel Docks, Noumea.
Monday, February 28, 1944
Quiet day with taking care of odds and ends for
men. Insurance, brothers ashore who want to make
contacts, marriage papers!! Two men want to marry
two girls from the Pitcairn Islands whom they met
in Wellington. They are daughters of Englishmen
settlers there, both cousins and very lady-like. “After
the last war it was Nordhoff and Hall. After this one
290
it will be Arnold and Stroud,” I tell the two boys.
Wednesday, March 1, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Ed and his party of Army nurses and Joe Walsh
come aboard this afternoon. Take them over the
ship. They evidence particular interest in the sick
bay. Are fascinated with our ship’s excellent appointments. They would like to be aboard it for permanent duty. They invite me out to their camp.
Thursday, March 2, 1944
630 – Mass.
Fr. [Patrick] Duffy, CB Chaplain, comes aboard about
1100, stays for dinner. We leave together at 1230 for
shore, in the meantime having slipped down the
harbor four miles to our old anchorage. Just as we
are about to leave, Fr. Curnane from the USS Biddle
comes aboard. He also goes to town with us.
0630 – Mass.
I called up Ed last night and made a date with him
for today. He comes aboard and looks splendidly,
thank God. He wants to know if he can bring a party
aboard Wednesday; Misses Burns, Kissege, and
Bradford, Army Nurses. Sure thing! Ed and I visit
Sister Joseph, who enjoys the presence of both of us
Fr. Duffy takes me to country to St. Louis Mission
where I meet native Sisters studying in postulancy and three Marist Sisters. Approach along long
coconut-palm lined road. Straight ahead almost
at the end of it, mountains rising sheer, so much
so that it seemed that they were about to take off.
Intense green color contrasted sharply with deep
blue of the sky. Went through native village, houses
290 Charles Nordorf and James N. Hall were American soldiers who settled in Polynesia after WW I and together wrote three popular novels centered
on the Bounty mutiny. Presumably, Arnold and Stroud were the surnames of the American soldiers who sought “marriage papers” from Foley.
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�of mud, men work in rice paddies, women take care
of house, all barefooted and smiling as we make our
way through the compound. Tropical flowers growing in profusion all around us; purple bougainvillea,
gorgeous orchids by the hundreds and half a dozen
other flowers whose names I couldn’t find out. After
a pleasant hour visit, then out to see Ed. His camp
is pitched half way up a mountain bare of trees that
is very steep. Red mud in abundance and row after
row of cots for sick patients’ wards. Ed and I and
Joe Walsh and Charlie Bushwah have some pictures
taken together. As we look around we catch a glorious view out to sea. From our vantage point we can
look out to sea and catch five huge ships riding in
from the horizon. Off in the distance almost lost
in the haze is the white pencil of a lighthouse that
guided us in from the sea. To the left of us and
right of us and behind are mountains, before us
the ocean, luxuriant growth of green hillocks with
their shrubbery.
After leaving Ed and Fr. Schenler, chaplain, we motor down the road. Lovely sunset has made cerise
sky in the west and lazy clouds are drifting across
the face of the sun, flushed through and through
with color. Mountains on our left are purple in their
twilight glow. We turn in at the Bishop’s Residence,
a narrow lane, make another sharp turn, mount the
steps and find Brother Paul, a Marist, on the steps.
In a couple of minutes Bishop [Thomas S.] Wade
291
comes out. We kneel to kiss his episcopal ring as
he greets us all smiles. He is a small man in stature
but what he lacks in stature he makes up in character. His face has the quiet strength of a man who has
known suffering yet he is remarkably young looking.
I had expected to meet a man about fifty or fifty-five,
a man aged by the suffering of his flock like Bishop
Aubin in Guadalcanal, yet Bishop Wade hardly looks
more than forty. Instantly he put me at my ease. He
was wearing a long white Bishop’s cassock with red
buttons and a silver pectoral cross. I told him that I
would be going back to Boston and wanted to know if
he wanted me to carry any message to Bishop Cushing. He answered, “Tell him to do what he can to end
my exile. People up there need us badly, yet the Australian government will not allow us to return. Forced
me out. Head of their Intelligence Service invited me
to leave; said I wished to stay. A few days later two
officers came early in the morning to my hideout,
inquired if I had made up my mind; said that I would
like to talk it over. They said the time for talking was
ended, so I went with them and came out by a submarine at the appointed rendezvous. They did not want
anybody left on the island after they themselves left, so
removed us. Have been to see Admiral Halsey, but he
asserts military reasons prevent his granting permission to return.
“Furthermore, Seventh Day Adventists, Latter Day
Saints are pestering him to go back. Grant permission to one of them, then must to all. Why the opposition of Australians? They resent the good work
of the missionaries who are the sole protectors of
the natives against exploitation by the whites. In
any kind of trouble, the natives always come to
the priests.”
Friday, March 3, 1944
First Friday.
In this harbor are portents of busier days ahead.
There are 19 PA’s [attack personnel transports]
swinging around the buoy as we are; there are
numerous KA’s [attack cargo transports] and small
escort craft. Presage an invasion in the not remote
future. We wonder where the Hunter Liggett, the
American Legion and the Fuller are, ships in our
division that went home last November. We have
heard that the first two may have been condemned
for further attack work because of their poor condition. Scuttlebutt has New Ireland, Kavieng, Ravaul,
Nauru and Kapa, etc. as our next attack point. One
guess is as good as another.
291 Thomas S. Wade (1893–1969) was a Rhode Island native and missionary who served as bishop of the Northern Solomon Islands from 1930 to
1960. He was imprisoned by the Japanese in the fall of 1942, but later freed. He was then evacuated by submarine on the orders of American and
Australian military authorities who believed that the Japanese would execute him and his fellow clergy as spies..
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�Saturday, March 4, 1944
Day is spent getting ready for church services tomorrow. I visit the Sumpter with Chaplain Brown
and the Leedstown with Chaplain A. A. Reed, who
exchanges with me. He is a Congregationalist.
Sunday, March 5, 1944
0630 – Mass aboard the Clymer.
0900 – Mass aboard the Clymer.
1030 – Mass
aboard the Leedstown, the ship taking
the place of the Formahault, ship too slow for our
division. Coming back to ship in Leedstown’s gig, I
hear confessions of three Catholic members of gig
who expressed regret that they had not been able to
make either Mass or Confession.
Ed had a pair of binoculars, he would be able to pick
out our ship very well. Our long glass picks up his
camp from behind the island which girt the coast
line. When shall we meet again? One guess is as
good as the other. I venture the following: Around
the latter part of April, after another major invasion.
My relief will not have shown up by that time, for
our new supply officer informs me that he was one
month sitting in Frisco before he was able to obtain
transportation. I hope to be able to get down to New
Zealand again before shipping for home. One more
visit with Ed and then eastward bound. Yesterday the
West Point [a troop transport ship] and a Dutch ship
pulled in and out with big loads of personnel aboard.
Former makes Stateside in 14 days, very, very fast.
Thursday, March 9,1944
0630 – Mass with Marines present.
Monday, March 6, 1944
0600 – Mass.
Out to camp to see Ed. He makes date to see me on
Wednesday aboard the ship.
Tuesday, March 7, 1944
In the afternoon we have Stations of the Cross with
Confessions immediately following and Confessions
again in the evening at 1900.
Friday, March 10, 1944
0630 – Mass.
0630 – Mass.
Call up Ed to inform him that date tomorrow must be
cancelled; we are shoving off for the Solomons again.
Wednesday, March 8, 1944
0600 – Mass.
Morrow is a quiet one as we embark 1000 Marines
who comprise the 14th Defense Battalion and 600 of
whom are casuals on the way north as replacements.
They barge out on pride of PAD’s a good two hours
trip from the Quai Grand at Noumea for we are out
anchored in Dumbea Harbor. They re hot, thirsty
and tired as they come aboard and flop on the nearest open part of the deck.
About 4:30 p.m. we get underway. I can catch sight
for the first time of Ed’s camp at 5:30. I identify it by
the circular officers’ clubhouse with its grass roof. If
205 | chapter 5: south pacific task force
Same routine as yesterday with promise to write a letter to folks of men who attend Mass and receive Holy
Communion. Fr. Zachar is chaplain of these men.
He is now aboard the Leedstown, one of our convoy.
Others are Crescent City, Fomalhaut, Libra, with
our escorts up front sniffing back and forth across
the ocean for any lurking submarines. We have AA
practice against a sleeve. Open mouth and stop ears to
lessen force of concussion on eardrums; lasts for two
hours, 7–9 a.m. Early morning sky pockmarked with
black bursts of hundreds of exploding shells. Not long
before they dissolve and sky is intense blue again.
1415 – Stations
of the Cross, Shop Area;
excellent turnout.
Saturday, March 11, 1944
0630 – Mass, with the usual excellent turnout
of Marines.
�In the afternoon at half past two we have Stations
of the Cross in the Shop Area. Men turn out handsomely. Hear confessions after and then also in
the evening.
Sunday, March 12, 1944
0445 – Mass.
Unloading day again on Sunday; wrecks Church for
remainder of day.
3:30 p.m. – Across Steel Bottom Bay to Lunga, Gua293
dalcanal in 500 ton APC.
7:30 p.m. – Billeted at Lunga in Quonset hut. Meet
Fr. Bob Minton who has lost 40 pounds since
Christmas at Auckland. What a hell-hole this is!!!
Thursday, March 16, 1944
0715 – Mass.
1000 – Ride
I hit the deck at 0430; rig Church, beautiful full moon
lighting up surface of the ocean. Over off our port
side, Guadalcanal is sound asleep, with a few streaks
of pale light behind the shoulder of one of the high
mountains, harbingers of a day that will soon be born.
Write a letter to my mother about half past eight. Pack
typewriter in sea chest, hence will now scrawl.
Monday, March 13, 1944
0630 – Mass.
Still unloading 14th Defense Battalion.
Tuesday, March 14, 1944
0630 – Mass.
0800 – My relief, Chaplain W. Woolard comes
aboard. A “Disciple of Christ” from Texas. I have
word passed to Catholic men about my last Mass
tomorrow. Confessions tonight.
Wednesday, March 15, 1944
0630 – Mass. Say goodbye to men at end of Mass.
292
Not easy after being 21 months together.
1200 – Dinner.
Kip Morey delivers farewell
greeting at dinner for Officers. I respond.
1:30 p.m. – Leave ship. Strange feeling to pull away from
her for last time. Go over to dock at Tulagi.
around periphery of whole coast line of
Guadalcanal in SBD-Douglas dive bomber with Navy
pilot, Joe Costigan, B.C. ’40, Sachem Street, Roxbury.
Jeep to revetment on Henderson Field. Two AMMs
[dive-bombers] stand by. Don parachute, helmet. “All
clear. Contact crank engine.” Aim of trip: discover
traces, smoke, etc. of pilot lost two days previous.
Roar of engine mounts. Taxi out to runway. Joe talking
into phone to me. “Two balls on Control Tower; use
runway #2-one.” Cloudless blue sky. Down turn into
one, then gives her the gun. Up, up over the coconut
groves laid out in perfectly straight lines. Go east,
south, north, west.
Joe, over the telephone, “Dense jungle there, Father.
Hate to get lost in that.”
Self: “Smoke over there, Joe?”
Joe: “We’ll take a look.” Takes her over, down. Just a
native hut. We meet a Liberator from Carney Field, all
guns manned, topside blister gunner sitting facing aft
ready for business; 19 or 20 years old. We exchange a
wave of hand; lot of meaning in that exchange. Bless
plane that it may return from mission. We fly wing tip
for about three minutes. “Great ship, Father,” says Joe
over telephone to me. We slip under it, drop down. She
is directly over me, like an elevator going down.
We buzz a destroyer. Into a dive. “All set, Father?”
“Let ‘er go.” Rocks her over. Down, straight down;
292 Of all the understatements in Fr. Foley’s diary, this may well be the champion. He was far more open about the emotional weight of war years
later, in his spring 1995 interviews with Steve O’Brien for Blackrobe in Blue.
293 A cargo-transport ship used in the Pacific Theater.
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�stomach saying “hello” to mouth. Swoops in and
over, then up; felt like a sack of lead.
“Take a look at that mission.” Red corrugated tin
roof. Circle it for look. Half a dozen houses cluster it.
Mission Center.
In over jungle, high up. Down to shore; natives wave
294
to us, we drop wing in return. To Cape Esperance;
two Jap subs, one large, one small; five transports
beached. Then over to Tulagi; buzzed ships, Clymer,
back to Henderson. What a thrill.
0715 – Mass. Visiting old shipmates at Boat Pool.
Saturday, March 18, 1944
0715 – Mass.
0900 – Confessions. Eight Solomon Islanders, red,
yellow hair, large loin cloths.
Sunday, March 19, 1944
0645 – Mass. Lunga-NOB145. 0900 – Mass.
Kukum – 4th Spec. Sea Bees.
USS Tryon
295
Feast of the Annunciation. Navy Band Concert.
Park in Noumea.
Monday, March 27, 1944
Ed and I out to beach again. Meet Fr. Barnett, S.J.,
and McGowan. Dinner together.
Friday, March 31, 1944
Ed and I have a swim at Anse Vata [beach]. Dinner
aboard Receiving Station at 5:00. Aboard ship at 10 p.m.
Saturday, April 1, 1944
Friday, March 17, 1944
1330 – Aboard
Saturday, March 25, 1944
for Noumea trip.
Wednesday, March 22, 1944
Arrive Noumea. Receiving ship. 6000 men. Chow
line mile long before Mass, same after. Movies on
side of hill, lights stabbing darkness.
Visit with Ed. His victory garden. Radishes, tomatoes, carrots, cukes, nasturtium, azaleas, sweet peas.
His radio plays “Red Sails in the Sunset.”
Friday, March 24, 1944
Ed and I go out to beach at Anse Vita. Then dinner
with Frs. McGowan and McLeod at MOB [Main
Operating Base] 5. Fr. Mac, “Kiss cobble stones of
Boston for me.”
294 Site of a major naval battle on October 11-12, 1942.
295 An evacuation transport ship.
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0600 – Underway for Golden Gate, Frisco!!
Sick passengers. Physically. Mentally, e.g., Marine
clutched men piteously when shells mangled men near
him. Boy whose nerves shattered again by barrel dropping near him. Wounded, spinal, cerebral, syphilitic.
ITINERARY
March 15, 1944 – Detached from USS George Clymer.
March 15, 1944 – On Guadalcanal as guest of
Fr. Bob Minton of Indianapolis.
March 17, 1944 – Flight over Guadalcanal in Douglas
dive bomber with Costigan from Sachem Street, Roxbury. Buzzed destroyer; purpose of trip, which consumed two hours, was to try to sight some signal from
a pilot who crashed in the jungle or on the beach two
days previously. We cruised along the shoreline and
over the jungle but no sight of the downed pilot.
March 18, 1944 – Heard confessions of eight Solomon Islanders though could not understand a word
of what they said.
March 19, 1944 – Left on USS Tryon for Noumea, New
Caledonia, where Ed and I had nine days together.
March 22, 1944 – Arrived Noumea.
April 1, 1944 – Aboard USS David Shanks,
Army Transport.
April 17, 1944 – Arrived in San Francisco. Under the
Golden Gate at 0930. Passengers delirious at the
sight; 500 of them, 125 psycho patients, 100 of us
sound in mind and body, rest wounded.
�chapter 6 | for god and country
Naval Medical Center and
USS Vella Gulf
On Tuesday, May 30, 1944, following a one-month leave
in Boston, John Foley began a seven-month tour of duty
as a chaplain at the National Naval Medical Center,
today’s Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,
in Bethesda, Maryland. He may have found the work
unremarkable as compared with his experiences on the
Clymer, and he made only a handful of undated entries
while at the facility, including a list of “Experiences in
Naval Medical Center.”
Remark of Protestant—“Some of my best friends are
Catholic, not just one day a week, but seven.
Apgar, wounded aboard the bridge of the
USS Texas off the Normandy Coast, lost one
leg below the knee, other in bad way also. Asked
him how many blood transfusions he had.
“Wish I never had any.”
Jensen, dying of cancer of the bronchial tubes, listed
as a Catholic. Asked if he wanted to go to Confession
and Communion. Puzzled expression, said he wasn’t
a Catholic. Checked with mother; mixed marriage,
that boy brought up by an uncle, a Lutheran. Trying
to catch the last word; hardly strength to whisper
message. “Give my best to everybody.”
Russian member of Soviet Embassy broke neck
swimming. Introduced self as priest; I inquired
what he was. Although he understood and spoke
English up to that point, answer, “Sorry, I do not
understand.” Same of two of his friends whom I
met in the passageway.
WAVE loaned $166 to two sailors for liberty,
and to one who wanted “to buy flowers for his
wife’s grave.”
Foley lobbied to be returned to sea, and in January 1945
he was assigned to the USS Vella Gulf, an aircraft carrier that was being built in Washington State. Named
for an American Naval victory in the Solomon Islands
in August 1943, the Vella Gulf carried 34 aircraft comprising torpedo bombers and fighters, and a crew of more
than 1,000. She was commissioned on April 9 and, with
Foley on board, was engaged in sea trials off the coast
near San Diego when word of the German surrender
was received.
Tuesday, May 8, 1945
Service of Thanksgiving for Victory in Europe
aboard the USS Vella Gulf.
0800 – General Quarters. Emergency drill.
0930 – Bugler sounded attention before ship’s
company was dismissed from General Quarters.
ATTENTION ALL HANDS: This is Fr. Foley,
ship’s Chaplain speaking. This morning official confirmation was received that the war in
Europe is over. In accordance with the wishes
of our Commander-in-Chief, President Harry
S. Truman, and in prayerful union with millions of our fellow Americans ashore, we stop
for a few minutes in our busy lives aboard ship
to thank God for the victory that has crowned
our arms.
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�First we shall say a prayer, then pause for a
minute of respectful silence in tribute to the
men who have died ashore and afloat in the
Army and Navy and end with a blessing.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost. Almighty and everlasting God, Lord of battles, mercifully hear the
prayers of us, Thy servants, who turn to Thee
in gratitude in this hour of victory for our arms
in Europe. We thank Thee that the scourge of
war, the blood, the sweat, and the tears will
no longer wrack and agonize Thy people and
our brothers in arms in that part of the world.
Grant that we, who have stern tasks ahead,
whose duties call us to the fighting line in
another theater, may be strengthened by Thy
grace for their courageous execution. May we
continue to place our trust in Thee, mindful
of Thy words, ‘In vain do they build unless
the Lord builds with them.’ Finally, we ask, O
Lord of Mercy, to remember the souls of those
who made this victory possible by pouring out
the red sweet wine of their youth on the altar
of our country’s freedom that others may live.
Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and may
perpetual light shine upon them, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
On May 11, at San Diego, aircraft loading was completed, and on the following day, pilots began their
trial runs for qualification for carrier duty.
Saturday, May 12, 1945
Mass as usual at 0600 with attendance of about 50.
1515 – Our first plane is catapulted off successfully.
Everyone breaks out in a broad smile of relief that
she made it, an F4U fighter that sails off directly
into the teeth of a strong wind up into the blue of
the sky, with the sun glinting off her steel skin.296
Second makes it without a hitch also, with men in
colors of the rainbow running here and there on the
windswept flight deck, all about their assigned tasks.
They are wearing red cloth helmets, green, yellow,
white, blue, brown with jerseys to match, all indicating their special job. As yet I don’t know what that
is, but will learn shortly. Plane director, an officer,
speaks a sign language to the pilot as he sits in the
cockpit, tunes up his motor with a crescendo that all
but deafens, then he swings his hands down vigorously and the war bird is flying.
Plane number three is jockeyed into position on the
catapult. The flight officer director goes through his
gestures; she spins down to the edge of the flight
deck, rears up like a charging horse, turns over,
lands with a crash right side up and then drifts by
within 15 feet of the port side forward sponson [gun
platform], where I am. She is slowly sinking with
the cockpit half under water, the pilot slumped over,
and blood staining the water around the area.
We feel so helpless, a man slowly sinking under
with the cockpit just fifteen feet from us and we are
powerless to help. The only part that shows as she
drifts by the stern is the tip of her rudder. A young
man, 2nd Lt. Edward Groves, USMC, son of Mrs.
Susan Groves, 205 South 20th Avenue, Maywood,
Ill., has gone to his death. May the Lord have mercy
on his soul.297
296 Favored by the Marines in the South Pacific, the F4U Corsair was capable of flying at 400 miles per hour, and adaptable for both land
and shipboard use. It was particularly effective against the Zero—the most capable of Japanese fighter planes—for which its kill ratio
was 11:1. Its main flaw was a long nose which could interfere with pilot vision during shipboard landings. When taxiing the planes, pilots
would make “s” turns to improve their ability to see what lay ahead.
297 Edward Clifford Grove was 25 years old. He’d been an inspector in a tractor factory prior to joining the Marines in 1942. He was survived
by his parents and three sisters. His body and his plane were never recovered, and he is listed as Missing in Action. As in other cases,
Foley noted a mother’s name and address so he could later write a letter of condolence. See entry for May 5, 1943. In one of his interviews with Stephen O’Brien, he recalled that he’d said a Mass for Grove—who was not a Catholic—on the deck where the planes were
garaged, the pilot represented by an empty chair. See photo page 237.
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�Destroyer races over behind us, but search is useless. This boy failed to qualify. Later learn that these
boys must take off from catapult once, then land and
take off under their own power four times more for
final qualification. Trials must go on. Next man lines
up, next, next, etc., without mishap, thank God. Only
casualty for the rest of the afternoon is a plane handler
who ran into a cable barrier and cut his face, much
the same as running into a clothesline in the dark.
Sunday, May 13, 1945
Mother’s Day. Masses as usual. Ship still saddened
by death of Groves. Memorial Mass at 0900.
Monday, May 14, 1945
Into San Diego.
May runs out with trial runs and qualifications for
the flyers with happily no more accidents. At the end
of May we went into the Naval Repair Base at San
Diego for a yard overhaul of 14 days, during which
some minor changes were made to some of the
ship’s installations.
Official business is heavy when men find out that
leave will not be granted. They concoct many reasons for excuses to go home. However, policy is
settled by Executive Officer that only leaves granted
will be for emergency.
One boy came for straight information on marriage to
a Catholic girl in New York. He was already divorced
after a valid marriage. She failed to let him know
that she could not marry him at the time of their trip
before a Justice of the Peace. He cried quietly when I
told him that he would have to give her up.
Another man wanted to get a special liberty in order
that he might obtain some meat for his baby in
Mexico. That was the latest wrinkle for me. I wound
up down in the butcher shop, carrying out two
pounds of hamburg and a pound of liver.
Lost my garrison cap with insignia over the side
when propeller wash seized it and whipped it off my
head. I’m learning.
Sunday, June 17, 1945
0600 – Mass aboard ship.
0730 – Mass at Lowery Annex at Naval Air
Station, San Diego.
1900 – Mass aboard ship.
Today was the day. We got underway for Pearl Harbor at 1000. I dropped into the Pilot’s Ready Room
on the way up to the flight deck where our war birds
are lashed to the deck. One of the pilots was playing “Oh, What A Beautiful Morning,” on the record
machine. He turned to me with a smile and said,
“Don’t you think that is a good song for this morning?” Another pilot answers very quickly, “We ought
to put on the one entitled ‘I Got A Funny Feeling.’”
Last night I went over to the San Diego Cathedral
to go to Confession. Walking down the street was
a peculiar sensation, realizing that it would be a
long time before we would see a city, an American
city, again. You were aware of a conscious effort to
impress scenes of the busy rhythm on memory to be
stored up for a future day when you tried to fix faces.
You were tempted to go up to some people, “This is
my last walk down a street like this for ages. I’ll be
thinking of this for a long time. I’ll miss the store
windows, the busy throng of shoppers, the lobbies
of crowded hotels, the lines of people in the restaurant. In other words, I’m going to be missing you,
even though I don’t know you.”
Friday, June 22, 1945
Talk with Seiss, one of the TBM pilots.298 He was
looking down at the marvelously blue waters of the
298 A torpedo bomber manufactured by Grumman, the TBM or TBF Avenger was a torpedo bomber widely used in World War II. It was
crewed by a pilot, a turret gunner, and a bombardier, and could carry 2,000 pounds of bombs. President George H.W. Bush was flying
an Avenger when he was shot down in the South Pacific in September 1944. Its stout appearance as compared with other airplanes,
earned it the nickname “Turkey.”
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�Pacific for the first time. Twenty-four years old, he
spoke from three years experience Stateside training for pilot. Would not marry because he did not
think it fair to the girl. Loved flying, but it has its
heart-stopping moments, e.g., This morning he was
up 5000 feet, started down when his engine died on
him. Apparently bubble in gas line, but had some
anxious moments until she started up again. Worries
about other two men, radio gunner and bombardier.
Hates idea of responsibility for lives of those two
men. “But one good feature, the three of us
are single.”
Now and then we see a plane on the way from Frisco
to Pearl or vice versa. They make the 2300 odd miles
in a few hours whereas we take seven days. Our
flight operations hold us up.
Monday, June 25, 1945
We sight Diamond Head about five o’clock. Flight
operations began early with reveille at 0400. Mass
was at 0630. Espy in distance Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
We cruise up and down off Diamond Head following
our flight operations schedule, then about 11 o’clock
we start for the channel off Ford Island, scene of the
holocaust on December 7, 1941.
We discover that Ford Island is a small island in a
bay just about eight miles from Honolulu. On one
side where battleship row used to be is one capsized
ship, the Arizona on which Fr. [Aloysius] Schmitt
met his death.299 Just off our side is the Utah,
training ship mistaken by the Japs for a carrier. No
land around bears any scars of the damage wrought
by the surprise attack four years ago. Hundreds of
ships are anchored here, which will be a jam-packed
harbor when troops are deployed from the Pacific.
Wednesday, June 27, 1945
To Honolulu, eight mile ride in bus from Pearl Har-
bor. City itself is a bit on the dumpy side. Straggling
houses, in the way which Hawaiians and Chinese
and Japanese of all shades and castes live. Continue
in bus to Royal Hawaiian Hotel which is now a
recreation place for the submarine men back after
a long cruise of duty. Buff colored walls, awninged
windows, lovely foyer, then outside golden sands,
long breakers curving in on a curving shore help it
to live up to expectations.
Learn that one of our fighter pilots was seriously
injured last night while practicing night land carrier
landings. Lt. William R. Winn from Georgia.
Thursday, June 28, 1945
Night carrier landings at midnight, eerie setting.
Landing Signal Officers are dressed in luminous
outfits that reflect back in orange, green and black
colors. Paddles in hands with which they wave on or
off the pilots, also luminous. Incoming planes look
like giant bugs with purple flames leaping in angry
shortings from exhausts on both sides of the engines, much like the two eyes on a giant bug.
Then wing lights of green, red, and tail of blue light
up the plane for all to see. Long, slender pencils of
light from little fountain pens along the deck help the
pilots to make the hazardous landings. Fortunately we
have no accidents as they fly on and off all night until
dawn. Sleep, naturally, was intermittent.
We learn that Lt. Winn died yesterday. Executive
Officer desires memorial services after we complete
night flying exercises.
Sunday, July 1, 1945
Plane brings mail out from land; everybody rejoices,
but some sad news. One man from hills of Kentucky
visits me to tell of grandmother’s death. Can he get
to see her? Impossible. Tells me how he was her
favorite grandson. Grandfather used to drink heav-
299 Schmitt, a diocesan priest from Dubuque, Iowa, is believed to have drowned after the ship foundered while he was helping other trapped
men to escape through a lower deck porthole. He had a short time earlier declined an offer to climb through the porthole to safety.
Thirty-two, he was the first American chaplain to be killed as a result of hostile fire since WW I. His remains were identified through
DNA testing in 2016 and returned to his family.
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�ily until one day when he was seen to take a jug of
whiskey, leave the house to go up to the brow of
the hill, tie the jug to a bent branch of a tree, pull
back and send it crashing down the hillside. Never
touched a drop after that. Grandmother always
gave this boy hot corncakes and buttermilk when
he came into her house. Boy cried as he said how
he would miss her. At the end of the visit we said a
prayer for his grandmother.
Monday, July 2, 1945
Back again at Pearl Harbor late this afternoon, too
late for shore leave. We moor again to the same dock
and note that the Utah is aft of us, one of the ships
the Japs sank at the time of their attack on December 7, 1941.
Thursday, July 5, 1945
Joe Cummiskey and I tour the town, visit the
5 & 10, Kresges, big banana split. Counter girls as
alert as at home, only difference color of skin, brown,
yellow, shape of eyes, straight, almond, etc. We also
visit a Buddhist Temple; big golden casket-shaped
affair before the altar on which an open tabernacle
affair housed statue of Buddha. Incense was burning perpetually before the altar in a big urn, thin
wisp of it rising to the ceiling.
Tuesday, July 10, 1945
Gunnery practice for gun mounts with drone up in
the sky, a radio-controlled small plane that successfully eludes all efforts of our gunners to shoot down
in the morning. It simulates all attacks, approaches
on the ship, diving in on us out of the sun, making
port and starboard runs, as well as coming in from
forward and aft. It is controlled in its operations
by radar on an LCI, Landing Craft Infantry, that
cruises directly behind us. In the afternoon two of the
drones are shot down, but are recovered by the LCI.
From Pearl Harbor, the Vella Gulf was dispatched 3,800
miles west, to an area from which its planes would be
dispatched to attack Japanese position in the Marina
Islands, 1,500 miles southeast of the Japanese mainland.
At the conclusion of the voyage, Foley, the inveterate
observer, made these undated notes, which he called
“Carrier Sidelights.”
The Landing Signal Officer, LSO, is the man who
flies the planes aboard. His is an important post and
dangerous, too, as the emergency net beneath his
platform witnesses. In each hand he holds a gridded wire paddle, somewhat larger than a ping-pong
paddle, strung with brightly colored strips of cloth,
his signal flag.
The ritual of landing aboard a carrier is a fascinating
one. At its best, it is a virtuoso performance of perfect coordination, quick-thinking and split-second
timing. An Army aviator who watched his first carrier landing said, “I see it but I don’t believe it. How
can a plane land in that space without spinning in?”
Something out of Walt Disney. Picturesque lot,
plane-handling sailors. Deck, battle-gray, many-hued
jerseys and helmets: 6 yellow for plane directors;
5 green for arresting-gear crew; 1 red for armament
and fueling; 3 blue for plane pushers; 4 brown for
plane captains; 2 white for hospital corpsmen; 2
white for firefighters and 2 men in asbestos suits.
At night, luminous suit worn by LSO can’t be
missed by pilot. He swings paddles in hands at
night, too, while the flight deck men wave illuminated wands, long slender pencils of orange and red.
Blue flame, blue and incredibly clean spurts from
exhausts as planes make night landings.
“Stand clear of propellers.” “Start engines.”
Aboard a carrier you have what other ships lack, the
intimate contact with the offensive blow, the conversations with the pilots and air crew before and after
the strike. You hear the thunderous, climactic roar
of the engines in the gray dawn; you see them quivering with tremendous power as they strain to
get airborne.
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�Then, too, you experience the constant heavy apprehension over the fate of each pilot and you participate in the daily routine of flight preparations.
Anti-aircraft practice – terrible, deliberate rhythm of
the 5” guns, resonant boom of the 40 mm’s, and the
staccato extraordinary precision.
will be sitting up there with them. “I’ll drop smoke
on two of the targets to mark them, so you fellows
can do your stuff. By the way, on these two positions
here, make one pass, then go rendezvous for altitude and advantage, then make a second pass, if you
haven’t met with much fire on the first pass. If you
have, forget the second pass, pick out some other
target for what you have left.”
Monday, July 23, 1945
2000 – First briefing on the mission tomorrow.
Flyers will make strike on Jap-held island of Pagan,
one of the Marianas north of Saipan and Tinian.
Questions are answered about strafing shipping;
answer negative, may be our B-29 men being helped
by natives. All ships will be our own.
Ready Room is crowded with extras, like myself,
four newspaper correspondents, two of the flight
deck officers, etc. Flyers are reading booklets,
“Meet the Marianas,” just in case they are shot
down. Others are reading maps, some sharpening
their pencils for note taking. One says, “I hope
I get me a good target.”
Somber reminder that trip is not a pleasure venture
by Lt. picking up mike, instructing men, “Remember, fellows, leave your wallets behind and all identification; you won’t need any of that.”
Lt. Col. Koln opens by saying, “We can’t begin the
show yet for we haven’t the photographs, but should
have them from the lab in a few minutes. From
what I have seen of the prints, we ought to be able
to cook up something for tomorrow.”
Mr. Royce, Combat Intelligence Officer, takes over
for a few minutes with remarks on a slide map that
he shows of the island to be hit, Pagan, pointing out
some features of the terrain. When he steps down,
men relax in leather-upholstered chairs, lighting up
their cigarettes for a while. Then all are galvanized
into attention by Lt. Koln.
“We’ve got the pictures, boys. Here they are.” Lights
are dimmed again and photos are flashed on the
screen. He talks quietly, like a college prof., as he
points out each target for the six strikes. “Strike Able
has a juicy white building here on the tip of this
jetty. First four fighters will go in strafing bombs.
When you do that there shouldn’t be much left.
Strike Baker, two big white houses sitting up on top
of this cliff. No scruples about hitting them, for natives don’t live in houses like that.” Remarks that he
Tuesday, July 24, 1945
Pilots return from strike agog with excitement as
intelligence officers question them for information
that will be of assistance to men making the later six
strikes. Report meager fire, sight no Japs, all of them
being under cover. Pictures taken will make later
strikes immeasurably easier.
0430 – Reveille. Ship was up early to get in pre-dawn
launching of first strike. Planes are all armed and
ready to go with bombs and rockets, for armament
men have been up since 0300, earliest on ship to rise.
Strikes launched and landed with rhythmical regularity, each one. Report from one of the early ones
states over the radio that she, TBM, has picked up
AA fire in one of her wings.
At the end of the day happily all planes and men
return with no casualties except TBM mentioned
above and one bullet through one of the window
shields of a fighter.
Wednesday, July 25, 1945
Another strike scheduled this morning, but only
2 knot wind across the deck prevents planes from
taking off. Sea is glassy calm with not a ripple on its
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�face as far as the eye can see. Only planes launched
during the day are the ASP, anti-submarine patrols,
early morning and afternoon.
Thursday, July 26, 1945
Another strike; this time on Rota which is situated
between Saipan and Guam. Both strikes are
launched before seven o’clock, which means that
we had to be up again at 0430, an early hour! Again
happily no casualties except to the elevators of the
planes that went down too close and caught some
flak from its own bomb blast or the bomb blast of
the plane ahead of it.
We are operating off these islands of Tinian and
Saipan, the homes of the B-29’s, the monsters of
the sky lanes.300 We see them as they are returning
in the early morning from their night attacks on
Japan’s home cities and we see them starting out at
night as tonight.
For over one hour they are flying over us on their
way north as the dusk descends on the ocean. When
they began their flight over us the sun was just sinking in the Pacific Ocean. When it is dark, they are
still winging their way north to write their blazing
message across the face of Japan for the rulers of
that unfortunate country to read. It still holds that
there are none so blind as those who won’t read.
We stand topside on the flight deck and watch the
endless procession across the night sky with their
lights showing clearly, to be extinguished later on,
somewhere during their fourteen hour trip when
they are over enemy territory.
Though they number hundreds, they look lonesome
up in the sky with their precious cargo of eleven
men for whom families, wives, children, mothers,
sweethearts are praying back home. What does the
night’s venture hold in store for them? Which will
be among those whose trip will be characterized by
that simple, short but tragic word, “only” one plane,
two planes were lost. I bless them as they leave us,
swallowed up by the night sky, their lights growing
dimmer and dimmer in the distance until they are
lost to view. May God be with them, every one. We
shall have our night’s sleep and yet they will be just
returning to Saipan and Tinian, their work completed for another two days when they must fly again. I
think back on the day I saw two of them flying out
of San Francisco over the Bay on the first leg of their
long hop to engage the enemy in combat; now they
are in it with capital letters.
Friday, July 27, 1945
Today we entered port that is open water behind
the anti-sub nets off Tanapoag, Saipan. It is about
150 miles north of Guam, with a temperature much
cooler and, for that reason, more comfortable than
Guam. Harbor has no men of the fleet. Ships are all
at sea or another anchorage, preparing for the big
strike against Japan.
Saturday, July 28 to Wednesday,
August 1, 1945
We have qualification runs for shore-based pilots
who land and take off immediately. Weather closes
in frequently with rain and fog so days are not as
profitable as expected.
Mass, as every morning, starts the day in the hangar
deck. Being Saturday, I visit the USS St. Olaf nearby
to arrange for Mass aboard for the Catholic men
and nurses since she is a US Army Hospital Ship.
Find aboard Fr. Halloran, S.J., Missouri Province,
who informs me that Frs. Jimmy McLaughlin and
Jimmy Dolan, fellow New Englanders, are ashore on
300 Introduced into the war in June 1944, and used almost exclusively in the Pacific Theater, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a highaltitude bomber with a range of 5,600 miles. First deployed from China in bombing raids on Japanese targets, the aircraft were shifted
to the Marianas in November 1944. From there they were capable of reaching all major Japanese cities. The firebombing of Tokyo on
March 9-10 1945, which engaged 279 B-29s from the Marianas, is considered the most devastating air raid of the war. An estimated
100,000 Japanese were killed, more than died at Hiroshima. As the war neared its close, 65 B-29s were specially fitted so they could
carry atomic bombs.
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�Saipan.301 Arrange for Protestant minister to come
aboard for my Protestant men tomorrow morning.
I find that Lt. Greenwood, an old shipmate from the
George Clymer, is a member of the ship’s company.
USS Woodford is the name of his ship.
Ashore early to Saipan in the afternoon to 121st CB’s
where I wake Jimmy McLaughlin out of a sound sleep
to say hello when we have not met for four years. He
looks well, was on Tinian, moved here a few weeks
ago with his outfit. Has a lovely chapel that his men
built for him out of spare time and scrap lumber.
Monday, August 6, 1945
Early rising as usual for General Quarters, followed by Mass. Marine Stan Glowacki, 19, wishes to
become a lay brother when the war is over. Lt. Bill
Massey is puzzled by the “meaningless universe” in
which we live. Wants some assurance that truths of
religion were not manufactured by an overheated
imagination.
Thursday, August 9, 1945
on this night the atomic bomb, man’s latest
instrument of destruction, was dropped on
hiroshima, population 375,000, and destroyed
most of the city and 40% of the people. man’s
inhumanity to man.302
One of the fighter pilots aboard remarked that he
should hate to have the burden on his conscience
that he personally was responsible for sending that
number, 225,000, of people into eternity, “even if
I were carrying out orders.”303 Lt. Hall remarks at
breakfast that Jap plane approached within 30 miles
of our anchorage last night. Sixteen fighters were
vectored immediately to him and he crashed
in flames.
Friday, August 10, 1945
2140 (9:40 p.m.) – General Quarters. We all bounce
to General Quarters, hear a lot of firing; ships have
opened up all around us. Learn later that it was an
impromptu celebration at news, premature, that war
was over; that six men were killed and thirty wounded by our own anti-aircraft fire. Lack of discipline
responsible for their deaths as well as unauthorized
celebrations.
0000 – Midnight. Footnote written to rumor about
end of war when we have a raid approaching at this
hour; no damage done to us, just a lot of night fireworks and thunder.
Sailor’s sister, Army Nurse, comes aboard for a
short visit. Their mother will be glad to hear the
good news. Another man’s brother also makes
contact aboard.
Saturday, August 11, 1945
Underway again for Guam with a load of 60 planes
to be serviced at Guam by A. and R. shops there,
most of them fighter ships, a lot of them with Jap
flags painted on their sides.304
Sunday, August 12, 1945
Two Masses today and Rosary and Benediction
in the afternoon. We learn that a Jap submarine
launched a human [manned] torpedo at an LSD
[Dock Landing Ship] four hours astern of us passing through the same area. Explosion of torpedo
occurred about 1830 (6:30).
Monday, August 13, 1945
Pilots going up on Combat Air Patrol had instructions not to molest a Jap hospital ship on the way to
Wake Island. Two of them on return reported that
they had sighted her. Later we learn that she was
301 James D. McLaughlin (1918 – 1977) was a priest of the New England Jesuit Province, as was James J. Dolan (1903-1952) who later served
in a Jesuit mission in Jamaica that was administered by New England.
302 The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6.
303 An estimated 80,000 people were killed as an immediate consequence of the bomb.
304 American personnel would stencil a rising sun symbol on boats or planes to indicate “kills,”
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�intercepted by one of our destroyers, claimed immunity from attack under the Geneva Convention. On
her way to evacuate sick Japanese personnel from
Wake [Island]. Allowed to proceed with stipulation
that she report back for inspection on her return
voyage. Did so; inspection party found in her sick
bays nearly 200 of the Island’s garrison, “so decrepit
from malnutrition and disease that the destroyer’s
doctor doubted whether half of them would live to
reach Tokyo, even under the best of care.” Just a
sample of what happened to the by-passed Japanese.
Wednesday, August 15, 1945
Feast of Our Lady’s Assumption.
We are steaming on the way to Guam from Okinawa
about 10 o’clock with Guam lying low on the horizon when word is passed down the Public Address
System to stand by for a special announcement.
Perhaps this is the one we have been waiting for so
long. Three times before we have bounced to the
speakers, hoping rumors of peace would be settled
once and for all by the word of peace. The day itself
has been an unusual one at sea. General Quarters
about 5 a.m., followed by Mass.
Bugler sounds attention; all hands uncover.
This is the Chaplain, Fr. Foley speaking. You have
just heard the official pronouncement in the form
of an ALNAV from the Secretary of the Navy that
the war is over. It is only appropriate that the arrival of this moment which has been the object
of so many prayers should be commemorated by
an act of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the
blessing of victory. So we stop for a minute in our
shipboard duties to pray.
O Almighty and Everlasting God, Father of Mercies, Whose treasures of goodness are infinite, we
raise our minds and hearts to Thee in thanksgiving that this day the nations of the world are no
longer locked in deadly strife and that Thou has
crowned our arms with victory. Grant, we beseech
Thee, that in our moment of victory, we may not
forget to walk in the way of Thy Commandments
and so merit Thy blessing upon ourselves and
our great country in the days of peace that are
ahead. We ask Thee, in Thy mercy, to be mindful
of our comrades in arms, who made this victory
possible, the Marines and soldiers who reddened
the beaches from Casablanca to Iwo Jima, and
the sailors and pilots who brought their ships and
planes to a flaming end. To them, O Lord, and to
all who place their trust in Thee, grant a place of
refreshment, light and peace, through Our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
that announcement. it was the alnav
from secretary forrestal that we had all
been waiting to hear. an authoritative
statement that the war was over. a roar
of joy went skyward from all over the
ship, and a prayer of thanksgiving that
god had at last harkened to the prayers Later in the afternoon I tried to phone Ed on the
beach, but this was his day off so failed to get in
that were storming heaven for the end
touch with him. Better luck tomorrow.
of the horrible conflict.
1015 – I approached the Executive Officer for permission to say a prayer of thanksgiving over the PA
system for the day of days arrival. At the time we
were almost at the entrance of Guam harbor waiting
for the pilot to come aboard. He said that I couldn’t
have it then. Then I asked him what would be a
good time. He referred me to the Captain standing
nearby on the bridge. “Captain, I’d like permission
to say a prayer over the PA system, etc.” “Fine; now
would be a good time.”
1600 (4:00 p.m.) – Another Mass in honor of Our
Lady in thanksgiving for the end of the war and for
the repose of the souls of those who had made the
victory possible.
This evening in the harbor the men are shooting
off rockets celebrating in a mild way compared
to the tragic premature celebration at Okinawa
last Friday.
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�Thursday, August 16, 1945
Mass as usual started the day.
Set out in the afternoon to see Ed. Thumbed my
way along the four lane highway Sea Bees and Army
Engineers built until I reached Ed’s hospital where
he was not at home. Off on a beach party with some
of his rehabilitation cases. Shows up about four
o’clock, then we return to the ship where he sits
down to a good meal of roast beef and all the fixings.
He tells me of his hectic night last night and why
his fellow officers have started to call him “Salty.”
Yesterday, his day off, he and a dentist went out in
a sailboat and were marooned about five miles off
shore. They were steadily drifting out to sea when
they were spotted by another officer on the beach
who was supposed to pick them up in a jeep. He
saw them in the distance, immediately got in touch
with air-sea rescue and before long a plane was
circling over the drifting sailors. Then a Dumbo
dropped flares all around them when it got dark. As
they drifted helplessly, they suddenly saw this big
hull bearing down on them out of the smoke caused
by the flares. Sailors lined her with drawn guns and
rifles primed to fire. When they shouted not to fire
and identified themselves, the tension was broken.
At 1 a.m. the two unwilling sailors finally got back
home. Later on the same evening, a Jap was picked
up in the same area, apparently a radio man, who
learned of the surrender over the radio and decided
to turn himself in.
Ed won’t forget August 15th for two reasons, the end
of the war and his saga of the sea.
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�chapter 7 | for god and country
Destination Tokyo
Monday, August 20, 1945
We are underway at 1400 for some unknown
destination. Speculation rife on what it will be.
Tuesday, August 21, 1945
This afternoon we catch up with a convoy of seven
fat-bellied tankers and one PA [attack transport],
whose escort duties we take over from the USS
Makin Island.
Destination still unknown. Morning meeting with
speech by Executive Officer and Captain on opportunities for staying in the regular Navy. When show
of hands was called for from 45 officer reservists
on how many intended to stay in, not one raised
his hand.
Wednesday, August 22, 1945
We are steaming on a course dead north off Iwo
Jima where so many Marines paid the last full measure of devotion. Weather has happily taken a change
for colder with the face of the ocean green again,
exactly like the Atlantic. Waves are riding high with
tremendous crests and deep troughs. Day is one of
the roughest we have had but it is a normal Atlantic
day. Some of the men are sick, but most are able
to act like sailors, even though we are rolling and
pitching a bit.
Press release is full of information about conditions of
surrender dictated by MacArthur. We only know that
we shall be very close to the Island of Honshu.305 In
case the Japs perpetrate a piece of treachery, we shall
be on hand for action. The landing will be a full scale
invasion, with skies black with land-based and carrier
planes, numberless combat transports, destroyers,
battlewagons, cruisers, destroyer escorts, etc.
A typhoon is brewing that grounds all our planes
which have been flying anti-submarine patrol. Sea
grows nasty, sullen clouds blot out the sun, waves
increase to a mountainous size as we continue to
plow north.
Friday, August 24, 1945
We are slowly steaming along behind the tail of one
typhoon [Typhoon Ruth] and just ahead of the nose
of another [Typhoon Susan]. Newscast reports that
day of surrender has been postponed due to the
fact that Tokyo airfield has been turned into a sea of
mud by the typhoon which is hitting it.
Our planes are lashed down with normal lines, plus
four steel cables where there would normally be
one. Such is the insurance against the effects of the
typhoon. Wind is racing across the deck at a high
speed and all hands are told to keep off flight deck
forward of the barriers and away from the palisades
which are perpendicular steel staves inserted in the
security tracks on the deck to break the force of the
wind as it howls into the planes lashed down topside.
Looking out on the horizon, we discover that we have
grown considerably since yesterday. Instead of eight
ships, we now number 24, being increased by five
other carriers, destroyers and destroyer escorts. Cruiser,
Detroit, is command ship with an admiral aboard.
305 Japan’s main, and most populous, island. The major industrial cities of Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya were on the island, as
was Hiroshima.
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�Saturday August 25, 1945
Sunday, August 26, 1945
0400 – Reveille! Followed by General Quarters as
usual. Even though we put the clocks back last night
we lose out this morning. We are sleepy.
0355 – Reveille. 0500 – Mass. 0900 – Mass. 1000–
General Service.
1600 – Rosary and Benediction.
0500 – Sunrise.
I poke into the navigator’s chartroom to find out that
we are 300 miles from Tokyo and headed straight for
it. However, we shall probably reverse direction, for
we are still trying to keep away from the typhoons
lashing the island off our port side, Japan itself. If we
were here one month ago, we would be sweating
blood, with Jap planes diving in on us and the submarines trying to file us in Davy Jones’ locker. We
learn today that the battlewagon hit the night before
we left Okinawa two weeks ago was the Pennsylvania, with twenty men being killed by the torpedo
that holed her. Fr. Burke, ex-Bethesda chaplain with
me, aboard her. Hope he is all right.306
Discover that we now total 52 ships with new carriers and cruisers joining us. We are a formidable
fleet now, ready for anything if the Japs should
suddenly change their minds. We are now running
at will up and down outside Tokyo just waiting for
the day of surrender. I remove my dog tags.307 Only
worry now is floating mines which destroyers that
are our picket line occasionally explode with their
5” shells. The doughty DD’s [destroyers], they always
have the dirty work and receive not too much credit.
Day dawns bright and clear like an early September
day back home. Late leavers among the rain clouds
are hurrying to get away across the sky, as though
they might be picked up for stragglers by the sun.
Beautiful sight of 52 ships, with seven carriers
among them, the biggest being the Intrepid which
is fueled by one of the tankers. Small DD’s also have
their tanks filled again by other tankers of which
there now ten with us, the most important unit of
the fleet. All these have come from Eniwetok where
they were standing by for just an occasion like this.
Temperature is mild, although when the ship is buttoned up for the night, she heats up again as if she
were still down south.
One of the Marines has this remark to make to one
of the sailors this noon in the chow line, “Say, you
must clean your teeth with gunpowder, you shoot
your mouth off so much.”
At table tonight one of the flyers tells me that they
start to fly again tomorrow morning, with the menace of the typhoon having disappeared. They have
instructions not to molest a Jap hospital ship which
is on its way to Marcus Island to pick up the remnants of the garrison there.308
306 John Burke, CSC (1903-1957), escaped without injury and was later celebrated for writing personalized letters to survivors of each of the
men who died on the Pennsylvania. Following the war, he became a senior administrator at the University of Notre Dame.
307 A flat declarative sentence, but a significant moment for Foley, as for all servicemen and women. Dog tags were worn by all military
personnel for identification purposes. The Navy tags were oval and debossed with first and last name, middle initial, identification
number, blood type, month and year of entering the service, and religion: P or C or H (Hebrew). Two identical tags were worn on a
necklace: one to be removed so a death could be reported, and the other left behind so the body could be identified when it was retrieved.
308 Marcus Island was a small, arrowhead-shaped Japanese atoll that American forces bombed through 1943 and 1944 but never invaded,
moving past it to engage targets closer to the Japanese mainland. The island’s decimated Japanese force surrendered to the U.S. Navy
on August 3, 1945. The bombing of the island is a focus of one of the most remarkable propaganda documentaries produced by the War
Department. More than an hour long, The Fighting Lady, released in 1944, treats a year on the aircraft carrier Yorktown. The filming, by
gun-mounted cameras, of an aerial bombing attack on Marcus Island occupies 11 minutes of the film, beginning at 13:50. It may be viewed
on C-Span at https://www.c-span.org/video/?327301-1/reel-america-the-fighting-lady-1944. For more on the state of “garrison remnants” on
by-passed Pacific island,” see Foley’s entry for August 13, 1945 in regard to soldiers removed from Wake Island by a Japanese hospital ship.
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�Sunday, September 2, 1945
Copy of letter to my mother:
This great day [V-J Day] is now part of history, but it is one that all of us will not forget
for a long time. I don’t know whether or not
you heard the description of the signing of
the peace treaty over the radio, but we had a
first hand report of it, there about 250 miles
off Yokohama. The time was a reasonable
one for us, Sunday morning at ten-thirty, but
for you folks it was, unless I am mistaken,
about eleven o’clock Saturday night. You
see, we are ahead of you way out here where
we are closer to home by way of India, Suez
Canal and the Atlantic than the way we came
out here.
I heard the speeches of President Truman,
General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz in
our wardroom which is directly under our
flight deck, aft part of the ship. A little door
in the bulkhead, through that, and you could
see the planes landing while the speeches
were being broadcast. In that particular
corner of the wardroom, about ten of us
officers were clustered around the radio
eager for every word that was being said.
What I liked particularly about Truman’s
speech was his gratitude to Almighty God
for crowning our arms with victory. Judging
from his utterances so far, he is a religious
man, and is not afraid to proclaim his
religion.
Again, what he has to say seems to have the
ring of sincerity. His next reference to the
dead and their families struck a responsive
chord in the hearts of all of us. I had remarked to a Marine officer that I would like
to see the First Division of Marines march
down Tokyo’s main stem and then have
them shipped back to the States to New York
and parade down Fifth Avenue. They were
the boys who fought first on Guadalcanal,
all the way through the bitter and bloody
Pacific campaigns right up to the door of
Tokyo itself.
The Marine officer remarked that the boys
who should do the marching wouldn’t be
there. His own brother was one of those who
fell in the taking of Peleliu, north of New
Britain. Truman didn’t omit a single group
in his expression of thanksgiving.
He did a good job.
MacArthur was very good also. He didn’t forget the men who forged the victory for him
as he said, “I speak for the men who lie on
the beaches, along the jungle trails, and for
the sailors who are buried in the depths of
the sea.” It wasn’t surprising to see one of the
officers who was a survivor of the sinking in
the Coral Sea unashamedly wipe away a tear.
He had seen many of his shipmates killed
aboard ship and drowned in the water.309
Nimitiz who followed MacArthur struck
the same notes as the rest of the speakers.
He showed how universal the sacrifice was
when he ran off the list of names of the
men who are buried in the cemetery near
his headquarters on Guam. Every nationality was represented. On my way to see Ed
I passed a number of times the cemetery
he mentioned. The row upon row of white
crosses stand out most prominently against
the blazing tropical green of the surrounding acres. Some day perhaps the government
will make it possible for the mothers of those
boys to come and see where they are buried,
just off the beach that they died to win.
309 Four American ships were lost on May 4-8, 1942 in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Foley is likely referring to most prominent of them, the
carrier Lexington.
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�Yesterday the more fortunate boys who had
lived through it all started the sweetest trip
they have made in their naval career, the
long trip home. Men who had the required
forty-four points left us yesterday as we
marked time off Yokohama, as we have been
doing for the last week. They won’t forget
their departure nor shall we.310
A big tanker came alongside of us, as we
both steamed at about eight knots. A breeches buoy was made fast and then the fortyfour men who left us were swung across the
open water, about twenty-five yards of it, two
at a time. Just as the first men were hoisted
out over the side, our bugler played, “California here I come!” Their sea bags followed
them over.
They all clustered together on the well deck
of the tanker, waving to us left behind and
making remarks about what they would
do to remember us to God’s country. Then
we pulled away and we went back to our
position in the task force while the tanker
steamed off to rendezvous with a carrier to
which she would transfer the men again
and then “HOME!” These were the men
who deserved to go first, for they had gone
in right at the beginning of the war, most
of them were married or if not, had dependents. When told that they were to leave us,
they said that they pinched themselves to
help realize the good news was true. I lost
some fine members of my Catholic congregation; a couple of boys were daily communicants, one in particular as fine a man as
I have met in the service. His name is Bill
Malloy; he is married to a lovely Irish girl
and steps into a job with the New York Fire
Department. Funny how men turn out. It
just occurred to me that we have another
Irishman aboard, not first generation, as
Malloy, but straight from Cork, who would
do anything for me personally but never
goes to Mass. ‘I’m an atheist, Father,’ he
tells me. He is about the same age as Malloy, twenty-eight, comes from an excellent
Catholic family in Brooklyn but, ‘I just can’t
see it, Father.’ What are you going to do with
a man like that? A hard blow of misfortune
may bring him to his senses sometime. Yet
even though he won’t go to church, he would
knock a man down who would say anything
against me! Figure that type out.
Even though the war is over, the danger is
still as great as ever for our pilots. It is no
easier to take off or land on our floating
airstrip. That was brought home to us this
afternoon about five o’clock. As one of our
fighters was curving in for a landing, he lost
altitude quickly, his engine died out and
he made a water landing. Our hearts were
sick with anxiety as the plane spun in. Then
about three seconds later a figure was seen
to swim away from the sinking plane and
everyone breathed easier. You should have
seen the destroyer that tails us always during
operations for just such an emergency. That
sea behind her boiled furiously as she closed
in the two hundred yards between her and
the pilot. He was pulled aboard by willing
hands and there he is, still aboard the tin
can as I type this letter at eight o’clock. He
celebrated V-J Day in his own special way!
Just this minute a copy of tomorrow’s press
release, a three page mimeograph stint was
handed to me by my yeoman. There I read
about the signing of the peace treaty that will
take place Sunday!
310 The Adjusted Service Score was used to calculate which military personnel would be repatriated first. Devised in anticipation of the
European victory, the formula, which was several times revised, awarded points for months in the service, months overseas, combat
medals, and children under age 18, among other factors. American soldiers were generally pleased with the system, but, along with
their families at home, sometimes angrily protested the slow pace at which repatriation was accomplished.
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�Before closing, one more item. Tomorrow
we intend to shoot one of our Bosun’s. He
had the bridge watch this afternoon and announced just as I was about to start Rosary
and Benediction, “First Division stand by for
receiving mail from destroyer on starboard
quarter.” A roar of joy went up on the ship,
for we have had no mail these two weeks we
have been at sea. I told the men they could
write to the folks about the happy interruption to my remarks about the two intentions
for which we were saying the Rosary, in gratitude for the peace and in remembrance of
the dead. Then we found later that the mail
was a couple of official letters from the Admiral of the task force to our skipper. That
Bosun! He should have said “Guard Mail” in
his announcement.
Wednesday, September 5, 1945
For the first time since the war was declared, our
ships are lit up at sea. It is indeed a sight for sore
eyes tonight topside. All around us, our sister ships
have their running lights showing, red for port,
green for starboard. Those that are fortunate enough
to have portholes have them wide open, letting out
their circles of light to pierce the inky darkness of
the ocean off Japan.
Today also the censorship is removed so that we can
now tell everything about where we have been and
what we have been doing.
Saturday and Sunday,
September 8 and 9, 1945
Copy of another letter to my mother:
At his very moment of writing, your oldest
boy is practically sitting in the shadow of
Fujiyama, world-famous mountain that greets
all visitors to the capital of Japan.
This morning about five o’clock through the
mist of a watery sunrise we caught our first
glimpse of “enemy” territory on the home-
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land when our task force entered Sagami Bay
outside of Yokohama. An island appearing
high on our port side and there we saw our
first Japanese trees growing on the soil of a
country that we were fighting just one short
month ago. Naturally everybody was anxious
to drink in every single object on the shore but
not until the sun rose higher in the sky was
that wish fulfilled.
About eight o’clock we dropped anchor after
maneuvering slowly up the bay and getting
closer and closer to the mainland. The sights
that met our eyes might have been any part of
our northern coastline on the Atlantic Coast
back home. There was a beach that stretched
for miles, slate-colored, with a big sea wall
to keep back the fury of the ocean when a
typhoon starts whipping it up. Back from the
beach were substantial houses with solid tile
roofs, none of them pagoda type except two or
three. Then above all things, what should we
see but a trolley car making its way along the
rim of the shoreline, a trolley car with brown
sides, yellow-trimmed windows and silver
roof. Shades of Revere Beach!
However, this was no amusement center or
a refuge for the oi polloi on a hot Sunday
afternoon. Only occasional groups of houses,
clan-like in their huddling together, broke
the density of the trees that climbed up the
mountains directly behind the beaches.
As the day grew older and we could identify more and more of the shore contours,
we echoed over and over what one officer
said when we caught sight of land early this
morning, “Thank God we didn’t have to fight
our way in here. Acquisition of real estate is
always a costly proposition on beaches, especially when there is determined opposition to
your intentions.” On the face of one cliff, we
could make out two gun positions and a number of narrow slits that must have had some
�pieces of military effectiveness behind them.
But not a sound of any kind came from those
beaches, happily, very unlike our landing in
North Africa when we were heavily shelled
by shore batteries after dropping anchor off
Port Lyautey.
opposition from the anti-aircraft batteries.
There is an airport just over the brow of the
hills behind the beach nearest to us, and
judging from the planes that are constantly
in its traffic circle, that place is as busy, no,
busier, than LaGuardia airfield in New York.
It was a fascinating game picking out objects
of interest all around us. White flags, of
course, flew in abundance over gun positions we find out later. One particularly, on
top of a high hill caught the eye as it flew
straight out in the strong breeze that gave us
a temperature for the day of about 68 or 70.
Well, there are some hodge-podge impressions of this eventful day way out here where
history of the best kind, peace history, is
being made these days. Tomorrow I shall
add a few more lines, for I haven’t said a
word about something you must have gathered already that the news censorship has
been released on our end now.
Flags could also be seen flying from some
of the houses along the beaches. We don’t
know what the inhabitants thought of our
task force of fifteen ships when they woke
up this Sunday morning to see the American flag streaming from each one of Uncle
Sam’s men-of-war. Naturally, during the day,
we didn’t have a chance to interview them,
either, although we could see them walking along the beach and looking us over. We
would have given not a penny, but a dollar for
their thoughts. You know that next Friday is
the day of their national humiliation. On that
day, they will hear the tread of a conquering
army as it marches down their main street in
Tokyo. Imagine how we would have felt had
we been defeated and the Japs staged a victory
parade down Tremont Street, Fifth Avenue,
or Pennsylvania Avenue. That might give us
some idea, if only faintly, of how these people
will feel, come Friday.
Now I have said nothing about the planes
that have been filling the sky over us, all
transports, C-54’s, B-17’s, B-24’s, and even
B-29’s, all engaged in ferry work, taking soldiers in and departing with full loads of
released war prisoners. They are a magnificent picture as they fly across the face of the
blue sky, their sleek silver sides glinting in
the sharp sunlight and, best of all, with no
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One more word about this mountain, Fujiyama. It was a breath-taking sight to see
it flinging its snow-crowned head, twelve
thousand feet high, up into the blue sky. The
contrast of colors was beautiful. The green of
the waters as the eye travelled toward it, the
deeper green of the trees that clothed it until
the snow began, three-quarters of the way up,
and then the clear sharp blue of the heavens.
These colors didn’t have the blazing intensity
of the tropics at all. Perhaps that’s why this
area reminds us so much of home. I just
went up to the flight deck to get a breath of
fresh air before turning in at this hour of ten
o’clock. The only lights visible are those on
our ships, for we are all lit up like Christmas
trees. But that’s another story that must wait
for tomorrow.
Monday, 3:30 p.m. In again after just coming
down this lovely afternoon from the flight
deck where everybody on the ship who is not
actively engaged is rubber-necking topside
at what is to be seen in Tokyo Harbor. That’s
right. We have moved since this morning at
eleven o’clock. We pulled up the hook as the
sailors phrase it, and made our way up the
rest of the Bay until we anchored right here
in Tokyo’s front pond. As we headed directly
into the harbor, both shorelines were flanked
�with white flags. Again the land was moderately mountainous, with plenty of industrial
activity evident from the huge smoke stacks
belching their black messages. By the way,
just before we got underway this morning,
there were dozens of fishermen out early for
the catch in their small rowboats that were
sculled from the stern. They didn’t cast a
single glance at us as they went by. Perhaps
their wounded pride wouldn’t let them dignify us, even with a look of recognition.
Putting you back in Tokyo Harbor for the
sights, all around us is melancholy evidence
of the damage done by our Navy planes in
their repeated attacks. Imagine how Boston
Harbor would look with Castle Island,
Deer Island, Governor’s Island, and all
the rest being bombed and bombed by
enemy planes.
These fortified islands here were supposed
to guard the approaches to the city, but
what could they do against planes moving
at the rate of three and four hundred miles
an hour?
You can just imagine the might of the American Navy that is stationed here for the edification or the intimidation of the Japs. Every
conceivable ship is here, from the little tugs
to the giant battlewagons and carriers.
Monday, September 10, 1945
Into Tokyo Harbor where we join forces with a
mighty armada of assembled naval might, every
conceivable type of ship. And all around melancholy
evidence of the destructive force of naval aviation.
Three forts guarding the entrance to the harbor
have been reduced to rubble; the biggest has its big
concrete blocks pointed at weird angles into the sky
and the smallest is leveled at the water’s edge. Off to
one side is a Jap destroyer that was driven aground
and on the other side a big Jap battlewagon has
been badly gutted by a fire, apparently strafed by our
bombs. Smaller craft lie sunken in the waters, but
fortunately not in such a place that they impede the
steady flow of American shipping.
Today is the anniversary of Bl. Charles Spinola and
Companions. Mass in his honor today. An Italian
from Genoa, he labored twenty years here in Japan
and then was executed in 1622 together with 19 other
members of religious orders; 12 Jesuits altogether, 2
priests, 7 scholastics, 2 catechists and one lay brother.
Thirty laymen and women were also executed in the
presence of 30,000 Catholics at Nagasaki.311
Coincidence that this should be the day that we
make formal entrance into the harbor of Tokyo.
Tuesday, September 11, 1945
Off in the distance we can make out the smoke
stacks of Yokohama; some of the factories have
been badly gutted by fire. One big gas tank remains
standing, two have only their charred frames left. A
forest of smokestacks dots the horizon, making this
area another Pittsburgh.
Movie this evening, “Rhapsody in G” by Gershwin.312
Wednesday, September 12, 1945
Copy of another letter:
What a day this has been! For the first time,
I set foot on Japanese soil in the city of Yokohama. I thought that instead of writing you
individually I might chronicle the experiences of my first “liberty” in Japan in the form
of a circular letter. This form will at least
save Kay some time and labor, for knowing
her from the past, she would sit down at her
trusty machine and proceed to multi-copy
this effort.
311 Spinola, a Jesuit who came to Japan in 1602, stayed on after missionaries were banned in 1614. He was captured, imprisoned, and burned
at the stake on September 10, 1622.
312 Foley meant “Rhapsody in Blue,” a Warner Bros. biopic released in June 1945.
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�To begin at the beginning. About half past
eight this morning we shoved off from our
carrier in an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry),
fifty of us for a day in Yokohama. We had
been equipped with yen for spending money
in exchange for our good American dollars.
Yours truly also carried about thirty packages
of cigarettes which he knew he would get rid
of somewhere. One person he had in mind,
and that person received half of them
before noon.
After about an hour’s run, very slowly, due
to the tremendous amount of shipping
anchored and moving in the Bay of Tokyo,
all ours with the exception of a few sampans
fishing for crabs or something. We nosed
our way by two big cylindrical cones about
fifty feet in height, one colored red and the
other white, that guarded the immediate
entrance to the docking area.
The area around the docks was much the
same as that in any seaside port, long warehouses, high cranes and railroad spurs. Off
to our right, we could make out three Navy
hospital ships engaged in their work of mercy
of bringing our prisoners back to health. Just
before we stepped onto the dock, somebody
remarked that reports about the damage done
to this second city of Japan were certainly exaggerated. The B-29’s were supposed to have
written it off the map.
A walk from the dock of about ten minutes
brought us to the first signs of the bomb
devastation. One huge office building was
completely gutted by fire. When the three
of us travelling together, a Marine flyer by
the name of Jack Massa and an ensign,
Chuck Daniel, looked inside the entrance
and up through the six stories to the sky,
all we could see was twisted steel girders,
blackened timbers and scarred walls. “That
was one place that caught it,” somebody remarked. As we walked along, here and there
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would be another building whose walls were
leaning at crazy angles while its insides were
strewn all over the ground, but still hardly
seemed to have been a city “written off” by
the Air Force.
In front of that skeleton one of the ship’s
combat photographers asked me to step up
and say hello to a group of Japs who were
waiting for a streetcar, the first intimation
we had that they were running. The three of
us gathered around the Japs. They looked at
us and we looked at them and I asked one
of them in good English what I meant as a
baseball question, “How did the Yanks make
out?” One of our Marines who had come
said, “That’s a beauty of a question you asked
them, Father.”
That street we were walking on didn’t seem
particularly damaged until we turned a
corner sharply. Then a landscape of utter
desolation met our eyes. We were on the
edge of the business section of Yokohama.
That area of about four square miles was
completely destroyed. Acre after acre was
leveled to the ground. As if to point out the
devastation, here and there by some quirk of
fate a building would be left partially standing, a melancholy survivor of the holocaust
that consumed its neighbors.
While we were looking over the dismal scene
three women, obviously English by their
dress, were about to pass by us after saying
a cheery “Good morning,” when I asked if
they knew where the Catholic Church was.
They indicated a white church standing on a
hill about two miles away, saying that it had
been one of the few structures to escape
the “terrible day,” May 26th, “that you boys
came over.”
One of the Marines had asked her where the
main business street was, with all the stores.
She smiled as she said, “You left nothing of
�it.” On the “day” she said that all the destruction was done in a period of two hours as
hundreds of B-29’s roared in at broad daylight about eight o’clock in the morning. The
three women were overjoyed to see us. Two
of them had just been released two days ago
from a concentration camp. The third who
told us about the bombing had not been
imprisoned because she had been married to
a Japanese. Her house near the church had
been spared the destruction that ravaged the
city below her.313
When she found out I was a Catholic priest,
she insisted on taking me to a Catholic hospital with an Irish superior. However, she
was away and the acting Reverend Mother
was a French Sister. The hospital also had
been untouched by the bombing, but it was
as bare as the deck in my cabin. The Japanese Navy had taken it over and when they
moved out a short while ago, took every
single bit of equipment with them. They left
only the walls and the floors. Even the mirrors were removed from the bathrooms.
She and another Sister were living in one
bare room wondering when they could start
the hospital functioning again.
After a visit with her, the three of us mentioned earlier dropped in on the pastor of the
church. He was a Frenchman who had been
in Japan for twenty-two years. What he had
to say about the Japs was enlightening. “You
Americans must do two things, drive the
military class out of public life and take his
divinity away from the Emperor.” He also
told us that the Japs despise people of white
skin, no matter what the nationality. After a
visit with him for half an hour, we dropped
in to say hello to Our Lord in the church
which could have been the Sacred Heart
Church in Medford Hillside for size, but St.
Catherine’s on Spring Hill for beauty with
its marble columns.314 The statues were Our
Lady, the Little Flower, and St. Stanislaus
with a Japanese cast to his features. But it
was a Catholic church and a Catholic felt at
home immediately in it.
Our visit over, we walked down a road, came
to a turn and were amazed to see a valley
about three miles square that had once been
a residential section completely burned out.
No, there was no exaggeration about the thoroughness of the work of the B-29’s.
Back to the city we went and walked through
the devastated sections. Over everything was
the hand of death. Water and gas mains had
been broken and the smell of decay hung
heavy in the air.
What of the Japs? The few thousand we saw
were poverty stricken. Men, women and children were clothed in rags, literally, that had
been patched over and over again. They were
quite friendly with their smiles and anxious to
pick up any scraps of food they could. The life
of the city was practically paralyzed, the only
semblance of activity being the trolley cars that
ran intermittently. But here and there in what
used to be downtown Yokohama, a trolley car,
now just a gaunt burnt-out skeleton, had been
pushed over to the side of the cleared street to
allow some form of traffic as well as its own
living brothers to move. War had visited these
people in its more horrible forms. Now four
months after the ‘terrible day’ they were still
trying, and not succeeding, to recover from
its effects.
313 On May 29, 1945, 454 B-29 Superfortress aircraft engaged in an incendiary bomb attack on Japan’s second largest city. Nearly
seven-square miles of the city’s business and industrial areas were destroyed. The raid actually took one hour and nine minutes.
314 The Sacred Heart Church was in Medford, Massachusetts, while St. Catherine of Genoa Church was in neighboring Somerville.
Both municipalities were ethnic, working-class industrial cities north of Boston, where Foley was raised.
226 | chapter 7: destination tokyo
�Saturday, September 15, 1945
Near the South Dakota. a big Jap battlewagon, superstructure bridge area charred skeleton. Must have cremated all
the Japs topside when she was hit by our flyers. Sign on
one of her forward gun turrets, “NO VISITORS!” Navy
hopes to take her home as biggest souvenir of the war.
Men aboard trying to get her in shape.315
Monday, September 17, 1945
Letter to mother:
It is now eight o’clock this September evening and a movie is being shown on the
hangar deck below by the name of “Tomorrow the World,”a propaganda picture featuring anti-Nazism.316 Since I have a constitutional dislike for all propaganda pictures of
all stripes, I have passed this one up also.
If I had any temptation to attend this one,
it would be overcome by my desire to write
you something of my experiences today.
Today was another one of those red-letter
days I have been mentioning of late. It
seems all these later days are red-starred.
This one was the latest, for today I visited
Tokyo itself. As usual, a Landing Craft Support Ship, more familiarly known as an
LCS, came alongside us about ten-thirty this
morning and we hopped aboard her to begin
the hour ride out of the harbor into Yokohama. You are fairly acquainted with that city,
or rather with what is left of it, from my last
letter. This trip our group decided to waste
no time on a city that was dead, so we made
for the train station and boarded the rattler
for Tokyo. Believe it or not, but this railroad
was exactly like the New York, New Haven
and Hartford out of New York. It was electrified all the way.
We had to wait for about ten minutes for the
train to pull in and then found out that we
were accorded a conqueror’s privileges. Not
only on his gestures did we ignore the ticket
taker, but we stepped into a coach marked in
English, RESERVED FOR THE U. S. ARMY.
The Navy had no objections to availing
themselves of Army accommodations since
there seemed to be no soldiers around. So
we made ourselves comfortable in cars that
were exactly like the Boston El coaches, no
better and no worse, just in case an El director might read these lines and get a swelled
head about his sardine tins.
Still to give the devil himself credit, there is
a limit to the capacity load of the El coaches.
There was none to these. The one next to
us had reached capacity about ten stations
before we reached the main station in Tokyo,
but still they managed to pack them in. Being in the last car of the ten car train, we had
a good chance to see how many people were
jammed into the cars ahead. There always
seemed to be room for one more.
Also, our coach gave us a good opportunity
to see the damage done by our B-29’s in
their bombing raids. It took us about fortyfive minutes to make the run from Yokohama to Tokyo. Both sides of the track were
lined with blackened and rusted evidence of
the truth of the claim of the Air Force that
Tokyo and Yokohama were no longer targets.
Japan is highly industrialized, surprisingly
enough. For mile after mile, where there had
been factories, there was only chimney after
chimney that stood against the skyline, like
giant cement pencils that had been frozen
in the act of writing some message across
315 Likely an instance of scuttlebutt. The editors can find no record of any plan to bring a Japanese war ship to the U.S. after the war.
316 “Tomorrow, the World!” was a United Artists production released in December 1944. It tells the story of a teen-age German boy who,
after being adopted during the war by an American family, learns to shed his Nazi beliefs.
227 | chapter 7: destination tokyo
�the sky. Where the factories had not been
leveled, their walls stood at crazy angles,
ready to topple, it seemed, with the slightest
breeze.
Here and there along the road bed, some
groups of houses were untouched and the
people were bending over their victory gardens, trying not to improve their vegetable
yield of the country but to keep from starving.317 On the waste lands left by our bombers others had managed to nail together
some corrugated tin for a roof over their
heads to keep out the rain as they eked out a
miserable existence. These hovels continued
right into Tokyo itself. A train barker shouting out the names of the stations was the
first intimation that we had arrived.
Out we piled about half-past two with myself
trying to head for the Jesuit University run
by Fr. [Bruno] Bitter, S.J., Sancta Sophia.
Outside of the station which had also been
gutted by our fire bombs, without damage,
however, to the right of way, I separated
from my group who headed into the downtown district to purchase some souvenirs.
You can imagine how much I felt at home
in a foreign land, knowing nothing of the
language and to top it all, in a country where
we were regarded as conquerors. It’s a funny thing, though I doubt if any American
can feel as a conqueror should. The sailors
walked down the streets on their best behavior, almost a little self-conscious, it seemed,
as they passed one ruined building after
another.
Tokyo itself, like Yokohama, was hard hit.
Building after building is just a hollow shell.
One in particular looked ghastly. It must
have been a beautiful twelve story office
building in its day, constructed of white
bricks, our red construction size. Fire had
consumed the vitals of the building and
then licked at the exterior until, as I saw it,
it seemed almost like a human being whose
face had been horribly burned. An effort had
been made to clear away the debris marked
by some success, but it will be years before
any appreciable impression is made on the
devastation that scars the city.
Walking down the street for about ten minutes, I came to a bank and figured that there
somebody must be able to talk English. As
soon as I stepped into the entrance, a porter
very graciously took me in hand to answer
my question by escorting me to somebody
who could speak English. I file through
the main office where about fifty girls were
busily engaged in typing, and about twenty
tellers, until I met one of the big shots who
spoke perfect English. Yes, he knew of the
University, but how to direct me there was
another question. He finally drew a map,
explaining it very carefully, while I mentally
figured that I’ll never be able to make that
and get back to the ship on time. When he
finished, I thanked him and gave him a
package of cigarettes, about which, incidentally, the Japs are wild, literally.
They wave their money in front of us in the
streets offering fabulous prices for even one
cigarette, let alone a package. That is how
some of the boys manage to pick up their
souvenirs without spending money. They
simply pay in cigs and then go on their
American way, better equipped than before,
especially when you remember that we
pay only five cents a pack aboard ship for
cigarettes.
317 Victory Gardens on suburban lawns and in city yards and parks were vigorously promoted in the United States and other Allied countries with the aim of supplying vegetables for home use so that commercially grown produce could be directed to the armed forces. By
mid-war in the U.S., an estimated one-third of all available vegetables were the product of Victory Gardens.
228 | chapter 7: destination tokyo
�I stepped out into the street again, started
to walk aimlessly when a Jap who evidently
must have been a good mind-reader took in
my predicament, so he stepped up and said
in perfect English, “May I help you? I speak
your language.” I told him my story again.
Very graciously he offered to take me to Fr.
Bitter, but reluctantly I had to decline when
my watch pointed to quarter past three, indicating that the return trip to Yokohama was
imperative.
Back to the station then, where I bumped
into six of our flyers on the platform. We
stood there for about ten minutes when a
yell about four tracks over brought sharply
to our attention that if we wanted to make
the boat back to the ship on time, we should
shift gears for our train wouldn’t leave till
four and the one on the other track would
go in ten minutes. American-like, instead of
going down the ramp that led to the other
track where some other Marine flyers were
who had yelled at us, we hopped down into
the train beds, up onto the platforms until
we had covered the intervening distance.
When we arrived, we were told that the Japs
had a good time laughing at the tallest of us,
a flyer about six feet three who negotiated
the lift from the train beds to the platform
with the ease of a giraffe while the rest of us
were obviously laboring. The station, incidentally, was jammed with Japanese leaving
their capital city.
Since that train was due to pull out in five
minutes, we were late for seats. One of the
flyers had a bright idea, the baggage car.
There the seven of us rode on the small
pieces of baggage, wrapped not in boxes but
hemp and rope, all the way to Yokohama.
Just to sooth the conscience of the three baggage smashers and their boss, we gave each
of them a pack of cigarettes, about a month’s
normal wages for them as far as we could
229 | chapter 7: destination tokyo
make out. As with all the Japs, these reacted
the same way. They were the very essence
of courtesy. They bowed from the waist as
they mumbled in heavily-accented English,
‘Thank you.’
We enjoyed the relative comfort of the
baggage car until we got to Yokohama, we
thought. At that station was the Oriental
counterpart of the stationmaster who was
singing out the name of the station. When
we checked with the train guard, he bowed
smiling, to our question, “Is this Yokohama?” Then we found ourselves on the street,
one station earlier than we should have
been. A trolley, with Japs hanging from every
strap, came along at the amazing speed of
about three miles an hour. However the
back end outside was unoccupied and there
the terrible conquerors draped themselves.
The girl conductor looked around, ventured
a furtive smile at us and then turned back
soberly to her work of collecting the fares as
her countrymen left the trolley.
Meanwhile these wild Americans were
enjoying the ride, so much so, that when
the car stopped about three times, about six
pictures of us were snapped. What a life!
We finally got back to the dock where our
old friend the LCS ship picked us up and
brought us back to the Vella Gulf. By the
way, I forgot to mention that I gave the
girl conductor the equivalent of about a
month’s wages with a bar of soap and a
package of cigarettes just before we
hopped off for good.
Tuesday, September 18, 1945
Today all liberty parties were cancelled due to the
wind that raced across our flight deck at 65 knots,
the edge of the latest typhoon. Sea lashed angrily at
all the ships and the anchors strained as they tried
to hold the big men ‘o war in place. Lasted from
3 a.m. to 4 p.m. when the wind died down and the
�face of the water was calm again. This evening there
is almost a full moon looking down on the ships
again riding peaceably at anchor.
On a big wooden door alongside of the sign was
another, “Business For Closed.”
Thursday, September 20, 1945
Fortunately only casualties were some small boats
that were shaken loose aft of some of the ships.
Ours were hoisted in. All hands were cautioned to
wear life belts while they worked on the flight deck,
so powerful was the force of the wind.
Wednesday, September 19, 1945
Press Release: Nine hundred killed in Japan
by typhoon.
Ashore at noon today to seaport town of Yokosuka
to attend Chaplains’ meeting at the Officers’ Club.
Resolution was passed commending the Naval authorities, American, for closing the public houses of
prostitution here in Yokosuka. We thought they closed
them.318 Walking through the Navy Yard noticed all
the big steel presses and cutters were produced in
Glasgow by T. E. Smith and Company.
Big work sheds were much the same as those at
Navy Yards in Charlestown, Mass. or Bremerton,
Washington; completely deserted as were the navy
barracks. Here was the training ground for the KK
[Kamikaze] boys, the suicide pilots, for the air station is just around the corner. They were terribly
effective, sinking 32 ships of the Navy during the
Okinawa campaign and hitting 223 others; a lot of
good men died.319 Before, we could walk down the
main stem of this dingy town with its ramshackle
houses and red light district with its so obvious
signs, in English, “Welcome House” and Jap letters
underneath; another “Geisha Girls House.” “For
Naval, Flyers and ‘miyatary.’”
Once again we left the ship anchored in Tokyo Bay
for liberty in the big city of 7,000,000 Japanese,
the capital of the Japanese Empire. We steamed on
a ship’s boat all the way into the docks in Tokyo
proper instead of going to Yokohama as before and
then taking the electric train into the city. We docked
about half-past twelve when I started out to find out
where our Jesuit University was. I didn’t have the
foggiest notion, but I intended to deliver a piece of
baggage that contained about a dozen filet mignons,
half a dozen cans of corn, the same of beets, a jar
of jelly, peanut butter, beef broth mixture, three
cartons of cigarettes, etc. The place was somewhere
in the vicinity of the Imperial Palace, I was told
by Fr. Sam Hill Ray, S.J., of the New Orleans
Province.320
Just as soon as we stepped off the ship a Jap truck
driven by an American sailor started to leave the
dock. Carrying a black bag and a shoe box loaded
with what sailors aptly term loot, I didn’t relish
tramping all over the city looking for the college, so
I hailed him immediately, hopped aboard and asked
where he was going. “Nowhere.” “Whose truck?”
“I don’t know.” “Where did you get it?” “Right here
on the dock.” “Ever driven one of these before?”
“Nope.” “Well, you’ll learn. Drive me to the
Emperor’s Palace.”
We headed out there, in the meantime having picked
up a full load of officers and men who were going
downtown also. As we hit the Ginza [shopping] area,
they dropped off with only six staying aboard. We
318 As Foley intimates—and as he relates a few paragraphs later—while the American military publicly banned brothels, prostitution openly
thrived during the occupation. Some brothels were run under private auspices and others under a quasi-government Japanese agency—
the Recreation and Amusement Association—out of concern, the association said, that the safety of Japanese women generally would
be put at risk if prostitutes were not available for American occupiers.
319 Present-day estimates vary from these figures, but not greatly. Some 5,000 Americans are said to have perished by Kamikaze attacks
during the three-month Battle of Okinawa.
320 Ray would gain notoriety not many years later for publicly standing against the integration of student organizations at the University of
New Orleans, where he was director of counseling services. The New Orleans Province formally rejected segregation in 1952.
230 | chapter 7: destination tokyo
�drove on and on until finally we stopped and asked a
Jap man where the Palace was. Pantomime with his
hands pointed to the ruined buildings and making
believe opening a door didn’t help at all. So we passed
him along until we met a crowd of kids who gave us
general directions which we followed and got more
hopelessly lost. Finally I wound up in a police station
with an interpreter who turned out to be a Catholic.
He couldn’t help me either but he did take me down
the street to a Protestant church pastored by a Jap
minister who was unfortunately away on a “very busy
day.” Then back to the police station and then to the
truck while a million kids clustered around the conquerors lost in the conquered city.
We then headed back in the direction we came from,
and I went into a bank, got directions anew from
the clerk and following these, we were able to sight
the Imperial grounds. The Palace itself we could
only see by climbing to the roof of a six story building next across the main highway from the Imperial
grounds, which were surrounded by a moat.
A boy about fourteen spoke English in that building
and he offered to send a boy with me to the Morning Star school, a convent! Well, I figured from the
Sisters I could find the Jesuits so we started again.
By this time we had been travelling through the
waste lands and ruins of Tokyo, 56 square miles of
it, burnt out, for over two hours and were apparently
no nearer to my destination; the six officers in the
rear of the truck were seeing the city from a travelling van but they didn’t mind.
Our driver didn’t mind either, but he did confess to
a bit of uneasiness when I asked how much gas we
had. We never knew when we might run out for the
gas gauge was broken. The truck was a good one,
but took the holes in the road to the ultimate depth.
We bowled along merrily.
Around the Imperial grounds we drove [and] my
guide brought us into a school where there were a lot
of youngsters. The teacher was dressed like all other
Japs, couldn’t speak English any more than I could
Japanese, but we did manage to get along in French.
He identified himself as a Marist Brother, I as a
Jesuit, then we had another handshake. I told him I
wanted the Jesuit University. He said he would bring
me there himself. He got in alongside of [our driver];
I hung on the outside of him and away we jounced
until after fifteen minutes of riding by the usual rubble and neatly piled corrugated tin and the shacks of
a thousand dumpvilles where the homeless were trying to get a shelter, we saw a big brown building that
looked something like Loose Wiles factory on Causeway St., Boston, with more windows than brick, and
there was St. Sophia University. There I met half a
dozen priests and then Fr. [Bruno] Bitter of Heythrop
College, England days. A French Jesuit brought me
to him who, incidentally, said that the school numbered about 1500 during peace time; their enrollment had slumped badly, but now was picking up.
Catholics in Tokyo numbered about 10,000. Most of
the enrollment was non-Catholic.321
The corridors of the faculty residence were much
the same as any Jesuit house all over the world.
Long and high as any and the room of Fr. F. X.
Bosch, S.J. like any other priest’s in a college; books,
prie-dieu, bed, crucifix, Office and picture of Our
Lady conspicuous, a simple room, simply furnished.
Fortunately the fire had not touched the new building of the University, but the old. Miraculously it
seemed, for in front of the college there was nothing but devastation. The French Father said that if
it had not been for the Emperor pressing the issue,
the Military would have fought to the last man. He
insisted on peace and happily he had his way. In
fact, he said, it would not surprise him if some day
he became a Catholic; he is very favorable.
321 The Loose-Wiles biscuit company occupied a brick warehouse on Causeway Street in Boston’s North End. The building still stands and
is today part of a condominium complex. Sophia University, founded by the Jesuits in 1913, is today a selective private institution in
Japan, with some 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students. As was the case when Foley visited, the majority of students are not
Catholic. Bruno Bitter (1898-1988), a German Jesuit who Foley had studied with at Heythrope College, was Sophia’s rector from 1942 to
1948. He served during the post-war years as the Holy See’s envoy to the American occupation forces and was an informal advisor on
Japanese culture to General Douglas MacArthur, who administered the occupation.
231 | chapter 7: destination tokyo
�The visit with the priests was over in ten minutes
when I found that my Marist friend had deserted
me, having done his kind deed.
head are innumerable dogfights in the sky as our
men playfully tangle with each other, now that the
war is over.
We started back through the debris on both sides
of the fire-bombed city and dropped off our Jap boy
with five yen and a package of cigarettes.
Tuesday, September 25, 1945
A visit to a department store outside of which
we had our picture taken didn’t reveal anything
but 5 and 10 goods, except for some prints, three
of which I purchased.
Then we started back for the docks, picking up sailors and officers along the way. Just as we were about
to get into the dock area, we ran out of gas, coasting
to a stop in front of another Jap truck, smacked it
gently, and then answered the smiling question in
English of the Jap, “Where did you get the truck?”
“On the dock here, thank you.”
Friday, September 21, 1945
We shove off for Okinawa today at half past eight
in the morning, with about forty passengers aboard
for further transfer to home and to Leyte and way
stations via Okinawa. We learn today that we are
to remain in commission as a major war vessel.
One third of the fleet will be kept in an active
status, another third in reserve and one third will
be de-commissioned.
Sunday, September 23, 1945
We cruise around outside the nets off Buckner Bay,
Okinawa, waiting for a berth to be assigned to us,
when finally the Captain goes in and picks his
own berth.
Monday, September 24, 1945
Ashore to contact men who are brothers of men
aboard ship. Failed but met Arthur Doyle from
Chestnut Hill, B.C. graduate, now pilot aboard the
USS Antietam with Fr. Zimmer as Chaplain who still
can’t say Mass occasionally on Sunday due to the opposition of his Executive Officer and Captain. Over322 Equivalent to an Army rank of Major.
232 | chapter 7: destination tokyo
Up anchor to Pearl Harbor with a total passenger
complement of 656 who are berthed in cots on our
hangar deck. They are a mud-stained group, cold,
dirty and wet as they come up the gangway, but a
shower and a clean up of their gear make them new
men. On the way music from band of USS Arkansas
who have been chasing their ship for four months.
Jam sessions at night, songfests and movies.
Tuesday, October 2, 1945
Second Thursday, since we are crossing the 180th
meridian. Smoker on Hangar Deck; boxing skits,
orchestra of USS Arkansas boys. Are they good!
Friday, October 5, 1945
Learn that they have made me Lt. Cmdr.322
Saturday, October 6, 1945
Four P.M. – Arrive Pearl Harbor.
In an interview with Steve O’Brien on March 7, 1995,
Foley said, “In the Navy, when you went in as a priest,
you went in as a man, and you were a complete stranger
to the people with whom you associated, and the other
way around, too. . . . There was no deference or respect
for you except as a Naval officer. But as a priest you were
Joe Zilch, and only when they sized you up, when they
said what kind of person is he, then you were accepted.
How you would stand up under very trying situations. In
wartime the word would be passed around, how did soand-so stand up. That helped me to grow as a man. Being
placed in a completely strange situation, no different from
the other men. And they finally found out just by the way
you behaved. I grew. And I am very happy that I did it.”
Asked in the same interview if he’d had difficulty adjusting to civilian life after the war, he replied, somewhat
equivocally.” “Thank God I was never disturbed psychologically . . . maybe later.”
�photographs
Left to right: Foley, his sister Mary, his mother Catherine, and his brothers Francis and Joseph in the backyard of their home in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Foley’s youngest brother, Lt. Edward C. Foley, U.S.,
Army, who was posted to Guadalcanal for much of
the war and whom John visited as often as the Clymer
weighed anchor off the island. John supplied his
brother with such valuables as steaks, oranges, ice
cream, and cigars from the Clymer larder. Edward
Foley would graduate from Boston College in 1966.
233 | photographs
John Foley with his father Francis Foley, Sr., at
“Shadowbrook,” the Jesuit novitiate in Lenox,
Massachusetts, c. 1923.
Photo credits: Pages 233 and 234, Foley Family. Pages 235
and 236, United States Navy. Page 237, Foley Family (top)
and United States Navy.
�Fr. Foley, in late April or early May 1943, with three French missionaries and two of their wards who’d been rescued
from Bougainville by a an American ship and then transferred to the Clymer. The women’s names, which Foley recorded at the bottom of the photo, are Sr. Martian, Sr. Ignatius, and Sr. Adelberta. The children are identified as Dorothea
Solutu and Aloysius Chinyung. Charmed by the children—particularly the indefatigable Aloysius—the Clymer crew
presented Foley with “a bomb helmet full of bills and change” to be given to the sisters for the benefit of their charges.
234 | photographs
�Fr. Foley saying Mass on the deck of the Clymer while anchored off the island of Espirtu Santo just prior to the
Bougainville invasion on November 1, 1942. The men before him are mostly Marines. On the night before the invasion
Foley heard confessions until past midnight, and on the next morning “distributed Holy Communion as Viaticum for
25 minutes immediately after Reveille.” The landing took place at 7:30 a.m. By late morning, Foley was offering Last
Sacraments to the gravely wounded who’d been returned from the beach and whose confessions he’d heard the previous
evening. The battle for the island eventually engaged 144,000 American troops and would not conclude until Japan
surrendered.
A 1952 photograph of Foley at a ceremony in New York
City, where he was presented with a print of a painting,
commissioned by the Navy, that draws on Navy photographs of Foley saying Mass on the Clymer.
(See photo above)
235 | photographs
�The USS George Clymer, an attack transport, on which Foley served from June 1942 to April 1944.
236 | photographs
�Foley presides at a memorial service on the lower deck of the Vella Gulf in memory of Marine Lt. Edward C. Grove, a
pilot who died in a take-off accident on May 12, 1945. Grove, the ship’s first casualty, is represented by an empty chair
in the front row, and his fellow pilots are seated in the first four rows. In one of his interviews with Steve O’Brien, Foley
recalls that he said a Mass for Groves, who was a Protestant.
The USS Vella Gulf, an aircraft carrier on which Foley served
from April 1945 until war’s end. His note at the bottom edge
of the photograph reads “Our ship — spanking new.”
237 | photographs
�for god and country
Acknowledgements
The editors are indebted to William P. Leahy, S.J., President of Boston College, for his support of our work
on “For God and Country,” Jesuit Fr. John P. Foley’s diary account of his life as a U.S. Navy chaplain in the
North African and Pacific theaters of war during World War II.
We are also grateful to David Winkler, Archivist at the Naval Archives; to David Miros and Ann Kanke, of
the Jesuit Archives at St. Louis University; to Alice Howe, retired Archivist of the New England Province
Archives at the College of the Holy Cross, who provided us with the transcript of the diary, and to Dennis
P. Foley and Maureen Dwyer, nephew and niece, respectively, of Fr. Foley. We are grateful, too, for the assistance of Associate Vice President Jack Dunn and Senior Associate Director Brock Dilworth, both of the
Office of University Communications.
And we are in particular debt to our Graphic Designer Bobbi Bloom.
The Editors
Joseph P. Duffy, S.J., served in various capacities at Boston College for 42 years, 20 as Secretary of the
University. He is the editor of three other on-line books based on the 20th-century military and diplomatic
service of New England Jesuits. These can be found at the Joseph P. Duffy Collection of Digital Works at
the Jesuit Archives and Research Center. (https://jesuitarchives.omeka.net/collections/show/3)
Ben Birnbaum is a writer and editor in Brookline, Massachusetts, and was the editor of Boston College
Magazine from 1982 to 2018.
238 | acknowledgements
�
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Joseph P. Duffy Collection of Digital Works
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021043.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Catholic Church</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004995.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--20th century</a>
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<a href="https://lccn.loc.gov/n87831774" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Duffy, Joseph P.</a>
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Jesuit Archives & Research Center, St. Louis, Missouri
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Reproduced with permission of the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus
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PDF
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eng
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JA-Duffy
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Northeast Province Archive
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Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus
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This collection contains publications edited by Joseph P. Duffy, S.J. regarding histories of New England Province Jesuits.
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2016-09-06
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3 items
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1939-1945, 1968
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For God and Country: The War Diary of Lieutenant Commander John P. Foley, S.J., Navy Chaplain, 1942–1945
Subject
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Jesuit, History, WWII, World War 2, Chaplain, Navy, Diary, Foley
Description
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Between 1942 and 1945, a Boston College Jesuit named John Patrick Foley (1904-1995) kept a diary of his experiences as a Navy chaplain in the North Africa and Pacific theaters of war. He wrote about the soldiers and sailors he came to know and minister to; of his first walk on a battlefield; of war news and rumor; of the striking beauty of the battle-ravaged Solomon Islands; and of the ruins of Tokyo. Transcribed and typed by Fr. Foley’s secretaries after he returned to his administrative post as a dean, the diary was in the New England Provincial Archive at the College of the Holy Cross when Joseph P. Duffy, S.J., a retired BC senior administrator with a deep interest in 20th century Jesuit history, came upon it and determined to develop it as a public document. Edited by Duffy and former Boston College Magazine editor Ben Birnbaum.
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Duffy, Joseph P.
Birnbaum, Ben
Foley, John P.
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Jesuit Archives & Research Center
Joseph P. Duffy
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JA-Duffy
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Joseph P. Duffy
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PDF Text
Text
✩
A Jesuit Cossack
A Memoir by Louis J. Gallagher, S.J.
✩
EDITED BY JOSEPH P. DUFFY, S.J.
�Table of Contents
i ABOUT THE AUTHOR
By Joseph P. Duffy, S.J.
29 CHAPTER VI
Danger, Diplomacy, and the Cossack Captain
ii FOREWORD
By Joseph P. Duffy, S.J.
37 CHAPTER VII
Two Honest Men
iii INTRODUCTION
By Charles Gallagher, S.J.
41 CHAPTER VIII
Mission Accomplished
1 CHAPTER I
Papal Relief Mission
48 CHAPTER IX
Reasons to Remain
9 CHAPTER II
Famine and the Fair
51 CHAPTER X
Diplomatic Courier
15 CHAPTER III
Distant Famine Centers
56 CHAPTER XI
The Odessa Express
20 CHAPTER IV
Church and State
61 CHAPTER XII
The Canoro and the Casket
26 CHAPTER V
The Rescue of Orenburg
66 APPENDIX
Kirghiz Proclamation of 1923
67 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
68 IMAGE CREDITS
On the cover: Louis J. Gallager, S.J., Moscow, circa 1923.
�a jesuit cossack
About the Author
by joseph p. duffy, s.j.
Louis J. Gallagher, S.J. was born
in Boston on July 22, 1885, the
second of three sons of James P. and
Sarah Gallagher. He grew up in Boston
and Malden, Massachusetts, where he
completed his elementary school education. After graduating from Boston
College High School, he attended Boston
College for two years and then entered
the Society of Jesus on August 14, 1905.
During his years of formation as
a Jesuit, he pursued the normal course of studies
and was ordained on June 29, 1920, at Georgetown
University. After completing his theology studies in
1921, he was appointed Headmaster of Xavier High
School in New York City. It was toward the end of
that school year that he was invited to be the assistant to Fr. Edmund A. Walsh, S.J., the Director of
the Vatican Famine Relief Mission to Russia, where
he served in that capacity for 15 months.
Upon his return to the United States, beginning
in 1924, he undertook a number of administrative
positions. First, from 1924 until 1926, as Prefect
of Studies (Dean) at Georgetown University. Then,
from 1926 until 1932, he was Executive Secretary to
the Provincial, Major Superior of the New England
Province. After this assignment he was appointed
Rector/President of Boston College, a position
he held until 1937. In the years that followed until
1949 he combined writing with a number of
i | about the author
administrative positions; as Editor of the
New England Province News, Associate
Director of the Institute of Social Order,
Director of the Jesuit Seminary Guild
and Editor of the Jesuit Seminary
News. From 1949 until 1955 his main
occupation was writing and in his last
years of active ministry, 1955–1970, he
lived at Georgetown University where
he continued his writing and worked
with his long-time friend, Fr. Edmund
A. Walsh, S.J., collecting and classifying fifty years of
Walsh’s letters and documents, and arranging them
for the University Archives.
All of this resulted in Fr. Gallagher’s writing the
biography entitled, The Life of Edmund A. Walsh, S.J.,
one of his six published books. Another of which
was The Life of St. Andrew Bobola, Jesuit Martyr,
Patron of Poland. From his memoir and all of his
writings and lectures it is clear that the 15 months
spent in Russia early in his Jesuit priestly life and
decades long association with Fr. Edmund A. Walsh
were unforgettable experiences and left an indelible
impression that remained with him throughout his
long life.
In 1970 Fr. Gallagher returned to New England
and took up residence at Weston College where
he served as a House Confessor until his death on
August 14, 1972, at the age of 87 on the 67th anniversary of his entrance into the Society of Jesus.
�a jesuit cossack
FOREWORD
“Meet me at Cunard Pier—docking at 5 p.m.”
by joseph p. duffy, s.j.
In the early 1960s Fr. Louis J. Gallagher,
S.J. composed a memoir, titled either A
Twentieth Century Jesuit or Recollections of a Jesuit
Cossack that focuses for the most part on the 15
months he spent in famine-stricken Russia as
Assistant to the Director of the Papal Relief Mission,
starting in late July, 1922, all the while acting as a
layman. There are several versions of the memoir
but, with minor exceptions, they are identical.
Despite some early efforts, the memoir has never
been published.
The present edited version of Fr. Gallagher’s
memoir seeks to share that challenging and
intriguing experience with all of the
difficulties and hardships it entailed
as well as the satisfaction of providing
food, clothing, and medicine for
a starving, desperate and grateful
population of men, women, and children
in Russia. The story also tells of his role
as a Diplomatic Courier of both the Soviet
Government and the Vatican in bringing the
remains of the then-Blessed Andrew Bobola from
Moscow to Rome. According to Fr. Gallagher, his is
the first eyewitness account of the recovery of the
body, and described in more detail than is found in
the Vatican record.
How did this amazing adventure come about?
After ordination and completing his study of
theology, Fr. Gallagher’s first assignment was as
Headmaster of Xavier High School in New York
ii | forword
City. It looked like the beginning of a school career.
And then, in his own words:
Toward the end of that school year, when preparing for the closing exercises, the Headmaster
[Gallagher always refers to himself in the third person.]
was surprised to receive a short and rather puzzling telegram from an ocean liner coming into
New York. The telegram read, “Meet me at Cunard
Pier—docking at 5 p.m.” Realizing that the man who
sent this message was on his way back to America
before he had finished his year as a Tertian Fr. at
Paray-le-Monial in France, the conclusion was
that something unusual was afoot. With
no previous explanation of the telegram
and without prologue or introduction to
the subject, that evening at dinner, the
Headmaster was asked, “Will you come
with me to Russia?” The question created
a moment of surprise, such as diplomats
dispose of by lighting a cigarette, to gain a moment
for consideration. Evidently the matter had been
prearranged with Superiors and needed only the
consent of the one involved. It was a direct question
that called for a direct answer.
“Yes, certainly. When?”
“Sailing at noon, June 17th, on the Coronia for
Cherbourg, then to Paris and Rome, And from there
we shall find our way to Moscow.”
And so the memoir begins.
�a jesuit cossack
The Soviets, the Vatican, and Fr. Louis Gallagher,
an introduction
By Charles Gallagher, S.J.
On September 15 1924, a newspaper
published by the American bishops
carried a front-page article written by its Vatican
correspondent that recounted a face-to-face
conversation between an anonymous German
priest and Vladimir Lenin just prior to Lenin’s
death. The priest had known Lenin when both men
were journalists in Paris. Now, however, Lenin was
“the author of one of the most terrible revolutions
in history” and engaged in war against Roman
Catholicism and religious faith in general. Three
principles guided him: firstly, that the deliverance
of mankind was not effectuated by Christ, but by
the Soviet system; secondly, that this system would
appropriate funds, land, and authority unto itself;
and lastly—and perhaps most terrifyingly—that
the system was exterminationist, that “what is
opposed to us” had to be obliterated.
Lenin’s revolution was not simply a socio-economic one, or even a revolution against capitalism.
Catholics such as the Jesuits Edmund Walsh and
Louis Gallagher—who are the leading characters on
these pages—viewed Lenin’s co-option of Marxist
theory as something much more sinister. Lenin’s
revolution was, as they saw it, eschatological. It
aimed at world domination under a religion that
was bereft of divinity and transcendence, but which
nevertheless contained teleological elements of
utopianism. These, in turn, Gallagher and others
worried, might offer a substitute for the spiritual
ends of Roman Catholicism, with the social justice
iii | introduction
components of Marxism turning ordinary believers
away from the sacred and toward the profane.
Gallagher’s experience in Russia, recounted
here, was an experience of the mechanism by which
such turning would occur: the police state. Father
Edward Pace’s article on Bolshevism in the 1922
edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia reflected this
understanding. “A Red Terror,” was emerging not
only against the property-owning classes, but also
bringing “wholesale executions and persecutions of
the Christian churches in all [their] denominations.”
Fr. Walsh, who was Gallagher’s mentor and
companion in the Soviet Union, framed Russian
interference with Papal relief efforts as “terroristic.”
The “terrorism of the Tcheka” had kept him from
completing his work for Papal Relief, Walsh once
wrote. By 1923, the arrests, torture, imprisonment,
and execution of Catholic priests (and nonconforming Orthodox), inspired Walsh to write
that the whole “government, its army, its police, its
legislation, [and] its control of food,” was nothing
more than “subsidized terrorism.”
In many ways, the younger Gallagher grew
to see the “threat of Communism,” as he put it,
as two-pronged. Yes, there was the police state,
the informers, the spies, the jails and the risks of
imprisonment. But for Gallagher, Communism
was not just a state apparatus. It was an anti-faith,
and a parallel faith to Christianity.
The secrecy, danger, and hardships of Gallagher’s
Russian assignment were for Gallagher the
�byproducts of a religious purpose, and one which
he knew could cost him imprisonment or his life.
Gallagher’s mission to Russia to preserve the relics
of then-Blessed Andrew Bobola underscored the
contrasts between Soviet Communism and Roman
Catholicism. The stark materialism inherent to
Marxist and Leninist theory dismisses the idea of
the human body as sacred. The divine origin of the
human person, as well as the eternal destiny of both
the body and the soul, was a teaching abhorrent to
the new regime. To the Soviets, Gallagher’s mission
was folly. But to Gallagher, it was sacred, with an
eternal purpose on behalf of the church founded by
Jesus Christ.
As an obedient Jesuit, Gallagher lived his postRussia priesthood largely out of the limelight, as
a dean at Georgetown and later as president of
Boston College (1932–1937). But the challenge that
Communism posed to Roman Catholicism defined
nearly all of his later life. As late as 1947, he was
addressing Boston College alumni groups on “The
Threat of Communism to Western Civilization.” For
Gallagher, formed as a young man in the crucible
of the Papal relief mission, the Soviet threat never
ceased. He published nothing about himself in his
long lifetime, but much about the saints and about
those who fought the Soviets and their allies.
Charles Gallagher, S.J., is a member of the history
department at Boston College and no relation to
Fr. Louis Gallagher.
iv | introduction
Louis J. Gallagher, S.J., dressed as a layman,
Moscow, 1922.
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER I
Papal Relief Mission
Fr. Edmund A. Walsh was a man who lived
in the present as he had planned it. During the
many years of his intercontinental travel on trains
and planes and aboard ocean liners he was continually planning for future months and years and
determining details of proximate weeks and days. In
February of 1922 he was called from Paray-le-Monial
to Rome by the General of the Society of Jesus for
consultation with Vatican officials on the feasibility
of organizing a Papal Relief Mission, to be affiliated
with the American Relief Administration (A.R.A.)
then operating in famine-stricken Russia. On March
23 he was welcomed in Moscow by Colonel William
Haskell, U.S.A., Director of the A.R.A., as it was
commonly called, with whom he made a hurried visitation of famine-beset areas along the Volga Valley
and chiefly in the District of Samara. He was back
in Rome by May 3, and after an interview with Pope
Pius XI, Cardinal Gasparri, and the Father General
of the Society, the relief mission was decided upon.
The mission had been recommended by Colonel
Haskell and it needed only the approbation of Herbert Hoover, Director General of European Relief,
and of President Warren Harding, to become affili1 | chapter i
ated with the A.R.A. It was to secure these approvals
that Fr. Walsh was on his way to America when he
sent the message from the Berengaria to the Headmaster of Xavier High School, who had been previously but unknowingly appointed as his Assistant by
Jesuit Superiors for this Russian venture.
The day after he landed in New York, Fr. Walsh
was off to Washington with letters from the Pope to
Harding and to Hoover. His trip to the Capital was
wholly successful and the Papal Relief Mission to
Russia finally established. Fr. Walsh and his Assistant were made members of the American Relief
Administration and the next time they met was on
the morning of the day of sailing. The ship was sailing at noon and they boarded the Coronia about half
a minute before the gangplank was hauled in. An
almost-late arrival was in no ways disturbing to the
Director of the Papal Relief Mission. Split-second
timing was typical of his method of operating. This
particular mission was outstanding among the
major episodes of his busy life.
The trip across the Atlantic was the first Jesuit
contribution to the family itinerary and the time
given to reading was mostly devoted to European
�travel guides and particularly to Baedeker’s
Russia, printed before the First World War. This
book set one to wondering what was left of the art
and architecture, the housing and living conditions
of old-time Muscovy. Fr. Walsh had kept a record
of his former trip through Russia, made only a few
months before. But, as he said, our chief interest
would not be in places nor in the things that were,
but in the people and in what they were enduring
at present. The murder of the royalty, the decimation of the aristocracy and the so-called liberation
of the laborer were all past history. The condition of
the millions of peasants facing starvation was more
closely related to the mission of mercy we were
about to undertake.
For a Jesuit visiting Paris for the first time and
for a single day, the one place to be seen was the
crypt of the chapel on the Hill of Montmartre, on
rue Antoinette, below the Basilica of the Sacred
Heart. There is a brass plate on the wall of the chapel, reading “Cradle of the Society of Jesus.” It was
here that Saint Ignatius and his first companions
enacted the first scene in the history of the Society
on August 15, 1534.
The best part of the trip from Paris to Rome by
way of the Simplon Tunnel was its termination.
With no lights in the cars, the train stopped for a full
hour at midnight, under the mountain, in stygian
darkness and with not a breath of air stirring. It
was difficult breathing, and becoming more difficult, until the train got under way and picked up
enough speed to create its own ventilation. Looking
at the country along the Tuscan coast while passing
through a series of small tunnels was like viewing
the scenery with a curtain going up and down.
Between business preparations and sightseeing, a
short week in Rome created a longing for a more
extended and a more leisurely stay in the Holy City.
Part of the business there was the collection of extra
visas, and of the six countries by which they were
granted the only one that would frank a visa for an
American going into Russia as a member of a Papal
Relief Mission was Germany. Exceptions stick in the
memory.
There are many places and many things to be
seen in Rome but there is only one person. To see
2 | chapter i: papal relief mission
One of four million Russian orphans, circa 1922.
the Pope for the first time and to talk with him for
twenty minutes in a private audience was beyond all
expectations.
On the wall opposite to the desk on which these
lines are being written there is a large portrait of
Pius XI in his papal robes of white and seated in a
chair, exactly as he appeared when we entered his
private study. Soft-spoken and of placid countenance, his intimate manner immediately developed
an atmosphere of familiarity. He made you feel
that you were talking with an old friend after a long
absence. The idea of subject and superior never entered your head when listening to the Vicar of Christ
thanking you in person for answering a call to cooperate in a mission that he said was close to his heart
and of deep interest to the Church. When looking at
his picture on the wall, Rome, Saint Peter’s and the
Vatican are all brought back to memory as clearly as
�if they were outlined in the background of his portrait. Leaving his presence was accompanied with
the hope of seeing him again.
July 1922 was an unusual time to be making a
trip from Rome to Riga in Latvia. The peace treaty
after the First World War went into effect in 1920,
but the Allied Armies were still in occupation in
Germany. In the two and a half years after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, new republics had been established and new national boundaries determined, but there were still millions of
people getting back to the seats of their racial origin.
The surprising part of all this was that such cities as
Munich, Coblenz, Hanover, Hamburg, and Berlin
were as busy and as peaceful as if their present circumstances were the normal way of living.
Our itinerary called for visits to certain prelates
in Austria and in Germany and for business calls
to the headquarters of the occupying armies. Fr.
Walsh had studied at Innsbruck some years before.
He was allergic to the sultry sirocco that hit in about
an hour before our arrival at noon and put him to
bed for the rest of the day, after we had bypassed
Oberammergau and the Passion Play in a hurry to
get to Innsbruck. Four months before that time, on
his first trip to Moscow, Fr. Walsh had sent a trunk
from Paris to Coblenz, which fortunately was lost in
transit and not heard from since. We say fortunately
because that trunk brought us to Coblenz and to the
headquarters of the American Army of Occupation.
On arrival at the Coblenz Hoff, Fr. Walsh found a
letter from a former acquaintance, the Commanding General of the American Forces, inviting us to
dinner on the following day. The trunk was found
in Army storage but the General’s letter of invitation
was the fortunate item of this particular stop.
Berlin meant a longer halt. Thus far we had
traveled in clerical garb. Here it was decided to
change into some of the John David apparel purchased in New York. Fr. Walsh had had some experience in an Army uniform and for variety he decided
on a bow tie. His less experienced companion had to
make several attempts before hitting on a slipknot
that brought the hanging ends of his tie together
in a four-in-hand. Then came the first adventure as
John Doe, layman, operating as a unit of John Q.
3 | chapter i: papal relief mission
Public. Before leaving Cherbourg, en route to Paris
and Rome, our trunks were checked for storage at
Hamburg, thus saving the trouble of taking them
to Rome and then all the way back to Berlin. The
Director would be busy collecting passport visas for
Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. In the meantime his
Assistant went up to Hamburg to bring back the
trunks, and just before leaving, Fr. Walsh handed
him a letter saying, “Put that in your pocket. It may
come in handy.” He had a mind for anticipating not
only probable but possible difficulties.
With our inadequate knowledge of spoken German, it seemed a good idea to hire a Cook’s Tour
agent as interpreter and as general aide in getting
the trunks. His first move was to hire a drive-yourself beach wagon and no time was lost in arriving at
the Cunard storage plant, about three miles outside
the city. The superintendent of the storehouse was a
big, brusque individual wearing a somewhat shabby
German military uniform. After receiving the claim
checks for the baggage, he produced a long printed
questionnaire demanding information on every
detail of the claimant. We were in a hurry to catch
an evening train for Berlin and this looked like a
long and useless session. Our first pose was an air
of quiet displeasure because of the long questionnaire. The next idea was to ask the Cook’s agent if
he thought the superintendent could speak or read
English, to which he answered, “Speak, no. Read,
maybe.” Whereupon a letter was produced and
handed to the superintendent. The letter’s envelope
was marked “U.S. Army Headquarters, Coblenz,
Germany,” and was decorated with two small red,
white and blue ribbons held in place by a wax seal. If
there was one thing the Germans in general and the
military in particular were anxious to avoid at that
time it was business of any kind with headquarters
of an occupying army. The superintendent immediately called in two men and, after a short whispered
consultation, without even taking the letter out of
the envelope, ordered them to bring out the trunks
and to place them in the beach wagon. Then he
returned the envelope and we were in due time to
meet the evening train. The letter in question was
the American General’s invitation to dinner, received by Fr. Walsh a few days before. Events unex-
�Feeding kitchen for Russian children run by the Papal Relief Mission, circa 1923.
pected were beginning to accumulate.
A week or more in Berlin at this time would
have been interesting and instructive, but there
were thousands of hungry children waiting for us
hundreds of miles away and delay on arrival might
prove fatal to many of them. Service on the through
train, Berlin to Riga, was quite satisfactory and
added to that was the good fortune of having with
us a courier of the American Relief Administration,
Mr. Shandy, who took care of the baggage at the
numerous customs stops in Poland, Lithuania, and
Latvia. For ten days past Fr. Walsh had been trying
to contact Colonel Haskell, Director of the American Relief Administration in Russia, to which the
Papal Relief Mission was affiliated. Mr. Shandy was
of the opinion that the Colonel was then aboard an
outgoing train, Riga to Berlin, scheduled to stop at a
junction south of Kovno at 2:00 a.m. on the following morning, where our train would await its arrival.
At midnight Fr. Walsh packed his bags and decided
4 | chapter i: papal relief mission
to take them with him aboard the outcoming train,
and if he found the Colonel, to return with him to
Berlin for consultation. If he did not return before
our departure, we were to go on to Riga and await
his telegram.
It all turned out as he had planned it. He met the
Colonel and returned with him to Berlin, but something went awry in the planning that caused him
considerable trouble and delay in getting out of Berlin, and his Assistant an overlong stay in Riga. After
finding a room in a Riga hotel for a lone traveler,
Mr. Shandy left for the American Consulate. On the
following morning when this lone traveler went into
the dining room of the hotel, he was surprised to see
a couple, evidently Americans, somewhat confused
in poring over a menu card printed in Russian.
“Good morning,” he said, “May I be of
assistance?”
“Why yes, certainly, if you can read this menu.”
“An order for breakfast, I presume. Let’s see, no
�orange juice, no bacon. How about an egg omelet
with coffee and toast?”
“Fine. Just right. Won’t you sit with us?”
The order was given for three omelets of two
eggs each. When the Russians order an omelet
they always specify the number of eggs they want
in it. Introductions were in order. Mr. and Mrs.
So-and-So, American tourists, and an American
relief worker going into Russia. During the course
of the breakfast conversation, Mr. Tourist seemed a
bit perturbed when he asked, “Do you know a man
named Walsh, Edmund A. Walsh?”
“Why, yes. He was on the train with us coming
in.”
“So he was, but he got off somewhere and made
the stupid mistake of taking our passport instead of
his own and we got his, which I have in my pocket.
Here, take a look at it.”
The mistake was evident and its correction not
too difficult, though it would mean some delay for
the tourists who accepted an explanation goodnaturedly and decided to make the best of it. On
the interstate trains, as they knew, the conductor
collected all passports and returned them when the
passengers reached their destinations. Very likely
the only way the conductor on our train could recognize an American passport was by the envelope
in which it was contained, marked with red, white,
and blue stripes. “Mr.” Walsh left the train at Kovno
Junction, at night and in a hurry, and when he asked
the conductor for his passport Americanski, the
conductor handed him the first American sample he
came across in his collection. The explanation was
plausible, but what then?
“Present this passport to Mr. Shandy at the
American Consulate here in Riga. Shandy is an
A.R.A. courier. He was with Mr. Walsh on the train
and he will probably know where to send his passport. You can take it for granted that as soon as Mr.
Walsh recognized his mistake he put your passport
in the mail for Shandy at the Consulate.”
Three days later the tourists received their
passport. They had reached the end of their journey
and were returning to New York. With Fr. Walsh,
however, it was decidedly different. In those days
in Europe, American passports were worth more
5 | chapter i: papal relief mission
than money and sending them by mail was taking
a dangerous risk. To close this incident, we shall
anticipate by saying that Fr. Walsh was delayed for a
week in Berlin, and when his passport finally came
through, by courier, he went into Moscow by direct
train from Warsaw.
The few days spent in Riga were enough for inspecting the dormant condition of a medieval town
that had been Russian, German, and Polish in the
various phases of its history. Formerly it was a flourishing international seaport and probably was in the
heyday of its prosperity during the time of the Hanseatic League, back in the 12th century. On the 18th
of July a telegram was received from Fr. Walsh, reading, “Proceed to Moscow with baggage. Will meet
you there as soon as possible. Passport trouble.” In
those days in Riga people spoke of going into Russia
as if the entrant were about to explore a mysterious
cave where caution at every step was necessary if he
would avoid calamity. No doubt caution was needed,
more in talking than in walking, but the work to be
done gradually absorbed all feeling of uneasiness.
The train left Riga on the evening of July 19 and
arrived in Moscow in the afternoon of the 22nd. The
wagon-lit to which we were assigned was called first
class but like so many other first class things in Russia it had fallen into a state of near ruin and needed
a complete overhauling.
As most of the first four months in Russia was
to be spent in traveling to distant Centers of the
country to open feeding kitchens for children, it
will afford a better idea of travel conditions in that
country to mention some of the paraphernalia contained in the three trunks and six bags with which
we arrived in Moscow. At Army Headquarters in
Coblenz we were told what to purchase in Germany
for convenience in travel and for lodging at the socalled hotels, inns, and caravansaries in the open
country in Russia. For night there was a sleeping
bag, a pillow, and a single blanket. Outside of the
large cities, a relief worker never slept in beds or
on lounges, even if these were available. He slept
in his sleeping bag on the floor, after sweeping off
a space and spreading around a generous dusting
of yellow insect powder. For train travel he carried
an assortment of pewter tableware and cutlery, a
�small frying pan and a boiling pot, and for cooking,
a small can of sterno, a solid wax permeated with
alcohol which made a miniature but very efficient
cook stove. Food for longer trips could be purchased
at American commissaries in different cities, which
carried a large variety of American cereals, canned
good of all kinds, various bakery items and the very
important powdered coffee and American cigarettes.
Time went by rapidly on the slow-moving trains
when there were three meals a day to be cooked and
consumed. The dishwashing and “neating up” after
meals was generally done by the conductor, who was
quite satisfied with payment of a few rubles, a cup of
coffee and two or three American cigarettes. Seldom if ever were the cars lighted, even on the main
roads, and if you wanted to read after sundown, you
did so by candlelight, with the candle stuck on the
window sill. Once you left the main road you were
practically camping out in unheated cars, sleeping
on hard board seats and dressed as for outdoors, in
overcoat, shoes and fur hat, plus the single blanket,
and with the sleeping bag as a mattress. On such
trains conditions in the other cars, crowded with
refugees moving about the country in search of food
and lodging, must be left to one’s imagination.
The first rail venture, “going in,” as they called it,
was somewhat typical of future travel but the novelty
of it all was sufficient to offset the inconveniences.
Before reaching the Russian border, a few words
are in order about the car deluxe that was entrained
behind our own. A blue car with rectangular plate
glass windows, it was built in three compartments,
bedroom, dining room, and sitting room, each
upholstered in a different color. Numerous servants were in attendance and it was learned to our
surprise that the car was occupied by a single Soviet
official, returning from a Genoa conference to Moscow. This special and palatial car was in vast contrast
to the regular Russian rolling stock and represented
a fair measure of the gulf that separated the ruling
ironclad minority from the neglected and hungry
millions of the so-called classless society.
The Russian border was distinctly marked by a
broad ditch, forming the boundary line between this
country and Latvia. The mutual feeling that existed
between the Letts and the Soviets was easily inferred
6 | chapter 1
from the numerous ramparts, barbed wire entanglements and wooden crosses that marked the scenes
of their last separation. The train was stopped at
the border by a horde of Reds that looked like a
detachment from a circus. Their uniforms were of
every color, but always dirty. Their military outfit
consisted of a gun and a cone-shaped hat with a
large red star in front. This stop was for preliminary
inspection, made by a Russian customs officer who
merely passed through the cars, accompanied by a
desperately bewhiskered guard, to count the number of passengers. In the midst of his calculations
someone at the end of the train fired a shot and the
customs officers and their guards disappeared.
When they reached the scene of the firing, they
met a Lettish official who told them to pull up the
train and get the last two cars off Lettish territory
before they went through for inspection. This they
did and the counting had to begin all over again.
The baggage inspection took place at the town of
Sebej, where the crazy quilt regimentals were everywhere in evidence. Our coupe companion was a Mr.
Townsend, a member of the A.R.A., who explained
in Russian that we were relief workers and that our
baggage was exempt from inspection, and after a
short argument he gained his point. The manner
in which the baggage of the other passengers was
put through customs was a spectacle of disorderly
accomplishment. It was the disarrangement and the
sack of the most intimate recesses of trunks, bags,
boxes and bundles. Then everything was pitched
back into the containers and soldiers accumulated
on the tops of trunks until there was weight enough
to close them.
The A.R.A. had been operating in Russia for
nearly a year before the arrival of the Papal Relief
Mission. The houses they had taken over in Moscow
were designated by colors, and members of affiliated
organizations had the privilege of living in them
until they opened dwellings of their own. Our first
assignment was to a well-furnished and sizeable
room in the basement of the Brown House, below
the level of the sidewalk, with a large window, high
in the wall and looking out into a public square.
Considering what happened on the first night of occupancy, the position of the room was probably for-
�tunate. At about 2:00 a.m. the house was awakened
by several rifle shots fired close to our window. Next
morning at breakfast it was calmly explained that
the City Police Force was made up of Red soldiers,
and to prevent themselves and their fellow police
from falling asleep on duty they were accustomed
to take target practice at telephone poles across the
plaza; to which was added, “Don’t be surprised at
anything that happens in Russia.”
On the following night and in the same room,
the second big surprise took place. After a busy day,
finding a trustworthy interpreter and arranging
office space in the main building of the American
Relief Administration, at midnight and retiring
time, the silence was broken by a slight knocking
on the door. It was answered with one of our new
Russian words, “Vkodeet,” meaning “Come in.”
The door opened and in stepped a very thin man
of medium height, shabbily dressed and nervously
rolling a cloth hat in his hands. He closed the door
quietly, smiled graciously, and with a slight bow said
in French, “Good evening. You are Fr. Walsh. Isn’t
that so?”
“Not exactly, but his American Assistant and a
priest, like yourself. Is that right?”
“Quite right,” he replied. “I am a Polish priest.
We heard about the arrival of the Papal Mission and
I have come here for two reasons, one of which” –
and here we interrupted him, saying, “was to get
something to eat.”
“Well,” he answered with a broad smile, “let
us call that a third reason which I was hoping you
would mention before I had to.”
“Sit down at the desk, Fr.; better eat first, then we
can talk with more comfort.”
In five minutes he was deep into a bowl of
American canned chicken soup, into which he
was breaking a whole slice of Russian black bread.
Following that with a cup of coffee and an American
cigarette, he said, “Now I must say a special grace
of thanksgiving. That’s the first real meal I have had
in two months.” The conversation that followed was
enlightening.
“How did you find out about the Papal Mission
and who directed you to come here?”
“We have a good system of communications,
7 | chapter i: papal relief mission
Fr. Two of our men are conductors on the Warsawto-Moscow trains which await the arrival of the
Berlin express. One of them said that Fr. Walsh was
in Berlin. I thought he had arrived here by this time.
That’s why I addressed you as Fr. Walsh. At Rostovon-the-Don, on my way up from Caucasia, they said
that the other mission workers were coming by way
of Constantinople and Odessa.”
“You do get the news, don’t you?”
“We have to, Fr., to keep alive and to keep going.
I came into Moscow yesterday, after eight days in
a freight car, with Red soldiers. There was another
priest in the car and we were wearing our cassocks.
One day some of the Red soldiers decided that there
was not room enough in the car for so many, so they
opened the freight door, picked up the other priest
and pitched him out bodily. Fortunately, the train
was running slowly. I saw him land on a sand bank
and roll down about twenty feet. I tucked up my
cassock and made it look like a coat, pulled my hat
down over one eye, lighted up a Russian cigarette
and handed around a few more to the soldiers. But
this is not what I came here to talk about. Since you
are Fr. Walsh’s Assistant and an American priest, I
take it that you are also a Jesuit.”
“Quite true, Your Reverence, go right on with
your story.”
“Well, in that case, you will both want to know
that the relics of Blessed Andrew Bobola, the Polish
Jesuit Martyr, are in a medical museum here in the
city. They were brought here from Vitebsk during
the spoliation of the churches. They say the Holy
Fr. has already asked the Bolshevik Government to
return these relics; the whole body except the right
arm which was taken to Rome some forty years ago.
Maybe you will be able to find them. My second
reason for coming was to ask you for some large
hosts for saying Mass. I can always get the necessary
wine but I have neither material nor apparatus for
making hosts and it would be placing my people in
danger to ask them to make hosts for me. You see,”
he continued, “I have the largest parish in the world,
all of Russia, so I have to move rapidly, stopping
wherever I can find our people, especially in the
open country, and saying Mass for them in private.”
“That’s dangerous work, Fr., and no doubt you
�know what they will do if they catch up with you.”
To which he replied, “Yes, I imagine so, but then I
don’t know of any better way of dying.” He left as
quietly as he had entered but happier and with a
supply of hosts, plus as much American food as he
could carry in his large pockets, the value of which
was trivial in comparison with the value of the information he supplied.
There was work to be done before Fr. Walsh’s
arrival and the news imparted by our nocturnal
visitor added more. On the desk of the office,
previously assigned to the Papal Mission in the
main building of the A.R.A., there were about fifty
letters awaiting the coming of the Mission. These
letters were nearly all petitions from Polish centers
asking for food packages which were sent out
through the A.R.A. Organizations affiliated to the
American Relief Administration could purchase
food packages at any of the A.R.A. stations spread
throughout the country and the purchase included
delivery. The price of the package was ten dollars
and it contained forty-nine pounds of flower, fifteen
pounds of sugar, ten pounds of lard, twenty pounds
of rice, twenty tins of evaporated milk, and one
pound of tea. The letters bearing foreign stamps
were from people in other countries wishing to
supply food for relatives or friends in Russia.
The difficulty with these requests was not
in supplying the food but in finding the
people, and many of them were never
found.
Russia (1914), by Karl Baedeker.
8 | chapter i: papal relief mission
In view of what we had heard about the relics of
Blessed Andrew Bobola, our interest was awakened
by an announcement recently made in PRAVDA,
the Government daily paper, of an anti-religious
exposition taking place in the City Medical Museum
at 16 Petrovska. The principal objects on display
were four coffins, evidently removed from the crypts
of Orthodox churches during the last spoliation of
the churches in Moscow. The coffins were draped
with placards reading, “This is all that is left of the
bishops who spent their lives deluding the people.
The days of religion are over.” The coffins had glass
covers and were sealed. Judging from the account
of the martyrdom of Blessed Andrew, as given in
the Roman Breviary, the relics were not here. The
curator of the Museum said he knew nothing about
these bodies and that he had never heard of Blessed
Andrew Bobola. Later on, a Polish priest from
Vitebsk said that the relics had not been on exhibition at 16 Petrovska. This was the first effort made
in the recovery of the relics of Blessed Andrew.
Another was to be made about a year later, with
more success.
✩
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER II
Famine and the Fair
The following narrative is not intended
to be a history of the Papal Relief Mission
in Russia. Its purport is to relate the experience
of the Assistant Director of that Mission, whose
first undertaking was to open feeding kitchens for
hungry children in distant cities of Russia. With
Moscow as headquarters, this called for travel to
such faraway centers as Leningrad, Nijni-Novgorod,
Kiev, the Crimea, Caucasia, Rostov-on-the-Don, and
finally to Orenburg out beyond the Volga, in the
southern Ural district. Considering the living and
the traveling conditions in Russia at that time, this
may sound like a different assignment, but let us
first note what it meant to the Papal Mission to be
affiliated with the American Relief Administration
(A.R.A.).
The Russian winter of 1922–1923 was not nearly
as rigorous as the one that preceded it, during which
the pioneer workers of the A.R.A. stemmed the
progress of the Russian famine without stopping
it. At the time of the arrival of the Papal Mission in
Russia, the A.R.A. was feeding 9,000,000 people
in 28,000 kitchens located in 18,000 towns and
villages. Their working staff consisted of 20,000
9 | chapter ii
Russians directed by 200 Americans. The Papal
Mission took over districts in which the A.R.A. had
worked during the previous winter and still maintained some of its activities and personnel. It was
one thing to arrive in a district to begin relief work
in mid-winter, seven or eight hundred miles from
Moscow, when the A.R.A. had already arranged for
your arrival and housing and for the transportation
of food supplies to the warehouses they had already
taken over. It must have been quite a different undertaking for their pioneer workers to set up these
feeding centers in nearly every district in Russia in
Europe. There were still hazards to be overcome and
dangers to be encountered in the form of blizzards,
subzero temperatures and thousands of miles to be
traveled on defective railroads and neglected ships,
but there were always Americans present with good
advice as to how it should be done. Tetravaccine
was more than a caution; it was a necessity against
typhus and other diseases consequent upon famine
conditions, but these had been greatly reduced by
the very efficient medical relief operated throughout
the entire country by the A.R.A. at a cost of seven
and a half million dollars.
�American Relief Administration ships in a Russian harbor.
Fr. Walsh arrived in Moscow on the 26th of July
by way of Warsaw, where he stopped for consultation with some of the Polish clergy relative to the
Catholic priests then in prison in Russia. He was in
Moscow as Director of the Papal Mission but at the
same time he was the only one in Russia who had
direct and certain contact with the Vatican, a fact
which was eventually to cause him more worry and
trouble than the chief assignment for which he was
there. His first step in organization was to arrange
with local authorities for a house to serve as a residence and as a central office from which to direct
the entire Mission. The difficulties encountered
here had a common origin with those attending
the opening of every other station, namely, the local
government authorities. The delay and the inconvenience caused by their indecision and their fear of
acting without the consent of higher superiors was
disturbing but not too surprising. They were men
who realized their responsibility but were not sure
of their authority, and progress was slow where local
decisions had to be sanctioned by district superiors
10 | chapter ii: famine and the fair
and these in turn by federal consent. For the most
part you were dealing with men of ability but with
little education, who were hurtled into prominence
by the force of the Bolshevik Revolution and were
blindly following the dictates of an ironclad political
minority in Moscow whose decisions constituted the
law of the land.
Once a residence was established in Moscow, Fr.
Walsh’s next interest was to set out to meet the other
Mission workers who were on their way to Russia.
Four days after his arrival he received a telegram
from the Vatican stating that they had sailed from
Bari in Italy for Constantinople on July 26. There
were eight priests, all in civilian dress, and one
coadjutor lay brother in the party; two Italians, three
Spaniards, two Germans, and two Czechoslovakians. Their ship was destined for Novorossisk and on
August 2, Fr. Walsh set out for that port to receive
them.
He was only halfway to his destination when a
second telegram was received in Moscow announcing that the itinerary of the incoming agents had
�been changed and that they would land at Sevastopol in the Crimea. This message was forwarded
to Novorossisk and it meant that Fr. Walsh had to
add a three-day voyage across the Black Sea to his
nine-hundred-mile trip on the railroad. His purpose
in meeting them was to assign them, according to
nationality, to various centers of operation in the
Crimea, at Krasnodar in the Kuban district, at
Rostov-on-the-Don and in Moscow. In the meantime, business was piling up in Moscow, sending
out food packages, purchasing whole train-loads of
food supplies from the A.R.A. for the various
Mission centers and in the evening balancing financial accounts in American dollars, British pounds,
French francs and Russian rubles, with values
changing every twenty-four hours.
On the 18th of August, while the Director was
still in the Crimea, his representative in Moscow
was invited to attend a state banquet, tendered to
the A.R.A. on the occasion of the opening of the
first Soviet grand national fair in Nijni-Novgorod.
The invitation was very welcome for more reasons
than one and the occasion was decidedly unique.
Food packages had been forwarded to the clergy in
the Nijni-Novgorod district and this would afford an
opportunity to report on Church conditions in that
area.
The Government placed a special car at the
service of a visiting committee of ten, a once deluxe
diplomatic car, with plenty of fixtures but no lights,
good radiators but no heat and spacious bunks but
no bedding. In all it was another piece of salvage
from a fine railroad system that had been wrecked
during the various changes of dynasty. The visiting committee had anticipated all this and brought
along all that was necessary for the trip. After fourteen hours of riding on a journey that formerly took
about eight hours, when the engines were burning
coal instead of wood, our schlafwagen par excellence arrived at its destination intact. After a hurried
look at the fairgrounds, the committee was invited
to the common event of all fairs, the king’s sport of
horse racing, where open betting was allowed. One
American won the magnificent sum of eight million rubles—which at that time amounted to about
thirteen dollars.
11 | chapter ii: famine and the fair
The evening of the first day was spent at a splendid banquet tendered to the delegates of the A.R.A.
by the commissioner of the fair on behalf of the
Soviet Government. It seemed like a contradiction
for the government of a starving nation to be giving
a banquet for a foreign organization that had come
to Russia to feed its hungry people, but the purpose
behind this idea was evident without being advertised. A word about the banquet and then about the
reason for holding it. There was no doubt about it
being a first-class state affair with an excellent and
a thoroughly Russian menu. Volstead was in vogue
in America but not here, with frequent popping of
champagne bottles punctuating the general Russian chatter. Speeches were in order for everyone,
translated from Russian into English and vice versa
by members of the A.R.A., and there were representatives present from Afghanistan, Daghistan,
Turkestan and various other “stans” of which we all
had some vague geographical ideas. The burden of
the orations was chiefly complimentary for the work
done by the A.R.A. and praise of the Soviet effort in
reestablishing the famous Nijni-Novgorod fair.
In view of Russia’s past history and of the conditions existing there in 1922, some knowledge of the
history of the Nijni-Novgorod fair is needed to appreciate the endeavor to revive it, whatever purpose
may have prompted the effort. The fair had been
famous for long years throughout the whole of Europe and of Asia. It was formerly a gigantic display
of the innumerable products of Greater Russia, at
which nearly every district of the entire continent
was represented. It lasted through the whole month
of August and in time grew to the dimensions of a
respectable city. Its location had the advantage of
two great shipping arteries, the Volga and the Oka
Rivers and the town was one of the great railheads
of the country. It is a well known fact that in years
gone by the Chinese and the Persians, Tartars, Georgians, Bokharans and other distant peoples began
to prepare their goods for the Nijni fair a whole
year in advance. Caravans from the coast of China
and others from the Baltic and the Black Sea shores
started months ahead of the time with supplies of
everything grown and manufactured in their various
regions, to be exhibited and sold at the great fair of
�the upper Volga. It has been reported that in a single
year Russian emperors spent a million dollars at the
Nijni fair.
The fair of 1922 was all very different. There
were natural products and manufactured goods
of every description on display, but there was not
much buying and selling; and this was the purpose
for which the fair was originally instituted. Formerly, cities and districts and the national government purchased in the millions, but at this time not
only the people but the units of government and
especially the national controllers of capital were no
longer purchasing classes. Before the First World
War, during fair time, the exposition took over the
ground floor of more than a hundred buildings and
during the rest of the year these two- and three-story
buildings, were occupied as residences. What happened in the troublesome period when the double
eagle was being dislodged from its eyrie in the
Kremlin was difficult to discover. There was no serious fighting in Nijni-Novgorod during the revolution, and yet a whole mile of the fair town and much
of the city as well were all in ruins. The people were
reluctant to talk about this but the A.R.A. had all
Edmund A. Walsh, S.J.,
signs a contract to
expand the Papal Relief
Mission in Moscow, with,
from left, Gallagher; a
representative of the
Russian government; and
Joseph Farrell, S.J.,
president of Brooklyn
College. Translation of the
sign at right: “The Pope
to the Russian People.”
12 | chapter ii: famine and the fair
the facts. With the coming of the famine thousands
of people had fled from here to the larger cities in
search of food. For the past two winters fuel was so
scarce that those who remained there were freezing
in their homes, without even the necessary firewood
to cook what food they still retained. It was a people’s government and the houses, like the land they
stood on, belonged to the Government. They needed
wood and there was plenty of it in the magnificent
fair buildings, hence the general ruin. One member
of the A.R.A. said it was difficult to believe this story,
in view of the fact that this city was surrounded
on all sides by miles of the best timber wood in
the world but the peasants had an answer for that.
When asked why they did not go into the forest and
cut their fuel, one of them explained that horses
were needed to haul the timber into town and they
had eaten all the horses before they began to tear
down the buildings.
Despite the circumstances created by political, economic and industrial conditions, the fair
was well attended. Native costumes of all the visiting nationalities were everywhere in evidence and
the numerous exhibitions presented a good idea
�of what the old-time fair must have been. Here as
elsewhere in Russia the heavy penalties against it
could not prevent the black market and clandestine
trading. Blue-white diamonds could be bought for
twenty American dollars a carat. The sellers were
probably some of the impoverished aristocracy who
had hidden their family jewels against government
spoliation. There were also Siberian trappers at the
fair selling their furs in anticipation of government
confiscation, and silver sables were being sold by the
single pelt for twenty-five American dollars.
The commissioner and his assistants bent every
effort to make a good impression on the visiting
delegation of Americans and they evidently had
a purpose in doing so. The first Russian five-year
economic plan was then in operation and the question of Russian recognition by the United States was
being debated in Washington. These Americans,
about to return to their country, should know what
the Soviet Government could do if given an opportunity and the commissioner was out to show them.
The second and last day at the fair was to be given
over to a more detailed inspection of the strictly Russian contributions, but one of the delegates had an
errand to do, which had as much bearing on his visit
to Nijni as had the fair itself.
The one Catholic church was in the middle of the
town, across the Volga Bridge and about four miles
from where the living quarters of the delegation was
sidetracked. There were no street cars in the town,
carriage service was too slow, and so an A.R.A. Ford
got us over the bridge, up the hill to the City Kremlin and to the church, and back in time for departure
for Moscow. The pastor of the church was Polish
and, like all the Polish clergy in Russia, a ready
talker in French. His church was small and poor
and his congregation few. The parish residence was
neatly but poorly furnished and its larder was practically empty. He was almost wholly dependent upon
the food packages that were being sent to him and
which he shared with his parishioners. The big drive
against the Catholic Church had not yet begun, but
he was sure that it was imminent, and the information he supplied was of considerable help when the
persecution of the Catholic clergy was at its height.
Of first interest on returning from the fair was
13 | chapter ii: famine and the fair
a telegram from the Vatican asking for information
on the progress of the feeding program and ending
with the question, “What about Petrograd?” This
was forwarded to Fr. Walsh by an A.R.A. courier
who was leaving that night for Simferopol in the
Crimea. The Soviet telegraph and telephone systems
were not to be trusted, and the same courier brought
back an answer reading, “Deliver the X letter addressed to Petrograd, bring back a report from there
and get ready to leave for the Crimea on my return,
in about a week.”
Petrograd was a striking contrast to Moscow in
buildings, in shop display and in the dreams of the
people, all of which would have made an interesting
study if this had been a tourist visit. The one person
to be interviewed there was out of town for two days
and this delay afforded an opportunity for cursory
inspection of the city and for short visits to some
of its more attractive and celebrated centers. A few
hours had to suffice in the famous Hermitage of
Catherine the Great, at that time perhaps the greatest general museum in the world. Fortunately, this
great treasure house was spared from the violence
of the Bolshevik Revolution. When the lid blew off
Russia, everything that was favored by those who
were trying to hold it on was marked for destruction, until the Kremlin authorities put an end to the
threatened ruin of what could be sold at high prices.
It was reported, however, that one day a mob broke
into the basement of the Hermitage with the result
that priceless china was hurled about at random
and in a short time a world-famous collection of
ceramics was reduced to gravel; a Russian bear in a
china shop.
Apart from its famous book collections, including a complete and well preserved first edition of
Plautus and seven hundred and fifty editions of Horace, the great Petrograd Library had one item that
could not be bypassed, namely, the oldest Greek text
of the New Testament, next to that of the Vatican;
the Codex Sinaiticus. So much time had been spent
on this text at Woodstock College, only a few years
previous, that being so close to it made it mandatory
that we should see the original. A few years later this
treasure was purchased by the British Government
for nearly a million dollars. The spoliation of the
�Russian Orthodox churches in Petrograd had been
quite well completed by August 1922. An Orthodox
bishop remarked at the time that the Bolshevik
Government had realized at least a hundred million
dollars on church valuables.
The Peter-Paul Fortress on an island at the juncture of the Great and Little Nevas, containing as it
did within its walls a cathedral, a prison, and a mint,
was significant of the Bolshevik experiment. The
cathedral was empty, save for sleeping royalty in the
tombs of the emperors. The prison was also empty,
with all its doors and windows wide open. This place
had a reputation for the political celebrities formerly
entertained there by the tzars and for the drastic termination of their occupancy. The mint was working
night and day. Strangers were not allowed to enter
it and there was a story abroad of a new currency
of silver and gold to appear in the near future. The
island and its fortress were typical of the beginnings
of the new regime.
A visit to the zoological gardens on this island
was of interest only in as much as it offered evidence of the reason for our being in Russia. The zoo
in these gardens, like the prison just mentioned,
was empty and the gates of the animal cages, like
the doors of the prison cells, were all wide open. All
the animals had been slaughtered and eaten during the height of the famine in the previous winter.
There was a story being told at the time that some
of the local Bolshevik leaders had held a dinner
at which the main dish was roast eagle, served in
honor of their victory when they shooed the double
eagle off the Kremlin with a red flag.
14 | chapter ii: famine and the fair
There were five Catholic churches in Petrograd
but only one was open for services, the Church of
Saint Catherine, and it was the pastor of this church
whose return was being awaited for consultation
relative to the X letter. Next to Archbishop Cieplak,
Monsignor Budkiewicz was the outstanding priest
among the clergy of the Archdiocese of Petrograd.
He probably was also the best-informed man in Russia on the controversy going on between the Bolshevik Government and the Catholic Church, and it was
for this reason that his advice was being sought. The
letter in question, designated as X, was written by
Pope Pius XI and addressed to Archbishop Cieplak
who was then in prison in Petrograd. When Monsignor Budkiewicz heard about the letter, he said
it would be better not to ask for permission to visit
the prison. Foreigners, he explained, were closely
watched and it would not help the future work of the
Papal Relief Mission in Russia for the Government
to know that the Vatican agents were in close touch
with the clergy under arrest. When the Monsignor
returned from the prison, after delivering the letter
to the Archbishop, we spent an interesting hour in
conference, in the course of which he reviewed a
long and detailed account of the Church in Petrograd that he had written in French. This record was
afterwards given to Fr. Walsh, who sent it to Rome
by the first available American courier leaving for
London. The chief intent of this first visit to Petrograd was accomplished in a few hours, but it proved
to be the prelude to the tragedy that was to follow in
Moscow in Holy Week, 1923, in which Monsignor
Budkiewicz was both the hero and the victim.
✩
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER III
Distant Famine Centers
Fr. Walsh returned from the Crimea on
the 22nd of September. It was finally decided,
after much discussion and a series of cablegrams
between Simferopol, Moscow, and Rome, that the
Vatican plan of feeding in distant famine centers
would be followed, instead of concentrating in the
Crimea as Moscow had suggested. With that settled,
the next step was for someone with authority from
the central office and a member of the A.R.A. to
accompany the different groups of Mission agents
to their working areas and to arrange with local officials for housing, for the storing of food supplies
and for the opening of the feeding kitchens.
On the day after Fr. Walsh’s arrival his American
Assistant set out for Simferopol. This was his first
trip alone in Russia and the beginning of six weeks
on the road, living out of two bags and adding to
his incognito by growing a mustache, which got
him into trouble on a later journey. The Moscow-toCrimea express was made up of first-, second-, and
third-class cars in that order of cleanliness and sanitation. It was called a deluxe through train, one that
was all through with the deluxe part of it. A Moscow
government official had provided a first-class sleep15 | chapter iii
ing-car ticket, at full price, which turned out to be a
second-class ticket for a small coupé room with no
lights, no linens, and no blankets.
All things considered, this was not too bad, but
when it came time to retire three more passengers
came into what was considered to be a private room.
They were conscripts for the Red Army who were
traveling free and who were placed or packed into
any compartment regardless of passengers who had
paid for it. Their presence was sufficient reason to
protest to the conductor or provodnik, and demanding the place that was called for by a first-class or
diplomatic ticket. He spoke about as much French
as the traveler did Russian and they continued mutilating the German language until a place was found
in a regular sleeping car. Apart from the better
furnishings, it was a relief to be separated from the
conscripts. Not knowing how silently they slept or
where they were getting off, one of them might inadvertently take the wrong bag when he was leaving,
and in one of the bags on the floor there were four
billion rubles in Russian paper money for distribution to the various feeding centers. The change of
rooms on the train cost twenty million rubles, which
�the conductor said to charge to the government and
he put his signature to the bill. It was all worth the
price and though all hope of ever collecting it was
immediately abandoned, the exact amount was refunded to the Mission office in Moscow about three
months later.
The Moscow express, with its wood burning
engine, came into Simferopol only seven hours late
according to the coal burning schedule. The town
was formerly a thriving railroad center and the hub
of the Crimea, from which respectable lines radiated
in a circle of commerce with the prosperous cities
of Theodosia, Yalta, Eupatoria, and Sevastopol. At
that time it was in the last stages of neglect, with
grass growing in the middle of the side streets. In
fact, in 1922 the Crimea in general furnished a woeful picture of what can happen to a beautiful and
wealthy country after five years of war, revolution,
and famine, and to one geographically situated such
that for centuries it had served wealthy Russia as
a summer resort in the winter and a winter resort
in the summer. Here as in Nijni-Novgorod whole
villages has been destroyed for firewood after they
were abandoned in the flight from the famine.
From Simferopol to Eupatoria where the Mission
workers were living, on the west coast of the peninsula, in a three-hour ride over dirt roads in an A.R.A.
Ford, the scenery presented a section of the country that was practically dead so far as industry and
farming were concerned. Eupatoria, next to Yalta,
was formerly the best-known resort in the Crimea,
where the sea bathing season extended from May to
October. This town was dotted with mansions and
spacious summer homes which fell to the lot of the
poorest of the poor, when the wealthy class in general made a hurried exodus to Constantinople, and
thence to the European capitals to which they had
previously transferred their bank accounts.
The Mission workers had taken over a house
that they called The Catholic Mission Center. It
might well have been called Hotel Polyglot. At our
first dinner session there were eight priests and one
religious lay brother, all incognito, of five different
nationalities and speaking thirteen languages, with
no language in common. When something of
general interest was announced it was said in
French, for which only three of the company needed
interpreters. The Crimea is the land of languages, a
Russians await kitchen supplies in Orenburg, where Gallagher spent most of his service.
16 | chapter iii: distant famine centers
�statement that will only take a minute of diversion
to explain. About a month after the time in question,
one of the Czechoslovakian Mission workers related
that when he arrived in Crimea, he visited a Tartar
village where he could talk with the grandparents
fluently and with the parents with some hesitation,
but he could not hold conversation with the children. This really puzzled him until he had spent
some time in the Tartar marketplace, after which he
was talking freely with the children. He explained
this by saying that the grandparents still retained
much of the language of their German forebears,
brought into the Crimea in great numbers by Catherine the Great. Intermarriage with the Russians
developed generations of bilinguals, speaking a
mixture of German and Russian, and a similar introduction of the Tartar element produced a conglomerate of the three languages that the children were
then using. It took him less than a month to win the
favor of the Tartar children.
A superficial survey of Eupatoria was sufficient
to reveal that there were at least 4,000 children in
the city who had to be fed if they were to survive the
coming winter, hence the immediate interest was to
open kitchens for these children. The two German
Fathers had already been assigned to take over this
district and were working with the local officials to
prepare two buildings that Fr. Walsh had selected
before his departure for Moscow. One difficulty in
the preparation was the lack of large boiling pots.
Fr. Walsh’s solution of this problem was unique. He
went along the beaches and found several marine
mines from which the detonators had been removed
after the mines had been washed ashore. As he
afterwards remarked, “Sabers have been converted
into ploughs and ploughs into sabers, mines were
made to destroy life, why not convert them into
soup pots for saving the lives of little children?”
The first kitchen was opened with solemnity.
Garlands of flowers were hung about the placards
on the walls, announcing a welcome to the children
of Russia in the name of His Holiness, Pope Pius
XI. The city officials were all present and photographs were taken and afterwards sent to Rome.
By the 25th of September, the Director of the Papal
Relief Mission could write to Rome, forwarding an
17 | chapter iii: distant famine centers
account of the work being done in the Crimea where
4,000 children were being fed every day. This was
only the beginning. Six months later there was a total of 186,000 people, young and old, on the feeding
lists of the Vatican Mission. With operations underway in the Crimea, the next step was to provide
transportation for two of the Mission agents from
Eupatoria, by way of Simferopol, to Moscow where
they were to take over a station already opened by
Fr. Walsh. There was a two-day layover at Simferopol
due to the fact that the places in the train assigned
to the Mission agents were taken over by the wife
of the President of the Central Council in Moscow,
returning with some friends from vacation in the
Crimea—just another example of the classless society of Communism.
The undertaking that followed was really an
experience to be remembered; namely, the transportation of a second group of Mission workers from
Eupatoria to Ekaterinodar in the Kuban district later
renamed Krasnodar but at that time known by its
original title. There were two ways of making this
journey, by rail or boat. By train meant a series of
chess moves with a possible check at every move,
from Eupatoria over to Simferopol, up to Kharkov in
the Ukraine, across to Rostov-on-the-Don and down
to Ekaterinodar. Time was passing rapidly and there
were hungry children waiting to be fed, so it was
decided to hazard a voyage on the Euxine. The merchant steamer of about 8,000 tons made a convenient stop at our point of embarkation. This craft was
large enough to warrant safety on an inland sea but
the Black Sea can be rough at times.
On this particular trip it was an evident blessing that it was decidedly calm because the boat was
crowded from stem to stern and sailing without lifeboats or life preservers of any kind. Tickets had to
be bought for first-class travel and here again there
was no consideration for class. The few staterooms
had all been taken at the starting port and all who
went aboard at the various stopping places had to
camp out on the decks or sleep for several nights in
the corridors, or preferably in the dining room. A
picture of this dining room would have been typical of nomadic Russia of the day. Along the walls
there were upholstered lounges and in the middle of
�the room a long wooden table fixed to the floor and
flanked with fixed chairs intended to serve as seats
for diners. As voyagers came aboard at various ports,
they immediately took possession of the lounges
and also of the chairs as permanent lodging space.
At mealtime they were forced to vacate the chairs
but they returned to them as soon as the meal was
over. At night they slept wherever they could find
space, on the floor, on the table, and on heaps of baggage promiscuously piled about the dining room.
Such were the living conditions aboard a Black
Sea freighter with a multitude of Russians, Turks,
and predominating Tartars herded like sheep, just
as complacent and just as indolent. Most of them
probably had no definite idea as to where they were
going, except to find some place where they and
their numerous children could get more food and
better lodging than where they had come from. For
the time being they seemed to be satisfied to find
a place where they could eat, sleep, smoke, and gamble. This was really the flight of a Tartar Tribe by sea.
It took three days to circle the Crimea peninsula
with stops at Sevastopol of war fame, Theodosia,
Yalta and Kerch, but with little or no time for sightseeing. All of these ports had ideal harbor facilities
but there were no signs of international commerce
for which they were formerly famous. The ship lay
overnight in the moonlit harbor of Yalta, affording a
beautiful view of snow-white castles and of grandeur
that had passed. Theodosia was a receiving port for
the American Relief Administration and its numerous grain elevators and warehouses, which formerly
provisioned central and southern Europe, were filled
with flour, corn, rice, sugar, and canned milk from
America, to protect the world’s greatest granary
against the ravages of famine. It was from these
American stores that the Vatican Mission drew its
food supplies to relieve the Crimea and the Kuban
district.
After Theodosia the next stop was made at Kerch
at the extreme east of the Crimea. The harbor waters
of Kerch were known to be shallow, and before
entering them the ship took on a pilot who sailed a
zig-zag course at minimum speed before coming
to a landing pier. When leaving the port the following morning he retraced the same course and when
18 | chapter iii: distant famine centers
asked why he had been so cautious, he explained
that the harbor had been mined during the late war
and that they had not as yet accounted for all the
mines. This news was better learned after leaving
than before entering. One more night on the properly called tramp steamer was quite sufficient for a
first Mission voyage. After a fourteen-hour run from
Kerch, the good ship Novorossisk arrived at the city
after which it was named. Here, during a two-day
stop, our party was put up at what was supposed
to be a hotel but proved to be a Communist Club,
where we were treated with respect and served with
their best in true proletarian style. The ubiquitous
borsch, or beet soup, was savory but the meat was
adamant against onslaught and told against the
pewter forks, which bent up in the middle on first
attack, and had to be straightened out for a second
assault.
It was a ten-hour train ride from Novorossisk,
over the hills and through mountain passes, to
Ekaterinodar. This city was comparatively clean and,
apart from Moscow and Petrograd, one of the few
places visited to date that had street cars in operation and electric lights in the streets. However, it
took only a superficial view of the town to reveal the
aftermath of the famine, the most pitiable town we
encountered in our whole Russian experience. The
first visit made was to a place that was formerly a
refugee barracks but was then occupied by 700 children. The building was originally a tobacco factory
from which the machinery and factory fixtures had
been stripped. These children, half clothed in rags
and without shoes or stockings, were living in three
large halls, furnished with only fifty cot beds, without linen or pillows and with only half enough blankets for the number of beds. At night the beds were
for the youngest, ranging from six to eight years old
and the rest of them, the oldest being twelve, slept
on the floor huddled together like sheep. In the
daytime they all followed the October sun around
the floor in an effort to keep warm. This was one of
several such institutions in the city, sheltering about
2,000 of the four million orphans dependent upon
the Bolshevik government. As a Russian doctor
remarked on the occasion of that visit, “Seeing this,
and with a million children already dead of starva-
�tion, no one knows the meaning of the word famine
until he has seen one.” This was it, and there was
more of it to come.
At this time, October of 1922, it was a decided
surprise to discover that the one Catholic church
in this city was open and serving a congregation of
about 2,000, Mostly composed of Germans, Poles,
and Armenians. Formerly there was a school and
a parish residence here but the school had been
closed and the residence, like all other private property, had been taken over by the Government and
portioned out in lodgings. The pastor of this church
was living in a room in the middle of the first floor.
This was his bedroom, kitchen, and office for which
he was paying the Government a few million rubles
a month. In other words, he was paying rent for
the privilege of camping in his own home, while
the rest of the house was occupied by four families, none of which belonged to the parish. He had
to pass through one family to get out by the back
door and through another to get in by the front. For
more than five years before the time in question he
had lived the life of a persecuted hermit. This was
only one of several instances of priests who were
dazed for a time at the unexpected arrival of a direct
message from Rome. It seemed to confuse their vision as if they had stepped out of darkness into the
noonday sun.
Within two weeks of the arrival of the Papal
Mission in Ekaterinodar, the children were removed
from the factory, the A.R.A. was supplying medicine, the doctors were busy and the 700 orphans
were eating once a day in the Vatican relief kitchens.
Fr. Walsh had been kept informed of what was going
on in the south and as a result of the reports he had
already sent in his first order to Rome for clothing
for 2,000 children and for cloth to make clothing
for as many adults. The shoes to go with the clothing could be bought from the A.R.A. The clothing
program for all stations of the Mission was directed
by Fr. Joseph Farrell, S.J., the President of Brooklyn
College, who had come in to take over the financial
direction of the Mission, and whom we were to meet
on our return to Moscow.
19 | chapter iii: distant famine centers
With the Papal Relief Mission operating in
central cities, the next move was to take over the
whole districts in which these centers were located.
The American Relief Administration had carried
the entire Kuban country and the Crimea through
the height of the famine, which was still rampant,
and was now ready to hand them over to the Papal
Mission. The official transfer of storage plants and
warehouses filled with American food supplies had
to be made on the part of the Vatican Mission by
someone who was a member of both organizations.
Fr. Walsh was in Moscow and so his American Assistant signed for the transfer in Ekaterinodar and
then set out on a return trip to the Crimea to do the
same at Simferopol and Eupatoria.
The voyage back from Novorossisk, and in the
same craft of that name, was a second venture on
the Black Sea, made again without life preservers
or lifeboats. This time the passenger list was small
but the sea was rough and more than half of those
aboard were seasick during the three-day voyage.
Except for a few cans of coffee, our American food
supplies were exhausted and we had to place faith
in the ship’s menu. A general caution had been
issued to all Americans in Russia to be careful of
Russian food when they had to eat it, but this occasion seemed to be an exception when the main dish
offered for dinner each day was beefsteak, a word
known in every European country but generally pronounced bifteck. A few days later, while talking to a
Russian doctor about the voyage, mention was made
of the bifteck served on the ship and he explained
with a laugh that there had been no beef in that
part of Russia for years. What they were selling for
beefsteak, as he said, was well-pounded horse meat
and probably the product of discarded mounts of
the Kuban cavalry. Here again as when leaving the
mined harbor of Kerch, it was better that the news
came after rather than during the event. However,
the doctor’s revelation was probably an omen of
future relations with the Russian cavalry.
✩
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER IV
Church and State
After the A.R.A. had taken over the South
Crimea, the next step was to transfer the northern
or Djankoy section of the peninsula that had been
hard hit by the famine in the previous winter and
was still in sore need of assistance. This district was
inhabited by Tartars and by the descendants of the
German colonists whom Catherine the Great had
brought into Russia. Our Czechoslovakian Mission
agent spoke both Russian and German and with
him we went north to make the transfer. This section of the country, formerly a farming and fruitgrowing area of small villages, offered an interesting
study in racial differences. Here was a place where
poverty reigned supreme and yet, with all that these
people had gone through, what surprised one on
entering a German home was the order and the
cleanliness of every room and the care taken of every
item of household utility. On the other hand, the
ancestors of the Crimean Tartars were a nomadic
and tent-dwelling people and evidently had never
handed down a reputation for interior decorating or
for the use of mops and brooms.
There was some difficulty in finding suitable
lodging in the town of Djankoy but with that done
20 | chapter iv
through the local officials, our Czechoslovakian
agent remained there to take over the district. The
only incident of note on the return trip to Simferopol with a government agent was the breakdown
of his overworked Ford, a model of ancient vintage
presented to him by A.R.A. Fortunately, we were
returning by way of Eupatoria and had just reached
the town when the front axle broke. Fortunately also,
we found a German blacksmith, a rugged man who
forged the axle pieces together on his village smithy.
The price for his work was one American dollar, the
most durable dollar we ever spent despite the fact
that after four hours of slow driving over rough and
muddy roads the axle fell apart again right in front
of the residence in Simferopol.
On arrival at our destination there was a telegram waiting, asking for our return to Moscow.
This meant the end of a two-month’s safari, a large
part of which was spent in slow moving trains and
boats, living out of three bags and subsisting mostly
on American canned goods cooked in what were formerly staterooms on the trains and in cabins on the
boats. The four-day return trip to Moscow afforded
ample time to arrange the transfer documents and
�Gallagher, behind sacks
of food, second from
left in felt hat, in an
Orenburg warehouse.
to write out a comment on the progress of the Mission work in the Crimea, to be forwarded to Rome.
In November of 1922 Fr. Walsh was in a difficult
position. He was in Russia in a dual capacity; as
Director of the Papal Mission and as a Vatican agent
representing the interests of the Catholic Church.
The Bolshevik Government made short work of the
Orthodox State Church with a typical compromise;
namely, the institution of the Red Church under the
jurisdiction of an atheistic government, an evident
contradiction in terms. With the Catholic Church it
was different. The Pope was feeding thousands of
starving children. The Government was then asking
for an extension of Papal relief work to Orenburg
in the southern Ural district, and at the same time
planning on recognition by the Vatican as a stable
government. Under these circumstances the destruction of the Catholic Church in Russia could be
postponed until the relief work was completed and
the question of recognition definitely settled and
that, as well shall see, is exactly what happened. The
question of Church interests created as much work
and more worry for Fr. Walsh than did the prime
21 | chapter iv: church and state
purpose for which he went into Russia, and it kept
him resident in Moscow for almost the entire period
of time he spent in the country.
With the Papal Mission already operating in
Ekaterinodar and in Rostov-on-the-Don, the American Relief Administration was preparing to withdraw from these centers and to hand over the entire
Kuban and Rostov districts to the Mission, as it had
done in the Crimea. Then, as later on in January
when Orenburg was to be taken over, Fr. Walsh was
too busily engaged to be absent from Moscow for
any length of time and again this assignment was
given to his American Assistant. Three days in Moscow, after coming in from the Black Sea area, were
sufficient to turn in reports on the Crimea transfers
and to get ready for another trip by rail, this time
777 miles to Rostov-on-the-Don by way of Kharkov.
A room was purchased on another of the deluxe
cars and the train was listed as “limited”—which it
was in many respects and especially with reference
to accommodations. Past experience had taught us
how to live on Russian trains and, traveling in the
company of an A.R.A. courier, this journey was
�not all that monotonous. A one-day stopover in
Kharkov was all too brief. Here was a city, formerly
an industrial and intellectual center, which now offered a typical example of every city in Russia with
a population of a hundred thousand or more. The
A.R.A. brought Kharkov through the famine but it
could do nothing relative to government regulations
controlling private ownership, trading, housing and
employment. This city, like so many others, was still
staggering to regain its equilibrium under government control.
At Rostov-on-the-Don the two Mission agents
were ready to take over the district as soon as the
transfer from A.R.A. jurisdiction could be made.
As a member of the A.R.A., the privilege of living
at their house afforded the pleasure of spending a
few days in the company of fellow Americans, as
well as saving time in consulting with the Director
of the A.R.A. for the taking over of the district. A
second visit to Ekaterinodar found the Mission
flourishing with open kitchens for children and food
package distribution for adults. In other words, it
was ready for a complete survey and for a record of
the work being done to be forwarded to Rome for
publication, and a pamphlet with pictures was designed for this purpose. Cameras and photographic
material were scarce in Russia but this scarcity was
anticipated when packing for the journey in Moscow. There were strict government regulations in
effect relative to taking pictures in any part of the
country, and here it was learned how really strict
they were.
A general permission for all Papal agents had already been obtained to take pictures of feeding kitchens, warehouses and the dwellings of relief workers,
provided the identity of the photographers was established. Before opening a station, each Papal relief
worker supplied the local authorities with a copy of
his passport picture. They had been informed before
entering Russia to bring along a supply of them.
This regulation had been duly complied with on our
first visit to Ekaterinodar, and while taking pictures
in a warehouse, it was somewhat of a surprise to be
accosted by a police officer and asked to accompany
him to headquarters where, as it turned out, there
was a double difficulty to be solved.
22 | chapter iv: church and state
The sergeant at the desk opened the investigation.
“What pictures have you been taking?”
“Pictures of the kitchens and of the storage
plants of the Papal Relief Mission.”
“How many?”
“Just those on the film in the camera.”
Whereupon he asked for the camera and told one
of his men to open it and examine the film, and the
film was examined by holding it up to the light at
the window. After a minute or so, the report was, “It
shows nothing, Sir.”
Then the sergeant, somewhat confused, asked
for an explanation.
“The film, Sir, should have been opened in a
darkroom and developed there. The pictures were
destroyed by exposure to the light.”
That was the end of the first problem. The next
demand was for a passport picture.
“You should have one in your files, Sir. It was
handed in on my first visit to Ekaterinodar.”
The passport picture was sought and found but
the sergeant was not satisfied with it.
“Is this your picture?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“And why are you traveling in disguise?” “Oh!”
A sudden light dawned and the mystery was solved.
“You mean the mustache, Sir.” It was a rather full
adornment with needle-point waxed ends. Then he
repeated his question. “Why the disguise?”
“No particular reason, Sir, just a matter of American style.”
Whereupon he proceeded to pass a judgment
which was fair enough: “Either shave off the mustache or have another picture taken by a Russian
photographer and give us a copy of that one before
you leave here.”
As a souvenir for future reference, another picture was taken by a local photographer who said he
would also have to give a copy of it to the G.P.U., the
Federal Secret Service, to be forwarded to their headquarters in Moscow. This incident proved to be quite
amusing to the Papal agents at the various stations,
and within the following year the Russian police
had a collection of pictures of the same individual,
arrested in different districts and wearing different
styles of facial decorations, ranging from a Charlie
�Chaplin nosegay to the famous Galway sideburns.
On return visits to Moscow Fr. Walsh would often
ask, “What’s new in whiskers, and why the continual changing?” To which the answer was “Variety.
They know that American priests are generally clean
shaven and keeping them busy with the whiskers
may serve to keep their minds off the original incognito.”
At that time in Ekaterinodar the Russian, Greek,
and Roman Catholic churches were all closed as
were all the schools. There were six Orthodox
bishops and a great number of their priests in the
town and, despite the objections of the local authorities, most of them were receiving food packages
from the Papal Mission. Here, too, as in Rostov, the
cossacks were numerous but there was no government cavalry station. For the most part, these people
were northern Caucasians wearing cossack attire.
The men were of high stature and robust and the
women, in appearance, living up to the worldwide
reputation of their race.
This sojourn in Ekaterinodar was made memorable by two dinner parties that were decidedly different in attendance. The first was a Thanksgiving
Day celebration arranged by the departing members
of the A.R.A. in their residence for the Papal Relief
workers and their Russian office help. Only the day
before, the courier had come in with a turkey from
the cold storage plant of the A.R.A. in Moscow, and
this was probably the first time that most of the
guests present had ever enjoyed the American delicacy, with all the fixings. The second social meeting
was a symposium and dinner arranged by the Papal
agents for the six Orthodox Bishops residing in the
city. During this period it was not uncommon in
any of the larger cities of Russia to find an unusual
number of the Orthodox clergy. Their sees had been
disbanded and like many of their parishioners, they
had become refugees, driven by the famine to wherever they could find food and shelter.
This dinner was unique in several ways. The
generous menu was made up for the most part
from an ample selection of American canned goods.
The conversation was carried on by interpreting in
French and Russian and the graces said before and
after the meal were recited in unison by the bish23 | chapter iv: church and state
ops. It was both admirable and pitiful to observe the
gracious courtesy and the delicate table manners of
these poorly clad and poverty-stricken prelates. Very
probably none of them had been seated at a stranger’s dining table in months or even in years and
yet they were most meticulous in the observance
of dining etiquette. Forced to live in humiliating
circumstances because of their calling, they were
still gentlemen to the fingertips. In the conversation
that followed the dinner they were quite open in
talking about the persecution of religion, the spoliation of the churches, eviction from their houses, and
the influence exerted to persuade them to join the
so-called Red or Living Church.
Due to the fact that all three parties concerned,
namely, the A.R.A., the Papal Mission and the local
government authorities, had to wait for answers to
inquiries sent to Moscow regarding food supplies in
storage, freight car shortage and dwelling facilities,
the transfer of the A.R.A. operation to the Papal Mission in Ekaterinodar took longer than had been expected. This act of liquidation, as it was called, was
completed and signed on December 16th, meaning
that the work in store for the Mission agents was
practically doubled, but they were well prepared
for it and waiting only for assignments of shoes
and clothing for some 8,000 children as protection
against the worst of the winter, yet to come.
On the return trip to Moscow, there was one
more stop to be made at Rostov-on-the-Don where
the transfer of A.R.A. operations was to be completed, and the overnight train ride from Ekaterinodar
to Rostov was memorable. The only accommodation available was in a third-class car on a third-class
train, meaning a place in a compartment for four.
The two upper bunks were plain wooden shelves
that were folded down during the day. The two lower
were also thick wooden boards that served as seats
on a day run. The compartments opened on a corridor and had no doors. It was December and there
was no heating system on the train. It was night
and there was no lighting. The car was crowded,
the men were all smoking, the windows were all
sealed and there was no system of ventilation. You
did not have to get ready to retire. You were all ready,
wearing overcoat, fur hat, and overshoes. Being the
�only one in the compartment with any luggage, one
small bag, it was deemed advisable to open the bag
and spread the contents on the floor to assure the
other three occupants that it contained nothing valuable, then it could be used safely as a pillow.
One of the first things to attract attention on arrival in Rostov on December 21st was new evidence
of the Government’s endeavor to eradicate religion.
The bishops at Ekaterinodar had spoken of tight restrictions being placed upon religious services either
in or out of churches. The Living or Red Church
had not as yet been established in Rostov and so
religious services of any kind had been banned. The
Mission agents had been assigned a new residence,
with no extra room for a visitor, and the A.R.A.
House was occupied to capacity. The only alternative
for a brief stay was to apply to a Soviet hotel. The
room provided was on the second floor and of ample
size, with a window opening on a view of a small
park. In the foyer there was a large collection of Soviet magazines and newspapers, with something extra added. On the wall opposite to the main entrance
there was a large poster announcing that anyone
performing or attending a religious service in this
city would be fined in Russian rubles amounting to
one American dollar.
One of the several pieces of baggage in storage
at the Mission House was an extra American Army
Mass kit and this was all that was needed for the
celebration of three Masses, beginning at 4:30 on
Christmas morning of 1922 in room 42 of what was
formerly known as Hotel International of Rostovon-the-Don. That was five years after the Bolshevik
Revolution and at seven o’clock on the same cold
Christmas morning, looking out at the public park
across the street, it was somewhat surprising to see
a German officer, wearing an old German Army
uniform and drilling a company of seventy or eighty
Soviet Army recruits, or more probably draftees. The
only thing military they were wearing was the cone
shaped hat with a red star on the front. Not half of
their number were wearing overcoats and most of
them had their feet wrapped in straw and rags. Evidently shoes were at a premium in the army as they
were in civilian life.
At that time this unusual exhibition engendered
24 | chapter iv: church and state
a feeling of sympathy. Reviewing it in retrospect, it
was an incident of dire foreboding. Here were peasants, evidently believing that the Bolshevik Revolution had put an end to the drudgery of the Volga
boatman, and five years after they had been liberated
from the tyranny of tzardom they were up early on
a cold winter morning, poorly clad, and being put
through a rigorous military drill by a German officer. Those men had probably been saved from famine by the A.R.A. during the previous winter. Their
children were being fed at the time in Papal relief
kitchens and it is no wide stretch of the imagination
to say that many of them, and of their children as
well, were destined for drill by German officers only
to be later victims of German gunfire. The kaleidoscope of history shows many an odd design.
The Christmas dinner at the A.R.A. residence
was another farewell party, as all six agents of that
organization were scheduled to leave for Moscow
when the Papal Relief Mission took over the district
within a week. All Mission kitchens in the Rostov
and in the Kuban districts, and in the Crimea, were
now fully manned with Papal agents, and with Russian help, and all amply supplied for child feeding
and package distribution for the rest of the winter.
Shipments of shoes and of clothing would be on the
rails to all stations shortly after our arrival in Moscow.
The two days and two nights spent on the Rostov-on-the-Don journey with three members of the
A.R.A. were the nearest approach to American travel
yet experienced in Russia. These men had been
traveling all over Russia for the past year. They knew
what to carry and they spoke enough Russian to
keep the conductors busy and contented. The Moscow courier had arrived in Rostov just before our
departure, bringing personal mail and a supply of
recent editions of American newspapers and magazines, but the real deluxe part of this trip was music
with your meals. One of the A.R.A. men was returning a borrowed phonograph and some records to
the Moscow office and we were all “Just Wild about
Harry” and “The Music Went Round and Round,”
even at “Three O’Clock in the Morning,” tunes that
are still remembered. Such relaxing changes as this
served to keep the mind off the more tragic phases
�of life in a famine stricken land, when people were
begging for bread at a country station where the
train stopped to refill the engine tender with wood
for an overnight run.
Moscow was a different city every time one
entered it after an absence of a month or even a
week. In December of 1922 the first five-year economic plan was in operation and it was interesting to study its effects on the people. They were a
disillusioned multitude living under conditions that
had to change for the better under any plan. They
were living on hope and they were a long-suffering
people. Government stores had been opened during
the first half of the plan but most of their stock for
sale was in the show windows. No purchase could
be made without a government card and the prices
of all commodities were exorbitant. It was a policy of
the government to keep open all centers of entertainment and at low prices in order to bolster the
morale of the people. The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow was open all year round, playing either ballet
or grand opera every night and always to crowded
houses. Even in the smaller cities and towns moving pictures were a great attraction. Most of these
pictures were old American productions and the
national film hero was none other than Sharl Shap,
alias: Charlie Chaplin.
Chaplin was a popular favorite with the Russians because he had a world-wide reputation as a
comedian and they claimed him as one of their own.
Among the members of the American Relief Administration there was a District Supervisor of the
Province of Simbirsk, Mr. Eddie Fox, who was generally known as a concert pianist, playing ragtime
selections with the same ease and grace with which
he rendered Chopin or Rachmaninoff. Eddie had
worked in many distant parts of Russia including
25 | chapter iv: church and state
Simbirsk, the Crimea, and Rostov-on-the-Don and
his rendition of “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” had become so popular with the Russian people that wherever he appeared, in hotels, restaurants or at social
gatherings, if there was a piano there, the gathering
always called for “Alexander.” The Russians knew, as
did the Americans, that this was Irving Berlin’s first
great musical of its kind. Not knowing the words,
they became enthusiastic about the music, and
some of them took great pride in informing you that
the American national anthem, namely, “Alexander,”
was written by a Russian. The modern world was
late in learning that the Russians always set great
store on being the first to do anything of note.
On arrival in Moscow from Rostov it was evident
that the Papal Mission was in for trouble arising
from sources other than relief work. Only a few
days before this, Fr. Joseph Farrell, S.J., an accountant and an expert business manager, had arrived in
Moscow to relieve Fr. Walsh of some of his work. He
took over the finances, made arrangements for the
transportation and distribution of shoes and clothing to all Papal Mission centers, and took charge of
the student feeding kitchens in Moscow. This left
Fr. Walsh more or less free to carry on a battle of
correspondence with the Government relative to
the arrest of the Catholic clergy and the seizure of
church property in Petrograd. This long-drawn-out
postal and telegram conflict involving Rome, the
Kremlin, and the central Mission office has been
recorded at length in the Mission annals. It came to
an end only with the conclusion of Papal relief work
and with the destruction, at least for years to come,
of the Catholic Church in Russia. In addition to all
this, and closely connected with its development, a
new phase of Papal relief work was introduced.
✩
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER V
The Rescue of Orenburg
Out beyond the Volga, in the southern
Ural district, just short of a thousand
miles from Moscow, spread out on a plateau
that ends abruptly 300 feet above the Ural River is
the city of Orenburg, sometimes called Ohkalov, a
town with an interesting past. The Ural River is supposed to be the boundary line between Asiatic and
European Russia and in the middle of the eighteenth century, Orenburg was developed as a frontier
fortress against tribal invasions from the east. In
1922 this city was the central base of the Orenburg
Cossacks. This place was formerly noted as a national market for rugs, for Bokhara silks and for the
famous Orenburg shawls made from the down of
goat skins and so delicate in fabric that the largest
of them, six feet square, could be passed through an
ordinary finger ring. It took three women a whole
year to knit one of the larger size, which sold for a
hundred dollars.
In the Fall of 1921 Orenburg lost half of its
population of one hundred thousand in flight from
famine, and in the death of several thousand from
its violence. The vast herds of sheep and goats that
formerly roamed the neighboring steppes disap26 | chapter v
peared for army rations. City business and marketing ceased to operate. The churches, over thirty in
number, were closed and the mosques practically
deserted. The A.R.A. had worked here and possibly
saved the population from extermination during
the severe winter famine of 1921, but here in the
following spring, for the first and only time in its
history, the A.R.A. was forced to discontinue its
work because of the continued interference of local
government officials. Now it was January of 1923
and like a returning tornado the famine hit back and
the central government was calling upon the A.R.A.
and also on the Papal Relief Mission to come to the
rescue of Orenburg.
Colonel William Haskell, Director of the
A.R.A., and Fr. Walsh, Head of the Papal Mission,
decided in conference that the A.R.A. should
return to Orenburg immediately and that the Papal
Mission would follow within a week or two. For
several reasons this arrangement was much to the
advantage of the Papal Mission. The A.R.A. had the
experienced personnel and the facilities to begin
work without delay. Under the circumstances they
had a free hand and could prepare the setting for
�Feeding kitchen, likely
Orenburg. The kettles
are repurposed Russian
naval mines pulled from
the Black Sea.
a lone Mission operator, relative to warehouses,
residence and office quarters. Another advantage
in the extension of Papal relief work was that it
might serve to slow down, if not to terminate,
the Government campaign against the Catholic
Church, which was increasing in violence every
day. What Fr. Walsh had hoped for, namely, the
mitigation of religious persecution, was temporarily
accomplished, but what the Orthodox Bishop of
Krasnodar had foretold was eventually realized.
When the Papal Mission agreed to extend its
work to Orenburg there was only one member of
its personnel left to take over the assignment. This
distant station was designated as the Eastern Division of the Vatican Relief Mission and the title of the
agent appointed in charge of it was changed from
Assistant Director of Papal Relief to Director of the
Eastern Division. The Orenburg venture was an
undertaking that called for special preparation on
the part of both organizations. When the A.R.A. first
went out there, more than a year before, the crowded train on which its agents were traveling was
snowbound for four days before reaching Samara
and ten of the passengers died of starvation. The
special preparations for this trip consisted of an
27 | chapter v: the rescue of orenburg
extra car, a caboose, or tiplushka as it was called,
filled with enough American food supplies to support the entire passenger list of seven cars for a
week, if emergency occurred. The A.R.A. agents left
Moscow for Orenburg on January 17th and reached
their destination with no untoward incident. The
Papal relief agent departed on January 26th. Apart
from the caution forbidding anyone to open a window or door during the passage over the Volga on
the Romanov bridge, which was kept under strict
military guard, the trip was uneventful until the
train was within a hundred miles of Orenburg.
At about two o’clock on the afternoon of the
third day out, it snowed so heavily that the train
was brought to a standstill within an hour. The first
thought on stopping was of emergency rations,
which were not to be given out until really needed.
The head conductor was sent through the train to
check up on what food the people were carrying and
he reported that most of them had enough for another day of travel. The snowstorm ceased at about
8:00 p.m. and the train stood stationary overnight. At
nine o’clock the next morning the welcome sight of
a column of smoke in the southeast indicated that
a plough train had been sent out from Orenburg
�to open the tracks for the Moscow express which
finally reached its destination only one day late.
In a temperature of thirty-eight degrees below
zero, the three A.R.A. agents were at the station as a
welcoming party. Being a member of their organization, the Papal Mission agent rented a room at their
residence until such time as the local government
authorities supplied a house for the director of a
separate relief mission. This took two weeks and
in that time a large warehouse was taken over and
filled with American food supplies brought from
the A.R.A. storage plants. An office was opened in
the warehouse with furniture, stationery, typewriting machines and accessories brought along from
Moscow. Two buildings were opened for feeding
kitchens, Russian help was hired and the Mission
relief work was in progress before the Director had a
house to live in. The delay, however, supplied a most
enjoyable period of two weeks in the company of the
A.R.A. workers.
The general design of a relief center in Orenburg
was different in detail from those operated in
other parts of the country. The city population was
made up of four large and separate units, and the
numerous Bashkir and Kirghiz settlements within
a radius of twenty miles of the city were in great
part dependent upon their city relatives. By mutual
agreement the A.R.A. was to concentrate on city
relief and the Papal Mission, in addition to two large
kitchens in the city for children, was to take over
the numerous outside centers. Out-of-city feeding
involved a problem of transportation and an added
28 | chapter v: the rescue of orenburg
one of finding suitable places for feeding children
in country villages, but these and other obstacles
to progress were readily surmounted. Fr. Walsh
came to the immediate rescue by sending out an
experienced Russian who had worked with the
Mission in the Crimea and in the Kuban district; he
was appointed supervisor of the district centers. At
each of the outlying stations drivers were hired with
one horse, low-slung sleighs for transporting food
supplies from the city storage plants to their own
villages, some of which were twenty miles away.
In most of these settlements the school buildings,
closed for the time, were reopened as kitchens and
where the children could not leave their homes for
want of clothes, hot soup and bread was brought to
them and they were given an allowance of cocoa and
condensed milk until such time as clothing could
be sent out from the city office, which was less than
three weeks.
Mention has already been made of the Mission
clothing program and of the efficient manner in
which it was handled by Fr. Joseph Farrell, S.J. This
clothing was distributed as complete outfits including suits, underwear, shoes, and stockings, most
of it brought in from Italy. His first assignment of
clothing to Orenburg was for 3,000 children, nearly
all of which was distributed to the out-of-city centers. By mid-March all of the 9,000 children being
fed in these centers were fully clothed, as well as the
more needy half of the city dependents, and by midApril the total number had increased to 22,900.
✩
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER VI
Danger, Diplomacy, and the Cossack Captain
In a country passing through a nationwide famine and with every phase of life being
remodeled under a strict dictatorship, the daily
routine of a relief worker in Russia might well have
become nerve-wracking without some sort of diversion or distraction. Passing a cemetery in which
hundreds of the dead were stacked up like firewood,
covered with snow and awaiting burial when winter
had passed, created an uncanny idea of what the
word famine really means. Cities and their people
are always interesting and Orenburg was no exception. Here the presence of three Americans conducting the A.R.A. operations, plus the presence of
several Russians, alike in character but different in
demeanor, served as a source of necessary diversion.
Most of the houses in this town were freckled with
bullet holes. The city had been taken and retaken
several times by remnants of the White Army, still
loyal to Tzardom, and by Bolshevik revolutionary
forces. Some of the royal sympathizers were still at
large and only recently made a night raid into the
city to avenge their defeat. Shortly after our arrival in
Orenburg, the Director of the A.R.A. asked if Papal
Mission agents carried automatics.
29 | chapter vi
“Never. Positively forbidden.”
“Better have one in this town,” he advised.
“When I go out at night,” he continued, “I always
carry a Colt revolver in the right-hand pocket of my
overcoat. All you know about the fellow coming the
other way is that he has one.”
“But the revolution is supposed to be over.”
“It is, but the White Army bandits won’t admit
it.” That was the end of that subject until the next
morning.
About halfway on the road to the A.R.A. office,
which was a mile distant from their residence, the
road was blocked by a crowd of people being held
back by a cordon of soldiers from the house of a
local government official. Later on in the day it
was learned that he and his family of five had been
murdered the previous night. There were varying
stories about the happening, the most common of
which was that White Army bandits had come in on
another anti-Bolshevik raid. The city was living up
to its bandit reputation. It was here that the bandit
Pugachev had his hideout in 1773, before he was
captured by the Russian army and sent to Moscow
in an iron cage in which he was put on exhibition
�Gallagher (left) and Walsh, in Ekaterinodar (now Krasnodar),
October 1922.
before his execution. There was still a collection of
Pugachev souvenirs in the local museum.
One of the interesting and memorable acquaintances made in Orenburg was that of the Head Representative of the Central Government. A Russian
by birth, during the business day he was a Tartar to
deal with but a congenial socialite in afterhours, an
individual who contributed his ample share to the
enigma of Russian mentality. In conference with the
Directors of the A.R.A. and of the Papal Mission,
never once did he consent to a suggestion made by
any of them, but later on he would write in granting
every concession they asked. At one time he ordered
the Mission to move from the feeding list the hundred or more Orthodox priests who were receiving
relief, claiming that as priests they were anti-Com-
munist. When told that the relief was being donated
to the thousands of children, and to the priests as
well, came from a priest—namely, the Pope, he said
that was another way of looking at it, and then he
forgot about the priests. Here was an official who
seemed to assert his authority just to show that he
had it. On one occasion, however, he did act with
more than show and this time he caused the Mission considerable embarrassment.
One of the smaller kitchens in the city was located in a school that had been closed for more than
a year. There were 300 children being fed there,
all of whom had been clothed by the Mission. The
janitor in charge, on a small government salary, was
a former teacher and a Polish Roman Catholic. In
addition to taking care of the building he was giving
the children instruction in spelling and reading until, without warning, he was arrested and the kitchen
declared closed. This was something that demanded
an immediate conference and the gist of the argument that took place was as follows:
“As Director of a relief mission you should know
that the opening of a school is illegal and especially
of a Roman Catholic school.”
“It was a Russian public school, not a Roman
Catholic school.”
“But the teacher was a Catholic and there was a
sign over the entrance reading Rimski Papa, meaning Roman Pontiff.”
“That sign is posted on all Mission kitchens and
there was a kitchen in the schoolhouse.”
“But school was going on there. The teacher was
Catholic and the Government is set against Catholic
teachers.”
“If the teacher was a Turk, would that make it
a Turkish school when nothing Turkish was being taught there? And, moreover, you arrested the
wrong man. You should have arrested the Director
of the Mission, who appointed the teacher. That
would have closed both the school and the kitchen
and left you responsible to the Central Government
for three hundred hungry children.” At this he was
somewhat nonplussed and after a moment of reflection he answered: “Well, I have already reported to
Moscow that the school was closed and the teacher
arrested. I said nothing about the kitchen. Now I
30 | chapter vi: danger, diplomacy, and the cossack captain
�must follow up the report with a statement that the
teacher has been judged and sentenced.”
The fact that he made no mention of the kitchen
in his report indicated that he realized he had violated a Central Government contract by closing the
kitchen without previous notice, and so it was time
for a settlement by way of a compromise, suggested
while he was gathering his thoughts.
“Since all Russian help are paid by the government, why not hold the court here and now, make
the judgment and pass the sentence? Return your
prisoner to his position as janitor only of the kitchen
building, serving on no government pay, and forget
about closing the kitchen without notice.” This suggestion was followed by a short silence and then by
a further comment which he readily admitted.
“You know, it looks to me as if you were prejudicial against the janitor because he does not report to
you, as other Russian employees do, on everything
he sees or hears in the Mission office and residence.
In other words, he does not approve of your system
of espionage.” His retort to this was typical and practically unanswerable.
“Please do not talk to us about espionage,” he
said. “That procedure is necessary during the formation of a government after a revolution and besides,
in that particular science we are children when
compared to the Americans. Two years ago I had
a brother in New York. He mailed a letter to me in
Moscow on Monday. He was arrested on Wednesday
and deported to Russia within a week.” That was the
end of the court and the conference. The kitchen
was reopened on the following day and the janitor
had no objection to no government pay. He was paid
every week by the Mission.
Not long after the kitchen episode another facet
of the character of the Central Government Representative came into evidence. His daylight appearance as a troublemaker was in strong contrast to his
evening showing as a pacifist. The local Director of
the A.R.A. once called him a sunset chameleon. On
this occasion he invited the Directors of the two relief organizations to his house for dinner. With all of
his whims as an executive, he was a decidedly genial
host. Both the dinner and the gathering were unusual. In addition to the relief Directors, his guests were
the Governor of the District, the local Chief of the
Federal Secret Service, at that time called the Cheka,
and the Captain of Orenburg, or the 11th Division
of Cossack Cavalry. The conversation was carried on
in Russian and in French, with the Cossack Captain
acting as interpreter. The several talks in the course
of the dinner centered about the existing relations
between the local government and the relief organizations, with high praise and commendation for
everyone concerned. The closing of the school and
the kitchen difficulty were never even referred to.
The dinner was as odd as the list of diners. Instead of the usual borsch, the first entry was a tasty
chicken soup, and with its appearance the Director
of the A.R.A. shot a significant wink across the table
to his American companion. This happened again
with the serving of the main dish and the vegetables but he didn’t need to wink when the coffee
was served with American cigarettes. The Russians
had good appetites and did justice to food they had
not seen or heard of in a long time, if ever. In the
after-dinner session, the Cossack Captain assured
the Americans that the host of the evening and his
fellow Russians were quite delighted with what he
called “our prewar social gathering.” The A.R.A.
was in the country to feed hungry Russians and all
Russians were hungry. Hence the American menu
at the Representative’s dinner. Socially, for the host,
it was a big success resulting in a wide expansion of
his prestige in Moscow and Orenburg.
The outstanding figure at that dinner was the
Cossack Captain, the most extraordinary character encountered in our whole Russian experience.
Evidently a Caucasian, his name, if it was his name,
indicated a Russian ancestry. He was an intellectual,
evidently a former aristocrat and an ex-tzarist cavalry
officer, who went over to the Bolshevik regime for
reasons of his own as did others of his class, like
Tchitcherin, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs at
the time. A few days after the dinner meeting, he
said, “You Americans are good diplomats. This is
a country, as you know, in which everyone is suspicious of everyone else. In the Representative’s
house, at dinner and afterwards, the Russians were
talking to each other in their own language but you
two Americans never passed a word between you in
31 | chapter vi: danger, diplomacy, and the cossack captain
�English. That may or may not have been planned,
but under the circumstances it was wise procedure.
Two of them can converse fairly well in English.”
This man was a keen observer. Before going to
the dinner that evening, the two Americans decided
to do exactly what he had noticed. Later on, when we
became more intimately acquainted, he explained
his position in this way. The big gap in Marxism is
total neglect of the individual, hence the individual
must look out for himself. Then again the thinking
individual is not living for himself alone, and in my
case the decision to be made was whether it was better to go along with the injustice, helping to correct
it and helping others to endure it, or to rot to death
in a dungeon, or perhaps more immediately to walk
into an automatic in the dark.
Soldiers were paid by the government, but the
pay they were getting would never suffice to support a family, hence our connection with the armed
forces. In Orenburg their children were being fed by
the relief organizations, 2,000 of them in the Papal
Mission kitchens and many more in the A.R.A.
centers. Evidently the military authorities were well
satisfied with what was being done for them and
what they did in return was a gesture of friendship
and a great help for relief work; something thought
up and accomplished by the Cossack Captain. He
petitioned the Governor of the District for an exceptional privilege. His petition was readily granted
and as readily ratified by the Chief of the Cheka and
by the Central Government Representative, with
the result that the Director of the A.R.A. and of the
Papal Relief Mission were made Honorary Captains
in the 11th Division of Cossack Cavalry. This honor
sounded somewhat formidable, at least to one of its
recipients. The Director of the A.R.A., Mr. Hartridge
of Jacksonville and of Yale, was an experienced
horseman. His American companion was anything
but that. The title rated a cavalry mount and an
equerry and from that time on the Russian Captain
took over.
A short time after the military honors were
conferred, the Captain and Hartridge appeared
on horseback at the Mission residence, with the
Russian leading an extra horse, a tall, handsome
animal, well caparisoned with bridle and saddle.
This was an invitation to a first ride over the steppes,
an equestrian venture never to be forgotten. When
A camel train, near Sartov, carrying American Relief Administration supplies along the frozen Volga River.
32 | chapter vi: danger, diplomacy, and the cossack captain
�leaving the house our Russian friend advised us
never to gallop a horse on a stone-paved road.
About three blocks from the house we turned into
the main street of Orenburg at an even canter and
slowed down to a walk. There was a mile or more of
road before us, paved with what we Americans knew
as cobblestones. The Russian was in the middle with
Hartridge on his left, when suddenly, and with no
warning at all, he let out a wild Cossack whoop and
the three horses leaped into a full gallop. The impact
was sudden and the impetus great. There was some
dour plot afoot and no checking it. The only thing to
do was to see it through and ride it out to a dubious
end. All three were going at full speed with the
Russian in close, on our left, when he called out,
“Let go of the saddle, lean forward, take the reins in
both hands and pull him up tight.” He himself
was driving with one hand, leaving his right arm
fully free. It was a rugged mile before he pulled up
his own horse and all three slowed down into a trot,
then into a walk and finally came to a standstill.
“Dismount!” It was an order and a welcome one.
“Take a look at your horse,” he said. The bit
was hanging loose under the horse’s chin. Then he
continued, “I took it out when you were mounting
in the yard. You have ridden this horse for a full
mile and at top gallop, with no bit in his mouth. I’ll
put the bit back where it belongs. From now on he
is your horse and when you are up he will know that
his master is in the saddle. Here, give him this,”
and he produced half an apple, saying, “When we
go on long rides, and there will be a lot of them,
bring along some apples. You know,” he continued,
“when there is no time for riding instructions the
best thing to do is to do it all in one lesson, but let
the horse take the lesson. When I suddenly pulled
him out of his top speed he was more frightened
than you were, and just as glad to have it over with.”
The whole thing took place so unexpectedly that it
needed a minute or two to recover breath and composure. The Russian was smiling and waiting for
the reaction.
“That’s all very nice, Captain, but suppose someone had fallen off and broken his neck?”
“Quite impossible, Sir. I was in full command
and my right arm was free at all times. If you had
started to slip, I would have held you on, but I would
not have slowed down the pace because the horse
had to have his full lesson.”
In the meantime, Hartridge was standing by
wearing the smile of a Cheshire cat, and when accused of being accessory to the crime, he merely
pointed to the Captain. There was one thing, however, that he was never quite able to explain. On arrival
at his house and before we dismounted, Pat Smith,
his assistant, greeted us with the question, “How did
you like the riding lesson?”
In the long run, and after the long run which
it involved, the riding lesson served to solve the
problem of proper inspection of the outlying feeding
stations. When the people began to shovel snow off
the rooftops you knew winter was coming to an end.
With the first melting of the snow even the Ford
machine belonging to the A.R.A. could not negotiate
the steppes but a good horse could, and having one
indebted the Mission to the Cossack Captain. The
city kitchens were run on a regular schedule with
weekly inspections. The outlying posts were not so
easily cared for. The chief difficulty there was one
of reliable accounting which had been given over
to the local patriarchs. Every item of food had to be
answered for, as well as the number of food containers, such as condensed milk cans and the gunny
sacks used for cocoa, sugar, and corn grits. What
left the city storage plants could be easily checked.
Whether or not it reached its proper destination or
was pilfered and sold in the city market, as had happened, was not so readily determined. Checking the
city market might have caused trouble with the city
authorities. Only small quantities of American food
had appeared there, at intervals, all of which was
brought in from the outside centers.
Sunday was inspection day and having said
Mass and taken breakfast, the Director of the Papal
Mission was in the saddle by 7:00 a.m., in company
with Hartridge and the Russian Captain, for an
all-day ride to one or several of the district stations.
What the Captain said about our cavalry mount
proved to be true to the letter. He was steady, reliable, and fast, and apart from our initial experience
with him, his full gallop had the rhythm of a rocking
chair. After learning a few bridle touches and heel
33 | chapter vi: danger, diplomacy, and the cossack captain
�taps from the riding master, this handsome beast or,
as the Russian called him, this docile charger, was
easily handled, and riding soon became both recreation and exercise. It was on these Sunday rides that
the real character of the Russian Captain revealed
itself. Hartridge, who enjoyed his company, thought
he was an aristocratic adventurer but he was hardly
that, because he joined the Royal Cavalry soon after
he was graduated from the University of Moscow,
ten years before the Bolshevik Revolution.
On one occasion when the conversation led up to
secret service and spying, the Captain said, “The real
great spies of history are the Jesuits,” and turning to
Hartridge he continued, “and what do you think?”
“I wouldn’t know too much about that,” Hartridge answered. “The dictionary mentions them as
being crafty. Ask the Doctor there. He has a degree
from a Jesuit college.”
“Oh! So you know them, Doctor.”
“Yes, somewhat. They are educators and missionaries for the most part. It probably was the enemies
of their system of education who first labeled them
as crafty.”
This may have seemed like an evasive answer.
At least the Russian was not satisfied with it and the
conversation continued.
“And why do they go about incognito and hold
secret meetings in mountain caves?”
“If they travel incognito, they very probably are
engaged in work which they could not undertake
as clerics. As to their meeting in mountain caves,
that sounds as though you had read a book entitled
Twenty Years After, a sequel to The Three Musketeers,
but not nearly as well known, by Alexander Dumas,
Père.”
“That is just where I saw it,” he answered, when
he was interrupted.
“Dumas was a novelist with a fine style and a
good imagination but he was also a very severe critic. He had an axe to grind, two of them in fact, one
against Government and one against the Church,
which is also true about the Bolsheviks.”
Mention of the Bolsheviks brought a momentary
pause before the Russian broke in.
“What you say sets me to thinking,” he continued. “It brings back a thought over which I have
often pondered; namely, the position and the condition of our Russian clergy, especially the poor
bishops.”
“Do you know some of the bishops?” he was
asked.
“Yes. I know many of them, including the five
in Orenburg who are on your Papal Mission list for
food distribution. Sometime later on I would like to
talk to you about them. They are deep thinking men
but utterly helpless. The trouble in Russia today is
that you can think, but you can’t think out loud if
you want to continue thinking.”
Due to the presence of a uniformed officer, the
inspection of the outlying stations was expedited
with little or no difficulty. The elders took him for
a government official and it was a study in human
nature to observe him in contact with the peasantry
and especially with the children. Instead of the expression of fear that generally appeared at the sight
of a military uniform, they were smiling and laughing at his efforts to talk to them in their own dialect
rather than in Russian, with which they were all
familiar. He made requests instead of giving orders
and in the marketplaces, where they would run to
hide from a soldier, they gathered around him to
hear him talk about the relief missions and how
grateful they should be for their coming. He knew
people as well as he knew horses. He had an attraction for instinct as well as for intellect. His own
cavalry mount seemed to realize that he was living
for the sole purpose of serving his master, as witness the following incident.
One evening, returning over the steppes after a
day of riding, he gave us a demonstration of what he
meant when he said his horse was battle trained.
“If you two Americans will stand your horses
here,” he said, “I’ll ride toward home for a hundred
yards or so, then turn and pass you at a moderate
gallop, and see what happens.”
As he was passing by, he crouched in the saddle,
leaned to his left, fell off the horse and remained
motionless, face down on the grass. The horse went
on for a few seconds and feeling that he was riderless, turned abruptly, looked around and trotted back
to the man on the ground. Then he settled down
beside him and remained there quietly. After a min-
34 | chapter vi: danger, diplomacy, and the cossack captain
�ute or two of waiting, with some pretended effort,
as though he had been wounded, the Captain pulled
himself up into the saddle and fell across it on his
stomach. Whereupon the horse got up very carefully
and started on a slow and even walk toward home.
When Hartridge asked him what would happen if
he were killed in battle or was unable to climb back
into the saddle, he said, “The horse would remain
beside me as a protection until the battle was over.”
On that same day we were late in returning. It
was growing dark and we still had about two miles
to cover before coming into town. Between us and
the city limits there was a series of wadis, a dozen
or more of dry ditches formerly used for irrigation,
three feet wide and a foot and a half deep. They were
hazards in which an ordinary horse might easily
have stumbled but not a Cossack charger. Darkness
settled before we reached the wadis and our friend
issued to following instructions:
“Ride in line at an easy gallop and thirty feet
apart. I’ll take the lead. My horse will see the ditches
even if I don’t and when he jumps, your horses will
do the same from his take-off.” This was another
feature of Cossack training. The timing was perfect
and the jumps were taken in even stride.
Street lights in Orenburg were few and very
weak, and on entering the city at the end of the
main street our Russian guide said, “This has been a
long day, now let’s have some fun. From here to the
circle at the center of the town is about a mile. The
place is dead quiet and the soldier-police are probably sound asleep. Let’s race to the circle and wake
them up.”
With that he let out the Cossack cry and the
horses were off at full speed. The clatter of galloping
hoofs on the pavement was enough to awaken more
than the sleeping sentries. Doors and windows flew
open but nobody appeared at them, and all three riders were brought to a halt at the dimly lighted circle
by four soldiers with levelled rifles.
“Tovarisch!” the Captain called.
“Captain,” the soldiers answered, and shouldered
their guns.
Then the Cossack explained, “Just crazy
Americans.”
The military police clicked their heels and
saluted and a few minutes later the so-called crazy
Americans and their extraordinary companion
dismounted at the A.R.A. residence for a late dinner
and a review of the day, marked with more than one
hearty laugh.
To hear that there were five Orthodox bishops in
Orenburg was not news but to hear it from an army
officer was somewhat unusual. The man seemed
to be interested in everything and everybody. His
knowledge of their presence aroused curiosity and it
was decided to find out what he had in mind about
them.
“Something you can do for me and for them”
was his answer to the first inquiry. “You know,” he
continued, “they are really holy men, long suffering, edifying, poor and hungry. Why not give them a
dinner at the Mission House, at your convenience?
The local government might become suspicious of
intrigue on the part of the Mission but I would be
present as an interpreter and, so far as authorities
are concerned, as a government agent.”
“And don’t you think we would be placing the
Mission in jeopardy?”
That question was put without forethought and
was immediately followed with an apology.
“Have I ever harmed the Mission thus far?” he
asked with a smile.
“On the contrary, Captain, no one has been a
greater help to us.”
“And it is not over yet,” he added. “The bishops
have their own system of gathering information
and they will not hesitate to talk in my presence.”
This was the second dinner given to the
Orthodox Clergy by the Papal Relief Mission and, so
far as the guests and the menu were concerned, it
was quite similar to the first. It was held during the
season of Lent when these holy men were
observing a strict fast, even during the time of
famine, and it took considerable persuasion on the
part of the Cossack Captain to get them to accept
our invitation. The long and solemn grace before
meals, intoned by the eldest of the bishops, was
chanted in a mellow monotone and at its closing the
Captain announced that the bishops would like to
hear from the Director of the Papal Relief Mission.
The announcement was wholly unexpected and the
35 | chapter vi: danger, diplomacy, and the cossack captain
�situation was embarrassing. Insofar as they knew,
and the Captain as well, they were being addressed
by a layman. The problem was what to say and
not to say too much. A few words of welcome
and an expression of sympathy for their present
plight seemed to be sufficient. Somewhat dubious,
however, as to whether or not they would do justice
to the menu during the season of Lent, it did not
seem out of place to remind them that, apart from
their power of dispensation, the laws of fasting,
which they were accustomed to observe during the
holy season, had no place in a land of famine.
When the dinner was over, it was evident that the
closing words of the opening address, wishing them
good appetite, might well have been omitted. When
they were offered cigarettes, in the course of the
meal, one of them remarked, “The food, Sir, was a
much needed blessing, to add to it would be partaking of a luxury.” The information they dispensed in
the recreation that followed the dinner was really
surprising. They even knew what Fr. Walsh was
doing in Moscow to keep the churches open in
Petrograd and they were also certain that his efforts
would be unavailing, as they were. Their prediction
as to what would happen when famine conditions
ended in Orenburg was verified exactly as they had
pictured it; namely, the destruction of the Catholic
Church in Russia. Their forecast was realized in the
trial of the Catholic clergy in Moscow during Easter
Week of 1923.
✩
Sign from a feeding kitchen in Kostov, reading: “The Pope’s
Catholic Mission of aid to the Russian People. Rescue mission
of the Holy See to the Russian people.”
36 | chapter vi: danger, diplomacy, and the cossack captain
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER VII
Two Honest Men
Diogenes might well have left his
lantern at home if he went out to find an honest man in Orenburg. Such men just seemed to
appear there from nowhere and fortunately so for
the Papal Relief Mission. The annual flood of the
Ural River was due in a few weeks and thousands of
peasants would be coming into the city of Orenburg
for food. The storage plants were getting low and
a trainload of ten cars of American food belonging
to the Papal Mission was long overdue. Evidently it
had been wrongly routed or sidetracked after leaving
Moscow. Public carriers at that time in Russia were
anything but reliable. Despite the fact that he was
poorly clad and wearing broken shoes, a few words
with the middle-aged stranger who walked into the
office looking for work were sufficient to convince
one that he was more than he appeared to be at first
sight. Half hiding an old cloth hat under his arm, he
made his request through an interpreter.
“Ask what languages he speaks.” The question
was prompted by curiosity but the answer to it
awakened an immediate interest.
“He says he speaks five, Russian, Polish, German,
French and Italian, and also Chinese, Japanese,
37 | chapter vii
and Turkish.”
The conclusion from this was that he must be a
well-traveled citizen. His French was a treat to the
ear.
“Do you know anything about railroading?”
“I should. I spent twenty-seven years with nearly
every branch of the Royal Railways.”
Here was the man who was really needed. After
signing papers as an employee of the Mission, he
listened carefully to a series of instructions, amounting to the following: Leave for Moscow tomorrow.
Go to the office of the American Relief Administration (A.R.A.) and get the data on Urelcon number
thirty-three. That means an A.R.A. sale to the Papal
Relief Mission in Orenburg. Here are the bills of
lading for the train involved which is somewhere between here and Moscow. Trace it down and see how
soon you can get it into Orenburg. Here are one
hundred American dollars. You probably know how
to use them on the Russian railroads. Buy yourself
some clothes and a hat in Moscow. Live moderately
and report here when you return. To say the least,
the man was somewhat surprised and after a moment’s pause he said, “That’s a lot of money, Sir.
�Feeding kitchen in Kirghiz. Sign: “Catholic Mission
of Assistance. The Pope to the Russian People.”
You don’t know me and why should you be entrusting me with such a sum?”
“Because there is a very urgent and a difficult
job to be done and you are evidently the man to do
it. Knowing a man on first acquaintance is not so
unusual.”
Ten days later he was back in the office. This was
a big surprise but it was still a bigger one when he
handed in forty-nine dollars and an itemized account of what he had spent.
“But you didn’t buy the clothes.”
“No, Sir, just the shoes. The old ones were falling
off. The clothes can wait. They were too costly and I
had only a little time in Moscow. The train, Sir, is at
the storage plant, ready for unloading.”
Here was a man wholly devoted to duty and
self-sacrificing, despite his many needs. If he had
handed back ten dollars or nothing at all, no questions would have been asked. The trainload of
food was worth thousands of dollars; the man who
recovered it was certainly worthy of his hire. From
that day on until the Mission closed, the main office
had no further worries about the accounts and the
invoices of the two large storehouses. The new superintendent was as efficient in handling hundreds
of tons of American food supplies as he was capable
of finding them when they went astray.
In 1923 Orenburg was a prison city, a place to
38 | chapter vii: two honest men
which the intellectuals of Petrograd and Moscow
were banished when suspected of being anti-Communist. Some of them were retained there and others were transported to prison camps when the winter was over and the Trans-Siberian railroad opened
from Orenburg to Vladivostok. Some of these political prisoners were easily recognized as such in their
conversation, if not by appearance. One afternoon a
small thin man with refined features, a prominent
brow, soft blue eyes, and delicately shaped hands
came into the Papal Relief Office and asked in softly
spoken French if there was a position open for an
office clerk.
“No, Sir, office clerks are on the government payroll and the office has all the clerks the government
will permit.” His answer to this was, “If you know
who I am, please do not Sir me in the presence of
others,” and the conversation continued.
“However, there is a position open as a private
secretary and if you would like to take it, you would
not be a government employee.”
“I would like to take any position that would
bring me enough to buy some food. What would
one have to do as a private secretary?”
“Practically nothing, just translate Russian documents into French and occasional pieces from the
Moscow papers when they come in. You were sent
here by the Cossack Captain, is that correct?”
�“Quite correct, Sir. He was a friend of our family
in Petrograd.”
“No doubt. That man is everyone’s friend. And
by the way, you mentioned food. If you care to
come in to dinner in about an hour, you will be very
welcome.”
The man was nervous. He was unconsciously
licking his lips before answering.
“Yes, Sir, I would like to eat but I cannot take
dinner with you.”
“Then perhaps you can take it before me. The
dining room is upstairs. Your dinner will be ready
in half an hour. One of the boys will tell the cook
that you are coming in. Evidently you are in need of
clothes also. Take these rubles instead of American
money; somebody might become suspicious.
Come back for work in two or three days, at your
convenience.”
He bowed out gracefully saying, “Thank you, Sir.
I assure you that this will not be forgotten.”
Two days later, the private secretary appeared for
work, much better dressed and looking far more
contented. From that time one, he was a frequent
dinner guest and on one occasion when asked why
he refused the first invitation, he related the history
of his coming to Orenburg.
“That day,” he said, “was only my second day in
Orenburg, as a political prisoner, an intelligentsia
suspect. Attached to a special train leaving Petrograd
for Orenburg there was a freight car with a human
cargo of twelve political prisoners to be let down at
different prison towns. It took six weeks to make
the journey instead of the ordinary four or five days.
We were sidetracked here and there for several days
at a time. You can imagine the conditions existing
in that car. Twice we stopped at places where relief
organizations were working and we were given a
supply of American food. I was one of two Orthodox
priests in the cargo of convicts, both professors in
the Orthodox seminary in Petrograd. Here, as prisoners at large we have to report to the Police every
third day. There were several reasons for refusing
your first invitation to dinner, the first of which was
my personal appearance. The second and stronger
reason was the fact that I had not had a real meal in
months and I was afraid that I would not be able to
39 | chapter vii: two honest men
restrain myself from taking handfuls of good food
the minute I saw it, instead of being patient and
using a knife and fork. In fact, when I went to table
that day, the minute the cook turned his back I took
up the bowl of soup in both hands and finished it
before I put it down. You can exercise patience when
hungry, and probably restraint when famished, but
no one is accountable for control when he is actually
starving.”
When given his first week’s pay, this Christian
gentleman refused to take it all, and remarked,
“Now please do not pay me too much, just enough
for incidentals. I bought the clothes and the Captain
is taking care of my lodging. They may search me or
my room at any time and if they found extra money,
there is no telling what might happen.”
The dinner table was the most convenient place
for conversation, which eventually ran through a
gamut of war, revolution and famine, politics, education and religion. One day at dinner, in the midst
of a conversation on the spoliation of the churches,
he broke in with a wholly unexpected remark.
“You said that you attended a Catholic college
in America. It seems to me that your education
went somewhat beyond the college. What we have
been discussing of late relative to the churches, the
jurisdiction of the Pope, and the doctrinal differences between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches is matter that is treated in a seminary
rather than a college. I should know because I
taught in a seminary. If you will allow me a minute
or two I shall explain what I have in mind.”
“Certainly. Take all the time you need. We have
plenty of it.”
His explanation was a revelation, which he unfolded without a sign of exterior emotion.
“Before I was ordained a priest,” he began quietly, “I decided that I would never get married. That
decision was made, not because I was looking forward to becoming a bishop but because I felt, even
at that early date, that the time must come when
I would have to make a major change. The only
complaint they ever had against me as a professor
in the seminary was that I was too Roman. When I
was marked for banishment as a political convict, I
determined to act upon an idea which I could never
�succeed in getting rid of for any length of time, but
then the consequences of doing so loomed bigger
than ever. If I made the decision and became a Roman Catholic priest, I would not only be separated
from my people, I would in all probability spend the
rest of my days in the living death of a Bolshevik
prison, where I could do nothing for either church
or people. After taking that ride from Petrograd to
Orenburg all fear of the prison disappeared. Here at
the Papal Mission I have been happy but not satisfied. We must talk this over some time before you
leave. In the meantime I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Do ask it, and it will be granted if at all possible.”
“Thank you, but do not be too surprised at my
request. May I come in some morning and attend
your Mass?”
The question caused not only surprise but
hesitation for a reply.
“Are you sure that Mass is being celebrated
here?”
“Quite convinced, Sir, and I have been for some
time past.”
“Then you are very welcome. Come along but
you will have to be here early. Mass begins at five
a.m. and in that connection let me say that the
Americans here are not aware of my identity as a
40 | chapter vii: two honest men
priest, and neither is the Cossack Captain, at least
insofar as can be discerned.” His answer to this was
one to be remembered.
“About the Captain, I do not know. If he does
know it, you may be sure he will never reveal it to
anyone. A secret with him is a lock on friendship.”
He knelt through the entire Mass in an attitude
of prayerful devotion, as he did on several later
occasions. The Russian Captain was quite satisfied
that his friend was getting along very nicely as a
private secretary but he noticed, as did others, that
his health was failing rapidly. To conclude the story
of this virtual martyr, two weeks before the Papal
Mission closed, he asked to have a letter enclosed in
the mailbag to be picked up by the Moscow courier
the following day. The letter was addressed to the
Director of the Vatican Relief Mission in Moscow,
who knew where and how to forward its enclosure.
The content of the enclosure, written in Latin to
Pope Pius XI, was the entire submission of this holy
priest to the Head of the Roman Catholic Church.
On inquiry in Rome, some months later, it was
learned that the Holy Father received this message a
few weeks before the author of it died in Orenburg
of a galloping consumption.
✩
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER VIII
Mission Accomplished
Fr. Walsh once remarked that the most
interesting study for a visitor in a foreign country is not the landscape or the scenery,
nor is it the art and architecture of the people, but
the people themselves. True as this may be, the
people are affected by what surrounds them. Their
habits of living, temperament, and disposition are
influenced by climate and temperature and by the
seemingly extravagant moods of nature manifested
almost everywhere; and Orenburg was no exception
to all of this. It had the reputation of being the coldest place in Russia in the winter and the warmest
in the summer. At times it was a seasonless locality, as it was in 1923, when there was practically no
springtime. The winter went out in late March and
the summer came in with early April. The mountain
snow melted so rapidly that the Ural River came
up twenty-one feet in three days and with alarming
results. The city is built on a hill that ends abruptly
high above the river bank. On the other side of the
river, where the steppes end only a few feet above
the river level, there were two sizeable villages. The
rapid rise of the water made an island of the city,
and the villages on the opposite bank of the river
41 | chapter viii
were inundated up to the eaves of two-story houses.
Fortunately, the storage plants of the A.R.A. and
of the Papal Mission were well stocked but it took
considerable search and preparation on the part of
both organizations to improvise feeding centers
for 4,000 villagers who were to stay for at least ten
days. The lodging problem was solved by the pleasant weather and most of them were bivouacked in
the spacious park in the middle of the town. The
pumping station for the city water was situated on
the river bank and it was the first public utility to go
out of commission. The refugees made up for drinking water with the thousands of cans of condensed
milk distributed from the feeding kitchens. With an
honorary Captain at the head of both of the relief
organizations, the Cossacks came to their rescue by
hauling large hogsheads of water up the hill to their
residence and then, under the direction of a Russian
doctor, sprinkling a heavy coating of alum on the
surface of the water. It took about four hours for this
to sink down to the bottom of the container, carrying with it most of the river silt and other impurities. Then the top half of the barrel of water could be
used for cooking or even for drinking water, if it was
�A.R.A relief train in Tsaritsyn, along the frozen Volga River.
boiled for seven minutes and filtered. Evidently the
doctor had previous experience with this unusual
prescription which proved to be quite satisfactory.
Ten days later, when the waters receded, the villagers were back in their houses, facing the herculean task of cleaning them out and making them
livable. When one of the ancients of the place, who
had seen a dozen of these floods, was asked why
the people return to their villages, he answered,
“Because their ancestors lived there and because
they have no other place to go. It was not too hard
on them this year because the relief missions were
here. They are a durable people.” The flood was
a unique experience and it produced a still more
unusual phenomenon. Within two weeks of the
time when the river reached its normal level, looking over it and past the villages, what seemed to be
a square mile of the steppes was as white as snow in
the glittering sun. With an off-steppes wind blowing, the atmosphere of the whole city was permeated with a light and a delicate odor and, for rubles
amounting to a few cents, the children in the streets
were selling big bouquets of full-grown lilies of the
valley, and every house was filed with them. Here
was a land bereft of bread but steeped in a luxurious
fragrance for which the wealthy of other countries
were paying exorbitant prices. The city was gay and
42 | chapter viii: Mission Accomplished
the people were happy because, as they said, the lilies were a sure sign of a good harvest for the coming
year. The Directors of the relief organizations were
also happy, not at the thought of leaving this wonderful people but with the realization of the fact that
famine conditions had passed and they could begin
closing the kitchens and distributing the food and
the clothing left in their warehouses.
Considering the size of the city and the ratio
of its non-Russian population, it was surprising to
find so many formerly affluent Russians living in
Orenburg. During the winter of 1921, all of Russia
in Europe, and part of it in Asia, was as active as
an anthill, with millions of people migrating in all
directions in search of that vital commodity, food.
There were people in Orenburg from Moscow,
Petrograd, the Crimea, the Ukraine, and the Caucasus, and they were living there because when their
flight brought them to that point they found the
American Relief Administration in full operation
of famine relief. No doubt there were extraordinary
and edifying people in all the cities already visited
but time limits and the active business of opening
feeding centers prevented a stranger from meeting
them. Eli Tolstoy, a scion of the family of the famous
novelist, was an employee in the office of the Papal
Relief Mission. It was a pleasure to ride with him on
�visits to distant relief stations. The Russian Cossack
Captain said he was the most expert horseman he
had ever known, high praise from a Cossack, of only
one of this young man’s abilities. Robust and of fine
appearance, he was a linguist as well as a fine bookkeeper, and like the famous Leo of the same name,
as he once remarked, he was also interested in social
reform, but not in the particular kind of it in which
he had been unwittingly ensnared.
Some Russians, at one time distinguished and
wealthy, were listed as regular recipients of food
packages from the Papal Relief Mission in Orenburg. Professor R., as we shall call him, known
throughout Europe as one of the most celebrated
cellists of his time, and his wife, a concert pianist
and his accompanist, were on the same list. Before
the First World War, this couple had visited most of
the European capitals on concert and recital tours
and, after playing in Berlin, the Emperor of Germany presented the professor with a valuable cello,
which he cherished as his prize possession. During
the 1917 revolution the government decided that
he was not sufficiently sympathetic to Bolshevik
ideas, so they took away his cello and gave it to the
first cellist in the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater
in Moscow. This brought about a protest from the
acting Ambassador of Germany, who claimed that
the instrument was really the property of the German government, and it was restored to its so-called
keeper. Even the hardships and the throes of poverty
and want cannot divert the devotion of a genius
from his particular calling. As an illustration of this,
the Professor, who was a pianist and a composer,
as well as a cello virtuoso, told of his own personal
experience when they were dependent upon bread
cards for their daily allowance of food.
At six o’clock on a winter morning he was at the
piano working on the composition of a new sonata,
when Madam R. came in and reminded him that
if he lost his place in line at the government store
they might be without bread for the day. His answer
was that he was looking for something that he could
not find; something that he knew was in those keys
and which he needed to complete a melody. Then
he played a few measures and asked her to hold
the final chord until he returned, when he would
43 | chapter viii: Mission Accomplished
continue from there. He stood in line for more than
two hours, on a cold morning and not heavily clad,
before he got into the store to present his card for
whatever provisions were being distributed that day.
Supplies were running low, and he returned to the
house with one loaf of black bread and half a sack of
partly frozen potatoes. His first question on entering
was, “Did you hold that chord for me?” The answer
was, “Yes, and I had time to work on it. Listen to
this.” Then she sat down at the piano and played
a few lines of his composition, which she knew by
heart, and continued to the end of the melody.
“You have it. You have it,” he repeated, raising
his voice. “You have found what I was looking for,
and now we can eat. I met Doctor Ivan and he gave
me some tea and two eggs. This is really a big day.”
The professor finished his sonata and sent it
to the Academy of Music in Moscow, where it was
published as the first great work of its kind since
the founding of the Bolshevik regime. He was not
looking for royalties. They were not paying them in
those days. On several occasions the professor gave
a private recital for the Directors of the two relief
missions, with Madam R. at the piano. This was entertainment that, only a few years before, the capital
cities of Europe were paying to enjoy.
With reference to his autobiography, Sir William
Butler mentions the blessed gift of memory, and
so it is when circumstances surrounding a pleasant episode of former years serve to recall a happy
venture of the distant past. One sunny afternoon,
riding in over the Kirghiz steppes with Hartridge
and the Russian Captain, the Cossack reined in his
horse and pointed to a flock of a dozen or more
large birds, a few hundred yards away, feeding on
the grubs and on the young grass pushed up by the
recent rains.
“A rare sight,” he said. “If we ride toward them,
either walking or galloping, they will run a certain
distance and then take short flight, always keeping
out of range of a shotgun. Even if we had our guns
with us we could never bag one of them. We need
one more man to do that. They won’t stay around
very long, so if we come out tomorrow with Smith,
you will see how the Cossacks do it. They are fine
eating and we can get ourselves a good dinner.” That
�was a hunting party to look forward to and it proved
to be all that was anticipated.
On the following afternoon, with four in the
party, all carrying double-barreled shotguns, the
birds were sighted almost a mile from where they
had been feeding the day before. The Russian, a
master of logistics, called a halt and issued his plan
of attack. About a mile or so to the west there was
a mound, about a hundred feet long and thirty feet
high. Such mounds are common on the steppes.
The birds were between us and the mound and,
as the Cossack said, perfectly placed because their
flight into the sun is shorter than away from it.
Smith had a shotgun with a third barrel for rifle
shooting and he was the first one to get orders. He
rode off in a big circle to the far side of the mound,
tied his horse at the foot of it, crept up to the top and
lay flat, waiting for the birds to come within range.
If they landed close or flew over the mound he could
use the shotgun. If they landed in front of him, but
beyond the range of a small shot, he was to take a
pot shot at them from the rifle barrel, because their
next flight might be around the mound instead of
over it.
The next maneuver was to drive the birds up to
the mound and orders were given to deploy, one
to the right, one to the left, and the third to ride
straight at the mound. The two that were flanking
were to ride in at a slow gallop, first one and then
the other, to keep them in line, and the rear guard,
the Russian, was to zigzag, if the birds flew from
one side to the other. The idea was to keep them
moving toward the mound and directly into the sun,
and no one was to fire until he heard Smith’s shot.
The birds made at least ten flights before Smith
fired. That scattered the flock and the others rode in
fast to take them on the wing. Smith got one with
his rifle shot and the Russian Captain, riding at full
speed, dropped one with a long shot from his shotgun. It was an unusual and an exciting foray and the
results were both lucky and laughable.
The Captain took his bird to the barracks and
Smith’s bird, the larger one weighing about twenty
pounds, furnished the main dish of a turkey dinner
at the A.R.A. residence. As the Captain said, it really
was a fine eating but there was a common doubt in
44 | chapter viii: Mission Accomplished
everyone’s mind as to just what kind of bird it was.
In size and shape it resembled an American turkey
but with no variety of color, all of its feathers being
a dull russet brown. It had about the same size head
as the American bird but with no tuft, and a shorter
neck with no wattles, and the meat on its body, even
that on the wings and legs, was all white. The Russians called it a turkey, using the word eenduke and
the Kirghiz and the Bashkirs had several names for
it, all of them unpronounceable. It probably was an
Asiatic turkey of the bastard species but, apart from
its name and its flavor, it was the manner in which
it was hunted down on the steppes that revived a
pleasant memory of ten years previous.
Our private secretary, an Orthodox priest and an
excellent classical scholar, was present at the turkey
dinner and quite interested in the account of the
pursuit of the birds. A few days later he came in
with a book that he had borrowed from a bishop’s
library and that evening we had a pleasant session
over the Greek text of Xenophon’s Anabasis. The text
was familiar, being the same that was used in the
second year Greek classes at Fordham Preparatory
School in 1913. The chief purpose of our meeting
was to discuss a passage in the fifth chapter of the
first book of the Anabasis, of which the following is a
summary:
Then he marched through Arabia keeping the
Euphrates on the right, five stages through a
desert country, thirty-five parasangs. The ground
of this region was as level as the sea. There were
no trees. The place simply abounded in wild
animals, such as wild asses, ostriches, bustards,
and gazelles. The animals were sometimes
chased by the horsemen. The wild asses were
too fast for the horses but some were captured
by relays of riders. Their flesh was like venison
but more tender. No one succeeded in taking an
ostrich because they outdistanced the riders in
no time. The bustards, however, could be caught
if they were flushed quickly because they make
only short flights and tire quickly and they too
make good easting.
The secretary’s comment on this passage
�served to enhance the pleasure of the recollection it
awakened.
“So there you are,” he began. “Were you three
Americans chasing the same species of bird on
the Kirghiz steppes as Xenophon’s horsemen were
hunting in Mesopotamia? At that time Xenophon’s
10,000 Greeks, as part of the Persian army of Cyrus
the Younger, were on the march to take Susa, the
Capital of Persia, and thus to dethrone Artaxerxes,
the King of Persia and the elder brother of Cyrus.
At present, however, we are not interested in the
military expedition nor in the fatal battle of Cunaxa,
but rather in the particular kind of bird that was run
down near the banks of the Euphrates in the year
401 b.c. Evidently it is native to the warmer climate
of Mesopotamia and Egypt and probably appeared
then, as it does now, in the north, and periodically,
when the warm weather sets in. In fact the natives here know that the summer has begun when
this bird appears in the steppes. With their short
flights, how long does it take these birds to migrate
a distance of 1,500 miles, and have they been doing
this for a period of 2,600 years or more? These are
questions that should interest the ornithologists
and questions that probably will never be answered.
When you were teaching Greek to your American
students you never dreamed that in company with
two other Americans you would one day enjoy the
very ancient sport you were reading about in the
Anabasis. And I might say also that we can both
agree with Xenophon who said that the meat of
these birds is really delicious.”
At mid-May the termination of relief work in
the District of Orenburg was not far off and the
remaining few weeks reviewed in retrospect present
a blended series of sad and happy recollections.
Russian relief workers have often been asked if the
Russian people ever expressed their gratitude for
the help they received during the famine of 1921
to 1923. This is a question which only those who
were connected with the relief organizations in that
country can answer, and the answer to it is yes, and
decidedly so. The people in general had no means of
expressing their thanks to the United States Government which sponsored the relief, except through
their own government channels to which they had
45 | chapter viii: Mission Accomplished
no access and, so far as is known, their government
never responded for them. One had to be in daily
contact with the people, and to hear the expression
of their regrets that they could do nothing to show
their gratitude for the help they were receiving. In
every one of the 200 feeding kitchens, large and
small, of the Orenburg Division of the Papal Relief
Organization, regardless of their ethnic origin, the
people were so obliging and so hospitable that there
was no room for doubt about their being grateful,
and when it came time to leave them the parting
was the separation of admiring friends. Shortly
before leaving Orenburg, the Director of the A.R.A.,
Mr. Hartridge said:
They are a different people now. When we first
came here, if you asked a man how he felt, he
might answer, ‘Worse than yesterday but better
than tomorrow,’ but that has all been changed.
That was in January when they were hungry,
downhearted and crying. Now it is May and it
makes one happy to see them smiling and to
hear them laughing.
On June 2 orders were received by telegram to
cease operations, close the station in Orenburg, and
return to Moscow by the nineteenth. The A.R.A.
received similar instructions, stating that since
famine conditions no longer existed their work was
to end by June 15. Liquidation, as they called it, or
closing up a relief station was, in some respects,
more of a task than opening it. Operations were
developed to full capacity within two months after
the opening and by the time of closing the Papal
Mission in Orenburg was taking care of 48,000
people. To undo all this in two weeks meant a hectic
fortnight. Detailed records of all operations had to
be filed in triplicate, one copy for the Vatican, one
for the Central Government and one for the local
authorities. Warehouse inventories showed 188
tons of food to be distributed to distant centers and
40,000 dollars worth of textile material for making
clothes. One half of the textiles were for outlying
units and the second half to be given to the local
government for the city population, with a promise
on one side and hope on the other that they would
�be properly allocated. All Russian employees,
numbering more than 700, received a bonus of both
food and clothing, including an office staff of twenty,
all city and district kitchen attendants, warehouse
workers, and transport drivers. The day before
departure, the residence and the storage plants were
officially turned back to the local government and
documents signed accordingly.
The two weeks of liquidation, however, were
not entirely taken up with work. It was during this
brief period that the people were really bent upon
expressing their gratitude.
One afternoon was given over to a garden
festival, held in a large recreation field, as a farewell
party for the four American relief agents, three of
the A.R.A. and the Director of the Vatican Relief
Mission. The whole affair was arranged by the
city officials and the program offered Kirghiz folk
songs and dancing and a short play presented by
the pupils of the local School of Russian Ballet. The
feature event of the afternoon was a camel race,
arranged by the Russian Cossack Captain, and it was
a thrilling spectacle. There were three entries, all
representing the A.R.A. but sporting no particular
stable colors. It was a one-mile race, three times
around a course staked out on the perimeter of the
field. The riders were Kirghiz boys about fifteen
years old, wearing short pants and flimsy shirts. The
pants were cut-downs from cast-off overalls brought
in from the A.R.A. warehouse and the over-fitting
shirts were donated by the Papal Mission. The
camels were of the one hump, dromedary species.
It was all bareback riding, no saddles of any kind,
and the bridles were fashioned from rope, tied in
a noose around the camel’s jaws, with the ends
thrown back for reins.
Toward the middle of the third lap, with all three
running close and going at full gallop, the camels
evidently decided that they had had enough of it.
The leader bolted out the gate and down the main
street. Number two, attempting to follow him, was
brought to a halt by being caught in the gate, which
was half closed against his exit, and number three
walked in leisurely and won the race. The crowd of
more than a thousand was in hysterics, laughing
and cheering the winner and waving their hats and
46 | chapter viii: Mission Accomplished
shawls. The prizes donated to all the riders by the
A.R.A. consisted of a full outfit of clothing with
shoes and stockings, a cap, and an overcoat against
the coming winter. With excitement over and on
calm reflection, it appeared that the most amazing
part of this annual race was not the bizarre antics of
the camels but the fact that none of the boy riders
was hurt or even unseated. As Hartridge afterwards
remarked, there probably was not a high-ranking
jockey in America who could duplicate their feat,
with their equipment and riding that breed of
dromedary thoroughbreds.
Shortly before leaving for Moscow, in a
conversation with the Russian Cossack Captain,
he revealed his position as that of a man who
was left floundering in doubt as a result of the
Bolshevik revolution, and having made a decision
decided to hold to it. When asked about future
correspondence he decided against it. Yes, he could
receive letters from abroad but with the assurance
that they had been opened before delivery. Escape
from Russia would have been easy, by way of
Persia, but what could he do for his people from the
outside? Once he was marked as a special fugitive,
as he would be, no corner of the earth would be
safe for him. This man knew what it meant to be
separated from friends and from wealth, but for
him there was something in life more precious
than its consolations. As he expressed it, there was
nothing in life like a revolution to accustom one to
unpleasant changes. His philosophy of life seemed
to be, forget your own misfortune by helping others
to forget theirs. An Orthodox bishop said of this
extraordinary man that he was endowed early with
the realization that God never created anything
solely for its own sake, and especially a thinking
being, and he has lived his life accordingly.
On the day of departure for Moscow the train
due in from Aktyubinsk was two hours late in
arriving and another hour late in departing. Trains
were usually off schedule but this time the delay was
welcome because it afforded some extra time to visit
with the gathering that had come to the station to
stage a final farewell to the Americans. As the train
was pulling out of the depot, in the crowd of several
hundred people on the station platform, the men
�were waving their hands or their hats and many of
the women were standing with their hands held in
front of them in an attitude of prayer. A scene like
this was sufficient in itself to answer the question,
Were the Russian people grateful?
In later years, during visits to the Old Soldiers’
Home in Washington occasions were recalled for
reliving various incidents of life in Russia. The
conversation on one of these visits brought back a
surprising meeting in Orenburg and an unexpected
recognition despite the mustache added to the
incognito. Major Denis McSweeney, retired after
thirty-four years with the Supply Department of the
U.S. Army, came into Russia with Colonel Haskell
as an accountant and a supply manager. He was
a graduate of the Christian Brothers’ School in
Dublin, an expert bookkeeper and mathematician
and the oldest member of the A.R.A. Last seen in
the Crimea in September 1922, he was a welcome
visitor when he walked into the Papal Relief Mission
in Orenburg on March 16, 1923.
“You are just in time, Denis. When you finish
checking up on the A.R.A. supplies and finances
why don’t you go over my Mission books and
warehouse and save me a whole weekend on a
quarterly report?”
47 | chapter viii: Mission Accomplished
“Certainly. Fr. Walsh asked me to do just that
before I left him in Moscow.”
“Denis, you probably are the only real Irishman
within a thousand miles of this place. Tomorrow
will be Saint Patrick’s Day and how shall we
celebrate it?”
He paused for a moment, looked around to see
that we were alone and said, “You say the Mass and
I’ll serve it.”
“Now wait a minute, Denis.”
“No need to wait, Father. Neither Hartridge nor
Smith is aware of your calling but I knew every
member of the Papal Mission in the Crimea for just
what he was, priest or lay brother.”
He was on hand the next morning at 5:30 and
served the Mass with the ease and accuracy of a
head altar boy. Denis dated back almost to the Civil
War. He was known for his stories of army life,
some credible, some otherwise, and this reputation
was enhanced at the Old Soldiers’ Home where he
spent the last few years of his life, and died at the
age of ninety-four.
✩
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER IX
Reasons to Remain
Judging from outward appearances the
City of Moscow had changed for the
better since last seen, half a year before. The
shopping districts were more active and Government stores had more stock on hand than what
appeared in the windows. Street cars were running
with some regularity and they were always overcrowded, despite the fact that carfares had gone up
and the ruble had gone down. The housing problem
for the increased population had become a major
economic question. Living space was allotted by the
government and all attic and cellar space had been
converted into living quarters. The street markets
were crowded. The people were more active and
looked happier, and evidently most of the men were
working at something or other. The five-year economic plan was in operation and, since the government had taken over more than it could handle,
much of the city industry had been given back to
its previous owners. This was a temporary measure
which was rescinded as soon as the industry was
well established. Russian economy had been stalled
for the past five years and it was the presence and
the efforts of the relief organizations, during the
48 | chapter ix
past three years, that gave it the necessary push to
get started and to keep moving on its own fuel and
machinery. Feeding eleven million people a day
lifted a burden that enabled the Government to plan
and to operate.
With the announcement that the A.R.A. would
cease work and withdraw from Russia toward the
end of June, the affiliated organizations, including
the Vatican Relief Mission, had to decide whether
they would also terminate operations or continue
feeding on new contracts with the government. Fr.
Walsh decided that there were at least three good
reasons why the Vatican Mission should remain
in Russia. The first was that he would work for the
release of Archbishop Cieplak and his twenty priests
who were in prison. Secondly, there was a faint
but fading hope that he could establish a pattern
of existence for the Catholic Church in Russia; and
finally, that he might be able to recover the relics of
Blessed Andrew Bobola, which the government had
in hiding, and for which Pope Pius XI had made
two requests. The first two reasons were doomed to
failure. The third was more successful.
There were still a few hunger spots marked on
�Dressmaker shop,
likely Orenburg.
the map that the government asked the Vatican
Mission to take over but the conditions demanded in
signing a new contract were so prohibitive that the
only relief work carried on after the end of June was
the feeding of students in Moscow. The new contract
was to give the government full control of relief
allotments. The Mission was to give up its present
residence and take over smaller quarters on which
a government tax would be levied and for which
the Mission workers were to pay rental. Special
courier service for mail was to be discontinued and
all mail, outgoing and incoming, was to be handled
by regular federal service. Domestic help was to be
government-appointed and customs duty was to be
paid on all food supplies from foreign countries.
Hitherto all food supplies were purchased from
and distributed by the A.R.A. With such regulations
in force the Mission would be paying double for
supplies and for service it was offering gratis, and
with no freedom of operation.
The result of all this was a series of meetings between the Director of the Mission and government
officials which resulted in nothing save the decision
of the Director to cease operations and to withdraw
from the country. This, however, was a decision that
49 | chapter ix: Reasons to Remain
he could not act upon alone. It was one of several
matters that needed the immediate approval of the
Vatican and which could not be entrusted to the
mails, with the courier service discontinued. Hence
it was that he prepared to leave for Rome as soon as
his American Assistant returned from Orenburg.
In company with Colonel William Haskell, Director General of the A.R.A., he left for Rome on June
20th, traveling by boat from Odessa to Constantinople to Athens, and he was back in Moscow on July
12th, returning by way of Berlin and Warsaw.
In the absence of the Director of the Mission,
no new relief work was undertaken. The Moscow
students were fed every day. The Church and
State question was at a standstill and the returned
Mission agents were lodged in a hotel and paying
rent for their lodging. Detailed records of all Vatican
Relief Stations were compiled and copies sent to the
Russian Central Government and to Rome. Since
the Orenburg station was the only Vatican relief
center east of the Volga River and quite different
from all the others, it may be of interest, before
taking leave of it, to present a summary of the part
it played in Vatican relief in Russia. This was the
last station of the Mission to open and the first to
�close. The Vatican Relief Mission was working in
Russia from July 1922 to November 1923. Feeding
operations began in Orenburg in the last week of
February 1923 and terminated at the end of June of
that year. Within that period, 1,015 people were fed
daily in Orenburg City kitchens. With the district
kitchens in full operation the number of people fed
daily was: in Aktyubinsk, in 104 kitchens, 13,297;
in Ak-Bulak, in 93 kitchens, 11,400; in Djereen, in
107 kitchens, 14,902; a district total of 39,599. The
number of people who received monthly rations
from the distribution center in Orenburg was
1881. Those supplied with clothing in the City of
Orenburg numbered 715; in Aktyubinsk, 3,051. The
number who received clothing packages, i.e., cloth
for making clothes plus thread, needles and buttons
was 142. The total of persons assisted in one way or
another by the station beyond the Volga was 48,000.
The big advantage in operating this station was
the fact that the American Relief Administration
was working there at the same time. The A.R.A.
Director, Llengle Hartridge of Yale, and his
assistant, Pat Smith, of Michigan football fame,
were two of the most experienced relief workers
in the Hoover organization, and their generous
help in the organization and in the conduct of
the Orenburg station were invaluable. All in all,
reviewed in retrospect and relative to the nobility
and the endurance of human nature, this unusual
assignment proved to be a school of enlightenment,
the vivid recollections of which have not dimmed
with the passing of the years.
The last of the A.R.A., including Colonel Haskell,
left Russia on July 20. With their departure the
50 | chapter ix: Reasons to Remain
Vatican Mission was somewhat isolated in Moscow
and the next three months were spent in endless
and useless disputes with Government officials
over the solution of problems upon which the
existence of the Mission was dependent. It was a
foregone conclusion that nothing could be done
about saving the Catholic Church in Russia. Church
affairs had been at a standstill since the trial of
the Catholic clergy in the previous Easter Week. It
was not until he had made a third request that Fr.
Walsh got permission to visit Archbishop Cieplak in
prison, and it was much later when he learned that
Leonide Feodorof, the Catholic Exarch, after being
condemned to hard labor, had been banished to the
Island of Solovkii. Feodorof was a highly educated
priest, unpretentious and uncompromising, who
had great influence with the people. The Bolshevik
Government openly avowed its fear of him when the
presiding judge at his trial declared that this man
was being condemned not for anything he had done
but for what he was capable of doing. He served ten
years in the labor camp and died two years after his
release.
The third reason for delaying the departure of
the Vatican Mission from Russia was the recovery
of the relics of Blessed Andrew Bobola. Two
previous requests for the surrender of the body of
Blessed Andrew made by Pope Pius XI to the State
Department of Russia had gone unanswered. When
Fr. Walsh returned from Rome in July he made
a third petition on behalf of the Vatican and this
time the relics were given over to the Mission for
transportation to Rome.
✩
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER X
Diplomatic Courier
In a final conference with
Mr. Tchitcherin, the Russian Secretary
of Foreign Affairs, it was arranged that since
Fr. Walsh had pressing business to be attended to
in Moscow, the Government dossier of his American Assistant would warrant his being entrusted
with the transportation of the remains of Blessed
Andrew Bobola from Moscow to Rome, by way of
Odessa and Constantinople. Fr. Walsh agreed to the
restriction placed upon the itinerary by the Secretary
at this conference; namely, the avoidance of Polish
territory. This journey was considered to be a diplomatic mission and for its accomplishment the one
in charge of it was appointed a diplomatic courier
of the State Department of the Soviet Government
and supplied with a diplomatic passport, signed in
red ink by Mr. Tchitcherin.
About a week before the day of departure word
was received from Rome to arrange for safe passage through the port of Constantinople and for the
transfer of the relics from the Russian steamer to a
Lloyd Tristino liner, sailing from there to Brindisi in
Italy. Rome was a step ahead of Moscow relative to
clearing the Turkish port, as will be seen. There was
51 | chapter x
a Turkish Ambassador in Moscow at the time, and
he proved to be most cooperative in the solution of
this problem. Meeting a Turkish Ambassador was
looked forward to with curiosity and, after five minutes waiting in the foyer of his residence, which was
adorned with a profusion of Turkish, Persian and
Bokhara rugs, it was a pleasant surprise to meet a
dapper gentleman neatly groomed in formal morning dress and speaking French like a native Parisian.
His up-to-date office was furnished in mahogany
neatly arranged with a collection of smaller silk rugs
of rich-looking texture. It was evident that he had a
hobby. After identification his first question was,
“And how can I be of service to you, Sir?”
“By suggesting, if you will, how one may clear
the port of Constantinople with an assignment of
diplomatic baggage being forwarded by the State
Department to the Vatican.”
“You are supplied with passports?”
“Yes, Sir,” and he was presented with a special
Vatican passport.
“How interesting,” he remarked as he was
reading the document, printed in Italian.
“This,” he said, “is the first Vatican passport I
�have ever seen and I consider it an honor to favor it.
Shall I sign it?”
“If you please, Sir. That would undoubtedly
help.”
“I may help,” he added, “but we may need more.
Let me write a letter to go with it.”
It took him only a minute or two to write the letter in Turkish and to hand it back with the passport,
remarking, “That should get you by in any circumstances, but do not use it unless you have to.”
It was a pleasure to find him so helpful and especially so when he made no inquiry whatsoever as
to the nature of the diplomatic baggage. With the official business over he was in no hurry to terminate
the visit and he continued the conversation.
“And how long have you been here?”
“In Russia somewhat over a year. In Moscow at
intervals and during the last three months.”
“Pity we did not meet sooner. We probably have
much in common to talk about, not as political but
as social isolationists. You know,” he continued with
a smile, “within a week after we were installed in
this house my servants discovered a dictaphone in
this office and one in my bedroom. What do you
think of that?”
“Not too disturbing, Sir. We have been dealing
with these people for so long that whatever they
do or say does not surprise us. They have assumed
responsibility for my baggage until it is taken off the
Russian ship at Constantinople, but there is no telling what may happen before we get there.”
On the way to the front door and in parting, he
said, “In case you have to use it, I hope that letter
will be of some assistance in liberating you from
their jurisdiction.” And it was.
The next important step was to get possession of
the so-called diplomatic baggage and to get under
way for the Holy City. After signing an agreement
that no undue publicity would be given to the transportation of the relics and that they would be placed
in a church in Rome, the day of departure was set
as the 3rd of October, which proved to be a very
busy day. In the Petrovska Museum, Fr. Walsh and
his American assistant, with their interpreter, met
with the Secretary of the Narkomindal, or People’s
Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, two agents of the
52 | chapter x: Diplomatic Courier
Gallagher, dressed as a diplomatic courier, on route from
Moscow to Rome, 1923.
G.P.U. and the Moscow Director of Customs. This
was the same museum in which the relics were being sought a year and three months before. Just off
the main exhibition hall, in a small storeroom filled
with plaster casts and old furniture, they pointed out
the casket containing the body of Blessed Andrew.
The remains were identified by the marks of martyrdom as enumerated in the second nocturn of the
office of his feast day. All the vestments had been
removed, probably during the raid on the church in
Polotsk in June 1922. Everything in the storeroom,
except the casket, was covered with a coating of dust,
from which it was concluded that the casket had
been brought there only recently. Where it had been
since June of the previous year was never discovered. After removing the round glass top from the
coffin, it was filled with new white cotton, without
disturbing the body, and closed under pressure with
�a flat wooden cover. It was then placed in a strong
wooden box made for the occasion and the small
space between the sides of the casket and the box
was stuffed with cotton to prevent disturbance of
the body in case of shock. Finally, the box was sealed
with four padlocks, each bearing the seals of Pius XI
and of the Moscow customs. On the following day
the expedition was under way, after a farewell look at
Moscow from Sparrow Hill.
The Odessa Express, or the post train, as it was
called, carried no baggage car, so it was arranged
to carry a special caboose, a Russian tiplushka, for
diplomatic baggage, something that was bound
to attract attention. When the box containing the
casket and one small trunk, filled with records of the
Vatican Relief Mission, were placed in the special
car, the doors of the car were locked and sealed.
About half an hour before the train was due to leave,
while our interpreter was acting as special guard of
the car, he was arrested by an agent of the G.P.U. for
refusing to reveal what the special car was carrying.
Fortunately the arresting party was encountered as
they were leaving the station and it took only the
presentation of the diplomatic passport to release
the interpreter. When the G.P.U. officer saw the
passport he clicked his heels, saluted and offered his
apologies. This particular passport, as will be noted,
served as an open sesame wherever trouble was
encountered within Russian jurisdiction.
The interpreter on this trip was a Russian Jew
who had been educated in London. He was about
thirty years old, a keen observer and a smart operator, as well as a genial traveling companion, who
knew every corner of Russia from Archangel to the
Caucasus. Joe was also a good actor, and his secret
in dealing with the Russians was that he always
knew how to make them laugh. The wood-burning
engine taking us south was not out for speed records and we came into the Ukraine at Bryansk at
1:00 p.m. on the 4th of October, where we were due
for a surprise.
It should be noted here that from the time of
leaving Moscow to that of sailing from Odessa the
Russian authorities were most cooperative even to
foreseeing and to solving difficulties not anticipated,
as happened at Bryansk. When the train came to a
53 | chapter x: Diplomatic Courier
halt, what first attracted attention was a company
of sixteen soldiers under a lieutenant, armed with
rifles and standing at parade rest on the station
platform. From here to Konotop, an overnight run,
was known as bandit country. In fact the Odessa
post train had been held up just south of here the
week before and every passenger robbed. Nothing
had been said about an escort until the lieutenant
explained that his soldiers were to ride the train
during the coming night by way of protection, and
the train left Bryansk with two soldiers riding on
the steps between cars. Whether this protection
was offered because of the special car or the recent
robbery was not mentioned, but the station master
said that the small car attached would be an added
attraction for bandits. It was a cold night and on the
interpreter’s suggestion the lieutenant agreed to let
one soldier ride inside and the other on the steps,
changing posts every hour.
While eating dinner, in answer to the question as
to whether there were many bandits in Russia, Joe,
the interpreter, pulled up his sleeve and revealed
a purple scar running from his wrist to his elbow.
“That’s a souvenir of a bandit bullet,” he said and
then continued with his story.
“About a year ago, I was coming up from the
Caucasus to Moscow after doing the black markets
in half a dozen big cities. I had 200 dollars in gold
and 200 more in diamonds, for which I was expected to get at least 500 or 600 in Moscow or in
Petrograd. I was well-acquainted with bandit rules
and with their procedure, but I made one mistake.
They halt a train where it can be fully covered from
both sides. When the train stops they fire a few
shots in the air, meaning that everyone in the train
is to remain perfectly still wherever he happens to
be. As the shots were being fired I stepped across
the compartment to get my briefcase, which contained the diamonds. The next thing I knew I was
on the floor with an injured arm. One minute later
their loot men were beside me. They found the
diamonds and not only took the gold but also took
me with it for violating bandit rules. They bound up
the arm and left me in a small hospital where the
local police took over and when they discovered that
I had been running the black markets, I was sen-
�tenced to two months of hard labor. By the time that
was over, the arm had healed up and I was turned
loose, dead broke and lucky to be alive. However,”
he concluded, ”I think we can sleep without worry
tonight. If there are bandits in this area, you may be
sure that they have received word by now that the
train is armed and they will never take a chance with
Soviet soldiers.” Before retiring he went through
the train with hot coffee for the soldiers and when
he returned he said, “I made it strong to keep them
awake.”
He was right about the bandits and on the following morning he and the conductor served the
soldiers with coffee, Russian black bread with marmalade and American cigarettes, a breakfast deluxe.
The military guard was dropped at Konotop but the
lieutenant’s duty was not over until the train was
in motion for Odessa. The stay there was short and
just before leaving, Joe presented the lieutenant with
a package of American cigarettes for each of the
soldiers, something for which they would willingly
have paid a week’s salary. They were standing at attention on the platform when the train departed.
At that time it was unusual for a train to arrive at
a station ahead of scheduled time, but coming into
Kiev at 6:00 a.m., an hour early, proved to be very
fortunate. Even the stationmaster looked surprised
when he appeared half-clad on the platform. He
lived in the station office and was evidently awakened by the approach of the train. His surprise,
however, was short-lived; ours was to come and it
presented what looked like a serious delay in the
journey. Contrary to expectations, the train had
reached its destination. It was called the Odessa post
train because it was due here in time for transfer to
the Kiev-Odessa express, which was made up here
and scheduled to leave for Odessa at eight o’clock.
The stationmaster knew in advance that there was a
special car on the incoming train, but he said he had
received no orders to have it attached to the outgoing express and even the presentation of the diplomatic passport could not induce him to act without
orders. The next through train to Odessa was listed
to leave here three days later. Here was a difficulty
that looked like an impasse and needed a man like
our fast-thinking interpreter for its solution. While
54 | chapter x: Diplomatic Courier
the stationmaster and his crew were busy with the
just-arrived train, Joe put in a telephone call from
the waiting room and discovered that the residence
of the chief of the G.P.U. was only a few blocks away
from the railroad depot. An order from this man
would be equivalent to an order from Moscow. He
would not be in his office at that early hour, so it was
decided to visit his home.
It took a second knocking at the door to have it
opened by a six-foot-tall and over-robust individual
clad in a long flannel nightgown.
“Well now, just who are you and what’s the trouble so early in the morning? Come in, please. It’s
too cold for me to be standing out here.” The soft
tone of his voice contrast to his stalwart appearance.
After an introduction and a short explanation of the
visit, he handed back the passport, saluted, and said,
“I’ll be with you in about five minutes.”
He was almost as good as his word and in a very
short time he appeared dressed in a quasi-military
uniform with an automatic at his side. On the return trip to the station he kept up a running conversation with Joe in which the words Orenburg and
Vatican Relief Mission were heard, in all of which
he seemed to be deeply interested. There was no further difficulty with the stationmaster. The special car
was attached to the Odessa Express and there was
time left for breakfast in the station dining room,
in the course of which this particular agent of the
famed and of the feared Cheka proved to be one of
the most interesting and obliging Russian officials
thus far encountered. He even saw to it that we were
comfortably placed in a spacious compartment on
the outgoing train and, on Joe’s advice, no gesture
was made to offer him anything for his assistance.
Once under way, Joe remarked, “That’s a fine passport you are carrying.”
The delay escaped in Kiev was to be increased in
Odessa by the development of an unfortunate situation which even the ingenious Joe could not handle. The freighter-transport Tchitcherin was due in
Odessa from Constantinople the day after our arrival
on October 6 and scheduled to leave on a return trip
three days later. This boat was named after the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, whose name, in red ink,
was on the passport that had solved our difficulties
�thus far, but it was his boat that occasioned the delay. It came in on time but before its cargo could be
unloaded the federal police took over both the boat
and the customs in search of narcotics. They were
fast workers and after two days of searching passengers, ripping up furniture, and tearing out paneling,
the cargo was landed, to be examined on the pier.
The result of their work was not published nor was
anyone particularly interested in knowing it. What
concerned the people waiting to take passage was
how long it would take to make repairs, to take on
another cargo and to set out on the return trip to
Constantinople. Due to leave on the 10th, the sailing
was put off until the 12th, and then again postponed
until the 15th. This forced layover afforded ample
time to notify the Vatican and also the Apostolic
Delegate in Constantinople of a late arrival. Staying
at the hotel and awaiting passage on the Tchitcherin
was an Italian doctor, returning from the Caucasus,
and an interesting Russian couple traveling under
the assumed name of Pietrov. It was a pleasure to
tour the city in their company and we shall hear
more of them soon.
The Collector of the Port had already checked all
documents of those sailing on the Tchitcherin and on
the morning of the 15th of October he called at the
hotel in his American Ford to take the four staying
there down to the pier for embarkation. On arrival
at the wharf, the Controller’s car was admitted to
the ship’s docking pier without customs inspection.
After a short farewell, he left for his city office and as
soon as he disappeared a customs officer came out
and demanded all bags. The Italian doctor and the
Pietrov couple took their bags into the inspection
room and when the officer saw the diplomatic
passport he said,
55 | chapter x: Diplomatic Courier
“The large box and the trunk were marked
diplomatic, nothing else.”
“But these bags were put through customs in
Moscow.”
“Even so, Sir, they must be inspected here.”
There was no further room for argument.
Because of the fact that the two suitcases had been
in service after leaving Moscow, and perhaps also
because the question of exemption had been raised,
their contents got a very careful going over. The
one great misgiving here was that they might try
to recover the diplomatic passport when we were
leaving Russia. Joe had left for Moscow the day
before and his last advice was to hold on to the
passport and to remind them that the diplomatic
baggage was marked “Steamer Tchitcherin to
Constantinople,” which meant that the Russian
Government was responsible for it until it was taken
off the ship at that port. Fortunately, no demand was
made for the passport. This document was issued
to prevent difficulties and there was one more to be
prevented. The box containing the casket was sunk
into a large cargo of grain to secure it from rough
weather and from the rolling of the ship. It was not
too surprising at that time to discover that the Soviet
Government was exporting grain when the map of
Russia still indicated a number of hunger spots. It
was a much-mooted question then, as to whether
or not they were exporting grain during the great
famine, and Russian relief workers have often been
asked about it since. As to 1921 and 1922, having no
evidence, we can give no answer. As of mid-October
of 1923, when the famine was practically over, we
were being exported with it.
✩
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER XI
The Odessa Express
The Tchitcherin sailed out of Odessa with
ninety passengers aboard, at 5:00 p.m. on
October 15th. The weather was clear and the sea
calm. Dinner was served at six o’clock, the only daily
meal served aboard ship. The stateroom was large
enough and well-appointed. After dinner, in the
lounge room there were a dozen tables occupied by
Russians playing Polish-bank and it was an interesting study to observe their carefree attitude when
leaving their homeland for voluntary exile. Later on
in the evening, sitting out on the top deck under a
full moon with Pietrov and the Italian doctor, the
captain of the ship sat in for conversation and he
proved to be a very welcome companion. He was a
good story teller, speaking a faltering Italian, fluent
French, and passable English. He had just finished
telling about a Russian ship that was held up by Romanian pirates in the Black Sea about a month before. The crew and the captain were held prisoners
and the passengers were taken ashore and released.
Pietrov told him that it sounded like a good sea story
and asked him for another one, when suddenly the
boom of a cannon out of the darkness, about a half
mile off to starboard, put an end to the conversation.
56 | chapter xi
When asked what that meant, the captain
answered, “There’s no telling. Let’s wait and see.”
After ten minutes or so, spent mostly in silence
and in expectation, a second shot at closer range
sent a missile whistling over the bow of the
Tchitcherin. The captain left in a hurry, went up to
the pilot house and swept the surrounding sea with
a powerful searchlight. About 200 yards away he
picked up a Soviet submarine chaser, from which
a voice came back through a megaphone ordering
him to take off the light and hold up his ship.
As the ship settled into the water, the passengers
below became excited and noisy. Our one distracting thought was about the box containing the casket
down in the hold of the ship. It was a Soviet warship, but what were they after? It was too dark to
notice his emotion when Pietrov whispered, “Do
you carry a gun?”
“No, never.”
“Well, I do and so does my wife. She was released
from jail only a month ago, arrested for trying to
leave Russia on a false passport. This time we are
both sailing on false passports and we have decided
not to go back to Russia, so step aside if there is
�Charity stamp issued in
November 1922.
Proceeds went to famine
relief efforts. Caption:
“For the hungry.”
any firing.
In less time than it takes to tell it, the sub-chaser
had pulled up to the side of the Tchitcherin, ordered
the captain to throw over a rope ladder, and four
men climbed to the deck of the steamer. Two of
them, with drawn revolvers, were posted at the exits
of the stairwells and the people were ordered to remain below. The other two, led by the captain of the
ship, went below in the dim light of the main hatch.
For the next twenty minutes, which seemed much
longer, an absolute silence prevailed as Pietrov stood
aside, his right hand in his coat pocket. The tension
was somewhat released when the moon came out
from behind a black cloud and revealed the captain,
with two Soviet officers behind him and a man
between them clad only in pants, shirt, and shoes,
and with his hands behind him in handcuffs. With
automatics still drawn, the raiding party took their
man over the side onto their marauding craft and
disappeared into the night as mysteriously as they
had come out of it.
57 | chapter xi: The Odessa Express
Once the ship had resumed her course and the
commotion below decks had ceased, the captain, the
doctor, and Pietrov, after seeing that his wife was
safe, eventually made their way back to the sheltered
corner on the upper deck where the conversation
had been going on before the voyage was interrupted.
“What was it all about?” the doctor asked. “And
what is a Soviet warship doing running without
lights at midnight in neutral waters?”
“No place is neutral for them,” the captain explained. “That sub-chaser is kept under full steam
in Odessa harbor for emergencies, and this was
an emergency. About an hour after we left Odessa
they received word from Moscow to overtake and
to overhaul us and to take off a certain passenger.
I suppose you all had your worries,” he continued,
“and like our diplomatic courier here I was decidedly worried about the big box down in the hold.”
“Any objection to asking who the unfortunate
passenger was?” Pietrov inquired.
�“None at all. At least I can tell you what I think.
He was one of their own secret service men, a
former officer in the Imperial Army who got out
through Odessa during the revolution. After a stay
abroad, he returned to Russia, signed up as a Communist and worked his way into the secret service.
Now he was getting out for good and with plenty
of information. As you know, there is one of them
assigned to every outgoing steamer and the Collector of the Port, an old friend of mine, said he
suspected that this fellow was being assigned to my
ship. I knew there was a secret service agent aboard
but this man didn’t even appear for dinner. The officer from the chaser merely said he was a Russian
citizen setting out under a nom de plume. He would
have been more correct if he had said a nom de
guerre because this man’s war with the Bolsheviks
is definitely over.”
“You mean,” the doctor asked, “that they may execute him or sentence him to life in a prison camp?”
Pietrov answered this question by saying, “He
will be lucky if he is living the day after tomorrow.”
By this time Aurora was shooting golden arrows
over the western horizon in pursuit of night. It
had been a short night that was long in events and
the party unanimously decided to sleep for a few
hours, not realizing that they were going to have
plenty of time for slumber before reaching their
destination. All things considered, the “Chi-Chi,”
as Pietrov called the ship, had made a good run of
it, approaching the entrance to the Bosporus only
three hours late. From here on it was not the ship;
it was rather the elements and Turkish regulations
that were to cause a further and an annoying delay.
As Shakespeare once said, “When sorrows come,
they come not single spies, but in battalions,” and
at that time they were gathering in ambush behind
a heavy downpour of rain and a curtain of fog that
caused another hour’s waiting before passing into
the Bosporus. A few hours meant nothing compared
to what was coming, and the big surprise came
when it was announced that instead of putting into
Constantinople our ship was ordered into quarantine at Tuzla Bay, twenty miles south of the city on
the Asiatic side. The ship was to pass its destination
and return to it four days later. The 17th to the 20th
58 | chapter xi: The Odessa Express
of October were days of forced leisure. The reason
for the quarantine was a report of cholera in the
Crimea, something unheard of up to then. Everyone
aboard ship, except the captain and the crew, had to
take an injection of a so-called anti-cholera serum,
which the Turkish doctor administered with some
effort and a decidedly dull needle.
This layover created a real problem. The ship
went into quarantine on the 17th. Passage was
already booked on the Lloyd-Tristino liner, due in
Constantinople on the 22nd and scheduled to leave
on a return trip to Italy as soon as it could discharge
a part of its cargo. There was nothing to be done but
await developments and plan for emergencies. Fortunately the basket of American food supplies was
still holding out, for which the doctor, the Pietrovs
and at times the captain, were also heartily grateful.
On the second day of detention the doctor asked
Pietrov if the passengers would have to pay extra for
the days spent in quarantine.
“Don’t worry about that,” he answered in true
Russian style, “Nee-chee-vaw forget about it, until
they hold us up for it.” Nothing more was ever heard
about it, but we were still learning lessons from the
Russians. His offhand way of dismissing possible
difficulties was a good lesson in how to avoid minor
worries in a major crisis.
It was welcome news to hear that the ship was to
drop anchor at noon on October 20 in the inner harbor of the big city. Passengers went ashore in small
boats. The Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Philippi,
who was waiting on the dock, extended a cordial
welcome and an invitation to be his houseguest
until time of departure. His first instructions were
to remain in civilian clothes and not to shave off the
mustache. At dinner that evening he explained that
because of Moslem religious regulations, relative to
disturbing the bones of the dead, the box containing the casket should not be brought ashore but left
aboard the Russian ship until it could be transferred
to the Lloyd-Tristino liner, the Canoro, which would
probably be several days late.
Due to the fact that the Russian ship had come
in from quarantine, it was taken over by the Turkish
harbor police as soon as it anchored. Police guards
were placed aboard and were to remain there while
�the ship was in Turkish waters. Difficulties were
increasing instead of diminishing. Would the harbor
police prevent the transfer for the same religious
reasons? What could be done with the casket if the
Russians unloaded their cargo of wheat and prepared to sail for Odessa before the Canoro arrived?
The Archbishop had an answer for the second
question and the answer to the first was probably
in our inside pocket. It was not very probable that
the Tchitcherin would be ready to leave before the
Canoro came in. However, if that did happen the
transfer could be made to an Italian warship lying
just outside the harbor and from there to the LloydTristino liner, somewhere in the Sea of Marmora,
when she was coming out on her return trip to Italy.
The captain of the warship had informed the Archbishop that he had received orders to cooperate in
this way if necessary. The only difficulty with this
solution was that the Director of the Papal Mission
in Moscow had agreed with the Russian authorities
that there would be no public demonstration attending the transport of the relics, and involving the Italian Navy could hardly avoid publicity. If the Canoro
arrived on time, this solution of the problem would
not be necessary; if not, it could be used as a means
of last resort. Despite the fact that the harbor police
were in charge, the captain of the Russian ship came
ashore every day to make known his orders for unloading and for sailing.
The Canoro docked on the evening of the 25th
and was scheduled to leave on the evening of the
27th. This meant quick action and a busy day on the
26th, with Moslem religious regulations as the last
hurdle to be topped. The Archbishop had already
arranged for a stateroom and for special care of the
diplomatic baggage from Constantinople to Brindisi. At 9:00 a.m. on the morning of the 26th the
captain of the Russian craft was not surprised to see
a sturdy launch towing a small barge pull up beside
his ship. He had been notified of its coming and
he had the box containing the casket taken up from
the hold and placed on the main deck, where the
last and most dubious problem to be solved since
leaving Moscow had to be faced. The sergeant of the
harbor police and another armed guard were standing beside the box waiting for its claimant.
59 | chapter xi: The Odessa Express
“Is there a dead body in that box?” he asked.
“This, Sir, is diplomatic material, en route to
Rome,” and he was presented with two diplomatic
passports, one Russian and the other Vatican. After
looking them over for a minute or two he handed
them back with the remark, “These look genuine,
but they do not answer my question. You probably
know that according to Moslem law we are forbidden to disturb the bones of the dead.”
There seemed to be no further room for
argument with two men armed with automatics and
he was answered with a question.
“Where is the office of the Collector of the Port?”
“At Stambuł, just south of here.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
With the barge detached, the launch could
make Stambuł in twenty minutes, and did. The
office of the Collector was straight across from the
landing pier and, with the owner of the launch as
interpreter, the first inquiry was for the Collector.
“Sorry, Sir, he is not here. This being a day of
religious observance he is spending it at his country
home.”
“And who is taking his place here?”
“I am, Sir, Captain and Director of the harbor
police.” It seemed as if the crucial moment had
arrived.
“This letter, Captain, is addressed to the Collector
of the Port. It is intended to solve an emergency and
here it is with two diplomatic passports.”
“Well,” he said with some surprise, “this letter is
from our Ambassador in Moscow.”
“Quite right, Captain, from my friend the
Ambassador in Moscow,” naming him.
“Of course, I cannot open it, but I shall give it to
him as soon as he returns. Is there any way in which
I can be of assistance?”
“Yes, Sir, if you will. As you know, the Russian
freighter Tchitcherin has been taken over by the
harbor police. Our diplomatic baggage is aboard that
ship, to be transferred to the Canoro of the Lloyd
line, which sails tomorrow. If you can arrange for
this transfer, you may be sure you will be doing the
will of the Ambassador. That, Sir, is the content of
the letter.”
With that he wrote a short note and sounded
�a desk bell for his Assistant, to whom he gave the
note and an order to go out to the Tchitcherin with
this gentleman and deliver the note to the sergeant.
Then he added, “That note, Sir, should solve your
difficulty. The transfer of your baggage will be made
by the harbor police who will report to me by noontime that their orders have been fulfilled.”
“Thank you, Captain, and please tell the Collector
of the Port that the Ambassador sends him his kind
regards.”
“I shall do that,” he said, extending his hand
and concluding, “It was a pleasure to serve you, Sir.
Goodbye and a happy voyage.”
This was the greatest relief of tension in many a
day. When the police sergeant on the ship read the
note he clicked his heels and offered a military salute which was returned with a smile of satisfaction.
When the box containing the casket was taken off
the Russian ship, documents were signed releasing
Russian authorities from all further responsibility
for the remains of Blessed Andrew Bobola. These
papers were given to the ship’s captain, who was
60 | chapter xi: The Odessa Express
acting as representative of his government, but this
was not the last to be seen of him. That afternoon
he appeared at a farewell dinner party in a city hotel
at which the Italian doctor and the Pietrovs were
present. After resailing the Black Sea voyage, Pietrov
narrated a few details of his own personal story.
Before the Bolshevik revolution, he had been
the owner of a national chain of bakeries. He was
arrested and tried as belonging to the aristocracy.
Fortunately, the superintendent of one of his large
bakeries was on the trial jury and he was released
as harmless. There was no room left for doubt as
to his belonging to the aristocracy and to the very
highest class of it, when he produced his baptismal
certificate, signed by his godfather, the Tzar of Russia. With reference to the ship-to-ship transfer of the
relics of Blessed Andrew Bobola at Constantinople,
there was only one regret, namely the sacrifice of the
letter of the Turkish Ambassador. That would have
been an official souvenir of the return of the relics.
✩
�a jesuit cossack
CHAPTER XII
The Canoro and the Casket
Russia and the Black Sea were beyond the
horizon and Constantinople was receding
toward it when the passengers aboard the Canoro
were happily surprised by a spectacle that, seen for
the first time, is bound to leave a lasting impression
of the Queen City of the world. Much had been said
about it and now it was not difficult to believe that
nowhere else on earth can one witness a duplicate
of a sunset over the Golden Horn. From the Bosporus to the Dardanelles the Canoro sailed a straight
course the full length of the Sea of Marmora, with
the Golden Horn disappearing as darkness was setting in. Relaxed and alone, after a week of tension,
the after-dinner to early bedtime period seemed
better-suited to reminiscence and to contemplation
than to reading or to making new acquaintances.
There was not much time for sightseeing during
those busy days in Constantinople, but it was an
inspiring thought to realize that you were treading
on 2,000 years of history and, short as the visit was,
it was no small advantage to have so competent a
guide as the Apostolic Delegate, who really knew
the history of his See. The first places visited were
in keeping with his unusual theory that the history
61 | chapter xii
of the older cities in the world is best summed up in
their churches and their prisons. As he remarked,
the same emperors and sultans who built the great
churches and mosques also built the historic walls
around Constantinople and the prison dungeons
within them.
From the time of its foundation the capital of
Byzantium has been a center for the fusion of races
and the clash of creeds, as is illustrated to some
extent in the story of the famous bronze horses.
One day, coming out of Sancta Sophia, the church
with whole volumes of history, the Apostolic Delegate was detained by a Turkish guide who seemed
to be entering a complaint. That evening the Delegate explained that the guide was typical of the
Turks in general, who will never get over the loss of
their horses, meaning the four bronze horses now
stationed over the entrance to St. Mark’s in Venice.
These horses, as the Delegate concluded, had passed
through the crucial epochs of the history of Constantinople, not spreading desolation on the earth,
as did the horses of the Apocalypse, but merely looking down upon the centuries of devastation of the
earth caused by the rational animal in his effort to
�dominate it. With this and other pictures of the great
city in mind, while sailing away from it on the first
night out, relaxed and on the threshold of slumber,
Constantinople faded out as a city to think about, to
wonder at and perhaps to dream of, and the good
ship Canoro was rocking like a cradle.
At early rising time on the following morning,
October 28, the ship was at a standstill at the
entrance of the Dardanelles and had been there
for some hours, the delay being caused by a law
forbidding ships to pass through the Dardanelles
at night. This law was not passed in favor of
sightseeing. It was an addendum to the terms of the
armistice forced upon Turkey at the close of the First
World War and was still in effect. This was the last
of the unscheduled stops but even they, especially
the longer ones, had their advantage in affording
time to fill in a diary from random notes taken in
action. It would be safe to say that the Dardanelles
and the Bosporus, protecting straits of the City of
Constantinople, have been goals of conquest in
every effort to take the city from time immemorial.
Before the coming of Constantine and after him,
during the building of the Byzantine Empire,
armies from every civilized country in Europe and
in western Asia had waged war on the Dardanelles.
It was not until 1915 that invaders came from
over distant seas, from Australia and from New
Zealand, to force an opening through this entrance
to the Sea of Marmora en route to the capture
of Constantinople. This whole campaign of the
British and French armies and navies, assisted by
British colonial troops, is summed up in one word,
Gallipoli, meaning the peninsula, and is recorded
in history as the Magnificent Failure. What made
the run down the Dardanelles doubly interesting,
in addition to its centuries of history, was the
presence aboard of two British engineers who had
been working for over two years on Gallipoli with
the Imperial War Graves Commission. They knew
the detailed history of the 1915 invasion and they
were enthusiastic about its commemoration, which
consisted in designing cemeteries and separate
monuments for the British, Australians, and New
Zealanders who fell victims of the campaign. In
an afternoon lecture on the main deck, one of the
62 | chapter xii: The Carnaro and the Casket
Pope Pius XI (1857–1939)
Saint Andrew Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657)
�engineers explained that most of their work had
been done on the Aegean side of the peninsula
where the British and the Anzacs went in, but they
had both worked on the famous monument at Cape
Helles, the last thing to be seen when leaving the
Dardanelles, a monument in memory of 19,000
soldiers and sailors who have no known graves.
This, he said, may sound like a fantastic number
of missing considering that the number of British
alone killed in the invasion is recorded at about
33,000. However, he added, there are various things
to be taken into consideration. First, the British
did not return to Gallipoli to take care of their dead
until 1918, three years after the invasion. During
the whole time of fighting the dead were buried
at night, and many of them probably never were
buried. In fact, when the Cemetery Commission
began to work in 1918, they were shocked to find
large areas of the battle grounds littered with human
bones. In the meantime, the Turks, who had 50,000
of their own to bury, did not identify graves after
burial and probably buried many of the enemy with
the same indifference.
Another fact relating to the number of the
missing, as he recounted it, was the British Navy’s
attempt to run the gauntlet of the Dardanelles,
seeded with mines and covered from the hills
on both sides by Turkish gunfire, under German
direction. In this futile effort they lost a half-dozen
warships, three of which were of capital standing,
and their crews were numbered among the missing.
Looking over the Cape of Helles and sailing over the
spots where these ships went down, while listening
to the engineer describe it all, made his talk the
most interesting history lecture that one could
wish to attend. The typewritten copy of this talk,
presented on the following day by a stenographer
passenger, made a very desirable diary entry.
Clearing the Cape and leaving the Hellespont,
which Byron swam and where Leander drowned,
the Canoro sailed an even course through the
Poet’s Isles of Greece and made her first official
stop at Athens, where the passengers were allowed
a full day ashore. Here was another instance of
getting only a cursory look at one of the world’s
oldest and greatest cities. With one of the British
63 | chapter xii: The Carnaro and the Casket
engineers it was agreed that the best thing to do
was to hire a guide and to see what could be seen
in the time allowed. The Acropolis is to Athens
what the Kremlin is to Moscow, the upper city and
a reminder of past grandeur. When last seen, the
Kremlin was locked up but still intact. When first
seen, the Acropolis was silent and abandoned and
there was time only to stand on the ruins of the
Parthenon, to look down on the home of the classics
and to contemplate the glory that was Greece. On a
journey from Constantinople to Rome, Athens was
the halfway stop in the path of the Renaissance.
In Athens and in Moscow, as in many of the
ancient capitals, there is an old and a new city
with crumbing walls dividing them, indicating the
advance of civilization and the violence attending
it. At the foot of the Acropolis is the pulpit of
Demosthenes from which he is supposed to have
delivered the famous oration on the crown. This is
an artificial structure, which, like the oration, has
stood the test of time. Not far above it there is a
huge stone, a natural formation protruding from
the hill, called the pulpit of Saint Paul, from which
he addressed the Athenians on their unknown God.
The presence of the two pulpits set one to thinking
about the difference between the doctrines preached
from them; the one a masterpiece of political
doctrine, the other an exhortation on a doctrine as
natural to the existence of Paul’s listeners as was his
pulpit to the hill of the Acropolis. That was a short
day in Athens, concluded with the purchase of a set
of picture postcards, to review what had been seen
and to substitute for what had been missed. Having
ridden from Marathon to Athens, over the route
of the original Marathon Run, there was an added
interest later on in watching the Marathon race
which takes place every year in Boston.
Leaving Athens, everyone was looking forward to
the passage through the Corinth Canal. From a few
miles distance from its entrance there appears to
be a hole through a mountain which seems to grow
in circumference as it is being approached. Most
of the passengers, sixty or more, went up to the top
deck to get a better view of the high walls of solid
rock rising perpendicular to the ship and very close
to it on either side. Strange to say, however, nearly
�all the time they were in the Canal these passengers
were looking down instead of up. On the main
deck, below, forward and in the open, there was a
party of a dozen Mohammedans who had spread
their prayer rugs on the deck and were kneeling
on them, facing Mecca, bending to the floor and
praying aloud to Allah. Interest in the towering walls
had given way to the unusual sight of strong men
praying together in public.
Not long after leaving the Canal you pass
Lepanto, at the other end of the Gulf of Corinth,
where Don John of Austria changed the course of
history by his great naval victory over the Turks. This
was the battle that caught the poetic fancy of G. K.
Chesterton, who in his poem “Lepanto” tells in his
own subtle way what it meant to Christendom when
Don John stripped the Sultan of his sovereignty of
the seas. After leaving Athens the Canoro made her
first stop at the Island of Corfu, the most-captured
island in the world, belonging in the course of its
turbulent history to at least seven different nations.
This was a short stay of three hours, most of which
was taken up with a visit to the palace of the former
German emperors, This palace, with its extensive
and beautiful gardens, was a summer resort of
the last of the Prussian dynasty, just as the Livania
Palace in Yalta was both a winter and a summer
refuge for the unfortunate family of the last of the
Russian tzars.
From Odessa in Russia to Brindisi in Italy,
the body of Blessed Andrew Bobola had passed
over four seas on its longest odyssey and was
nearing the goal of its new assignment, but not its
final destination. The customs officials had been
informed from Rome of our coming. By noon they
had the box containing the casket placed in their
warehouse and later taken to the railroad station
and placed on the Brindisi-to-Rome express, due to
leave at 6:00 p.m. Most of the few hours in Brindisi
were spent walking about another old town with
an ancient fort and still more ancient walls, solid
records of centuries of local history.
The overnight run to Rome was one of solid
sleep. Monsignor, now Cardinal, Pizzardo, was
at the station in Rome, and November 1, being
a holyday of obligation, he had arranged to have
64 | chapter xii: The Carnaro and the Casket
the casket kept at the customs depot until the
following morning. Before arrival at the Collegium
Germanicum, with baggage to follow, the plan was
to get to the room of some American Jesuit who was
studying here and to borrow a cassock and cincture
for an audience with the Very Reverend Father
General Ledochowski, who was there at the time,
but the plan went all awry. When the Lay Brother
opened the door, the Father General was standing
beside him.
“Well, my dear Father, so you finally got here.”
And he extended an amplexus of hearty welcome.
“Yes, Your Paternity, but you must pardon my
attire. It was intended to change into clerical garb
before meeting you.”
“Do not mind the clothes, Father. Your mission
called for them.” And the first thought that came to
mind was: What would he have said if he had seen
the mustache? The Apostolic Delegate had kept
him informed of everything that happened from
the time the Russian ship went into quarantine
until the sailing of the Canoro, and he had received
telegrams from Athens and from Brindisi. With this
information he had timed the arrival to the hour, or
better still, even to the minute. There was a General
Congregation of the Society going on in Rome and
after a conference with Father General, meeting
old acquaintances from the Maryland–New York
Province who were attending the Congregation put
one at ease by creating a home atmosphere that had
been missing for a year and a half.
On the following day, under direction of
Monsignor Pizzardo, the relics were brought to
the Vatican and placed in the Matilda Chapel of
the Relics, under the supervision of the Pope’s
Sacristan. Here in this chapel was the arm
of Blessed Andrew Bobola, brought to Rome
providentially some years before by Archbishop
Ropp. We say providentially, because it had been
rumored and mentioned in several American papers
that the Soviet authorities had probably handed
over to the Vatican a bogus cadaver, which they said
was the body of Blessed Andrew Bobola. Not long
after the relics were placed in the Vatican, the Pope
invited three prominent Italian surgeons to examine
the relics and to fit the arm to the body received.
�After careful inspection the articulation between the
arm and the body was so perfect that they all agreed
that this was undoubtedly the body that belonged to
what was known to be the genuine arm.
The evening of November 2 saw the happy
conclusion of the entire Russian episode in a private
audience with Pope Pius XI which lasted for nearly
an hour.
“Sit down, my dear Father. Never mind the ceremonies. I have been busy all day holding audiences
and now I want to hear the firsthand story of our
mission to Russia. I had almost called you Father
Antony, you look so much like a former assistant of
mine.” He listened with attention to an account of
the voyage from Odessa, of the holdup of the ship,
the quarantine, and the stay with the Apostolic Delegate, and he was particularly interested in the letter
received from the Turkish Ambassador in Moscow
and why it had to be surrendered. Then came a
series of questions to be answered about the Easter
trial of the Catholic clergy, about the Orthodox
clergy, the Russian people and especially the children, and particularly about Fr. Walsh and the other
agents of the Mission still in Russia. He had been
notified regularly about what was going on in Russia
but there were many details missing and lacunae
still to be filled in.
65 | chapter xii: The Carnaro and the Casket
Toward the end of the audience he asked if anyone had ever inquired as to why he was so interested
in recovering the relics of Blessed Andrew, and
without waiting for an answer he said, “Well, I’ll tell
you. As you know, during the war I was Apostolic
Delegate in Warsaw and when the Polish Army went
into Russia, I went with it with one thing in mind:
namely, to recover the remains of Blessed Andrew
Bobola. The Polish General was aiming at Vitebsk,
near Polotsk, where the body was at that time, and
he agreed that if he took it, he would have the relics
removed from the church so that I could bring them
back to Rome for safekeeping. We came within sight
of the town, but it was never taken and I have been
waiting from that day to this for the body of the holy
martyr.”
The answer to this was, “Your Holiness, it is now
in the Chapel of the Relics.” Then, realizing that it
was his dinner time, and not wishing to take advantage of the courtesy of his invitation, the visitor went
down on his knees, received the Apostolic Blessing,
and departed with the Pope’s words ringing in his
ears, “Merci, Mon Pere, and may the Lord watch
over you.” That was an hour that had been hoped for
and looked forward to, and, once realized, not to be
forgotten.
✭
�a jesuit cossack
Kirghiz Proclamation of 1923
Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic
Central Committee of Famine Consequences in Kirghiz
to Mr. Gallagher
The Kirghiz Central Committee upon the liquidation of the
consequence of famine, noting with pride all the work carried
on through its own organs cannot but mark out Your personal
energy in the said effort.
You, as we also, tirelessly labored all this time to help the
populace suffering from famine.
By our common efforts, thousands of children were saved
from ruin; thanks to our joint work, thousands of children
received the opportunity to attend school.
Noting all this, the Central Committee in the fight against
the consequences of famine bears for You sincere gratitude,
for Your honest, energetic, and brotherly responsiveness.
President of Central Committee on famine-effect
Zhurevsky
Vice-president of Central Committee on famine-effect
Sergeev
Member of Presidium of Central Committee on famine-effect
Plenipotentiary
Presiding Representative of U.S.S.R. for K.S.S.R. in the
aforementioned areas
Rudminsky
English translation of Kirghiz Proclamation, 1923
66 | appendix
�a jesuit cossack
Acknowledgements
The publication of this memoir would not have been possible
without the encouragement and support of Ben Birnbaum,
Senior Adviser to the President of Boston College. I am especially
indebted to Monica DeSalvo, Senior Graphic Designer, Office of
University Communications, not only for her competent
attention to every detail in the attractive design of this memoir
but also for her exhaustive research in locating images to enrich
the narrative itself. I am also most grateful to Diana Parziale,
Art Director, Office of University Communications, for her
generous assistance and constructive suggestions in making
this memorable moment in history available to an audience
interested in the Church’s generous outreach to a hostile Russia’s
famine-stricken people. And my special appreciation to Michael
J. Connolly, Ph.D., Department of Slavic and Eastern Languages,
for his courtesy in providing all the translations from the
Russian into the English language.
Finally, I also wish to acknowledge with gratitude the kind
cooperation of David P. Miros, Ph.D, Director, Jesuit Archives &
Research Center, St. Louis University, in making available high
resolution pictures from the Louis J. Gallagher Collection that are
valuable contributions to this fascinating and informative story.
67 | Acknowledgements
�a jesuit cossack
Image Credits
Gallagher, Louis J., seventeenth president of Boston College, 1911-1937, Box 4, Folder 139,
Boston College Faculty and Staff Photographs, BC.2000.005, John J. Burns Library,
Boston College.http://hdl.handle.net/2345.2/ BC2000_005_ref156
Pages i, 12, 30, 52
Collection of Seán M. Connolly
Page 57
Getty Images
Page 32
American Relief Administration Russian operational records
Hoover Institution Archives
Page 42
Rev. Louis J. Gallagher, S.J., Manuscript Collection, Archives of the New England Province.
Jesuit Archives and Research Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Cover (portrait); pages i, ii, iv, 2, 4, 10, 16, 21, 27, 36, 38, 49
Public Domain
Cover (map), page 62
Unsourced
Page ii, 8
68 | image credits
�
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Joseph P. Duffy Collection of Digital Works
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021043.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Catholic Church</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004995.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--20th century</a>
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<a href="https://lccn.loc.gov/n87831774" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Duffy, Joseph P.</a>
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Jesuit Archives & Research Center, St. Louis, Missouri
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eng
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Northeast Province Archive
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This collection contains publications edited by Joseph P. Duffy, S.J. regarding histories of New England Province Jesuits.
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A Jesuit Cossack: A Memoir by Louis J. Gallagher, S.J.
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Jesuits--History--20th century
Gallagher, Louis J. (Louis Joseph), 1885-
American Relief Administration
American Relief Administration. Orenburg Subdivision
Russia--Famines
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Gallagher, Louis J. (Louis Joseph), 1885-
Duffy, Joseph P.
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This publication, edited by Joseph P. Duffy, S.J., contains the memoir of Louis J. Gallagher, S.J. Written in the early 1960s, the memoir largely focuses on the 15 months Fr. Gallagher spent in famine-stricken Russia as Assistant to the Director of the Papal Relief Mission. He began this role in late July, 1922, all the while acting as a layman.
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PDF Text
Text
A. l\1. D. G.
THE
vVOODSTOCK LETTERS
A RECORD
OF CURRENT EVENTS AND HISTORICAL NOTES CONNECTED
WITH THE COLLEGES AND MISSIONS OF THE
SO..::IETY OF JESUS.
VOL. I.
WOODSTOCK COLLEGE,
1872.
Pn'nted for private circulation on!;•.
��CONTENTS.
- :0:PAGE
An Historical Sketch of Father Andrew ·white, S. J., the
Apo tle of .Maryland
Father White's Relation
1
12, 71, 145
Letter from Father Du Ranqnct to Very Rev. Father Bapst
-Thunder Bay Station
25
Extract of a Letter from Father Ferard-l!anitouline, Lake
H~~llita~
H
Extracts of a Letter from l!r. Drummond-St. Mary's College, }!ontreal
28
Special Protection of our College and Parish during the
"Chicago Fire"
30
Letter from Florissant.
38
Buffalo Mission-Letter from }[r. Gnldner
45
Letter from St. Louis
52
Letter from Father Prnchcnsky-Emigrants' Refuge
Hospital, Ward's Island, N. Y.
~d
57
Letter from Central America-Corinth, Nicaragua
63
An Account of a Miraculous Cure effected at Boston, 1\fassaehusetts, by the use of the · ~ ¥Vater of Lourdes"
08
The Condition of the Province of Mexico in June, 1707
0
Fort Hill and Environs-Villa of the New York and Canada :1\Iission
87
Extract from a Letter of Father F. X. Kuppens, S. J.
-Grand River, Dakota Territory
106
Letter from Father Ponziglione to Very Rev. Father O'Neil
-Osage lllisslon, Neosho Co., Kansas .
111
Father J. U. Hnnipaux
122
Mission at St. Ignatius', Mountain, Adams Co., Pa.
...
127
�ii
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Lenten Mission! by the Fathers of th e Nontiate, Frederick, Md.
l~
L etter from Florissant
136
St. Joseph hears the Prayer of the Poor.-Lett er from Cincinnati
138
Extracts of Letters from Abroad.-Negaputmu, Nmuur
141
Georgetown College
156
Foundation of the College of Belen at Ha>una
163
Letter from St. Louis
Father W eniuger on tlte Pacific Coast
174
181
Au Incident in the Life of Father .f eter Kenny
188
A Fa>or of our Blessed Lady
1!)1
Father ~Ialdonado
1!)4
Father Olivaiut :tnd his Companions
203
-·
�WOODSTOCK LETTERS.
VoL.
1,
No.
1.- JANUARY, 1872.
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF FATHER ANDREW WHITE, S. ].,
THE APOSTLE OF MARYLAND.
Non recedet memoritL rjus, et 110men ej-us requiretur a generatione ·in gene·
rationem. Eccl. ·39. 1a.
I
l!
I
I·
Merry England in the days of Charles I. was not a pleasant home for Catholics who feared God more than men,
and who loved their faith better than station, wealth and
quiet lives. True, the old fires about the stake no longer
lit up with bal eful glare the fair fields around; rarely did
the rough hurdle with its load of victims wake harsh echoes
as it trundled up Tyburn Hill : but cruel penal laws were
vigorously enforced and the religion of Ethdred and Edward the Confessor was prescribed in the land.
To understand the exact condition of Catholicity in England at this period is not an easy task, so many are the apparent contradictions found in the historical records of the
time. That Catholics should feel themselves forced to go
into exile, there to enjoy the rights of conscience which
were denied them at home-for such was undoubtedly the
impelling motive of the Maryland settlement,-and on the
other hand that their influence at Court was powerful
enough to secme a charter with provisions so liberal, are
facts not readily reconcilable. So far as historical relics en-
�2
All Historical Sketc/z of
Fath~r
AndrrdJ l Vlzite.
able us to judge, th ei r position seems to have been somewhat the foll owing . Persecutions were so much less violent under Charles I. that his reign came to be designated
"a period of mildness." This expression was applicable,
however, relat ive ly only t o the harsh times o f Elizabeth
and her im mediate successor, as a few extracts from contemporaneous accounts show. "From the year 16 28," says
Dr. Challoner, "till 1641, I find no more blood shed for religious matters, though as to other penalties they were fre quently inflicted upon priests and other Catholi cs : in one
year alone there were twe nty-six priests .seized and committed to that one prison called the Clink, to speak nothing
of those that were confined elsewhere." The statutes in
force, imposed a fi ne of £20 on popish rccusants fo r every
month they abse nted themselves from the Protestant church .
. No public office was open to them; retaining arms in thei r
homes was fo rbidden; they were debarred from instituting
lawsuits and no Catholic could travel five miles from home
without a speci al lice nse under pain of forfeitin g all his
goods. Most _ h uman of all was the law fo rbid ding a Pain
pist to educate his child in his own religion, under fine of
£ 10 a month if the instruction were gi\·en at horne, or of
£ 100, and the incapacitation of the child from inheriting,
pu rchasing or enj oyin g any lands, goods, profits a nd so
forth, if the education. were conduCted abroad.
On the other side, we find that wealthy Catholics gained
a show of toleration by compromisi ng in the paym ent of
large sums of mo ney to the kin g, who , harasse<.i ·by th ose
financial di fficulties the final iss ue of which brought his
head to the block, " reckoned of greater worth than their
blood the money of the Papists."
Under circumstances of this nature , we may concl ude
that the Catholi cs of E ngla nd fou ntl little to attach th em
to their native land, and unuer the tlireClion of the pi01is
Sir George Calvert whose services to the crown had procu red h im exceptional favor with the reigning. monarch
they cast about for an asy lum in some othe r land, where
�Atz H istorical Sketch of Father Andrew White.
3
proscription for conscience mi ght cease, and the praClice of
their faith be possible in peace and ·security.
The beautiful country around the waters of the Chesapeake, cheering accounts of which had been brought by
odd journeyers to the Vi rginia colony, invited their efforts.
Sir George Calvert applied to Charles I. for a patent to establish a colony on unappropriated lands lying contiguous
to the Chesapeake, a nd the king, remembering that nobleman's services to his father, and moved, perhaps, by the intercession of his pious queen Henrietta Maria, issued the
desired letters, June 1632, and assigned to the land therein
ceded to Lord Baltimore, th e name of Ma ryland, in honor
of his queen.
Sir George Calvert having died before the execution of
these letters pat~nt, his son Cecil, who succeeded to his father's title and ri ghts, applied to Father-Blount, the first provincial of the English Province and to the general, Mutius
Vitelleschi, for some members of the Society "to attend the
Catholic planters and settle rs and to convert the native
Indians." For this double objeCt so consonant with the
spirit of the Society, Fr. Andrew White was direCled to accompany the Maryland pilgrims, and to him was assigned
as a companion Fr. J ohn Altham. Th e wisdom of the
choice which placed at the head of the mission the future
Apostle of Mary land, subsequent events admirably vindicated.
Fr. Andrew \Nhite was born in London about the year
1579. Of his early life, no in fo rmation has come down to
us. Forced abroad by the inhuman enactments against the
education of Catholic youth, he entered the celebrated college at D ouay, founded by Cardinal Allen for the instruction of priests desti ned to missionary labors in England.
That his success in studies must have been remarkable, we
gather from the important positions afterwards held by him
in the seminaries of the Society.
On his ordination, somewhat about the year 1004, he
repaired to England, there to assume the perilous duties of
�4
An Historical Sketch of Fatlzer Andrew Wlzite.
a missionary priest. vVith zeal native to the great soul he
bore, he labored for a year or two, cheered rather than deterred by the prospect of martyrdom never far removed,
since by English law it was high treason in an English subject to return as a priest from beyond the seas and not conform within three days to the established church. His stay
in England was not prolonged, for in 16o6 his name occurs
in a" list of forty-seven priests who were from different prisons sent into perpetual exile." God denied him this happiness to which he aspired, of laying down his life in testimony of England's old faith; but while thus refusing him
the honor of martyrdom, He held in reserve for his faithful servant the no less glorious labors of a singularly fruitful Apostleship. Foiled in his object of working on the
English mission, Fr. White, at the age of 28, applied for
admission into the Society of Jesus, and began his noviceship at Louvain on the 1st of February, 1607. Two years
later, he pronounced the simple vows. " Possessed of
transcendant talent," says Oliver, he was admirably fitted
for the duties of a university lecturer, and he was appointed
by his superiors to that office. St. Alban's Seminary at
Valladolid and St. Hermenegild's at Seville had been established for the purpose of fitting out subjects for the English Province, and-in these two institutions Fr. White discharged at different periods the offices of Prefect of Studies
and of lecturer in Scholastic Theology, Scripture, and Hebrew. Whether these duties just enumerated filled up the
whole period of time between the close of Fr:·· White's
noviceship in 1609 and the year 1619 when he was admitted to the profession of the four vows, we have no means
of ascertaining. So at variance are the meagre biographies
of the good father, that in one we are told that his first appearance on the English mission was after his entrance into
the Society in 1607. This assertion is not admissible, for
the list of banished priests, above cited, establishes the faCl:
of his presence in England in the year 1606, before his entrance into the Society.
�An Historical Sketc!t of Fat!ter Andrew W!tite.
5
On his return from Spain, Fr. White taught divinity first
at Liege, and then at Louvain ; and in both places he won
the admiration of all by the proofs he gave of rare talents
and deep learning.
After this we can find no traces of him in any biographical records, until he was called to attend Lord Baltimore's
expedition ; and it is impossible to discover whether the
order of his Provincial found him in England or on the
Continent. This we know, that he joyfully obeyed the
command, and in the words of the Collctlanca, S. :J., " like
a giant he exulted to run his course."
"On Nov. 22d, 1633, it being St. Cecilia's day, the 'Ark'
and the ' Dove ' weighed anchor at Cowes in the Isle of
Wight." Their hearts firm set with confidence in the proteCtion of heaven and bravely resolved to endure what perils soever awaited them, in order that they and their children might worship God in justice and in truth, the Pilgrims of Maryland began their long voyage.
As the Relatio Itineris left by Fr. White informs us,
many were the dangers encountered and safely passed
through before the voyagers came in sight of their promised land. For a considerable time, the 'Dove,' a smaller
and less sea-worthy vessel than the 'Ark' was parted from
its consort and given over as lost. To the mutual joy of
both crews, the pinnace rejoined the 'Ark,' before reaching
land, and together the little vessels sailed up the broad
waters of the noble bay and majestic river on whose banks
lay the home of their adoption. " Along the Potomac, the
exiles found mighty forests stretching as far as the eye
could reach ; a soil, rich and fertile ;-the air balmy, although it was now in the month of March ; and they returned thanks to God for the beautiful land which he had
given them, for this was Maryland."
March 25, r634, Lady-day, a landing was made on
an island, which the settlers called St. Clement's, most probably that now known as St. George's. " On the day of
�6
An Historical Sketc!t of Fatltcr Andrew Wlzite.
the Annunciation," says Fr. White, in his 'Relation' "we
first offered the sacrifice of the Mass, never before done in
this region of the world.* After which having raised on
our shoulders an immense cross fashioned from a tree, and
going in procession to the designated spot, assisted by the
Governor, Commissary, and other Catholics, we ereaed
the trophy of Christ, the Saviour, and humbly bent the
knee in reverence during the devout recitation of the litany
of the Holy Cross." Thus in humble, grateful prayer under the symbol of the Cross, on whose wood Christ died to
purchase back a world given over to sin and the devil, did
these pious settlers reclaim of the Son of Man's dearly
bought inheritance, this portion, destined to become the
cradle of a vigorous church, the whole extent of whose
fruitful mission has not even yet been revealed to man.
As on the voyage, so during the wearisome months of
their early labors, Fr. \Vhite and his comrade Fr. John
Altham encouraged the hopes 'of the colonists, kept alive
their confidence in God and dispensed to them those spiritual aids which, above all else, gave them strength to sustain
the hardships incident to their new position. The missionaries did not forget the second duty assigned to them by
the pious Lord Baltimore, and, from the first day, they set
about their apostolic labors among the Indian tribes that
* Fr. 'Vhite was ignorant of the fact, little known even in our own
time, that the soil of Maryland had been previously blessed by the
presence of priests and rendered fruitful unto Christ by tfie shedding
of their blood. In 1570, Fr. Segura, the Vice-Provincial of the Spanish
Jesuits in Florida in company with seven of his subjects landed on the
shore of the Chesapeake. His object was the conversion of the Indians, one of whom having been carried to Florida by Spanish merchants and having professed Christianity, had volunteered to guide
the missionaries. These latter followed the traitor a journey of several
months into the interior, and were at length abandoned by him in the
wild forests to endure all the horrors of famine. After a time he re:
turned at the head of an armed party, and ruthlessly butchered his
benefactors before the rustic altar, on which they had daily offered the
Holy Sacrifice for his people.
�All Historical Sketch of Fatlur Audrcw
~V!tite.
7-
encompassed the Colony of St. Mary's. T hanks to the
spirit of cha rity and justice which pervaded Lord Baltimore's enterprise, at the very outset the I ndians we re rendered kindly disposed towards the new-comers. An exceptional case in the early settlements on the Continent, the
tribes of Maryland were not driven fro m thei r lands by violence, nor we re they cheated o ut of them by fraudul ent
barter.
I n his earliest missions among the Indians, Fr. White
depended for means of intercourse o n interprete rs from
Virginia, but hi s a rdent zeal aiding hi s natura l aptitude for
acquiring languages, he \\as enabled in a <>hort time to master sufficiently the diale& of the country, although these
were singularly numerous and varied. So familiar did Fr.
Wh ite become with the Indian langu age, that he composed
during his stay in Maryland, a g ra mmar, a diCtio nary, and
a catechism in the native tongue. He found time also to
write a Relation of the Voyage from · Eugla11d, and a small
history of the Maryland Colony.
One of the earliest exc ursions undertaken by him was to
the Patuxents, ·a very powerful nation, whose ch ief exercised remarkable influence over the neighboring tribes.
The king of the Patuxents at first showed himself disposed
to ad mit the instruCtio n of th e missionary, wh o remained
for a considerable time in hi s country and bapti zed a few of
his people. Unaccountably these good dispositions -underwent a change, the kind feelings at firs t entertained by the
cacique gave place to hostile sentiments, and Gov. Calvert
fearing dange r to Fr. White required him to return to St.
Mary's. A few years later, howeve r, a reconciliati on was
effected, and in 1639 we find Fr. Brock alias Morgan residing among the Patuxents on land ceded by thei r king
Macaquomen.
More successfu l was a si milar expedition made by Fr.
\Vhite to the Pi. cataway , on whose hunting-grounds now
stands the city of Washington. He was received with
�8
An Historical Sketclz of Father Andrew White.
much cordiality by the king, who shared with him the
l10spitality of his own lodge. During this visit, the king
fell ill and, after having been given over to death by over
forty Medicine-men of his nation, was restored to health
through means of some remedies which the good father
administered. Chilomacan, on his recovery, desired baptism for himself, his wife and children. The ceremony
was delayed to allow time for his thorough instruB:ion,
and in the meanwhile he paid a visit to the Governor at St.
Mary's. On his return to his nation the king ereB:ed a
rude temple in which the ceremony of his baptism was
performed with all the display possibh· under the circumstances. The bright hopes based on this auspicious event
were frustrated by the death of the pious chieftain in the
following year.
To follow here Fr. \Vhite in the all-trying labors undertaken in the service of God, would extend too far the limits
of this sketch. Numerous tribes lying along the Potomac
and the waters of the Chesapeake were brought over to
the faith-and aided by Fr. John Altham, who finally succumbed under his labors, Nov. 5th, 1640, by Frs. Brock,
Fisher, Rigby, "and others," says Oliver in his Colleflions
"whose names are written in the book of Eternal Life,"
Fr. White had the ~joy of seeing the true faith accepted by
hundreds of the natives, and of receiving into the fold of
Christ nearly all the Protestants who had accompanied the
expedition, besides some from the neighboring C?lony of
Virginia. The piety of the missionaries, their p'ure lives
and their perfeCt self-devotion filled the minds of the Indians ·and whites alike with respeCt and wonder. They
pointed out the way of salvation and walked the steep and
thorny path themselves. They practised the virtues which
they taught, and fully exemplified by their own lives the
truth, the beauty, and the sanctity of the Gospel which
they preached. Arduous in the extreme were their journeys by land and water in discharge of their missionary
labors. Usually three together, the priest, an interpreter
�An Historical Sketclt of Father Andrew Wlzite.
9
and a servant, in an open boat they went from station to
station; in a calm or under adverse winds, two rowed and
the third steered. In a little basket were provisions of
bread, cheese, dried ,roasting-ears of corn and such homely
fare; in one chest the articles necessary for the celebration of
. the Divine Mysteries; in another, .various objeB:s intended
as presents for the Indians. When nightfall overtook them
on th~ir journey, as was often the case, they landed on
some sheltered beach, and while the priest moored the boat,
gathered fire-wood, and spread the frail matting, their only
shelter from the bleakest weather, his companions beat up
the adjoining woods in quest of game.
Thus for ten years, under the fierce rays of the summer
sun and in the biting wind and freezing sleet of the winter
months, did the zealous Apostle of Maryland wear out his
life in the service of the people to whose charge he had
been assigned. But harder trials still were in store for him
before his "nunc dimittis" would be heard. In r645, the
rule of the Proprietary in Maryland was overthrown by the
Protestant rebellion, under Claiborne, a Virginia adventurer;
whereupon the Governor, Sir Leonard Calvert, was forced
for refuge into Virginia, and Fr. White, with two of his
companions, was seized, put in irons and transported to
England for trial. Once more the prospeB: of martyrdom
brightened before his eyes, but God had ordained that he
should win his crown not in the one brief, intense hour of
pain that brings release, but in the long years of wearisome
pining in dungeons, and of exhausting, perilous works that
fell to the lot of England's missionary in those dark days.
A sad sight, most truly, to behold this venerable man,
whose best years and most generous efforts had been spent
in the service of his fellow-men, whose tender interest for
their temporal wants, scarcely less than his apostolic zeal
for their eternal welfare, was limited not even by the aetual
strength that he possessed, cast into a dungeon by the very
men for whose love he was prepared to die.
Banished a second time from England, after a confinement
�'
:.
;i
10
A1t- Historical Sketc!t of Father Andrew White.
~i
·!
whose duration is unknown, he sought permission to return
to Maryland, but his request was not heard. Oliver says :
"thirsting for the salvation of his dear Marylanders, he
sought every opportunity of returning to that mission; but
all his attempts proving ineffeCtual, he was conte~t to devote
his remaining energies to the advantage of his. native land."
Indeed a few months 'found him secretly returned to
England; and disregarding the penalty of death incurred
by every priest who appeared in the country after banishment, he labored in the duties of his vocation for a period
generally reckoned about ten years. The necessity he had
of concealing his indentity under an assumed name, has rendered it impossible to ascertain with any degree of surety
the scene of his toiling.
The hardships, privations and sickness that had filled up
the years of his residence in Maryl~nd, told on his constitution towards the end of his life, and for a long time before
his death, that event was daily looked for by his friends.
To himself, some foreknowledge of the appointed time would
seem to have been disclosed, as is gathered from circumstances mentioned by Tanner and Nadasi.
On the morning of 27th Dec. 1656, the feast of St. John
the Evangelist, during his customary hour of prayer, Fr.
White felt that his warning was come, and though no
worse than usual, he received the last sacraments: at sunset in the city of London, on the festival of the great dis. ciple of love, his worthy imitator, the Apostle of Maryland
passed to his reward.
With gratitude and humility may .his brethren of the So~·-
ciety, who live to reap in these full harvest days the yield
from the seed sown amid toil and suffering by Fr. White
and his companions, cherish his memory ami his name. Too
little indeed is known of this great man to whom Providence
gave the founding of a now spiritual empire. That his talents
were of the highest order, that his acquirements in many
branches of learning were most extensive, and that his eloquence fitted him to fill with credit chairs of doCt:rine in the
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�An Historical Sketch of Fatlur Andrew
Whit~.
I I
greatest universities, the splendid praise gained by him in
Spain and Flanders sufficiently proves. But better than a
scholar, Fr. White was a saint. Of the charity, humility,
and zeal that possessed him, his apostolic work in Maryland
and his generous devotedness to his native country stands as
monuments.. In his old a~e, even to the end, he continued
his custom of fasting on bread· and water twice a week.
Not even in prison did he relax his austerities, and to the
remonstrance of his jailer, that he should husband his
strength for his appearance at Tyburn, he replied : 11 mihi
vero ipsum jejunium abunde virium subministrat ad quidtibet Christi Domini mei causa perferendum."
In the Bibliotluca Scnptonmz, S. 7. of Fr. Nathaniel
Southwell, is found appended to the announcement of Fr.
White's death, the following eulogium, with which may be
fittingly closed this scanty memoir of the founder of the
Maryland Mission :
11
Vir fuit non minus sanB:itate vitae, quam doB:rina conspicuus, magna eluxit abstinentia solo pane et .aqua saepe
viB:itans, nee his nisi sub vesperam se reficiebat. Tam profunda humilitate fuit, ut abjiciendi sese occasiones ultro
quaereret. Incommodorum corporis adeo patiens, ut quamvis longa ac permolesta laboraret infirmitate, nunquam tamen auditus sit queri, sed quoad licebat, pro sano se gerebat, hac una in re simulatol' egregius. Denique quaecumque
agebat sanB:imoniam quamdam spirare videbantur, ut non
defucrint viri graves qui asseruerint, si quemquam vidissent
in hac vita sanctum, eum procul dubio fuisse Patrem Andream Vitum."
�A
RELATION
OF THE CoLONY OF THE LoRD BARON oF BALTIMORE, IN
MARYLAND, NEAR VIRGINIA; A NARRATIVE OF THE VoYAGE TO MARYLAND, BY FATHER ANDREW WHITE; WITH
SUNDRY REPORTS FROM FATHERS ANDREW vVHITE, JOHN
ALTHAI\I, JoHN BROCK, AND OTHER JESUIT FATHERS OF
THE
CoLONY, To THE SuPERIOR
GENERAL AT
RoME.*
·A REPORT
Of tlu Colony of tlte Lord Baron of Baltimore, in Maryland,
ncar Virginia, in whic!z t!ze quality, nature aml condition of t!zc
region and its manifold advantages and ric!zes are described.
The province is near the" English colony in Virginia,
which, in honor of his wife Maria, his most serene majesty
of England wished to be called Maryland, or the Land of
Maria. This province, his most serene majesty, in his munificence, lately, in the month of June, I632, gave to the
Lord Baron of Baltimore and his heirs forever; which donation he secured, and has confirmed by the public seal of the
DECLARATJO
Colonii1J Domini Baroni< ile Brdtimore in terra Maril1! prope Virginiam,
qua ingenium, natura et conditio regioni8 et multiplices ejus utilitates ae
dimtil1! descrilmntur.
Provincia est prope Coloniam Anglicanam in Virginia, quam honoris
causa a Maria conjuge sua, Serenissi~us Rex Angliae terram Mariae vel
1\Iarylandiae voluit appellari. Hanc nuper prodnciam idem Serenissilnus rex pro sua magnificentia mense ,Junio 1632 Domino Baroni de
Baltimore et haeredibus suis in perpetuum donavit, quam donationem
publico totius regni sigillo munivit ac ratum habuit. ldcirco illustrissimus Baro jam statuit in earn regionem Coloniam ducere, primo
~---~-----------------
* The original Latin Ms., as copied by Fr. Wm. :McSherry from the
Archives of the Society of Jesus in Rome, is here printed for the first
time; the translation is revised from Force's Historical Tracts.
�Father
White's
Relation.
whole realm. Therefore the most illustrious Baron has resolved immediately to lead a colony into that region; first,
and especially, that into the same and the neighboring places
he may carry the light of the Gospel and of truth where
it has been found out that hitherto no knowledge of the
true God has shone; then, furthermore, with the design, that
all the companions of his voyage and labors may be admitted to a participation of the profits and honor, and that the
empire of the realm may be more widely extended.
For this enterprise, with all haste and diligence, he seeks
companions of his voyage-as well those who have pledged
themselves to share his fortunes as others also. For the
whole affair being carefully considered, and the counsel of
men eminent for experience and prudence being called in,
he has now weighed carefully and studiously all the advantages and disadvantages which hitherto advanced or impeded other colonies, and found nothing which does not
greatly approve his design and promise the most happy
success.
For both the writings which his most noble father left
behind him, an eye-witness a gentleman of means, and
most worthy of credit, the uniform account of those who
daily come and go to us from thence, or not far from thence,
as well as the things which Captain Smith, who first diset praecipue ut in eandem ac loca finitima lucem Evangelii ac veritatis invehat, quo nullam hactenus veri Dei notitiam affulsisse compertum est; tum eo etiam consilio ut Socii omnes itinenun ac laborum
in partem quaestus et honoris vocentur, Regisquc imperiumlatius propagetur. Emu in rem navigationis comites cum eos qui fortunae aleam
secum sint tentatnri, tum alios omni festinatione ac diligentia conquil'it. Quippe re tota accurate considerata, et virorum usu ac prudentia
praestantium consilio adhibito, omnia tum commoda tum incommoda,
quae alias hactenus colonias vel promoverunt vel impelliverunt, sedulo
jam studioseqne perpendit, reperitque nihil, quod consilium suum non
nmgnopere probaret ac successum sponderet felicissimum. Nam et
scripta quae post se reliquit nobilissimus Pater testis oculatus ac locuples ac fide dignissimus, quaeque constanter referunt, qui all nos inde vel haud procul inde comeant quotidie, tum quae verissime scripsit
ac in lucem edidit Capitaneus Smithaeus, qui primus eam terram a per-
�14
Father
White's
Relation.
covered that country, most veritably wrote and published,
contain statements truly wonderful and almost unheard of,
in relation to the fertility and excellence of the soil. There
is added to this also, the common consent and testimony of
innumerable men who are here at London, and who are
about to return to those parts from which they sometimes
since have come, who with one accord verify and ·confirm
what Smith has commited to writing.
Wherefore the most noble Baron, about to make sail, God
helping, unto those parts; and to those whom he shall obtain as companions and supporters in an undertaking so illustrious, he makes the most ample and liberal promises, of
which this is first and especial, (to omit the titles of honor
and rank which are granted to fidelity, virtue, bravery and
illustriou~ ~ervices,) that such gentlemen as shall pay down
one hundred pounds English to .. convey five men (which
sum shall be sufficient for arms and implements, for clothes
and other necessary articles) whether it shall please them
to join our company themselves, or otherwise accredit their
men and money, to those who shall be charged with this
duty or to any person whom they may commission to look
after them and receive their division of lands,-to them
and to their heirs forever, shall be ;.,signed a possession
of two thousand acres of good land. Besides these emoluit, mira sane et prope inaudita de soli illius fertilitate excellentiaque
commemorat. Accedit etiam innumerabilium hominum, qui hie Londini versantur, quique in eas oras unde aliquando venerant reversuri
sunt, communis consensus ac testimonium qui quae literis mandavit
Smithaeus, uno ore comprobant atque confirmant. Qua propter nobilis-.
shuns Baro circa medium Septembrem proxime insequentem in ea loca, Deo adjuvante, vela factums est, iisque quos sibi in tam praeclaro
increpto Socios ac adjutores nactus fuerit cumulatissime multa ac largissime pollicetur. Quorum id primum ac praecipuum est (ut omittam
honoris ac loci dignitates, quae honori, virtuti fortitudini, rebusque gestis liberaliter ac honorificentissime tribuuntur) ut quicumque 100 libras
Anglicanas ad quinque viros transportandos (quod sa tis erit tum ad
anna tum ad instrumenta, tum ad vestes et alias res necessarias) numerabit, sive ipsis visum fuerit se nobis adjungere; seu virus pecuniarnque
�Father
White's
R elation.
IS
uments, if they offer themselves as companions in the first
expedition, furtherin g our projeEt, they shall obtain their
share by no means small, in a profitable trade, (of which
more hereafter,) with other privileges;- concerning all
which things, when they come to the foresaid Baron, they
shall be made acquainted. But what has been before said
of the one hundred pounds Eng lish, this may be also understood of a smaller or greater sum of money in proportion, whether from one person separately, or colleEted together and contributed by many.
The first and chief objeEt of the illustrious Baron (which
also ought to be the objeEt of others who may be in the
same ship) is, that in a land so fruitful shall be sown not so
much the seeds of grain and fruit trees as of religion an~
piety; a design truly worthy of Chri stians, worthy of angels, worthy of Ang les, th an which En gland, renowned for
so many ancient vicrories, has undertaken nothing more
noble or more glorious. Behold the regions are white unto
the harvest, prepared to receive into their fruitful bosom
the seed of the Gospel. From thence they are sending, on
all sides, messengers to seek for suitable men who may instruCt the inhabitants in the doEtrine of salva ti on and regen·
erate them in the sacred font.
There are present at this very time in the city , those
iis, quilms hoc munus impositum fuerit, sivc alteri cui vis commiscrit
ut eorum curam gerat, et uivi ionem agrorum recipiat, his omnibus
suisque haereuibns in perpetuum pogsessio agri boui 2000 jugerum assignahitnr. Ad haec !<i in prima .expeditione socios se praestiterint
opcramq uc navaverint partcm quoque suam )mud e xiguam in fructnosa mercatura, de qua postea, aliisque privilegiis, ohtinebunt; de quibus cum ad praetlictum Barouem vcnerint, accuratius ficnt ccrtiorcs.
Quod autcm nntca dictum e t tle 100 libris Anglicaui!<, hoc cti:un de
minore seu majore summa pecuniac pro rata portione ah uno !<eparatim
aut a pluribus simul collata atqnc praestita intclligatur.
Uonsilium primum ~lC summum Ill ustrissimi Baron is est, quo<l aliorum ctiam qui in eadem navi fucrint esse uebet, ut in terra tam frugifera, non tam frugum atque arhorum quam religion is ac pi eta tis semi·
ua spargantur. Consilium enimvero dignum Christian is, lliguum Angelis, dignum Anglis, quo n oi.Jilius nulluru aut gloriosius, tot antiquis
�Father
White's
Rdatz'on.
who state that they have seen at Jamestown, in Virginia,
messengers sent from their chiefs for this purpose, and infants carried to New England, that they might be washed
in the waters of salvation. Who then can have a doubt, but
that by this one work so glorious, many thousand souls.
may be led to Christ? I call the rescue and salvation of
souls a glorious work, for that was the work of Christ the
King of Glory. But since there are not to all the same
ardor of mind and elevation of soul, so as to regard nothing
but divine things, esteem nothing but heavenly things-inasmuch as most men regard rather pleasures, honors and
wealth, as if in love with them-it has happened by some
unseen power, or rather by the manifest remarkable wisdom of the Deity, that this one undertaking should embrace all inducements that effect men-emoluments of every
kind.
It is admitted that the natural position of the country is
the best and the most advantageous; for it extends towards
the north to the thirty-eighth or fortieth deg~ee of latitude,
in the same position of place as Seville, Sicily and Jerusalem, and not unlike the best portions and climate of AraAnglia victoriis nobilitata suscepit. Ecce regiones sunt albae ad
messem, panitae ad Evangelii semen gremio fructifero recipiendum.
Inde, ipsi mittunt undique nuntios ad conquirendos idoneos homines
qui incolas doctrina salutaria instruant ac sacro fonte regen erent. Adsunt etiam hoc ipso tempore in urbe qui se vidisse testantur legatos a
suis regibus bane ob causam urbcm Jancli in Virginia missos, infantesque in Novam Angliamtlclatos, ut aquis salutaribus abluerentur. Cui
ergo dubiurn esse poterit, quin hoc uno tam glorioso opere mul~a animarum millia ad Christum traducantur. Opus appello gloriosum animarum auxilium ac salutem, opus enim erat Cllristi regis gloriae.
Cretcrum cum omnibus idem anlor animi ac mentis alitudo non sit, ut
nihil nisi divina spectent; nihil nisi caclestum intueantur, quin plurimi potius voluptates, honores, opes quasi adamantes, occulta quadam vi,
sen aperta magis singulari numinis prudentia factum est ut hoc unum opus omnia llominum incitamenta, omnia generis emolumenta
complecteretur.
In confesso est situm regionis optimum esse ac commodissimum,
quippe quae ad 38 vel 40 gradum in aquilonem porrigitur, situ loci
Hispalis, Siciliae, Jerusalem, et optimis Arabiae felicis plagis et climati
�Fatlzer
Wlzite' s
Relation.
17
bia Felix. The air is serene and mild, neither exposed to .
the burning heat of Florida or ancient Virginia, nor withered by the cold of New England, but has a medium temperature between the two-enjoys the advantages of each,
and is free from their inconveniences. On the east it· is
washed by the ocean: on the west it adjoins an almost
boundless continent, which extends to the China sea.
There are two large arms of the sea, one on each sidebays most abundant in fish. The one whose name is Chesapeake, is twelve miles broad, and flowing between two regions, rolls from south to north one hundred and sixty
miles, is able to contain great navies, and is marked by various large islands fit for grazing, where they fish actively
for shad. They call the other the Delaware, where, the entire year, there is fishing for codfish, but not so profitable,
except during the cold months, as those which are rather
warm prevent their being cured with salt, and indeed this
great plenty of fishing arises from this:. the wind which
sets continually from the Canaries, between the north and
the east, rolls the earth and the fish with it to the Gulf of
Mexico, where since it can neither return again to the east
nor the south, it is driven violently towards the north and
sweeps in its tide, along the coast of Florida, Virginia,
haud absimilis. Aer serenus ac mitis, nee ardoribus Floridae vel antiquae Virginiae infest us, nee Novae Angliae frigoribus exustus, ~ed mediam quamdam inter utramque temperiem obtinet, utriusque fmitur bo·
nis, ac mala nescit. Ab oriente Oceano alluitur, ab occidente infinito
prope Continenti adjacet, qui in mare Chinense protenditur. Duo
aestuaria sane magna utrinque, sinus piscium foocundissimi. Alterum
cui nomen Chespeack 12,000 passum latum binisque interfusum regio- ·
nibus, ab austro centum et sexaginta millia passuum in aquilonem
volvitur; magnarum capax uavium discretum variis amp lis ac pascuosis insulis in quibus piscium quos lagoes vocant copiosa piscatio, Alterum appellant Delaware ubi integro anno asellorum piscatio est, sed
non adeo commoda, nisi mensibus tan tum frigidioribus, nam calidiores
sale condiri vetant. Ac haec quidem tanta piscandi copia hie fit, quod
ventus qui a Canariis inter aquilonem et orientem constanter spirat,
volvit oceanum simulque pisces in aestuarium mexicanum, ubi cum
2
�18
Father
TV/lite's
Relation.
Maryland and New England, a g reat multitude of fish
which, as they avoid the cetacea, fly to the shoal places
where they are more easily taken by the fishermen.
There are various and noble rivers, the chief of which
they call Patowmack, suitable for navigation, flowing one
hundred and forty miles towards the east, where a trade
·with the Indians is so profitable, that a certain merchant,
the last year, shipped beaver skins at a price, of forty thousand pieces of gold, and the labor of traffic is compensated
by thirty-fold profit.
In the level and champagne country, there is a great abundance of grass; but the region is for the most part shaded with forests; oaks and walnut trees are the most common, and the oaks are so straight and tall that beams can be
made from them, sixty feet lpng, and two feet and a half
thick. Cypress trees will shoot up eighty feet before they
send forth branches, and three men with extended am1s,
scarcely encompassed them. The mulberry that feed the
silk worms, are very common. There is also found an Indian grain which the Portuguese call l' ove de t lticrva. Alders,
ash trees and chestnuts, not inferior to those which Spain,
Italy and Gaul produce-cedars equal to those which Lenee in oricutcm nee :\UStrum cvolvi dctur, magno impctu in aquiloncm
pellitur, pcrquc oms Florhlac, Vir~i nia c, l\Iarylandiac, Novae Ai1gliae,
mab'llam sccum multitutlincm piscitm1 c\·crrit, qui llum cctos fngiunt,
ad loca vqdosa confngiunt ubi facilius a piscatoribus C.'lpiuntur. Flnmina suut varia atquc inclyta, quorum praccipuum Attowmack appellant navigationi opportunum 140 millia passunm iuf!ucns in orientem
ubi cornmcrcium cum Indis tam qnacstnosum ilahctnr ut mercator quidam 40,000 aurcorum prctio pclle C.'lStorum ultimo an no con vcxcrit ac
mercaturac labor trigcsimo frenorc compcnsctur.
In planitie ac apcrtis cam pis copia gram in is magna, sed rcgio majori
ex parte ncmoribus opaca; querens, juglanll es frequcntbsimae, ac quercus quid em ita rcctac ac proccrnc ut trabcs intlc fieri po~~i nt altac 60 pedum latac 2 et dimitlium. Cypressi ctimn antcquam ramos cmittant ad 0
pclles eriguntur, truucum vix trcs viri cxtcutis l1rachiis mctiuntur. J\lori
frcqucntissimi a csca m hombycum. Invcuitur ctiam gramen scricum
quod Lusitani l' 011/l cle l' ltierva voc:mt. A lui, fraxini, castancnc baud imparcs iis, quas Hispauia, Italia, Gallia fcruut, ccdrique acquales iis qui-
�Father
I¥/tite's
Relat£on.
19
banon boasts. What shall I say of the pine, laurel, fir, sassafras and others, with various trees also which yield balsam
and odoriferous gum,-trees for all the most useful purposes
-for architeCture, for nautical uses for planks, for resin,
pitch and terebinth, for mustard, for perfumes, and for making cataplasms? But the woods _ passable, not rough with
are
an undergrowth of thorns and shrubs, but formed by nature
to afford food to beasts, and pleasure to men. There are
grapes in abundance, from which wine can be pressed;
some resemble cherries and have a thick and unB:uous juice.
The inhabitants call them chesamines. There are cherries
equal to Damascus plums, and gages very much like ours.
There are three kinds of plums. Mulberries, chesnuts and
walnuts are so abundant that they are used in various ways
for food . Strawberries and esculent blackberries you will
in like manner, find .
Of fishes, the foll owing are already familiar: sturgeon,
herrings, porpoises, -craw-fish, torpedoes, trout, mullets of
three kinds, urchins, roach, white salmon , periwinkles and
others of that kind, of innumerable names, and unknown
species. But so great is the abundance of swine and deer
that they are rather troublesome than profitable. Cows,
also, are innumerable and oxen suitable for bearing burdens
bus Libanus gloriatur. Quid d lcam de pinu, Iauro, abiete, saxofrasso
et reliquis cum variis etiam a rl>oriiJus quae balsama et gulllllli odorifera
reddunt. Arbores ad omnia ntilissima, ad architecturam, ad rem nauticam, opus tabnlatum, ad picem rc ~ inam, liqnidam picem, terebinthum,
sinapi, odoromata, kaptaplasmata conficiemla. Sylvam autem perviam,
non horridam spinis aut arbutis sed ad p:"tstum bestiis, bominibus ad
volnptatem a natura factam . ·Adsnnt vites uiJertate ex quibus vinum
exprimi pote t, quaedam ccrasis pare quarum humor crassus et unguinosus. Incolae Chcsaminc vocant: ccrasa prunis Damascenis
aequalia, grossnlaria nostris simillima; tria sunt genera prunorum.
.Mora, Castanea,juglaudcs ita abundant ut varias ad escas adhibeantur.
Fruges et rubos idaeos ibidem invenias: De piscibus qui sequuntur,
etiamnum in rtotitiam venerunt. Sturiones, baleces, pboeaenae, astaci,
squillae, torpedines, truttae mulli trium gene rum, ericii, rubelliones, albi
salmones, choncae, cochleae, et alii id genus innumeri nominum et generum ignoti. Ceterum tanta porconun et ce rvorum cop it\ est, ut molestiae
�20
Fat!ter
TV!zite's
Relation.
or for· food; besides five other kinds of large beasts unknown to us, which our neighbors use for the table. Sheep
will have to be taken from the Canaries: asses, also, and
mules. The neighboring forests are full of wild horses,
bulls and cows, of which five or six hundred thousand are
annually carried to Seville from that part of the country
which lies towards New Mexico. As many goats as you
wish can be obtained from the neighboring people. Add to
this, muskrats, squirrels, beavers, ferrets and weasels, not
however, destructive as with us to eggs and hens. Of the
birds, the eagle is the most ravenous. Of hawks, there are
various kinds which live in a great measure on fish. There
are partridges, not larger than our quails, but almost infinite in number. Innumerable wild turkeys, which are double the size of our tame and domestic ones. There are also
blackbirds, thrushes and a great many little birds of which
there are various kinds, some red, some blue etc. The winter is plenteous in swans, geese, cranes, herons, ducks, creepers, green parrots, and many other birds unknown to our
part of the world.
Lemons and quinces of the best quality grow there. Appotius quam commodo sint, vaccae etiam innumerabiles ac bubali ad
on era et escas idonei, praeter alia quinque genera magnarum bestiarum
nobis ignota, quae finitimi ad mensam adhibent. Oves vel hine vel a
canariis petendae, asini item et muli. Equis, tauris vaccisque sylvestribus plena sunt proxima nemora ex quorum parte, ea quae occidentem
spectat in Novam Mexico, quotannis 600,000 vel 800,000 deportantur
Hispalim. Caprarum quantum visum fuerit peti poterit a finitimis· •·
Adde hue murcs odoratos, sciuros, castores fibros, mustelas, curculio- ..
nes non tamen ut nostri ovis et gallinis infestos. Inter volucres, aquila
voracissima, accipitrum varia genera qui piseibus magna ex parte vi·
ctitant. Perdices coturnieibus haud majores sed multitudine prope infinitae. Innumerabiles etiam Afrae aves agrestes quae nostras circures et domestieas duplo magnitudinis exsuperent. Sunt etiam merulae
et turili, minutaeque aviculae multae, variaeque quorum aliae rubrae,
caeruleae aliae, etc. Hyems abundat cycnis, anseribus, gruibus ardeis
anatibus, certheis, glaucis psittacis, aliisque compluribus nostro orbi
ignotis. Mala limonia et mala contonea fert optima. Armeniae, item
tanta sunt ubertate, ut vir honestus ac fide dignus constanter affimaverit se ultimo anno centum modios porcis projecisse. De lupinis
�Father
White's
Relation.
21
ricots are so abundant that an honest gentleman, and worthy of credit, positively affirmed he had cast, last year, an
hundred bushels of them to the hogs. What shall I say
of the 1upines, beans, garden roots etc., most excellent in
quality, when even the peas, in these places, grow in ten
days, to a height of fourteen inches ? The country is so
fruitful in corn that, in the most barren places, it returns the
seed twice an hundred fold; but in other places and generally, one grain yields five or six hundred grains. In the
more produCtive years, there is a yield of from fifteen hundred to sixteen hundred fold, and this indeed during one
harvesting, whereas the fertility of the soil affords three
harvests. That I may presently draw to a close, it is very
likely that the soil is adapted to all the fruits of Italy-figs,
pomegranates, golden olives, etc.
Nor are there wanting things that may be of use to fullers and apothecaries; there is plenty, also, of tin, iron,
hemp and flax. There is hope, too, of finding gold ; for the
neighboring people wear bracelets of unwrought gold and
long strings of pearls. Other advantages, both numerous
and lucrative may be expeCted, which sagacious industry
and long acquaintance will discover.
praestantissimis, fabis, radicibus, aliisque ejusmodi quid dicam? Cum
etiam pisa illis in locis decem dicbus ad quatuordecim digitos excrescunt. Rcgio frumenti adeo ferax est ut in maxima sterilitate bis
centuplo semen reddat, alias et plerumque pro uno granulo 500 aut
600; melioribus annis 1500 vel 1600 et hoc quidem una messis, cum
ternas per annum fertilitas soli suppeditat. Verisimile est omnibus
Ita!iae fructibus solum idoneum fore, ficubus, pomis granatis, aureis
o!ivis, etc., ut brevi perstringam. Non desunt quae pul!onibus ct.
apothecariis usui esse possunt ; nee stanni, ferri, canabis, lini copia
desideratur. Spes etiam auri inveniendi, nam finitimi ex auro sed
nondum facto armillas gestant, ac margaritarumlongas catenas. l\iulta etiam commoda atque divitiae sperari poterunt, quae sagax hominum industria et longus usus inveniet.
�NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE TO MARYLAND.
On the 22nd of November 1633, on St. Cecilia's day, the
east wind blowing gently, we weighed anchor from Cowes,
situated in the Isle of Wight. When we had first placed
the principia! parts of the ship under the proteCtion of God,
His most Holy Mother, St. Ignatius, and all the Guardian
Angels of Maryland, being carried a short distance between
the two headlands, for want of wind we came to anchor off
Castle Yarmouth, which is a port on the west of the same
island. Here we were saluted by the festive thunder of cannon. \Ve were not free from alarm, however. For the
sailors began to murmur among themselves declaring that
they expeCl:ed a messenger from London with letters, and
so appeared to frame causes of delay. But God interrupted
their wicked ~esigns; for the same night, during the prevalence of a favorable but strong wind, a French barque
which had lain in the same port with us, being compelled
to weigh anchor, nearly drove against our pinnace. She, to
prevent being run down, after cutting loose an anchor hastened to make sail as quick as possibl e, and since it is dangerous to be tossed by the waves in that place she put out
RELATIO ITlNERIS IN 1\IARYLANDIA?t!.
Vigesimo secundo mcnsis Novcmbris anni 1633, die Snctac Caeciliae
sacro, leniter aspirante Euro sol vim us a Con is qui posit us est in insula
Vecta. Cumquc praecipnas partes navis constituisscmns in tutela·Dei
in primis, et Santissimae cjus llfatris, Sancti Ignatii ct omnium .t\.ngelo. rum 1\farylandiae, paulnlum inter dnas terms provccti, dcficiente
vento, resedimus e regione Castri Ya rmouth, quod est ad occasum
aestivum ejusdem insulae. Hie festis tormentorum tonitruis acccpti
sumus neque tamcn metus aberat. Nautae enim inter se mussitabant
expectare se Londino nuntium et literas, atque ideo moras etiam nee·
tre videb::mtur. Sed D eus consilia diversa abrupit. Eadem quippe
nocte prospero sed valido flante vento !em bus Gallicus (qui eodem hortu
nobiscum constiterat) solvere coact us, propc abfuit in nostram celocem
ut impingeret. Ilia igitur ne opprimeretur, una praecisa ac deperdita
anchora, vela dare quamprimum: ct quoniam co loci fluctuare pericu-
�Fatlur
lV!tite's
Relatioll.
2.3
to sea. Therefore, not to lose sight of our pinnace, we determined to follow; so that whatever designs the sailors
contemplated against us, were frustrated. This happened
on the 23rd of November, St. Clement's day, on which he
being bou nd to an anchor and cast into the sea, obtained a
crown of martyrdom, and afforded to his people a way to
land, as the miracles of God declare.
So, on the same day, at ten o'clock in the morning, being
honored again by a salute from the Castle of Hurst, we
were carried beyond the breakers at the extremity of the
Isle of Wight, which, from their form, they called the Needles.
Now these are a terror to sailors on account of the double
tide of the sea ; on this side hurrying and dashing the ships
upon the rock, and on the· other side against the neighborin g shore. To say nothing of the other imminent danger
which we escaped at Castle Yarmouth, here the wind and
tide raging while we remained, the anchor not yet being
weighed and secured, the ship would certainly have been
dashed on shore had we not on a sudden, being violently
driven forward and shipping a sea, escaped the danger by
the favor of God, who vouchsafed to us this pledge of his
future proteCl:ion, through the merits of St. Clement.
}osum crat, in marc porro se dcmittcre !cstinat. Itaque nc celocis nostrac conspcctum pcnlcremus, scqui dcceruimus, ita quae nautae in nos
agitarunt consilia snnt dissipata. Accid it iu vigesimo tertio Novembris,
die Sancto Clcmcnto sacro qui anchora alli•ratus, ct in marc demersus
coronam martyrii adcptus est, et ilt:r pracbuit populo terrae, ut enarrant mirabilia Dei.
E.o igitur die, iterum circa decimmn matutinam, fcstivis explosionibus
salutati a Castro Hurst, practervccti sum us frcqucntes scopulosad ext~e
mum insulae V cctae, quo a fonn a a ens voca.nt. unt au tern na vigantibus
terrori propter duplicem ae tum mari , hinc in saxa, illinc in vicinum
litus abri picntem, et allidentem naves, ut alterum interim discrimen
taccam,flUO defuncti sum us ad Castrum Yarmouth. Nam vento ct acstu
urgente, cum non dum rcccpta anchom llaercremus, propc erat, ut navis·
ad tcrram allidcretur, nisi subdito vi magna aversi, earn mari immergentes, periculum Deo propritio elusissemus, qui hoc etiam pignore
protectionis suae nos dignatus est per merita Sancti Clementi.
�Father
White's
Relation.
On that day, which fell on Saturday, and on the succeeding night, we enjoyed winds so favorable, that the following
day, about nine o'clock in the morning, we left behind us
the western promontory of England and the Scilly isles ;
in a gentle course turned rather towards the West, coasting
along the British ocean, nor running as fast as we could,
lest, leaving the pinnace too far behind, it might fall a prey
to the Turks and pirates for the most part infesting that sea.
Hence it came to pass that a fine merchant ship of six hundred tons burden, by the name of the Dragon, which having
sailed from London was going to Angola, overtook us about
three in the afternoon. And since, our dangers being passed,
we could afford to take a little enjoyment, it was delightful
to behold the two ships contending together in the course,
while trumpets resounded, and sky and wind were propitious. And our ship would have had the advantage in the
race, even without the use of a''topsail, had we not to tarry
for our pinnace which was rather slow. We, therefore,
parted from the merchantman, which, before evening, was
out of sight.
Die illo in Sabbatum incidit, et nocte insequente ventis usi sum us ita
secundis, ut postero die mane circa horam nonam reliquerimus a tergo
promontorium Angliae occiduum et insulas Sylinas placido cursu magis
in occasum versi, legentes oceanum Brittanicum, neque quantum potuissemus accelerantes, ne celocem plus nimio praecurrentes, illa Turcis et
piratis, mare illud plerumque infestantibus, praeda fieret.
Hinc factum est, ut oneraria insignis vasorum sexcentorum, cui nomen a Dracone datum est, cum Londino profecta Angolam peteret, nos
circa tertiam pomeridianam assequeretur. Et quoniam periculo perfunctis voluptatis jam a liquid admittere vacabat, jucundum erat spectare eas duas naves inter se cursu, et tubarum clangore per horam integram contendentes, coelo et ventis arridentibus. Et superasset nostra, quamvis siparo non uteremur, nisi sistendum f11isset propter
celocem, quae tardior erat; itaque cessimus onerariae; ilia autem ante
vesperam praetervecta, conspectui nostro se subduxit.
(To be continued.)
�Canada-Indian Missions.
CANADA.-INDIAN
MISSIONS.
LETTER FROM FATHER Du·R.ANQUET
TO VERY REV. FATHER BAPST.
THUNDER BAY STATION,
Sept. 24, 1871.
REVEREND FATHER,
P.C.
Since I last wrote you from Grand Portage in June, I
have been away nearly all the time travelling or on sick
calls. A type of measles, called by our doctor "malignant
measles," has swept off fifteen of our poor people in less
than a month, and threatens to make still further ravages.
Truly a terrible scourge for our poor mission! We have
had the consolation of seeing the greater part of the victims
prepare themselves for death as true Christians. Others
have been called away so suddenly that I have hardly had
time to give them extreme unction. Very few whites have
been attacked ; but it would seem as if no Indian or halfbreed were to be permitted to escape. Fr. Chone, here at
the mission where the greater number of deaths has occurred, is extremely fatigued. Fifty Indians have died of
the same disease at Rainy Lake. I have had no news from
Lake Nissigon, or the stations north of Lake Superior
since my visit to them. I am very anxious about them;
this terrible plague seems to ferret out the poor Indians in
every corner; whereas the whites, as I was saying, have
almost all escaped. I wish I were able to go and examine
for myself the state of things at all points of the mission,
but I would not venture to leave Fr. Chone here alone in
his already exhausted condition.
If the sickness lasts another fortnight, our Autumn fishing will be lost, and those whom the disease will have
spared, will fall victims to the famine. The foremost offi-
�Canada-Indian Missions.
cials in charge of the public works have already given
some relief to our unfortunate people, and hold out hopes
of still further assistance. I have not yet attempted to
make a collection, but the compassion for our poor Indians
which their great distress excited, should move people to
be generous towards them.
The Daughters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary have
nearly all their children sick. They also devoted themselves, as far as in their power, to the assistance of the other
sufferers.
The visit to our Christians at Michipicoten, Pic, etc.,
without offering any very remarkable results, has yielded its
ordinary share of consolation. At Red Rock, at the mouth
of the Nissigon river, seven men, five of whom were Christians, in the employ of the engineers of the Pacific Railroad, \Vere overtaken by the fire which had broken out
everywhere through the woods, and were suffocated by the
smoke. This accident and the sickness have left many orphans on our hands. The sisters have taken charge of the
little girls.
I have received very pressing letters from Mr. G. Keller
of Duluth, requesting me, in the name of the Bishops of
St. Paul and La Crosse, to pay a visit before the close of
navigation to the Indians and half-breeds of Superior, Duluth and Fond du Lac. I have not yet answered him, indeed I am rather at a loss what to say. The new missionaries at these places do not know the language, and Mr.
Keller says the people are crying out for priests who can
understand them. He tells me, also, that Fr. Sherlock has
given a mission to the Polish emigrants in that neighborhood.
Ra!. Va!. in Xto. Servus,
D. Du
RANQUET,
S.
J.
�Montreal.
27
EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM
FR. FERARD, SUPERIOR AT MANITOULINE, LAKE HURON, ONTARIO.
There died, last winter, a young boy about 12 years of
age, who knew enough of his little prayers to remind him
of God, but who had not had a chance to see the priest for
the past two years, and had consequently been unable to
receive his first communion. His sister had died a very
happy death, some days before he himself had been attacked; and when he too felt the touch of death in his
breast, he called his father and mother to his side and said
to them: "Father and mother, I am dying,-I can't live
long,-my sister is calling me from above,-she tells me to
come and meet her, for we shall be so happy together,I am very \Villing to go; but, father and mother, I am, perhaps, not good enough to enter at once into heaven ; I
therefore beg of you a favor ." "What is it, Son?" said
the astonished parents. " I would lik.e you to whip me
well before I die," continued the young penitent, "and help
me to do penance for my sins."
At once the parents, to whom the will of a dying person
is always sacred, with great composure, but with tears in
their eyes, took up a strap of raw hide that lay near by, and
proceeded to strike their little son smartly, for a length of
time, on his outstretched hands. The dying lad did not
shrink, did not shed a tear; and when h e had undergone
his voluntary penance, he lay back on his pillow, and gently
gave up his soul to God. His parents told me that his
countenance wore a sweet and almost superhuman appear- ·
ance, after he had breathed his last; and though, like all
Indians, they are apt to be superstitious, I am much inclined
to believe them this time. Oh ! that I may die such a
death!
�Montreal.
'
I
~
EXTRACTS OF A LETTER FROM
MR. DRUMMOND.
ST. MARY's CoLLEGE,_
MoNTREAL, oa. 3. 1871.
On Sunday last, with the permission of the Bishop, Fr.
Vasseur appeared in the pulpit of our church in Chinese
costume. Over a sky-blue, nearly violet, soutanne, he wore
a little black cloak with short loose sleeves lined with red,
and a surplice over all. His head gear consisted of what
he calls his "bonnet du sacrifice," a large four-sided structure with the monogram of the Society worked on each
face. It was so lightly fastened that it shook at the least
movement of the wearer's head. You know whether he is
given to movements of the head. This wonderful "bonnet '•
had two broad pendants behind, like a mitre. I was agreeably surprised at the effeCt of it. I had expeCted something
ridiculous, but found it quite the reverse, very rich and imposing.
Let me tell you a little bit of apostleship in the world
which I have just heard of at first hand. My informant is
a clerk in the office of a gr~in broker, a Protestant. The
other day he received an order for a quanity of flour, which
was immediately forwarded. The consignees refused to receive the flour, on the ground that it was not according to
sample. The matter was too urgent for the tortuous for- ..-·
malities of the courts, so it was agreed to refer it to arbitration. Upon this the broker went to Mr. C--, who has
two brothers at our college, and who, whilst enjoying the
reputation of being the most upright merchant in Montreal,
is a thoroughly praCtical Catholic, and a regular frequenter
of the Sacraments. " See here, C--, I want you to be
arbitrator in this matter." "Oh ! do let me alone; I'm
bothered with these arbitrations; everybody comes to me."
�Montreal.
But the other insisted, and he at last gave way, but on one
condition. "Well, I'll do it, provided you promise to come
to the English sermon at the Gesu on Sunday eight." " Oh !
all right!" And the matter was arranged. Upon returning
to his office, the Protestant broker threw himself into his
chair and laughed heartily : "Just to think of it! I have
to go to church on Sunday night." He laughs well who
laughs last.
Just one other little item of edification which I came upon
quite accidentally the other day. Upon going into the
treasurer's office my attention was attraaed by a very fine
photograph of the Holy Patriarch St. Joseph, as patron of
the faithful, under which was placed an inscription pretty
much to this effea: "I, John Bapst etc., confide St. Mary's
College to the care of St. Joseph ...... and appoint Fr.
Loyzance first assistant Procurator and Joseph Koerner second assistant Procurator, under the express condition that
they will undertake nothing of any importance without previously consulting the Holy Patriarch. In testimony hereof
I affix my seal and sign manual, etc." The consequence is
that we have already I 52 boarders, and more are expeaed,
whilst last year which was the most prosperous in a pecuniary point of view which the college has yet seen, we
never had 140 at a time: and remember that we attained
our maximum only about Easter.
�The Clzi'cago Fire.
SPECIAL PROTECTION OF OUR COLLEGE AND PARISH DURING THE
"CHICAGO FIRE."
EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER DATED NOV. 12,
1871.
" In mediis ignis non sum <estuatus " exclaims the sacred
writer, when he wishes to give us an idea of God's tender
mercies. We may say almost as much for ourselves. For
kind Heaven has deigned to show us a similar favor. Chicago is proud Chicago no longer.~ The fire-king has robbed
her, not only of her pride and wealth, her pomp and luxury;
but also of many of her sanCtuaries and shrines, of her
monuments of Christian charity and devotion. The cathedral and the Episcopal residences, churches, and chapels,
schools and academies, monasteries and convents, orphanages and asylums of innocence or penitence, have been
buried in one promiscuous grave.
But, by the favor of God, our house and parish still
stand on the very borders .of the smouldering waste, as a
monument of His unspeakable mercy towards us. If they
have escaped from the general conflagration, it certainly is
not because they were beyond the reach of danger. For a
long time the fiery element seemed to be disporting around· .
us, as if in mockery of our tears. Had not some kind angel, such as fanned the youths in the Babylonian furnace,
checked its wild, capricious gambols, we had most probably
shared the common fate.
·
On the 6th of OCtober, three blocks had been reduced
to cinders, at no great distance away from us ; and the remembrance was still fresh, when we were suddenly startled
by the presence of danger near home. It was about 9
o'clock, on the night of the 7th, that we were attraCted
to the windows hy an ominous glare on the surrounding
�Tlu Chicago Fire.
houses. Seeing the northern front of the Holy Family
School-house brilliantly lit up, Father V. A--and Brother O'N--, with some other members of the community,
hurried off in great anxiety to the scene. But, finding that
there was no immediate danger for the school, they turned
their attention to the safety of the parish. Here, too, they
found a watchfu"I Providence on guard. The flames -were
sweeping, like a torrent, along the boundary line, without
ever daring for an instant to cross, or to trespass on what
looked like consecrated ground. On they kept gathering
strength and fury as they went, until they reached the district burned out on the previous night. Then there came
a turn. Had it been towards the West, nothing could have
saved us. Fortunately for us, it was toward the East: The
fate that had been hovering around our flock was averted
for the present, and our active little party began to breathe
more freely. They did not however, remain idle spectators
and soon found in other quarters abundant exercise for their
charity. They were joined later on by fresh recruits from
the college, who staid out with them all night, helping the
poor victims of this dreadful visitation to save themselves
and their chattels from the unpitying flames. Many little
children, too helpless or terrified to make their escape, were
rescued by them from injury or death and conducted to a
place of safety.
Two of the lay-brothers, bent upon this work of love and
keeping pace with the devouring element, had reached St.
Paul's church, when they learned that the Paster was absent from home. The f.'ttal spark had been seen to alight
on the belfry only ten minutes before, and already the steeple, from the roof upwards, was a pyramid of flames. Their
first thought was about the Blessed Sacrament; but a policeman warned them from the front door, through fear that the
bells might fall at any moment. They hurried to the sides
and rear of the church; but every door was locked, there
was no trace of the sacristan, and no person could tell where
�32
The Chicago Fire.
the keys were kept. After many useless endeavors to force
an entrance, two of the neighbors at last succeeded in breaking through a small window in the sacristy. It was too
late. They had almost reached the tabernacle, when they
were driven back by the smoke and flames ; and one of
them, in trying to escape by a window of the church, fell
to the ground in a swoon. It was a relief, especially to
those who had exerted themselves so much, to learn on the
following day that the Sacred Species had not been consumed after all. The Pastor had taken the precaution to
remove them before setting out.
Morning dawned sadly upon the doomed and distraCted
city. A few boys came to school at the regular hour, but
we dismissed them at once. Every one's mind was in a
fever of excitement; to fix our. thoughts upon anything
besides the dreadful calamity was altogether out of the question. Our own position soon began to occupy our attention and to fill us with the greatest alarm. We saw ourselves, surrounded for miles in every direCtion, by .a vast
tinder-box of wooden houses, which had been ripening for a
spark during the last two or three long months of drought.
The wind had now increased to a fearful gale, and the fire
was still raging. Had.it veered around or a new one accidentally sprung up in the West, we must have fared like
all the rest; for the water-works had already been burned,
and there was not a drop of water in the city nearer than
the lake or river. Then, who could have dared hope that
the average number of fires would not occur, till the·
" works " had been restored?
We had recourse to the only, though happily not the
least effeCtive means of proteCtion, still left us ;-we assembled at noon in the sanCtuary of the church, and in
.common recited the Litany of the Saints and other prayers,
to invoke the continued favor of heaven, upon which we
felt ourselves to be so utterly dependent. It was likewise
agreed to summon the people to the church as if for even-
�Tlze Clzicago Fire.
33
ing service-and to begin a public novena to the Sacred
Heart for the protection of the remaining portion of the
city, and of our own parish in particular. But dark coming on we had to abandon this idea altogether. The whole
neighborhood was in a state of the wild.est consternation,
bordering on a panic; for rumors of would-be incendiaries
had got abroad. It was reported on all hands that the place
was full of them and that the West-side was to be burned
down that night. Every one had some horrid instance of
lynch-law to tell of; though no one seemed to have seen
it himself. At all events it was quite certain that a great
number of arrests had been made of real or pretended incendiaries. Two ill-looking fellows had been surprised in the
act of trying to fire a barn a little to the windward of our
premises. They now hurried past the College in the midst
of an angry crowd-one of them in the hands of a policeman, the other in the g rip of four or five citizens, who drove
him before them and meanwhile kept skaking and threatening him in a way that must have furnished material for more
than a few " lamp-post " stories.
Shortly after, a woman came to warn us that a couple of
men had been overheard to swear that they would burn
down the church and college of the Jesuits, if they had to
swing for it. About the same time a respectable lady living
hard by, told the porter that a suspicious lookin g character,
who had been skulking about her yard and driven away, had
been observed to enter our church and to remain behind,
when all had been ordered out and the place locked up.
Search was instantly made; and, when after some time it
was about to be given up, the fellow was discovered crouching down near one of the confessionals. Most likely it was
these two incidents that gave rise to the monstrous newspaper accounts of several men having been hanged or crucified for throwing kerosene on the Jesuits' church.
Very few thought of sleeping that ni ght. A committee
from the police head-quarters had come up to swear in some
3
�34
The Chicago Fire.
of our domestics for special duty, and caution us to watch
our premises closeiy. We, accordingly, gathered together
fourteen men and keptthem patrolling the block till morning.
Nothing of importance happened on that or any of the following eight or ten nights, during which we kept up our
vigilance. Several times they frightened off individuals,
who had been lurking in the neighboring alleys; occasionally, too, they succeeded in capturing them, and, when they
could give no good account of themselves, handed them
over to the first squad of soldiers, or of regular police
which they met.
In the mean time, the destitution and suffering of so
many homeless beings, strongly appealed to our sympathy. The college was one of the first places offered to the
Relief Committees for the storage and distribution of supplies, which poured in at once. from all parts of the country.
They began to arrive on Tuesday afternoon, and for the
remainder of that week continued coming in much more
rapidly than we could possibly dole them out. From the
variety and quanity of the articles stored away on the
ground-floor, and the number of trucks unloading at the
side-walks, a stranger passing by would have thought that
the building had been suddenly turned into a vast Commission Warehouse.
The Benedictines, who had rescued nothing from their
burning monastery; save the clothes which they wore upon
their persons, had already taken shelter in our house. ~he
orphans, too, arrived on the second c!ity, in the company _of
their kind guardians-the Sisters of St. Joseph. We suspended our classes indefinitely and opened the first and sec~
ond floors of the college proper for the accommodation of
the little sufferers.
As soon as the Sisters found thcn1selves and their charge
so comfortably lodged, they gave a share of their attention
to the relief of those who were less fortunate, by helping us
to distribute the provisions to the thousands of hungry ones
~
:
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�Tlte Clzicago Fire.
35
that began to flock around our doors. Their presence seemed
to be all that was needed to complete the most motley
collection that could well be broug ht together. They stood
somewhat aside from the gene ral bustle, assorting and dealing out the food and clothing, whilst the older of their little
orphans squeezed their way in and out among the crowd on
various errands. The fathers, scholastics and lay-brothers
were also conspicuous moving about through the corridors,
partly superintending and partly helping the students and
dray-men to roll in and pile up the barrels and boxes as they
arrived. The BenediEl:ine lay-brothers, of course, could not
remain idle in sight of so busy a bee-hive as that, and mingled among the workers as lustily as any.
But this is not an end to the varieties. Near the front
door, at a table, sat a' se1_ninaria n, who had been stopping
with us for a time, and who had now laid aside his theology
for a week to listen to the stories of the unfortunate, and
make out written orders for them according to their wants;
farth er on were the police, keeping the mass of applicants
in order with their batons ; in some unoccupied spaces
close by, soldiers passed slowly up and down, with gun and
bayonet, to overawe the disorderly; here and there you
could recognize, by their white badges, the committee men,
who had stepped in to see that all was right; and, now and
then, charitable ladies and gentlemen pressed in among the
coll!mon throng to visit the orphans an'd slip into the hands
of each some little donation.
These were some. of the most striki ng fi g ures. The g reat
bulk that thron ged the passages we re composed of the help' less sufferers. There they stood all day long swaying to
and fro, jostling one another about, and clamoring for the
loaf that was to save them from starving. It was a very
strange scene indeed, and the sights and sounds of that
eventful week will not be soon forgotten.
. By Sunday we were so much worn out by the unusual
labor and excitement, that we made a rrangements with the
�f
!
The Chicago Fire.
members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society to replace us
during the following week. But after a few days the city
government had secured a more convenient location for the
depot, and delivered the whole charge of it and of all the
others throughout the city into the hands of the " Chicago
Relief and Aid Society."
Our two parish-schools for girls were likewise open for
the assistance of the destitute-St. Aloysius', on Maxwell
St., as a supply depot, and the one on Taylor St., as a house
for the Sisters of the Good Shepherd and their community.
Our two other schools of the Holy Family and St. Stalli'slaus
were not interfered with; but the small branch school-house
on Jefferson St. served for two weeks, as a place of shelter for
the homeless of every description. It was then fitted up
and given to the orphans for t!_J.e winter, or as long as they
may wish to occupy it. Eighty' of the boys had been previously sent to the orphan asylum of Cincinnati in charge of
two of our students. 'vVe trust the remainder will enjoy
some degree of comfort in the temporary abode, with which
we have tried to furnish them.
The morning on which they were settled in their new
home, we resumed our classes at the college, after a fortnight's interruption. All our students, who lived on the
North-Side-and they formed the most respeEtable, and intelligent portion-had been burned out. On the first day
after the fire many of them were wandering about homeless
and almost beggars. Oh! it was so sad to talk to the po,or
fellows, when they came to the college .to seek for some
consolation from their professors. Quite a number of them
had lost everything but their lives. Yet they were anxious
to get back to their books, and with three or four exceptions, all of them returned almost without delay. Our numbers have been increasing ever since, and our prospeEts are
now brighter than ever. In addition to this, we enjoy the
satisfaEtion of giving hospitality .to our venerable Bishop '
who has permanently taken up his abode with us. He has
�Tlu Clzicago Fire.
37
a suite of those rooms adjoining the parlor, goes to meals
with the community, and sometimes attends our recreation.
He is exceedingly cordial and "easy" with Ours-altogether like an old member of the family.
We are happy in the consciousness of having done something to alleviate the wants of Christ's suffering members,
and so relieved ourselves to some extent of that immense
debt of gratitude which is daily accumulating. The " Holy
Family" have proved themselves the best of guardians.
They have watched faithfully over the House of God entrusted to their keeping, and over all those that offer their
devotion therein. Only a few years ago the Western quarter of the city was a "howling" waste. Our church was
raised amid the poor and lonely whom the efforts of our
Fathers had induced to settle down there, and confirmed in
habits of industry and virtue. But the scene is changed
now. Nestling peacefully beneath the shadow of their
church, their humble frame cottages have been yearly multiplying; and now they have been screened, by a special
favor, from the ravages of the flames. Many of them, too,
are already giving place to more stately mansions, and happiness and comfort wait upon them everywhere. Here, if
any where, we may say that the blessing of God has rested
upon our labors; but we never before felt more sensibly
than we do now, that the mercies of the Lord are without
number.
�Florissant.
LETTER FROM THE NOVITIATE.,
FLORISSANT.
FLORISSANT, Nov. 24, '71.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
It was suggested that one of the Juniors should furnish
your periodical with a sketch of our Missouri Novitiate. I
trust it will not seem impertinent if I do so.
To render my account more intelligible, we will suppose
(sometimes suppositions become realities) that during the
next vacation, in company with Mr. M--, who has been
under your paternal care for the last three years, your Rev.
takes a trip to the \Vest and p,ays a visit to our community.
You will probably take the cars from St. Louis about 8 ~
A. lll. and passing by College View, the site of our future
college, proceed ten miles on the N. M. RR. to Ferguson.
At that point you will find one of the old-fashioned stages,
which will convey you over a tolerably good road to the
little French village of Florissant. This is a pretty old settlement. They say that there was a time when our great
Western metropolis was described as" St. Louis near Florissant," but that must have been before the present generation was born. Now Florissant is but an unimportant inland town, since railroad communication with it at the expense of a few miles of track was not deemed desirable and
an attempt to run street cars to the adjacent station has so
far proved unsuccessful.
You may naturally inquire what place Florissant occupies
on the map. To tell the truth it occupies no place on most
map~. but that does not prevent your knmving its locality.
• If you draw a line North West from St. Louis to the Missouri you have a perfect Delta formed by this line and the
two great rivers of the continent. This comprises Florissant Valley, a country fully as fertile as any in the state.
�Florissant.
39
The valley is about eight miles in extent. Encircled by a
range of hills, it presents the appearance of a vast amphitheatre. The land is gently undulating, rich and well-watered,
affording the eye a most pleasing prospect of fair fields of ripening corn, bright meadows stretching forth on-every side,
and golden wheat drooping its luxuriant head. As you are
hurried along in the stage to the tune of "g'up" or "haw
T om"; at a sudden curve in the road about two miles from
Florissant you see looming up in the distance on a commanding little eminence about four miles away, a white
stately building surmounted by a cupola. If you ask one
of your neighbors to whom it belongs, ten to one you will
be told that it is the " Priest's Farm ,~' for under that name
the neighbors recognize St. Stanislaus'.
Entering the south eastern side of the valley, you behold
it spreading before you in all its magnificence towards the
western ridge on which the Novitiate is situated. From
the road you have an excellent view of the village itself, of
which the most prominent edifice is the German church dedicated to the Sacred Heart, and under the care of one of
our Fathers. As you pass down the main street (for you·
may call it a street if you have not a scrupulous conscience)
there is ample opportunity to judge the enterprise of the
citizens. The stage stops in the centre of the town at a
grocery which happens also to be the Post-Office, where
the driver with an air of importance tosses out a somewhat
dilapidated canvass bag, and with an official tone cries out :
"United States Mail." Crack! goes the whip, and the next
place you stop is in an open square in front of St. Ferdinand's. church, in the west end of the village. This church
made of brick and built some 55 years ago, though of respeCtable size, is. not very imposing exteriorly; but one is
agreeably disappointed on entering, for everything wears a
neat and orderly appearance, and the whole interior breathes
an air of devotion . On one side of the church the Sisters of
�I
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40
Florissant.
Loretto have a convent and boarding school, on the other
is the residence of Fr. Van Assche. But I suppose that
before you have completed your survey of the premises.
the good natured pastor has appeared at the door to receive
his ever-welcome brethren. Fr. Van Assche, whose very
countenance betokens benignity and goodness, is a stout,
hale old man of seventy-one with silvery locks and white
flowing beard which give him quite a patriarchal appearance.
He is one of the pioneers of the Province having celebrated his fiftieth year in the Society last OCl:ober. It would
be an offence to refuse to accept his hospitality, and indeed
it would be hard to do so, for he makes every one feel at
home in an instant. His equal is seldom met. He seems
to have gone through the world without ever having carried a cross, always cheerful,,always kind, he carries farther than perfeCl:ion the famdus description of the pastor in
Goldsmith's " Deserted Village."
Though you are at Florissant, you are still two miles from
St. Stanislaus', and you must make haste to be in time for
our dinner hour ( 12 o'cl~ck). There is no stage running in
our direCl:ion, so that you will be obliged to walk, unless you
have taken the precaution to send word of your intended
visit. But the walk is not altogether uninviting, for independent of a good road, two thirds of which divides or skirts
our farm, you behold- some lovely scenery ;-rich fields
teeming with abundance; the sheep in the neighboring pastures indulging in their sportive gambols; birds of varied
plumage tripping from branch to branch or sweeping a<:foss
the path before you as if displeased with all intrusion: the
stream meandering through the fields and emptying into the
Missouri four miles distant: skirts of woodland diversifying
the face of the valley; the hills in the distance girded with
lofty trees and dotted here and there with modest dwellings,
the evident abodes of happiness and competence.
As your turn off from the road, you enter through a large
open gateway, an avenue of 40 young elms which your com-
u
I
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~
�Florissant.
41
panion will recognize as a change, for in his time a row of
Lombardy poplars led to the House. Right and left lie extensive orchards. From the avenue there is an excellent
view of the building which faces to the South-East. It is
of hammered stone, has three front projeCtions; the centre
surmounted by a triangular pediment, the two others in imitation of wings; it contains two stories and an attic besides
a basement, and is covered with a roof of colored slate. A
portico supported by Tuscan columns, embell ished with
mouldings and our motto A. M. D. G. leads to the entrance;
whilst from the second story a large ornamental glass door
shielded by a lattice opens out upon the portico. The windows guarded by flesh-colored shutters, present but plain
caps and sills. The cupola, in which the bell hangs, is surrounded by an oCtagonal entablature, and supported by
Tuscan pilasters. . The building is simple, but imposing;
and though it covers an area of only 100 by 44 ft., its parts
are so commanding and well porportioned that it appears
much larger. Luxuriant grape vines creeping along the
rough stones, and conveying their fruit into the very windows, formerly mantled the walls: but they have been removed from all save the south-west side.
By the time you have completed your observations you
have reached the end of the avenue, and encounter a white
picket fence with a raised triple gateway. To the right you
will read the admonition : " Ring the bell here," but after you
have complied with it you need make no scruple of pushing
the wicket open and proceding to the house. You reach
it by a pavement of flags 1 5 ft. broad, which extends all
around the house, though with diminished breadth. Br.
W--will usher you into the parlor with his most winning
smile, and leave you there whilst he goes to summon Fr.
Rector. In the meanwhile you will have time to notice
that the parlor though extremely neat is very plain and perfeCtly in keeping with the spirit of poverty. The mantel is
adorned with some little trinkets and the walls with some
�42
•
Florissant.
simple paintings. On one side is a large frame enclosing
poetry written by the Juniors, pieces being changed from
time to time. At present there are several acrostics, among
others one double Greek acrostic to Pius the Ninth, and another in Latin to St. Stanislaus, displaying in five direCtions.
It is made the custom of the house for our brethren from
abroad to test our home-pressed wine before going any farther, it being supposed that a two mile travel has made it
acceptable: besides it is as innocent as becomes a novitiate.
Of course you will next pay a visit to the domestic chapel which is in the first story on the south side of the house.
Our altar is, in our opinion, quite handsome, being embellished with mouldings, carvings and modillions. The latticed windows with their lace hangings and the marbled
walls and ceilings given an air of solemnity to the sacred preci nets. All around you is still";-- it is the time of the Examen. That bell you hear sounding from the cupola is the
sign for dinner. As we have" Deu Gratias" in your honor,
there will be ample opportunity to become acquainted with
the whole community, which consists of Rev. Father Boudreaux, ReCl:or; Father Converse, Minister; Father Coppens, Professor of the Juniors; with eleven Juniors, seventeen Scholastic Novices and twenty-four Brothers.
In the course of the afternoon you take a survey of the
premises. On the right and a little to the rear of the stone
edifice is a frame building 52 by 20, rich in historical memories. At present its tlppcr story is used as a chapel for
the neighbors; the lower, owing to the scarcity of ro9111
and the large number of our community, as a Dormitory
for the Juniors. Our outhouses are so numerous that they
present the appearance of a little village. But let us proceed ! Right of the house and back of it are orchards;
left, or south-west, is the garden laid off with some taste,
and by way of " miscendi utile dulci," enclosing patches of
vegetables, borders of flower beds, and evergreens. Fruit
trees of different kinds are scattered in the midst of this gay
~1,
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1··'·
..
.
�Florissant.
43
profusion. Besides several arbors near the house, and a
quantity of Catawba and Isabella vines planted elsewhere,
a magnificent grape arbor 400 or 500 ft. long, supported on
trellis-work twelve feet high, runs through the garden.
Several bowers, conveniently situated, a row of tall locusts,
and some venerable old pear trees afford shade and refreshing coolness. On the north side is a hot-house, and near by,
a handsome flower bed under the care of the Juniors. In
the lower part of the garden is a modest little oratory in
the Gothic style, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Though
at all seasons of the year it is a favorite resort of the Novices
and others ; the fragrant honeysuckles clambering up the
wall without, and the blooming flowers placed before Our
Lady's statue within, make it find favor even with nonCatholic visitors. The walks of. the garden are bordered
with pinks, violets and privet. The whole garden is surrounded by an Osag~ orange hedge of remarkable beauty
and closeness. A person lately attempted to cross it, but
though favored by a friendly fence, met with very indifferent
succdss, as was evident from the sundry pieces of cloth left
behind.
On the west side of the garden between flower beds on
one side and orchards on the three other sides is the resting
place of our dead. The cemetery comprises an area of 90
ft. square, enclosed by a simple white paling. Within the
enclosure a quadrangular mound, partly artificial, partly
natural, rises gradually from a height of 2 ft. at the border
to I 2 ft. at its central elevation. Two broad paths set with
flowers and interse8:inj:! each other at right angles, divide
the mound into four equal se8:ions, two of which contain the
remains of twenty-five Fathers, the third, of nine scholastics,
the fourth, of eighteen brothers. A hedge of lilacs formerly encircled each se8:ion, but they have given place to
box-wood, roses, lilies, bleeding hearts etc. Weeping willows, thorny locusts and huge catalpas throw a sombre
shade over the sacred spot; whilst a stone cross twelve feet
�Florissant.
44
high raised on a pedestal in the centre of the elevation
speaks the faith and hope of the departed. One tomb close
to the cross bears this inscription :
REV.
PATER
LUDOVICUS SEBASTIANUS
MEURIN,
SOC. JESU SAC. PROF.,
NATIONE
GALLUS
OBIIT IN PAGO PRAIRIE DU ROCHER
23
FEBR.
IJJ7,
ET IBIDEM SEPULTUS FUIT
IN
ECCLESIA STI. JOSEPHII,
INDE HUC T.RANSLATUS
23
AUG. I849,
ET DENUO HUIIIATUS
3
SEPT.
I 849.
R. I. P.
It is a precious link between the old and the new society.
I have confined myself, Rev. Father, to a description of
what may be properly called our premises-all within the
osage orange hedge. Behind this is a country road, happily not much frequented, but this I must not cross without
permission-it is out of bounds. Besides, I suppose you
are wearied enough, so we will leave the farm buildings, tlie
saw and grist mill and the church still in the course ~f
erection, alone for the present. I will only mention that
the large brick house beyond the road is inhabited by our
former slaves, the same families that came with our first
Fathers and Novices from Maryland fifty years ago. One
of them, old Protus, died a few years since some 1 ro years·
of age ; he gloried to have been of our Society for fifty
years.
�Buffalo.
45
You must have noticed that the outhouses are in a good
state of repair, many perfeCl:ly new; and you may wish to
know whence this prosperity comes. Seculars say that it
is all the work of our Procurator who is a native of Vermont, and who praCtised law before he joined our Holy
Religion ; but they do not know that we have another
source of wealth besides, viz : for several years past the custom has existed in this community of offering up a Mass
every Wednesday and each member in his turn a communion in honor of St. Joseph, who has not despised the simple devotion, but has frequently given bountiful assistance
both spiritual and temporal at the time most needed.
JUNIOR.
BUFFALO
MISSION.
Letter from ll.fr. Guld11tr.
BuFFALO, Nov. 20th 1871.
REVEREND FATHER,
P. C.
St. Michael's church is, and l suppose will continue to
be, the centre of the Mission. It is accordingly the residence of the Rev. Fr. Superior. The natural field of the
Apostolic labors of the German Fathers is the West, as it
is to the West that the tide of German immig ration is uninterruptedly flowing. Already they feel their inability to
satisfy the demand for missions in that direCtion. Up to
the present hour they have, besides the two houses in Buffalo, only one more residence, in Toledo, where are the
�Buffalo.
head-quarters of a band of four missionaries. One of the
Fathers has accomplished an excellent work by reconciling
a German parish in Erie to their Bishop; another has, by
accepting a professorship in the Cleveland Diocesan Seminary, relieved the Administrator of that Diocese from the
painful necessity of closing the Seminary. A college
was offered in Prairie du Chien, Wis., but the Fathers did
not deem it acceptable. Another band of missionaries is
stationed here in Buffalo. They, too, have their hands full
of work. "Messis quidem multa, operarii autem pauci."
It is the old complaint. The good these Fathers are doing,
and are called to do, among the German population, is incalculable. However, though they spare no pains in the
missionary work, it is neither the only, nor even the chief
objeB: of their attention. The greatest care and solicitude,
they bestow upon the education of youth. They were not
long in this country before they found out that the curse of
this fair land, especially of the Catholic population, are the
public schools. They therefore shrink from no sacrifice to
procure good schpols and good teachers for the children
entrusted to their pastoral vigilance. Every class is visited
at least twice a week by one of the Fathers, for the purpose
of teaching catechism. Besides this weekly catechism,
there is, regularly, every Sunday before Vespers, catechism
in the church for the wliole congregation, where the children are interrogated in presence of their parents. When
they leave school they are received into the Sodality. These
Sodalities have been canonically ereB:ed for the differ~nt
classes of persons, viz., boys, young men, married meh,
young ladies, matrons. I may mention by the way, that
the Fathers have great experience in the sodality work, as
it is one of their chief occupations in Germany, where they
are excluded from the education of youth. Some of the
Sodalities meet every week ; others every second week.
They have general communion once a month. Yesterday
morning I assisted at the Mass of communion. for the men.
�Buffalo.
47
I never witnessed anything more edifying. The earnest
but simple piety which th~se sturdy men showed forth, as
they said their prayers in common, responded to the leading prefeCt:, and sang their canticles was really touching.
But it seems to be of regular recurrence: with them it is a
matter of course to attend to their duties. Much good is
prevented by the unreasonable division of the parishes. In
whatever parish church a person has rented a seat, to that
parish he belongs. It is a source of disorder .and difficulties
without end.
Besides the two large parishes of St. Michael's and St.
Ann's within the city, the Fathers have also the care of the
German-French of Eleysville and North-bush, and of the
German-Irish parish of St. Vincent's. One of the Fathers
spends some hours daily at the hospital of the Sisters of
Charity. Every day he has some touchi ng incident to reiate, tending to prove that the hospital is for many a poor ·
soul the gate of heaven. Only to-day in recreation he recounted the followin g: The other day, when I was going
throu gh the wards, the sister came to me saying, "Father,
there is a negro just dyi.ng in another room, could you do
something for the poor fellow?" " I will see" replied the
Fa~her, followin g the sister to the room where the dyin g
man. lay. H e was brought to the negro by a little boy of
twelve or fourteen years of age who said to the sick man,
'' Sam, here comes the Priest, he is going to baptize you.
Do you believe i!l God, in Jesus Christ ?" and he was going
to put the man through a regular examination, when the
Father interrupted him, and havi ng satisfied himself as to
the dispositi.o ns of the poor man, he called for water and
baptized him. Half an hour afterwards he was a corpse.
Many edifying conversions, wrought in the hospital and
during the missions, might be recounted, but I must not
tire you. I will only mention two fa&, circumstantially
related to me by one of the missionary Fathers, and illustrative of the extraordinary aCtion of grace on such occa-
�48
Buffalo.
sions. Two brothers had been deadly enemies for years ; f
after the sermon, which was on reconciliation, they embraced '
each other at the church door, to the great joy and edification of the by-standers. In another parish, where a mission
was preached, a scandalous law-suit was pending, in which
many persons were concerned, and which caused great disturbance in the whole parish. It seemed as if this sad
affair were going to thwart all the missionary's efforts in
trying to produce a radical change in the hearts of the
people. By dint of prayer and great efforts he finally succeeded in causing the whole suit to be dropped and private
arrangements to be agreed to. The mission now went on
splendidly and was attended by the wished-for success.
Now a few words about our incipient college. We have
already over sixty students, in spite of difficulties of every
kind that beset us, in. spite of. the ill-will of persons, who
ought rather to favor than hinder the work. It will doubtless, at no distant period, become a flourishing college; at
present its outward appearance is rather insignificant : the
speedy erection of at least part of the future college is an
urgent necessity. We have now the two lowest classes of
the Latin course, and also two commercial classes. German
and English are, as much as possible, kept on an equal J
footing. The Fathers are just no\v anxiously a\vaiting sue- ;
cor from Europe. I suppose when the" Old-Catholics" i. e.
New-Protestants, with the help of their friends, the freemasons, will have done away with their eye-sore, the Jesuits,
we shall get plenty of help. How we will welcome tht;_rh to
this our free and hospitable America!
If you can command your patience a little while longer I
will speak to you about one, who being no more among the
living, cannot forbid me to say something in his praise. I
mean our good brother Pappert. He died on All Saints
day, at 5~ o'clock, A. !If. Brother Francis Pappert was born
in Fulda, in the year I 8 I 5· He entered the Society in
Switzerland, when twenty years old. He lived at Freiburg
�Buffalo.
49
and other Swiss colleges till the year I 848, when the revolution dispersed that province of the Society. Shortly after
he was sent to America, and, if I am not mistaken, continued to live at Fordham, till he was recalled to his own province, which happened in the fall of I 870. He was stationed
at St. Michael's church, where he discharged the office of
sacristan to the great satisfaction of the Fathers and edification of the faithful. People used to call him, the good brother
sacristan.
During his illness his besetting thought was that he
gave, as he believed, so much trouble to the Fathers, among
whom he had not labored. All this, 1 need hardly tell you,
was but the effect of his delicate, susceptible mind. As to
his usefulness, all those who knew him here, did not make
a secret of the esteem in which they held him. The Fathers
considered him as the very pattern of a coadjutor brother.
On a holyday the Fathers and Brothers of St. Michael's
church went to dine at St. Ann's. When after dinner, the
Fathers, coming from the visit, proceeded to recreation,
Father Superior, pointing to the kitchen where Br. Pappert
was already diligently washing the dishes, although he had
not been asked to do so, being a guest, exclaimed: "Brother
Pappert is a model of a coadjutor brother."
It was on the 25th of June, the day of the first communion of the children of the parish, after having perhaps
overfatigued himself in the sacristy and church, that he
felt the first attack of apoplexy. When Fr. Mmister accompanied him to his room, trying to dispel his uneasiness
by saying: " It is only fatigue, brother, you worked too
much to-day, take a rest and to-morrow you will be all
right again," the brother shook his head and said calmly :
"No, Fath~:r, it is an attack of apoplexy, I know it~" All
his right side became paralyzed : a few more attacks deprived him of speech, and rendered his right arm and hand
useless. He dragged himself along very painfully ; for his
right leg soon became as helpless as his arm. As he was
4
�so
Buffalo.
convinced that all was over with him, he at once commenced to prepare himself for death. He walked along
and worked as long as he could stir a foot, for the idea of
being useless or a burden to others, was a torment to him,
whereas the fathers deemed it a blessing, and not a burden ;
to have a sick brother, and such a brother under their roof. :
Had he not been obliged by holy obedience, he would ·
never have consented to take a glass of wine at table ; and ·
had not one of his brothers happened to perceive how ex·
tremely difficult and well nigh impossible it was for him
to dress and undress, good Br. Pappert would never have
said a word about it. At last obedience obliged him to .
keep his bed. Here he lay, the poor sick man, for months,
more helpless and mute than a baby. The use of his left
hand only was left to him ; his only language was that of
his eyes, and oh! how eloquent it was at times.
Fr. Superior was accustomed to give him his blessing
every night after litany, but was once prevented from doing
so. The next day the sick brother was uneasy, and calm
only returned when in the evening he had received the
blessing. I did not assist him very often. One day, I en- '
tered the infirmary, and, after speaking a few words, pre- ,
pared to retire, when he grasped my hand and pressed it, •.
and looked at me so candidly and so earnestly, that I, overpowered, had to leave the room at once It seemed to me
there was a world of meaning in that look and pressure i
of my hand. I witnessed a similar scene when Fr. Super- ;!
.j
ior starting for a journey, gave him his parting blessing.
!i
Hjs beads were his great consolation; it was by their ~
means that he established an uninterrupted communication fj
and sweet conversation with heaven : he would never consent to part with them, even for a few minutes.
On Sunday, Oct. zgth, he received the Viaticum for the ~·
last time. The Infirmarian, after communion, said some
prayers for him. He seemed full of consolation, and to give
vent to his gratitude, he took the Infirmarian's hand and .
would have kissed it, if the former had allowed him.
j
i
�Buffaio.
51
On the feast of Blessed Alphonsus, he seemed to be dy~
ing and we all thought that our Blessed Coadjutor Brother
would obtain for him the grace of a saintly death on his
own festival ; but the next morning he was better.
During his long and noble struggle, lasting from Sunday
till Wednesday, he never let go either beads or crucifix, and
when a brother pointing to the beads, said: "the Blessed
Virgin will assist you in your last moments," a smile of
happiness illumined his face. Father Superior himself attended him in his last moments. He and all those in the
house are unanimous in saying that Br. Pappert died a good
exemplary religious.
· Many persons of the parish had given marks of deep
sympathy during his illness, often inquired about his state,
sent little presents for him ; and when he was dead, the
throng to the parlor was so great that the Fathers decided
to depart somewhat from the · custom of the Society. Accordingly Rev. Fr. Superior, in hi~ sermon on All Saints'
day, mentioned his death, asked the prayers of the faithful
for the repose of his soul, and announced that the body
would be exposed in the chapel. Many persons, among
them not a few men, were seen shedding tears while the
father said a few words about the edifying life and death of
our dear brother. After Vespers the .body was laid in the
chapel, which is left open to the public, and until dark a
crowd of people were without interruption going processionally around the bier and saying their beads. Mothers
lifted up th eir children to see the face of the dead brother,
and they seemed to look at it with pleasure; for the features were not at all contraaed or any way repulsive, b!Jt
he seemed to be peacefull y sleeping. His funeral service
was held on All Souls' day, and he was buried in the German Cemetery.-May lze rest in peace. ·
�St.
52
LETTER
Louis.
FROM
ST.
LOUIS.
ST. LoUis UNIVERSITY, Oct. 19th I87J.
REVEREND FATHER,
P. C.
Within the last few days an event has occurred that
shall .forever be memorable in the annals of the house, and
stand forth as one of its brightest pages. The great joy
that pervaded all hearts, and the gala-day that was created
for the entire University, professors as well as students,
were occasioned by the rare and unprecedented spectacle of
two of our Fathers celebrating their golden Jubilee. These
were the. FF. Van Assche and .Verreydt; the only two surviving founders and pioneers of the province. As Rev. F.
Provincial intended to make the festival a general one, he
thought he could devise no better method of doing so, than
to invite the heads of the different houses, as well as those
who had formerly filled the office of Rector. The kind invitation was almost universally responded to, for on the eve
and morning of the festive day arrivals from every quarter
of the Province filled the college. It was, indeed, a happy
gathering and reunion ; -long separated brethren in religion
met again ; . they recalled old scenes and places, and reverting to .the histories and memories of the past, recalled to
their minds things which time had almost effaced.
At length, the 1oth of October, the feast of St. Fra~cis
Borgia, and the day appointed for the )ubilee, had come.
It W<;\5 a bright genial day, not a speck of cloud interrupted
the. continuous .blue, while the sun dispensed sufficient
warmth to remind one of .Indian Summer. The previous
Sunday,the parish had been informed of the approaching eelebration, and or. the morning many a devout soul hastened
to St. Xavier's to witness the venerable sight and the affecting ceremonies. Precisely at 9 o'clock the clergy filed
into the Sanctuary. The venerable Father Judocus L. Van
,
~
I.
L
:.
!;
'
J
!i
!{
~
�St.
Louis.
53
Assche officiated as celebrant, assisted by Father Helias of
Cole Co. as deacon, and Father Busschots from the villa,
as subdeacon. Owing to the dignified appearance of the
celebrant and his assistants, the richly decked altar, and the
distinguished services rendered by Mr Gilson's choir, the
Mass was as solemn and inpressive as any we ever attended. In truth, nothing more venerable and awe-inspiring can
be imagined that the aspect of Father J. L. Van Assche.
With beard of silver descending to his breast and a countenance lit up by an ever ready smile, this veteran of many
years still walks with step so light and firm, that few would
credit the fact that seventy-one years have left no greater
marks upon his person ; Fathers Helias and Busschots, too,
wear their years weii, and still give many signs of unabated
activity and ardor,-traits so characteristic of their nation.
About twenty Fathers assisted in surplice; and as many
acolytes, among whom may be reckoned several aspirants to
the sacerdotal dignity, aCted as torch-bearers, and enhanced
the solemnity of the occasion. If his Grace, Bishop· Miege
had honored us with his presence, we should have enjoyed
the spectacle of a pontifical high Mass, in which the pioneer
Fathers would have figured as deacon and subdeacon respectively. But as his Grace failed to appear, Father Felix
L. Verreydt offered up his Mass ofthanksgiving early in the
morning, while Father J. Van Assche sang the solemn Mass.
The church was crowded, and many a fervent prayer ascended on high for the blessings and length of years bestowed
on the two venerable servants, while, perhaps, not a few of
the Fathers assembled cherished the fond hope of one day
seeing their own golden Jubilee. Slowly and solemnly the
Holy Sacrifice neared its completion, and when the Celebrant's hand had descended in benediction on the prostrate
crowd, all rose consoled by the rare and edifying aCl:ion
which they had witnessed.
At noon a bountiful repast ·was served.· The greatest
harmony and charity prevailed. Interesting scenes were
�54
St.
Louis.
depiaed in the most striking colors; and the many dangers,
trials, and arduous occupations of the past were gratefully
recounted. Especially did the older members dwell on the
faa, when, fifty years ago, the youthful province emigrated
from its parent stock, Maryland, to the wilds of Missouri,
and in spite of a thousand obstacles laid the foundation.
Time and again they lauded the unflinching spirit and iron
will of the noble Fathers Van Quickenborn and De Theux,
to whose unsparing exertions they owed their united fruitful labors. Amid these recolleaions the afternoon had
passed, and the evening, the time set apart for the formal
and explicit congratulations of the" veterans" had come.
~By 6 o'clock the community and invited guests, whose
number had hourly increased, repaired to the spacious library hall. Here a richly covered table laden with creature
comforts and refreshmen"ts ran threw its entire length,
while four magnificent chandeliers shed a flood of light over
the well-stocked panels, and the portraits of the nine Presidents of the University. At the head of the table sat Rev.
Father Provincial with Fathers Van Assche and Verreydt
on either side, while ranged on the right and left were
the many groups assembled to welcome the pioneers.
The formal opening of congratulation was made by the
Rector Rev. J. G. Zealand, who in a short pithy address welcomed them in the name of all present, and represented
what grateful sentiments were entertained for them by the
inmates of the house. After a short interval, a communication from Rev. J. E. Keller, Provincial of Maryland, }Vas
read. This missive couched in terms at once most ch~ste
and chiselled found a ready response in the hearts of all.
It dilated in growing terms on the golden fruits, which the
tree planted by them so plentifully bore, styling them " the
pillars of the noble edifice which now graced the land."
Next came the kind greeting of the Sc~olastics resident at
Wod~dstock, who though busy "hiving wisdom with each
stu to us year" did not forget to contribute their mite t~~
!
1
!
1
1
~1
1:
1!
�St.
Louis.
55
the family festivity. One by one did they loom up before
us, laying individually tokens of love and reverence at the
feet of the pioneers. Their address, as tasteful in style, as
simple in language, and encircled by a garland of distichs
that set forth their several kind feelings and good wishes,
was passed from group to group and greatly admired. · But
the older members, too, were not to be outstripped by the
younger ones: they came forward and recited pieces
breathing youthful ardor and inspiration. Among others,
Father Busschots proved syllogistically the happiness of a
well-spent religious life, and Father Helias, in five different
languages, gave expression to his joy. H is Latin hexameters ·and pe ntameters addressed to Father Felix Verreydt
may not be out of place here. The following is a -copy of
the original :
R EVERENDO FELICI V ERREYDT JUBIL..EUM CELEBRANTI
Sic Te divus amor patria procul ire relicts
Arcuit, Hesperiae visere regna domus ?
Carbasaque ignotis audacia pandere ventis,
Phrebus ubi fessos condit anhelus equos.
Usus amicitire nee Te,lachrymreque tuorum
Flectere, sollicitre nee valuere preces?
Non pater apsentis poscens solatia nati,
Non genitrix passas imbre rigante comas?
Turbaque tot fratrum, quorum suspiria nullus
Finiit, a portu Te properante, dies P
Non albos scopulos, et mille pericula ponti
Impedit? A.troces trux habet unda vias,
Aspers montano riguerunt pectora ferro,
Votaque cum nullo pondere cuncta cadunt.
Ibis, et o nunquam rediturus I Te procul requor
Ereptum ex oculis in vaga regna tulit.
Nee tamen Americes spectator inutilis urbes
Visere, nee merces classe referre parat,
Est aliud, quo vota pius cursusque ratemque
Impulit, instabiles spernere doctus opes,
Eminus albentes metitur messibus agros,
Qureque suas poscunt Indica rura manus.
�St.
Louis.
Hie Fidei radiis pressas caligine mentes
Imbuit, et sacris crimina tinxit aquis
Crelestesque animos patrio transcripsit Olympo
Deque triumphato prremia Dite tulit.
Et certe hoc melius, quam si Te cura parentum
Indecorem patria contumulasset humo.
Sic mihi facta via est, et me tulit requor euntem :
Sic mihi nunc comitem me Tibi junxit amor,
Nee me terruerunt pharetrre, nee lethifer arcus.
Nectqure Indi sreva bella bipenne gerunt:
Dummodo Romanre rubidus primordia legis
Sacra feram, J esum mundus uterque colat,
Scilicet ut Belgas videat domus utraque solis
Sacraque Christiadum mundus uterque notet.
Contributions by the professors of St. Louis University.
and St. Xavier College were next recited, and the twelve
" Juniors " at St. Stanislaus, were ably represented by Fr.
C. Coppens, who read their happy produaions. Chicago
college found its exponent in Fr': De Blieck and Milwaukee
had a spokesman in Fr. Lalumiere; the former improvised
a short Spanish address presenting his compliments, while
the latter regretted that he had not been able to forward
two canes cut on the grave of Fr. Marquette, which were
to serve them as a support in their declining years.
Father Kamp, of the nascent Buffalo Province, delivered
a short address in German, while of two Italian Fathers
returning from China, an~ homeward bound for Brazil, Fr.
Rondina with a talent peculiar to his nation, like a true
" improvisatore, " threw off on the spur of the moment most
exquisite Portuguese and Italian verses.
.
The time consumed in this various readings had ad-:
vanced the night considerably, and Rev. Father Provincial,
to close the exercises, requested the two" Honored Guests"
to make a short reply. Cheerfully did they second his
wishes by stating how grateful they felt to God for crowning their old age with such distinguished honor, and lavishing upon them so many sympathies at the hands of their
brethren. With his usual wit and good humor, Fr. J. Vanf\.ssche excused his brief speech by the promise of a longer
.
'
�Ward's
Island.
57
one at his centennial celebration. Father Felix Verreydt
on the other hand, overcome with emotion, tendered his
thanks to all present in the most humble manner, and recommended tn a few appropriate words the fifty years spent
in reli gion, and then with trembling hand blessed the kneeling crowd. Thus ended the festivities. But time shall not
soon obliterate the salutary impression made-nay, in after
years its sweet remembrance shall, like the reflex of past
joys and glories, speed us back to the day, which we shall
ever cherish as one of the happiest of our lives.
LETTER FROM FR. PRACHENSKY.
EMIGRANTs' REFUGE AND HosPITAL,
WARD's IsLAND, N.
Y,
Nov, 27,
1871.
REVEREND FATHER,
P. C.
In complying with the request of my
brethren to open a correspondence with you, I think I may
say, that owing to my peculiar position on this island, an
account of the missionary work carried on here may not be
without interest.
When the tide of emigration from Europe began to flow
to this country, New York became the chief port of entry,
and continued to grow in extent and importance with the
numbers which arrived every day in its harbor to seek in
this new country a new home. Many of these arrived des. titute, and others who brought their little savings with
them, became but too soon the prey of thieves and sharpers,
�Ward's
Island.
who infested this port, and robbed them unawares of what
little property they had, turning them out penniless into the
streets, where not seldom they were seized by the police, 1
and as vagrant::. and paupers sent to the prison or work- 1
house. To remedy these evils a number of prominent !
Irishmen formed themselves into an Irish Emigrant Society !
for the protection and assistance of Irish emigrants. The 1
Germans soon followed their example, until both societies ,
with the aid of the state authorities obtained a charter from .
the Legislature of New York as the Commissioners of Emigratimz of tlze State of New York, with the right of levying ·
a tax on the captain of every vessel carrying emigrants to
the port of New York. By means of this tax, or headmoney which at present is $1.50 for every emigrant, the
Commissioners were enabled to perfect accommodations in
Castle Garden, where all emigrants have to land ; and to
purchase land and erect suitable buildings for the sick and
destitute, of no matter what nationality.
Thus every emigrant arriving at the port of New York
or Brooklyn during the first five years he is in this country,
has a right to hospitality and care if sick or destitute, in the
Emigrants' Refuge and Hospital of Ward's Island. How
many arrive here, having been sent for by their relatives,
without means to continue their journey! They are transferred to Ward's Island;_ their relatives are written to, and
they themselves remain in safe keeping without any expense
until they are sent for or the necessary funds are obtained.
The Hospitals contain every sort of patients ab infante us·
que ad hominem senem, every disease that man is heir..·to,
with the exception of small-pox cases; which are transferred
to the Hospital on Blackwell's Island at the expense of the
Commission. There is an average of from 6oo to 800 patients in the Hospitals and from 1200 to 2500 inmates on
the island. Last winter they reached the number of 2600;
14,000 persons obtained hospitality in this Institution dur- ·
ing the course of last year. The greater part of these are
�Ward's
Island.
59
German and Irish; a considerable number of English and
. Scotch ; Poles and Bohemians and a sprinkling of other
nationalities. T~ at there is a large number of Catholics
among them is evident. A priest from Y orkville, and a
Protestant minister from Harlem were appointed chaplains,
but neither of them were allowed to reside on the Island.
When three years. ago his Grace, the Archbishop, entrusted
this place to the care of the Society which had al ready all
the other charitable institutions of the island in charge,
and your humble servant was appointed to the chaplaincy
of the emigration on Ward's Island, I saw at once that a
residence on the island was absolutely necessary; so with.out asking leave officially, I took it for granted, and sought
and found board and lodging with a family in the place.
Once established there, none of the Commissioners had the
courage to send me away : and when I remarked that they
connived at my stay, I made a step farther, and asked for a
lodging nearer to the Catholic chapel, which, after some
difficulties and explanations, was granted. I then tnmed
my attention to the furnishing and embellishing of the
chapel, so that it became a point of attraCtion to the inmates
and visitors ; and the commissioners themselves remarked,
not without pride : " That is the way the priest spends
his money ! " The year after, I applied for an increase of
salary to the commissioners, and made a promise to buy a
statue of St. Patrick and St. Bridget, if my petition were
granted. I obtained it, and the two statues adorn an altar
in the chapel. This chapel is in the upper story of a large
fram e building used as a nursery, unfortunately difficult of
access for infirm, old and crippled people, exceedingly hot
in summer and not large enough for all the people in wi nter. For besides the Emigrants' Refuge and Hospital,
which belongs to the state, there is on this island also an
Inebriate Asylum and a Soldiers' retreat belonging to the
city; moreover at the beginning of next year there will be
opened here a large lunatic asylum for 800 patients, to be
�6o
Ward's
Island.
i
transferred from Blackwell's Island. Now as the majority
in all these institutions is Catholic, my congregation wili be !
increased considerably. I say two Masses every Sunday,
preach in English after the second, and during winter in ~
German at Benediction ; still the chapel, seating about 500,
cannot accommodate all. Therefore I made up my mind,
under the protection of St. Joseph, to whom the chapel is
dedicated, to apply to the commissioners ( 13 in number and
only three of them Catholics) for the building of a new
Catholic church in terra .firma. Although I was laughed
at by Ours and strangers, who thought that I was building
castles in the air, and at my first application to the Board
of Commissioners had suffered a defeat, the votes standing
five against five; I had the matter reconsidered last week,
and thanks to the intercession of St. Joseph, carried my ,
point by a vote of seven against three, with an appropriation of $35,000 and the resolution to commence the work •
at once. I hope that by the time this reaches you, the 1
foundations of the new Catholic church will be dug, and that 1
it will be closed in when you come to New York in vacation.
I have not asked yet for the building of a new residence
for the pastor; but that will come, when the church is
built. Qucerite primum regnum Dez: et hcec omnia ac{;ii:i'entur
vobis: i. e. first build th"e church, and the residence of the !
pastor will follow. But do not think that our Protestant I
Commissioners who show themselves so liberal towards I
Catholics, forgot their own. When I was allowed a t:esidence on the Island, application was made for the residence
of a Protestant minister also, but I succeeded in getting him ,,,i
assigned a lodging far enough away, to make him prefer to
stay home than to walk about among the inmates : one of j
the Commissioners was not a little amused, when I applied
for an increase of salary, at my answer to his objection that
the Protestant chaplain would ask for the same. ''By all
means, let him have it, if you think he deserves it; I am
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Island.
61
afraid that if the poor fellow Jo:::s not ..:njoy .some! comfort in
this life he will find little in the next. Moreover that man
is doing more for his people than I would do for mine. "
"How so, Father ? "
"I am afraid, he is damning himself to please his people:
a thing that I would not do for mine : they ought to pay
him well at least in this world."
The Protestants have a chapel on this island of about half
the size of ours, but it is never filled. The greatest part of
the German Protestants are infidels, who laugh at their ministers. There is not much chance of making converts for
fear of provoking reaction. Nevertheless instances have
not been wanting, every year, in which I have been called
to receive into the Church, Protestants, who called for the
Catholic priest, on their death bed, moved by the mercy of
God alone. Among these I always will remember an English lady of good education, who had been sick of consumption for several months. I saw her mostly every day
while making my rounds through the wards of the hospital,
but beyond an ordinary salutation and question about her
physical condition, I never exchanged ·a word with her on
religious subjects, as she seemed to be very bigoted anp
attached 10 her own sect. . One afternoon I had been on a
visit to Blackwell's Island, when a messenger waited for me
on the shore, with a very urgent sick-call. I had seen all
the patients before leaving the island, and could not guess
who required my assistance. Judge of my surprise when I
was conducted to the bed-side of the lady just mentioned
who, in the passage of death, said she could not die without
receiving the rites of holy Mother Church. She knew sufficiently well, what she was about to receive, and scarcely
had I annointed her and after a few prayers turned my steps
to the door, when she expired. I learned here better than
anywhere, how good it is to explain the teachings of our
Holy Religion to all who give us the chance, though they
seem not to heed what we say at the time.
�Ward's
Island.
Yet another conversion I will relate and thus cut short
my epistle, which has grown to longer dimensions than I
expeaed. It is the conversion of a Chinese boy, 14 years
of age. This boy was reduced to slavery by tl_le Chinese
rebels, after his father and mother had been massacred before his eyes. At the age of 10 he was instrumental in saving the life of an American navy officer, who took him on
board of his own frigate and brought him to his family on
Long Island. Johnny Chow learned the English language,
and as the family of the officer were all Methodists, he was
trained up in that sea. After three years he was af!Haed
with an abscess on the spine, which made his presence in
the house of his benefaaors insupportable : so they sent
him to the Emigrants' Hospital on Ward's Island, but never
failed to recommend him to th_e special care of the Protes·tant chaplain who was to see him daily and to bring him
jellies, crackers and candies, and whatever could be of any
comfort to poor Johnny in this world. I, of course, waited
on Johnny too, learned his history and his religious training, and when I found that he was not even baptized, and
that the Protestant minister never spoke to him about Baptism, I explained to him its necessity, and arranged it so
with the Orderly in charge of the ward, that he instruaed
him in his catechism. Johnny himself declared repeatedly,
that he liked the man that baptized much better than the
man that read over him; and thus when his end approached,
and he was asked which of the two clergyman he wished .to
have, he called with a loud voice: "I no want the man that
reads, I want the man that baptises,-he tell the truth."
And so Johnny was ba"ptized and saved his soul without the
aid of jelly and crackers. You may imagine what were the
feelings of the minister when he was informed about it, and
could not make any complaint since he had negleaed to
baptize him. Besides, the boy was not a Protestant but an
infidel, whom an infinitely merciful God brought all the way
from China to Ward's Island to make a Christian of him
and to take him to heaven.
�Central
America.
This, Rev. Father, may do as a beginning of our correspondence; and I hope that you will favor me also with the
news, with which you propose to gladden our dear Society.
I must confess our Lord helped me a little in getting time to
write this letter, by sending me a severe cold, which keeps
me in my room for a day or two. But then I will not wait
for another cold before I write to you again. Wishing you
the very best success in your new enterprise, I will write,
without being called upon, whenever I am in possession of
facts that will suit your laudable purpose, A. M. D. G.
LETTER FROM FATHER VINCENT GARICA
TO FATHER IGNATIUS SANTOS,
RECTOR OF THE SEMINARY AT PORTO RICO.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER RECTOR,
P. C.
Your reverence will be surprised to receive a letter from
me, dated from this city; but such are the ways of Divine
Providence, who direCl:ing all things for the best, has decreed that his children should be wanderer~ on the face of
the earth.
On the 4th of last Sept. we were driven from Guatemala;
we took refuge in this Central American Republic. Of
this faCl: you have been doubtless apprised. I shall confine
my narrative therefore to some few of the painful scenes
through which we have been made to pass.
One the 29th of June the revolution achieved a decisive
triumph ; but its aCl:ion was so awkward and its success so
contrary to every probability, as to make it manifest that
the result was the work of the Lord, who sent it as a chas-
�Central America.
tisement rather than the doing of the four giddy heads
who were pledged to it. On the 30th the liberating(?)army
entered the city, and honors of course were paid to it; but
as the whole city, had taken part with the opposite side during the struggle, it had to submit to be pillaged. Still the
conquerers conducted themselves with moderation. They
gave safe-conducts even to the old ministers- of state:
they were willing moreover to retain in the service the
same officers whom the former administration had employed, and they protested so loudly their unwillingness
to imbrue their hands, or stain their victory with blood, that
many of the simple people gave them credit for good intentions.
On the 13th of Aug. the feast of B. John Berchmans,
hostilities were opened on the college of Quezaltenango.
At 8 o'clock at night GeneraJ.Barrios, previously of the Li·
berating army, but now Commandant of that department,
convoked the municipal officers of the place, and made all
sign a decree for our expulsion. " If you refuse" said he" I
will shoot every one of you." The document was signed.
He then without delay informed the Jesuits that the people
were in a tumult against the Society, and that the municipality, to avoid being knocked down and trampled upon,
had made arrangements for Ours to depart at 3 o'clock in
the morning. There was no remedy for it, they had to go.
Such was the leniency shown them that even one of the fathers who was suffering from pains in the stomach was
pulled or rather dragged along, and then thrown upo"n a
mule to expedite the departure. They then with all the
honors of war, i. e. escorted by a numerous body-guard
began the march. They had gone a distance of two leagues,
when a couple of the fathers, who had little by little got
ahead of the guards, slipped away. Their object was to
reach Guatemala before the enemy, and prevent the Superior in that city from being taken by surprise. They succeeded, arrived in the city four days in advance of the es-
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�Centr.al America.
cort and escorted, and the plans of. the Government were
frustrated. T.he news quickly spread; and the people wer:e
aroused.to such astate of exasperation that the provisional
President was obliged to praB:i~e dissimulation and .to. impute the affair to the arbitrary aB: of a subaltern.. But his
pla~ in reality had been to have us all removed two daY,s
later, to join us on the road and conduB: US: to the port
where lay the. nearest steamer.
On the 18th the Fathers from Quezaltenango arrived at
Guatemala, and were received in triumph. The Bishop,
the Clergy of the Cathedral and more than 200 persons
went out to welcome them. It was 10 o'clock at night, but
the multitude made the air resound with their vivas to the
Evangelical laborers and to religion. Whilst this was going
on, some evil-minded persons called together a patriotic
junta, discoursed an amount of nonsense, and gathered.signatures to a petition drawn up against us. The well-disposed held a meeting also, spoke their mind and framed a
petition in our favor.
The provisional President being able to discern a middle course, willed that every department should sign the
decree for our expulsion. He signified the same. Hereupon, the party in our favor came to the conclusion that
resistance was a necessary measure. The department of
St. Rose took the initiative. At the moment when. the
message arrived, it announced its opposition. Two other
departments joined it, and the united forces of the three
were organized into a body called the Christian army.
The President, at this junB:ure, saw himself between the
sword and the wall. For the Secret Societies of Costa
Rica having assisted him to attain his authority, now threatened him with the poniard, unless he kept the oath he had
taken to banish us. He therefore called together our principal friends and declared to them that he would banish us
though it should cost him the presidential chair. He immediately put the city in a state of siege, etc. etc.
5
�66
Central
America.
It is not possible to relate here all that occurred at this
time, or the efforts of the good people in our defence : the
manifestoes, protests and placards ; the procession of 300
or 400 ladies to the house of the President in order to dissuade him from carrying out his resolution; or the guard- [
ing of our premises night after night by these same ladies, I'
armed with knives to prevent an attack upon us.
1
At length on Sept. 4th at 5 A. M. we "were hurried off I
I·
amid a troop of armed soldiers, leaving the city in conster- i
nation and tears. We departed like true ministers of God, \
each with his crucifix suspended from his neck, and his little pack in his hand. On the road we gathered tears and
sighs; for the people wherever we passed, threw themselves
on their knees, and in the emotions of grief called themselves unfortunate.
At the port of St. Joseph, a· place extremely unhealthy,
we were delayed eight days, at the end of which time a
steamer arrived. Now began the 'second part in the drama ,
of our troubles. The fathers were allowed a part of the
cabin ; but the rest of us were stowed away in the hold of ;
the vessel, a delightful locality, where in the abundance of '
our wants we had to be satisfied with an abundance of cold;
and in the absence of convenience, to put up with every inconvenience, and to mak~ the best of it.
The government had bargained for our passage to Pana- i
rna; and so· we were forbidden to get out and shake our- :
selves at the ports of the neighboring republics, San Salvador and Honduras ; but three days after, we reached Corinth,
Nicaragua, where we were welcomed with open arms.
Two of the fathers went immediately to inform the Lord
Bishop of our arrival. His Lordship instantly put his pal-.
ace at our disposal. On Monday Sep. 18th we made our
entrance into the city, where the Lord Bishop, the clergy
and the entire population dressed in their holiday attire gave
us the honors of a triumphal reception. A band of music
led the procession and the heavens blazed with rockets.
�Central America.
All were full of the liveliest joy, and the welcome was warm
and affeCl:ing. We went to the Cathedral, whence after the
Tt Deum was sung, we repaired to our lodgings. Never in
my life did I see streets so tightly packed with people; if
there wa" one person there, there were 16,000 crowded
upon them.
We are now resting, and recovering from the fevers
which had seized upon us. The people are very kind, and
are providing us with all the necessaries of life; but they
are very poor, and it is only now after a month's stay
that some of us have procured a bed to sleep upon. They
are well disposed to receive the assistance of our ministry.
The men and women come to confession to us, and they
wish us to open a mission among them. The clergy are
enthusiastic in our praise. They have asked us to take
charge of the schools, and the government, which is an excellent one, is in favor of it; but the country is too poor to
inspire confidence. Our stay at this point is only temporary therefore; we shall depart when we have recuperated
and received further orders. By that time the affairs of
Guatemala may be settled; for the entire state is again in
arms, the government is again in jeopardy, and those who
raised the present administration to power are now the
most ardent reaCl:ionists. Unless therefore the Lord decrees to prolong the days of our trial, there is strong reason
to hope for an early return.
But the mail is about to start. Give our best respeCts
to the fathers and brothers.
�68
A Miracle of Lourdes.
AN ACCOUNT OF A MIRACULOUS CURE
EFFECTED AT BOSTON, MASS. BY THE USE OF
THE "WATER OF LOURDES."
The following account was written by Miss O'Donnell the
person cured by the use of the" Water of Lourdes." We insert as.a preface, an extract of a letter dated Dec. 28th I8JI,
from one of our Fathers who has been the young woman's
spiritual director for several years.
.
I have asked Miss O'Donnell herself to write out a little
account of the miracle, which I. enclose. This I think will
.
be more satisfactory, and of course more exact than anything I could write. The cure, you will observe, was
much more sudden than I gave you to suppose. About
Yz after 6 A. M. on the I 8th of August last, her mother
rubbed her with the " water." (This was the first time it
'had been applied to her spine and hip, and only the second
time that she had used it in any way.) At 7{ to 7, the
same morning, I took her Communion, and about 9 the
same morning, she threw aside her crutches. The cure
took place on the third day of the novena, St. Helen's day,
as we afterwards observed, though it was only from accident we selected that day for Communion. It was she
herself who brought me the account this morning.
Miss HELEN O'DoNNELL's AccouNT.
I have suffered from scrofula since my infancy, but the
disease never appeared externally. When about one year
old, my eyes became affected and I was blind nearly all the
time from that age until my fifth year. I remember having:
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�A Miracle ·of Lourdes.
had the back-ache when a little child, but during the'winter of 1859 it troubled me mote than before and I grew
quite sick. At that time Dr. Mason Warren examined my
back and decided that I had the spine disease which was
incurable. All that could be done was to try to keep up
my strength. I grew very much out of shape and could
not stand ereCt. In a few weeks my left hip became diseased, the limb was so drawn up that my foot did n:ot touch
the ground. I was able, however, to walk with crutches
until the spring of 1864, when I grew so much worse that
for fifteen months I was confined to my bed. A swelling
appeared on my right side which grew to be larger than
an egg. In reply to my enquiries as to its charaCter, the
doCtor told me that it came from an·inward swelling, that
it was not a tumor, that I would not die of tumbr, but very
likely of cancer.
I did not go out of the house after the spring of 1864
more than four times and then I had to ride. I was able
at times to go about the house on my crutches, but generally was obliged to keep my bed for several weeks together, and could never sit up a whole day. I was never
out of pain for five minutes at a time. My right arm also
became useless. I first heard of the "Water of Lourdes"
in the fall of 1 8~. I then said I would get well as sobn
as I used it, but I did not know any 'one who had the
miraculous liquid, or who would get it for me. Indeed I
had no hope of ever getting it. In January 1871, I became
very sick. I 'had every day several fainting fits which
lasted from a quarter to a half an hour. I grew weaker
every day. I could not read any longer. I did not. care
to see any person, or to hear any one speak-! felt that I
was dying. At this time I called a physician (Dr. Storer)
to see me, for I had not had one previous to this time for
four years, nor had I taken any medicine. I did not even
take what was ordered in: January last, because I knew it
would not help me. The doB:or while prescribing it said
�A llfiracle of Lourdes.
he thought it would not help me much, but that it would
do me no harm. He thought I could not live long and
that if I did not grow worse quickly, we ought to be very
thankful.
I felt sure the "Water of Lourdes" would cure me, and
the more I thought of it the more certain I grew. In the
last week of July 1871, Sister Superior of the Sisters of
Notre Dame at Lowell sent me a small vial of the "water."
Upon measuring it, I found I had just five teaspoonfuls.
After obtaining the "water" I was afraid to use it, for what
reason I know not. I yet felt I would be perfeB:ly well as
soon as I used it. I would not have been disappointed
however, if I had not been cured. On August 13th a
swelling came on the left side of my neck. I felt as if I
were choking. I took half a teaspoonful of the "water"
and rubbed my neck with it. I than drank a few drops of
it when all the pain and swelling instantly left me. On August 18th I was rubbed all over with the "water" in the
morning, and after receiving Holy Communion swallowed
a few drops of it and afterwards took my breakfast. After
this I thought I would try to walk and so started without
my crutches. I found I could really walk. Both my feet
touched the floor. My back was perfeB:ly straight, the
swellings all gone and I had no pain. I got safely across
the room, and went down one flight of stairs and up again
without any difficulty~ Since then I have been perfeB:ly
well and can walk as well as any person. I have had no
return of pain or disease. The " water " appears like oil
when one uses it.
..
D. 0. M.
�\VOODSTOCI( LETTERS.
VOL. I., No.
2.
FATHER WHITE'S RELATION.
[ (.(mtinucd.]
On Sunday the 24th and Monday the 25th of November,
we enjoyed prosperous sailing. At that time, the wind
veering- towards the north, there arose so great a storm that
the London merchantship of which I spoke, retracing its
course, steered for England, and a port r:elebrated among
the Paumonians, Our pinnace, too, for it was only offorty
tons burden, began to be distrustful of its strength, and
heaving to, cautioned us, that in case it feared shipwreck,
it would signal us by lights shown from the masthead.
For ourselves, we were carried in the meantime, in a
strong ship of four hundred tons burden, as good as could
be framed of wood and iron. vVe had a most skilful CapDie igitur Dominica, 24ta, et die Lunae, 25ta, Novembris, usque ad
vespcr:un prospem usi sumus navigatione. Tum vero ventis in Aquiloncm obversis, tanta cxorta est tempestas ut oneraria quam dixi Londinensis, retroacto cursu, Angliam et portum apucl Paumonios celebrem
repetierit. Celox etiam nostra vasorum tantum 40 cum esset, viribus
coepit diffiLlerc et adnavigans monuit sc si naufragium rnetueret id Ju.
minibus· e carchesio ostcnsis significaturam. Vehcbamur interim nos
Valida IJavi vasorum quadrigcntorum, nequc aptior ex ligno et ferroconstrui potcrat. Navarcho utelmmur pcritissimo; data est illi itaque optio
�-..,
1-
Father H'ltitc's Relation.
tain. He had the choice either of retuming to England or
of struggling with that sea, which, should it prove victorious, would dash us upon the Irish coast, hard by,-notorious for its breakers and very frequent shipwrecks. The
daring spirit of the Captain, and a wish to test the strength
of the new vessel, on its maiden voyage, gained the day.
He concluded, then, to try the sea, which he admitted was
the more dangerous, owing to its narrowness.
The danger, indeed, was not far distant; for, about midnight, during the prevalence of high winds and very rough
seas, we descried the pinnace in the distance, with two lights
hanging out from her masthead. Then, indeed, we thought
there was an end of the pinnace, and that she had gone
down in the deep whirlpools, for in a moment more she had
escaped our sight, and not until six or seven weeks afterwards did we get any sign of her. So, we were all persuaded that the pinnace had perished. However, God had provided better things for us; for, perceiving herself unequal to
the waves, and avoiding in time the Virginia ocean by
which we were nqw tossed, she returned to England and
the Scilly isles. Sailing thence on her return voyage, along
with the Dragon, whose company she had as far as the
rPdenndi si vellet in .Anglinm, vel cum Y!'ntif' porro colluctandi, quibu~ ~i
eederet expectabat nos e proximo litus llibernicum caecb seopuli~, et
freqnenti~simis naufragiis infame. Vicit tanwn navarchi audax animus
ct desiderinm probandi quae vires esscnt novae, quam tum primum tmctabat, mwi. Scdit animo cxperiri marc quod eo fatcbatur esse lWri!'ulo~ius quo angnstius. N eque pericnlumlonge alwrat; vent is l'nim turgt·ntihus, et mari· exnsperato circa mPdiam noetem vidl'rc crat celocPm prot~ul
duo lumina a carchcsio protenrlcntem. Tum scilicet actum de ilia es~e.
et altis haustam vortiribns existimnbamus, momPnto enim conspl'etum
ell"ugerat, neque nisi pm<t sex septimana>< (:jus indicium aliqnotl ad no><
cmanavit. I tuque 1wriisse celocem cunctis emt persnaf'nm: nwliom
tamen providerat Deus; nam se 1\uctibus imparem sentiens mntnre (keanum Virginium cum quo jam nos luctahamus dev1tan~. in Anglimnnd
insulas Sillinus revert it, unde postliminia Dracone co mite ad Sim~m )lagmnn, nos ad Insulas Antillas, ut dicemus, est asspcnta, DPo <'ni mil~i
mormn cum est, cxiguae naviculae deduce et custode pru~pieienle.
�Fatlzcr lf'lzitc's Relation.
73
Great Bay, she came up with us, as we will tell, at the Antilles, God who has care of the smallest things, providing a
guide and guardian for our little boat.
·
Meanwhile, the ship's crew, ignorant of what had befallen
her, fell a prey to the keenest alarm and dread, which the
frequent terrors of a dismal night served to augment. At
dawn of day, although we had the southwest wind against
us, still, since it was comparatively light, we were enabled
to make some headway by frequent tacking.
In like manner during Tuesday, \Vednesday, and Thursday, the winds being variable, we made little progress. On
Friday, under the influence of an easterly gale, which drove
the gray clouds together in threatening masses, such a
storm of wind burst upon us, towards dusk, as threatened at
every moment, to engulf us in the waves. Nor did the following morning, which was the festival of St. Andrew,
the Apostle, promise any abatement. The clouds, massing
together from every quarter in a frightful manner, before
they were rent asunder by the lightnings, were a terror to
those that beheld them; and the opinion prevailed that all
the spirits of storrt1s and all the malignant and evil genii of
Maryland had come forth in battle array against us. As
the day declined, the Captain perceived a sunfish making in
the direction opposite the sun's course, which' is the most
At vero nos evcntus ignaros dolor ct mctus premebat, quem tetra nox
fi·cqucntibus tocta terronhus augebat. lllueescente die, cum AfHcum
haberemus contrarium, quia tamen languidior erat, per multas ambagcs
lente provchebamur. Ita ~Im·tis, ~Icrcurii ct J ovis dies variantibus ventis exiguo profectu abiere. Die Veneris ohtincntc Euro ct glaucas cogenie nubl's vento gravidas, tantus circa vespenun se turbo etfudit ut
111omentis singulis involvcndi tluctibus vidercmur. Neque mitiora promittebat lux inscquens Andreae Apostolo sacm. Nubes terrificum in
1110rem undique excresoentes tcrrori crant intuentibus antequam discinllcrcntur; et opinionem facicbant prodiisse adversum nos in acicm omncs
spiritus tcmpestatum maleficos ct malos genios onmes Marylandiac. Inelinantc die vidit navnrchus piscem solis cursui solari obnitcntem, quod
horriuae tcmpestatis ecrtissimum indicium. Neq ue fides abfuit augurio :
�74
Fat!tcr H7titc's Relation.
certain indication of d. horrid storm. The pre~age proved
not untrue; for about ten o'clock at night, a black cloud
rained down upon us in fearful wise. This was accompanied by a gale so dreadful, that it was necessary to take
in sail with all speed; nor could that be done with sufficient expedition, before the mainsail, under which alone we
were running, was rent in twain from top to bottom.
One
part of it was carried into the sea, and afterwards recovered
with difficulty. In this juncture, the courage of the bravest, whether passengers or sailors, began to flag ; for they
confessed that they had seen the best ships go down in a
lighter storm.
But the tempest enkindled the prayers and vows of the
Catholics in honor of the most Blessed Virgin Mother, and
her Immaculate Conception, of St. Ignatius, the patron of
:\Iaryland, St. l\lichael, and all the tutelar angels of the
place. And each one strove, by holy confession, to purge
his soul : for after having lost the guidance of our helm, the
ship was tossed about at the mercy of winds and waves, till
such time (a thing you may learn out at sea) as God should
open a way of safety. In the beginning, I cqnfess, fear for
the loss of the ship and of my own life had taken hold of
nau1 circa decimam nocturnam -caeca nubes atrocem clepluit imhr£>m.
Ilunc tam immanis turbo suscepit ut n£>c£'ssc fucrit quantocius ad vela
contrahenda accurrere; nequc id fieri tam expedite potuit, quam a£'atium
sen velum majus, quo solo navigabamus, medium a summo dcorsum finderetur. Ejus pars una in marc delata aegre rec£>pta est.
Hie fortissimi cnjusque sivc vectoris, sive nautae est consternatus ani'mus; fatebantur enim vidi~se se celsas naves minori procella prnecipitatas. Accendit vero is turbo Catholicorum preccs et vota in honorcm
Beatae Virginis Matris et Immaculatae ejusdem Coneeptionis, Sancti
Ignatii, Patroni Marylandiac, Sancti Michaelis et tutelarium ibidem Angelorum. Et quisque animum suum sacra exomologesi expiarc conlcndebat. Nam clavi moderaminc amisso, navigium jam umlis ct vcntis
derelictum ftuctuabat, ut in aqua discnt, dum Deus ~a! uti viam aperirct.
Initio, fateor, occupavernt me mctus nmittendne navis ct vitae; postea
vero qunm tempus aliquod orationi, minus pro more mco quotidiano
�F atlzcr TV/zitc' s Relation.
75
m~.
but after I had sp~nt some time in prayer, less after my
daily lukewarm manner, and had declared to Christ, our
Lord, the most Blessed Virgin, St. Ignatius, and the Angels of .Maryland, the purpose of this voyage, to wit, to
honor the blood. of the Redeemer· in the salvation of barbarians, to the same Saviour to build a kingdom, if he would
deign to prosper my humble endeavors, and to consecrate
a new dower to the Immaculate Virgin Mother, and many
other like purposes, there gladdened my soul within no
small degree of comfort, and' so happy an assurance did I
feel that we would weather not only this, but any future
storm that no shade of doubt was left in my mind.
'When the sea was raging most violently, I had given myself to prayer, and, let it n dound to the glory of God alone!
while as yet I had scarcely ended, I perceived the tempest
to be abating. That circumstance in truth, girded my soul
with new strength and, at the same time filled me with joy
and wonder, since in it I recognized with greater clearness
the exceeding benevolence of God towards the people of
Maryland, to whom your Reverence has sent us. lllessed
forever be the most sweet goodness of our Redeemer!
When the sea was become calm again, the rest of the voyage, whiclt lasted for the space of three months, was most
tepidc, impcndisscm, ntque Christo Domino, Bcntne Yirgini, St. Ignntio
et Angelis ~[nrvlnndiac cxposuissem propositum hujus itineris esse san·
guincm Hedcmptoris nostri in salute Barbnrorum honorarc, eitlcm Servatori regnum (si conatus lcnucs sccundarc dignctur) crigcre, dotem alteram Immaculatac Virgini Matri consccrarc, ct similia multa, affulsit intus in animo consolatio non mediocris, ct simul }Jcrsuasio tam certa nos
non ab hac procella tantum, sed' ab omni alia itinere isto libcrandos, ut
nullus apud me esse possct dubitandi locus. Dedcrmn me orationi cum
mare saeviret, maximc (et quod ad Dei unius gloriam ccdat) vix dum
eatn finiermn, cum scdbse animadvertcbam tempcstatem. Id scilicet novo qnodam me induit habitn :mimi, perfuditque simul gaudio ingenti et
admiratione cum impcnsam Dei in ~Iarylandiae populos voluntatem (ad
quos Ra. Va. nos misit) hand paulo amplius persentirem. Dulcissima
Redemptoris nostri bonitas in acternum luudctur!
Cum ita dcfcrbuissct jam mare, reliqua trium mensium navigatio pia-
�;6
Fatfzcr H7titc's Rdatiorr,
prosperous, so that the Captain and his men declared that
they had never seen one more tranquil; nor, for a single
hour, did we suff:.:r any inconvenience. \\'hen I say three
_months. however, I do not mean that we were at sea so
long a time, but I take into the account tbe whole voyage
and our delay at the Antilles; for the voyage itself lasted onlv seven weeks and two davs, which is considered expediti~us. After that time, while' we were coasting along
the shores of Spain, \Ve had a wind neither adverse, nor ye~
l:·worable; we were in dread of Turkish corsairs, but we fell
in with ·none. Perhaps they had gone to celebrate their
annual fast, which they call Ramadan, for it occurred at
that time of the year. After passing the pillars of Hercules
and the l\Iadciras, we were scudding, under full sail, before
the winds (which are not variable here, but set constantly
towards the south and southwest, which was our course,)
when there appeared three vessels, one of which was larger in bulk than ours. They ·seemed to be about three
leagues distant to the west, and to be endeavoring to come
up with us, as also to be sending messages backward and
forward, in close conference. As we susp~cted them to be
cidissima fuit, ut navarchu01 cum ~ui~jucumliort>m ~~· vidis~t· numqunm, nul.
quiPiiorem n~,:everaverit; nl"que- enim uniuB horae pa"si ~umu,; incommodum. Cum vero Ires menst•s nomino; non llico no~ tnmdiu mare in"t•dissc, Red iter integrum el moras qnas in Antillis insulis traximus adlllllllero. Navigat io enim ipsa seplt-m hehdom.adns et duos t.nntummodo
dies tl•nuit, itl<ttJe ePnsetur expPditum.
,\.h eo igit ur tempore quantn lit us Hispaninc ll'gehamu~. nrqnt• adver~<;,
JH'que n•nto atlmodum pro~pPrn usi sum us: verchamur Turcas, nullo;;
tanwn hab1timns ohvios; reeep<·rant Be forta~~e ad solemne jejunium,
quod Hammlan vocant, celdmmdum, in ill:tm cnim nnni tempebt:ttem ineidchat. Pral'tt>rvectis antem frt'tmn IIercnlenm et ::\laderas, et venti~
pnppi vela implentil.Jns (qui non jam vagi, ~ed ad Anstrnm et Africnm
qui noster ernt cnrsus, con~tanter ~C"dent) app:trnernnt tres naves, quanun
una nostrnm mole superahnt; dist:trc aull'm videhnntur ad Ires circill'r
lcncm< versus oceidentem, ct nobis obviam conari, interdum etiam ad mvicem ultro eitroquc mitt ere ct. percontmi. Cum su~picnremur esse Tnr-
�Fatltcr JF!zitc's Rdation.
77
Turklsl1 pirates, we made ready for action. Some of our
men even went so far as imprudently to urge the Captain
to give chase, and close with tl1em. But as he himself was
responsible to my Lord Baron, he doubted whether in such
a case he could have had a probable reason to assign for
l1is conduct. And, indeed, I judge the engagement would
have been a hazardous one, though perhaps, they were as
much afraid of us as we were of them, and were, as I conjecture, merchantmen, bound for the Canaries, not f.'1r d:stant, and either could not overtake us or were unwilling to
do so.
After this, having arrived at the Canaries, we glided intD
a spacious bay, where \Ve had nothing to fear except from
calms, by reason of which (since they continue fifteen days,
and sometimes even three weeks) the ship's provisions give
out. But that happens rarely, scarcely once or twic..: in a
life-time. Nevertheless, delays are frequently protracted
for want of wind, which, as it blows ever in the same direction, chanced to be propitious to our voyage.
In this bay
we completed a run of over three thousand Italian miles,
cutting the milk-white sea with full sails, the calm never de<·.arum Pyraticns, cxpetlieh:unns qmwcnnHJlle ad pngnmn crant neeessuria.
::'I'Pqne deerant ex nostl"i~ qui nu,·nrchum imprudentius stimularent ut
("t~ nitro u~greden·t.ur ac lac<·~'eret..
SPd dominnm habehat, cui cum
n•tldetHla et·at ratio, prohahilem se po:;se pugnae cnusam ali'<•tTe dubitahat. Et quitlcm cnntlictnm diflicilem habiturum fnisse Pxistimo; quamquam forta~~e quantum all illis nos, tantum nos illi mC'htehant, et erant,
Itt eonjcctura ass<·quor, mpn·atores qui ad F'ortunntns non procul di:.;~i·
I.a.:< tendeh:mt, et vl'l non poteran·t nos asspqui vel nolPb:mt.
Hinc ad lnsulas Fortunatns delnti, sinu tnn;.(no ~usCPpti fitimus, in quo
Hlllius metus nisi ex malaeiis, qunP cum quill(lecim dil'lms et tnhus nli'Ptamlo septimnni>~ perdm'('nt, deficit navigantC's conunpatus. hl VC'ro
raro, et vix >~neculo uno semel aut iternm accidit. FrP<pH•ntissimae nihilominus trnhendae sunt morae, defici!'nte vento, qni emu spirat, unus
N idem semper est, hnic nostrae navigntioni propilius. In hoc sinu <·on·ti•dmus millinrium Italicorum tria millia, plenis vl'ii~ mare s<'<·nntt'H hu~
h•um, nusqnam impediPnte malacia nisi qu:uuloque eirea meriuiem una
hont.
'
�;s
\
Father TV!zite's Rc!atio1t.
laying us except for an hour about noontide. I do not
readily perceive the reason of so constant a wind, un:ess.
perchance, one may say it arises from the proximity of the
sun running between the tropics, and attracting from the
sea two kinds of exhalations, one dry, from the sea-salt;
the other moist, from the water. The first of these phenomena is the cause of wind, the second, of rain. Thus,
the twofold attraction of the sun would aptly show why
these natural agencies keep the sun's oblique track, and follow in its wake. This reason may explain also, why we
experienced between the two tropics at the same time, and
within regular intervals, at morning, noon, and nightfall.
both great heat and copiom: rain·s ; or at least may account
for the ,high winds that prevailed during these hours. From
the same source we may draw the reason of the absence of
calms in the gulf during this se·ason ; for the sun being in
the tropic of Capricorn, beyond the equiHoctial line, and
declining towards its extreme southern limit, (as was the
case while we were between the I 3th and I 7th degree, when
the heats are as fierce there in our winter months as they
are in the summer months in Europe) it attracts the wind
and rain in an oblique direction towards the line, and in
Hand fucilem invenio rntionem tam const:mtis venti, nisi forte id oriri
quis dixerit ex vicinin Solis inter duos Tropicos int• rcurrentis, et vi sua
attrnhentis ex mari duo genera meteorum, siccum unum ex mm·in salsedinc, alterum humidum ratione aquae; ex priori fit ventus, ex posteriori
generantur pluviac. Sol itaquc utrumquc ad sc cvehens causa est, cur
eumdem cum Sole obliquum semper cm·sum servent, Solemque pcrpetup
sequuntur. Atquc eadem potuit esse ratio cur inter duos Tropieos cxpcrti sum us ingcntem simul calorem ct copiosnm pluvimn, idquc constantcr mane, meridic, vespere, vel saltem ventos iis horis vehementiorcs.
Hinc ctiam deduci ratio })()lest cur hoc tempore sinus a malnciis Iiber fuerit. Nnm Sol in Tropico Cnpricorni existcns, ultra linenm reqninoctiaJem, et ad ejusdem lineae extremum pnrtem meridionalem declinans (ut
nobis nccidit inter 13m. et 17m. grndum .iEquntoris positis, quando mcnsibus nostris hibcrnis calores sunt ihi, qnaqti nestivis mensibns in Europa)
attrahit oblique ventum ct pluvinm ad lincnm nequinoctiulcm, atquc in-
�ratkcr White's Rdatzon.
79
<:onsequence, during these months, the winds are more
steady, in this gulf especially, and towards the tropiC; or
Cancer. In the summer season, on the other hand, \vhen
the sun is crossing the equator towards us, and attracts
the salt and aqueous vapors, not obliquely, but almost,
perpendicularly, then, calms are of more frequent occurrence.
Here I cannot refrain from extolling the divine goodness
which causes all things to work together for good unto them
that love God. For, had we been permitted to weigh anchor without delay on the 2oth of August, the day we had
determined upon, as the sun at that time struck the vertical
on this side of the equator, the very intense heat would not
only have caused the loss of our provisions, but brought
disease and death to almost all of us. The delay eventuated
in our safety; for, embarking in winter, we were free from
inconveniences ·of this kind, and·; if you except the usual
sea-sickness, no one was attacked with any disease up to
the festival of the Nativity of our Lord. That this day
might be more joyfully celebrated, the wine flowed freely,
and some who drank immoderately, aboi.it thirty in number,
were seized with a fever the next day, and twelve of their
et
.t'le iis mensibus venti sunt certiores, et in hoc sinu praesertim, versus
TropJCum Cancri. Frequentiores autcm sunt malaciae cum aestivo
~mpore Sol ..<Equatorem transit ad nos, attrahitque meteors salsa et
tquea non oblique, sed fere perpendiculariter.
. , · ..
Hie autem non possum non extollere divinam bonitatem, quae diligentibus Deum facit ut omnia cooperentur in bonum. Si enirn, nulla inject&
mora, licuisset eo tempore solvere quo constitueramus, mensis •scilicet
A.ugusti vigesimo, Solem cis JEquatorem verticem feriente, intensissimi
calorcs non solum annonae !ahem; sed plerisque ·omnibus morbo11, mortemque attulissent. Mora N~luti fuit, nam hieme conscendentes hujusmolli incommodis caruimus; et si consuetas navigantibus nauseaa excipias, nemo morl.Jo aliquo tentatus est usque ad festum· Nativitatis Domlni. Is dies ut celebrior esset pwpinatu,u l·st vinum, quo qui usi sunt,
intemperantius febri correpti sunt p.oxima luce numero triginta; et ex
lla non ita multo post mortui sunt circiter duodecim, inter quos duo
�So
ratfzer lVhitfs Rebtitllf.
number not long after, died. Am::mg these were two Catholics, Nicholas Fairt:'lx and James Barefoot, \';ho were much
regretted by us ali.
C.1tho!ici m'l~:mm sni ap'd o:n'les d'c3ilbrin.n reliq:tenmt ~icolaus Far:bxius et Jacouus Bmefote.
[To be continued.]
THE CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE OF I'fiEXICO AT ITS EXPULSION·: JUNE 25, 1767.
The .Rev. Father Andrew Artola, Provincial o' the Society in Mexico, has lately published a_ complete Catalogue
of the mem!Jers that constituted, at the time of their expul~ion, the Province of the Society in . 1\lexico, or, as it was
then called, New Spain. It gives in detail the number of
individuals, their age, place of nativity, grade and occupations, as well as the colleges, houses, residences and missions, through which they ~vere distributed. \Ve believe
it will be of no little interest to our readers to glance rapidly at what the Society was scarcely a century ago in re-.
! ions of Am::ric:t where now, unfortunately, she is hardly
I nown.
In 157 I ,'Philip IT., K!ng of Sp:1in, requested St. Fnnc;is
J orgia, then general of the Society, to appoint so:ne t:<ther.>to come over to New Sp:1in, where they might ex-::rcise the
ministry oftheir vocation as they had done Ill Peru, Florida'
rnd other p~rts of Spanish America. The saintly general
~cceclcd to the.i-equest, and in the tnmirig year there arri\eda: San Juan de Ulua fifteen members having for Supe-
~.
�Pnruincc of llfexi'co
i11
17q7.
8t
rror, E Pedro Sanchez, of the Province of Castile, a distinguished doctor of Salamanca, and at the time of his nomination to the new mission, professor of theology at the
college of the Society in that city.
During the space of two centuries the Society labored
with abundant fruit in the Mexican country, until in 1767,
by a decree of Charles III., all the Jesuits then in the Span- ,
ish realms were condemned to banishment and conducted
to Italy. Father Raphael de Zelis, who was a native of
Vera Cruz, but:at the date of the expulsion was studying
rhetori-c in the college and novitiate of Tepotzotlan, took
care to preserve the memory of his companions in exile by
writing in I 786 the greater part of the catalogue now before
us. After the demise of F. Zelis, which took place at Bologna, July 25th, I795. the list of the departed members was
continued by F. Pedro Marquez, whom the decree of banishment reached at the opening of his first year of theology
in the Collegium Maximum of the city of Mexico.
From this catalogue we learn that on the 25th of June,
1767, the day on which the royal decree was made know!\
to the Jesuits in every house of the province, the Society in:
Mexico, or New Spain, counted 678 members. Of these,
280 were professed of four vows, 2 of tlu e ~ vows, I 8 w .:re
spir. coadjutors, 78 were formed te.nporal co:1djutors, 34
were temporal coadjutors not yet formed. There were besides, I I 2 scholastics, and I 18 fathers who were still studying, or who, lEwing finish!'!d their studies, had not attained
their grade; 65 of these made the profession of four vows,
and 4 of three vows, when in banishment. There were 25
scholastic novices, and 1 I novice brothers.
It may surprise some that in a province so numerous the
proportion of scholastics was so small. But we must bear
in mind that in those times the Society could, and usually
did, require of its candidates the completion of their philosophical studies before entering the novitiate. This fact explatn.> also why there were but fifteen students of philosophy
to forty-seven of theology.
�Prvv-ilzc(: of iff.:xico in r ;6g.
of
Of the 6;8 subjects in the province, 464 w.:re nativt."S
.America, 153 of Sfnin, and 61 of various other parts of Europe. They were distributed among 37 colleges, 5 n.:sidences and 6 missionary districts or departments. The subjoined table will show their position and numbers.
-------------- -----~-----
"HOUSES OF THE
SOCIETY.---Prie>ts.fsd:;l-~Bros.
I
IN THE CITY OF }lEXICO.
l
The professed house, in whkh resided \he Pro.
vinCial,
. ·. .
.
22
,The Collegium )laximum,
Rt
· The College of St. Andrew,
1 14
The Vollege of St. Gregory,
.
r 10 '
'l'he College of St lldelonsus, .
'
5'
.
-.
IN THE CITY OF LA PUEBLA.
-
.
.-
.-
.
\
1~
1(;
H
1~
2
3,
15-
3
1
, I
1
. ~.
11,
4!)'
7
17
2
IN GUADALAJAUA.
I
A Seminary ~nd a College,
~.~.
i7
•7
-~
A Seminary for the Ind'n~s, ,and a College atlathed to ~he_.i\ovitiate, .
.
. ' .
'!'.
14
I
- Tlui house o~ t !H:• Tcrtians and the College of the; ~
. Holy Spmt,
.
.
.
. · . · .
- The College of St. lldefonsus, · .
.
. · .
The College of St Francis Xavier, . · . . .
Two diocesan Seminaries-St. Jerome and St.
Ignatius. -The former was a higher; the latter a preparatory seminary, with grammar
scho~>ls for the Indians.
.
.
.
.
1
-t }N :rnE TOWN OF TEPOTZOTLAN.
I
. IN GUATEMALA.
1
A Sem'nary _and a ~oll!'ge,
11
IN QUERETARO.
,.
A Seminary and a ColJe,.e
..
··-
2'
l)
1
13
li
II
~
IN ZACATECAS.
A Seminary and a College,
IN DURANGO.
- A Seminary a~d a Coll~o-e ,
0
I
7
�Province of ilfexico
tn
IIOU3E3 OF THE SOCIETY.
A Seminary and a College,
I767.
Priests. I Schols. Bros.
-- - - -6
'1
1
2
1
1
:1
1
1
2
1
1
2
2
2
1
1
2
2
2
1
IN :\IERIDA.
A. Seminarv and a College,
IN VALL.\IJouo.-A College,
hi II.WA!>A.-A College, .
I~ 0.\.JACA.-A College, .
IN L~;os.-A College,
.
IN GuANAJUATo.-A College, . .. .
IN SA!> Lms DE PoTosr.-.\. College,
bi Vr.nA Cnuz.-A College, .
.
.
1N ZELAYA.-A College, .
.
.
.
bi CIUD.\D REAI., ort CmAPAs.-A College,
hi S.nr Lurs In: LA PAz.-A College,
.
IN PuEnro DEr. PmscrPE.:-A Residence,
IN CIIIGUAGUA.-A Rl•sidencc,
1N PAIUUL.-A He~L\ence,
IN C.UIPECITE.-A Residence,
IN CrsALO.\,-A College,
7
'13
13
8
5
8
6
9
7
5
7
4
1
3·
2
2
Unknown.
The missionary districts, or departments-six in number
-comprised 99 missions, established in various towns and
villages, attended by I04 fathers arid one coadjutor bmther.
Their distribution is here given.
The district of Cinaloa, attended by 2 I fathers, was divided into 20 missions. They were:-The missions of Viribis,
Caamoa, Mocorito, Nio, Guazave, Chicorato, ·Mochicave,
·vacca, Toro, Torin, Bachun, Rahun, Santa Cruz, Batacosa,
Conicari, Nabojoa, Tehueco, Belen, Ocoroni, and Bacubinito.
The district of California, attended by I 2 fathers aud · 1
brother, comprised I4 missions. They were :-La Pasion,
S. Xavier, Guadalupe, S. Luis, Santa Rosa, Santiago; S.
Jose, La Purisima, Sta. Rosalia, San Ignacio, Sta. Gertrudis, San Borja, Sta. Maria and Loreto.
The district of Chinipas had I 2 fathers for its I 2 missions :
viz.-de Guasarapes, Sta. Ana, Secora, Moris, Babaroco,
Sta. Ines; Serocagui, Tubares, Satebo, Baburigame, Nabogame, and S. Andres.
�Pnruincc
of llfcxico in 1767.
The district of Nazareth included 7 missions attended by
6 fathers: viz.-Sta. Rita, Sta. Teresa, Iscatan, Jesus l\Iaria,
La Trinidad, Guainamota, and Rosario.
The district of Sonora included 28 missions in which 30
fathers labored: viz.-de Guazavas, Aconche, l\Iatape, Oposura, l\lovas, S. Ignacio, Arip:!, Aribechi, Batuco, Onavas,
Cucurupe, Cumuripa, Saguaripa, Sta. l\Iaria Soanca, Tubutama, Odope, S. Xavier del Bac, Saric, Tecoripa, Ures, Caborca, Sta. l\laria Basaraca, Babispe, Baca de Guachi, Cuquiarachi, Guebabi, Onapa, and Banamicl1i.
The district of Taraumara contained I 6 missions with I 9
fathers to attend them. They were :-d::: l\Iatachio, Temotzachic, S. Tomas,· Papigochic, Tutuaca, Tomachi, SisoguiChi, Kakichi, San Borja, Coyeachic, Temeaichi, Norogachi, Nonoava, Chinarras, Gueguechic, Nararachi.
The administration of these extensive missions was conducted as follows :-All the missionaries were under a Visitor General. This officer was at the time of the expulsion,
F. Emanuel Aguirre, residing in Baca de Guachi, of the
district of Sonora.
The members of each district were, moreover, under an
immediate Superior who held the title and authority of Rector. These were:·
In the district of Cinaloa, F. Joseph Garfias, of the c~l
le_;e of Cinaloa. In Chit1ipas, F. Manuel Clever, of the
mission of St. Anne. In Nazareth, F. Anthony Polo of
the mission of St. Rita. In Sonora, F. John Nentvig, of
the mission of Guazavas. In Taraumara, F. Bartholom~w
Braun, of the miss:cn of Ttn otLzchic. In tl~e di:.tri(t of
Califi1rnia, on account of its broad extent, there were two,
-F. Lambert Hostel, of the mission of the Passion, and
F. Francis Escalante, of the mission of St. "Rosalia.
But as the missionaries were isolated from each other,
and resided in localities m.1ny leagues apart, there was in
each district, a special officer whose duty it was to visit constantly the various missions.
They were the following;-
�Pro·ilincc of J.lLrico in
I
767.
8;
In C.llifornia, F. B !Utn Ducrue, of the mission of GuadllU?~In C:1!nip1.;, F. Jo!lll Cub~du, of the mission of
St. Agnes. In NlZ'lr~th, F. Bartholomew \Volff, of the
mission of St. Th~r-:sa. In Sonora, F. Emanuel Aguirre,
of the mission of B tc 1 d ~ Gtn.chi. In Taraumara, F. Philip
Ruo'lnova, of the mission of Matachio
Finally, at the college of St Andrew in the city of Mexico, a father procurator :for California, and another for the
rcm1inin;; missiotu, r~.;id.!d with the procurator general.
The di'stribution of labor among the members was as follows:
There were 4 I 8 priests, I 3l scholastics, I 33 coadjutor
broth~rs. Ofthe priests, 53 w~re superiors, 104 were missionaries among the Indians, 187 labored in the ministry in
the loc::tlities to which they were appointed. Of these last,
I 2 were chaplains of prisons, I 6 prefects of Christian doctrine, and 1 I went from place to place giving missions to
the people. There were, moreover, 3 professors of sacred
scripture, I9 of scholastic theology, 10 of moral, 3 of canon
law, I 5 of philosophy, 3 of physics, 8 of humanities, 7 of
l\Iexican languages ; 6 were incapacitated by reason of age
or infirmities.
Of the scholastics, 47 were students of theology, I 5 of
philosophy, 27 of rhetoric' I9 were professors of the humanities, 2 5 were novices, 4 invalids.
Such was the condition of the Mexican province on the
day when the decree of banishment was promulgated, The
execution of the decree was conducted in the following
order;
From the 26th of July until the 29th of Nov., 5 I 5 Jesuits were shipped in 15 vessels from the port of Vera Cruz
and sent to Italy, thus:
On the 26th of July, 55 were sent ;-on the 25th of
Oct., ther~ W.!re sent in various ve;;sels respectively so. 50,
40, 35, 30, 30, 10 ; -on the 8th of Nov., 30 ;-I 9tl~ of Nov.,
�86
Provi11ce of Mexico in 1767.
40, 15, 20 ;-29th ditto, 6o, 50;- I 2 scholastic novices and
6 novice coadjutors followed the fathers into exile.
In consequence of the evils arising from close crowding,
from the failure of resources and the insalubrity of the
climate, 35 died in the port of Vera Cruz whilst awaiting
transportation ; 5 died at Havana where the vessels touched port ; 2 during the voyage, and 13 at Cadiz.
In the course of the same months, F. Joseph Elvillar, tl1e
oldest of the province, as also two members, who, owing to
age or infirmities were left in the city of Mexico, and one
left in Queretaro, passed to a better world.
In exile the members of the Mexican province took up
their abode in the legations of Bologna and Ferrara; and
even after the suppression of the Society in 1773, the
greater part of the Mexican Jesuits remained in the same
cities, where this last blow overtook them, and there ~ne
by one paid the last debt of pur nature.
�FORT HILL AND ENVIRONS.
About three hundred years ago, when all the nations of
Europe were fitting out expeditions in quest of a new pa·ssage to the East Indies, and not unfrequently discovering
new continents in their search, the Indian tribe of flfatinekocks* was enjoying the peaceful possession of a considerable tract of land on the island, called by them lVIeittr.vax;
but later, named Nassau Island by the English colonists,
and Long Island by the Dutch. Among their picturesque
plases of resort was a small peninsula, jutting out into
Long Island Sound, and known among them as Caumsett.
There was nothing perhaps in the little spot to distinguish
it from numberless similar places around it; but still its native beauties, no limning of language can adequately portray. Here were the same sombre forests with their melancholy grandeur; the same giant productions of a fertile
soil, rising like huge monsters from the rich earth, while
luxuriant vines which had clambered up to the highest
tops, and thence sprung from tree to tree, hung down in
verdant garlands of waving drapery. Here, as elsewhere,
reigned the deep silence of nature, broken only by the gentle sighings of the .trees as they swayed to and fro over
the bank to catch a glimpse of their leafy beauties in the
unruffled sea beneath them, "where Neptune held a mirror
to their charms ; " or by the immense flocks of water-fowl,
*Some historians spell the name of this tribe Jfatinecock1, but we hnvo
ado!Jtcd the other spelling, as, we think, more consi8tent with the Indi·
an idiom. -~fartinnelwuck was the name of one of their villages.
N.Y. CoLON. ~loS. YoL. 1.
�88
Fort Hzl! am! Eizviiwzs.
as they returned to their secluded retreats and settled down
with a noisy splash in the adjacent bay. Occasionally also,
a small canoe would dart from under cover of the bank.
and speed across the sound, dimpling the surface of the blue
waters; or a noble deer, pursued by the swift-footed Indian,
would spring boldly from the height, and be seen for a time
with its branching antlers raised above the deep; while the
pursuer, checking himself suddenly on the very verge of the
beetling cliff, would gaze in astonishment on the prey that
had eluded his grasp.
\Ve can picture to ourselves one of these powerful inhabitants of his native forests, as stately and as wild as they,
standing b.:dizened with gaudy plumage on the eminence
of Caumsctt, some hundred and fifty feet above the level of
the sea, and looking about him on the noble landscape,
where nature so f:<ir had spread her features wild. Towards
the setting sun, he perceives the bay commonly called by
the /ndyaus by J'C name if Nadwquatuck,* and by the English, Cold Spring, which enters inland, almost at right an"
gles to the Sound. Straight across this bay, another opening presents itself; it is Syosset or Oyster Bay, which after
winding about, as a river, loth to forsake shores so enchanting, returns on its course, making what was once an island,
but what is now connectea with the mainland by a narrow
strip of alluvial formation. In the direction of the Sound
itself, the dim outlines and blue hills of. Connecticut add the
beauty of a distant perspective to the scene. Could his
piercing glance have penetrated the gloom of the wooded
heights that lay to the east of Caumsdt, he would have beheld the shaggy groves and headlands of Huntington, mirrored in the spacious harbor of the same name; and, were
he ignorant of the narrow neck, uniting the laud on which
""Patent of Gov. Nicqlls. IIIsT. OF Lmw
IsL.\~D,
VoL. I.
TIIO\IP~o~.
�Fort Hill and Environs.
he stood with the main, he would have im:tgined himself o:t
an island.
Such was the small In,'ian hamlet of Caumsctt, our future
villa; one of those countless little Edens that gemmed our
shores, at a time when the trembling carpet of light and
,;;hade that nature had spread over the trackless forest was
printed by scarce a single human footstep; when the midnight arch with " golden worlds inlaid" that spanned our
continent from sea to sea, rested on a land, where all God's
creatures were in their glory, save man alone; and where
the voice of nature hymned its song of praise to the great
Creator unheard by mortal ears.
But it was not always to be so. Early ·in the I7th century, the Dutch took possession of the island of Manhattan,
which Hendrick Hudson had fallen upon in his search for
a north-west passage to China and India; and having erected New Amsterdam, they spread gradually throughout the
surrounding country, and crossed the East River to Long
Island. · Here they purchased land from Pt!llmvit::, the then
great Sachem, and built several forts. The English . too
had settled, about the same time, in New England, and
their relations with their Dutch neighbors were not always
of a \'ery friendly nature. They were much tempted to cross
over from Connecticut, a distance of no more than ten miles,
to the attractive shores of Long Island, which as we read
in the remonstrances of the Deputies of the New Netherland>, "they hankered after greatly."* These propensities
of their neighbors embittered the days of all the Dutch directors of New Amsterdam. \Vhile the kingdoms of Europe
W ~re passing from sovereign to sovereign, and empires being
"Hemonstr:mcc of New Netherlands to the High and 1\lightv Lords
States General of the United Netherlnmls, by the people of New Netherland, .Jnly 28, 164~. CoL. Doc. o~· N.Y. ST~n;., VoL. I. HoLLAND Doc.
IV.
�\
Fort Hi!! aud Enviro1ts.
bought in a d::ty, the Dutch fought with characteristic stubbornness for every foot of land usurped by the· English.
Proclamations succeeded each other in quick succession.
Time and again were the loyal Dutch burgomasters forced
r·
to behold the arms of their High ?vlightinesses, which had
been set up in numerous places, as a sign of possession, torn
down, "and a fool's £<ce carved in the place thereof, to the
gross disparagement of their High l\1ightinesses". * The
details we have been able to cull of these harrowing scenes,
during the reign of \Valter Van Twiller, the first director '
commissioned by the High and Mighty Lords States General of the United Netherlands, though fraught with deep
·interest, are not connected with our present subject, and
must, therefore, be banished without appeal. But no sooner had \Villiam Kieft, known in History as the Testy, assumed the reins of government than the English singled out
the very bay, adjoining Caumsett, to which we alluded under the title of "Oyster", as the scene of a great invasion.
Director Kieft, says the historian of N. Y., had determined to raise the sinking finances of the New Netherlands
by making the seawant or wampum, which served as a
kind of money among the Indians, and consisted of colored
beads manufactured from the Qualwug, a kind of shell-fish.t
the current: money of the~ nation. Now, Long Island, proceeds the historian, was the Ophir of this· modern Solomon
and abounded in shell-fish. The English hearing of this
intended stroke of policy, unparalleled even among mod~rn
fin:mciers, determined on the bold policy of establishing a
gigantic mint at Syosset or Oyster Bay, where, after disposing of the oyster so agreeably, they could lay out the
shell too, to such advantage.
But Kieft was roused; he had tried entreaty, and that
*Doc. OF Cor•. HisT. OF N. Y. STATE, II.
t New York Historical Society, llEc. OF 165!).
�Fort Hill and E1wirons.
had £1.iled ; he had tried proc!am:ttions, and they had failed ;
he had changed the language of his mandates, and published protests in latin.* and they had completely failed.
He had done all that the most exact moralist could require,
before resorting to open violence, and now felt himself justified in hurling on his enemies the direful thunderbolts of
war. He entrusted these weapons of destruction to the
valiant Stoff.::! Brinckerhoff, who lost no time in girding on
his armor, and with a handful of sturdy retainers, reached
the scene of action by forced marches, completely routed
the invaders, drove them from Oyster Bay and seized on
quantities of falsely coined oyster-shells.t
This severe lesson was not enough for the English; their
short occupation of the tempting prize only increased their
eagerness to call it their own, and under the following director, the famous Peter Stuyvesant, known in history as
"the headstrong," they again maintained that Oyster Bay
belonged of right to them, as the boundary of their possessions on Long Island. The war of the boundaries continued to agitate the two colonies for years, and it was only
in 1656 that their High J\Iightinesses settled ihe question
by drawing an imaginary line from the western portion of
Oyster Bay to the sea, and deciding that all lands, lying to
the \Vest should be Dutch, and those to the East, English.
How it was that ·the New Netherlands had been induced to
give up so many pretensions, is not very evident from history. All we know is that the English invited the headstron;{ Pet~r to a convention at Hartford in 1650; and that
they tciok care to receive him with all possible marks of respect. \Ve find, among the Holland documents, a mem-
* N. Y. CoL. 1\ISS. IloJ,J,A:SD Doc. IV.
t Vcrto:>gil van Nivc-Ncllcr-Vtu~l 'Vcghcus
14; CoL. Doc. I.
IliST.
de Ghcleghcntheydtxyz.
N.Y. KNICKJ,;HBOCKER, VoL. I.
�Fort Hill and Environs.
oir* in which the writer complains bitterly that all the arbitrators, on this occasion, were English or friends of the English, and that, in this affair, they pulled the wool over the
director's eyes. Certain it is, that Peter in thi~ instance departed from that manner of acting which has won him his
_title in history, by so far yielding as to present to their
High l\Iightinesses for ratification the treaty respec~ing the
boundaries, drawn up at this convention. l\Ieanwhile, however, pending the ratification of the treaty, the Governor of
New Haven in 1653 made bold to purchase from the Matinekocks, and others, about six square miles of the territory
adjoining S_yossct. This included in fact the whole of
Caumsctt, but the Indians denied their having had
any intention of thus including their lit~le peninsula, and
accordingly, in 1654. they bart~red it definitively to a party
of Englishmen from Sandwich, who took advantage of the
troubles which distracted the country to seize so attractive
a spot. \Vith all the usual formalities, the peninsula was
handed over by Ratiocan, Sagamore of Cow Harbor (now
called North Port) to Samuel l\byo, Daniel \Vhitehead,
afterwards representative for Queens Co., and Peter \Vright.
Real estate in tho'>e days was far from being at so high
a premium, as it is now; and the price paid for this neck of
over 2849 acres was 3 coats, 3 shirts, 3 cuttoes, 3 h 1tchets,
-3 hoes, 2 fathoms of wampum, 6 knives, 2 pairs of stockings
and 2 pairs of shoes. Here, however, the modern historian
is bewildered by one of tho_.;e difficulties which frequently beset his path, viz. : the discrepancy of contemporary writers;
for while the author of the History of Long Island affirms
the price to have been, as we have stated above, the historian of New Netherland maintains that the consideration
* :Memoir on the Boum'.nries of New N etlH•rlaml, hy Allrincn vnn ller
Donck, trnnslntcd from a notnrial copy in the Hoyal Archives at the
Hague, HoLLAND Doc. VI.
�Fort Hill and Emtirons.
93
paid for this tract, was 6 coats, 6 kettles, 6 f.."lthoms of wampum, 6 hoes, 6 hatchets, 3 pairs of stockings, 30 awl-blades,
20 kn:ves, 3 shirts, and as much pc. lg:te as will amount to
'
.£4 :;terling. This, too, he claims to have gathered from
the General Records of the Court of New Haven. vVhilst
the second edition of the History of Long Island mentions
quite a new catalogue of domestic implements, putting the
price, bc~s ides6 coats, at 6 bottles, 6 hatchets, 6 shovels, 10
knives, 6 fathoms of wampum, 30 muxes (eel-spears), and 30
needles. ·Amid such conflicting testimony. and at this late
date, it is hardly possible to arrive at any degree of certainty respecting the point at issue. All we can .s ay is that
some coats and some wampum, for in this all agree, form :!d
part of the price ; but the rest, all our distinctions of conjunctively. or disjunctively, or distributively have failed to
reconcile. But the bargain was not settled yet.
The Grand Sachem of Long Island, l.flyandach, by name,
envying, no doubt th e coats, bottles, ne::!dles, etc., received
. by a subordinate chief, d.:!nied the right of the Jlfatiuekorks
to dispose of this piece of land, and in 1658, the original
buyers, fearing perhaps the validity of their tenure, sold out
to one Samuel Andrews ; and this time, the Grand Sachem,
whom a few trinkets had probably soothed, confirmed the
sale on the 14th of 1\'lay of the same year. There is another item, however, which we mu st not pass over in speaking
of the sale of Caumsctt, that is the loss of its old Indian
name.
The ancient astron0mers, we know, leading a pastoral life,
as they discovered new wonders in the heavens and appropriated to themselves, so to speak, these starry meadows,
very naturally adopted the names of the familiar objects
around them to designate their new acquisitions; so that in
the words of Chateaubriand: ·• In the skies were discovered
ear.; of corn, im;:>lements of agriculture, virgins, lambs, nay,
even the shepherd's dog" : in a word they "wrote the an-
�94
Fort Hill and Em,irons.
nals of their flocks among the constellations of the zodiac."* So it was with the pastoral colonists and early pioneers of the New \Vorl d. Cmrmsctt was far too barbarous
an appellation for these simple, matter of fact Englishmen,
and as, on accouqt of the fine pastures in which the peninsula abounded, droves of horses were daily led from Huntington to prance and revel amid its luxuries, it came in a
short time to be known as Horse Neck, and took its place
as such, among the rural districts of Cow Neck, Cow Harbor, Hog Island, Bull Run, &c. 1
The new name in
this case, though it might have been more elegant, was certainly appropriate; for besides the circumstance alluded to
above, whence, strictly >-peaking, this favored spot derived
its name, it would not require a very strong effort of in~ag
ination to discover in the very shape of the peninsula, a
resemblance to a horse's head and neck. Thus it was that
Caumsctt disappeared from the geographical charts of those
days, and as it had fallen into Christian hands, received also a Christian name.
But it was not destined to retain this happy appellation
. very long. The neck, after passing through several hands
from 16oo to 1678, came on Oct. 17, I6Jg, into the possession of l\lr. James Lloyd of Boston, who being entitled by
his wife to a part of this tract of land, purchased the rest
from the executors of one of the former owners, and thus
became its s?le proprietor. Real estate within the short
space of twenty-four years, had risen with gigantic strides,
and Mr. Lloyd was obliged to count out in hard cash some
£200 sterling.
Naturally enough, the name of the owner,
after a time, became connected with the estate. Horse
Neck was heard of less and less frequently, till it graduallt
died away entirely, and Lloyd's Neck arose in its stead.
*GENIUS OF CnmSTIANITY, PAUT
I. n. IV. c. 3.
,.
�, -Fort Hill and Environs.
9~
. Meanwhile, the rule of their High Mightinesses had
passed away before the grant of King Charles· II. to the
Duke of York, and the cannon of Governor Nicolls, who
· compelled the chivalrous Stuyvesant to surrender New
Amsterdam and its environs. In evacuating the country,
the defeated but not subdued Dutch, went not alone ; ·~he
very names they had given, many of therri at least, were
'forced to follow them into their exile. As Andromache
had bestowed, on a scanty rivulet of Epirus, where fortun~
had cast her, the name of Simois, the noble nver of her
own dear Troy, and had built
"Pnrvnm Trojam, ct simulata magnis
Pcrgun1a.--"*
so our good old Dutch ancestors had lavished on their pos~
sessions in the New \Vorld, though so far below the mighty
originals, the names of their own loved Fatherland, thereby
to deaden the pains of voluntary exile, and lull themselves
into the sweet deception that they were still among the
scenes of their childhood. But they were gone! gone, despite so long a tenure of the soil, and, as is so often the case
with office-holders, on the entrance of a new party into
power, their places were filled by young pretenders of foreign extraction. Thus New Amsterdam had yielded to
NewYork; New Netherlands became an echo of the past;
Long Island was called Yorkshire by Governor Nicolls,
"it being the true and undoubted inheritance of His Majesty," t and even our little peninsula received a new name,
when in I68s; it was, during the administration of Governor Dongan, an Irish Catholic, erected into an independent
manor, the only o~e in the county, and honored by the truly English title of Queen's Village.
t
* -<ENEID, RIlL
t
N. Y.
CoL.
.
1\ISS. III LoNDON Doc. I~
· i It is worthy of note that this EoanJC Governor Dongan was nccuscd of
being under the influmce of foreign Jesuits, and of acting, in accordance
with their crafty insinuations. LoN. Doc. VI. 'Ve are not surprised at
.•
�Fort Hill and Emnrons.
The independence it thus acquired, by a stroke of the
Governor's peri, was not of long duration. Lloyd's Neck,
• or Queen's Village, lay on the very borders of two rising
towns, Oyster Bay, and Huntington, and of two ambitious
counties, Queens, and Suffolk. a tempting prize for both.
In i 6g 1, the die was cast. Fore go it must its freedom,
~nd henceforth consider .itself as belonging to Oyster Bay.
Though the privation ~f its independence was a severe
blow, it .was compensated, we think, by the fact that it
now formed part of Queens Co., so famous for generosity
and patriotism. It was only some days ago, that in searching among dusty records and in hu6e folios for d;!tails of
the history of Lloyd's Neck, that we: cam~ across some of
the newspapers, published during the old French war, in
'which the praises of Queens Cix are recorded. The following is a specimen: "Jamaica, Sept. 5· 1755. This day,
iOI 5 sheep, collected in three days in this county were delivered at New York Ferry, to be sent to Albany by water,
which were cheerfully given for the use of the army, now
at or near Crown Point. \Vhile their husbands at Great
Neck were employed in getting sheep, the good mothers in
that neighborhood, in a few hours, collected nearly 70 good
large cheeses and sent them to New York to be forwarded
witli the sheep to the ar~y." That the sheep and accompanying cheeses were not the refuse of the farm or dairy,
but were s~lected with truly patriotic feei:ngs, is a~tested by
the acknowledgement dated Oct. 1o : " Your sheer( it
says, "were seasonable and highly benef.c:al to the army
•
'
t.his, for, since be had raised into an imh·prndent n;anor, an estate, u ~c-art
of which was, some two hundred years later, to Le o~;cupictl by the llc·
ecendants of these very Jesuit~, is it strange that he should !Je accu~cd of
collusion with the mcmuers of the Society? . There arc ·muny churgts
found in wme histories called 1 eha!Jlc, :md lu<ctl on much t>ligl.ttr gwta.ds
~han these.
�Fort Hill and Environs.
97·
in generaL Your cheeses were highly acceptable and· re..
viving, for, unless amongst some of the officers, it was food
scarcely known among us. This generous humanity of
Queens Co. is unanimously and gratefully applauded by all
here. \Ve pray that your benevolence may be returned to
you by the Great Shepherd of human kind, a hundred fold,
and may those amiable housewifes to whose skill.we owe
the refreshing cheeses, long continue to shine in their use~
ful and endearing stations,
Your most obd't & obliged Serv't.,"
\Vm. Johnson.
Queen's Village, then, might hencef0rth claim a share in
these praises; but Huntington, the rival o( Oyster Bay, had
not yet given up all thoughts of this flourishing little neck;
it hoped still to call it its own, and continued to encroach
on its territory until 1734, when the line of demarcation
was finally and definitively traced
Though the winds that rustled so sweetly among the no~
ble trees of Queen's village, were loaded with no evil fore~
bodings of war, and the clouds
"In thousand liveries dight,"
that attended the setting sun, seemed still to speak but of
peace and· repose, still the storm was fast approaching ;
those placid waters were to be ploughed up by armed vessels; those peaceful echoes which had heretofore learnt to
repeat nought but the sweet notes of the many~kinded warblers of these solitudes, or, at most, the dull surging of the
waves on the idle pebbles of'the beach below, were to be
for<:ed to shout back, from rock to rock, the loud booming
of cannon and the groans of the dying and wounded.
At the breaking out of the revolution, many ·loyalists
who found Connecticut and the neighboring colonies too
warm for them, had crossed t'te Sound, landed at Lloyd's
Nee\ and there built an earthen fort, about 10) feet square,
to protect themselves against surprise. Our spo~ had to
�Fort Hill aud Emrzi-.:ms.
p·ay 'dearly for this cl;ange of masters, and the noble"trees,
that grew so luxuriantly on its banks, ceased to cast their
shadows on the quiet waters, by being ruthlessly hewn down
and sent as fuel to the English army, around Ne\v York.
In 178o, the French fleet, under the command of Count
de Barras, arrived to infuse new vigor· into the American
troops, and anchored near Newport. ' Having received no
orders to- enter upon the more important field of action, the
Count deter!llincd to occupy his squadron, by dislodging
f:om Lloyd's Neck the nest of loyalists, \vho committed
many depredations on the surrounding country. According~e despatched, for this service, three frigates with 250
land troops, the whole, under command of Baron d'Angely.
The detachment sailed on the 10th of July, and was joined
in the Sound by several boats of American volunteers and
pilots from Fairfield. They entered Huntington Harbor and
effected a landing on the Neck, on the morning of the 12th.
We searched high and low, among the numerous histo-_
ries of those times, for a full account of this engagement,_
but it seemed to have been totally disregarded by cnntemporary historians ... \Vashington simply alludes to the f..1.ct,
in a)etter to Count de Barras, dated Head Quarters, Dobb's
Ferry, 21 July, IJ8I, in these words: "Although the detach.
ments from your fleet, under the command of the Baron
d'Angely did not succeed at Huntington, we are not the
less obliged to your Excellency for directing the attempt
to be made. If that post is maintained, I think an opportunity-of striking itto advant:lge may still be found, and J.
doubt not but you will readily embrace it. I have the honor to be etc."
· vVe were on the point of abandoning all hope of obtaining
a more detailed account of the affray, when we were fa-·
vored, by the kindness of the Superintendents of Astor·
pbrary, with a sort of scrap-book, presented by one Onderdonck; an aged inhabitant of Long Island, and in which·
ly,
�Fort Hill and En<Jirons.
99
were ca~efully arranged cuttings from the newspapers of
olden times. Here, to our great· pleasure and surprise, we
found the mo'>t circumstantial description of the battle of
Lloyd's Neck, acco:np::tnied by an accurate diagram.
We give the extr..tct almost in full, though it rep~ats something of what we have already said, hoping thus to rescue
from oblivion so important and interesting a document of
coloilial times.
"During the Revolutionary war, the British took possession of Lloyd's N:::ck, and erected a small fort there, for the
prot~ction of wood-cutkrs, who were mostly refugees from
New En~land. Th~ Neck, at that time, was covered with
the finest and largest growth of timber imaginable, some
tr~~> growin6 to th~ h~ight of 4'J or 50 feet, before putting
forth a single branch. Th~ refugees gained a livelihood for
themselves and their l>milies by cutting d'Jwn these noble
trees for firewood, and sending them to New Y ark, where
fuel was in great demand for the use of the King's Army,
cantoned there during the idle hours of winter.
"The Americans had made sundry predatorial attacks on
this peninsula by night, and e1rried off some property and
• prisoners, but on the arrival of the French fleet at Newport,
it w:1s concluded to fit out a more formidable expedition, in
hop:::s of exterminating this troublesome nest of refugees.
"The expedition failed as to its main ,object, from an ignorance of the real strength of the post, and of the localities,
hut it resulted in alarming the enemy so much that they
soon after abandoned the place.
"This aff.1ir, on account of its failure, is not described in
any history of the revolution, and is barely alluded to in a·
letter of\Vashington. Such must be my apology for giving
a sketch of it from memory, as it was detailed to me by an
eye-witnesc;, William Ludlam of Hog Island, who lately died
at a very advanced age.
"Mr. Ludlam was not a Whig, but owing to his quiet dis-
I
�IOO
Fort Hill and Ellv!rons.
position, continued-a loyalist during the Revolut:on. His.
goodness of heart, however, would not allow him to harm.
any human being, friend or foe. He was just grown up, at
the time of the American defeat at Brooklyn, Aug. 30, I 776,
and out of mere curiosity walked down to the battle-field,
saw its dead, lying as yet unburied, and the ground itself
co\"ered with the scorched paper of the cartridges.
"But I am digressing from my story. One fine summer
day, in I 845 I crossed in a boat from the pleasant village
of Oyster Bay to the residence of the venerable man. He
was somewhat dull and car;::less at the first few questions I
put to him, but when I spoke of olden times and of the
Revolution, the tears came into his mild and somewhat bedimmed eyes; his voice faltered; I had struck a tender
chord, had reminded him of the days of his youth-of
troublesome times. In a few moments he recovered himself, and as the recollection of times long past came to his
mind, his conversation took a cheerful and spirited ton<'.
He related anecdotes and adventures of all kinds. 'Come,'
said he, taking his cane and his broad-brimmed hat, ' let us
go to the Hill, and I will describe to you the attack by land
and water, which the French and Americans made on
Lloyd's Neck. I saw it with my own eyes as I was binding
wheat sheaves in my harvest field, just sixty-four years
ago.'
"vVhen we had reached the top of the hill, 'Here', said he,
pointing with his cane across the bay to the heights just opposite, • here was the fort, built to protect the wood-cutters,
and used also as a depot for hay and straw, which was collected from the adjacent country and shipped to New York.
The French fleet landed a party of 250 men, on the side of
th:! neck that fronts on Huntington Harbor ; these were to
attack the post in the rear, but they got bewildered coming
up, and when at last they reached the fort, they found it better defended thai! their spies had led them to expect. In
�Fort Hill and l!iwzrous.
101
fact the guns had been mounted, only the day before ! So
unexpectedly did the refugees disc'1arge their grape shot,
that the French, who had neglected to bring any artillery,
at once retreated, leaving behind them some surgeon's instruments, lint, bandages, port-fire etc., and the ground, besmeared with blood.
"At the same time with the attad;: on the rear of the fort,
and to draw off the attention of the British refugees, a
French sloop of war hove to in front, in Cold Spring Bay,
but could bring only one gun to bear on the point of attack
" • Meanwhile the main body of the French fleet, a t !r
landing the men near the entrance of Huntington Harbor,
had sailed further in, and attacked some English vessels that
had run' for shelter into thO! small cre:!k which forms the
peninsula. A portion of the crews on board the English
ships had already landed, and mounted a few guns in batt~ry on a slight risinJ g·roun:J no~ £1r fro:n th:! shore, by
which they hoped to keep off th.! French shipping. In
this they succeeded; for as soon as the French Admiral
was apprised of the failure of the attack, on the land side
of the for~. he, al once, abandoned the attempt, sailed to a
preconcerted spot, took on board his defeated marines, and
returned to Newport, saying very little about the expedition.
Paragraphs were of course put forth in Rivington's Royal
Gazette, as a terror to the rebels, and an encouragement to
the king's loyal subjects.'"
Thus, we see, that Lloyd's Neck was not after all so unimportant a place 01.s the Historian of the New Netherlands
seemed to insinuate, when he remarked that "Oyster Bay
Wa'i not worth fighting about." In fact one of the officers
stationed ther-:: shortly after this engagement was Prince
William Henry,* son of G-::org.:: II(, then in the Royal Navy, and afterwards King William IV.
*Pr nee \Villiam Henry was the first of those royal personages who, either through necessity, when treading the paths ot' exil~, as the royal fam-
�102
'
Fort Hill and Euvziwzs.
Thompson, in his history of Long Island, tells us of an,
other revolutionary episode, connected with Lloyd's Neck:
how, in the earlier years of the Revolutionary \Var, Sir
Henry Clinton directed a small party of refugees to start
from Lloyd's Neck, cross the Sound, and, if possible, make
a prisoner of l\lajor General Silliman, who had just been appointed by the Governor and Council of Connecticut, superIntendent of the coast of Fairfield. They set out accordingly, nine in number; one was left in the boat, eight went to
the house. About midnight, the inmates were awakened by
a yio:ent assault on the door. The General sprang from
his bed-attempted to fire upon the assailants, but his musket only flashed. No time was lost; in a few moments,
the daring boatmen were once more crossing the Sound,
the illustrious prisoner by their side. As may be supposed,
Colonel Simcoe, the commanding officer at the Neck, received them with· great joy. Such personal thefts wcr~ not
uncommon, during the war. And soon after this exploit
on the part of the British, the Americans crossed over from
the Connecticut shore, in one of those stout whaleboats
which formed the entire navy of which the Americans
lly of Portugal, or from cl:oicc. :•s Louis Napokon, tlc Prince of Wale~,
and lntely, the Grand Dt.kc Alexb. !:an· visited our Amrrican shores.
The n:ception the young prince mtt with nt our hands in 1'iE2 was
not indrcd so flattering, as that tcndPred to our lnl't roynl guest: the
truth is, that a very uncivil plan for capturing him wa~ formed hy Capt.
Ogden of the 1st New Jcrsty Regiment, and approved of by "'ashington.
Hnppily for him, the plan, though wry ncar being succ·cfsful, did not ef·
feet wLat wns intended: hut I Lt- Royal Midshipman," the Eailor King,"
as he was ropularly called, on a('(ornt of his curly predilection for the
naval profnsion, !mew full well, that the· failure of a first attempt would
not dam]l the ardor of the dal·ing Continentals, and hence, after u Etay,at
New Yoi·k, of only a few montl:s, he ~tarted for the ''"est Indies. In
1789 he was created Duke of Clarence, Enrl of Mun!'tc·r; nnd, at tbe death
of George IV. ascended the tl:rone, as the Fourth 'Villimn. He died in
iS37, :iml was succeeded by his niece, Victoria.
�Fort Hill and Environs.
103
could then boast, and purloined a certain Hon. Thomas
Jones, fi·om his home near by, in order to be able to exchange him for Silliman.
During all this time, the proprietorship of Lloyd's Neck
had passed from father to son in the Lloyd family. The
grandson of the original purchaser lost his share of the little peninsula, by confiscation, as he espoused the cause of
the King during the war. This part, ho .vever, was repurchased by his nephew, John Lloyd, <n J thus kept in the
family.
\Vhen the storm of war had passed over and peace again
smiled on the now independent colonists, John Lloyd returned to his home, on the Nee'{. But this pleasing spot·
had, as is generally the case, suffered much by becoming
famous. As time wore on, however, the stately trees once
more sprang up; the moss began to creep over the footworn rocks; the tender blades of grass, little by little, succeeded in blotting out the remaining vestiges of the soldiers' tramp around the Fort; the green ivy, mantle of
eternity, began to weave its glossy leaves over the shattered
or f:<llen trees ; and even the echoes learnt to forget the
jarring sounds of strife, and once more found pi ~asure in
telling of the bleating of sheep and the deep lowing of
cattle. One feature, however, was gone: the noble Indian
no longer figured among the grand objects around ; and
even his f1ail canoe was seldom seen on those waters, where
thousands of "winged sea-girt citadels" usurped the peaceful domain of the deep.
Thus Lloyd's Neck remained for years, till in 1S71 apart
of it, comprising some. 44 acres, and known as the "Fort
Hill property" again changed hands, we trust for the last
time, and became our present Villa.
The fort is exactly in front of our house, and, at this late
date, reminds one rather of a peaceful orchard, a quiet retreat for birds, than of a battle-field for contend:ng armies,
�Fort Hill a11d Etwiimts.
as numbers of fruit-trees have grown up, within the enclosure. \Ve have, hcwever, begun to restore it to its former
war-l.ike appearance, and all that is wanting now are a few
. cannon to mount on the parapets. It may not be long before we come across these relics of the revolution, as some
excavations we have made, have brought to light old cannon balls, and thus led us to believe that the canno11 themselves and other treasures too, may con.e next.
But be this as it ·may, one treasure, at ·least, we have
found in our country hou~e. and that is health and repose,
after the year's labors. " Hither," in the words of our late
lamented and humorous Father Monroe, "may the mathe~
matical and classical teachers, weary of extracting and dissecting square ro"ots, Greek roots and others still more old
fashioned, come and find relaxation, in digging parsnips,
turnips, and, if it comes to the worst, potatoes. Hither,
may the pastors and assistants, after conducting their flocks
into healthy pasturage, come and themselves browse on
greens and salads. H1ther, may the missionary, tired of
throwing his net for men, come, ana, like St. Peter, returning to his old trade, fish for perch and soles. Hither. in
fine, may the Superiors come, and leaving all care behind
them, find leisure and relaxation, to prepare for the labors
of the ensuing year."·
All these visitors, will not, alas ! find that variety of rural
pastintes, ih which the first occupants of our soil were able
to indulge. The whales, which used to be taken in numbers, off the Island, in days of yore, abandoned the coast as
early as 1717, or have 'dwindled down in these d:!generate ·
days, to tumbling porpoises, which enter our secluded bay.
l y thousands.* The beavers, whose furs formed ~o valua~
* TJ:c ckprturc of the \Yhnlcs is officially nnnounc('d, in a letter from
Governor Hunter to the Lords of Trade, dated, New York, July, 17,1718,
in which l:e con:plains, thnt the pcrqm~ites, arising limn his p1tcnt, .. UJ-
�For' Hill and Ellvir.ms.
10)
ble an artic~e of trad:!, beclme few:!r and few:::r, as years
ro'led on, and mo'it probably migrated, in larg.'! numbers,
with their t'l"llilie~ to the m,lr.'! cong.!nial climes of Can:tda.
Had our forefathers been more scrupulou,; in following
the prescriptions enjoined by the act, passed in I 726, by the
assembly at New York, "for th~ more effectual preservation
and increase of Deer on the Island of Nassau," we should
have such game too, to offer to the aim of the marksman;
and perhaps even bears, which paid an occasional visit to
Long Island, as late as I 7 59·*
At present, however, the largest wild animal is the spright~.
ly squirrel, or the ta?acious rabbit. But we are far from
complaining : nature has left us enough to satisfy the most
exacting; and could we but rec.1ll to their once secluded
haunts the former denizens of these forests, it would not be
that w~ might destroy them, but solely, that we might be:.
hold, in th.! wild grand.!ur of bygon~ days, th~ charms and
beauties of Fort Hill.
· P.
gnoscendi de Piscibus Rcgalibus, Sturgconibus, Dalen is, Cretis, etc., are so
inconsiderable, that .... I would not have \Hillen one single Jetter about
it, .... these fish having, iu a manner, left the coast." N &W YonK CoL.
l\lSS. VoL. V. LoNDON Doc. XXL
* The Jagt one, of which we fouml :my mention, in these parts, is thus
spoken ot; in theN. Y. Gazette of Nov. 26th 1759: "On Sunday week,
last past, a large he:tr passed the hou,c of l\lr. t:l--, on Long Island,
and took to the water, at Red Hook, attempting to swim across the hay;
but he was shot by one or the inhabitants." Scrap Boo:;:, Astor Library.
---~-~
�EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF FATHER F. X.
KUPPENS, S.
J.
GRAND RIVER, DAKOTA TERRITORY,
JuNE IS, 1871.
Last l\Ionday, I arrived at the house of two Frenchmen,
MM. Louis and Adrian Egat, brothers, who have been some
thirty years in this country, are married to Indian women,
_and speak the Indian tongue with great facility. I was received with all possible marks of respect. On the next day
Mr. Louis volunteered to accompany me to the camp of a
Great Yancton chief called "Two Bears," where I miglit
stop a few days, to become more familiar with the language
,and explore the field of fu~ure labors. \Vhen we approached
the camp, we were met by " Two Bears" himself, and two
minor chief'> of his tribe. Permission to stay a while with
his people to learn the language was politely but cold_ly
granted me, and I was introduced into the lodge of my host.
_This mansion I saw gaudily decorated with paintings of
bears, eagles, buft:'lloes, tomahawks, pipes, houses, men, etc.
After smoking a pipe which ·passed from mouth to mouth
according to the rules of Indian etiquette, :he chief deigned
to explain to us that all his people had gone forth from the
camp to prepare for a solemn dance in honor of the Sun;
that there was not a single squaw left to unsaddle my horse:
so he proposed that we should all remount and ride together
to the scene of the celebration. As the Indian nations are
fast disappearing- from the land, and in a few years, or at
most, a few generations, this peculiar people with its strange
�Indian llfissions.
IOJ
manners and observanses will be found only in the history
of the past, I think I am rendering a service to students of
history by observing and recording whatever strange customs fall within the spho:re of my observation.
The scene I was about to witness was one of the strangest] have ever beheld. True it does not contribute much
to edification, unless perhaps it should rouse within us fresh
sentiments of gratitude to our good Lord, who, by his
painful life and death has freed us from the disgusting superstitions, of which these poor savages are still the slaves
After rid:ng about three miles, single file in the woods, all
abreast on the. prairie, we arrived at the place of the meeting. There we beheld a most motley crowd 0f gaudily
dressed men and women old and young, the decrepit and
the sturdy wurior; mothers with babes at their breasts, and
on their backs; all adorned with beads, ribbons, strings and
feathers. Many were engaged in twisting leaves and branches in their hair, crowning with verdant wreaths, their brows,
necks, arms, brf'asts, waists and legs ; others were ornamenting their horses' manes, necks and tails with the tr ost
extravagant profusi.on of green. Medicine men and warriors were meam\·hile haranguing in loud tones, but no
more than a dozen hearers paid any attention to them.
At length an outburst of universal applause announced
, the great news that the tree around which the dance was
to be performed, had been discovered by certain superstitious signs. It was a crooked tree some thirty feet high,
with trunk some six inches in diameter. But soon there
appeared a general feeling of embarrassment. ] twas found
d:fficult to comply with the ceremonies required. For such
is the respect which even the savage has preserved for the
virtue of virginity, that, for some sacred rites, none but
those who have preserved it intact are admitted. Such
were to stand by the tree while it was cut down by the
warriors. But such is the degradation of these people, who·
�IdS
. Indian llfissimzs.
·have never been strengthened by the Sacraments that no
y( ung men presented themselves who could claim the honor and the profits attached to it. This condition had to be
dispensed with in the case of the young mm; the two maidens, however, who were required for the same purpose hat!
been better prot~cted by the modesty, characteristic of their
sex even among barbarians.
A speech from a medicine man summoned four braves,
one from each of the four winds, to stand with the youths
at the >'ide of the tree, each on that side c.n which he had
slam mo~t enemies. Then followed a series of minute details of ceremonies, so scrupulously perfo"rmed, as to make
one ask himself, " Do I practise such exactness in all the
sacred rites of our holy religion?" v. g. the medicine ·man
takes the hatchet, raises it to the sun and prays aloud. He
gives it to the first maiden, she hands it to the first young
man, he to tl~e first warrior, wh(J raises it to the Sun, proclaims his own bravery and invokes new bles.;ings. He
raises the hatchet to strike the tree-strikes,-awful crying
accompanies the action on the part of the women; but the
hatchet is stopped within half an inch of the bark; a second
and a third simiiar ~troke are feigned; similar, only more
doleful and deafening wailing accompanies each. These
ceremonies ar:.! repeated at each of the four sides of the tree.
Finally the maidens cut it down, the braves carry it to a.
chosen spot-no others can touch .it under pain of deathit is planted in the centre of the camp, a shade is formed
around it with green branches. The dance is performed by
such warriors as have vowed on previous occasions to go
through this extremely painful ordeal. It is offered up in
hon~r of the Sun, but not as if the Sun were the supreme
deity ; even in the dance the great spirit is invoked before
the Sun. From the latter they believe they receive life,
health, etc., but how far it is distinct from the Spirit, and
how far inferior, I have not been able to learn even from the
interpreter.
f
�Indian 11/issions.
IOJ.
The dancers now emerge from a blue tent, ten abn:ast,
all attired alike-a curiosity in Indian life. They are dressed
in buckskin from their waists down, with the gayest eagle
feathers about their heads, beads and tin trinkets about
their necks, smeared all over with a kind of blue paint,
their cheeks painted red, with a circle of white spots around
their eyes. I will not stop to tell you of the various movements and halts made before the tree is reached. At length
the dance begins. Some thirty men armed with drum-.
sticks gather round the drum, and all beat together. Sometimes I thought the drum would split, but it held out to the
end. The drumming is accom;>anied with wild singing;.
Each song l.lsts about five minutes, during which the
dancers keep jumping as if they felt themselves bound to
shake every bone in their body: ankles, wrists, waists and
necks undergo all sorts of contortions, while the feet keep
time to the tones of a bone flute, which each of them holds
grasped between his teeth. After each song there is an
interval of about three minutes, during whi<;h they can sit
down and have two or three puffs at the pipe ; then up and
dancing again. At the time of our visit, this lasted the remainder of the day and through the whole of the following
night.
What a pitiful spectacle met my eyes in the morning !
There were those poor victims of superstition dancing yet
like maniacs, though their legs scarcely supported them
through tatigue and exhaustion. From the moment the
tree had been found, they had tasted neither food nor drink.
Still onward, dance they must for many hours more.
Whenever one comes near a prop, he cannot help for a moment hanging his head against it. Still there is no thought
of giving up. Now that the sun is risen, they are obliged
to come frequently from unde.r the shade, and stand with
faces turned to the sun. Heat increases the fatigue, their
breasts heave painfully, and their lips are parched. At half
�I 10
Indi{m llfissio1ts.
past eleven, one at length falters; he can stand it no longer
but must have a drink. This is brought him, but he is to
pay a packhorse for it. Another, a while later, pays three
horses for a drink, a morsel of food, and leave to retire.
At length, when noon has come, the most painful operation begins. \Vhile the dancers are so exhausted that they
seem momentarily on the point of falling down, the chid
medicine-man steps forth and with a knife cuts two gashes
on the back ·of each one's shoulder blade, then thrusts his
finger into the gashes and passes a ~tring through the flesh,
to which he fastens a dried buffalo head, which dangles
from the shoulders of the nine remaining dancers. Now
they are to dance again till the "·eight of the heads has
caused the strings to cut through the ·bleeding flesh from
which they are suspended. \Vhat relief I felt, when at last _
the heads one after another had fallen to the ground!
But all was not over yet. They.are now cut on the upper arm and with a rope ten feet lcng fastmcd similarly
to the tree. At about 2 o'clock P. M. they had danced
themselves loose and the ceremony was concluded. Alas
r
that all this suffering is not undergone to gain an eternal
crown ! If converted, these men would not shrink back at
t
hearing these words, "Regnum ccelorum vim patitur et violenti rapiunt illud."
l
l.
�LETTER FROM FR. PONZIGLIONE TO VERY
.REV. FR. O'NEIL.
OsAGE 1\'IIssroN, NEosHo Co., KANSAS,
DECE~IBER 31, 1871.
VERY REV. FATHER PROVINCIAL,
P. C.
According to custom I must send you an abridgment of
my missionary excursions during the last six months; not
that I have anything very interesting to record, but merely
because, as the old poet has said, " forsan et h;ec olim meminisse juvabit."
The 4th of July is wont to be a day of g~neral jollity, especially in these far\Vestern districts, and very frequently it
is accompanied by the excesses of intemperance. To prevent these evils we make use of whatever expedients we can
devise. Thus; for instance, this year we looked upon the
day as a holy one, and announc.cd that we would have mass
at one of our missionary stations, 8 miles East of this mission, at the head of a small stream called Hickory, where a
little chapel was built one year ago. This chapel, which
goes by the name of St. Aloysius, was put up for the convenience of a few French families, who settled around that
stream a little over one year ago. The building of this
small chapel, in a very short time, drew together a strong
Catholic settlement. The chapel was raised on a high
ground in the centre of a very extensive prairie, and could
be seen for two or three months flowering, as it were, by
itself alone, showing to all the cross that stands on its front
gable. But very soon a house was built here, and another
there, and in a short time, in less than a year, the whole
district was taken up by Catholic families, each· claim hav-
�112
Indian 1l1issio1ls.
ing an actual occupant: so that the L uilding, which for. a
few months was very ample for the congregation, is now
too small and hardly sufficient for a school-house. Here
we kept the 4th as a holiday. I had a large number of
C:)nfessions and holy communions.
Several good old
Frenchmen sang at the High Mass in pure Gregorian style,
so nicely, that for a moment I imagined myself back m
some parish church of my native Alps.
Some Americans who were roving around, noticing so
many people surrounding our Church thought, that no
doubt, there must be good dancing going on, and came in
with the intention of joining in the feast. You may imagine what was their surprise, when they saw all the people
kneeling down and praying most· fervently. Just at noon
the Mass was over, and half of the day was passed without
mischief; the balance of it went on quietly and soberly.
Our Rt. Rev. Bishop, John B. 1\Iiege, having at last two
new priests at his disposal, sent them to us, that we might
station them in some of our missions. So one of them was
placed by Father Philip Colleton at Baxter Springs, and
charged with the care of Labette, Cherokee and Crawford
counties, besides a small part of the adjacent Indian Territory. The other was placed by me at Cottonwood Falls,
from ~vhich place he will attend all the stations established
on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail road, from Emporia in Lyon County to Wichita· in Sedgewick County.
This arrangement was made during this summer, and gives
us more time to attend to the great many people still entrusted to our care in the western part of this large state of
Kansas.
On the· I 8th of September, I left for one of my missionary
excursions north-west of this place. And first I directed
my course to the Verdigris River, visiting all the Catholic
settlements I have formed from Greenwood City up to the
very sources of this river. Acc9rding to my custom, having
�l11dian Missions.
113
sto?;:>ed at one of the stations to have Ma<>s the next morning, I went around inviting all the neighbors to come and
assist at it. Among those I visited there was one, who had
b~cn, for over a year, on v.::ry bad terms with the owner of
the" house in which I was going to celebrate the divine Sacrifice. I felt quite sure that this man, in all probability,
would not comply with my invitation; yet I spoke to him
in general, as if I knew nothing about hi~ circumstances,
and insisted on the necessity of complying with our Christian duties, and pa,;sing over the defects of others. Imagine
what a joyful surprise it was for me, to see this very man
come with his wife on the next morning, to see him approach
Confession and Communion-a thing which he had neglected to do for a good while-to see him stand as God-father
for the child of the very one to whom, the day before he
would not have spoken!
From the sources of the Verdigris, I passed to those of
Eagle Creek, to visit a Catholic settlement not far from Elmondlro in Lyon County. This settlement is composed of
Germans. They gave me a cordial reception, and on the
next morning all came to their duties. As they are only
15 miles from Emporia, where hereafter there will be a Mass
celebrated once in the month, I told them that this was my
last visit, and that in future they must depend on the other
priest for spiritual attendance.
I now turned my way towards Eureka, the county seat of .
Greenwood County. I had to travel some 40 long miles,
and night overtook me on a very large and high prairie, dividing the waters of the Verdigris and Fall Rivers, and as
the nearest house was 6 miles distant, I had to put out on
the green grass, which was plentiful and offered exce!1ent
food for my horse. The moon was most brilliant, and the
stars seemed to be invested with new brightness: no tree,
no bush, no rock was in sight, or could be found in the
neighborhood of at least 4 miles. Fortunately I had an
�I I4
lndiall Jlfissiolls.
iron pin and a long lariat with me; this enabled me to secure my horse for the night. All was silence around me,
and I sat down to eat my supper, which consisted of some
dry bread and fruits. I found both very good, and by _no
means heavy on my stomach; my mind felt very light and
free. Had I been a poet, that would have been a good moment for inspiration. As I was rather fatigued, I lay down
wrapped in my blanket, and passed as comfortable a night,
as if I had been lying on a feather bed.
At the dawn of day I was up, aud seeing that all was
right about my horse, I thanked God for it, and having taken my breakfast, which was as frugal as the preceding
supper, I was again on the way about sunrise, travelling
along through those interminable prairies. Towards noon,
I reached Eureka. This is a beautiful little town at the
confluence of Spring Creek and Fall River, numbering perhaps I 500 inhabitants: of these only some twenty are Catholics. As it was Saturday, I lost no time, but went around
visiting the people and inviting them to Mass for the next
morning fthe 24th of this month and the xvu. Sunday after
Pentecost). I had the pleasure of offering the first Mass
that was ever celebrated in Eureka, and commenced a missionary station in this town also.
Hearing that some 7 miles west, there was a girl who
was very sick, I went that very day to her house; and next
morning, after reading Mass in her room, I administered to
her the last sacraments. The poor girl was so badly off
that she could hardly move or speak. Her sickness, however, had not been her greatest trouble. \Vhat had caused
her most uneasiness was the thought that she was likely to
die without receiving the last sacraments ; and she had daily prayed to God not to let her leave this world without
the consolations of Religion. God granted her what she
had desired. She could not get a messenger to call on me,
but God himself sent me to her. Her faith was so great,
�Indimz llfissions.
115
th:tt with the grac! of the sacrament>, she also received the
hetlth of the body. She recovered and in a few day~ was
able to start for the state of \Visconsin, where she is at
present.
From her house I took the way that leads to Eldorado in
Butler County and stopped on Bird Creek, 3 miles east of
·that town to say Mass for the few Catholics of that locality.
This settlement is v :ry small and poor, but the faith of the
people forming it is great. All answered to my call, and
went to their duties, including an old woman. who, for a
long time had bee.n ashamed of professing herself a Ca~ho:ic.
She, at last, came and brought with her a child to be baptized. She acknowledged to me that she never neglected
to say some few prayers to our Blessed Lady, and it was to
her she attributed the grace received of overcoming herself
on this occasion. Nothing is more consoling for the poor
missionary, in these wild countries, than to meet with some
of these stray sheep coming back to the fold of the Lord.
From Bird Creek I passed without further delay to Eldorado. Here I found some tiew Catholics, but very few, so
I did not stop long, but proceeded to the junction of Walnut and Turkey Creeks~ On the 27th I said Mass at the
usual station, and from thence descended to the confluence
of the Walnut and the \Vhitewaters, where a small but interesting town, called Augusta, is springing up. No regular station has yet been established here; but I hope that I
shall have one next spring; for several Catholic families
came of late to settle around this town. Previous appointments did not allow me to see them at this time. Leaving
Augusta, I took an old Indian trail going directly east, and
after nearly two days of a fatiguing and lonesome journey,
through a hilly and rocky prairie, I returned at last to Fall
River the last day of this month, and on the next, which was
Sunday, I had the pleasure of celebrating the feast of the
Rosary in St. Francis Regis' chapel, between New Albany
and Coyville.
�II6
htdimz 1lfzssions.
Some business requiring me to go as far as Burlington,
in Coffey County, I directed my rolll!:e thither; then pressing along the Neosho in a homeward course, I stopped to
pass the second Sunday of October at the sources of a small
stream called Pecan, where we have a Scotch settlementall very fervent Catholics. They felt exceedingly rejoiced
at having an opportunity of hearing Mass. That very day
I returned to this mission.
On the 6th of November, I again got on the western trail
and came to New Chicago, a town in the northwest corner
of this county. As I had been repeatedly invited by some
Catholics of this place to come and pay the·m a visit, I could·
not but be well received by all. My visit came quite unexpectedly and at a rather. unfavorable time; for it was the
evening before the annual state elections, an occasion of
general excitement. Yet the next morning, I had a good
attendance at Mass. It was the first Mass ever offered in this
town, in which we now established a new missionary station.
Though a very heavy rain continued £<!ling almost the
lvhole of that day, I travelled so::ne 20 miles through an irr.mense prairie, which divides the waters of the Neosho from
those of the Verdigris ; .and the next day I reached F ridonia, where, having visited the Catholics scattered here and
there, I read Mass for them, and left for New Boston in
Howard County. Here, however, I cannot help noticing a
most remarkable fact which took place in the Catholic settlement around Fridonia, because it shows how great is the
efficacy of prayer and especially of the most holy Sacrifice.
The Catholic settlers of these extensive prairies being
few. are not seldom abused by their Protestant neighbors.
Now it happened that one of our Catholics, having taken a
claim whereon to live in peace with his family, his Protestant
neighbors determined to rob him of it, and of course to save
appearances, they tried to carry their point by intrigue and
treachery. For this reason two of the conspirators went to
�lmltmz
]~,fissions
117
the land office in Humbolt, to enter the claim of the Satholic- who by the way is a very pious Alsatian.
F ortunately he discovered their trick, and started also the same
day for the same pla•:e, to see whether he could succeed in
saving his claim. Both came to camp in the woods near
H umbo It that same night, without knowing that one was
not very far distant from the other. l\'lorning having come
the good Alsatian, hearing the bell of St. Joseph's Church
calling for Mass, thought that he never would have good
luck that day, unless he first went to Church. So he came
to St. Joseph's, and Mass being over went to the land office
to see about his claim. Just imagitie his surprise, when
asking whether anybody had been there that day from Fridonia, he learned that the two men in question had been in
early that morning, and h~id entered and paid for a piece of
land. The poor Catholic hearing this, resigned himself to
his fate, and concluded that it was useless to talk any longer about the matter. Yet the thought struck him that, perhaps, sorre arror might have happened in the reco~ding;
and so he kindly requested the Receiver to let him see the
description of the land entered. Upon inquiry it was found
that the two conspirators, who wanted to enter the claim of.
the Alsatian, had made· a great mistake and had entered
and paid for the land of another man, who was their partner in iniquity! In consequence of this, the claim of our
friend was saved. He gave thanks to God in his heart, and
without losing time, he entered his own claim, paid for it,
and secured it for good! It is u ;eless for me to tell you
how happy the man felt on returning to his family.
0
how glad he was for having followed that inspiration of
grace which called him to Church that day!
On the 11th of November, J reached the small town of
New Boston, situated in the centre of Howard County.
This town which commands a most beautiful position wa!'
started last May by a Catholic colony of young men from
this mission, and since then has been gradually improving;
a small Catholic Church will soon tower over it.
�11.8
Indian .Jfissions.
As it was SatudJ.y, I sent word all around to the Catholic l)ettlers to come to l\lass the n.o:xt morning, the 12th
instant. Though the •lay was a very bad one, on account
of the rain that came streaming down from heaven, still we
had a tolerably good attt::ndance.
About noon on the 13th the rain having stoppt>d, I took
up my course on the east bank of the Canis. 1 he wind
was very chilling and I suffered a good deal on that account. At last, after two days travelling, 1 reached the
Osage Reservation in the Indian Territory, south of Kansas. The country now occupied by the Osages on Canis,
(or little Verdigris) is a very nice one. For this reason the
. white settlers begin t0 crowd around it, and a great many
claims have alre:1dy been taken on this land, in spite of :he
protests made by the Indian Agents. The squatters on
Indian lands have long since got used to such protests;
and they know well that they amount to nothing.
As the Osages were now all after Buffaloes on the far
west, I gave all my attention to the half breed~. I remained
with 'them some 7 days. Though ·the weather was very
bad by reason of the continual rain, and the creeks all very
high, I nevertheless went <~round the best way I c.:ould
through the settlements formed between the junction of the
two Canies and the Agency, a distance of about 20 miles. I
said Mass in different places to give all an opportunity of
approaching the Sacraments. Some, I am happy to.· say,
did comply with their Christian duties, but the majority
did not. This made me feel quite bad, for these people almost all have been educated at our mission, and used to be
good and practical Christians as Icng as they lived i~ our
neighborhood. . But since they fell under the care of Protestants, they seem to have forgotten all our go,od advices.
Still, as they continue to acknowledge themselves Catholics,
and refuse by all means to join the Protestants who govern
them, I hope that the good seed which we have sown in
their hearts will yet begin to grow and some day produce
its fru:t.
�lmlzan llfissions.
Since my last visit to this settlement during last summer,
several have died, all wishing very much to hav.! a Priest
to assist them; but in vain! both on account of the great
distance from one settlement to another, and on account of
our many engagements in this boundless country, so much
settled by Catholics. In the death of one of them God has
given a lesson w , ich I hope will produce some good. N.
N. had, nearly two months since, been married to a young
girl, an Osage half-breed, who had been educated at the Sisters' Convent near this mission. They were married in this
town, but not in the church; I do not know for what reason
they acted in this way. Now, when last May I went to visit
them on the Canis, I told the young man, that he had do.te
wrong, and I wished to settle the matter -between him and
his wife; for I knew his conscience could not be satisfied.
So I advised him to come and ·have his marriage blessed
and put an end to the scandal he was giving to his neighbors. He replied that I certainly was right, but he was not
theu prepared to follow my advice, but that he would be so
when I would return to visit them in the fall. I merely answered that the future was not in our hands ; and seeing
that I was losing my time with him, I left the place. The
poor young man died almost suddenly on the 20th September, without giving any sign of repentance.· Had he followed IllY advice !
The grace denied to this one was, it seems, reserved for
another, who according to all appearances, was doomed to
die without any assistance of the Church, and who nevertheless, had all that one can wish for in this respect. Peter
Chouteau, one of our best Osage half-breeds, had, since
the beginning of November, been very sick at-his residence
on the Verdigris, near Morgan City, Montgomery Co., and
feeling that he was getting worse, he sent a messenger to
this mission, requesting our Superior, Father John Shoenmaker to come to assist him. But the good Father was
�120
f11dimt .1/issious.
not only left alone here at the time, burthened with the
care of a large congregation, but was moreover in very bad
health, :and quite unable to travel so far. So the messenger returned to the Verdigris, telling the sick man that
there was no chance of getting a priest. Peter felt very
sorry on hearing this; "yet" said he, "give me my prayer-'
beads, I will hold them till I die!" and after awhile he added,
"still I hope that the Mother of God will not let me die,
without having the consolation of receiving the last Sacraments!" This happened on the 19th of November; and
just two days after, late at night, I came to his house. Nobody had called on .me; all I knew was that he was very
sick and had sent for a Priest; and could only conclude
that either Father]. Schoenmakers, or Father Philip Colleton had come to see him. So I did not hurry on the way,
neither could I have been able to do so, had I wished; for
the creeks around me were all unfordable on account of the
great.rains we had had of late. It was only on the 21st
that I could leave the settlement on the Canis. Peter's •
mind had now become very weak; he was raving frequently,
always asking whether the Priest was coming. I came at
iast, and when I approached his bed he was in full possession of his mind and recognized me. Think for a moment·
how happy he felt! He pressed my hand and said, smiling,
''I knnv I would have the consolation! 0 the Mother 11f
God .has always been good to me!" I told him to have
courage, and that next morning I would say Mass for him
and administer to him the last Sacraments. To this hereplied; "0 Father, this is all I want." Next morning very
early, I hastened to say Mass, at the end of which I gave
him the holy Vi<>.ticum, and all being over, I anointed him.
It was really edifying to see with what devotion he prayed,
and answered to the prayers we recited around his bed.
The satisfaction he felt at having receiV<d tl:e J~~t ~aCJa
ments.. seemed to help him considerably, and he looked
,_.~
.
�Indian Missions.
121
better. As I had no time to delay, I started as soon as I
could for this mission; but the cold was so severe, that after.having travelled some 34 miles I had to stop, and so
did not reach home till the next day about noon. On the
24th (only two days afteq P<!ter Chouteau died the death of
the just. H;: h:~.d alw.1y.> been a go6d practical Christian,
and God did not fors,1ke him in his last hour. May he rest.
in peace!
This was my last missionary excursion of this year, and
it was a very hard one, on account of the bad \'{eather,
which accompanied me through the whole· of it. During
this last month we were delighted with the fervor and devotion shown by the good Catholics who surround this mission, both on the feast of the Immacu.late Conct:ption, a~d
on that of Christmas.
·
Our school is prospering more than ever' 'it did before.
The boarders number so and the day-scholars over 180.
The Sisters of Loretto have also a large number of girls:
attending their schools. We have indeed a flattering prospect before us. \Ve are only 3 priests· and are attending
over 5000 Catholics, scattered in this far West, over a terri~
tory of more than 200 by 100 miles in extent. Inrleed we
have reason to say, "messis· quidem muita, operarii autem
pauci."
·
Your humble servant in Christ,
PAUL MARY PONZIGLIONE,
s: J.
�FATHER J. U. HA:\Il'AUX.
Joseph Urban Hanipaux was born in the p·arish of St.
George de Dougueux, in the diocese ofLangres, on the 3rd
of May, 18o5, the feast uf the Invention of the Holy Cross.
and was baptized the same day. His truly christian parents
brought him up in the love of piety_ and the practice of virtue. At an early ag~ and whilst engaged in his studies, he
felt himself called to the ecclesiastical state. Obeying the
divine 'call, he entered the seminary, and at the close of his
theological studies, was raised to the priesthood on the 22nd
of April, 1829. During seven years Fr. Hanipa~x zealously applied himself to the discharge of the varioi.1s duties entrusted to him by his bi~h~p; and · irt their fulfilment deserved and obtained the esteem and confidence .of those who
were brought in contact \vith him.
But his aspirations had been to a more apostolic life-to
a closer imitation of the divine Model. Again obeying the
call of grace, he asked and obtained admission into the SoCiety of Jesus, entering the novitiate on the 2oth of Feb-ruary, 1837. In this school of virtue he had for l\Iaster the
Rev. A. Rubillon, and under the guidance of so enlightened
a director he inured himself by the practice of obedience
and humility, to walk manfully in his vocation .. At the
same time that he edified his fellow novices by his virtues,
his zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls
was developed and perfected. Immediately after taking his
first vows, Fr. Hanipaux was sent to Nantes, where he was
applied to the work of giving missions. Here as elsewhere,
his labors were productive of the most consoling results.
Though not possessed of brilliant oratorical powers, Fr.
�Fr. Hampaux.
123
Hanipaux, by his earnest piety and burning zeal fo\lnd his·
way to the hearts and overcame the obstinacy of the most
hardened sinners.
But he longed to be sent on the foreign missions, and in
1842 made an application to Rev. Fr. General·for that purpose. He was ultimately successful in his request, though
thwarted in his first plans. For he was on the point of
starting, in the company of Fathers Luiset, Martin, Duranquet and Grimot, for Yiad1gascar, wh~n an unforeseen acc.:ident or rather the hand of Providence interposed and led
this little band of Missionaries to another and not less fertile field. Fr. Hanipaux and his companions were sent to
found a new mission of the Society in Canada. In pursuance of this plan, the first residence was established in
Montreal. Fr. Hanipaux now gave himself up to the impulses of his zeal; and when, after two years, he was sent
on the Indian mission, his departure was deeply regretted
in those parishes which had been the scene of his labors.
About this time Dr. Power, the first Bishop of Toronto,
desiring to revive the missions established by Fathers Lallemant and de Brebceuf, but long since abandoned, applied for members of the Society of Jesus to carry out this
plan. Fr. Hanipaux was one of those selected for the purpose. Passing through Sandwich in Upper Canada where
a residence had just been opened, he proceeded to Great
Manitouline Island. In company with Fr. Chone, he established his headquarters at the Mission of Holy Cross,
known also by the Indian name of \Vilwemikong, a village
of the Ottawas, already partly evangelized by the zealous
missionary l\h. J. B. Proulx.
. Without knowing a word of the language, which resembles no other, but placing his whole confidence in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and in prayer, Fr. Hanipaux, who in
two years had been unable to pick up a few words of English, could in a short time instruct, and hear the confessions
of the Indians in their own language.
�124
Fr. Hauipau:r.
Fr. Hanipaux had now attained the object of his eager
longings. His zeal knew no obstacle. · In fact, at times, it
s::emed to border on rashness. But knowing that he was
in the hands of the Almighty, he faced every danger, in pursuance of the one ohject he had in view, the Glory of God
and the salvation of souls. Nothing could deter him when
there was ques~ion of gaining souls to God. Neither the
inclemency of the season, nor the difficulties of the way,
could impede him in the pursuit of this object so dear to
his heart. vVhether to penetrate the trackless wilderness,
or to navigate lakes and rivers made dangerous by hidden
rocks or headlong rapids, or to traverse the same when
covered by no less treacherous ice-or to climb rugged
mountains, or to pa'>s swollen torrents-his zeal was unabated; he recoiled before no difficulty, but placing his trust
on high, sped on his way rejoicing.· At times forced to
sleep on the snow, being at other times on the point of
famishing from want of food, he felt amply repaid, when after a journey of extreme hardships, he was able to announce
the glad tidings of the truth to some poor neglected Indians.
Then heedless of repose, he applied himself to alleviate the
wants of these poor creatures-his time was spent in consoling, baptizing, preparing them for death. Having attended to the spiritual wants of the inhabitants of one village,
he hastened off to ano~h~r to recommence the same labors,.
or returned to his mission of Holy Cross to take charge of
his little congregation and his schools. His return was..frequently hastened by the necessity of opposing by his presence and influence the efforts made to destroy the good
that God had wrought among these poor Indians. For he
had to maintain a continual struggle with those who strove
to pervert his neophytes. and to draw them away from the
path of duty. His presence and advice strengthened the
wavering and consoled the more steadfast. He inspired
children with the love of piety; youth with modesty, and
the more aged with fidelity to their duties. It was from
�Fr. Hanipaux.
125
the Sacred Heart of Jesus that he drew his strength- it
was do:votion to this Sacred Heart that enabled him to accomplish so much for the good of souls.
He was beloved both by his Superiors and inferiors.
The Socialists of Holy Cross wrote to him after his departure from among them, testifying their gratitude and filial
love. One of his fellow-laborers writing about him, says
that Fr. Hanip:wx was alone worth two missionaries; another relates the grief and lamentations of his poor Indians
and their longings to see him once more among them.
But this affection can astonish no one-as he loved them
all with the tenderness of a father.
But Fr. Hanipaux was forced to leave his spiritual children, never more to se..! them on earth. Twenty-seven
years of endurance and toil had told on his vigorous frame,·
and undermined his health. To enable him to enjoy some
needful rest, his Superiors called him to the residence of
Quebec. He arrived at Montreal last autumn and at Quebec on the 30th of December. The best physicians of
these two cities were forced to acknowledge that his sickness admitted of no cure-and their charitable efforts were
henceforth employed to lengthen out his life.
For the six months preceding his death there was no decided improvement in his health-nothing but a succession
of days of more or less suffering. He gradually lost the
last remnants of his once vigorous constitution, until he
seemed to be sustained only by his energetic will. He desired to labor up to the last, and for this purpose he at times
concealed his sufferings, till it became impossible to do so
any longer. Despite his habitual weakness and suffering,
he asket!, on his arrival at Quebec, to have a confessional
assigned him, and there he remained as long as the good
of souls required, and his failing strength allowed him.
He rose, as a general thing, with the community, made his
meditation and said Mass. During the last week of his life
he was so feeble that it seemed almost impossible for him
�126
Fr. Hanipaux.
to finish Mass. But his indomitable energy and strength
from above bore him through. His devotion prompted him
to choose to say Mass in preference at the altars of the
Sacred Heart and of St. Joseph. He might be seen several
times every day kneeling in presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Being no longer able to work for the good of souls
in any other way, he poured out continued and fervent prayers for their conversion. His great zeal became manifest
·whenever he heard of the good accomplished by others.
\Vhen told of what was being done for the glory of the
Sacred Heart and in honor ~of St. Joseph by the Ar•:hbishop
(Taschereau), and the pastors of Notre Dame, St. Roch's
and St. John's, of the continual development of the Apostles/tip of Prayer, and of the Association of our Lady .of the
• Sacred Heart, his heart was gladdened and seemed to acquire new vigor. But alas! his ever decreasing bodily
strength did not equal the ardor of his zeal-perhaps even
thi~ interior fire helped to consume his mortal frame.
But the month of St. Joseph had now come. Three novenas to this great Patriarch and Patron ofthe Church were
begun at the same time; one for Fr. Hanipaux, one for the
Society of Jesus and one for the t:<ithful. The good Father
united himself to all these intentions-offering up to God
through the hands of his holy Patron, the sacrifice of his
life.
On the 12th of March he desired to receive the Viaticum
during the night. His sufferings were intense up to 7
o'clock P. M., when the prostration of his bodily strength
was complete. He told a Father who was by him at the
time: "I shall die at midnight." At a quarter to eight, he
requested that the prayers for the agonizing should be said,
in which the good Father himself joined, making the responses with great piety. An hour later, with his brethren
. who surrounded his bed, he recited the customary prayers,
and finally, those of the novena.
�St. !g;utius', Adams Co., Pa.
127
At midnight, March I 2th, 1872, Fr. Hanipaux expired
without agony-and retaining complete possession of his
f<tculties up to the last. He seemed to have been spared·
long enough to enjoy the consolation of dying during
the month and novena of St. Joseph, his holy Patronand on a \Vednesday, a day consecrated to this great
Saint- and as he had ardently desired, in the midst
of his brethren. Two weeks before his death, when the
good Sisters of Charity offered him a room in the hospital, that he might be better taken care of. he answered:
··i-Io. · I desire to die in the midst of my brethren."
The mortal remains of Fr. Hanipaux repose in the vault
of the Cathedral, near the new chapel of St. Joseph and not
far from the tombs of two of his brethren in religion, Fr.
Nicholas Point, and Fr. Jno. Bapt. Mcnet.
MISSION AT ST. IGNATIUS', MOUNTAIN.
ADAMS CO., PA.
None who are familiar with the history of the "Book of
the Exercises," need the convincing proof of its present
miraculous effects to be persuaded, that rather to the direct
inspiration of the Holy Ghost than to the unlettered soldier
of Pampeluna does it owe its origin. To the unction diffused by the Spirit of God through every page, must be
·ascribed th;: numberless conquests made by this "golden
hook" from the time when Christ's ministers first wielded
·so potent an arm in the rescue of souls, down to the days
'in which we live. Nor has our own land of America, em(n;;:ntly a missionary region, been the last to feel its benefi-
�128
cia! influence ... The temL:ncy to materialism. more strongly
developed he~t; than elsewhere, th;:: \Lt:lt of d surncient Ill.Hl1·
ber of priests to break the bread of life for Christ's little
ones; the scarcity of churches, especially in rural districts;
the distance of Catholic families from those who can adnlinister the Sacraments; the \lllchristian and infidel surroundings, as .well as the immoral tendf"ncy of literature, have all
served to weaken Catholics in their faith, to ,i.·ean them from
the practice of their duties, and, in not a few cases, have
' even led to an entire renunciation of religion; But wh~n a
mission is announced, grace seems to invade the souls of
many of these wanderers. Great efforts are made to be
present, and daily experience shows that this c~rrespond
ence to grace, joined with a faithful attendance, ha~~ ,re·sulted in a return to the path of salvation, so long neglected.
The following details concerning one of these missions
given by a Father of the Novitiate, Frederick, ~Id, at the
little church of St. Ignatius, half way between Chambersburg and Gettysburg, Pa., although they cannot engage
the a~tention by reason of any miraculous events, will, at
least, pro:v.e .the all-fostering care of that Heavenly Father,
who loves his "little ones'' as the ".apple of his eye."
The church was built in r8r7, by Fr. :Marshall, who,
shortly after its completion, died on the Atlantic, during a
voyage undertaken for the recovery of his health.· The site
of the church, perched as it is on the top oftbe Blue R,idge,
seemed one but ·little. f.worable for the success of any mission- which might be viven there. The. rough mol!ntain
roads, which ·lead to it, in themselves sufficiently wea~ying,
are ri::i1dered doubly fatiguing on account of the con?tant
ascent, an· ascent which has to be conqu~red, by paris!iioners who live at a distance of from one to ten miles. These
diffi-culties hm\cever did not prevent the ,little ~dific~ ft;<ttn being: ~Lied eVery morning by a crowd which ren1ai~eq the ..
whole d<ty, ,the exercises closing at 5 o'clock in tlw. <1fter- ,,
noon, At about 6 A. l\1., you might have s-een from ·t\~·~lve
to fifteen mothers with their little ones, gathered around
•
.
. .
!
• ;
.
~
�St. Ignatius', Adams Co., Pa.
129
the stove in a little room adjoining the church, having set
a praiseworthy example to the stronger residents of the
place, by walking three or four miles before sunrise (for the
mission takes place about the middle of October!) in order
to be in due time to commence the exercise. On the very
day the mission was opened, several young men presented
themselves to the Father who was to give the ret-reat in order to ask his advice. ''If ,.;.e come to the' mission," said
they, "we'll lose our employment, a~d. if we go· to our
work, we won't be able to attend the retreat !" The Father
recited the rosary with them to obtain light from hea\·en in
regard to their course of action. Enlightened and strength~n~d by their prayer, the young men unanimously agreed
that no temporal interest should prevent them from attending to what had so important a bearing on the more important one of eternity. They resolve, for that week,: to discontinue their ordi11ary employments, in order to engage in
the exercises of the retreat. I ought to remark in this
place, that the feliing, sawing and transportation of timber
furnishes the laborers of this vicinity with their principal·
means of employment. The Father having learnt that work
was not pressing at the time, since the saw-mills had been
obliged to suspend operations on account of the dearth of
water, no rain having f.1.llen for four months, told the young
~nen to promise their employers, that they would "pray for
1'lllll.
This they did, and although. on informing those for
~dwm they worked of their determination of attending the
mission, they were allowed to withdraw, their promise to
"'pray for rm'n" was received with not a few incredulous
smiles. God, however, who is so ready to reward any act
of simple f.1.ith or self-sacrifice on the part of his creature,
was not deaf to the petition of those who had shown so generous a compliance to his own interior call. On the 4th
day the rain-clouds discharged their wished-for contents i11
abundance! Nor should one circumstance connected with
this answer to their prayer be passed over in silence. The
shower did not commence until all were in the church, and
�130
St. lgnatud, Admns Co., J'a.
the rain continued until 4 o'clock, P. :\L, when the sun
breaking forth with ail his wonted warmth and splendor,
enabled those in attendance at the church to reach their
respective homes without any great inconvenience.
On the evening of the 2nd day, it was the parish priest
who expressed his fears to the father that the mission would
have to be interrupted by some. "To-morrow is electionday," said he, "and the men are anxious to cast their votes,
although they do not like having to lose the instructions.
But they cannot help doing so, since the poiis are eight
miles from here." Matters, however, were soon arranged.
The men were enabled to fulfil their duty as citizens, without neglecting their more important one of Christians. Instructions for that day were anticipated by nearly an hour
and a hal( At about 10 o'clock A. l\1., one hundred men
march in procession from the church to the poiis; cast the
momentous vote; dispose of the light meal they had
brought with them; and once more formed into rank, marr:h
back to the mountain church, and assist at the remaining
duties of the day-beads, a sermon and benediction. There
are some things certainly remarkable in this little mission,
which proved so perfect a success. Not a single individual
belonging to the church of St. Ignatius failed to present
him or herself at the tribunal of penance, and afterwards to
receive the holy Sacrament o"f the Eucharist. In the beginning of the exercises great doubts were entertained of some
seven or eight who had not passed the threshold of the
Church for years, and who were generally regarded as hav1
ing outlived their time of conversion. The f..<ther, having
been apprised of the deplorable condition of these hardened
sinners, recited the beads twice a day with the congregation,
that the blood of Jesus Ch~ist might obtain for these tmfortunates the grace of awakening to a sense of their dangerous
condition. At tlu: end of tlze tlzird day, not a soul was wantiug.
All repaired their past misdemeanors by a contrite confession, and received the pledge of salvation at the Holy Table.
During the course of the mission, all who had made their
�St. Ignatius', Adams Co., Pa.
131
first communion were placed under the immediate care of
our Blessed Lady by being invested with the Scapular ofMt.
Carmel. At the close of the retreat, a mission cross of solid
oak, 20 feet in height, was erected in front of the Church.
After the ropes and pullies, which wen! to raise it to its station, had been adjusted, the father would not allow any man
to take part in this performance, but, by his orders, the boys
of the congregation, seizing the ropes, hoisted the cross into
its proper place. Thus in after years they can direct the
attention of their own children to the "Cross of the Mission", which they themselves had raised as boys. Perhaps
I have, already, taken more of your space than I can justly
claim for these simple facts, and I will not add to them
some others regarding the mission, which can serve to
swell the contents of another No. of the "vVoodstock Letters." Certainly, it can not be unprofitable for those who
are yet young in the Society to learn to look at the labors
of those already bearing "the heat of the da:y" ; and to see
with what blessings God crowns their efforts for his Glory;
whilst those who are girded to toil of a· kindred nature in
other portions of the Lord's vineyard, cannot view without
interest the exertions of their brothers in Xt., who are animated with the same spirit as themselves.
].B.
�LENTEN 1\IISSIONS. BY THE FATHERS OF
THE NOVITIATE, FREDERICK, :'liD.
NonTIATE, FREDERICK
CITY, l\In.
7, I8jz.
APRIL,
REV. ASD DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
Our missionaries have at length returned "portantes manipulos suos" and your request is· to be complied with.
But first let it be said in extenuation of the somewhat meagre account that ours are not accustomed to notice many
things, which would be noticed by others, either because
they are the natural accompaniments \of a mission, or because, looking to the main purpose, that is, the confession
and communion, they regard all other things of mi·nor importance and hence lose sight of them altogether. Again,
the usual result of all missions, which is the triumph of
God's grace in the conversion of the sinner and the return
of many who had, Prodigal-like been long away from their
Father's house, is so much the same that when one mission
is recorded, the others may be easily known; the only difference being in the number of the congregation to which
it is given. This premised will give you some c"onsolation
in your possible disappointment.
,
The first mission was in our Church here. There was
much apprehension that this would prove a £-lilure, as not
a long time had elapsed since the last mission and our Fathers thought there would be somewhat of apathy, especially as the court was being held at the same tirr.e and a
most important case was to come up for trial, in which the
sympathies of almost the whole County was enlisted. The
inclement weather also threatened to keep many away.
B.ut this our good God turned aside until the close, and it
�Lcntm Jfissions of 1872.
133
was noticed as strange for the season that so many comparatively good days succeeded one another.
There were
about 450 communions with a little over 100 confessions
of children who had not yet made their communion, but
were instructed daily by one of the Fathers, who had chosen that as his special part of the mission. :\lany miracles
of grace were among this number, and even after all was
over it continued to act: "my word shall not return to me
empty."
One instance of divine Providence must not however be omitted. It was of a cold Catholic, immersed in
temporal business, who did not think he had time even to
go once a day to the instruction. He had been many years
away from his duty, and had in consequence of his affairs
no inclination for the ordinary duties even of a Catholic.
It was however so ordained by God that his business took
him one night just by the church, and hearing the preacher,
he felt induced to go in for a few moments. The subject
was the return of the prodigal. So apposite to his own
condition was the parable; that the application, aided by
grace, changed him entirely, and he immediately hastened
to go to his £'lther and recover the stole of innocence he
had lost.' Since then he makes up for the wasted time by
a faithful and constant attendance. Only two of the missions dependent on Frederick were evangelized this lent
and nothing specially worthy of note happened. As usual
a number of prodigals returned and the good were confirmed in the way of salvation. They arc particularly noted for their regularity. In one however where no mission
was given we have to record the conversion, baptism and
first communion of two estimable protestant ladies, who
married to Catholics and attending Church, whenever it
was given, had for many years kept back from professing
the £'lith of their hu"bands. Touched at last by grace they
abjured in the hands of the venerable Fr. Mc.Elroy their
errors and made their first communion on Easter Sunday.
Two missionaries were sent to the neighboring missions
of \Vinchester and Harper's Ferry in Virginia. The grace
,
�134
Lenten 1lfissions
of 1872.
awakened many Catholics from their torpor and the good
pastor was gratified far beyond his expectations, as he
found he had more souls under his care than he was aware.
In \Vinchester over I 50 and in Harper's Ferry over 250
went to communion. Two circumstances in these places
deserve to be noted. ·The first was that all, but especially
the children were invited to pray every day in common for
those who through long resistance to grace had rendered
themselves unworthy of favor. The result of this, we may
justly ascribe, was the great number of those who had been
for years away from the Sacraments now returning. Many
indeed were riot known to be Catholics even by their most
intimate acquaintances. The second was the holy pride
which seemed to animate them with respect to tlt-.:ir religion. For among the crowd gathered to hear the word of
God, there were many protestants and even ministers of various denominations, to whom by their attention and eagerness to avail themselves of the benefits offered, the Catholics
seemed to show how much superior in everything was their
religion. Indeed such was their fear of losing anything
that was said, that they did not notice the cold that was
streaming through the open doors of the Church, and the
pastor had frequently to advise them to close the doors for
the benefit of all.
, The crowds came from ten and twenty miles around ; although there was snow and frost sometim~s so deep and
bitter that it was a real work to get to the Church. It was
a great consolation to the Fathers in their labors to see the
eagerness of those who wished to be reconciled to God.
The same consolation awaited the three Fathers who
\vere s.ent to Martinsburg, where the number of Catholics
was much greater. The eagerness of the people to hear
continued unabated the whole week ;~.nd the consequence
was that over 900 confessions were heard and more than
8oo approached holy communion. Although no controversial sermons were preached, there were 8 converts, of
whom two were baptized and the remainder left for instruc-
��C I.R C U L .Li R:
!ro the Pa,trons of the "JVootlstock Letters":
J.lEVEREND FATIIER:
P. C.
Tlte favorable reception which the first ll!Uilber of' our
clomestic publication has nwt with, is to ns an encottraye1nent which we hardly expected, but for whiclt we are
most sincerely grateful. Our 1JOUII[J printers will therefore clwerj'ully continue to devote a portion of tltd r
leisltre uw1nents to a task which ltns now becunw doubly
a. Jllf:;tMttre; ancl wltile they hope that interm;ti ny mat•~1'ials will be se11t then~ to enrich tlte payes of' tlw "Letters," they will cudeat•m• to pe1t'orm. their sharr! of tlw
wm•k in sudt n 1uaun•~r as to merit the colttiluwd apJH'obation of' our PafJ•on.o.~.
But w; the uwchauical e:cecufion of' thi.o.~ task t•equirn.;
souw outlay f'•w the JHtrrhase of t!Jllc, JmJU~1' and otlwr
materials, -it .;..; hoped that the lln·ert~lul Superiors of
tlw Collerfe.o.~ and I louse.~ to which tlw "Ldters" are .~r~ut.
will kiudly a.~sist us to liH'et the (';rpt!11St'.~.
JVe.cm;fidcntlJJ leare tlw df'frwmiuation of the anwuut
of' tlwi1• contribution to tlwit• own wf'll-lnwum lilwrality,
raul will nwrely add that tire rntl co.~t of tlw publif'frtion, as it is ow• iufeution to i ...su.e it, willlutrrll !J lu< ltw.o.r
than $2.00 a year (!'or J'oreign countries, 1().-;, or 1 .'tJ'r.)
JJostaye i1n·ludnl.
TJIE EDI'l'Oll.
JVootlstocl.; Collt~ye,
I£owat•fl Co., .~lid.,
.1liay, 187'2,
�Lmtm Jllissions of 1872.
135
tion to be baptized in the beginning of May. The number
of those who returned after long years to their Mother, was
very great, and in some there was a generosity that bordered
on h !rui~ n.
Some scand:1ls of long standing were repaired, and some who had seemed to lose all faith, were recalled again to a new life. One of the Fathers who had
preached strenuously and whose voice was weakened and
throat ulcerated had to b:gin another mission imm:diately.
Fearful of the consequences he promised a novena for the
souls in purgatory, if he should be able to go successfully
through the second mission, and his prayer was granted; for
his throat seemed to be in suspense until he had finished,
when the soreness again returned and gave him an opportunity to confirm in himself the good ad\·ice he had given
to others.
Two others, all we had to sp1re, were sent to St. Paul's
Church, \Vorcester, Mass., the result of whose labors after
ten days was 3805 confessions, which were no doubt increased to 4000 and more before the close of the week. The
same eager desire to avail themselves of the mission was
manifested here, and a great many were brought to confession, who had been away for a long time. \Vhat perhaps
made this superior to the others was that the winter was at
its height still while the mission was going on and yet there
was not the slightest diminution of attendance. Unfortunately the Fathers were too busily occupied in reconciling
the adults to find time to do any thing particular for the
young. All they could do was to represent to the parents the
necessity of fulfilling their obligations and to impress upon
all the duty of working well for their salvation ..
This includes only the missions given during lent. There
were other missions to congregations, students in colleges and academics, monasteries and priests, during the
year, in which much good was done. Our good Fr. McElroy, old as he is, is not idle in this good work, having given
ten retreats to religi')US houses, besides preaching single
sermons to congregations, wherever he chanced to be.
�LETTER FROl\I FLORISSANT.
NoviTIATE oF ST. STAXISLAs,·
l\'Io.
FEB. 19th, 1872.
NEAR FLORISSANT,
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
In the first number of the \N oodstock Letters reference
is made to a church in course of erection on our premises.
It is completed now, and furnishes a few items which may
prove interesting.
For thirty years back and more, this neighborhood has
been inhabited by a class of old Canadian settlers or Creoles, harmless indeed ;-for violence and theft, and even
drunkenness, are almost unknown among them, and no police is ever required ; -but they are rarely seen in any
Church, except on occasion of a funeral, a baptism, a marriage or the yearly first communit,n of the children. These
are what some call the four sacraments of the Creoles.
This however is scarcely fair; for they have a lively f.1.ith
in the last sacraments too ; and come galloping in the middle of the night, just in time to get a priest before the patient expires, except when they happen to come too late.
The chapel to which we used to invite them, had few
attractions, it being the second story of an old frame build·
ing, while the village church of Florissant was between
three and six miles distant from most of their dwellings,
rather far for their slumbering piety.
Such was the population, for which some of our most
zealous Fathers had labored assiduously for many years,
whether as novices, as tertians, or in other capacities. It
would have been quite appropriate to ask, "Can any good
come from Stringtown?" for this was the euphonious name
of the locality.
�Lt!t<r from Florissant.
137
Meanwhile the :\Tessenger of the S. Heart used to come
month after month to tell us of the constant stream of graces flowing from that loving Heart, especially when ca~es
seemed desperate before. Our confidence was awakened,
and many a month this neighborhood was recommended in
the pages of that esteemed publication. Then there occurred
an unexpected change for the better. Kind Providence
sent us one of our Fathers, who succeeded in gathering an
unusually large audience at the devotions of the Month of
May, A. D. r86g. F ..:rvor was enkindled. To perpetuate
it, a Society of the Rosary was established, which more
than doubled the number of monthly communions. The
next year the Apostleship of Prayer was added, bringing
down a new shower of graces. Soon a desire was felt to
build a little church. But where was the money to come
from? The neighbors were mo:.;tly poor, and spoiled in
this particular; for they had never been called upon to contribute for religious purposes. It was not supposed that
$500 could be collected from the f.<ithful.
However, during the last months of l\'Iay and Juue, prayers were asked in the chapel, and the subject was recommended among the intentions of the Messenger, that our
good Lord and His holy Mother might provide the funds.
\Ve were immediately and abundantly heard. In June a
subscription list was opened, a somewhat larger circle than
the immediate neighborhood being taken in, and, in a few
months, a very neat country church has been built, furnished and paid for, costing over three thousand dollars.
Protestants and Catholics have shown equal good will on
the occasion. Every one is both surprised and delighted.
The church was dedicated to Our Lady of tl_Je Rosary.
The next point was to fill it with worshippers. This blessing, too, its Holy Patroness has obtained. A mission,
though preached under disadvantages, has made th"e people
f.<miliar with their house of prayer: its forty-six pews are
all rented, and attendance on Sundays is very satisf;tctory.
Some fathers of families, who, it was generally known, had
�not frequented the holy sacra·n~nts for m:my years, lnve
done so now, and have become edifying Christians. In
fact, the enthusiasm at the concluding ceremony of the
mission was so great, that the unedifying name of " Stringtown" was, in honor of the church's patroness, Our Lady
of the Rosary, changed to that of " Rosarytown," which is
now the received appellation of this locality. As soon as· a
post-office will be established here, it will be Rosary P. 0.
I am, Rev. and Dear Father,
Yours in the Sacred Hearts,
C. CoPPE:-;s, S. J.
ST. JOSEPH HEARS THE PRAYER OF THE
POOR.
CI:-;CJXXATI, MARCH I ::?th, I 872.
F . \T!IER,
In times of scarcity <l.nd dearth, the Little Sisters of the
Poor are often among the first to feel the effects of want.
And, when. these generous givers are themselves needy and
empty-handed, what must become of theaged beings who
depend upon them, unless they be furnished with food and
raiment by the same kind providence that feeds the birds of
the air and-clothes the lilies of the field?
But.God delights to extend the mantle of His solicitude
over His little. ones and to reward their child-like confidence
in Him. The following is one instance among many, that
He has made them His special charge. Though but indirectly connected with the labors of the Society, this little
REV. AND DEAR
�St. :.Joscplz lzmrs t!te Pra;'cr of t!tc Poor.
I
39
incident may, perhaps, find a suitable place in the "Woodstock Letters." For the favor was dispensed by the hands
of St. Joseph and cannot fail to increase our devotion to
him.
Coal has been very scarce here this winter. Owing to
the low water in the Ohio River, the supplies from Pittsburgh were cut off for a time; moreover, several barges,
after arriving safely at the levee, snapped their moorings and
were sunk or dashed down the stream by the floating mass
of ice. This soon came home to the hearths of many a family. For fuel became very dear, and the cold meanwhile
was uncommonly severe. The poor might be seen along
the newly-raised roads and highways picking up the stray
cinders scattered here and there upon the ground.
Towards the end of February the "Little Sisters" had
also exhausted their supply of coal ; and having no earthly.
resource, they addressed themselves to St. Joseph, the
Treasurer and chief Procurator of the poor. On the 26th
of Feb. they began to offer up prayers, prefaced with the
intention "To St. Joseph for some coal." The Father who
attended them, had listened to this petition which was read
out aloud every day at Mass ; and, not hearing it the succeeding week he inquired of the Mother Superior: "\Vhy
have you discontinued your prayers for coal? have you
lost courage?" He was answered by the recital of the following facts :
On the previous Thursday (Feb. 29th), after praying so
fervently to St. Joseph for four days, they were reduced to
extreme distress. There was only a mere coating of slack
and broken coals on the floor of the cellar, and the fires
could not be kept up sufficiently to warm the shivering limbs
of age. The Superioress, finding herself forced to seek instant relief for her little community, summoned all its members together to recite the Rosary in common. They did
so with great piety. And; when afterwards the Sisters conversed with the aged inmates, it was edifying to witness the
good spirits manifested in the countenances and good-·
�140
St. :Joscplt !tears tlzc Prayt·r of tlzc Poor.
humored jests of all. "Maybe", said one, ''St. Joseph knows
that it is the 29th of February, and he don't wish to help us
on a leap year day." "That's very true," chimed in an old
woman, ''and to-morrow is the first day of the month of St.
Joseph: let us have patience till to-morrow at all events."
"Sure and we will; nobody would refuse to humor St. Joseph that much," added an old Irishman in a shrill-toned
voice; "but," said he, "if he don't help us to-morrow, he
deserves to be lodged in the cellar himsel('' This outburst
of geniality satisfied all, and they separated quite contented.
But Friday passed away; and in spite of their fervent
Novena the coal-cellar remained as empty as before. But
they were determined to overcome St. Joseph at all hazards,
and in their simplicity they carried out the suggestion made
the day before. They took the statue nf St. Joseph to the
cellar and left it there as a pledge, insisting that the saint
would surely redeem it. And so the statue spent Fridaynight in the coal-cellar. Yet St. Joseph did not mind that
either; fur Saturday morning came, but no coal. It was
the 2nd of March, and the Superioress took a surer· means
of prevailing on the Saint.
One of the inmates is an old blind woman, who is very
pious and constantly engaged in prayer. This good creature was told to go to the Chapel and pray for the Community all day, with the injunction that, if she did not obtain
some coal from St. Joseph, she would have to keep him
company in the cellar on Monday. She did as she was ordered: she prayed hard and overcame St. Joseph, who appeared, up to this time, to have been deaf to all appeals.
\Vhen called for dinner to report on the prospects of success, she replied: " 'Tis all right ;-we'll get coal." · That
same evening a boy came with the message; ''Mr. Spencer
will bring you a /zundrcd buslzcls of coal; he wants you to
make ready to receive it".
The trap-door of the cellar was opened, and from above
the coal-cobs poured down on the floor in abundance, while
from the door opposite the old folk bore off the statue of
.·
�Extracts if Letters from Abroad.
St. Joseph in triumph to the Chapel. No doubt they must
have consoled their Protector for his imprisonment, by lighting a lamp in his honor and offering him the tribute of their
innocent hearts.
EXTRACTS OF LETTERS FROM ABROAD.
vVe are indebted to Rev. Father Healy, S. J., of Georgetown Coliege, D. C., for the following interesting and edifying details extracted from private letters kindly placed by
him at our disposal :
NEGAPATAM, DEc. 4th, 1871.
received your letter two days ago. How many old
memories it stirred up! * * * Our dear noble-hea,rted Du
Coudray! \Vhat frightful things-what pages for history!
And still the tragedy has not drawn to a close yet; but it
may perhaps be ended before these lines reach you. But
our hopes are with the Church and with God. And you of
the New \Vorld, do you always go on with gigantic strides?
* * * Here in India, Protestants were loudly proclaiming
the down£1ll of the Church, especially after the humiliation of France. But, in fact, we are making steady, not
perhaps very rapid progress, and practically Protestantism
itself finds out every day more and more that Catholicity is
advancing. This is shown by new foundations springing up
everywhere, by the more prominent position of our VicarsApostolic, and by a growing liberality and respect on the
part of Government. At Calcutta our Belgian Fathers
have a college which can successfully cope with the most
flourishing of their schools. At Bombay they are fast getting the upperhand. * * * We, though somewhat out of
the way, are tlze Catholic Institution of the Presidency ; _and
**I
�Ertracts
of Letters finn Abroad.
yet we have nothing but natives and have to contend with
many difficuities. * * * * In the latter part of October we
had a visit from the Governor of Madras, Lord Napier, a
Puritan, as ·he remarked with a smile, who has been treating us as even a Catholic .would have done. * * * On that
occasion we gave him an evening entertainment; the comedy and music especially were good. To see the natives
act their parts in the play, and sing European music as they
did, took all by surprise ; and the whole affair was a real
triumph for the college.
* * * * * But let me tell you something worthy of note
which happened here lately. As I was walking through one
ofthe streets my attention was attracted by a crowd which
had gathered around a large man holding in his arms a little girl under ten years of age. The poor little creature had
just been bitten by a cobra; from her mouth a long gluey
drivel was oozing which hung in strings or meshes down
to the very ground-it was evident that she had but a few
moments to live. I asked them if they wished me to do
anything. Yes, they said, to cure her. I told them that I
had no other remedy at hand than to bless her; should I
do so? Yes,.by all means. The snake, they said, had bitten her hand; they wished me to bless the hand. I called
for fresh water. A Turk ran -into his house near by and
brought a basin of water. I took the child's hand, washed
it thrice in the form of a cross, pronouncing meanwhile the
prescribed formula !-Quid de Baptismo ?-Unfortunately,
perhaps, the child recovered soon after, and the people attributed it to the blessing. I must nO\v see to her being
brought up a Catholic.
N.UIUR, MARCH, 16, I8J2.
* * *
I must now tell you of an event which has given us
much consolation here, and which ought to be made known
for the honor of our Blessed Lady. One of our young students, about fifteen years of age, had been suffering from a
putrid sore throat; the gangrene had gradually poisoned
all the blood in his system, and the physicians pronounced
�Et·tmcts of lttto·s from Abroad.
143
the case hopeless. In' f.<ct the poor boy was at the point of
death ; all remedies were powerless and no hope was entertained of preserving life until even the close of the day. At
about two o'clock we brought him some water of our Lady
of Lourdes, which he drank. Almost immediately a copious discharge of gangrened matter found vent through
the nostrils. A marked improvenicnt in the patient's condition resulted ; he grew better rapidly and in a short time
completely recm·ercd. \Ve had offered fervent vows, and
all the students had prayed earnestly for this f.wor; their
gratitude was expressed by a general and fervent communion on the following Sunday.
D. 0. M.
��vVOODSTOCK LETTERS.
VOL. 1., No. 3·
FATHER WHITE'S RELATION.
[Continued.]
During the voyage many singular things happened. In
the first place, we met withjl_J'ing-jislt, which at one time cut
the sea with th-:ir wings, and again the high air. They are
of the size of flounders, or the larger ray, which also they
greatly resemble in taste. They poise themselves in the air,
in flocks of a hundred, '~hen they are trying to escape from
the dolphins that ptirsue them. Some of these, when their
w:ng,.; failed them, dropped into our ship; fcir, at one effort,
they do not fly over a space of more than two or three acres ;
then they dip in the wa"ter their wings that have been dried
by the air and again commit themselves to the sky.
Inter navigandum multa occurrebnnt
cm·io~n.
In primis pisces rulan-
te.'<, qui modo aequor modo acm sublime pcnnis secahant, passerum mng-
nitudine vel mnjorum sparulorum quos valde ctiam gust\1 prnegrnto
rcferunt. Cimteni gregatim se in nere librant delphinos cum fugiunt in~equentes. Eorum ali qui deficicnte pennnrum remigio in nostrum navim
(lcciderunt ; nam uno impetu non amplius quam duorum vel trium jugernm spatium pervolant; tunc pinnas aere exsiccatas aquis rursus immcrgunt, et se iterum coelo committunt.
�q6
F,atltcr Tr 7zitc's Rdatioll.
\Vhen \Ve were distant twenty-one degrees and ~orne
minutes from the equator, where the tropic commen:cs, w.:
,\·ere permitted to see floating in the air the birds which
from their locality they call tropic birds. It i~ uncertain
whether these birds, which equal the falcon in size, and are
conspicuous for two very long white feathers in 1h~ tail, arc
continually in the air; or rest themselves at times on the water. Other things I omit which are learned from the letters
of others.
\Vhen we had passed the Fortunate Islands, Lord Leonard Calvert, the commander of the fleet, began to consult
with what merchandise to load the ship when about to return and where to obtain it, so that he might lighten the
expenses of his brother, the Baron of Baltimore; for the
entire burden fell upon him as the chief one of the whole
expedition. In Virginia, no advantage was expected from
our countrymen, for they are hostile to this new plantation.
Therefore, we were steering for the island of St. Christopher, when, after consultation, fearing lest at that late season of tpe year, others might have anticipated us, we turned
our prow towards the south, that we might reach Bonavista, which island is opposite Angola, on the coast of Africa, fourteen degrees from the equator. It is a station of
Cum ab Aequatore uno et viginti gradilms et aliquot minutis ahesse·
mus, ubi Tropicvs incipit, videre emt aves, quas a loco tmpica.• vocant,
in aere pendulas; illae cum falconem mole adaequent, dualms praelongis
ct albentibus plumis in cauda' conspicuae, incertum est an aeri pcrpetuo
insideant, an quandoque aquis se sustentent. Cnetera ut aliorum litcris
nota omitto.
Cum Insulas Fortunatas essemus praetervecti Dominus Leonard us Cal·
vert, Prucfectus Classis, agitarc coepit quas merces et uncle compararc pos·
set navi reduci onerandae quo fratris sui Baronis de Baltimore sumptibus
caveret. Illi enim ut totius navigationis Principi onus integrum incumbebat. In Virginia a nostratibus nihil commodi sperabatur, sunt enim
huic novae plantationi infensi. Itaque ad insulam Sti. Christophori tendebamus, cum, consilio adhibito, vcrentes ne ea anni sera tempestate alii
nos praevenissent, proras obvertimus ad Austrum ut Bonaevistae potiremur; quae insula, Angolae opposita in littore Africano, gradibus 14 ab
Aequatore, statio est Hollandorum salem conquirentium quem deinde vel
�Fatltcr I V!tit/s Rdation.
147
the Hollandc:-s for obtaining salt, which they take thence
either to their own country or to Greenland to cure fish.
The abundance of salt, also of the wild goats with which
the island is well supplied, invited us ti1ither; for it is used
by no one as a habitation. Only a few· Portuguese, exiled
from their country on account of their crimes, drag ot.t
their lives as best they can.
Scarcely had we gone two hundred miles, when our
counsel being changed, at the ~ uggestion of some, lest provisions ·might £1il us in so great a compass, we turned our
course toward:> Barbadoes. It is the remotest of the Caribbee or Antilles Islands, thirteen degrees distant from the
equator, and the storehouse of the other islands, which after
the shape ofa bow, are extended in a long tract even to the
Gulf of Mexjco. \Vhen we arrived at this Island, on the
3d of January, we were in hope of receiving many articles
of trade from the English inhabitants and Governor of the
same blood ; but a conspiracy being made, they determined
not to sell us a bushel of wheat, the price of which in the
Island w~s half a Belgic florin, except at five times its market value, for two florins and a half. For a shote they dem.anded fifty florins ; for a turkey, twenty-five florins; for
other smaller fatted fowls of this kind, three florins. Beef
domun{ Yl'lnd piscem in Groenl:uulia condiemlmu confernnt. Copia sa lis
atque etiam cnprarum, qua rum insula femx est, eo nos invitnbnt; nam
alio(LUi habitatore nullo utitur. Pnuci tnntum Lu~it:mi exilio propter
~celera pulsi, vitmn ut pos~unt trnhunt. Vix ducenta millinria conleceramus cum mutatis iterum quorumdnm suggestione consiliis ne commea·
tus in tnnto circuitu nos deficcret, deftectinms nd Barbados.
Est ea Carebum sen Antillarum Insularum infima ab Aequatore 13
gradibus distans, caeterarumque quae in modum arcus ad usque sinum
Uexicanum Iongo tractu protenduntur granarium. Ad hanc ut appulimus tertio ,Jnnuarii in spem venimus multarum commoditatum ab incolis
Anglis et consanguineo Gullernatorc; sed conspiratione facta, modium
tritici, qui in Insula medio ftorcno Belgioo veniebat, nobis nonnisi quintupla proportione duohus ftorenis cum dimidio vend ere decreverunt. N e.
frendem unum quinquaginta ftorenis licital>ant: pullum indicum vigintiquinque, caetera ejus generis altilia minora tribus florenis. Bovinam
�q8
Fat!tcr ll"!titc's Rdatioll.
or mutton they had none; for they li\·e daily on corn-bread
and potatoes, which kind of root grows in such abund,mce,,
that you may take away whole wagon loads without charge.
Reflection upon ·the Divine Providence mitigated th~
cruel treatment of men ; for we understood that a Spani~h
fleet was lying at the isle of Bonavista for the purpose of
prohibiting all foreigners from trading in salt. Moreover, if
we had proceeded on our voyage, we should ha\·e fallen into the snare and become a prey to them. In the meantime
we were rescued from a greater danger at Barbadoes ; for
the slaves through the , whole Island conspired for the
slaughter of their masters, and \vhen they could assert their
liberty successfully, resolved to seize the first ship which
should arrive and put out to sea. ,The conspiracy having
been disclosed by one whom the atrocity of the deed deterred, the execution of one of the leaders served for the
security of the Island and for our safety; for our ship, as it
'was the first which reached the shore, had been destined
for their prey; and on the very day on which we landed
we found eight hundred men under arms in order to prevent this most imminent crime.
The length of the Island of Barbadoes is thirty miles, its
breadth fifteen miles; it is thirteen degrees from the equator,
sen vervecinmn nullam habebant; vivunt enim pane imlico et patati~.
quod radicum genus tanta nffluentia provenit, ut plnustm integrn gratis
auferre liceat.
,
Hominum acerbam severitntem Divinae Providentiae consid('rnt1o mi- ~· •·
tigavit. Intelleximus enim ad Insulam Bonaevistae stare cla~sem hispnnicam quae cxteros omnes salis commercio prohiberet; illo si porro contendissemus itinere constituto in cusses praeda fi!Cti decidissenms. :Mnjori
interim periculo ad Barbados erepti. Famuli per totam Insulam in necem dominorum conspirarunt, tum scilicet in libertatem asserti navi quae
prima appelleret potiri statuerunt et tentare maria. Conjuratione patefacta per quemdam quem facti atrocitas deterrebat, supplicium unius ex
praecipuis, et Insulae securitati et nobis salut\ fuit. Nostra enim navis,
ut quae prima littori applicuit, praedae destinata fuerat, et eo ipso die
quo uppulimus octingentos in armis reperimus, quo recentissimo sceleri
obviarent. Insulae Barbadorum 30 milliaria continet longitudo, latitudo
15, gradibus 13 ab Aequatore, calore tanto ut hibemis mensibus incolae
I
i•
;
�149
of so excessi\·e a temperature, that in the winter months
the inhabitants are clothed in linen, and often bathe themselves in the streams. At the time we arri\·ed it was har·
Yest. Unless the constant winds tempered the heat it would
be impossible to live there. Their beds are coverlets wo\·en
artfully together out .of cotton. \Vhen it is time to rest,
they sleep in these, stretched by ropes to a couple of posts
Dn each side. In day .time again, they pltt them wherever
they please. Their principal merchandise is corn and cot·
ton. It is pleasant to see the manner in \vhich the cotton
hangs from the stalk and the abundance of it. . The shrub
from which it grows is not larger than the prit,:kly Bear's
foot, which the vulgar call barberiu though more like a
tret;! than a thorn. It bears a pod of the size of a walnut,
but of a sharper form,which cleft into four parts gives forth
the cotton, rolled tog~ther in the form of a nut, whiter than
snow and softer than down. .There are six small seeds,
the size of a ''etch in the cotton, which, gathered at its time,
and freed by a kind of wheel from the seed, they place in
sacks and put away.
There is a wonderful kind of cabbage, which has a stalk
that grows to the height of one hundred and eighty feet;
it is eaten either raw or boiled; the stalk itself of the length
lincis wstiantur, ct nq\li's sc !<ncphrs innucrgant. J\[essis tum crat cum
appulinms. Nisi frequentes venti aestum temperarent impossibilis esset
· habitatio.. Lccti sunt stragula n>Stis ex gossipio atfabre texta; in hoc
· cum est quiescendi tempus, funibus nppenso ad duos hinc inde palos dor. miunt, de die iterum quocumque libet nuferunt. )[erccs praecipuae sunt
frumentum et gossipium. .Jucundum est videre modum et copiam pen\lentis ex arbore gossipii. Arbor ex qua nascitur major non est oxyacantho (quam vulgus Berberia vocnt) quamqualu arbori quam spinae si·
milior; haec nodum fert magnitudine juglandis, furma acutiori, qui in
quatuor partes dissectus, gossipium nive candidius et pluma mollius, in
· speciem nucis convolutum fundit .. Gvssipio sex parva semina insident,
viciae aequalia, quod tempore suo collectum et rota quadam a semine
expeditum condunt in saccos et asservant.
BraBSicae genus ndmirandum est, quae cum caulem habeat in centum
et octoginta pedum altitudinem excrescent em vel cruda cditur, vel elixa:
caulis ipse ad unius ulnae mensuram, sub fructu habetur in deliciis; ern-
�Flttk:·r 1V!tit.·'s R.latiolf.
of an ell below the fruit, is consid.:r.?d a gre:tt cL::llc:~.cy.
\Vhen raw, a little pepper being mixed with it, in taste it
far surpasses the Spanish artichoke; and the huge stalk, morelike a peeled walnut, and well equalling the trunk of a.
great tree, though not a tree however, but a vegetable.
bears but a single cabbage. There you may see a very tall
tree which they c:tll the so:1p tree. The grains orthe soap
tree do not exceed in size a filbert nut. The fatty coverin~
of these cleanses and scours after the manner of soap, although they say that it is injurious to the finer sort of
linen. Many of these grains brought by me to :Maryland
I have planted-the hope of future trees. Among the
trees, they also number the Palma Clzrisii. Although it
has a trunk porous and like a bean, it bears a large cluste1·
of berries somewhat of an ashy color; it is covered with
thorns and speckled with black spots. From these berries
an excellent oil is pressed. Lemons of a golden color,
citrons, pomegranates, nuts which the Spaniards call CoC0as, and other fruits of the warm regions, grow here in
abundance.
There is a fruit which they call gnaccar, of a gold color,
and of th$! form of a lirr.e; in taste, however, it resembles a
quince. The pupais, in color and form, is not unlike it,
but, as it is very sweet, it is used in preserves.
<Ius admixto piper.! s:tporc cartlum higpanicmn 8UJWrat-; et juglandi nullatac propior, ingcns caulis arbori8 bene magnne truncum adaequnn"' _.
ncque tamen arbor sPd Iegumen, bm~sicam fert no_11 am~ilius unam. Ibidem videre est nrborem ~ntis proceram quam xilpvnem Yoennt. Grnna
~aponi nucem :IYellanam non excedunt. magnitudine; horum pinguis tunic!!, snponis ins!nr, purgat et deterget, qunmquam, ut aiunt,linu tenuiori
inimica. Ex iis granis multa mecum ahlata in )Inrylandiam mnndnvi
terrne futurnrum arborum semina. Inter arboreR etiam numernnt Palmam ChrU.ti. Quamquam, truncum ilia habent porosum et Iegumini similem racemum fert irtgentem Reminum coloris snbcinericei, spinis nrmatum
et nigris mnculis inspersum. Ex hiR praestnns oleum cxprimitur. 1\Iala
aurea, citrina, granatn, nuces et.iam quas Hispani CtJCos vocnnt, caeterique
ealidnrum regionum fructus nbertim proveniunt.
Est fructus qui gnaccar dicitur, coloris aurei, forma citri minoris, gustu
La men ref(~rcns cydoninm. Pupais colore est ct forma non absimilis, sed
praednlcis cum sit, condiendis tan tum cibis adhibetur.
�Fatltcr H7titc's Rdation.
But the pine-apple excels all other fruits in the world
which I have tasted; it is of a golden color, and very
pleasant when mixed with wine-in size it is equal to two
'Or three European nuts of the same name, of form not unlike them, but in construction not marked with so many
Jittle divisions and protuberances, which, when put to the
fire, yield their nucleus, but soft and tender, enveloped in a
little membrane. It is very agreeable to the taste, not having a bitter kernel, but throughout equally pleasant to the
palate. Nor is the crown wanting which it deserves, for
without doubt it may be called ti1e queen of fruits. It has a
spicy taste, and, as fur as I can judge, resembling strawber·
ries. mixed with wine and sugar. It contributes much to
the preservation of h~alth, agreeing so weB with the constitution of the body, that although it C'Orrodes iron, it is
beyond aught else nourishing to man; nor do you pluck it
from a high tree, but there is one for each root, standing
out from the root- like Spanish card. I was desirous of
putting one of them with these Ietters into the hands of
Your Re\'erence, for nothing but the frui.t itself can give an
idea of it.
On the 24th of January, at night, having weighed anchor,
and about noon of the following day, having passed the Is·
Praecellit nutem cn<'teros, quos alibi tennrum gustavi fructus JYux Pt~
EHt ca coloris nurei, vinoque mixtn gratissima, tres vel quntuor
(~usdcm nominis nuces curopens mole ndacquat, figura non admodum
di~simili, sed operiosiore, non tot distincta Joculamentis et modulis, qui,
adhihiti ad ignem, nucleum reddant, sed mollis et tenella involutn memhranula, gustui jucundissima, nullo aspera acino, sed a summo deorsum
:1equa!iter palato arridens: neque deest quam merctur corona, hand dubio enim regina fructuum appellari pot est. Gustum habet aromaticum, et
quantum conjectura assequor, fraga, vino saccharoque mixta refcrentem.
Sanitati conservandae plurimum confert, corporum constitutioni tam a pte consentiens, ut ·Iicet ferrum exedat, hominem tamen, si qu!l res alia,
quam mnxime corroborat: neque praece!sa hanc quaeras in arhore, sed
unam una ex radice, quasi cardui Hispanici promineutem. Optabamme
nucen1 unam Paternitati Vestrae cum hiscc literis tradere potuisse in
manus, nihil enim illam praeter ipsam pro dignitate potest describere.
Vigesimoquarto Januarii de nocte subductis anchoris, et circa meridiem
llect.
.
�Father White's Rdatio1f,
land of St. Lucia on o1.1r left, by evening we reached Mat;tlina. ·At this place two boats of naked men, who wen;
afrilid o( the bulk of our ship, l1eld up to our sight from a..
distance, pumpkins, cucumbers, fruit of the plane tree, anu
parrots for traffic. They are a wild race, corpulent, and
daubed with purp,le •paint, ignorant of a God, greedy of
human flesh; having a little while before eaten up someEnglish interpreters. The country which they inhabit is
very fertile, but altogether a forest, without any open
plains~
A white flag being hoisted in token of peace, wt.:
invited those who were keeping aloof in the distance to
come and trade ; but disregarding the indication, they set
up their own usual signals. After showing them and le,arning who we were, they took courage and approached nearer.
But only a few bells and knives being exchanged, not
trusting too much to so powerful a ship, they went to the
pinnace, promising to bring better articles of trade the next
day, if we should determine to remain:· I hope some one's
heart will be touched with commiseration for this abandoned race. A rumor set afloat by some shipwrecked
Frenchmen excited interest among the sailors, that an
animal is found in this island, on whose forehead there is
a stone of UI}Common splendor, like a fire-coal or burning
fcqumtis diei relicta nd laevam insula S. Ludae, n:lJ n~rermn tenuimus Jfatalmmu. Hie duo lintre~ nudormu hominum molem nostruc navil' nriti, pPpom·s, <:ueurlJitas, fructus platani rt Jl~iltnco8 de Ionge ostc ntabant commut:mdos. Gens ctleru, obe:s1, Jligmen\i:qmrpurcis nit ens,'
ignara Numinis, carnium lmmanarum avida, ct quae Anglorum interprc·.
tcs aliquot pridem absumpscrnt, .J·pgiom·m colit illlJlrimis frrtilcm, sed
f[lUlC iota Iucus sit, nulla pltmitie pervia.
AjJlu~tro aliJo in signum pad"
proposito, cos qui se a Ionge ostentab:mt, invitavimus ntl commercia, sell
indicium avermti, insignia consueta propo:,uerunt.
Cum, his ostcnsi~
, 1ninam e:<~cmus intellexissent, animis assumptis, nccessere propius, sed
paucis tantum tintinnallulis, et cultellis acccptis pruepotenti navi non
nimium fidentes, celo<·em adeunt, promittcntes se, si consist ere deceJnerenms, scquenti die meliores merccs allaturos. Capiat olim, aliquem uti spero.
derelicti hujus populi miseratio. Apud nautas increbuit rumor (ortu·s u
quibusdam Gallis naufrngis) reperiri in l1nc insula animal cujus fronti
lapis inusitati splendoris insidl:t, prnnae vel candelae ardenti simili~.
�l53
~rrnd. To th:s c-n:mal they have given the name of the
.carbl.ndc. Let the authors of the report beiieve their own
story.
At the dawn of the day following, we reached another of
the Caribbee Islands \dtich they have named after Guadaloupe, because of a certain likeness between their mountains: and I trust it is no less under the protection of the
most holy Virgin l\Iother of Guadaloupe. From that we
z·eached Montserrat about noon, where we understood from
a French galley that we \\"ere not yet safe from the Spanish
fleet. Montserrat i:; inhabited by Irishmen who have been
expelled by the English of Virginia, on account of their
Catholic faith. Having spent a day we set sail for St.
Christopher's, where we stopped for ten days, being invited
to do so in a friendly way by the English Governor and
two Catholic Captains. The Governor of the French colony. in the same island, treated me with the most marked
kindness.
v\'hatever rare things are seen in Barbadoes I found here
and in addition to them, a volcanic mountain, and, what
you will wonder at still more, tltc <·zi-gin plant; so called,
beca~sc on the slightest touch of the finger it immediately
withers and falls, though reviving after a little while, it rises
H1de animali carbuncae nomen indiderunt. Rei fid!'s sit p!'nes auctorem.
Die proximo illncescente nlteram Carelnnn Insularum attigimus, quam
nsperormn montium similitudo hispnniee Guadalupac f<>cit cognonwn,
(•stque uti confido sub tut<>la t.;jusdem SS:\P. Yirg-inis :llatris. Indc )Ion·
serratem t<>nuilims circa fneridiem, uhi ex lemho gallico intelleximus
nondmn
ab Hispanormn" cln~~e tuto~ <''"e. Hah;t Monserrate in co·
las Hibemos pulso.s nb Anglis Yirgin'a<> oh lit lei C'atho!icac profcssioncm.
Tunc a•I :IIoevimu pestilenti aen• et Jeln·ihu~ inf:unem Uno die nbsumpto vela fecimus ad snncti Cltristuphori. uhi decem dies suhstitimus, u
Guhernntore Anglo et Capitaneis duohus Cntltolicis amice invitati. :Me
in primis benignc accepit Coloniae Gallicae in eadem Insula Prnefectus.
Quaccumque npud Barbados rara visuntur, hie etiam reperi et praeteren non proculn Praefecti sede montem sulplmreurn. Et quod ndmireris
mngis, Plantam Vir!Jz"nem, sic dictam quod minimo digiti contnctu confestimmarescat et concidat, quam quam data morn rcvivisc<>ns iterum assurgat. Placuit mihi inprimis locusta arbor, quam suspicio est praebuisse
;ws
�I
54
Father H'7zitc's R.-!atimr.
again. The locust tree especially pleased us, which, tradi..:
tion says, afforded sustenance to St. John the Baptist. It
equals the elm in size, and is so grateful to the bees, that
they are most ready to make their hive in it. The honey.
if you take away the name of "wild" neither in color nor in
taste differs from the purest honey I have tasted. The fruit,
also retaining the name of locust, consists of six beans
within a hard shell, in taste resembling flour mixed with
honey. It bears for seed four or five nuts somewhat larger. I have brought som.: of them to plant in the earth.
At length, sailing from this we reached what they call
Point Comfort in Virginia, on the 27th of February, full of
fear lest the English inhabitants, to whom our plantation is
very objectionable, should plot some evil against us. Letters, however, which we brought from the King and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Governor of these regions served to conciliate their minds, anti to obtain those
things which were useful to us. For the Governor of Virginia hoped, by this kindness to us to recover the more easily from the royal treasury a great amount of money due
to him. They announced only a vague rumor, that six
ships were approaching, which would reduce all thing~ under the power of the Spanish. For this reason all the invictum S. Joanni Baptistne; nlmnm adaequat nltitndine, npibus tam grata ut libentissime illi favos snos iu.plicent: mel si nomen sylvestris demas, neque colore, neque sapore a purissimo quod gustavi melle differt.
Fructus etiam, locnstac nomen retinens, in duriori cortice sex fabarum
siliquis pari, mednllam continet moll em, sed tenacem, gnsln fllrinae similem mellemixtae; semina fert grandiuscula.quatnor vel quinque coloris
castanei. Horum aliqua terrae inseremla asportavi.
Ac tandem hinc solventes, caput quod vocant Consolationis in Virginia
tcnuimus 27 Februarii pleni metu ne quid mali nobis machinarentur Angli incolae, quibus nostra plantatio ingrata admodum erat. Literae tamen quas a Rege et a summo Angliae Quacstore ml earum regionum
Praefectum ferebamus, valuere ad placando3 animos, et ea quae nobis porro usui futura erant impetranda: sperabat enim Praefectus Virginiae hac
benevolentia erga nos facilius a fisco Regio magnam vim pecuniae sibi
debitae recuperaturum. Sparsum tan tum rumorem nunciabant adventure
sex naves quae omnia sub Hispanorum potestatem redigerent: indigenas
I
�Father TV7titc's Rdati.;n.
ISS
l1abitants were under arms. The thing afterwards proved
to be in a measure true.
After a kind entertainment for eight or nine days, making
sail on the 3d of March, and carried into Chesapeake bay,
we bent our course to the north, that we might reach the
Potomac ri\•er. The Chesapeake, ten leagues broad, and
four, five, six,and even seven fathoms deep, flows gently
between its shores; it abounds in fish wh~n the season of
the year is favorable. A more beautiful expanse of water
you can hardly find It is inferior, however, to the Potomac, to which we gave the name of St. Gregory.
oea propter umn('s in armis es._"C, quod verutu post('a experti sumus. Humor tntilCn ve1·eor ab Anglis ortum habuit.
Post octo vel novem diermu !Jenignam tr:tclationem tertiu ::llartii vela fhcieutes, et in sinum Caesopeach mn'cli cursum ad Aquilunem defte·
JCimus, ut ftuvio. P<do•,.eadt Jhltiremur. . Sinus Caesopeach latus decem
leucas placide inter littorn labitur, profundus quatuor, quinque, sex et
:septem orygis, piscilms cum fa vet ann us scatens; jucundiorem aquae
lapsum vix iuvenies. Cffiit tamen ftuvio Pntomeach, cui nomen a S.
Gregorio indidimus.
[To be colliillued.J
�GEORGETOWN COLLEGE.
Gr:oRGE·row,; CoLLEGE, D. C.
APRIL
qth, 1872.
An intimation reaches us here that a communication
from this eldest of American Catholic colleges would b;
welcome to your pages. Far be it from us to d~cline acceptance of the courtesy proffered. Our venerableness
docs not make us shrink from contact with those younger
sisters of ours who will claim to be represented side by side
with us in your journal.
·
The ni1mber of our students has not varied much from
year to year since the recent war. .At the breaking out of
that war, the return of many northern students to their
homes, and the departure of almost every southern student
who was old enough to bear arms, reduced the numbers in
attendance to a very low ebb. The subsequent occupation
of a large portion of the buildings by the govenment as a
military hospital, and of the grounds by its soldiers, necessarily kept our numbers within the same narrow limits, and
made us, moreover, unpleasantly f..<miliar with the exigencies of military routine, since we could neither go out nor
in anywhere without the password of the day. \Vith the
restoration of our normal condition, ca~e an increase in
the number of our students, and since the close of the war,
the average attendance, including a few day-scholars, has
been about 160. The catalogue contains usually a list of
over 200 names, but this includes all who have attended for
any portion of the year. Before the war, we accommodated
300. \Vhenever the condition of the Southern people (for
the North is amply provided with Catholic Colleges) shall'
have improved, we may expect a return tp our former
numbers.
~·
�Gtorgdown Co/leg.·.
157
Those who arc ignorant of the facts, might suppose that
our College-since I speak of Catholic Colleges-was re~orted to by Catholics alone, but it is a fact that many Protestant parents prefer to have their children educated in
Catholic institutions, partly for the greater security of their
morals, partly en account of the more thorough, or at least
better grounded l o Jrse of instruction they impart. Hence,
we have all sects represented among our students, not
excluding Jews, of whom we have four.
Probably one
fourth of our students of the present year are non-Catholics.
One of our graduates l f last year was the son of a Lutheran
minister: another of a few years previous is a devout l\Iethodist preacher and has erected a meeting house to officiate
in at the Little falls of the Potomac, close by. None of the
Catholic students hesitates in the least, from motives of human respect, to resort to the confessional in the presence
of all the others, or to present himself at the communion
rail in the morning. About one fourth of all who have
made their first communion go weekly. On festivals, of
course, the number is larger.
l\Iany go to confession
weekly as a matter of self discipline. Among the Protestants who have sojourned with us for a reasonable period, none can leave us to swell the ranks of the enemies
of the church, which might have been the case had they
gathered no knowledge of Catholicism other than that afforded them at home. A few, probably two a year, apply
for Baptism._ In some years, this number has been exceeded. In the time of the annual retreat to the students, the
Protestants are exempted from attendance (though a few request the privilege to be present), but good-humoredly bear
the .. ? of "Black Sheep" and fraternize as cordially with
the Catholics in recreation as if there were no division of
any kind between them. Of five members of Congress
who send their sons or wards here, only one is a Catholic.
All these particulars are so well known that I hesitate to
repeat them; but you may have readers to whom the in-
�ISS
Gcorgcto'Wil Co!!cgt.·.
formation is novel, either because they reside ;~broad and
do not know the country, or, because living in this country,
they have never visited this portion of it. To these, statements of this kind are not without interest.
The retreat was preached in l\Iarch last by F. \Vm. Francis Clarke, one of our graduates of forty years ago, and by
F. \Vm. B. Cleary, and was in every respect a success.
Not a single Catholic failed to comply with his duty.
There are every year among the ,younger. students, and
occasionally among the more advanced, some who have
not made their first communion. All, except the very
youngest, receive suitable instructions, and make their
first communion before the close of the year.
The two sodalities, one for the younger, the other for the
older students, are flourishing, and· embrace, it is believed,
all the Catholic students who have made thc:ir first communion. Each has its grand reception of n ~w members
annually, to which all the solemnity possible is given.
That of the older students has already been held: that of
the younger is shortly to take place; the rec~ption being
deferred longer in this case, on account of the necessity of
giving the young Postulants a prudently long probation.
The conduct of our boys is in general exell!plary. Gross
immorality, or such a violatio-n of the more important rules
of the College as involves expulsion, is extremely rare.
We seldom hear any but favorable accounts of our students of past years, and our graduates, especially, fill places :
of honor and usefulness. We send one' or two subjects a ~ ·
year to the Novitiate.
In conclusion, of the religious statistics appertaining to
our establishment, it might be added that the weekly Catechetical lecture is in the hands of the Professor of Rhetoric,
and that four other Fathers take turns in preaching the
short Sunday sermon to the students.
There is a laudable emulation in the classes, and the "roll
of honor" every month embraces a number who receive
�Georgetown Co/leg<'.
1 59
two and thre~ "tickets" as heads of their respective classes.
On the other hand, the number of those who fall below the
po:nt of toleration in the monthly marks, as read out, rarely exceeds three. As this is a risk equally incurred in the
Classical, l\Iathemati•:al, French, and, perhaps, other classes,
this number may be considered infinitesimally small. The
Philosophers now occupy the rooms formerly appropriated
to Scholastic students. They have changed the name of
the locality to Mt. Aquin.
Our religious family is composed of twelve Fathers, five
Scholastics and nineteen Brothers. Of the former, besides
Fr. Rector and Fr. fllinister (who is also Prefect of Studies),
one teaches Theology to the three who are here engaged
in that study, and is Spiritual Father; the students in Philosophy and Rhetoric absorb three more; Chemistry and
Physics, another: our ex-Professor in these branches, (and,
as ev.::ry body who has been to the College within the last
thirty-five years knows, this means Father Curley,) is still
as devoted as ever to his green-house, so that green-house
and Fr. Curley are correlative terms. Two other Fathers
are head prefects, one on the large, the other on the small
boys' side: another conducts the financial and agricultural
&c:partments (our grounds, including the Villa, embracing
about two hundred acres), and is Pastor of St. Anne's
Church, Tenalley town : the twelfth delves in the library,
and is amanuensis for odd occasions. Two Scholastics are
Prefects and students of Theology ; two others, Prefects
and teachers; the fifth (whilom with you) takes care of his
health and of his progress in Theology. A Scholastic
novice also assists in the Prefectship and in the infirmary.
\Ve have besides three secular teachers and a music teacher
who reside within the College grounds, and a teacher of
drawing and another of Spanish, who come from without.
French and Mathematics are impartially distributed among
the Fathers and teachers mentioned above. German is
taught by one of the Scholastics. A large number of hired
�160
G<orgctorun College.
men and boys, a:nong the former of who:n are some who
ha\·e grown old in the sen·ice of the house, are in regular
employ for in-door and out-door needs.
The se\·erity of the past winter occasioned an unusual
. amount of sickness among our students, and the persistent
inclemency of the weather so greatly restricted out-door
sports, except skating and snow-balling, that doubtless
pure Clllllli lent its aggravating force to the existing cause
of indisposition. But when the first symptoms of spring .
appeared, a general exodus from the infirmary took place
and the brother infirmarian is enabled to di:vote himself
anew to the cultivation of the little garden which the ordinary prevalence of good health left him time to develop in
the grounds fronting on the infirmary: and this little spot is
now radiant with blooming bulbs arid in its setting of polished shells (of the T~·nus J!t:rcmaria and Ostrca Virginiana).
Those who have not visited the College within a few
years past will remember that this space was occupied wi~h
high ground, all of which has since been removed to a level with the small boys' grounds beyond. The latter have
been enlarged and improved at the expense of many thousands of dollars. All the grounds forming our Southern
boundary, a portion of which was recently a series of grassy
hillocks interspersed with rocks and dwarf cedars, are now
terraced and under cultivation, and one looks down upon
the broad Potomac just below, and the busy canal beside it
which transports the coal from the mountains of \Vestern
Maryland to this little fleet of vessels to the left, or carries
it over the great aqueduct which bestrides the river, winds
on past the heights of Arlington and terminates at Alexandria, dimly visible in the distance,-one looks down on
all this, and eastward, over the roofs of \Vashington to the
vast pile of the Capitol beyond, from amidst the varied and
luxuriant planti, vegetables and flowers of our garden.
�Gcorgclo<OJZ College.
The celebration of St. Cecilia's d_ly by the stud;!n~s. was,
;as to its music, a creditable exhibition of the proficiency of
our young instrumental and vocal performers. The ad<lresses on the occasion were exclusively by the Rhetori-cians, and were of far more than ordinary merit. The celebration of\Vashington's birth-day (Feb. 22nd) was, as usual,
:in the hands of the Philodemic Society, who did ample
justice to the occasion and won many praises from the ju<licious audience.
Our young vocalists supply our ch0ir with fair success.
Our instrumentalists are not only able to furnish festive
music, but have expanded into a band, ·which wakes the
echoes of Georgetown. Their diligence in practice is abo\·e
all praise. Th:! cadets have lately reorganized, drill frequently, and will probably go upon a target excursion. The hope
is entertained that base ball will not monopolize this year
as it has done for two or three years, all the muscular ener·
gy of our boys, but that a place will be found for military
exercises as well.
The Law Department will hold its commencement in
June. For a new institution, in its first year, it is doing extremely well. From the high character of its Professors, one
of whom is a Judge of the Supreme Court, the result is not
unexpected. The address on the occasion will be delivered
by U. S. Attorney General Williams. The Medical Department has closed its course for the preYent year, with the
graduation of 23. This institution continues to hold its
high position. The great. numbers who attend the commencement exercises make it necessary always to select the
largest audience room in Washington.
I have thus run over hastily (though not perhaps as succinctly as I ought) the prominent points of interest in connexion with the college, leaving perhaps much unsaid that
ought to find a place, and inserting some things that will
probably entertain nobody but myself, and I must now close
with a short reference to some recent distinguished visitors
of ours:-Yes, close without having said a word about our
�beautiful ... \Valks", the surprise of all who visit them, ancf.
the delight of those who frequent them habitually. But
your faithful recolle~tion will supply this ()mission, and to
all others, it is. easier to say "come and see" than it is to describe.
The visitors I allude to, were Iw:tkura, the chief of the·
Japanese embassy and six of his attendants. They 1\·ere
accompanied by Minister De Long, l\1r. Rice, interpreter.
and by ?~Irs. Admiral Dahlgren and Mrs. De Long, both
Catholic ladies. The first visit was to the library, where
many Japanese and Chinese books, or works bearing upon
the history of Japan were exhibited. Among the latter.
Charlevoix's History attracted especial attention, and the
title was duly noted, that a copy might be procured. After
quite a stay here, they visited the museum, which was carefully inspected. The only one of the Japanese who spoke
English recognized and called by name the ?I'Iastodon, the
great bone of which you will remember.
Hence they proceeded to the C1binet, and here, as els~
where, were greatly interested and asked many questions.
They seem not to have seen an Electrical Machine before.
and I wakura and all the rest, with the greatest good nature
formed a ring to receive shocks from this as well as from
the hand battery. An exhibition of the Solar :\licroscope
was also given. After being conducted over other portions
of the house, and admiring the magnificent view from the
upper windows, the whole party were invited to a collation.
As they were proceeding to tht;ir carriages, after a stay of
about two hours, the cadets drew up in line before them,
presented arms, and requested one of the students to address the visitors, which was done by J. E. Washington in
complimentary terms, and Iwakura replied courteously.
The address of the boys, of course, concluded with the request that the Japanese prince would procure them a holiday for the remainder of the day, which F. Early kindly assented to, and the visitors drove away, followed by enthusiastic cheers. They next called at the Visitation Academy
I
�'Coll(r;c of Bclm.
wl1ere tl1ey made as long a visit as they had made with us
-<<nd seemed equally delighted. The Japanese were dressed
:in American style. lwakura presents the appearance of a
man of firmness and dignity. Mr. De Long states that the
persecution of Christians attributed to I wakura did not take
place as described, or was political in character.
FOUNDATION OF THE COLLEGE OF BELEN
AT HAVANA.
The Royal College of Belen (Bctlt!clzcm) in the city of
, Havana traces back its origin to beginnings which, though
unpr~tending in th..:msehres, were, nevertheless, not unattended by such difficulties as are wont to embarrass undertakings of some moment. As the Spanish Government was ·
anxious to lay firm and solid foundations for the education
of youth in its possessions beyond the seas, and as for a
long time back it had been contemplating the erection of a
central college in the Island of Cuba, under the title of
Royal College of Havana, after mature deliberation it resolved to carry out so praiseworthy a design, and to confide
the Institvtion to the charge of the Society, which had
been banished from the kingdom since 1835. In furtherance of this plan, P. Domingo Olascoaga, who was afterwards appointed Provincial, set out from Belgium for Spain
in I 8 5 I, and thanks to his zeal and activity, it came to pass
after a short time, that the Government of Her Majesty
threw open the gates of the Peninsula to the Society,
founded at Loyola a mission-house and novitiate, and
�charged itself with the support of thirty novic~s who· \\·ou~cl
furnish subjects for the houses to be founded in the colonies.
At that time the ~Io;t Excellen~ Sr. D. Fran:isco Fleix
y Solans was Bishop of Havan:t, and at his solic:tations, th:.:.first three subjects whom th~ Socie:y sent to Cuba. embarked for that Island. The_.;e were F. B.:trtoio:ne l\I unar.
Superior, F. Cipriano Sevillano, and lk. l\!anuel Rubia.
On their arrival at the port of Havana, April 29, 1 ~53. they
were welcomed with every mark of esteem by the civil and
military authorities, as \\'ell as by the principal inhabitants,
but especially by the Rt. Rev. Bishop, in whom they ever
found a most tender father and gen~rous protector.
~Tany were those who claimed the honor, as they called
it, of showing hospitality to the Fathers; but they yielded
to the entreaties .of D. Bonif<tcio Quintin de Vilbescusa,
Re,:tor of the Collegiate Seminary of San Carlos, who had
prepared accommodations for them. Several reasons impelled the Fathers to prefer this dwelling-place; but the
chief one was that this very Seminary had been a house,
founded by the old Society, and possessed by it for more
than fifty years, under the title of St. Ignatius' College.
Thus by a special and loving disposition of Divine Providence, it was brought about that after nearly a century of
interruption, the Fathers of tl~e Society commenced their
apostolic labors in the same church and residence, which
had witnessed the glorious toils of our forefathers in religion.
After a few days had gone by, as it did not seen prudent ...
to detain the Fathers in Havana, exposed to the dangers of
yellow fever during the sultry heats of summer, they were
sent by the Bishop to the beautiful country seat of San Antonio de los Banos, twenty-three miles distant from the
Capital, and one of the most healthy and picturesque spots
on the Island. Here they remained for five months, during
which time they devoted themselves to preaching, hearing
confessions, preparing the children for first confession and
communion; and then terminated their stay at the villa
�w:th a nin = days mission, an exercise then almost forgotten
in tho;e r~gions, and from which they gathered most
abundant fruits.
l'{~anwh.le, excavations were being made for the erection
of the new college at Havana, in the field called Penalvar.
The F.tth~rs having received timely notice from His Excliency, the Captain General, Don Valentin Canedo, pre~;ented themseh·es anew in the city, on the roth of October,
of the same year, 1853· This was the day appointed for
bying the first stone ; the solemnity took place in presence
of the authorities, and of the most prominent inhabitants:
there was besides a vast assemblage of people, and all
were filled with joy ~:m beholding the reestablishment of
the Society in their midst. The work then went on with
great speed, so that at the end of a few days, three or. four
feet of solid masonry arose above the deep foundations ;
but it was not carried on with equal earnestness after this,
and when a few months had gone by, the work was entirely suspended, under the pretext that it would' cost too
much to carry out the original plan.
As the hot season was now over, the Fathers established
themselves permanently in Havana. They occupied in the
Calle de las Virtudes a modest dwelling house, rented and
furnished at the expense of the Government. They applied
themselves to the labors of the ministry and to the spiritual
direction of the students in the Episcopal Seminary, and
patiently awaited the decision of the authorities in regard
to the College. Deterred by the obstacles encountered in
the prosecution of the work which had been undertaken, the
Government renewed a proposition which had previously
been made, to open the classes in the old Convent of Mercy:
but the Fathers, who already understood the wants and the
desires of the Cuban people, firmly declined to accept the
offer. And it was not without good reasons. For, in the
first place, this building was in so ruinous a state, and the
rooms were sci few, narrow, low and damp, that it was use-
�166
Co/1,-g,· of Bdm.
less to think of lodging there the staff that would be required for a College. In the second place, the house was
tenanted by some venerable old men, sun·ivors of the ancient community of the Order of Mercy, who had no <jesin;
for any thing else in this world, except to end their days,
and to be buried in the peace of the just, beneath the shadows of the sanctuary which had witnessed their birth in the
religious life; ami it is clear, that it was neither just nor becoming to deprive them of this last and natural consolation,
by wresting away from them this cherished home. Finally,·
the people of Havana, who justly valued the merits of these
holy religious, and who as yet did not know the Fath~r5 uf
the Society, would have become ill-affected towards the
College, were it established in the. l\Iercy Convent, to the
prejudice of the ancient and lawfu'J.-occupants. These and
other weighty reasons the Fathers laid before H :!r :\hjesty's
Government, which deemed it proper to take thc:m into consideration.
But in spite of the favorable attitude of the Government
at :Madrid, it is very probable that matters would ha\·e remained at a stand-still, had not the reply of the Cortes
coincided with the appointment of a new Captain General,
the Marquis de Ia Pezuela. This nobleman reached Havana towards the end of tl1e same year, 1853, and on his
arrival, the aspect of things changed on all sides. He.
forthwith set enquiries on foot so as to find out which of
the public buildings could be most conveniently trans-~:
formed into a good college; and as the Fathers showed a
preference for the Convent of Our Lady of Bethlehem, in
which Gen. Segundo Cabo with a battalion of troop~ was
then quartered, he issued a command for the immediate
cession of a portion of the building to the Fathers, promising to place the whole of it at their disposal, as soon as
accommodations could be provided elsewhere for the soldiers who were then. stationed at Belen. In this manner
every obstacle was overcome, and thus the Society entered
�Colk!Jt'
if
Belm.
into po,;;session of the spacious, beautiful and solid building
of .V11cstm Smom de Bdm, at present a Royal College for
Secondary Instruction.
The year 18 54 began under these favorable auspices.
On the 17th of January, FF . .:\lunar and Sevillano, and Br.
Rubia removed to th.:: unoccupied portion of the building,
along with FF. Jose Cotanilla and Nicasio Eguilioz lately
arrived from Guatemala.
Hereupon, so· urgent were the requests of many parents,
that it was necessary to open several classes without delay,
and to admit some pupils as day-scholars, until such time
as they and other students could be transferred to the class
of boarders, after such alterations had been effected as were
required for carrying out the plan of studies.
As the intention was to found in the Convent of Belen a
complete system of secondary instruction, both in the elementary and higher branches, and to raise the standard of
studies step by step up to the grade of those systems which
prevail in the European schools of highest repute, and to
establish a College that would reflect honor on the Island
of Cuba, and which might vie with any houses of instruction whether at home or abroad, it was indispensable to enlarge the capacity of the building to the utmost of its
powers, ana to introduce all the improvements of which it
happened to be susceptible. Various changes had to be
made in its internal arrangements ; rooms had to be widened; vigilance, good order and discipline had to be facilitated by giving more openness to some of the yards and
passages, and by constructing commodious and spacious
dormitories. All these improvements were brought in as
scion as the Convent was evacuated by the military troop
which had been holding it. The Fathers took possession
of the whole edifice on the 10th of August, 1854· Before
this time, at the end of May of the same year, they had
been put in charge of the Church of the Convent, which·
till then had been under the direction of an ex-cloistered
�168
College (Jf Bdm.
religious congregation, to who:n anoth.::r Ch~rch and r~si
dence not far from Belen were now as.;igncd.
At this point, we cannot refrain from off.::r:ng a te.,timony
of our most affectionate gratitude to the nvble {llarqui,; d.::
la Pezuela, from whom the Society received such great
marks of esteem, and who, in so prov:d~nti;t\ a m;uu.::r, ::tssumed the Government of the Island of Cuba, at a time
,,·hen his full support and protection were esscn~i,tl for the
College of Belen. The Society of Jesus and the who!..:
Island will be forever grateful to this worthy gentkman
and gallant soldier, who, after ovacoming innumerable obstacles, brought it to pass dur:ng his short term of uffic::,
that so magnificent an education.1! establishment, should be
thrown open to the Cuban youth.
It also seems opportune here,
an hi.~tor:cal r..:me:ubrance and as a testimony of love for our brethren, to gi,·e
some brief account of what the Convent of Belen was, of
its foundation and of the Religious of Bethlehem who bequeathed to us so splendid a residence.
This edifice so firmly built, so vast in its proportions, was
erected towards the end of the seventeenth century by
that renowned benefactor of mankind, D. Juan Francisco
de Carvallo, who died Jan. 16th, 1718. It was meant to be
a hospital for convalescents,-under the patronage and protection of Our Lady of Bethlehem and of St. James. The
East wing of the building, which is entirely of cut ston<>, is
divided off into immense, vaulted halls; it has besides sev-...
eral inner court-yards surrounded by galleries and arches,
an eleg·ant cloister, and three stairways of great artistic
merit. That all might admire, and that the intelligent might
understand, the structure and disposition of these staircases,
and of a plain stone arch which is above the porch, the
Corps of Royal Engineers gave orders that the plaster
which covered them should be removed, and forbade that
they should ever in future be covered up. This is attested
by a marble tablet let into one of the arches. The Church
which fronts eastward terminates the structure on the north-
as
�Colleg-e of.lJckn.
em side.
It is Greco-Romanesque in style, with a single
nave in the form of a Latin cross, and although not very
1arge, still it is finely finished with heavy pointed arches,
and has a majestic and elegant cupola,-the whole being
made of very good stone. Its construction dates from 1687,
:and is due to tl1e illustrious bishup of Cuba, Dr. D. Diego
Evelino de .Cumpostella, who -dedicated it to St. James of
Alcala, as is testified by two statues of this Saint, one of
stone on the second story of the front, and another finely
<:arved in wood, whid1 is venerated at tbe high altar. The
date of erection and the founder's name are marked by the
following inscriptio~ above the sacristy door:HANC . BASILICAI\I
IN . EXTREMO . CIVITATIS . POSITAM
A . FUNDAMENTIS . EREXIT
DIDACUS . EVELINUS . DE . COMFOSTELLA
ANNO. DNI . l\l:I)CLXXXVIi
Beneath the large cl1apel or presbyterium is the Pantheon
around the sides of which are ranged tl1e last resting places
()f the Bethlehemite Brethren, and in the middle fronting
the altar rises a modest but neatly carved sarcophagus in
which repose the remains of the chief patron of the house,
D. Juan Francisco de Carvallo.
For our own Society this beautiful church is not wanting
in sweet memories which make it still more worthy of our
love and veneration. Here rest the ashes of nine of our
ancient brothers in religion, who in their passage through
Havana, as they were proceeding to Europe from different
provinces of America, on the general expulsion from all
the dominions of Spain in the time of King Charles III.,
were received and ministered to in the Hospital of Ntra.
Sra. de Belen and of San Diego, and thence passed to a
better life: Their names are written on a tablet, which in
�Co!!cge of Bdcrr.
fj(]
remembrance of Our Brethren and for our example u;as Inserted in one of the walls of the temple.
.-f. (.\P.} !L
CINERIBUS
NOVE~I
A~TO~II.
. E . SOCIETATE . JESU. SODALIUJI
CEPED.-\. FRANCISCI. IGUARRATEGlJI
JOSEPH!. ::\Il.J~OS. l\1ARTINI. ALCOCER
~IICHAELIS. BENJU::\IEA. FRA~CISCI. L\RRET A
SACERDOTUi\I
JOSEPH! . BARROTE . FRA}i:CISCI . VILLAR
A.NTO.NII.ORREZ
SACERDOTJI. EXPERTU::\1
QUI. EXEUNTE. AN. ?dDCCLXVII
EX . DIVERSIS . AMERICA£ . l'LAGIS
CUM . SOCIIS . EXULANTES
~'lATURIOREl\1. ~T.
FELICIOREl\1
AERUMNOSAE. PEREGRINATIONIS. EXITUM
INVIDENDA . l\IORTE . OBIERUNT
ET . HEIC . A . BETHLEMITICI . ORDINIS
FRATRIBUS
HONORIFIC£ . CONDIT! . SUNT
SOCIETAS. JESU POST. LXXXVI. ANNOS
IN. SODALIUM. BENE. MERITORUM
SEPULCHRUM . SUCCEDENS
AD. POSTERITATIS. MEMORIAM
PONENDUM . CURA VIT
�Collq;c of Edm.
171
""N o't less wortl1y of special mention is the Venerable
Vather, Manuel del Rincon, Superior of the Oratory of St.
"Philip Neri at Havana, who was a man remarkable alike
for virtue and learning, enriched during life witl1 wondrous
gifts of God, and after death renowned for prodigies; our
'Church has the honor of possessing his body, which is
buried at the foot of St. Anthony's altar. This venerable
:servant of God did not belong to the Betl1lehemite community, but being persecuted and calumniated by envious
men wl1en there was question of elevating him to 'the episcopal see of Santiago de Cuba, he was by royal orders sent
as a prisoner to the Convent of Belen. There, after endur~
ing many sore afflictions with heroic patience and magnanimity, after giving striking proofs of virtue and sanctity, he
was overtaken by death, whilst waiting for the decision in
the suit which his enemies had preferred against him before
the Supreme Council of Castile. The case was decided in
favor of Father Rincon, but it was then too late. In
atonement for whatever obloquy might chance to rest upon
J1is memory on account of the imprisonment, the Council
mdered that his funeral obsequies should be celebrated with
the most imposing display, and at the public expense, that
all the Government officials should honor them by their
presence, and that a monument should be erected to his
memory in the church of Belen.
Directing now our attention to the Bethlehemite Religious for whom the building which the Society now possesses was originally erected, we know that they remained
in it until 1845, constantly devoted to the care of the sick
and the gratuitous instruction of youth. In the abovementioned year, their number having become greatly reduced, the Community was dissolved, and the few remainin~
members were thenceforward pensioned by the State.
There is now but one survivor of those who formerly belonged to this Com·ent; five have died since 1853, and the
funeral ceremonies of all these took place in our Church,
. in accordance with a resolution of the Fathers who took
�possession of the Colle;;e. Ot rs always took gn:at rains to
visit them frequently and help them in sickness; they on
their part always came with pleasure to the College, being
delighted that it had been granted to the Society, instead of
being converted to profane uses, or perhaps destroyed.
The Founder of the :\lendicant Order of the Bethlehemites was the Venerable Pedro de Bethencourt, who was born
:\Iay 21st, 1626, at Villaflor, a town of the Island of Teneriffe, and he established his first house in the ancient city of
Guatemala, to which place he came in 1650. In 1655, having assumed the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis, he
hired a small house in a retired quarter of the city, and dedicated himself to the teaching of children, instructing them
chiefly in the Christi<>n Doctrine. Shortly afterwards, the
owner of the house having m'lde liim a gift of it, he converted it into a hospital for the poor, and built alongside of
it an infirmary of boards, thatched with straw, so that he
might be able to receive a greater number of the destitute
and needy. He himself waited on them in their sickness,
and allowed them to want for nothing, as he collected plentiful alms to supply all their necessities.
As the reputation of Bethencourt gradually ~pread, the
civil and ecclesiastical authorities looked favorably upon
his enterprise, charitable pe;sons aided him with their
means, and enabled him to erect a large hospital, at the
building of which he labored with his own hands along
with the workmen. A stately edifice quickly arose, with ..•
'vards, cloister and oratory, and after it was completed,
• Pedro admitted some compani9ns who had offered themselves, and formed with them the B~thlehemite Congregation, so called from the name of the hospital which was
dedicated to Our Lady of Bethlehem. The care of the sick
did not make Pedro forget the instruction of children, for
he founded a school for them in the hospital. After his
death, which happened in 1667, the constitutions drawn up
by the founder were adopted by the congregation, some
slight modifications being introduced by his immediate sue-
�Col!tg: of Bdm.
173
cessor. Houses of the same' institute for female religious
w-:re afterwards established in order to take care of sick
wo:nen. These Hospitallers of Bethlehem subsequently
spread through Mexico and Peru, and in conformity with
L1 ~ founder's instructions, a school for boys was established
in every hospital. The Institute received the confirmation
of King Charles II., and was approved by Pope Innocent
XI., in a Bull dated March 26, r687, which placed it under
the rule of St. Augustine.
Clement XI., in r 707, granted to it all the privileges of
the Mendicant Orders. These religious added to the three
essential vows a fourth, by which they bound themselves to
the care of the sick, and also to the instruction of children
in catechism, reading, writing and arithmetic.
There is a large oil painting which fills the entire front
,,·all of the choir in our church of Belen, in which are depicted these duties of the Bethlehemites; namely to teach
youth, to wait upon the sick, to transport them on their
shoulders to the Convent Hospital, and the religious women are seen fulfilling the same duties towards girls and the
sick of their own sex.
Although in the beginning, they employed the services
of secular priests, they afterwards obtained faculties to have
two priests of religious orders attached to each convent, and
three priests as chaplains for each of the mother-houses at
Guatemala, Mexico, Havana and Buenos Ayres. In these
four houses the novices were formed, the principal house
always being that of Guatemala, as it ranked first of the Order in time of foundation. In the kingdom of Mexico, or
New Spain, they had ten houses, and seventeen in Peru;
and, although attempts were made to plant the order at
Madrid and at Rome, still the institute never passed beyond
· the limits of America.
------~-~--------
�LETTER FRO.M ST. LOUIS.
ST. Lours, Mo., Ju:-;-E 8th, r8;2.
REV. FATHER IX CHRIST;
The enclosed letter was written by the late Dr. l\I. L.
Linton, a few days before his death, with a view to lea\·e
on record his estimate of the Society. The Doctor was a
convert to our faith, and was one of the most prominent
Catholic laymen of our city. fie had been for twentyeight years attending physician of tl1e St. Louis University,
and during that period he had become intimately acquainted
with nearly all the members of the ::\Iissouri Province. He
died in the peace of the Lord on the first day of June. The
foilowing extracts from the editorial notices of some of our
leading journals, show how much he was esteemed by his
fellow citizens :
"By a very large circle of friends and acquaintances the
announcement of the death SJf Dr. M. L. Linton will be read
with surprise and sincere regret. For thirty years a resident of our city, he was thoroughly identified with its interests, its growth and its prosperity. A prominent physician in active practice, a medical professor, and at times~-·.
taking an active part in political matters, Dr. Linton was
constantly thrown in contact with great multitudes of people, and there were but few men in the city more extensively known than was the subject of this sketch."
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"This eminent mat;t was the son of a Methodist preacher.
His father died a few years since in Kentucky. Having to
be the artificer of his own fortune, he left home, and went
to Springfield, Kentucky. There after some time he be-
�Letter frum St. Louis.
175
ome a teacher, and got acquainted with an Irish gentleman, Dr. Poling.
Receiving instructions from him he became a good classical scholar, and got also his first inclin 1tions to Catholicity. The Doctor perceiving that young
Linton was a youth of talent and capacity, enabled him
to prosecute his studies in medicine, so that he got after a
time, a Diploma from Transylvania University, Lexington,
Ky. After a few years practice, aided by his father-in-law
-the Hon. Judge Booker, Springfield-Doctor Linton went
to Paris, and there made himself an adept in his profession.
"About this time he became a Catholic, which provoked
a preacher in Springfield, the Rev. Robert Grundy to come
out in a pamphlet against him. Linton replied with much
ability, wh;ch called forth, a second pamphlet; and this led
to a rejo;nder which satisfied the public that Grundy had
met more than his match in learning and ability. \Ve may
add, that the Doctor signalized himself subsequently on
several occasions in the same line.
"In I 842, induced by the late Doctor Prather, he removed
to St. Louis and became Medical Professor to the St. Louis
University. For nearly thirty years Dr. Linton was visiting Physician at the University, and was in the best practice
in the city whilst health remained.
"Though the Doctor knew what it was to want money in
his youth, yet the nobility of his soul was such, that to the
I
rich he was moderate in his charges, and the working man
he treated gratuitously. \Ve lately heard of a patient of
his who had been treated successfully, and though an economist, yet thought that his Doctor being eminent would
have a heavy charge against him, and therefore took a good
round sum to meet it. He asked the Doctor's demand.
The latter, looking at him, inquired whether he was not
a working man. The patient said he was. "Very well,"
said the Doctor, "when I want the money I shall send to
you for it," asking however neither his name nor. address
\Vho can wonder, then, that crowds attended his obse-
�Letter from St. Louis.
quies at St. Francis Xavier's, to offer up pray~rs for his eternal rest, and that "troops of friends" folio\\ ed the rema:ns
to the grave."
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"During his residence in St. Louis, Dr. Linton was also
engaged in the active practice of his profession, in which
he had marked success. As a teacher he was distinguished
for faithfulness and ability, and as a practitioner for consci. entiousness and great professional skill.
"He was a man of decided opinions and strong com·ictions, and ever maintained them \\·ith boldness and firmness,
but always with courtesy. He wrote largely on professional and other subjects, and was no mean poet when he
chose to unbend himself in that· way. He published a
work on pathology, which is remarked for its accuracy and
originality.
"\Vhile Dr. Linton was master of the learning of his own
profession, he still had time to devote to the study of general literature, politics and religion, in all of which he had
matured views and opinions. He avoided any public participation in affairs of politics or State, except in great
emergencies ; but on one or two extraordinary occasions
when forced into the public service, the State profited
greatly by his ability and large-hearted patriotism. At the
time of his decease, he was in the sixty-fifth year of his
age. He leaves a widow and six sons and daughters to
mourn his loss."
"A great and good man has fallen. Our friend of a
quarter of a century is dead. It has been the writer's
pride that he had such a friend ; a friend with a great head
and a great heart, a noble Christian friend, a generous, selfsacrificing, devoted friend. \Vho does not know Dr. Linton
in this great city? His name has been heard throughout
the valley; the productions of his pen have been read and
. praised across the ocean. He was a philosopher and a
poet.
�l.,. ..
I
I
Dr. Linton ,,·as an invalid for forty years; his body
mO\·ed slowly and frequently required a long rest; his
mind \\·as restless, resistless, quick, vigorous and brilliant;
l1is \\·it was sharp and his repartee unrivalled. Dr. Linton's
limited early advantages were only known to the associates
of his youth.
l1ad by the force of intellect and untiring mental industry become a polished sc1wlar, learned in
the ancient and modern languages. It is unnecessary to
:refa to his distinction as a physician and professor; thousands of the rising and estab1ished medical men of the coun·
try are daily sounding his praises, and his name must pass
beyond the present generation."
He
REsOLUTIOXs
oF
THE
ST.
Loms
l\IEDICAL
SociETY:
"The members of the St. Louis l\Iedical Society, and of
the medical profession of the city, having been called to·
gether to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of their
late distinguished and honored fellow-member, Dr. l\1. L. ·
Linton, whose death is justly regarded as a public, not less
than a professional loss:-Therefore be it resolved:
I.
That in Dr. l\f. L. Linton \Ve acknowledge a man of
high intellectual and moral endowments. That in the
greatness of his intellect he was ever enabled to discern
the path of truth, and in his firmness of purpose to avoid
the devious ways which lead to error.
2.
That over his life there shone the truly Christian
spirit, which humbled all pretensions and pervaded him
with the highest of all the virtues, charity.
3· That we will ever hold his memory dear and exalt
his image to the esteem and affection of the profession.
4· That we tender our sincere sympathies to the £>mily
of the deceased in this their great bereavement, and as a
mark of our respect will attend his funeral in a body.
s. That a copy of these resolutions be enclosed to the
£.1mily, and also that they be spread on the records of the
�Letter jl-om .St. Lo::is.
St. Louis ~Iedical Society, and be published m the daify
papers and medical journa.ls of this city."
The following is the letter above referred to:
~T.
Lm.as, :\Io. :.L.-..v qth, 187::!.
DEAR FATHER O'NEIL:
I wish to say a few things to the Jesuit Fathers of St.
Louis. Since I entered their hosjJitable doors thirty years
ago up to the present hour, 1 have been the recipient of.
their kindness and benefactions. I cannot express my gratitude and therefore shall not attempt it ; I wish merely to
record it. If Almighty God has an heroic and faithful
vanguard in the church militant, it is most surely constituted by the Society of Jesus. The"more I think about this
organization, the more I am convinced that there is something miraculous about it. Contemplate the life of St. Francis Xavier whose canonized relics are religiously guarded
at Goa, who wrought more miracles than the adored manGod Hirr.self and all His Apostles.* This assertion was
made by one of l\Ir. Seward's party in their recent visit to
the shrine of the Saint, and it is the general belief in that
part of India of those of all creeds. This Order checked.
hurled back and forever crippled the confident and advancing hordes of Protestantism. A. l\1. D. G. \\'ho invented this motto, I should like to know?- The grandest
four words, the greatest thought that mortal language.
affords. They embrace Heaven and Earth, they apply
equally to the most august Hierarchs in the presence of
God, and the humblest denizen of our globe,-they include
what is sublimest in eloquence and song, they indicate
what is holiest, worthiest and best in eternity as well as in
* '\Ve suppose, the writer meant this as an expression of the traditionary belief, to which he refers in the next sentence. It is in this sense
that we accept the statement.
EDITOR w. L.
�.
Lclter from St. Louis.
1/9
time. Please do not call this raz•ing; for if it be, then I
ha\·e been a lunatic without lucid intervals for several years.
I am very thankful to God for my long acquaintance-!
may say my intimate association with the Jesuit Fathers.
T-.Iost of them wlwm I first knew, have pr~ceded me to
the gra\·e-tho' much younger than I am now. How often
do I recall and gaze upon their familiar faces, and ask my~
.self why such men should die so soon. I believe in the
Catholic Church-every article of her creed from the divini~
ty of Christ to the infallibility of the Pope. I want a firm
fitith now as the time for my going hence approaches ; I beg
of all the Jesuit Fathers, and the Brothers too, an occasional
prayer. If I live, I shall go to my country residence this
week; and I never expect to leave It, until I am removed to
another residence, which I have provided for myself and
family near the foot of the cross in Calvary. And now, my
dear Fathers and friends, with a heart full of gratitude, yea,
<leep and abiding love for you all, I bid you adieu.
M. L. LINTON.
The fol!ti'Zl'ing lines were written b)' !tim on another occasion:
THE .JESUITS.
DEDICATED TO FATHER DE S)IET.
In e\·ery clime beneath the sun,
Toil their heroic bandsThey brave alike the stormy seas
And wild barbarian lands;
Their tents are spread 'mid arctic snows,
And burning tropic sands.
They mingle with the savage throng;
They build the halls of lore ;
Their temples to the Living God
Are seen on every shore ;
They teach and guide the kings of men,
They teach and guide the poor.
�r8o
Lcttcrfhmz St. Lo:tiJ·;
All truth, all scimce is thl'ir tliem~:-
'IVhatever man can know.
Tht•y ~can the Ftarry l:.ean•ns a hove·
Ami enorything l1elow.
To bring to God a lilllen race
Earth's pleasures they for<';;n.
They H'ek no honors fi·om the worhlEnough that their rccm-tl
Is tillt'tl with brood works done for m:m:
They look for their rrward,
Only as tirek~s champion" of
The glory of the Lord.
Talk of your hertws of nn hour,
Your men of science namcy our Sages, Poets, Orat~!·s
:May human homage claimBut only God's true ~ervants rise
To everlasting Fame.
LINTO~.
�FATHER \\'ENINGER ON THE PACIFI~ COAST.
REV . .\:\D VERY DE.\R FATHER:
P. C.
Having devoted myself, in a particular manner, to the
spiritual interests of the Germans all over the United States,
I had long cherished a wish to extend the sphere of my
labors to the western shores. But I was obliged to defer
the execution of this project from year to year, because the
harvest was not yet ripe for the reaper's sickle. I did not
wish to descend into the burrows and caverns of the goldseeker, where but little notice would have been taken of
the missionary and his work. The image of the Crucified
would h:we seemed strangely out of place in those underground temples of mammon. I concluded, therefore, to
wait until the gold fever would abate somewhat, and congregations would be formed, to which I might give a mission in forma.
The auspicious moment arrived at last. Hardly had the
Pacific Railway been opened, when I was beset with invitations from all sides to come at once to California. The request of the Most Rev. Archbishop Alemany, in particular,
was very pressing. But just then new obstacles of another
kind arose.
It was the year r869. The Vatican Council was about
to open its first memorable sessions, already so fruitful in
mighty results. I had anticipated the movement in favor
of Papal Infallibility, and was intensely busy preparing
three batteries for the ensuing campaign. I had been making ready to publish a work on that question in three different languages in America, Switzerland and France. \Vishing to spread it broadcast over the globe, I had made a
�I
82
Fr. TTI:llillgcr Oll tltc Plll"ijic Co.zst.
present of a copy to each one of the Anglican Bisho(JS, and
I was just then holding a correspondence, by the Atlantic
cable, with the Abbe Bcllet, to make arrangements for th•:
French edition. Under such circumstances, it seen:ed adYisable not to embark in new enterprises far away and to
separate myself still more from Europe, by withdrawing to
the farthest extremity of the American continent. l was
not a little perplexed what course to take. I-Iapp:Iy I was
a religious; what reasoning could not do, the word of my
superior did at once. Father Provincial, to whom I referred
the matter, cut the Gordian knot. "Go to California"" was
his advice. il..nd go I did\.. without any detriment to my activity in Germany and France. Thanks to the electric \\·ires
and to the magic po\\·er of steam, which have annihilated
time and space, I did my share of fighting for th<.~ cause of
Christ and of His Vicar even on the other side of the ocean,
and kept up a constant fire, until the battle was won and
the foe lay gnashing his teeth in harmless fury.
But how was I to go ?-by sea or by land? Such alarming accounts were afloat concerning the pretended perils of
the ne\\' inland route, that it looked at least akin to rashness to risk one's life upon it. It was asserted that even
engineers had refused their services at a salary of $500. o::>
a month, and that the road was already covered with all
sorts of fragments. Moreover, if an accident should occur,
whence was relief to come in those homeleso regions far beyond the Ultima Thule of \Vestern civilization? For a
thousand miles the road is laid over untenanted plains, in
the arid sands of the desert or through the endless passes of
the Rocky Mountains. Again I applied to Father Provincial, to learn what way I was to go. His answer was: "By
Rail". There was a mysterious charm in these words that
smoothed every difficulty away. I had to go to San Francisco, without delay and by Rail.
.
I started from Cincinnati early in July; but I did not
travel through the whole length of the road at once. I halted to say l\Iass every day until we reached Omaha. Tor-
I
l
�Fr. ll·ming:r o;z tile Pacific Cl)(lsf.
I
83
rents of rain \\·ere meam\·hile falling; the trains were behind,
and the rumor prevailed that the Railroad track had been
greatly damaged and partly washed away. Eve11 the priests
at the Cathedral advised me not to expose my life, but to
wait for better weather. I replied, that I was expected in
.San Francisco, that nobody could tell \\·hen the rain would
cc:ase, and that, if others could run a little risk for the sake
of temporal gain, 1 could afford to do as much for higher
motiv-::s. F;nally, I add.::d je;tingly that, after all, I had
rather go to heaven by steam, than take a canal boat and
gee there too late. I have not regretted the step I then took.
For some hundred miles we travelled slowly and almost
fdt our way ; but farther west the weather and the road
gradually became better-much better than I had anticipated. After we had passed the damaged places, the journey
was really delightful. I had not, indeed, credited all the
exaggerated reports of dangers, evidently fabricated by
party spirit, jealousy and hatred; yet I certainly could never
have believed that the new road would be as smooth as if
it had been used for years.
For six hundred miles west of Omaha you are sped along
over the smoothest prairies, boundless as the waters of the
ocean. Nothing but the green sward below, and the blue
sky above, ever meets your gaze; it is like travelling on a
sea of grass. At the same time the ground is slowly rising,
until the cars have reached an elevation of well nigh eight
thousand feet above the level of the sea. Then, in the dim,
hazy d:st:mce, the Rocky :\fountains rise into view, and, like
so many little sand-hills, serve to diversify the monotony of
the interminable table-lands. As you advance, they unfold
their giant forms before you in their full proportion, and
even in July shroud their snow-capped summits in the
clouds. It was the first time I had seen snow-peaks since I
left the Tyrol, twenty-three years ago. I like the sight of
mountains; they are such a beautiful emblem of firmness,
grandeur and contemplative quiet.
�The farther we rolled on, the better I understood ho,,;
the Pacific Rail road could ha,·c be~n built in so short a
time. All the ground from Omaha to the Sierra l\ e\·ada
seems to have been laid out by the hand of nature itself for
the purpose. There is scarcely a creek or run to· crossall i,-, smooth and level as a threshing-floor. \\"here the
mountain ranges begin to traverse the prairies, ra,·ines always open at the proper places to allow the road to pass.
E\·en the great \\'estern Desert presents no barrier to the
enterprise of thrifty man. This blighted spot of earth extends mainly from Salt Lake for many hundred miles tu
the west\\·ard. The soil is alkaline, and the pro:;pcct sad
and cheerless in the extreme. The sterile monotony is interrupted only for a \\·hile as you pass Utah, where the
l\Iormons have changed the face of the earth, and forced
chary nature to pay an um\·illing tribute to their industry.
Like the children of the earth generally, they enjoy here
below the blessings of Esau-the £.tt of the Iand-in \\·hich
they must soon be buried with all their gro,·elling desires
and sensual gratifications. Poo:-, blinded, fanatical men!
How the Catholic heart feels and bleeds for them! 1\evertheless, I had the consolation of receiving some ~I ormons,
who reside in California, into the pale of Holy Church.
On the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada there are some
highly picturesque scenes, and an "observation-car" is attached to the train, for the convenience of such as love to
study nature in all its weird, fantastic grandeur. They certainly have an occasion to gratify this passion to the full.
Here solid ledges of stone-nature's own matchless architecture-tower aloft in massive strength, like columns that
support the bhie canopy above; there a solitary and apparently detached rock stands beetling in chill:ng sublimity
above the rest, and seems ready at every instant to topple
down from its untenable position and crush the p:1s,;in;; cars
below. But, until now, no such accident has been so much
as heard o( Many other interesting objects arrest the trav-
�Fr. TVi:ning,.,. on tltc P,1cijic Coast.
r8j
eller's attention as he d:1rts along heedless of time and d:stance. At one time, he learns that he is crossing the mer·
idian which di\·ides the western continent in.twain, and that
he is midway between the Atlantic and the Pacific; at an·
other time, he is shown an enormous tree with the inscrip·
tion-" rooo miles from Omaha."
I have already mentioned that, even wherethe mountains
cross the plains, passes always open, through which the
tracks are laid. The only exception east of California is at
the so-called "Devil's Gate", where bridges had to be sus·
pended on high, closely lined by mountain-cliffs.. But, when
once you reach the land of gold, nature seems to say to
man "So far, and no farther, shalt thou go." Yet man, conscious of his genius and his strength, when first he heard
these defiant accents, only smiled and by his actions replied:
"I shall, I will, I must go through." He addressed himself
resolutely to his task, and already has he accomplished it.
I like this untiring energy, this indomitable courage,
which stops short of no labor, which is appalled by no
difficulty. It is a refreshing thought that, even in this effeminate age of ours, men can be found to start and carry
out an enterprise so arduous and heroic as the laying of
the Atlantic Cable or the crossing of the Sierra Nevada by
cars. It is a powerful sermon to me; for it proves what
man <::an do, if he is only in earnest. vVhat wonders we
might ourselves achieve, if we did half as much for God, as
worldlings do for pleasur~. money and renown ! In this respect we may learn many a useful lesson from the children
of men, and say to ourselves when we consider their deeds,
as St. Augustin did when he meditated on the lives of the
Saints: "Potuerunt hi et h;e; cur non ego?" They could
do it for e·arth, and why should not I for heaven? They
could do it for evil, and why should not I for good? They
could do it for the devil, and why should not I for God?
For the last three or four hundred miles of the journey,
the cars continually dash along precipices at times a thousand feet deep, or roll over trembling trestle,vork more than
�Je6
Fr. TVI:ning-,·r mt th< Rzcific Coast.
a hundred feet high. In several different places they pass
for many miles under snow-sheds ; but experience has already proved, that even these are not always able to keep
the ro:td sufficiently clear for use in winter. Tho: route lies
through the gold region, to which the first adventurers
came to dig in search of the glittering treasure at the surface of the earth. It is really disgusting to see with what
'greed they have stirred up the country all around, forgetful
of the words of the Holy Ghost: ··Beatus vir qui post aurum non abiit." Strange to say, even the most fortunate of
those first gold-hunters, who now remain in California, are
poor and -only live to verify another saying of the Holy
Ghost: "Pro mensura peccati erit et plagarum modus."
Though the journey from Omaha to Sacramento City
lasts four days and nights, it is anything but fatiguing. One
day's ride on an eastern road is often more annoying. The
cause of this may be, that the cars are furnished with all
the latest improvements and with all appliances that can minister to the comfort of this over-delicate body of ours Besides, the Pacific is the only road that keeps time exactly.
On inquiring in Omaha, when the cars would arrive at Sacramento, I was told "on such a day at 2 o'clock in the afternoon." At 2 o'clock P.M. on that very day, the conductor entered the cars with the cry "Sacramento !" The reason of this exactness is very plain: there are no crossings;
and so the cars keep on at full speed all the way, without
that endless loss of time caused by the hundred and one
connections that you must inevitably make on every other
line.
At Sacramento I changed the cars for a steamer, and arrived that same evening in San Francisco, where I put up
at our college of St. Ignatius on Market Street. Our Fathers there are doing a good work. Though they have no
Parish Church, their sphere of usefulness is none the less
extensive. In fact, I do not recollect having been in any
other church of ours in this country, where I have seen a
�Fr. TVcningcr on tltc Pacijic Coast.
,,
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I
127
greater throng of worshippers than in this. The building"
is about 180 or 200 feet long by 6o or 70 feet wide, with
spacious galleries all around. From 5 o'clock on Sunday
morning until IO o'clock, when the High Mass begins,
one mass follows another in quick succession, and at every
one the church is filled to its utmost capacity. Our church
in Chicago must have presented a similar scene after the
late disastrous conflagration.
The whole property, including the church and the college
building, is now valued at about half a million. Yet the
Fathers are desirous to sell the place and buy a cheaper
plot of ground in another quarter of the city. This would
enable them to start both church and college on a grander
scale, and at the same time clear them of the debt with
which they are still encumbered. But circumstances, over
which they have no control, prevent them from carrying
out this plan at present.
The city of San Francisco itself far surpassed all my expectations. I had pictured to myself a motley collection
of houses, loosely spread out over a sandy bottom, with a
sparse population like that of Chicago along lake Michigan
some years ago. But this is by no means the case. The
old quarter of the city is built on very uneven ground; indeed some portions of it climb over such enormous hills,
that it is a simple impossibility for heavily-laden wagons
to scale the streets. The streets are well paved, and cars
are constantly running in every direction. Indeed they are
more systematically connected in San Francisco than anywhere else except in Philadelphia. Elegant buildings are
springing up on all sides, and every thoroughfare is thronged
with a restless crowd rushing wildly to and fro on business. Do what you will, you must submit to be borne
along by the current. Unless you are very firm of limb,
you are in momentary danger of losing your foothold and
of being landed rather unpleasantly upon the uncushioned
sidewalk. The very appearance of the people struck me
�.Fr. Peter Kolll)'.
~as singular. In other cities of the Union the looks of men
tell of their love of money. but in San Francisco every trace
of the countenance seems to cry: "gold l gold l gold l honestly or dishonestly ; for, gold must I havt:, though the
demon of gold himself should presently take me in clnrge
and check my baggage for his own country."
In my next, I purpose gi\·ing a sketch of my missionary
movements in this quarter of the globe.
Respectfully &c.
F.
x:
\VEX!XGER,
S.
J.
AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE 0 F FATHER
· PETER KENNY.
The memory of Father Peter Kenny, whose rare virtue
the incident given below so touchingly portrays, is fondly
cherished by the Jesuits of Ireland and Maryland.-\Vhen
the Brief of Suppression reached Ireland, it found the Society in that persecuted land poor in earthly goods, but
rich in zeal for souls and charity to their neighbor. To
use the words of Cretineau-Joly, "making common capital
of their poverty, the members of the suppressed order generously worked the field committed to their zeal and awaited
better days." Father Richard Callaghan, an old missionary
in the Philippines, whose hands and tongue bore the scars
of torture undergone for the faith, directed the secularized
Jesuits. Later on, about the year 1807, these holy men
began to make efforts for the restoration of the Society in
Ireland, .but the subjects received were, for want of opportunities at home, sent abroad to make the necessary studies.
�I
Fr. Pdcr f(olllJ'.
The death of Father Callaghan in I807 and that of Father
Thomas Betagh in I 8 l,l broke the last link that bound the
new subjects to the old Society.
Father Kenny, who succeeded Father Betagh in November r 81 I, took up the traditions of the venerable men who
had gone to their reward, and became in fact the founder
of the restored 111ission in Ireland. Under his auspices, a
college was opened, in I 814, at Clongowes \Vood in the
county of Kildare, and, later on, a Seminary at Tullabeg in
King's County.
Twice, once in rSrg and again in I8zg, Father Kenny came
as Visitor to the Maryland Province. After his return to
Irdand, he went to Rome in I 833 as Procurator for his province, aud died in the Eternal City that same year.
The venerable Father Me Elroy, to whose interest in our
periodical we are indebted for the subjoined incident, endorses it in the following terms:
"The following was written many years ago, at my request, by a Sister of Charity at Mt. St. Vincent's Convent,
near Yonkers, N. Y. This Sister (Cecilia), remembers to
have seen Fr. Kenny in Dublin, when she was quite young,
but the incident subjoined she learned from her mother.
"One morning, many years ago, a large concourse of
people had assembled in and around the Jesuits' Church,
Gardiner St., Dublin. The most devout were occupied with
their prayers, while all were in expectation of a fine sermon
from the well-known and eloquent Dr. Kenny.
His name
had been pretty freely passed from mouth to mouth outside
the church door, and his merits pretty freely discussed; but
no one ever dreamed of the display of virtue, great as it is
rare, which they were to witness in Dr. Kenny.
A! length the Holy Sacrifice was begun, and curiosity
was for a while forgotten in devotion, when the preacher
made his appearance and commenced as follows : "\Vho is
this great Dr. Kenny? A moment's attention, my beloved
brethren, and I shall inform you. He was simply a poor
�Fr. Peter Kom_v.
barefooted Irish boy, the only son of a poor widow who
lived in a cellar on 1\Iichael's hill, and sold turf. The poor
old widow sent her boy to school, but often found him during study hours in the street playing ball or marbles with
boys of his own age. Sometimes the poor woman would
follow him all the way to school :-but this she couid not
do every day, so that he was much of his time in the street.
On one occasion his play was suddenly interrupted by the
appearance of his mother with a rod in her ha.ad, ready to
make him feel the effects of it: of course the boy ran with
all possible· speed, and the poor woman would soon have
lost sight ~f him had he not been arrested by venerable
Father Betagh, who held him till the poor woman reached
the spot. Then Father Betagh accosted her: "My good
woman, what has the boy done?" "Your reverence" replied
·she, "he has my heart nearly broke. I am trying to pay
two pence a week out of my hard earnings to keep him to
school, and here he is, day after day, idling in the streets" ·
"Don't touch the boy", said the good old priest. Here the
poor. woman wept, exclaiming: "He'll break my heart!"
"Not so," replied Father Betagh, ''not so! Bring him to
me to-morrow at I I o'clock and I shall see what can be
done with him".
The next day at the appointed hour he was received
with more than fatherly affection into the house of Father
Betagh. Here he was sent every day to the free school at
Sts. Michael and John's, and after school, was employed in
cleaning the knives and blacking boots. After a time he
was sent to a Latin school by the same kind Father Betagh,
was educated for the church, and is to-day a priest here in
this pulpit.
And this is the great Dr. Kenny".
�A FAVOR OF OUR BLESSED LADY.
I
I
By not a few, it was thought a good presage for the future of our periodical, that the first and second issues
!';hould each coutain a notice of miraculous effects wrought
by the use of the \Vater of Lourdes. The remarkable favors conferred on two members of our own community of
\Voodstock would lead us to entertain the consoling belief,
that Our Lady of Lourdes has received with benignant love
the poor efforts which we have made to increase the honor
of her new shrine. It is not for ,us to chancterize the two
occurrences given below as miracles,; but so far removed
are they from the ordinary course of nature, that we prefer
to sin rather on the side of credulity, than by timid silence
to fail in manifesting the gratitude which thrilled the whole
community at the time these favors were bestowed.
On May 23rd, one of the coadjutor brothers, who had
been working all morning in the kitchen, left it about 12M.
to prepare for Examen and Dinner. He did not make his
appearance at table however, and after the visit to the
Blessed Sacrament, he was found lying in a speechless and
unconscious condition on the floor of the Brothers' Ascetory. The Infirmarian was called and, as soon as possible,
medical aid ·from the village was in attendance. The Physician could not determine the nature of the attack, but
thought prudent to treat the sufferer for apoplexy, although
many of the usual symptoms were wanting. Bleeding was
first resorted to, and quite a quantity of blood was taken
from the patient without effecting any apparent change in
his condition. Numerous applications of strong mustard
plasters followed, but failed to relieve the unconscious sufferer. More violent remedies were then tried. A strong
�A fa<'or of Our B!cssd Lad)'.
electric current from a powerful battery was induct:::l in the
body of the patient with no better results. As the last
means, a slight quantity of croton oil was administered,
with a view of producing a change in the internal system,
and at the same time a powerful fly-blister was appl:cd
behind the ear. No desired change resulted fro:n thee
efforts of the Physician and he was obliged to acknowledge
his inability to do any thing more for the patient. From
about halfpast twelve o'clock, when the stroke must have
fallen upon him, until nearly nine P. l\I., the brother remained SP._eechless and unconscious. \Vhen all means used
to restore I1im had failed, a few attendants watched bes:de
him for the first gleam of consciousness, that he might prepare for death, which seemed inevitable.
But two days previou~ly, some new Professors for the
Scholasticate had arrived, bringing with them, at the request of our Rev. F. Rector, some water from the Grotto
of Lourdes. Strangely enough, during the many hours of
our brother's illness, the presence of this miraculous water
had_ escaped the remembrance of every one. About supper time the thought of making an application of this farfamed water occurred to one of the community. During
the evening recreation the original package containing it
was opened, and R. F. Rector took .a small portion .to the
bed-side of the unconscious man. Kneeling, he recited
with the attendants a short prayer to Our Lady, and then
forced into the mouth of the brother a few drops of the
water. lnstant~y the sick man recovered sense and speech.
The Rector asked him how he felt, and he answered that
he felt quite well ; at the same time he sat up in the bed
and seemed ready to rise and walk about as usual. By the
direction of the Superior he composed hi!J1self to sleep for
the night, and, excepting the natural weakness consequent
on the loss of blood and the violence of the other remedies
used, _he suffered no further from his severe attack
As we premised, it is not our province to pronounce authoritatively the supernatural character of this happy
�A faz·or
cJ
Oz. r Ric.< sal
La1~J1.
d1ange; but the in~tantaneous re:>toration of one who had
lain unconscious for hours, under the most severe remedies,
cannot fail to excite languid faith and awaken gratitude to
the 1\Iother of God, who seems to have drawn so near us.
Such at least was the effect produced in our community.
After l\Iass on the following morning, R. F. Rector announced to the community the circumsta11ces of the singular f..wor which had been accorded to our brother, and all
united in reciting in thanksgiving the Litany of the B. V.
Mary.
Three weeks later, the same brother was again stricken
with a slight attack of like nature, and the attendants
taught by the experience of the previous case. made another application of the \Vater of Lourdes, and relief instantly followed.
\Vith a few lines respecting still another favor attributable, "·e are convinced, to the use of this same miraculous
water, we close this feeble tribute of gratitude to the l\Tother of God for the merciful interposition wherewith she has
blessed our com·nunity, trusting tlnt devotion and love
towards Our dear Lady may be renewed in all hearts.
One night during the early part of June, one of the
scholastics was seized with violent pains in the groin and
about the kidneys. The infirmarian was called and applied
some remedies which f..<iled to give any relie£ The pain
continued unabated for three hours, when some \Vater of
Lourdes was applied and the ce.-;sation of the suffering was
instantaneous. It returned no more;· and in the course of
the day the scholastic w.1s en::tbled to resume his ordinary
duties.
�THE LATE FATHER MALDONADO.
A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER.
The amiable and devoted life of Father .Maldonado, whose
last days were spent in \Voodstnck College, is so closely·
connected with the interests and the destinies of the Society in otlfer places, that we should be wanting in charity
towards our brethren at a distance, did we not give such
expression to our sympathy with them, as our own feelings
will allow, while· the roses that we have scattered on his
grave are not yet withered. France and Italy, England and
America have shared with his native Spain the pleasure of
his presence; he still remains embalmed in the hearts of
his friends, and his memory only grows sweeter with time.
\Ve feel called upon to give an account of the charge which
we have held in trust these three years, to touch in passing
upon the principal events of his humble yet instructive
career, and in particular to chronicle the circumstances of
his happy departure, for our mutual comfort and edification.
Father Charles 1\I. Maldonado was born at Quintanar
de Ia Orden, a village of La Mancha, in Spain, on the 2 I st
of September, I 8 I 6. A few days after his birth, his pious
parents took him to Valencia, their usual place of residen.ce, where they implanted in his infant heart the first
germs of virtue, destined soon to produce abundant fruits.
Yielding to the attractions of grace, which called him to the
Society, he fi)rsook his f.<ther's house at the early age of
fifteen, and set out for Madrid, where he was admitted into
the Noyitiate on the 27th of October, I831.
�Fatltcr MaldoNado.
195.
In the very cradle of his religious life he was rudely
rocked by the hand of persecution, and made to taste the
bitter cup of exile for the love of justice. In I 834, he escaped the fate of some of the Jesuits, who were killed by
the mob in our College of St. Isidore, Madrid, during one
of the many revolutionary movements subsequent to the
death of Ferdinand VII. And when, after eighteen months '
of incessant troubles and vexations, the Jesuits were finally
expelled from the kingdom, young Maldonado, then a student of Rhetoric, was sent by his superiors to Naples.
After studying Philosophy there for two years and teaching
the Mathematics for four, he commenced his course of
Theology. In September, 1845, he was raised to the holy
priesthood, and a year later he passed his examination ad
gradum.
Just then the Rt. Rev. Archbishop Hughes, of New
York, had erected the Ecclesiastical Seminary of St. J oseph's, at Fordham, and placed it under the direction of the
Society. The Jesuits applied to Europe for Professors; and,
on the 14th of December, 1846, Father Maldonado arrived
in answer to their request to fill the chair of Dogmatic
Theology. In November, 1850, he went to Mexico in the
interest of the mission of New York and Canada, and after
his return, January 6th, 1852, he entered upon his third
year of probation at. Frederick, Maryland. But he remained there only till the following August, when he
resumed his duties of Professor at Fordham.
In June, 1853, the Society was allowed to reenter the land
of Ignatius, and, in October, ~'ather Maldonado, who had
been called home, left this country to teach Theology in
the College of Loyola. In the course of a single year, the
Society in Spain had largely recruited its decimated ranks
by new enlistments; and, as the government would allow
no other house but that of Loyola in the whole kingdom,
the Scholastics were sent to the Seminary of Laval, in
France. Father Maldonado accompanied them in his capacity of Professor, and by his genial manners beguiled
�Fat!tcr Afa!dol!atfo.
tht! hours of their exile. During the last vacation which
he spent in France, he was appointed superior at the Yilla,
placed at the di!'po~al of the Society by Madame Ducoudray, \\ho~e n:artped 'en \\as thtn hirr.~elf a ~cholastic,
and acted as minister. As usual, Father l\laldonado endeared himself to all hearts, and received the thanks of his
youthful community in the form of a neatly-conceived little French poem.
In 1857, at the request of Bishop La Puente (afterwards
Cardinal Archbishop of Burgos), the Jes\Jits took charge of
the Centra! Seminary in Salamanca, whither Father l\Ialdonado now-temo\·ed with his Spanish Scholastics, and where
he filled, for eleven years, the same chair of Theology once
so famous for the learning of Suarez and other lights of the
old Society. At the end of the first three years, he was also
made Rector of the Seminary, and, besides continuing ·to
teach his class, assumed the government of a very large
community.
In the fall of I 868, he went to Rome as Procurator
of tl~e Spanish Jesuits-never more to return to the land of
his birth. The revolutionists, who were again up in arms,
seized the reins of government; and the Jesuits, always the first victims of rebellion, were outlawed on the soil
of Spain. Father l\Ialdonado, once more an exile, sojourned a few months in France and England, in the hope
of being assigned to some quiet and secluded place, where
he might continue teaching or studying, and prepare his
copious theological writings for the press. Providence had
already prepared this place for him. \Voodstock College
was about to open its classes, and judged itself only too
happy in securing the services of such a theologian.
Accordingly Father Maldonado landed a second time on
our shores, and spent three happy years in our midst-f..1r
removed from the storms and uphcavings of the old world,
and w~ited upon by the affection of all who knew him.
He was devotedly attached to his new home, and it was
�.Fatlzcr Jl,faldonado.
1
197
only at the repeated instances of his superiors, that he consented, in the beginning of last July, to make a short trip
to New York. He was received by his former friends
there with such cordiality, that he seemed actually to have
forgotten the settled habits of a life-time. At home, he
left his room but seldom, and was exceedingly careful not
to expose himself to the summer sun or become overheated. In New York, he often spent' a great portion of
the day in the sun, and by his presence encouraged the innocent diversions of the Scholastics.
He returned to \Voodstock on Friday, the 19th of July,
apparently in better health and spirits than ever ; but on
Saturday night, he was taken with a slight bilious attack,
which continued over Sunday and Monday withqut any
alarming symptoms. The attending physician of the house
visited him, and some of the Scholastics waited on him day
and night, more from affection than from necessity. On
l\Ionday night, however, the features of the disease began
suddenly to change. Inflammation and mortification of the
bowels set in, and an icy coldness came over his extremities. Early on Tuesday morning, two messengers were
despatched to Baltimore for a second physician, who arrived towards evening, and agreed with the other that,
unless the sick man rallied during the night, there was no
hope.-The bell that roused us from our slumbers next
morning, also tolled the "De profundis" for his repose.
The strongest stimulants had f:<iled to produce any effect,
and towards midnight it had become painfully evident
that nature must soon give way. Rev. Father Rector was
at his side, and with difficulty succeeded in persuading him
that his dissolution was so near at hand. He felt the same
strength and vigor of mind as ever, and could not believe
that this was death. He wished to \~ait till the following
day to prepare himself the better for the last visit of his
Lord.
\Vhen that was refused, he asked for at least
one hour to make ready for confession. But, as his last
�198
Fat!tcr ·liia!donado.
moments were fast approaching, it was not deemed advisable to grant even so much. He acquiesced, made his
preparation immediately, and after confessing with the
greatest edification to Father Rector himself, requested
that, when he would have died, his writings might be
burned. ·
He became, at once, unusually gay and cheerful, and
even indulged .in some of his accustomed, innocent pleasantry with the assistants who were arranging his room for
the administration of the last sacraments. At one o'clock,
A.M., he received the Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction.
He answered distinctly to all the prayers of the Church,
and tried, though unsuccessfully, to make the sign of the
cross. . After this he spoke but little more to men. Heappeared to be absorbed in sweet communion with God andresigned to the divine will. At five minutes of four, he desired
to be raised up in bed ; but a film covered his eyes immediately, and he lost his sight. His assistants, who hCtd
been supporting him, replaced his head. upon the pillow,
and one of them remarked: "You are going, Father, and
happily too-during the Novena to St. Ignatius." "That is
true," replied he, smiling, and fell calmly to rest. There
was no agony, no struggle. The same placid look as always upon his countenance; but before the recommendation of the departing was finished, his soul had returned to
its maker,-and Father Maldonado was no more. "Obdormivit in domino." It was four o'clock, A. M., and one
of the Father,;, who was just preparing to say mass for his
recovery, changed his vestments to black, and offered the
Holy Sacrifice for the repose of his soul.
Could he have chosen his own death, it had been such
as this. He had always shuddered at the thought of
death; and it came so gently that he hardly felt its touch.
He was afraid of ever incommoding his brethren in anything; and he passed away frcm among them so noiselessly and stealthily, that they were scarcely aware of it.
He was away from home: yet some of his own country-
�Fatlzcr llfaldonado.
199
men were present to solace him in his last moments ; and a
Father, in whom above all others he confided, and whom a
life-long acquaintance had linked to him in holy friendship, was near to administer the last consolations of religion.
Very Rev. Father Provincial arrived towards evening,
and himself performed the last rites after mass on the following day, which was the feast of St. James, the Apostle
and patron of Spain. The Fathers and Scholastics accompanied the venerated remains in surplices, and laid them to
rest in the shade of our silent groves, with feelings which
only they can share or fully appreciate who knew Father
Maldonado intimately during life.
"Hidden with Christ in God," his life was for us all a
schuol of those virtues which are often the most difficult to
learn. He was, in many respects, the counterpart of Venerable Bede. The same studious industry, the same untiring devotedness as a guide throughout a laborious and
bewildering task, the same strong, unconquerable faith, the
same humility united to a vast erudition, the same unruffled serenity and generous fervor, the same harmonious
blending of religious virtues with an intense, unquenchable
thirst for knowledge, were distinguishing characteristics
of the Jesuit Theologian in the nineteenth century, as well
as of the Benedictine monk in the seventh.
Father Maldonado plunged into Theology with a holy,
intelligent ardor. Study had grown into a sort ofpassion
with him. He pursued it almost as much from pleasure as
from duty, and made it his daily food and drink. He loved
to hold a long, familiar converse with the greatest minds of
the past. In the beginning of vacation, he would surround
himself with the learned tomes of such authors as had
written best on the matter of the next year's treatise; and,
closeted in his room, he would draw from them streams of
knowledge, in order to impart to us from his own fulness
during the ensuing session. Suarez was his favorite author.
He was wont to call him "eximius," · or "egregius noster,:·
and never departed from him without great diffidence or
�200
Fat!zer 1lfa!donado.
without a short apology. Though he had taught theology for a quarter of a century, and had every lecture written out with the greatest care, he would, year after y .!ar, go
over the same ground again, revising and correcting, adding and improving with the fervor of a beginner. During
the eight years that he was Rector at Salamanca, where
every one was at liberty to trespass on his leisure moments,
and even on his night's rest, he had set· apart a full hour
just before class, for the immediate preparation of his lecture; and, during that time only, there was no access to his
room.
He had analyzed and sifted, divided and subdivided every subject, perhaps with almost too great minuteness. He
loved to multiply his arguments and to pile them on one
another, until from their number alone they became truly
overwhelming. He had a magic power of riveting the attention of his hearers; when he spoke, interest rarely flagged.
He knew how to clothe even the staidest reasoning in the
gayest and most attractive robes of style. His pupils were
charmed, even when they found it difficult to follow him in
his flights. His eyes, his hands, his whole person spoke.
If the abstruseness of the matter were calculated to cause
discouragement, a look at him was sufficient to quicken the
drooping spirit.
At times he would set aside the logical severity of formal argpment, and allow his mind and heart to overflow
with those thoughts and emotions, which the subject matter naturally called forth. On such occasions, he was more
than ever admirable. It was not merely a theological lecture that he was giving us ; it was more, it was an exhortation too, and it taught us practically what he insisted on
very often-how to turn to account the teachings of dogmatic Theology in moral sermons to the people. It was
his faith that spoke to us; and his faith was really sublime.·
It showed itself in all his theological views. He never
gave quarter to an opinion that was ever so little suspected
or hazardous. He had a singular veneration for the teach-
�Fatltcr Maldonado.
20I
ings of the Fat hers, and would seldom, if ever, allow that any
of them had differed, in a single point, from the received opinions of the schools. E\·en arguments from reason were
generally backed by the authority of some ancient ecclesiastical writer, and so were informed with an element of ·
tradition and faith. No one was more cautious than he to
keep reason within its own sphere. He respected it, but
only as the handmaid ,of revelation, who must guard
against extolling herself above her mistress. He felt how
liable the human intellect is to go astray, and drew from
his studies and acquirements perpetual lessons of humility.
He \\·as commonly reputed one of the most learned
theologians of Spain ; he was held in the highest esteem
by some of the dignitaries of his own country. and the
many prelates and other eminent men who had attended
his lectures ; he was reccommended to the special consideration of the superiors in this country by Father General himself, and had been offered, a little before his
death, to choose any place of residence he might wish,
in order to prepare his theological works for immediate publication. Yet he alone seemed to be ignorant
of his own merits ; he loved to bury himself in obscurity
and to be forgotten. He had a holy horror for superiorships ; and one of the reasons for which he tried to escape
to the shades of \Voodstock, was the fear which he had of
being made Provincial, had he remained in Europe after
finishing his mission as Procurator of the Province of Castile.
He found his delight in the company of the young, and,
with charming simplicity, descended to their level.
He was the very type of gentleness and .charity. No
harsh word or unkind remark was ever heard to cross his
lips. He never dealt severely, even with an antagonist in
the arena of Philosophy and Theology, unless the theories
advanced were found to conflict with the utterances of faith
or the plainest principles of reason. He inculcated nothing
so earnestly and repeatedly on us as moderation of views,
and taught us to hesitate before pronouncing dogmatically
�202
Father 1lfa!donado.
upon a question still open in the schools, or hastily condemning the opinions of others as pernicious and unsound.
Yet it certainly was not indecision or \~·ant of firmness
that made him so extremely tolerant and forbearing; for
nothing was more marked and defined in him than his Spanish strength of character. It was his exquisite sensibility
which taught him to respect the feelings and condescend
to the weaknesses of others. It was his high-minded gentility of manner which accommodated itself to their inclinations
and way of thinking. It was his child-like simplicity and
guileless h.~art which made him a universal favorite.
. \Ve have witnessed the happy close of his career-the
soft, cloudless sunset of a glorious day. He still retained
the light, elastic step, the innocent playfulness and the bouyant spirit of youth, chastened and mellowed by years.
He had the key to the heart; he could enter it at pleasure
and hold it captive to his influence. All looked upon him
as a father and consoler, to whom they would not
appeal in vain for advice and comfort; and, when he
exchanged this world for a better one, they grieved at his
loss with an affection which was, perhaps, too nat~1ral, and,
therefore, all the harder to control. More than one have
burst into tears at the thought of him-have stood looking
into his vacant room-have knocked through abstraction
at his door, as though he were still within-or gazed up at
the open window, from which he used to smile approval on
those laboring in the flower-garden below.
His disappearance from among us seems like a dream ;
and it will be long before we have fully waked up to the
reality. He is no longer in our midst: but his memory
will always remain fresh among us and serve to remind us
of what is expected from the Jesuit. For Father Maldonado was eminently the child of the Society. \Vhat he
knew of science, of the world and of men, he had learned
from· her. He judged everything by her standard, viewed
everything in her light. He personally felt her reverses, rejoiced at her successes, and, forgetful of self, labored in-
�f
!
Fatlter 0/h,aint and !tis Companions.
203
det:>tigably and quietly in her cause. She can never forget
him, becmse a mother cannot forget the child of her
bosom. It shall be our aim to solace her in her affliction,
as best we may, by following at least from afar in the footprints which he has left, and reproducing in ourselves some
of the many noble qu.alities which we have long since
learned to admire in him. "In memoria aeterna erit justus."
FATHER OLIVAINT AND HIS COMPANIONS ..
EXTRACTS FHOJ\1 A LErl'EH OF REV. FATHER PEULTIER.
Lm•al, :June Stlt, I 872.
I was. prevented by a press of duties from writing to you
when our Italian fathers were leaving for America; but I
suppose you received the promise which I now fulfil and
the souvenirs which I entrusted to one of them for you-I
mean the photograph and relic of l'ere Olivaint. I hope
you will appreciate them ; they are very pre!=ious, and late
occurrences have made them doubly so. Of course you
understand me to refer to the miracles * which have been
wrought through the intercession of our five martyred
brethren, and particularly of Pere Olivaint. They are very
remarkable-so remarkable indeed that two or three of
them seemed to absorb the entire attention of the Paris
press, and were the occasion of many a wordy conflict between the Catholic and free-thinking journals. I think I
have told you of the first of them; the instantaneous cure
*We wish to apply the word miracle under the restrictions placed
upon the use of this term by Pope Urban VIII.
�204
rather O!h·aint and !tis Compmzions.
of a young persol'l whom the physicians declared to be bc.yond hope of recovery. \Vhile the coffins of the martyrs
were being transferred from the burial-place to our Church
in the Rue de St:vres, she asked her friends to carry her to
that of Pere Olivaint. · They accec,ied to her request, and
when in the court in front of the Church she was laid upon the coffin, and immediately rose from it in perfect health t ·
This cure was witnessed by a large number of persons who
assisted at the transfer; it caused a profound sensation
throughout Paris, and has made the Mortuary Chapel a
constant resort of pious pilgrims.
A few ~days ago, on the 28th of May I think, another
miracle occurred to bother the heads of M. Renan and his
brethren. The subject this time was a boy of ten, afflicted
with a nervous affection which made him unable to walk
or even to stand, and· deprived him of sight and hearing.
Medical and surgical aid was unavailing, and his life was
despaired o£ In this extremity, the thought of imploring
the intercession of our fathers occurred to some one, and a
N oyena of prayers and masses was begun accordi!).gly. On
Sunday, May 28th, little Andrew expressed a desire to
assist at the Mass to be said for his recovery. In vain his
,friends objected that he was tempting God, that at least he
should \vait for the last day of the Novena, etc.; they could
not resist his pleadings, and carried him to our Church where
he was laid on two chairs before the altar and propped up
with cushions. His brother; two years older than himself,
served the Mass, at which the whole family assisted and
which was celebrated by a priest who was either a relative
or a friend of the family. When the priest ascended the altar after the Confiteor, kissed the altar stone and said the
words, Oramus te, Domine, per merita sanctorum tuorum quorum rc!iquiae /zic suut, etc., he felt a strange commotion within himself and knew that a miracle was being wrought.
The bpy too felt that an unusual change had taken place in
him, and that his legs were perfectly freed and cured. Still
doubting and hesitating he waited a few minutes longer,
0
�Fat!tcr Olh•aint and !tis Companions.
205
but at the Gospel he summoned courage to throw off the
covering from his limbs and stood upright. You may imagine the astonishment and emotion of his parents. They'
extended their arms to support him, but he smilingly refused their assistance and told them that he was cured.
Throughout the remainder of the Mass he followed the
movements of the Congregation, prostrating at the Elevation, standing up, kneeling, etc. Every trace of his disease
had disappeared. He heard a mass of thanksgiving, and
at its conclusion, disengaging himself from the arms of his
parents who wer..: still doubting and wished to support him,
he ran out to the street and absolutely refused to return
home in any conveyance. He walked home, spent the rest
of the day in frolicking and running about in the house and
gardens, and when the members of his family or friends,
who had been attracted by the report of the cure, reproached
him with imprudence, he answered them; "Take ~are, if you
do not believe, Pere Olivaint may send my. sickness 'back
.
agam. "
Here is another interesting fact connected with the same
child. The little fellow was not content with being the recipient of supernatural favors himself, he must obtain them
for others; and so he prevailed upon some friends of the
family who reside at Carpentras and who doubted the efficacy of our father's intercession, to select from among the
patients of a hospital one whose case should be pronounced
hopeless by the doctors. "Make a Novena with him," said
he, "and you will see."-They accordingly visited the sick
· man together with a number of physicians from the faculty
of Montpellier, and without telling them the reason why,
obtained from them a written attestation of the impossibility of the man's recovery. Then they began the Novena,
and on the ninth day the patient was cured !
Still another miracle for the glory of the martyrs. A religious of Abbeville in the diocese of Amiens, was told by
her medical attendant to prepare for death, and her dissolution was expected daily. But one morning, so she relates,
I
l
�2o6
Fat!ter Oli••aint and Ius Companions.
Pere Olivaint appeared to her together with another father
whose brow was encircled by a halo and who carried in his
·hand the martyr's palm. Pere Olivaint said to her, " l\Iy
daughter, make a Novena and at four o'clock on the afternoon of the last day you shall be cured." His miracles
were not known to the Community, and, as you may suppose, her account was not credited, and the apparition was
attributed to the diseased imagination of the poor religious.
Nevertheless they began the Novena, though without any
great hopes of success. On the' seventh day the doctor declared that she was failing rapidly and on the ninth she received the ..Iast sacraments. At three o'clock in the afternoon she called for her habit, rose from her bed, and went
with the Community to return thanksgiving to God and
Pere Olivaint!
Since I am speaking of Pcre Olivaint I may tell you that
it is rumored that Father Boero, Postulator for the Saints
· and· Blessed of the Society, will soon corr.e to Paris to inquire into the matter. \Vho knows but we may one day
celebrate the feast of Blessed Peter and !tis Companions.
D. 0. M.
�I
.,
��
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Woodstock Letters
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Jesuit Archives & Research Center
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JA-Woodstock
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The Woodstock Letters were a publication of the Society of Jesus from 1872 until 1969. They were named after Woodstock College, the Jesuit seminary in Maryland where they were published. Written almost entirely by Jesuits, and originally intended to be read only by Jesuits, the Letters were "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus in North and South America." They include historical articles, updates on work being done by the Jesuits, eyewitness accounts of historic events, book reviews, obituaries, enrollment statistics for Jesuit schools, and various other items of interest to the Society. The writings of many renowned Jesuit scholars and missionaries appeared in the Woodstock Letters, including Pedro Arrupe, Pierre-Jean de Smet, Avery Dulles, Daniel Lord, Walter Hill, John Courtney Murray, Walter Ong, and Gustave Weigel. They provide an invaluable record of the work done by American Jesuits throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries.
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2017-2
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1872-1969
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021157.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Catholic Church--Periodicals</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004995.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--20th century</a>
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Woodstock Letters - Volume 1 (1872)
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<a href="https://lccn.loc.gov/n81134877" target="_blank">Woodstock College (Woodstock, Md.)</a>
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021157.html" target="_blank">Catholic Church--Periodicals.</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004995.html" target="_blank">Jesuits--History--20th century</a>
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1872 edition of the Woodstock Letters, "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus."
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Jesuit Archives: Central United States
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lat
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Text
A. M. D. G.
WOODSTOCK LETTERS,
I'
A RECORD
Of Cu.J•rent Events and ITistorical "-Yotes connected with
the College.~ aml ~llissiow~ of' tile Soc. of Jesw~
in North and South America,
·;.··
VOL. II.
WOODSTOCK COLLEGE,
1873.
Prill ted for priz,ate circu!ati;~t- oJt/y.
�,.
,•'
�CONTENTS.
PAGE
Father \Yhite'H Helation.-Scttlement in )Iarylaml
1
Annals of St ..Joseph's Church, Philadelphia
14,' t'.'i, 172
Fr. \Yeningcr on the Pacific Coast
H1, 218
\Yomlstock.--Its Surroundings and AsHO<"iations
41
Coeur d'Alene )fission, I<lnho.-Letter frnm Fr. Catal:lo
n7
Fr. )[ichael O'Connor
.'i!l
\Yard's Island, N. Y.-Lcttcr from Fr. J. Prnchcn~ky
70
St. Francis Xavier's Church, Cincinnati, Ohio
7G
Death of )Ir ..J. )loynihnn
80
New York and Canada )Iission.-Historical Sketch
I 09, 18!1
The Apostleship of Prayer
121i
)lissioilary Life
128
BraziL-Letter of Fr. Cybeo
133
Chinamen iu America.-Extmct from a Letter of Fr.
Weninger
142
Missions in Pennsylvania and Delaware
14G
New Catholic Stations in Kansas.-From Letters of Father
Ponziglione
14!J
A Visit to the Kootenais.-Extract of a letter of Father
U. Grassi to Father Valente .
157
China.-Nankin )lission.-Fr. Pfister to Fr. Valente
161
De Statu Causarum Servorum Dei, Soc. Jesu
1GS
Current Items
166
)Iiraculous Picture of St. Francis Xavier
A Visit to Chicago
169
20.5
BraziL-Mission of Fortaleza-From a Letter of Fr. Onorati
212
Feast of the S. Heart of Jesus· at Woodstock
231
-.
Churchville, Berks Co., Pa.-Baptism of a Protestant
Minister
242
Obituary
24.'3
�'
�.WOODSTOCK LETTERS.
VOL. II., No. r.
FATHER WHITE'S RELATION.
SETTLEMENT IN MARYLAND.
Having now arrived at the wished-for country, we appointed names as occasion served. And, indeed, the point
which is at the south we consecrated under the title of St.
Gregory ; designating the northern point, we consecrated it
to St. Michael, in honor of all the angels. A larger or more
beautiful river I have never seen. The Thames, compared
with it, can scarcely be considered a rivulet. It is not rendered impure by marshes, but on each bank of solid earth
rise beautiful groves of trees, not choked up with. an undergrowth of brambles and bushes, but as if laid out by the
Jam optata potiti regione, nomina pro re nata distribuebamus. Et quidem promontorium quod est ad austrum titulo S. Gregorii consecravimus,
aquilonare S. l'\Iichaeli in honorem omnium angelorum indigitantes. l'\fajus jucundiusve tlumen aspexi nunquam. Thamesis illi comparatus vix
rivulus videri potest. Nullis inficitur paludibus, sed solida utrinque
terra assurgunt decentes arborum silvae, non clausae vepretis, vel subnascentibus surculis, sed quasi manu laxa consitae ut libcre quadrigam
�2
Father
~Vhite's
Rdatiott.
hand, in a manner so open, that you might freely drive a
four horse chariot in the midst of the trees.
At the very mouth of the river we beheld the natives
armed. That night fires were kindled through the whole
region, and since so large· a ship had never been seen by
them, messengers were sent every where to announce, "that
a canoe as large as an island had brought as many men as
there were trees in the forests.'' vVe proceeded, however,
to the Heron Islands, so called from the immense flocks,
of birds of this kind. The first which presented itself, we
called St. Clement's; the second, St. Catharine's; the third,
St. Cecilia-,s. vVe landed first at St. Clement's, to which
there is no access except by fording, because of the shelving nature of the shore. Here the young women, who
had landed for the purpose of washing, were nearly drowned
by the upsetting of the boat-a great portion of my linen
being lost-no trifling misfortune in these parts.
This island abounds in cedar, sassafras, and the herbs
and flowers for making salads of every kind, with the nut
of a wild tree, which bears a very hard nut, in a thick shell,
with a kernel very small but remarkably pleasant. However, since it was only four hundred acres in extent, it did
inter medias arbores agitare possis. In ipso ostio fluminis armatos indigenas conspeximus. Ea nocte ignes tot a regione arserunt, et quoniam
nunquam illis tam magna navis conspecta fuit, nuntii hinc inde missi
narrabant Oarwam insulae similem adventasse tot homines quot in
sylvis arbores. Processimus tamen ad Insulas Ardearum, sic dictas ab
inauditis examinibus hujusmodi volucrum. Primam quae occcurrit Sancti Clementis nomine appellavimus, secundam S. Catharinae, tertiam
S. Ceciliae. Descmdimus primum ad S. Clementis, ad quam nisi vado
·non patet accessus propter declive littus. Hie ancillae quae ad lavandum
excenderant, inverso lintre pene submersae sunt, magna parte meorum
etiam linteorum drperdita, jactura in his partibus non mediocri.
Abundat haec insula cedro, saxifragio, herbis et floribus ad omnis
generis acetaria componenda, nuce etiam sylvestri, quae juglandem fert
praeduram, spisso putamine, nucleo parvo, sed mire grato. Cum tamen
quadringentorum tan tum jugerum latitudine visa est non ampla satis fu-
�rather vVhite's Rdatio1l.
3
not appe.u to be a sufficiently large location for a new settlement. Nevertheless, a place was sought for building a fort
to prohibit foreigners from the trade of the river, and to
protect our boundaries, for that is the narrowest crossin~
of the river.
On the festival of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, in the year 1634, we offered in this island, for the
first time, the sacrifice of the mass ; in this region of the
world it had never been celebrated before. The sacrifice
being ended, having taken up on our shoulders the great
cross which we had hewn from a tree, and going in procession to· the place that had been designated, the Governor,
Commissioners and other Catholics participating in the ceremony, we erected it as a trophy to Christ the Saviour, while
the Litany of the Holy Cross was chaunted humbly on
our bended knees, with great emotion of soul.
But \\hen the Governor had understood that many sachems are subject to the chieftain of Piscataway, he resolved
to visit him, that the cause of our coming being explained,
and this one's good will being conciliated, a more easy access might be gained to the minds of the others. Therefore,
having added to our pinnace another which he had bought
in Virginia, and having left the ship anchored at St. Clemtura sedes novae plantationis. Quaesitus est tamen locus castro aedificando ad prohibendos exteros fluvii commercio, finesque tutandos, is
enim erat angustissimus fluminis trajectus.
Die Annuntiationis S. Virginis l'tlariae anno 1634 primum in hac insula
litavimus; in hac coeli regione nunquam antea id factum. Sacrificio
peracto sublata in humeros ingenti cruce quam ex arbore dedolaveramus,
ad locum designatum ordine procedentes, Praefecto et Commissariis,
caeterisque Catholicis adjuvantibus, trophaeum Christo Servatori ereximus, Litaniis Sanctae Crucis humiliter flexis genibus, magna animorum commotione recitatis.
Cum autern intellexisset Praefectus Imperatori Pascatawaye complures
parere regulos, ilium adire statuit ut explioata itineris nostri causa, et
ejus unius conciliata voluntate, facilior ad caeterorum animos pateret ingressus. Haque juncta celoci nostrae altera, quam in Virginia conduxerat, et navi in anchoris relicta ad Sanctum Clementem, cursu circumac-
�4
Fatltcr TV!tit/s Relation.
ent's, retracing his course, he landed at the south side of
the river. And when he had found out that the savages
had fled into the interior, he proceeded to a village which is
also called Potomac, a name derived from the river. Here
was the young king's" guardian, named Archihu; he was
his uncle and administered the government in place of the
youth-a grave rr.an and prudent.
To Father John Altham, who had come as companion of
the Governor, {for he left me with the baggage,j he willingly gave ear while explaining, through an interpreter,
certain things concerning the errors qf the heathens and
now and then acknowledged his own ; and when informed
that we had not come thither for the purpose of war, but
for the sake of benevolence, that we might imbue a rude
race with the precepts of civilization, and open the way to
heaven, as well as impart to them the comforts of distant
regions, he signified that we had come acceptably. The
interpreter was one of the Protestants of Virginia. Therefore, when the father could not discuss matters further for
want of time, he promised that he would return before long
"This is agreeable to my mind," said Archihu, ''we will use
one table ; my attendants shall go hunt for you, and all
things shall be common between us."
to ad australem part em fluminis excendit. Cumque barbaros ad interiora
fugisse comperisset, progressus est ad civitatem quae a flumine desumpto
nomine Potomeach etiam dicitur. Hie Regi puero tutor enit patruus
nomine Archihu puerique vices in regno habebat vir gravis et prudens.
Is P. Altham (Joannis) qui comes additus erat Praefecto (me etenim
etiamnum detinebat ad Sarcinas) quaedam per intepretem de gentilium
erroribus explicanti, Jibenter aures dabat, suos identidem agnoscens; atque edoctus nos non belli causa, sed benevolentiae gratia eo appulisse, ut
gentem rudem civilibus praecepti~ imbueremus et viam ad coelum apedremus, simul regionum longinquarum commoda iis impertituros, gratos
advenisse monstravit. Interpres erat ex protestantibus Virginiae. Itaque
cum plura pro tempore disserere non posset Pater, promisit se non ila
multo post reversurum. Id mihi ex animo accidit, inquit Archihu, una
mensa utemur, mei quoque asseclae pro te vena tum ibunt, eruntque inter
nos oninia communia.
�.Fatlzer lV/zitc's Relation,
5
From this we went to Piscataway, at which place all flew
to arms ... About five hundred men, equipped with bows,
stood on the shore with their. chieftain. Signs of peace
being given them, the chief laying aside his apprehensions,
came on board the pinnace, and when he heard that our intentions were friendly, he gave us permission to settle in
whatever part of his country we might wish.
In the meantime, while the Governor was on his visit to
the chieftain, the savages at St. Clement's having grown
more bold, mingh,:d familiarly with our guards, for we kept
guard day and night, to protect our wood-cutters from sudden attacks, as well as the brigantine brought by us and
which we were constructing of planks and beams. It was
amusing to hear them admiring every thing. Above all,
where in the world did so large a tree grow, from which so
immense a mass of a ship could be hewn? for they thought
that it was hollowed from the trunk of a single tree, after
the manner of an Indian dug-out. Our cannon struck them
all with consternation, as they were much more resonant
than their twanging bows, and loud as thunder.
The Governor in his visit to the chieftain had taken as
companion, Captain Henry Fleet, a resident of Virginia, a
Hinc itum ad Pascatawaye, ubi omnes ad arma convolarunt. Quingenti cireiter arcubus instructi in littore cum Imperatore constiterant.
Signis pacis datis, Imperator metu posito celocem conscendit et audito
nostroruni benevolo erga eas gentes animo, flteultatem dedit qua imperii
·
ejus parte vellemus habitandi.
Interim dum Praefectus apud Imperatorem in itinere est, barbari ad
S. C!ementem audentiores facti, se vigilibus nostris familiarius admiscebant. Excubias enim interdiu, noctuque agebamus, tum ut lignatores
nostros, tum ut aphractum, quem tabulis, costisque solutis allatum aedificabamus, ab repentibus insultibus tutaremur. -Voluptati ent audire admirantes singula. In primis ubinam terrarum ianta arbor excrevisset,
ex qua tam immensa moles navis dedolaretur, excisam enim arbitr:tbantur
quemadmodum indicae canoae ex uno aliquo arboris trunco. Tormenta
majora attonit~s omnes tenebant, haud paulo quippe vocaliora erant stridulis ipsorum arcubus, et tonitrui paria.
Praefectus socium itineris adhibuerat ad Imperatorem Henricum Fleet
Capitaneum ex iis qui in Virginia commorantur, hominem barbaris in
�6
Fatlzcr l1'7zitc's Relation.
man very much beloved by the savages, and acqua~nted
with their language and settlements. At the first he was
very friendly to us; afterwards, seduced by the evil counsels
of a certain Claiborne, he became most hostile and stirred
up the minds of the natives against us with· all the art of
which he was master. In the meantime, however, while he
remained as a friend among us, he pointed out to the Governor a place for a settlement, such that Europe cannot
show a better for agreeableness of situation.
From St. Clement's, having proceeded about nine leagues
towards the north, we entered the mouth of a river, to which
we gave·the name of St. George. This river, in a course
from south to north, runs about twenty miles before it is
freed from its salt taste-not unlike the Thames. Two bays
appeared at its mouth, capable of containing three hundred
ships of the largest class. One of the bays we consecrated
to St. George; the other bay, more inland, to the ·Blessed
Virgin Mary. The left bank of the river was the residence
of King Yoacomico. \Ve landed on the right, and having
advanced about a thousand paces from the shore, we gave
the-name of St. Mary's to the intended city; and that we
might avoid all appearance of injury and of hostility, having
paid in exchange axes, hatchets, hoes, and some yards of
primis gratum, et linguae locorumque peri tum. Hie initio nobis perfami.
liaris, deinde Claborni cujusdam sinistris seductus consiliis, infensissimus effectus, indigenarum animos qua arte potest adversus nos accendit.
Interim tamen dum inter nos amicus ageret, sedem Praefecto monstravit
qualem vix Europa meliorem loci benignitate ostendere potest.
A Sancto Clemente circiter leucas novem progressi ad Aquilonem fluminis ostio illapsi sumus cui a S. Georgia nomen indidimus. Id flumen ab
Austro ad Aquilonem ad viginti circiter milliaria procurrit antequam
salsedine marina exuatur, Thamesi non dissimile. In ejus ostio duo visuntur sinus 300 navium immensae molis capaces. Sinum unum Sancto
Georgio consecravimus, alterum interius B. Virgini l\Iariae. Laeva pars
fluminis sedes erat Regis Yoacomico ; nos ad dexteram excendimus et
ad mille passus a littore avulsi, civitati designatae nomen a S. }!aria
posuimus; utque omnem speciem injuriae, inimicitiarumque occasionem
praeverteremus, appensis in commutationem securibus, asciis, rastris et
�Fatlzer H7zite's Rdation.
7
cloth, we bought from the King thirty miles of his territory,
which part goes by the name of Augusta Carolina.
The Susquehannoes, a tribe accustomed to wars, and particularly troublesome _to King Yoacomico, in frequent incursions devastate all his lands, and compel the inhabitants,
through fear of danger, to seek other habitations. This is
the reason why so readily we obtained a part of his kingdom; by these_ means, God is opening the way for his law
and for light eternal, since every day some of them move
away and leave to us their houses, lands and fallow-fields.
Truly this is like a miracle, that savage men, a few days
before arrayed in arms against us, so readily trust themselves like lambs to us, and surrender to us themselves and
their property. The finger of God is in this ; and God designs some great good to this people. Some few have
granted to them the privilege of remaining with us till the
next year. But then the ground is to be given up to us,
unencumbered.
The natives are of tall and comely stature, of a skin by
nature somewhat tawny, which they make more hideous by
daubing, for the most part, with red paint mixed with oil,
to keep away the mosquitos; in this, more intent on their
_
co:nfort than their beauty. They smear their faces also
!
r
I
1
f
I'
'
I
I
L
~
mensuris aliquot panni, emi:nus a Rege triginta terrae illius milliaria,
cui regioni Augusta Carolina jam nomen est.
Sasquehanoes, gens bellis assueta, Regi Yoacomico praeceteris infesta,
frequentibus incursibus omnem depopulatur agrum, et incolas ad alias
q'uaerendas sedes, periculi metu adigit. Hoc causa est cur tam prompte
partem ejus regni impetravimus. Deo viam legi suae et lumini aeterno
his adminiculis aperiente, migrant alii atque alii quotidie nobisque relinquunt domos, agros, novalia. Id profecto miraculo simile est, homines
barbaros paucis ante diebus in armis adversum nos paratos, tam facile se
nobis velut agnos permittere, nobis se suaque tradere. Digitus· Dei est
hie, et magnum aliquod emolumentum huic nationi meditatur Deus. Pancis tamen quibusdam permittitur sua inter nos habitatio in annum proxlmum. Tunc vero liber nobis relinquendus est ager.
Indigenae statura sunt procera et decenti, cute a natura subfusca, quam
colore plerumque rubeo mixto oleo inficientes, ut culices arceant, tetriorem reddunt, commodo suo magis intenti quam decori. Vultum aliis
�8
Father lVhitc's Rdati01r.
with other colors; from the nose upwards. seagreen; downwards, reddish, or the contrary, in a manner truly disgusting and terrific. And since they are without beard almost
·to the end of life, they make the representCJtion of beard
with paint, lines of various colors being drawn from the tip
of the lips to the ears. They encourage the growth of the
hair, which is generally black, and bind it with a fillet when
brought round in a knot to the left ear, something which is
held in estimation by them being added by way of ornament. Some bear upon their forehead the representation
of a fish in copper. They encircle their necks with glass
beads -strung upon a thread, after the manner of chains ;
these beads, however, begin to be more common with them,
and less useful for traffic.
They are generally dressed in deerskin, or like kind of
covering, which flows behind after the manner of a cloak,
and are girded about the middle with an apron; in other
respects they are naked. Young boys and girls run about
without any covering whatever. The soles of their feet
being as hard as horn, they tread upon thorns· and thistles
without injury. Their weapons are bows, and arrows two
cubits long, pointed with buck-horn or a piece of white,
sharpened flintstone; they direct these with so much skill
etiam coloribus deturpant, a na8o sursum coerulei, deorsum rubicundi
vel e contra variis et sane faedis, terrificisque modis. Et quoniam barba
in ultimam prope aetatem carent, pigmentis barbam simulant lineis varii
co loris ab extimis labiis ad aures productis. Caesariem quam plerumque
nigram nutriunt, in nodum ad sinistram aurem circumductam vitta
astringunt, addito ali~uo quod apud ipsos in pretio sit monili. Quidam
in fronte praeferunt piscis figuram cupream. Colla muniunt vitreis globulis filo insertis more torquimn, quamquam hi globu).i viliores apud ipsos esse incipiunt et commercio minus utiles.
Vestiuntur ut plurimum pelle cervina vel simi!is generis velo, quod a
tergo fluit in modum pal!ii, cincti ad umbilicum perizomatis, caetera
nudi. Impubes pueri puellaeque nulla re tecti vagantur. Plan tis pedum
velut cornu duris spinas, tribulosque calcant illaesi. Arma sunt arcus et
sagittae duos cubitos longae; cornu cervino, vel albo praeacutoque si!ice
armatae: has tanta arte librant, ut passerem eminus medium configant..
�Fatlter TV!titc's Relation
9
that from a distance they cdn shoot a sparrow through the
middle. And in order to practise themselves for skill, they
throw up a thong on high, and transfix it with an arrow
impelled from a bowstring, before it falls to the ground.
As they do not use a well-strung bow, they cannot hit a
distant mark. By means of these arms they live, and daily
through the fields and woods, they hunt squirrels, partridges, turkeys, and wild beasts. For of all these there is
great plenty, though we, ourselves, do not venture as yet
to provide food by hunting, through fear of falling into an
ambuscade.
·
They live in huts of ari oblong, oval form, built nine or
ten feet high. Into these huts light is admitted from above,
by a window, a cubit in extent; it serves also for removing the smoke; for they kindle a fire in the middle of the
floor and sleep around the fire. The kings, however,_ and
principal men have, as it were, their private apartments and
bed, four posts being driven into the ground, and poles
placed upon them to receive the bed. .One of these huts
has been allotted to me and my companions, in which we
are accommodated sufficiently well ,for the time being, until more commodious dwellings shall be built. This house
might be called the first chapel of Maryland, although not
Utque se ad peritian\ exerceant, lorum in sublime jaciunt, tum impulsam
nervo sagittam infigunt antequam decidat. Arcu quoniam non admodum
contento utuntur, metmn Ionge positam ferire non possunt. His armis
vivunt et quotidi~ per agros et sylvas sciuros, perdices, pullos indicos,
ferasque venantur. Horum enim omnium ingens est copia, quamquam
nondum nobis ipsi expedire alimenta venatu audeamus metu insidiarum.
Domos ha,bitant ovali forma oblongs constructas novem vel decem
pedes altas. In has lumen a tecto admittitur fenestra cubitali: illa fumo
etiam auferendo inservit; nam ignem medio in pavimento accendunt et
circa ignem dormiunt. Reges tamen et principes viri sua habent velut
conclavia, et lectum quatuor fulcris in terram adactis, et asseribus superposit is in stratum. Mihi et sociis ex his casulis una obtigit, in qua sat pro
tempore commode habemur, donee aedificia parentur laxiora. lliam
primmn Marylandiae sacellmn dixeris, quamquam hand paulo decentius
�IO
Fatlzer TV!tite's Relati(m.
much better finished than when it was occupied by the Indians. The next voyage, if God prosper our undertaking,
we shall not be destitute of the things which are found
necessary in other houses.
The tribe has an ingenuous and cheerful disposition,
and can understand a matter fairly when it is explained.
In acuteness of taste and smell they excel Europeans,
and they surpass them also in sharpness of sight. They
live mostly on a pap which they call pone or lzominy. Each
of these is made of corn, and they sometimes add a fish
or a beast or bird which they have taken in hunting. They
keep themselves as much as possible from wine and warm
drinks, nor are they easily induced to taste them, except
those whom the English have infected with their vices. So
far as pertains to chastity, I confess that I have not yet observed in man or woman any action which might savor
even. of levity, notwithstanding they are with us and among
us daily, and are glad to enjoy our society. Thty come of
their own accord, with a cheerful countenance, and offer
whatever they have taken in nunting or fishing: they bring
victuals also at times, and oysters boiled or roasted. having
been invited to do this by the few words of their vernacular
tongue which we have hitherto learned by signs as well
instructum quam cum ab Indis habitabaiur. Pro:tima navigatione si
Deus coeptis annuat, non deerunt Nostris, quae ceteris in domibus srrnt
usni necessaria.
Genti indoles ingenua est et laeta et qure rem probe capiat cum
proponitrrr: gustu excellunt, et odoratu; visu etiam Europaeos superant.
Victitant plerrrmque prrlte, qul'm Pone et Omini appellant; utraque ex
tritico conficitur, addrrntque interdum piscem, vel quod venatu aucupioque assecuti srrnt. Cavent sibi qu 1m maxime a vino, et potionilms culidis,
neque adducuntur facile ut eas degustent nisi quos Angli suis vitiis infecerint. Quod ad castitatem attinet, fateor me nondum advertisse in viro
vel femina actionem rrllam qure vel levitatem saperet, quotidie tamen
nobiscum et apud nos srrnt et nostro gaudent uti consortia. Accurrrrnt
sponte, vultu ad hilaritatem composito, et offerunt qure venati vel piscati
fuerint, cibos etiam aliquando et ostrea cocta vel arsa, idque paucis invitati linguae ipsis vernacrrlae verbis, qure per signa hactenus utcumque
didicimus.
�Fatlt<·r lVIzite's Rdatio1Z.
II
as we could. Notwithstanding they keep many wives, they
preserve conjugal faith inviolate. The countenances of the
women are grave and modest. Upon the whole, they
cultivate generous minds; whatever kindness you may
confer, they repay. They determine nothing rashly, or
when actuated by a sudden impulse of mind, but with reflection, so that when any thing of moment, is at any time,
proposed, they are for a time silent in a thoughtful manner;
then they answer briefly, Yes or No, and are very firm of
their purpose. If these people be once imbued with christian principles, (and I see nothing to hinder it, except a want
of acquaintance with the language spoken in these regions,)
they will assuredly become worthy promoters of virtue and
humanity. They are possessed with a wonderful desire of
civilization and of the dress of Europeans, and they would
have long since used their clothing had not the avarice of
the traders prevented it, who do not exchange cloth except
for beaver. But every one cannot hunt the beaver. Far
from us be their avarice, that we should imitate it.
Ignorance of their language renders it still doubtful for
me to state what views they entertain concerning religion;
for we have not much confidence in protestant interpreters.
These few things we have hurriedly learned. They recog-
I
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P!ures ducunt uxores, integram tamen servant fidem conjugalem.
::llulicrum aspectus gravis est et modestus. In universum liberales
nutriunt animos, quidquid beneflcii contuleris rependunt. Nihil teme.
re decemunt, aut subito arrepti motu animi, sed ratione; ideo cum quidquam momenti aliquando proponitur silent aliquando cogitabundi, tunc
aiunt breviter, aut negant et propositi sunt tenacissimi. Hi profecto si
semel praeceptis christiania imbuantur, (et quidem nihil obstare videtur
praeter linguae his regionibus usitatae defectum) virtu tis humanitatisque
cultores egregii evadent. :Miro tenentur desiderio civilis conversationis
Europaeorumque indumentorum, jamque pridem vestibus fuissent usi, ni
avaritia mercatorum obstitisset qui pannos nisi castore non comn:iutant.
Castorem vero unusquisque venari non potest. Absit ut horum avaritia
nos imitemur.
Idiomatis ignoratio facit, ut quid porro de religione sentiant, nondum
constet. Interpretibus enim Protestantibus minus fldimus: haec pauca
raptim didicimus. Unum Deum coeli agnoscunt: quem Deum nostrum
�12
nize one God of heaven, whom they call "Our God''; nevertheless, they pay him no external worship, but by every
means in their power, they endeavor to appease a certain
evil spirit which they call Gehrt, that he may not hurt them.
They worship corn and fire. as I am informed, as gods wonderfully beneficent to the human race. Some of our men
relate that they have seen the following ceremony in a temple at Barcluxem.
On an appointed day there assembled from many parts
of the country around a great fire, all the men and women
of all ages. ·,Next to the fire stood the younger people;
behind them.those more advanced in life. A piece of deer's
fat being then thrown into the fire, and hands and voices
being uplifted to heaven, they cried out "Taho! Taho!"
A space being cleared, some one produces a very large
bag; in the bag is a pipe and some powder which they call
potu. The pipe is such as our countrymen use for smoking tobacco, but much larger. Then the bag is carried
around the fire, the boys and girls following, and in a
pretty agreeable voice singing alternately, Taho ! Taho !
The circle being completed, the pipe is taken from the
pouch with the powder. The potu is distributed to each of
the bystanders ; and every one smoking this when it is lit
vocnnt, nnllum tam en cxternnm houorem illi exhibcnt; omni vero ratione
placere conantur fimaticnm qncndam spiritnm, quem Ocltre nomin:mt,
nt ne noccat; frumentum, ut audio, et ignem colunt ut Deos humano
generi mire bcneficos. Hanc ceremoniam quidam e nostris in templo
Barcluxem vidisse se narrant. Die constitnto a pluribus pagis convenere
circa ingentem ignem omnes omnium actatum viri, feminaeque. Proxime ad ignem stabant juniores, pone illos provectiores. Tum adipe
cervina in ignem conjecta, et sublatis in coelum manibus et vocibus,
clamabant Talw! Talto! Intervallo fhcto, profert unus aliquis bene magnam peram; in pera est tubus et pulvis, quem Potu nominant: tubus est
quali nostrates utuntur ad exsugendum fumum Tabacci, sed multo majori.
Igitur pera circa ignem fertur sequentibus pueris et puellis, et voce satis
grata alternantibus Talto! Talt6! Circulo peracto, eximitur tubus a pera
et pulvis. Potu in singulos astantes distribuitur, cujus in tubo accensi
I
�.Fat/ur W!titc's Relation.
13
in the pipe, puffs the smoke over all his limbs and consecrates them. I have not been able to learn more, except
that they appear to have ~orne knowledge of a flood by
which the world perished, because of the sins of mankind.
'vVe have been here only one month, and so other things
must be reserved for the next sail. This I can say, that
the soil appears particularly fertile, and strawberries, vines,
sassafras, hickory nuts, and walnuts, we tread upon everywhere, in the thickest woods. The soi1 is dark and soft, a
foot in thickness, and rests upon a rich, reddish clay. Everywhere there are very high trees, except where the ground
is tilled by a scanty population. An abundance of springs
affords water. No animals are seen except the deer, the
beaver, and squirrels which are as large as the hares of
Europe. There is an infinite number of birds of different
colors, as eagles, herons, swans, geese, partridges, and
ducks. From which you may infer, that there is not wanting .to this land, whatever may contribute to the comfort
and pleasure of its inhabitants.
fumum quisque exsugens, membra corporis sui singula perfiat consecratque. Plura non licuit discere, nisi quod videantur notitiam aliquam
habuisse diluvii quo mundus periit propter scelera hominum.
Uno tim tum mense hie fuimus, itaque oetera proximae navigationi servanda sunt. Illud assero, solum videri in primis fertile, fragra, vites,
saxifragium, glandes, juglandes passim densissimis in sylvis calcamus.
Nigra et mollis terra unius pedis crassitudine insternitur pingui et rubenti
argillae. Praecelsae ubique arbores, nisi ubi a paucis cultus ager. Copia
fontium potum subministrat. Animalia nulla apparent praeter cervos,
castorem et sciuros, quilepores europaeos adaequant. Infinita vis avium
est versicolorum ut aquilarum, ardearum, cycnorum, anserum, perdicum,
anatum. Ex quibus conjectura est non deesse regioni, quae vel commodis vel voluptati habitantium subserviant.
�ANNALS OF ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH,
PHILADELPHIA.
PART FIRST.
"The Little Church down the Alley", one hundred and
forty years .. since dedicated to the worship of Almighty
God, under the patronage of the glorious Spouse of our
Immaculate Mother, is invested with a peculiar interest to
the American Jesuit, as not only one of the oldest churches
in the United States, but the oldest Catholic Church in that
part of America, formerly under the British rule.*
The City of Philadelphia was founded in 1682 and as
early as 1686 the Holy Sacrifice was offered up in the
"Quaker City", probably by one of the Fathers from St.
Inigoes in Maryland.
The first forty years of Philadelphia's history art veiled
in darkness as to the Catholic Church. Although Penn's
Friends fled from England on accou11t of religious persecution, they have always evinced an active, if quiet, hostility
to the religion of Penn's father: and, in the early years of
the Colony, this hostility was augmented by the fear of offending the "hot-Church-party" in the Mother Country; if
they should show any favor to the Papists.
'What is known of the Church during the first half-century of Philadelphia's existence is rather surmise than fact.
It is true some fifty years ago, there were many traditions,
but these were scarcely reliable enough to constitute them
de fide. The early settlers, as is well known, were Quakers.
It was over thirteen years, before there could be found suf-
* DE
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CoURCY-The Catholic Church in the U. S., 200.
!'
�St. Yoscplz's Clwrclt, Plziladclplzia.
15
ficient members of the Established Church to form a very
small congregation.* During the first twenty-five years
there could have been little to wean the Catholic settlers
from their preference to Mary's-land. The few who did
come to Penn's City were chiefly Irish, with a very small
number of Germans and English.
Vague and unreliable rumor points out three places as
the site of the first Catholic Church. ·we know mass was
celebrated in 1686, and Penn, in a letter to Governor Logan,
dated 7 month, 29 day, 1708, complains of the frequent public celebration of the mass.t Watson, in his "Annals of
Philadelphia" n~entions the N. W. Corner of Front alid
Walnut Streets. But here serious difficulties arise. Penn's
own mansion, the "Old-Slate-Roof House", was situated in
Second above Walriut Street, while its grounds sloped down
to "Dock Creek," now "Dock Street," which brings Front
and ·walnut Streets in the very heart of Penn's park; and
is it likely that so timorous and intolerant a Quaker as
William Penn would suffer the "scandal of a mass"t to be
offered up on his own grounds, almost in sight of his house?
Somewhat later, when the streets were laid out, the lot on
theN. \V. Corner of Front and Walnut Streets, was by patent deeded by Wm. Penn to Griffith Jones, a member of
the Society of Friends, and remained in the possession of
"Friends" until 18 50, most of the ·time as a dwelling-house
for the owners,!! and though they might possibly have, at
times allowed an .apartment in their house to be used for
Catholic worship, they could scarcely have been expected
to give it as a "Romish Chapel."
Watson also mentions, on the authority of an old lady
"who had heard it said," that the house at the S. E. Corner
*Philadelphia and Its Environs.-Relics of the Past, 7.
t Here is a complaint against your government that you suffer
publick mass in a scandalous manner. Pray send the matter of fact, for
ill use is made of it against us here.
·
t Penn's letter to a friend.
II "A. History of Philadelphia," by Thompson Westcott. Ch. CXV.
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St. :Joseph's ,Church, Plti!addphia.
of Second and Chestnut Streets had been built for a pap:tl
chapel. The dimensions of this building, however, were
great, far too great, for the requirements of the Catholics at
that time. Nearly fifty years after the building of this socalled church, Father Harding, S. J., numbered but one hundred and twenty, men, women, and children, in his congregation.
It is generally supposed in Philadelphia, that a Roman
Catholic chapd was built near the City on the Road between Nicetown and Germantown. It is said, Miss Elizabeth M'Gawley, an Irish lady, brought over a number of
her tenantry, and that they settled near Nicetown, and that
she erected a chapel near her residence. At a short distance from the plac~ designated is still extant a stone enclosure, containing a large marble tomb inscribed with a
cross and the name "John Michael Brown. ob. 15th December, A. D. 1750. R. I. P." _From the earliest settlement
of the Colony the "Records of Deeds, &c" have been kept
with Quaker-like precision, yet no one has been able to find
the record of a deed or grant to the said Elizabeth M 'Gawley, or any registry .of her will. John Michael Brown was
said to be the priest of this chapel, but as on the zd. of May,
1747, Dr. John Michael Brown and Sarah his wife sold
Father Greaton, S. J., for the sum o( £gz. fifteen and on~
half acres of ground fronting on \Vingohocking creek ; and
as the first effort to introduce Greek orthodoxy into Philadelphia was made by the infamous Hogan in 1822, I naturally conclude that Dr. John Michael Brown was not a
D. D. but an M. D. \Ve canhave little doubt of Dr. Brown's
Catholicity, since in his will he bequeaths £10. for masses
for the repose of his soul. He likewise devised to his sister,
Mrs. Anastasia Dillon, "a suit of priestly vestments and a
silver chalice," (probably not very handsome, as they were
valued at fifteen shillings,) while he left to Rev. Theodore
Schneider, S. J., th~ sum of £zo. Catholic undoubtedly he
was, but, as among his chattels are found "a sword, pistols ·
I
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�St. :Joseph's C/wrc/z, P/ziladclplzia.
and a large quantity of female apparel," we would scarcely ·
judge him to have been a priest. The executors of his last
will and testament were Robert Meade, great-grand-father
to Major General George A. Meade, U. S. A., Rev. Theodore Schneider, Pastor of St. Joseph's Chapel, and Rqbert
Luther of "Mont Serat." Dr. Brown resided for some time
in the \Vest Indies where he had acquired a large fortune,
and as he was living at a considerable distance from the
built-up portion of the City, surrounded by the Meades,
Crumps, and Masons, it is not improbable that he had a
chapel in his house where Fathers Greaton and Schneider
occasionally said mass for his household and the neighboring Catholics. "The Chapel near Nicetown," said to have
been built in 1729-I judge to have been a myth. The
greatest proof of its existence rests on the assertion of Deborah Logan, who "remembered having seen its ruins."
This Deborah was the wife. of James Logan, an Irish Quaker, who came over with Penn, and in 1729 must have been
fifty years of age, and as the wife of on~ of the leading men
of the Colony and an ex-governor, would have been likely
to remember something more definite of this Chapel, than
having seen its ruins. If ever there existed a chapel near
Nicetown it must hav~ been on the ground purchased by
Father Greaton, and must have been built after 1747, more
than fourteen years after St. Joseph's was erected.
Some thirty-odd years ago, when a lad of ten or eleven
years, it was my happiness to be acquainted with ~ Mrs.
Baker, (most probably the grand-mother of Mr. Drexel, the
Senior member of the celebrated firm of "Drexel, Harjes
& Co. Bankers. 3 Rue Scribe, Paris,) an old lady of mixed
English and German descent, then more than four-score
years and ten, who was born where. St. Joseph's College
now stands-a healthy, wholesome, brisk, chatty old-soul,
full of anecdote, with a mind clear as crystal and a most
retentive memory. During the first twenty years of her
life she lived in the house of her birth, which was one of
�18
S!. Yoseph's Church, Philadelphia.
those torn down to make way for St. Joseph's College.
Always finding an attentive listener in the boy of ten, she
delighted to tell, how one Sunday morning, her father,
mother, sisters, and two elder brothers with herself were
gat~ered, according to custom, in the "best room" while
the father read the prayers for mass, when a friend, stopping
at the window, said : "\Vhy don't you go to hear mass?"
"Father and Mother both replied; 0, if we only could!"
The tears would run down the dear old lady's cheeks, as
she told how mass was said for years in the very next house,
''and we knew nothing of it." This old lady told me that
her mother''had often been present at mass and instructions,
in an old frame house that stood at the S. \V. Corner of
Front and Spruce Streets, and whenever she passed that
house, she would make a profound courtesy, for she said it
was holy ground.
From this I have concluded, and I think most will agree
with me, that in Philadelphia the first Chapel built was old
St. Joseph's, the "Mother of Churches"; and that previous
to 1732, our Fathers who occasionally visited the City,
said mass at different houses of the faithful, which will
satisfactorily account for the various places assigned for the
first mass.
In 1730, some say 1732, Father Ja'seph Greaton, S. J., a
native of Lynton, North Devon, England, who had previously made frequent missionary visits to Philadelphia,
was stationed there permanently; Thomas Westcott, in his
History of Philadelphia, says the number of his congregation at that time consisted of eleven persons. The
statements of Mr. Westcott are deserving of great confidence; his History of Philadelphia is prepared under very
favorab1e circumstances ; he has labored hard to secure
accuracy, and he is a gentleman of diligence and erudition :
but I think, in this instance, he has been mistaken. The
late dearly loved Father Barbelin, S. J., during the many
years he was stationed at St. Joseph's, collected from all
�St. 7:Jscph's C'lmrclt, Philadelphia
relidble sources, memoranda and valuable data, with regard
to the history of the Church. At the time of his death
these papers were nearly all scattered-! rescued but one
or two from the dust-bin. \Vhen our late Father Provincial, Very Rev. Angelo Paresce, was preparing to leave for
Rome, as Procurator of the Province of Maryland, I compiled, at the command of Father Joseph Felix Barbelin,
Rector of St. Joseph's College, from these data, a "History
of St. Joseph "s Church," which Father Paresce carried to
Rome, and I distinctly remember that a paper, I think one
of the earliest numbers of the "Catholic Herald," stated
that Father Greaton's first congregation was made up of
eleven families, in all about forty persons. The descendants
of some of these families are still living in Philadelphia,
Alas! not all in the communion of the Church. Father
Greaton, on his way to Philadelphia, stopped at the house
of Mrs. Doyle a Catholic lady, who gave him a letter of
introduction, it is said, to a wealthy Catholic gentleman
residing at \Valnut and Front Streets. The name of this
gentleman has nevef been learned, nor can the house be
pointed out. I have heard it said, I know not if on reliable
authority, that this gentleman was a Mr. Corcoran, residing
in Walnut above Third, in a house which stood west of the
present North entrance to the Church. Father Greaton
had before visited Lancaster and formed the nucleus of the
congregation of St. Mary's Church, afterwards evangelized
by Father Geisler, S. J., and over which the venerable Very
Rev. Bernard Keenan, Vicar-General, and at one time Administrator, of the Diocese of Harrisburg, has so long presided. Rev. Mr. Keenan was ordained in 1821, being the
first priest ordained in Philadelphia.
So little of that freedom of conscience, for the enjoyment
of which Penn and his companions had left the English
coasts, was allowed in Philadelphia at that time, that Father
Greaton was accustomed to assume the garb of a Quaker,
whenever he visited the City. Father Greaton's 'finances
�20
St. 7oscplt's Clmrc!t, P!ti!adclp!tia.
must have been in a flourishing condition, for the residence
which he commenced in 1732, and completed in 1733, was
a large, substantially-built mansion; it is stiii standing and
forms a part of the College of St. Joseph. It was a tenroomed house, two stories high, three rooms on each floor,
with four garrets. Father Greaton received about this time,
from England, some valuable paintings, three of which are
now extant. One of our Holy Founder, St. Ignatius, is in
room No 9, commonly called the Provincial's Room; it is
inserted in the wood-work forming the mantle. Another,
a master-piece representing St. Francis of Assisium is in
the principal parlor. The third, an Ecce Homo dark with
age, is in the loft, keeping company with a fine painting of
Saint Theresa, being pierced with the dart of divine love, a
present of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. The countenance
of the Saint in this painting is truly angelic-the principal
objection, however, is that the clothing of the Angel is not
suited to the rigors of our winters. In the principal parlor
are other valuable paintings; one is by Pennsylvania's great
painter, Benjamin West. It was executed in Rome and sent
to Father Farmer, S. J., as a token of gratitude for the letters
of introduction given by him to various artists in the Eternal
City. This picture is supposed by some to represent the
flight of Agar, but an infant of four. and five can scarcely be
supposed to represent a healthy lad of sixteen and seventeen. My opinion is that West intended it for the return
of the Holy Family from Egypt. Our Blessed Mother sits
upon the grass-grown mound, giving to.Her Son and Lord
a refreshing drink, Gabriel stands ready to supply should
more be needed, while our Holy Father stands in the distance, with joy contemplating his miraculous Spouse and
Her still more miraculous Son, n:inistered to by a prince
of Heaven. In this same parlor is another large painting,
representing the Adoration of the Shepherds-it is a picture
that requires study to appreciate its beauties. Little St.
Joseph's is rich in paintings. In No 6., generally named
�St. :JJs.:plz's Clmrclz, Plziladelplzia.
21
the "Willing's Alley Parlor"-is a fine painting brought
from Ro:ne by Father Ryder representing the Angel trumpeting to Saint Jerome the Judgment. This painting has
been copied by artists from the North, and South, and \Vest.
In this same parlor is a portrait of St. Francis de Sales,
taken during life, and kept as an heir-loom in the "Hayes
Family," connections of the Bishop of Geneva, and presented by them to Father Barbelin. In the Church are many
old and valuable paintings; not to speak of the Crucifixion
and others by Don Pedro Martinez, of which I will have to
speak hereafter, ther~ are two very large ones, the first representing the death of St. Joseph, hung before the choir and
another in the South gallery representing Queen Esther
before King Assuerus and his courtiers, one of whom is
gazing at the Queen through a modern eye-glass. In the
galleries is a collection of paintings, valuable, if not for their
artistic merits of which they are not deficient, at least for
their age. There are in the body of the Church, a Madonna
and a Crucifixion, brought from Rome, by Father Ryder,
both greatly admired, as well as a splendid "St. Aloysius
Gonzaga," which hangs over the East Confessional.
The original Church was a room eighteen feet by twentytwo, which had very much the appearance of an out-kitchen,
and so it was considered by the family of Mrs. Baker of
whom I have spoken before. Although adorned with a
chimney instead of a cross, it did not long escape the notice
of the vigilant Quakers. Indeed it could not well do so, as
it was almost contiguous to what must have been one of
the largest buildings of the times, the old "Quakers' AlmsHouse." This ancient edifice was some years ago torn down
to make room for improvements. To an out-building, standing in the large garden, were added four small dwellings,
the number of inmates at the time being five. The ground
cannot be sold while any of the five live. They have all
died but one maiden lady named Nancy Brewer, who lives
in the old out-building covered with its green ivy and bright
�22
St. Yoscp!t's C!turc!t, P!ti!addp!tia.
trumpet flowers, and whose roses, pinks, sweet-williams,
bird-eyes, ring-fingers, wandering-sailor, and our more
flaunting tulips with modest lilies-of-the-valley often ~rake
fragrant our Mother's altar at St. Joseph's. Nearly three
years since I met the ancient dame now much over her
allotted three score years and ten, erect, active, having never
used eye-glasses or a walking stick. I envied her, her memory. Nancy had come out into \Villing's Alley to view
the excavations for the gigantic offices of the "Pennsylvania
Rail-Road Company." I was on my way to a not-verypressing sick-call. Mrs L ... s, our estimable next-door
neighbour., who was doing the honors ~f the occasion, said:
"Nancy, here is Father ...... , Susan Evan's son." "Her
youngest," replied Nancy, "born after Patrick's death."
She could tell me, in regular order, the names of my elder
brothers and sisters, their ages, the color of their eyes, and
seemed to have a pretty· good idea of their disposition. ·
It would give me great pleasure to pay this venerable
Friend-friend in ~wo senses-an occasional visit, as I
think I could glean from her conversation many interesting
facts concerning the Church during the years preceding its
restoration to the Society, but she is not a little superstitious, and as I have the fortune, good or bad, to be a posthumous, I am invested in her eyes with a supernatural
power of curing diseases.
·
When a little boy, I was often sent to Nancy to buy
dried herbs for cooking purposes. Nancy made much of
me, I was her "white haired boy".-I am now one in real~
ity. First, I was asked for one of my "coal-black locks",
not "to keep away rats", but as an amulet to avert an impending attack of typhus. Next, the old simpleton regretted she had no tow (an easy conscience prevented any
fear of hanging), "but wouldn't I return to twist some for
her when she got it ?" She intended to wear it on her right
arm to cure the erysipelas in her left knee. The life of this
venerable virgin is now of some importance to us, and I
�Sf. :hsr:plt's
Clt~trclt,
Pltiladelpltia.
23
often pray that she may be spared to sell her "eye-water"
and "dried yarbs" to the old families of Philadelphia, for
at least eighteen month!' lom~'er. For; I am told. the "Old
Quaker Alms-house ground" has been sold to the Pacific
Rail Road Company, on condition that they obtain posse'>sion of it within three years;' the posses,ion depends on
Nancy's death. Already twenty months have passed. If
this company obtain possession within the specified time, it
is their intention to raise another Rail Road Palace, which
will bury old St. Joseph's, as in a tomb. Many join me
in praying, that my venerable friend, Nancy Brewer: may
live to do justice to a good New Year's dinner (the old
lady likes good things) on the Ist of January, 1874.
The erection of a Romish Chapel did not long escape
Quaker intolerance. As early as July 25th, 1734 II quote
from \Vestcott\ the matter was brought to the notice of the
Pro'vincial Council. At a meeting of this august body, held
on this date, over which Lieutenant Governor Patrick Gordon presided, and at which Thomas Penn, one of the proprietors was present, we find the following minutes:
"The Governor then informed the Board that he was under no small
concern to hear thai a house lately built in Walnut Street, in this City,
had been set apart for the exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, and is
commonly called tlie Romislt Ollappel, where several persons, he understands, resort on Sundays to hear mass openly celebrated by a Popish
priest: that he conceives the tolerating of the publick exercise of that
religion to be contrary to the laws of England, some of which (particularly the eleventh and twelfth of King William the Third) are extended
to all his majesty's dominions. But those of that persuasion here, imagining they have a right to it from some general expressions in the charter
Qf privileges granted to the inhabitants of this government by our late
honorable Proprietor, he was desirous to know the sentiments of the
Board on the subject
It was observed hereupon, that if any part of the said charter, was
inconsistent with the laws of England, it could be of no force, it being
contrary to the express terms of the royal charter to the Proprietary.
But the council having sat long, the consideration thereof was adjourned
to the next meeting, and the said laws and chartex:s were then ordered
to be laid before the Board."
�24
St. 7oseplz"s Clwrclz, Plu!addp!ti,l.
So the matter rested for a month, a month, no doubt, of
great anxiety to Father Greaton and l11s iorty d1scip1<::s.
At the next meeting of the Counc1l, hdd July 31st-the
matter was again considered:
"The minutes of the preceding council being read and approved, ~he
consideration of what the Governor then laid before the board touching
the Popish chappell was resumed, and the charter of privileges, with the
laws of the Province concerning liberty, being read, and likewise ihe
statute of the eleventh and twelfth of King William the Third, chapter 4;
it was questioned whether the said statute, notwithstanding the general
words in it, "all others his majesty's dominions," did extend to the plan~
tations in America, and, admitting it did, whethPr any prosecution could
be carr.ed on .here by virtue thereof while the aforesaid law of this province, passed so long since as the fourth year of her late Majesty, Queen
Anne, which is five years posterior to the said statute, stands unrepealed.
And under this difficulty of concluding upon anything certain in the
present case, it is left to the Governor, if he thinks fit, to represent the
matter to our superiors at home, for their advice and directions in it."
From this it would seem that our early "City Father;;"
acted in a very deliberate and temporizing manner. But
although Westcott says: "It is certain that thl:re was no
further attempt made to meddle with St. Joseph's Church,
which went on slowly increasing in numbers without molestation;"* tradition tells that three times did the British
soldiery level it \vith the ground, and that, bn the fourth
occasion, father Henry Neale, S.]., .used a little of the "pru:
dence of the serpent," vulgarly called "Jesuit cunning," and
by filling the stomachs of the Britishers saved the Church:
Kalni, a S\vedish traveler, shortly after this, in I 748- I 7 50,
speaking of the Chapel, says : "the Roman Catholics have
in the southwest part of the town a great lwuse; which is
well adorned within, and has an organ."t He speaks of
the house of which the Chapel was an appendage. No
account, I have met with, mentions the house as having
been attacked, our early Church destroyers, unlike their
itnitatoi:s of 1844, respected private property.
*"History of Philadelphia," Ch. CXV.
tidem.
�St. :hsrplz's Clmrclt, Pltiladelplzia.
In our times, it is nften asked, why was St. Joseph's built
in so obscure, secluded a situation? Its very seclusion is to
m<ny_ its peculiar charm. How pleasant for its congregation, always noted for its union and friendly fellowship, to
meet before and after each service, in its shady quadrangle
and talk of Church and family matters. It is Sunday: as
they crowd out after the early masses, how many an anxious enquiry, how many a word of sympathy and consolation is spoken? Then comes the children's mass at 8.30,
happy urchins! they love St. Joseph's, they love it because
they are happy there--the joyous shout that seems almost
irreverent, springs irrepressibly from joyous hearts. So
merry and so happy are they, they cannot help forgetting
the Fourth commandment and being wanting in proper
respect for the aged members of the "old-gentlemen's Sodality", who are now assembling as chatty as "maidens of
sixteen," and who will soon make the venerable 'walls of
that loved Church resound with notes, not a~quired in the
conservatories of Naples or of Paris, but notes which reecho through Heavenly courts, and which angels accompany on well-tuned harps. How many a saint, now a member of St. Cecilia's choir, joyously smiles as he thinks of
his "ora pro nobis" in the North aisle of lowly St. Joseph's.
Now they are assembling for the late mass: here is a group
of the "Fathers in Israel" ; of what are they debating? the
rise in Erie ? the awards of Geneva ? no ! "Has that old
woman in Gatzmer Street been visited?" "Why, t\lat man,
you know, with the. club-foot, hah three you~g children,
two girls and one boy, we must do flomething for hit:n:
Let us, at least, send the girls to the Sisters' school." There
is a party of laughing, romping lads, what are they dis~uss~
ing ? the last "Base Ball Match ?" "the innings of the P,...thl~.ti.cs, or the foui~ of the Red-Stocking~?" no! "It's ~y turn
to serve to-day." "l'fo, it isn't, we go up, w~ do~·.i: go down.
John L. ~ . and Michael ri .... served l~st Sunday, it's our
tur!l tp~day." "Do y~~ know your piece ·f.o~ this afternoq~?
•
'
-'
••
•
...
•
'.
, .•
_l.jl
•
'
,·
•
•
•
'
••••
�St. Yosep!t's C/wrc!z, P!zi!adc!p!z:a.
Father ... will be jolly mad if you break down in Sunday
School.". "I don't care, he only gave me n·y part on Friday-! wouldn't have got it if G.:rald h::tdn't been sick"
Do you see that red, cheerful, smiling face, m'lking all
smile who look upon it, crowned with a halo of golden r-ed
hair? That face belongs to a true son of Ignatius. Not.
to the sainted founder of St. Joseph's, Joseph Greaton, but to
the Apostle of Philadelphia, the loved Joseph Felix Barbelin.
Listen to him as he comes limping down the steps, a decade
of boys surround him; "Have you settled that difficulty
with l\1r.·N .... ?" "Father, it wasn't my fault." "Better
get the -Iines,-if you don't deserve them this time, you
have on many other occasions." "I didn't see you at communion. on last Sunday! "Humph! humph! humph!"·
"How is your sister? will she be at Sunday School, this
afternoon? Humph!".
:.As steel is drawn by the magnet, in the meanwhile, the
veterans have been drawn nearer. "Humph ! Y e-.:s-the
tickets-:-all ready? "-"don't forget the advertisement in
th~ Ledger, humph! humph!" ''What's the matter with
Mr. F .... ? he hasn't been to the Sodality for two Sun·
days,-humph ! " An old "apple-/ad}'," who has been following his limping steps, with ill-shod feet, and lifted hands,
and open mouth, and happy smili~g face, now catches his
eye and drops a profound courtesy-"Yes, Norah, next Friday will be the first Sunday in the month,-don't forget the
Devotion to the ·Sacred Heart." Passing is a lady dressed
in the height of the fashion-"Humph! Miss-eh! don't
forget Sunday School to-day." A smile and a bow is his
answer. Look at that old man with a cane, why does he
hasten so? mass will not be begun for ten minutes yet.
He wants to hear: "Good music to-day, Martin; Haydn's
No 4; Father .... preaches." So a word. to most, a word
like good seed, J?lessed by God, and a smile for all.
.. T~e late mass is over-see him again at his post, a word,
a smile, a shake of the hand, the old and the young, the
�St. · 7oscpks Clwrclz, Pltiladclplzia.
I
'
27
rich and the poor, the saint and the sinner-:-the Irishman
with his rich brogue, the German with his golden locks,
the French Madame with her flowers and bows, the Italian
\vith his swarthy complexion, the Spaniard or Mexican with
his stately carriage-the American with his nonchalant air,
yes-the humble African, carrying his cap in his hand, none
Cdn pass without raising the eye to see if he can gain an
answering glance, to gladden his heart on his way home
and form the staple of the dinner-table chat; -while many
stop to speak of a sad bereavement or to tell a sorrow and
hear a word of consolation and encouragement-to whisper
a coming joyful surprise and receive a word of sympathy.
Happy quadrangle, blessed by such steps! Dinner is over.
Listen to those laughs, hear those shouts, look at those
wrestling boys, can this be Sunday in the Quaker City?
Yes, it is the children, the happy children of St. Joseph's,
. waiting for the opening of the Sunday School, waiting for
Father Barbelin (Alas! no longer waitin,; for him, for he is
gone. whither he was so desirous to take them, to Heaven.)
He is gone, but they are there, and he is there in the "tablet in the Southern wall." One of St. Joseph's Sunday
School's daughters, the talented, sweet-singing Eleanor C.
Donnelly, thus writes:
"Once in his life he said-( God rest his soul 1) :
When I am dead I would be glad to lie
Near the old Church, where friends might see my grave,
And breathe a prayer for me as they passed by.
0 rare humility 1 0 saint-like fear 1
'Vhich after years of zealous ministry,
Rested with such a simple child-like faith,
Upon the prayers of sinners such as we.
God's blessing on the earnest heart that held
The words safe treasured :*-and God's blessing fall
* The Compiler of this account, who feels most grateful for the blessing.
�28
S:. :Joscplz's Clmrclz, Plzif,ldclplzi,l.
Like clearest sunshine, on the lives of those
··who set this tablet in the Southern wall.*
It was the one thing needed then and there :
Not that his memory could grow dim and die,
But it was good to see his pleasant face,
And feel him, as a guar~ian angel, nigh.
The footsteps of the children come and go,
Like sounds of summer leaves in pattering rain,
And from the wall their Father's face looks down
.-\.nd seems to smile upon them once again.
Organ may peal, and consecrated chime
Summon the faithful to the holy Mass,
But surest u:agnet of them all-behold!
The fdce that seems to brighten as they pass.
The sinner ling' ring at the gate,
Afraid to enter and confess his sin,
Hears from the marble lips : 'Come, come, dear child!'
And mao!ered by old memories-goes in.t
Blest are the dead who in the Lord repose,
For their works follow them,-yea, holy priest !
-The very meekness of the sculptured face
· Wins s0uls to Heaven, though thy life has ceased.
0 Christ! who wept when gentle Lazarus diedSend quiet rains upon this Tablet white;
And let thy sunshine gild his brow by day,
Thy moonbeams softly silver it hy night.
Silent, he seems to list~n to th~ hum
Of chil1ish voices in the sunny yard,
Within-the sweet Lord holds His court: withoutDear FS\ther Barbelin keepeth watch and ward."
June 8th, 1870.
* The Fr. Barbelin }Iemorial Association.
t This predictio!J. has mor~ than once been verified .
. ··' ... ·
'"'
.. '
. .
'
,.:
.
�St. Yoseplt's Clmrclz, Philadelplzia.
At l~:ngth he appears, panting and short-breathed, hilt
s niling still the while. Is the noise stilled? it but grows
the louder, those infant hearts cannot but speaK their happin~ss in joyous shouts: The Sunday School is over-the
Sodalists have sung the office of their Heavenly Motheragain the quadrangle is alive with cheerful voices, not those
of childrt:n now, but those of youths, the young gentlemen
and young lady Sodalists who have finished their devotions
and are waiting the beginning of Vespers. At length the
organ sounds and the quadrangle is nearly deserted. A
joyful "Te Deum" and a solemn "Laudate Dominum" ani
heard and crowds again stream out into the shady enclo.:.
sure. Now it will soon be quiet for the day. Oh, no! the
Rosary is to be recited-the library will soon be openedthe Conference of St. Vincent de Paul cannot disperse without their usual meeting, what would the poor do? Father
This and Father That are to be told, that So and So are veiy
ill, or to be ask~:d: "couldn't you bring Holy Communion
some day this week to Mother?" or to be informed: ''Father,
my brother hasn't been to his duties for years, and is now
dying of the Consumption, he can't last many day~-we
don't live in this parish, we live way down,inSt.-·-·-·sparish: But, Father, he won't have any body but you. Please,
Father, do come and speak with him and get hirn to gci to
confession, and I'll get Father-·-to anoint him." Out of
one door go four or five parties each carrying a little angel,
that a short time before had coine in a little d-1. In the
other enters another party whose flowers and perfume announce a bridal.
The supper bell rings; surely now the quadrangle will be
like a ''banquet hall deserted!" Yes, for a while, except that
some of the guests remain loth to depart. There is a last
request to St. Joseph-a last i•Hail Mary" to be said at our
Mother's Altar- "that she will not let my mother die, that
Charley may come to confession"-a last visit to Jesus in
His Tabernacle of Love-to beg for this favor, to pray that
�30
St. JOS<'}ks Cit: rdt, P/zi!adclp/tia.
that temptation may not overpower-" I cannot. tear myself
away," says an old lady! "it seems so much like Heaven."
The State House Bell-noble bell, even if you are cracked
and useless-glorious old State House Bell-that pealed
the birth-hymn of civil liberty-there is no necessity for
me to sound your paean, soon your praises will be read in
every paper throughout this vast republic. The present
State House Bell strikes seven. vVhat! are the duties of
the day to begin again? No: 1Jut, perhaps, there's a meeting of the colored people, in the basement: perhaps, the
particular Conference of St. Vincent de Paul meets at St.
Joseph's,·this evening: perhaps, the Sodality is to rehearse
for the approaching celebration; perhaps,-but never mind!
there they are, men and women, girls and boys, blackamoor
and Celt, and there he is in the midst of them, listening to
all, conversing with a score at a time, but working out his
own plans the meanwhile. Dear Father, you seem as simple as the dove, but, I know, the cunning of the serpent is
not wanting in you. At half-past nine the iron gate is closed,
and then at last, after sixteen and a half hours, that quadrangle of St. Joseph's is, for a short while, empty and still.
Blessed quadrangle ! Could Father Greaton when he selected the secluded spot, beneath the spreading Walnut
trees, have ever imagined such a s_cene? But then he had
not the happiness of knowing Father Barbelin.
[To be rontinued.]
�FATHER WENINGER ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
SECOND LETTER.
REV. AND VERY DEAR FATHER:
P. C.
The main reason, which led the Most Rev. Archbishop
Alemany to desire my presence in San Francisco, was the
hostile attitude of the German Catholics in that city. Their
church, which was situated near the harbor amidst the din
and bustle of business, had become unsuitable as a house
of God. They were, therefore, thinking of selecting a more
convenient site in the centre of the city, when serious diffi·
culties broke out between the Archbishop and some self·
willed, headstrong members of the Congregation. The matter was taken to the secular courts, and an open rupture
ensued between the chief shepherd and this discontented,
wayward flock. Meanwhile the old church, which was all
of iron, had fallen into utter decay and become actually
unsafe. The innocent, as well as the guilty, thus found
themselves without a temple of their own and were obliged
to offer their adorations in our old College church, which
the Fathers at St. Ignatius had kindly placed at their disposal until they would be provided with more suitable
accommodations.
Such was the state of the congregation on my arrival.
I was expected to bring back these refractory spirits to a ,
sense of duty, to harmonize these discordant elements, to
adjust existing differences and to remove the scandal. I
soon perceived that I had entered upon a new and unexplored field of experience. I felt that the people of California were widely different in character from any that I had
�32
Fr. lVminger
011
tfze Pacific Coast.
hitherto dealt with. They seemed to form a race apart,
almost as unlike their Texan neighbors as they are unlike
the New Englanders. But a mission moves on victoriously,
even amid the most untoward circumstances. It is an irresistable steam-engine of grace, which can grind a heart of
quartz to dust. I opened it at once and continued it for a
fortnight with unequivocal signs of Heaven's approval.
Strengthened in their faith and renewed in spirit, the
Germans resolved to be Catholics in deed as \Yell as in
name. They wished to buy another lot immediately, and
without further delay to build a church and school-house
of their o\vn. But there were still great obstacles to remove.
Up to that time, the Archbishop had refused giving his
,consent, until the law-suit would have been decided. Besides this, the authors of the trouble had spread the rumor
that, even should they gain the case, his Grace would never
allow the Germans to build a church for their own exclusive
use.
I undertook to represent the case to the Archbishop
during the course of the mission. I insisted that, if he
wished it .to be successful, he must accede to the present
wishes of the Congregation, and that he must himself lay
on the altar, in the presence of the people, the document
entitling the Germans to erect a ne~v church destined exclusively for their use. I even went so far as to dictate to him
the words in which he was to address them, in order to
allay their suspicions. The prelate agreed to my every
proposal with edifying humility, and his lenient, conciliatory conduct produced the happiest results. A new lot
was purchased for about thirty thousand dollars in a very
eligible part of San Francisco, and a large building was
erected containing under one roof a temporary church and
school-house.
Immediately after this mission, I was invited to give one
in English in the church of St. Francis of Assisi, which is
under the direction of the Dominican Fathers. I answered
�Fr. TVmi11ger
011
tlzc Pacific Coast.
33
the call with the greatest pleasure, because the journey to
San Francisco, for the sole purpose of giving one mission
to a single German parish, really seemed too long.. Having
come so far, I wished to do as much good as possible along
the Pacific Coast. I cannot give the reader a better idea
of the success which attended my efforts and of the consolatipns which I enjoyed, than by quoting an extract from
an article, which appeared on that occasion in the San
Fran cisco llfonitor.
"One of the most successful Missions ever given in California, closed on Monday evening last, at the Church of
St. Francis in this city. The well established fame of the
Missionary, his towering zeal for the reclamation of sinners,
his forcible eloquence, his celebrity as an author of many
important works of a devotional character, all naturally attracted great numbers to see and hear him. No one was
disappointed.
"From the first day of the mission the confessionals were
crowded. Certain days of the week were set apart for the
special instructions of married men, married women, young
men and young women, and the numbers which filled the
beautiful church on all occasions bear testimony to the intense interest manifested by all classes. Ten Confessors
were almost constantly in attendance.-Sunday morning
last at half past five the Church was filled with men of all
ages; women being excluded. Every member of that vast
Congregation approached the altar; old, young, and middle
a~ed-presenting a more edifying spectacle, than was ever
Witnessed within a Church in San Francisco.
"At last Mass, the renewal of the baptismal vows took
place. At the close of the sermon the Sanctuary was
~rowded with boys and girls, a number of the latter dressed
m white, with flowing veils and wearing wreaths of roses.
In the centre of the platform, elevated above the children,
who surrounded the altar dais, stood the Missionary. In a
voice clear and distinct, he ordered the Congregation to
stand up, and to every question, one loud and solemn reply
attested the sublimity of that strong christian faith, which
enables the sincere Catholic to hold himself in readiness,
to _die for his religion. The fervor of their responses, the
VOices of the children ringing in a clear treble above the
�34
Fr. IVminger
011
the Pacific Co.ut.
deeper tones of the Congregation, and again the solemn
exhortations of Father \Veninger, beseeching them to keep
faith forever pure in their souls, sent an electric thrill through
the people, which found vent in tears of ineffable joy.
"Monday evening the Blessing of the Mission Cross took
place and the Papal Benediction was administered. For
this o~casion the Altar and Sanctuary were decorated with
flowers and evergreens in extraordinary profusion. H l!ndreds of lights dazzled around and upon the Altar, and
numerous little girls arrayed in white were ranged along the
rails of the Sanctuary. A splendid instrumental band and
an increased choir also lent additional interest to the ceremonies. The effect was grand and replete with those soulelevating-~ensations, which the ceremonies of the Church
of God can alone impart. Tuesday was set apart for the
enrollment of hundreds of children in the Confraternity of
the Holy Infants. The offering amounted to $I 16 in gold.
By this act the spiritual exercises in the parish of St. Francis were brought to a close,-a work which can never be
effaced from the memory of any one who attended them.
"The splendid Mission Cross, some twelve feet in length,
was placed in a niche over St. Joseph's Altar, and the magnificent inscription in gold letters across the arms, "He that
shall persevere to the end, shall be saved," will always serve,
to remind those, who attended the Mission of I 869, that
their promises of amendment will avail them nothing, unless they keep them unsullied and unbroken, to the end.
"How consoling to the 1\'Iissionary's heart must be the
pleasure of this his first fruit among.the English speaking
Catholics of the Pacific Coast t In common with others we
rejoiced, that in the midst of the tirades of an Anti-Catholic
Press the Church moves forward with gigantic strides drawing still closer around her devoted children, and adding
many a stray sheep, which is not yet of the flock, to the
one fold and the one shepherd. Several professions of faith
took place, and others are being instructed previous to their
reception into the Church."
From San Francisco I passed on to Maiysville and gave
a Retreat to the clergy in the diocese of Grass Valley. It
is presided over by Bishop 0: Connel, who had wished me
since p1any years back to give the spiritual exercises to
his flock. Thanks be to Heaven, the first effects were most
�I
Fr.
~Vmingt'r Oil
tile Pacific Coast.
35
consoling to his heart and to mine. Indeed, according to
my experience,' no mission is accompanied with such copious showers of grace as one given to priests.
As our Fathers are frequently called upon to give Retreats to the Clergy, they will not consider it out of place
here to record what personal experience has taught concerning this particular kind of mission. In the first place, I
regard an absolute silence as an indispensable condition for
complete success. To ensure this point, a Retreat to all
the priests in common should never exceed three or four
days. A full Triduum, with an introduction on the eve of
the first day and a concluding meditation on the morning
of the fourth, is quite s~fficient. Priests, as a general rule,
are very willing to close their lips for three or four days,
but no longer.
If it is not possible, for want of sufficient accommodation,
to furnish them all with private rooms, the large halls in
which they are lodged, should be partitioned off with curtains, and each one be provided with separate compartment to which he may retire to avoid the temptation of
speaking. Each of these little cells or rooms should be
supplied with paper, pen and ink, but especially with some
ascetical work or the life of a Saint.
During these three days, I am in the habit of giving
eleven Meditations and three Conferences. I do not content myself with merely explaining the points to them, and
then leaving them to meditate by themselves. As a general rule, they are not accustomed to meditate, and if abandoned to themselves are apt to spend the time in an idle,
listless way with but little profit to their souls. It is much
better to stay with them the whole hour and go through
the Meditations with them, suggesting such pious affections
and resolutions as the subject naturally calls forth. After
this, they may withdraw to their own apartments and spend
a quarter of an hour in pondering over what they have
heard. This exercise, which our Holy Father calls the
a
�36
Fr. 1Vming-cr on t!tc R1cijic Coast.
"Regustatio Spiritus," often contributes more than the l\Ieditation itself to inspire them with salutary resolutions. I
also make the particular examen with them at noon and at
night. This enables me to rekindle their fervor, to dwell
upon the importance of silence and retirement and to move
them to still greater fidelity during the following half day.
At night, after the points have been explained, the Blessed
Sacrament is exposed upon the altar, the "l\Iiserere" is sung
by all, the Benediction given and night prayers recited in
common.
A Retreat conducted in this manner cannot fail, it seems
to me, to ·be crowned with success. If, after eleven Med1
itations and three Conferences, a p riest is not renewed in
spirit, if he is not resolved to make a good confession and
to lead a life worthy of his high calling, no good need be
expected from him by protracting the exercises of the Retreat. He will only grow more and more weary of his present condition, because he is out of the common routine of
daily life to which 'he has become accustomed, and probably deprivc.d of many little creature comforts which he
enjoys at home. If he has not been cured by the terrorstriking considerations of the first three days, he is apt to
nauseate less fearful subjects altogether, to turn the most
wholesome spiritual food into dea~ly poison and only add
to the weight of his accountability-before God. At the
very least, you must expect that he will throw off the irksome restraint put upon him and show but little regard for
silence and recollection. I sometimes say, in connection·
with this subject: St. Paul had made a Retreat of but·three
days, when the scales fell from his eyes. If they do not
fall from the eyes of a sinful priest after the same length of
time, they will not fall off at all ; on the contrary, there is
danger of their hardening and becoming still more difficult
to remove. A' French Bishop has justly remarked; "Un
pretre, qui n'est pas converti a Ia troisieme journee, est
tue par Ia quatrieme ;-a priest, who is not converted on the
third day, is killed by the fourth."
�Fr. IVcningcr on t!te Pacific Coast.
37
Besides, if the Retreat begins on Monday or Tuesday
evening and finishes on Friday or Saturday morning, a
goodly nu<nber of priests can attend without depriving their
congregations for a single Sunday of divine worship. The
priests themselves will be less reluctant to repeat such a
Retreat, as often as an occasion offers ; and the Father who
gives it, will save time "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam."
\Vhile I was thus engaged, I received a letter from his
Grace, Archbishop Blanchet of Oregon, inviting me to give
missions in all his dioceses. He urged me to ".:;eize time
by the forelock" and be ahead of the cold season which
would soon b<: upon u ~. The Bishop of Marysville, on the
other hand, advised me to defer the missions in his diocese
on ac<:ount of the intense heat. Accordingly, I ~esolved to
consult the wishes of both of these prelates as well as the
comfort of the people, and to start immediately for Oregon.
Before asking my readers to accompany me thither in spirit,
I trust they will allow me to detain them a little on what has
been to me a subject of heartfelt consolation.
In Marysville, which I was just going to quit for a season,
I fell in with some distinguished American converts, who
had been brought to the fc<ith by reading my little volume
on "Protestantism and Infidelity;" and elsewhere I discovered to my great surprise that, through that book, I was
almost better known among Americans on'the Pacific Coast
than in the Atlantic Cities. The San Francisco Monitor
almost reproduced the work in its columns; and in the
Railway car~, as well as on the boats, converts addressed
me who had perused its pages and who expressed the most
cordial joy on seeing its author.
Among the unknown friends, whose acquaintance I thus
unexpectedly made, was a man from the great "Indian Reservation" on the Pacific Coast, who once sent me a letter
to Buffalo to announce an extraordinary conversion. Two
stray copies of"Protestantism and Infidelity" had found their
way to the "Reservation," and one of these had been put
�38
Fr. TVmingcr o1z tlte Pacific Coast.
into the hands of an American, who had been committed
to prison for murder. He read it, recognized the claims of
our holy Faith and was received into the bosom of the
Church. \Vhile standing upon the gallows, previous to his
execution, he addressed the crowd ; and confessing his
crime, he thanked God who out of so enormous an evil, had
been pleased to draw so great a good for his soul. He
expressed the firm confidence that being now a member of
the true and only saving Church of Christ, he would appear
cleansed from his sins in the presence of a merciful Judge,
and despite his past iniquities would be admitted to the
joys of hei!-ven. As was expected his words made a deep .
impression on the people; and when I heard of the occurrence, I immediately sent fifty more copies for distribution
among the protestants in that part of the country.
I have taken the liberty to state these particulars, notas I[.hope-from any selfish satisfaction, but from a desire
to confirm by fresh, living examples and personal experience what every member of the Society already knows from
our annals and family traditions-that good books are one
of the most powerful weapons, which we can wield as soldiers of the cross. Yet, often, perhaps, we practically underrate their importance and feel tempted to abandon the labor
of composition altogether, for the more exciting and possibly more attractive duties of the.imlpit.
Had I come to this country dumb, I would never regret
having crossed the ocean, so long as I would have been
allowed to use my pen, and spread my works abroad. Up
to the present I have been enabled by my own exertions
to circulate books to the amount of some two hundred
thousand dollars ; and I engage all my brethren to use
their individual as well as their united efforts in a similar
undertaking. Their eloquence can' attract but a limited
number of hearers, and at best must cease with their lives;
their writings may be read .and reread by millions and continuethe ,good begun, when the authors themselves have
�Fr. IVmiugcr on tit<· Pacific Coast.
39
gone to their reward. I should only feel too happy. if a'~ord of recommendation from me would induce many to
walk in the footprints left by_ a Possevin and other distin~
guished writers of the Society, even at a time when the press
was not yet that powerful engine of good or evil which it
has become in our days, and when the Church did not yet
urge her educated and sworn defenders so repeatedly and
so earnestly as our own Pius has done, to counteract the
pernicious influence of the infidel books, slanderous pamphlets and immoral squibs, which stock the literary market
and which are bought up and devoured with such dangerous greed, owing to a want of more wholesome nourishment.
It is for us-who are particularly called upon to break
to the hungry the bread of holy doctrine-to supply this
urgent demand, to diminish this dearth of sound intellectual
food and prevent the children of the h~usehold from famishing, or begging for a poisoned crumb at the door of a
stranger. Great, beyond measure, was the encouragement
I received, when the Holy Father. himself wrote to me;
that by my work on the "Infallible Authority of the Pope,"
I had done more good than by all the missions which I
had given throughout the States. Certain it is that, should
God require me to renounce either the meritS gained by
my sermons or those gained by my books, 1 should exclaim
without hesitation: "Leave me those of my books, l renounce those of my sermons;"
Such considerations as these were almost enough to attach my heart to Marysville. I embarked, however, for
Oregon in the beginning of September, and felt happy in
the thought that I· was traveling on the same ocean, on
which St. Francis Xavier had traveled in his missionary
expeditions of old. It is called the Pacific; but along the
shores of California up towards· Oregon and· Washington
Territory, this appellation is seemingly a lucus a ?ton lu~
cendo. The tide nearly always runs high; and chafing· with'
�40
Fr. 1Vminger
ott
the Pacific Coast.
reckless fury bears you along on a crest of foam. I particularly recollect the terror of a New Englander one stormy
day, as he looked in horror out upon the seething mountains of water, and ever and anon repeated the significant
exclamation "awful ! awful ! "
However as I had the first cabin on board, I was able to
say Mass every day. I never sacrificed to Neptune on sea,
and to my comfort I discovered, that though the Pacific
was rough, its waves were quite different from those of the
Atlantic. On the latter, particularly about the Gulf of Mexico, they are sharp and broken; on the former-possibly
because ~9f the difference in the temperature-they rise
gradually like extensive hills, an.d consequently in stormy
weather the motions of the steamer are not so violent.
As our route lay along the shore, we enjoyed the grand
and truly picturesque scenery presented by the mountain
chains, and particularly by the towering heights of Mt.
Shasta. The deep too added its share to the romance of
the trip. The many whales that perform their awkward
gambols, apparently for the diversion of the traveler, and
the seals or sea-lions that cover the passing rocks-all
entertain him on his way and relieve that e?mm: which is
seen to come over the majority of men, when for days in
succession they see nothing but the same monotonous expanse of sea and sky. The oceari ·itself was often to me an
object of intense wonder and delight, when in the evening,
at a certain angle of the setting sun, all its massive waves
seemed to be changed into so much liquid silver and cast
a brilliant sheen around us.
After a pleasant voyage,we approached at last the dreaded
"Columbia Bar"-one of the most difficult places to pass,
on account of the masses of sand gathered at the mouth of
that mighty river. It is lined on both sides by fortifications
-the one called Fort Stevens, the other l<ort Disappointment. The name of the latter may have originated in the
disappointment of those who had expected to come into port
�4I
TVoodstock.
there, but who sometimes had to wait for eight or ten days
before they could cross the bar. Fortunately we experienced no difficulty, but went smoothly over to Astoria, and
from thence to Portland, the "Empire City" of Oregon.
And here I must halt awhile, leaving my readers to muse
'over its real or imaginary grandeurs. More in my next.
With many regards
Yours affectionately in Dno.
F. X.
WENINGER.
WOODSTOCK,
JT.S SURROUNDINGS AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
I
I
i
I
Our first modest attempts to emulate the example of the
European Scholasticates, by publishing periodical letters
and notices, has, in the remoter parts of our North American provinces and missions, excited a pardonable curiosity
to know more about Woodstock. Anxious as not a few
have shown themselves to glean, be it even from a stray letter, or from an occasional wayfarer, whatever information
they can concerning this young Scholasticate, we must confess we are not a whit less so to gratify their desire, and
fondly to dwell on what the Society has with no niggard
hand provided for the formation and well-being of her children. It is for the present the only means of testifying our
gratitude, though at best it is but a poor return for so much
goodness and foresight.
�42
Woodstock.
Under the above heading we purpose to crowd into a few
pages the merest tithe of what may be said on, for us at least,
so interesting a subject. Much will be left for those who
follow in our wake to descant upon in more becoming phrase,
and for this reason at the very outset we bespeak all possible indulgence.
Into the upper waters of the Che~apeake, that bay of
many beauties, one hundred and fifty miles from the Ocean,
the Patapsco discharges the tributes it has received from
torrent, fount and stream among the uplands of what is here
termed the. \Vestern Shore. Even ten miles from its mouth,
the Patapsco is a broad expanse, for which bay or in!rt
would be no misnomer.
At this point, on a site of more than ordinary beauty, rise
on hill-side and terrace the familiar domes and spires of
the Monumental City. It bears, as we all know, the name
of the elder Calvert; but with it is as~ociated also the memory of those wholesouled men, who, without the savage
bigotry of the puritan, dared like dangers, displayed equal
fortitude, shook off the same religious intolerance and
\vould have gained the same, if not greater applause from
men, had they worshipped at any other altar save that of
Truth.
It was befitting that under the shadow of the Metropolitan Church the general America~· Scholasticate should
spring into life. May Providence vouchsafe to it a greater
longevity than that enjoyed a decade of years ago by the
first American Scholasticate, planted by some strange coincidence within two score miles of Plymouth rock. But
while wishing it a more protracted term of usefulness, we
could scarcely augur for it one of more unmingled happiness than that which fell to the lot of Boston College so
long as it endured. There were we gathered together under the kindest of fathers, around whose brow beamed a
something less in keeping with earth than mere human
benevolence, a something suggestive of the halo of the
�••
�-~~--=-
w
�REFERENCES TO THE MAP.
1. Florence Copper Mine.
2. Springfield "
3. Chrome Ore Mines and Crushing Mills.
4. U. S. Arsenal.
5. Bare Hill Copper Mine.
6. New Mount Hope Insane Asylum (Sistpr~ of Charity).
7. Powder Mills.
8. Soap Stone Quarry.
9~ Woodstock Scholasticate.
10. Asbestos Quarry.
11. St. Charles' College (St. Sulpice).
12. Carroll Manor·(Hon. Charles Carroll of Carrollton).
13. Patapsco Female Institute.
14. House of Study (Rcdemptorist~).
15. Academy of Mount de Sales (Sister~ of tlw \"isitntion).
16. Sulphur Springs.
17. Baltimore Alms House.
18. Fort :McHenry.
19. Rock Hill College (Chri~titm Brothers)
;!; Church or Meeting Hous<·.
o l\Iill or Factory.
0
Mine.
s. School.
st. Country Storl'.
b.
Blacksmith or ·whe!'lwright.
��Tvoodstock.
43
martyr, a so:nething akin to the seal the servants of God
are to bear before this wicked world is stricken. Those who
were fortunate enough to live under that mild sway, amidst
brothers of many nations, of many minds, but of one heart,
will easily conceive that iw greater praise can be lavished
on \Voodstock than to say, it justly claims as its birthright
and its inheritance the same public virtues: a similar kindness in the rulers and an equally close bond of fraternal
charity amongst the ruled. This antonomastically is the
virtue of the American Scholastic, and the Great Apostle
or the Beloved Disciple were they to visit in body this religious community made up of so many nationalities could
scarcely do else than marvel at what the world would call
cosmopolitan good-fellowship; but which ennobled by a
higher motive, hallowed by membership with Christ, can be
termed naught else than universal Charity.
To dwell on the personnel of the house, 9r the professional staff, would be presumptuous. The Catholic countries
of the Old \Vorld have been laid under contribution.
vVe have but to thank our Mother the Society for her discernment. \Ve repeat for the hundredth time it is true, but
it will be a more emphatic declaration in these pages, that
all are enraptured with their kindness, their devotedness
and . . . . reparabi!is adsonat ec!to.
Blest therefore by Providence, as is this house, with the
best available talent of our European provinces, it is not the
less favored by nature, when. we consider the advantages of
its position. As to what may have been the object of the
founders of the Society in expressing the wish that its scholastic youth be trained in the great centres of the Old World,
we shall not stop to enquire; but as things since then have
undergone a radical change, and since the great catholic
universities have all but ceased to exist, there are few drawbacks and many unquestionable advantages in solitude. It
favours study and a religious spirit which should go hand
in hand with learning ; there are charms, as we were told in
�44
~Voodstock.
youth in poetic strain, which sages have seen in the £<ce of
Solitude : to these charms 'vVoodstock can lay claim, for
\Voodstock before all is a solitude.
Some fifteen miles in a direct line from the city, it is fully
five and twenty by rail, owing to the windings of the Patapsco which the Baltimore and Ohio railroad follows in its
route. This great thoroughfare of western traffic on leaving
Baltimore deviates, as may be seen by consulting the accompanying map, first to the southwest until it reaches the
Relay House, where it effects a junction with the Washington line. Here it abruptly turns to the northwest, enters at
Illchester th~ gorge hewn out of the solid rock during the
lapse of ages by the falls of the Patapsco, traverses Ellicott's
City, and crossing and re-crossing the river at Elysville, after many windings, finally passes the village of 'vVoodstock
on its way to the Cumberland coal region and the far West.
The hills on either side of the river are abrupt and in many places precipitous, crowned with cedar groves, or woods
of oak, maple, hickory, the tulip poplar, the gum, the fragrant" sassafras and the more humble dogwood, whose profuse white flowers in the full bloom of spring are in striking contrast with the crimson blossoms of the Judas-tree,
and whose blood red berries in the glow of an Indian summer show even brighter than the brilliant hues of our American forests in autumn.
The rocky sides of the river-slopes are studded with
mountain laurel, and so thoroughly are its branches interwoven, that it forms all but an impenetrable thicket, affording safe covert for rabbit, fox and quail, while the glades
and snatches of neglected cle~rings or fallow lands are fairly
resplendent with the beautiful azalea.
A hundred feet or more above the river bed stretches out
a table land of more or less rolling country, broken more
and more the nearer you approach the course of the numerous i<u·ger streams, which from north-west to south-east
traverse the countries bordering on the Chesapeake.
• I
���Bloodstock.
45
It is on the brow of one of these eminences of more
gradual <'.scent that we first catch a glimpse of the Scholas·
ticate. Its appearance is about that portrayed in the accompanying sketch, which was taken from a point scarcely
thirty feet below the level of the front garden. The main
portion of the hill does not enter into the picture.
There is an object almost at the outskirts of the sparse
woods fringing the crest of the hill which arrests our attention as we advance. It is a nondescript edifice as yet without roof, and bears, as it now stands, a striking resemblance
to those platforms which adorn the gartm of the Teuton.
From this position the scene is indeed one to be despised
by no lover of nature. The serpentine course of the Pa~
tapsco, so far down beneath us that the noise of its waters
as they dash over the rocks at the ford is toned down to a
gentle murmur: the vista between the hills, whose rough
contour is softened by the woodlands on their slopes: the
strip.offertile meadow at the margin of the stream: the
island with its rank growth of reeds and willows, the stream
itself silvered by distance and the play of light: the pearly
mist hanging veil-like midway down the valley, and the
haze at the borizon, which, with more than artist's skill,
heightens the atmospheric perspective: the stark piers of the
broken bridge suggestive of scenes of violence amidst one
of peace and beauty; such in a few hurried strokes is the
rough outline of a charming picture, simple in itself, without
grandeur in complex or detail, but one on which the eye
reposes with pleasure, as in it, as in all else in nature, it finds
the beauty of proportion and of color, it discovers the handiwork of Him who reared alike the ponderous peaks of the
Matterhorn and unfolded the smiling plains of Andalusia or
Touraine.
To this add the music of those many minstrels, which
travelers could not have heard when they wrote down our
forests as silent, those minstrels of gaudy plumage from
the robin and mocking-bird of more sombre hue to the ori-
I
�11 oodstock.
ole, the cardinal, the humming-bird, the mottled thrush and
of a thousand others, all peculiar to our American shores,
and these charms will be appreciated not by the foreigner
alone. The unpretending hamlet of vVoodstock, consisting
of scarcely a dozen houses, nestles snugly in a fold of the
hills halfway up the southern slope, seemingly unconscious
that it lies within a score of miles of one of the, great centres of American civilization.
'
We have delayed you long, perhaps too long, ad !imina
Sclwlasticonmz. One pause more ere we reach the entrance.
The garden'with its grass plots and many colored platbands
is of but t\\ro summers' growth. It is the result of patient .
toil on the part of the scholastics during their leisure hours.
Those who wish to inspect the interior of the house we
refer to a back number of the Letters a1td Notices, (March
I 870.)
Those on the contrary who still delight to breathe
the open air, we shall lead anon through the shady paths
which have already been so often trodden, and which for
many a coming year will be trodden still more frequently
by the votaries of Philosophy and Theology.
Ana here it would be well to remark that a negative process in describing the site and vicinity of our house would
perhaps afford more satisfaction to those who have sojourned
at one or other of the scholasticates .of France or England.
\Voodstock, it is needless to say, is neither Laval, St.
Achceul, Vals, Fourviere, nor St. Beuno's.
At Laval, St. Michael's overlooks an antiquated city, with
crooked streets and quaint old buildings. Here, on the
contrary, you could easily imagine yourself in a country
but recently settled. The click-clack of the hand-loom,
which greets the ear of the scholastic as he saunters along
the peacefully flowing Mayenne, has on the wild banks of
thePatapsco at this point no corresponding sounds of industry save at times the measured stroke of the woodman's
axe. Neither has the Woodstock student the advantage
�FVoodstock.
47
during th.: midsummer vacation of being welcomed to a
new home* by the mother of a rr.artyr and a saint.
. St. Acha!ul possesses attraCtions of its own. Its shady
alleys of linden, which with matchless symmetry, all but
meet over head so as effectually to exclude the sun's rays
and to catch at the same time 'the faintest breath of the
breeze if stirring; its incomparable garden laid out by a Le
Notre, would scarcely remind an inmate of our house of the
umbrageous by roads and meandering paths through woodlands planted by nature's hand alone, and left untutored in
their wild and exuberant growth. The snug retreat ofCagny
whence philosophy and the classics are banished for the
nonce ; where, we might say without fear of being contradicted by those who have ever passed a fortnight of a summer's month amidst its bowers, the morning excitator assumes the agreeable form of a score or so of nightingales
warbling with persistent energy at your window, and where
the same welcome sound lulls you to repose at night: B~ves
with its ruins and the low turf fields of Longeau, so lately
crimsoned with the noblest blood of France ; Wailly,
Prousul, once the home of the hero of Castelfidardo, Picquigny and the abbatial ruins of Corbie have no place in our
map-And oh t the grand old aisles of Amiens Cathedralever within an easy stage, when the scholastic's only trouble
is to decide whither to bend his steps, we find no term of
comparison for them on this side of the Atlantic, much less
in our immediate vicinity.
Fourviere, fostering in her bosom a sacred shrine, resort
of pious pilgrims, looks down unconcerned upon the bustling streets of the second city of the Gauls. There at her
feet the Rhone and Saone mingle their waters, bearing on
their united floods silken fabrics to the ports of the Mediterranean, and far off in the east one can just catch a
* Villa of Grenousse-Country seat of 1\Ide. Dueoudray.
�1Voodstock.
glimpse of the eternal snows, which mant!t..: the summit of
l\lount Blanc.
\ Vho of us has not heard of Vals even on this side of the
Atlantic? \Vhat few points of resemblance between that
time-honored abode of learning, commanding from its terraced garden a view of Notre Dame de France and l\Iont
Corneille, and our \Voodstock, on whose walls the mortar
is barely dry, round whose name clings as yet scarcely a
memory of the pa<>t. Vals, region of incomparable walks,
village of picturesque surroundings, did ever scholastic under
your roof despair of finding a new object of interest to visit
on the ever ,~;elcome Thurs.day or on any other auspicious
day on that goodly list of extra 'i 1acats, which graced, better
than vignette of gold, your venerable diarium? Extinct
craters, mountains of basalt and trap, les Orgues d'Espally,
le Gerbier, Polignac, Ceysac and a thousand other equally
interesting spots, each claims a day for itself. l\Ions, of all
villas the most agreeabl~, from whose keep the less inclined
to physical exertion can scan a horizon of mountains and
inhale .the bracing air which sweeps up from the ravine of
the Loire, we would welcome you bodily to our shores were
il among the order of things possible. Where in all V elay,
region built up by Titans, can be found~ scene of such wild,
rugged and sublime beauty as that which the philosopher
or theologian commands when looking down upon Les
Horreurs de Ia Loire? Throned on pinnacle of trap, or basaltic column, your eyes repose on the sombre forest of
mountain-pine lying at your feet. Beyond they wander over
luxuriant villages and vineclad slopes; then they take in
the Loire with its all but impossible windings; still further
on across the ever impetuous but pellucid torrent, mountain
on mountain piled, with craggy sides dotted here and there
\Vith sunlit hamlets, or the white towers of feudal strongholds perched on unapproachable sites ; then at the horizon
high aboye the jagged outline of the Cevennes tower the
snow-tapped peaks of the Mezin, perhaps, if in a mild May,
faintly wreathed in the vapors of its melting snow.
�Woodstock.
49
\Ye must also confess that in the vicinity of \V~odstock
few of those spectacles of tender piety, peculiar to Catholic
countries, but exotic in this heretical land, rejoice the religious heart, as they invariably do in the immediate neighborhood of Vals. No gatherings at their thresholds of
indefatigable Ponottes, industriously occupied at their bobbin-work, weaving lace and singing motets in their own peculiar patois, not the less harmoniou? for ·not being understood.
• Your sister scholasticate does not forget that you are yet
sorrowing, but in a religious spirit, for the loss of him whom
all loved more tenderly than a second father. The name
of your late amiable Rector* is en graven on more than one
heart in the far-off land and even under this hospitable roof;
and as he will not be forgotten in our thoughts he will live
also in our prayers ready in turn to bless and assist us should
he already have reached the term of all his hopes and aspirations. The Scholasticate of Woodstock can well sympathize with you in your sorrow, for young.as it is it has
already to lament the long severance, until the day of final
greeting, of eternal fellowship, from the kindest of teachers,
the gentlest of hearts, the most beloved where all are held
so dear.t The loss is wholly ours, and we mean not to repine, since he has already met with his reward for the many
years he has toiled in the vineyard of his Master; and as
we bend over the new-made grave in that little grove
which crowns the hill, those sweet lines of Callanan break
spontaneously from our lips:
Oh ! 'tis a placid rest;
Who should deplore it !
Trance ot the pure and blest,
Angels watch o'er it I
Sleep of his mortal night.,
Sorrow can't break it;
Heaven's own morning light
Alone shall awake it.
*Father J. B. Rouquayrol.
t Father Charles 1'!1. Maldonado,
�50
Woods toek.
Nobly thy course is run;
Splendor is round it!
Bravely thy fight is.won;
Freedom hach crowned it!
In the high warfare
Of heaven grown hoary,
Thou'rt gone like the summer sun
Shrouded in glory.
St. Beuno's, last in our enumeration but not so on the
roll of honor, we regret that we are not more familiar with
your surroundings l \Ve have heard of your superb walk
in that land .next to the Highlands of mountain and of
glen ; the fame of your noble oak has reached our ears ;
we have wandered in fancy to the beetling cliff.., of Barmouth, or stood on its long jetty; we have all but bathed
in the surf which breaks on the shingled beach. The little
we can glean from what has been whispered acwss the
waste of waters serves but to whet our curiosity and we
stand ready to be enlightened when convenience or leisure
may allow.
Such then are the physical features of the several Scholastica-tes enumerated. Different in many points, we all
know that they are one in spirit, one in the mode of training, one in their object. All have been chosen with an eye
to our comfort and convenience. Jhe skilful gardener,
when he sets out the young slip in tl1e nursery grounds,
chooses the richest soil, the best irrigated slope, the sunniest
spot, the most sheltered from the northern blast. The nursery grounds of the Society are chosen with like discernment. We are in a word the spoilt children of the Society.
Much as this is exemplified elsewhere it is not the less so
here. We insist not on what is expended on our mental
and spiritual culture, for in this each separate scholasticate
is but the counterpart of the others; but with what has
been done for our physical well-being we might fill pages.
And in this particular we make bold to say that there is no
scholasticate which enjoys so many advantages as Woodstock.
�rvoodstock.
sr
\Vere we even confined to our two hundred and fifty
acres, we should certainly be more fortunate than others are
in most houses of study. The grounds, though as yet but
little improved by landscape gardening, are broken and
hilly; a~reeably diversified with knoll and dell, clad in their
own wild beauty; here and there, though of rare occurrence we meet with a level stretch of meadow. The numerous streams with rocky beds and diminutive cascades
are one of the features of the demesne. Springs abound,
and send forth their little rilh to refresh you at every turn ;
some are chalybeate, though their medicinal properties have
not been thoroughly tested. The roads and paths which
intersect the woods in every direction and wind along the
Patapsco, seeing what little labour has been expended on
them, are already the admiration of visitors, and when
properly graded and protected from the wear of the rain
will be incomparable. If we extend our walks beyond the
College limits and beyond the range of the accompanying
plot, towards the North and the North-East, we can follow for hours the forest roads without once emerging into
the full glare of the summer sun.
Our little river fuwishes us in summer with many an
hour of invigorating exercise. Our fleet at one time numbered seven galleys; and in the twilight hours of the vacatio major bore many a light-hearted crew gallantly up the
Patapsco to the favourite rendezvous near the grotto. On
more solemn occasions the little craft are decked out gaily
with pennon and oriflamb. The shores resound with song
and chorus and the merry laugh of a hundred hard worked
mortals, who in these wilds, where their noisy outpourings
are never heeded unless perhaps by the echoes of the hills,
are bent on exercising their lungs and making the most of
a few weeks of relaxation after the tugging and straining of
a twelvemonth. We said that our fleet once numbered
seven, and advisedly, for the treacherous little stream which
with so innocent a murmur steals past our shores,swollen
�52
1Voodstock.
by last September's rain, swept three from their moorings.
A stray plank or painted gunwale riding the foaming, seeth·
ing torrent was all that was ever s~en of them after they
passed the dams at Ellicott's l\Iills.
This was but one of the freaks of the Patapsco, for the
tale of many a disaster can be read along its shores. Those
who have visited the bend and the forks at the outlet of the
North Branch will well remember the acres of debris of all
kinds borne thither and there deposited by the stream·
Bridge-girders, trestle-work, shafts and mill-wheels, stanchions of dams, giant trunks, all heaped up promiscuously,
after leaving the marks of their passage along the banks ;
where trees are uprooted or bent to the ground with their
tops imbedded in sand. In time they put forth new limbs
while in this anomalous position, thus perpetuating the
memory of the watery inroads. Railroad sleepers and odds
and ends of all kinds are lodged high .up in the clefts of
trees; in one instance,-and many will recollect the curiosity as it remained in position a couple of years,-a wheelbarrow was entangled in the branches of a sapling and
remained suspended at least twenty feet above the ground.
Similar sights are familiar in the neighbourhood ; but further down the stream at Ellicott's Mills, or above on Piney
Run, which was at one time dotted )vith mills, ruins of what
was once the most solid masonry fully attest the resistless
fury of angry waters. Huge rocks and ponderous bowlders have been borne down with all else and left high and
dry in new sites when the waters abated.
It was during one of these floods, a little better than three
years ago, that the Woodstock bridge yielded and in its
downward trip swept with it to destruction a second bridge
about a mile below the village, and Woodstock College was
thus cut off from its base of supplies.
Near the extreme western angle of the property, high up
qt} the baqk there are furth~r tr<tces of violence:;; but this
1va~ thi: work of the winds and not of the flood. The Col-
��_
_A_
COLLCGE
l\.oa.d.•--=
it•!.'l• - - -
"'it-;e~\ -----~-
"rnmwo.)-
~~::~nt!~
t'no..\ns.
10.
1~
~"\ 1
�Woodstork.
53
lege at the time of the occurrence was scarcely roofed in. A
few of the laborers and the director of the works were then
the sole inmates. It was during the dark hours of the night.
The hurricane, for it can be called naught else, swept down
the Patapsco and striking as we have said the extreme western corner of the property, spread ruin everywhere in its
track. The sturdiest trunks were snapped asunder, the
largest oaks and poplars were laid low and tossed together
in the wildest confusion. The course of the whirlwind was
eastward, up the stt.ep bank, across the little stream to the
west of the building and passing a short distance behind
the house, whilst those within expected every minute to be
buried beneath the walls, expended its force in the little
valley at the foot of the garden. In a few brief minutes the
most beautiful grove of the entire property, but a stone's
throw to the rear of the College, became an unsightly mass
of splintered trunks or a heap of uprooted trees. He who
has set a limit to the billows and holds also the winds in
check, that night extended a protecting hand over a house
which was in days not distant to send forth many a sturdy
warrior to do battle in His service. The founder of this
edifice arrived the next day and saw to his dismay how
mudi the storm had disfigured the surroundings of the
scholasticate. He has since drawn good from evil. The
greater part of the fallen timber has been corded and
burned ; but what still remains, at his suggestion, is hacked
at unremittingly by our more delicately constituted brethren
who swing an axe for an hour or so daily in quest of a more
robust health.
During the cooler autumn months, the scholastic abandons the shore of the Patapsco and finds all the exercise he
needs at the ball or bowling alleys. Both the Philosophers
and the Theologians have at no little expense been provided
with one of each. These alleys can, after close scrutiny, be
descried on the map to the east and west of the house,
distant a hundred yards or more.
,,
,,
�54
TVoodstock.
\Vhen December and January have frozen the river over,
the scholastic, fully alive to the fact that of all kinds of exercise skating is by far the mo-.;t invigorating, burnishes up
his somewhat rusted blades, the scholasticate once more
pours out its little population, and the banks of the Patapsco
again become a scene of exhilarating life.
\Vith the return of spring come the long walks. The
points of interest on such occasions, when something more
than a mere picnic is determined on, are, St. Charles' College, Carrolll\Ianor, New l\Iount Hope, and the Redemptorists' House of Study at Illchester. Or if the excursionists
have a turn~ for blending the useful with the agreeable, the
Sykesville copper and loadstone mines, the asbestos and
soapstone quarries, or the chrome ore mines and crushing
mills, are all within reach. The region is rich in almost
every variety of minerals though it is not always easy to secure the best specimens. The entomologist could have no
better field in which to prosecute his favorite study. The
choicest specimens of Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Neuroptera,
etc., abound. Our collections are not yet sufficiently complete to make any offer of exchanges on a large scale ; but
we are willing to do our best to please correspondents and
to receive with gratitude any foreign or rare specimens.
There is no reason why the musfOu·ms of all our colleges
should not be complete since we have facilities so much
greater than other scientific bodies.
After this rambling and rather gossiping communication
on Woodstock, we can scarcely draw our remarks to a close
without apologizing to our readers for having omitted
many things of interest which might have been said, inserted others which might have been much better said, and
touched upon not a few, perhaps, which might with advantage have been left out altogether. Whatever be the front
of our offending, our intention, like that of many other
weak but good-natured people, was the best. We were
bent on' offering something to those· who have so often expressed a wish to know what sort of a place Woodstock is-
�Woodstock.
55
The subject indeed is one well deserving of further notice;
for upon this spot is centred the keenest interest not of one
Province alone or of one country, but of an entire continent, whilst the Society in Europe cannot look with indifference on the prosperity of this house.
The old Catholic nations, hitherto so staunch in their
faith, are convulsed. Persecution is again in vogue, and in
spite of the reiterated boast of liberal civilizers that its days ·
were run, that it might stain a page of past history but
could never crimson the spotless future; in spite of the
confident assurance that hereafter enlightenment alone 'vas
to dispel the superstitions of religion, or that at least against
such shadowy forms no more efficient weapon need be resorted to ; in spite of much self-glorification and empty
jargon, we find ourselves once more fairly stranded in the
midst of those scenes of violence, in which forever revel
religious revolutionists and reformers.
It has been found by the enemies of Holy Church, and
be it to their confusion, that she prospers in the same ratio
as education is extended to the masses and her liberty
guaranteed. The consequence is that a different method
must hereafter be followed if they would arrest her onward
progress. Her teachers must be proscribed, and the intelligent youth of every country must be wrested from her
sway.
Driven from the cradle lands of the Society our persecuted brethren must, if things run on in this groove much
longer, finally look to America for a home. Their houses
of study are either closed in most European co~ntries or
still endure by the merest sufferance of political rulers, who
themselves are toyed with by the sects. Already our walls
shelter the studying youth of many different nation~lities,
and not to mention countries severed from us by an Ocean,
the Spanish islands, the missions bordering on the Gulf of
Mexico, as well as those washed by the Pacific, the New
England States, the vast inland territories lying along the
�s6
Woodstock.
Mississippi and the Missouri, the British maritime provinces
and the Canadas are all represented in this house. Still
will \Ve welcome with outstretched arms all those whom ungrateful Europe will force to shake off her dust and to seek
a home in the land of the stranger.
\Vhat God reserves in his mercy for this great continent
the future alone can disclose. Could we but tear aside the
veil which shuts out the morrow from our gaze, we might
then speak with some assurance on the part this scholasticate is called upon to play. But judging by the vast strides
our holy religion has already made, judging by the increasing nUmbers of the faithful, and the immense, nay,
almost inconceivable extent of territory which still lies fallow in the \Vest, though bound already together by all the
modes of modern rapid travel, we may form some faint
surmise of its future usefulness.
Those, whom it already fosters in its bosom, will in a
few years be scattered over the face of this land. They
will penetrate the fastnesses of the great table lands of the
\Ve~t, scour its boundless prairies in quest of souls, scale
the rocky barrier which severs the Atlantic from the Pacific
slope, witness in all probability the final extinction of the
savage tribes, and lay their last warriors to rest shriven
and fortified by the rites of Holy Ch~rch. They will bear
the only truly freedom-imparting words to the manumitted
race of the South, labour in the fields of the Divine H usbandman along the shores of the St. Lawrence and in the
extreme North, ptoclaim in the heart of the great centres
of population the principles of true civilization and of progress, or wear away their lives in training up new children
to the Church and to society; in a word they will be the
thews and sinews of a Catholic people, their labours will
extend over an area of six million five hundred and ninety
five thousand square miles, a world in itself, rescue from
the t~roes of infidelity a nascent empire, and exercise perhaps an unseen but not less real influence on the immense
�Indian 1lfissions.
57
and restless energies of this rising nation, forming it to
good or turning it from evil in the same proportion that
their work is blessed by Heaven. God grant that this blessing may be abundant.
INDIAN MISSIONS.
CmuR D'ALENE
MissiON,
IDAHO TERRITORY,
APRIL 2, I 872.
REV. FR. DESMET,
s. J.
P. C.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER:
I do not know how to thank your Rev. for the many and
great favors we have received from you. Even the Indians,
slow as they are in matters of this kind, acknowledge with
gratitude the many benefits you have conferred on them.
In fact, this present letter is more theirs than my own. On
Easter Sunday all the Chiefs assembled at the mission, held
a meeting, and decided on sending an ltaiminc1t (a letter) to
your Rev., their first Father Black-gown ; after which they
deputed one of their number to request me to write the
ltaiminm to Black-gown De Smet, in their name, and thank
him for his favors and kindness in their regard, with an ardent wish that he might visit them once more. I answered
that I would willingly comply with their desire, but that I
thought the request for a visit was rather bold, as Black·
gown De Smet was now advanced in years, and no longer
able to travel so great a distance on horseback. They coincided with me on this point, and added : "Should he not
be able to come and see us, he will, at all events, be glad to
�ss
ludiau Jl[i'ssio1ts.
hear that the Creur d'Alenes still retain a grateful remembrance of him." So I promised to write for them.
I can assure you, Rev. Father, that you have truly great
motives to rejoice in being the founder of this mission ;
for these "poor Indians," as they are often styled, manifest a
spirit of piety and morality which those who have never
dwelt among them would hardly credit.
Yesterday before returning to their several camps to work
their little farms, they signified their intention of coming
back to the mission towards the end of the month, in order
to be present at the devotions ofthe Month of Mary. I am
confident they will keep their word as they did last year.
The day before yesterday, all the Indians, without a single
exception, approached the Holy Sacram~nts. I think there
is hardly another people or tribe on earth of which the same
can be said.
~iatrimonial affairs (which are in so disorderly a state
among the different tribes that surround the Creur d'Alenes,
and worse perhaps amongst the whites in this new country)
are in so edifying a condition among our dear neophytes,
that they excite the admiration of all who come in contact
with these Indians. The Chiefs of the several bands express the greatest satisfaction on this subject, and have only
one lamentable exception to deplore..-· .
Seltis and Vincent, the Chiefs, wish· to be remembered in
a special manner in the prayers of your Rev., and Vincent
asks your prayers for the soul of his greatly beloved and
only son, Ernest, who died some time ago.
Please accept the thanks and the respects of Rev. FF.
Joset and Gazzoli, and let me recommend myself and the
mission to your Reverence's holy sacrifices.
I remain,
Your Brother in Christ,
J. M. CATALDO, s. J.
----~~~:==-----
�FATHER MICHAEL O'CONNOR.
Father Michael O'Connor was born in the city of Cork,
April 27, 1810, and \Vas probably baptized two days later,
on the Feast of the great Archangel whose name he there""fore received. He obtained his primary classical education
in the Grammar School of Mr. O'Dowd in Queenstown.
In 1824, at the age of fourteen he was sent to the Propaganda by the Bishop of Cloyne and Ross, being transferred
to that diocese only on the morning of his departure from
Cork for Rome. Whilst waiting for a compani_on he remained for a few months at a college in France.
At the Propaganda he completed his classical studies ap.d
went through the whole course of Philosophy and Theology. Besides distinguishing himself in the usual philosophical studies, he carried off the gold medal for being first in
Mathematics. So great was his proficiency in this branch
of science that his professor said of him that if he had devoted himself to it he would have become one of the greatest mathematicians in Europe. He had for companions in
his class the present Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin, and
Mgr. Hassoun, the Armenian Patriarch. It is a curious
fact that all his fellow-students of the same year became
bishops. Francis Patrick Kenrick was his senior by a few
years*; Martin John Spalding, his junior by one year.
Dr. Grant, the present Rector of the Scotch College in
Rome, was a student of Propaganda at the same time. He
always looked on young O'Connor as destined to become
one of the great men of the church. Long and thorough as
it was Michael O'Connor finished his course of Theology
before reaching the canonical age for ordination.
* Abp.
Kenrick and his work-A lecture by lL O'Connor, S. J. p. 4.
�6o
Fat!tcr iiHcltacl 0' Connor.
On July 27, I833, he won his Doctor's cap and ring by
a Public Act. His thesis comprehended all theology and
Scripture.
Prior Vaughan* tells us what a severe test such a public
defence was when St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure were
made Doctors by the University of Paris. Cardinal \Visemanf says enough to show that the trial is as hard now as
in the I 3th century. His Eminence acknowledges that he
has done his best to try the metal of the young combatants
in such encounters, but that when he had Michael O'Connor to attack he "had no occasion to repent having well
tempered hi~- \veapons and weighted his blows."
Through this terrible ordeal the young Propagan<;}ist passed, as his diploma says (dated March 3 I, I 8 34) dcclara11do,
crumdo, comprobalzdo, di'stingumdo, pro et contra arguendo,
proponmdo, di'ssobmdo, rcspondendo, etc., to the satisfaction
of all the learned in Rome. A correspondent of the B~ook
lyn Catlzolic Review adds the following incident : \Vhen M.
O'Connor came as usual to receive the Pope's blessing,
Gregory XVI playfully twined his handkerchief around
the brow of the young doctor saying : "If it were a crown
of gold, you would deserve it." After his ordination, Dr.
O'Connor acted for a short time as Vice Rector of the
Irish College, and attended to the business of the Bishops
of Ireland with the H. See. This brought him frequently
to the presence of Gregory XVI, of whom he was a per,
sonal friend.
About this time he received an invitation from Dr. F. P.
Kenrick, then Bishop Coadjutor and Administrator of Philadelphia, . to accept the charge of President of his newly
founded Seminary of S. Charles Borromeo, to which he intimated a favorable reply.
In I834, after a ten years residence in Rome, and only
twenty-four years of age, Dr. O'Connor returned to Ireland.
* Life and labors of St. Tbomas of Aquin, Vol. II. chap. 1.
t Recollections of the last four Popes, pp. 271-3.
�Fa titer .Miclzael 0' Connor.
61
He was just in time to assist at the dying bed of his mother,
who had with great sacrifice of her own feelings concealed
her illness from him in order not to disturb the pleasure or
shorten the time of his homeward journey.
Only three days after his return, she died. · Her death
gave him the charge of his younger brothers and sister, and
made him relinquish for a while the thought of the American mission. He accepted the position of curate in Fermoy,
and afterwards that of chaplain to the Presentation Convent
in Doneraile. · In the labours of these duties some three
years passed.
He was preparing himself for a concursus for a Theological chair. in Maynooth, when Dr. P. R. Kenrick, now
Archbishop of St. Louis, on his way home from Rome,
paid him a visit. He had been commissioned by his brother,
the Bishop of Philadelphia, to repeat to Dr. O'Connor the
offer of the office of President of the Seminary, and urge
him to accept it.
Dr. O'Connor at once closed his book and prepared to
.start, leaving the theological chair to be gained by Dr.
O'Reilly (who afterwards entered the Society of Jesus and
became Provincial).
In 1838 he arrived in Philadelphia with his younger
brother James Oate President of the Seminary of St. Charles
Borromeo), then just beginning his classical studies, and
was at once installed by Dr. Kenrick in his new office. Besides his duties in the Seminary he had charge of the missions of Norristown and West Chester. He also accompanied Dr. Kenrick in some of his journeys through his
large diocese. Some difficulties in Church matters having
arisen in Pittsburg, he was sent there as Vicar General in
1841, and succeeded in arranging everything satisfactorily.
In 1843, Dr. O'Connor had good reason to suspect that
the Bishops of the United States had determined to recommend him to the Holy See as Bishop of Pittsburg. This
was an additional motive to induce him to put into action a
�62
Fat/zer .ftfic/zael 0 'Connor.
long cherished desire of entering the Society of Jesus, and
thus to place the barrier of religious vows between him
and the dreaded mitre.
On his way to Rome he called on the Papal Nuncio in
Paris, Mgr. Fornari, afterwards Cardinal, who had been
his Professor at Propaganda. 'Without telling his motive
he prevailed on the Nuncio to write to the Prefect of Propaganda to ask a dispensation from his oath. Afterwards,
however, being informed of the reasons Dr. O'Connor had
for this step, he wrote again to Rome, retracting his former
letter, and strongly urging the appointment of his former
pupil to the newly created see. Meanwhile the letters of
the American Bishops had also reached Rome: Gregory
XVI delayed giving an audience to his old friend until
these letters could be duly considered, and other necessary
proofs and information obtained. At last Dr. O'Connor, with
his heart already in the quiet of the Jesuit Novitiate, kneels
at the feet of the Sovereign Pontiff. In reply to his humble
petition Gregory XVI 9aid: "You will be Bishop first and
Jesuit..aftenvards. I will not let you rise from your knees
until you promise to accept the Diocese of Pittsburg." Thus
the heavy honors of the Church were accepted through
obedience, and instead of washing dis~es at S. Andrea, the
would-be novice is crowned with a mitre in S. Agatha.
His consecration took place in the church of the Irish
College, Aug. 15, 1843; Cardinal Fransoni being the consecrating Bishop. The close of the same year saw the new
Bishop already at work in his Cathedral city, and with
seven Sisters of Mercy from Carlow, the first of the Order
in the United States. It is hard at this time to form any
idea of the difficulties which met the first Bishop of Pittsburg thirty years ago on his arrival at his See, with no resources save those of his own head and heart. In those
days his work could almost be called a creation, a real productio rei ex 1ziltilo, since he had no money to build a church
and no architect to design one.
�Father Michael 0' Connor.
The meditative theologian must now put forth the energies of a pioneer. The obedient student transformed into
a commanding General, begins the battle which was to last
for seventeen years. He came to some four or five thousand Catholics in his city, out of a population of 20,000
souls. He found the Redemptorists already at work at S.
Philomena's. Besides this church there was St. Patrick's
by the old canal bridge, and the Cathedral of S. Paul (dedicated in 1 834), left almost high and dry. by the grading of
Grant St. There were but fifteen Priests in the 'whole Diocese. In ten years he had increased the number to eighty.*
The present complete organization of the Diocese is owing
to the constructive genius of its first Bishop, who was one
eminently secundum mmtcm Tridmtini. The "Glenwood
Hotel" becomes S.Michael's Diocesan Seminary. A farmhouse in Westmoreland County grows into the Benedictine
Abbey of S. Vincent, with a Mitred Abbot. A half-ruined
coal shed is the beginning of Mercy Hospital. The bleak
steep side of Birmingham hill, honeycombed with deserted
coal pits, declined by the Jesuits, is accepted by the Passionists as the site for their Monastery. Such institutions as
the Catholic Orphan Asylum, the House of Industry, the
College of the Franciscan Brothers, and the Convent of
Mercy owe their existence to the restless zeal and ingenuity of Bishop O'Connor. Of the Convent of Mercy the
present Mother Superior writes: "This House was built by
him. Every room and corridor now reminds me how he
measured it himself, and what care and labor he took to
make everything comfortable for us." In addition to this
minute and searching attention to the affairs of his Diocese
his mind was constantly employed in examining all the
great questions of the day whether political, scientific,
moral, or religious. Yet such was his humility that he never wrote anything except when duty required. Activity
*The Catholic Church in the United States-De Courcy, p. 306.
�Fatlter .LV!ichad 0 'Connor.
was as much the element of the Bishop, as study had been
that of the theologian. He was the primum mavens but not
immobile. As Fr. Clarke -very happily said in his sermon
at the solemn Requiem in Baltimore : "Like the mainspring of a watch he was always in motion and kept others
moving. He was an almost constant traveller and yet a
perpetual labourer."
He was present in Rome at the Definition of the Immaculate' Conception irt I 8 54· His name may be seen on the
marble tablets erected in S. Peter's to commemorate that
event, and also in S. Paul's, outside of the walls, in memory
of the consecration of·the new Basilica.
It was remarked by Archbishop Kenrick of Baltimore that
among the two hundred bishops, the Corona Purpuratorum
Patrum et Antistitum, there present, none attracted more at~
tention than Bishop Malou of Bruges and Bishop O'Connor
of Pittsburg.
In 1853, at his own request, his diocese was divided and
he himself transferred to Erie. But the Holy See, moved
by the representations of both Bishops and people, restored
him"to Pittsburg in the following year.
The cathedral of St. Paul which escaped the great fire in
Pittsburg in 1846, was burnt in 185 I. The present cathedral, built by the exertions of the Bishop, was dedicated in
1855· In 186o Bishop O'Conno/accomplished the great
desire of his life, which was to enter the So<:iety of Jesus:
The burden of the episcopate, angelicis lmmcrisformidandum~
became heavier to his growing years and failing health:
His idea of the responsibility of a BishoP. he afterwards ex-,
pressed as follows: "It was the fear of failing to correspond
to those high requirements of their state that made even the
saints tremble when called to the episcopal office."* He
was glad to obtain permission to resign that which he had
* Th~ nature and duties of the Episcopal office-A sennon, etc. by
M. O'Connor, S. J.
�Fatlter Micltad 0' Collnor.
6s
accepted with fear. He made a preparatory retreat at the
Novitiate in Frederick City before sailing for Europe, and
entered th.! Novitiate at Gorheim, Sigmaringen, Dec. 22,
1860. Of his perfect and humble obedience as a novice, one
who was with him bears ample testimony. No one but the
Rector knew what he had been. until one day at mass he let
a Pax 7•obis slip out instead of Dominus vobiscum. The
model Bishop became the model novice. Deus maximus in
minimis : so of his servants. The young novices were often
astonished at the thoughtfulness and care with which his
strong will observed the rules and customs of the Novitiate.
His two years being completed, by a special dispensation of
the Father General, Fr. O'Connor made his solemn profession of the four vows in Boston, Dec. 23, 1862, in the hands
of Fr. Sopranis, the Visitor.
, For a short time he taught theology in Boston College,
then the scholasticate of the Society : afterwards he was appointed Socius to the Provincial of Maryland, which office
he held until his death. With Loyola College for his head
quarters, he was sent to preach, lecture and give retreats,
especially to the clergy in all parts of the country. Notwithstanding his increasing infirmities, in 1870 he preached
the Advent in Philadelphia and the following Lent in New
Orleans.
On his return from Havana he was preparing to start for
Nova Scotia to give a Retreat to the Clergy when Superiors
determined to send him to London for medical advice. He
returned in December in company with Dr. Vaughan, (now
Bishop 'of Salford) and the Missionaries of S. Joseph's College. He assisted for the last time in any public function
in the Sanctuary of S. Francis Xavier's Ghurch for the colored people, in Calvert St., Baltimore, when the missionaries
received their pastoral charge. This Church had been purchased and its congregation organized some years before by
the efforts of Fr. 0' Connor. He had even asked permission
to devote himself to the slaves in Cuba.
�66
Fatltcr Jl!idtad 0 'Connor.
Early in the Spring of this year (1872) Fr. O'Connor
came to Woodstock. He knew it was to die. In May he
thus wrote ·to one of our fathers : " I am now staying at
Woodstock, and will probably remain here till the end. I
am just well enough to live without pain, but gradually
sinking-getting weaker from day to day. I wish I could
withdraw my thoughts from everything that does not regard the welfare of my soul, as I ought to do. I consider
it a great grace from God that he enables me to see the importance of _doing this." On another occasion he asked a
venerablefather of the Society, who had come to see him,
what exerd'se he thought was the best preparation for
death. To many other friends he either wrote or dictated
his last words of affection and charity. The summer he
spent with us as one of ourselves. \Ve can still see him
slowly walking with his cane up and down the corridors,
starting beforehand so as to be in time for .some community
duty, sitting on the Philosophers' benches under the trees,
or silently enjoying the evening recreation with the Scholastics on their porch, always the same, with his cheerful,
humble manner, asking for nothing, complaining of nothing,
waiting for his turn like the rest, asking pardon of a lay
brother for giving any little trouble, or keeping quiet at
night so as not to disturb the rest of others. To one who
asked him if he had much pain, "No, sir," he replied, "I
have not the lzonour of suffering anything."
Once after speaking of some of the trials of his Episcopate, he added : " As far as I can see, it would have been
better for me if I could have entered the Society when I
first wanted to, but God knows best. Anyhow, it is a great
blessing to be able.to die in peace."
He said his last mass on the feast of his patron, Saint
Michael. On Saturday afternoon, October I 2, he received
the last sacraments. Before this, he had asked Fr. Rector
to allo\v .him to be taken to the refectory to say his culpa.
and perform some public penance for all the " scandal" he
had given to the community.
�Fat/zer Jlficltael 0 'Connor.
\Vhen the preparations were being made for administering
the last sacraments, he said to Father Rector with the deepest emo1ion : "It would be impossible to thank you for your
unspeakable kindness to me at all times ; and indeed that
is what I always received from every one, no matter where
I was. I can only ask your pardon for all the bad example
I have given in the Society." Then turning to one from his
old Diocese he continued : "Tell the people of Pittsburg
that I remember them all to the last with the greatest affec. tion, and how sorry I am that I could not have done more
for them whilst I was with them : and even the little I did
do was very imperfect." "Tell them all," he repeated, "the
Bishop, the Clergy, the Religious and the Sisters that I pray
for them and will remember them all to the end." When
Father Minister entered the room with the Blessed Sacrament, the dying man, with great difficulty, slipped from his
chair to his knees and, in profound adoration, received the
Holy Viaticum. Afterwards, with his deep solemn voice, he
joined in the responses when the Sacrament of Extreme
Unction was administered.
He lingered for a few days in great suffering, borne with
the most perfect resignation. When asked whether he was
in great pain or if he wanted anything, he would only reply by shaking his head to say no. When he· managed to
speak it was only to ask some of his attendants to recite
the Litany of the Holy Name or other prayers. At last,
on the morning of Friday, Oct. 18, the Feast of St. Luke,
sitting in his arm-chair, he bowed his head and gave up his
spirit into the hands of the Master whom he had served so
long and so well. The De Profimdis bell tolled just at the
end of the community Mass, and as all knew what had happened we united in prayers for the repose of the soul of our
departed Father.
It is difficult to take in at a glance such a many-sided
character, so eminent in head, will and heart; so great a
power and under such perfect control. His mental and
�Fatlter .Mzi:lwcl 0 'Connor.
68
.
moral solidity was aptly epitomized by Fr. Clarke in the
words : Ni!til tetigit quod non solidavit. The Correspondent
above referred to, says : "He had the power of grouping
ideas, and condensing difficult matters within a very small
compass; and when he spoke on any subject,-thtre was little worth saying that he would leave unsaid." His great
learning never was a burden to him but was always under
the guidance of sound common sense, which would seize
the substance of things in their last analysis and adapt it to
times, places or persons, stript of all unnecessary accidents.
To this r~re combination of masterful intellect, extensive
learning, inflexible will, practical sense and solid virtue he
added a most affectionate heart, full of thoughtful tenderness. He never forgot his old friends and they never forgot him.
How many such exprt:">sions as these have
reached us from Pittsburg and other places : " \Ve have
lost our best friend and father ; such another we can never
expect to find." An old friend who knew him well in the
early days, writes: "After my own father, there is no one
to whom I owe more than to Bishop O'Connor." The
Sisters of Mercy say they now regard him as their "Cardinal Protector in Heaven."
The esteem and affection in which his memory is held
was well shown by the numbers tiL Bishops, priests and
people who were present at the Solemn Requiem in Baltimore, and at the "month's mind" held in the cathedral of
Pittsburg.
But for us inter pan"ctts the most wonderful thing about
him was his humility. And of this he was perfectly unconscious. It seemed to be part of his nature, so much so
that one might be with him a long time without noticing it.
The definition of sibi ipsi vilcsccrc i\'ould not hold good in
his case, as he seemed to have no self at all to have any
opinion about. Like the great Angelical who after his
vision of Heavenly Truth, thought' his Summa only "rubbish," so, in his measure, aid F. O'Connor think of his
�Father 1Vficlzael 0 'Connor
works and knowledge in the light of God. This appeared
in his whole manner of action and conversation, whether
he sp0ke of himself or any one else. His sermons showed
the fruit of it. He was always ready and willing to take
any one's place in preaching. The saying was true in his
case : In domo pima cito paratur cama. All he wanted was
five or ten minutes walk up and down the corridor. When
· he spoke to the people his power was one of thought not
of language. He never seemed conscious that he was saying anything; he was only thinking and loving aloud for
God and His people. Semper sui simi/is whether in preachin.;. in talking, or in keeping silence, he was always the
herald of the Great King, who had his message to deliver
in the way it was given, whether men were pleased or not
There was too much sturdy vigour and robust earnestness
about him to allow him to stop for fine phrases or cadencing
periods. Great strong tltouglzts in plain words might serve
to describe his preaching. The smzcta et virilis simplicitas
which was the mark of the man was likewise the note of
his speech.
A boyhood of piety, a youth of study, ten years a Roman
student, ten more a secular priest, professor and missionary,
seventeen years a Bishop, and twelve years a Jesuit, make
up the well-spent life of Fr. O'Connor.
He has left the record of his clear full mind in the Councils of Baltimore, the works of his intrepid energy. in the
Diocese of Pittsburg, the remembrance of his fatherly affection in the hearts of his spiritual children, and in the Society of Jesus, the example of religious simplicity, regular
observance and marvellous humility.
He rests 111 our little hill-side cemetery, by the side of
Fr. Maldonado, one,taken in the glorious summer, the other
sleeping under the autumn leaves.
Simplicitas concurrms veritati in ipsa
!mmilitate sublimis.-S. Ambrose.
�WARD'S ISLAND, N.Y.
EMIGRANTs' REFUGE AND HosPITAL,
WARD's IsLAND,
N. Y.,
JuLY, 1872.
REV. FATHER:
P. C.
~
'
I wrote to you last November informing you of my success in obtaining, under the patronage of St. Joseph, a
grant of $35,000 from the Commissioners of Education towards the building of a new Catholic Church. At the time
I had no idea of the amount of opposition which the spirit
of darkness would excite, as soon as the fact became known
among the Protestants. The first battle I had to fight was
about the selection of a site for the Church. I had chosen
the most central position on the Island and they wanted to
crowd me out to the extremities of the place, near the gasworks. In this effort I defeated them, however, and they
have now that beautiful place left to ~hemselves, if they ever
wish to build a new prayer-shop. They next began to delay
the work, hoping, if they gained time, something might
turn up to baffle all my expectations. The surveying was
not done until the 23rd of Jan., the feast of the Espousals
of the B. V. Mary and St. Joseph. On that day we received a visit from the Imperial ambassador of Germany,
Baron Von Bunsen, on his return from Chili, and I prevailed upon him, though a Protestant, to break the first
sod for the new building. The first lo~d of stones arrived
in a schooner on St. Joseph's day, but the maso~s could
not commence their work until the beginning of May. In
the meanwhile another cloud of trouble, by far more seri-
�TVard's Island. N. Y.
71
ous, rose upon our new building and the whole Institution.
The Protestant Children's-Aid Societies had been long ago
anxious to get hold of the administration of this place in
order to kidnap many Catholic children, to send them in
squads Out \Vest to be bound out to staunch Protestant families, as they do in other institutions. \Vith the aid of a
Jewish pervert to Protestantism, who now combines the hatred ~.fa Jew again~t Christians with the hatred of a bigoted
Protestant against Catholicity, they sent a bill to the Legislature in Albany, whose object was to upset the present Board
of Commissioners of Emigration altogether and replace
them by a new one composed of the most bigoted men
among them with the Protestant Jew as "the only honest
member of the old Board"-and only one Catholic, the
president of the Irish Emigrant Society, who is a member of
the board ex officio. Every body could see what would be
the result if that bill became a law. I had recourse to St.
Joseph and got the orphans of the Sisters of Charity to pray.
In the meanwhile I went to lobbying, myself. I wrote to
members of the Legislature who were Catholics or favorable
to Catholics, and it was amusing to read in the papers how
this bill passed ~rom one house to the other and back again
with modifications, one of which was the striking out of the
name of the Protestant Jew, the chief agitator, himself. On
the last day of the session, it passed both houses and went
into the hands of the Governor, where, thanks to the protection of S. Joseph, it rests still. It never became a law.
But even here the danger was not over. The indefatigable
Protestant Jew, still a member of the old Board of Commissioners, showed fight in the meetings of the Board. He
moved that the new church-building now in course of erection on Ward's Island should be a simultaneous church for'
all denominations. I was called upon to answer in writing
-What reasons the Catholics on Ward's Island had to ask
for a new church-edifice ? What objections there were to
making it a simultaneous church for all denominations ?-
�72
Ward's Island, N. 1":
And what was the number of attendants in the Catholic and
Protestant chapels? I give here my answer.
To THE Hox. RICHARD O'GoR:uAx, PRESIDEXT oF THE Co:u~usswxEns
OF E:uiGRATIOX OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
lion. and Dear Sir:
Ever since I have been ofliei:dng as Catholic Chaplain" on this bland.
I have found it necessary to anti! myself of the privilege granted to the
Priests of this country to oll"er up the holy Sacrifice of the )lass i1tfce in
the morning of every Sunday ami festival of obligation in the year, :1>'
without such an arrangement, a great part of our Catholic people wouhl
be depriv..!d of the opportunity of fulfilling their obligations. The present Chapel in the garret of the Nursery seats a boat 300 pcrsonsconvcn·
iently, and ~"'as nearly filled at both )[asses during the summer season.
But during '\'inter it became so crowded, that many had to go back, hecause there was no room for them even to stand in the aisles. (iVhat
will it be when the emigration from Bohemia and Poland, whose popu·
!at ion is nearly all Catholic, increases as it bids fhir to do?)
.Moreover, I find that many cripples, consumptive, astlnnatie, eonvalescent and aged persons, who are well able to move on plain and even
,~;round, have to give up all idea of climbing up so many stairs, and are
deprived, the whole year around, of the eomfort of attending divine strvice, o!" spending an hour of the dreary day in the house of God.
Besides, lhc building itself is not safe when the Chapel is crowded
with people. It has been remarked that the floor then rises considerably
in tile !niddle and is lowering on the sides. Add to this the miasma and
intolerably toul air, which fills the chapel in winter when doors and windows are closed, and the plaee crammed with human beings, and even
the candles on the altar giving but a dim light. I am eonfident that tlti>'
faet alone, if it were known t·) the Health Commissioners, might induce
them to shut up that place altogether. In.ihe hot season, even with doorH
and windows open, after 10 o'clock, A. )I. a st~y in the chapel, even
when empty, is intolerable.
I will not ~llude to the fttct that this is the only pl:tcc on the island,
where divine worship aceording to the rites of the Catholic Church i~
regularly celebrated on Sundays, and that Catholic inmates and officials
of the other Institutions in charge of the Conuni;;sionel's of Charity and
Correction avail themselves of this opportunity to satisfy their spiritual
w;mts, giving thereby good example to our own people; also that many
non-catholic emigrants, who do not attend the service of the Lutheran
Clergyman appointed as Protestant Chaplain on the Island, and who
avail themselves of the Amcric>.n principle of liberty of conscienee, adn
considerably to the number that arc to be accommodated in our chapel.
It would be inhuman and unchristian to exclude them. They would go
neither to the one nor to the other plaee of worship and at best give up
religion altogether.
�1Vard's Island, 1V. Y.
73
Tho~e. Honorable and Dear Sir, are the principal rea~ons why we
Catholics are a~king your Honorable Board for a larger and more convenient place of divine worship.
"\.s to the question: Is it expedient that Catholics and Protestants
"hou!~l wor;;!tip in the same Church-edifice? I may be permitted to nn,:wer entirely in the w·rpttire; for in the 1st place, the Protestants might
well cnll it their Ulwrdt, but we Catholics would rwt have what
1re eal!· a Chureh. It never con hi be bles5ed ami dedicated to God.
'Ve might worship there, as in missionary places Catholics worship
"ometimes in public halls, in school-hou~es, in private houses; but what,
~trictly speaking, we ealla Church, we could 1wt have. Let the building
be ever so stylish and costly, we nPver could have the same feelings of
reverence, respect and love for it, which we have for the House of God.
'Vhoever visited this island ever since Catholics and Protestants had
their separate places of worship, was pleased with the arrangement, an•!
gave credit to the wisdom and generous liberality of the Commissioners.
The emigrant, who at home never heard of a Church common. to both
Catholics and Protestants, on arriving here felt himself at home in his
mrn church, am! many a one on entering the Chapel, shed tears of joy
and forgot more easily the h:u dships of separation from h.mne, became
he saw that in his newly-adopted home every thing was the same in the
Church as it had !Jeen at home. Shut up the Catholic altar behind folding doors am! drive away the crowds of worshippers who would like to
~pend another hour in thanksgiving after )lass or holy communion, and
tell them that they must go out now, for there is to come another people
in this place who believe nothing in those things, and how will the poor
emigrant feel? 'Yhat will he think of his new land of adoption and of
the Commissioners, who would not allow him to pray half an hour longer heforc the altar which contains all he loves and is living for?
.
Will the Catholic Priest !Jc permitted to adorn the Church according
to the different festivals of the year, without interference of the Protestant minister? And if ltc pul up any statues or pictures of Catholic
Saints, will they he looked upon favorably and respected by those, who
:1re taught as a part of their creed, that Catholics are idolaters and that
these pictures and statues arc idols? Or if the Protestant minister puts
up a Christmas-tree in the middle of the church, as he did last year in
his chapel, will it n·main in peacl'ful possession of all its contents, until
the-Prote~t:mt congregation arrives to worship around it? I do not only
foresee an emlle~s ~eries of quarrels and contentions, but I seriously apprehend that it will come to riots and bloodshed, as there are enough,
among our people, who, for their lives, will not be able to see quietly the
sectarian preacher ministering within the same sanctuary, where the
Priest, a while bcfbre, stood to dispense to the people the Holy of Holies.
If the example of the Institutions on Blackwell's Island is quoted,
where .Catholics and Protestants have to worship in the same places,
�74
TVants Island,
N:
Y
I answer: In hoc non laudo! Such an arran.~c·nent is not the best feature of those Institutions. 'V c do not live under the imperial sway of til('
King of Prussia, where the system of common churches has beC'n invented and kept up by force, in towns where the Protestantg wen• not
numerous enough, or not willing, to build places of ":orship !()J· themselves. This may succeed well enough in penal Institutions-but wt·
live in a free country, where everyone is permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience; and the separation of thi•
two religious professions is more congenial to the American spirit of liberty. Experience teachrs that religion anti piety flourish much better
under the wings of untranunelled fi·eedom than in the straight-jackets of
imperialism.
·
As to the number of worshippers attending the Catholic Chapel, I can
safely say that, at present, during summer, it averages from 400 to i500
persons, at bQth ~lasses, and in winter, from 600 to 700. If the new
Church is finished, I do not doubt that it will increase by from 100 to 200
more ; whereas the number of attendants in the Protestant Chapel is
scarcely one tenth of our present number.-! had appointed a trust-worthy person to count them·this morning (Sunday .June 9). The followin!\'
is the result :
10 o'clock service (English):
:Men 19, 'Vomen 10, Boys 12, .. 41
15
Remained in Church for the 2nd service,
30
11 o'clock service (German):
)len 17, Women 13,
15
Infimts and children,
101
30
Deducting the 15 who remained at both sen·ices,
The grand total is
71
It must be observed that from the time when the movement of makin~
the new Church-building a common Churcl1 began, the Protestant :1\Iinister exerted himself during the whole wee_k, to stir up his people to
come to Church, that he might be able to show large numbers of attendants to the Commissioners. If by such extraordinary exertions and under such inducements he could ,:gather no more than 44 adults for thr
two services together, I have more reason to believt>, 'vhat I was assured
more than once, that on many Sundays he had no more than 5 or 6
persons to hear him in his Chapel!
The whole movement to obtain common possession of the new Church
did not arise with the mass of Protestants on the island, nut with one
particular individual, who, although he h:udly ever goes to any Church
himself, is jealous enough to see the Catholics about to have a large
building for a Church; and cannot be satisfied with the present Protestant Chapel though newly painted and large enough to accommodate fiw
time~ as many worshippers as it actually has.-If the Commissioners of
your I-~onorable Board think it proper to concede to his wishes, I have
�n··ard's Island. N. Y.
75
not the slightest objection. Let them build a Protestant church of marlJ!e, and a parsonage as large as the Astor House for its Minister; I will
he satisfied with n1y room under the garret of the vestry, if I have only
the satisfaction of having a Church large enough and convenient enough
for my people, so that the lame ami tlte Uind and the feelile be not excluded;
und where we can worship our God according to the dictates of our consciences, in peace. If the Commission will do for the Catholics only what
it would do for the Protestants, were they as numerous and similarly sitmlted: we will be satisfied. As lo the expenses of furnishing what is
peculiar to our mode of worship, we shall be no burden to their' treasury:
we only wish for the liberty of worship in our o1m Ohurdl.; and grant it
willingly to others.
Most Hespectfully Yours,
,J. PRACIIENSKY, Oatlwlk Chaplain, Ward's Islarul.
\Vhether this document was ever presented before the
Board of Commissioners at their regular meeting or communicated to the parties whom it concerned, privately, I
had no means of ascertaining. Certain it is, that ever since
the Protestant faction has held its peace, and the building
of the church is going on steadily in the most approved
Catholic style. I hope it will be finished in November and
then I will write to you more about it.
Rev;e. V estr.I!,
Servus in Xto.
P. JosEPH PRACHENSKY.
�ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S CHURCH, CINCINNATI,
OHIO.
_,
.•
ST.
F.
CINCINNATI,
XAVIER's CoLLEGE, }
Omo, Nov. 7,
1872.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER :
P. C.
On departing from vVoodstock four months ago, that
band of Western travellers, who were the first regular return made by Woodstock to the West, felt, if I may judge
of all by one, a somewhat stray feeling, and looked a somewhat vacant look, on their Alma Mater subsiding out of
view, and sinking down at the other end of that Baltimore
and. Ohio line. If it wer~ not Cincinnati that stood here to
reassure us, or if there 'Y.ere not .St. Xavier's College to chafe
our numbed feelings .as with a new life, or if there were not
a villa to administ~r the fresh country air to our overheated
brows, we might have alighted from the Baltimore cars into
a home-sickness, from which we had not recovered up to
the present hour. For time· is the only cure in such sickness, and four months are as no time.
o
The farm, which tops a Kentucky bluff on the Ohio, was
famous for its pears-an attraction somewhat material,
though good enough in its way. Yet it is a low way, after
all ; and that became quite clear to me, on our moving into
the city. For here I found a new kind of farming, much
more rich in its ·produce than Kentucky in its pears, and
yielding that sort of fruit, to which the words are applied : "My Beloved will come and eat the fruit of His apple-trees."
I refer, in general, to the state of St. Xavier's congregation;
and in particular to the Sodalities.
�St. f?l·.wcis Xa·uier's Clutrdz, Cincinnati, -OJzio:
77,
Day after day, l lJaVe seen Conm1unions at--'otdinary
l\Iasses, the daily fruit of devotion. Sunday after . Sunday,
6oo. On the first Friday and first Sunday,
\Ve may
infer the number on principal feasts. _
I have likewise heard on successive Sundays read outfrom the altar the public acts of this Sodality and that one,
in the way of meetings, communions, prayers to be poured·
forth for the dead ; and a comparison occurred to my mind,
between these centres of manifold life which radi;~tes in
spiritual activity from the Sodalities, as they congregate
thus, round the altar, and those centres of musical sound,
which rolls so often and so loudly from the bells in the
Church tower above. Indeed, the repeated tolling up there
from early morning till noon, led one of your Woodstock
students, who spent a single Sunday here, to think again of
his own catholic Germany, all alive in his parts with the
spirit of warm devotim1. I came to desire afterwards, that
he had likewise heard, besides the ringing of those churchbells above, the music of edification from these bells of the sanctuary- below.
Here are, as I count them, seventeen societies: fourteenofthem being Sodalities, not indeed different in kind, but·
multiplied into sections, under different titles of the Blessed
Virgin, and different diplomas. To enumerate first the Sodalities:
MEN.-The Holy Family; number of members, 250.
YouNG MEN.- The Immaculate Conception, 300. Boys:
the older ones in the College, 69 ; the younger ones, 44 :
those of the parish school,- 225; of the city shoe-blacks, 6o:
and young men of the same- civil denomination, but a new
Sodality title, viz., "St. FranCis Xavier's Association for the Conversion of Sinners," 69.
WoMEN ...:...CThe Holy Family, from I,IOO to 1,200. The
Holy Maternity, of married ladies, IOO and upwards. Young·
ladies, whose convent education has thrown them together,
6o; three other sections, 400 all together. The Children
of Mary, 400 to 500.
Soo.
�78
St. Francis Xavier's Churclt, Cincinnati, .Ohio.
These figures give a grand total for the Sodalities offrom
3o68 to 3268.
Moreover there are the following Societies : the ArchConfraternity of the Sacred Heart; the Altar Society of the
Immaculate Conception, to honor the Blessed Virgin's
feasts by approaching the Holy Table; and an Orphan Society.
As to the inner working of them, I have not inquired into
more than a few, nor do I think it would serve the purpose
of light and pleasant edification to go through the tedium
of minutes and meetings. But a couple will serve as a sample of all.-··
There is close by the College, a Convent of Notre Dame.
It enjoys an ancient glory and a new one. Its ancient glory is that of being mother to-all the houses in this country;
and its new one that of covering with its buildings nearly a
whole square, of the large Cincinnati size. Like other things
evangelical, it came forth from a little seed and has grown
mighty.
I_had the honor of being introduced to an apartment
which I found to be a library, the property and appurtenance of the female Holy Family Sodality. Fr. Roelof was
the founder of this Sodality, in November, 1857· He instituted it "to extirpate cursing, blasphemy and intemperance;"'
and the high praise became its due of being the entrance to
newness of life for many a mother, and so for many a family.
Entrance into this Sodality was embarking on the flood,
which, taken in place of the ebbing tide of drunkenness led
many to fortune. High and apostolic praise! Nevertheless, while it smiled fortune on those who entered it, the Sodality had not that aspect, which would attract the beams
of fortune on itself, precisely because of its professed object.
Accordingly, a rearrangement was made of its rules, whereby its original end was thrown considerably into the shade ;
and t~!e consequence was that while the primary object of extirpating drunkenness continued to be silently effected,
�St. Francis Xavier's Church, Cincinnati, Ohio.
79
another more specious, inasmuch as more ordinary, aspect
was put on the Sodality, and it throve from that day. It
counts, as I have said above, from I 100 to I200 members.
It has a council of 25 ; and I 2 Visitors of the sick. It enrolls the names of dead members on a list, and mass is said
for the deceased every week. Its title is the Immaculate
Conception ; its principal feasts the Immaculate Conception,
St. Joseph, Christmas and the Assumption.
A year ago, it presented a piano and harmonium to the
Children of Mary whose library is directly over that of the
Holy Family. Though of not more than two years' standing, this collection of books belonging to the Enfants de
Marie is about equal in number to that of their benefactors
below-stairs. The Sodality itself numbers from 400 to 500.
Its patron feast is that of the Immaculate Conception; its
other principal ones, St. Aloysius and St. Joseph. Its
meetings are on every alternate Sunday, in the Church after
Vespers; while those of the Holy Family, (which is under
the same director,) are on the intermediate Sundays at the
same hour. And while the Holy Family communicates in
the Church on the first Sunday of the month, the other,
along with the three sections of young ladies, communicates on the fourth Sunday of the month. These three
sections with the Children of Mary make a total of from
Soo to 900 approaching the Holy Table. "My Beloved
will come and eat the fruit of His apple-trees."
With one word more, I will take leave of Your Reverence. Woodstock is an orchard, and the first yield of
fruit which it made to the West was composed of four
Scholastics. Ten days ago we were four, and I knew not
but we should always be four, hand in hand. Now .we are
three. R. I. P. The Beloved has come suddenly,
In whom I remain,
Yours humbly,
T. H.
�DEATH OF MR. JOHN MOYNIHAN, S. J.
The allusion contained in the closing lines of the foregoing letter is to the sudden death of one of our Scholastics,
Mr. John Moynihan, who died at St. Louis University, on
the Igth of October last.
We do not hope to add to the affectionate regard in which
Mr. Moynihan was held by all who knew him. vVe mean
simply to lay our own humble tribute upon our brother's
grave, for the years which he spent with us are so lately
gone, and the memory of them is so fresh and green, that
it is a pleasant and a beautiful task to weave the offering.
A short time ago he bade us farewell with high hope and
holy resolution, and we felt sure that he was going forth
only to enter upon a career in which virtue and talent would
win for him the crown of success. A few weeks later, and
we ;eceived the news that he was on the point of death ;
but galloping consumption bore him away so rapidly that
· the grave had closed over him before his brethren at \Voodstock had thus learned that he was.~ven ill. He was confined to his room only three days; and the calm, holy, and
beautiful death which he died, was but a reflex of his lifetime. One of his companions writes to us: "I was with
him the evening before he died, when he made me read the
points of meditation for him, and asked me to come again
in the morning. When I went to him on the following day,
I found· him exceedingly low, yet hoping to recover. Still
he then talked to me of the good chance he had of dying
in the Society. I visited him frequently during the day, and
found him at all times very fervent, eager to suffer and pray.
He remained this way till about an hour before his death,
an:d breathed his last, sitting in his chair with his habit ...
�Deatlt of Mr. llloyn£/zan, S. :1.
81
on, whik his brethren were reciting the prayers for his departing souL"
\Vhat a beautiful close to his innocent,
peaceful life! What a mild, sweet twilight after the day of
sunshine!
Mr. Moynihan had taught four years before commencirg
the study of philosophy, and after finishing the first course
of this ::.cience in \Voodstock, had just returned to his
province for college duty again, when he was called away
to the better life. During the three years which he spent
with us he was remarkable for his religious observance and
for his close application to study. His course of philosophy
was successful in the extreme. He found in it full play for
the natural bent of his mind, and the pleasure which he
took in it, together with the encouragement which marked
success must necessarily bring about, served to strengthen
the more his prime and principal motive for diligence-sense
of duty. Nor did the efforts which he made after the acquisition of learning fail him in the end. His brilliant examination "De Universa" was the admiration of the Faculty·:
and the praises heaped upon it, though an unsought, wel"e
yet a merited reward.
But if our brother was persevering in the pursuit of knowledge, he was equally so in the observance of our religious
duties. Nature had given him a simple, unobtrusive manner, and his good, warm heart was full of affection. Sensitive and timid himself, he could not easily fail in due regard
for the feelings of his companions. He would not hear
them blamed even .in jest, and if the accused happened to
be of his own delicate sensitiveness, and most of all, if he
made no retort, the sympathy of mutual feeling was imm~
diately awakened, and Mr. Moynihan ready. to take his
part. This was so noticeable in him that his companion~,
in their. various games, sought opportunities of censure,
simply to admire his readiness to shield the imaginary vic:tim. Moreover he was so humble and so ready to yield tQ
others. the better part. Only ,a short time be.fore he left U:s,
��WOODSTOCI( LETTERS.
VOL. II., No.
2.
ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.
PART FIRST.
[Continued.]
Father Greaton:s choice is not so much to be wondered
at. The intolerance of the colonists necessitated a retired
situation. His prudent foresight foresaw it would soon be a
most eligible position. In fact, for nearly a century after,
it was in the very heart of W est-end-dom, with its upper
ten thousand. To the North and East were the commodious residences of the wealthy Friends, who knew the true
value of an Irish Catholic servant; while to the South and
\Vest stood, in the early days of the Republic, the mansions
of the foreign ambassadors, whose numerous domestics
were the Fathers' frequent penitents. Within a quarter of
a mile was the First President's House, and he who consid-
�86
St. Yoscph' s Clmrch, Philadelphia.
ered it no idolatry to have a full length painting of Mary
Immaculate hanging at the head of his bed, saying to a future Archbishop of Baltimore, the Most Rev. Ambrose
Man~chal, D. D., "I cannot love the Son without honoring
the Mother,"* no doubt often directed his steps to " the
little church down the alley." I\Iy venerable friend, Mrs.
Baker, had spoken to me of this picture as well as of one,
a life sized Good Shepherd, full twenty years before an aged
brother in religion related to me the anecdote of the Archbishop. She also told how she had received many a courtly
bow from the " Father of his Country" as he came from the
"chapel" or the Priest's house. It was the proper position
for a church, far enough from the Blue Anchor Tavern to
escape the bustle of commerce and trade, and yet within
easy access of the few families which formed its first congregation. As in 1844 the valuable property which surrounded it saved it from the incendiary's torch, so, no doubt,
in 1744, its contiguity to the Quakers' Alms-House was its
gre~t protection.
Father Joseph Greaton, according to the most reliable
data, was, as has been stated above, a native of Devonshire,
England, though some, who give his name Josiah Creaton,
claim him as a native of Connaugh!· in Ireland.t He was
born in the year 168o, studied on the continent, and entered
the Society of Jesus, as a priest, July 5th, 1708. His vows
as a professed Father, were pronounced on the feast of
St Dominic, August 4th, 1719. He had more than once
visited different parts of Pennsylvania and the Colony of
Philadelphia, previous to his being stationed in the rectangular City. He appears to have been a man of great energy
of character, laboring faithfully throughout the three states
----- --
------
--'------
*Archbishop Marechal's acoount to the Fathers at Georgetown.
t Amo:1g the memoranda collected by Fr. Barbelin was a letter from
a lady friend, in Boston, to Father Joseph Greaton, in which she speaks
of his father's beautiful place at Ilfracombe, near the magnificent hea{}lands that skirt the Bristol Channel.
�St. Yoscplt's Clwrdt, P!uladdpltia.
of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. About the
time of his profession, he came into his patrimony, and
contrary to the custom prevailing in our ·Society, he was
granted permission to use his money for missionary purposes. It was \\'ith this money he purchased the grounds on
the Nicetown Road, in other places in the City and State,
and it was with Father Greaton's money that Father Harding, at a later period, procured a large lot of ground in
Fourth Street above Spruce extending back to Fifth Street,
and built the original St. Mary's Church, no appeal having
been made to the faithful, and no grant having been obtained from the Proprietor. In 1750, he was recalled to
Maryland, and on the 19th of September, 1753, died. at our
Residence at Bohemia Landing.
Father Greaton during his eighteen years' pastorship,
always claimed to be a citizen of Philadelphia, and in his
will called himself 'of Philadelphia.' This will bears date
September 2nd, 1749. He devised all his worldly goods
to his friend Robert Harding, of Philadelphia, gentleman :
. in the case of the death of Robert Harding before himself,
to Robert Digges, of Prince George County; Maryland:
the executor to be Mr. Harding or Mr. Digges. The witnesses to the will were Rev. Theodore Schneider, John
Dixon and Patrick Carrol. This "last will and testament
o~Joseph Greaton" was proved in August of 1753.
Ten years before his removal Father Greaton's labors
became so heavy as to call for an assistant, and the Rev.
Henry Neale, S. J ., who had come to this country from
England in 1740, as a missionary, was on the 21st of April,
1741, appointed to St. Joseph's as colaborer with Father
Greaton. He found the people living in a more luxurious
manner than he had supposed; and having nothing but the
allowance made him in England, in a letter to his superior
written four. days after his arrival in Philadelphia, April
25th, he says; "I find things otherwise than represented in
·England, I mean as regards a competent maintenance of
l
'
.I
�88
St. Yosep!t's C!wrc!t, Pluladdp!tia.
one m my station, for an annuity of £20, only, will not
suffice." Father Henry Neale was an Englishman by
birth, though related to the l\Iaryland family of that name.
He was born in 1702, entered the Society in 1724, and was
professed in 1743.
In 1747, Father Henry Neale bought from the Proprietors of Pennsylvania, for the sum of £25, one hundred and
twenty-one acres of land, at Goshenhoppen, now called
"Churchville, Colebrookdale," Berks Co. This was increased in 1748, by three hundred and seventy three acres
purchased by Father Greaton for the sum of £5 I. It was
about this time that he, Father Greaton, bought "Pigeon
hills," Adams Co., afterwards the site of the Little Seminary of the Sulpicians. Father Henry Neale's duties were
onerous, and he died in Pennsylvaqia, on May 5th, 1748,
leaving Father Greaton again alone in his charge of St.
Joseph's, being occasionally assisted by Father Robert
Harding, and Father Theodore Schneider, until his recall
to Maryland.
Father Robert Harding, a native of England, who had
arrived in this country in 1732, and liad labored in l\·Iaryland and occasionally in Pennsylvania, was, upon the recall
of Father Greaton, in 1750, appointe.d his successor at St.
Joseph's. Father Theodore Schneider who was born in
Bavaria in 1703, entering the Society in his eighteenth year,
1721, had, in 1741, founded the mission of Goshenhoppe·n.
and in 1748 built the first chapel of the "Most Blessed Sacrament" on "the Goshenhoppen Farm." Father Schneider
, was a man of erudition, having professed Philosophy at
Liege, and been Rector Magnificus at Heidelberg. For a
short while, in his early labors at Goshenhoppen, he was
assisted by Father William \Vapeler, a native of \Vestphalia, born in 17 I I. He entered the Society in 1728, and in
1741 founded the mission at Conewago, Adams Co., Penna.
Father.· Schneider visited Philadelphia, monthly, to assist
Father Harding, and confess the Germans.
�St. J'oscplt's Ozurdz, Pltiladclp/zia.
Sg
About this time, 1757, the original Chapel of St. Joseph's was lawfully and peacefully razed to the ground, to
make room for an enlarged structure sixty by forty feet 'running East and \Vest, the incre?.se in the congregation rendering this enlargement necessary. In April of this year, Father
Harding gave to the Provincial authorities an account of the
members of his congregation. Of those over twelve years,
who had made thei; first communion, there were seventyeight females and seventy-two males, mostly Irish. The
congregation of Father Schneider, consisted of one hundred
and seven males and one-hundred and twenty-one females,
all Germans.
In the early part of 1759, Father Ferdinand Steinmeyer,
assumed name Farmer, born in Swabia, Germany, Oct. 13,
1720, and who had entered the Society of Jesus at Landespergen, Sept. 26, 1743, was sent to St. Joseph's. Besides
assisting Father Harding in the care of his congregation,
Father Farmer journeyed throughout Pennsylvania, and
New Jersey and New York (then called New c~sarea), instructing, confessing, baptizing, anointing and celebrating
the Dread Sacrifice. Every month, on horse-back, he visited New York, and so great were his labors there that he
gained the grateful veneration of all the Catholics and was
by them viewed as the real Apostle of the Faith in that
city. \Vhen Father Carroll, afterwards the first Bishop, became superior of the American missions, he appointed Father Farmer, Vicar of New York, which he governed from
St. Joseph's. It was just previous to one of his monthly
visits to New York, that he was attacked by his last sickness, still he made, on horse-back, that journey of nearly a
hundred miles, and returned on May the 7th, 1785, to linger until August, 1786, when he died. In our congregation
are two maiden ladies of advanced age,* whose mother was
one of Father Farmer's converts, and who treasure, among
* The
:i\Iisses Ann and Eliza Corcoran.
�90
St. Yosep!t's Clwrclt, P/zilade!p!tia.
their most prized possessions, a little table presented by the
holy Jesuit.
Iri the meanwhile, Father Harding was not idle at old St.
Joseph's. He instructed the faithful and buried his beloved
dead in the little "God's Acre" west of the Church, whose
humble mounds were shaded by two gigantic \Valnut trees.
It was rather the increasing demand for resting places for
those who "sleep in the Lord," than the increased number
of those "fighting the combat" that induced Father Harding, in 1763, to employ the money of Father Greaton in
purchasing "St. l\Iary's Burying Ground" and building that
Church, which in 1810 was enlarged to its present noble
dimensions. Father Harding also assisted Father Farmer
in his missionary duties and so arduous were his labors
that he died at St. Joseph's, Philadelphia, on the Ist of September, 1771, beloved by all and keenly,bitterly and affectionately remembered.
Father Harding's successor in the pastorate of Saints Joseph's and Mary's was Rev. John Lewis, S. J., a native of
Engl~nd, who was soon recalled to l\Iaryland, where he aftenvards became Superior, and in 1783 presided at two
meetings of the Missionaries of America.
The early Pastors of St. Joseph's :vere most careful in
presenring the records of their baptisms and marriages.
Those of Fathers Greaton, Henry Neale, and those of Father Harding, excepting such as are entered in the Registry
of Father Farmer are lost. They were lent to some one
seeking data for an Ecclesiastical work and never returned.
This is a great pity, as they, no doubt, would throw much
light on the earliest years of St. Joseph's.
Father Farmer's registries, however, are complete and in
good preservation. They date from the 27th of August,
1758, and come down to within a fortnight of his death.
They are written in a clear, legible hand, remarkable for
their ne~tness-short, concise, in small books that have been
carried thousands of miles, in the very heart of a hostile
�St. 7oseplz's Clwrclt, Pltiladclpltia.
army, during the darkest hours of our Country's strife.
These records furnish matter for much interesting study.
The Baptism registry begins without any heading with
this entry. "I 75 8. Philadelphia. I 7 September: :Jacobus
natus I4 Aug. huj. anni ex Josepha Kaufman Cath. & Anna
Cathar. Prot. legitimis Conjugibus, Patrinis Joane Gatringer
& Catharina Spenglerin, Cath'cis." and ends with "1786,
Philadelphia. ] uli 30. 7oau. Nicolaus natus 13 April h. a.
ex Caspar Albert & Ana. P. Nicolao Steiner & Margaretha Hedinga Cis."
It was not long after his arrival that Father Farmer started
out on his missionary excursions. As early a~ the beginning of November, we find him in Delaware County at
Concord, or more properly speaking, at Ivy Mills-: "in
Concord d. 5 Nov. ,liaria nata I 3, Maji, a. I 7 s6, ex David
Lewis Pr. & Ida I. c. ut suppono. Patrinis Jacobo Willcox
& Elizabetha ·willcox Cath'cis."
This baptism took place in the chapel attached to the
mansion of Mr. James \Villcox, where mass has been offered as early as 1758, and where mass has continued to
be offered up, from time to time until the building of the
Church of St. Thomas the Apostle at Ivy Mills. Contiguous to this residence is a grave-yard containing many an
ancient grave. The present head of this eminently Catholic family is Mark \Villcox, Esqr., Proprietor of the "Catholic Standard," official organ of the Rt. Rev. Bishop of the
Diocese.
De Courcy, in his work, "The Catholic Church in the
United States," is very inaccurate in his dates, as I think
I will later have occasion to show, and, I fear he is sometimes ill-informed as to his f.1cts. Speaking of Fr. Farmer,
he says: "The Revolution, which. made New Jersey the
battle-field between the contending armies, interrupted his
visits."*
*De Courcy-p. 406.
I
�St. :Joscplt's Clmrclt, Plu"ladclp!tia.
On August 30th, IJ76, the American Army retreated
from Long Island: from that time until June the I 8th, I 778,
New Jersey was occupied either by the Royal or Provincial
troops. In Father Farmer's Registry we find this entry:
"I776 in N. Caesar. Oct. I6 Cat!tarina, nata 27. Sept. h.
a. ex Joanne Ells & Anna Eliz, I. c. c. P. Conrad Philipps c.
pro Jno. \Villhelmo Schaffer c." October I 7th, he was at
Change \Vater, Oct. 20th at Mount Hope, Oct. 22nd at Charlottenburg, 26th at Long-Pond. At all these places, he
offered up the ever-adorable "God of Peace," gave instructions on tru~ 'patriotism, and baptized from one to ten infants or youths. The retreatiqg Provincials, at this time,
occupied all these places. On the I 2th of December, he
was back in Philadelphia, and we may imagine the feeling
'of this staunch lover of civil liberty, when Congress was
obliged to retire from the City where the Declarati~n of
Independence had been signed and proclaimed. On the
26th of September, I777. General Howe occupied Philadelphia, but Father Farmer who could penetrate the American
Army ~vhile besieging New York, was not afraid, and, while
the hostile armies were exchanging leaden compliments,
within hearing, at Chew's, ncar Germantown, the fearless
Priest was quietly engaged at St. J oseph:s making Christians
ofthree little girls and one little boy, b~bies. As long as the
British occupied Philadelphia, Father Farmer's labors were
restricted to Philadelphia and its immediate neighborhood
but when they evacuated the City, followed by \Vashington
and his brave followers, among whom was the "Irish Brigade" raised, in great measure, by the persuasive words of a
Molyneux and a Farmer, we find that by August 25th, he
is already in Goshen, Orange Co., N. Y., and back again by
the beginning of September to Salem and Gloucester in
New Jersey, and then without rest, that he return<> before
the end of the month to Mount Hope, to Charlottenburg, to
Long Po!Jd, to H unterdon-surely he should belong to the
'Light Artillery'! And so on to the end. The warlike
�St. :Joseplt's Clmrclt, Plti/adelpltia.
93
throes of a great Nation's birth did not prevent immortal
souls from making their entrance into this world and im-·
mortal souls from taking their exit, and where there was joy
and \vhere there was grief, Father Farmer felt that there he
should be.
Father Farmer's Marriage Registries are also deserving
of notice. The headings, each announced the standing of
the priest. The first, begun in 1758, at his first arrival in
Philadelphia, reads: "Sequentes, ego Ferdinandus Farmer
Soc. Jesu Missionarius, interrogavi, eorumque mutuo consensu habito, solemniter per verba de praesenti Matrimonio
conjunxt.
The second, begun in 1769, has this heading:
"Sequentes, ego Ferdinandus Farmer Soc. Jesu (usque ad
dissolutionem ejusdem) Presbyter & Missionarius, interrogavi, eorumque mutuo consensu habito, solemniter per verba de praesenti Matrimonio conjunxi." The words in brackets were inserted after the suppression of our Society.
How happy would this good Jesuit have been if he could
have died again, the subject in tltc Society of his esteemed
friend Father Molyneux. His third registry shows his position to be what the world would consider more exalted,
but which, I am sure, he valued not near as much, as that of
the humble Jesuit priest. It begins: "Sequentes, ego Ferdinandus Farmer Sacerdos & Missionarius Apost., in~erro
gavi, eorumque mutuo consensu habito, per verba de praesenti solemniter Matrimonio conjunxi."
From these registries may be formed some slight idea of
the stupendous amount of labor performed by this saintly
missionary, though we cannot form any accurate notion of
the baptisms and marriages performed by him, as all are not
inscribed in the registry in our possession ; many having
been written in a registry kept in New York, as appears
from a memorandum in his Baptismal registry.* The Bishop
of Newark, the Right Reverend James Roosevelt Bayley,
* Baptismal Registry
p. 11
�94
St. Yosep!t's C!turc!t, P!tz!ade!phia.
(at present, 1873, Archbishop of Baltimore) in his "Brief
Sketch", speaks of his having visited l\Iacoupin twice a year;
I can find but one record of a baptism at l\1acoupin. The
Bishop speaks of Geiger's being near l\iacoupin. I am inclined to think that it was in Geiger's house that the monthly mass was offered up in New York City. \Ve are told
that he visited that City every month ; almost every month
we find marriages and baptisms recorded as performed at
Geiger's, and these marriages are generally preceded by
the 'thr:ee denunciations', as Father Farmer naively styles
what we mor:~ politely call 'proclamations'. In a memorandum, immediately after a record at Geiger's, he speaks of
"walking to \Vall Street." The record of the first baptism
performed at Geiger's reads : "1 7 59· In domo Matt Geiger,
I 5 Mart., Anna .Man·a nata 20 December I 7 58 ex Martino
Holder et Margaretha 1. c. c., Pc.trinis Philippo Jacobi et
Susanna Geigerin, Cath'cis."
In the sama. year we find the first recorded baptism of a
catholic slave. "Philad. d. 25 Jul. Thomas, niger Jeremiae
Savage. Patrina, Bridget Savage. ceremoniae sup.plendae
usque ad Chrism."
In May, 1761, he commenced the m1sswns at "Glasshouse" north of New York City. "Glass-house: N. Y. d.
14 Maji J'oamzes Adam, natus 27 -April h. a. ex Jo. Wilhelmo Wentzel, Cath. et Anna Maria Pr. L. C. Patrinis,
Joafie Adamo Geiger, Cath. et Afia Aberhin, Pr." This
baptism presents the novelty of a Protestant Godmother.
In this same year we find him marrying ten couples, poor
exiles from Acadia. In 1762, he begins in the house of
Thomas M'Guire, the mission of Chester, which can now
boast its St. Michael's Church, with two pastors. In 1765,
he founds the missions of Pikesland, Ringwood and Haycock, Bucks Co., and Mary Fagan was the first christian
baptized in the congregation of St. John the Baptist. In
1766. "Bascanridge": in 1767, "Gothland"; in 1768, "Charlottenburg" and "Reading-Furnace," are visited and congre-
�St. :Joscp!t's Clmrclz, Plziladelp!tia.
95
gations formed. This year he baptized one hundred and
ten.
In 1771, Pilesgrove miSSil n is begun; in 1772, Long·
Pond; in the latter part of the same year Cohanzey, in cen·
tral New York; in 1774, New Hope, and also one in Sussex Co., in north western New Jersey, and Challosberg, in
Essex Co.
Father Farmer, like his co-laborer Father Molyneux, was
a staunch republican. He was present.at Philadelphia on
the glorious 4th of July, 1776, and although elated as only
the tru~ friends of the up-rising colonies could be elated, he
did not neglect hi> priestly functions. In his marriage registry we read: "1776. Philadelphia, Julii 4 (cum Lie. Praes.)
Yacobum ~Vds!t, viduum, et Honoram llfullarkey, puellam,
ambos Cath. ex hac missione. Praes. T. Dionysio Dougherty et Edwardo Cavenaugh, (q.)"
Frequently had Father Farmer visited Burlington, New
Jersey, many a time had he confessed the Irish who, from
time to time, had resided there; but our "Friends" had kept
away the "scandal of a Baptism" until the middle of 1776.
"In Com. Burlington. Jun. I8 :Joamzes natus I9. Aug. I775
ex \Vilhelmo Egan et Eleonora L. c. c. P. Patricio Kearns et
Margaretha Scot Cath'cis." Having gained an entrance into the fortress of Jersey Quakerdom, Pennsylvania's citadel
was soon surmounted : "Prope Bristol, Aug. 22. llfaria
:Jessop, juncta Thomae Martin c. P. Susanna Shaw. c. id.
cod. Aug .. 22. Riclzardus, natus Dec. I no, Anna nata I 8 Aug.
1773. Laurmtius, natus 10 Nov. I7J5, omnes tres ex Thoma
Martinet Maria L. c. c. P. Daniele Shaw. Joanne Magonigel
et Jacobo Robinson Cath'cis."
The first time the famous municipality of Kensington appears in these records is "I776, Kensington. loamzes, natus 28 Dec. 1775,ex Joafie Rittisheime et Catharina L. c. c.
P. Laurentia Connor C. q. Anna Catlzarina nata 7 Mart. h.
a. ex iisdem. M. Juliana Abteri C." Neither Father Farmer in I775, nor Rev. Terence Donahue, when in I833, h{,
�g6
St. Yosep!t's Clwrclt, P!ti!addp!tia.
from St. Joseph's, built St. Michael's Church, dreamed that
this portion of the city would, in 1872, contain eight churches, namely, St. Michael's, St. Peter's, St. Ann's, St. Bonifacius', the Church of the Immaculate Conception, St. Dominic's, St. Joachim's and St. Veronica's.
The same year he opened a mission at \Vhiteland, west
of New York City. In 1778, he began at Goshen, Orange
Co., New York, the congregation that now_ worships in
St. John's Church; at Salem, in lower New Jersey, the congregation of'.St. Mary's, and in Gloucester, N. ]., anoth<:r
St. Mary's> In 1781, he founds the missions of Deerfield.
·woodstown and Greenwich in New York State-visits Fishkill, Dutchess Co., the site of the present Church of "Our
Lady of the Rosary," where in four.days he baptizes fourteen and gives conditional baptism to six. In 1785, we find
him in the neighborhood of Newark, the episcopal city of
the diocese of Newark. "1785. Prope Newark. Oct. 3· Sara
nata 1780, ex Henrico Foy c. et Sara L. c. P. Jacobo \Veisenburger." The next day he founds the mission at \Vest
Hob~ken and West Highland. In 1786, the last year of
his eventful life, he founded the congregation of St. Stephen's, Warwick, Orange Co., New York, where he bap~
tized seven.
..·
\Vithin three weeks of his death, this holy laborious missionary, who was accustomed to travel on horseback many
thousands of miles each year, gathering into the fold the
scattered sheep of the Shepherd, was, through weakness, no
longer able to leave the house, but he could baptize and, within a few days of his departure to his eternal home, he crept
down stairs to unite in the irrepealable bonds of holy matrimony two of his spiritual children,· who had come more
than a hundred miles to gain his blessing.
At the end of the third Marriage Registry of Father
Farmer we read, in the hand-writing of Father Molyneux,
these sorrowful, yet glorious, words: Hoc anno obiit pix
memori;e R. Pater Ferdinandus Farmer, alias Steinmeyer,
�St. Yvscplt's Clmrclz, Plziladelplzia.
97
17 die Augusti.
Requiescat in pace. Amen.*
Father Farmer was tall and upright, of a ruddy, pleasi-ng
countenance, graceful in manner and fluent in conversation,
A frequent and welcome
full of bonlzomie and anecdotes.
guest at the table of catholics and protestant~, partaking
moderately of the good things placed before him, not un~
frequently called from the hospitable board of some wealthy
citizen to anoint the dying or advise the doubting, and always leaving a void behind him. In his disposition he was
gentle, like his Model, but showing by the bright flash of
his light grey eye, that he could feel for his Master's honor
and defend His cause. He was a philosopher and astronomer, intimate with the literati of his day, and, in 1779, one
of the trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, soon to be
Philadelphia's pride.t
Father Lewis, having been recalled to Maryland, was
succeeded by Father Robert Molyneux (English not French
pronunciation). Father Molyneux, like all his predecessors, was an Englishman by birth, having been born in Lancashire, June 24, 1738, and happily admitted into the Society of Jesus, in 1757. His was an eventful life, his it
was to instruct the first Archbishop of Baltimore in Philosophy, his it was, while at St. Joseph's, to receive a copy
of Bishop Challoner's letter informing the Fathers in England of the suppression of the Society of Jesus: his it was to
direct St. Joseph's congregation when it no longer made a
tnan a pariah to be a Catholic, but even a Quaker thought
catholic influence of sufficient importance to be courted,in the early days of the Revolutionary struggle. Father
Molyneux was pastor, with Father Farmer as assistant,
during the whole Revolutionary War, and in 1781, when
a solemn service of Thanksgiving was offerred to Almighty God for the assistance rendered by France to the
* Third Registry. p. 125.
t The description given by Mrs. Corcoran, for many years his penitent.
�g8
St. 7osep!t's Omrclt, Pltiladelp!tia.
struggling Colonies. I have seen it stated, that \Vashington
was present on that occasion, but I can find no authority
for the statement, but tradition. Abbe Bandol, Chaplain to
the French Minister, preached on the occasion.
In Father Farmer's Registry there is recorded a marriage
blessed by this distinguished French clergyman. "I 782
Philadelphia, Novembris vigesimo quarto, Nic/wlaum Ferree, oriundum de Grandville in Normandia, solutum, &
Amtam Butler, filiam Thomae Butler & Bridgitae Bennis,
conjugum, oriundam de Limerico in Hibernia. Praesentibus testibus..notis qui subscripserunt
L'Abbe Bandol, aumonier de son N p
,
E xce 11 ence 1e l\" · ·
· erree.
~tmstre d e F ranee,
{ Joseph Marino, Charles Carre. Ann Butler."*
In a slip of old paper, I accidentally found in an Atlas,
the title and date of said paper being unknown, it was stated
that on Thursday, the Ist. of March, 1781-the day of the
final ratification of the alliance and perpetual union of the
States, "the Romish Church of St. Joseph's, back of Walnut Street was splendidly illuminated, in the afternoon; a
solemn 'Tt' Deum being chanted : the venerable Ferdinand
Farmer being the celebrant, assisted by Rev. Robert Molyneux. M. de Luzerne, Minister of· the King of France,
with his suite was present."
..· ·
'
·
T emoms
The 25th. of August of same year-the birth day of the
King of France, Louis XVI. was celebrated at St. Joseph's
with much pomp. The French Minister was present at
mass, his musicians accompanying the organ, and some of
the gentlemen of his household singing. L' Abbe Bandol
was celebrant and Father Molyneux, the Orator of the day.
Shortly after the death of Father Farmer, at the beginning of the year 1787, Father Molyneux began a new
Marriage Registry. It is written with much care. Its titlepage reads:
*Second l\Iarriage Registry-1782.
�St. :foseplz's Clmrclt, P!tiladelpltia.
99
LIBER MATRIMONIORUM,
AB ANNO 1787
AD ANNUM 1799,
INCLUSIVE.
Quod Deus <:onjunxit, homo non separet. Matth: 196. \Vhat God hath joined together let not man put asunder. Qui bene eruditi sunt in fide catholica, noverunt
quod Deus fecerit nuptias: et sicut conjunctio a Deo, ita
divortium a diabolo sit. The instructed Catholic knows
God to be the author of Marriage : and as the knot is tied
by God, so it is loosed only by the devil.
St. Aug. Tr. 9· in Yomt.
Then follow twenty-five pages of the index, after which
we have a second title-page. Father Molyneux was exceedingly stout, which caused him to remain much at home.
Father Farmer could have hardly found time to ornament
the books that accompanied him on so many thousand
miles of hard riding. Aftert his index Father M. begins
again thus:
AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM.
---=~~====================
SEQUENTES
Intcrrogati, eorumquc mutuo conscusu !tabito, per verba de
pra:senti so/cmnitcr matrimonio conjzmcti sunt a Missionarits
CATHOLICIS PHILADELPHL£
Philad~!phi~Jan. ro.---A-Rev. Rob. Molyneux, tribus
i
pr<emissis promulgationibus, Hugo
M'Kinley C. et Catharina Quick Pr.
-Pr<esentibus testibus Gul. M'Dermott, Sam. Harrison.
Father Molyneux remained at St. Joseph's only one year
after so elaborately commencing this Registry. He was
withdrawn by his former pupil, Father John Carroll, at the
end of February, 1788.
�100
St. 7oscplz's Clmrclt, Plti/addp!tia.
During his pastorship he was by no means idle in the
work of his Master, though it was while he was pastor of
St. Joseph's, that began the scattering of the land and property bought by Fathers Greaton, Neale and Harding, most
of which, during the interregnum of 1800-1834 passed
into other hands. In Father Molyneux' private registry
we find this memorandum: "Robertus Molyneux 1775-1.
Maii. Mem. To speak to Mr. Cauffman, to sign over a warrant for the land in Pigeon Hills to Mr. Lewis." Almost
immediatelyafter the suppression of the Society, the purchases of I:ather Greaton began to pass to others.
The cessition of hostilities between the United States
and Great Britain was proclaimed by General \Vashington,
on April 19, 1783. Before this, Father Molyneux, remembering the importance of educating the young for heaven,
while their minds are being prepared for the duties of life,
had his Parochial School erected. Then, as now, our schools
had to be supported by the offerings of the faithful. In the
early part of I783, we find this account:
-~Rec'd. by Robt. Molyneux, for the School:"
£. s. d.
----------------------------------------from
Subs' d.
Alex. Rogers, pd.
Felix McKernan, pd.
Owen Garrigan, on Dr. .K~nnedy's
place, pd.
Lent him a catechism.
Ditto.
0
0
I IS
I 0
10
0
IS
0
o
o
I
0
I
John Comely, pd.
[ 3
Daniel Fitzpatrick, pd.
o
Jeremiah Sullivan, pd.
9
IS
Capt. John Walsh, pd.
1 3
Patrick Crogan, pd.
Monsr. Rendon, Spanish Agent, pd. I I
10
Capt. Baxter's wife, pd.
Felix McKernan, pd.*
5
John Tracy, pd.
3 1
, 3 g.
Charles De Costes, pd·
7 6
o
o
o
o
o
o
S o
o o
2
6
o o
o o
$S
Honor Lee, pd.t
0
0
3
o
o
1
.
*Probably by bdividual oollections. tLoose sheets Fr. l'ti's Reg. Pag. 7.
�St. :Joseph's Clwrdt, Plti!adclpltia.
101
During the suppression of the Society, this school-house,
afterwards the first Ecclesiastical Seminary of the Diocese
of Philadelphia, passed into the hands of trustees, when St.
:\Iary's Church was incorporated by the Legislature, and
trustees appointed, in 1788.
The opening of a Catholic school (it cannot properly be
styled a Parochial School, as there was but one parish in
the city and county at the time), soon necessitated the
administration of the Sacrament of Confirmation. The children and adults having been prepared by Fathers l\Iolyneux
and Farmer, the Sacrament was administered, for the first
time in this country, in 1784, by Rev. Father John Carroll,
Ecclesiastical Superior of the l\Iissions.
It is not improbable that Bishop Carroll not unfrequently visited Philadelphia; though I find but one record of his.
"1794, Oct 23. Matrimonio junxi Jfauritium Xcag!c et
Susmmam Taylor utrumque Catholicum.
J oannes Epis. Ibltrsis.
Testes fuere
\Vm. M'Cormick, Patrick Whelan, l\Iary O'Donnell.''
In 1788, Father Robert Molyneux was recalled to Maryland, where in 1806, with Rev. Charles Neale, Rev. Cl1a:-les
Sewell and Rev. Sylvester Boarman, former missionaries of
the Society of Jesus, he petitioned Pius VII. for permission
to form anew the Society in America. Bishop Carroll had already in 1803 written to Father Gruber, the Superior in Russia, begging him to readmit the Fathers living in the United
States. The Holy Father having referred the petition to
Father Gruber, he gave the necessary authority, and the
Fathers mentioned above renewed their vows to Father
l\Iolyneux, who had been appointed Superior. Father Molyneux was twice President of Georgetown College, time and
again refused the offer of the Coadjutorship of Baltimore,
and died, Dec. 9, I 8o8. His remains, if I mistake not, were
the first laid in "the lowly ,·alley of the dead" at Georgetown College.
�102
St. Yoscp!t's C!turc!t, P!ti!addp!tia.
\Vith the depa~ture of Father :1\Iolyneux, St. Joseph's
passed from the care of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus,
although until the removal of Father Leonard Neale, towards the end of I 799, at least one of the Fathers of the
old Society was to be found at this venerable Church.
Upon the death of Father Farmer, Rev. Francis Beeston
was sent as assistant to Father Molyneux. He filled the
office until I790, about which time, in I789, the Church
of Holy Trinity, at the N. \V. Corner of Spruce & 6th Sts,
was built. Father Beeston contin'ued the Missionary journeys of Fat!~er Farmer through the States of New York
and New Jersey-or as it was styled at the time, "the Mission of New Caesarea." In the Registries of St. Joseph's,
the Records of Rev. Francis Beeston and those of this mission, in a great measme, cease at this time, and it is probable
both were transferred to Holy Trinity Church. But as
Father Beeston continued to reside at the "Priests' House"
-at St. Joseph's, we occasionally find him assisting his
clerical brethren, by performing a marriage or a baptism.
-In 1787, Rev. Mr. \Vm. O'Brien and Peter Helborn were
for a short while assistants at St. Joseph's.
In the beginning of 1\Iarch, 1788, Rev. Lawrence Graessl
became pastor of the Churches of St .. Joseph and St. Mary,
with a supervision of the mission of. New Caesarea. He
was born at Rumansfeldem, in Bavaria, August 18, 1753.
During the six years he spent in Philadelphia, he was distinguished for piety and mildness. Bishop Carroll proposed
him to Rome, as his Coadjutor, and but for his too early
death, doubtless, he would have been appointed. He died,
at St. Joseph's, October, 1793. Rev. Mr. Graessl's first record, written in a legible, scholarly hand reads thus:
I 788.-Philad. l\Iaji: a Rev. Laur. Graessl, tribus praemissis promulgationibus, Adc.m Fox, et J11mgarita Nil!, c. c.
�St. Yvscplz's Clmrclt, Plziladclpltia.
103
Antonius Seibert.
Testes adfuere
{ Andreas \ Valdrink. *
The last marriage blest by him was at Charlottensburg,
September 19th, 1793-t
About this time he was succeeded by Father Leonard
Xeale, afterwards the second Archbishop of Baltimore. The
assistants, from 1789, were Rev. Christopher V. Keating and
Father Francis Anthony Fleming, a powerful wntroversialist, author of "The Calurhnies of Verus: or, Catholics ,·indicated from certain old slanders lately revived; in a series
of letters, published in difterent gazettes at Philadelphia, collected and revised by Verax, with the addition of a preface
and a few notes. Philadelphia: Johnson & Justice, 1792."'!
He and Rev. Lawrence Louis Graessl died during the yellow fever epidemic in I 793, martyrs to their duty.~
• Among his Marriage Records we read:
1790 I Feb. I Ab eodem Jl[att!Lms Carq Juvenis ct Hr:·Ibid. I 24. I gida Fla!tarcu, ambo Catholici.
Laur. Graessl
.
Testes adfuere
Christopher V. Keating.H
This Matthew Carey was a very distinguished citizen of
Philadelphia, during the first quarter of this century, and
senior member of the firm of Carey, Stewart & Co, who, in
I 790, printed at Philadelphia, the first edition of the Catholic Bible; the second edition of the Bible that had appeared
in America.
\ Ve also read :
Ab eodem Joseph \\'igmore Juv. et Han1 793
April
nah Coty, Puella, ambo Catholici.
Ibid.
Testes J Hugo Green
4·
adfuere let Jacobus Gallagher.~
.
J
l
•:· Mnrringe Hegistry of St. .JosPph's Church, p. 12.
,,
"
p. 5i.
t De Courcy-p. 221.
~
"
p. 221.
!I Marriage Registry, p. 3ii.
~;
p. 53.
t
�104
St. :lostpft's Clmrc!t, Plu!addphl~l.
Joseph \Vigmore b::!c:tm..! quite a celebrated character
about St. Joseph's. For nearly half a century he and his
wife lived in a small house on the East side of the \Valnut Street entrance. In 1795, he became sexton of the
Church and remained the Clergyman's right-hand man,
until the destruction of the old Church.
In 1794, a large number of immigrants, white and black,
arrived from San Domingo with the Rev. R. Boudet, as
Pastor; The. Marriage Records of this gentleman are a
study, seldom taking less than a page of the registry, containit;g a l:iiography of the contracting parties, and written
in almost Chinese hieroglyphics. In this same year we
find, in the Registry, a number of Baptisms recorded in an
almost unintelligible scrawl, by "L'arroque V. Pref. de sa
mission de Dominicains en Guadaloupe." Also a few by a
Rev. l\Ir. Elling, who probably accompanied the Vicar.Prefect.
Before this time, the holy sacrifice was offered up, during
the week, at St. Joseph's, and, on Sundays, Divine service
·was "held at St. Mary's, the smaller Church remaining
closed. But now, every Sunday morning and afternoon,
it was filled with a most devout congregation of colored
peopl~, whose piety drew tears from ~any an eye, and whose
singing, simple and stirring, filled rliahy a heart with longing after the sweeter strains of Sion. Some of these immigrants lived to a very advanced age. One of them died a
short time since at the venerable age of 107, and her weary
bones were laid in Trinity Church graveyard. Alas! most
of their descendants have, through neglect, been seduced
by the charms of a Methodist shout, and have been lost to
the Catholic Church. A very small number are among the
frequent communicants of St. Joseph's.
De Courcy, page 223 of "The Catholic Church in the
United, States", says: "At the outset of this century, the
Pennsylvania missions received a precious reinforcement in
the person of Rev. Adolphus Louis de Barth, who was ap-
�St. :Joscplt's Clwrdt, P/ti!addpltia.
105
pointed to the mission of L::mcaster, and there displayed
the most admirable zeal". Rev. Mr. de Barth's real name
was Adolph Louis de Barth \Valback. He was brother
to G::!neral \Vallhck, U. S. A., who was buried, some years
since, at Baltimore. He was born at :Munster in 1774,
studied at Bellay, and entered the Seminary at Strasbourg.
His first baptismal record at St. Joseph's, Philadelphia, was
made October the 9th, 1795, in his twenty-second year.
··Nil de mortuis nisi bonum" is an excellent adage. Still,
the beauty of charitable truth is never marred by the recorded presence of some light error of judgment or feeling, in
a whole lifetime, which was in other respects perfectly conformable to the christian model. In this connection, since
I have had most excellent opportunities of learning his disposition, and manner of acting, during the most critical period of the existence of the Church in this City, one little
phase of his character I have found, that appears somewhat
strange, no doubt because it is not perfectly understood.
Learned, accomplished, refined with child-like piety, laborious and filled with zeal, his many good qualities \vere said to
have been accompanied by a rather cold feeling towards the
Irish. This seemed to evince it~elf on various occasions
during his life. It led, as I will have occasion to show in
the second part of these annals, to mistakes of judgment,
whose consequences were not so fruitful of general good,
as his otherwise whole-souled devotion to the interests of
religion.
In June, 1795, Rev. Michael Ennis was added to the
corps of assistants at St. Joseph's. In 1795, Rev. Matthew
Carr; 0. S. A., D. D., arrived in America and, in 1796, was
sent to St. Joseph's, Philadelphia, as pastor of St. Mary's,
which about this time began to be a separate congregation.
He immediately set about building St. Augustine's Church
in North Fourth Street, which was dedicated in I 799·
In 1798, a marriage took place at St. Mary's which must
have caused much exc:itement among the fashionablcs of
�106
St. :Joseph's Church, Pltiladdp!tia.
the Capital and which shows that, at that time, Father Carr
0. S. A., was Pastor of St. Mary's but not of St. Joseph's,
as has been stated in an account printed in the "Catholic
Universe" in 1866.
Aprilis die lOrna 1798.
Infrascriptus Pastor Ecclesiae Catholicae apud Sanctam
l\Iariam Philadelphiae Matrimonio junxi Nobilissimum et
Illustrissimum Domin urn Carol urn l\Iartinez de Y rujo, filium legitimum l\Ianuelis Martinez de Y rujo et Dominae
Narcisae Tacon et Cardenas de Regno Murciae in Hispania,
Equitem Ordinis Regalis et insignis Caroli Tertii, Legatum
Extraordinarium et l\Iinistrum Plenipotentiarium Catholicae suae Majestatis apud Status Unitos Faederatae Americae, et nobilem puellam Mariam Teresam Sara l\I'Kean,
filiam legitimam Amplissimi Thomae M'Kean Supremi Judicis Status Pennsyh·aniae in America, et Sarae Armitage ex
altera parte coram testibus infrascriptis
Tho. l\I'Keari.
Le Chevalier d'Yrujo.
Le Chev. de Freire.
l\Iaria Teresa Sarah.
-Joseph Ignat. Drave.
Fr. Mattheus Carr (qui supra).
In I 797, the yellow fever again raged in Philadelphia
with fearful severity. The priests were overpowered by
their labors with the sick. At last, Rev. Michael Ennis and
Re\·. R. Boudet were both laid lo~ with it. Father Neale
and the other priests were all away on Missionary duties.
The Rev. Gentlemen thought they were both to die, and
were desirous of receiving the consolations of Religion.
They were lying in different rooms in the attic of the house
built sixty-five years before by Father Greaton. The housekeeper, a strong, buxom, young Irish maid was called, who
carried Rev. Mr. Ennis into the room of Rev. Mr. Boudet.
They confessed each to the other. Now the difficulty was
to get the Blessed Sacrament, the clear Viaticum for the
last dread journey. Honora again was summoned and
ordered to take a clean towel and, going to the Church, to
kneel and pray awhile, then to open the tabernacle and
�St. Yoscflt's Ou.rclt, Pltiladclfliia.
•
107
bring the Ciborium to the room. At first she objected;good pious soul, her reverence for the sacred species was
too great ;-but obedience gained the victory. They gave
holy communion to each other and had the Ciborium, that
little palace of palaces, placed where their dying gaze might
rest upon it. Next morning Rev. Mr. Ennis carried it to
the Church and Rev. R. Boudet, instead of dying, rose in a
few days to bury the dead. Honora, the good housekeeper,
afterwards became a lay sister among the ca"rmelites of
?\fa. ryland.
In March, 1799, Father Leonard Neale was removeu
from St. Joseph's Church to become Rector of Georgetown College, D. C., and on the 7th of December, I Soo,
he was consecrated Bishop of Gortyna in partibus and Coadjutor to the Archbishop of Baltimore. He took with
him from Saint Joseph's three pious ladies, the venerable
.-\.lice Lalor, l\Iary Neale and Maria l\I'Dermott,-they
were afterwards joined by a widow lady of some wealth,
Mrs. Sharp,-from St. Joseph's congregation. These
ladies, who had gained his esteem and affection by their
true humility and sincere piety, he placed in a house in
Georgetown, near the College ground.'>, where they lived in
community; and this Community was the cradle of. the
great and good Order ofthe Visitation in the United States.
A venerable priest* related an amusing anecdote connected
with their early history. After some time wishing to aggregate themselves to the order in Europe, they wrote to
France for some of the sisters and a copy of the rules. An
answer was received to the effect, that owing to the disturbed
state of France, it 'vould not be possible for any of the sisters to leave at that time. They, however, sent them a copy
of the rules and by the next ship would send them a doll
dressed as a nun of the order, from which they could copy
and form their own garb. The good sisters were not busi*Father John )lcEiroy, S. J.
�108
St. J'oscp!t's C/wrc!t, P!ti!addpltia.
ness women, so that when the ship arrived at New York,
there was no invoice and the box had to be opened at the
Custom House. The officers, as ignorant and prejudiced
as some of their successors in our time, named it "one of
the Gods the Papists worship" and kept it some time on exhibition as a proof of Romish idolatry.
Upon the departure of Father Leonard Neale, Father
1\Iatthew Carr, 0. S. A., D. D. ,became pastor of St. Joseph's,
as well as ~t. Mary's and St. Augustine's, and "Vicar General of the Arch-diocese of Baltimore, for the mission of
Philadelpbi~," with Father John Rossiter, 0. S. A., and Rev.
John Bourke as assistants.
After the suppression of our Society, in 1773, some one
of the former Fathers of the Society was always stationed
at St. Joseph's Church, but with the departure of Rev.
Leonard Neale, this state of things ceased. For thirty-four
years the Church was under the care of the Augustinian,
Franciscan and Dominican Fathers and the secular clergy.
\Vith the end of the eighteenth Century, we will close the
firslpart of this gossiping account of St. Joseph's Church.
When Father Joseph Greaton built the little out-building,
its congregation was forty; when Father Leonard Neale
departed for other fields of labor, tl~e number of Catholics
under the .charge of the Priests, re~iding at St. Joseph's,
was between eight and nine thousand.
( T(} be continued.)
'
�AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MISSION OF
NEW YORK AND CANADA.
About fourteen years after the happy day on which Piu~
VII. reestablished our least Society of Jesus, the Right
Re\·. Benedict Joseph Flaget, Bishop of Bardstown, ever
on the watch for new means of promoting God's glory in
his vast diocese, solicited from Very Rev. Fr. Godinot, then
Provincial of France, some missionaries to gather in the
rich harvest of souls that lay, a!ready ripe for the sickle.
amid the green prairies of Kentucky.
As an earnest of his eagemess to welcome the fathers,
he offered his own college of St. Joseph, in Bardstown, to
be placed at their disposal. But at th~tt time our apostolic
laborers were unable to meet all the demands upon their
charity even in their own country; so that, although it
must have gladdened the heart of our Very Rev. Father
Provincial to behold a new vista unfolding itself before the
reestablished Society, in that land to which the old Society, in virtue of its martyred sons, had acquired so just a
right; still, not a single harvester could be sparc"d for these
distant fields of America. The bursting crops could but
bow their heads in humble submission to the Master's will,
and abide the predestined moment of its due accomplishment. It came sooner than could have been expected.
The Almighty who, in His providence, transfers the gift of
Faith from a nation that has become unworthy of the precious deposit, to one more deserving, had already turned
his benignant countenance towards that portion of America, hitherto less favored than many other parts of our continent; had heard its suppliant "Rorate Creli desuper," and
�I 10
1Vtw York aud Dmadcl ilfissio11.
destined for these fields of the New \Vorld, many of the
Apostles whom the Old \Vorld was on the point of proscribing.
The Revolutionists of 1830 were not slow in their work
of proscription ; and the Omnipotent made use of their very
impiety to further his own merciful designs. The storm
that swept over France served to waft the richly-laden
vessels of benediction that rode at anchor in its but lately
peaceful waters, towards other ports, and other lands.
America received its share of the blessings.
The ne:y Provincial of France, Very Rev. Fr. Druilhct,
not unmindful of the application for missionaries made by
Bishop Flaget, two years previous, and supposing 'that circumstances had remained unaltered in Bardstown, deemed
it advisable, in the present _state of affairs, to comply with
the prelate's request. Fathers Chazelle, Ladaviere and Petit,
with the devoted brother Corne, were selected for this new
mission; and-having been kindly furnished with the means
of defraying their expenses by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, they bade farewell to their friends, and
their country, and sailed from Pauillac, near Bordeaux, Nov.
19th, 1830.
On the 5th of Jan., the eve of the Epiphany, the island
of Guadaloupe hove in sight. Here the ship cast anchor
and our fathers once more gladly trod the earth, having
been almost two months at sea. The following day, Rev.
Fr. Chazelle had the happiness of opening his new career
by preaching, at the request of the parish priest, on Christ's
manifestation to the .Gentiles. But the regions to which
he and his little band were to bring the good tidings of the
gospel were still far distant; so they reembarked without
delay. Fifteen days more on the waves brougl1t them to
New Orleans, the terminus of their journey by sea. There
still r~mained upwards of x6oo miles of overland travel,
before they could reach Kentucky; but as the season
was far advanced, and the rivers closed to naviga-
�1Vcw York m1d Canada Jfission.
I I I
tion for the season, they were forced to tarry two months
in New Orleans. This delay they turned to the greater
glory of God : Rev. Fr. Chazelle flew to the prison cells
of some slaves condemned to death, accompanied them
with words of hope and consolation to the place of execution, and then devoted himself to the work of teaching
catechism to the little children. The other Fathers were
likewise employed in spiritual works of mercy.
Meantime Rev. Fr. Chazelle had written to acquaint
Bishop Flaget with their arrival. The letter fell as a thunderbolt on His Lordship, as well as on the priests of his
diocese: for when, in 1828, the saintly prelate had found
it impossible to obtain any members of the Society, for the
management of his college, he had handed it over to the
secular clergy. His astonishment then, at seeing the Fathers present themselves to enter upon the discharge of their
anticipated duties, was equalled only by .the amazement of
the Fathers themselves, when they learned that these duties
were already fulfilled by others who looked on them almost
as intruders. The Bishop scarcely knew what answer to
give to Rev. Father Chazelle's letter; still he expressed a
hope of finding some work in his diocese for the missionaries; and encouraged by the prelate's reply, Fr. Chazelle
set out with Fr. Petit, leaving the rest of the little colony
still at New Orleans.
Had naught been consulted but the good Bishop's love
for the Society, there would not have· been a moment's hesitation or delay; but as matters actually stood, the saintly
prelate was at a loss how to act. To send back the Fathers
after they had been so ardently longed for; when, after so
many dangers, they were actually on the field, and on all
>ides the rich harvest was waving in the breeze, as if beckoning to them not to pass by: this he could not bring him~
self to do, and yet it was impossible to give them now ·what
be had before intended.
�I l2
1Vcw Vt1rk and Cmuula Jfission.
The bishop was too truly a man of God, (insignis pietatis, says the l\IS.) to doubt, after the first moments of surprise were over, whither he should look for light in his perplexity. The wings of prayer bore him aloft to the throne
of the ~Iighty Counsellor; into \Vhose Paternal Bosom his
doubts, and his troubles and hio;; fears were poured with a
filial confidence.
The more surely to obtain what he sought, he enlisted
St. Ignatius in his cause, by beginning in concert with Rev.
Fr. Chazelle a novena preparatory to the feast of our Holy
Founder:.' It would indeed have been surprising, had tlu.:
loving Father of all mankind turned a deaf ear to the prayers of these devoted pastors of souls, offered as they \\·ere
by the hands of the soul-enamoured Ignatius. And in
fact, the novena was not yet concluded, when the bishop
received an unexpected and extraordinary letter from a
priest of his dioce~e, the Rev. \Villiam Byrne, a man, for a
long time, by no means friendly to.the Society, and especially of late, greatly opposed to the entrance of our Fathers into Kentucky.
It would not be very difficult for us to imagine what the
purport of the letter might have been, but God Almighty
alone could have made it what it r,eally was. Suffice it to
say that the Rev. lVIr. Byrne offer.ed to the Fathers the
College of St. Mary's which, on ground givendiim by the
bishop, he had built, and for twelve years had been improving and beautifying. It was situated about ten miles from
Bardstown, and had attached to it a farm of nearly 300
acres. No price was stipulated; no condition or restriction
whatever laid upon the grant, save that Father Byrne should
continue to preside over the institution in the name of our
Fathers, until they would be in a condition to undertake its
full management themselves ..
Father Byrne's kind offer was immediately referred to
Rom~, but as delays were unavoidable, it was only on the
7th of July of the following year, 1832, that letters from
�"Vcw Yorio? and Canada Jfissiou.
113
:\lost Rev. Fr. Roothan announced his definitive approval of
the acceptance of St. :Mary's.
The little family, less numerous than that of St. Ignatius
and his first companions, seemed hardly able to meet all the
wants of a college; but, as in the still smaller family of Nazareth, Jesus was one of the number: with Him, all things
were possible. The Fathers accordingly entered on the
discharge of their new functions with all their energy. A
kind providence was watching over them, and, one by one,
new laborers joined them in the vineyard they were cultivating.
The first was Fr. Fouche, born in Paris, May 9th, 1789,
and, at the time of which we speak, director of the Seminary of Bardstown. The second was Fr. Evremond Harissart, born in the same city, May 19th, 1792, and likewise
superior. of a Seminary. They had both gone through a
spiritual retreat, under Rev. Fr. Chazelle, the preceding
year; and the result was but a repetition of the first victory
of the Exercises, three hundred years ago. It was the same
inspired book of the Exercises that was doing its work over
again.
As our nascent mission could not then boast of a house
of probation, the Province of Maryland, our elder sister,
kindly placed at our disposal its Novitiate at \Vhitemarsh.
Fr. Evremond was accordingly received within its friendly
enclosure and began his noviceship at once. Fr. Fouche
could not succeed in resigning his post in the Bardstown
Seminary before September of the following year ; and as
our Most Rev. Fr. General had, by that time, decided that
a Novitiate should be opened in Kentucky itself, under Rev.
Fr. Chazelle as Master of Novices, Fr. Evremond bade adieu to \Vhitemarsh, and with many fond recollections of
his first home lingering in his heart, joined Fr. Fouche at
St. Mary's. Thus it was that the first two novices of our
mission exchanged their lofty stations for the humble life
of the Novitiate.
�114
. ..:Vl·zu York aud Cauada 1J!zssioll.
The 22nd of December, I 832, though astronomically one
of those days on which the rays of the sun are most chary
of their gladdening visits to our earth, was more than usually blithesome and sun-bright for our little family at St.
Mary's; announcing, as it did, the arrival of three more
Fathers from Europe. France had already sent her missionaries to the forests of Kentucky, and, this time, Spain, Italy
and Switzerland furnished their quota. Not that the newcomers were natives of these parts of the globe, for Fr.
l\laguire was born in Ireland, and Fathers Gilles and Legouais in France, but they were actually laboring in these
several countries, and these countries it was that made the
sacrifice for the good of America.
\Vith what heartfelt emotions Rev. Fr. Chazelle must
have pressed to his bosom these brothers from the Old
\Vorld, those alone who have left country, and family and
home for Christ's sake can imagine. A day or two was allotted to repose after the fatigues of the journey, and then
the five co-laborers entered on the regular life of the Society '~ith all the punctuality and exactness observed in the
oldest house in Europe.
The first need that made itself felt was a knowledge of
the English tongue; and accordingly, all who were deficient in this respect, gave themselv.e~ up to the study of
the language of the country, with incredible ardor: FF.
Fouche and Evremond acting as professors of English literature to Fathers Gilles snd Legouais. So really heroic
w:as their desire to advance in their studies, that, as we find
recorded in the MS. diary of those days, it was strictly
forbidden to say a single word in French; and this generous sacrifice of what is so dear to everyone, the sweet music of his native tongue, was offered, as a pleasing holocaust
to Mary, during her lovely month of May.
Hitherto some of the members of our mission had never
met, but on the 13th of May, 1833, those Fathers who
had re.mained, as we have seen, at New Orleans, aiding
�JI/C'w York and Canada Jlission.
115
the good Bishop of that diocese, joined their companions
in Kentucky. Thus, for the first time, "sine quidem humano", says the MS., "non autem absque divino consilio", all
the FF. of the French Province, then in America, with the
exception of Father de Grivel, who filled the office of Master of .Novices in the Province of Maryland, met together,
in their common home, to the number of eight: "cum ingenti sane omnium gaudio, et mutua gratulatione." \Ve
are fain to believe that, if the edict expelling the French
language from the community had not yet been repealed,
the exile . was recalled from his banishment, at least for a
few hours; hours so swift-footed on such an occasion.*
\Ve have dwelt thus at length on the infancy of our mission, for the reason that there is always something sw:::etly
attractive in tracing out the first beginnings of even the
least of God's works; and because the halo of sanctity invariably encircles all pioneers on a new field of God's glory.
\Ve have even overstepped a little the actual date, at
which our sketch has now arrived, in order to display at
* The aged Fathers of our mission divide its history into three distinct periods: the Heroic, or Ji'abulous, the Pre-Historic, and the /It:;.
toric proper. Thus far we have been treating of the Fabulous times,
~lightly encroaching, however, on the era that begins to be dimly histmieal. The appellation given to the first period could not be more appropriate, ftJr, the MS. diary bears testimony to facts which, in our days,
~eem fabulous indeed. How the students, not a hundred in numbrr,
eonld be boarded and taught at the annual rate of $60 each: -How turkeys were one of the cheapest articles of ·rood to·be found: twenty-fin,
1·ents being sufficient to procure from any neighboring cabin a beautiful
~pecimen already dressed, cooked and fit for the table :-How the receipts
for tuition were seldom deposited in the hands of the treasurer, but
driven by the fhrmer, into the barn-yard, in the shape of well-fed porker~,
or else poured into the n,ilk ca:ts of the dairy.
The peculiar sort of book-keeping requisite in such circumstances, was
J•erhaps, more complicated than ordinary Double Entry; and the disposal
of the live-stock was not unfrequently the great event of the day Thus,
the only item of information we find recorded for Nov. 30th, 1833, is the
terse, but fearfully significant scr.tcnce! "porcis plurimis dies fatalis ;"
and this fatal day, wns probably of no rare occurrence in the domcstie
l'conomy of St. Mm·y's.
�I
16
.Nczu Yoli: and Canada Jl!ission.
once all the beauties of this picture of religious peace and
happiness, lest the coming storm-clouds should prevent our
noticing some of its less salient, but no less charming traits.
Though, in very deed, the storm-clouds themselves form
the most natural feature in every picture of the Society; and
a scene in which no such signs of the continued prayers of
Ignatius would be visible, either actually over the landscape, or already disappearing in the distance, or but just
merging from the horizon, would be but a chilling prospect
to every tnie son of our sainted Father: the finger of God
would not be there. And of the three, perhaps the scene
in which the storm is just appearing, is the most consoling;
for, the peaceful traits are still undisturbed, but, at the same
time. the rising clouds are an earnest that our peace is not
the false tr;J.nquillity of the world; that it is a peace, not
enervating, but strong and holy; and one that by no means
clashes with the sword Christ brought on earth.
How much soever the great ones of the earth may at
time2 seem to favor us, it will never cease to be true, that
the birthplace of the Society was the mount of l\Iartyrs; and
that not one of its many colonies has belied our first home : ·
not a single new province or mission has been founded, but
has been blessed with its share of ~tosses, and consequent
crowns. The first token of the comii1g storm was the advent of that messenger from above, that true scourge of
God, the cholera. This fearful epide'mic had, the preceding
year, (1832) visited the shores of North America and harvested its victims by thousands, filling the land with mourning and desolation; but its work was not completed, and
now it was once more on our shores, to glean what had escaped it before. Its approach was sudden : the first notice
of its entrance into the immediate vicinity of our Fathers,
was the cry for spiritual help from a woman attacked by the
terribl~ plague, Monday, June znd, 1833.
This was the
moment, fo.r devoted soldiers to fly to the post of danger; a
moment, which might prove the recompense of years of toil
4
�iYn:,, J'{wk and Canada 11lission.
117
and privation, which might be the stepping stone to a martyr's crown. Yet (with the exception of one unacquainted
with the language) not a priest was in the house, save
Father Byrne; all our Fathers who were wont to betake
themselves every Sunday, for the exercise of their ministry, to the neighboring villages, were still at their posts.
But the zealous Father Byrne, though, in his feeble state of
health, he might justly have feared to be, in the present
case, the victim rather than the saviour, hesitated not an instant-he was beginning on earth a triduum of charity
which he was to close in heaven. He visited the dying
woman assiduously on the 3rd and 4th inst., but on the 5th,
the eve of Corpus Christi, he read the smile of approval on
his l\Iaster's countenanc~; he g.lZ~d for the last time on the
Yelled body of his Sa\·iour, and ~vas then admitted to behold
It face to face, to celebrate t!te Feast of that adorable Body
in the abode of bliss. Nine hours had not elapsed between
the first .-;truggle and the crown. The Master had come
suddenly, but he found his servant watching, the lamp
of faith burning brightly in his hands ; the garment of
charity c.Jo~~ly girt around him The spot for his tomb
was, by permission of the Bishop, chosen on the ground of
the deceased that amid the very fields on which he had
toiled so long and with so much energy, and which he had,
with noble disinterestedness, dedicated to God's glory, he
might at last rest in peace. Father Byrne was by no means
an 0ld man, but he had lived for God, and
"Virtue, not rolling suns, the mind matures :
That life is ](Jng which answers life's great end."
Rc\'. Fr. Chazelle had to enter immediately on the full
administration of the College. His first concern was to
provide for the safety of the students, but they themselves
soon rendered all further measures of precaution impossible.
A panic seized numbers of them, who, the very moment Fr.
Byrne's obsequies were concluded, without a thought of
asking leave, forsook the college precincts. Of the refugees
�I 18
..Vcit' York and Canada Jlfissiou.
some passed the night in the n:::ighboring farm-house.;;
others, less £·wored, after lo.;ing th:.:ir way, w..:re forced to
lie down on the hard ground, with no shelter abm•e them
sa\·e the wide-spreading oak of the forest. Meanwhile the
Father.; devoted themselves to th·.::ir ministry un:iringly.
night and day. The calls upon the;r charity. \\·hether by
the plague-stricken, or those who only feared the apj)roach
of the epidemic, were so numerous, that the few laborers·
could scarcely respond to them all. Still, almost countless
was the number of souls which this merciful visitation of
the Almighty, \Vho loveth even while He chastiseth, gathered into th-e" heavenly garners, and which, otherwise, would
one day have been cast with the unprofitable cockle into
eternal flames.
But God still demanded as a holocaust from our own
number, one of the most useful of the little band-the price
of Calvary's blessing on our ftiture labors; at a moment,
too, when every laborer was extending so strenuously the
kingdom of God in the hearts of men: so little necessary
for GQd's work, are even the most devoted.
The terrible devastator after carrying off two of. the students who had remained, and one servant, came finally to
Fr. Maguire. This zealous missionary felt that he had not
long to live; he heard within him the call of death, and,
piously avaricious, dreading the loss of the least particle
of so precious a time, begged the assistants not to allow
him to be overcome by lethargy, but to rouse him by frequent aspirations. Their task was a light one indeed-no
external monitor was necessary to inflame the dying servant of God: his heart allowed no thoughts but those of
heaven to enter; his lips gave passage to no words save those
of eternity. Before his senses £>iled him, he earnestly
begged that his crucifix, his rosary and his book of rules
should repose upon his bosom ; that as they had been the
objects 9f his love in life, they might be his solace in
death; and it was his special request that all care should be
�"Vcw York and Canada J{ission.
I
19
taken, lest the Scapular of the Blessed Virgin which he had
worn from infancy should by any chance be removed. An
agony of excruciating intensity served to purify more and
more the wedding garment of the departing soul; and as
the holy religious had led a life of perfect obedience, so his
last moments were the fulfilment to the letter of the recommendation of the Constitutions, (Pars VI. Cap. 4.) In morte
unusquisque de societate eniti et curare debet ut in ipso
Deus ac Dominus noster Jesus Christus glorificetur et
proximi a:dificentur. Fr. Maguire was only 33 years of age,
and had been 8 years in the Society.
From the death bed of Fr. Maguire the holy viaticum
was carried to the couch of Fr. L ...... whose recovery
no one expected; whilst about the same time, Fr. Fouche,
busy with the dying at the neighboring \'illage of Lor.::tto,
was su.ddenly pro;;trated by the disease. It seemed indeed
as though our little bark would never be able to weather the
storm : one of the stalwart rowers had already been swept
away; two mo:·e seemed about to share the same fate-and
still the Divine l\Iaster slumbered. But the sh'adow that
hung so . darkly over us, was only that of the cross; the
clouds that had gathered so fearfully and so threateningly
around us, were of no deeper hue than those of Calvaryand Calvary had its Easter. Calvary saw the rising of its God
-that God \ Vho is e\'Cr able to inspire hope against hope.
At that very hotu· consolation was at hand, and though
it seemed only a stray beam that had found its way between the dark masses of clouds, silvering for an instant all
it met on its path to be followed next moment by a yet
thicker darkness, still a long series of brighter days was
not far off.
Fr. Fouche recovered after a week's illness; Fr. L .... ,
though sustaining an attack of more than I 2 days, was not
so soon to be called to his rest ; but was to be reserved for a
long life of useful toil, becoming the spiritual Father of
•:hildren unto the third and fourth generation.
I
I
'''I
''
'!
�120
"Vcc:t• }{wk and Canada Jlission.
The Cholera had disappeared, bu1 God's chastening rod
was still upraised. The 30th of December, 1833, was a
memorable day in the early history of our mission. Father
Chazelle had set out on horseback that afternoon to tran,.;act some business, inknding to return before nig:1tfall ;
but, as frequently happened to travellers in those days.
when roads were a luxury rarely met with, and when more
depended on the instinct of the beast of burden than the
intelligence of the rider, he lost his way in the forest, and
night coming ,on, was forced to seek shelter in a stranger's
cabin. Thus~ says the pious ~IS., did Divine Providence
spare the guardian of the house, the sight of the fearful
disaster that was about. to £<11 upon it: sweet sleep, after a
day spent in fatigue for God's service, soon closing his
heavy eyelids, while his flock was suffering so keenly for
want of its shepherd. But the kind Master for whom he
had toiled, took the place of the care-worn servant; the
Great Shepherd kept watch over the fold, and no harm was
to come to it but what He, in His providence, permitted.
The- students had just finished their night prayers in the
chapel, and were crossing the yard on their way to the dormitory, situated in an adjoining building, when, on a sudden, a huge column of flame burst forth from the very
building which they were approachin-g: There was a moment's stand-still in utter amazement and awe. Fire! fire!
were the first words that rang out from the mouth of every
student, on the clear, cold air of that winter's night; and
then followed the usual rushing of persons madly to and
fro, according as each one thought of some cherished object
that might still be snatched from the flames, or imagined
some new means of stemming the burning torrent. But,
no water was to be had-not even a ladder could be procured-and, especially, there was no one to direct the willing hands that were wasting their strength in efforts, unavailing ·because not united. And, all this time, poor Fr.
Chazelle was quietly reposing, a few miles away, utterly unconscious of the dread visitor of his little home.
�.Vc7'' 1"'iwk aud Cmada Jlission.
121
Some of the students' beds, and a number of books was
all that was rescued from the flames: the entire building,
save the four outside walls that still stood amid the wreck,
had become a heap of ruins. The work of destruction
was completed in half an hour; but the pang it caused was
of far longer duration, and was the more deeply felt as the
authors of the conflagration were, some time afterwards,
discovered to be two or three unruly students, who through
a motive of fiendish revenge, had coolly plotted this terrible
crime.
The Fathers, however, did not murmur at this new visitation from on high; on the contrary they found matter for
sincere thanksgiving in the fact that amid such confusion
and danger, not a single person had been injured; and it
\\•as a sweetly consoling thought in their personal distress,
that though they had lost one of their own dwellings, the
h?use of their loving Saviour, the temple of God had been
spared. In fact, when the conflagration was at its height,
and it seemed evident that not a single one of the buildings
coulu escape, the wind had suddenly veered around in
another direction.
During the whole time of the fire the students had given
·proofs ?f great de,•otedness and bravery, and though beds
had been prepared for them in an adjoining building, but
few cared to retire to rest. The greater number passed a
wakeful night beside the still smoking ruins, and as they
stood there, peering into the dying embers, their shadows
cast darkly on the crisp ground behind them, manifold
were their expressions of sincere condolence with their beloved instructors. But, at the same time, they could hardly have been able entirely to curb an undercurrent of less
saddening reflections concerning themselves personally;
and although they would probably have been better pleased
had a few more beds been spared, even at the price of all
the rescued books ; they must have found a boyish consolation in the thought that many a hard puzzling lesson was
�!22
JVcw York alld Ca11ada JVfissilllt.
deeper down in the heaps of smouldering- ashes before
them, than it had ever been able to penetrate into their les~
pervious skulls, and many a dog-eared volume was now
paying in the flames the penalty of having so often racked
young, innocent brains.
It was a fearful blow for poor Fr. Chazelle when the next
morning at day break, he was found and informed of the
dire catastrophe. He was not, however, disheartened: the
man who has placed his trust in heaven, earth's shocks can
not overcome~
..
"Though tempest frowns,
Though nature shnkes, how soft to lenn 011 !Ieav'n ;
To lean on Him on ·whom .An:hnugels lean !
His first act was to have recourse to the Giver of all life and
strength. This done, he held a consultation, and, at its close·,
informed the students that the first session was at an end;
that studies would be resumed towards the middle of the
coming month.
That evening, the last of the old year, the community a~
customary in the Society, entoned the Te Deum with grateful hearts, for the blessings of the past twelvemonth; and, after litanies, presented with filial love, to the head of the house
their best wishes for the coming year. .Rev. Fr. Chazelle in
his turn, thanked them with an overflowing heart, and with
paternal kindness, exhorted all not to be depressed by their
present misfortunes, but to labor strenuously and with union
of wills to endow their institution, already proved hy so
many trials, with all possible stability, according to the
measure of God's grace. It was the same vein of thought
as that in which, a few days later, he wrote to Very Rev.
Fr. Provincial. "Trials," said he in his letter, "must be accounted as graces, especially in the Society. As long as
God will be pleased to affiict us, we are t1r from being
unhappy, provided His crosses find us true sons of oi1r
Father, St. Ignatius."
�I",
-.)
The indom;table spirit that animated ,the head, actuated,
all the me:nb~rs; and the work of repair was undertaken with aruor. l\lany of the students and neighbors
imitated the example of the Fathers, who might be seen
here collecting the scattered bricks, there hewing massive
pieces of timber; or, when the building was roofed, nailing
laths to the joists, and, owing, no doubt, to the inferior quality of the iron, breaking vast quantities of nails, during
this thei~ first apprenticeship in the carpenter's trade.
\Vhere none were idle, the work must needs have rapidly
progressed; and indeed, despite the asperity of the season,
the very depth of winter, on the 23rd of January, the building was sufficiently repaired once more to receive the
students.
'
Nothing of note, now disturbed the pleasant monotony of
college life, previous to the 26th of Ju.ly, 1834, the First
.-\.nnual Commencement Day of St. Mary'~ College, since
its full management had devolved on the Fathers. The
exercises took place on ·a rustic stage erected under the
shady trees that surrrounded the house, and comprised,
among other literary productions, a tragedy, composed by
Rev. Fr. Chazelle, who, says his MS. biography, was convinced that to promote the glory of God in America, and in
Kentucky, he must first become a r .:al American, and a
Kentuckian. The play was entitled "Redhawk," and was
designed to illustrate the ancient customs of the Indians,
and the labors of the early American settlers: all turning to
praise of Christianity. The bright costumes of the natives,
in which the actors were arrayed, contributed not a little to
the success of the drama.
Perhaps it was owing to these and other sincere tokens
of love for America, exhibited by the Fathers, that a deeprooted affection towards them gradually took the place, in
the hearts of the people, of that feeling of suspicion and
distrust with which they had first looked upon the members of the Society. But whatever may have given it rise,
likewis~.
�124
iVc;u York aud Canada JllLutil!l.
' unequivocal proof that this affection really existed, \\·a,;
shown by a deputation from the citizens of the neighboring villa~e of Lebanon, who waited on Rev. Fr. Chazelle,
and offered to open a subscription for rebuilding the college
on a much grander scale. The Father recei\·ed them most
aff:1.bly and thanked them sincerely, regretting that he was
unable to give them, at once, a definitive answer. The
question was immediately referred to Rome, and after it
had been agitated for a considerable time, and recourse to
earnest prayer had been had on the part of all, it was finally brought ·tQ a close in I 836. when the foundations of the
new wing were laid. During the years in which the building was in process of erection, the devout annalist inform,:.
us that God, in His fatherly providence so tempered the
bitter with the swe~t, that although new trials came to prc\·ent our fathers from being too much elated by pro-;p~rity,
new joys succeeded lest they should be too much cast
down by adversity; and this, in so loving and merciful a
way, that the dark and troublous days were always outnumbered by those of sunshine and peace.
[To be continued.]
....
..:
XOTE-It will, no doubt, interP~t many I'Patll·r~ of the "Ll'ltt·r,-·· to
peruse a pnge from the earliest Catnlogtll' ofFranee we han· heL·n able to
procure, that make& mention of "Colll·p:ium KeutudwiPnsP atl S ~Iari:nn
t>t eonvictus,'' ineunte )IDCCCXXXYI.
R. P. Petrus Clwzelle, Y. Rector.
P. Thomas Legouais, )linister, 1Iagister NoYitiorum, Pro[ )lath .. etc.
P. Gulielmus Murphy, Professor, ete.
P. Xicolnu~ Petit, Prinm~ pra>fectu~ monun, !'!e.
P. Nicolnus Point, Pr~efectu~ ~tmliorum, etc.
P. Simon Fouche, Prof. :Mnth.; prrefectus morttlll. t·tc.
P. Xaverius (Evremond) Ileiissart, Prof. ling-ure Grrecne, ek
P. Vitaiis Gilles, Prrefectus Spiritunli~: Profe~sor lingnnl' Gnllica(·. ('(('.
Philippus Corne, Ad omnin.
Philippus Ledore, Coquus.
�THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER.
The Rev. Director of the Apostleship for the U. S.,
residing at \Voodstock, is constantly receiving numerous
letters from all sections of the country, bringing with them
the glad tidings of graces obtained from the bountiful
Heart of Jesus in answer to the prayers of the Associates.
From among the many instances which have thus been
brought under his notice he has allowed us to select the
following, which we present to our readers. not so much
because they are in themselves very extraordinary manifestations of tf1e divine power and goodness, as because we
wish to do honor in these pages to the Heart which it is our
glory and our pride to serve, and to offer a feeble tribute of
gratitude for the compassionate tenderness with which It
has responded to our petitions. Might we not also say, or
would it be thought presumption in us to suppose that the
recital of such favors may, perhaps, be a source of encouragement for those whose duty it is to labor for the interests
of this Adorable Heart ?
The progress of the Apostleship, since its humble beginning as a private devotion in 1844, has been successful in the
extreme, for to-day its records show a total of more than six
millions of members. The Communities and Congregations
throughout the U. S., which have been affiliated to it, may
be found in. the "Messenger" for January of the present
year. It is a goodly list and well calculated to afford
consolation to all who are truly zealous for the honor of
the Sacred Heart. It shows a widely extended organization in this quarter of the New World, and, judging of other
countries by wh~t we thus know of our own, we have every
�Tltc Apostles/tip of Prayer.
reason to hope for the speedy and perfect realization of the
wishes of our divine Lord in regard to the diffusion of the
spirit of prayer in these days. It is a sad thing to behold
some of the most accomplished and educated men bowing
down before the material world, over which God gave them
dominion, and receding farther and far:her from the Creator
in proportion as multiplied evidences of his goodness rise
up anew before them in their progress along the unexplored paths of knowledge. \Vhat is still more deplorable
is their wonderful activity in spreading their doctrines. At
this very ni:oment there exists a powerful league of scientific men for the dissemination, by means of cleverly written
articles, re\·iews, popular lectures etc., of Pantheism and
Nature-\Vorship among all classes. Very lately the Christian world was shocked by a blasplH::mous attack upon the
efficacy of prayer, and there cannot be a dot\bt that this
very occurrence gave a new impulse to the exertions of thost:
whom Jesus Christ has associated with Him self as colabore~s for the interests of his Sacred Heart.
Let us pray
for these wandering minds and implore that the light of
infinite \\'isdom, shadowed forth in faintest glimmerings in
events such as we subjoin below, may fall at length upon
them and bring them to the knowle~ge of something better
and nobler than the matter which engrosses them. Above
all let us constantly labor and pray for a more universal
establishment of that fountain of grace, the holy league of
the Apostleship.
But our readers must be anxious for the extracts we
have promised. We will give them verbatim as they were
received, for they need no word of comment.
A Lady writes to her brother: "I have just received, n letter from a
friend with an account of the heautifiil death of her conBin Louis M .....
who was brought back to the practice of his Faith through the powerful
intercession of the Apostleship of Prayer. After having returned to hi~
duties as a Catholic, he prayed that, if it were Gotl'R holy will, he m(qht
not recooor from his long sickne~s, lest he should again wander from thl'
right path. His prayer has been heard. He lingered for months, edil)"ing his family and friends by his patience, piety and happiness in suffering
for tile love of his blessed Saviour, and died at last a pure and holy death,
�77tc .-4post/cs!tip of
Pn~rcr.
127
full of angelie resignation to God's will. His death was so consoling
that. although tlw only surviving son of the mo~t devoted parents and
llll' hn>'hand of a most admirable wife, it is almost a cause of rejoicing to
them.-I have told you already of the remarkable conversion, through
the A1'o~tleship, of his aged father, who is now saint-like in his piety."
A clergvman writes from ~ew-York: "In my last letter I recommend·
ed to yotir prayers a Protestant gentleman; a person of intelligence
:nul wealth. I[(' was a Fre('·~Iason and unbaptized, and, at the time of
my writing, was on tlH' point of (leath This week he ('Xpressecl a wil·
lingncs~ to see a priest, was baptized this morning, and will receive Communion to-morrow.''
A letter from Philadelphia contains the following: "Heartfelt thanks
are r('tnrn~:d to th(' Sacred Heart for the ltappy death of the father of
l>unily wlws(' reformation has been prayed for since last ~larch. Rather
more than a momh ago he was prostrated on a bed of illness, and died
last week liJrtilkrl hv all the rites of the Church. The answer to the
prayer lor him has bC.cn marked and wonderlhl, as his case seemed altogether hopeil's:;. It shouhl im:pire every one in sorrow or difficulty with
t·encwed confitlenC'e."
From 'Yin~tcd, Conn., Ullll('' an account of the conversion of an aged
man who had lh·ed lin· more than forty years in entire neglect of his
religion~ tluties. He was recommended to the prayers of the Associates,
:mel a short time pre\·ious to his death, willingly saw a priest and received
all the Sacraments with sentiments of great fervor .
. Finally, a c,numunieation from ~Iilw:i-ukce, \\ris., narrates the reception
mto the Church of a gentlrman wlw~e son recommended him to the
mercy of the Sacred lleart some three years ago. He was a nominal
Protestant. but nltogether regardless of religion, and lor twenty-two
years had been n victim to intempernncc. But a slow and weakening
~ickness camP upon him; his thoughts were gradually directed to the
salvation of his soul, ami at length he asked for a priest, mnde a firm
profession of 1;1ith, and received the sacramen'.:; ·or the Church with a
fervor and piety most edifying to hehohl."
\Ve have here given a few facts selected almost at random
from among hundreds of a similar nature, which show the
efficacy of the Apostleship and which ought to stimulate
our zeal as well as excite our hopes. If the l\Iessenger of
the Sacred Heart, which contains in each of its numbers
not only a list of recommendations for prayers, but also a
catalogue of wonderful answers to the supplications of the
members of the Apostleship, were extensively circulated,
no doubt, the recital of these wonders would inspire thousands with new hope for themselves and they would be the
means of multiplying indefinitely the graces obtained from
the Sacred Heart and thus furthering good work of every
kind, converting heretics and sinners, and filling heaven
with the glad fruits of prayer.
�MISSIONARY LIFE.
I have often regretted that we do not know more about
the nature of the popular missions given by the Fathers of
the Old Society, in·town and country. Undoubtedly they
would be su.J;>stantially the same for the members of the
Society, in all times and places, namely, the Exercises of
our Holy Founder; but it would be highly instructive and
very interesting to be able to see how these have been varied in their application to the masses, comprising men of
every age and condition. One great difference would exist
in the missions as given in a Catholic country or in one
like ours, comprising every shade of belief, in the presence
or absence of a controversial element. It is even now a
disputed point with some whether we should, on such occasions, take account of the attendance of non-Catholics.
Other differences undoubtedly could be found in the ceremonies,· the displays of every nature addressed to the
feelings and senses, many of which li.ighly useful in other
times would be now out of taste, as out of date. It is
from such considerations that I have thought proper in
complying with your desire to write some papers on the
missions, to commence with a detailed description of a
mission as carried on by the members . of the Province of
Missouri. Your Journal may thus become indirectly the
means of procuring an interchange of views on this powerful
weapon for the conquest of souls.
We commence the missionary year in September and end
in June, allowing an interval of one week between the
several places, for repose and travel. Christmas and Eastertide are spent by us at home in the interchange of brotherly
�JlfissioJWY)'
L~fc.
129
offices, and in the assistance of the large parish to which
the missionary liouse is at present attached. There are six*
f.tthers at present engaged in the work who unite for a large
mission, and separate to cultivate simultaneously other and
smaller portions of the vineyard.
Towards the end of August the fathers who have been
employing the interval in giving retreats to religious houses,
in making their own spiritual exercises, or in necessary
relaxation, find themselves once more assembled at Chicago.
From the various applications made during the preceding
year, a list is prepared bf the separate and common missions
to be given by the two or three bands into which the whole
body may be divided, trunks are packed, farewells exchanged and the campaign opens.
Let us follow one of the bands to a small mission. The
two missionaries have commenced the journey by the recitation of the Litanies of the B. Virgin; they arrive at their
destination on Saturday. An examination of the locality,
and an enquiry into the nature of the population, their
spiritual wants and necessities, are the occupations of the
afternoon. Trunks are to be opened. confessionals to be
erected or ordered, for, singularly enough; this most important adjunct to the mission is the very thing most generally
overlooked: and finally the programme to be written or
printed, and then posted at the Church door. Generally it
is as follows. At 5 A. M. begins the first mass followed by
sermon which does not last longer than 6 o'clock, when
the second missionary celebrates the divine sacrifice. This
mass and sermon are for those whose avocations prevent
them from being present later in the day. I have known
the church full at that hour though the weather was inclement and many had to come from long distances. In no
* I do not include in this number Fr. Weninger who gives missions to
the Germans and Fr. Schulak who devotes himself to the Poles and Bohemians of whom there are great numbers in our Western States.
�•
mJsston as yet have we failed to persuade the people to
make this daily sacrifice of their morning rest. In one of
our last missinns, "·ith the thermometer at 20° below zero,
the tramping of their feet on the frozen sidewalks would
arouse us a half an hour before the time to which we had
set our alarm clocks. .-\t 8.30 .-\. :\I. the pa~tor celebrates
mass, and in~mediately aften\·ards the second sermon is
delivered, the attendance being about equal; sometimes a
little inferior to that of the 5 o'clock mass. In the afternoon the pas,tor and congregation make t0gether the way
of the cross... In the evening at 7-30, the pastor recites the
bead~ of the B. Virgin with the congregation. and then follows the principal sermon of the day succeeded by benediction of the B. Sacrament.
During this sermon: in accordance with an invitation extended for weeks together before the mission, and enforced
by an announcement at e\·ery one of the exercises, the assistant missionary receives in the school-room, the p:1rlor
of the pa·>toral residence, or some other suitable place, those
persons over sixteen years of age who have never made
their first communion. I regard this as one of the greatest
fruits of the mission, and decidedly the most difficult and
trying of all the exercises. The average of such cases is
perhaps greater than you would suppvse. In one mission
where there were 1 100 communicants, and where the pastor
was noted for his zealous care for his flock, knowing almost
every one by name, and where, too, there was little or no
floating population, we unearthed about 20 such cases. l
should think that the general average would prove to be
about 40 to every thousand communicants.
The topics treated in the morning lectures are the integrity and sincerity of confession, and instructions on the
proper way of making use of that sacrament, together with
catechetical and h"lmiliar explanations of the commandments.
In the evening discourses we intersperse doctrinal sermons
with the matter treated in the first week of the exercises. At
�JlissummJ' Life.
the high mass of the first Sunday we speak of the advantages and objects. of the mission and the spirit with which
the people should enter on it, trying to move the hearts of
the people by appeals to the memory of their deceased parents, their mm early childhood, their possibly near end. In
the afternoon at Yespers the same subject is continued with
a more direct treatment of the necessity of attending to
their salvation. In the evening we dwell upon the creation
of man, and the use of creatures. On Monday evening we
kctun.: on the doctrine and use of penance in the Catholic
Church, treating the subject catechetically and controver;-;ially. On Tuesday evening the subject is the nature
and enormity of mortal sin. On \Vednesday we treat of the
Sacrament of the Eucharist. On Thursday we speak on
personal sins making, as it were, a general. confession of a
sinful life. On Friday the sermon is on Judgment or on
Hell, or on both combined. Here also we introduce the
different kind of sin, especially those more enormous crimes
of the age which arc beginning to corrupt even the Catholic body and to which on less solemn occasions we scarcely
dare more than· allude. On Saturday we have no evening
sermon. On the Second Sunday we treat at high mass of
.devotion to the B. Virgin as taught and practised by the
Church ; in the afternoon on devotion to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, and in the evening upon the one, true, visible and
infallible Church of Christ. Monday evening sees the close
of the mission in a sermon on perseverance and the ordinary means for attaining that final grace, the avoidance of
occasion of sin, prayers, weekly mass, monthly or quarterly
confession. Then come the Papal Benediction, and Benediction of the B. Sacrament. Vve sometimes have little
children prepared, nicely dressed in white, one of whom
reads in the name of the congregation an act of consecration to the Mother of God. We celebrate a mass of requiem for deceased friends and relatives on Tuesday morning, at which we speak on dev?tion to the blessed souls in
�132
Jlissionary Life.
Purgatory, and in the evening give a public Lecture on
some of the current Catholic topics of the day, on some
doctrinal matter or point of controversy. Every day from
2 to 3 P. M. or after the evening sermons non-Catholics are
invited to come and propose their doubts. On Tuesday we
commence the confessions by the children who have made
their first communion and are under sixteen years of age.
On \Vednesday and the other days that we remain in the
place we are ready from 5 A. M. to 10.30 P. l\1. to hear
confessions. __ The only intermissions are for meals, a half
hour after l;lreakfast, an hour after dinner, and another hour,
including sU'pper, before the evening service. \Vhen the
situation of the confessionals allows it, we continue to receive penitents during the sermons, taking a recess, however, of a quarter of an hour after two hours work, according to rule. By hard and constant work we find that two
missionaries, in a week such as I have described, can,
unaided, prepare one thousand for communion. For any
number exceeding this they have to appeal to neighboring
clergymen. The pastor has always enough to do in superintending everything and in running after delinquent sheep.
The Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday arc spent in resting
or travelling to the next mission. Hard work you will say,
and yet I have known men who were· worn out in College
life regain their health and strength in this treadmill of the
missiOns. The only exhausting part of the labor is the
time spent in the confessional. Let not your readers waste
their pity on the missionary. He sees the good he does, he
receives praise and benediction from every mouth, he is 'the
holy commissioner', the 'saintly father'. Pray God that in
preaching to others he become not himself a castaway. In
the mean time the real martyr, but, at the same time the
privileged soul in spiritual things, is the poor professor in
the ·college, whom few know, and fewer still appreciate. In
the next paper, if you desire another, I shall try to give
some incidents of the mission life, some glimpses at its
hardships, trials and consolations.
�Brazil.
133
I will close with a summary of the \york of two of our
band, in the course of the last four months, from September
to December inclusively. I do not include however one
grand mission in which all six reunited to work together in
a large Eastern city.
Six missions were given. There were 7,o;o communions,
::!75 adult first communicants, about 26 or rather more marriages revalidated, and 97 non-Catholics received into the
Church besides many others who were not yet sufficiently
prepared and were left under instruction ; we travelled about
::!,6oo miles without a single accident, thanks be to God and
His Holy Angels.
G.
13RAZIL.-FR. CYBEO TO THE SCHOLASTICS
OF LAVAL (F~A?\CE).
LAGUNA, JULY
3 I. t8j2.'
Let me first gi\'e you a general idea of a Brazilian mission. The parishes here arc for the most part very large,
the parishioners being scattered over a considerable tract
of country, some living in the midst of the forests or upon
the hill-sides, others in the vast prairies. To reach the
church, the people are often obliged to travel 10, r 5 or even
20 leagues.
It happens that quite a number of persons die
without the Sacraments; but this will not surprise you
much, if you bear in mind that, for the lack of priests, ohe
is often charged with the care of two or three parishes ; he
visits them rarely and then only to say Mass and attend to.
. I
�134
Bm=if.
the Baptisms and 1\larriages. Poor abandoned flocks ! yet
they would be so docile to the \'Oice of a pastor !-For
many of these christians, the confession made during the
mission is· the first of their li\'es, and advantage must be
taken of the same occasion to prepare them for their first
communion, which often has to follow immediately. Remember too that it is often necessary to commence by
teaching them the sign of the r:ross and the principal mysteries, a work not done without great difficulty, especially
when we have to deal with the poor blacks whose intelligence is g~nerally so limited. Add to these duties the
Baptisms and l\Iarriages and you will have an idea of the
work devolving on two m1ssionaries.
Every mission lasts 15 days, 3 weeks or even a month ;
that time alas! is often too short and many of our Chris. tians, after waiting in v;1in several days, are obliged to return to their homes without going to confession or receiving
Nesso-Peii (Our Father), for by this name they designate
the Holy Eucharist. Is it surprising when a single parish
often· numbers 6ooo or Sooo souls and e\'en more? If
all were here at the commencement of the mission it
would not be so bad; but no! the poor and those living :Jt
a distance do not come before the last few days and then
we see them huddled together by thousands, in their wagons, under their tents or wholly exposed to the inclemency of the season. It may not be uninteresting to give
you some idea of the respect, not to say veneration, with
which these good people regard the missionaries. The
title usually given them is that of Padre Santo (Holy
F:ather); but there are variations, such as My Lord Bishop,
Your Charity, Your Paternity, Your Holiness, Your Majesty. These appellations appear strong enough, but you must
reserve a part of your admiration for the title bestowed on
my companion : at every hour of the day people come to
ask in all simplicity and devotion for "My Creator." From
this you can easily comprehend the demonstrations of which
�Hra:::il.
135
we are the objects. On our arrival there are re;otcings
and fireworks; each one wishes to salute the missionaries
and offer them his little present; often they go so far as to
kiss our feet. \Vhen the moment of departure comes they
accompany us as far as possible, taking leave of us only
with tears, which might at times be more properly called
cries of despair. Still it is unhappily too true that these
poor Christians after some days of grace and happiness will
fall back· into a sad and almost complete forgetfulness and
neglect.
But now let us say a few words about the distribution of
time on the mission. Rising at a very early hour we begin
by performing the duties of sacristan, sound theAngelus
and open the Church door ; a large crowd invariably
stands waiting, sometimes in the rain. \Ve begin at once
to hear confessions, charitably dividing the work, so that
one hears the men, the other, the women. Towards 6
o'clock we have the first Mass after which confessions continue till the mission Mass which is celebrated at 9 o'clock.
During the latter, we recite the Rosary of Our Lady of the
Seven Dolors-a devotion highly esteemed in Brazil.
After Mass comes the sermon, the subject of which for
seven consecutive days is one of the Seven Dolors of the
Blessed Virgin. The sermon is ordinarily followed by the
blessing of scapulars, medals and similar objects of devotion. Apropos of this I must give you a sample of native
simplicity. It is quite common to hear these good Christians assimilate the blessing of images and statues to a
baptism; they come often with charming na·ivete to say:
"my saint is still a pagan; won't you please baptise him?"
If by accident they break a statue so baptised they are in
consternation and with scrupulous care collect the fragments
to preserve them or bury them in the cemetery. But to
return to the exercises of the mission ; after mass we take
our frugal breakfast which it is necessary to despatch with
haste and often in the Sacristy. Until 1 or 2 o'clock in the
�Brazil.
afternoon we remain in the confessional, leaving it only
from time to time for the purpose of giving Holy C0mmun~
ion: After dinner, say about 3 o'clock, the children are
instructed for First Communion ; it is needless to remark
that a great number of them have long since reached the
required age. If you wish to win the favor of all your
pupils you must not fai~ to ·form them into a procession
headed by cross and bells; and the sound of their joyous
hymns as they pass through the streets awakens the silent
echos of the neighborhood. Catechism finished, we resume confessions which are continued till the evening
exercise. This begins with the Rosary, followed by hymns,
an instruction on the Sacrament of Penance, hymns again,
a meditation and finally Benediction of the most Blessed
Sacrament. The women then withdraw, but the men
remain for confession till midnight at which hour the missionaries retire to take a rest of 4 or 5 hours at most.
E\•ery day of the mission·is similar, and at its close without respite or repose they go to open another.
Since February we have given seven missions in succession, still under this hard regime the health is so far from
suffering that it seems daily to improve. ·This is an evident
proof of our Good Lord's protectiorr of the poor workmen
who labor for His glory, and is, be~i"des, a powerful encouragement to throw ourselves entirely on His paternal Providence.
So far I have only spok~n of the ordinary exercises of
the mission; a word now about our solemnities and first of
all that of the First Communion. This ceremony which is
so touching and makes such a salutary, not to say indelible
impression, is unhappily little known in Brazil; and it has
been our endeavor by every possible means to raise it in the
esteem of the people. By the help of God we have so £·u·
succeeded well enough, and more than once on seeing the
childreh with recollected mien enter the church, taper in
hand, the little girls wearing their white dresses and beauti-
�Brazil.
137
ful blue sashes on which is traced in golden letters the
monogram of :Mary, the happy missionary would almost
persuade himself that all was an illusion and that he was
in reality assisting at the imposing ceremonies of Europe.
The children ar ~ promptly on hand for the afternoon
procession; a sodality is at the head, after which come the
little ones with their banners and a considerable number of
oriflambs; there is vocal and instrumental music, nor are
the fireworks spared. After the procession the consecration to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph takes place. The
ceremonies conclude with a distribution of Fir~t Communion souvenirs which consist of beads, medals, statues and
pictures. The joyous transports of our dear little children
this moment are indescribable.
A second solemnity is called the penitential procession.
It generally takes place at night and all those engaged are
expected as far as possible to provide themselves with a
taper. The men come first, preceded by a statue representing our Lord falling under the weight of the cross, the
women next, having in advance a statue of our Lady of the
Seven Dolors. The procession stops not far from the
entrance of the Church, at the place designed for the erection of the mission cross. All the preparations have been
made beforehand, a raised pedestal awaits the cross which
lies at some distance. The Sermon begins and at the
words "Let the cross then be raised amongst us" it is elevated and fixed in the pedestal. Immediately the bells are
rung, the sky-rockets with a thousand detonations send
forth their luminous balls of flame into the darkness of the
night; the bystanders weep and send up to heaven their
shouts of joy, repeating without end "Glory to the cross."
At this moment a Father bearing the remonstrance accompanied by the Confraternity of the Most Blessed Sacrament
comes out of the Church and mounting the pedestal gives
benediction to the crowd who sing with transports "En vos
adoro a cada momento." Thus the ceremony is termi-
�Rra:::il.
nated, but before retiring to rest every one feels bound fo
come and kiss the cross.
\Ve have a commemoration of the dead which also
produces a good effect, at least if we can judge by the tears
that are shed.
\Ve try also to consecrate one day of the mission to the
Holy Guardian Angels, a Wednesday to St. Joseph, a
Friday, particularly the rst of the month, to the Sacred
.Heart, explaining and recommending these devotions which
are so well. calculated to preserve and insure the fruits of
the mission.
\Ve reach finally the last day; it is a solemn feast, devoted
to general Communion. All, even those who have communicated during the course of the exerci5es, are invited to
approach once again ''Our Father," and the Communion is
offered to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in atonement for the
outrages committed against Him especially in that parish.
The people are arranged in order in the Church, only
enough space being left for the Fathers who distribute Holy
Conlmunion to pass through the kneeling ranks. How beautiful and consoling it is to see so many persons, especially
men, approach the Holy Table, in a country where the
Sacrament of Love is almost entirely unknown ! This first
ceremony finishes with an act of reparation to the Sacred
Heart. At I I o'clock Solemn Mass takes place followed
by Papal benediction. A magnificent procession of religious
confraternities, at which all possible pomp and solemnity
are displayed, comes off in the afternoon. The Societies in
uniform with the banners of their patrons, next the children
dressed as on the day of their first Communion, precede the
Blessed Sacrament, which is carried along under a canopy
and followed by all the people. The procession returns
towards nightfall and is terminated with a solemn Te Deum
and Benediction.
There is yet ~nother very touching ceremony which is
usually postponed till the next day; it is called "Beija-mao
�Bra:::i!.
139
de Nossa Senhora" (the farewell to Our Lady). Upon an
altar, adorned with flowers and brilliantly lighted, is raised
the statue of our Lady of the Seven Dolors. A sermon
suitable to the occasion is followed by Benediction of the
Blessed Sacrament; after which the celebrant advances
towards the statue, incen,;es it and finishes by kissing its
hand. The whole congregation follows in turn, respectfully
kissing the hand of the statue, happy thus to offer their
homage to Mary and give her a last pledge of their love and
fidelity. :\lay this Go.od Mother ever keep fresh in their
hearts the remembrance of this ceremony and aid her children to remain faithful to their engagements.
Such are the details I can give you nf our Brazilian missions. I have done little more than narrate briefly the labors and method ofF r. Schembri for twenty years a missionary, whose disciple and unworthy colleague I have the happiness to be.
But to give some particular details:JiissiOI~ (!f Laguna-Laguna is a rich commercial town
of 10,000 inhabitants served by a single cure without an
assistant. The mission, for some reason, had not been announced beforehand, so that our arrival was not marked
with the usual welcome. Many greeted us from the doors
and windows, but none came to meet us. At last a gentleman came up and announced himself as the cure, for in
Brazil it is unhappily the established custom for priests to
dress as laymen. The cure conducted us to his house,
offering, with great civility, to quit it so as to leave it entirely at our disposition. To this we absolutely refused to
agree, so he established himself on a sofa in his dining room,
wishing us by all means to make use of his own apartment.
As to the mission, he said we might open it at once and
continue it for nine days; but, as will appear, a mission of
nine weeks would not have been too much for Laguna.
Before starting to work we resolved to study the nature of
the soil. The very next day happened to be Holy Thurs-
•
�140
Bra:::i!.
day, a most happy opportunity for our observations; because
in Brazil, all who are practical Catholics approach the Holy
Table on this day. But., can you guess how many attended
the services at Laguna that day? Just seven-two men
and five women. Holy Thursday and Good Friday. a
sullen silence reigns in the town and not a person is at
Church. \Vhat is to be done? \Ve must be content, said
Fr. Schembri, to catechise the children and prepare them
for first Communion. But this is Good Friday; would it
not be well_ to place the mission under the protection of
our Lady _of the Seven Dolors? How would it do to try
"Ia desolata:" the exercise in vogue in Italy on Good Friday
nigh~? \Ve set to work at once, assisting by word and
example in the preparation of Mount Calvary, arranging a
cross, and statue of the Blessed Virgin thereon. . It is soon
noised about the city that the missionaries intend to inaugurate a new exercise. Music had not been forgotten so
that the four little sermons were to be interspersed by some
stanzas of the Stabat Jlfatcr. Night comes at last and all
is ready; but, strange to say, not a person presents himsel(
A half hour of painful suspense slowly drags along when
all at once people, both men and women, pour into the
Church, which is soon filled. Fr. S!=hembri ascended the
pulpit and preached four sermons ·With his own touching
and persuasive eloquence .. For an hour and a half he was'
listened to attentively-the city was won and our Lady had
the victory.
The mission succeeded marvellously, and instead of nine
days it lasted eighteen; the accustomed celebrations and
processions were attended with much devotion. Picture to
yourself a people famishing for the truths of religion and
the Sacraments! The church, a very spacious one, was too
small, especially for the evening exercises. All came to
confession, workmen, employers, merchants, sailors ; young
and olq sometimes remained fasting till 2 o'clock in the
afternoon, in order to receive Holy Communion. Our
�Bra:::il.
confessionals were of the most simple description imaginable : a grating raised on the railing in the very centre of
the church and no curtains. One might imagine that the
grand ladies of the upper class with their black silk dresses
would not approach ; but they all came, nevertheless, just
as the others. The catechism is explained every morning
to the boys and in the evening to the girls. At the same
time with these, the College of Marines proceed to the
church, making themselves remarkable by their piety and
admirable bearing. The first Communion was splendid
and touching, likewise the penitential procession. For the
latter solemnity the Marines carried the cross, which, by a
peculiar movement, they elevated in the air with incredible
swiftness. The day of the religious Societies' procession,
though a Monday, was observed as a holiday by the whole
city. It was marked by a magnific~nt general Communion
of men, interruption of business, closing of warehouses and
general abandonment of all the vessels at port. The image
of our Lady of the Seven Dolors had put off its mourning
to appear vested in all the splendor of an embroidered
Yelvet mantle, valued at about I 500 francs, exclusive of the
diamoJlds which adorned it. Mary had opened and specially
protected the mission; it was but just that she herself
should terminate it amidst the grateful honors due to Her.
finish with some news about Brazil ; our colleges of
Pernambuco, ltu and St. Leopold (German) are in a prosperous condition, especially that of Itu.
The Brazilian Bishops are much harassed and attacked,
more especially by the free-masons, who are recognized
here as a public institution: they make no attempt to conceal their temples and lodges, and their emblematic devices.
are exposed in open day. Still the Episcopacy is united
and defends itself with energy.-Laval Letters.
�CHINAMEN IN AMERICA.-FRO~I A LETTER
OF FATHER WENINGER.
The "Coolies" have not the faintest conception of what
is essentially called religion. They are absolutely ignorant
of God, the true Creator and sovereign Ruler of the universe. Instead of this, they acknowledge with a kind of
superstitious, diabolical worship, certain spirits or genii,
whom they suppose to preside over the elements of nature,
such as fire, water, earth and air- and over the several
departments of social -life, such as commerce, war &c ..
They believe these spirits to be of a malignant nature, and
try to propitiate them by a string of unmeaning prayers and
foolish sacrifices.
¥et the New-York papers had spoken, in boastful terms
of the grand and imposing religious ceremonial of these
same Chinamen, and of their gorgeous temples, whose walls
were reported to be incrusted with gold. There, it was said,
the rich and the poor were on an ~qual footing and might
worship unmolested, t~the reproach· and confusion of some
Christian churches, in which an invidious distinction is too
often made.
My curiosity to see these magnificent Pagodas ran high.
"To make assurance doubly sure," I asked our friend, the
Catechist, to lead me to the very finest in San Francisco;
and he agreed to do so. But oh ! what a disappointment!
We entered a narrow, murky street; and there, fronting on
that street, stood the grandest Chinese temple- a small
shabby-looking three story brick building, with but one
room· to each story, and painted on the outside only by the
soot ~nd smoke. After crossing the threshold of the lowest
l
�(./u'namm in America.
143
floor, we found ourselves in a shrine sacred to the memory
of departed relatives. It was a dismal, dingy cell, so dark
that the eye could not discern anything lying on the floor.
The air was charged with the stench of burning little oil
lamps, and of lavender sticks which they fancy to be par·
ticularly wholesome and grateful to the departed. Not
being able to see in the dark, and not attempting it either,
because I had not apprehended the need of it, I suddenly
found myself, to my great surprise and to the still greater
surprise of my victim, stepping on something rather softer
than the common floor. It was a poor Chinese worshipper
who had fallen asleep through devotion.
\Ve now proceeded to the next story. If the first
apartment was suitable for a sleepy worshipper, the second
was no less so for a /mug1:y one. A number of Chinamen
were seated on the flo-or and addressed themselves with great
gusto to their favorite rice. It was forsooth with the inten·
tion of honoring some spirit, that they swallowed it with so
much greed!
We ascended at last to the third story, which was the
temple properly so called. Here then I expected to see
those walls, covered -as the New York papers would have
it- with heavily gilt arabesques. \Vhat a delusion! They
were only plastered over with common gold-paper. The
altar, too, showed no very great signs of architectural skill;
to be plain, it was simply a sort of decorated tent not unlike
a wood-shed, with a table in it. On the table stood three
horribly-painted idols with red £.'lees and immensely long
blac~ beards. They looked for all the world like three
drunken sailors. Before them were a number of little oil
lamps, which- as I learned to my great mortificationare kept burning before the devil, whilst in but too many
churches it is found impossible to keep alive the flame of
a single lamp before the Holy of Holies.
Close to these lamps were urns with different kinds of
sortilegcs or divining lots, used for the purpose of finding
�C!tiuamot iu Amcrzi:a.
out the future through the ~1edium of the spirits. The
Chinese also offer various sacrifices for the same end, and
for the purpose of reconciling the offended spirits or of obtaining their special favors. One of these sacrifices is. at
the very best, a little singular. They write the sum of
money which they intend to offer to the spirit, upon a piece
of gold-paper, which they burn before the idol, in the belief
that, as the curling smoke ascends on high, the spirit will
become possessed of the promised amount. l\'Iethought
our Procurators would not be overmuch pleased, if a person offering them assistance for Colleges and Churches,
should content himself with jotting down enormous figures
upon paper and then burn the note as incense in their
presence.
The "Coolies" also make offerings of roasted pigs, but they
return after a while to see whether the idol has eaten them
or not. If any body has seen fit to appropriate them during
their absence-and this is no difficult matter, because often
the Pagoda is not visited the whole day long-they never
claim them again. But if the offering remains untouched,
they take it home and feast on it with their families.
They do not divide the month into weeks as other nations
do. Instead of Sunday, they observe the first and fifteen tit
of the lunar month; and unless they have some special
reasons, they visit the temple only on these two days.
Even then they do not stay in the Pagoda to pray, but turn
it into a place of religious rendez-vous. '
In their social intercourse with the whites, the Chinese
act like civilized people. Their gait is more steady and
polished than that of the lower classes among other nations.
They scarcely move their arms while walking, and dress
very neatly. But at home they live buried in filth, and
besides being given to other disgusting practices, they feed
upon rats. By the bye, some of those who have been in
the country for a while, are beginning to adopt the American costume. They ~lso tie up their sacred "pig-tail" or
�C!tinamcn in America.
145
cue of braided hair, because John Chinaman soon learned
to his cost that when allowed to float it was not secure
against profanation. It too often happened that knavish
boys and grown-up roughs clipped it as he walked unsus~
pectingly through the streets. The appearance of all is so
very similar, that they seem to have been cast in the same
mould. The features of different individuals are even less
distinctive than among the blacks; and, what is worse than
all, very few have beards and look so much like females,
that they cannot be distinguished from them except by the
size; for the women are of exceedingly diminutive stature,
and owing to the absurd practice-not without its counterpart among civilized nations-of keeping their feet, from
childhood up, in iron shoes in order to prevent them from
growing, they walk with great difficulty; in fact, they can
do little more than hobble along.
It is very remarkable, how cordially the Indians of the
Pacific Coast ha1 e the Chinese. The red man looks to the
"pale-faces" from Europe as to his masters and the favored
children of "the great spirit." The Chinese, on the contrary,
he regards as his rivals, or rather as leeches clinging to the
American soil and sucking the fat of the country in order
to carry it off with them to Asia. Hence the "Coolies" are
greatly afraid to meet an Indian in a solitary place-and
not without reason ; for the Indian would not be likely to
show them much mercy, but would dispatch them without
ceremony to the "spirit-land".
·when the Chinese have made as much money as they
wish, they usually return to their own country, carrying
with them the remains of their deceased kinsmen. The
ships crossing the Pacific from San Francisco to China are.
often laden with human skeletons. This devotion to their
dead is a sign that they have at least a faint idea of a future
life, and that a vestige of the primitive revelation concerning the resurrection is still preserved among them. Poor
people! It is a pity, that so little is done to gain them over
�I46
Jlfissions in Pmnsy!z,mua and Delaware.
to our holy £<ith. Missionaries are sent to China, at enor~
mous expenses at the risk of precious lives ; and yet but
very feeble efforts-if indeed they can be called efforts at
all-are made to enlighten them whilst they are in our
midst and surrounded by professed christians. One single
room, which serves both for saying Mass and for instructing some children, is all that can be spared for them on the
whole Pacific Coast of America. And meanwhile the
fumes of ·the oil-lamps and smoke of lavender go on
ascending in adoration of hideous idols, and prayer temples
make mock.. of the Christian churches hard by.· Yet, who
will say what incalculable good might be done to this
heathen population, which we are encouraging to come to
our shores.
·-·
.
----------~
MISSIONS IN NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA,
AND IN WILMINGTON, DEL.
FREDERICK, NovE~IBER
7th, 1872.
REV. AND DEAR FR. PROVINCIAL :
The four missions in Susquehanna Co., Pa. gave the
highest satisfaction to the people, the resident priests and
myself. In the first two, many persons made their appearance, who were not known to be Catholics even to their
. nearest neighbours. Scores of them, though from 20 to
40 years of age, made their first confession.
In the first mission, the priest was completely deceived
in his calculation. "If all come," he said to me, "you will
have from 700 to 8oo." At the close of the mission about
1100 had received Holy Communion. Here we had also 74
I
�JHssions in Pmnsyh,ania a1td Delaware.
147
children for first Communion ; not however during the
mission, but 12 days later after the close of the second
exercises; as nearly one half of them had to learn a part
of the catechism. On the day fixed, all were at hand. I
myself examined every one of them and their concise
answers were the best proof that parents had taken the
matter in hand and showed great interest. It was a glorious day for Friendsville, the solemn administration of
first Communion never having been witnessed in this Church;
for Catholics are scattered over a radius of 12 miles. and
children are not easily brought together. Here also about
500 persons were invested with the scapular of Mount
Carmel. These country miss1ons are, in my judgment,
preferable to those in cities, chiefly if the weather is favorable. Nearly all are present about 8 o'clock in the morning and they are under the missionary's eyes till 6, P. M.,
whilst in cities the attendance during the day amounts to a
few pious females. The impression made is also generally
deeper and the fruit of the mission more lasting. At the
close of our second little mission the people were exhorted
to secure the services of a resident priest, by contributing
towards the erection of a house for his dwelling, and in
less than an hour over $2000 were obtained. Here many
persons walked a distance of 16 miles to attend the exercises, and we made a clean sweep of the district.
The third and fourth missions were equally successful.
\Ve heard about 28oo confessions, of which number at
least 1500 were of persons who had been absent from the
Sacrament of Penance for long periods.
From Susquehanna Co. we started for vVilmington, Del.
Strange to say, three missions opened here on the same
day. The Paulists commenced at the Cathedral, the Redemptorists at St. Mary's, the church of the V. General,
and we at St. James'. On my arrival, I paid my respects
to Bp. Becker, who receiveq me with extraordinary kind-
�148
111issioJZs ill Pcmzsyhmnia alld Delaware.
ness; and on the day of our departure, his kindness was,
if possible, even on the increase. The mission itself was as
much of a success as those in Northern Pennsylvania, perhaps even more so. Here we had all with three or four
exceptions. Though the whole congregation does not
amount to 500 members, all of the poorer class who work
in the factories, still every morning at 5 o'clock we had over
200 at first Mass and instruction, and about roo more at 8
o'clock; but in the evening at 7, every body was present and
the Church was crowded during the entire week. On Sunday afternoop the congregation was consecrated to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus. F. Denny preached on the love of
God, and the whole congregation was in tears. \Vhether
the three missions at one time were by chance or were
premeditated, I know not, but the arrangement was the
work of Providence. If ours had been the only one. we
would not have effected the good which resulted from our
labors. The confessionals would have been crowded all
day long with devout females, and no chance would have
offered itself to the men. · As it was, we devoted all o.ur
time to those for whom the mission was intended. From
the number of confessions heard, it was evident that we
had some from other parishes, as the}:·amounted to nearly
6oo.
..
I shall give more particulars when your Reverence will
be with us next week.
Your devoted servant in Christ.
J. B. Emig, S. J.
I
�NEW CATHOLIC STATIONS IN KANSAS.
FROM TWO LETTERS OF FR. PON ZIGLIONE ..
OsAGE
l\Ixsswx, NEosHo Co.,
KANSAS,
}ULY 1St, 1872.
On the last day of the past year, I started on a sick call to
. Independence, in Montgomery County. It was bitter cold.
The prairie was covered with snow, and a strong Northeaster \\·as blowing its best. I had never been to the place ;
and to the inconvenience of the having to travel a rough
and unknown road for more than fifty mile:;, was added
that of a darkness almost extreme. However, by divine
mercy, and despite the darkness and the long. rough way,
I reached u"1y journey's end without any very great trouble,
and at 8 o'clock, P. l\1. found myself at Independence.
The one who had sent for me was a poor young man
who, while working in a coal mine, was buried alive by the
caving in of the embankment. Fortunately for him, a large
rock in falling lodged just above him, thus saving him from
being crushed to death : and assistance coming in time, he
was found alive, though so bruised that from his waist to
his feet his bcidy was beyond all feeling of pain. Imagine
how happy the ·poor sufferer was at seeing me with the consolations of religion which I brought! Next morning I said
Mass in his room, gave him the Holy Viaticum, and administered Extreme Unction. These last sacraments filled his
heart with consolation. "Oh !" he exclaimed, "truly the
Mother of God has obtained this grace for me!" This
poor fellow had been well educated in his young days, and
though for a time he went astray, as foolish boys will do, yet
the good principles which he had imbibed in his youth were
�1 50
.New Cat!w!ii: Statious in Kausas.
not without their influence, and, corresponding to God's
grace, he sincerely repented. He has since passed away,
and we hope, to a better life.
Having called upon the Catholics of Elk City and New
Boston, I paid my first visit to Cedar Vale, a little town in
the southwest corner of Howard Co. Some few Catholic
families have settled here, but as most of them were absent
when I called, I hastened on to another ne\v Catholic
settlement, only ten miles distant and situate in the southeast corner_ of the adjoining county of Cowley. As this little
settlement owes its origin to a lot of lively Limerick lads,
no one will wonder that it rejoices in the name of Garryowen.
I met with much welcome and determined to give these
good people an opportunity of complying with their Christian duties. On hearing this, word was immediately sent
inviting all in the neighborhood to attend l\Iass on the
following day-the Feast of the Epiphany. The eve of
this Feast was a stormy one 'indeed. A high wind had set
in upon us, which grew keener every moment,· until night
came on and brought with it a heavy fall of snow. There
\vas no question of remaining out of doors, and yet the
question was how to get in doors. \Ve had to huddle
together in an underground excavation used as a cellar,
which had, it is true, the framework··of a house above it,
but unfortunately the so-called room had no ceiling, and
the windows had not even sashes, much less panes. It was
perfectly fearful. The wind and snow poured in upon us
most generously, and in fact, we might just as well have been
out in the open air, for we had no fireplace, and the whole
of our comfort consisted in a little cooking stove I 8 inches
by 6, and a few pieces of bark to burn. There was no
thought of passing the night with the neighbors, for the
house which we were in was considered the best in the whole
settlement; and w~ could not go to the woods, for we were
on a nigh prairie and four miles from timber land. God
only knows how much we suffered! But He mercifully
4
�New Catlzo!ic Stations in Kansas.
I
5I
spared us; for, humanly speaking, all chances were against
us, and we seemed to be doomed to freeze to death. Of
course the night seemed ever so long; and though the
morning- came at last, it did not drive the storm away.
The few who attended l\lass did so at the risk of their life,
but the fire of holy love which glowed in their hearts
burned all the brighter, and more than counteracted the
killing ·cold from without. I was surprised at the fervor
with which they approached Holy Communion. Though
the altar was erected clo~e by the side of our little stove
which was kept aglow during the time of Mass; yet I had
to warm the Chalice several times in order that I might be
able to consume the sacred species. It was only towards
night that the storm subsided. \Ve went through this
second night, thank God, without much suffering.
The following day was Sunday. Afler Mass I started
for \Vinfield, a little town just building on a beautiful prairi<~ which lies along the left bank of the \Valnut River,
twelve miles above its confluence with the Arkansas. It is
surrounded by fertile farming lands, and is at present the
County Seat of Cowley. The Catholics here are few in
number, but the·y seem to be of very good will, and almost
all approached Holy Communion with much devotion.
From the 9th of this month, the day on which I first celebrated Mass here, will date th~ foundation of a missionary
Stat.ion at this place.
As soon as Mass was over I left \Vinficld for Douglas,
which lies on the same bank of the \Valnut, some fifteen
miles northward. Long before sun-down I arrived at the
house of a Catholic family about four miles south-east
of the last named town, and having baptized the mother's darling in presence of quite a number of Protestants,
who were anxious to see the novel spectacle, I retired to
rest only to be awakened at midnight, myself to see a
spectacle far more novel to me.
�152
1Vcw Cat!to!ic Statio11s iu Kallsas.
About I I o'clock the sound of rolling wheels was heard,
and in a few moments up drove three wagons filled with
young men and women shouting and yelling and cursing
at the top of their voices. Immediately we arose, and
immediately, too, they swarmed into the house. \Vhat a
sight! Doubtless you wonder who they are. \Vel!, they
are a set of ruffians who call themselves a dancing club,
and they are gathering together parties for a big dance
which is going on at a house some distance off. \Vithout
the least ceremony the leader of the motley band gives his
orders, and" as a refusal to comply with them would most
likely lead to a difficulty, all hasten to do his bidding. I,
being a stranger, am fortunately excused, and in a quarter
of an hour I am alone with a· little boy, keeping house for
them while they dance. Just think of it! Though this
bacchanalian club was some distance away, yet in the stillness of the night I could hear their stamping and yelling
and furious hooting. In their excitement they were singing: " Let us eat, drink and be merry, for to-morrow we
die!"~
\Vhile I was at this house I learned with sorrow that,
since my last visit, a young man, l\Iichae! N., had been
cruelly killed by a mob, or self-style~_.Vigilance Committee.
:\iichael and nine others were taken ·and without a trial
hanged to a tree on mere suspicion. The poor fellow
protested, assuring them that he was innocent, but it \vas
of no avail. Finally, seeing, that all hope was gone he
begged them to let him send me word in order that I might
come to assist him in his last hour, but meeting with only
laughter and mockery, he threw himself on his· knees at
the foot of the tree from which he was to be hanged, and
in a loud voice recited all his prayers. \Vhen he had finished he stood up, and calling on a lady that was present
(the same one in whose house I passed the night) he
besought her to let his mother and myself know that he
was innocent, that he was killed without having given any
�Ni·w Cat!to/ic Stations in Kansas.
15 3
offence whatsoever. Then turning to the executioner he
said: "I am ready, do with me what you please." In a few
moments he was a corpse. Cases of this kind are of frequent occurrence in these remote parts where municipalities are only forming, where nothing, as yet, is well organized, and where the people, on the whole, pay very little
regard to law and authority.
From Douglas I started for Augusta, a little town situated at the meeting of the \Vhite \Vaters and the \Valnut.
The country around is rich and well settled, and the U. S.
Land Office which is established there draws to it the
commerce of several of the adjoining counties. I passed
the night on Turkey Creek, where I celebrated Mass the
next morning, and then left for Eldorado, the county seat
of Butler. On the following day, the 12th of Jan., I offered
the Holy Sacrifice for the first time in this town, after which
I started on. my way homeward, taking a course due east
through the counties of Greenwood, \Voodson, Allen, and
Neosho. I arrived at the Mission on the 18th.
In the beginning of Feb., I again set out on my \Vestern
tour, and began by calling to Mass the Catholics of St.
Francis Regis in Wilson Co. It was a beautiful Sunday
morning, in <:onsequence of which we had quite a large
attendance; but I could not remain long with them, for I
had to visit Fredonia to baptize some little children, and to
give the adults an opportunity of complying with their
duties; and besides, the new Catholic settlements of Neodisha and Thyre, as well ·as those of Chitopa and Dry
Creek, stood in need of my services for the same purpose.
I visited them all. During the night which I spent in Fredonia, the little town was almost destroyed by fire. The
business part of it was entirely consumed, but fortunately
the house in which we 'were to have Mass was not in the
business part, so despite the fire, the Holy Sacrifice was
celebrated at the appointed time. On the 12th of Feb. I
returned to the Mission.
�I
54
N£<u Catholic Stations iu Kansas.
From February till April we were busy enough at home.
The spring season was very sickly here, consequently we
were kept going on sick calls nearly all the time ; and as
our good people are scattered far and wide around us it is
no small matter to attend them. You may judge of the
truth of this from the fact that I had, this Spring, a call to
a bed-side one l~undred and thirty miles away on the Canadian River. I was fortunate in finding the patient alive, for
generally in calls of this kind we come too late. How
can it be heJped!
Our RighfRev. Bishop Coadjutor having again entrusted
Marion and Sedgwick Counties to our care, I left the Mission on the 9th of April to visit them, and following the
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad I arrived at
Newton, one hundred and eighty five miles west of Atchison. Newton may be called the "City of the Desert." It
is situated on an extensive sandy prairie six miles from any
woodland whatever, and anything like fuel must come from
a distance of more than one hundred miles. \Vater is not
always to be had, for· in some seasons the whole country is
perfectly dry, and the only way to obviate the inconvenience
is by digging cisterns of immense capacity. However,
despite all this, the town is daily inc~~asing, and business
is very brisk; for a line of railway from this place to Ouichita, at the confluence of the Little and Great Arkansas
brings in a great deal of trade. Many Catholics are settling in this neighborhood, and I hope, ere long, to establish
here a good missionary Station:•
After visiting a German Settlement in Montgomery Co.,
where I celebrated Mass and baptized some children, I went
down to Parker, in the same County. The citizens of this
place have built a nice frame church, 30 by 50, with money
collected almost exclusively from Protestants, almost all of
whom are very favorable to Catholics. This good disposition on their part is quite common, for experience has
taught them that wherever Catholics settle and build a
�1V<w Cat/wlic Statio1ts in Kansas.
ISS
church, no matter how poor a shanty it may be, business
will flourish. On the Sth, of May I dedicated this little
church to the most Holy Name of Jesus, and on the following day returned home in order to give Father Colleton a
chance to visit his missions on the railroad.
DEc. 31st, 1872.
I passed the warmest day"s of last summer, \Vest of the
g6th meridian, about ISO miles distant from this mission.
That country is no longer a desert; for except in some
localities, you everywhere meet with the industrious and
patient settler trying to make himself a home.
I visited different station,; on the Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe R. Road, seeing to the building of two small
churches-one in Marion Centre, Marion Co., the other in
Ouichita, Sedgwick Co. I also established two missionary Station:>-::me in Sedgwick City, the other in Hutchinson, Reno Co.
The settlers everywhere received me
kindly, and I found them all eager to attend to their
Christian duties. Generally speaking, these people are
pious and well disposed. Many are very poor, and most
of them live in shanties or barracks, while some, unable to
find either planks or logs, dig for themselves habitations in
the ground, and cover them over with sods.
A child of an Arapahoe half-breed woman was dying this summer in Ouichita. The mother, a
most devout Catholic, was perfectly resigned to make a
sacrifice of her little b9y, yet she was very much distressed because he had for many hours been in a state of
unconsciousness, and seemed to be doomed to die without
giving her the look of love and the smile of tenderness
for which her maternal heart longed. Full of faith, however, she prayed for awhile, then, taking some holy water,
she sprinkled it upon the child's face, whereupon the little
fellow opened his eyes, and recognizing his mother, caressed her for the last time. This little circumstance was
�Nc<i/ Catlto!ic Stations in Kansas.
noticed by some Protestants who were present and it made
them acknowledge that the prayers of Catholics avail much.
Such facts as this are consoling, and give courage to the
l\Iissionary. But this is only one side of the picture, and
as every picture has its shades, so ours have theirs, and
very dark ones too. Though some of our Catholics are
very fervent, still, others are deplorably negligent; and. the
spirit of indifferentism, so widely spread over this country,
is heart-rending. Unfortunately, morality is frequently a
desideratum in, many of our new towns, and no wonder, for
the full meas~re of iniquity seems to pour in upon us from
the oldest and most substantial cities of this great continent.
To gi,·e you an idea of this, I shall simply state what I was
told while in Newton last summer, that of the thirty-six
persons buried in that place, only one had died a natural
death. Such is the field which we are working.
On the 8th of Sept., I said Mass for the first
time in the beautiful little town of Augusta, in Butler Co.
As it was a novelty for them, there was a good attendance
both of Catholics and Protestants. I placed this station
under the patronage of the Immaculate Virgin '''hose
Nativity we that day celebrated, and then started for
Howard City, passing through Douglas, \Vinfield and New
Boston. I stopped for a short time ar-"the source of Silver
Creek in order to give some Catholic families an opportunity of approaching the sacraments. After promising the
Catholics of Howard City, some of whom were strangers
to me, that I would return as soon as practicable, I started
. on the 17th of Sept. for home.
I soon left again for the far \Vest. On this
occasion I visited the Counties of Montgomery, Howard,
Cowley, Sedgwick, Butler, and Greenwood, and as the
people had been notified beforehand, I found them all ready
to come to their duties.
�A VISIT TO THE KOOTENAIS. EXTRACTS FROM
A LETTER OF FR. U. GRASSI TO FR. VALENTE.
Co., \VAsH. TER.
DEc. 14th, 1872.
Towards the end of October
a clerk of the Hudson Bay Company told me he was going
to the Middle Kootenais. I offered to keep him company;
he gladly accepted, and we started without further ado.
On arriving at Michel's Camp I found but a few lodges,
for I had visited them in August, and they were not expecting from me a second visit that year. I remained with
them three days, then the clerk was ready to return. The
morning of the fourth day I gathered them for prayer and
told them how much I yearned to see the other farther
tribe, that had I found amongst: them, last August, more
readiness in furnishing me with what help I needed, I would
have gone over to them ; but as it was I had to put it off, ,
and mean time who would ans\ver for those of them that
would die without baptism. I said that I was ready to play
the part of the good Samaritan with them, but I could not.
I spoke at some length in this strain; they listened to me
with astonishment and confusion; there was a dead silence
the whole time. Having said the conclusion prayer, I was
going to leave the lodge, when one took me by the hem of
my cassock saying in a low voice: ''please wait a while."
I sat down and he began : "We never thought we had
been in your way hindering you from going to visit the
other tribe and now we are ready to make up for it if we
did hinder you last August." "But now," I answered, "it is
too late in the season." Half a foot of snow had fallen the
AlTANAM, }AKIMA
�A visit to t!te Kootmms.
previous night for the first time. "Don't fear this snow,''
interposed a second, "it will go away again." "I will give
you a horse," said a third, "and as to provisions, there will
be no difficulty." I saw that they were in earnest, and
their earnestness almost troubled me, for I did not kriow
how far I would have to go, how long it would take me, and
consequently I was calculating my chances of getting back
before winter.;_chances, which appeared to me rather slim.
I made a last objection, "Butnow" I said, "they do not
know I am cbming to them, consequently I will not find
them, for they are scattered for their winter hunt." ·'If you
hurry up," answered the first speaker, "you may find them
gathered together, for they wait for the Hudson Bay Company train which passes by them previous to their scattering
for the winter hunt." I thought to myself: there is no
evading the trip: so I mustered up courage and told them
that I was ready for the journey. I left the lodge to tell
the clerk of the Bay Company that I would have to go further. ~ He remonstrated against it as an imprudence, but my
mir..d was made up, and I returned to my Indians. I found
not one but two A::arias ready for a long march : a goodly
package of provisions was behind the saddle of each horse
for my Indian guides :·and my own s~ddle ;.vas already girded on a splendid roadster. I mounted· with an ardent heart
h.nd started.
On the third day I met the Hudson Bay train; and the
apprehension of not finding the Indians (for we had still to
travel a day and a h.alf), somewhat troubled me. \Ve
hastened on, and arrived. Froin the summit of the hill we
saw the place where the Indians had been, but they were
no more. One 'Single family remained, and they were about
to start ; the children already on horseback, and man and
wife finishing what little more packing up there was to be
done. . Oh, how glad I was to have arrived just in time!
My Indians hallooed, and one ran ahead to stop them.
When I arrived they had already unpacked and put up a
\
�A Visit to t!tc Kootmais.
159
lodge, where I entered. Directly the man went in search
of his hunting companions. \Ve had reached the place in
the afternoon, and by evening some twelve lodges had come
back; in the night they kept arriving, and I awoke in the
morning to see the whole camp gathered together, with the
exception of one lodge that had started first, and which
now could not be found. Dear Father, what a joy I felt
that morning on seeing the overflow of joy depicted on the
f.<ces of those poor Indians !
The children up to the age of 20 years had never seen a
Black-gown. Rev. Fr. De Smet had gone that way more
than 20 years previous to my visit, but they told me that
since that time no Black-gown l~ad ever visited their settlement. I fancied I should have to show them how to make
the sign of the cross when lwould see them first; but I
was mistaken. \Vhen I said the prayers they followed me
in such a manner that I could well understand that their
tongue was by no means inexperienced in. those words.
They knew besides the principal points of our holy faith, so
that after three days I had the happiness of baptizing about
26o adults, and blessing 40 marriages. But my stay was to
be short, and though they earnestly entreated me to remain
a little longer, I could not. After pointing out a place
where they should build a chapel, and promising that if
God spared me I would visit them next year, I started.
I kept my word, and next year I went to visit them.
They had built the chapel-a nice log chapel-where we
could more conveniently go through our religious exercises.
On my return all Michel's camp had rallied, and they were
anxiously waiting for me in order that they might approach
the sacraments. I heard confessions in the chapel. After
all had come, I saw a man approaching with slow and
feeble steps. He had four or five days before fired on a
bear and only wounded him. Being unable to escape, he
abandoned himself a despondent prey to the brute. His face
was all disfigured-his nose and cheeks completely eaten
�I6o
A Visit to tltc Kootmais.
away and his scalp so torn from his skull as to leave great
gashes. His body, too, had been stripped of much of its
flesh, and he was left all bloody and mangled. \Vhen other
Indians came up to him, they thought he was dead ; but on
seeing their mistake, they carried him to his lodge and
bandaged him all over: four or five days after, having heard
of my return, he had himself dragged to the camp, and
after a short rest came in for confession.
On the same occasion, I witnessed another instance of
the astonishing toug!tness of Indian flesh. It was of a
young man ·who on the Buffalo hunt had been surprised by
the Black-feet, scalped and left for dead. After some time
he got up and managed to go towards his people, who wer~
camped not f<~.r away: within a few days he got entirely
well. Instead of a scalp, he put on his head a piece of
white cotton cloth, and so he goes fishing and hunting as
well as ever. But it is not the toughness of the flesh, which
they have in common with all other Indians, that astonished
me in these. What struck me most i<> their virtuous feature.
Ofteil I had not in adults matter for absolution. And if
their morality endears them to God and his missionaries,
the whites too have good reason to praise them highly, for
their honesty has become prover\;iial. \Vhen I arrived
amongst them the first time, I f~und an Indian in the
Hudson Bay store, in the absence of the clerk, and on my
showing surprise at it afterwards, the clerk answered me
that they are perfectly trusty. Americans told me that
they left here and there handkerchiefs, pieces of tobacco, a
pocket-knife, or such other trifle to have an experimental
knowlege of their honesty, and never had anything been
missed. Once three youths found a purse of gold dust at
a place where Americans had camped the previous night,
and brought it to Michel, the Chief, who immediately sent
them after the Americans. On overtaking them, after
proper questioning they instantly handed the purse to its
owner, and on the Americans wishing to compensate them,
�Clzina-Nmzkin J1fission.
161
they declined to accept anything, for Michel had enjoined
them to receive no reward.
Many whites may find in them, you see, instances of
virtue worthy of imitation.
After a week's residence among them, I started, promising
that either myself or another missionary would henceforward
visit them yearly.
Yours truly,
U. Grassi, S. J.
--~-~--------
CHINA-NANKIN MISSION.
FR. PFISTER TO FR. VALENTE.
CHANG-HAl, JUNE AND SEPT., 1872.
I have completed a catalogue of all of "Our's" wh9 have
come to China from the time of St. Francis Xavier until
the Suppression, giving, besides the name, a short notice of
each one, or a list of works which he has written. I am
also working on a set of geographical charts of the Province
of Kiang- Nan; there will be twenty-six of them, one for
each prefecture.
At present we are left undisturbed here in China. This
does not exempt us from local difficulties and vexations,
which, hqwever, do not retard our work, so that, thanks be
to God, we are making progress. Our works are beginning
to assume an appearance of solidity. The Carmelite
Convent is established on a firm footing. The first Chinese
postulants have been received into the novitiate-all, however, for the white veil, as the nuns deem it proper to make
some delay before receiving postulants for the choir. The
"Religieuses Auxiliatrices" are succeeding admirably in
..
r
�Cltina-Naukin llfission.
forming young females, called here "good virgins," for
teaching schools, administering baptism, and giving instructions to females, etc. The progress on all sides is evident, our
schools are becoming more deyeloped-our old Christians
are better instructed and hence practise their religious duties
more exactly.
The liberty that we enjoy has encouraged us to build a
number of new churches, and to restore several that were
built by Fathers of the old Society. On the summit of a
little hill, some seven or eight leagues from this place, we
have finisl1~d a spacious and beautiful church which is
dedicated to "Our Lady of Good Help," in order to thank
our dear l\Io~her for her unceasing protection over us. It
is already quite a pilgrimage, and the numerous miraculous
cures and other favors obtained seem to indicate that our
Lady is pleased with the homage paid to her in this new
shrine. \Ve have good hopes that it will become much
frequented, and bring down from heaven abundant benedictions on this arid and thorny waste of paganism.
\Ve have 6pened a school for the daughters of Europeans
residing in Chang-Hai; and Father De Prevoisin never
allows a month to pass by without leading back, at least
one of the Protestant pupils to the. good old faith of ber
ancestors.
··
So much for Chang-Hai and its environs. I say nothing
of the Scholasticate except that it has been removed to
Zi-ka-wei on account of a severe sickness which had broken
out among the scholastics at Tong-ka-tou.
At some distance from us Fathers Pouplard and Royer
are laboring in the midst of consolations. The former has
baptized during the present year no fewer than 6oo adults
and 2000 children-all pagans. Yet there are many difficulties with which they have to struggle. They are in a
district where catechumens are numerous, but where, at
the same time quarrels are very frequent. There is a petty
war continually going on, now for one reason, and now for
�Cltina-1Vankin
~lfission.
another. Father Pouplard has a special gift for treating
such cases, and obtaining justice for the wronged party;
his stately carriage, his large expressive eyes, his long beard,
his ready and ardent speech contribute not a little, after the
grace of God, to his success. Father Royer is the very
man for the catechumens; he is everywhere establishing
new institutions, and yet he is continually bewailing his
poverty. If you have five thousand dollars to give him he
can find immediate use for them in fifteen or twenty new
centres which are in want of everything.
In Nankin, Fr. Couvreur is engaged in opening a preparatory seminary (inchoatum). Father Colombe! is charged
with the meteorologic and magnetic observations, at which
he has relieved me. Father Heude continues attached to
the famous and flourishing Academy of the natural sciences
in Kiang-nan. Father Ravary, abandoning himself to his
zeal, travels backward and forward through the whole of
Ning-koue-fou, where a remarkable movement towards the
Catholic religion has been going on during the last eight
months. Father Ravary conjectures that there are between
5o.ooo and So.ooo persons engaged in this movement. vVe
have received deputations composed respectively of 10, 20,
50 and 70 heads of families, who came to invite our Fathers
to reside among them, and one of these deputations, which
assembled at Sia-Hen (the centre of one section), on the
last fea~t of the Assumption, numbered no fewer than 400
or 500 persons. In return for the Fathers they offer land for
the building of churches and schools. Notwithstanding
this favorable aspect of things there is· some room for disquiet. We know by experience that in China such movements are always actuated by motives of policy or even
by other motives still less admissible ; so that we find it
necessary to take the most minute precautions and to act
with the strictest reserve lest we ourselves or our holy
religion should be in any way compromised. The number
of catechumens in Father Ravary's district at present is
�C!tina-Na11kin Jlfission.
very great. In the month of June they numbered 3500; today it would be impossible to enumerate them. The
majority of them are steadfast and determined, and have
fewer difficulties to overcome than they would have to
encounter elsewhere; for there the "Men of Letters" throw
no obstacles in the way, as indeed there are none left to do
so. The population is composed of immigrants from other
provinces, brought thither by the Mandarins to repeople
the land formerly devastated by the rebels. The destruction
caused by them is almost incredible; there are entire villages
in which ~there is not a single house standing, not a single
inhabitant surviving. All the pagodas, and with them of
course the bonzes, have disappeared; thus freeing us from
another source of opposition ; and besides, though the land
is extremely fertile, the people are very poor as yet, which
fact makes their conversion all the more easy.
·At Ngan-kin, Father Seckinger has to fight his way step
by step. He is, however, well established there. He devotes himself especially to the suburbs. In his district,
religious movements have been going on likewise, but unfortunately they are actuated by the same human motives
as in Ning-koue-fou. Father Seckinger was forced to send
away one half of his catechumens.who had disgraced the
name of religion by the acts o( robbery, extortion and
plunder which they perpetrated against their pagan neighbors ; and his conduct in doing so has contributed not a
little towards repairing the honor of the Faith and· restoring the authority of the missionaries. At Kien-se, the
theatre of the persecution of two years ago, he has established several new centres of Christianity.
The new French Minister to Pekin has arrived. vVe
hope that the present revision of the treaties will bring
about some solid guarantee for the safety of strangers in
China, and will ensure freedom of religious profession.
China is at present hedged in by difficulties on every sid'e,
so that it must, in spite of itself, submit to European influ-
�De Statu Cailsarum StT'L 0ntm Dei, Soc. 7csu.
1
165
ence. "Et habitabit Japhet in tabernaculis Sem." It is
our duty to turn to our profit all possible means for the
salvation of souls; assist us I beseech you with ·your
prayers.
I remain your de\·oted brother in the SS. HH. of
Jesus and Mary,
A. Pfister, S. J.
DE STATU CAUSARUM SERYORI..Dl DEI, SOC. JESG.
1. Proxime nd Cnnonizntionemsnnt Can~ne B.ll. Petri Claver, .Joannis
llerclunans, et Alfonsi Rodriguez. Jam confecti sunt Proce~sus Apostolici super nov is mirnculi~ in Belgio, in Hispania et in America Septentrionnli. ldcoque statim nc probata fuerint eorumdem miraeuln, procedi
poterit ad Cnnonizntionem.
2. Ad Bentificntionem prne eeteris proximior e~t Causn Y. Rodulphi
Aquavi vue et nliorum quatuorl\Il\1.-Decst enim ur.a tan tum Congregatio,
qua declaretur, proecdi posse ad Bentificationem cum iis signis, seu
mirnculis, quae proposita sunt.
a. Post hnne venit immediate Causa V. Bernr.rdini Healini.-Desunt
tantnm dune Congregationes pro approbatione mirnculomm.
4. Circa virtutes in grmlu heroico pendet Causa V. Antonii Baldinucei.
Deest ultima Congregatio, proxime habenda, super iisdem virtutibus.
5. Paritcr una tantum Congrcgatio desideratur ad absolvendum ac
dirimcndum dubium de virtutihns in Causa V. Roberti Bellarn1ini Card.
et Episc.
6. Agitantur praetcrea in S. R. C., Causae sequcntcs: VY. ~DI. Cnssoviensium, ~larci Crisini CniJonici Strigoniensis, et PP. 1\[elchioris
Grodzecii, et P. Pongratz S. ,J.-Agcndum est in trihus Congregationibus
de l\[artyrio et de signi,;.
V. P. Juliani ~[aunoir.-Agcmlum est de introductionc ('nnsne.
V. P. Emanuclis Padiai.-Agemlum cRt de virtutibus in grndn heroico.
7. Die 16 mensis Octohris 1872, hora 10. mntutina, coram Illnstrissimo
Archiep. Parisicnsi inchoatus est Processus super Martyrio quinque
Patrnm S. J. ab impiis in odium Religionis nceatorum.
Atque· hac stmt Causae, quae in praesenti ngnntur.
�CURRENT ITEMS .
.Ale.rarulria, Ya.- 'Vhen f'liling health obliged the late Father Kroes to
relinquish, a few weeks before his death, the care of the congregation of
St. :Mary's Church in this citv, Father O'Kane was appointed to succeed
him. The new pastor has laid a good foundation for his future work in
the ministry. by securing to his flock the blessing of a Spiritual Retreat.
The exercises\vere conducted by Father Glackmeyer of New York, md
the result left nothing wanting to satisfy the desires of the new pastor.
We hear with gmtifieation that the members of St. )lary's congreg:~tion
intend erecting in the Church grounds a suitable monu111ent to the zealous
pastor who served them so faithfully nnd so long. This monument to
Father Kroes will stand as companion piece ofthe beautiful memorial to
Father Blox erected by this same grateful people, to whom that g·ood
Father d('votPd many y('nr;; of hi;; fruitful life.
Pldladelphia.-Thc interior of St. .Joseph's Church in this city has
been- thoroughly renovated, nnd with its newly frescoed walls and
rich paintings, p!'cscnts the appearance of a new church. Commerce has
encronchPd greatly on the territory of the pari~h, and many former
members of the congregation have been forced to seek homes in distant
portions of the city. Nevertheless the work in the confessional is in no
way diminished, am\ as shown in the extract.from a private l('tter which
we subjoin, the fruits and consolations of their holy ministry ar(' a hnndantly granted the Fathers of the old Chureh.
""\Ve have much consolation in the gre:\t numl.Jer of conversions fi·mn
Protestantism, and in the very extrnonlinay returns to God after years of
neglect; seven, ten, fifteen, yes forty, fifty years without confession, anti
back they come, thanks be to God. To-morrow, if al.Jle, I have to ~el'
three perHons, two women and a man, l.Jorn of Catholic parents, made their
First Communion, l.Jegan to associate with Protrstunts, left the Church,
and now in their !,1st sickness a"fter twenty, forty and forty-six year;;
neglect wish to rome back to the ::\IothPr they desci1ed.-I perform the
funeral services to-morrow over n young man, whom I baptized last
.Monday evening. He could not reeol\ect that his lilt her or mother ever
told him there was a God; IH<lno remmnhranee of having bePn inside a
church; was n printer by trade, and hmlnwt with the prayer, J[other of
God Jll'liY (o1• a ,,iimer, which he frequently rrpeated during the last t<'n
years of his life. In Cunningham'H window had seen my portrait with
�Currmt Items.
my name underneath. 'Vhen he was dying, the doctor asked him if he
would have a parson; he answered: "Yes, parson J ......" I hurried
round, instructed him as much as the circumstances would allow, and
baptized him. I attribute this and similar conversions to the consecration of our congregations to the Sacred Heart of our divine Lord.''
Of the mission that closed In St. Joseph's Church on Palm Sunday, one
of the fathers who conducted it writes:
"God blessed our labors in a most wonderful manner. The crowds
from early morning till late at night were immense. Not only the
Church, through the pews, aisles and galleries, was one living mass of
human beings, but the sacristy and all avenues leading to the Church
were crowded. There was no abatement of fervor tlu·oughout the week.
The confessional kept all busy until a late hour every night, and amongst
the people a real enthusiasm prevailed."
'
D. 0. M.
��WOODSTOCI( LETT.ERS.
VOL. II., No. 3·
MIRACULOUS PICTURE OFST. FRANCIS XAVIER.
In the chapel of the College· of St. Ildefonso, one' of the
four which tli.e Society had in the City of Mexico until its
expulsion, June, 1767, hangs a half-length picture of St.
Francis Xavier, a true work of art and most devotional in
expression. It was quite usual at one time for devout
persons to come to the ~hapel at night to pray and discipline
themselves before this image. On the night of the 6th of
March, in the year 1670, two of the Collegians, D. Pedro
Vidarte and D. Maximiliano Pro, who had come to the
chapel .for the pious purpose just mentioned, were astonished at seeing the countenance ·of the Holy Apostle
shooting forth bright flames, as if on fire. They drew
nearer to ascertain the cause of the strange appearance,
when the bright inflamed color of the face quickly changed
to a deadly paleness. The young men hastened to commu-
�170
.iliiraculous Pictme· of St. Jtnmcis Xavier.
nicate the wonderful occurrence to the Rector of the CoiFather Jose Vidal, who at once hastened to the chapel.
with all the students, to verify the statement. One of the
party, Father Prudencio de 1\lesa, Professor of Philosophy
in ~the Colegio 1l1aximo, testified on oath that for several
days before he had noticed, while ~aying l\Iass at the
Saint's altar, that the face of the picture seemed to sweat
profusely, but mistrusting the avouchment of his own
senses in so strange and important a matter he had abstained from mentioning the fact until it was now brought
to notice by·the testimony of so many eye-witnesses. He
now put on ! surplice and approaching the picture wiped
off the perspiration, which, notwithstanding, continued to
flow freely for several days. The Rector instituted a careful examination to ascertain whether the strange occurrence
might not be due to some dampness in the walls ; but they
were perfectly dry, and moreover the other pictures which
hung around that of the Saint were in no way affected; the
pallor which had overspread the Saint's countenance remained, though the hands retained their former color.
There was no doubt then, in the minds of all, that the
event was clearly miraeulous; and though, at the time,
there was nothing that could thro!V any light upon the
causes that might lead to so wond~iful a manifestation, it
was afterwards generally believed to portend the martyrdom of the venerable and apostolic Father Diego Luis de
Sanvitores, which occurred one year later in the Mariana
Islands. This belief was founded on the very intimate
relations which had existed between the holy martyr and
Father Vidal, who was at that time Procurator of the Mariana Mission.
The Rector, desirous to foster and increase the devotion
towards the holy Apostle to which this remarkable occurrence had given a new impetus, sent for a very skilful artist
to prepare and to decorate a special chapel for the reception
of the miraculous image ; but, impatient of the delay which
~ege,
�.l'rfimmlo~:s
Picture of St. Francis Xavier.
I
7I
attended the execution of his orders, he had the picture
removed to the s'pendid altar of St. Francis in the chapel
cf the Colegio Jlfa.ximo, where it remained several years.
Many copies of it were made to satisfy the devotion of those
who had witnessed the miracle or who wished to testify
their devotion to this new Thaumaturgus of the Church.
Later, the College of St. Ildefonso asserted its right to the
possession of the precious work of art, which was accordingly transferred to the new and magnificent chapel of the
college and set up in a costly silver frame at the expense
cf Dr. Manuel Rojo, Canon of the Metropolitan church
and a distinguished alumnus of the college. ' Many signal
favors were bestowed upon the college in return for the
honors paid to the Saint. One, taken at random from the
many recorded, may suffice to show how efficacious was
the aid of him whom the college had taken as the protector, especially of the general health of the house.
In the year 1725. a violent epidemic fever of a very
malignant type was raging in the city, most of the cases
proving fatal. Sixty of the students were attacked besides
the Minister, Father Antonio de Figueroa. The miraculous
picture was borne in procession to the rooms of the patients,
but whether through forgetfulness, or inadvertence, or perhaps, by some special disposition of divine Providence, the
picture was not brought to Father de Figueroa: moreover,
in confirmation of the latter supposition, an old father of
the Colegio Maximo, on discovering this omission, went on
three different occasions to the College of St. Ildefonso for
the express purpose of taking the picture to Father Figueroa, but at each visit his mind was completely diverted
from the principal object of his coming, by a number of
incidental occurrences or occupations. Not one of the
students died: Father de Figueroa was the only victim of
the disease in the· College, though he left behind him a
strong conviction, founded on his religious virtue and his
fervently pious preparation for death, that he had but passed
from temporal to eternal life.
�ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, PHIL~DELPHIA.
PART SECOND.
The year I8oo opened in Philadelphia with four churches,
St. Joseph's.. and her eldest daughters, St. Mary's, Holy
Trinity and St. Augustine's, which last had been lately
dedicated. The daughters were all considerably larger and
handsomer than the. mother, with pretensions to architectural beauty. Two of them are still standing but the third,
ere she had reachd the mature age of forty-five, perished,
not through decay, but by the hands of rioters. The first
and second were gifts ·to the Philadelphians ; · the third and
fourth were erected from their offerings with some a!!sistance.from Europe. Especially was this the case with regard
to St. Augustine's; for Very Rev. Father Carr, when coming
to America, brought with him in the form of £. s. d. solid .
marks of the confidence of his Order..
After the suppression of our Soci~ty in 1773, the material help received from the English Province ceased and the
. ever to be lamented system of trusteeism was introduced
into Philadelphia. This evil became, as it were, ingrafted
. into the spirit of Church government ;when in 1788, St.
Mary's Church was chartered by the legislature of the
State of Pennsylvania. During the first third of this century it was the evil of the diocese, hanging over its fair
fields of budding promise, like an unsightly mist obscuring the beauty of the scene, and debarring the warmth
and light that the rising sun of our religion had begun so
propitiou'sly to shed on the region it had destined to be so
fruitful in the future. In 1797. its first pernicious germ
showed itself in Trinity Church, and for sixty years it made
�-
St. :Joseph's Clmrclz, Plzi!adelplzia.
I
73
that congregation a continual cause of anxiety to tlze rulers
of tlze lzouse of tlze Lord, until the saintly Bishop Neumann, by a masterly piece of policy obtained for this
Church a new charter, dispensing with trustees and placing
the government of its temporalities in its pastors, appointed
by the Bishop. There are now, I think, in the Diocese of
Philadelphia, but two churches with trustees, St. Mary's
and St. Michael's; those of the latter have never given any
trouble, and those of the former, a few years since, entered
into an arrangement by which the pastor is virtually the
board of trustees.
At this time all the priests of Philadelphia, with the exception of those interdicted at Holy Trinity, resided at St.
Joseph's. From the Baptismal and Marriage Registries
we find thirteen officiating there at times during the year;
viz.-Very Rev. Mathew Carr, 0. S. A., D. D., V. G., Pastor of Sts. Joseph's, Mary's and Augustine's, Rev. John
Rossiter, 0. S. A., Fr. A. T. R. Fm De Kersauson de Kerjean, ptre Cath. Rom., Rev. George Staunton, 0. S. A., Rev.
John Bourke, Rev. Bartholomew Augustine M'Mahon, 0.
S. A., Rev. Peter Helborn, Rev. Nicholas Brennan, Rev.
Francis Beeston, Rev. D. Boury, Rev. Philip Stafford, 0.
S A., Rev William O'Brien and Rev. Michael Lacy. Of
these the first three seem to have been the regular pastors
of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, the others officiating at St.
Augustine's and on the missions.
During the previous year, the mission at Trenton had
been commenced by Rev. D. Boury. The first baptism in
that City, which now counts its thousands of Catholics,
with three fine churches, schools, a hospital, and an asylum,
is thus recorded in St. Joseph's Registry:* Die 4a Oct.
1799 a Revdo. D._ Boury, Trenton New Jersey, Joannes
\Varren, natus de Joanne et Anna Mount c. c. l. c. Susceptoribus Francisco de Mouzeuil et Margarita Charlotta
D'Auquin Reynard.
* Bapt. Registry pag. 334.
�174
St. Yosep!t's Clmrclt, Plziladclplzia.
The first Philadelphian made a Christi<>n in the nineteenth century seems to have been a negro ~lave:* "1 Sao.
Januarii Die Ia a Rev. M. Carr:_Caesar, natus 13a Sept.
1799 de Josephina Ducombe. Pafrino Emanuele Torres."
In I790most of the German families, who had worshipped
at St. Joseph's from the time of Father Schneider, S. J. left
and took pews in the German Church of Holy Trinity.
But the troubles between the Trustees and the Ecclesiasti~
·cal Authorities caused many ofthem in 1801 to return, and
their names are again found in the Registries.
In the~ 'Baptismal Registry for 1802 we find this record:
"1802. Oct. 17a a Rev. M. Carr. Isaac Augustinus Hayes
natusdie 21a Aug. h. a. de Patricio, Cath. et Elizabeth Keen,
Acath. Susceptor fuit Joannes Barry."t The God-father was
the celebrated Commodore John Barry Father of the American Navy. And the father of the Child, Patrick Hayes,
was on the mother's side connected with the family of St.
Francis de Sales. He it was who presented to Father
Ba_!"belin, S. J. a portrait, taken from life, of this great saint.
In the following month Father Rossiter received into the
church a distinguished convert: Nov. 28a a. R. I. Rossiter,
Cornelius Tiers natus in statu New York a' viginti circiter
duobis annis, cooptatus fuit in ..ecclesiam; patrinus fuit
Timotheus Collins t. Mr. Tiers bec'ame a firm and leading
Catholic. ' His descendants to the third generation are still
respected in the diocese. For many years he was the coadjutor of Father Hurley, 0. S. A., in providing for the
orphans of St. Joseph's Asylum, which Father Leonard
Neale, of St. Joseph's Church, had established in 1797, but
which in the early years of this century had a hard struggle
to maintain its existence.
Sometime during this year, Very Rev. Father Carr removed from St. Joseph's to the pastoral Residence of St.
Aug~stine's, a house in N. Fourth Street, immediately south
---------*Baptismal Registry, p. 337.
t Do. p. 148.
t Do.
�St. :Joseph's C/mrclz, Pltiladclpltia.
I
75
of the Church. He left Rev. Raphael Fitzpatrick, as pastor of St. Joseph's, with Father Rossiter, 0. S. A., and Rev.
Michael Lacy as his assistants. He, however, continued
Vicar General, and to a certain extent, Administrator of
Philadelphia and the missions. Father Carr was a man of
untiring zeal, much loved by those who .knew him, but too
dignified to please the vulgus profammz. He was in all
respects a man of learning and virtue, but Father Rossiter
it was who gained the hearts of the people. It has been
my happiness to comfort the last hours of some of the
venerable Catholics of Philadelphia, who having known
me almost from infancy, and my father and mother before
me, found great pleasure in talking with me of the early
days of St Joseph's Church. My delight in listening was
no less than theirs in narrating. Father Carr, Father John
Bourke, Father Nick Brennan and Father Stafford are all
familiar names, but Fr. Rossiter's is the name that lingers
most fondly on the lip and often draws tears from the eye.
One octogenary who died lately, Sept. 9th, 1872, and of
whom, I think, I will have occasion to speak hereafter, forgetting the passage of time, would imagine me Fr. Rossiter,
and throwing his arms around my neck, try to call to my
recollection the times when his saintly mother and mine
roved, hand-in-hand, the verdant fields of Connaught. The
old man himself was my mother's senior by twelve years,
and I do not think she was ever out of the Middle·States
-She may have been in Maryland.
1803 finds the priests of St. Joseph's and St. Augustine's
two distinct families, but most agreeable neighbors: And
so, thank God, they have ever continued, members of two
great orders, laboring for the same great object, and indulg'
ing no petty jealousies.
· In the early part of this year, Rev. Michael Egan, 0. S.
F., arrived in Philadelphia. He came to supersede Very
Rev. Dr. Carr, 0. S. A., in the Vicar-general-ship, but at
Father Carr's desire and, I think, at his request. He spent
�176
St. :Joseplz's Clmrclt, P/ziladelplzia.
some days at St. Augustine's Residence, and preached on
Sunday in the Church, wearing the habit and cord of St.
Francis. On this occasion, I have been told, Fr. Carr for
the first time, assumed the dress of the Augustinians, and
was present in the Sanctuary: Father Paul Stafford, 0. S.
A. sang the mass. Neither Father Carr nor the loved
Father Hurley, his successor in the superiorship of the
Augustinians, wore the habit of their order as their ordinary drelis, but only on occasions appeared in it.
The first official act of Vicar General Michael Egan, 0. S.
F., was a baptism whose record will be interesting, as being
the first performed by him, who was afterwards Philadelphia's first Bishop. 1803 1 Ia Aprilis, a Rev. M. Egan,
Hanna Mullins nata 3a Aprilis 1803 Phila. de Jacobo Mullins et Barbara Murray c. c. L. c. Susceptores fuere Dionisius M'Makin et Catharina Murray.*
I have heard an old lady, whose name I have forgotten,
speak of Father Egan's appearance. Her recollections of
him, I cannot say how much to be depended on, present
him ~as tall, spare, but very straight, nearly six feet high,
of sallow complexion, with very black curly hair, mild,
pleasing countenance, with eyes modestly cast down. His
"memory" certainly "is with praises", in the Church of
Philadelphia. Even when a boy, I feitan interest in the first
Bishop of my native city, my friends had not seen him,
but had heard much of him. A current story of the time
was his having been seen in a rapture or an ecstacy, before
the picture of St. Francis, then and now, in the room called
"the front parlor" of St. Joseph's. In boyhood, I often
heard the account of this ecstacy, from old friends, and my
venerable friend of Connaught-rambles-reminiscences,
twice referred to it. The general recollection seemed to be .
that Bishop Egan was mild in appearance as he was saintly
in character.
*
Baptismal Registry, p. 284.
�St. Yoseph's Clzurclz, Philadelplzia.
ijj
For a short while, Rev. Mr. Egan had the assistance of
Rev. Ambrose Marshal; twin-brother of our Brother Joseph
Marshal; but he soon sent him to the missions in the interior of the state where he did much good.
The baptisms of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's this year
numbered 284.
On the 25th of April, 1804, we find a baptism by Rev.
Michael Hurley, 0. S. A.,* only remarkable as showing
that then, as ever since have existed good feelings between the pastors of St. Augustine's arid St. Joseph's,
and as the first performed by that holy man in St. Joseph's
Church. I wish the bounds I have placed to my religious
gossip would but allow me to relate some of the accounts
of this remarkable priest; who, in very difficult times; was
the evangelizer of Philadelphia.
In the latter part of 18o8 the distinguished Dominican
Father, William Vincent Harold, 0. S.D., arrived to assist
Fathers Egan, 0. S. F., and Rossiter, 0. S. A. The first
n.otice of his presence at St. Joseph's is a nuptial blessing
given to John Ward and Rebeca Ward on the 25th of Nov.t
These three Reverend gentlemen, members of three diferent orders, each as peculiar in his personal appearance
as in his natural disposition, and each holy in his own manner, lived together, for three .years in the most perfect harmony; "Having gifts differing according to the grace
which is given them," but each being "zealous for the
better gifts." The saintly and scholarly Franciscan, gentle a~ a Sister of Mercy, but timorous, fearful of giving
offense, remaining much at home, but equal1y accessible to
poor and rich. The beloved and bustling Augustinian,
abroad much of the time, but working "the works of Gcid,"
visiting more in the hovels of Shippen and German
Streets; than in the stately mansions of East Fourth Street.·
And the doquent and elegant Dominican, who whilst "the
*Baptismal Registry, p. 230.
t !1arriage Registry, p. 76.
�178
St. :Joseph's Church, P!ti!adelp!tia.
father of the orphans and the judge of the widows," was
frequently_ found in the drawing room, or asit was then
called the parlor, and at the social board of those whom
Providence had blessed with an abundance of this world's
goods.
For nearly forty years the Catholics of the South-eastern part of the City had, on S~ndays, attended divine
service at St. Mary's Church, but the gentleness of Father
Egan and the eloquence of Father Harold had attracted
such numl:!ers, that in 1809 it was resolvedto enlarge the
church. ~This enlargement was begun in the Spring and
finished in the Autumn of r8ro, giving St. Mary's Church
its present noble dimensions.
On the 20th of October of this year, Fathers Egan and
Harold went to Baltimore, leaving Rev. Patrick Kenny
with the care of St. Mary's, while Father Rossiter still
watched over St. Joseph's. On the 28th of this month,
Rev. Michael Egan, 0. S. F. was consecrated, in Baltimore
the first Bishop of Philadelphia, by Bishop John Carroll,
assisted by Rt. Rev. Leonard Neale, former pastor of St.
Joseph's. Father Wm. Vincent Harold, 0. S.D., preached
the consecration sermon, and this he did at the particular
request of the new prelate, who was accustomed to style
him, "the brother of my heart." ..- ·
They returned to this city in the latter part of November.
Father Egan's first record, in his new character as Bishop,
is: "Dec. ra a Revsimo Michl Egan, James Bertrand Gardette natus Philadel. die 19a Dec. 1807 de James Gardette
et Mary L. Carisse c. c. L. c. sus. fuerunt Bertrand Cuillavet
et Fanny Louise Gardette." t
The entries of Bishop Egan in the different registries of
St. Joseph's are remarkable for the peculiarity of the writing. They are perfectly neat and legible, but if gazed at
for any length of time, they give one a sensation, as if
reading with the book upside down.
t Baptismal Registry, p. 42.
�St. :Joseph's, Clmrclz, Plzi!adelplzia.
179
One of the first acts of the new Bishop was to appoint
Father Wm. Vincent Harold, 0. S. D., his Vicar-general.
In the month of April 181 I, Rev. James Harold, 0. S.D.,
uncle to the Vicar-general, arrived from Ireland and was
stationed at St. Joseph's :-his first record being on April
r8th.*
·
De Courcy says: "In r810, it became necessary to enlarge the edifice (St. Mary's), and these new erections gave
rise to conflicts of authority with the Bishop, at the same
time that the trustees set up claims to be consulted in the
choice of their pastors, and unfortunately, Father Harold
and his uncle arrayed themselves in a measure against the
Bishop. This was the more, to be regretted, as the youn,ger Harold; though a man of eminent qualities and striking
defects, was full of real eloquence and virtue, but marred
his transcendent merit by the asperity of his temper."t
This statement, which has been copied by the estimable
author of the "Lives of the Deceased Bishops," is incorrect in many particulars. The enlargement of St. Mary's
was begun and ended, without any opposition from the
trustees, before the consecration of Father Egan. At the
· time of the consecration the kindest feeling existed between
the two priests, as evinced by Father Egan's requesting
Father Harold to preach .the consecration sermon and his
afterwards appointing him as his Vicar-general, when very
many thought Very Rev. Michael Hurley 0. S. A., should
have received ~hat appointment. The elder Harold did not
arrive in Philadelphia until nearly eighteen months after
the enlargement was mz fait accompli. "The right of appointing a pastor" was a difficulty brought upon the tapis
in 1820 during the Hogan trouble. And as to the "anonymous printed appeals,t the first heard of them was during
*Baptismal Registry, p. 74.
tThe Catholic Church in the United States, p. 225.
:1: Vol. L J?· 191.
�180
St. :Joseph's Clzurclz, Philadelphia.
the correspondence bet.v~en Father Harold, as Secretary
to the second Bishop of Philadelphia, and the infamous
Wm. 1fogan. Father Harold denied from the pulpit of St.
Jo~eph\ not qnly having been the author of such pam~
phlets, put ~hat any such had been circulated, and called
upon his accusers to produce one of them.*
Until ~800, the Catholics of Philadelphia, with the exception of a few fa!Uilies, the Hayes, Careys, Eslings, Meades,
~arrys, Fitzsimmons, lYloylans, O'Bryans, Powels and Keefes,
were not :only. poor, but exceedingly humble as to their
social standing. During the first decade of the century,
many of them had been very successful in commerce and
ii1 mercantile pursuits, and, with the acquisition of wealth,
put on the airs of the paryenu. One of the greatest objects
of their all!bition was to associate with the aristocratic
members of the late ·~State Church." To be known by the
1nembers of St. Peter'~ was the ultima thule of their
ambition.
,
§t. Mary's, though exceedingly plain, the walls peing
painted a dull blue and the ceiling a more vivid shade of
~e same color, studded at regular intervals of twelve inches
with very sleepy stars, was not devoid of architectural
b~auty, its arch is to the present ..day an object of envy to
some of the architect~ of the counti-y.
These ne\y 111ade gentlemen and ladies, who thought our
Divine Saviour was not up to the age when He said, HNo
ser"V~nt can serve two mast!'!rs" and intended to show the
(:;burch and ~od that they could ·~serve God and mammon/'
~~ the s~1ne time, thought a fine church called for a fine
pre<lcher. ~ow, F<1ther Harold was a fine preacher: ''Yes,
sir,'' said l\'lr. A, ... "Father Haro!d is a fin~ preacher, he,
~ir, ~~ a11 orator., sir.." Two Latin sermons preserved in the ·
Library of St. Joseph's attest his eloquence in the tongue
of ~icero, as well as that of Ha~er~t:: H~ £~'.:!!~ not
*Mr. Eugene Murphy, a Hoganite, and at one time employ~ by the
trustees of St. Mary's to correct Mr. Hogan's literary efforts.
·
�St. Yosep!t's Clzurclz, P/ziladelpllia.
18 f
however be in truth styled a very fluent speaker, as three
weeks were required for the preparation and production of
each sermon, every word of it having to be written ;md
conned as by a_$chool-boy. He w~s, at the.time, the only
polished speaker among the Catholic ~lergy. Mr. John R.
G. Hassard, in his life of Archbishop Hughes, speaks of
Father Harold and Dr. Hurley being both eloquent preach~
ers. There are many in Philadelphia with whpm Father
Hurley is one whose :~memory is in benediction," and who
will descant by the hour Oil his virtues, but I have never
met one who called him an orator.-He instructed by pis
words·and preached most eloquently by his actions.
Wishing to monopolize to themselves Father Wm. Vincent Harold, the trustees determined to erect a pastoral
residence near St. Mary's, and had already selected a lot at
the S. \V. corner of 4th and Prune streets, and entered into
negotiations for the purchase of it. Fat4er Wm. Vincent
was pleased with the idefi; Father Jallles Harold warmly
urged it-but Bishop Egan very wisely disapproved of it.
First, as he saw no necessity for a separate residepj;e; and,
secondly, and principally, because the movement had been
taken, not only without his approval as President of the
Board of Trustees, but even without pis being cqnsulted.
·This was the first flCt of insubordination of the Trustees
of St. Mary's to their Bishop, and the one in which they
were encouraged by Fathers liarold. father Wm. Vincent
was inclined to yield, but his uncle, Father James, influenced
him to place himself in opposition to his fqrmer friend and
present :Pishop. This sad state of affairs lasted but for a
slto:t while, when, in 1813, the pephew and uncle returned
to !::eland. The Suqday before their departure, Bishop
Egan preacheq at St. Mary's, and stated that there had
never been an unkind word between him and the "brother
of his heart," and tl1at he considered "Father James" the
cause qf ali the trouble.*
,-I
•
''
*Mr. John O'Keefe.
•;.
�182
St. Yoscplz's Clmrch, Philadelphia.
. This occurred nearly a score of years before my appearance upon the stage of action, but at that time and for
years afterwards my father was teacher of St. Joseph's Parochial School, living, with his young family, in a house
almost adjoining the North East end of the Church, and
was on the· most intimate terms with all the clergymen, and
had every opportunity of knowing the true state of the
case. The financial system on which this school was conducted I· would recommend to economical pastors. The
teacher was.'permitted to· rent a house (it being required
that he should be a married man) and school; pay the rent,
and teach a stipulated number of pupils, male and iemale,
for the /zo11or of being teacher of ''St. Joseph's School,"the pay he received from the other pupils to be his compensation.
The vacancy, caused by the departure of the Fathers Harold, was filled by Rev. Wm. O'Brien* and Patrick Kenny.t
· In August of this year, 1813; we find a·member of a
fourth Religious order domiciled in the house· of the Jesuit
Greaton. "Die 29a Aug., a Rev. Patre Vincent de Paul,
Trappista, Jane Haviland nata Philadelphiae, 24 huj. mens.
de John Haviland et de Grace Glacken c. c. L. c. sus. fr.
James McClosky et Anne Havilan~;·t This, I have been
told, w'as a nephew of the Right Rev: Bishop. In September, the sacerdotal corps was increased by the arrival of the
Rev. Charles Winters, who was soon sent· to the missions.
The good Rev. Terence M'Girr arrived in the middle of
October.§ During my noviceship, it was said that our improvement· in writing kept pace with our improvement in
spirituality. I cannot imagine what must have been Rev.
Mr. M'Girr's style, when he first began the spiritual life if
such frightful hieroglyphics indicate his well-known, exalted virtue.
*Baptismal Registry, p. 104.
Do.
Do. p. 151.
e
t Do. p. 128..
:f: Do. p. 138
�St. Yoseplz's Clmrclz, Plziladelplzia.
183
In 1814, at the request of the Right Rev. Bishop, Rev.
John Grassi S. J. visited St. Joseph's, and for a short time
performed parochial duties.* It was not his intention to
remain, but Bishop Egan had known him in Rome .and,
having a premonition of his death, requested a visit from
him that he might assist him in his preparations for the
final struggle. In Father Barb!!lin's collection was the letter of Father Grassi, dated at Georgetown College, accepting the invitation, a letter full of encouragement and breathing the spirit of an Apostle. He was accompanied by a Rev.
Clement Garcia, whether a Jesuit I know not, ;~.nd who appears to have administered the sacraments for but a short
time.t
·
Bishop Egan until almost the very day nf his death
lamented the departure of Father \Vm. Vincent Harold.
In his last sickness he still called him, "the brother of my
heart." And from his many affectionate remarks concern-.
ing him, I feel confident that if he had had the satisfaction
of nominating his successor, Wm. Vincent Harold, 0. S. D.,
would have stood upon the list "dignissimus." The Right
Rev. Michael Egan, 0. S. F., First Bishop of Philadelphia
died at St. Joseph's, on the 22nd of July, 1814, in Room
No. J., stretched in the form of a cross upon the floor before
the picture of his loved patron, St. Francis of Assisium.
He was universally regarded as a saint. His funeral took
place at St. Mary's; Father Hurley, 0. S. A., was his panegyrist, and, if I mistake not, Father Grassi, S. J., sang the
Mass. The sisters of Charity from Emmitsburg, whom he
had introduced into the diocese, with the orphans from St.
Joseph's Asylum, which had been established by Father
Leonard Neale, in 1797, and the matrons with the orphans
from St. Vincent's Asylum were present on the sad occasion.
Immediately upon the death of Bishop Egan, Archbishop
Neale appointed Rev. Lewis· de Barth, or as he almost
invariably signs himself Ludovicus Barth, then in charge of
*Baptismal Registry, p. 152.
t Do. p.153.
�I
84
St. Yoscplz's Church, Plziladelplzia.
our church and missions at Conewago, administrator of the
diocese. The appointment was not a fortunate one. I
question not the piety, the learning, the zeal of the Rev.
gentleman, but there are Fathers still living in this province
who knew him before his retirement to Georgetown College,
where he died, and I do not think one of them will say he
was well suited for that office.
Father de Barth upon his appointment did not retire from
the care of the mission of Conewago but travelled backwards
and fonvards; almost monthly, between that place and Philadelphia, his-first visit being on August 24th.* From that time
until the arrival of Bishop Conwell, he was a frequent and
honoredguestatthe house of my parents, and the only source
of communication between my mother and grandmother and
their Quaker relatives in Adams County. Not unfrequently
wouid he visit the school-house before the parsonage, and
old Mrs. Evans kne\v well what to give "the old man" for
supper. It was the only house in the city at which he felt
at home, and many a time would he unburden his mind of
pasto;al cares which he would not mention to his confreres
at the other side of the Church, and about 8 o'clock. P.
M. he would glide around through the graveyard, go to his
room, say his prayers, and next ~oming after an early
Mass, mount his horse for Conewagd. My poor mother
thought there was no one like Father de Barth, she would
have considered it an unfortunate day, if one of her children had pronounced him not perfect-she little thought
her own anecdotes were somewhat prejudicing one of those
children against him.
At this time riiany of the Catholics of Philadelphia held
a very high position in what is called society, and as this,
for some of them; was a new thing, they were very nervous
lest their priests should do anything that might shame their
gentility. Father Hurley, 0. S. A., the leading priest of
the city, a holy and amiable man, laughed at and ridiculed
*Baptismal Registry, p. 159.
�St. Yoseplz's Clmrclt, Plti!adelpltia.
I
85
their airs, and took delight in violating their rules of etiquette, and in generally shocking their ;;ensibilities. I will
here relate an amusing anecdote of this saintly man. In St.
Augustine's Church, they had adopted the European custom
of having a Swiss guard to preserve order. Our Swiss was
born in the Emerald Isle, one Thomas O'Shaughnessy by
name. One of his principal duties was to remove the hats
of those who kept covered in the presence of the EverAdorable, and for this purpose our Swiss was furnished
with a long rod hooked at the end, \vith which Mr;
O'Shaughnessy caused many an amusing gyration to be performed on different occasions. One Sunday afternoon at
the monthly Vespers, Father Hurley noticed Robert Wharton, a leading Friend and one of Philadelphia's wealthiest
citizens stalk up the middle aisle. head covered with an ash~
colored broad-brim. The Swiss, for once, was awed by the
respectable position of the offender. The uppertendom of
Philadelphia Catholicity trembled lest they might see that
respectable beaver, circling. in the air for a foot or two and
then rolling gracefully up the aisle. But no ! Thomas was
intently watching some little tow-headed boys under the
gallery stairs. Little escaped the keen eye of Rev. Michael
Hurley, 0. S. A. Here was the opportunity long desired,
of shocking their delicate sense of the deference due to
wealth. Father Hurley did not usually speak with a brogue,
but when he ascended the platform of the Altar, to give the
instruction, while every eye was fixed upon him, and many
a heart beat quickly, he quietly surveyed the congregation
for a moment, and then in a loud rough voice he cried:
"Tom, mon, I say, mon, oaf with auld \Vharton's hat."
Mr. O'Shaughnessy did not wait for a second bidding, but
gravely marching up the aisle, insttad of sending the hat
whirling in the air, he gracefully raised it on his hook and
slowly retracing his steps to the door of 'the Church, he
pitched it into Fourth Street. And as my informant*
*.My God-mother, ~Iiss ~Iary Tierney.
�I
86
St. joseph's Churclz, Philadelphia.
hastened, handkerchief to mouth out of Church, Tom
quietly remarked : "tut, tut, guirl, ain't you ashamed to
laugh·at the praste ?"
This good Augustinian did not confine himselftoshocking
the sensibilities of the elite. \Vherever there was a scandal
to be corrected in either of the two parishes of St. Joseph's
or St. Augustine's, there the zealous Father Hurley was to
be found. He did not believe in wearing kid gloves when
scouring the sink, his speech on these occasions was loud
and caustic; Once, one whom he had been severely reprimanding, ~raised his arm to strike this "anointed of the
Lord;" although he lived more than fifteen years afterwards,
he never lowered it. I, myself, have more than once seen
this person. He sincerely repented his sin. Father Hurley prayed God to pardon him, and at his, Father Hurley's
request, Father Dubuisson, S. J., interceded with our Holy
Founder, but heaven was dea£ The body with the arm
raised was laid in St. Mary's Cemetery.
Father Hurley left many warm friends among the Protestants, as well as devoted children among the Catholics.
Some of his Protestant friends delight to this day to recount
his arduous apostolic labors. At a dinner, at which the Rev.
Rector of Woodstock College, the~·Provincial of the Province of Maryland, was present, Mr. B ........ , of the Pennsylvania Rail Road Company, related the following incident: "I
called late in the evening, just after supper, to see Father
Hurley on important business. It was a fearful night.
Outside was one of those old-fashioned storms that we used
to have some twenty years ago. After transacting business,
Father Hurley insisted upon my spending the night with
him. He brought out the poteen, and I can tell you he
kept a good article in that line." "Oh, yes,!' interrupted
Rev. J. C. D .... , "I can bear testimony to that." "He
brewed a good strong punch for each. He then read his
priestiy service, while I balanced some accounts. About
ten \Ve retired for the night, he occupying his own room,
�St. :Josep!t's C/mrclt, P!tiladelpltia.
187
the second story front, and I a small room over the passage.
I had just fallen into a doze, when I was wakened by Father
Hurley, who, having finished his prayers, was getting into
bed. It was not long before I could hear him snoring the
snore of the-of the-Augustinians. I tell you what, it
was pleasant lying there, snugly wrapped up in blankets,
listening to the howling storm without. I had just fallen into my first sleep, when I was suddenly roused by a
terrific knocking at the front door. Immediately I heard
Father Hurley bounce out of bed, the mercury must have
gotten so far below zero that it had serious doubts if it
would ever get up again. Up went the sash. '\Vho's there?'
'Your Reverence, it's I.' 'Is it indeed? and who may I
be?' 'Your Reverence, there's a man dying in Schuylkillfirst Street above Gallushill.' Schuylkill first and Callowhill Street, at that time, was far beyond the limits of the
built-up part of the City, and the reputation of that part of
the municipality was not the best. 'What's the matter with
him?' 'Your Reverence, he's bad intirely, he's taken with
a colic, saving your Reverence's presence, in the belly.
He's dying your Reverence.' 'Have you had a doctor?'
'Yes, your Reverence, Mick, my brother, has gone for his
honor. 0 come, your Reverence, for it's a taring cold night
for a man to be out.' 'Where did you say he lives ?' 'In
Schuylkill first Street above Gallushill, you can't mistake
the house, seeing it's the only one there within a square.
Come at once, your Reverence, for I know he'll be dead
before you get there.' 'You two men go home and tell
them that the priest, Father Hurley, is coming. I'll get the
oils and the holy sacrament and follow you as soon as I can.'
I jumped out of my warm bed, knocked at the old gentleman's door, and offered to accompany him. 'Get back to
your bed, you - - what could a heretic do when a christian is dying?' The old man dressed quickly, came into
my .room with a half-pint of poteen, lest I should take cold,
fumbled for some time about his room, went to the Church,
�I
88
St. :Joseplt' s Clwrch,
Phi!adelphza~
and soon slammed the door as only Father Hurley could
slain doors. It was a fearful night- cold! we don't know
now-a-days what such cold is, the wind was blowing like a
hurricane, the hail and sleet driving against the windows,
like-like-I can't think, just now, like what, unless likeexcuse me, gentlemen-like h-11, and, to cap all, it had
been snowing continuously the two days previous. It was
now near one o'clock; I lay in bed, picturing to myself the
old man, out at such an hour, in such a neighborhood, and
in the midst of such a storm. In those days, in some
places, the·· streets were not paved above 8th or 10th
street, and I knew the sno\v must be nearly breast" ·high.
Father Hurley, though strong as a lion, was pretty well
advanced in years. About 3 o'clock, he returned, puffing
like a porpoise. He came into my room. '\Vell, Father
Hurley, how's the sick man?' 'He won't die, didn't see
him.' 'What! was there no person sick?' •y es-oh, but
this is terrible weather,' said the old gentleman, blowing
his finger-tips, 'when I got to Scl?-uylkill 7th and Callow hill,
I met two men coming back to tell me not to come. 'Your
Reverence,' they said, 'the sick man's well.' '\Vell? you
scoundrels,' said I. 'Yes, your Reverence, he took a little,
just a leetle, too much of the crat_ure, and we thought we
had better have a priest.' Father Hurley was up and said
· Church before 7 o'clock."
It must not be supposed that Father Hurley was the only
priest of whom the old people delight to relate anecdotes:
as I have mentioned before, his brother Augustinian at St.
Joseph's, Father John Rossiter, wound himself into the
affections and· around the hearts of the faithful, while
Fathers Kenny and M'Girr had a large circle of warm
admirers.
(To be continued.)
�AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MISSION OF
NEW YORK AND CANADA.
( Contiiwcd.)
Up to the period our sketch has now reached, St. Mary's
enjoyed, only by privilege, the title of College; but in 1836,
after a sharp contest, in the Legislature, between ourfriends
and our enemies, it received its charter as .a University·
This victory was, in great measure, due to the influence of
Fr. Murphy, who had lately arrived in Kentucky, and who
devoted himself unsparingly to promote the good of the
College.
But it was not only by thus perfecting what our Fathers
had already undertaken, that He for whom alone they toiled,
gave His blessing to their unassuming labors: in His
providence He destined for the little colony of St. Mary's a
still wider, and far distant field of action. For it He reserved the honor of sending the first pioneers of the new
Society to a land which had been crimsoned with some of
the noblest blood of the old, to inherit the mantle which
had fallen from a Brebeuf and a Lalemant, as they rose
into Heaven amid the whirlwind of savage persecution, and
to revive their spirit in the hearts of thosewho guarded so
jealously the precious deposit of their glorious bodies.
Mgr. Bourget, the zealous and devoted Bishop of Montreal, ardently wishing to see the Society once more at work
in its heavenly-appointed vineyard, invited Rev. Fr. Chazelle, in the year 1839, to conduct the annual ecclesiastical
retreat for the priests of the diocese.
�Ig<J
New York and Canada 111ission.
His presence awoke, throughout the whole of Canada,
fond and saintly memories which long had slumbered.
, Forthwith, the brothers. of those heroes that had died in
blessing the land, and blessed the land in dying, were eagerly pressed to re-enter the country; and no later than 1842
this new branch of our mission was founded. So desirous
to see the Fathers at once established in his diocese was
Mgr. Bourget, whose attachment to the Society has ever
displayed itself in an unceasing solicitude for the welfare of
its memb<:_rs, that he could not wait till a suitable building
should be ·erected, but kindly interested in their behalf the
pious Mr. Rodier, then a distinguished member of the Bar,
but some years later the still more distinguished Mayor of
Montreal. . This worthy representative of genuine catholic
charity declared to the Fathers that he would consider it a
personal favor if they would accept half of his own house,
to be their home as long as they wished. What was offered
with such noble disinterestedness was received with heartfelt.gratitude. As the spacious mansion had already been
partitioned off into two, the Fathers soon after took possession of their quarters, and, on Sept. 9th, 1843, gave the
habit of the Society to our first Canadian novice. This
favored subject, in less than a month, gave, in his turn., the
warm embrace of the Society to a fellow-novice, and both
together, began the ascent of the rugged road of perfec~ion,
helped by each other's example.* Of course, our ordinary
means of subsistence were not, as yet, secured, but
"He, who stills the raven's clam'rous nest,
And decks the lily fair in flow'ry pride,"
provided, no less bountifully, for the well-being of his servants. The alms of the faithful were abundant, and if want
*Respect for the feelings of the living banished from the text
the names of these first-fruits of the new Society in Canada;. but here in
the foot-notes the desire to be useful to future annalists, allows us to
mention, the names of Fr. Regnier, now "operarius" in Troy; and of
R. Fr. H. Hudon our kind Rector at St. Francis Xavier's.
�New York and Canada MissioJZ.
191
were occasionally felt, it served only to give zest to succeeding plenty. Such being the case it is hard to understand
how it became noised abroad, through the city, that the.
fathers were dying of hunger. The rumor came to the ears
of our best of friends, his Lordship, the Bishop, and grieved
him to the heart. He started without delay for our residence, and calling for Fr. Luiset, the Master of novices,
asked him, in a voice in which loving tenderness struggled
with paternal severity, how he could have had so little
confidence in him, as not to inform him of the straits to
which the community was reduced. Fr. Luiset was at a
loss for a reply :-a few moments howt;ver, cleared up the
mystery ; the fears of the good Bishop were dispelled, and
had he sat down with the community at the next meal, he
would have been convinced, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
of the want of foundation of the rumor, and seen, to·his
great satisfaction, that, owing to the charity of their friends,
they were far from starving. Many more must have been
the trials of paternal solicitude on the part of Monseigneur,
and many too the pleasing incidents that occurred, during
the year, when the quiet occupation of the Jesuit novices
ran side by side with the already busy life of the future
magistrate-church and state in such close and harmonious
relations ;-but, owing to our distance from the source of
information, we are forced to leave the record of these facts,
as well as· the lzcroic days of our college of St. Mary's, in
Montreal, to some of our more favored brothers of the
North.* We, ourselves, however, still love to remember
--------------- ----· ---·
*A little anecdote has been related to us, the artless simplicity
of which is too charming to be lost. "Shortly after breakfast every day
during the summer months," says one of the novices of those times, now
a venerable Father, "the bell was rung for ·~Ianualia,' and at once we
three novices repaired to our little garden, to dig potatoes for the community dinner. The task was almost Herculean, for the good brother
charged with planting the potatoes had a favorite theory, based on what
principle of horticulture he never told us, that the deeper they were sunk
into the ground, the more plentiful would be the crop. Accordingly he
had procured a stout pole, about six feet long, and, applying it somewhat
�New .Fori mzd Canada 111ission.
with what fatherly affection the venerable Mr. Rodie.r wel-·
corned to his bountiful table, only a few years ago, all the
novices from the Sault-au-Recollet; with what pleasure he
spoke of the days when his house was our only novitiate,
and assured us, with tears in his eyes, that they were the
happiest of his life. May the eternal Father repay his
charity a hundred fold:
The stranger and the poor by God are sent
And what to these we give, to God is lent.*
That hejl:ts so loving and devoted as those of our generous friends really were, should crowd around the cradle
of the Canada Mission, when, without them, it could not
after the manner of a modern pile-dliver, had succeeded in burying the
forlorn seedling as far out of sight as possible; trusting perhaps that
their proximity to the central fires of the earth would keep them from
freezing, should Spring, as was sometimes the cnse in those regions, prove
rather backward; and the ice in the ot. Lawrence refuse to forsake its
adopted home till Summer was on its heels.
"The good brother took great delight in superintending the labors of
the poor novices, and pointing out the. exact spot in which his novel implement of husbandry had descended; and when any of us, having dug a
ditch some three feet in depth and two in width without even the sign of
a potato, would turn to him in despair, and, pointing to the small mounlain beside us, monument of our labor, ask imploringly, 'how much farther down?' he would deliberately gauge, 'with his eye, the heap of clay
at his feet, and then, in his mpst soothing voice reply, that we must be
near them now; they could not be more than two feet deeper.
"Under such circumstances, you may imagine how great. was our delight to see, on the other side of the low rail fence that divided the garden, good l\Ir. Rodier coming into his orchard. We were not disappointed:
the first thing our kind neighbor \\ould do, would be to shake down
some of the largest and ripest apples that hung on his trees; then, leaning for a few seconds on our fence, he would exclaim: 'Pauvres freres,
pam-res freres!. Here, my children, you mu~t be tired by this time; you
have dug enough for this morning;' and with these words he would toss
us the rosy-cheeked fruits. Oh ! how pretty they looked, in comparison
*Homer says:
lip?,:; rrl.p JCt):; dtr" ff.rra~n:;
So:i~IH ... rrrwzo{ re.
Odys. VI. 208.
.,
�. New York and Canada llfission.
have long survived its birth, was owing, no doubt, in great
measure, to the prayers of the saintly men who, at this
time, successively filled the office of Master of Novices.
The line began with F?-ther Luiset, already mentioned, who,
in fact, may be said to have taken actual possession of Canada in the name of the Society. In 1843, on the feast of
the Holy Name of Jesus, the very day after his arrival at
l\Iontreal with some other Fathers from France, he preached,
at the invitation of Monseigneur Bourget, in the grand
cathedral, since destroyed by fire. He chose for his text
the words of St. Paul; "In nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur, coelestium, terrestrium, et infernorum" (Phil. 2. 10.),
and, by the strain after strain of fervid eloquence which he
poured forth on the glories of the Redeemer, completely
won the hearts of his vast audience.
The knowledge of Christ, and Him crucified, which the
zealous missionary had unfolded to his hearers in the pop·
ulous city, he aftenvards diffused through the. villages and
hamlets for miles around, with so much unction and vigor as
to electrify those who came within reach of his burning
words, and to cause all, priests and laity, actually to clamor
for the entrance of the Fathers into their parishes.
From his apostolic journeys, in which he had scattered
broadcast over an extensive portion of the Lord's vineyard,
the fertile seed of the Divine Word. he returned to the
secluded garden where bloomed the Almighty's flowers of
predilection ; to the care of these, few though they were,
·he devoted his unwearied attention. To his novices, Father
with the spectral potatoes that had been haunting our minds so long.
Fr. l'tlaster allowed us 'Deo Gratias,' and had given general permission
to eat whatever Mr. Rodier might think proper to offer. The good
brother was the only one that seemed crest-fallen at our leaving off when
bushels of potatoes were so near. To console him, we would otfer, with
generous magnanimity, to the author of our woes, a share in our good
fortunes; asking, in return, only one thing, that next Spring, when about
to plant his potatoes, he would use a somewhat shorter pole for a spade.''
�New York and Canada Jlfissio!!.
Luiset displayed the same image of the Redeemer, that ne
had exhibited in the cities and the villages, and, as they
were called to the perfect imitation of the divine l\'lodel, he
descended into every detail, and showed by his solid conferences, and by the example of his daily life, how the
spirit of the cross was to actuate their every thought, word
and deed.
But nothing, perhaps, proved more conclusively that
what he had so long preached was really from the abundance of th~ heart, and that the cross had struck deep roots
therein, !:ha~·his edifying conduct under the terrible affiiction
which, during the third year of his office as Master of
Novices, God was pleased to send him. An operation
performed by a celebrated oculist for the cure of some
slight ailment of his eyes, resulted in total blindness for
the rest of his life. This severe trial, far from wringing
from him the least complaint, only caused him to ·exclaim with ,patient Job: "If we have received good
things at the hand of God, why should we not receive
evil?" (job. 2. 10.) He did not even yield to the subtile
temptation that he would thenceforth be less able to work
for God's glory, but assured that
"God doth not ne&l-·
Either man's works, or His own gifts; who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best,"*
he reposed with such perfect resignation on the divine will,
that, though frequently pressed to make a novena for the
recovery of his sight, he constantly refused, saying: "It is·
God's holy will I should be blind, and God's will is mine."
The truth was, he scarcely looked upon his affiiction as an
evil at all, and, charmed at being no longer disturbed by
the sight of created things, he centred his gaze more stead-·
ily than ever on the Creator, and drank in with' fewer
distractions the vision of his God.
*Milton. Ode on his blindness.
�Nr.v York and Canada llfission.
195
But if the bodies of men had vanished, with the whole
visible world, forever from his sight, their souls still appeared to him of priceless value, and such was his zeal t<?
rescue these from Satan's power, that he easily overcame
all the obstacles his blindness placed in his way. At the conclusion of his three years as Master of Novices, he was sent
to Quebec, where he preached with his wonted fire. Such
was his conviction of the responsibility of this apostolic
duty, that he delivered no sermons but such as he had carefully written out before, and which he still remembered, or
had read to him before ascending the pulpit. The clear
sequence of ideas that runs through these sermons, some
of which are still extant, the striking reflections they embody, and the beautiful language in which they are expressed, prove the thoughtful care and labor expended on
their composition ; while the glow of divine love that animates the whole, shows the man of prayer clothed with
the learning of the scholar and the eloquence of the orator.
However, to do good to souls then, he no longer needed
such preparation ; for he had already preached most forcibly even before uttering one word of his prepared sermon,
and all hearts were deeply moved by beholding the zealous old man still so vigorous, but obliged to be led by
the hand to the foot of the pulpit, then slowly groping his
way up the steps, and finally turning his sightless eyes on
his audience, hushed in the deepest attention: no more
efficacious exhortation could be given-to rejoice in the
midst of affliction, and to kiss the hand that chastiseth.
After a year spent in Quebec he returned to the novitiate,
in the capacity of Socius of the Master of Novices, anu
prevented from ascending the pulpit, as his superiors judged
it better for him not to preach any more by word of mouth,
his zeal sought an outlet in his assiduous attendance in the
confessional. His exactness to follow in this, as in all other
respects, the least prescription of our holy rules, nay what
he considered to be their spirit, even when the letter was
�rg6
~:
NeuJ York and Canada 11fissi(m.
silent amounted almost to scruple, and gave nse to the
following amusing incident:
It was Fr. Luiset's custom to be at his post especially
about 6 o'clock in the evening to receive men on their
return from \Vork. In summer, of course, it was light at
that hour, but as winter came on, knowing it must then be
getting dark he called one of the novices and bade him
place a candle near the confessional, saying it was not
becoming for one of ours to hear anyone's confession, in
his room, after nightfall without a light. The young religious not quite yet as blind in his obedience, as the good
father in his sight, was at a loss how to apply this to the
case of the exact servant of God, and fearing some accident
from fire, ran off in haste, as a true novice, to unbosom
himself in his perplexity to Father Master. His spiritucrl
Father smiling told him he might get the candle, take 'it
unlit to the father's room and retire. The good novice did
as directed and was leaving the room, when to his surprise,
Fr. Luiset solemnly said: "Bring hither the candle and put
it beside me." Prompt obedience this time on the part of
the novice, but still with a vague fear for the consequences.
And well he might fear; for the precise old man, taking
hold of the candlestick, deliberately _ran his hand along the
·candle towards the wick. Fain wo~ld the trembling novice
have lighted the taper, even at the eleventh hour ; but the
eleventh hour unfortunately was a very short one :-it was
already over; Fr. Luiset had reached the top, and feeling
no heat, turned sharply around on this remorse-stricken
culprit and exclaimed with all his animation: "What!
brother, is it possible you wish to deceive me! Have you
no more respect for our holy rules?" The speechless novice
suddenly felt as if he would just then like to unbosom
himself again to Father Master and, with all possible haste,
flung out of. the room.
Fr. Luiset's unbounded respect for even the least rule,
naturally led . him to observe with extraordinary precision
�New York and Canada Mzssi{m.
that continual mortification in all things, and that application to spiritual pursuits on which St. Ignatius so repeatedly
insists. That this mortification extended itself to his refreshment of the body, and that even at his meals his
spirit was far away from the earthly objects around him,
the same novice had daily occasion to witness. Instead of
going through some of the usual "experimenta" of our
novitiates (which circumstances then rendered impossible)
he was appointed to bring the blind father his breakfast,
and help him to what he might need. Whether the novice
still felt a little chafed on the subject of the father's scrupulous
exactitude, and was anxious to overcome a too natural impulse by a generous revenge, or whether, in reading the
life of St. Ignatius, he had been more struck by that part
which narrates the guileless tricks of Fr. Ribadineira on
our Holy Founder, than by some other portions of the same
life, we dare not decide; but certain it is that he observed
with surprise how Fr. Luiset had prescribed to himself a
very limited amount of daily food, and that this limit he
never overstepped. The abstemious religious would cut the
small slice of dry bread handed to him, into five or six still
smaller squares, and then, seated at some distance from the
table, would alternately, with one hand slowly raise to his
mouth a spoonful of coffee, and with the other one of the
morsels of bread : while, at each mouthful, he would turn
his countenance towards heaven, whence every good gift
descends. the charitable attendant thought with dismay on
the sorry plight to which his own young fibres and ardent
spirits would soon be reduced if allowed only so scanty a
supply of "nitrogenous aliments ;" and, convinced that
such lenten diet was utterly insufficient to repair the daily
waste of bone and sinew in the blind but vehement old man,
he s~ far presumed on his charge's infirmity as, the moment
one mouthful of bread disappeared; quietly to replace it by
another, and as the coffee gradually diminished in the cup,
noiselessly to pour in some more.
�198
i.-
J.Vc-& York and Canada fi,fission.
The unsuspecting Father, who was always very exact in
eating whatever he had cut for himself, and sipping his
coffee, spoonful after spoonful, till all was gone, kept on at
his meal, as usual, wholly occupied with other thoughts.
Perhaps even then he was reflecting on the miraculous
multiplication of the loaves and fishes; but if so, his mind
was so intent on the goodness of God in this miracle as to
take no notice of the present multiplication of bread and
coffee, by which he was, so unwittingly, being benefitted.
At last, however, through sheer fatigue at raising the spoon
to his lips· ~o much oftener than usual, he turned quietly to
his kind-hearted attendant, and remarked : "Cette tasse est
bien grande, mon frere." The novice did not attempt to
deny the fact, but was warned by this how far he could go
in his charitable fraud without awakening suspicion : and
so frequently did he ever after (with permission of the
Master of Novices) regulate his perpetual miracle, that he
had time to see the poor blind Father actually thriving
under his treatment.
Father Luiset continued to edify the Novices by his
exact observance of the rules, and his spirit of mortification
till his death in 1855, at the age of 67.
The second equally saintly man to whose prayers and
holy life the early days of the Cai-Iada Mission owed so
many heavenly blessings was Father George Schneider,
who had succeeded Fr. Luiset as Master of Novices, in
1848. Unable, for want of space, to dwell at ·any length
on the life of this fervent religious, we give, in a word, its
correct epitome when we say that it was one continued act
of devotion to St. Joseph, and of unbounded confidence in
this holy Patriarch, repaid by countless favors of all kinds.
\Vere we deficient in example to prove that St.Joseph is
the same as in the past to those that fly to him, the example of .this devout Father alone would be sufficient.
. He first entrusted to this holy Patriarch the care of the
whole house, even down to the pantry itself; and from the
�l'lcw York and Canada .3lission.
199
manner in which the faithful steward discharged this last
part of his commission we may judge how he fulfilled the
rest. Occasionally indeed instead of the expected sound
of the breakfast-bell the silvery voice of Fr. Schneider
would greet the ears of the novices, as he stepped into their
room, and told them, with a smile, that although they had
not yet taken a vow of poverty, the Almighty was pleased
to try them a little on the score of that virtue even then ;
that they would have to wait a while for breakfast, as there
was not a mouthful to eat in the house: but that it would
not be long ; St. Joseph had never failed them yet. On
such occasions, the good novices were only too glad to
suffer something in view of their future vow, and with
perhaps a short invocation to St. Joseph that he would not
tary too long, cheerfully resumed their mental repast, while
awaiting that which was to refresh the body. Fr. Schneider
had spoken truly: they had not to wait long; for never, no,
not once, during all the years he was Master of Novices,
did an hour pass ere in came from some one, often they
knew not from whom, a supply of provision sufficient for
the community.
Having thus secured, forever, food for his novices, the
next step was to procure novices. Fr. Schneider had seen
with deep concern how few vocations had as yet developed,
since the arrival of the Fathers in Montreal, and looking
with anxiety to the future, he referred the matter to his
heavenly counsellor. The result was a recommendation to
the novices to unite with Fr. Master, during the nine days
preceding the feast of St. Joseph, in a fervent novena for
the obtaining of new members. The effect of this appeal
to the holy Patriarch was almost miraculous; for whereas,
previously, only two or three scholastic novices had been
received each year, after the novena four or five begged
admittance into the Society before the month was over, 'and
during the following month the numbe~ ran up to eight.
Ever since then the novitiate has received a very fair yearly
�200
;I
New York a11d Ca11ada Jlfission.
increase, and of late years, after a general novena to· the
same heavenly Procurator, made by order of Rev. Father
Bapst, in all the houses of the mission, a most extraordinary supply of new members.
Fr. Schneider knowing that he was far from having exhausted St. Joseph's liberality, was, on his part, far from
desisting in his petitions. He had obtained food and subjects; there was still wanting a novitiate. To build this he
had not a single dollar, and, moreover, knew not where to
find one;··; but his generous Treasurer knew where they
could be~had in abundance. Permission to begin the building had been refused until enough money had been collected
to cover all expenses. Fr. Schneider starts for Quebec, on a
mission of some weeks' duration; returns at the end of that
time with the required amount. The year 1853 saw the
completion of the large Novitiate at Sault-au-Recollet,
about eight miles from Montreal; and Father Schneider,
through gratitude towards its heavenly Founder, and to
se~ure its future prosperity, placed it under his invocation.
The novices had about a year before left the home where
they had been so charitably sheltered for so many years,
and, calling down many blessings upon their benefactors, taken up their abode in St. Mary's College, which had
been in successful operation since Sept. 20th, i848. Now
that their own home was ready to receive them, they repaired with joy from the crowded city to their peaceful
retreat amid the fields.
These favors, great though they were, were far from being all that Fr. Schneider owed to his glorious Patron. The
devout religious saw with deep grief the seminary of some
Protestant sect just in front of our first novitiate, and remarked that it was a pity to have the work of Satan in such
close proximity to the work of God. He complained of it
to St. Joseph, during the month of March, the period of
the year when all his special requests were made; the month
was hardly over, when the building was sold, at a great
�1Vcw York and Canada iliission.
201
bargain to the Catholics, and became St. Patrick's Hospital.
In later years, he set his heart on obtaining a certain piece
of ground, near our College in Montreal, to build thereon
a church in honor of the Sacred Heart. He prayed to St.
Joseph, and that very piece of ground was presented to him
by one of our kind benefactors. He often had obdurate
sinners to convert: he entrusted their conversion to St.
Joseph, and such was his certainty of success that, on one
occasion, speaking of one of them, he exclaimed with sudden animation: "He is mine to-night."
.
This short account of. Fr. Schneider's deve>tion to St.
Joseph and of a few of the favors with which it was rewarded, forestalls all necessity of adding a word about
his sanctity. St Theresa tells us in her autobiography, that
she never knew anyone \Vho had a true devotion to St.
Joseph, who was not advanced by it in virtue. Now if such
be the case, ;.s it most undoubtedly is, we may easily imagine what a height of perfection Father Schneider attained,
when his whole life was impregnated with so constant and
so filial a devotion to the foster father of Sanctity itself. ·
St. Joseph who had been his consoler in life, smoothed_
likewise his passage to eternity: and Fr. Schneider's death·
in r868 was, like that of the Faithful Servant himself, the
bright dawn of eternal day.
Not to sever the cord of triple strand, of charity on the
one side, and of zeal and gratitude on the other, that linked
the early days of the Canada Mission one with the other,
and bound them all to Rev. Father Chazelle, we have considerably outrun our dates. When most of these results
just described were actually realized, this indefatigable laborer had already been called to his rest. He had returned
to Kentucky, in October, 1839, and was, the following
year, succeeded in his double office of Superior and President of St. Mary's by Rev. Fr. vV. Murphy. Soon afterwards
he departed on matters of business for Rome, and returned
again to the country of his adoption as Superior of the
�New York and Canada 11/isszim.
little band of· missionaries, including Fathers Tellier. F.
Martin, D. Duranquet, Luiset and three lay brothers, which.
at the request of 1\Igr. Bourget left Europe in 1842 for the
Canada branch of our mission, and was occupied, prior to
the erection of St. Mary's College, in our residence of the
Assumption at Sandwich, and of St. Francis Xavier, at La
Prairie.
As Rev. Father Chazelle Iiow ceases to figure in our
sketch, we .cannot dismiss his name without a few words on
the death of this saintly religious, the father of our mission.
In the Summer of 1845, Very Rev. Fr. Boulanger, and his
companion, Rev. Fr. Hus, extended the:r visit to the Indian
Missions of Upper Canada.
The good missionaries in these regions, deprived in
great measure of the community-life o_f the Society, and
almost perfect strangers to those family joys it knows so
well how to foster, had looked forward with unbounded
delight to this visit, as to the dawn of a new era for their
apostolic labors. A letter written some mont~s later by
Fr. P. Point, says that when they actually saw among them
these representatives of the head of the Society, they gave
themselves up unreservedly to the j<;>ys of the present and
hopes of the future. But it adds: "Will not, perhaps these
last prove an illusion? For we are not wont, we children
of St. Ignatius, long to bask in the sunshine." The good
Father was right in his apprehensions, and this very letter
was to bring to V. R. F. Boulanger the first news of the
sickness and death of him on whom most of their hopes
for the future were based.
At the conclusion of the visit it was determined to push
the labors of the Society more to the North-West, and
revive if possible the old settlements of our first Fathers in
the vic_inity of Sault Ste. Marie. Fr. Chazelle was deputed
to visit that part of the country, and to decide on the possibility of founding a residence there to be the nucleus of
future missionary labors through the surrounding country.
�New York and Cauada llfission.
203
On the 8th of August, full of joy at the prospect of
opening a new field for God's glory, Fr. Chazelle started
for Detroit, where he was to take the steamboat for Mackinaw, and there find another which would carry him to the
Sault. Having arrived at Mackinaw, he found no vessel
ready to start, so he travelled on as far as Green Bay, to see
if it might not be possible to start a permanent residence
among the t~ibes bordering on the Riviere du Loup-a river
along which, almost two hundred years before, Fr. Marquette had travelled in the voyage which led to the discovery of the Mississippi. The very day after his arrival at
Green Bay, Fr. Chazelle had a slight attackof fever, which
increased to such an extent that, shortly after, he was forced
to take to his bed. ·while in this state of suffering, he
heard that a steamboat was on the point of starting for
Mackinaw. At this news it was impossible to keep him
back :-sick as he was, he literally leaped from his bed into
the saddle, and hastened towards the wharf. But God, for
whose glory he sought these new fatigues, was satisfied
with his good will; and the same loving Master who, years
before, in Kentucky, had sent him forth on an errand of
charity that he might not be an eye-witness of the calamity
that was to befall his flock, this time, with like fatherly
providence, prevented his setting out; lest, as his end wa,;
approaching, he who had been an angel of consolation at
so many death-beds, should himself die where he must
needs be deprived of the last consolations of his religion.
Despite all his haste, Father Chazelle learned to his sorrow, that he was too late; the boat had already started,
and he had no alternative but to retrace his steps. Once
more at the house, he again sank under his illness, now,
owing, perhaps, to the excitement his late effort had caused,
more violent than before. In the midst of his acute pains,
as if to gain strength from the example of his suffering
mother, he often reverted to the Society and its recent trials
in Europe. It was in the same spirit in which, about a
�204
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1Vczu York and Canada Jfission. ·
month before, hearing of new persecutions excited against
us by the English Government, he had cried out with sudden enthusiasm: \Vicked men that they are; they wish to
kill my mother!
.
The missionary priest of Green Bay attended him in his
sickness, and despairing of his recovery, administered to
him the last sacraments. Almost immediately the holy
religious fell into a protracted agony which ended only with
his life, four days later,.Sept. 4th, I 845. He was fifty-six
years old, and had been twenty-three years in the Society.
The Indians, for whom he was planning works fraught
with so much good, carried his remains to an humble resting place in the quiet cemetery near "The Fathers' Rapids."
This place belonged of old to the missionaries of the Society in these. regions ; and it was a strange contrast to the
"long, long views" of poor devising man, that he who hoped
to revive these once flourishing missions, and instil new life
into these neglected works, should expose himself to numberless dangers and fatigues, and arrive on the spot, only
to be received, he too, as they had been, into the arms of
all-absorbing death. It is indeed the same contrast as is
exhibited in man's very nature:
"An heir to glory: a frail chilli of dust."
But Father Chazelle had now ceased t~ be the frail chitd of
dust, and had entered on his inheritance of glory.
\Vorthy brother of St. Francis Xavier, \Vhose burning
zeal seemed, in him, to live again, he died, as his holy predecessor, far away from his brethren, with none but strangers to receive his last sigh, and with his eyes turned
yearningly towards the fields he had already in spirit conquered for Christ. These indeed were kindred spirits, "one
in willing and in not willing the same ;" and the voice that
called away the pure soul of Father Chazelle, was that of
the loving Master of both, about to give to beings such as
they, o'ne in spirit, one abode.
(To be continued.)
�. A VISIT TO CHICAGO.
FLORISSANT, MARCH 28th, I 87J.
REv. DEAR FAT HER :
P. C.
On Tuesday, the I8th inst., I reached Chicago, by the
Illinois Central · R. R., whose depot is on the lake, in the
heart of the lately burned district. I was rather surprised
not to see around me that bleak charred plain, of which so
much was said and written after last year's terrible conflagration. As I walked up to State street, and rode in the
street cars along State and Madison streets, I saw, it is true,
some empty spots and remnants of fires; but nearly all the
houses had been rebuilt for miles around, and that on a
grander scale and in a more elegant style than before. I had
heard much of the enterprise of the Chicago people, but
of such work, as I saw had been done here, I never had
had any conception. · It is not my purpose to give a sketch
of the wordly, but of the spiritual life of this great city.
Still I may say that such buildings as are rare beauties in
rival \Vestern cities, stand here in long rows along entire
squares, all the rapid growth of the last twelve months,
and still substantial five and six story edifices, with richly
wrought and handsomely adorned fronts. No wonder the
inhabitants are said to be getting prouder of their city than
ever.
I arrived at our Church in the Western part of the city,
about 8 Yz, A. M., and from that moment have not ceased
to wonder and rejoice at the rich harvest, which is here
being gathered in for the granaries of our dear Lord. Our
Fathers and Brethren of Chicago will, I hope, excuse me
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A Visit to C!ticago.
if I reveal some glimpse of the spiritual treasures which
they are so laboriously hoarding up, and which their modesty
or want of leisure, or both, keep from the knowledge of
others. It must be remembered that, sixteen years ago,
Chicago did not yet figure in the catalogue of our province,
Soon after a residence was founded, and thus all that is the
the subject of edification here is the work of a few years.
vVhen I reached our Church on 12th street, near Blue
Island Avenue, the last l\Iass was just over: though a common week day, a large congregation was pouring from the
capacious-basement, where minor services are held in winter. The Church itself is a noble structure, the finest I
have seen in America. It is 214 ft. long by 73 with a
transept of 120, interior height 100 ft. Some twelve years
ago, one of our most esteemed Fathers remarked of it: "A
magnificent Church, but standing in the wilderness-Vox
clamantis in deserto"; and such it was. It had been built
in the prairie, some miles away from what was then Chicago.
But its pastor and builder had rightly understood the place
ana its prospects ; Catholics soon flocked around the new
Church, purchased small and cheap lots, and built modest
dwellings. Many of these settlers owe their sober habits,
as well as their temporal prosperity, entirely to the exertions of their zealous pastors. Froni the beginning, schools
were established, the families frequently visited, and various
societies organized. Soon the ladies of the Sacred Heart
were induced to build a convent in the parish, and, besides
their Academy for boarders and day scholars, to open a
school for the parish children. About ten years ago a fire
consumed the boys' school next to the Church. It was a
master-stroke of Providence. Advantage was taken of this
by the energetic pastor to build a splendid school, which
the city common schools should look up to with envy.
Meanwhile the parish spread rapidly. When I visited Chicago four years ago, the Church, seen from the top of the
Court House; looked to me like a huge elephant standing
�A Visit to C!ticago.
207
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in the midst of a countless herd of sheep. T\VO stations
had been opened for schools, and one for Sunday service,
in remote parts of the parish. A second sisterhood had
been called in to aid in the education of the girls. Having
seen all this formerly, I was prepared to be much edified at
what I was going once more to behold. But I was not
prepared to witness the progress since made. The very
first scene delighted me. There stood before me not only
that huge Church, but, next to it, a College newly built,
by the side of which the Church looked like a dwarf. The
photographed pictures of the College are far from doing
justice to the magnificence of its front. The cordial reception, which greeted me at the threshold, made me feel once
again, what I had often experienced before, that for one
home left in the world, we have gained many in religion. I hastened to offer up the holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
when a new surprise delighted me. Though the morning was
advanced, and all the services were over, I found a respectable congregation at once gathered before the altar, such as I
could not help reflecting I could not meet on many a winter
$unday, at the two Masses of the little country Church, in
which I exercised the ministry. Most justly it is said, "Amat
magnas Ignatius urbes." On the next day, the feast of St.
Joseph, holy communions were plentiful, but as I did not
intend then to write this account, I did not take the trouble
of inquiring how many. That night at 7 ~,there was a congregation of probably some fourteen hundred people to
hear the praises of St. Joseph and receive the Benediction
of the Blessed Sacrament. On Friday night a much larger
congregation still assisted at the Way of the Cross.
These are nearly all working people, who, after the fatigue
of a busy day, (such as business is in Chicago, where every
vehicle and every pedestrian hurries along as if the city
were still on fire) can be gathered at any time, and to any
number for devotional services in their beloved Church.
In fact, every day had its own edifying sights.
�208
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A Visit
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Chicago.
It would make this sketch unreasonably long were I to
attempt a description of this Church's interior decorations.
In fact, though I spent a long time in it, I did not see all ;
it would take several hours to explore all its beauties. Its
high altar is magnificent, in its ornaments, and in symmetry with the entire edifice. Every stained window with
its varied figures and designs, every confessional with its
appropriately carved emblems and statues, the new stations
of the "via crucis," the pulpit, nay every carved panel
of !:he communion railing with its suggestive devices, might
furnish stibjects for separate comment. Large as the buildding was at first, it has had to be extended already by the
addition of 40 feet to the front. Above the entrance is a
gallery as capacious as many a city church, and above this
is the organ-loft with that superb organ, the largest church
organ in the United States, which it had been the noble
ambition of our much-lamented Fr. Smarius, and the object
of his zealous exertions during the last years of his life
to ~rect to the honor of God ;-that, when his own eloquent
voice should no longer send its thunders through the arches
of the vast building, and charm the ears of a delighted
audience, the organ might take up and prolong the strain
of praise unto distant generations,_: He did not live to hear
ther:ch music issue from its wilderness of pipes; but the
first time they sent forth the tones of requiem, was at a
funeral Mass for the repose of his departed spirit.
I had taken the leisure time of one afternoon to examine
the Church; that of another afternoon was devoted to see
the College. Its interior division of rooms and halls does
not appear to be so happy and appropriate as it is liberal
and grand. But other objects of observation were most
gratifying and surprising. Though less than three years
has elapsed since the College was built and opened, it
counts already over 170 pupils and bids fair to count four
or fi~e hundred in a few years more. About one third of
these boys come from the parochial school, which serves
�A Visit to Clzicago.
the purpose of a preparatory course to the College; all
but a dozen are Catholics, and that not in name only, but
in spirit also. The institution is already provided with a
very large and select library and a very valuable collection
of minerals, the finest I have ever seen in any of our Colleges. As good Father Smarius procured the organ, so
.another of the zealous missionaries, who is passionately
fond of natural history, never retur~s from his excursions
without bringing along some trunks full of the choicest
specimens.-But it was on Sunday my enthusiasm of joy
.and admiration reached its height. I will not speak of
numerous congregations crowding the Church every hour
of the morning, as in many other Catholic churches; but
only mention what is peculiar and that briefly. At 7 o'clock,
A. M., the drum and fife were heard, and a band of young
musicians was seen marching from the school-house to the
Church, at the head of a procession of some three hundred
boys. The drums were deposited near the side altar, and
.all the boys received holy communion. We were three
priests distributing holy communion at that mass, and I
was tired when it was over. The Church was crowded and
at the same time another congregation was hearing Mass
in the basement. Every Sunday has some sodality or other
at communion. That of the married men counts five hun-:
dred members, that of the women three hundred; there is
one of young men lately started, and counting already
about one hundred and fifty, another of young ladies, I
believe, three hundred. On the Sunday of my visit some
twelve hundred sacred hosts were distributed though there
had been many communions on St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's days, during the. foregoing week. At 9 o'clock I
saw about eight hundred girls at Mass in the Convent of
the Sisters of Charity, who have one of the parish schools.
The pupils booked this year amount to over a thousandabout seven hundred and fifty in daily attendance. There
are seven hundred and eighty at the parish school of the
�2IO
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A Visit to Chicago:
Ladies of the Sacred Heart, besides seventy boarders and
fifty day scholars of their Academy. The boys amount to
twenty-one hundred, besides the College students, daily
attendance being between sixteen and eighteen hundred.
I saw some thirteen hundred of them at Mass, and listened
to the instruction given them. It was an explanation of
the catechism well adapted to their youthful minds.ln the afternoon there were the various Sunday schools.
To attract pupils to these, there are three different paper:;
published~ by the Sunday School B0ard, viz., two monthlies and cine bi-monthly, so that every Sunday a paper is
given gratis to all who come in time ; where more than one
child belongs to the same family, pictures are given to the
younger ones. That day about .twenty-six hundred papers
were thus given out. The usual number distributed each
month is deven thousand. During the week twenty secular teachers are employed in the boys' school alone, five
men and fifteen women. \Vhence comes the money to pay
all these, and to support the sisterhood, and furnish the
publications ? Every school is self-supporting : there are
no poor schools, and still all the poor children are received,
and treated exactly like the other~. This is one of the
chief sources of success. The -sc,hools are thus made
respectable; in fact they are far ahead of the common
schools· of the neighborhood, whose class rooms are partly
. vacant. Another source of success is the incomparable
tact and indefatigable industry of the one Father and one
Brother who manage all these schools and edit the three
periodicals mentioned. Their industry is admirably imitated by the Sisters, who educate the female portion. If
the boys march in the procession with military bands and
uniforms, the varied scarf<> and endless lines of the girls
delight parents and strangers, and an enthusiasm for the
schools, which seems to be peculiar to the Chicago people, has thus been produced and supported for years and
years; it must be witnessed to be fully appreciated. What
�A Visit to C!ticago.
211
the two just mentioned are doing for the parish schools,
others of our members are accomplishing for the new College, others for the sodalities of the parish, and others on
the missions. Every one has a wide field for his zeal ; five
Fathers would at once find more work than they could
attend to; in fact, the calls for laborers would be indefinite.
But I find, dear Father, that if I were to describe all that
consoled me at Chicago, my letter too would run to an indefinite length. It is too long already, and still I have not
yet described the branch schools for boys and· for girls
established in two remote parts of the parish, nor the
Church of St. Stanislaus, similarly situated and till lately
used for Sunday service alone. But now two Fathers have
taken up their residence there. By taking in galleries and
school rooms, this Church has been made capable of· receiving many hundreds, and yet it is so crowded on Sundays, passages and stairs-cases and school yard included,
that, as one of the sisters quaintly remarked to me, there
is no use for a lady to faint, she cannot be taken out anyhow. This Summer a large Church is to be built there,
with a basement fourteen feet high, a"ud extending the
whole length of the edifice so as to furnish two Churches at
once.
As I am only relating a visit I need not speak of the
missionaries whose base of operations is at Chicago. A
letter, which arrived while I was there, announced to Father
Rector the happy conclusion of a mission at Scranton with
twelve thousand communi'Ons, nineteen converts, two hundred adult first communicants, etc., but I found it was
scarcely minded, such items being commonplace there.
All these gratifying works of salvation are of course
performed by many hands. But there is one man, who has
been constantly the soul and heart of this vigorous
body of laborers, whose name is written in the hearts,
not only of all his thousands of parishioners, but of
�2IZ
Brazil.
many more. thousands of the faithful scattered over this
wide country. I need not add that it is likewise written in the hearts of his loving brethren.
I remain,
Rev. Dear Father,
Respectfully yours in the S. Heart.
C. C., S. J.
BRAZIL-MISSION OF FORTALEZA.
EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER OF FR. ONORATL
FoRTALEZA, JuNE 3rd, 1872.
After conferertces at Fortaleza during the whole month of
Apri~ I was requested by the Bishop to conduct the exercises of May. I soon learned that the devotions of that
month were very popular here, for not only do they take
place in the Churches, but also with much fervor even in'
families. Nevertheless they seldom.."amount to more than
a sermon, some hymns, and the customary fireworks. I
was told, however, that for three years past the Bishop had
forbidden the usual devotion at the Cathedral, on account
of scandal arising from the conduct of some young libertines, who choose this occasion for the profanation of the
holy place. This news rather cooled my ardor, the more
so as the Bishop's previous kindness led me to think that he
had concealed the difficulties out of pure condescension ..
I had almost concluded to quit Fortaleza, and, seeing how
matters stood, I deemed it advisable to cancel the engagement I ?ad made to remain for the month of Mary ; but
the Vicar General insisted that the people relied upon me
�Brazil.
213
to preach, that the singers were ready, that our fears were
exaggerated and that it would be a pity to disappoint the
congregation. My doubts were renewed: still all this parley brought us to the month of May, and, as I was forced
to await the arrival of a steamer, I began the instructions.
From the- very first day the Church was crowded, the
majority of the congregation being men, and this, too,
while similar exercises were going on in the other Churches,
colleges and religious institutions. At the Cathedral all
went on well. During the first week, indeed, I heard some
complaints, but, upon inquiring into the matter myself, I
was happy to find that the faults committed were not
grievous, and, better still, that they were not nun:terous.
As I conducted the exercises according to Fr. Muzzarelli's
method, I waited till the meditation on scandals ; then I
inveighed against the profanation of Churches with all the
vehemence of which I was capable, saying whatever zealous indignation suggested. It would not have been surprising had they stoned me after the sermon; but nothing
of the kind happened. I obtained what I desired, and,
without any falling off in the number of hearers, greater
decorum was observed. I was desirous of preaching to
the free-masons during this month, so as to lead them to
confession ; but no one at all came to confession the first
week, not even the women. Then to obtain the· desired
effect, I thought of disposing the meditations more in accordance with the exercises of St. Ignatius. What admirable graces are attached to the exercises! the meditations upon Confession and Hell roused even many freemasons from their torpor; and from that time forward I
was so incessantly occupied in the confessional, that, till
the end of the month, I had scarcely a moment of repose
night or day.
I must not omit to mention the consolation I experienced
in the spirit and conduct of my penitents. The month of
Mary produced great fruit among the free-masons. I have
�214
Bra:::il.
heard the confessions of many, some of whom were of a
high grade, as was clear from the diplomas !hey handed
me. One of the newspapers, a most impious sheet, contained long articles ridiculing those who had been caught
in the Jesuit nets. I must not pass over an edifying fact
in this connection. The first of these advanced free-masons
gave me his diploma, which I conveyed under secret, as was
my duty, to the Bishop. A few days after I read in the abovementioned journal that the certificate in question had found
its way into the hands of the Bishop's Secretary. I was
very mucl;··troubled, fearing that some of the Bishop's
household had let out the secret; and as the convert attended all the May devotions regularly, I sought him
immediately and explained all the precautions I had taken
in the matter, as well as my astonishment at seeing the fact
made public. He grasped my hand and told me not to
mind it, because he took pleasure in being thus taunted.
Another free-mason, of a still higher grade, was if possible turned into still greater ridicule by the Cmrcnsc. He
had formerly been an apostle of free-masonry, now he dissuades others from joining by explaining to them the antiChristian machinations of the order, secrets with which he
was well acquainted, having once be~n proposed as Secretary of the Grand-Orimt. This man had not missed a
single one of my conferences and had proposed all his
doubts, out of confession, before solemnly renouncing the
sect.
Next to the free-masons, those who gave me most consolation were the pupils of the Lyceum and the Caixciros
(warehouse clerks). The. influence of this class in Brazil is
well known. The Bishop was more surprised. at the success
than anyone else, because they had gone so far as to insult
his Lordship in the public streets. They came in crowds
to me,:so that confessions of students and clerks became
proverbial in the whole city. These young people encouraged one another to approach the Holy Tribunal. They
�Brasil.
215
confessed and communicated separately and returned for
Corpus Christi. These are now our most intimate friends
and that for more than one reason, as you will soon see.
As the Blessed Virgin recompensed my labor and
fatigue with so much liberality, I proposed to have on
the feast of Corpus Christi something unknown in this
country-a general communion. Hearing too that no procession had taken place for some years, owing to want of
funds, I proposed from the pulpit to renew this act of
religion. I succeeded in both undertakings beyond my
expectations. More than one thousand of the faithful
received communion from the hands of the Bishop, and,
for greater convenience, about five hundred others communicated in other Churches. Altogether nearly three thousand received Holy Communion. A well-informed person
told me to-day that there were not so many Communions
in the whole city during the last ten years as in the Cathedral alone on Corpus Christi. Nearly all the recentlyconverted free-masons, many men of every rank, young
people and children, not excepting ·those who had but
lately made their first communion, and in fine a great number of ladies took part in this general communion. I
distributed as souvenirs of the month of Mary the prayer
of Fr. Zucchi to the Blessed Virgin, the prayer of St.
Aloysius, and the hymns of the month, in a Portuguese
translation. I had read them several days in succession,
and the people relished them so much, that many, to avoid
forgetting them, wrote whilst I was saying them, and others
came to ask me for tbem.
As to the procession of Corpus Christi, the President
of the Province was the first to lend his assistance and
contributed two thousand francs. This man came often to
the conferences and gave me much encouragement. He
ordered two battalions to accompany the procession, and
he himself with all the high functionaries joined in the
celebration with much display. But what proves how well
�216
Brazil.
my words were attended to is, that having mentioned the
European custom of strewing flowers on the streets and
decorating the houses (a thing never done here), nearly all
the private houses were adorned with hangings and the
streets strewed with flowers. On our return to the Church
I said a few words about the Holy Sacrament and retired;
I had not entered the Sacristy when I was informed that
the people were waiting for the exercises of the month of
May; and that if I did not intend to have the accustomed
devotions jt would be well to announce it from the pulpit.
The Church, nave and tribune, was filled with people; I
_judged at once that it would not be advisable to omit the
ordinary sermon. I hastened to the Bishop's house to get my
book, and on my return I had to wait half an hour for the
musicians. During the interval the happy thought occurred
to me of putting off the closing exercise until the following
Sunday. Besides I felt urged to recommend in the last discourse devotion to the Blessed Virgin and St. Aloysius, to
obtain for the people the virtue of purity, so difficult in
this country. I made the announcement, telling them that
I would for two days discourse on the Blessed Virgin, the
Patron of Chastity, and finish on the.following Sunday with
an act of consecration to our Holy .-Mother. My words
excited so much devotion towards St. Aloysius, that as
we had neither statue nor painting of this Saint, the Bishop
suggested that we might obtain from Messeggiana a statue
given by the old Society. I encouraged all the young men
to form in procession on the day assigned, recommending
likewise the whole population to give an honorable reception to their Patron ; and went myself for the statue, Messeggiana being two leagues from Fortaleza. I have today
informed the President of my plans, that he may take all
the precautions necessary for maintaining order. I hope
that St. Louis of Gonzaga will do much for the youth of
this city. The Bishop, whose name is Louis, had commenced a church in honor of his Patron, but, as it was too
�Brazil.
217
small, all the work so far done was thrown down and a larger
edifice begun. The President told me that the Architect
had finished the new plan and that the Government would
contribute 50,000 francs towards the erection of the new
building. To-day (4th of June) I went to Messeggiana,
where the Society formerly had a residence, to teach catechism to the Indians. The Church alone remains, the
house having been razed to the ground with a Vandalism
of which none but the partisans of Pombal could be guilty.
I have seen the statue of St. Louis of Gonzaga: but in
point of fact it is but the representation of St. Ignatius
with the head of a child. Imagine a Saint clothed in the
habit of the Society pointing with his right hand to an
open book which he holds in his left, and judge if that is
intended for a statue of St. Louis Gonzaga. Still the people
honor it all the same, and this statue will certainly be liked
by the young folks.
Another fruit of this month of Mary was the establishment of a society for Catholic instruction, proposed and in
part planned by mysel£ Its object is to advance in knowledge its own members as well as others ; and connected
with it will be a newspaper, a printing office and a private
library; a sermon and Benediction will be given for it in
the Cathedral every·Sunday. The Bishop is theDirector
of this association which was founded on the Feast of Corpus Christi.
(Another letter from Pernambuco completes the details
given in the preceding.)
PERNAMBuco, JuNE 22nd, 1872.
Fr. Onorati writes to tell us how he succeeded in conveying the statue of St. Aloysius from Messeggiana to Fortaleza. The inhabitants of the former city were at first
unwilling to let him have the statue and difficulty was anticipated. Fr. Onorati remained with them for some days,
�2!8
Fr. TVozingcr Oil tlzc Pacific Coast.
and so far won their good-will as to prevail on them to
lmd their statue to the people of Fortaleza. The contract
for the loan (I do not know for how long a time) was drawn
up with great solemnity in the Church, in the presence of
a notary. l\len and women, great and small, young and
old, insisted on accompanying the statue by the almost
impassable route. Fr. Onorati alone, with surplice and
stole, went on horseback. \Vhen the procession arrived at
some distance from Fortaleza, the whole city poured out to
meet it, making the welkin ring with their joyous acclamations. Fr: Onorati says he never in his life saw so consoling a spectacle; he estimated the number present at about
25,000. At the city gates the military band joined them,
and the statue of St. Aloysius was borne into the city with
solemn ceremonies.
~
FATHER WENINGER ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
FOURTH LETTER .
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REV. AND VERY DEAR FATHER:
P. C.
\Vhen last I took leave of my readers, I left them to
muse over the beauties of Portland, the Archiepiscopal See
of Oregon. It is the most important city of the State with
a population of fifteen thousand inhabitants, and is comfortably located on the banks of the Willamette river, some
twenty miles above its confluence with the Columbia. It is
. connected by rail, and partly also by water, with the interior o( the country and with Salem, the capital of the State.
From the convent and Academy conducted by the Sisters
of the "Names of :Jesus_ and lVIary," and situated in an
�Fr. TVmingcr on tltc Pacific Coast.
219
elevated part 0f the city, a truly ravishing panorama is
spread out before the gaze of the beholder. Everything
there tells of nature's exhaustless resources and inimitable
grandeur. But what chiefly lends sublimity to the picture,
are the glaciers and snow-capped peaks of the Cascade
Mountains. There are Mt. Hellen, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier,
l\'It. Jefferson and the Two Sisters-every one of them with
an elevation of about twelve thousand feet; but far above
them all towers aloft the giant form of Mt. Hood to a
height of fourteen thousand feet-an eternal monument of
Almighty power, compared to which the Titanic efforts of
ambitious mortals are less than a grain of dust in the
bahmce.
The Catholic population of Portland is almost exclusively
Irish. I found only some forty German Catholic families,
and a very slight sprinkling of French. In fact, along the
whole Pacific Coast the Catholic element is represented by
the ubiquitous sons of the Emerald Isle. Germans, French
and Spaniards form but an insignificant minority. At the
commencement of my missionary campaign in 1869, the
Germans had not a single church of their own, until in San
Francisco they secured the provisionary one mentioned in
a former communication. I also succeeded, after great
efforts, in obtaining another for them at Marysville, dedicated to Saint Theresa. In all other places they were obliged
to go to the English or French Churches.
·
I had heard much of the influx of German Catholics to
this part of the world, but a little personal experience soon
corrected any misconceptions on this point. There is in
reality no German Catholic Emigration worthy of the name
to the Pacific. Even in San Francisco I found scarcely one
fifth of the number accredited to that city. Instead of
twenty thousand, as report would have it, I do not think
that there are more than three or four thousand in all,
practical and non-practical. In other localities, in which
·.-ast numbt>rs were said to have congregated, I came across
�220
Fr. TVtmiug.·r Oil t!tc Pacific Coast.
only ·a few scattered families. ·I succeeded at last in tracing these exaggerated statements to their source. The
priests, who are mostly Irish, French or l.Iexican:;, took
for granted that the Germans whom they knew, were nearly
all Catholics, though not practical. You may imagine the
surprise of these good pastors, when most of these supposed Catholics turned out to be either Protestants or Jews.
The reasons, which have so far kept the tide of German
Catholic Emigration from flowing in this direction, are
simple .enough. California and the Pacific slope were first
settled oy adventurers, goaded on by an insatiate greed of
gold and willing to do without any settled domicile or habitation. Such a life may suit the beggared cltt"i.'alicr de fortuue, restless as the "\Vandering Jew"-or the reckless
VOJ'agmr, equally ready to pitch his tent upon the barren
plain to-day and, like the roving Arabs, to fold it and
plunge into deeper, lonelier solitude to-morrow. But your
honest Catholic German, whose domestic virtues are proverbial, is none of these. He loves to linger. about his
homestead however humble, and to gather his children
around the family hearth. It must go very hard with him
before he can make up his min<;! to sunder the dearest,
holiest ties that nature knows-=those of kindred and of
home.
Another reason was the difficulty of reaching the Pacific
Coast in former times. To cross the never-ending plains
with a team of oxen, which crept along at a snail's pace, was
feasible for a Yankee or a Missouri farmer, but not for a
German. To go by water and tempt the deep again, after
the first experiment in the steerage of a leaky sailing vessel, was perhaps tolerable for an exile of Erin, accustomed
from childhood up to see the threatening breakers dash
against his native island, but it was not very inviting for an
immigrant from the continent of Europe.
But more than all, the inland states had peculiar charms
of their own. The region watered by the Mississippi and its
�Fr. TVmingcr on t!tc Pacific Coast.
221
many tributaries was the "El Dorado" of the German.
There he saw fertile fields, that were a more unfailing source
of honest wealth than boasted mines of gold. Thither, too;
many of his countrymen had already preceded him, and
this fact alone was magic to his soul ; for of the Germans
in particular it is true, that "birds of a feather flock together." Hence it is, that throughout Ohio, Indiana; vVisconson, Iowa and Minnesota, they form the larger and wealthier.
Congregations, while in the Pacific as well as in the Atlantic
States they are but slimly represented. This obliged me to
preach almost exclusively in English, and to content the
Germans by hearing their confessions and giving them the
leading points of the meditation or instruction in their own
tongue.
The French, as far as I am aware, have four congregations
on the Pacific Coast; and I gave missions to them also in
their own churchtiS. · \Vhere they had no separate parishes,
but lived mixed up with the English speaking population, I
did with them as I did with the Germans.
\Vhat a blessing it would be, if every missionary in the
United States had the Apostolic gift granted to St. Francis
Xavier! Then all his hearers might say of him as the Jews
did on Pentecost day: "We have. heard him in our own
tongues speaking the wonderful works of God."
I have learned by sad experience to realize the difficulty
of addressing congregations composed of different nationalities. It generally doubles the number of sermons and
instructions to be given ; and, as a mission usually lasts
from eight to ten days, it becomes necessary to address the
people in each language from thirty to forty times. In
such cases the sermons and instructions are, of course,
shortened; still they take up a considerable time and are
much more fatiguing for the preacher than when he has to
speak only in one language.
Even when one nationality is very slimly represented,
and only the leading points of the meditations or instructions
�222
Fr. IVmingcr on t!tc Pacific Coast.
are given, the work is not without its own peculiar inconveniences. Under the pressure of such circumstances I
sometimes say jestingly to the pastors, that I would like to
suggest, as an addition to the Litanies: "From mixed Congregations, deliver us, 0 Lord!" Even the Pastors themselves find it impossible to satisfy all the various nationalities
that frequently make up the same congregation. Nor is
this at all surprising since even the Apostles experienced
this difficulty in their own day. For we read in Holy \\Trit:
"Et factus est murmur inter Graecos et Hebraeos." \Vherever it is possible, it is desirable for each nationality to have
its own church; the peace and harmony thus secured are
enough to outweigh any other considerations.
The first mission in Oregon took place in the Cathedral
of Portland. It had been already announced, and began
immediately upon my arrival there. Supposing that the
reader would rather see an account by one who witnessed it
than by the one who gave it, I send you an article from the
pen of a certain Mr. l\lc Cormick, one of the most respectable members of the Congregation. Each one will know
how to make allowance for the enthusiasm of first impressions, in a region of the earth where the labors of a priest
are apt to excite a degre\'! of astonishment which they would
not excite any where else; so, he will gu-ard against ascribing
to the missionary more than he would dare to claim for
himself in the secrets of his own heart.
Oregon, Oct. 5th, 1869.
"The Catholics of Portland have recently enjoyed the rare blessing of
a glorious mission conducted by the zealous missionary, Father F. X.
Weninger, 8. J., through whose perseverance and pious admonitions fi
most happy result has been accomplished. Our situation prior to the
labors of the good missionary may well be compared to a garden which
had been suffered to remain uncultivated for many years, where noxious
weeds had supplanted'the beautiful flowers which had hitherto blossomed
within its boundaries. But Fr. 'Veninger came, and like a skilful gardener he Up:t"ooted the weeds of sin, and made the garden of our holy
faith a blooming sanctuary of saved souls.
His plain language makes a lasting impression on the heart; but
neither language nor eloquence can express the zeal which he infuses
�Fr. TVcningcr o1z t!tc Pacific Coast.
223
into the hearts of his hearers, and the enthusiasm with which they enroll
themselves under the standard of the Cross. 'With the blessing of God,
all the good Father requires is that a tiny spark of Catholic faith should
smoulder in the hearts of those who listen to him; and if they are true
to themselves, and listen to his practical admonitions, he will not only
fan that spark into a flame, but he will enkindle the fire of divine love
in the hearts of all the faithful.
To say that his mission was a success, gives but a faint idea of the
work achieved. The amount of good accomplished was almost miraculous. )!any a poor soul who had wandered about for years, never
knowing the consolations of our holy creed, and never tasting of the
fruit of the tree of eternal life, has been recovered to purity and peace
of conscience. God strengthen the good Father in his great work.
)lay he live many years, so that he may be enabled to give renewals of
the missions to every parish where he has erected a mission cross; and
thus have the inexpressible joy of beholding visibly the fruit of his.
labors."
From the Capital of Oregon, I started to give a mission
to a Canadian Congregation at a station called St. Louis.
It was a relief to find that nearly all were French and acquainted with "Ia belle langue." Among those, who go by
the name of French in the United States, and especially in
Oregon, but few are natives of France; many are Canadians.
who have exchanged their own country for the States in
order to improve their temporal condition. Quite a number
of them pour into the North-\Vestern portion of our Republic to trade and live with the Indians. · They frequently
intermarry with the wild men of the forests, and their children are called .ftfctives or half-breeds. Indeed it is a remarkable fact that the French, who are the representatives
of social refinement, are drawn, as it were, by a sort of
fascination to amalgamate with these savages. Even
Frenchmen of wealth and standing are found here, who prefer
to link their fortunes to those of an Indian squaw rather
than to a lady of their own race. It is a startling confirmation of the well-known proverb: "extrema tangunt,-extremes meet." The JV!ctives or offspring of such marriages
are a mixture of French and Indian in character as well as in
blood; and it is interesting to note in them the vivacity of
�224
Fr. Tficningcr on tlzc Pacific Coast.
one parent combined with the meditative seriousness of the
other. On leaving the church after a sermon, these 1lli:ti•xs
may be often seen solitary and pensive, leaning on a fence
and musing over what they have heard. l\Iany of them
speak, or at least understand, French enough to profit by a
sermon. If they are unable to confess in French they do
it by an interpreter.
And here I cannot but remark in passing, that the efficacy
and power of a mission seem to be pretty much the same
for all nation~lities. The enlightening, touching and strengthening power of divine grace is equally great, no matter
. who are the hearers of God's holy \Vord. Though it has
been my duty and my consolation for these twenty-five
years to give missions in all the States from New York to
Vancouver's Island, I have always found new reasons to
admire the wonderful changes produced by the exercises of
our Holy Founder, in all hearts and under all sorts of circumstances. \Vhat is especially remarkable is the unmistakable fact that these results are by no means due to the
exertions of the Missionary, but purely to the mercy of
Him, who says: "Miserebor cujus misereor, et misericordiam praestabo cujus misereor." It wquld really seem that
the missionary, who sees these results. for which he knows
himself to be utterly insufficient, ought to be exempt from
any failings of self-complacency and feel like exclaiming:
"Digitus Dei est hie."
All nationalities evince the same zeal to profit by the
affluence of graces, which generally attends the Spiritual
Exercises and which at the very dawn of the Society made.
a Xavier, a Borgia and a Faber. The delicate, the sluggish and the indifferent, nay those who openly scoff at religion and profess a practicaf infidelity, feel the magic influence of ~he mission and brave heat and cold, snow and ice.
One instance just now occurs to my mind. Last Winter,
on one of the coldest days, a weak and infirm Irish lady
came for a distance of thirteen miles, on foot and fasting, to
�Fr. IVeningt'l· on t!tc Pacific Coast.
.225
receive Communion and to assist at the mission. She was
obliged to leave home shortly after two o'clock A. M. It
was a bitter cold night, on the shores of La.ke Michigan;
and she was all alone. But faith can surmount all obstacles.
The zeal of the Germans was known to me of old in
their own country. In the Tyrol, they would cross the Alps
every day in winter, a~ an elevation of three or four thousand
feet in order to attend a mission. They would form into
caravans, all wearing snow-shoes; and joining hands they
would form a long line across the mountains with the stoutest men at the head, and the weakest boys, girls and aged
people making up the rear. Sometimes, as early as four
o'clock in the morning, they would stand all covered with
snow at the doors of the church. Still these sturdy mountaineers did not show more zeal to assist at a mission than
do their countrymen in their adopted country on this side
of the Atlantic. I shall refer to but one instance among
many. I was giving a mission in Iowa. It was the day
set apart for the special instruction of the married men and
fathers of families.
At the very moment when the ceremony was to have
begun the alarm was given that a pr~irie fire was raging in
the neighborhood. \Ve all proceeded to the door of the
Church. The flames were advancing just in the direction
of the barns, fences and houses of my audience. Instead
of running at once to save their homesteads and crops, they
called on me, ready to stay or go, as I should decide; for
they were determined to stay and hear the sermon out, even
at the risk of seeing their houses laid in ashes. I could
not help exclaiming: "That's glorious !-I thank you for
this example of zeal which you have given to hear the
word of God. But hasten home now and save your worldly
possessions; this is the will of God to-day." They did as
I had bid them, and left me to admire their heroic determination to profit by the grace of the mission.
�Fr. 1Vmillgcr olt t!tc Ptrcifi( Coast.
The same eagerness is found in the French. I should
rather say that they distinguish the:ns~lves at a mission by
more manifest.signs of enthusiasm. At a mission given in
a French country congrcga~ion, where even at }~ster there
had not been more than nine co:11nnmicants, a hundred and
nine young men stood before the confessional on the day
set apart for them. I had to spend the whole night to
hear them and to admit them to the Holy Table on the
following day. In another French congregation the trustees
of the Church advanced towards me on their knees to thank
me in the ~<fme of the congregation for the mission I had
given. Such edifying incidents might be multiplied ad indcfinitum; but I must return to my movements on the Pacific
Coast.
Dtiring the mission at St. Louis a letter arrived from the
Rev. Fr. Rector of St. Igm.tim College, San Francisco,
with a request to open a mission in the College Church on
_the Sunday before Ad\•ent and to continue it until the feast
of the Immaculate Conception, on which day the CEcumenical Council at the Vatican was to be opened.-1 had
therefore, to return immediately to San· Francisco.
Immediately after the close of the mission I took the
stage from St. Louis to Portland. · ~\Yhat a dreadful journey! It suggested another addition to the Litanies: "From
a stage ride in Oregon and \Vashington Territory, deliver
us, 0 Lord!" One day's travelling on such a vehicle and. on.
such a road shakes one's bones a hundred times more than
the thousands of miles from Cincinnati to San Francisco.
I often thank heaven for the application of steam to
travelling purposes, while I recall the humorous remark
ascribed to the great St. Philip Neri "All is vanity except
a carriage on a muddy road." Steam and Electricity make
us almost ubiquitous, and give us advantages for the promotion .of God's greater glory, never possessed by our
zealous fore-fathers. vVhat precious auxiliaries they are to
a Jesuit whose first rule says: "Nostrae vocationis est
�.Fr. IVeningo·
OJt
tltc
P<~cijic
Coast.
227
diversa loca peragrarc." If it were only as easy to observe
all our Rules as this, I should not have much reason to
envy Blessed Berchmans and feel ashamed of mysel(
On arriving at Columbia Bar, we found the Pacific in a
fearful state of commotion. One steamer had lain for eight
days beyond the bar unable to cross it; our. position was
worse, for we had the storm and the Pacific Ocean full
against u,;. It was already \Vinter; and in \Vinter the
South wind almost continually lashes the Pacific Ocean
into a fury and dashes its maddened waves against the Bar;
whilst in Summer the North wind predominates, driving the
\\'a\·es of the Ocean back from the Bar and aiding the
course of navigation.
On the first day we tried twice to cross the Bar, bqt the
steamer was only tossed to and fro and exposed to constant
danger of being lost. All was useless. \Ve had to give it
up and draw back-During the day I frequently heard the
exclamation: "Some Jonas aboard." Such is the superstition of a certain class of seamen, resting on the Scripture
story about the disobedient prophet, that they look upon
the presence of a priest as a presage of storm and disaster.
But observing a change in the air and trusting to a coming
northern breeze, I too exclaimed in a loud voice: "Yes,
some Jonas aboard; but to-morrow you'll be glad of it,
because we shall pass over the Bar." In fact during the
.night, a strong northern gale arose. \Ve crossed the Bar
and moved rapidly onward. The effect was that even
Jews, who had laughed when they heard Jonas mentioned,
now said publicly: "'Tis a good thing, after all, to have a
missionary aboard."
There is a large number of Jews on the Pacific Coast;
but most of tliem belong to the so-called Reformed Israelites, who are, compared to the legal, old Asiatic or Polish
Jews, what Protestants are to Catholics. They make light
of the Old Law and believe what they please. Very often
they are simply Deists, believing in the existence of a God
�Fr. lf1i·ningcr on tltc Pacijic Coast.
and nothing else. There is also a number of orthodox
Jews on the coast, who have their own synagogues apart
from the others. These, as might be expected, are scandalized by the lawless behavior of their Reformed brethren;
and they became quite exasperated at table, when they
heard the Reformed Jews calling with a loud voice for
"ham!! ham!!"
I was particularly amused by the presence of a man who
belonged to the so-called sect of the l\Iillenarians. These
fanatics thi_nk that the elect will celebrate the millenium or
revel of a tfiousand years on earth, and that the time for it
is at hand. They have a kind of meeting-house in San
Francisco, and pretend that Adam and Eve are already
back on Earth, waiting for the commencement of this fabled
era. \Vho would believe that well-educated persons would
be so blind as to throw themselves into the arms of this
absurd denomination. Yet such is actually the fact. The
man I refer to, indulged in scribbling poems during our
voyage, and certainly possessed some ability and training.
I asked him where Adam and Eve might be found. He answered with a solemn countenance and in dead earnest :
"They live in the Blue Mountains of Oregon; I have just
visited them, and brought them a collection from the members of our denomination in San Francisco." Poor Adam
and Eve, who have to subsist on a collection taken up for
them in San Francisco!! They certainly deserve our pity ..
They must feel rather uncomfortable in their Paradise among
the Blue Mountains of Oregon.
This gentleman also told me, that the members of his
denomination will try to spread over the globe and make
proselytes. "I guess you are a missionary?" said he to me;
"so ain 1." I asked him if he meant to make me also a memher of his sect. "Certainly," replied he, and looked at me
with an' expression <;haracteristic of methodist preachers.
"If so," said I, "let me have a little talk with you ;-do you
believe that the Holy Scripture is the word of God and
contains the truth?" "Yes, we do."-"How then do you
�Fr. TVmingtr on tlze Pacific Coast.
expect a millenium now, before the resurrection?"- He
denied a future resurrection, and said that his sect admits
only a kind of transmigration of souls. I then urged the
words of St. Paul to the Corinthians. Seeing that he could
not escape, he became so excited that he broke up the interview, exclaiming: "I don't care anyhow what St. Paul
says. He was a proud man, and a proud man cannot be
trusted." I smiled, and he gave up the hope of my converswn. After a very prosperous voyage, we reached San
Francisco on the fourth day, in good time to begin the
mission at St. Ignatius'.
This mis~;ion lasted twelve (1::~) days and was a source of
great consolation to me. As our congregation in San
Francisco is very numerous and the occasion \vas a very
solemn one, the concourse of people was immense.· At the
instruction for. the girls alone over two thousand were
present, and there were about ten thousand communions in all. At the renewal of the baptismal vows, the
younger members of our sodalities, who had just made
the first communion, surrounded the baptismal font in the
sanctuary. They were decorated with their badges, and
behaved in so edifying a manner, and were so earnest in
their responses, that the whole congregation which packed
the Church lifted up their hands to heaven, and made the
arches of the large edifice resound with the words: "A
.Catholic I am, a Catholic I will remain, a Catholic I will
live, a Catholic I will die. Amen, amen." Never will those
present at the time forget this impressive scene. On the
last day, after the blessing of the mission cross, I usually
allow the mothers to come with all their children, including
their babes, in order to bless them, and to start the Society
of the Holy Infancy. This time at St. Ignatius' the children
offered 2 so dollars in gold.
I had still to give a mission to the French before the
close of the year. They have a Church of their own in
San Francisco; but only some females used to frequent it.
Indeed, it was said that, with very few exceptions, French-
�230
Fr. TVcnilwcr
b
011
!Itt
.
Paci-hc Coast.
'J''
men were no longer seen at .Church in San Francisco. An
occasion soon offered itself to convince me of their sad
condition. Happening to meet a French workman in the
yard of the priest's house, whilst giving the mission at St.
Francis, I asked him, "Are you a Frenchman?" "Oui, mon
pere." "Then I suppose you are a Catholic?" "Oui, je
suis un Catholique, Romain, Apostolique." "Do you understand English?" "Oui, mon pere." "Do you come to
the mission?" "Non, mon pere." "\Vhy not?" '·Il faut
travailler.~'' "But in the evening?" "Je suis htigue." ·'{llais
le dimandie ?" "II faut se promener." "\Vhen did you go
to confession last?" ''Oh! c'est long temps passe." "Why
do you not go to confession?" "Je n'aime p:1s Ia confession."
"And you say that you are a Catholic?" "Oui, je vous
l'ai deja dit, je suis un Catholique Romain, Apostolique."
There is a great difference between the Frenchman and
German. The Frenchman, though he does not practice
his religion, so long as he does not become a positive infidel,
always retains in his heart some esteem for our holy h'lith.
In this, as in oth::r poihts, he resembles his Irish brother.
However disheartening this state of things might be, I determined to make the best of it .. I began the mission,
trusting in nothing but the infinite_. mercy of God, and I
was not disappointed.-There were even more men than
women at tht> sermons and confessions: and the most consoling thing of all was that the fruit of the mission proved
lasting. The pastor told me that during the following
Eastertide more than seven hundred persons approached
the sacred table, while before the mission there had been
but few Easter confessions. I celebrated Christmastide with
the German congregation-preached on the evening of the
last day of the year, and together with them chanted the
"Tc Dmm," thanking God especially for the graces bestowe.d on me and my labors during the missions on the
Pacific Coast.
Yours truly,
F. X.
WENINGER,
s. J.
�FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
I
AT WOODSTOCK.
•
CoLLEGIU.\1 SACRATissnii CoRDIS ]EsU .
\VOODSTOCK, JUNE 20th, 1873·
The scholastic year, just passed away with its fleetness
of ceaseless action, has left on \Voodstock the impress of
many a beautiful change. Not only has the shaggy back
of the hill which looked bleak into the house, given way to
the practical skill of some and the devoted self-sacrifice of
others; not only have we smoothed with green the lawn
that takes its pbce, circled it with pines, and set its centre
with o:·namental vases; not only have we girded the beauty
of the garden and lawn with a walk that winds in the
shadow of the trees which crown the hill: but over the
beJs of our flowering garden, over the valley, its river, and ·
the wooded hills beyond, we have set the crown of all, the
image of the Eternal son of God with His Sacred Heart,
as the remembrancer of a great and memorable event, as
the seal of the solemn and perpetual consecration of \Voodstock College to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
\Vhy this house has been specially consecrated to the
Heart of Jesus, may be gathered from the introduction of
Very Rev. Fr. Provincial's Exhortation, given to the community on the eve of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, and which
we desire to preface with a brief account of the consecration, aml of the dedication of its memorial.
Hoth took place on the evening of the Feast. At the
solemn Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, 6 o'clock,
P. M., and immediately before the Ta1tt11m Ergo, Very Rev.
Fr. Provincial solemnly read the act of consecration of the
Coliege to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
�232
Feast of tltc Sacr,·d Heart at TVoodstock.
Immediately after the Ben:=diction, we left the chapel and
went in procession to the front of the house. All bore
burning tapers and in the way chanted the Litan)r of the
Blessed Virgin. Arrived at the monument, ~he ranks filed
off into the garden walks, while Very Rev. Fr. Provincial,
assisted by Rev. Fr. Rector and Fr. Sestini, remained in
front of the statue, in order to perform the blessing.
There was no unveiling of the statue to gratify the vanity
of an artist, or to fill with admiration the first gaze of a.
multitudejt1 suspense. To our thoughts the inrage unveiled
the figure "of the unseen God, the beautiful form of the
Lord pointing to His Sacred Heart. Nor was there a festi\·e oration to awaken the great thoughts that slumber in
the souls of men, for such a one we had heard the evening
before, and the eloquent voice of Him, "like whom none
e·;er spoke," sounded in secret through the hearts of many
• and filled them with thoughts no less than divine. But
there was the solemn chant of the choir, there was the holy
presence of a religious community, and, at last, the blessing
of the monument according to the short but sacred rite of
the Church.
\ Vhen Very Rev. Fr. Provincial !lad finished this ceremony, we returned in procession to_ the house, singing as
we went the "Laudamus Domimwz"-our so'ng of praise
and thanksgiving to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the
blessings with which It had crowned Its own Feast in this
Its own College, and among us, the students of the College
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
A few words now about the monument. It is situated in
the centre of our little flower garden, about one hundred
feet from the house, and opposite the main entrance. Upon
six feet of mason-work, which rises three feet above the
levd of the garden and is covered with a green mound,
there ."rests a pedestal of granite, massive and simple, with
marble tablets in its four sides. This base is seven feet
eight inches high. Upon it stands the statue which is made
�Ftast of the ~<.,acrcd Hcmt at Woodstock.
233
of zinc, is painted white, and at some distance looks like
n1arble. The monument faces the South, and the marble
tablet on this side bears the following inscription in the
lapidary style:
CORDI
IESV · SERVATORIS
SANCTISSIMO
IN· CVIVS • FIDE
COLLEGil · AEDES
SVNT
AEREVM • SIGNVM
SO DALES
Al\'lORIS
ET • GRATI • ANIMI
CAVSSA
PP •
below which the date is engraven on polished granite.
X . KAL · IVL • AN . M · DCCC · LXXIII
The following inscriptions are on the tablets facing East,
\Vest and North, respectively:
0 · CAELI
TERRAEQVE·POTENS
CLIENTVM • PRECIBVS
FAVETO
ELEMENTORVM • IRAS
AB · AEDIBVS
TARTARE! · HOSTIS
INSIDIAS
ET ·,VISOS
INVISOSQVE · MORBOS
AB · INCOLIS
DEFEND ITO
�234
Feast of t!te Sacred Heart at fVoodstock.
TIBI
HAEC · ARVA · RIDENT
ATQVE
AGGERE · COMPLANATO
HAE · FLORIBVS
NITENT · AREOLAE
ET
PVBES · VNDIQVE · ACCITA
VIRTVTIBVS
SCIENTIIS · QVE
ADOLESCIT.
QVAS
CIRCVl\I
CERNIS
CHRISTO
VRNAE
FLORIBVS · HALANT
NE
CARPE
INCESTO
POLLICI•:
QVISQVE
FVAS
Looking at the monument as it stands, there is nothing
that might be called strikingly grand. But it nevertheless
embodies the truest conception of. the Man-God. The
broad, solid, and endurable base of granite reminds one of
the unshaken and immovable throne of God. On it stands
the white statue, calm and majestic, imaging the Lord as
He appeared to Blessed Margaret Mary. The calm countenance bends down upon you with heavenly serenity, the
left hand points to the Heart of Love, while the right holds
the fold of the sacred robe. Lower, perhaps, and nearer
the earth than some would have it, the image stands before
you with the ·attractive majesty of our Leader, and the
divine humility of the Man-God.
Such is the memorial of the solemn consecration of this
College to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, such the divine seal
that has been stamped upon this irrevocable act. May it re-
�Feast of tlze Sacred Heart at lVoodstock.
235
mind us and those who come after us of the deep nieaning
of this solemn consecration in thoughts, if not so beautiful,
still ever as salutary, as those which, on the eve of the
Feast, Very Rev. Fr. Provincial proposed for our consideration.
CONSECRATION OF WOODSTOCK COLLEGE TO THE SACRED HEART
OF JESUS ON THE FEAST OF THE S. HEART,
20 June, 1873·
"I luwe sanctified tlzis house to put my name tlzcrc forez•cr:
and my qts aud 11l)' lzcart shall be tlzcre alwa,ys." (iii. Kings 9.)
Reverend Fathers and dearly beloved Brethren in the
Sacred Heart of Jesus:
At the close of the last visitation of this house, the following words were recorded in the book of the memorials: ,
"At a meeting of the Fathers called during the official
visit to this house, on the 24th of April, 1873, it was proposed and unanimously resolved that Woodstock College
should be specially consecrated to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, and that its title in the Catalogue of the Province
should be 'Collegium Sacratissimi Cordis J~su ;'* and that
the Sacred Heart of Jesus should be considered as the
principal Patron, and its Feast the Titular Feast of the
College."
We have reason to thank God for this pious inspiration
which He sent, and for the happy resolution which it
prompted and which we fulfil on this ever-memorable day.
We may look upon it as an evidence of God's special love;
since He designs to apply to this house, with a peculiar
significance those wonderful and consoling words : "I have
sanctified this house to put my name there forever; and
my eyes and my heart shall be there always." Henceforth
this house shall be a holy house ; a temple sacred to the
* The legal title remains as fixed in the Charter: "Woodstock· College ;"-and the Post-office address continues as before.
�,,
236
Feast of t!te Sacn·d Heart at fVoodstock.
I
I
Divine Heart, which is to reign in it forever as its King, to
dwell in it as its Father. And we, who dwell here with
this Divine Heart, and all those who shall follow us, will be
the servants of this glorious Master, the children of the
tenderest of Fathers. On us His eyes will ever rest with
pleasure; on us His Heart will ever shed Its best love, Its
choicest graces.
The Spirit of God, which fills the whole earth, and which
is the aniniating principle of the Church, has, in all ages.
suggested· and inspired the means best adapted to ward off
the dangers that threatened the faithful at various times,
and has produced in the Church a sort of divine instinct,
secret but .irresistible, unconscious but infallible, which
urged the faithful now to one, now to another precaution,
caused now this devotion-to predominate, now that pious
practice to be adopted ; pointed to-day to one danger as it
arose, to-morrow to another which succeeded. And thus
forewarned and forearmed, the Church has baffled the bestlaid-plans for her destruction and triumphed over the hidden, as well as over the open assaults of her enemies. In
our days, if there is one feeling in the great heart of the
Church more intense, if there is OJ!~ impulse of that divine
instinct more powerful than another, who can doubt that
it is the feeling which inspires confidence in the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, the impulse which presses the faithful to
fly to it, as to a city of refuge, to dwell in it, as in a secure
asylum? A spirit has gone forth upon the Church in all
lands ; it has breathed upon all peoples. · The captive
Pontiff has felt it on his throne. The Princes of the
Church have been moved by its power. Cities and Dioceses,
Kingdoms and nations have owned its influence; and down
to the humblest of the children of the Church, the gentle
whispering of that spirit has been heard. It is the spirit
of consecration, of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
This spirit has taken possession of the entire body of the
Church; it has permeated all its members; and to the eye
�Feast of tile Sacrtd Heart at Woodstock.
237
of faith, the Church presents to-day a spectacle similar to
that which was witnessed in the days that preceded the
deluge ;-a long, earnest, fearful, yet hopeful procession
from every land under heaven, of those who are not to perish, crowding towards the Ark of Salvation, taking refuge
in the Heart of Jesus. A mysterious voice seems to have
spoken to the heart of the Church, and told of evil days
that are at hand, of dark storms lurking behind the horizon; but at the same time, suggested the refuge in which
her children would be secure. And therefore we have
heard of cities and dioceses consecrated to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus; of kingdoms and nations, of entire Religious
Orders, of associations, of congregations, compmnities,
civil and military as well as religious, devoting themselves
by public and solemn acts of consecration to the same
Divine Heart. Our Society was specially favored by being
among the first to feel this holy and salutary inspiration,
and we still remember with joy and gratitude, the consolation, the courage, the hope which our solemn consecration
to the Sacred l-Ieart diffused throughout all the provinces
and houses of the Society.
And as we had reason then to praise the goodness of our
. Lord for drawing the Society to a more intimate union with
His Sacred Heart, so we may thank Him again to-day for
deigning to unite us and this house to It in the still closer
bonds of a special consecration.
There is indeed a deep significance in the grace vouchsafed to us on this day. It is a warning ; it is a protection ;
it is a promise of a glorious victory.
1. It is a warning.
For, this divine impulse which bids
us devote ourselves entirely to the Sacred Heart, signifies
to us that there are special dangers to be met, more subtle,
or more violent attacks to be sustained, against which our
only defence will be the power, the love, the compassion of
that Heart, in which power, love and compassion are infinite. It is a warning which tells us, in a manner which ex-
�238
Feast of tlte Sacred Heart at Woodstock.
eludes all doubt or hesitation, that unless we shelter ourselves in this Heart, we shall find no other asylum equally
secure against the coming dangers. It is a warning, because it bids us understand what is meant by being consecrated entirely and unreservedly to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus.· For, our consecration must not be a mere passing
ceremony, splendid and consoling while it lasts, but soon to
be forgotten and leaving no trace after it. If we are truly
consecrated to the Sacred Heart, our lives must give evidence of it.i our minds, our hearts, our time, our labor, our
energies must be sacrificed on the Altar of the Sacred
Heart, and our entire being must be devoted to Its glory.
To be consecrated to the Sacred Heart, is to be totally
vowed to' Its interests, to the increase of love towards It,
to the diffusion of Its graces over the hearts of men. It
is to be the faithful and zealous servants of that Divine
Heart, ever watchful, ever laboriously promoting Its glory;
ever lovingly devising new proofs of attachment. It is, to
be the valiant soldier of the Sacred Heart, never sleeping
at his post, never deserting his standard, never shrinking
from hardship in Its service, ever eager to defend Its honor,
to extend Its conquests, to lead the. hearts of men captive
to Its love.
..- -·
Such is the warning we receive to-day ; and such should
be our life-long interpretation of its meaning.
2. And if we thus understand the warning, then our
consecration to the Sacred Heart will be real, sincere
and lasting; and therefore, it will also be a defence and a
protection, as well as a promise of victory.
Now, since our vocation is, to sanctify our own'soul and
to labor successfully for the salvation of others, that which
most effectually secures this twofold object, will be at once
our safety against a fall, our help to advance in perfection,
and a· fruitful benediction on our labors for others. But
what can be a more abundant source of grace for our own
advancement in virtue than that Heart in which all virtue
�'
Feast of t!te Sacred Heart at
~Voodstock.
239
is centred, from which alone all virtue proceeds? what
means can be more efficacious for our own sanctification
than that devotion to which our Lord Himself has promised the most boundless effusion of every grace? To be a
perfect Religious, a worthy companion of Jesus, is to be
truly. humble, obedient, poor, chaste, mortified, patient,
charitable, meek and uncomplaining. 0 look at that
Divine Heart, and tell me where you will find those virtues
in equal perfection and with equal eagerness to well up
from their deep fountains and to pour themselves out in
copious streams, to flood your hearts with their heavenly
wealth of beauty, of joy and of merit? If you desire to
find Religion a Paradise of delights, an Eden of endless
fertility and of unbroken peace, let it be the Paradise of the
Sacred Heart, with Its warm sunshine to illumine and Its
rich streams to give birth to the flowers and the fruits.
Live in this Heart, feast upon Its manna, grow into.Its
likeness, imbibe Its spirit, imitate Its virtues: in a word,
be devout to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and not only shall
you be secure against all danger of being overcome by the
deceits of your enemies, but you will find the practice of
religious virtue a delight, you will advance in perfection, as
it were, without effort, as if you were borne along by a
power not your own ; you will be the ornaments of your
holy mother, the Society of Jesus, the true children of
St. Ignatius.
3· And if your hearts are then filled with the spirit and
the virtues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; if you go forth
from this house armed with this devotion and animated
with the zeal \Vhich it will produce within you, can you doubt
that you have a promise of victory; can you doubt that
your labors will be blessed with abundant fruit; that you
will repulse with triumphant energy every assault of the
devil and the world upon the citadel entrusted to your
valor? ... the Sacred Heart itself i~ your warrant of success. It has promised victory to its followers and has told
�240
'·
Feast
of tlze Sacred Heart at TVoodstock.
them that no power should resist them. The hardest hearts
shall melt at their word ; the most obstinate sinners shall·
be conquered by their zeal; the most inveterate abuses shall
yield to their gentle but mysteriously invincible power. .
And all these promises both of grace for ourselves and
of power over the souls of others, are peculiarly our own.
It is to us, in a special manner, that this treasure is confided
to enrich our own hearts and to adorn the hearts of our
neighbors. The Divine Heart of Jesus draws us to itself
with special predile<=:tion and looks to us for the extension
of its love, the spread of its devotion. And to-day, it
receives us into the ranks of its most devoted followers,
into the number of its Apostles. This house becomes a
sanctuary of the Sacred Heart; a sacred school in which
we shall learn from It how we must combat, how we may
triumph. Here, in this happy abode, our hearts will be
filled with the choicest graces, with the zeal, the prudence,
the charity,-the ardent love for God, the heroic fortitude, the
div~ne and all-subduing power, which we shall need in future
years on the battle-fields of the world. This house becomes
a centre of apostolic fervor, a brightly burning furnace of
devotion to the Sacred Heart, and from this centre that
apostolic fervor will carry this d~yotion in rays of purest
light to the ends of the earth, everywhere dissipating the
darkness of error, ending the long night of sin and shedding life and beauty, grace and strength upon the hearts of
men.
May this house then be ever worthy of the glorious title
which this day bestows upon it:
"THE COLLEGE OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS."
College, because it is a house in which many are assembled
for a common purpose; College,_ because its members are
devoted to the study of science : but College of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, because they are assembled in that Name
and cultivate science for the glory of that Heart: College
�Feast of tltc Sacred Heart at lVoodstock.
241
of the Sacred Heart, because they that dwell in it are the
servants, the clients, the children, the disciples of that
Heart; because their only. study is to learn the lessons
which thc.t Heart teaches and because all other study is
directed to this end, animated and elevated by this intention,
sanctified by the ardent desire to enlighten the hearts o(
others with this heavenly wisdom; College of the Sacred
Heart, because that Divine Heart presides over it as its
chief and only true Superior and Father; and all its inmates obey its voice, love its commands, fulfil its precepts
and strive in all things to merit its approval: because that
Heart is the Master whose lessons are heard and esteemed
above all other lessons ; whose wisdom guides all other
study, and in whose truly divine science alone all other
sciences find their origin and first principles, their truth, the
solution of their difficulties and the beauty of their final
perfection. In a word, College of the Sacred Heart, because
it educates the Apostles of devotion to it. This is to be
the chief glory of this house, the brightest ornament in its
crown, as well as the chief and sole end of its existence
and its labors.
Its aim henceforward is, to train up men filled with the
spirit of the Sacred Heart and send them forth to pour out
this spirit; which alone can renew the face of the earth; its
joy shall be to witness this glorious renewal effected by its
Apostles; its crown-truly a crown of joy and a diadem of
exultation, such as no mortal monarch ever bound around
his brow,-hearts, once blackened with crimes, once wounded and bleeding, now healed, purified, made beautiful in
their resemblance to the Sacred Heart of, Jesus; hearts
won by these Apostles of the Sacred Heart and brought
back as a tribute and as trophies to this source of their
happiness and their salvation.
�CHURCHVILLE, BERKS CO., PA.
From a letter to Revd. Fr. Provincial, from Fr. Bally,
S. J., Pastor of the Catholic Church in Churchville, Berks
Co., Pa., \Ve quote the following :
"On last Sunday, (July 6th) our Church was the scene of
a most consoling and edifying ceremony. The Revd. Edward Forney, Pastor of the German Reformed Church in
Norristown, made a formal abjuration of heresy, according
to the formula adopt:::d by the last Council of Baltimon", and
was received into the Catholic Church. l\lr. George Wolff,
Editor of the Philadelphia Catholic Standard, and Professor
Budd, also of Philadelphia, both converts, were present at
the ceremony, the former acting as sponsor. Fr. Schleuter
and Revd. Fr. :\IcDermott, of St. John's Church,.Philadelphia, assisted in the administration of the SacramenL Everything was done in Latin, with which all those present were
familiar. l\lr. Forney made a tr}.duum preparatory to his
reception into the Church, to the· devotions of which he
was strongly attached even before the time of hi:; abjuration; indeed it has even been his habit for the last two
years to recite daily the Rosary of the B. V. Mary. Though
but twenty-two years old, Mr. Forney has graduated in two
Colleges and is an excellent English and Classical scholar.
Being unmarried, he will be free to follow, without difficulty, his natural inclination, to enter the ecclesiastical
state, though he will take a month to reflect and decide
upon the course he will now adopt. Before his abjuration
he took leave of his former congregation in an affectionate
lette'r, stating that though reason and conscience forced
him to embrace the Catholic faith, still he would always
continue to think kindly of them and pray for them as
before. He is not without great hope that some of his
former flock will follow his example."
�OBITUARY.
Since our last issue, two members of our community have
been called to their rest; on June the 19th, the eve of the
Feast of the Sacred Heart, Father Dominic Franchini departed this life, and about a month later, July 15th, Father
Felix Cicaterri. In making this announcement, we do not
propose to give any account of their holy and laborious
lives, but, leaving the meritorious record to our Lord, who
knows and will reward it, we beg for our dear departed the
prayers of all our brethren whom this news will reach.
Father Franchini had been in America but one year, and
this he spent in Woodstock, as Professor of Moral Theology. Before he came, the very delicate state of his health
was well known to superiors, but not a little hope of staying
the progress of his decline was based on his residence in a
new climate. \Vith the exception of very few days, he
taught his class regularly, and resigned it only when entering on the four weeks' sickness which closed his holy life.
His gentle, cheerful and saintly disposition received fresh
development during his last illness; resigned to die, or
rather joyous in the anticipation of his early release, he had
but one source of anxiety, the dread of being an annoyance
to others, and to the last the most trifling service rendered
never failed to win from him a word, or at least a smile, of
grateful recognition. His ardent devotion to our Lord's
Heart in the Blessed Sacrament, his tender, filial trust in
Mary's help, and his truly singular purity of soul, met
their re\vard in his last hour. Calmly, and with very little
struggle, he breathed his last a few minutes before 10, P. M.,
on the Eve of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. Not for his
�,,
. 244
Obituary .
learning or labors, though eminent in the one and prodigal
in the other, was he most precious whilst here, or is he now
deplored: the virtues of his soul, native and unadorned, and
those new ones that grace and cooperation gained for him,
were his greatest treasure and. our greatest loss; a loss
however that we bear not with sorrow, but with sweet joy
for the gain it has brought to our dear Father.
About 2, P. l\1., on July the I 5th, the feast of B. Azevedo
and his martyred companions, the venerable Fr. Cicaterri
entered into rest. In January last, he came to \Voodstock
to assume- .the post of Spiritual Father, and in the service
of our community he bravely spent the last months of an
eventful life. For many years a complication of diseases
made him a terrible sufferer, but his indomitable will and
wonderful force of character seemed to render him superior
to physical weakness. His condition grew alarming about
the beginning of June, and it was evident that no human
means would avail to save his life. Just at that time workmen were laying the foundations of the monument to the
Sacrt!d Heart, the erection of which is noticed in these
pages, and, receiving a new impulse from the happy occasion that was drawing near, the whole community confidently turned to our Lord, and sought from Him the lives
of our two sick Fathers. God willed otherwise; on the
Feast of the Sacred Heart, Father Franchini was, we hope,
among the Sacred Heart's adorers in heaven. Father
Cicaterri gathered strength to drag himself to the window
of his room, whence he witnessed the ceremony of blessing
the statue, but he never afterwards left his room.
The closing scenes of his life were in example a worthy
complement of the exhortations with which for so many
years he had urged on his brethren in the path of virtue. The
remarkable spirit of prayer, which had characterized his life
from the noviceship up, failed him not at its close. He
prayed· always and with great unction. Even when his
weakness was such that he was forced to keep his bed
�Obituary.
245
throughout the day, he would make an heroic effort and
struggle to the Altar to offer the Holy Sacrifice. Superiors
remonstrated with him for so severely taxing his waning
strength, but he answered: "Do not, I beg of you, deprive
me of a single Mass; they are all precious to me now. The
time is coming soon when I would give anything to offer
the Holy Sacrifice, and I shall not be able."
The last weeks of his life greatly intensified his sufferings,
but his patience and courage grew in proportion. vVhen
the hour of death came, it found him composed and hopefully waiting for the command to go forth. Surrounded by
the members of the community, not a few of whom had
been his novices, while the prayers of the Church were
being recited, his purified soul passed out of this life.
"Lactcntur OlllJtes qui spcrant in te: in actermtm exultabzmt
d lwbitabis in cis.
[Ps. v.
D. 0. M.
��
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Woodstock Letters
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The Woodstock Letters were a publication of the Society of Jesus from 1872 until 1969. They were named after Woodstock College, the Jesuit seminary in Maryland where they were published. Written almost entirely by Jesuits, and originally intended to be read only by Jesuits, the Letters were "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus in North and South America." They include historical articles, updates on work being done by the Jesuits, eyewitness accounts of historic events, book reviews, obituaries, enrollment statistics for Jesuit schools, and various other items of interest to the Society. The writings of many renowned Jesuit scholars and missionaries appeared in the Woodstock Letters, including Pedro Arrupe, Pierre-Jean de Smet, Avery Dulles, Daniel Lord, Walter Hill, John Courtney Murray, Walter Ong, and Gustave Weigel. They provide an invaluable record of the work done by American Jesuits throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries.
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1872-1969
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021157.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Catholic Church--Periodicals</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004995.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--20th century</a>
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Woodstock Letters - Volume 2 (1873)
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
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1873 edition of the Woodstock Letters, "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus."
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Jesuit Archives: Central United States
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Text
A. M. D.
G.
vVOODSTOCIC LETTERS,
A RECORD
Of Curre111 Et·en.ts a ·n d .Ilistorical Notes ctJuu ectn l witll
tll r Colleae.-. aml 1
llissions of' th e Soc. of' .T(~-.u.o;
in ~Yort11. aull South .Lbn erica.
VOL. III.
WOODSTOCK COLLEGE,
1874·
Printed for private circulation only.
��A. M. D. G.
vVOODSTOCIC LETTERS,
A RECORD
Of Cm•re11l Et·euts and HistOJ•ical Notes t'OIIIIectell with
tile Colle(Jes antl .Missions of tile Soc. of
in Nortl1 antl South ..timerico.
,ff'liUS
VOL. III.
WOODSTOCK COLLEGE,
1874·
Pri11ted for private circulation only.
�'.
i.
�CONTENTS.
PAGE
St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia
New York and Canada Mission
Fiftieth Anniversary of the :Missouri Province .
Earliest Ministrations of the Society in Baltimore
Father De Smet
San Antonio, Texas
1, 94, 182
27, 135, 172
43
52, 83
59
G5, 133
Indian 1\Iissions-The Sinpesquensi
G8
Letter from Cincinnati .
73
Last days at the Gcsu
Father \Veninger on the Pacific Coast
79
112, 200
Osage Mission
12G
Devotion towards St. Josepil at Georgetown College
150
Sixth Centennial Feast of St. Thomas at \Vootlstock
154
Mission at Susquehanna, Pa.
158
Foreign News Items
1GO
The Natchez Indians in 1730
1G:3
Indian Missions-Lake Huron
208
Relations of "Medicine-men" with the Evil Spirit
213
Death of l\Ir. Thomas J. Dixon, S. J.
217
Transfer of the relics of St. J ohu Francis Regis
22:3
��:VVO.O D S T 0 CI( 1 ETTERS.
VOL. III., No.
1.
ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.
(Continued.)
The chief difficulty during the administration of Very
Rev. Ludovicus Barth was the ·question of precedence at
the meetings of the trustees of St. Mary's Church, which
since 1810·had been the Cathedral of the diocese. By the
charter granted by the Legislature, there were three clerical
and eight lay trustees. The first pastor of St. Mary's was,
ex officio, President of· the Board. During the life of
Bishop Egan, he, of course, filled the chair. At his death
t!te question arose as to who was the first pastor. All the
priests of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's resided at the St.
Joseph's Residence, and did so until after 1830, although
Hazzard, in his life of Archbishop Hughes, speaks of the
clergy returning from St. Mary's to St. Joseph's. They
formed but one parish and the priests perfo!_'med priestly
�2
St. :Joseph's C!turc!t, P!tiladdp!tia.
duties in both churches. The resident priests were Re\".
John Rossiter 0. S. A., and Reverend Terrence Me Girr.
with occasional assistance from Rev. Patrick.Kenny, and in
1819 from Rev. Enoch Fenwick,* and a short while towards
the end of the year from Rev. Doctor Gallagher. t
During the five years that intervened since the death of
Bishop Egan, Very Rev. Ludovicus Barth, who visited the
City almost every month, when present, presided at the
meeting of the trustees of St. Mary's, and in his absence,
Rev. Father Rossiter; though many of the trustee~ would
have preferred Father .Hurley, although not stationed at St.
Joseph's. The churches of St. Joseph, St. l\lary and St.
Augustine, until this time had given the Archbishop and
the Administrator of the diocese very little trouble. It is
true the fashionable Catholics of East Fourth Street, Matthew Carey, Richard W. Meade, John Ashley, et /zoe gmus
vmne complained most bitterly of the want of eloquence
among the clergy, and as far as this want of eloquence was
to be lamented they had cause to complain. Father Hurley
was brusque and unpolished, Father O'Donnell 0. S. A., was
·prolific and dry, and Father Rossiter said : "say .your prayers,
tdl no lies, don't steal, mind your own business, let's go on
with the Mass." t Father Me Girr·was equal to a soothing
syrup and Father Kenny acted as· a··counter-irritant.
Unfortunately in the first week of May 1820, a young
so mew hat clerical-looking gentleman of the name of Wm.
Hogan entered the Residence at St. Joseph's and informed
Rev. Patrick Kenny that he had come to be one of the pastors of St. Joseph's. When asked who had sent him, he
answered in the slang of to-day, "all right." "When questioned as to his credentials, he replied that they were on
their way from Ireland.
Contra1y to his usual custom, Very Rev. Ludovicus Barth
did not visit St. Joseph's, until the beginning of July.§ In
*Baptismal Registry, p. 288.
t Bap. Reg. p.
t Mrs. O'Donnell's Account.
~
305.
Bap. Reg. p. 323.
�St. :Joseph's Church, Philadelplzia.
3
the meanwhile Mr. Hogan had not been idle. A few days
after his arrival we find him baptizing. * Being of pleasing
address he gained much favor with the so-called "first families." A few Sundays after his arrival he occupied the
pulpit of St. Mary's, and though a very illiterate. man, he
was an effective speaker. Slight and dapper in appearance,
he paid due respect to all the requirements of dress. An
old Quaker relative of mine used to remark: "the price of
pomatum must have risen s"ince \Villiam's arrival." He
soon became a favorite, unhappily too much of a favorite,
with ·the ladies. His manner of acting with them soon
went beyond all the bounds of propriety. For four or five
years a spirit of independence, or more properly speaking
insubordination, was springing up among thepurse-proud
Catholics of the City of Brotherly Love. They soon discovered that they had a ready tool for their unholy purposes,
in the superficial, shallow Wm. Hogan, while their worldly
minded and not over prudent daughters were b4t too ready
to second their efforts. "Look at dear Father Hogan.
Dear Mrs. J..... , said Miss L. .... , isn't he sweet? Old
l\Ic Girr is a perfect scare-crow beside darling Mr. Hogan."
Their admiration was not confined to words; night after
night, the parlors .of East Fourth and West Third Streets
were brilliantly illuminated, and the Rev. Wm. would be
seen stepping it out on the light fantastic toe, while the
"rosy" flowed freely, until long after midnight, and later in
th~ same day, the same guests would be found sitting in the
pews of St. Mary's, whilst Mr. Hogan offered the Spotless
Lamb.
In the meanwhile the conscientious Catholics were anxiously waiting the arrival of the Very Rev. Administrator,
and Fathers Kenny and Me Girr were not silent in private
intercourse, and Father Hurley made the walls of St. Augustine's resound with denunciations of "the fop who had
made himself a priest."
*Baptismal Registry, p. 318.
I
�4
St. Yoseplt's c;;urclt, Plti!adclpltia.
At this time there was living at a fashionable Boardingschool, in \Valnut Street above 3rd, as confidential servant,
Honora Me Glinchy (I am not sure as to the family name).
She was very remarkable for her piety and for her honesty.
Being c~ptivated by Father Hogan's preaching, Honora became one of his warmest admirers and could not
be brought to believe the reports to his discredit. An
indiscreet acquaintance to convince her took her to the
residence of a wealthy Catholic where she saw her hero
,\·altzing with the eldest daughter of the house. Her conductor receiyed a blow in the face for his thanks, and the
next morning. the early pedestrians in the neighbourhood of Third and Walnut Streets, began to think that if it
was not raining pitchforks, there seemed to be a shower
of bricks and other missiles. Honora was on the roof
crazy as a March hare. For sometime she was a raving
maniac, but afterwards became more quiet, and for more
than the t~ird of a century she was one of Philadelphia's
celebrities. Poor "Crazy Norah!" many a time I have
seen her in her high top-boots and broad Quaker hat, and
many a message, quite startling, if not very intelligible, has
she delivered to me fi·om my Grandmother or from the HolyGhost. \Vhen she became less dangerous and was allowed
to wander about the streets, she conceived a strong dislike
to him whom the Fourth Commandment bids me honor
that my days may be long. He, being a leading Bishopite,
was, of course, an object of displeasure for Norah. Whenever she met him he got what is called "a good tongue-lashing"-he used to denominate it a complete blackguarding,
so that the sight of Norah became for him the signal of
inglorious retreat. One morning he was standing in Walnut Street, conversing with some gentlemen, when raising
his eyes, whom does he see coming towards him but the
dreaded Amazon ; his first impulse was to try the fleetness
of his legs, but time did not permit, there was the enemy
face to face. "Patrick," said she, "Patrick, you are right and
�St. Yosep!z's Clmrclt, Plziladelplzia.
5
I am wrong. God bless us both ! " She passed on to his
great relief, and never again annoyed him. For some time
she lived on the benevolence of the people, but afterwards
she earned a comfortable livelihood, as a collector of bad
debts. Her plan was a novel one. After presenting the bill,
if it were not honored, she placed herself upon the sidewalk, where she soon gathered a crowd,-no Philadelphian
ever conceived that Norah was amenable to the pollee-then
after delivering a message from his Grandmother to each
passer-by, she would inform him of the nature of the duty
she was performing. She seldom remained in any one place
more than an hour. One or two would-be-wags undertook
to play a trick upon her by giving her false commissions,'
they did not attempt it a second time, and very willingly
paid double commission to escape the caustic messages
from their Grandmothers and the cloven-footed gentleman
who was supposed to have them in keeping. She attended
Mass faithfully on Sundays and holidays and sometimes
when it was a work of supererogation. Her favorite place
was in the box and seat of our much belo_ved Father Edward Sourin S. J.; if anyone, by mistake, entered the penitent's cell he was informed that she was a schismatic bishop
who had no faculties in this diocese, since the departure
of John England, but that she would be happy to carry
his kind wishes up to his Grandmother in the North-garret.
If not annoyed she was perfectly harmless, and she was
seldom annoyed, for the boys of Philadelphia had heard
from tradition of the accuracy of her aim and the strength ·
with which she would send a brick flying, repo~t said, "for
two squares." She never recovered her reason, but I think
had the presence of a priest in her last moments.
Another of our village's celebrities, though her fame was
principally among the Catholics, was dear "old Mary Johnson." She too was an admirer of "curley-headed-Hogan,"
and adhered to him "a poor persecuted martyr," after his
suspension by Bishop Conwell. ·when he could no longer
�6
if
![
:t
,,
I
I
f
f
i!
:r
,I
St. :Joseplt's Clmrclt, Plti!adelpltia.
remain with the other priests in Father Greaton's house, but
took up his residence in the small two-story dwelling to
which I have referred in Part Ist, of this narrative, as the
residence of Mrs. Baker's parents, and which now belonged
to St. Mary's Church, Mary Johnson became his housekeeper. I wish I could describe Mary to you as many of
our fathers have seen her. She was scarce more than four
feet high, lean in proportion, and until old age, active upon
her feet, she never walked, she always trotted. If Mr.
Swiveler h'!d seen her, he would have declared her a
close connec'iion of the Marchioness. I must give you a
description of this historical house.' It was a two-storied
house with attics. From a step on a level with the sidewalk, you entered a box-entry, about four feet by three,
which led into Mrs. Baker's "best room." A window on
the North side opposite the door of entrance gave you a
view of a narrow four foot yard and of the St. Joseph's Resi~
dence. To the right of this window was a door leading to
the kitchen, or as it was generally called "the living room.''
As soon as you passed this door, stepping to the right, you
might ascend the stairs to the second floor, landing upon a
small square entry, between the two rpoms and having another flight leading to the attic as it is .now styled, then, to
the garret. In this entry there was a window from which
an easy view might be obtained of all who entered the
Bishop's house. It was a favorite occupation of "the Gentleman from Limerick" to sit in this entry pretending to
· read, but in reality watching the incomings and outgoings
at the ho1,1se of his adversary. One afternoon when engaged in this pastime, a committee of three of the trustees
of St. Mary's-John Leamy, Richard W. Meade, and John
Ashley, waited upon Mr. Hogan, to obtain his signature to
a letter they had prepared as from him in reply to the
Bishop's' Secretary, Rev. Wm. Vincent Harold, 0. S. D.
Their knock at the door brought Mary from her classic
apartment to answer it. It was necessary that she should
�5;!. Yoscplz's Clmrclt, P!ti!adelp/zia.
7
pass the Reverend gentleman, who, not knowing who was
about to visit him, thought he might take a liberty with his
little "Dame Durden," he had often taken with the proud
damsels of Penn's City.-Noble Mary Johnson! She had
clung to Mr. Hogan through good report and ill, for she
thought he was a true priest of God ; she had heard the
current stories, but, to her, these were the inventions of
enemies; she knew he was censured by his Bishop, but she
had been led to believe. the Bishop "an obstinate, ill-informed
tyrannical, old dotard." * It is true he had kept very late
hours, but Mary was an industrious, cleanly body, and after
a day's hard labor, when she ascended to her garret and
had said her prayers, she reeked but little of sublunary af·fairs. Mr. Hogan did not attend the sick, so she had no
dread of night calls hovering O\"er her innocent slumbers.
But, Mr. Hogan, this time, had made a mistake-the blood
of purity suffused her face, the light of insulted virtue
fl.~shed from her eye, and with the strength of an Agnes or
a Lucy, she gave the chair a push, which sent it and its
sqcrilegious occupant heels over head down the stairs.
Crash went the door, and there lay William and the chair,
and "who could say which was which ?" The gentlemen in
waiting hearing the noise, entered, and what was their
amazement to behold their chosen pastor, lying upon the
floor of the kitchen, his· well greased locks disheveled, and
bruised more severely than he chose to acknowledge, and
the little Heroine of Willing's Alley standing dishcloth in
hand ready to defend herself and honor. "That woman's
crazy," said Mr. H. rising, "without the least provocation,
she threw me do.wn stairs, she's an emissary of Cooper's."
"She's little in size," said John Ashley with a peculiar smile,
but she's big in strength." From that day poor Mary Johnson was never perfectly "right in mind." Her self-imposed
mission was to drive all dogs out of Church. Mass or
*Philadelphia Aurora.
2
�8
"
'
~-
,.
St. :Joseph's C!tzadt, P!ti!addp!tia.
Vespers, or Lenten Service, there was Mary with her stool,
which she placed in the middle of the aisle. Infatuated
animal of the canine species, you made a mistake in entering St. Joseph's Church, if you thought you would there
find a haven of repose for your weary members.-1\Iary
Johnson is there; think not because she is so quiet, telling
her beads, or gazing at the Holy Tabernacle, you can enter
unperceived; you have not crossed the threshold, no one
else may have perceived you, ·when up jumps 1\Iary. Now,
doggy, doggy, you had better go out-take the word of a
friend and-go at once. You need not think to frighten her
by your "bark;" why, Lion, she's not afraid of your "bite."
Rover,. none of your tricks, skip and jump, yes, flourish
your interesting nan'ati·pe, you cannot blarney Mary; that's ·
as trite as a twice-told tale to her. Juno, poor pet, suppose
not that your mistress' skirts shall prove a "Fairy-Godmother's cloak," to render you invisible. Doggies, Mary
has said that you shall leave the Church, and Mary's fiat
is irrevocable. Come, nice fellows, come now, come, go out.
Is there any rule without an exception ? This exterminating statute had one solitary reservation. Every day before
first Mass; a tan-colored quadruped walked serenely and
stately up the middle aisle, until ht:;)lrrived at the ten-plate
piece of furniture so useful for imparting warmth to man
and brute, and there he laid him down and slept till service
was over, when he rejoined his master at the door. Many
.wondered why this privilege. No reliable data can be found
to show when and how or what he did to propitiate the
lady of the stool.
For many years, Mary made her home, as a kind of domestic and a kind of protege, with the family of Mr. Philip
Smith. She died a few years since, when an inmate of St.
Ann's Widow's Asylum.
It is sad to state that Norah and Mary were not the only
persons whose reason was affected by Mr. Hogan's misconduct-happy it would be if the faith of none had been
�St. :Joseph's Clwrclz, Philadclplzio.
9
d,trk::ned. All who favored him came to an unfortunate
end. It used to be a common remark: "So and so is dead
-wasn't it a fearful death? "No wonder'' wo~ld be the
response, "they were Hoganites." I know of but two remaining, a very aged lady and her son; and I must confess
I wait with not a little curiosity to hear. of their death.
~he ancient dame I have not seen for }'ears; the son is a
penitent of one of Ours, and daily \'isits the Church and
devoutly prays before Him, \Vho has never been petitioned
in vain for pardon;· and if humble prayer can avert the
temporal punishment due to certain sins, I hope his death
will be a proof of it. It is also sad to notice that the son
of one of the leaders of that unholy schism-whose memory his Country will cherish for ages, if she lasts so long, as
her savior-died yesterday, Nov. 6th, 1872, outside of the
pale of th:: Church, and his funeral services are to· take
place at St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal Church_:_Truly
the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to
many generations.
· Upon the arrival of Very Rev. Ludovicus Barth in July,
the general expectation of clerks and laity was that Mr.
Hogan would be dismissed from St. Joseph's, but in this
they were sadly mistaken. The very day of his arrival
visiting the School-house, one very dear to me rel<~ted to
him the reports concerning ''the new priest," for the truth
of some of which she could vouch, having seen them.
"Susan," said the Very Reverend Administrator, "he's
Irish and the new Bishop is Irish, let the Irish settle it
among themselves." On returning to Conewago, towards
the end of the month, he appointed Mr. Hogan, an unknown
young man, with no papers to show that he had ever been
ordained, to preside at the meeting of the trustees of St.
Mary's, over the Rev. Patrick Kenny and Terence Me Girr,
who had for years officiated at St. Joseph's. They, together with Rev. Michael Hurley 0. S. A., immediately sent a
protest to most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, D. D., Archbishop
•
�10
•
•'
·
St. :Josepk's Clmrc!z, P!ti!adclp!tia.
of Baltimore. This act of Very Rev. Ludovicus Barth was
the proximate beginning of the troubles that distracted the
Church of Philadelphia for over twelve years.
At the latter part of August, and again towards the close
of September, Rev. Ludovicus Barth was at St. Joseph's,
and again and again the misconduct of Mr. Hogan was reported to him, and his invariable answer was "the new
Bishop will soon be here." Rev. Fathers Me Girr and
Kenny having to live in the same house with the person,
could say but little, but Father Hurley, who made the
"Limerick-'boy," the staple of each Sunday's discourse,
remarking upon this answer of the Very Rev. Administrator said : "St. Michael may be here to-morrow and St.
Michael may be here the next day, but Lucifer is here today."_
In the Baptismal Registry, at this time, we find these records:. ''1820, Sept. 27 a Rev. D. Josepho Correa de Sorra.
Legato extraordinario et plenipotentiario Regis fidelissimi
etc. ~tc. Maria Anna nata 21 Junii 1817 in Camden N.J. de
Thoma Cooper et Elizabeth Cooper L c. Sponsor Edwardus Joseph Correa. Ab Eod. Helena nata Pphiae die 15 Januarii 1820 de Thoma Cooper et Elizabeth Cooper L. c.
Sponsor fuit Edward us Cooper." * ~-·.
At the beginning of December, Right Rev. Henry Conwell, D. D., second Bishop of Philadelphia, arri·.-ed at St.
Joseph's, and immediately began his pastoral duties. His
first record reads :
"die 5 robris
} Cornelius Steel, filius Jac. et Elizae.
a. R. R. H. Conwell, natus Philadae. Septembris die 20.
Epo. Phae.
Susceptus fuit a Sara Bowles Sola. t
Poor Bishop Conwell ! his was an eventful life. When
he was appointed Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of
Armagh, he thought his ambition satisfied, but when offered
the Bi~hopric of Philadelphia, though at an age when most
* Baptismal Registry, p. 330.
t Bap. Reg. p, 332.
�St. :Joseph's Cll!lrclt, Pltiladelpltia.
I I
men are thinking to retire and prepare for death, he was
re.1dy to say: "Lo, here I am; send me." One of his first
acts, upon receiving the announcement of his appointment,
was to write to his eldest niece to accompany him to America, saying that she had been servant long enough to her
brothers and sisters, now she should be mistress in the
palace of her uncle, the· Lord Bishop. One of· Bishop
Conwell's greatest mistakes was the surrounding himself
with so many nieces and nephews. But the estimable lady
of whom I have written above, * was destined, as I shall
probably be called upon to explain in Part Third, with her
saintly husband to become a martyr to justice for the sake.
of St. Joseph's. She is still living, at a vecy advanced age.
She may cry out with the Royal Singer of Israel : "W o is
me, that my sojourning is prolonged. I have dwelt. with
the inhabitants of Cedar. With them that hated peace, I
was peaceable: when I spake to them, they fought against
me without cause." Surely "old age is a crown of dignity
when it is found in the ways of justice," and every day is
but keeping her from "that crown of life which God has
promised to those that fear him."
Bishop Conwell was a man of no mean ability; his latinity was classical, and especially his ecclesiastical Latin was
much admired. He was a Greek scholar, spoke French
fluently and Spanish and Italian with but little difficulty.
His knowledge of theology, moral and dogmatic, was solid,
and he had not neglected the study of Canon Law. Unfortunately he was not a fluent preacher in his native language;
-but it must not be supposed that he was an ungrammatical or inelegant speaker. Those pamphlets that were so
numerous some years ago, purporting to be reports of his
sermons at St. Mary's, were the productions of his enemies,
-of John T. Sullivan and John Ashley, or it was supposed
so at the time. The Bishop's personal appearance was not
* l\Irs. Nicholas Donnelly.
�12
St. Yoscp!t"s Clmrc!t, P,'ti!addj/tia.
unpleasing. \Vhen he arrived he was over se\'enty, tall,
straight, muscular, and, when occasion required, not deficient
in dignity. Though of uncertain temper, he was kindhearted, forgiving, and a bountiful giver. Had he possessed
the eloquence, or even the polished manner of \Vm. Vincent
Harold, the misstep of Very Rev. Ludovicu-.; Barth would
not ha\·e been so prolific in evil. ·
Upon his arrival, he found domiciled in his own family a
young man, of whose misconduct he had heard reports
in Irdand ; ~n'd a few days after his arrival he received a
letter from Bishop Connelly of New York, stating in full
his disobedience to him. \Vhen questioned as to his exeat,
his answer was the same given some months before to
Father Kenny, that his papers would soon arrive. Being a
stranger in the country and not wishing to disapprove of
the acts of the Very Rev. Father Administrator, Bishop Conwell wrote for advice to his superior, Most Rev. Ambrose
Marechal, D. D., and on the zoth of December, publicly
withdrew from \Vm. Hogan, all faculties he might seem to
have derived from the quasi approval of Very Rev. Ludovicus Barth. This was the signal for revolt, and a sad, sad
revolt it proved.
The be~inning of I 821 finds Bishop' .Conwell officiating
at St. Mary's, without any trouble from Mr. Hogan or the
trustees; his Assistant being Rev. George Sheufelter, * and
Rev. James Cummiskey, t whom the Bishop afterwards
surnamed the "Reverend Pedler," from the fact of his employing agents, and himself travelling at times, to sell
Catholic books, especially "Christian Perfection" by Fr.
Rodriguez, S. J. He was an elde.r brother of Eugene Cummiskey, for many years the Catholic bookseller of Philadelphia.
Another very embarrassing circumstance in the early
history o.f the Church in this Diocese was the visit of the
* Bap. Reg. p. 339.
tDo. p. 340.
�St. Yosep!t's Clwrclt, Pltiladdpltia.
13
Right Reverend John England, D. D., first Bishop o"f
Charleston, to the City of Philadelphia. Before this time,
the trustees knew they were insubordinate, but when they
gathered froi:n the Bishop that they were on an equality with
their diocesan and ought to, not migltt or could, appeal to
Rome, offering himself, to be appointed their agent,* the:r
conduct became insupportable. The Bishop, i. e. the
Bishop of Philadelphia, remained at home at St. Joseph's,
which Church he now made his Cathedral, and the faithful
Catholics flo~ked around him. Shortly after he enlargecl
the Church to almost its present dimensions, that it might
accommodate the crowds. In June he added to the number of his assistants, Rev. Samuel Cooper, of happy memory, and in the latter part of the month ordained Rev. Thomas
Heyden.
Of Rev. Samuel Cooper many traditions were curret1t
some years since. He was an accomplished convert, of
noble appearance, and at the time of his conversion was the
Captain of a Merchantman. Hearing a young lady admire
his beautiful teeth, it is related, he returned to his ship,
drove a large spike into the mast and against it dashed out
his teeth, declaring that nothing about him should be occasion of sin to another. He was frequently tempted against
faith iri the Sacrament of Sacraments: one .day when saying
Mass, he prayed God to give him some sign by which he
would be freed forever after from doubts ; as he pronounced
the omnipotent words, the host was changed into a lump of
bleeding flesh. l\Iy informant, the father' of two of Ours,
said that he and many in the Church witnessed the miracle.
He was unquestionably a· man of more than ordinary virtue, and had the honor of enjoying vVm. Hogan's particular
enmity, which· I consider a very high panegyric.
The year 1822, in Phil~delphia, is ever memorable with
an unhappy remembrance. The early part.of the year was
*Vide Bishop Englund's Works. Vol. 5. p. 109 to 213.
�St. :Joseph's Clwrclz, Plzi!adclplzia.
employed by the trustees in building new pews and renting
them to their partisans to influen<:e the vote at the comingelections. The trustees took possession of the Church and
lest any bishopite should enter,-a great maxim at the time
was "possession is nine-tenths of the law"-it was kept barricaded with a watchman constantly on guard. My father
with other hot-headed young Irishmen determined that get
possession of the Church before the day of election, they
<.uou!d, if they had to sacrifice a limb, yea, life for it. Good
Father Cooper was taken into confidence but he disapproved
of the plot.~ .. "No matter," said they, "that was because he
was not an Irishman and only half a Catholic." Such of
our family as were living at that time resided in Marshall's
Court, now called Landis Street. The windows of the
house overlooking St. Mary's graveyard, it was a very
fworable spot for observing the enemy's manreuvres, but
there was a difficulty in the way, my mother, like Father
Cooper, was not an Irishman and only half a Catholic. The
house where, I think, Bishop Wood was born, but however
that n1ay be, the house where Bishop Kenrick afterwards
took up his residence and began his Seminary, was chosen
as a "point d'appui," whilst the tomb-stones made many a
convenient cachette for watching the ;novements of the besieged. Many a mysterious bundle~ \Vas seen carried by
strong men into the house of the God of peace, the Church
built with Father Greaton's money, but try as they would
the watchman could never be caught napping. I hope our
good bishopites never suffered from rheumatism from the
many hours they spent on the damp ground of early Spring,
behind the eulogistic monuments of the dead. The Mon:.
day of Holy Week came, time was growing short. It was
well nigh noon, the daughter of the vigilant watchman is
seen approaching, forty of the forty-six days of abstinence
are passed,-what's that which smells so savory? never
mind, John M ..... , hidden behind the tomb of Bishop
Egan, you have tasted nothing for eighteen hours save
�St. :Joseph's Clwrclt, Plti!addpltia.
IS
water and a drop, just a little drop, of American wine, what
does it concern you what a Hoganite has for' dinner?
Hark! was that a whistle? no it cannot be, it sounded as
but an echo. \Vhat's the matter? From the poiJtt d appui
creeps like a serpent a man of forty-from a second-story
window leap.; like a hare a stalwart youth of twenty. 'What!
are they going to burst as burglars into the holy Church !
No, they intend to enter through the principal exit, if not
entrance. For once the hungry watchman has been caught
off his guard. The nicely-browned catties with fragrant
mocha, a1id hot biscuits were too much for hUiigry Barney
B .... , he forgot to bolt and bar the door. The citadel is
tak~n and R1rney B .... , almost before he had done away
with one I uscious catty, is a prisoner, elbow bound to elbow.
The schoolmaster writes a hasty note to my Lord, the
Bishop, announcing the capture. The "female daughter" of
the captive was deputed to carry the important document
to \Villing's Alley. In the meanwhile the victors scoured
the field of victory; the galleries were found lined with
bricks and stones, and when Father Me Girr came, the unwilling bearer of a brief but explicit despatch from the
Commander-in-General, he found more than one pistol in
the holy tabernacle. . The despatch read thus: "Go home
and mind your own business. ffi Henry Conwell, Epius.
Philaae". Just think of this hapless triumvirate, for nearly
a month they and others had risked so many dangers to
obtain for their Bishop his own Church, and now when
success was theirs, their thanks were, "Go home and
mind your own business." Father Me Girr released Barney B .... , and John, Pat and .... with spoiled appetites,
hastened home to their catfish, coffee and biscuits.
On Tuesday of Easter week, the annual election of trustees of St. Mary's Church took place. The Bishopites
might as well have let it pass unnoticed, it was already determined that the Leamy, Meade party should be the elected.
But no, if they did not get the election they should, at least,
3
�.I
16
St. Yostph's Clzurch, Philadelphia.
have the fight. Sunrise saw young men and buxom maids,
who had no vote, trudging in from Germantown, Manayunk.
and Chester, and Darby, aud even from over the waters, to
do and die, for Bishop and for Church. It was on this day
of days, that an aged gentleman uttered the memorable
threat: "if they do not treat the Bishop better I'll go over
till Jarsey and niver come back till Americay agin." But
this is no joking matter, it was no comedy, it was in more
respects than one a tragedy. Persons at this day can tell
you,how brick:s were thrown from the windows of the Church
upon the head of the hapless Bishopites whilst striving to
vote,* how young men would stand in Indian file and the
backmost would ascend a cellar door, so as to give greater
impetus, whilst the head of the foremost made a most convenient battering-ram to butt between the kidneys of some
thoughtless i-Ioganite, who was laughing at the funny sight
of some Bishopite rendered lwrs de rombat and hastening
home with bloody head or crippled limb. Both parties
can tell you how the iron rail swayed backwards and forwards, like a reed ·shaken by the wind, and at last fell with
a crash, that caused a piercing shriek of anguish from many
a wife and mother, kneeling in the corner of her room, with
her little ones, praying for the dea·r ones. "0 God, save
the father of my children," was the cry of one most dear to
me, as she heard the crash. "Susan," was the stoical remark of her Quaker ancestress "thou seest now what these
Catholics are." That carping Quakeress, some years after,
became a Catholic, and her bones repose beneath the altar
of St. Mary's Church, Lebanon. Yes! that iron railing
fell with a crash, and many a heart that beat loyally for
Catholicity, for a time, was stilled in anguish, and the casket of many a whole-souled Catholic was mangled and
*Henry Smith ~I. D., son-in-law of Dr. Horner who sometime afterwards became a Catholic. The house of Dr. Smith's father, was directly
opposite to St. ~Iary's. The Doctor was at that time a lad of fifteen, but
his description of events is very graphic.
�St. :Joseph's Clwrclz, Plziladclplzia.
17
disfigured for life. And some of those, who then left the
Church of their Baptism, might tell you how while Rt.
Rev. Henry Conwell, D. D, and Rev. Samuel Cooper, and
Rev. Terence Me Girr and Rev. Patrick Kenny, yea, and
Rev. Wm. Vincent Harold, 0. S. D., stood at the N. E.
Corner of 4th street and ·willing's Alley, oil-stock in hand
and pixis near the trembling heart, to follow the bleeding
forms of the wounded into the house of Charles Johnson,
Sr., and other good Samaritans, Mr. \Vm. Hogan, in concert with the delicate, lady-like daughters of rebel Catholics raised shouts of laughter that could be heard above
the shrieks of the wounded ;-which unnatural cachinnations, thanks be to a God, who can draw good out of evil !
has brought more than one Protestant who heard it, into
the happy fold of Christ's Church. lt was truly a fearful
day, still with all the odds against them, Joseph Synder,
. John Carrell Sr., Cornelius Tiers, Dennis Me Cready,
Nicholas Stafford, William Myers, Nicholas Esling, and
James Enen, Sr., were elected trustees of St. Mary's Church
r;::ceiving 437 votes, although J. Cadwalader, Esq. decided
that John Leamy, John Ashley and their party received 497·
It may be 'true that they did, but the excess came from the
votes of the occupants of those pews which had been erected after the withdrawal of the Bishop, whose consent was
necessary, as President, according to the charter. Unhappy day! The difficulty still remained.
Shortly before this fracas,· Rev. Wm. Vincent Harold
had returned to Philadelphia, af the request of Bishop Conwell. Between the time of the invitation and his arrival,
slanderous tongues had been at work, and the sleeping
jealousy of "my Lord" had been awakened, so'that when
Father Harold arrived he was coldly received, which to
him was a new style of reception, an·d which his natural
pride never forgot, but, I hop.::, forgave. In the meanwhile
the interposition of the civil authorities had been invoked,
and Mayor Waterman standing upon the tomb of Bishop
�18
St. 7oseplt's C!mrc!t, P!tiladdp!tia.
Egan proclaimed Right Reverend Henry Conwell, Second
Roman Catholic Bishop of Philadelphia, the legal pastor of
St. Mary's Church.
For a short while there was peace, and Rev. \Vm. Vincent Harold acted as pastor, but the truce was of short du-_
ration and the sacrilegious Hogan again officiated at the altar of St. Mary's.
In the early part of 1823, Rev. John ·walsh was stationed
at St. Joseph's,* and a little later a French priest who
signed himself L'atheley. t In October, Rev. John Ryan,
another un;re of Rev. \Vm. Vincent Harold, appears upon
the stage. Poor Father Harold ! as Bishop Conwell had
too many nephews and nieces, so he had too, too many uncles. In 1825, Rev. C. Ferry becomes, for a short while,
one of the canons or prebendaries of St. Joseph's Cathedral. t
On the gth of January of the following year, we find this
record; "A Rev. G. Hogan Josephus Thompson Desmond
in statu N. Jersey, natus die 16 Oct. 1822 de Jacobo O'Desmond et Clementina Lloyd Thompson. Sponsores fuerunt
Archibaldus Randall et Agnes Barcley." § This record
shows that even after the appointment of Rev. Wm. Vincent Harold as pastor of St. Mary's,:t!Je infamous Hogan
still enjoyed a quasi recognition by the Bishop, and from
the fact of Judge Randall's being God-father, that he still
had a standing in respectable society.
In the year 1827, ex-Father Baxter was stationed at St.
Joseph's where he died, so~ewhat unexpectedly on May
23rd, 1827. Rev. John Hughes, who ;had been ordained
October I 5th, 1826, writing of this death to his great confidant, Rev. Thomas Heyden, indulges in some very forcible,
if extremely trite, remarks. He writes : "What does it now
matter for him that he was persecuted or applauded, if he
has merjted the rec~ption which the good and faithful ser-
* Bap. Reg. p. 390.
tDo. p. 2.
t Do. p. 81. ·
~Do.
p. 86.
�St. J'osep!t's C/mrclt, Plziladdplzia.
vant, shall receive from his Lord ! The sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared to that eternal'
weight of glory that shall be revealed hereafter."*
In the beginning of 1827, Rev. James Smith was, for a
very short while, stationed at St. Joseph's.
As early as February, trouble had been made between
Father Harold and the Bishop.
Father Harold, influenced as his friends supposed, by his uncle Fr. John Ryan
0. P., had imbibed some of the lax ideas of the trustee sys·
tern. He had rendered good service to the venerable Bishop
during the Hogan and T. J. O'Mealley scandals; some of
his replies to the effusions, which Leamy, Ashley, and the
Heaven-stricken Fagan made in behalf of Mr. Hogan, further
displayed his clear logic and scholarly knowledge of the
English language, and his answers to Hon. Joseph Ingersoll show that he had a considerable knowledge of law.
Still he was high tempered and my Lord of Philadelphia
was not a little arbitrary, and when two hard bodies strike ·
with sufficient force, there are generally some sparks to be
seen. This disagreement between the Bishop and his Secretary became so serious that on the 3rd of April, 1827 •.
Bishop Conwell suspended the Rev. Wm. Vincent Harold,
who however continued to reside in his house and sit at
his table.
Three weeks after, the trustees of St. Mary's
protested against this suspension, stating that they had
"known the Rev. Wm. Vincent Harold for a period approaching twenty years, and that he had been always esteemed not only by the congregation, but by the citizens of
Philadelphia, of every religious persuasion, as a clergyman
of irreproachable mor<~ls, eminent zeal in the .discharge of his
pastoral duties, and of talents which have reflected singular
honor o~ the Church." Whilst I do not acknowledge the
right of laics to protest in cases of suspension, still the
fact that such ·names as Jerome Keating, Edward Barry,
*Hazzard's Life of Archbishop. Hughes, p. 75.
�20
St. Yoseplz's C/wrclt, P!ti!addplzia.
John Keating, John Carrell, Dennis Me Cready, Cornelius
. Tiers, John Diamond, Joseph Donath, Lewis Ryan, Charles
Johnson, Patrick Hayes, Joseph Nancrede, l\L D., and
Timothy Desmond were signed to the protest, shows that
Father Harold was held in high esteem by very worthy
Catholics. On October 17th, of the same year, Rt. Reverend Henry Conwell writes a note to Archibald Randall;
Esq., Secretary of the Board of Trustees of St. Mary's
Church, appointing the Rev. vVm. Vincent Harold and the
Rev. John-,Ryan to the pastoral charge of St. Mary's
Church. ~till the Bishop and the Pastors of St. Mary's
never afterwards lived amicably together; and early in
1827, the two Dominicans took up their residence in the
house formerly occupied by the amorous Hogan, where
they continued to reside until after their puerile and scandalous appeal to the government for protection from their
religious superiors. Dear Father Wm. Vincent Harold l
· what an example art thou of the dangers of brilliant talents
when not guarded by the spirit of humility! Louis Clapier
could write of thee to a friend, "he is /wmo factus ad zmguem ;"-that friend could write to his wife: "if Father
Hars>ld does not abstain more from the company of some
of our acquaintances, I fear he will. become u1z sot a triple
etage." Poor Father Harold! he ~erred most egregiously,
but thanks to Him, the Father of all good gifts, he sincerely
repented and shortly before his death, when Superior of the
Dominicans of Ireland, he wrote to a lady friend: "If I
only could cancel those unfortunate days, or make proper
reparation ! how my heart bleeds and my cheek crimsons
when I think of them !"
In the beginning of this year, Rev. Terence Donaghue was
stationed at St. Joseph's, where he remained until he built St.
Michael's Church, in Kensington, and went to reside there,
on the return of our Fathers to St. Joseph's. This Reverend
gentleman, "whose memory is still with praise," was a man
of erudition ; it is said by those who had an opportunity of
�St. :Joseph's Church, Plziladelplzia.
21
knowing, that he furnished to the Rev. John Hughes most.
of his matter in his famous controversy with the bitter
bigoted Breckenridge. How that may have been I cannot
say, but this I remember of him, that he was a hard-working
mortified priest. For some time after he had built St. Michael's Church, whose present congregation is one of the
most numerous, wealthy and liberal of the diocese, he resided in the basement of that Church, and many a weary
·Friday, have I, ·a child of five winters and summers,
trudged over two miles, to carry him his dinner; because
he happened to express approval of my sister's potatocakes; while Saturday's holiday wa~ passed in collecting
the weekly "fip-penny-bit" contributions, which another
sister had promised to attend to, but had left to "bub."
Among the contributors were the Mother and Aunt of
Commodore Me Donough of Lake-Champlain-glory, who
never allowed the infant collector to depart without receiv.ing viaticum, in the form of sugar-crackers and a bunch of
raisins.
In the middle of February of this year, Rev. John·
Hughes, who since his ordination had been chiefly occupied
in preaching and instructing converts, began other pastoral
duties at St. Joseph's; his first baptism was on the 14th of
this month.* In May, Rev. John Reilley filled one of the
places at his Lordship's table, left vacant by the seceding
Dominicans. He remained but a short while.
The year 1828, a year truly suited i11ja1tdum rmovare dolorem, was the year of the lamentable misstep of Father
Harolct, referred to above, but as he had at that time segregated himself from St. Joseph's, an account of that deplorable insubordination does not properly belong to "What I
know about St. Joseph's." t
*Bap. Reg. p. 14.
tOn the the 30th day of the year, as it appears from the Marriage Registry, p. :z.6z, the
Right Rev. Ordinary of the Diocese witnessed and blessed a matrimonial contract, the form of
which, for brevity sake, I would recommend to missionaries:
"Anno Domini millesimo octingentesimo vigesimo octavo, Die 30 Januarii, Conjuncti sunt in
Matrimonio, Dispensatione Concessa in tribus Bannis ... Andreas Maria Ignatius Caravadossy
~
�22
St. :Joseph's Church, Philadelphia.
I have already stated that upon the appointment of Rev:
Henry Conwell, as Bishop of Philadelphia, he wrote for his
eldest niece to accompany him to his new diocese-his was
a numerous family, and as long as he lived he had plenty,
perhaps too many, nephews and nieces disporting themselves about the Episcopal mansion. This young lady,
however, soon changed her name and residence, becoming
Mrs. Nicholas Donnelly. She had married a teacher of
the classics, _one who had the honor of teaching Latin and
Greek to Illany who afterwards became priests, and to some
who afterwa.'rds by the imposition of hands conferred on
others the same high dignity of the priesthood. This
saintly gentleman, I use the word after reflection, was willing, yes desirous, to pass his Classical Academy, numbering over two hundred pupils, to the Society. And he
did this not from a desire of worldly lucre. He was a man
who could act from holy motives, a man who was not only
,\·illing.to, but actually did "suffer persecution for justice
sake.:: "Hands were laid upon him, he was persecuted
and delivered up to prisons," because, as the husband of
the chief heiress of the Rt. Rev. Henry Conwell, he would
not claim as personal property "the p!ace of many graves."
de Thoet Eques Auratus ordinis Regalis et Militaris SS. Mauritii et Lazari d ordini! quoque de
Soroce, etc., etc. Major Equitum et Consul Generalis Regis Sar~in1ae pro Faederatis Americae
Provindis Nicaea oriundus, Filius legitimus Baronis Victoris Andreae: Caravadossy de Thoet
E 1uitis Aurati ordinis Regalis et Militaris S. S. l\lauritii et Lazari •••. et ,.1ariae Genovesae
Grimaldi de Sauze defunctae, qui fuerunt ambo Nicaea oriundi •••• Et Maria Antonietta Herzilia ·D'Aurainville Filia legitima Ludovici Nicholai D' Aurainville Equitis ordinis Sti. Ludovici et
joannac: Clarae Elizabethae Lecurieux Chalon, apud lnsulam Martinique oriundae.
'"Testes adfuerunt Joachim Barraza Pereira Equitis ordinis Christi Consul Generalis Regis
Portugalliae pro Faederatis Americae Provinciis et Severin us Loritz. Consui Generalis'kegis Sueviae, etc., etc., etc, Item H. D' Aurainville, N. Garibaldi vice Consul ct Cancellarius Sardiniae.
""CHALON KLOSSER,
j. H. ROBERJOT,
ANTONIUS TESSEIRE.
''Qui omnes mecum subsignarunt apud Ecclesiam Sti. josephi Philadelphia Die et Anno qui bus
supra.
jOACHIM BARROZA PEREIRA,
SEVERJNUS LORITZ,
J. H. ROBERJOT,
A. TESSEIRE,
HENRY VtLOISE CARAVADOSSY DE THOET,
H. J)'AURAI~VILLE,
CHALON KLOSSER,
H. D'AURAINVILLE,
J. D'AURAINVILLE,
A. D'AtrRAINVILLE,
N. GARIBALDI, Vice Consul et Chancelier de sardaigne.
In cujus rei fidem subscripsi.
HENRJCUS CONWELL,
EPISCOPUS PHILADELPHIAE.
ffi
�St. J'oscp!t's Clwrclt, Plti!addpltia.
23
He gave with a willing and liberal hand of his means to the
poor, he gave from a well-regulated mind and heart to
young men about to consecrate themselves to the service
of God "the good counsels of a friend-sweet to the soul,"
and the Lord blessed him, ''his heart, like that of Asa, was
perfect with the Lord all his days," and when standing by
his deathbed, the cry went silently up from my heart of
hearts: "Let my soul die the death of the just and my last
end be like to his." . The body of the second Bishop of
Philadelphia has been removed to the noble Cathedral of
Sts. Peter and Paul, and the bones of Nicholas Donnelly lie
in the former tomb of his Episcopal uncle-in-law, in the
principal tomb of that cemetery, which his fortitude and
sense of justice secured to its proper owners, the pastors of
St. Joseph's. "\Vhen I am dead, bury me in the sepulchre
wherein the man of God is buried: lay my bones beside
his bones."
It was at his house in Lombard street, above Third, that
some lady members of St. Joseph's congregation, of whom
the chief spirit was Miss Catharine Whelan, met in the
beginning of October, 1829, and formed a societyfor the
support of Catholic orphans. The number of orphans was
small, only four, but this meeting was the germ of St. John's
Orphan Asylum, which now feeds, clothes and educates
over three hundred and fifty lads. The children were
placed under the care of the Sisters of Charity, who already
had a school at No. 4I2 Locust street, numbering over one
hundred pupils. And among the good daughters of Charity were Sisters Aloysius (Lilly of Frederick), Olympia and
Fidelis, the very mention of whose names, causes the tear
of fond remembrance to start in the eye of many a middleaged Catholic of to-day. This f!leeting was held at the
suggestion of Rev. John Hughes, who was so much interested in it, that he drew up a constitution and a set of rules
for the go·.-ernment of its managers. As long as he remained in .Philadelphia he was its chief patron, and in after _
4
�24
St. :Joseph's Omrch, Philadelphia.
years, when Archbishop of the great metropolis, having the
care of Churches, Colleges, Hospitals, and Asylums upon
his shoulders, he still felt interest in the Asylum of St.
John's.
In the month of April of this year, we find * the record
of two baptisms by Father Cooper at Manayunk. This is
the first mention of this suburb, whiCh now has its two
Churches, its female Academy, and its parochial schools.
For sometime, during. the absence of Bishop Conwell in
Rome, where -he had been .called to explain his conduct,
with regard to his unfortunate compromise with the Trustees of St. Mary's, DeCourcy t informs us that the Very
Rev. vVm. Matthews, of Washington, D. C., was appointed
Apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Philadelphia.
His care seems to have been confined to the clergy; he does
not seem to have performed any pastoral duties, as I do not
find his name either in the Baptismal or Marriage Registries.
I have never heard him mentioned by the old Catholics,
and those I have lately questioned, have no remembran.ce
of him, and one of them, then a young gentleman member
of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, says the first knowledge he
had of Father Matthew's having had anything to do with
the Church of Philadelphia, was read-ing it in De Courcy.
The summer of 1830 brings to us Right Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D .. D., Bishop of Aratlz in partibus, and Coadjutor and Administrator of Philadelphia. Well may Rev.
Mr. Hughes, shortly after his arrival, write to Rev. Thos.
Heyden, "Gloria in Excelsis Deo," though the "et in tcnn
pax hominibus" did not come as soon as he thought it would.
If "the neck of the bad principle was broken," it continued
to wriggle more or less vigorously, until the arrival of "the
little French Father who tells stories," t thereby gaining
the hearts of the children and, through them, the consciences 'of the parents.
* Bap. Reg., p. 160.
t Catholic Church in America, p. 233.
t Rev. Joseph Felix Barbelin, S. J.
�St. :Joseph's C!turclz, Plziladdpltia.
25
Bishop Conwell had been striving to prepare himself for
this blow, and a broken spirit together with the infirmities
of old age and incipient blindness made him, most of the
time, reconciled to the orders of Rome,-but at times, the
old-man would assert itself, and on such occasions he would
express himself more forcibly than elegantly. This happened upon the arrival of his Coadjutor. Being informed
that Bishop Kenrick was down stairs and wished to pay his
l"espects to him. "Tell the boy," said the venerable Bishop,
"Tell t~e boy to go at once to Aratlz. The Bishop of Philadelphia is old enough to mind his own business."
Bishop Kenrick, finding that he could not dwell peace-fully in the Episcopal mansion, and not wishing to make his
home in the house where Hogan had lived, took up his
residence in South Fifth street, but pontificated at St. Joseph's, one of whose pastors, Rev. John Hughes, he made
his Secretary. vVe find his first record in the Baptismal
Registry. "1830 Julii die 27, baptizavi Margaritam filiam
Jacobi Brason et Bridgittae Quinn, uxoris ejus, nafam die
I o J ulii, Patrino Bernardo Collins, Matrina Margarita
Me Gitton.
ffi
Fl{ANC1SCUS PATR1CIUS,
Epus. Arathensis et Coadj. Phil. *
Although immediately upon his arrival he began to baptize, and attended as faithfully to that priestly function as
any of hi~ assistants, Rev. Mr. Hughes was the favorite the
ladies chose to bless their marriage. The first union that
the new Bishop witnessed and sanctioned was in the second
month of the next year. "1831 Februarii 7a die celebravi
Nuptias inter Patricium Brady et Emiliam Darkey, praesentibus testibus.Me Auley et Georgiana Cary.
ffi
FRANC1SCUS PATR1CIUS,
Epus. Arath. et .Coadjutor Phil.t
* Bap. Reg. p. 168.
t Mar. Reg. p. 280.
�I
St. Yoseplz's Clwrclz, Plziladelplzia.
On the first of April, 1832, Rev. Mr. Hughes preached
his farewell sermon at St. Joseph's and became pastor at
St. John's Church, which he had built. His place was
shortly afterwards filled by Rev. \Vm. ·whelan,* whoremained at St. Joseph's until the removal of the secular
priests.
Very Rev. Francis Dzierozynski, S. J., Vice-Provincial of
the Province of Maryland, in the early part of this year,
wrote to Bishop Kenrick, requesting the restoration of the
Church of St. Joseph to the Society. St. Mary's bei.ng the
Cathedral, tfie incorporation of 1788, and the disturbed
state of its congregation, probably, deterred the saintly man
from asking its restoration, although it belonged to us as
much as St. Joseph's.
The Rt. Rev. Bishop answered, expressing his willingness
to restore St. Joseph's to the Society, but requesting, that,
as he had just appointed Rev. Terence J. Donaghue, Pastor
of St. Joseph's, for the year, and as Father Donaghue's
new Church of St. Michael's would be finished about that
time, o-ur Fathers would defer their return, until the next
year. This they did, returning in April, 1833. This letter
was couched in the kindest terms and preserved among the
arcana of Father Barbelin, S. J.
Thus for nearly a third of a cent{iry, Father Greaton's
glorious little Church has been as "a stranger in a land not
her own," but ·brother Augustinians, Franciscan~ Dominicans, Trappists and Seculars, and even Bishops have watched
over her and cherished her, "even as a nurse cherisheth
her children." During·this time, the faith of her children
had been put to a severe test, and unfortunately some of
them, "being weighed in the balance, have been found
wanting." But God has said to her "return, my daughter,"
to thy first love-and this return will bring not only happiness to St. Joseph's children, but peace, union and prosperity to the Diocese of Philadelphia.
(To be continued.)
* Bap. Reg. p. 229.
�AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MISSION OF
NEW· YORK AND CANADA.
(Continued.)
The Canada branch of our mission was not to absorb all
the aqvantages arising from our first Fr. Superior's visit to
the North ; for, as he was the father of both branches, so
in God's bountiful providence, both were to profit by it.
That of Canada was indebted to him for its very existence ;
that of Kentucky for a member who was greatly to contribute to its prosperity, and to reflect great lustre on the
Society in America: we refer to the Rev. John Larkin, a
priest of St. Sulpice, whom Rev. Father Chazelle during
his stay in Canada received into the Society, and who the
following year, 1840, began his novitiate in Kentucky.
The life of this remarkable man demands more than a passing allusion. Father Larkin was born in 1800, in the county
of Durham, England, and after pursuing his classical studies at Ushaw under the celebrated Dr. Lingard, in the
same class• with the late Cardinal \Viseman, undertook a
journey to Hindostan; and on his return studied theology
at Paris, in the Seminary of St. Sulpice. About the year
1830, being then a priest of the order, he was sent to occupy the chair of philosophy in the Sulpitian college at Montreal. · His very presence gave a new impetus to the studies,
especially to that of the dead languages. For himself, in
expounding his theses to the class, he preferred the language of Aristotle, and so nobly did his pupils emulate his
example,and so well did they succeed under his careful training that they were soon able to copy their master, and were
�28
l'lcw l'ork and Canada llfissiou.
only allowed the choice between the idiom of the Philosopher anrl the language of Cicero.
Fr. Larkin continued in his professorial chair till his entrance into the Society. He was accompanied to Kentucky
by a young Prussian, who in I 841 likewise assumed the
Jesuit habit, and whose mhzistry was, in after time, to be
connected with the earliest days of that last great work of
the Society in America,-that most precious boon of a
zealous father to the Society's children in the ne\v \Vorld\Voodstock College: an institution round which, though
still young,"'S.O many loving memories already cluster, thick
as the running ivy that fringes its own mountain slopes ; a
mansion that "\Visdom has bililt for herself," where the full
training of the Society is extended by devoted Fathers to
deeply grateful sons,-that training, offspring of a saint's
mind o'ershadowed by the Holy Ghost, which of itself
alone if only unimpeded in its slow but all-efficient course
permits our persecuted Mother confidently to count on
heroes where she numbers men ;-a home of brotherly love
which-is daily linking our provinces closer and closer together in the network of charity,-light as the filmy thread
that scarce sustains its pearl of morning dew, but for those
it twines around "indissolubly strong,''~an abode of sanctity that encloses with in its walls more' than one chosen friend
of God, and can already point to the hallowed grove"Where sleep its sainted dead."
And finally, a sanctuary of the Sacred Heart, to which
Jesus has left His name and His Heart forever; where
numbers of the future body-guard of the Church are to be
rendered invulnerable by being steeped in the living waters
that gush from the Source of flll strength, and where the
Fathers who are so untiring in their labors, have even now
received" a pledge of the crown that awaits them and their
children, in the aureole of glory just fallen on the whole
institution; amid the effulgence of which, Woodstock Col-
�New York and Canada 1Jfission.
29
lege, with its closets for study, its halls for disputation, its
green lawns and shady walks for recreation, seems to disappear, while the Sacred Heart rises in its place, open wider
than ever, to be hen<:eforth shrine and study, class-room
and bower for all the inmates. But fond memory, disporting in the dreamy "light of other days," forgets that it is
not now called on to weave a tribute of gratitude, but a
simple historical narrative; we beg pardon and resume our
theme.
·
Fr. Larkin's noviceship was scarcely ended when he was
appointed prefect of studies, and, some months later, president of the day-college· lately opened in Louisville. The
people of that city were not slow in discovering that in the
new president they possessed no ordinary man : and so
completely did he captivate the hearts of all, Catholics as
well as Protestants, that he was invited to deliver the customary oration on our great national holiday, the 4th of
July. Some years previous he had been solicited by a
literary society of the city to lecture before them, instead
of the celebrated John Quincy Adams, who had been prevented by sudden illness from delivering a discourse already
announced, but this time the invitation was tendered to him
by the military themselves. Besides those who had already
heard of Fr. Larkin, crowds of strangers had assembled
even from distant parts of the state to behold the pageantry
of the day in the capital, and listen to the discourse for
the occasion; but what was their ~urprise on seeing ascend the rostrum in the open square, not a military officer,
nor a civil magistrate, but a Catholic priest in cassock, surplice and stole. Now, if ever, had the orator need of all
his power of insinuation; and never perhaps did speaker
wield his exordium with more success. He had been
invited, Fr. Larkin said, to address the assembly by the
military of the city :-he too was a soldier,-but under the·
standard of the cross. They stood before him arrayed in
their warlike costume, uniform, belt and sword ;-would not
�30
.New 1'ork and Canada Jlfission. ·
Ius appearence be out of harmony with theirs had he ad-
dressed them in any other garb than his own uniform, the
insignia of his sacred calling?
The eyes of 20,000 men, riveted from that moment on
the glowing countenance of the minister of the God of
armies, vividly spoke ·his triumph.
His subject was :
True Liberty: the liberty that Christ came to set up
among men ; and for nearly two hours, his rich voice, and
still richer thoughts, filled the ears and mind> of that vast
multitude, w.ho forgot all else as they listened.
Fr. Larkin's eloquence was clear, fervid and heart-felt:
the weapon of the word, in him, was moulded in his broad,
. solid intellect; but before passing to his hearers, it was
plunged into his deep, loving heart: here it received its
temper, keen as the sword's. Perhaps we should describe
it most to the life by applying to it wha:t our English
Homer says of the energetic valor of the younger Atrides,
in the he'at of the conflict :
"He sent l!is soul with e>ery l:mce h!l threw."*
Fr. Larkin aimed his weapon to his hearer's reason, but it
rested not till it had forced its passage to the heart. It was,
in a word, heart speaking to heart, O)a_n to man. No wonder then that the crowds listened spell-bound, breathless ;
and, as men who have been drinking in for a length of time
a delightful melody, even when he has ceased"Listening still they seemed to hear."
A few days later, a journal of the city referred to the profound erudition and the polished style of. this celebrated
Jesuit, as having invested the trite subject of National Independence with a light and beauty till then unknown to his
audience. Seen from a distance, in his rural Sanctuary, it
continued, his commanding form towering above the plat-~------·----------------------
* P_ope's Iliad, Bk. xvii. 1. 647.
The original has simply:
rlxr)YnO"oo iJol.)p( <pa<:l><p.
l. 57 4.
�lVcw York and Cauada fi!ission.
form until it almost reached the branches of the trees
.above; his sacerdotal vestments contrasting with the brilliant uniforms around; his animated figure and commanding
gesture, fixing the attention of the steady soldier and the
respectful citizen-Father Larkin reminded us of scenes
in the Middle Ages, when an humble minister of the Roman Church \\'OUld review the Christian legions, which,
bristling with steel, marched to the rescue of the Holy
.Sepulchre. * But more serious matters than lecturing now
daimed Father Larkin's attention. The College that had
been entrusted to his care was far from being prosperousit was only·a private resi.dence fitted up for class rooms, and
had· never yet numbered a hundred students. Fr. Larkin
conceived the plan of erecting a grand edifice, to be in ·
e\·ery way worthy of the name he intended it should bear,
Loyola College.
His plan approved, he went to work at once, and
"'Vhat he greatly thought, he nobly dared."
A fine piece of land was purchased at some distance from
the City, and before long, the massive granite walls had
risen some fifteen feet above the ground, when an event
occurred, already alluded to in our account of Father Chazelle's death, which completely changed the destinies of
our mission, and transported our toils and labors to an
entirely new field of action.
During the thirteen years ot its existence it had risen
from the original four members, till, in 1844, it numbered,
including those in Canada, thirty-nine, of whom nineteen
'~'ere priests, three scholastics, ten coadjutor brothers, and
seven novices; but it had never as yet been favored by any
gladdening visit from the centre of unity in the Society.
In 1845, the joyful news came that Rev. Fr. Boulanger
had been deputed to visit the French missions in America.
*Louisville Advertiser: apud Daurignac's Hist. of the Soc. of Jesus
Yo!. 2. p. 314.
·
5
�.J
"Vcw York and Callada .ilfissiiJJt.
.;
For some years- back there had been question, at different
epochs, of a visit from this Father, then our Provincial, but
obstacles had always prevented the projected journey, until
the present year, when, being relieved of his duties as.
Provincial by Rev. Fr. Rubillon, he was named Visitor by
l\lost Rev. Fr. Roothaan; and Fr. J. B. Hus assigned him
as his companion. The two Fathers reached St. Mary's,
Kentucky, on the 14th of June.
Rev. Fr. Boulanger was a man of nerve and discernment:
he requir~d no very considerable time to decide upon any
matter once he had grasped it in all its bearings. Such a
man was needed, for-several vital questions had been pending for years, and were, in fact, definitely settled during his
stay among us.
The first was the absolute refusal to receive the College of
Bardstown, which had, ever since our Fathers' arrival, been
repeatedly pressed on their acceptance.
The second was of still greater moment. From the very
first entrance of the Society into Kentucky, opinions had
been divided as to the final success of the undertaking.
There were indeed human considerations enough to cast a
deep gloom over the still uncertain future: we were actually
in the wild woods, not even an ordi~_ary country road being
visible for miles around; Catholics were few, and poor at
that, Protestants surrounded us on all sides ; and moreover
'the brothrely intercourse essential to union could hardly be
kept up between the colony of the Society lately planted in
Canada and that of Kentucky, when so great a distance
separated the two branches of the same family stock. To
crown all, the number of novices was so small as to leave
f\O hope of replacing the already silvered veterans, whom
old age and ceaseless toil would soon be sending to their
rest.
Whilst our Very Rev. Fr. Visitor was weighing these
items of dissatisfaction with the advantage of a prolonged
stay in Kentucky, and seems::d to doubt for a time, to which
�l'lcw York and Canada .llfission.
33
::;ide! the scales inclined, a letter arrived from the newly-appointed Bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. John Hughes,
which at once stopped the oscillation of the balance. The
L~tter contained a request that Rev. Fr. Boulanger would
.accept the Bishop's new College of St John, situated at
.Fordham, about ten miles from New York; and concluded
by asking an immediate interview, as his Lordship was
~oon to set out for Europe. Indecision formed no part of
Bishop Hughes' character, and when he had to deal with a
man of like disposition, neither time nor words were lost.
It was agreed to transfer to St. John's all the members of
the Society then in Kentucky.
\Vhen it became noised abroad that the Jesuits were
going to leave Kentucky, both Catholics and Protestants,
who saw themselves about to be deprived of the honor of
having a College in their midst, eagerly strove to alter their
determination; they went so far as to present a petition to
the Fathers, begging them to remain ; and, atthe same time,
made liberal offers of aid and money. Even the daily
newspapers of Louisville ignorant of the new field opened
to their zeal in Fordham, and suspecting that they were
forced to leave against their will, broke out into loud in-.
vectives against the ecclesiastical superiors. Bishop Flaget
was deeply grieved at the thought of losing the Fathers
whom he esteemed so highly, but finding it impossible to
alter their determination, called in the priests of the Holy
Cross; who took possession of the College of St. Mary's.
The uncompleted edifice at Louisville was sold back to the
original owners of the property.
As the minds of some were not a little excited on the
subject of our entering St. John's, and even the students
seemed to entertain a dread of having Jesuit teachers, itwas not deemed advisable that all should start at once.
Accordingly, towards the close of April, 1846, two Fathers
were despatched to Fordham and incorporated with the
then existing Collegiate staff. ,
�34
New York alltl Cmrat{a JT!issiou.
The device succeeded to perfection: the hearts of the students were soon won by the kindness of the Fathers ; and
the parents, were, in a short time, happy to have their
children receive the food of instruction from the hands of
the Jesuits. Though the College had been opened in I84I,
on the 24th of June,* feast of its Patron, St. John the
Baptist, it was only on July I 5th, I ~46, a few months after
the arrival of the two Fathers who had been sent to prepare the way for the rest, that it celebrated its first annual
commencen:.ent since the reception of its charter. At the
conclusion of the exercises on that occasion, the Rt. Rev.
Bishop Hughes, but lately returned from Europe, after
praising in the most cordial terms the members and labors
of the Society, unfolded his whole design to the audience.
The I:'athers had no longer anything to fe;:~.r; by the end of
August the entire transfer had been effected, and Rev. Fr.
A. Thebaud entered on his duties as President of the College.
Fr. Thebaud was the fourth who sat in the presidential
chair-. The present Archbishop of New York, a man universally esteemed for his talents and amiability, had been
taken from his pastoral duties at St. Joseph's Church, N.Y.,
.to be the first President, as well as ;Professor of Rhetoric
and Belles-Lettres. He was succeeded in I842 bythe Rev.
Ambrose Manahan, D. D., who was in tum replaced by the
Rev. John Harley. On the first staff of the College, we find,
as Professor of Latin, the name of Mr. John J. Conroy,t
now Bishop of Albany, whilst the present Archbishop of
Baltimore, J. Roosevelt Bayley, was acting president under
Fr. Harley, who accompanied Bishop Hughes to Europe in
hope of finding health.
The College was not the only institution on the estate,
for in 1840, the Bishop had transferred thither from Lafargeville, and had placed under the invocation of. St. Joseph, his
.
1
*De Courcy, Cath. Church in U. 8. c. xxv. p. 240.
t Hassard, Life of Archbishop Hughes, c. xiv, p. 252.
�1Vcw York and Canada ivlission.
35
diocesan Seminary. The seminarians at first ·occupied a
small stone building North-west of the College, but in 1845,
were laid the foundations of the beautiful fortress-like
building which they afterwards occupied. The same year,
the indefatigable Bishop began the erection of the Church
adjoining the Seminary; and he has left us a convincing
proof of his zeal for the house of God, as well as his good
taste and love of the fine arts in the stained glass windows
which he had made to order at St. Omers, France, express._
ly to beautify the temple he was raising to his Maker. The
Apostles St. Peter and St Paul and the four Evangelists are
depicted in the six windows, three on each side. The figures are executed in the best style of modern stained-glass;
they stand on floriated Gothic pedestals of gold, surmounted
by a rich canopy of the same, while at the foot of the
pedestal is a golden escutcheon containing the name of the·
Saint.*
St. Joseph's Seminary was not sold with the College, but
remained under the control of the Bishop for a number of
years, though our Fathers were employed in it as Professors
of Theology. As the number of the Fathers was too
small to suffice for all the branches of instruction taught
both in the College and Seminary, aid was asked from the
Society in Europe. Among the Fathers that responded to
the call was our late Reverend Fr. Charles Maldonado, whose
devoted labors in our mission for a number of years, later
gave us a right to wreathe at least a few flowers into the
garlands that already twine around his tomb-and this right
we dearly prize. We look upon it, in fact, as a real blessing
to have had among us so perfect a type of the true Jesuit;
for, as says his Obituary in a back number of the LETTERS,
"he was eminently," and we would add, emphatically, "the
c/zild of the Society; t and to say this is, we think, to
strike the key-note of his character.
------------------
* R. Bolturi, Jr.
t
History of the County of,Vestchester, vol. ii, p. 331.
Vol. i, N 0. 3, p. 202.
WOODSTOCK LETTERS,
�NeuJ York and Canaaa Jlfission.
It has ever been impossible for us to associate the idea of
advanced age with the pleasing image of Fr. Maldonado,
which our memory loves to trace. Even his depth of
learning could not make one forget his "innocent playfulness;" nay, it was this latter quality that first struck the
beholder, and to discover the former, one had to pierce
this ·exterior surface and sink down into the well-stored
mind. Yet we would not intimate that he stro<•c to hide his
learning, that would imply a strain at variance with his·
open guileless character; he merely seemed to ignore its
existence, a~d
"Unconscious as the mountain of its ore,
Or rock of its inestimable gem."
without any effort concealed what cost him such persevering efforts to acquire.
That simplicity so charming should be found united with
eruditiQn so va~t might seem, at first, a matter of surprise;
and yet these qualities far from being opposed, may be almost~ said to form but one, or at least to be as closely
linked together as cause to effect. For surely, stainless
must be the soul that produced so spotless a flower; and
the purest of hearts the only possible sanctuary where such
dove-like innocence could nestle ...-~ow it is the special
privilege of the pure of heart to see God; to contemplate
the very source of all wisdom and knowledge.
To say that with so attractive a disposition, Fr. Maldonado endeared himself to all the inmates of St. John's,
both young and old, students and Professors, would be
simply to note the application to the moral order of those
facts of nature our meads and prairies daily exhibit: that
the sweet-brier and honey-suckle are sought alike by our
sober-suited songsters, and sportive humming-birds.
Fr. Maldonado returned with interest the affection of
which .he was the object; and Fordham and its associations
so interlaced themselves around his heart that it was ever
after his delight to revisit the scenes of his first home in
America.
�New York and Canada A1i'ssion.
37
It is no doubt to these lingering memories that we scho-.
lastics are indebted for the happy hours we spent in his
company, only a few days before death snatched him from
us. After suffering himself to be enticed from his quiet
retreat of study and prayer at Woodstock, to spend a few
days in our Mission, he consented to join us at Fort Hill;
and during his short sojourn in our midst, his innocent
simplicity of character seemed to reveal itself by traits
.more charming than ever, as he was approaching the time
when this very quality was to be his passport to the arms
·of the Saviour who has said: "Unless you become as little
children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven."
It was indeed a sight we shall never forget to behold the
learned divine, successor of Suarez in the chair of Theology
at Salamanca, seated on the boards of our piazza, and looking with an all-absorbed gaze on the sprightly gambols of
a little pet squirrel in his wire cage. With what delight he
would eye the "little fellow," as he called him, and every
now and then as the little prisoner exhibited some new
antic, some bold feat of agility, break out with: "Nonne
Mirandum !" It was the man of prayer finding matter for
wonder and amazement in the smallest of God's creatures.
So much of the spirit of St. Francis of Assisium did
we see in our beloved guest that we would hardly have
been surprised, if while he strolled along with us through
our shady woods, the birds that twittered and circled round
him had ceased their warbling, and alighting on his shoulders
and hands remained motionless and attentive to his words,
till, as St. Francis,* he had dismissed them with the sign of
the cross.
Why should it not be so? when on innocent man
"all things smiled :"
and when around Adam and Eve
*Life of St. Thomas Aquinas, by R. B. V ::mghan. Vol. I. c. 5, St.
Francis and St. Dominic.
�New York aud Canada Jlfissi01i.
"as they sat recline
On the soft downy bank damasked with flowers,
frisking played
All beasts of th'earth, since wild, and of all chase
In wood or wilderness, forest or den.':*
Buf it was of little moment to him that the birds of our
forests should cluster around him, when he was so soon to
be surrounded by beings of far fairer wing, of far sweeter
1
note than any this poor world can boast of; when the very
angels of God were so soon to welcome him into the Divine
Presence. Truly of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.
But to return to St. John's. Rose Hill, as the estate was
called on which the College stood, and which for a time
gave its name to the. institution * was a lo\·ely spot, that
would have charmed even a far less genial converser with
Nature than our dear Fr. l\Ialdo.nado. In front of the stone
building that capped a gentle eminence, stretched, with easy
descent, a beautiful lawn some twenty acres in extent, and
up and down this verdant slope the playful breezes seemed
never to tire of chasing each other in mazy pursuit. Nor
has time made them less sportive, for, now, as well as. then,
from the College porch, especially of a morning in early
Spring, when the soft green texture of each velvet blade is
just fresh from Nature's loom, and the whole lawn glistens
with its myriad drops of sun-lit de\;; at a moment when
led by the breeze,
The vivid verdure runs,
one is easily charmed into the belief that Nature has suddenly reversed before his eyes Nero's astounding pageant,
the solid earth seeming to have suddenly disappeared, and
himself to be actually gazing on the wavy ripplings of the
sea.
Along the edge of this mimic ocean, like so many giant
cliffs, forest-crowned, merging from the waves, rose tall and
*Paradise Lost. Bk. IV. and Bk. VIII.
tIt was for some time known as Rose Hill College. Bayley Cath.
Church inN. Y. p. 106, Note.
·
..
,
·
�.New York and Ccmada .Mission.
39
majestic some mag·nificent elms, the grafts of wl~ich,-so
the proprietors were fond of telling-had been brought in
Dlden times from Holyrood Palace, the once noble residence
.(,f the Scottish Sovereigns, and witness to the many woes,
as well as hallowed by the sublime virtues of the saintly
1\Iary Queen of Scots.
Nearer the College a clump of the same towering trees,
ca~t its refreshing shade, like a wooded Island bosomed in
the ocean; and just in front of the marble steps leading to
the entrance, an aged weeping-\~ill~w gnarled and grote~que,
drooped to the very earth-beautiful image of old age repentant.
In the rear of the edifice lay a large and productjve
·f;u·m reaching to the verge of aq extensive wood, through
which, as liquid boundary of the property, glided the peaceful Bronx,
"now fretting o'er a rock,
Now scarcely moving through a reedy pool,
Now ~tarting to a sudden stream, and now
Gently diffused into a limpid plain." *
Besides these rural beauties with which Nature had adorned
the environs of St. John's, the part of Westchester county
in ·which it lay was classic ground-the scene of many a
march and counter-march of the Continental forces in r 776.
"There was hardly a little stream for miles around, hardly
:a grass-grown lane," says the biographer of Archbishop
Hughes, "which had not been the scene of conflict; hardly
an old house with which some thrilling incident of the war
.was not associated; hardly a commanding hill upon which
the antiquary might not still trace the marks of an ancient
camp, or the lines of a ruined fortification." t
Fordham Heights especially, a ridge of hills little more
than a stone's throw in front of the College grounds, were
celebrated as being the position occupied by Gen. Wash~·Thomson's
Seasons-Summer, li. 481.
t Address delivered before the Historical Association of St. John's
College, Dec. 3rd, 1863, by J. R. G. Hassard.
6
�40
1Vew York and Cimada JTfissiou.
ington previous to the battle which took place at White
Plains, about thirteen miles farther north,.on October 28th.
1776. It was probably at this time, while th.e Commanderin-chief was directing in person some of the movements o'f
the Americans, that he, according to a popular tradition.
passed the night in the old wooden farm-house to the left
of the College. The sister tradition, however, which points
to the parlor of the same cottage as the place in which
\Vashingtonsigned the death-warrant of Major Andre, a
legend to "Y,hich the students clung with patriotic tenacity,
is, accordin~i' to the same writer just mentioned, "most certainly untrue; as Fordham at the time of Andre's execution, was within the British lines."
In fact, after the battle of White Plains, Gen. Howe, the
English commander, took p0ssession of the fortifications
along the Heights, which the Americans had abandoned.·
and kept them till the end of the war.
·
There exists still another traditionary legend, on which
most .probably the same verdict of "unfounded" must be
passed: it is that \Vashington once fastened his charger to
the old willow above described. And well, perhaps, it is
for the aged tree not to have this new. title to renown, else.
instead of exciting the admiration of all pass.ers-by on account of its strongly-developed and characteristic bumps,
. with life enough in it to put forth its pendant verdure for
years to come, it might have met the £1.te of the Royal Oak.
whose thick foliage sheltered for a whole day the Cavalier
King, saved him from the Roundheads in hot pursuit, and
was, as history relates, afterwards destroyed to satisfy the
veneration of the Cavaliers.*· Still even this tradition may
be true, for that an engagement, in which \Vashington himself, perhaps, was present, must have taken place much
nearer to Rose Hill than that of White Plains, nay, most
probably on the estate itself, is evident from the large
gr~ssy mound covering the remains of a number of soldiers,
* Lingard.
Hist. of Engl., Vol. x, p. 336.
�JVcw York and Canada "lfission.
41
which formed a very conspicuous object on the North side
of the lawn, and ~m which the people even now look with
~reat reverence.
The quiet Bronx itself had its warlike associations, having been once the ouly barrier that separated the contending
.umies; f<;>r in those days, before mills and dams had encroached upon its copious waters, it was cousidered a
sufficient obstacle to stay a hostile force. Besides, when it
l1ad passed the Coliege property, it had already travelled
fi.)r miles through the valley it f~rtilizes, to which it gives
its name, and many a time must it have hushed its watert'
into deeper stillness as it met in its course some hallowed
spot, where heroes fought and bled. Many an act of noble .
daring must it have seen in those by-gone days, when, too,
it was the only witness of the de.ed, and the ·rocks on its.
banks the only herald, by their echo, of the valorous shout
or encouraging cheer of man to man. Many a purple rill
of patriot blood must have trickled through the valley and
fouud its way to the peaceful bed of the river, dyeing its
crystal waters; and many a wounded soldier must have
dragged himsdf to its edge to cool his fevered lips, and
whisper, perhaps, a faint farewell to its gently gliding waves,
in the frenzied hope that they might bear it along on their
rippling crests to the loved ones far away.
Even after the jarring sounds of war were hushed by the .
peace of 1783, Rose Hill was still connected with those
who had fought our battles, being the residence of Colonel
John ·watts, who had married the celebrated Lady Mary
.Alexander, daughter of Major-General Lord Stirling, whose
claims to the peerage, however, were not acknowledged by
the House of Lords.
Such then was the new field of labor on which our
Fathers entered in 1846, and though they had encountered
many difficulties in the realization of their plan, they were
soon greatly consoled by the piety of thc students entrusted
to their care. Among the hundred and fifty students on
�42
Ne-w York and Canada Jfissio!t.
the College roll, were, as we learn from the Annual Letters
of those days many really devout children, and very loving
clients of the Blessed Virgin. Animated with a zeal uncommon at their age, they had formed a. Society for the
conversion of sinners, and recommended to each other's
prayers, one a father who had neglected his religious duties,
another a mother still outside the true Church, etc. The
prayers of these innocent souls were very efficacious, and
in, a short time five Protestants, for whom they had been
petitioning the Almighty, entered the one Fold of Christ;
and two hardened sinners returned to a better life.
Far from being an obstacle to their studies, their piety
only took another form when there was question of preparation for class, and showed itself in serious application to
their books. · The next annual commencement, which took
place "under the elms," in July, 1847, the first since the
Coilege had been entrusted to our .Fathers, gave abundant
evidence of the students' progress. The programme comprise2 five dis•:ourses, two of which, at least, seem to have
beeri really extraordinary. One, which, says the annalist,
surpassed all expectation, was in Latin, and entitled: "De
Latinae Linguae Laudibus," "ipsa laude dignissima," adds
the MS. The other was in Englis4..'and was graced with
the novel heading: "Nothing Originai:" yet so very origi. nal did it prove to be-saving the paradox-that two Protestant papers deemed it worthy of a verbatim transcription
the following day. An orchestra from the city added its
charms to the other attractions of the occasion, and the
two thousand spectators, including a large number of the
clergy, were loath to leave the spot, where the productions
of science and art to which they had listened, were only
outdone by the beauties of Nature which greeted their eyes
wherever they turned. Thus were inaugurated those annual
festivities now so well known in the vicinity of New York,
~nd al~ays so welcome to the many friends and alumni of
St. John's.
(To be continued.)
�"FIFTIETH ANNIV'Y OF THE MISSOURI PROV.
CELEBRATION AT THE NOVITIATE.
The Feast of our Holy Founder was a day of unparalleled
solemnity and rejoicing for the quiet commu~ity at St.
Stanislaus.
From far and near, the old and the young, Fathers
as well as Scholastics, had gathered ~owards the parent roof, beneath which the"y had been born to the religious life and grown into maturity, until they had gone
forth- with a mother's benediction upon them-strong in
generous resolves and fired with pious aspirations.. For
days in advance, the Novices had looked forward to this
meeting, and prepareq a family festival for their elder
brothers returned to them, for a few brief hours, from the
harvest field of souls. Almost the first thing that greeted
the stranger, as he approached the hous.e by the stonepaved walk, were two long rows of tables, arranged in the
form of an Egyptian cross, beneath the shade of a few
straggling locust-trees, and completely surrounded by a sort
of dais or raised platform of boards. Close by, suspended
from the interlacing boughs, waved a white banner-unsuggestive, perhaps, to the Casual visitor, but full of significaqce
for the invited guests. For it bore on one side, in letters
of green, the sacred monogram "I. H. S.," and on the other
the words, "Prov. Mo., 1823-1873," marking an interval
of fifty years.
It was the "Golden Jubilee" of the Missouri Province, or
the jijtietlz anniversary of its foundation.
The ceremony began by a solemn High Mass, with deacon anq subdeacon. Every available inch of the devotional
�44
Fiftictlt .Amth•crsary of tltc
Jft~·souri PnrvillCt'.
.
.
little chapel, as well as a part of the corridor leading to it,
was occupied, and presented a scene that will not easily
f:1.de from the memory. Those prostrate forms, from the
white-haired veteran to the youngest recruit-sending aloft
their united prayers in response to the solemn notes of the
celebrant and in soft accompaniment to the louder strain,;
of the choir-all spoke a language of their own, which
words cannot translate but which the religious soul in,.;tantly recognises as its mother tongue.
When Mass wa~ finished, the visitors-still under tli.e
elevating in.f:1uence of these sacred ceremonies-withdrew to
the forepart of the house to converse upon the theme that
was then uppermost in every mind. The younger portion
grouped almost instinctively around some older member to
hear from his lips the history of earlier days-of their trials
and dangers, of their labors and fruits, of their struggles
and triumphs. Meanwhile, busy young hands were spreading the festive board under the trees, until a drenching rain
;md threatening sky warned them t.o transfer their prepararations to more protected quarters. They did so, with as
much expedition and religious good grace, as if they had
actually succeeqed in hiding their disappointment even from
themselves. It was not long before ·the sound of the bell
summoned the guests to the familiai'~ld refectory, in which
a plenteous repast had been served up for them. The whole
apartment was filled to overflowing; and the waiters, with all
their dexterity and daily experience, could scarcely succeed
in squeezing their way in betwe!n the almost contiguous
rows. All practically felt the necessity of providing more
ample accommodations for the growing numbers of the community. This want is about to be supplied, and the visitors
had the consolation of taking a part in the initiatory step.
For during the course of the afternoon, they all proceeded in
rank an,d file, amid sacred canticles and prayers, towards
the rear of the house, to attend what is commonly termed
"the laying of a corner-stone."
�r}(tietlz Amziz•ersar;' of tlte
J~fissouri
Province.
45
The new building, which was already finished up to the
table-;:;tone of the foundation, is meant to serve as an addition to the present substantial, but not very capacious.
structure. Very Rev. Father Provincial himself performed
the ceremony of blessing the stone, and fitted into the
neatly-chiselled cavity a tin casket, which containedbesides smaller articles usually enclosed on similar occasions-a parchment with the following inscription :
"0. A. !I. D. G."
"Anno salutis millesimo octingentesimo septuagesimo tertio, regnante
summo Pontifice Pio Nono, vigesimo octavo gloriosi sui Pontificatu~
anno, Adm. Rev. P. Petro Beckx Praeposito Generali Societatis J esu, Archiepiscopo Ludovicensi Petro Richardo, Plur. Rev. P. Thoma O'Neil
Praeposito Provinciae Missourianae, Rev. P. Isidoro Boudreaux Rectore
domus probationis ad Stm. Stanislaum et !Iagistro Novitiorum, Praeside
Statuum Foederatorum Ulysse Grant, Gubernatore Status !Iissouri Sila
L. 'Voodson, Architecto Adolpho Druiding; tempore, quo summus
Pontifex omnibus bonis spoliatus, a cunctis guberniis derelictus vel
impugnatus quasi captivus anno jam tertio in domo Vaticana detinebatnr; tempore quo (legibus iniquissimis, tum in Italia, tum in Germania
et alibi, contra jura Sanctae Ecclesiae latis et religiosis ordinibus praecipue Societate Jesu expulsis), inferni potestates et impiorum machinationes Sanctam Christi Religionem destruere et Societatem Jesu eradicare
totis viribus conabantur: lapis angularis hujns aedificii ad majorem Dei
gloriam ct ad novos socios J esu strenuosque milites pro defensione Religionis et fidei propagatione efformandos solemniter positus est, die trigesimo primo Julii, fcsto Sti. Ignatii, cum anniversarium quinquagesimum a fnndatione Novitiatns et Provinciae !lissonrianae principio,
magno jubilo celebrarctnr, praesentibus:"
Then followed a long list of signatures, from Very Rev.
Father Provincial's down to that of the last admitted
Novice, who still found his long black gown quite as cumbersome as young David found the royal armor.
After the stone had been scaled, an aged Father, who
celebrated the "Golden Jubilee" of his ordination a few
days later-yielding to solicitations, so repeatedly and
so gracefully renewed that it was sweeter to surrender than
to triumph-briskly mounted the walls of the rising edifice
and said a few pithy words of exhortation and advice in
Latin.
�46
.Fiftict!t Annh,crsar;• of t!tc Jfissouri Provine.·.
The speaker's patriarchal age of 76, his fifty years of
priesthood and the very simplicity of his language surrounded him with the halo of other days, and threw a sort
of charm upon the many pious sentiments that he suggested. Here are a few, culled from among others of the
same kind:
"Vos rogastis me, Reverendi Patres Fratresque Chnrissimi, ut dicercm
\·obb aliquid pro vtstra aedificatione. Ego, qui mmimus smn intPr vo~.
tlebuissem potius rogan>, ut vos dignemini me instruere et udjuvare
\'estris exhortationibus, ut diligentior evadam in servitio Dei, et ut sic;
me praeparem "ad pie moriendum. Cum tamen, teste Scriptum Sacm.
heatius sit magis dare quam accipere, ego lubentissime acquievi pet.itionibus vestris. Ista animo volventi occurit caput tertium Act. Apostolorum, ubi S. Lucas narrat de quodam viro qui erat 'claudus ex utero
matris suae ... Petrus aut em dixit: Argentum et aurum non est milti.
quod autem habeo, hoc tibi do ... .'
"Narro to tam seriem istius miraculi, ut in de qua edam verba depromam
quae mihi et vobis applico, 'Argentum,' nempe, 'et ".urum non est mihi.'
Y erb:t haec, in sensu literali, verissima sunt; quid, enim, possidet qui
ligatus est voto paupertatis? Et, in sensu figurato, sunt aeque vera. Qui>:
\lllt!Ua.!_n credidit,aut credere potuit, mihi esse argentum et aurum Sapient iae nempe, ·quo vos doceam et instruam? Absit a me ut tale quid prae~umam. Vos potius magistri mei estis, paratus ego omni tempore discipnlus vester fieri, et ex m'e vestro andire verba eonsolationis et salutis.
::-<i nutPm dicerem me omnino nihil habere, quo vobis utilis esse possum,
veritatem utique non loquerer. Duo eten}ui mihi sunt propria, quae
,-obis omnibus sunt communia, lingua scilicet et cor; lingua qua vos
nlloquor, et cor quo vos amo ct diligo.
"Et primo quoad linguam, non ignobile utique membrum, vobis He·rcrendis Patribus et Fratribns dilectissimis iterum iterumque dico, ut nostris calamitosis temporibus sitis semper et ubique sal terrae et lux
mundi, ut per vestros labores, per vestras virtutes, per vestrum sancte
vivendi- modum, glorificetur Pater noster qui in coelis est. Jam proh
dolor! cum veritate fateri de bemus, quod tot us mundus in maligno positus est, ita ut nostris temporibus ordinaria non amp!ius sufficiat virtus, ut
onmes latentes inimici insidias plene vincamus....
"ltaque tamquam veri filii Societatis simus parati ad proelium, nemini dantcs ullam offensam; sed in omnibus exhibeamus nosmetipsos
tamquam Dei ministros, in multa patientia, in trilmlationibus si
fbrte, D~o pcrmittente, nobis obveniant. Ut multa paucis complectar,
~hnus omnes, adjuvante Dei gratia, :mgelice casti et sincere humiles.
llumiliamini sub potenti manu Dei ut vos exaltet in tempore tribulationis.
"Dixi me nihil habere nisi linguam et cor, qui bus vobis utilis esse possum. Primum probavi vos exhortando ad virtutem; secundum proba-
�re debeo vos amawlo et diligendo. }[oduui no~ docet dilectu~ ChriHtl
di~cipulus, Sanetus .Joannes.
'Filioli mei.' sic scribit. 'non diligamu,
n•rbo, neque lingua. sed opere et veritate.' .... Diligamus igitur invicem
vero c0nstantiqn" fraternituti~ umore. et vivamus saneta pace uniti, <let
nee intremus regnum ll(.'terni umori:l. Amen."
These words found an echo in every 'heart and were
treasured up as the legacy of a bygone age.*
But there was one present there, in whose memory the
,,·hole scene must have awakened the personal reminis:;ccnces of half a century-one of that courageous band of
young Flemmings, six in number, who forsook their homes
<tnd their country to evangelize the wilds of America, eluded
:the vigilance of their kinsfolk and of a hostile anti-Catho~ ·
lie government, landed upon our shores, poor and lonely
·wayfarers, with nothing but their zeal and the word of a
pious priest to introduce them-enrolled themselves in the
ranks of the resuscitated Society and began their probation
at vVhitemarsh, Maryland ;-then (with their heroic Novicemaster, Father Van Quikenborne, and another Belgian Father by the name of Timmermans as their leaders, and two
Belgian lay-brothers as their companions) sought for a new
lwme in the unexplored regions of the \Vest-journeyed
\or hundreds of miles on foo·t, over rugged mountains and
uncultivated plains-:-descended rapid rivers on treacherous
flatboats-crossed the "Father of Waters" to· enter upon
fields of missionary labor, trodden some fifty years before
by their brethren of the old Society ;-and, finally, after
perils and hardships, never perhaps to be recorded, settled
upon a farm presented to them by Bishop Dubourg, to lay
the first foundation of what is now the Missouri Province.
"The speaker's name is Father James Busschotts, a Flemming, born
.June 22d, 1796, and therefore 77 years of age. He entered the Society,
a;; a I'CCUlur priest, in 1R.'l3, and celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his
onlination on the iith of August, thi~ yetir. 'Ye are indebted for th!'
above extracts to tlw venerable Fatll!'r himself, who kindly wrote them
<>ut and placed thew at our disposal.
7
�48-
Pifiietft Anni<Jcrsar;• of tlie
~if'lissouri
Pro-m-1tce:
For him the events commemorated on that auspiciou ....
day had- a personal significance, which they could not havet,i)r others;. for he might have said of ali of them: ."quorum
f'ars magna jiti:· .~s be stood there, like cr man come
tlown fi·om another generation, with all the venerableness of
age, but without its feebleness, with eye u-ndimmed, with
strength unbrok.en, with the actions of a long life crowding
Into one singfe point of time, that had neither past nor·
future, he might have seemed, for a brief moment, like a
faint image.,<;>fHim, who remains unchanged though everything around has changed, and with one comprehensive·
glance, beholds all the instants of reYofving ages.*
He stood almost upon the very site where, fifty years'
before, he had 'helped to Iay the foundation of another
building, without these imposing ceremonies, or this crowd
nf heirs to perpetuate his labors and his successes. Not
long ago, the first humble cabin raised by Jesuit hands,
was :;till pointed out on the premises at the North-east corner of the new edifice. It was nearly surrounded, during
the summer months, by a rank growth of weeds, with here
and there a stunted peach tree, a neglected flower, or a.
gaily-blooming turnip, to feed the .bees in an adjoining
hive. .There it stood-its two small brick-paved roomshalf buried in the earth and rubbish, accumulated by succeeding yea i-s-a relic too sacred to feel the touch of relentJess progress-a monument, that told the thoughtful Novice
of the work accomplished by his hardy forefather:s. There
"'The Father here alluded to is .Judocu~ V:m A:-~chc, lJorn in lklgium ~Ia_\·
:!8th, 1800, and now o-.er seventy-three year~ of age. He lm~ heen blessetl
by nature with an iron constitution, that ~eem~ unsusceptihiP of the wenr
of declining years, and is still as hardy and supple of limb a~ the youngetit.
He hounds on his horse with the greatest ease and agility, nnd attend><
alone a pretty extensiYe country parish, composed of the Freneh and English speaking inhabitants of St. Ferdinand (alias Flori"'ant) and the
environs.
�F_zjtietlt Anniversary
of tlu J!issou;-i Pnmzntt.
49
was the birthplace of the Missouri PrO\·ince and of t1lc
:-Jovitiate- there had been cast that grain of mustard seed,
·now grown into a tree, beneath whose branches he too l1aii
·taken shelter from the world. There the first Novice-mas·
ter, at the head of his six spiritual children, had divided the
day between prayer and the hardest manual htbor-had
taught some roaming Indian youth tl1e catechism, and the
next hour, perhaps, had plied the axe and mallet to fell of
rive a gnarly oak-had performed the last ministrations of
Teligion. over sm;ne dying French trapper, then borne upon
his shoulders the timber for another dwelling.
And now, after only fifty years, how changed the ,;ccnc ~
Not merely towns, but cities numbering th.ree or four hundred thousand souls, have sprung UfJ around us) and in
many of them we have temples to the living God, one of
which is only second to the Gesu at Rome in the number
of its communions.* Missionary bands traverse the country
from one extremity to the other, to lead back the straying'
sheep and gather new ones into the fold. Three College"
-besides one or two academies.--educate two or three hundred youths each, in the higher branches of study; and,
within the last year or two, they have given us some thirty
or more Novices, most of whom have completed the if
course as far as Philosophy (exclusively) under our own
eyes.
Looking at this youthful family. now so flourishing, those
first fathers might exclaim, if they still lived : "These are
the children which God hath given us." But they have
gone to their reward, with the exception of one lay-brother
and the two oldest Novices of the band, who r.emain to tell
of the virtues and toils of their departed companions.
*This statement is made on the authority ofu Father, long connected
with the Holy PiJ,JIIiiJJ ('!Jur<"il, Chi<"ago. of which tlwrt· is question here.,
ln 1871, the number of IIostR distrihnted ~whieh nre always counted by
the sacristan b('fore being put into the Ciborium) wa~ between 80,000
:md !JO,OOO. It must )Jc larger now; hut we have not at hand the neces:mry documents to verify, and compare· especially with our Churches in
France.
�)0'
Fifiietli Amzizrcrsary
of t!ic
"Tfissouri Prom"nce:
There was not one among them all, whose memory i,.c
not held in benediction, They lived and they died faith-ful sons of Loyola; and all have laid them down at la,;L
to re:-,t at the loot of the cross in the Novitiate, tbe home
t)f their early exploits, now the place of their repo,;c.
Then.~ they sleep, upon that hallowed little mound-prct:ious spot of earth-among the catalpas and weeping-willows, in whose shade the Novices often g•) to tell thei1·
clnpkt and muse upon the devotedness of their Fathers ..
There they sleep-their Master of Novices, Father Van
lJuickcnborrle, still at the head, first in life and first in
tleath. and all the others grouped around him, to be separated ne\•ermore.
Some of them were distinguished men, in the strictest
~enst.: of the word: and all of them have left us much toadmire, and still more to imitate. Fathers Peter Joseph
Verhaegen and John Anthony Elet both filled the office of
Provincial-the latter in Missouri-the former, at different
times._ both in Maryland a!ld in Missouri; Father John
Baptist Smedts was Master. of Novices and afterwards spiritual Father; and Father Peter John DeSmet, who has latel)·
g-one to join them, has finished a career, which the world
itself agrees in styling remarkable.* ..: Their first religious
years were a school of perpetual abnegation and humility
-a ·life of heroic sacrifice, which supplied them with the
most effectual antidote against any rising thought of selfcongratulation and complacency at the success of their efforts. A different, and in many respects, a more dangerous
sphere of action is open to us.
They des.cended, with unconscious magnanimity, from
the manners of the refined and learned among whom they
had been brought up, to the customs of the savage and of
*Om' of the lay-brothers, who nceompanied these Fnthers in their
expeditioi1, also lies buried in the Cemetery at the Novitiate. He wu~
called Henry Reiselman, and acted as infirmarian at the time of hi~
decease, in June, 1857. The other lay-brother, and two :Fathers (Novicet>
at the time of tl;eir arrival in ~Iissouri) nre ~till alive. One of these Fn-
�J.ljtietlz .-lmzh•crsmy
if
tlzc .'J;Jissouri Pro'l,inu.
)r
the untutored settler. Now it is much, if we can raise
ourselves to the level of a society, wh-ich, though but of
yesterday, is perhaps affectedly vain of its polish and education-if we can maintain our ancestral reputation for
learning in the almost daily contact with non-Catholic
minds, keen to gauge intellectual attainments and slow to
approve anything in us but genuine merit-if we can satisfy the demands of a catholic community, which holds.
perhaps, a relatively higher social position here than in any
other part of the Union, and which is therefore beginning
to be daily more and more fastidious, not- only about the
food that we present, but also about the manner in which
we serve it up.
If, however, we know how to read the signs of the
times as well as our laborious forefathers, if we prove ourselves as well qualified for the new exigencies of things
<md combine an equal amount of modest worth and indomitable, untiring energy-it is impossible to overestimate
the results ; for even the bright.est fancy-pictures must fall
far short of the reality. If we are true to ourselves and to
our early traditions, the Novice of 1873 may live to witness changes more astonishing than any hitherto effected,
and tell of a contrast far more striking at the centenary
celebration in NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THREE.
---~~----------------------
thers is Judocus Van Assche, of whom mention has been already made;
the other~Felix Verreydt, born in 1798, and therefore 75 years old-is
Htationed at Cincinnati. The lay-brother is also at Cincinnati. He is
called Pete1· De :Meyer, and was born in 1793, being at present over
c ighty years of age.
�SKETCH OF THE EARLIEST ~IIKISTRATIOX S
OF THE SOCIETY I~. BALTil\IORE.
Bancroft, speaking of the Jesuit missionarics in North
.'\merica, sa)~S that "the history of their labors is connected
with the o;i"gin of every celebrated town in French America.'' The same cannot be said of the towns "in the United
States, "at least in a material point of view,-nor perhap=of Maryland's .Metropolis among the rest. But certainly
the history of the Society is connected with the origin of
Catholic Baltimore; since, as will be seen, the firsl regular
ministrations performed there were by Our Fathers ; the first
established resident priest there was one of Ours; the firsttwo
Hishgps of the See, which \yas the first erected in the United
States and is still the primatial one, had been members of
the Society at the time of its suppression,. and never lost
their affection for it. Our subject then is certainly an interesting one ; and we regret that we ha? not at hand materials sufficient to enable us to treat it as it deserved. i\o
do~1bt many old documents relating to it lie covered with
dust, in different houses,-to say nothin,; of oral information which may yet be obtained; and we hope they will. be
brought into sen·ice by some one else, to complete thi~
imperfect sketch. All that we have done in it was merely
to give a few facts, taken principally from the few old boob
bearing on the subject, which the resources of \Voodstock
allowed us to consult. \Ve have been indebted most of all
to sketches of the Catholic Church in Maryland, written
many years ago by B. U. Campbell, Esq., of Baltimore, in
the "Religious Cabinet," and "Catholic Magazine," periodicals long since defunct.
�Earliest . Ministrations of tlze Society in Baltimore.
53
Passing over the trifling details of its previous history, it
is ,.;ufficicnt to st~te at the outset that in 17 52 the present
~~reat city of Baltimore consisted of only twenty-five houses
and two hundred inhabitants,-which would make it not
very much larger than our own neighboring insignificant
hamlet of\Voodstock. In I 7 s6 it was reinforced by a colony of the exiled. Acadians, whose pathetic history is bet·
ter known. to the English-speaking world from Longfel~
low's beautiful poem founded on it, than perhaps from any
other source. These forlorn exiles were hospitably re·
ceived by the Baltimorians, and with their arrival Catholic·
ity begins in Baltimore; as it seems that before them very
few if any Catholics were to be fo~nd there. These good
people, as is well known, had a very simple and warm
faith, a~d an unswen;ing attachment to the religion of
their forefathers; and these qualities, heightened by the
heart-rending sufferings inflicted on them in their expul·
sion from their happy homes in Acadie, made them most
suitable for laying the religious foundations of the future
Catholic :Yietropolis of the United States. Some of them
settled on a part of what is now S. Charles St. ; and that
portion of the city, for that reason, was for a long time
known as "French town." Others of them took refuge in
nn unfinished house situated near the site of the pre$ent.
Battle l\Ionument,-at the centre of all the bu~iness and
activity of the city of to-day,-known as Fotterall's building;
of which some account must be given, as in it probably
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was first offered in Baltimore. Griffith, in his "Annals of Baltimore," says of it:
"It was erected about 1740 by Mr. Edward Fotterall, a
gentleman from Ireland, who imported the materials and
erected the first brick house with freestone corners ; the
first which was two stories without a hip-roof, in town."*
*It may be well to state that the hip-roof was an old form of the
present :Mansard roof, so much cried down after the Boston fire; and as
hip-roofs appear to have prevailed in Baltimore at that time, we thus
see that in house-building, as in other matters, fashions repeat themselves.
�54
Earliest Jlimstrations of the
_<.,~ocicf)'
in h'a!timor<.
It may be seen in an old picture of ''Baltimore as it was in
1752," a copy of which hangs in the Fr. :Minister's room at
Georgetown College, and which has lately been reproduced
for a new book on the history and present condition and
resources of Baltimore. This house was not designed or
built for a church or chapel ; but the proprietor returning
to Ireland, where he died, left it in an unfinished state; and
,;orne of the Acadians above-mentioned, finding it abandoned, lodged themselves in such of its rooms as were
habitable. -J.n one of these, and sometimes also in a house
on S. Charles St., Mass was said when a priest was among
them. One account says that they enjoyed the presence
of one for some time, tht; Rev. l\lr. Leclerc ; but who he
was, where he came from, whether he came along with
them and was perhaps identical with Longfellow's Fathet·
Felician, docs not appear. l\lr. Campbell makes no mention of. him. \\'e hear of him only from the Abbe Robin.
\vho published in 1782 an account of his travels in America while attached to the army of the Count de Rochambeau as chaplain ; and De Courcy who cites him, yet
,;peaks unfavorably· of his book ; while at the same time
we have found some of the statements in it about Mr.
Leclerc to be contradictory to Campbell's, on which there
seems to be reason to rely. If Mr. Leclerc was in Baltimore, he probably did not remain long, and after his departure the Catholics there had to depend on the visits of
Our Fathers from the residence at vVhitemarsh, who were
therefore their first regularly attending clergymen. Such
being the case, \Vhitemarsh naturally deserves more than
a passing mention in our sketch. And first a few facts of
~laryland colonial history will not perhaps be out of place.
Lord Baltimore. as is well known, established religious
toleration as the corner-stone of his settlement in the Ne\\.
World: the settlers being prip.cipally Catholics who had
fled from the persecutions to which their Religion was
subject in the Old. . The other· colonies stood in need of so
�Earliest }Jifinistratio!ls of tltc
Socie~y
ill Haltimore.
---
''
salutary an example, since in all of them religious bigotry
. and proscription prevailed to a greater or less extent
The most bitter preju,dices against Catholics existed even
in the adjoining colony of Virginia, afterward the home of
\Vashington and Jefferson and l\Iarshall, and in our time
the State on whose soil Know-nothingism received its
death-blow. The benign concessions of Lord Baltimore's
government, however, were at length abused by those
whom they benefited most. The Protestants, having increased in numbers, upset the religious toleration to which
they owed their entrance intD the CD!ony; in 1692 the
Church of England was made the established church of
i\Iaryland, and afterward the most oppressive laws were enacted against Catholics. These laws wc::re more or less in
force until the approach of the American Revolution, when
<til religious differences were forgotten in the desire for na·
tiona! independence. They forbade, among other things,
public Catholic Churches; and when old St. Peter's Church
in Baltimore, of. which we must soon speak, was built in
1771, there was nDt, it is believed, a public Catholic Church
in the state. An exception, however, to the general prohibition of Catholic worship, allowed it to be practised
in private houses or on private estates. Availing themselves of this privilege, Our Fathers, who, at the time of
which we are writing, were the only priests in Maryland, had on each of the several farms which they had acquired, a private chapel connected with the residence, to
which the Catholics of the neighborhood came, to hear
Mass and receive the sacraments. Such was the case at
Whitemarsh, where the Society had a farm, which still re·
mains in its P?Ssession, and where there is at present a
residence and Church. It is situated about twenty miles
from Washington and about the same distance from Baltimore, and was never accessible by railway until the construction lately of the Balto. and Potomac Railroad, which
passes quite near.
8
�56
Earliest 111imstrations of tlie Society· in Ba!iiinorl':.
\Vhitemarsh is a historic place in more respects then one:.
lt was the seat of the· first Novitiate in the United State~·
after the Restoration of the Society ;.and from its hallowed:
precincts started fifty years ago the small band who were·
to found the Province of 1\Iissouri.~It is in the same county, and not many miles distant from the birthplace of the
first Archbishop of Baltimore; to whose future See it was
supplying its first regularly attending priests while he was
undergoing in Europe the long course of preparatory training in tl1e SBciety.
It seems to have been a forerunner of Baltimore in ecclesiastical importance,-a sort of Catholic capital of the
United States in the first days 0f their independe nee.
There, after the Rc\·olution, several meetings were held of
the clergy of Maryland and Pennsylvania, all late members
of the Society, and comprising by far the greater part of the
priests in the Thirteen Colonies, for the purpose of consulting about the constitution of the Church in the new Republic, and of taking steps to communicate their sentiments to
Rome; the result of these meetings having been the appointment by the Pope of Father John Carroll as ecclesiastical superior,-a prelude to his subsequent appointment
as first bishop of the newly created'·See of Baltimore.
\Vhitemarsh, however, has lost all its ancient importa nee, and offers now one of the many instances of the
vicissitudes of human things. More than forty years ago
the Novitiate was removed from its bos01i1 to Frederick ;
Baltimore, which, while a mere village, depended on it in
spirituals, has grown into a great city, of a hundred thousand Catholic population ; and \Vhitemarsh is now as unimportant a mission as Baltimore was in .the days of its
infancy.
At what time precisely the Fathers from Whitemarsh
began'their visits to the Town of Baltimore, we could not
ascertain. It seems probable that they began them shortly
afte: the year I 7 56, and continued them until 1784, when
�,Earliest 1llinzstrations of t7te Society in 13a?timore.
~
57
resident priest was appointed, as we shall see. It does
.not appear either what Fathers attended during all that
_period, nor at what intervals of time. Mr. Campbell gives
,;orne -information which he obtained from speaking with
.a gentleman who had been, in 1768, a member of the
-congregation in Fotteraii's building, above-mentioned; of
which it may be interesting to remark, as it :was probably
the scene of the first l\Iass in Baltimore, that it was situa~
ted but a very short distance from the spot where Loyola
College was opened in 1852, on Holiday St., before the
-erection of the present College and Church on Calvert St.
The visiting priest fmm \Vhitemarsh at that date was
Rev. John Ashton, S. J., and his visits were monthly, reminding .us at \Voodstock of the monthly visits of our Fr.
· \Iinister to the mission of Sykesville, eight miles from
here. On those occasions Fr. Ashton brought with him
the vestments and sacred vessels used in the celebration of
\'lass.
A room in the lower story of the neglected
building was arranged for the purpose,-care having been
.taken first of all to drive ·out the hogs, which habitually
made their home there. A temporary altar of the rudest
description was erected each time. The congregation, con-;isting principally of the Acadians and some few Irish
Catholics, sometimes amounted to no more than twenty
and seldom exceeded forty persons.-To state the few
facts that we know about Fr. Ashton ; he was born in
Ireland in 1742, according to Oliver's collection, was admitted into the Society in 1759, and was first on the mission
in Yorkshire.
He must have been a man of business
Ltlent; as, at the assembly of the clergymen of Maryland
-and Pennsylvania, late members of the suppressed Society,
<.:onvcned at \Vhitemarsh in 1784, he was unanimously
dwsen procurator-general, whose duty it was to preside
over the maHagement of the various estates of the clergy:
subsequently, too, he was appointed to superintend the
building of Georgetown College in 1788. He died in
Maryland in 1814 or 1815.
�58· E;1rliest ilfinistrations of t!tc Society in Ba!tiinore:
It will be of special interest to those at Woodstock to•
know that the \Vhitemarsh missionaries, in their pastoral
visits to Baltimore, did not go there directly, but by a
roundabout course, taking Doughoregan Manor on the
way, where they said Mass in the private chapel attached
to the house; this having been one of the· various stations
existing at the time in Maryfand for the Catholics who·
lived at a distance from the residences of the priests.
Doughoi-egan Manor, or "the Manor," as we call it at
\Voodstock, is the old residence of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and ''is oniy three or four miles distant from here~
It is the original Carrollton, whose lkl.me the illustrious Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence appended
to his signature, to distinguish him from all other Charles
Carrolls, when he staked all his vast fortune on the cause of
the Colonies. It is still occupied by a descendant ofhis, Hon.
John Lee Carroll, and kept by him in excellent condition.
All newcomers at Woodstock propose sooner or later to
pay it a visit; and it is certainly an object of attraction,
with its beautiful avenues, shaded by tn~es,-the fine lawn
in front of the house,-the old manorial mansion itself,
sumptuous in its conveniences but I}Ot modern in appearance,-and the pretty little church:a_ttached, which has a
regular congregation, ministered to by a priest residing at
the Sulpitian Petit .)eminairc of St. Charles, near by. This
chapel contains the remains of the venerable Signer; and
the historic interest of his name is the greatest of the
attractions of the Manor which was his home. But it, as
weli as the places around, ought to have additional interest
for us in our holiday walks, on account of their associations with the journeys of Our Fathers a hundred years
ago and more, to supply the spirituai wants of the future
Catholic Metropolis of the United States. Perhaps, even,
it is n~t an improbable conjecture that they sometimes
passed by Woodstock; it may be, to attend some Catholics
who chanced to be in this direction,-or to vary their
�.Father De Smtt.
59
route to Baltimore, especially as it was only about half the
distance from the Manor that they had travelled already
from \Vhitemarsh. If that be true, after the suppre,;sion of the
Society, which took place during the period of the \Vhitemarsh attendance on Baltimore, we may imagine the Jesuit
missionary riding along here, thinking gloomily of the sad
event ; and we can think how easily he might have been
consoled if he could have foreseen the future a. hundred
years thence of that hill rising abruptly from the river,then covered with impenetrable undergmwth,-now cleared
and levelled and ornamettted, and bearing on its summit
a prosperous Schola,;~icate of the re~tored Society.
(To be continued.)
FATHER DE SMET.-HIS SERVICES TO THE
SOCIETY AND HIS RELIGIOUS LIFE.
Another of Missouri's pioneer Jesuits has gone to his
reward, another of its early light:; has disappeared forever
from the horizon, another of its best known champions has
finished the struggles of his eventful life.- Father De
Smet has entered upon his last long journey to return no
more.
•
The news of his demise has been borne on the wings of
the lightning across two distant continents; and many nonCatholic as well as Catholic periodicals have deemed it
their duty to extol the departed as a benefactor of human- .
ity, and to give an extended record of his deeds. He un-
�6o
Fat!tcr De Smct.
doubtedly rendered signal services to society at large
during· the last thirty-five years of his life; and the world
has been candid enough to acknowledge its indebtedness.
He led a public life; and the ordinary reader has long
been familiar with its history. Its princip1l incidentshis birth in 1801, his studies in the episcopal semin:uy at
Mechlin, his flight from his native country, his twenty-one
\·oyages across the Atlantic, his frequent expeditions to the
Indians, the missions of peace and conciliation with which
he was entrusted by our government, the lingering and
cruel illnes-:rthat finally bore him to the tomb on the 23rd
of l\Iay I 873-all these, besides many interesting details
published by himself, have become a sort of public property and passed into the domain of gt>neral history. It is
not our province to repeat them or to dwell upon what
every one knows.
But Father De Smet rendered special services to his
religious brethren, which it was not easy to appreciate at
their _full value so long as we enjoyed his presence, yet
which it is only meet to record with becoming gratitude,
now that he has passed from among us. He led a religious
life, whose truly edifying traits were not fully known even
to those who approached him mo:;t' familiarly, yet which
should not. be allowed to disappear in .our admiration of his
public virtues.
These services to his brethern were mainly due to his·
own peculiar influence and relations with the outer world.
It is true that, in common with his companions, he lent his
robust frame and giant strength to lay the foundations of
the Society in the \Vest. But he built up his Province
much n~ore eij'iciently by the resources and the members
that he procured for it on the other side of the waters.
When he pleaded in his native Flanders, on behalf of the Indian missions or of the gro\ving Church in the new world. he
was ce;tain to meet with a favorable hearing ... The wealthy
opened their purst;s to contribute from their. abundance;
�~at!tcr
De Smd.
6!
and the fervid youths in the Colleges and Semitlarieslistencd with burning cheek and throbbing heart, until
they had resolved to follow him and to spend themselve,.;
in the service of the Church among the Indians or among
the equally destitute \'lhites beyond the sea. It was thus
that, in the beginning, we received so large an influx of
those sturdy Flemings, whose panegyric St. Francis Xavier himself has left written. Strong and muscular in
body, frank and open in character, ready to accommodate
themselves to the customs of their adopted country, remarkable for their practical good sense and gifted with
more than ordirury facility for acquiring a knowledge of
English, tbey formed in those early days the thews and
• sinews, the bone and marrow of the Missouri Province.
Father De Smet.exercised the same ascendency over the
greatest minds and most prominent characters in our own
country, and his credit with them was always used in the
interest of the Church and of the Society. What political
prejudice or religious bigotry would have refused as an act
of strictest justice to the whole body, policy or a sense of
innate gratitude readily conceded to his individual representations. How· many embarrassments we have thus
been spared, only they can understand who have followed
the history of the various political parties and factions of
the Republic, often friendly but just as often hostile to the
Church and to the religious qrders. We owe him an eternal debt of gratitude for his many and well-timed remonstrances.
Father De Smet rendered no less important services to his
Province and to the whole Society in this country, by bringing it prominently and favorably before the public. For
though his qualifications were rather of a personal character than the result of the regular training. given in the Society, they nevertheless reflected immense credit upon the
body to which he belonged, and made it known where but
for him it would have scarcely been heard of. His merits
�were ,unquestionably of a superior order, and everywhere inspired admiration and respect-as well among Americans as
among Europeans. \Vith the prestige of a great name-with
a presence that was imposing in his prime and venerable in
his declining years.....:....with an artless simplicity united to
a native dignity of bearing, which always maintained the
respect due to the priestly character-with winsome manners and great conversational powers-he was at home in
every circle ... \Vhen he wished he soon commanded the
interest ang ·attention of the company, and became the
centre of att'raction. His hearers were won by the charm
that he could throw around the simplest aner:dotes of his
missionary tours, and listened for hours at a time, not from
mere deference for his person, but from genuine apprecia- •
tion of his recital.
Yet it was chiefly his extensive correspondence and other
written papers that showed his rare talent for narration and
description. Though most of them seem to have been
intended for private communication, and written on the
spur of the moment, they are deservedly admired by all
judicious critics; and form no inconsiderable addition to
the literature of the day. His publi!?hed writings treat of
the missions and their wants, the <?hurch and its actual
standing, the zealous lives and edifying deaths of many of
our members; and a great variety· of other subjects bearing upon the interests of religion. Among his manuscripts
are literary Albums, highly appreciated by those who have
ever glanced at them; as well as biographical sketches of
our departed Fathers and Brothers; creditable alike to the
virtue of the deceased and to the assiduous devotedness of
the compiler, who spent his leisure moments in collecting
materials for the edification of future generations.
All his writings are remarkable for an ease and nai·l'c!t,
highly
keeping with his own character. Many of them
display an uncommon amount of information, that could
scarcely have been acqtiired except by personal observa-
in
�rlrtlur De Smet.
<ion; ·and reveaL to the unbiassed reader the secret activity
and energy of his mind. Much as he himself travelled,
his writings::have travelled still more, and kindled in many
,t generous soul the, love of a religious life. Even boys are
b-;c:nated by th::: romance of his Indian tales, and feel
a sor: of unaccountable attraction· for the exploits of a
missionary life, not very unlike that usually awakened
in them by books of_adventure.
These literary labors, .added to his own reputation, obtained for him an immense and influential circle of acquaintance.-;. The learned and the we;J.lthy, the politician
and the statesman, courted his friendship and bowed be-·
fore him as before a superior. Not <!" few among our
non-Catholic friends looked ·up to him as the great representative of religion in the \Nest, or even in the United
:-:>tates; and, in one noted instance, a public official of
.,tanding, is said to have applied to him, as though he
could control the united forces of the church in the
country.
.
Yet he did not gain this popularity by the sacrifice of
any of the important duties of the religious life. On the
contrary, it was by his staunch adherence to the essential
ubservances of his holy state, that his influence was ac<[uired and pre~ervcd. V cry few, even of those who knew
him best, were aware of his scrupulous exactness in everything that h;1d any reference to the vows. But those,
who:;e position enabled them to see what others passed by
unnoticed, often admired it. In this particular, it is sai-d,
he would never allow himself even those exemptions to
which his duties and occupations might have seemed to
entitle him.
With him, poverty did not consist in an empty profes>ion ; he loved to see it appear in the exterior. Those
who have dealt with. him know, that he was never more
animated than in his invectives against what he regarded
as affectation ·or extravagant elegance in the apparel of
9
�Fatlu·r De Smct.
priests or religious, which lessens the confidence of the
Jdithful and ·offends them fully as much as slovenlines!'
repels. He was strictly careful about everything entrusted
to his keeping ; and, though for many years he managed
the finances of the Province, he would never dispose of the
smailest amount for his own use, without previously obtaining leave.
His obedience was equally solid and childlike. Owing
to his position, he was sometime5 obliged to meet seculars
on visits <;?(ceremony or at tea. He had a general permission to make such calls; but he would not avail himself of
it. He referred each particular case to higher authority.
and \Vith great simplicity abode by the dec1ison that came
to him invested with the sanction of heaven.
As to his love of that other virtue, for which the Society
has always challenged the admiration of mankind, as well
a,; for its ready obedierrce, the highest encomium that could
be pronounced upon him, is the opinion universally entertained of him. hi his hands the \veil-earned reputation of
the Society was not only safe but re~eived an additional
lustre. To those who know how suspicious and censorious
the world is in this particular, it· must seem not a little
remarkable that in all his dealing·~ with every class and
condition of society, it found nothing to carp at, but everything to applaud. He was most prudent and reserved.
No one would ever have dared to take unbecomii}g liberties
. in his presence, or to forget even for a moment the sacred
. character that he bore. Indeed so well established was his
reputation for ·integrity and purity of life, that the bitterest
enemies of the Church and of the Society could only exclaim "utinam ex nostris esses," and wonder that a man so
completely exempt from the frailties, to which they felt
themselves to be subject, could have any connection with
a religious order which they abhorred so much. It is no
exaggeration to say that very few ecclesiastics in any age
of the Church'.s history have enjoyed !>O wide~spread and so
fair a fame as Father DeSmet.
�Salt Antonio, Texas.
In brief, his life was a most remarkable one, and has
done great credit to the Church, and in particular to the
Society. The world which had a thousand eyes continually fixed upon him for about half a century, and which is
usually so reserved in its praise of the priest, and especially
of the religious, did not even rise to the level of his merits,
when it called him "the renowned Jesuit missionary, FATHER
DE
SMET.
LETTER FROM A SCHOLASTIC IN TEXAS.
$AN ANTONIO, TEXAS,
Ocr. 16th, 1873·
MY
DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST,
I hardly know whether you have heard anything about
QUr journey hither-at any rate, I will give a sketch which
you may fill up with adventures, etc., ad lib.
Our voyage out (from New York to Galveston, via Key
West) was very favorable until we neared port, when a
'fierce 'nor' wester' came out to meet us, keeping us off the
bar, tossing and rolling for two long, dreary days. Then,
on the twelfth day of our voyage, we came safely to land.
In Galveston we met with farther delay ~n account of
the intense yellow fever excitement up country, which had
laid under strict quarantine all lines of communication
with the coast. After remaining several days at the Cathedral (the Bishop is absent in Europe), we succeeded in
reachin~ Houston where we were again stopped by a re-
�66
i
I
I
t.
I
I
San Antonio,. Texas.
newal of the panic. The next day, however, the Governor of the State, Dav,is, took us through in a private car tc.
the capital, Austin, already far in the interior; and from
there we came on hither, an objective point for the timt·
being, by stage (eighty miles and nineteen hours), fording
the rivers and jolting for dear life over the prairies of \Vestern Texas.
·
San Antonio is a quaint, old tO\~'n, founded over two
hundred years ago by the early Franciscan missionaries.
Here, at i~.tervals along the river, they built their mission-houses and large beautiful churches, the ruins of which still
remain to tell of their success in bringing the poor savage~
into the fold of Clirist. The l\Iexican Revolution came te>
drive them far away, in the name of liberty, and their little
flocks, long neglected, became what we know. Their welltilled lands fell back into the barren loneliness of other
days; and sometimes. while looking at the remains of
aqueducts of stone and other immense works, showing the
high state of material civilizatio~ during the century of the
friars, I wonder whether the present desolation fitly represents our nineteenth century progress.
Of late years, men of every tongue and tribe and nation
have flocked hither, until this straggling town of 15 ,ooo
souls or so, has become the most unique and cosmopolitan
of American cities. The Cathedral (the new Bishop is to
have his See here,) is the parish church of the Mexicans.
·who still form the large substratum of the population.
There is an English Church, the pastor of which is Father
Johnston, formerly a lawyer in Washington, D. C. Then:
are also German and Polish churt:hes, and a small French
congregatio~, which makes use of the convent chapel of
the Ursulines. There is also a hospital, tended by Sisters,
and aCollege alongside of my window, by the way, under
the direction of the Brothers of Mary. Among outsiders
are the Jews, who have a synagogue and hold a good part
of the commerce in their hands; infidels. and communists.
�San .dntonio, Texas.
6;
cscap:.:d from former revolutions of France and Germany;
and, finally, a certain nurpber of "native Americans" _(Knownothing is ~he ordinary term), "hailing," for the most part.
from Vir~inia or New England! and keeping tenaciously
to all the shades and differences of sect: Then there is the
"sable and sensual Sambo ;'' so that, at least, there is no
lack of "variety, the spice of life." The city is built in a
manner, as complex as its origin and the character of ib
i~habitants. It sprang up aroun'd the old mission C~urch
of San Fernando, on the site of which stands the new
Cathedral, at a short distance fr'om the western bank of the
nver. Here, on either side of the mission, was formed a
pla::;a, after the Mexican fashion, a large square, bounded
on every side by the houses of the inhabitants, and still
used for a most motley kind of marketing and as a haltingplace for the long trains of white-covered wagons, constantly arriving here from the ftr-off trading-posts of the
frontier. Since then, a long, irregular street has pushed
out along the river and finally, crossing over, reaches the
second of the old missions, no less a one than the Alamo,
so notorious in the Texan Re\·olution. Here is another
fine p!aia, domineered over by the old church and friary,
~till in repair, but used, alas! for storage purposes by the
army (which, by the way, is another important clement in
social life here). From these beginnings, narrow sidestreets branch off in every direction and at every angle,
cros::.ing and recrossing the river by picturesque bridges
and charming footways, now over to the rambling suburb
of Chihuahua, with its low Mexican houses of solid stone,
well adapted. to this broiling sun, or off in the other dire<;tion through Villita with its carefully tended German farms
on to the ·other missions to' the East. And so San Antonio is
a little world in itself, with much to interest a "lone, wayfaring man ;" but, alas I it is quite as well adapted to give
food for reflection to a philosopher who would moralize on
human joys and_ sorrows. Its elevation above the sea-level
�6R
Indian Aiissions- T/ze Sinpesqucnsi.
seems only to have thrust it up nearer the sun, and no
wonder it is called the "frying-p.an" of Texas. ''Marry,
good air:" but along with it come clouds of dust from the .
parched, mesquit-covered. prairies. And so you have the
-;unny side and shady, in a letter, longer than I have written-dear knows when !
I rely on you to send around the "pax" in the usual
\Voodstock way. \Vrite me all the news of the house,
and J will imagine myself in community life again. Meanwhile I m~_ke my baskets in the desert and beg your
prayers.
In union with the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
In Xto. Servus,
Ralph S. D., S. J.
INDIAN MISSIONS-THE SINPESQUENSI.
WASHINGTON TERRITORY,
Yo KAMA Co., OCT. 4th,
I 873.
R:Ev. AND DEAREST FATHER IN XT.
P. C.
On my return from Oregon, your dear favor of Sept.
!6th '73 was handed to me. I thank you very much for it,
.md especially for the relics which you sent me. Encour.1ged by your repeated assurance that my letters are read
with pleasure, I give you herein a short account of a trip I
made,.just before the one among the Whites, to an Indian
tribe called the Sinpesquensi.
The Sinpesquensi live some 100 miles north of our Yokama residence, almost buried in mountains ; their valley
�Indian ilfissions-Tlzc Sinpcsquensi.
is such a narrow strip of land that it might more properly
. be called a cafion than a valley. It is a small tribe of
a'Jout 3'J:J souls, but it is of som:! importance by reason of
the influence it exercises on three smaller neighboring
tribes. In years gone by, the Sinpesquensi used to be visited by one or other of the Oblate Fathers, and afterwards
by a secular priest who lived at the Y okama mission before
we took it, Last summer my turn came to pay them my
first visit. Having been informed that the tribe would meet
at the Salmon Fishe1y, near the falls of the Winachee
riv~r. thither I direct~d my steps.
On arriving I was quik
disappointed to find only a few families and these mostly
belonging to another tribe. I inquired of these Indians
whether the Sinpesquensi would come to the fisheries and
when they would be likely to arrive; I asked also whether
they were desirous of receiving the missionary. I was
told that they would assemble at the fisheries, but the time
of their coming was uncertain. At the same time I was
put in possession of some interesting facts concerning the
tribe I was in search of. Patoi, their chief and pnest, possesses the entire confidence of his people; he makes them
keep holy not only the Sunday but the Saturday also; he
has banished all sorts of sins from his camp, and makes his
people assemble frequently for common prayer.
·
Learning that Patoi himself would not come to the
fisheries, I determined to go to see this great lawgiver.
I therefore started. on the morning of the next day, which
was Saturday, and arrived just about noon at Patoi's camp.
The Indians were at prayer, and I had to wait till their
devotions. were finished. The prayer over, Patoi drew out
his people into two lines, facing inwards for the purpose of
going through the ceremony of shaking hands with the
Black-gown and receiving him honorably. Patoi then
made a speech, expressing his joy and that of his nation at
my visit to them ; I replied and stated the object for which
I had come. When the reception was over, all withdrew
�jO
to their lodges or tents, and seeing an empty hut I entered
it to take some rest.
After an hour's time I went to Patoi's hut, full of confidence and cheered by the most pleasant anticipations. I
told him that I had heard o( all the good he had done hi,;
tribe and of his desire to see a Black-gown, and th:1t in re,;ponse to this desire I was there to teach him the Catholic
prayer. l-Ie told me to wait, and then rang a little bell.
In answer to this summons the Indians rushed in crowds to
the immen_:;e lodge of the chief, filling it entirely, while
those who 'could not find room inside remain.:d within
hearing distance on the outside. Patoi then desired me to
,;tate again before his people the purpose of my coming.
In a more formal speech I informed them of the mission
given by our Lord to the Apostles, bow this mission had
been carried to their nation by the Oblate Fathers \Vho had
baptized many amongst them, and that I had come to continue the work thus begun, for which object I \\·ished to be
made. acquainted with those among them who were christians, in "order that I might instruct them while using my
endeavors to convert those not yet baptized.
Patoi dryly' answered, that it was true that some of the
nation had received baptism, but he...·;?ded th:1t the Blackgowns by abandoning the tribe had renounced their rights
over. them, and be refused to point out the christians to me.
This answer I felt the more deeply, as it wa.s so unexpected
and was so humiliating in the eyes of the whole tribt:
there assembled. What could I do? I prayed God and
offered Him the humiliation, asking in recompense a happy
issue of my mission. This prayer strengthened n_1e, and in
this disposition of mind I left Patoi's hut and entt:red my
own. Soon some of the tribe came in to visit me, and I
said to them that I pitied them since they prayed in vain
after h~ving rejected the Blackrobe's prayer: that it was
not enough for them to be good, allowing that they were
such, since they could not enter heaven unles,; they received the prayer that I, had come to teach them.
�IndiaN "vh\·sions-T!tc SinpesqHensi.
71
E\·ening came and Patoi rang for prayer: it was edifying
to see the promptness and eagerness with which they hurried to the place. Afterwards I began prayer but none of the
tribe joined, my companion and a small Catholic family,
who had guided me to Patoi's camp, f(mning my congregation.
After prayers that night and all day Sunday, I tried to
impress on all the Sinpesquensi who talked with me the
necessity of learning the prayer I had come to teach them.
i\Iy immediate object was not only to give them the truth,
but to force a formal talk with Patoi himsel( I was not
disappointed. Towards evening came the Indian lawgiver,
accompanied by a sub-chief: arriving at my hut he rang a
bell which he held in his hand, and in a few moments the
entire tribe was around the hut. This was, I might say,
open on four sides; for it was so made of rushes that all
could see us and hear everything that was said. \Vhen all
were assembled, the front ranks sat down, the middle ones
knelt and those farthest off stood up to enjoy the conversation that was about to take place.
Silence having been secured, Patoi spoke as follows:
"Blackgown, I have something bad to tell you." I answered, "speak out all that you have in your heart." He
continued; "yesterday I did you honor, I received you ·and
welcomed you, I gave you the hand and had all the tribe
give you the hand, and you have paid me- back with ingratitude; for since the time we parted yesterday until
now, you have never ceased speaking bad against my
prayer and telling everybody, that with my prayer never
will people go to heaven. Now I must tell you that my
tribe was once as bad as any other tribe; they were gamblers, they were thieves, etc. Through my efforts I made
them pray as they do now, and during the four months
that they have prayed as I taught them, we have quitted
all sorts of sins and my tribe is a model to all our neighbors. If God did not like our prayer, how could we have
10
�indian Jlissions- Tlte Slnpcsqucnsi.
become so good as we are, for I do not think that we. have
become good of oursel\·es. 1'\ow you come here, speak
against our prayer, and will bring us back to the state of
lawlessness in which we were before I made my people
pray."
This was the substance of Patoi"s speech. \Vhen it was
finished, I replied to the following effect; that I had been
much affected on seeing the good behavior of his people,
the promptness with which they went to prayer, but that
his speed!_ had touched me most of all, for it showed me
that he was not an impostor but a sincere man who really
wished the good of his people: I told him that if at first I
admired all the good he had wrought, I liked him even
more for his sincerity. I said that my impression was that
God had been satisfied with his prayer, since he had done
all that he knew to please Him, in reward whereof \vas the
presence of a Black-gown among them to teach them the
whole of the prayer which pleases God.
\Vhile I was speaking a squaw was suddenly seized with
convulsions. Patoi had her brought and all began to pray
for the poor creature. Here was a spectacle of fervor such
as I never .witnessed in any novitiate : old and young
seemed to be in a trance of devotio"n, some with their eves
closed, others with their look fixed on heaven, some \vith
clasped hands, others with arms crossed on their breast.
:?atoi prayed aloud and the people repeated the prayer after
him; he sang a hymn in which they joined, he prayed
again, and finally began to preach, the tribe meanwhile listening to his words as if God were speaking to them. Here
the sick woman recovered. I commended their fervor, and
said that, if with the little they knew they were so good,
their lives would riv~l that of the first christians were they
to accept the entire prayer which I had come to teach
them: In a more friendly tone Patoi said; "Black-gown, I
have two things in my heart, one of which I will tell you
now. Four months ago when we felt the earthquake, one
-
.
�Letter from Cin<innati.
73
night while my people slept I watched and prayed. During my prayer there appeared to me three persons clad in
white robes. One of them did not speak; the second
spoke and told me· many things and among them, that if I
prayed well the third person would protect me."
I answered that there was nothing bad in what he had
seen, and that to secure them the protection of this third
person I had come to teach them the good prayer. This
pleased Patoi, he offered me his hand, appointed the evening for a second conference which resulted in his acceptance of my mission, provided I could spend the winter
with his tribe; he introduced to me those of his tribe who
were already baptized, and I left these singular people
promising to \·isit them again if I could so arrange with
my Superiors.
·
After a friendly parting I returned home by way of the
Fisheries, where I instructed the Indians who were there
assembled. Should I return to the Sinpesquensi this winter I shall let you have the result of my campaign.
In union with your holy prayers,
I remain yours truly,
u. GRASSI, S. J.
·---~~~~·~~--
LETTER FROM CINCINNATI.
ST.
XAVIER's CoLLEGE, OcT.
1873·
REv. AND DEAR FATHER,
Several items of interest have transpired among us during the year 1873· Allow me to record them briefly.
The one which regarded spiritual concerns most directly
was the men's retreat, two weeks before Easter. It was
altogether exclusive: no woman in the Church after seven
�"74
Lt'ttcr fr:Jlll o·nciwwti.
o'clock. In a couple of days it was seen to be taking so
well, that. to find more room, notice was given of a Boy<
Retreat for the next week: so that such as were only sixteen years of age, or under, had better wait. Six hundred
or thereabouts were in constant attendance during that
next week, at our small Church of St. Thomas. which was
assigned to them ; but the throng of attendance at St. Xavier's during the men's week was not sensibly lessened.
Each night.of the eight days. the crowds poured in, till by
half-past ~~yen the nave and aisle,; were full, even to the
double row of supply-benches that went lengthwise down
the centre of the nave. The altar steps offered seats for
some, and the two wings of the choir for others.
Devotions began at 'half-past seven with the singing of ·
the "~fiscrcrc by a choir of scholastics and fathers. After a
quarter of an hour the Director of the Retreat recited
beads which all answered. Then he gave his instruction.
This consisted, first, of the manner of using the time of
retreat, and, second, of a meditation. The meditation lasted nearly an hour, and it was followed by Benediction of
the Blessed Sacrament.
Confessions were heard as early as \Vednesday and
Thursday, the fourth and fifth da)'S. They continued in
numbers on Friday; and went on till late Saturday night.
Fifteen confessors were engaged the last evening, eleven in
the church, four in the College Chapel, which latter had not
been much used the previous evenings. .On Sunday morning, the eight o'clock Mass was exclusively for the men:
four priests distributed the Holy Communion beginning at
the Offertory. The number of communicants at that Mass
was abotJt a thousand. The number of men in the Church
each night approached, if it was not fully, two thousand.
-Some of them, through want of good clothes (as the:;y explained beforehand), others because they lived in other
parishes. attended other Masses on the Sunday morning.
In the evening there was solemn Benediction, Papal Bless-
�Letter from Cincinnati.
75
ing, and Gregorian music by a choir of male voices, as
the Director had said the evening before (on which, by the
way, the devotions were much curtailed for the sake of the
confessions) :-"To-morrow we shall have an extraordinary
choir; and there will be no woman in it"~or the like.
There seemed to be a thorough renovation ; and, owing
to the exclusive nature of the retreat,-the geniai circumstance, "for men and men only,''-more work was done in
the confessional, with more care and smoothness, than if
the poor hard-working laboring men had been squeezed
into corners by women and children. Accounts crowded
in, as time wore on after the Retreat, of wonderful effects
produced. However, as this is a mere sketch of things in
general during the year, it would be out of place to de-scend more into the particulars. Suffice it to add that in
the month_ of 1\Iay following, on every night of which the
same father preached, the church was f"Jll, and many a reference was made by him to the Retreat and its results.
At the suggestion of some pious person, he started the
project of a fine suspended lamp for the sanctuary. The
suggestion was acted upon, the lamp has been suspended,
the church has been painted: and so, St. Xavier's is at
prc.ient in a worthy condition, both materially and morally.
St. Joseph's account comes I) ext:-The children of the
parish have not had heretofore room sufficient for school
purposes. Their old school house, and the basement of St.
Thomas' church were too small. The public school house
opposite St. Thomas' was not to the satisfaction of the
City School Board, who looked around for a suitable lot to
build upon. There wa;; only one such lot: it was ours.
An offer of exchange was rn~de,-their school house for
our lot, and with the school house a certain sum in cash to
be added on their side ; because the lot on our side was
worth more than their school house and ground.
The lot had seemed a year ago incapable of any pur~
chase. · We had desired it for the same purpose which the
�;6
Letter from Cincinnati.
School Board has now in view. To be sure, fifty thousand
dollars would have to be spent. in building; but necessity
knew no law. Thanks to the management or advice of l\Ir.
Pugh, the deficient· title-deeds were made good, as far as
deficiencies in times past and gone can be made good : and
about six months before this movement of the School
Board, the lot was ours. The motion passed the School
Board, but had to pass two more Boards, that of the City
Council, and that of Aldermen. The newspapers became
quite agit;~ted about the matter and called upon the public
not to let tlie Jesuits have so good a bargain. But the
Jesuits called upon St. Joseph, and put a lighted lamp
before his statue, and somehow or other the motion was
carried-barely carried ;-and after the beginning of 1\ovember, I 873, the School Board will begin to pay three
hundred dollars per month till they vacate. Tht; "Gazette"
got into an awful flutter about the affair, but its wrath has
subsided, and it feels better now.
There has been a house belonging to the College for
many years back ; it was called Purcell Mansion, after the
Archbishop. It has been rented out; but now it was desirable to sell it. A novena was maqe to St. Joseph for a
propitious sale ; and that depended nmch on the weather.
The day was fine : the house and ground were to go by
lots, and they went flying: eighty-nine thousand dollars
were the proceeds.
This promises well for building the rest of our College ;
and in fact instructs us well how to go about it. "Go to
Joseph" first, and about the building after.
It calls to mind a recent signal instance of his solicitude
for the welfare of his clients. The instance concerns the
Little Sisters of the Poor. About ten days ago, a couple
of Sisters went forth to seek funds for some large und~rtak
ing. Jhey .called on the principal Catholics : yet, though
they could hardly be said to meet with a direct refusal,
they met with what sent them home without a cent in
•
�Lctttr from Cincinnati.
77
their purse. The Superioress was distressed;· and she
wondered. A thought struck her :-had they St. Joseph
with them? She looked in the account book, and no
sign of a picture or medal there. Next day, she put "St.
Joseph" under the cover, and sent them forth. They had
n0t the same rich field of charity to-day as yesterday, having visited the principal Catholic" then. Yet, strange to
say, but so it wa,;, everywhere they were received with
generosity, by Protestants as wdl; and they returne,d mm
cxu/tationc.
\\'e opened our new year with 243 boys, a number rather below that of last year. Of these, I 55 entered the
classical course.
This current month of October has witnessed many
scenes. No sooner was the Church clear of scaffolding,
etc., which had been erected for the painting, than the triduum in honor of Blessed Peter Faber. was solemnly celebrated. On the first day, the Archbishop was to officiate.
It had been announced, and everything was ready-but
not the Archbishop. .-\n address had been prepared on
the part of the students, who availed themselves of the occasion to commemorate .his fortieth anniversary of Episcopal Consecration,- and secure a holiday, by the way.
Several efforts were made that same Friday morning to
secure his presence, at least for the address. Vainly. But
he learnt what had taken place, explained that his engagement to officiate had quite slipped his memory, and made
up by coming on the following \Vednesday. It was worth
while being present during those few moment~; that he
spoke, most genially and conversationally, in answer to the
address. Forty years ago he had received the commission
of spiritual guidance of this diocese and city: he has seen
it grow from what it was then : has _labored earnestly and
constantly, even to the present day, hearing confessions and
mini·stering to the sick: and now-to-day-enjoys the consolation of seeing thirty-four Catholic Societies marching
�Letter from Cincimtati.
i.
i·
I'
I
in procession to honor the blessing- of a Church.-! shall
explain in a moment.-He gave us holiday, and the boys
lo\·ed him twofold.
The following week witnessed another celebration. Fr.
Driscoll has been pastor of St. Xavier's Church for twentyth-e years. To signalize the anniversary, a committee of
gentlemen, belonging to the parish, started a subscription
list for the building of the steeple. On the day of the J ubilee, Fr. Driscoll celebrated Mass, his brother being deacon. In the' afternoon, the aforesaid gentlemen took their
seats in th~ 'sanctuary: the Church was crowded in every
nook and corner with men, women and children. The
girls of the parish read an addre~s and presented bouquets,
etc. The boys came forward in the same manner. Then
the committee, through ~Ir. Poland, addressed him, and
presented the subscription Ji,t. Fr. Driscoll answered, and
he was eloquent: the sight made him so. I suppose the
steeple will be up within a year.
Th_e week following brings us to this day, on which has
been blessed the Church of St. Ann, for colored people.
More than eight years ago, Fr. \Veninger started a Peter
Claver Society, to benefit the negroes. A number of clergymen and secular gentlemen joined together under a
chairman, etc., and each subscribing 'a dollar a month, the
King of Bohemia contributing largely, procured a Church
and School. The position of the Church was unsatisf.<ctory, and a new one has just been purchased close to St.
Xavier's. On occasion of its being blessed, Fr. \Vcninger has
come to Cincinnati, and he preached after t\1e procession
of 34 Societies had reached St. Xavier's. In the mean
titne, the Archbishop was performing .the ceremonies at St.
Ann's, and on their conclusion came to give Bellediction
here. He made a short address, suited to the occasion;
and "G.tosser Gott" was sung at the end. "Like the sound
of many waters" vias the grand chorus from the throats of
such a tUultitude of men. They were there in spite of the
�Last ·Days at tlz<" Gem.
79
rain, that had begun drizzling in the morning, had increased
in the afternoon and was pouring down in torrents at the
end of Benediction. Perhaps, by taking away much of the
show in behalf of the colored people, the rain helped us to
conceive more of the reality underlying the whole proceeding; and follow the tenor of the Archbishop's words,
that if the negroes were worse off when they came into
Bl. Peter Claver's hands, yet they have their needs and
their rights still, when they come into ours.
We engage in a couple of public plays next month; one
on the I 2th of November, of the "Young Men's St. Francis Xavier's Association," for the benefit of St. Xavier's
Vincent de Paul Society ; the other by College boys for
the Little Sisters of the Poor, on the 26th.
T. H.
LAST DAYS AT THE GESU.
EXTRACT FRG:\I A LETTER OF Nov. 2nd, 1873,
TO REV. FATHER PROVI~CIAL.
On :\1onday, .2oth of Oct., the representatives of the
Giunta took formal possession of the house, putting a seal
on the library, and giving notice that all the fathers were
to be out by Nov. Ist. They allowed them to take their
personal effects and the furniture of their rooms, which, as
the house is to be used fo~ military offices, will not be of
use to themselves. This has been a sad ten days, the
house full of confusion, packing up books,,moving furniture, etc. Father General left the Gesu on Monday 27th,
It>>!<
�So
Last Days at t!tc Gcsti.
fn hopes. he said, that when he was gone, they would
trouble themselves less about those who remained.· In fact
the "Capitale," which is the worst paper in Rome, and an
enemy of everything Catholic, the next day announced
with exultation, that the "great enemy of Rome, of Italy,
and indeed of the human race had left Italy."
Shortly before leaving the house he assembled the Fathers, gave us a short exhortation to courage, reminding
us that he is a blessed man that suffers persecution for
justice sa!:-c, invited us to constancy in pursuit of perfection,
and prudence so as to give no just cause for offence, that it
may be evident that they have calumniated us, "mentientes
propter nomen meum." He then gave us all his blessing
and let us kiss his hand. He then went and prayed for
the last time at the tomb of our Holy Father, kissed the
ground, and shortly after left the house accompanied by
only one Brother. He was very much affected whilst he
was speaking to us, and so were we also as you will easily
imagine.
The Fathers are scattered in different lodgings where
the kindness of various communities has offered them
shelter.
Yesterday was the last day at .. t\le Gesu; there was a
very large attendance at l\Ias~. and the confessionals were
attended as in· the last v.reek of Easter.· \Ve were about
ten or less at dinner at the Gesu, and after recreation we
embraced one another a11d separated.
The Roman College sustained the same £•te as the Gesu
at the same time. The Convent of Ara Cedi, and a considerable number of smaller Convents are also occupied or
to be so before the 7th .of this month. There is a hitch
about the Roman Observatory., F. Secchi has protested
that the instruments are partly the property of the Pope,
and partly of private i_ndividuals who furnished the ineans,
and that the Observatory itsel_f being built on the top of
the Church is secured by the Guarantees. This has been
�Last Days at tlte Gesu.
8!
a check, and they acknowledge that it alters the state of
the question. They are now actually building partitions,
etc., to give access to the Observatory without passing
through the College. The South American College at
our old Novitiate, still remains firm, but they have been
notified that the property belongs to the Giunta, and that
they will be glad when they are ready to give it up. The
German College still holds on, and the lectures for the
foreign Colleges will be given there ; but with Bismark in
Prussia, there is no benevolence to be looked for. Great
feeling is shown for the break up of the Gesu, and much
grief felt. The priest who has been appointed by the
Vicar is a very good man, a friend of the Society, but he
will not replace the ,Fathers. I must not conclude without
telling you that on the day after my arrival here, F. General took me to. the Holy Father, who gave us a very
solemn benediction for us all. "Benedico Praesidem et
subditos, ut habeant fortitudinem et patientiam," etc.
D.
0.
�-·
�WOODSTOCI( LETTERS.
VOL. III., No.
:2.
SKETCH OF THE EARLIEST MINISTRATIONS
OF THE SOCIETY IN BALTIMORE.
[ Condudl'd.]
The number of Catholics in Baltimore having 111 course
of time increased, they at length determined to build a
church; and having_ secured a lot on Saratoga Street near
Charles, they commenced the building on the site of the
present academy of the Christian Brothers, known as
Calvert Hall, in 1770 or 1771. It was a very plain brick
structure of the modest dimensions of about twenty-five by
thirty feet, not half the size of our community chapel at
Woodstock. This was old St. Peter's, truly in its day the
most venerable Church in the United States; an account
of which cannot be omitted in a sketch of the early labors
of the Society in Baltimore. The builder was a certain
Mr. John Me Nabb. It is probable that the Fathers from
Whitemarsh shifted the scene of their periodical ;ninistra-
VOL. III-No.
2.
11
�X4
h.arliest Jfim'strations of tlu Society in Baltimore.
tions from Fotterall's building to it while it. was yet in an
unfinished condition. Before its completion, however, Mr.
:\lc Nabb £1.iled in business, on account of a debt of two
•
hundred pounds in Maryland currency of that day, contracted on account of the building. In consequence, the
principal creditor seized the Church, locked it up·, and
kept the key in his possession until 177 4 or 177 5· Griffith's
"Annals of Baltimore" alludes to this suit in the following
amusing words: "By a ludicrous suit against Gang-and!i,
Pope of R01'1u·, for \~·ant of other defendant, to recover the
advances of Mr. Me Nabb, who became a bankrupt, the
Church was sometime closed at the commencement of the
. Revolution; and the congregation assembled in a private
house on S. Charles St. until possession was recovered.''
Thus Mr. Griffith, in identifying the cause of a little Church
in that remote spot of the Catholic world with the Pope,
gives an instance of the conviction of Catholic unity found
in those outside of the Church. Furthermore, as Our Fathers ~were the pastors of that little Church, of which common cause is made with the Pope,-and as that Pope was
the same who at that very time suppressed the Society, l\1r.
Griffith's remark suggests to us the pl_easing reflection, how
free from bitter feeling the Society is to\vard the Pontiff who
treated it with. such severity.-The extract just given from
the "Annals" informs us that, after the ~losing of St. Peter's,
the Catholics assembled for Divine Service in a house on
S. Charles St.; from which it is inferred that by this time
Fotterall's building had been left by them, for some reason.
Any further particulars about that house on S. Charles St.
we have not obtained.
The manner in which St. Peter's was reopened at length,
was somewhat novel and partook of the spirit of the times.
A volunteer company, probably in 1775, which was part of
a military force organized to repel the apprehended attacks
of Lord Dunmore. Governor of Virginia, was in Baltimore,
under the; command of one Captain Galbraith. On Sunday
�•
har/icst llfimstwtio;is of tlte Society in Raltimore.
85
morning some of the soldiers asked permission of the
Captain to go to Church. A majority of them desired to
go to the Roman Catholic Church; and on learning that it
was closed and ascertaining who held the key, they marched
in a body, with the Captain at their head, to the residence of
Mr. Me Nabb's creditor above-mentioned. It so happened
that this gentleman had fallen under suspicion of being
unfavorable to the cause of American independence; and,
on seeing a body of soldiers halted in front of his house, he
thought they were about to make him prisoner; but on
learning their ,real object, he readily delivered the key· to
Captain Galbraith. The company then moved off, opened
the Church and satisfied their devotion,.-:whether with the
aid of a priest, we are not told. They then delivered tlw
key to the Catholics, who retained possession of the Church
until the close of the Revolutionary war. After this period
the sum of two hundred pounds was raised by subscription,
in order to pay the debt which had embarrassed the Church ;
and the creditor who had been so peremptorily relieved of.
the key by the soldiers, relinquished all claim upon it.
Although we have not found it so stated explicitly, we
suppose the visiting Fathers from \Vhitemarsh were the
ordinary pastors of St. Peter's until 1784, since we can find
no mention of any others, and we are told in general that
Baltiinore had to depend on them, before we hear of a
resident priest. Sometimes clergymen happened to be
passing through the town or remaining there temporarily,
and they officiated in the little Church. In the year r 782
Count Rochambeau, returning with his army from Y arktown, halted in Baltin1ore, where some of his troops
remain.ed until the close of the war. A portion of them
encamped on the ground where the Cathedral now stands,
which, as well ;ts that around St. Peter's, was then covered
with forest trees. Those soldiers of Catholic France naturally had chaplains; and these frequently celebrated Mass
in St. Peter's. On one occasion a grand Mass was cele-
�86
l!arliest .Afimstratious
of tlte
Societ;' in Baltimore.
brated with great military pomp by one of them. The
bands of the French Regiments accompanied the sacred
service with solemn music; the officers and soldiers attended
in full uniform, and a large concourse of the people of the
town were present; so that not only was the small Church
crowded, but the spacious yard in front was also filled.
In I 784, according to l\Ir. Campbell, the first resident
priest was stationed in Baltimore, at St. Peter's, and this
was Rev. Charles Sewall : his name therefore is an important one iri •, the Catholic history of the City. He was not
a member of the Society ill St'IISl/ compos ito of his labors.
there, as our dialecticians would say: but he had been a
Jesuit at the time of the suppression, and he was one of the
four, of revered memory, who in I 8o6 reentered the Society upon its restoration in Maryland. An account of
him then is demanded in our Sketch; though the information we have obtained about him is slight.
Curiously enough the only record of his personal qualities
. which we find, is that, although a faithful and zealous
clergyman, he possessed but moderate abilities as an orator.
He was born in St. Mary's County, Md., in 1744. His
father's estate was at Mattapany, on the Patuxent River,
near the Church of St. Nicholas,);till attended by Our
Fathers, who reside at St. Inigo's, hvelve or fifteen miles
distant. · This estate had been the favorite residence of
Charles Calvert, Lord Baltimore, for many years in the
latter part of the seventeenth century; and there it was
that the deputies of his government took refuge under the
protection of a garrison, in the Protestant Revolution of
l\Iaryland in I68g,-their forced surrender a few months
afterward being followed by the triumph of the Protestant
cause in the colony. The estate later came into the possession of the Sewalls. Charles was sent to the college of
the Society at St. Orner's, for his studies, in I 758. Whether
he had· previously been at the Bohemia school, does not
appear; though it is probable that he had been. For, as
�Earliest Ministrations of tlze Society in Baltimore.
87
"far back as the early part of the last century, Our Fathers
had a boarding-school at the place then and still known as
Bohemia Manor, in Cecil County, on the Eastern shore of
Maryland,-a colonial Catholic Eton or Rugby, where boys
were prepared for the higher colleges of Europe. In this the
Fathers had to elude the intolerant laws of the colony, which
forbade Catholics to be school-masters; and hence probably they selected that remote and secluded location. And
here it occurs to us to remark that, if reminiscences of the
old Bohemia school could be collected, they would supply
some pages of very interesting and edifying reading in the
\VooosTOCK LETTERS. l\Ir. Campbell calls it the Tusculum
of the Society of Jesus in the early period of the American
Church. At one time it had as many as forty students,a large number for those days ; and among illustrious men,
we know that Archbishop Carroll and Charles Carroll of
·carrollton, his cousin, had studied there together before
they \Vent to St. Orner's. Archbishop Man~chal is said to
have often spoken in raptures of the choice and valuable
library established there by Father Farmer, S. J., that
excellent man, of whom the annalist of St. Joseph's, Philadelphia, has given us so much interesting information in
our \Voodstock Periodical.
Father Sewall entered the Society in Europe, in 1764,
.and soon after-the suppression returned to his native State,
where he was stationed for some time at St. Thomas' Manor,
in Charles County. Father Charles w·as the older brother
of Father Ni~holas Sewall, who, being a member of the
Society in Europe at the time of the suppression, did not
return to his native land : he was made Rector of Stonyhurst in I 808, and subsequently Master of novices; and
on the. death of the eminent Father Charles Plowden, in
1821, he succeeded him in the office of Provincial of England. He left behind him, at his death, the reputation of
a holy religious and a prudent Superior.
From across
the sea, Fr. Nicholas watched with interest the progress of
�88
Earliest 111imstrations of tlu Society in Baltimore.
religion in his native land, and was very much rejoiced to
see, before his death, the Metropolis of his native State
erected into an Archiepiscopal See, with eleven suffragans,
-and to know that it was in possession of its new Cathedral and several other Churches,-while, as he had been
heard to say, he remembered the time when the Catholics
had not even a private room in Baltimore, in which they
· were suffered to meet for Divine Service.
Returning to Fr. Charles from· this, we hope, not uninteresting digression to his brother : he was stationed alone at
St. Peter~s·until he was joined there in 1786 by Fr. Carroll,
the future Archbishop; in conjunction with whom he
performed the laborious duties of the ministry there for
several years. He li\·ed just long enough to reenter the
Society, dying in 1806, the year of its restoration in Maryland, above alluded to.
And now we come, in the natural course of our narrative,
to the Patriarch of the Church in the United States, Archbishop Carroll,-to whom Oliver, in his collection, applies
the- words of Ecclesiasticus: "Sacerdos magnus, qui in vita
sua suffulsit domum, et in diebus suis corroboravit templum.
Templi etiam altitudo ab ipso fundata est."- In 1784 he
was appointed by Rome Ecclesias!=_ical Superior of the new
Republic, with power to administer Confirmation, bless
oils, etc. In I 786, as stated, he fixed his residence at St.
Peter's, in Baltimore; and, as is well known, was consecrated
Bishop in 1790 at Lulworth Castle in England, a place
associated with the Society for so many reasons. But it
would be entirely out of place here to enter into any
lengthy account of his life, as it would be likewise to dwell
long upon that of Leonard Neale, first his coadjutor Bishop
for many years, and then his successor in the Archiepjscopal
See of Baltimore,-the founder of the Order of St. Francis
of Sales in America, and whose countenance indeed, in the
pictures of him we have seen, reminds one 0f the mild sanctity of the Geneva Saint. Archbishops Carroll and Neale are
�Earliest .J1inistrations of tlze
Socie~y
in Baltimore.
89
both prominent figures in the general Catholic history of.
the United States, and their lives have more than once been
given to the public and are well known,-recently too from
:\1r.Clarke's excellent book. \Ve shall only say a few words
about their relations with the Society. Both were members
of it at the time of the suppression, Fr. Carroll having .
been made a Professed Father in 1771, while Fr. Neale was
considerably younger in religion as in age. \Ve have at
hand letters and other writings of the ·former which contain
evidences of his love for the Society.
In a letter written in 1773 he says: "The enemies of the Society, and above all the unrelenting perseverance of the Spanish and Portuguese Ministries, with the passiveness of the
Court of Vienna, have at length attained their ends; and our
so long persecuted and, I must add, holy Society is no more.
God's holy will be done, and may His Name be blessed forever and ever. I am not and perhaps never shall be recovered from the shock of this dreadful inteliigence."-In a
letter, in 1783, he writes: "God grant that the little beginning in \Vhite Russia may prove a foundation for erecting
the Society upon once again : but I cannot help wishing that
the protectress of it were a more respectable character than
she has been often represented." Again in 1784 he writes:
"Your intelligence, though not quite new to me, is truly
comfortable. What a wonderful display of the power of
Divine Providence over the wily politics of wicked and
oppressive tyranny of powerful men, would a general
restoration of the Society exhibit !''-And in his address
published the same year, in reply to the anti-Catholic
publication of Mr. Wharton, who, after having been a priest
of the Society at the time of the suppression, subsequently
apostatized from the Faith, becarne a Protestant clergyman,
and, it inay be well to add, a husband, --yet who, remarkably enough, never, in his fallen state, spoke of the Society but in words of praise or even of affection-in his
reply to him, Fr. Carroll places a note containing the fol-
�90
Earliest llfim"strations of t!te
Socic~v
in Baltimore.
lowing affectionate allusion to the Society: "l will take
this occasion to thank my former friend for the justice he
has done to the body of men to which, in our happier
days, we both belonged ; and whom the world will regret,
when the want of their services will recall the memory of
them, and the voice of envy, of obloquy, of misrepresentation, will be heard no more."
Father Carroll was the founder of Georg-etown College ;
and Father Leonard Neale * was its President when appointed ~?adjutor Bishop. Shea's De Courcy's history
says of them: "The two ex-Jesuits, become bishops, would,
it may be imagined, care little about the fate of their Society, extinguished thirty years before; but the sons of the
Society of Jesus never forget their Mother." vVe have an
additional testimony of this in their joint letter, in r8o3, to
Fr. Gruber, Superior in Russia, petitioning for the restoration of the Society in the United States; in which they
state, among other things, that the property of the Society
wa~ preserved here almost intact.
They died within two
years of each other, respecti\·ely in 1815 and 1817.
*Bishop Neale remained President of the College and resided there
for some years after his episcopal consecration. Our venerable Father
l\Ic Elroy, who is now in his ninety-second )'ear, and has been a member of the Society since 1806,-the oldest living Jesuit, we believe, both
ii1 age and yocation,-knew him as far back as 1804, and received through
him his first knowledge <Jf the Society. We have fi·om his lips the following facts, which will prove both interesting and edifying:The Bishop resided at that time in the old south building of Georgetown College, in the room opposite the small chapel of the community,
and next to the "Ascetory." There Fr. :uc Elroy, then of course quite
a young man, having his home in Georgetown, was accustomed to visit
him, in order to enjoy the advantage of his spiritual direction. The
room was at the same time the library .of the College. The Bishop's
bed was folded up into the form of a cupboard during the day, and
every evening on the approach of bed-time was spread out by the colored man who attended to the refectory.-Bishop Neale was an admirable director of consciences and possessed, said Fr. l\Ic Elroy, more
than any one else he ever knew, the power of winning hearts to himself
and to God. His life, even then in his old age and feeble health, anct
with his dignity of bishop, was as regular as a novice's. He rose every
morning at four o'clock, made a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, and
then returned to his room for his hour of meditation, befrlre saying
1\Iass. Fr. ~Ic Elroy was subsequently, l\Iay 31st, 1817, ordained priest
by him a few weeks before his death.
�h.arlicst Minis!lations of the Society in Baltimore.
~
After the ordination of Fr. Enoch Fenwick, S. J., in
r8o8, Archbishop Carroll applied for and obtained this
Father for the post of Rector of St. Peter's in Baltimore;
which post he occupied until the first part of Archbishop
:\larcchal's administration; and it was through his zealous
cooperation, in a great measure, that this same Archbishop
was enabled to complete the new Cathedral of Baltimore,
begun so many years before by Archbishop Carroll. Fr.
Enoch was afterward Rector of Georgetown College, in
whose beautiful little cemetery he rests, participating in the
shade of the giant willows which so appropriately overhang the uniform rows of marble slabs and of box-wood
squares, enclosing the lilies and rose-bushes which alternately bloom and droop above the ashes of the dead.
After Fr. Fenwick's departure from Baltimore, Ours had
no residence there for more than twenty-five years.
Now a few words about St. Peter's, before we close; which,
by the by, should not be confounded with the St. Peter's of
to-day, on Poppleton St ... which is a considerable distan~e
from the site of the old Church, and was not built until the
latter had been thrown down. After the Revolutionary
War the little Church was enlarged by an addition larger
than the original dimensions. Thus improved, it was the
Cathedral of Archbishops Carroll and Neale, the scene of
the first episcopal consecration in the United States, that of
Bishop Neale in r8oo ; in 1810 it witnessed the consecra' tion of Dr. Egan, first Bishop of Philadelphia, and of Dr.
Cheverus, first Bishop of Boston; and indeed all the hallowed memories which clung to its old walls, would be too
numerous to mention. Hence it is not to be wondered at
that it was dear to the Catholics of Baltimore, and that it
was still allowed to stand twenty years after the new Cathedral at its side had been completed and dedicated, with
which it could bear no comparison in material appearance.
During that period it was for many years used only on
. week days, for the Masses of the clergy of the Cathedral ;
VOL III-No. 2.
12
�W Earliest Ministrations o/ the
Socie~l' zn Baltimore.
but afterward Divine Service was held in it on Sundays
also. At length the need of ground on which to build a
school for boys. compelled its tearing down in 1841 or
1842.
It was said above that for many years none of Our Fathers resided in Baltimore ; but St. Peter's remained in
their place,-and may we not say that it continued their
labors, sanctified as it was by the sacred ministrations, and
still echoing the teachings and exhortations, of the \Vhitemarsh Fathers, and of a Sewall, a Carroll, a Neale and a
Fenwick? ·· Indeed after its demolition, but a few years
elapsed until Ours were again stationed in the City-St. Joseph's Church having been placed under the pastoral charge
of Fr. Wm. F. Clarke in 1849. This church was given up
again about twelve years. ago. But in the meantime Loyola College had been opened, with the late Fr. Early as
Rector, in 1852; which is now conducted in the large and
imposing building on Calvert St. ; and connected with it is
an exquisitely beautiful Church, notwithstanding the disproportion between its length and width, around whose
altars the warmest affections of many fervent Catholics of
Baltimore have twined themselves.-ln conclusion, we
hope that much more good, even, than has been done in
the past, is destined yet to be accomplished by Ours in the
future, in the "Monumental City."
•"
�NOTE.
'Ve have a very old English Bible in our Woodstock library, on one
of the fly-leaves of which is pasted an old and torn slip of paper bearing
the following inscription:
RESIDENTiiE
BALTI!ItORENSI.
rs. J.)
Ex Do~to
Rm. P. Jos: GREATON
ANNO DNI '752
REsiDENTIJE
Sn.
JosEPH!
IN BALTIMORE
The last two lines are in a different handwriting, and apparently more
recent. The initials in pilrenthesis also, (S. J.), seem to have been added
hi'ter. This inscription at first puzzled us a good deal, as we could not
find from any other source the faintest evidence to show that there was
a residence of the Society in Baltimore as early as 1752 : indeed more
than one of the facts given in the preceding Sketch, as the reader may
easily see, are entirely against such a supposition. It seems to us, howevu, that the inscription can be explained otherwise. The book may
have belonged to Fr. Greaton's house, in some other part of ~Iaryiand
or in Pennsylvania, in 1752, and have become the property of the
Residentia Balti•,,orensis at a much later date. The last two lines were
probably added after 1849, the year when Our Fathers took charge of
tit. Joseph's Church, as mentioned in the text. Our theory is that the
book belonged to the old residence at St. Peter's (Baltimore), during the
suppression of the Society; and an additional reason is that the letters
(S. J.), as already stated, seem to be of a much later date than the lines
immediately to the left. But having given the inscription as we found
it, we will let those of. our readers who may take interest in it, explain
it as they think best.
l•
I
�ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.
PART THIRD.
,.
The fie!ds around the quiet City of Philadelphia wear
not the hues that erewhile made them bright, when Summer's late repentant smile died among its golden days.
The ruddy light of lingering flowers glance no more along
its plains. But the level sward lies cold and gray, and chill
and drear, the fitful wind makes lonely moaning in the trees
and dull the Delaware flows by, with no smile upon his face,
while the naked branches with here and there an empty
nest lie shadowed on his breast. It is a dreary s<::ene.
But ~deep within the inner heart of nature, beats on a pul;e
of glorious life, waking germs rife with beauty, and buds
of richest, rarest growth are folded, leaf by leaf in gloom.
that on the Mays to come shall fli~g their fragrance and
their bloom. We should not call the world all dark though
every smile it wore be faded; the light of God's eternal
love is round it evermore. The radiant bloom of life-love's
Summer glow, are His immortal gifts to man, and oftentimes all we mourn as lost and gone, but waits us in the
days to be.
The April of 1833, I have seen it stated, was one of
more than ordinary fickleness, ~nd the Catholics of Philadelphia had begun to fear the experience of their Church
was to be one continuous April-day. But when Very
Rev. Father Visitor Kenny, accompanied by Father Ste~
phen .Qubuisson arrived, about the middle of the month,
at St. Joseph's, the May-day of Catholicity dawned at
once upon the Quaker City.
�St. :Joseph's Clzurclz, Plziladelp!tia.
95
Rev. Terence Donaghoe had already left and taken up
his abode in the basement of St. Michael's Church, where
for many months he dwelt to the great edification of the
Catholics, not only of Kensington, but of the whole City.
The Rt. Rev. Bishop Conwell, with his nephew Henry
Me Keon, and an indefinite number of nieces remained at
St. Joseph's. Our Fathers, who in October were joined by
Father James Ryder, were allowed to have a stove placed
in the kitchen, where their cook and maid-of-ail-work prepared their meals; they had the use also of one of the
ground floor rooms, as parlor, dining room, and confessional, of the sacristy and three attics; the rest of the
house was occupied by" my Lord and his numerous relatives.
The good Bishop, from their very arrival, treated Our
Fathers in a kindly manner, but his relatives regarded
them in the light of intruders ; and with a view to the
purse, generally had some one posted near the door, so
that when a baptism or a marriage 'arrived, the party might
be conducted to uncle's room, where the Sacrament was
administered in the most expeditious manner.
About this time the Bishop's sight began to greatly fail.
The entries he still made in the registries present an amusmg appearance.
Though seldom able to offer the great Sacrifice, it was his
invariable custom to be present at the late Mass. Seated
upon his throne at the Gospel side of the Sanctuary, he
generally enjoyed a pleasant nap during the sermon, finishing with a stentorian "Deo gratias," at the end, to the
not infrequent annoyance of the eloquent Father Ryder,
who, having his rhetorical pauses so often marred by the
Bishop's neither opportune nor dulcet tones, sometimes
remarked that ' Deo Gratias' was a beautiful prayer, but it
was not always a word in season.
The elegant author of Ahsahgunushk Numanahtahseng,
speaking of the early Jesuits of America, says: "Admirable
�g6
St. Yosep!t's Clmrclz, Plziladelplzia.
indeed were the exertions, the virtues, and the sufferings
of many, very many of these great and good men. Here
they were the civilizers, the discoverers, the colonists, the
fertilizers of the boundless waste-the friends, the teachers,
the Christianizers, and, alas ! but too often the martyrs of
the stern and savage Red men.
·"The falls of the farthest western rivers, from Niagara
to the head waters of the Mississippi and the foaming rapids of the S~ult St. Marie, the forest and the prairie, yea!
and the ice-~?und pinnacles of the Rocky Mountains were
familiar to their wandering footsteps ; and before commerce
or agriculture had begun to hold dominion along the shores
of the Atlantic, they were felling the trees of the wilderness far to the Northward of the great lakes, choosing their·
stations with rare sagacity-for there be' now but few of
them which are not the sites of great and prosperous cities
-and sowing in the breasts of their Indian neophytes that
good seed of faith, which should lead by grace of the Most
High- unto eternal life:- They were navigators, hunters,
agriculturists, fishers, antiquarians, naturalists; they were
_the tamers of the forest, no less than the teachers of the
Indian."*
Immediately upon their arrival, Our .Fathers, as true sons
of Ignatius, began their pastoral duties, and at once Father
Dubuisson won the hearts of his parishioners by his amiable conduct and saintly life. It is over forty years since
his arrival, and to this day, there are those who talk of him
as a saint. One of our Fathers,t then a youth, relates that
suddenly entering the Sacristy, one Sunday afternoon, during Vespers, he found him elevated in the air in rapt meditation. His first baptisms and marriage were on the 21st
of April,! while Father Kenny seems not to have administered t~ese Sacraments until the end of July.
*Henry William Herbert's-The Reed Shaken by the Wind, Chap. II.
tRev. Patrick Duddy, S. J. tBap. Reg. p. 351, and Mar. Reg. p. 318.
�St. :Joseph's Church, Philadelphia.
97
Soon after his arrival, Father Dubuisson began to make _
converts, and was most successful among the Quakers, or
as Philadelphians prefer to call them, the Friends.*
In the early part of 1834, Father Edward Me Carthy
was sent as an assistant to Father Dubuisson. His first
baptism was that of a female infant, at the present day, a
zealous member of St. Joseph's, and not long since Prefect
of the Young Ladies' Branch of the Sodality of our Holy
1\:fother.t My earliest impressions of Father Me Carthy,
who was, I think, the first Jesuit I ever saw, were not of a
very pleasing nature. In the Autumn of this year, one
bright Sunday morning, I had been dressed to accompany
a sister to late Mass. Becoming impatient at the delay
occasioned by the young lady's putting the finishing touches to her dressing, with the independence of "Young
America," I started by myself-to her no small fright when
she missed me. Passing up the quadrangle, I saw at one
of the windows a jovial red face. ·.With infantile impertinence I stood to stare at the vision of manly beauty. " Do
you come to Sunday School?" said a deep voice. "No,
sir;" a~swered I, in a penny-trumpet squeal. · "Then run
home, we don't have young shavers around here that don't
come to Sunday School," responded he, deeply gruff.
Like the youthful patriot who broke the pane of glass and
then ran home to get the money to pay for it, I turned my
face towards the maternal residence, whither I was betaking myself as speedily as my diminutive legs would permit,
when I found my frightened sister coming in hasty quest
of the· wanderer. She persuaded me to return, and when
a short time after I saw the dignified priest and heard his
melodious Preface and Pater Noster, I thought it could not
be the same man. After Mass I was taken to shake hands
with the holy missioner, wh~n a hearty laugh and a slice
of gingerbread removed all unfavorable impressions.
* Bap.
Reg. p. 256.
tDo. p. 263.
�St. Yoseplz's Clmrclz, P/uladelplzia.
In August of this year, Father James Curley, the venerable professor of Astronomy at Georgetown College, for a
short time, performed parochial duties at St. Joseph's.*
In 1835 Father Dubuisson did not confine his zealous
labors to the congregation of St. Joseph's. But in the
early part of January we find him amid the· ice, and snow,
and whistling winds of Susquehanna County, at Silver-Lake,
Friendsville; in Carbondale, Luzerne County; Honesdale,
\Vayne Com1ty; and other places in the same neighborhood.t
Father Richard Harvey was sent in 1836 to assist Fathers Dubuisson and Me Carthy, but as his name docs not
appear either in the Baptismal or Marriage Registry, I can
form no idea how long he remained.
Towards the end of this year, Bishop Conwell became so
feeble that he desisted from baptizing and blessing marriages .. His last marriage record was on November 2oth,t
and his last baptismal record on April r8th, 1837.§
During theseyears our Fathers had charge of Trenton,
Pleasant Mills, and other places in New Jersey.
.
The year 1838 is one not lightly to be passed over in the
Annals of St. Joseph's. On the feast of St. Francis de
Sales, the 29th of January, a meetirig of the Catholics of
the City was held in the church, the most Blessed Sacrament having been removed. Charles Johnson, Sr., presided.
Joseph Dugan, Esq., and Cavalier Keating, father of Sr.
Mary Joseph of the Order of the Visitation and Grandfather of Dr. \Vm. Keating of this City were the speakers.
At this meeting it was resolved to replace the old church
erected, as his cathedral, by Bishop Conwell, in 1820, with
a larger and more modern structure, to meet the wants of
the large and respectable congregation worshipping at St.
Joseph'~·
* Bap. Reg. p. 285.
t Do. pp. 293, 294, 295.
Ular. Reg. p. 231.
~
Bap. Reg. p. 302.
�St. J'oseplz's C!tmrh, Plziladelp!tia.
99
On Monday, May 7th, service was held for the last time
in the dear and venerated chapel, as it was then called, and
as it is called to the present day. Service was held, yes, a
peculiarly Catholic service was held-the service of services
-the Holy :\lass was offered by Fathers Ryder and Barbelin, for all living and dead, who had ever worshipped
within its walls.
The United States Gazette, then the leading paper of
Philadelphia, on June the 5th, published the following
notice:
ST. JOSEPH'S.
·"On l\londay afternoon the corner-stone of St. Joseph's
Church was laid in the lot between Willing's Alley and
\Valnut Street. The ceremonies were interesting and to
many entirely new. At an early hour the place was
thronged with persons, anxious to witness the services;
and about half past three o'clock a procession of clerg}'men and attendants came to the staging prepared for the
ceremonies ; when the Rev. Mr. Ryder announced that in
consequence of the rain, the address would be given in St.
.Mary's Church. Thither some of the company repaired,
enough to fill that large edifice; and the priests preceding
Bishop Conwell, all in their clerical dresses, and accompanied by the customary youthful attendants of the altar,
went in procession to St. Mary's.
"Mr. Ryder then, in a truly eloquent discourse, explained
the ceremonies of the occasion, pointed out the causes for
gratitude which Catholics had to God for their liberties in
this country, and their duty and willingness to pray for and
defend that liberty. ·
''After the address, the priests chanted the litany of the
Saints, and then all returned to the site of the proposed
edifice.
·• The priests then intonated one of the psalms, and the
corner-stone was laid by the Ret--. James Ryder, Senior
VOL. III-No. 2.
13
�1
oo
St. :Joseph's Omrclz, Phzfade!plzia.
Pastor of St. Joseph's, in the presence of the Right Rev'd
Bishop Conwell. A procession was then made round the
site of the building, w_hile a psalm was chanted.
"In the corner-stone were placed, coins, pamphlets, papers
of the day, small notes, and other articles of the present
times, with a scroll upon which was inscribed, in most
exquisite chirography, the following:
QUOD FELIX FAUSTU.M FORTUNATmiQUE SIT
_ DEIQUE IN GLOB.IA:.\I BENE VEB.TAT.
IN THE PONTIFICATE OF GHEGOHY SIXTEENTH.
THIS
COHNEH STONE OF THE NEW ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH.
IS LAID, THE FOUHTII DAY OF JUNE;
BEING WHITSUN l\IONDAY, IN THE YEAH OF OUH LORD.
ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY EIGHT.
SJF THE INDEPENDENCE OF.THESE UNITED STATES
THE SIXTY SECOND;
lN THE AHMINISTH.ATION OF :.\IAHTIN VAN BUHEN.
EIGHTH PHESIDENT OF TIH~ UNITED STATES:
.TOSE~H HITNEH. GO.JERNOH OF
l'ENNSYLVANfA;
.JoHN Swn·T, MAYOR OF THE CITY o~· PniLADgLPHIA,
. HWHT REV. HENHY CmnVEI,L, BISHOP o~· TIU: DIOCESE;
HIGHT HEV FRANCIS PATRICK KENIUCK, CO.\DJUTOH:
REv.
TrrmrAs F.
:MuLLEDY, PnoviNCIAL oF THE
SOCIETY 01<' JESUS IN TilE PROVINCE OF l\IAHYJ,AND;
Jb;v.
JAMEH RYDER AND FELIX JosEPH BAHBEJ.IN OF TilE !'AMI<;'
SoCIETY OF .JEsus, PASTORS o~· ST .•TosEPII'H
Cnuncn.
"John Maguire, Joseph Donath, John Maitland, Martin
J\1 uq)hy and John Darragh co-operating with the pastors
as a building committee, in the name of the Catholics of
the City and County of. Philadelphia, by whose generous
�St. Yoseplz's Clzurclz, Plulade!plzia.
IOI
contributions, despite the unparalleled pecuniary difficulties of the country, the church is to be erected, under the
superintendence of John Darragh, Architect, who emp_l0ys
}lichael Gahcgan to dig the cellar, David Ryan as stonemason, Ed\\'ard Carr and George Johnson as bricklayers,
James Carroll, marble mason, and Thomas Ryan, carpenter,
on the site of the old St.· Joseph's, endeared to the Catholic community by the hallowed recollections of more than
a century, as the cradle of their faith in this City, and ·
the resting place of the mortal remains of their parents,
kindred, and friends; consecrated by the labors of those
venerable pioneers of religion, a Snyder, a de Ritter, a
Farmer, a Molyneux and their associates, of the Society of
Jesus; illustrious, notwithstanding its humble state, as the
nursery of many distinguished ecclesiastics of the secular
cleq.,')', and ever memorable as the first temple in which the
hpnn of thanksgiving was chanted to the God of armies,
in the presence of 'vVashington and his staff, and the
representatives of France and the United States, for the
blessings bestowed upon the infant Republic in her struggle for right and liberty."
In digging the foundations it became necessary to remove the remains of the early Catholics buried around the
chapel. Some were removed by their relatives and reinterred in St. iVIary's, Holy Trinity, and St. Augustine's
cemetet·ies. The bones of the laity who remained ·were
placed in strong boxes and buried beneath the furnace.
Those of the clergymen, all of whom were fou~d, were
placed under the altar. It was remarkable with regard to
the remains of Fr. Farmer that the stole remained intact,
while the other vestments as well as the flesh had disappeared. Among these are the bones of Fr. Lawrence Louis
Graessl of the old Society. He was the first appointed
to the Bishopric of Philadelphia, but died before the arrival of the bulls.
·
Sometime later the venerable Father John Me Elroy,
!vho had just built the fine church of St. John in Frederick
�102
St. :Joseplt's Cluaclt, Philadelphia.
City, was substituted for Father Ryder in the building of
St. Joseph's. He brought Mr. John Tehan from Frederick
to act as Architect and somewhat altered the plans of 1\Ir.
John Darragh. For the better? Adhuc sub judice lis est.
Father Barbelin, truly styled the children's friend, foreseeing the great good to be done in coming years through
the instrumentality of the Sunday-schooi, was very desirous of having a lofty class-room; l ha\'e . been told, the
holy man went on his knees, in his earnestness for the
salvation of ~~mls yet unborn, but he was unsuccessful.
It was not until years after that he succeeded in having the
arches and vaults removed to obtain the mi~erable ba~c
ment so dear to the hearts of Philadelphia Catholics.
Poor basement! you are not without your laurels. The
late saintly Bishop Neuman once remarked to the writer
of these Annals: "St. Joseph's basement has done the
work of many churches."
To supply for the supports removed, Father Barbelin
had a large beam erected, composed of wood, stone, and
. cement, which is now the only support of the beautiful
main altar, an altar weighing many tons. May we not
hope that the spirit of the holy Father .Barbelin will watch
over this loved basement and the sacred altar where he
officiated for so many years and preserve them from any
serious accident. This basement, dark and dreary as it is,
is dearly loved, and every effort is being made to beautify it
as much as possible. During the last year, three handsome
altars h~ve been erected-in the middle, one dedicated to
the Sacred Heart of our dear Redeemer-on the Gospel
side, one in honor of St. Aloysius, the Patron of youth.
while on the Epistle side stands the altar of the Saving
Passion, with its massive Crucifix. Shrines to our Immaculate Mother, our loved Patron, St. Joseph and the holy
Angel Guardians,-a portrait of the venerated Barbelin, a
large oil-painting of the present director of the Sundayschool, and statues, and vases, and flowers arranged in every
�St. Yoseplt's C/zurclt, Pluladelpltia.
103
available place, serve to render it more cheerful looking,
and on a Sunday afternoon when the altars and shrines
are lighted and the smiles of a thousand happy innocent
faces serve to illumine it, it presents a sight pleasing not
only to Angels bnt also to men.
The destruction of the old church called into exercise
the pens of many of her children. On June the 9th, the
Public Ledger published the following poetical effusion,
which I insert not for its poetic excellence, but as a specimen of the Catholic .literature of the day.
ST.•JOSEPH'S CHURCH.
Beneath its roof-and Persecution's rod,
Some pious friends of yore conceived it meet
To join in prayer, at times, unto their God,
And chant His praises there in accents sweet.
'Twas there at eve, beset by bigot crew,
Those holy men its sacred walls upraised,
And oft as they their labors would renew,
As oft again the work the-bigots razed.
'Twas then FRIEND PENN whose just and peaceful sway
Conserved alike the subjects of the State,
Proclaimed anew that they should sing and pray
As their own conscience to them should dictate.
0 happy hour ! so rife with great events
For those in aftertimes who've trod life's stage,
When Truth o'erpowered sectarian discontents,
And press'd them close to smother in their rage.
And now relieved from fell oppression's yoke,
And ~:minted FAR~IER at his altar stood,
With hands uplifted, tllerc did God invoke
To shower His blessings on our brave a.nd good.
And by his side in humble posture knelt
The Father of our land-Virginia's Son,
To thank his God, for he in earnest felt
'Twns He alone, for him, each battle won.
So now this "lowly shed" where deeds so grand
Transpired so oft to sanctify its name,
Has fled-its wings but only to expand,
And raise its ~rest proporti!:>ned to its fame.
LmER.
�104
St. J'osep!t's Clzurclt, Plti!addplzia.
About the same time a gentleman who, in his youth
had been a member of St. Joseph's, published a letter from
which I make the following extract :
" It occupied all the ground enclosed in the modern
structure. It was an oblong building, runniDg East and
\Vest, with the ceiling arched in the centre, probably not
more than twenty-five feet high, from the floor ; the sides
al_ong the North and South walls, having flat roofs, about
twelve feet high. It had no gallery, but there was a small
organ-loft at·the \Vest end, under the arch. The roof had
its main supports from a series of posts resting in the pews
of the North and South aisles. The chtirch was badly
lighted and worse ventilated. The few windows in the
~orth and South walls merely afforded what is termed
'a· dim religious light.' Transgressors who sought religious grace, found in that little chapel nought to distract
their minds or their eyes in the way of ornamental art or
gaudy show. It was built for, and appropriated solely to,
the wol·ship of the only Sup~rior recognized by an intelligent
and consistent Catholic.
·• The walls exteriorly were rough-cast and pebble-dashed,
thus throwing difficulty in the way of. young America inscribing his name for the edification a'nd benefit of anxious
inquirers or unborn millions.
" It was an entirely plain building, about one hundred
feet long, with a flat roof on each side about fourteen feet
in width, exte.nding the whole length. There were probably eight windows in the North front, of medium size, with
old fashioned 8 by 10 window glass in them. The entrance
to the church was through a small doorway at the end of
each front, and this fact seemed to create a law for those
who lived up town to use the \Valnut Street passage way,
and for those who lived in the Southerly direction to usc
the Willing's Alley route.
"The only efforts attempted for many years in the way
of internal improvement consisted simply in whitewashing
�St. Yoseplt's Clwrclz, Philadelplzia.
· 105
the walls. The chancel enclosed about three fifths of the
width of the building, thus leaving room for several pews
in the Northc;,"t and Southeast corners, the latter of which
were occupied by, a race of colored Christians, who, I am
afraid, have. all been called away. They were of French
and \Vest Indian birth, and were bound devotedly together
by good words ~nd for good works. They met frequently.
by a law of their own, in that old church, and there prayed
aloud in their native French, while they counted their
beads, treasured as heir-looms. I have often listened to
them with real pleasure, and endeavored to learn and
repeat the prayers which escaped from their lips. Citizens
who pedestrianized this City when its population was estimated ;>t I so.ooo persons, looked kindly, if not wishfully at
some of those identical old colored ladies, as they sat at the
most frequented corners with their heads ·enveloped in gay
bandanna turbans, and holding in their laps a tray well
supplied with groundnut cakes and cocoanut balls! Bless
their old souls ! But they have all passed away.
." St Joseph's then contained in the parsonage adjoining,
on the South, quite a numerous family of worthies. There
was the liberal and amiable old Bishop Henry Conwell.
He had with him his nephew, Dr. Christopher Columbus
Conwell, one of the most brilliant writers of his day, and a
niece, still living here. The Rev. Wm. Vincent Harold
and Rev. Mr. Ryan of the Order of Dominican Friars,
and· Rev. James Cummiskey, were the regular officiating
clergymen there. Then we had the Rev. John Hughes,
ordained there, and who rose rapidly in favor with the citizens generally, who built for him the Church on Thirteenth
Street, known as St. John's, which soon after became the·
Cathedral. Perhaps no man ever occupied a more exalted
position in religious, literary, and political circles, than this
same John Hughes, when he afterwards became bishop of
New York. H~ lk1d risen from the position of a common
laborer on the public roads of Pennsylvania from which he
i
I
I
I
�106
St. Yosepll' s Clturclz, Plzi!adt:lpllia.
was transferred to Mount St. :\Iary's College at Emmitsburg, :\Iaryland ; where he was made kitchen-gardener and
received instructions in the different branches of the College
course, after working hours. Officers of that institution
have informed me that no graduate ever better deserved its
honors than John Hughes. St. Joseph's had at that time
the Rev. Terence Donaghoe, who also be.came prominent
in church affairs. St. Michael's Church, in Kensington,
was built for him, and he continued in charge of it during
his life." - ..
· The gentleman is mistaken with regard to Rev. Terence
Donaghoe-upon the death of his great friend, Bishop
Conwell, he migrated to the great \Vest, where he died a
few years since. He happened to be in the City at the
time of the riots, in 1844, and had the melanr:holy satisfaction of witnessing from the belfry of St. Augustine's
the conflagration of the church and convefl't he had built
with so much labor, and on the same evening of witnessing
fronl the N. E. corner of \Villing's Alley the burning of St.
Augustine's.
On the 11th of February 1839. the new church was consecrated, being, I think, the second ·church in the United
States consecrated to the Living·· God.
I extract the
following beautiful verses from "The Spirit of the Times:"
LINES
ON THE CONSECUATION OF ST. JOSEPH's, IN THE CITY OF
PHILADELPHIA, 11TH FEll.,
1839.
I.
Oh Thou of Heaven's high throneAlmighty and aloneWhose will can circle countless worlds unknown ; least understood
,
Father of life to thee
We bend the worship-knee.~
The only Lord-the only great-the universal good.
�St. 7oscplt's Clmrclt, Plti/pddplzia.
107
II.
Within thP~<e sacred wnlls,
Where every spell recalls,
Freedom beneath the bann~cr in patriot battle won ;
"\Vhere valor, virtue, met,
And glory's stamp was set
On him the pure commissioned chief-Columbia's WAsiiiNGTON.
III.
Look down in mercy here,
·withdraw the hand severe
Thy justice could have lifted against Thy erring flock;
And let Thy mercy bless,
As in the wilderness
"\Vhen ~loses fountl and !;;rae! drank Thy waters from the rock.
IV.
Oh! more than mortal heart
Can picture what Thou art,
Shoultl be his spirits heaven-lit fire of gratitude to Thee,
That he thus lifts the signThe banner-cross divine
To Thy pure worship in a land-so sacred and so free.
v.
•
Here s~ints and patriots kne~t
Who kindred feelings felt,
[sWord!
Who rais'd the flag and brav'd tllo fight a::1d wav'd the victor's
Not fbr terrestrial power,
That too debasing dower,
But for Thy name ·'least understood," yet boundlessly ador'd.
VI.
Let but Thy pleasure now
Illume Thy smiling brow,
And we who've here assembled, can lift our hope afar;
That this deep anthem song
\Vith ileaven's sweet hopes so strong
Shall countless generati.u~ llnng to Thy consoling star I
VII.
Holy I h•>ly! holyTriune-Godhead solelyThis ground is wet with sinner's tean, a tribute toT hy love;
Oh grant that we rejoice
With th'Arc11angelic voice
From grassy grave and ocean-lead us to ThM above.
JonN AuuUJTU8 SIIEA.
Philadelphia, Feb. 11th, 183).
VOL. Ill-No.
2.
14
�108 .
St. :Joscp!z's Clwrdz, Plziladelplzia.
Sunday the 27th of Septen1ber 1840, being the three
hundredth anniversary of the Confirmation of the Society of
Jesus, was a day of much more than ordinary devotion at
St. Joseph's. The services were of the most imposing
character. From half past five in the morning, Mass followed Jt1ass, at each of which hundreds received 'the food
that maketh strong.' Although an admission fee of $I.OO
was charged at the late service, the church was crowded.
'Haydn's Imperial 1\lass' was sung for the first time in
America, tbe wife of the French Consul and Miss Susan
de la Roche being the chief singers. The side pews in the
galleries were removed to' make room for an orchestra ofover eighty pieces. The exercist;s of the day concluded
with the solemn benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament and the singing of Haydn's magnificent 'Te Deum.'
On October 24th. th~ee large paintings by Don Pedro
Martinez were placed behind the altars. That of the Crucifixion-a copy of Rubens, is considered to be one of the
best in the country. Although somewhat darkened by age,
it is impossible to gaze upon the agonyof Jesus' face, the
resigned anguish of Mary Mother's countenance, the wondering and yearning look of St. John and the almost hopeless despair of Mary ·Magdalene ·-\vithout acutely feeling
the acursed weight of sin. I have seen even callous Quakers weep when gazing upon this picture. A Holy Family
after Murillo and a Sacred Heart placed at this time behind
the side altars have been removed to make room, one for
a marble statue of our Immaculate Queen, the other for a
painting on the same theme by a Protestant artist-smaller
in size, and some think in artistic merit. Before the old
one how many tears of repentance have been shed by sincere sinners l The calm benevolence of the countenance
seemed to say: • Son, there is a place for you in this heart'
-while the face of one of the Angels, gazing into the
eyes of his Lord with a look of adoring wonder too great
even for angelic intelligence, is in itselfan eloquent sermon on the love of God.
�St. J'osep!t's C/mrdt, Pluladdp!tia.
109
In 1841 we find Fr. Havermans as Superior with Fr.
Barbelin as assistant, and Brother Edmund Quinlan. teacher of the Boys' school. In the early part of this year,
Father Barbclin began the Sodalities for young men and
ladies, and on the 15th of August, a third branch for married men. This was the first Sodality of the Blessed
Mother established in this country outside of Colleges and
Academies. It was soon followed by a Sodality established in St. Mary's Church by Father· Edward Sourin,
and in a short while these Sodalities were spread over tht.:;
length and breadth of the land and have been found to
be a most powerful instrumentality in keeping the young
faithful in the discharge of their religious duties and of
gaining souls to God.
1842, Father Ignatius Combs is Superior with Father
Virgil Barber as second assistant, while Father Barbelin
had charge of the schools, there being a day-school for
girls taught by a Miss Shannon. During this year he introduced the pious devotion of the Bona Mars. Father
Combs soon became endear~d to the people of the congregation by his simplicity of manners.
On the 13th of February, Father Me Carthy died at
\Vhitemarsh, Md. It is now over thirty years, and still
people speak of his labors at Pottsville as well as at St.
Joseph's, and of his beautiful singing.
For some years the Sunday School had met in a large
school room in znd Street opposite German. This being
fully a mile from the Church, we may imagine the inconve·• nience caused good Father Barbelin, who many a time
must have longed for the gift of ubiquity. During this
year it entered upon its present quarters.
_
In the early part of 1843. Bishop Conwell began to
perceptibly fail. During the latter part of his life he was
deprived of his sight and had a novel way ,of impressing
upon his memory the features of ·his visitor:;. When one
knelt to receive his episcopal benediction he would rub his
�1 10
St. J'osepll's Church, P/uladelphza.
hand over every part of the head and countenance, and
manipulate the cranium of his unfortunate visitor as the
artist does the clay he intends for his model, His sight
had failed but his other faculties remained bright until
within a short time of his death. He made his last will
and testament, leaving St. Joseph's Cemetery, whiCh was
deeded in his name, to the Fathers of St. Joseph's and
placed this will in the hands of his executor, Rev. Terence
Donaghoe, but, ·about a week before his death, he asked
for it, pro.r.nising to return it in a day or two. After hi~
death this will could not be found.
His nieces and nephews, as his heirs, laid claim to this
home of the dead, with the honorable exception of his
eldest niece and her estimable husband, to whose suffering
for justice I have already paid tribute in Part 2nd. Our
Fathers applied to the Courts. At first it was decided in
favor of the relatives, who were so elated that they began
to survey the ground in order to l<iy it out in-building lots.
An appeal was made to the Court in Equity who made a
final decision in favor of the congregation. Most of the
relatives soon recognized the justice of this decision and
became edifying members of the co~gregation. The children of some of them are among my regular monthly
penitents.
One found it more difficult to forgive and forget. Sometime after, wishing to injure Father Barbelin in the estimation of Bishop Kenrick, he sent a letter making the foulest
accusations against Fr. B's honesty and morality. He
feared his writing might be recognized and adopted the
ingenio1.1s, if tedious, method of cutting the words from
newspapers and pasting them in order. His Lordship
imn1ediately sent this epistle to St. Joseph's. Mr. James
Smith, a shrewd business man, was in Father Barbelin's
room at the time of its reception ; and upon its having
been shown to him, remarked:." I'll find out before sundown who sent that contemptible bundle." Without asking
•
�St. Yoscp!t's Clmrclt, P!tiladelplzia.
II 1
permission he carried the document with him, and went to
a stand for second·hand books. Acting on the principle
that might makes right, he opened the closets of this stanp
and there he found the very papers from which the \Vor.ds
had been cut. "I'll make you suffer for this," .said he," they have comfortable quarters in Moyamensing palace
-I'll use all my influence to have Father Barbelin sue you
for libel." The man was horribly frightened; but as the
meek Jesuit took the Christian's revenge, he became one of
his warmest admirers. At this time, this grave-yard, the
cause of so much litigation, is a· source of expense rather
than of revenue; but it is still the last resting place of
many of Philadelphia's poor.
On the zoth of April, Father Barbelin anointed Bishop
Conwell. He' died on the 22nd, having leq an eventful
and troubled life; a man of more mistakes than faults; a
proof that varied acquirements and even good intentions
do not always fit one for a respon.sible position.
In I843 the interior of the church, which up to this time
had been dressed in white, was much improved by Signor
Monachesi's frescoes. The ceiling was a master-piece, its
simplicity of design being its unique charm. The groundwork was a silver dove color-the centre was the Jesuits'
monogram-the I. H. S. in the midst of a massive, richlygilt glory. In each corner was a medallion of dual angels
bearing instruments of the Suffering. These, together with
the simple scroll-work, presented an exquisitely chaste appearance, to many, much more pleasing than that combination. of bright green, yellow, pink, blue, brown, magenta,
etc., to be found in almost every village church throughout
the country. In 1853 the walls were again painted, in what,
from its resemblance to a useful article of the t.oilet, the
witty Fr. John Me Guigan designated the Castelian style of
architecture; but the ceiling was not touched until I8J2,
when its dingy, almost leprous appearance necessitated its
renovation.
(To be continued.)
�"FATHER
WENINGER ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
FIFTH LETTER.
------RE\". MW DEAR FATHER:
P. C.
The year 1870 began like its predecessors, with my own
Retreat ; and St. Ignatius' College this time became my
Manresa. I like to make the Exercises at the opening of
the new year ; it is at least a feeble mark of respect and
veneration for their author, and for the Society to which
we have been called. For it was while performing these
Exercises, that St Ignatius first received the inspiration to
found a new order, which was to copy whatever was holiest irrthe older religious Communities, and yet differ from
them in many important particulars. The idea was suggested to him during the Meditation on the "Two Standards."
He had been a soldier, he had fought. under the standard of
his sovereign for the f.<ding laurels'"of time; he was to be
a soldier still, and wear the crown of immortality. The
whole plan of "The Company of Jesus," so martial in its
conception, was at once unfolded before .his imagination.
Hereafter this was the dream of his life, the grand aim of
his ambitious soul.
The Exercises are, therefore, the natural element of the
Jesuit. He finds in them the nourishment that will repair
his failing strength and quicken him into new and vigorous
life. If he has imbibed the spirit of our holy Founder, he
cannot but feel a spiritual attraction for them, and have recourse to them at his earliest convenience.
Besides, the Exercises have been sealed with the special
sanction of the Church. During the lifetime of Ignatius,
�Fat!ter TVeninger on t/ze Pacific Coast.
I I
3
in the year 1548, on the 31st of July-now sacred to the
memory of the Saint-Paul III wrote these memorable
words, which should remain forever engraven on our hearts:
"Exercitia praedicta, ac omnia et singula in eis contenta, ex
certa scientia nostra approbamus, collaudamus et praesentis
scripti patrocinis communimus." The Popes, it is true, have
often commended other writings, as good and profitable to
souls. But where is the book, co:nposed by uninspired
m<tn, all of whose contents they have sanctioned and approved in such a manner? It is quite natur<tl then, that in
the Jesuit's mind the book of the Exercises should rank
next to the Bible, and that, if left to himself, he should
enrich himself with its treasures at the very beginning of
the year.
This season following upon the Christmas solemnities,
generally leaves the missionary more at leisure to attend
to study of his own perfection, and apply to himself the
saving truths which he must teach to others during the
rest of the year. If he seizes the opportunity, he will
always be sure of not dying without having made his
annual Re.treat, and this thought alone is no slight consolation.
But I find that I have insensibly strayed away from"the
Missions on the Pacific Coast to a somewhat different theme.
However, as these letters are meant to encourage a kindly
exchange of feeling among brethren, and as those of our
Fathers devoted to the missions may not find it uninteresting to know how one similarly engaged divides his yt;ar,
my other readers will kindly overlook this and other short
digressions.
The first mi,sion after my retreat took place in our
Church at San Jose. It is hardly necessary to allude to
the usual manifestations of divine grace during the course
of the Exercises : they attend every mission more or less.
I shall only mention a remark dropped by a Frenchman,
who accidentally came across my path in that part of the
�1 14
Father Weninger o1t tlze Pacific Coast.
globe. He was one of those unhappy individuals who
seem. to have been born to no purpose, and who are disgusted with themselves and all the sons of Adam-an infidel and a misanthrope in the strictest sense of the word.
He candidly acknowledged that he could not believe in the
divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ; and therefore his remark struck me all the more because it was unexpected
from such a quarter. As I was speaking, he suddenly
interrupted -me ! "would you be so kind, and tell me what
catholics m,t;an when they proclaim the Pop~ infallible ?"
I informed him, that the Infallibility of the Pope does not
mean a personal exemption from error, making a man incapable of a mistake, as far as he is a man ; but the official
Infallibility of the Vicar of Christ, when he addresses ~he
whole Church upon matters of faith and morals. He appeared quite satisfied with this explanation and exclaimed:
·• Seulement dans ce sens ? Mais sans doute en matiere de
foi le Pape doit etre lnfaillible ; cela va sans dire"-Only in
that sense? Why, to be sure, in matters of faith the Pope
IIllis! be infallible; that's understood.- He had denied the
divinity ?f Ch~ist a little before, and now he admitted as
self-evident, that His Vicar must be infallible in matters of
faiti1. This was a striking proof, tliat every logical mind
starting from the principle of In£'1llibility in the church,
must of necessity come to the-conclusion that its head can
not err in matters of faith.
After the mission at San Jose I went to Los Angeies, to
give another there in the Cathedral. The day on which I
started, San Francisco was visited by an earthquake.
Shocks of this kind are very frequent in California ; they
occurred at four different times during my stay there. A
tradition, current among the people, says that at some future day San Francisco will disappear in one of these convulsions of the earth.
is based upon an incident in the
life of a Venerable Father of the Order of St. Francis, who
lived in the monastery of Santa Clara. While praying in
It
�Fa titer l¥eninger on tlze Pacific Coast.
1 15
the church before a crucifix, still honored with great devotion, he was rapt into an extasy and raised into the air.
Just as he awoke from his ravishment, some one entered
the church. The servant of God asked him if he had seen
anything ext;aordinary. The man replied in the affirmative. ··\Veil then," said he," I will tell you what God has
just revealed to me: San Francisc~ will one day disappear
in an earthquake." From that time till the present, the·
saying of the holy man has been repeated and is believed
by many. The city is built in part upon alluvial soil, and
it would not take a very violent shock to verify the prophecy. May'God avert so great a punishment and desolation!
South of San Francisco, in the direction of Los Angeles,
the scenery along the coast is by turns grand and picturesque, charming and sublime. I enjoyed it to the full and
arrived at Los Angeles in the beginning of February.
What a delightful climate! It is already Summer-oranges
are blooming and bearing fruit at the same time, and nature,
-still buried in the snows of winter in other regions, is here
decked in all its charms. I often wonder, how a rich and
independent man who looks for the comforts of l,ife, can
ever make up his mind to return to the Eastern or Middle
States after spending a winter in California.
I remained in this terrestrial paradise until March. The
beauty of the scenery was always increasing; and yet, at
that very time, the Newspapers contained sw:h startling
announcements as these: "Minnesota! violent snow storms!
people frozen to death!" Nevertheless the tide of emigration
is flowing chiefly towards Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.
The only reason is, that others went there first! Men wish
to join their kinsfolk and to settle among those who have
a family feeling with them. They buy themselves a farm,
and when they begin to regret the step, they find that i~ is
not so easy to dispose of it. And so they find themselves
obliged to dwell, for several long winter months, amid
perpetual snows and frosts.
VOL. III-No. 2.
15
�I
16
Fatlzer J;Vminger on t!te Pacific Coast.
Th~ life at Los Angeles is stamped with a decidedly
Spanish, or rather Mexican character. The people have a
wonderful attachment to the Catholic religion. Their faith
is as strong as that of the Irish, but their morals are
anything but conformable to their belief. s·ome of them,
it is true, lead the lives of veritable saints; I saw a pious
widow in the Cathedral of Los Angeles, who, like the
prophetess Anne, alm~st never left the precincts of the
church. But the great m;~jority are as weak in practice as
they are s~rong in theory. Man and wife often live together
unmarried or without the requisite dispensation in case of
a matrimonial impediment. Here too, as elswhere, the
Mexican character shows a singular combination of Indian
ferocity and Spanish grandeza. The inhabitants are extremely improvident, they live like Adam and Eve, from
day to day and let divine Providence take care of the
unce[tain future. However, they might rise superior ~o all
these weaknes,es and make as good a Catholic nation as
any in the world, if Freemasonry had not obtained such a
footing among them and perverted many of the most influential n:en. The worst of it is, that often they see no harm
in belonging to the sect. They are beguiled by the fact
that Freemasons help one another like brethren and insist
on external propriety and decorum. I met with a member
of the lodge at Annaheim, a settlement south of Los
Angeles, in the direction of San Diego. He was a very
good-hearted man, who with rare generosity, had made
the Catholics there a present of all the pews necessary to
fill their church. I said to him: "As you are so kind to
the Catholics, why do you not join the Church ano become
a Catholic yourself?"-"! would have done it long ago,"
replied he, "but your church will not receive me." I answered at once: "I know the reason-You are a Freemason.':_ "I am, Father, and that is precisely the reason, why
you should receive me; for Freemasons and the Catholic
church have the same end in view; and therefore I feel so
�Father Weninger on the Pacific Coast.
I I7
much inclined to become a Catholic. Does not the Catholic.
church wish all men to help one another, love one another,
and do right? This is likewise the aim of Freemasonry.
Father, you refuse to receive me into your church, because
I am a Freemason; and you yourself are one." I smiled and
said: "How can you suppose, that I, a Priest, am a Freemason? Are you not aware that Pius IX. like so many of
his predecessors, has again and again pronounced the
sentence of excommunication against the members of all
secret Societies and especially against the Freemasons :
How, then, could (have joined them?"-"0!" said he,
"'Pius IX. himself is a Freemason, and the greatest of them
all ; for I really believe, that there is not on earth a man,
who more sincerely wishes to see all persons honest and
happy." These words showed me, how great was the
blindness of the poor fellow, and how useless it would have
been to make an effort to enlighten his mind. I thought
it b.::st to leave him in the hands of Providence, until he
would be better disposed to open his eyes to the rays of
truth.
The little village of Annaheim, where I fell in with him,
embraces an area of about six miles in circumference. It
is surrounded. by a hedge of thorny shrubs and is entered
by something like a gate. The houses are built at some
distance from each other and surrounded by vineyards and
orchards. There is a reservoir of water supplied from a
stream above the village; and in case of drought, so common in those parts, the water is conducted by means of
canals through the town to places where irrigation is needed.
Every Saturday such persons as are in want of water meet
at the office of the reservoir and leave their orders. The
place was originally laid out for Germans, but it is now
open to all nationalities. Mexicans in particular have found
their way thither. Still the great majority are Germans,
most of them Protestants, and the Catholics are generally
intermarried with them.
�I I
8
Fat/zer Weninger on tlze Pacific Coast.
An amusing incident occurred at this settlement during
the course of the mission. A Catholic woman came to
confession and told me that her husband, who was a Protestant, was willing to have his children brought up Catholics and baptized, but that he wished the ceremony to be
performed at his own house. I went there. Seeing quite a
number of children, some smaller and others larger, I
inquired whether none of them had ever been baptized.
The husband answered : "Yes, Father, this boy here, I
baptized my,;;el(" I asked him whether he had done everything rightly and followed the prescribed formula. "0 to
be sure I did! and in order to make the baptism all the
stronger and more efficacious, instead of using water, I
took the best wine that I had in my cellar. Was not this
baptism stronger than one given only with water?"
Starting from Annaheim for the North, I first gave a
Retreat to the boarders in the academy of the Sisters of
Notre Dame at San Jose. A large number of the pupils in
this Institution were Protestants. But they all joined in the
retreat with the Catholics, and during it some of them were
received into the church. And now May was fast approaching. It was time to return to Oregon, where I had not been
able to finish the preceding year. 'After another Mission,
therefore, in the Cathedral at Marysville, I set out and once
more passed the dreaded Columbia Bar.
The first mission in Oregon this season was 'given to the
soldiers of the garrison at Fort Stephens, situated at the
very entrance of the Bay, before Astoria. I was glad to
begin my missionary campaign with a military expedition.
For, somehow, soldiers are a class of men for whom the
priest feels a sort of natural attraction, and whom he is
inclined to aid as much as he can in their spiritual wants.
Soldiers, on the other hand, are wont to reciprocate his
feelings. So far from insulting the minister of Christ, they
generally manifest a special regard for his person. The
secret cause for this sympathy may perhaps be found in
�Fatlzcr Wminger on tlze Pacific Coast.
I I
9
the singular resemblance of their vocations. Both the
soldier and the priest are called to fight-the one on the
battlefield of his country, the other on that of the Church
militant. In the Society, in particular, whose Founder was
at one time a soldier and wished his followers to be a COII?pany of volunteers ready to fly, at the first signal, to any
part of the world where danger is more imminent, this sort
of fellowship is all the more natural. Indeed St. Ignatius
would seem to encourage it. For, while he forbids us to
receive as candidates those who have already belonged to
some other religious association, he makes an exception in
favor of the Military Orders.
The Commander of Fort Stephens, though not a Catholic himself, was marrie.d "to a Spanish Catholic. He gave
me full liberty to do what I wished, and even permitted
those who were in prison to attend the Retreat and approach
the Sacraments. In a word, I found him kind and obliging
throughout, and after concluding the exercises, I started
with picasant recollections for Oregon City. A mission was
greatly need<7d there just then, on account of the scandal
given by an Apostate Catholic priest, formerly a Benedictine monk. He had not only renounced his religious profession, but openly lived there with a woman whom•he had
married before the secular judge. Thanks be to God, the
mission healed many wounds.
From Oregon City I went to a congregation in the '
country. The good people there had built a stone church
on the top of a lonely hilL-Not a house was to be seen
for miles around, and the priest only visited the place at
intervals. Duririg night I lodged at a house about three
miles distant; durihg the day I was obliged to remain in
Church the whole time without taking any nourishment till
evening. The work was wearisome and fatiguing; but
many extraordinary conversions refreshed the spirit and
sweetened the labor. The ways of divine Providence were
especially remarkable in leading one erring sheep into the
�1 20
•
,,
I'
f'atlter WeniJZger o1z tlze Pacific Coast.
fold. Apparently, it was doomed to stray still farther into
the by paths of error. But the Shepherd had watched its
wanderings and followed it, even into the remotest wilds.
The triumph of the Sacred Heart was so unmistakable that
I. must relate it briefly. After leavirig the steamer in which
we had embarked at Oregon City, I hact to make the
balance of my journey in a wagon. On I passed through
the newly settled country by many a weary turn, until I
reached a tavern. Just then an unknown man stepped out
of the hot~se, with a bundle of clothes in his hand. He
approached "and asked the driver, if he might ride with us.
I took him for a half-drunken vagabond, and felt no little
Jisrelish for such a companion. Nevertheless I consented
to his taking a seat by me on the already overloaded wagon.
He soon made himself known as a New Englander. Notwithstanding his neglected and uninviting appearance, he
proved to be a well educa~ed man-an engineer by profes~IOn.
Up to that day he had never come so close to a
prie:>t and never yet spoken to one. As might have been
expecte{ under such circumstances, he plied me very soon
~\·ith a host of questions about religious matters and was
,;urprised at the answers he received .. \Vhen we drew near
to the place where I was to stay oVer night, I invited him
to avail himself of the mission, which would open on the
following day, to get more information upon the subjects
that we had been discussing. I promised, at the same time
to give him a book which would instruct him thoroughly
concerning the claims of the Church, by comparing Catholicity with Protestantism and Infidelity. And so we parted.
I was quite surprised next day, when I perceived that he
was really present in the church and listened with intense
interest. After a day or two I was told that this newly
arrived stranger had publicly expressed his amazement at
the effect produced on him by the mission sermons. "Do
you know what?" said he. ''That priest actually made me
cry to-day at church. I never shed such tears in my life
�Fat/zer Wmingcr otz tlze Pacific Cuast,
121
before." When the mission was drawing to a close, I asked
him how he felt. He confessed that the scales had fallen
from his eyes, and that he would consider himself under
the greatest obligation to me, if I received him into the
Church. I complied with his request. His looks, indeed,
were against him, and most priests would probably have
distrusted him. But, then, it is far easier to render a.n account to our Lord for having been rather indulgent towards
sinners, especially towards those who are not yet members
of the fold, than for having been too austere and exacting.
This case itself furnished me with an additional proof and
became to me a source of unspeakable consolation. Not
long after, a well-dressed gentleman called on me in Portland. It was the same person. He had come to pay me
a visit and to thank me for what I had done for his salvation. He wished to go again to confession; and in a short
time he became, I may say, a leading member of the congregation. Being an able man he had soon found a good
employment, and hence this change in his appearance. He
was desirous to be more and more instructed in our holy
religion, and he even sent books to his family in Massachusetts, to enlighten them and, if possible, to make them partakers in his happiness. How very different the result would
probably have been, had I dismissed him with the advice
to receive further instruction, as best lte might! Most
probably he would have remained and died a protestant.
Worse still, had I refused him a seat on the wagon, as I
certainly felt disposed to do at first sight. For everything
about him was calculated to create an unfavorable impression. The very atmosphere that surrounded him, was
impregnated with an ominous smell of .strong drink. YeL
all these signs proved deceptive. Under that repulsive
exterior was hidden an accomplished gentleman, and what
is . more, a chosen friend of God.
I have dwelt upon this subject, to answer an objection,
often heard from zealous persons, whose good sense is
�1 22
Father T¥minger on the Pacific Coast.
rarely at fault upon other matters, but whose experience in
this particular is ne'cessarily limited. They complain that
missionaries often receive neophytes into the church with. out sufficient preparation, and that as a consequence, their
conversions are not lasting .. Let me assure them, in order
to allay their fears, that it is far more advisable to finish the
work of conversion during the mission, than to defer it and to
subject the mind that is well disposed to a protracted preparation at other hands. Of course~ when the resident pastor
himself has~ the candidate under instruction, it is very desirable to give him a more thorough preparation than the
missionary could be expected to do. The reason is plain.
The mission is a time of grace, and it is at !_east doubtful
whether the soul invited by the interior call of grace, would
be likely _to hearken to it. when the echoes of the missionary's voice have died away. Even converts received at
other times should not be put off to long without at least
receiving Baptism, and condition-al absolution, in case the
Baptl;;m itself has been administered under condition.
I take for granted, meanwhile, that the neophyte is fully
aware of the meaning of the step he is about to take, and
that he knows explicitly and distinctly the principal articles
of our faith. He must be instructed·in the mystery of the
Unity and Trinity of God and of His relations to us as
Creator and Ruler of the Universe. He must be taught
the doctrine of the fall of man in Paradise, and of his
redemption by the Son of God made flesh. He must see
the necessity of belonging to the Catholic Church, the only
·true and saving Church founded by Christ Himself. He
must be told of the seven Sacraments and their effects.
Finally, he must understand the value and efficacy of prayer,
the most ordinary means of obtaining the graces of God.
It is useless for the missionary to insist on the convert's
memorizing a great number of definitions from the Catechism. His chief aim should be to make them, from the
very beginning, really practical Catholics. If they are thor-
�Fat!tcr 1Venini[er
Oft
tlze Pacific Coast.
1 23
• oughly catholic at heart and understand the essential articles well, they will be anxious of themselves to become
instructed in their Christian duties and will readily embrace every opportunity that offers itself. To secure this
end all the better, it would be advisable for the convert
to have a zealous, practical Catholic, as a witness who will
go with him to the Parish priest for further instruction and
by his example lead him to the frequentation of the Sacraments, the daily practice of prayer and the regular attendance at l\Iass on Sundays and Holidays of obligation.
Such a friend and witness is much more useful for the new
convert, than any purely doctrinal instruction, which after
all can be gradually acquired from books. Hence the rule
and custom, observed in the church from the very beginning,
of having Sponsors at Baptism. This office which might
seem to be a mere formality at present, was in olden times
. considered to imply a most serious engagement. Indeed
it might still be productive of the happiest results if performed in the proper spirit. For the influence of a layman is
often more direct and constant than any that the pastor could
exert. The latter is often busied with the care of so large
a flock that he finds it difficult to extend his special solicitude to all those who might seem to need it. It is good,
however, to recommend the converts to him. He need not,
and in fact _should not. molest them with many dogmatical
explanations, .but he should . often give them practical
exhortations on the manner of living like real Catholics,
and especially on the regular practice of prayer, the hearing
of Mass and the use of the Sacraments. The all-important
point is Confession, which is apt to have its own peculiar difficulties for grown persons who are as yet unaccustomed to lay open all the secret folds of their conscience.
They should be repeatedly t"old by the priest how to conduct
themselves iri the confessional, according as they have
committed new sins or not They should be shown, in
their prayerbooks those prayers which are usually enjoined
VOL. Ill-No.
2.
16
�I 24
,,
Fat/zer
~Veninger
on tlze Pacific Coast.
for a penance. In this manner, they will gradually become •
familiar with confession, and find it a source of peace and
consolation.
Generally speaking, when converts are deemed sufficiently
instructed to make a good confession, they should likewise
be admitted to the Holy Table. To delay the reception of
the Blessed Eucharist, under these circumstances, is a bad
practice. Very likely it will lead them to neglect the use of
this life-giving Sacrament for many years, under the pretext
of unworthiness. Simply to baptize them, with the advice
to apply for further instruction to the Parish priest, is at
best a very uncertain method and exposes their souls to a
great risk. For, the devil, who is afraid of losing his prey.
will certainly do his best to destroy the work of God.
I have been, perhaps, rather diffuse on this subject. But,
as it is one of no little difficulty to missionaries, these hints
thrown out by one who has drawn them from the personal
experience of years, will it is hoped be of some service and
be received in the same spirit by the reader in which they
were penned down by the writer. In this hope I continue
the history of the mission, which gave occasion to them.
At the close of this mission I had.a remarkable interview.
perhaps I should say, controversy;\vith a Protestant Minister. He came to the church on the last day, which was the
feast of Saints Peter and Paul, just as I was erecting the
mission Cross. He approached and asked me, if I would
not allow him to address the people that day, which meant
of course to preach to them. I replied: "Sir, before I can
give you the desired permission, I must first know who
sent you hither to preach. You know very well, if you
have read the Acts of the Apostles, as I presume you have.
that. when assembled in Council at Jerusalem, they warned
the faithful not to listen to those not sent by them. They
told their disciples that such preachers, not having been
commissioned by the legitimate ecclesiastical authority,
were intruders, and that therefore their sermons were only
�Father Weni1lger on the Pacific Coast.
I25
the word of man and not that of God. Now, I am here sent
by Pius IX., the successor of St. Peter, who presided over
that Council at Jerusalem and whose feast we celebrate today. Plus IX. is at this very time presiding, in the same
manner, over a General Council composed of the lawful
successors of the Apostles. Among these is the Archbishop of Oregon, who desired me to come and preach' to
the portion of Christ's flock entrusted to him by the chief
Bishop, Pius IX., the Pope of Rome. It is in obedience to
his call that I am here. I wish, therefore, to know who
sent you." "Father," said he, "would you explain to me
the meaning of the word Christian? I think, I heard that
it is a Greek word." I answered: "so it is, sir. As a
preacher, you should ha·.-e learned Greek, at least so far as
to know that it means an anointed." "Precisely so, and
therefore I wish to preach, because I feel myself anointed
by the Holy Spirit, in whose unction I wish to address your
congregation." "Sir," replied I, "it is not my part to
investigate what spirit it is, whose unction you feel. But
this much is quite sure, that, if you cannot prove yourself
sent by those whom the Holy Spirit has appointed to govern
the church, it is not His unction you feel. And, therefore,
I cannot consent to your preaching in the temple wherein
He dwelleth. However, if you are desirous to serve God
in truth, I can present you with a book addressed to all
candid Americans, who wish to find out the way of salvation. For the present, I invite you into the church to hear
the true word of God. I will give you a seat in the very
first pew." He accepted the invitation and entered.
I spoke on the indestructibility of the Catholic Church,
as a mark of her divine origin. At the conclusion of the
sermon, the renewal of the Baptismal Vows t.ook place.
Seeing himself surrounded by so many uplifted hands and
hearing the strong, jubilant voices of the multitudes when
they swore to live ·and die as Catholics, and if need be, to.
shed the last drop of their blood for the faith, the poor
�0J"age Jiissioll.
preacher was quite bewildered. He seemed to be a really
good-hearted but deluded man. like so many others even
among the Protestant ministers.
He remained to see the cross erected and blessea on that
rocky hill, by the side of the church, and paid the greatest
attention to everything that I said and did. Meanwhile
tlie Papal Benediction was given and the 7£· Dno1t reechoed
for miles through the surrounding valleys. After this I
entered the church again, where I found my friend, the
preacher, al_l, bathed in tears. Pressing my hands, he said
only these few but expressive words: "Father! pray for
me." I once more recommended to him to study the book
I had given him, and to examine into the truth of the
Catholic faith. I trust that God will have mercy on his
soul, that the seeds of final conversion have been sown in
his heart and that, having joined the true Church, built
by Christ upon a rock, he himself will pray.
\Vith many regards,
Yours in Dno.
F. X.
\VENINGEI<.
OSAGE MISSION.
---------OsAGE MISSION, NEosHo CoUNTY, KANSAS,
DECEMBER
·31st, 1873.
REV. FATliER:
In compliance with your kind request I send you a few
items about our Western Missions, nor to boast that we are
performing wonders, but merely to show that we keep up
. the great work begun by our forefathers, Van Q~ickenborne
~nd Timmermans. I call these our forefathers because the
�Osagt' Jlfission.
127
glorious work which they began in 1823, when, leaving the
Novitiate at vVhitemarsh, in Maryland, they took, as we
say here, the" ·western trail," has not yet been given up,
but with the help of God it is carried on by us with daily
increase and success.
Father Charles Van Quickenborne was the real founder
of this Mission, though he did not commence the Institution now existing here. He was the first priest that ever
entered the beautiful Neosho Valley, which was at that
time the grazing ground of bears and buffaloes, and the
hunting resort of aboriginal tribes. We find in the records
of the Mission that he was here as early as the year 1827,
visiting the Osages, several of whom he had educated and
baptized when they were living near Florissant, in Missouri.
The Osages gave him an enthusiastic reception and wished
him to remain with them ; but not being able to do so, the
Father passed only a few days with them, consecrated this
soil to God, by the offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass ;
then returned to St. Stanislaus, in the vicinity of Florissant.
If, while the venerable Father, tired and broken down by
long travel, was riding on through this immense desert, as
it then was, one of his companions had told him that in
less than fifty years it would be teeming with thousands of
industrious settlers, towns, cities, schools and universities ;
that over a hundred churches would be open to large and
fervent congregations, and that the valley of the Neosho,
then unknown to the world, would become the richest emporium of a flourishing State; I am sure that the venerable
Father would have laughed with all his heart, and nodding
his head would likely have replied : "I see, dear friend, that
you are born to be a poet, for the power of your imagination is great indeed." Time has proved that such words
would by no meall'S have been an exaggeration. But
enough for the past, let us come to the present.
Our Catholic settlements having considerably increased
during the past year, the different chapels built here and
�128
I
i
l
1
f
I
!
I
r
!
Osage Jlfission.
there for the accommodation of the same, begin to be too
"mall, and we shall have to raise funds to enlarge them. In
fact, we have done so already for that of St. Anne's, on
\Valnut creek; and we have moved it the distance of three
miles, to render it more convenient to the catholic families
living around a new town, ten miles Northeast of this :\lisston. Arkansas City also has increased her catholic contingent. This place, which is situated at the confluence of
the Great \Valnut and the Arkansas rivers, is a nicely built
town, on a .high sandy hill, very near the Southern line of
the State, and one hundred miles from our city. The Indian trade keeps it lively. The catholic population around,
is a cosmopolitan one; for, of the thirty families, or there:tbouts, that compose it, some are Irish, others French.
others German, Italian and Swiss.
Having heard that new catholic settlements were forming
f;1r west of the Arkansas, in Somer's County, I concluded
that I should visit them. I was approaching \Vellington,
the' 'County seat, thinking that here I was a stranger, but I
was mistaken ; for hardly had I got into town when some
of my old acquaintances came to meet me and requested
me to spend the night with them, that on the next morning
they might have the happiness ofhearing Mass. Their
request was so just that I was bound to comply with it, and
the following day, August I zth, I said the first Mass that
ever was celebrated in the town of Wellington ; baptized
two children, and began in that place a new Missionary
station.
I cannot go farther without noticing an incident which
took place in Eldorado. It was not only remarkable, but
it also caused a great deal of talk among the Protestants.
A lady whose husband professed to have no religion of any
kind, a few days after having come fo this town, fell. very
sick, So that she became quite helpless. The doctors gave
her up, and the poor woman was very much distressed at
not having either a priest or a ca~holic friend to assist her
�Osage iV!ission.
129
at her last hour. Fortunately for her, there happened to
be another catholic lady living not far off, who, hearing of
her critical condition, took about a cupful of holy water,
and coming to her, first knelt at her bed side and recited
several prayers, then rising, she told the sick woman to
drink all the water she had brought, and to trust in the
Mother of God. She did as she was told, and the result
was, that she began to feel better, and the next day was up
and quite well, and no longer in need of doctors.
From this County I passed to that of Howard, to visit
the catholic families scattered along the banks of its beautiful streams. Here I was informed that not far from Longton
there were some children to be baptized. I hastened to the
place and found the f:'lmilies. They were Germans; and as I
do not understand German, I found myself in an awkward
position. I came in, but they did not notice my coming.
They seemed strange to me; hence, coming forward, I announce myself as the Pastor, and I told them that I had
come to baptize their children. They stood still for a while,
till at last a woman asked me whether I was the Katolik
Pastor. I replied in tile affirmative, but she was not satisfied. Her husband then came in, and again I introduced
myself as the Pastor. The man looked at me very d.ttentively for a while, and then with great emphasis asked me
whether I was the Katolik Pastor. I answered that I was ;
and not knowing. any longer what to say about it, l took
out my beads .. This settled the whole matter; for no
sooner did they see the beads than their countenances
beamed with joy, and the woman who would not believe
me, came forward to look at the beads, saying; "me too,
have one like that." There was no need of delaying any
longer. My credentials were good ; so the children were
brought in, and I baptized them.
But after the children were baptized, there was something
else to be settled. Another woman now brought out a long
roll of paper, saying that she had a nice picture to show
�130
Osage 1lfission.
me ; and she began to unroll it, looking at me with a kind
of distrust. It was a Protestant representation of the
Immaculate Conception. The artist had surrounded the
image with a multitude of little angels (without wings),
had placed the crescent in a very crooked way under the
feet of the Virgin, and. either purposely or through neglect,
I cannot tell which, had forgotten to put the serpent under
her feet. These apparently small omissions had struck the
eyes of these devout people, and they could not persuade
themselve;; that such a picture represented the Mother of
God. I h~d to explain to them very particularly, the
meaning of the little angels, of the crescent, etc. ; and I
was successful I think in making them look upon it as a
holy image; at their request I blessed it. "Now," said the
. woman. "I ari1 well pleased with it-I will hang this picture
oti the wall, and \ve will say our daily prayers before it."
From this settlement I passed to Fridonia in \Vilson Co.,
to have mass at a small chapel which was built some years
since, in honor of St. Francis Regis. Here, my coming
brought peace and settled a difficulty which was going to
become serious. A man of a very troublesome character,
or, in other words, a desperado, got into a passion of anger
with one of his catholic neighbors, .and shot one of his
cows. No occasion having been given for such an offem.:e,
the catholic swore vengeance against the fellow. He soon
found a companion ready to help him, ·and both having
indulged in liquor rather freely, declared to me that before
night they would put a bullet in the man who had shot the
cow. Fortunately, when I met them the liquor had not
yet gotten the better of them ; and by reasoning upon the
subject, and appealing to religious principles, I succeeded
iti persuading them to put the whole matter aside ; and
thanks be to God, the trouble was over.
On the 5th of October I was proposing to leave for a
n'tissiortary excursion in the Southwest but some unexpected occurrence compelled me to delay my departure. This
�Os~ge 1vlission.
appeared to be accidental, but in truth it was providential;
for towards evening a telegraphic despatch came to inform
me, that an old triend of mine was at the point of death in
Burlington (some eighty miles North of this Mission), and
that he wanted me to come up to assist him. I left that
very night, and the next morning I was by his bed side.
This man was about sixty-three years oid, and had passed
nearly all his life trading with the Indians ; and though
generally, he had not much opportunity of practising his
religious duties, yet he was a just and honest man, very
charitable to the poor, and to me he had been not only a
friend, but also a benehctor. These good qualities, I have
no doubt, procured him the grace of dying the death of
a christian. May his soul rest in peace.
About the end of November, having come to the settlement of an old Iroquois Indian, who some years since came
to li\•e in these western countries, I sent word to his children and relatives close by, to come to Mass on the next
mo.rning, and take this opportunity for approaching the
holy Sacraments. Almost all of them followed my advice,
and I could not but be edified at their piety and devotion.
These Indians are the remnants of a once powerful nation;
they now live like white people, and have done away with
nearly all their Indian customs. I say nearly all-for the
good old patriarch still keeps one, though he has greatly
improved on it.
Any one travelling among wild Indians, and passing a
night in their camp, cannot but feel surprised, if not terrified, when quite early in the morning, at the first appearance of the morning stat:, they break out into a loud and
solemn song. The Chief himself gives the tune, and he is
soon followed by all his men together-a tremendous chorus. This song lasts about five minutes. Once the men
h~ve' done, the women repeat the same; and their cries and
screams are most heart-rending. In a few minutes, all has
subsided, and they remain silent till daylight.
VOL. III-No. 2.
17
�132
Osage Mission.
Now, I have stopped several times at the house of this
good old man, and every morning, long before the dawn of
day, I heard him singing the Laudate Dominum omues gentes, and just as nicely as you would hear it in a well established congregation. Having got through the short psalm.
he lies down again to sleep till daybreak. Our ancient
missionaries seem to have possessed a special gift for turning to advantage, even the most insignificant Indian customs.
The Indians think much of this practice, which they call
their morn.\ng prayer; but in reality, it is nothing eise than
an imprecation against their enemies, and with their cries
they pray the Great Spirit to exterminate them to the last..
Our missionaries turned their imprecations into the praises
of Him from whom all good things proceed.
I just came home in time to celebrate the feast of the
Immaculate Conception, which was as usual, well attended,
though this year, the weather was very unfavorable. On
the follo..ying Sunday, we consecrated to the Heart of
Jesus this congregatiOn and all our Missionary stations.
To prepare the people for this great act we, for the first
time, had in our Church the devotion of the Forty Hours.
The members of our Religious Community, the Sisters of
Loretto, the boys of our Institution, as well as the girls
attending the Convent schools, the members of the mens',
as well as of the ladies' Sodality ; all by turns during the
three days, passed half an hour in adoration before the Bl.
Sacrament. The effect of this was grand and very edifying,
especially in the eyes of our Protestant neighbors, who were
wondering at seeing so many people coming to church the
whole day long. On the evening of the third day the solemn act of Consecration was offered to the Heart of Jesus.
and we hope that this will bring down upon us the many
blessings of which we stand in need.
Yours in Christ.
PAUL MARY PONZIGLIONE,
s. J.
�LETTER FROM A SCHOLASTIC IN TEXAS.
-
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS,
jAN.
28th, 1874.
REv. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
I very willingly comply with your request to give some
account of the foundation of this new mission of the Society by the dispersed Province of Mexico.
·The banishment, during the past year, of the foreign
Jesuits residing in the City of Mexico has long since been
recounted by the newspapers, not always, perhaps, with
scriptural exactness. The members of the Society were
already partially dispersed, since the Reform laws have for
several years denied even the rigli.t of existence to religious communities ; but real good was done by. teaching in
the Seminary, by the ministry of the confessional, and by
preaching. The President persecutor, by the way, is the
nephe\~ of the well-remembered Fr. Lerdo of the Society,
former Assistant of Spain ; and among those chosen for
exile, is an aged brother, companion of the uncle for many
years in Rome and Mexico.
The border-land of Texas with its numerous Mexican
population along the frontier, and its scarcity of priests,
naturally offered itself as a place of shelter and as a new
field of labor as well. Accordingly, Rev. Fr. Artola, Visitor of the Province, came hither" in September of last year
to prepare the way for others, to follow after. The 2 rst of
November, feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, arrived
the first band of exiles, ten in ~umber. A house in the
outskirts of the city had been rented for them, and the
regular life of community at once began. Since then two
�San Antonio, Texas.
134
!.
other bands have come after, in December and January
respectively ; and we now form a community of twenty-two,
very f.1ir for Texas. There are nine priests, seven schola.«tics, three novices and three brothers ; and our not over
large house has f.1irly emulated that marvel of Providence,
the catalpa-bean, where the greatest possible quantity is
stowed into the least possible space. There is also a Chapel
of the Sacred Heart, abiding place of Our Lord and King.
His Lo~dship, the Bishop of Galveston, returned from
Europe a!_ld came hither in the beginning of December, to
welcome
his immense diocese, larger than all France,
the new laborers; and on the feast of St. Francis X<tvier
made over to the Society in perpetuity the old mission
Church and lands of San Jose. Some day I will write you
more at length on· these remains of the early missionary
labors of the Franciscans; at present enough to say that a
Father with all the energy of a Catalan, is devoting himself
to the parish work, all undone since the departure of the
friars.
Another mission has been opened on the 'ranch' of an
Irish Catholic, some twenty-five miles from the city on the
Rio San Geronimo (for here everything except the wild
frontiersman, is hallowed by a patron saint). May God
bring good out of the evil, so rampant in these days of
darkness, and bless, even in far away Texas, these endeavors to give Him glory.
Another item of news, rather foreign to my purpose, but
which I am sure will interest, is the approaching publication of the letters of our Father St .. Ignatius in Madrid.
A letter from Europe to Rev. Father Visitor announces
that two hundred pages are already through the press. It
will form a work' of five or six volumes.
I recommend myself to your holy Sacrifices and prayers.
In. X TO. SERvus,
RALPH E. S. DEWEY, S. J.
to
!
I:
I
�AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MISSION OF
NEW YORK AND CANADA.
-----[Continued.]
For some months after the arrival of the Fathers at
Fordham, they confined their works of zeal mostly to the
neighborhood of St. John's ; but in the year of the Jubilee,
1847. several of them were, after the hours of literary and
scholastic labor, called to New York, for the exercise of
the various duties of the ministry. This Jubilee, besides
producing innumerable salutary effects in the souls of the
faithful, had the advantage of teaching Catholics their own
strength and numbers. The Fathers, themselves, seeing
the great good that might be done by their continual
presence in the midst of so flourishing a Catholic population, ·were anxious to have a permanent residence and
College within the city limits, and accordingly laid their .
plan before the Archbishop. His Grace approved of it
most heartily, a similar project having been already maturing in his own mind, and· offered at once the Church of
St. Andrew, in Duane Street. This edifice, however, was
loaded with a heavy debt, and owing to its situation in a
very unfavorable part of the city, was not such as the
Fathers desired.
Meanwhile Fr. Larkin had been appointed Superior of
the residence in contemplation, and, in the summer of the
same year, left St. John's in the true apostolic spirit, without gold or silver in his purse. As he said himself, in a
sermon preached some years later, he started from Fordham with fifty cents in his pocket to purchase a church and
a house in the city. Twenty~five cents he paid for his fan;
�New York and Canada lrfission.
in the cars, twenty cents more for the carriage of his trunk
from the station to the residence of a friend, and had thus
five cents left to found his new house and church. But
confidence in God stood him instead of riches; and Divine
Providence did not disappoint him.
\Vhile awaiting the moment when Divine Providence
would manifest its will more in detail regarding the new
undertaking, Fr. Larkin accepted the kindly proffered
hospitality of Fr. Lafont, Pastor of the French Church ;
where, together with Fr. Petit, who had been given him as
Socius, he reltl.ained occupied in earnest prayer for the
success of his plans. They had not to wait long. It happened just at this time, that the congregation of the Protestant church, situated in Walker St., near Elizabeth, split
into two violent factions: the occasion being the advent of
a young curate, with whose new views, exposed with captivating eloquence, the younger members immediately sided,
in opposition to the more sedate portion of the congregation, who still stood by the old vicar. A stormy session
followed, and at its conclusion the young party was invited
to find a meeting house somewhere else-which they accordingly did. But the old party had not calculated the
strength of the schismatics, who provGp so numerous, that
on their withdrawal, it became a matter of necessity to sell
the church in order to meet the interest. Fr. Larkin heard
of the affair, and at once sought to turn the wranglings of
these sects within a sect to the furtherance of God's Church.
The trustees were willing to strike the bargain for $ 18,000,
provided $5,000 were paid at once, and the rest by regular
instalments. Fr. Larkin asked time to decide. But how
was he to find $5,000? How indeed, but by fervent recourse
to heaven ? "Now" said he to Fr. Petit, with all the earnestness of his soul, "now is the time for prayer; we must both
offer the Holy Sacrifice to-morrow for this intention." Fr.
Petit had· just finished Mass the next day, when he was
called to the parlor by a gentleman with several members
�New York and Canada Mission.
137
of his family. The stranger informed the Father that, with
his family, he had just arrived from France and had assisted at his Reverence's Mass in thanksgiving for their safe
journey. "I have come," continued the visitor, "to find
work in this country, and have with me about 20,000
francs which I would like.to place in safe keeping. Hearing that the banks are not always secure I have come to
ask you if you can tell me where I can best dispose of my
money." This indeed was a God-send ! Fr. Petit replied
that if he would call again in the evening, he thought he
could offer him the required security. Fr. Larkin, hearing
of this was deeply affected at so striking an interposition of
Divine Pr:ovidence; he received with gratitude the $;,oo~
and gave in return a mortgage on the property. But the
pious Frenchman's act of devotion was not only beneficial
to the Fathers ; that Mass of thanksgiving was to prove
· the occasion of all his own future success. He was, in
fact, an artist in fresco painting. He came, he said to Fr.
Larkin, to seek his fortune by means of his art, as yet little
known in this country. ~·Sir," replied the Father, ''your
fortune is made ; and I myself will give you to start with,
$5,000 for the decoration of the church."
Fr. Larkin's predictions were verified; for, as many people, both Protestants and Catholics, visited the place while
the Frenchman and his son-in-law were at work, the artists
soon became well known, and were engaged to fresco many
banks and public buildings. At the touch of the devout
painter the four bare walls of the cold Protestant meeting
house began rapidly to assume the living catholic glow ;
and even before all was completed, the church was by a
solemn benediction, dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus.
Fr. Larkin having thus his church already built, next rented a house in Elizabeth St., the garden of which adjoined
the square in front of the church door. Here, in view of
starting his college, he collected his community of four
fathers, three scholastics, and one brother.
�New York and Canada iVfission.
I'
As we may imagine from the condition of the founder's
purse, poverty was a constant guest in the new residence.
Still, amid many privations, the work of God went on progressing. During the months of August and September
the basement of the Church was fitted up for class rooms,
and the school of the Holy Name of Jesus opened 111
October, with I 20 students from New York, Brooklyn or
Jersey City.
This was not the first educational establishment of the
Society in New York: as far back as I685, Col. Dongan,
Catholic Governor of the City, had sent to Europe for
some English Jesuits to convert the Iroquois to Christianity,
as he was opposed, ~n national grounds, to using the zealous French missionaries for that purpose. Three Fathers
are mentioned in the Roman Catalogue as residing in New
York about this time; they arc probably those who responded to the Governor's call, viz: Fathers Thomas ·
Harvey, Henry Harrison and Charles Gage. Being unacquaiiited with the Iroquois dialects, they proceeded no
farther than New York; but profited by their stay in the
City to open a college. The Catholic element, however,
was too weak to support it, as we may judge by the following letter, written to the Governof".of Mass. by Leisler, a
fc1natical merchant who had become the head of the Protestant party for refusing to pay duties to a Catholic collector; and on the fall of James II., had usurped the office of ·
Lieut. Governor of New York. His letter is dated August
I 3th, I689, and after expressing true Protestant apprehensions on the score of "some six or seven french families
all or most rank french papists that have their relationes at
Canada & I suppose settled there (at a place called Sclzoraclttage) for some bad designe,'' adds : "I have formerly
urged to inform your Honr that Coli : dongan in his time
did erect a Jesuite College upon cullour to larne latine to
the Judges west
Mr Graham Judge palmer & John
Tudor did contribute their sones for some time, but no
�illew York and Canada 1liission.
139
baddy imitating them the collidge vanished I recommended
your Honr againe to spare us for thcit· majesties usc some
great gunes and ''att pouder your Honr can''.:. etc.* In
ttct, so fatal to the spread of Catholicity seems to have
been the rule of Leisler, that in 1696, :Vlayor l\Ierritt in
compliance with an order from Gov. Fletcher for the names
of "all the Roman Catholicks or such as are reputed Papists within the city of New Yorke" returns a list of only
ten names.t The "Brief Sketch of the History of the
Cath. Church on the Island of New York," mentions only
nine names: the error arising most probably from the close
resemblance of two out of the ten given in the document
itself, viz.: Peter Cavileir and John Caveleir.
Under such circumstances the College of the Society
could hardly be expe•:ted to prosper. A little more than
a century later, in 1809, and, at the request of Archbishop
Carroll, Father Antho~y Kohlman was sent 'from Georgetown, to attend, as Vicar General, the diocese of New York,
till the expected arrival of its first Bishop, the Right Rev.
Dr. Luke Concanen.! This father was accompanied by
Father Benedict Fenwick, a native of 1\Iaryland, lately
*E. B. O'Callaghan-Documentary History of N. Y. State, Yol.
11., p. 14.
We copy tlw letter exactly as it is found iu the original,
p11nctuation and all. No donbt Leisler's untiring etl'orts to bring to
naught the" bad designeB" of the "rank french papists'' HO absorbed all
his mental energies-which were not extruordinary, admits a friendly
hiographer-a~ to preclude the possibility of attention to any minor
subject, that could not atl'eet the "preservation of the Protestant religion." Unfortunately for the poor Lieut. Governor, his zeal for th<'
preservation of his religion seems to have made him neglect the pre~er
Yatiou of his own head, which his Protestant friends, rather ungrate·
flllly, placed beyond the possibility of any further application to tht'
thwarting of "papist desigues,'' by putting a halter around his neck two
Y('ars after his assumption of sovereignty. The charges were murder
and treason.
t E. B. O'Callaghan -Documents relative to the Colonial History of
N. Y. State.
London Documents, X., p. 166.
!Bishop Concanenncver reached New York, as he died at Naples on
the eve of his intended departure.
VOL. III-No.
2.
�I
I
~'
:
l'
140
New Yiwk and Cmwda hfissiou.
ordained, and one of the first subjects to enter the Schoat Georgetown, after the restoration of the Society
in lie UniL:d St<te~. St. Peter's, then the only Catholic
Church in the city, was placed under their charge; and
although the functions of the parochial ministry must have
filled up the days of these zealc>us missionaries, they did
not lose sight of one great object of their coming-the
f:.n-orite work of the Society itself-the education of youth.
They had brought with them four young Scholastics,
:VI ichael \Vhite,. James Redmond, Adam Mat·shall and
James \Vallace; and soon after arriving, purchased some
lots fronting those on which F. Kohlman had just laid the
corner-stone of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and situated between the Broadway and the Bowery road. Here they
opL·ned their school, the nucleus of a future College.*·
Concerning the school, Father Kohlman thus wrote in the
following July.: "It no\v consisb of about thirty-five of the
most r.::spectablc children of the city, Catholic as well as
Protestant. Four are boarding at our house, and in all
probability we shall have seven or eight boarders next
August." This school was transferred to Broadway in
:-;cptember; but in the following year it was removed far
out into the country, to a spacioii~- building- near what i!"·
now known as the intersection of Fiti:h Avenue and Fiftieth
Streett
la~ticate
I•
f,
I
:·
1:
.;
r.
'
f.
I'
I:
r:
i'
...
I
~
ri
*De Courcy-Cath. Ch. in the U. S., c. xxiii, p. 367.
t Archbighop Baylcy-Brief Sketch, etc., c. iii, p. 67-A strange
substitution of 15th Street for 50th occurs in Shea's translation of De
Conrey's work, c. xxiii, p. 367; attributable, Mr. Shea informs us, to thl'
emnpositor's transposing 51, the number of the Street named in the
original. Since the time when his Grace, Archbishop Bayley, wrote his
interesting and valuable little Sketch of the }>rogr<~s~ of Catholicity on
the Island of New York, the old frame house occupied by the New
York Literary institution has experienced the changeableness of humnn
things, as it now no longer stands on its old site, but has been rollPd
hodih· back about 300 feet, so as to front on Madison A venue instead of
Fifth·. Some of the details illustrative of the checkered history of this
aneil~nt building, a~ we gathered them a few days ago trom the lips of
�.New Yl1rk and Canada 1lhuion.
141
The rising- College assumed the name of the Ne<J York
Literary Institution, and was the means of doing immense
good. A biographer of Bishop Fenwick, speaking of its
usefulnes,;, remarks: "The New York Literary Institution
it~
present oceupant, the paBtor of St John the E·.-angelist'~ Church, ~ft'
well worth recording.
Our kind informant assured us that it is one of the oldest edifiees on
the Island, dating back, most probably, l[il) or 200 years. The woodwork in the interior was all of solid oak, and had, no doubt, first shad"d
the spot as wide-spreading trf'es, before being felled_for girders and joist~.
But solid oak though it was, the long lapse of years had told on it, and
the half decayed rafters and beams had to he completely renewed at the
time of the transportation. It is not, howev~:;r, only from its time-worn
condition that we may calculate its age-its very build is old-f.tshione•l:
the •louble flight of woodeu Bteps leading to the doorway, and the mn>.sive angular projections rach side, like huge bay windows, remind UH of
one of those way-side inns of former •lays, or hospitable old farm houses,
half inn, half homestead, with .. whitewashed walls and nieely sanded
tloor,"
~' \Yherc nut-brown draughts inspireJ,
\Vhere gray-beard mirth and smilmg toil retired;
There village statesmen talked with looks profoun.:f,
And news much older than their ale went round."
But the day was not \'cry far distant when the spot it occupi<'d Wtl~ to
be graced by a far nobler pile, destined to cast its Gothic sharlows o'er
yet unbroken fields, and Bend its chaste spires to the very skir.~.
After the ehrmge of possessors, already described in the text, alHI
another mentioned a little farther on, the old building was •·ntrust•·d by
Archbislwp Hughes to the Lazarists, a year or so previous to th•• pu;chase of St. John's, FoH1ham, to be used as hls Seminary. In it wa~
held the diocesan synod in which his Gmce, with characteristic fi>rl'sight
and rare hrmdth of view, laid before his priests hi~ project of builrlin~
ou that very spot a new Cathedral worthy of his metropolitan See. Rut
even his energetic eloquence almost failed to secure approbation t(n· a
Cathedral "in the country;" for at. that time ( 1850), there were but three
houses between l\Indison Square (26th Street) and 50th Street. To begiu
at once to draw the Catholics around the neighborhood, he appropriated
part of the hou,;c tor a parish church, until time allowed him to rai~e a
small tem!Jorary chapel in honor of his patron, St .•John the EvangcliHL
Finally, to make ro,,m for his Cathedral, the tormer wayside inn wa~
transfen ed to its present position, and now stands directly in the rtmr
of the grand edifice that is little by little nearin~ its completion-noble
tribute of a no hie soul to t!tc majesty of God.
�_\'i·a• J'{wk and Cauada .Jfissio11~
under his guidance reached an eminence scarcely surpassed
by any at the present day. In 1813 it contained seventyfour boarders, and such was its reputation even among
Protestants, that Gov. Tompkins, aftenvards 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.*
The professors were talented men, and 1\Ir. \Vallace, who
was an excellent mathematician, \'>Tote a full treatise of
nvcr five h~ndred pages on astronomy and the use of the
globes : one of the first contributions of the Society· in
A mcrica to the exact sciences. t
But it was impossible through dearth of men to carry on
the College without sacrificing other varied and important
duties. Accordingly in the Summer of 1813, Our Fathers
rdired from its direction, and entrusted it to the Trappists.
who had recently entered the diocese, and were passing the
years of their exile from France on the hospitable shores
of America.
The school of the Holy Name of Jesus, opened by Fr.
Larkin in the basement of his church, was thus the third
;tttempt at an educational institution of the Society in New
York ; and this last was in God's pro.~idence, destined to ;t
longer life than had been granted to its predecessors. Its
beginnings however seemed to augur anything but a pro-.
tracted existence, as the entire church which, the beautiful
decorations were rendering daily less unworthy of the
Adorable Victim offered up therein, was •to become, in a
short time, itself a victim, on an altar of flame; and the
blooming fi·escos were to prove, s9 to speak, but the garlands twined round it before the sacrifice. The cross of
·:~Clarke's
Lives of Deceased Bishops, VoL I, p. iJ7S.
~. Y. c. xxiii, p. :3!38. The title page of
the hook' ran thus: A New treatise on the Usc of the Globes and Practical Astronomy, by .J. ·wallace, member of the New York Literary
Institution. ~ ew York: Smith and Forman, 1812.
t n,.·conrcy, Cat h. Church in
�NL'w York aud Canada Jl{ission.
143
fire that had blessed our outset in Kentucky was also to
cast its chastening rays on our first undertaking in Ne\\"
York.
It would seem almost as if Fr, Larkin had peered into
the uncertain future, when, in one of his grand exhortations to the community, the eve of the Holy Name of Jesus,
their patronal feast, he counselled all to prepare for crosses;
they were prospering, he said, too rapidly, not to expect at
the hands of the Almighty the granting of the famous
prayer of our Holy Founder: that the Society might never stray £<r from Calvary.
Saturday evening, the 28th of January, I 848, just one
week after Fr. Larkin's prophetic warning had been given,
all the fathers were occupied confessing the throngs of penitents that filled the church. At 7 o'clock they left the confessional to snatch a hasty cup of tea, and as the number of
people in the church seemed in no ways diminishing, unanimously agreed to devote the whole night to the sublime
work of reconciling man to his creator.
The fathers had been at their posts an hour or so, when
they perceived an extraordinary heat throughout the church.
At a loss to account for this, they descended to the cellar,
and great was their dismay at finding that, owing to some
defect in the new furnaces, completed but a few weeks
before, the fire had comqmnicated to the joists of the basement flooring, then sped along to the lathing, and rushing
up, as through a chimney, between the lathing and the
walls, had burst forth from the very steeple before they
were aware of the accident in the church below. The
alarm was immcd.iately given, and numbers of Catholics
rushed to the spot with concealed weapons, suspecting that
enemies had attacked and set fire to the church ; though •
the truth was that the Protestants of the neighborhood
vied with the Catholics in endeavoring to save what they
could. But it was already too late: barely was there time
to remove the Blessed Sacrament, as the ceilings and walls
�144
1Vew York and Canada iVfission.
of the class rooms in the basement were blazing, and
above, the steeple was a pillar of fire, where the flames
raged in all their fury, far out of reach of the engines.
The roof fell in and gave hope of preventing any £1.1-ther
spread of the flames.
1\Ieanwhile, amid the din and confusion that surrountLd
him, Fr. Larkin maintained perfect self-possession, aiding
and encouraging his afflicted community by word and example. \Vhen he saw that no more could be done, he
assembled them together, as well as circumstances permitted, and gaVe the sad permission to disperse as numbers of
kind families had already earnestly solicited the favor of
harboring some of the harborless. But we cannot do better than quote the very words of the kind Father, then a scholastic, to whom we are indebted for these details. Covered
with a fireman's coat, which had been forced on him by one
of that devoted class, he had sought shelter at a friend's
house, there to pass t)?e night. "The next morning I
arose.,~" he says in his diary, "and repaired to the scene of
the disaster-found the walls still standing, as likewise the
steeple; but all else, as well as the two adjoining houses, a
heap of ruins. \Vhile contemplating with a heavy heart
the ravages the fire had made in so sl1_ort a time, in the just
finished church and school, and reflecting that our little
community had been so scattered. that I knew not where to
find a single member, I heard by my side a most agonizing
scream which soon brought me to my senses. Turning
round I beheld motionless on the ground, the pious and
charitable Mrs. S .... , who with ha two daughters and her
grandson had come as usual to the half past five o'clock
Mass. She had learned nothing of the accident until she
had reached the very spot, and, unable to bear the shock,
had fainted on the ruins of her loved church !-Again I am
alone, I walk around towards our house-find the door
open ;nd enter. All within is bare and desolate. ~ ot a
chair or table in the house l the floors and walls streaming
�1Vew York and Canada fifission.
145
with water. 1 descend to the kitchen, aud there find our
de\·oted Broth~r D .... , busy drying up the place and preparing to make a little coffee for the community, which he
hoped would assemble in the course of th<.: morning : he
had ramained in the house all night. I went to the French
church to l\lass, and then returned to keep house and let the
Brother go. After a second tour amid the ruins, I again
entered the house, and found all the community assembled,
taking their coffee, each having his adventure of the night
to relat<.:. Rev. Fr. Boulanger who had been Superior of
the Mission since I 846, having seen in the morning's
ffcm!d, an account of the accident, had come in all haste
from Fordham to the City, and was only soothed in his
grief by the cheerful resignation he found in the sufferers.
The countenance of Fr. Larkin especially appeared as fresh
and as cheerful as ever : the storm, if storm there was.
raged all within. So too we often find in i1ature, many a
peaceful and smiling landscape actually covering confused
and disjointed masses of rock, which to th<.: piercing eye
of science reveal the terrible upheavals and convulsions
that must have preceded that scene of rural beauty and
repose, on which the eye loves to dwell. If sorrow had,
the e\'cning before, deepened the lines on his open countenance, saintly resignation had smoothed away all trace of
sorrow's visit ; if a tear for the sufferings of others had
escaped him in this visitation from on High,
"It was a tear so limpid and so meek,
It would not stain an angel's cheek."-
Erc morning dawned he had already carefully matured his
plans for the future; and on Rev. Fr. Boulanger's announcing that all were to gn to Fordham with him, he quietly
asked : "and what shall we do for professors and confessors
if you take all away ? " Rev. F. Superior opened his eyes
in blank astonishment, and exclaimed : "You have neither
church nor school, scarcely a hot'lse to spend the night in,
what can you do with professors ? " Fr. Larkin to every
�q6
New York a1td Canada Jl{ission.
one's surprise, coolly remarked; "The professors shall
teach their classes to-morrow, and the Fathers attend to
,their confessionals as usual." A dead silence followed this
announcement Had the blow, fatigue and excitement
clouded his reason ? Such was the dread thought uppermost in the minds of all. But it vanished as he added.. Yes, I shall make arrangements with Fr. Smith, Pastor of
St. James' in James Street, to open without delay our classes in the basement of his church, till we find better
accommodations ; and our parishioners we can attend to
in the Frencl1 church."
"His plan was followed; Fr. Smith kindly made all the
necessary preparation, and two days later, to the great joy
of our students, who had thronged the house daily, to
condole with their afflicted professors, the classes were
resumed. Fr. Larkin's next thought was for his church,
"·hich all urged him to rebuild at once. He determined,
-yielded to their wishes, and in a week's time had already
collected $6,ooo, brought to the house by the zealous and
charitable members of the congregation."
He had many anecdotes to relate, in his own pleasing
way, respecting those who offered him their little mites
towards the erection of the new -church. One day at
dinner, he drew from his pocket two large, rosy apples,
saying: "These apples certainly deserve a 'Deo Gratias l' I
,\·as passing through the Bowery to-day, he continued,
when I was accosted by an apple woman, who began her
salutation with a 'well Fr. Larkin, your church is burnt;
the Lord be praised!' 'The Lord be praised l' I repeated,
arc you then glad of it? · Oh l God forbid,' she replied,
'but then we must give God glory for everythirig.' I
acknowledged in my heart the truth of her remark, and
resolved to profit by the lesson she gave me. 'Ah l Father,'
she continued, 'if I had some money to give you l but I
am a poor widow with five children, that I must support
by my apples. Something I can give, and I hope it will
�New York and Canada Mission.
'47
ha~e all the blessings of a widow's mite.
You must take
the two finest apples in my basket.' She then offered me
these two apples, which I was forced to take; but she
absolutely refused to tell me her name." Each member of
the community received his share of the fruit, rendered
dol}bly sweet by the christian charity that prompted the
giver. On another occasion, a poor woman called at the
door and· offered ,$25 towards the erection of the church.
Fr. Larkin, j1,1dging from her appearance that she could
not well afford to give that sum, asked her if she was rich
enough to give so much. "\Vhat I give you," she replied,
"is all I have been able to save after many years of labor.
I have not another cent." '' Oh ! then, I cannot accept it,"
replied Fr. Larkin. "0 Father!" replied the good woman,
"yop cannot refuse it. GQd, to whom I give it, will not
permit me to die of hunger." She, too, would not give
her name.
Despite the generosity of the faithful and the eagerness
of all to see the church rebuilt, new difficulties arose,
which produced another new phase in the affairs of our
Mission. His Grace, the Archbishop, with his characteristic firmness, positively refused to consent to the erection
of the new church, unless Our Fathers would accept all the
responsibilities of parish priests. This Fr. Larkin was unwilling to do ; and as the neighborhood was unsuitable for
the erection of a college alone, it was determined to sell
the property, pay off all the debts, and seck a more eligible
portion of the city for a new college.
Meantime the classes were continued, amid a thousand
difficulties, in the basement of St. James' Church. We
again q uotc from the diary before referred to : "The students suffered still more than ourselves, but we mutually
consoled each other with the hope that we should soon
have a fine college. We continued to reside as before,
near the old church, now in ashes,:..._took our breakfast at
half past six, and then started with the first students that
VOL. III-No. 2.
19
�New York mul {{;nada JIIissiou.
passed our house for St. James' Church. Here we .remained teaching till 3, P. M., when we dismissed the boys
for the day, and returned home for our dinner at 4· Only
God and those who have experienced it, know how hard a
life that was! How often in going to the school rooms in
the. morning, were we drenched with rain, and had to. remai-n all day in our wet clothes. Yet neither ourselves, nor
any of our pupils, thanks to God, ever fell sick during the
whole winter. The students afforded us great consolation,
and it was th.~ir delight to accompany us on our way home
after the classes were over.
"But it was impossible to keep the school any longer
in its inconvenient situation ; and, as much time would
necessarily be consumed in the purchase of lots and the
ouilding of the new college, it remained only to hire for a
time some more appropriate building. This was no easy
task, as no one wished to rent his house for a Jesuit school.
Father Larkin, who was animated with a great devotion
towards the Holy Angels, requested all the community to
enter on a novena to thes~ heavenly spirits. On the first
or second day after the novena had been begun, two ladies,
who had indeed for a long time been .ministering angels to
our community, came to inform us tnat No. 77, 3rd Avenue, near 1 Ith St., was a dwelling house that would suit.
Accordingly, on the 1st of May, 1848, the community
removed to their new abode. Owing, however, to the increased distance, the students from Jersey City and Brooklyn, by degrees left us, and our number was reduced to 6o."
Whiie Fr. Larkin was still busily engaged in his search
after a fitting site for his new college, he was astound~d
one day, by the receipt of a letter from the Archbishop of
Quebec, congratulating him on his promotion to the episcopacy, and stating that his Grace had just received orders
from Rome to consecrate him for the See of Toronto;.
moreover, that Fr. Larkin himself would, in a few days,
�New York and Canada Mission.
149
receive from His Holiness the necessary documents and
commands. A copy of the Brief accompanied the letter.
In the spirit of those humble men against whom a council of the early Church thought it necessary to issue a
special canon forbidding any one falsely to accuse himself
in order to escape episcopal ordination,* Fr. Larkin returned the Brief unopened, and, in haste, flew to his Superior
for permission to cross the ocean immediately, before positive
orders could arrive, and, by a personal interview, induce the
Sovereign Pontiff not to insist on his acceptance of any ecclesiastical dignity. The Superior of the mission yielded at
once to his earnest entreaties, and Fr. Larkin started without delay. It was none too soon, for, on his passage he
crossed the wake of the ship bearing the positive orders of
Pius IX., which he was so anxious to escape. Arrived in
France, he visited the papal nuncio in the hope of inducing
him to urge his suit, but was sadiy disappointed when. the
prelate, struck with his lofty bearing and noble presence,
sportively replied to all his arguments : "Why, you are the
very kind of man we want to wear the mitre ; and I warn
you, if you wish to escape it, not to let his Holiness see
you ; if you do, you are. surely undone." Happily, for the
distressed Father, in his flight from honors, very Rev. Fr.
Provincial had not to consult so immediately the good of the
Church at large, and could fully enter into his state of
mind. Though on embracing Fr. Larkin, he had expressed
great surprise at seeing him so far away from his diocese,
and smilingly rallied him for so flagrant a breach of the
canons; he at once wrote to our most Rev. Fr. Roothaan,
begging him to intercede with his Holiness, in behalf of
the humble child of the Society.
'
Still, the warning of the nuncio kept ringing in Fr. Larkin's ears, and, fearing to proceed on his journey, he begged
to be sent at once to Laon, for his third year of probation.
*Darras-Hist. of Cath. Church.. Vol. I, p. 509.
�150
Devotion towards St. :fosep!z at Georgetown College.
His Superiors once more granted his request; and, in the
mean time, an account of the whole matter was forwarded
to the Sovereign Pontiffwho could find no words of blame
for the detached religious, and kindly consented to insist
no longer.
(To be contiuued.}
THE DEVOTION TOWARDS ST. JOSEPH AT
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE.
EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF A STUDENT OF THE COLLEGE.
GEORGETOWN, MARCH
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I must not omit to tell you something about the remarkable increase of fervor which has attended the devotion
to St. Joseph in the College, withi~ the last few years.
We are not without hope that others _may be led to love
and honor St. Joseph more when they know what he has
done for us. Though we have not, we trust, at any time
neglected our holy Patron, yet there was wanting something to make the devotion visible to all in a striking way.
and the occasion of supplying this want was offered, shortly
after St. Joseph had been chosen as Patron of the whole
Church, by the pious generosi.ty of some of the humble
members of our community. Mr. O'Gorman, whose name
will fall familiarly on the ears of all who have dwelt in
Georgetown College for years back, offered to give fifty
dollars towards the erection of a statue of St Joseph, on the
College grounds. This proposition was readily accepted,
and the fund doubled, by the late Fr. Early who was then
�Devotion towards St. :Joseplt at Georgetozc 1l College. 15 1
Rector of the College; further additions were made by contributions from l\'Ir. Robbins, another of our College worthies.
and from other sources within _the College, and the sum, in
a very few days, reached two hundred dollars.
A fine zinc statue, six feet high, was purchased and much
discussion followed as to the most appropriate position for
its erection. All other claims were set aside when the
centre-plot of the neat Infirmary garden was mentioned.
The position is certainly beautiful, on the brow of the hill
which slopes down to the Potomac, overlooking towards
the east, the cities of Georgetown and \Vashington, and,
southward, Arlington heights, with the splendid, sweeping
bend of the river between ; and then, the Infirmary had
always been in a somewhat special manner under the protection of St. Joseph. These considerations, backed by the
petition of the inmates of the Infirmary, carried the day.
On the rhorning of the 10th of J unc the statue was
placed upon the ped.estal erected for it in the centre of the
Infirmary garden. The ceremony of the blessing was performed in the evening by the venerable Father Me Elroy,
in the presence of the Community, the students, and a few
invited friends. After the usual ceremonial prescribed for
such occasions, Fr. McElroy made a short but impressive
address and concluded by a touching prayer, placing the
College, and particularly the Infirmary, under the especial
patronage and protection of St. Joseph.
His prayer was heard. For since that day, blessings
have been many-mishaps few. Shortly after this the
College Physician, a Protestant, presented two large iron
flower-vases. The following day the junior students offered
their assistance for the cultivation of the garden. And
during winter and summer, contrary to the expectations of
many, they have persevered in their gen~rous undertaking.
Judging by the appearance of the grounds around the
statue, one would think they had been under the care of
experienced hands.-St. Joseph has shown his love for us,
�1
I
I
52 Devotion towards St. 7oseplz at Georgetown College.
even in a more signal way.-In the fall of '72, the measles
were raging throughout the District-they entered the
College once, but disappeared as soon as our Patron was
invoked. The year passed away with no real illness.
This seemed so surprising to our Physician, that he
exclaimed: "Be it St. Joseph or not, it is wonderful how
little sickness there has been here of late."
The inmates of the Infirmary to express their gratitude
for such marked protection burnt a light at his shrine during
the following month of l\1arch.
Again, ln·April '73, the measles appeared in the District,
and notwithstanding the frequent intercourse of the students
with the citizens, there were only two or three slight cases
at the College. \Vhen it was learned how kind St. Joseph
had been, the students, eager to testify their thankfulness,
resolved to keep the light burning before St. Joseph's statue
the whole year. Besides this, they gave two terra cotta
lambs, with vases, fancy shells and flo\vers to ornament the
grounds, and new tools wherewith the young gardeners
might pursue their labors.
I may also add that not long ago, a finely finished marble
vase was presented by a friend of the College. This vase
is placed upon a marble slab in fn?.Iit of the statue. The
slab of which I speak, was erected in memory of a deceased
companion, by the junior students. He is lost to sight but
to their memories is dear; for often he visits them as they
love to believe, by some little favor. They I:Jave had his
name "Ralston" inscribed on the slab.-lt is not necessary
to say that the friends of St. Joseph are increasing, but of
late the devotion has taken a new form.
A society has been organized. The rules which I here
affix will explain all.
At a meeting of the Phih;ophy class, Feb. 9th, '74, it
was resolved :-That we, the Philosophers of Georgetown
College, assume the task of establishing firmly among the
students, the devotion to St. Joseph.
�Devotioll touoards St. :Joseplt at Geotgetown College.
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53
In view thereof, that we unite and form a Society, principally to show our love for St. Joseph, ~nd secondly, our
respect to the memory of our late beloved Rector, Fr.
Early, whose dying wish was that this devotion should be
perpetuated.
In compliance with the abo·;e the following rules were
adopted.Rules.
I.- That one of our members shall be appointed to act
as chief Director; whose duty it shall be to see that these
ruies are carried into effect, and at the end of the scholastic
year, to transmit this cl1arge to the succeeding Philosophy
class.
11.-That another member of our class shall be appointed
to act as Treasurer, who shall receive the subscriptions
from the collectors appointed.
III.-That it shall be the duty of the Director to appoint
one member of each class or division, to call upon each of
his Catholic classmates, and explain the object and motive
I
as above, and receive his subscription.
IV.-That the subscription from each one shall not exceed
the sum of five cents which shall be placed in the common
fund, for obtaining oil to burn in the lamp, for this year.
from March Ist, '74, to March Ist, '75.
V.-That the meeting for this purpose should take place
each year, on some convenient occasion, in or before the
last week of February.
VI.-That the Treasurer, having received all the subscriptions, shall obtain the oil himself, or give the necessary sum
to one of the Brothers, to procure it for the Society. Any
sum over and above, will be devoted to St. Joseph's honor
as seems best.
VII.-That the duty of the above named Brother will be,
to see that the lamp is always supplied with oil and kept
burning from sundown to sunrise.
VIII.-That the lamp shall be kept burning by day as
�I
54 Sixtlz Centennial Feast of St. Tlzomas at vVoodstock.
well as by night during the two examinations, as also during the prevalence of any disease among the students, to
obtain St. Joseph's blessing and protection.
This association with its officers elected from among the
members of the class of Philosophy, aided by assistance
from each of the other classes, was formed immediately
and has since been in active and successful operation. \Ve
trust that our humble efforts to honor the great Saint whom
God favored so highly, may be fruitful of those blessings
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we seek thr.?ugh his intercession.
SIXTH CENTENNIAL FEAST OF ST. THOMAS
AT WOODSTOCK.
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In a house of studies like ours it would have ill bc;;eemed
the sons of the Society to let the six.th centennial Feast of
St. Thomas of Aquin pass by without striving, as far as in
us lay, to celebrate it with befitting pomp. Accordingly, we
regarded it in the light of a plain duty, but a very pleasing
one, that the members of our Scholasticate, which is yet in
early infancy, should seize on so f.<ir a chance of showing
that, in deep and tender love for the Angel of the Schools,
we are nowise unlike our Brothers in houses which are old
in years and bright with the glory of the past. And,
indeed, it is no matter of wonder that we should have felt
such eagerness. For, having no long past of our own to
point to as token and proof of the success that we have
reached, we have at least a present so rich in promise that,
it is a fair pledge and guaranty of the bright future that
Woodstock may hope for. Within our walls are gathered
�Sixth Centmllial Feast of St. T!tomas at Woodstock. 15 5
Scholastics from the Provinces and Missions of N. America;
which is only another way of saying that the honor of the
Society, over this wide \Vestern Continent, has been, in a
great· measure, entrusted to our keeping. A high trust,
no doubt, and a heavy responsibility! How can we best
fulfil it? How shall we mould and fashion the young soldiers
so that they be worthy to take their place in the great battle
for God's glory which their elder brothers have been fighting
for so long a time and so briskly? \Vhat weapons must be
chosen- how are they to be wielded? These are the great
questions for us; not new ones, we are aware, nor needing
an answer that is not old. Still, as the questions are ever
pressing, an old answer, if so be that it is the right one, is
better than a new one. Let this be our plea for repeating it.
We say, then, that since the kind of weapon to be
selected ought to be determined by the kind of warfare in
which it is to be used, we need but cast a hasty glance
upon the tactics of our enemies to learn from them what
choice we ought to make. They have entrenched themselves, in boasted security, behind what they think to be
the strong ramparts of philosophical knowledge. Great is
their fame among the children of this world! High up
they dwell in the haughty towers which, by fair words and
unscientific assumptions, they have built for themselves
upon the shifting sands of error! They claim the proud
honor of being sole guardians of all that is truest, and heralds
of all that is best; and their claim, viewed in the light of
the Gospel, is plain proof enough that their wi~dom has
been turned into foolishness. . Still, we cannot deny that
their place is high in this world nor that the passing glory
with which they shine enchants many an unwary gazerthat, in a word, they lure to earth and falsehood souls which
were made ·for heaven and truth. How can we dislodge
them, how batter down their ramparts? If attacked with
weapons of a different kind from· those they have chosen,
they can dodge our weightiest blows and baffle all our
VOL. III-No. 2.
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56 Sixth Centennial Feast of St. T!tomas at 1Foodstock.
skill; so that if we would fight, as valiant soldiers of the
Lord, unto victory, we must equip us for the contest suchwise that our blows may be felt. In other words, we must
become men of great philosophical knowledge.
And, surely, we have not f..1.r to go in quest of such armor;
for have we not the works of St. Thomas from which we
may draw forth weapons of keenest edge and of finest
temper. Is he not-to use the strong words of Pope Clement the Sixth-"the mighty spiritual sword with which
men of strong arm can slash to pieces all the errors of the
world?" Is not his the Angel's voice ringing down through
all the ages with no trembling of uncertainty in its toneswas not his the "single eye that seemed to see all truths in
their eternal unity"-the glance keen enough and the logic
subtle enough to recognize the faintest thread of truth and
to disentangle it from the network of sophistry in which it
may be interwoven? Has he not, in a manner, forecast the
years and solved by anticipation the same errors that stalk
with proudest gait to-day? In fine, is it not our privilege to
be the sons of Fathers who did great things for God's glory
by the zealous care with which they guarded and the nob!e
works by which they illustrated the .teachings of the Angelical; so that a love of them has'·come down to us as a
precious heirloom. From them, warranted as they have
been, so often and by such high authorities, we may, freely
and securely, draw forth what is so much needed; and thus
we may stand forward fully armed for the fray.
But all that is not yet enough. It is good, indeed, for
the soldier to be well armed, but is of greater nmment that
he should be thoroughly disciplined. It is good for the
soldier of Christ to have science, but it is es!'ential that he
have the discipline of sanctity to use it with profit; since
knowledge, after all, is only the arm, sanctity the muscle
and sinews that give power to its stroke. Now, in both,
the Angel of the Schools, Doctor at once and Saint, is a
shining model for us to copy ; and, though we may scarcely
�SLrtlt Centennial Feast of St. Tltomas at Woodstock. 157
hope to reach so high a degree of excellence in either as
he did, we may, at least, keep him in our view a_nd shape
our course by his example; believing that the nearer we
come to him, in knowledge and holiness, the better able
we shall be to be<tt: back the enemies of religion, to raise
the fallen from the dust and help them on the way to heaven. On the other hand, if it were possible that all the
knowledge of St. Thomas should be ours, without any of
his holiness, it would serve to little purpose beyond that of
puffing us up with vain conceit. It was the union of both
that made him so great a champion in the cause of truth;
and, since we, in however humble a way, aim at becoming
his helpmates . in so noble a work, we love to honor one
who, in so sublime a degree, shone with the qualities we
are most eager to acquire.
Space does not allow us to give an account, in detail, of
the way in wh=ch we celebrated the centennial Feast at
Woodstock. \Ve may, however, mention the headings of
the literary exercises in which we strove to do honor to the
.-\ngelical Doctor. We had an English Essay on "St.
Thomas and modern science"-a Latin Ode, ''His Genius"
--:-a Greek Ode, "His Doctrine'conducive to sanctity"French Poetry, "His Doctrine's influence on Society"-a
Spanish Cancion, "His Doctrine common in the Schools"
-English Poem, "His· Doctrine cherished by our Society"
-Italian Terza-rima, "His Doctrine on Creation"-German
Poetry, "His Doctrine on the soul"-Latin Verses, "His
Doctrine on the Trinity"-Hebrew Verses, "His Doctrine on the Incarnation," and an English Poem, "His
Doctrine on the Eucharist." During the interludes our
Choir sang, in a very exquisite manner, the two hymns of
St. Thomas-,-"Adoro Te" and "Lauda Sion ;" and, finally,
as a memorial of the day, each member of our Scholasticate
received a neatly-printed sheet containing eulogies pronounced upon St. Thomas by Sovereign Pontiffs and by
General Congregations and Superiors of our Society.
�MISSION AT SUSQUEHANNA, PA.
FROM A LETTER OF F. EMIG TO VERY REV. F. PROVINCIAL.
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FREDERICK, MARCH 26th, I874·
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The mission at the Church of St. John Nepomucene,.
Susquehanna, Pa. came to a close on Sunday evening last.
During the two weeks of the Exercises the weather was
unpropitious, a violent snow-storm raging for ten successive
days. _This was followed by rain ; and on the last two
days, we had bright and beautiful weather, with the thermometer at r6° below freezing point. The attendance,
however, at the exercises was numerous and the success
most glorious. Though the Church has no bell to summon
the people to Divine service, still the~e were always over
one hundred persons at Mass each morning at half past 5 ;
and at· the second Mass, at g, we had a congregation of
from five to seven hundred. In the evening the Church
was filled to overflowing. At half past 2 P. M. the children
preparing for first communion, who numbered I07, received
an instrur:tion each day. The total number of communions was I6I4; of these, I435 came to me to confession;
and if the remaining 200 had had a chance, they too would
have come to the "Ho{v Commissioner."· The good pastor
assured .me that scarce a dozen persons were left who had
not approached holy communion. About 400, nearly all
of whom were men, were invested with the Scapular-the
�Mission at Susquehanna, Pa.
1 59
women had been invested on former occasions. About
six barrels of water were blessed in honor of St. Ignatius,
and ther.e was such a rush for it the first day that, for the
sake of order, some men had to be appointed to distribute
it to all. On the last day of the mission a Sodality for
young girls was established, counting about 6o menbers.
It is to be under the title of the Immaculate Conception of
the Blessed Virgin, having for special patron St. Aloysius.
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�FOREIGN NEWS
ITE~IS.
Rome.-All our Houses in Rome have been seized, excepting the German anct the- South .\mericun Colleges. By a special exception the
Government-officials refused to allow any one of Ours to remain in
dmrge of our ChurchPs, I> privilege granted to the other Hcligious
Orders, or to officiate in them. It was only after the new Hectors, who
nre secular Priests, had made a special request to that etfect, that permission was given to the sacristans to remain, on condition that they
should appear only in secular dress.
The Gesu hns been made the Head quarters of the Engineer Corps and
of the Commis;;ary Department; S. Eusebio is now a militnry ho~pitnl; it
i~ the intention of our rulers to m:tke of the Homan College a national
Bomding College for the Department of Home, and the work of preparation hns already begun there. A very small portion of the Novitiate
t_~ant~Amlrea) has been occupied by the Government, bemtusc the larger
anti better part of the house is held by the South American College,
which has hall pos~ession for the last seven or eight years.
·Fr. Secchi, with a few Fathers and Brothers, remains in charge of the
Observatory of the Homan College. An entrance has been opened f.)r
him, under the Chapel of the Camvita, into. the kitchen corridor; so
that he has now that part of the house which used to be occupied by the
Provincial, the Infirmary corritbr leading into the shoe-shop, nnd the one
which le1ds into the tribunes and the Observatory-in 11 word, all that
part of the fir:;t, second, and third stories under the quarters once occupied by the Philosophers. They have nlso left him all that pnrt of the
College belonging to the Observatory, with a few rooms on the l\Iasters'
Corridor, and the little oratories of St. Aloysius, from whi~h :tncw passa:;e has bcPll opened to tl.c Observatory.
The two Sodality Chapels-the Prima Primaria and the Scaletta- have
also been saved, and for these also a new entrance was made through the
little doors near the altar of St. Aloysius. The l\Iuseum, tho Cabinet,
the Apothecary shop and the Library arc in the hands of the Government. The students of the foreign Colleges arc now obliged to go to the
American College for the lectures in Philosophy, and tu the German
College for Theology.
�Forei'gn News Items.
Germrtny.-Thc Germnn Scholastics have taken refuge pnrtly in Hollnml, partly in England nnd at Laval. One or two Fathers still rt>main
in the German Empire; all thG other members of the province to the
number of 755 have be'en driven into exile. They ha>e however left
behind them precious remembrances in the esteem and love of the
Bishops the Clergy, Catholics in general and all right-minded Protestants.
The exiles have ]lrotite,] of their banishment to establish a mission in
Denmark ami another in Sweden.
Prorince of Lyon8.-0ur fathers of Lyons have founded two new stations in Africa in the Great Kabyles. The college of Oran having been
snppressetl, they have opened a day-school at Algier. In Syria the former
residence at Damascus has been reopened ami is rapidly regaining its
ancient importance; attached to it arc five numerous congregations.
Jfadagascar.-Our fathers write that they are overwhelmed with work;
over oiiC hundred stations are served by them and many villages are
asking to be prepared for baptism.
C!zina.-Our fi1thers on the Chinese missions continue to enjoy tranquillity. Pilgrimages to our Lady's shrine at Zo-ce are as numerous as
ever: on the feast of the Patronage of the Blessed Virgin there were
1800 communicants. F. Bichon with a delegation of the principal
Christians recently visited Zo-ce to otrer in the name of his flock a heart
of gold to Our La<l~'· }Ian,ellous cures and miraculous conversions are
of frequent occurrence. F. della Corte writes that a Lady in his mission,
whose life the phy~icians had nearly despaired of, vowed a pilgrimage to
Zo-ce, began a novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, and on the ninth day
received a prefect cure.
Our go<Hl Bishop, Languillat, recently made his visitation of NingKouo-fou, an<l received everywhere the greatest consolation: his joumey
through the province was quite a triumph: Among the wheat, cockle
will a! ways he found, but of the 20,000 cntechumens enrolled by our
fathers in the Province,· of Nan kin, 1here are many sincere and pious
souls. Schools are established as speedily as possible to secnre the
proper formation of our converts and to prepare them for baptism.
Tlw Bishop and our own Superior find everything to console them in
the work already accomplished.
F. Colombcl's Observatory at Zi-Ka-Wei (near Chang-Hai) is becoming
well known, and is constantly attracting crowds of distingubhed and
intelligent visitors, who arc loud in their praise of his labors. Among
recent g'Llcsts were the Russian .Minister, the English, American and
Dntch Consuls, the Govcrn"r of Macao, the Admirals of the station, etc.
New\instrumcnts have just been received; the machine of F. Secchi is
expected. For seven or eight months past, F. Heude has been making
explorations in the northern portions of the province. Our printing
press is issuing Chinese works, and soon we shall begin the publishing
of books in the European languages.
�Foreign News Items.
On Dec. 8th, 1873, the corner-stone of a new Carmelite Convent was
blessed and placed in -position. The Auxiliatrices are succeeding well,
and four native Chinese have already taken vows amongst them.
INDIA, Negapatam.-The College which was 're-opened on the 15th of
August, has an attendance of 400 scholars, an increase of forty over the
preceding year. On the 25th of November, the Governor of ~Iadras,
who was passing through Negapatam, paid a visit to the College and
expre~sed his great satisfaction at all he beheld. This mark of respect
from the ruler of thirty-five millions of people is the more valuable as
His Excellency rarely visits Negapatam. The following note was lately
received from an Englishman, connected with one of the chief colleges
in ~Iadras. "Lwould like to enter my son at St. Joseph's College and
have him rem~!n there as a boarder until he takes his Bachelor's degree.
I was present yesterday at a meeting of the Senate of the University,
of which I have the honor to he a member, and the favorable comments
passed on your institution made me anxious to give my son the advantages ofthe education which you impart." The meagre resources of the
College render it necessary to refuse all such applications looking towards
the establishment of a boarding school for Europeans.
Various Items.- F. Lluch, Visitor of the Philippine Ish.nds, has been appointed Superior-General of those missions. The College of JHanilla is
flourishing, having increased both in the number of pupils in attendance
and in the personnel of the faculty.-The missions of Mindanao have
been c_gnfidcd to our fathers under F. Bertran as Superior.-In Japan
the exiles have returned to their posts, but they enjoy no more liberty
than formerly: they are consttmtly under espionage and cannot leave
their houses without being followed by officers of the government.-The
first process for the beatification of our martyrs of Paris has been completed and forwarded to Rome.-The caus~·oJ the V. F. Baldinucci is
far ad vanccd.
D. 0. M.
,
�W 0 0 D S T 0 CIC L E T T E R S.
VOL. III., No. 3·
THE NATCHEZ INDIANS IN
1730.
Letter from Rev. Fr. Pttit, S. :J., to Rev. Fr. Davaugour, S.:J.,
Procurator-General of tlte 111issions in J.Vortlt America.
NEw ORLEANS, JuLY 1 zth, 1730.
REV. DEAR FATHER:
P. C.
Your Reverence has, no 9oubt, been already made
acquainted with the news of the sad destruction of the new
French colony, lying on the right hand shore of the Mississippi and one hundred and twenty hours travel distant
from its mouth. The Natchez, a savage tribe of this region,
at a time when we least expected and without provocation,
suddenly and treacherously murdered all the French settlers
together with our two Fathers and laid waste the whole
mtsswn. Before I describe to your Rev. the horror of this
devastation, it will be necessary to give you a hurried sketch
of this wild people,-tell you of their idolatry, manners,
customs, laws and unbounded superstition, in order that
VoL. m-No. 3·
21
�Tlze JVatcht'::: Indians in I7JO.
you may the better understand the picture, which I am
about to draw for you, of the horrid waste to which they
subjected our flourishing colony.
The Natchez possess one of the most charming and
fertile lands on the face of the globe ; among no other tribe
of North American Indians is there to be found such a
well-organized worship or such a complete code of common
laws.
Their idolatry, in some respects, resembles that of the
ancient Romans. A temple well stocked with idols, which
represent not only mortal men, but also domestic and wild
animals, stands in the centre of their villages. To all
appearance, this religious structure is like unto a huge
oven; in circumference it is about one hundred. and in
width over thirty feet. The doorways are four feet in height
and three broad. By these alone can light enter, as there
are no windows to the temple. There is an opening, it is
true, in the vault, but this again is enclosed by a triple
covering of pumice-stone to prevent rain or snow from
falling into the interior. Above this, three eagles are placed,
cut out of wood; one is painted yellow, the other white and
the third is of a reddish color. Just. __\Vithout the temple
door is a vestibule, containing a single room, inhabited by
the guardian of the temple. In front of this there is a
narrow, confined space, surrounded by sharp-pointed stakes,
upon which are hung the scalps taken in war. As you enter
the temple the first thing that strikes the eye is .a great
number of tables ranged one above the other. Upon these
stand baskets exquisitely woven out of osier, which contain
the bones of their deceased princes together with the bones
of their servants,-who as soon as the death of the prince
is announced willingly allow themselves to be strangled, in
order that they may accompany their master into eternity.
Besides t1te tables, there are rows of shelves, upon which
are placed painted baskets in which are kept the images or
statues of their gods and goddesses ; the idols are partly
�Tlte .Natcltez Indians in IJJO.
made of earthen-ware, partly of stone. Interspersed among
these are seen the heads of adders, tails of serpents,
stuffed owls, jaw-bones of huge fishes and transparent
·pieces o( crystal. A. D., 1699, flasks and bowls of glass
were found in the temple.
An eternal fire is kept burning day and night. This fire
is never permitted to rise into a flame, but only glimmers,
for fear of burning the temple.-Dried walnut and oak
wood are the materials out of which it is kindled, and the
elders of the nation are obliged to cut them up into logs
and throw them into the narrow, confined space before the
temple. The guardian,-there are many,- one from each
tribe of the nation,---keeps watch, like a sentinel, in the
vestibule and takes particular care not to allow the fire to
be extinguished. From time to time he throws two or
three logs on the fire; he is in duty bound so to place
them that the ends first catch fire and they rest not on
each other; for they do this _to prevent the fire from rising
into a flame.
No woman is permitted to enter the sacred precincts of
the temple; an exception, however, is made in favor of the
sisters of the prince. Entrance likewise is denied, without
difference of sex, at the time when any one wishes to carry
the meals to the nearest relatives,-whose bones are preserved in the temple. The guardian places the meats near
the basket containing the bones of the relatives to be
feasted. This superstitious prohibition lasts from new to
full moon. The meats are then thrown into the narrow,
~onfined space before the temple and left to be devoured by
wild beasts.
'
The Natchez hold the Sun in highest veneration; he is
their principal god and this, because say they: as there is
nothing more glorious and magnificent for eyes to behold
than the Sun, so is he most deserving of worship. For the
same reason do they call their prince the brother of the
Sun ; for on earth he has no superior. The sup.erstitious
�r66
The 1Vatclze::: IndiaJZs i11 I?JO.
credulity of the lower classes endow him therefore with
limitless power; he is an absolute monarch. His palace
is built on the same plan as that of their temple, out of
clay or turf; it is raised on a high mound. The door-way
of the palace faces the East. Early every morning the
prince salutes his first-born brother, the Sun, with oftrepeated howls or yells, as soon as the luminary appears
on the horizon. He then takes a huge tobacco-pipe and
offers to him the first three puffs ; hereupon he strikes his
hands together over his head and swings them from East
to \Vest, in order to show his brother what path he is on
that day to follow.
To the left, as one enters the palace, there are several
beds ; to the right is the couch of the prince made of dried
reeds, straw and osier, adorned with variegated, grotesque
figures. In lieu of pillow he rests his royal head on a
block of wood. In the centre of the room stands a small
chest, around which every oqe who enters has to walk
three times. At his entrance, the visito~, instead of giving
him a becoming salute howls like a wolf; thereupon he
walks thrice around the chest, till he reaches the end of the
room and then only is he permitted to cast his eyes on
his majesty. Gazing on the prince, he strikes both his
hands together over his head aqd gives thrice a most dreadful yelL If the prince is willing to give audience to the
visitor he answers him with a gentle sigh and bids him be
seated. The visitor in thanks, howls again most wofully.
As often as the prince puts a question he must howl once,
before he is allowed to answer. When the audience is over
he must yell and howl until he has left the presence of his
august lordship.
When the prince dies his palace is torn down. A fresh
mound is thrown up and on this a new palace erected for
his successor,-the brother of the Sun. He is forbidden to
inhabit the same royal dwelling as his predecessor.
Qf the various tribes certain elders are appointed, whose
�Tlze Natclzez Indians in I?JO.
167
duty it is to instruct the people in the practices of religion
and in the customs and code of the land One of the
chief laws is to pay the prince, as firstborn brother of the
Sun, almost divine veneration.
The Natchez believe in the immortality of the soul.
·when man, say they, leaves this world, he enters into another, where he is rewarded or punished according to the
merits gained in this life. Eternal beatitude with them
consists in good eating and drinking and in all manner of
sensual pleasures. The damned do not enjoy any of these
delights. They imagine that the strict observer of the
customs and laws of the country is carried to a ,;pirit land,
abounding in every kind of enjoyment. There the blessed
are fed on most luscious meats; they drink the most exquisite liquors; every conceivable joy falls to their lot. The
violator of the laws, on the contrary, goes to a land cursed
with drought and famine, covered with swamps and healthdestroying morasses. There, say the Natchez, their naked
bodies are constantly bruised by thorns and brambles ;
festering sores eat away their wounded limbs ; they ar~
forced to wage continual war with their neighbors. Never
do they taste delicate meat or drink. Crocodile flesh or
reeking clam fish or snails are their only food; neither
wheat, beans nor melons nor any other pala~able fruit makes
up their daily repasts. In this valley of tears they endure
everlasting anguish.
This strange, superstitious people obey their prince
blindly and without reserve. He has full power over their
property, as also over their very lives. No one would dare
refuse to die even without cause or trial, provided the prince
desired it. They are not permitted to receive pay for labor
or services done the prince. When the French settlers
desire to have excellent hunters or boatmen, they ask them
from the brother of the Sun, who gladly gives them on
receipt of a stipulated sum of money. This the prince
keeps in his own purse, bestowing not even a penny on the
�!68
The Natclte::: Indians w IJJO.
poor hireling. \Voe to him, who should complain of this
flagrant injustice. One of the first laws, and perhaps the
most cruel,.is the obligation which binds the attendants of
the prince to honor his funeral obsequies by giving up their
own lives, in order that he may have, in the spirit land, his
former servants. They submit to this law with the greatest
joy, because they think, that in the next world they too
will be sharers of the same joys, the same pleasures and
delights as the prince.
For the clearer understanding of the reason of this tragedy, Your Reverence must know, that as soon as the Sister
of the prince has brought forth an heir to the throne, every
mother who, at that time, is nursing a male child must
present it to the new-born heir. From the number of
these boys are chosen certain ones, who are destined to be
servants and attendants of the future prince. After presentation, they are returned to their mothers to be taken care
of until they have reached the proper age for service, when
they are removed to the court for such duties as are fitted
to their individual accomplishments. Some become the
prince's fishermen or hunters; others till for him his fields;
some attend to houshold affairs; oth~_rs are the companions
of his play. When death takes off the prince, they are
bound, without refusal, to accompany him to the spirit land.
On an appointed' day they deck themselves in their gaudiest
and costliest attire and betake themselves to the public
square, near the temple, where the whole nation awaits
them in breathless suspense. After enjoying the festivities
of the occasion, they themselves place around their necks a
rope made of the hide of an ox; the appointed executioners
then step forward, take hold of the rope, exhort them to
fulfil their duties to the prince faithfully in the next world,
viz. : to cause their royal master every imaginable pleasure
and share with him his delights. They are then strangled
and these poor victims of superstition and demon worship
surrender their precious lives with unbounded joy.
�Tlze Natc!tez Indians in I7JO.
Their legs are severed from the body ; the hip, shin, arm,
and shoulder bones are cut out and buried in the earth for
two months. They are then taken up, cleansed, laid in
baskets and placed on arranged tables in the temple beside
the august relics of the prince. This last honor, however,
is only shown to the most deserving; the rest who were not
deemed worthy of this honor are taken by their relatives
and buried just as they had been left after strangulation.
The same cruel custom is followed at the death of the
brother or sister of the prince. An exception, however, is
made in favor of the female servants who are nursing a
child. This favor is frequently refused by them and they
eithe~ supply the child with a nurse or put it to death in
order that they may be made partakers of the eternal" blessedness of their mistresses. Such is the superstition of
this deluded people!
The throne is hereditary among the Natchez; right of
succession always remains in the same family. But the son
of the prince is not the successor to his father's sceptre.
The son of the eldest sister of the prince is heir, and should
she be barren the son of the princess next in age. The
reason for this proceeding the Natchez allege to be the wellknown faithlessness of the wives of the prince. We are not
certain, they say, that the son of the wives of the prince is
of royal blood. Besides, as the prince frequently marries the
daughters of low parentage, we are not sure that royal
blood courses in the veins of their offspring, but we feel
confident, on the contrary, that this is the case with the
children of the princesses of the royal family.
These princesses select their husbands from among the
lower classes and are allowed by law to have only one
husband, but• they are permitted, at the same time, on any
occasion, as sentiment may prompt, to reject him and marry another, provided their choice fall on a Natchez. Should
it happen that her husband prove faithless to the marriage
vow, she has a right to have his head crushed with a mallet.
�170
Tlze Natclze::: Indians in I7JO.
Should she be found guilty of adultery, she is not held
bound to the same penalty. She may associate with as
many as she pleases and the husband is not allowed to
show the least displeasure. Their doctrine in this respect
seems to favor polyandry. The husband appears before
his wife with great reserve; he never dines with her and
salutes her, as he does all the servants of the household,
with howls and yells. His liberty consists in being exempt
from socage~duty and carrying out her slightest wish.
In times- gone by the Natchez were a powerful people,
counting some sixty tribes and living in large towns.
Eight hundred brothers of the Sun ruled over them. At
present they possess seven small villages. In every village
there is a temple, in which the eternal fire is never permitted to die out, and each tribe is governed by a prince and a
subaltern governor. This latter is altogethe~ subject to the
prince, who alone has the right of appointing the officers of
the realm, viz. : two chiefs, who lead the warriors to battle;
two, ,;ho are ministers of religious worship-one is guardian
of the temple, the other presides over the ceremonies paid
to the idols ;-two judges, who likewise receive all embassies from neighboring tribes; four s~~\vards, who whenever
the prince invites people to a public reast prepare for the
festivities. \Vhoever dares disobey these officials is amenable to the same penalties as he who renders himself offensive
to the prince.
The people assemble every year, I, at seed-time, when they
sow Indian wheat, pulse, pumpkins and' melons in a field; 2,
at harvest time, when the crop is garnered in and kept for
public use in an immense granary; 3, about the middle of
summer for the national feast. Each one is a contributor
to the feast according to his means. Their greatest pleasure
consists in uninterrupted dancing. The prince and his
sister sit under a green arbor and look with complacency
on the enjoyment of their subjects. The subalterns and
officers of the court have their assigned posts of honor
�Tlte Natclte:; Indians in IJJO.
IJI
near the prince·. The honor to sit beside the prince is
most eagerly coveted.
Said prince and his sister are carried by eight of the
most stalwart men of the tribe in a litter to the scene of
public rejoicing. In his hand he holds a huge sceptre
adorned with many colored feathers. The people leap and
sing around him in token of the universal joy.• This feast
lasts for three days and three nights. On the last day the
people are all assembled under the arbor, where the prince
is seated, to listen to the harangue of their sovereign. He
exhorts them, in the first place, to the strict observance of
all that appertains to religious worship and to the fulfilment
of every law; he admonishes them in an especial manner to
show the deepest reverence to the spirits who haunt the
temple and to instruct with all diligence their children to
do the same. If any one, during the past year, has displayed more than usual fervor in this respect, the prince,
in presence of the entire assembly, offers him his congratulations and praise. \Vhen, A. D. 1702, the temple was
destroyed by fire and seven or eight mothers had thrown
their infants into the flames to appease the gods, the prince,
at the end of the feast, li.ad these heroines brought before
him, praised in a set oration their devotion to the gods, their
heroic sacrifice of what was dearest to the mother's heart
and exhorted the mothers of the nation, on like occasions,
to follow their glorious example.
Every husbandman offers the first. fruits of the field,
'(which he has sown and cared for on his own grounds) to
the gods in the temple. Thither too are carried all presents,
. which the Natchez receive from neighboring peoples.
These gifts are taken to the entrance of the temple; the
guardian then places them before the idols and offers them
to the gods. After they have remained for a short time in
the temple, he takes them to the prince, who distributes
them as his good pleasure may dictate, and no one is allowed to complain of the portion which he may have received.
VoL. m-No. 3·.
'
22
�172
1\'cw York and Canada Jl!ission.
The seed to be sown must likewise be blessed in the
temple by certain superstitious ceremonies. All \vho come
to the temple must lift up their hands and howl thrice ;
thereupon they strike their hands on the ground, rub them
in the dust and howl again. This is repeated three times.
If any one passes by the temple he must do so with dO\vncast eyes, outstretched arms and a yell or howl. Should a
mother observe her child neglect this token ,of respect to
the dwelling-place of the gods, she punishes it severely.
(To be continued.)
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MISSION OF
~
NEW YORK AND CANADA.
(Continued.)
·-
The departure of Fr. Larkin rendered necessary the
appointment of a new Rector; and Fr. Ryan was accordingly named. He agreed to accept the conditions regarding
the parish Church, which Fr. Larkin had judged proper to
refuse, and soon found what he considered a suitable situation in 9th Street ; but the title of the deed of property
was discovered to be unsafe; and it was only some time
after, that he succeeded in purchasing the place we now
occupy on I sth Street, between sth and 6th Avenues.
To enable Fr. Ryan to cover the necessary outlay for the
new institution, our late lamented Fr. Maldonado kindly
consented to accompany one qf the Fathers of our Mission
�New York and Canada lvlission.
173
'
in a tour through Mexico, for the purpose of appealing to
the charity of the Catholics of that country. The two
Fathers started in November, IS 50, provided with letters of
introdu<::tion to the first Mexican gentlemen, botlt clerical
and secular; and during the fourteen months of Fr. Maldonado's sojourn there, by his polished manners and engaging
disposition, he succeeded in completely gaining the hearts
of all: so that both clergy and laity responded with true
catholic liberality to his appeal in favor of a distant work of
charity. The other Father remained some months longer,
and may be literally said to have travelled over the whole
of 1\Iexico. About SI S,ooo was collected, besides paintings,
vestments, and sacred vessels; and for this timely aid our
Fathers owe a lasting debt of gratitudy to the Mexicans, as
without it, Rev. Fr. Ryan would. never have been able to
build the College.
About two years were employed in its erection, and .on
the zsth of Nov., I850, the former students of the School
of the Holy Name of Jesus, entered their new and commodious abode. In making the transition, however, both
School and Church lost their old names, and, at the request
of his Grace the Archbishop, were placed under the patronage of St. Francis Xavier:. the College and the Church of
St. Francis Xavier thus germinating, as it were, from the
Holy Name of Jesus. The College opened with about two
hundred and fifty students.
These works, however, were far from engrossing all the
attention of the Fathers in New York, for the city afforded
opportunities for numerous other ministries of zeal. As
the rootlets of the plant naturally seek those portions of
the soil, where moisture is more abundant; so the various
offshoots of the Society, by the very nature of the holy
sap flowing through them, have ever sought out the abodes
of misery where suffering is to be relieved and crime prevented. Now, New York, in its various Public Institutions
of Charity and Correction, offered the Fathers a very har-
�174
ve~t
New York and Canada Jlfission.
of miseries, which a Xavier himself might have envied.
In the words used by Fr. Du Ranquet, the present chaplain,
when soliciting Archbishop Hughes for the care of these
Institutions : " In other apostolic works, the missionary
resembles the ordinary hunter, who needs must exert all
his strength and skill to succeed in securing, one by one,
a few game; but here is a royal hunting ground, with
numbers of, men solely employed to start the game, and
drive them. before the huntsman: .the men thus employed
are the police."
As early as 1852, the Fathers, with the hearty approval
of his Grace, began the work of mercy by visiting the
Tombs, or city prison, where the criminals are detained
prior to their sentence,-and once or twice a month brought
the consolations of religion to the inmates of the state
prison at Sing-Sing, whither those condemned to hard
labor are mostly sent. But it was only in I 861, that sectarian -prejudice and bigotry so far yielded, or were forced to
yield, to the instances of his Grace as to admit the members
of the Society into that wider field of labor for which they
yearned.
The Public Institutions of Charity and Correction of the
City of New York are mostly built on a number of small
islands, situated in the East Riv'er, as the channel is called
which, some fifteen miles in length, connects Long Island
Sound with the Harbor. These islands are known as
Blackwell's, Ward's, Randall's and Hart's. To begin with
that nearest the city: Blackwell's Island, contains five
public institutions: I, A vast hospital; with a smaller one,
somewhat apart, for contagious diseases, especially the
small-pox; these· buildings are situated at the extreme
southern end of the island. 2, The Penitentiary, viz. : a
prison.'for criminals condemned to detention for less than
two years. 3, An asylum for the poor, called the AlmsHouse. 4, Another prison called the \Vork-House, where
those are confined who are punished by only a few day's
�New York and Canada J11ission.
175
detention, as for vagrancy, drunkenness, etc. 5, An
Insane Asylum. On the next island, Ward's, is an Asylum
where destitute emigrants, not having as yet had time toacquire the privileges of citizens, are offered a home for
any length of time during the five years following their
arrival, provided that, either th_rough sickness or dearth of
work, they are really in want of the necessaries of life. On
this island also are two large edifices recently erected, to
make good the insuffiCiency of those of Blackwell's Island
for city convicts. On the third island, Randall's, are the
establishments for the children of destitute parents, or for
orphans, or those taken up as vagrants. Hart's Island,
twenty miles to the East, has, of late years, been appropriated by the city to receive the excess of inmates of the
others. During epidemics or contagious diseases, the persons attacked by these maladies are transported thither.
In connection with a school-ship, a school has been established on the island, to receive the young unfortunates of
Randall's Island, when they become old enough to be a~le
to work, and manifest an inclination to become sailors.
All these establishments are divided into two departments,
one for males, the other for females; and it is not an exaggerated estimate to set down at 6,ooo, the number of persons
in the various institutions, counting in the officers and
employees.
Blackwell's Island was the first to admit one o£. the
Fathers, but even he was not permitted to pass the night
there. Fr. Jaffre, a former missionary of Upper Canada,
started daily from the College, visited in turn each of the
institutions, and after displaying a zeal which, in presence
of so much misery, nothing could moderate, returned home
at night completely exhausted, only to begin his work
again; the day following. In one month's time he was in
his grave, a victim of the typhoid fever.- The pioneer in
the good work, had fallen, but there were hundreds anxious
to take his place, and within the three following years,
�176
J.Vew York and Canada 11fission.
three more Fathers-Chopin, Laufhuber, and Pavarellisank at the same post, under the same disease. It would
be surprising, indeed, if the heavenly spirit, which vivifies
the Society, \\·ere less fruitful than the sap which Nature
infuses into even her lowliest trees and shrubs ; and do we
not there behold ever cluste~ing around the buds on which
their growth depends, a number of accessory or latent
germs, awaiting only the moment, when the principal bud
by some accident is destroyed, to burst forth into a vigorous
life, and carr); on the plant or tree to its full development,
lest Nature's work should be frustrated?
The devotedness of the Fathers, heroic though it was,
was not greater than was required to enable them to cope
with the difficulties attending their work-"difficulties,"
says Fr. Du Ranquet, "which now appear incredible."
As long as the Fathers came daily from the city, and
returned at night, matters came to no crisis; but when,
seeing. the drawbacks of such a position, they strove to
ga_in a permanent residence on the Island; then indeed the
storm burst in all its fury, and subjected them and the
Catholic patients to every kind of annoyance.
Father l\larechal, chaplain at this ti~e, determined, with
his accustomed energy, to say Mass every morning in the
Poor House Chapel, which was used by Protestants as
well as by Catholics. Breakfast hour being six o'clock, he
announces Mass for half past five; but the director of the
establishment is' on the alert: unfortunately, Mass is not
over at six-so much the worse for those who have
assisted at it-no breakfast for them that day. At the
Hospital, bigotry showed itself in a still more persecuting
spirit. Fr. Marechal had just installed his assistant colaborer, when the young physicians, alarmed at this new
clerical _invasion, and animated no doubt with the spirit of
the Constitution of the United States, w!ticlt allows CZIClJ'
man to worsltip God according to t!te dictate~ af Ius own
conscience, took the affair in their own hands, and hit upon
�New York and Canada llfission.
IJ7
a remarkable way of illustrating their idea of freedom of
conscience,-a plan, which, they were convinced, would
soon cool the ardor of both priest and people.-The very
first day l\Iass was said, on making the rounds of the sick
room, they took care to ask of each of the Catholic invalid:::: "Have you been at Mass to-day?" vVas the answer"Yes"-they at once rejoined: "Since y~u are well enough
to go to l\Iass, you are well enough to go home;" and they
actually had the cruelty to dismiss thus a crowd of poor
Catholics, with one foot already in the grave. The physici~ms were young men ; probably had never before had to
deal with Irish Catholics in matters of religion, and sadly
inc;leed were they disappointed if they hoped by persecution
to root out their faith and their love for their religion.-At
present, the poor Irish Catholic may be said to have almost
won the day-for three Fathers remain constantly on the
islands, and two others go there during the day, now to one
place, now to another. Even a greater number might be
employed, for, to mention only one item, on Blackwell's
alone, the annual number of deaths amounts to 2,000, which
gives an average of about six a day. Chapels are now to
be found in the principal edifices, and not only do the faithful receive the sacraments and other succors of religion,
but a great many children are baptized, and numbers of
adults, especially at the moment of death and in time of
pestilence, abjure their errors, and are received into the
bosom of the Church. His Grace, the Archbishop, has
alrec.dy several times visited the islands for the purpose of
administering the Sacrament of Confirmation. But let us
hear Fr. Du Ranquet himself describe the good that is at
present being done among the wretched inii,lates of these
islands.*-" That which has struck me most forcibly," he
says, " in this ministry, is the desire expressed by so many
Protestants to become Catholics, when they see death
*Letter published in the "Etudes religieuses," etc., 4th Series, 2. vol.
p. 131.
�New York mtd Cmtada 1lfissiou.
approaching. Many of our invalids have n~urished for
years this thought of final conversion; others are n1oved
by the confidence of the dying Catholics, and some begin
by saying: ' Father, let me kiss your crucifix.' I remember
especially one Protestant woman, who had probably been
struck by seeing her neighbors kiss the cross so reverently,
and who told me she had seen in her sleep a majestic personage holding a large key in his hand. This key, he
informed her, opened and shut the kingdom of Heaven,
and unless sfie kissed the crucifix, he would never unlock
the gate of ~iss for her. She was converted, and became
a devout Catholic.
" Occasionally, on my rounds I come in contact w.ith
Protestant ladies and ministers busy distributing tracts and
books; but if I wish to escape their society, I have only to
enter the ward reserved for typhoid or small-pox; here
there is no danger of interference from them. The proportion of_ Protestants and Catholics in the various institutions,
is worthy of note. About four-fifths of the inmates of the
hospital are Catholics, but in the penitentiary, only twothirds. Thus, though all these establishments are filled
generally from the lower classes, and .~hese classes are in a
great measure composed of Catholics_:the prisons contain
far fewer of the latter than the other institutions. During
the day, those that are well labor outside or in the shops,
-but, at night, they are locked up separately in very small
cells, and here it is I catch them. I devote about three
hours every evening to visits to the different cells, where I
try to gain the prisoner's confidence by kind words through
the iron grating.· At Mass, I sometimes have forty or fifty•
communicants, of whom perhaps eight or ten, receive for
the first time.-I was surprised one day by a visit from an
individual arriving from Oregon, wher!9 he had been fighting in th.e wars against the unfortunate Indians. He came
' to fulfil a promise made to a dying comrade on the battle
field beyond the Rocky Mountains; where, unable to find
�iVcw York and Canada ilfission.
179
a priest, he had tried as well as he could to supply the place
of one,-and had asked the wounded soldier if he died
content. ' I'll tell you,' answered the dying man, ' how
wicked I have been. You know what the New York Boys
are,-well, I was among the worst of them: but one day,
about two or three years ago, when I was in prison at the
Tombs, I went to confession for the first time; since that
day, I have behaved myself pretty well, and now I die
happy.' ' Oh!' replied the other, 'I know the Father at
the Tombs, and as soon as I arrive in New York, I will tell
him all.'-" No fact,'' adds Fr. Du Ranquet, ''ever encouraged me in my work at. the prison as much as this."
\Vhile the Fathers employed in these holy labors were
opening Heaven to numbers of souls and earning for themselves eternal crowns, one of the most distinguished members of our mission, was suddenly stopped in his saintly
cueer, and when but half the race seemed run, was called
to his reward.
\Ve left Fr. Larkin in Europe relieved of the responsibility of the episcopacy-in I S49· After remaining some
time in England, he entered upon his third year of probation in France, and when that was over, reviewed his theological studies at Laval. In July, 1851, he was appointed
Rector of St. John's, Fordh\lm, and, at the expiration of
his term of office, once more crossed the ocean and devoted
. himself with his accustomed zeal to the work of the ministry in England. Here he received a letter from our present
very Rev. Father General investing him with the high and
responsible duties of Visitor of the Vice-Province of
Ireland. Having accomplished to the satisfaction of all the
task imposed on him, he returned to New York in 1856,
and for about two years was employed in the parish. On
the 1 rth of Dec., 1858, he had been hearing Confessions as
usual, and when the supper bell rang, obeyed its summons
to take a hasty cup of tea. While seated at table he felt a
sudden stroke of apoplexy, and had only time to stretch
VoL. m-No. 323
l
�180
·
New York mtd Canada 1lfission.
out his hand to the Father next him, saying: " It is all over
now! "-when he sank heavily to the ground. Medical aid
was at once sent for,-but the call was from above, and no
human power could "bribe the poor possession of a day,"
or "lend_a morrow." As it was impossible for the dying
servant of God to get to his room, he remained in the
arms of the Fathers, who did all they could to relieve him,
while the other members of the community hastened to the
chapel, to beg, if it were God's will, a few years more of
life for so us~ful a laborer. The blow had been struck in
mercy as Fr. Larkin had ever desired a sudden death:- his
heart having flown to heaven long before the knell that
called his body to the grave,-while he himself had ever
looked on the present but as
·
"A narrow isthmus 'twixt two boundless seasThe past, the future, two eternities."
The w_orld to come was all he thought of-all he cared for;
no pang of sorrow, then, no vain regret disturbed the tranquil passage of his soul, which, three hours after his first
attack, peacefully went to its Creator. Fr. Larkin had
nearly completed his 58th year, having been born in 1801
on the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin.*
It was not only the parish, in which Fr. Larkin had been
principally employed, that felt his loss ; even the students of
the College, many of whom had had the happiness of at-·
tending at least one of his retreats, grieved for him as for ~
father. No doubt he continued in heaven to pray for the
children he left behind on earth, and for the success of the
· work of the education of youth, in which he took so deep
an interest. Certain it is that the state of the College was
very prosperous. It was only a few years since it had been
buiit, an_d already it was found to be far too small for the
*On a foregoing page the year of his birth is, by some mistake, put
down as 1800.
�New York and Canada llfission.
r8r
ever increasing number of students. A new building 6oft
by 120, was accordingly begun, and in June, rS6r, six
months after the date of the charter, part of it was fit for
use; so that, in the following September, the College of St.
Francis Xavier recei,·ed its ;oo students in an edifice m
keeping with the dignity of its sainted Patron.
\Ve have now sketched, however imperfectly, some of
the principal facts in the history of our l\Iission; we say,
some, for besides the large gaps in our account of the rise
of our Colleges at Fordham and New York we have,
through want of the requisite information, but barely alluded to that of St. Mary's, Montreal, and have not written a
single \Vord about our residences in Guelph, Chatham and
Quebec; in Troy, Yorkville and Jersey City. Should a
future day find us conversant with the details of these
foundations, it would afford us great pleasure to record
them. For to relate to those unacquainted therewith the
onward march of the Society, however unpretending, in
any part of, the world, is the least we can do to show our
appreciation of our high calling, together with our filial
love for her who brought us forth in religion; and to hand
down to those who come after us, the ·memory of the labors·
and combats of our fathers, to whose saintliness of life
joined with heroism amid whole hosts of obstacles, and
persevering energy under difficulties almost insurmountable,
many of us are indebted for our acquaintance with the
·society, and, after God, for the priceless grace of our entrance therein, is, we think, the smallest tribute of gratitude
we can offer. It· is nature i.tself, and nature in one of its
holiest instincts that prompts the child to trace, with whatever materials it may happen to have at hand, the features
of that countenance which is all in all to him; his unskilled
hand will err, no doubt, and produce perhaps only a homely
caricature where the fairest of images was intended, but the
rough draught, such as it is, has had its effect: the memory
has once more conjured up the true. picture, and impressed
l
�182
St. :Joseplt's Clwrclt, P!tiladelp!tia.
it still more indelibly in the soul, and then, the loving heart
at once supplies all the deficiencies of the erring hand.
A few details concerning our Indian J1(issions in Canada,
o1t w!ticlt z;;e c!tauccd too late for insertion in t!teir proper place,
are reserzHd for an appmdLr.
(To be continued.)
ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.
[Continued.]
844 was in some respects a sad year for Philadelphia.
For some years there had.been in existence a society named
the "American Protestant Association.:' This society, still
vigorous, with thousands of members scattered over the
Continent, and a reserved fund of millions of dollars, has
been changed to that of "The United American Mechanics," but its spirit is the s~me. For some year.:> the truly
eloquent pastor of a contiguous parish had been accustomed
in his "Sunday-night Lectures" to deal with this association in a style far more vigoroos than genteel.
I have never. heard of a convert made by his tirades;
and the effect of his injudicious attacks was a hidden but
intense' feeling of hatred to Catholicity and Catholics, which
waited the lightest provocation to burst out with tremendous force.
This provocation was given in the early part of May, by
the indiscreet zeal of some hot-headed Catholics in attacking,
I
�St. :Joseplt's Clwrclz, Plzi!adelplzia.
183
with stones and other missiles, a meeting of this American
Protestant Association, held in the very midst of a densely
inhabited Irish Catholic neighborhood, with the avowed
design of provoking an attack.
Then began the dark days of Philadelphian Catholicity.
Then began a 'period of terrorism, the very mention of
which will, to this clay, suffuse the face of a Philadelphian
with the blush of shame. One bright afternoon in 1\Iay,
the mob assembled, and after some severe fighting in which
the loss of life seemed to be almost entirely on the part of
the aggressors, the so-called Nativists, St. Michael's Church
and the Sisters' Orphanage in Second Street were fired and
burnt to the ground. Rev. Terence Donaghoe, being in
the city on a visit, sat in the cupola of St. Augustine's
Church, and with tears streaming down his face, witnessed
the burning of these edifices which had been erected
through his painful exertions. I remember, as if it were
but yesterday, how the hot blood of boyhood boiled, as a
young Quaker companion, now one of Philadelphia's solid
men, descending from the roof of the lofty establishment
where we were employed, forgot the propriety of a Friend,
and danced, not very gracefully, up to me with the intelli- ·
gence that the Popish Church in Kensington was in flames.
He was soon called to order by one of the elders. But I .had
at that time a good opportunity of judging the sincerity of
the philanthropy and benevolence of our Orthodox and
Hicksite Friends. At that time I was employed as a learner
in the largest wholesale commission dry-goods store in
Philadelphia, and members of this highly respectable firm
were the leading men of the two branches of Quakerism.
As I was the only one of "the world's people" in the
establishment, and a mere puny boy, I was little restraint
upon them, and they surely might be considered as trustworthy interpreters of the feelings of this Sect. Before the
• merchants and others of the city, they were loud and energetic in their denunciation of persecution for religion's sake,
�184
St. :Joscplt's Clmrclt, Plti!adclpltia.
and of the fearful disgrace brought upon the " City of
Penn;" but, when we were by ourselves, the most common
remark was: "The Papists deserve all this and much more,"
and "it \vere well if every Popish church in the world were
levelled with the ground."
I was one day a witness of an incident that caused me,
even in the harassed state of my feelings, much amusement. The eldest member of the firm, a dignified, portly
man of· n~~rly eighty, whose white locks fell like strung
snow-flakes" around his ruddy face, was not a little of a wag.
Our head drayman was a German of prodigious strength,
and of natural shrewdness corresponding with his strength.
One morning Friend ·william engaged Rodolf in conversation about the gloomy state of affairs. Rodolf, rightly judging
that the " Native American" organization was not in reality
opposed to foreigners, but to Catholics, particularly Irish
Catholics, was no niggard in his praise of late events. \Villiam. H .... drew him QUt as much as possible and then
quietly remarked: "but, Rodolf, the Nativists do not intend
to stop with the Irish; as soon as they have exterminated
them, they intend to drive away the .Dutch." "Is that so,
\Villiam ?" says Rodolf; then raising his brawny arm, he
brought down his Herculean fist upon one of the cases,
with a force that split the wood, and with a fearful oath, he
invited all Native Americans to migrate to a warmer climate,
and for ten or fifteen minutes the tune of his canticle was
set to another key. \Villiam enjoyed some hearty laughs,
and walking away remarked to me " It seems, ..... what
is sauce for the herring is not sauce for the pickerel."
The evening of this day will be forgotten by me only
when the name of motlzcr loses its music. The iconoclasts,
after doing their Vandal work in Kensington, by common
conse!)t, marched to St. Augustine's. The neighbors, during the afternoon, had removed most of their household
goods, although it was hoped that being within the limits
of the city proper it would be protected by the civic autho- •
�St. :Joseplt's Clzurclt, P!ti!adelpltia.
185
rities. If space allowed, I might relate some very amusing
incidents of this sorrowful exodus. Mr. \Villiam Newland,
for many years organist of St. Jo.seph's, occupied the house
next the church, one of the two belonging to the Augustinian Fathers. The question of the hour was how to obtain
furniture-wagons to remove the pcnatesfami!iarcsque. 1\Irs.
N., in an emergency the better man of the two, impressed
every wagon she could into her service, whether it were
hired by her "good man" or by the neighbors. Members
of the American Protestant Association had been circulating around during the afternoon making inquiries as to the
ownership of the property, and, whenever they addressed
our lady friend, receiving answers more sharp than sweet.
As the shades of evening began to close and the little gormand birds were taking their post-supper meal previous to
tucking their pretty little heads under their cosy wings, a
big, burly-looking individual drove up in a splendid new
furniture-wagon, and jumping out, he addressed the busy
dame thus: "I say, missus, who does this house belong
to?" "I cannot say," answered Madam, "my husband
always pays the rent. I say, vVilliam," calling to her
spouse, "give this gentleman all the information you can."
Smooth-spoken Mr. Newland was much surprised at the
agreeable change in his good helpmate, but he was accustomed to obey orders, so he entertained our Native American with long answers giving the least possiQle amount of
information, and I can confidently assert that he was one
well able to do so. In the meanwhile the thrifty housewife employed herself in placing her furniture in the
wagon, and as our Nativist from the " South of France"
was remarking in a tone not at all remarkable for its dulcidity, "I say, Mister, I have asked you a dozen times, does
this house belong to the - - - priests ? " he was startled by
the crack of a whip, and turning, beheld Mrs. Newland
occupying his vacated seat, and driving down Fourth Street
at a rate of speed that pretty well winded him by the time
�I
86
St. :Joscp!t's Clwrclt, Pltiladclpltia.
he overtook her. "\Ve can't stand on ceremony at this
time," said she, smiling. Tired as he was, the joke was so
good he assisted her in placing the last of her chattel~ in a
place of safety.
The news of the burning of St. l\Iichael's, which occurred about three in the afternoon, soon spread through the
city and municipalities. In the large factories and shops
the men refused to work, and the employers themselves
desired to ~each their homes where they knew anxious wives
and daughters awaited their arrival. So about half past
four all the manufacturing establishments suspended operations. This in itself was unfortunate. Before six o'clock,
their usual hour for stopping work, the most troublesome
class of our citizens had already had their supper and were
ready for any work of mischief.
Before dusk, crowds began to assemble at Fourth and
New Streets. These were not the men who had burned St.
Michael's: they, although they had cried-"to St. Augustine's"-"to St. Joseph's"-"to St.l\Iary's,"-had gone home
to get their supper,-to have their wounds dressed,-to rest
from their (thank God!) unusual labors. These were, at
first, principally men and boys, h~bble-de-hoys, drawn
tog~ther by curiosity. A more pitiable, cowardly set it
would be hard to find. "Look out, I see an Irishman's
head," in the shrill voice of a ragged urchin, would send
them to Third, to Race, to Vine Street, to return again to
be again startled and started by an old woman from the
bonny braes, crying out: "O'ch! Jemmy, I'm blest, if I
didn't see a big mon wid a muskit looking a' out that windy
in the cupoly." There was no window in the cupola. Three
policemen, as to-day organized, six constables, as they were
then called, could at any time before 7 o'c., have dispersed
the wl}ole mob, and saved the church. But it was the
birth day of the Mayor's second daughter and she entertained that night.
By degrees the number so increased that even the cry
�. St. Yoscplz's Clmrclt, Pluladclplzia.
I
87
"there are six popes at the North window," was followed
only by a slight swaying of the mass, and a quivering sensation in the throats of the less daring. After 8 o'clock, his
honor the l\Iayor of the City of Philadelphia arrived, in a
hansom, hired, if not chz,rtered, for the occasion. American mobs are sometimes very orderly; due way was made
for his honor's cab. Mayor S .... was a brave man even
though he did possess a quality proverbially in contradiction with bra\·ery. He spoke to this effect : " Fellow
Citizens, men of Philadelphia, please retire. This church
•is under the protection of the city. I have the keys in
my pocket." If I mistake not, there was but one key for
the chu'rch, the front doors being f..'lstened by bars, and
the key of the back door was in the possession of a company of volunteer firemen who were endeavoring to save'
some of the valuable paintings in the pastor's house.
" I have the keys in my pocket ! " Pleasant news to our
brave rioters-" the l\Iayor has the keys,-no Paddies in
the church-go in Southwark,-hurrah for Kensington!"
resounded on every side, and in a shorter time than it
takes to write it, when once it '':as known there was no
one within to protect the holy of holies, a sash was thrust
in, and a boy cut the gas-pipe, applied the match, and the
church built by Dr. Matthew Carr, was one ma~s of flames.
\Vhat a spectacle! The night was calm, warm, and dark.
New Street, directly opposite the church, was open to the
river; for miles around the sky was a sheet of flames, the
river with its gliding bateaux. containing men and women
looked a stream of molten gold ;-yes, it seemed a fairy
scene. I stood with streaming locks, hat forgotten, in the
midst of one of the hundreds of groups, at a distance, gazing at the entrancing sight. "Brother," said a pious sister,
whose hand rested on my shoulder, "this reminds us of the
days of Nero, ofthe days of the Goths and Vandals. We
know not where this may end,-we may even be called
upon to die for our religion,-God grant us strength ! " On
VoL. m-No. 3·
24
�I
St. :Joseplz's Clwrclz, Pluladelpfzia.
88
my right stood a group of Italians, Tuscanese. A witheredlooking, wrinkled old hag (I mean no disrespect), with
face like a gargoyle, her deformed daughter almost as ugly
as the mother, a crowd of trembling bambini, the children
of Mrs. C ... i, then the mother of eighteen, herself looking as if scarce eighteen summers had passed over her head,
and the imperial Signora Tr ..... .
Signora Maria Fortunata Tr ..... was in my boyish
estimation a- person of far more than ordinary merits.
\Vith a person and carriage that suggested a Judith, she
possessed that almost universal genius seldom found but •
among the Italians. She spoke fluently, I thought el~gantly,
many modern languages,-a voice of almost fabulous compass was cultivated to a state of almost perfection,-her
power with the needle excelled every thing I have ever seen ;
a small piece of velvet, a scrap of satin or silk, a few strands
of gold thread, a bead or two, and, presto ! an article for a
fancy fair that brings five, six or even ten dollars,-a common print, a box of water colors, and lo ! an article to
grace lady's boudoir,- nor was she at home only in fancy
work, for when she assumed the part of Martha many an
Easter cake and savory fricata has tickled my boyish palate.
Near my Italian friends was a bevy of maiden ladies of
very unmaiden age, whose peculiar accent proclaimed the
North of Ireland. "Oh! how beautiful!" exclaimed Miss
B ... y. "It is exquisite," responded the chaste Susanna.
"It is perfectly heavenly," guggled the youthful Anna
Maria. The hot blood of Fortunata could bear it no longer.
Farewell, smooth round accents of Tuscany! "Ya-as it
is a very-er beautiful-er sight, but-er you-er will-er see-er
inore-er exquisite-er sight-er when you-er get-er to 'Ell J"
It began pianissimo con crescmdo, but when it ended, hell
was a yell. And Fortunata with eyes sparkling daggers, I
mean stilettoes, entered her brother's house, from which,
during the small hours of the morning; first, a fierce strain
from the harp, then some sharp chords from the piano, or
a
�St. :Josep!t's C!turclz-;. Plzi!adelplzia.
I 89
crisp notes from the guitar, told that her fiery spirit was,not
yet soothed. Friend of my childhood, I had been accustomed to wonder at you, a being so gifted, but from that
night scarce a day has passed that I have not prayed for
you as a sister in religion !
Nor were the feelings of Catholics only excited; I remember one of the younger members of the firm referred to
above, who still called himself a Friend, although he had
been turned out of meeting for marrying among the
" world's people," rushing up to me in a state of great agitation: " Do you Catholics intend to allow this to go on
forever? \Vhy do you not protect yourselves? If a stop is
not put to this, every Catholic church in the city and county will this night be in ashes. Tell me where I can get a
gun, and I, Q~aker as I am, will help to protect you." A
short time later I saw him in an apothecary shop coolly
drinking a glass of soda water. I afterwards learne.d he
was, at the time, a liberal contributor to the· American
Protestant Association.
It was a terrible night. One of the assistants at St.
Mary's, now a revered Father of our Province, seemed to
be completely overcome Three times, as I have been told,
was he led back from the scene of the conflagration, and yet
again he was found sitting upon a curb, almost immediately
opposite the burning church, weeping like a child.
It was but a few minutes after the matc.h had been applied,
when the whole edifice was a mass of flames, the fire,
bur~ting from the many wi.ndows, licked the walls and
mounted to the cupola. High above the billows of the
fiery sea shone the glittering emblem of salvation ; for
minutes it swayed in the torrid atmosphere, then with a farsounding crash fell into its translucent grave. A yell as of
twice twenty thousand savages greeted the fall of the Cross,
while a witnessing Israelite, with biting sarcasm, remarked:
"I did not know there were so many Jews in Philadelphia."
Before IO o'clock the fire, having consumed itself, gradually
�190
St. J'oscp!t's /Ciwrclt, P!ti!addpltia.
died out and by 12 o'clock the skies so brilliantly decked
wore the sable shroud of an early summer's midnight. On
the next day, nothing remained of the noble edifice but the
\Vest wall and portions of the side \\'alls. Yes! there stood
the \Vest wall, and when on the morrow, the curious
gathered to gaze upon the work of Protestant ignorance
and fanaticism, on ·that scorched, charred wall, just above
where the Gop of Peace so long had dwelt, they were
affrighted to r.e.~d in letters of gold, these awful words: "The
eye of the Lord seeth." Yes, the eye of the Lord in truth
did see, and there these words remained for months, until
Philadelphia hung her head in shame, when the rains of
Summer gently washed them away. In this fire the valuable library of the Augustinian fathers was destroyed as well
as many costly works of art, both in painting and statuary.
The fathers at St. Joseph's were very fearful, though in
truth, at this time, they were in but little danger. Friends,
both male and female, began to assemble. Fortunately,
yet not intentionally, the ciboriums were empty. The
sacred vessels and precious ornaments were consigned to
trust-worthy persons who quietly car(ied them away to
places of security. And in the early:hours of morning I
was wakened from my broken slumbers by the sound of
passing footsteps. Some of the young gentlemen of St.
Joseph's were carrying the beautiful painting of the Crucifixion, which had b€en removed from its frame, to the house
of one of our neighbors, to the house of a plucky little
Dublin lady, who quietly remarked as it was borne into her
house " I will protect that picture as I would my daughter's
honor." She never had occasion to protect either, but I
would not have liked to see her, if it had been. necessary.
The gr~atest annoyance, at this critical period came from
our nearest neighbor. At both corners of \Villing's Alley
lived leading members of the Episcopal church, but very
different was their conduct towards our fathers. It is a
pleasure to say that the Hon. J os. R. Ingersoll, until the
�St. :Joscplt's Clwrclt, P!tiladdpltia.
191
time of his death, was a true gentleman, desirous of giving
us no trouble, but, on the contrary, anxious to oblige. And
wh~n we celebrated the joyful proclamation of our l\Iother's
Immaculate Conception, it was the heavy silk curtains of
l\Ir. Jos. R. Ingersoll which made the rich golden background, and then as on many another occasion his plants
and flowers adorned our altars. On the contrary our nearer
neighbor, rllrs. A ... ne was a continual thorn in our side.
In every little spiteful contrivance she and hers excelled.
Their kitchen was almost contiguous to the gate of entrance
to the church yard. It had a discharge spout about three
or four inches above the pavement. After service, or when
a funeral procession was waiting on the side walk, it was the
amusement of the domestics of this amiable lady to let off
the accumulated greasy water, so as to injure the dresses of
the ignorant Papists.
On this eventful .May night, our neighbors A .. nes were
determined nothing should be done at St. Joseph's without
their knowledge,-great was their devotion to curiosity!
Inclination wooed them to view the glorious sight up Fourth
Street, but stern duty said, these crafty Jesuits must be
watched. So regular sentries were set. First was l\Iadam
" with eyes of Mars to threaten and command," her orange
ribbons mingling with her gray curls ; next a brawny
maiden of the "Church by law established," in the old
country; then my son, the vestryman of the old St. Peter's Church-in fact, the poor creatures were not relieved
from their double task of watching a burning Popish church
and the preparations for saving some of the valuables of a
threatened Jesuit chapel, until a Catholic wag suggested
the efficacious idea of lighting a fire near the wall so often
crowned with heads and sprinkling it with odoriferous
assafcetida. From that time the Dame considered it much
more agreeable to review her fellow American Protestants
returning from the field where they "had clone," or, at least,
yelled "well."
•
�192
St. J'oseplz's Clzurclz, Plziladelplzia.
For some weeks we endured the calm that bodes a. storm.
The congregation of St. Michael's determined to spend not
one Sunday without enjoying the happiness of being present
at the dread Sacrifice. Men, women, and children turned
out in large numbers, and worked day and night. \Vomen
and delicate maidens assisted in cleaning the old bricks and
in carrying the mortar. From the debris they erected a
chapel large enough to seat a thousand or more and had it
finished bef<{re Saturday midnight.
St. Augustine's people followed the good example and
soon had the Chapel of our " Lady of Consolation "
(beautiful name!) built, where l\Iass was said until a much
larger and more orna~e edifice sprang like a phcenix from
the ashes of Dr. Carr's church. It also served for various
ecclesiastical purposes until, a few years since, it was torn
down to make way for a fine parochial school-house.
Instead of longing for the glorious 4th of July we dreaded
its approach-many feared a renewal of the fearful scenes of
violence May had brought us. \Vhat, then, was our surprise when early on the morrow we learned that the pastor
of the adjoining parish of St. Philip'~, whose church was
situated in the most bigoted part of Sou.thwark, surrounded
with the most ignorant and reckless sort of Nativists, had,
the day before, openly, in broad day light, had arms and
ammunition carried into the church, and that a company of
volunteers, called the "Hibernia Greens," were in possession
of the sacred edifice. It was a day of fearful, yea, truly
awful, anxiety. During the evening, rumor, busy jade,
caused many a heart to beat in dread, and many a head to
bow in prayer.
On the Festival of the Most Precious Blood, my sisters
and I offered our holy communion that God might protect
our chun::hes and our hoines. During this season of terror
'our first thoughts were always not for ourselves or homes
but for our churches. Judging of others by ourselves, there
were few Catholics who would not have gratefully looked
�St. 7oseplz's C!mrcft, P!ziladelplzia.
193
on the ashes of their homes, if the House of God were only
.spared. After the eight and a half o'clock Mass we walked
down· to the fortified temple. The excited crowd of the
previous night was all dispersed, and, except by ourselves
and a few other of the curious descendants of an unhappily
'curious mother, the street was deserted. Had the authorities of the municipality of Southwark, whose office was
" round the corner," posted a dozen constables in the neighborhood, no mob had assembled on the 6th of July 1844.
Our apprehensions having been allayed by the peaceful
surroundings of the church, we took our usual seats in St.
Mary's for the late Mass. Our pew, being on the South
side of the altar, commanded a view of the greater part of
the congregation. Every thing proceeded sccuJldum rcgulam et etiam consuetudines, until the Elevation, when the
startling clamor of an approaching mob was heard. l\1any
a rosy countenance assumed the hue of the lily.
I can imagine the feelings of a father when he hears the
approach of the wretches who come to slay him, the wife
of his bosom, and her offspring, but how describe the sensation of a Catholic, when an insatiate rabble comes to insult
the God by whom he moves and lives. Heavenly Father,
I have experi'enced it once; my sensations then were too
awful to be even now dwelt upon, much more to be recounted to others: Oh! if it be Thy holy will, may I never again
endure such a trial !
I noticed that most of the men who occupied places
within the pews at once arose, quietly and respectfully, and
placed themselves next the door. Nearer and nearer come the
cries,-a member of the city Council, who, on the evening
before, when the commander of the military had given the
order to fire upon the mob, had stepped before the cannon's
mouth and countermanded that order, and who had then
been taken prisoner and incarcerated in the House of the
God of peace, had been released from confinement, and was
b7ing carried in triumph by the mob to his dwelling near
�194
St. J'oscp!t's C!wrclt, Plti!addpltia.
St. l\Iary's Church. Nearer and nearer came the shouts,
but the celebrant, if he felt any fear, showed none, as the.
God of battles lay before him. Nearer and nearer yet came
the yells, and as they passed behind the church the solemn
miscrcrc nobis was over, and the soothing dona uohs paum
of Di l\Ionti in D floated melodiously upon our anxious
ears. Further and further receded the tumult and ,,·hen
the ltc mi'ssa est was chanted all was still.
After our.. frugal dinner, we returned for " the office, "
repeating in our hearts the words of David; "for he hath
hidden me in His tabernacles; in the days of evil He hath
protected me in the se.cret places of His tabernacles." "Be
Thou my helper: forsake me not : do not Thou abandon
me, 0 God, my Sa\'iour. For my father and my mother
ha\·e forsaken me: but the Lord hath taken me up. vVait
on the Lord, act manfully; and let thy heart take courage,
and wait thou for the Lord." But we found the gates
closed and at that moment the bell of the State-House tolled;
the city was under martial law. Fearful words, "under
martial law ! " \Vith sadly foreboding hearts we retraced
our steps, unaware that the gilt crosses on our manuals,
which we made no effort to conceal, '\fere attracting unusual
attention. Nor were we aware that by the time we reached
our homes we were followed by a number of persons.
Turning upon the steps, we recognized old acquaintances,
our friendly salutations receiving no friendly response,then we awoke to the tact that \Ye were pariahs in our
nati\'e city,-in the City of Brotherly love,-in a city where
our ancestors had shed their blood for the country's liberty.
Yes, next door neighbors, with whom our intercourse for
years bad been of the friendliest, now looked at us with
eyes averted,-friends, who had come to us in joy and sorrow, no'w saw us not when we saluted, a neighborhood
where we had been born and reared now knew us not, we
had become strangers to our brethren, "aliens to the sons
of our mother; "-our mother's only sister and that sister's
�St. 7osep!t's Clwrclz, P/uladelpltia.
195
sons and daughters disowned all connection with us. Still
the bell tolled on, proclaiming with iron tongue that the
city of Philadelphia was under martial law.
All this while the neighborhood of St. Philip's Church
was in a ferment of excitement. Queen Street and all the
streets leading to it were filled with a disorderly mass of
people, so that it was deemed advisable to make some
concessions to the mob. A parley was beat and it was
agreed that the Company of Hibernia Greens, occupying
the Church, should march out with arms unloaded and
reversed. All of them did not comply with the agreement.
Unfortunately when they reached Second and Catharine
Streets, provoked at the cruel taunts of the rabble, they
turned and fired into the crowd, and believing that " he who
fights and runs away may live to fight another day," they,
plied their heels and scattered ingloriously in every direc. tion. Some did not stop running until they reached Germantown and Manayunk, and Norristown, and other suburban localities more agreeable for their security than for
odors; it has been said that two of them continued their
weary pedestrianism until they reached New York City.
Some of the yelping mob pursued the swift warriors.
One poor fellow named Gallagher was chased to Sixth and
Small Streets, about half a mile from the scene of bold and
daring deeds, when running panting into a house, the good
house-mother hid him between two feather beds. At first
the hounds were baffled in the search, and having lost the
scent they were about retiring as well bred curs, when the
glitter of his regimentals caught the sight of one whose
snarl soon recalled the others. A rope was "soon around
his neck and down the stairs was he dragged and along the
streets for fully three quarters of a mile to Christian and
Fourth Streets where a culvert was building, when the
inhuman wretches amused themselves in heaving large
-cobble stones upon him, varied at intervals by six or eight
heavy men jumping upon him; twice they hanged him to a
VoL. m-No. 3·
25
�196
St. :Joseph's Clmrclt, P/u!addpltia.
lamp-post, till after two hours of torture indescribable he was
rescued and carried to the Pennsylvania Hospital. On the
next Sunday I saw him apparently unscarred and unscathed.
It had been remarked that in both these riots it was impossible to kill an Irishman. A few years after, he rented a
stable belonging to us, situated where the east end of the
present College building stands, and one hot afternoon in
July he ate some blushing raspberries smothered in cream,
and in two hours he was where "the wicked cease from
troubling and the weary are at rest." Old Brother McGirr
used to say, with one of his peculiar laughs: "poor Gallagher, all the Nativists in Philadelphia could not kill him,
and a saucer of berries did it."
The firing of the brave " lads in Green " was the signal
for the attack upon the Church. In ten minutes the interior
was gutted. Lewis C. Levin, whose wife, daughter, and
step-daughter have since been received into the Church by
one o(our fathers, mounting the sacred table in front of the
tabernacle, delivered a harangue, which for blasphemy and
ribaldry would have befitted the days of the French Revolution.
General Cadwalader, who command~d the military, had
established his head-quarters at the old Girard Bank in
Third Street opposite Dock. Finding it necessary to be
there, he with two of his officers, in citizen-dress and unarmed, entered a close carriage at the Church, and had
succeeded in passing through the mob, when they were
recognized by an old woman, the wife of a Catholic who had
not sense enough to hold his silence. At once the cry and
hue was raised of "Old Cadwalader! Bloody Cadwalader!
Irish Cadwalader!" and four or five hundred furious men
started in pursuit. The driver drove for life. When turning Secqnd Street into Pine, a stalwart American citizen of
Scotch birth caught the near horse by the bit, and the
carriage was brought.to a halt. My eldest brother, whose
dormant Catholicity had been roused by the persecution,
�St. Yosep!t's Clmrclt, Plti!adelpltia.
.
197
and whom my good mother imagined she had safely locked
up in the second story back room, but who had climbed the
pipe and was in the midst of the excitement, taking in the
situation with a glance of the eye, although a slender, weak
young man, seized the gentleman from Glasgow by the
throat and dashed him to the ground, while the noble brutes
dashed wildly on. Henry, Henry, why were you so reckless? As it was generally believed that my brother was
anti-Catholic, acquaintances surrounded him and his bad
reputation saved him from the fury .of the mob, who would
willingly have made him a victim to their baffled rage.
The majority of the mob pursued the fleeing commanderin-chief until they reached Third and Spruce Streets. Third
Street between Spruce and \Valnut was at that time paved
with wooden blocks. The horses on reaching this smooth
pavement made such speed that the mob, having a salutary
fear of the loaded cannons that guarded the entrance to the
bank, gave over the pursuit.
They halted and consulted as to their further proceedings.
A part proposed to attack the Jesuit Church in Willing's
Alley, but it was too near head-quarters; some suggested
St. Mary's, but the majority wished to return to the field'of
their preceding efforts; and the majority, as in all well
regulated mobs, carried the day.
My mother, sisters, and worthy self, were standing, in a
state of palpitating excitement, upon the door-steps, anxious
to see, hear, and know all that was going on, when a constable ran up and began to push us into the house, saying;
"for God's sake go in l bar the door l " and to me, "my son,
dose the shutters as soon as you can." It was timely
advice, a large portion of the mob, in returning to St.
Philip's, passed down Spruce Street, and being informed by
an officious neighbor, to whom much kindness had been
shown by my brother at a time when kindness was sorely
needed, that this was the house of the young man who had
rescued the General, made an effort to enter, and, not sue-
�198
St. :Joscplz's Clwrclt, Pltiladdplzia.
ceeding, stoned the house. Happily they were in a hurry
to return to the scene of nobler exploits, for if they had
gone up the alley, there was not a shutter to any of the
back windows, and there were only five frightened women
and a delicate lad of fourteen to oppose them. This incident made us aware that my brother was not up stairs
sleeping soundly, as we thought; and anxiety for his safety
was added to the other terrors of that fearful 6th of July.
The departure of the mob found us again doing duty
upon the post of observation. The weather was extremely
hot, the solemn sound of the tolling bell had a most melancholy effect, and the marching, to the scene of disturbance, of the soldiery from the interior of the state, sent by
the Governor, gave rise to many terrifying reports and
surmtses. Indeed it was a day hard to banish from the
memory.
In the meanwhile the rioters were not idle. They had
gone to all the stores for squares, and made requisitions,
collecting all the powder, shot, nails, chains, in fact every
thing that could be used in loading the cannon they had
obtained. Then they waited for the n_ight.
H was a night of more than ordinary darkness. The
moon was ashamed to look upon such doings and the stars
kept her company. At the usual hour the gas was lighted,
but was soon extinguished by the rioters in their neighborhood. At this time the military were in the Church and
guards were posted on all sides to meet the mob if it should
attempt to regain possession. Poor soldiers! they were in
a most trying position. On the roofs of all the surrounding buildings were men, and women, and boys, with muskets, and rifle:;, and pistols, and stones, and hot water to fire
or pour down upon them. They stood out boldly in the light.
Whilst the rabble at Queen and Front Streets could take
easy aim, themselves being in the dark, the only thing the
soldiers had to direct their aim was the flash of the cannon,
which the rioters would load in Front Street, then suddenly
�St. :Joseplz's Clturch, Plziladelplzia.
199
wheel round into Queen Street, take deliberate aim, fire,
and the man who applied the match was back in Front
Street almost before the soldiers had seen the flash .
. Every thing seemed to be against the volunteers, and
according to every human calculation they should have
suffered severely; but, in fact, God was against the ri'oters.
If my memory does not fail me, not one soldier was killed
and but one or two were injured; on the other hand, the
rioters acknowledged a heavy loss of life, and some carry
their inglorious scars to this day. It was a well known fact,
although great efforts were made to keep it secret, that
scores of killed Nativists were carried to the different wharfs,
and even far down "the Neck," and with heavy weights
attached were thrown into the river. For months and even
years after, when bodies in various degrees of decomposition, with great stones attached, were discovered in the
Delaware, they were quietly buried, with the connivance of
the municipal authorities and the press. It is now not an
uncommon thing, when instructing some convert from the
south-eastern portion of the city to hear: " Rev. sir, my
father (or my uncle, or my brother), was killed at the time
of the riots at St .. Philip's. They just carried him down and
threw him into the river." "The bowels of the wicked are
cruel."
In the small wee hours of July 7th, the weary mob, seeing that victory was not theirs, gradually dispersed, and by
4 o'clock, the soldiers were sleeping upon the pavements of
Queen, Second and Third Streets, or talking together and
partaking of refreshments furnished by the neighbors,
unconscious of the castor-oil, salts, and other drugs introduced for their especial delectation.
For weeks a heavy gloom hung over Philadelphia. The
city was still under martial law, and the streets leading to
the Catholic churches being guarded by soldiers, not a little
inconvenience was caused to pedestrians, and as then we
had few omnibuses and no street-cars, most people had to
pedestrianize.
�200
Father IVeniuger on the Pacific Coast.
During this reign of terror St. Joseph's was guarded with
more than ordinary care from the espionage of the A ... ne
household. The dread Sacrifice was daily offered up in the
dear old basement, but the dear old altar, with its antependium of the Passion instruments, was removed last year to
make room for the present beautiful altar of the Sacred
Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
The excesses of 1\Iay and July caused a very salutary
reaction in public sentiment. The eloquent but sarcastic
preachers of St. Augustine's and St. Philip's received from
the Bishop kind permission to take a trip to Europe, from
which they did not return until after his translation to the
archdiocese of Baltimore. And when, shortly after, the
Academy of the Fine Arts was destroyed by the torch of
the incendiary, the halcyon days of Catholicity began in
the city of Penn. The city proper willingly and liberally
paid for the destruction of St. Agustine's, <J.nd, if it could
only have wiped out the disgrace, would willingly and liberally have paid for that of St. Michael's, and for the injury
done to St. Philip's, although both were situated in distinct
municipalities.
(To be coutinucdS ·
FATHER WENINGER ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
SIXTH LETTER.
I clos~d my labors in the solitary St. Patrick's church,
and returned to Portland. Here I gave a retreat to the
assembled clergy of the dioceses of Portland and Nesqualy.
To ensure the wonted success of the Spiritual Exercises I
�Fatlzer T"Vminger. on tlze ·Pacific Coast.
201
enjoined absolute silence, and, though want of room and
proper accommodations frequently, perhaps, tempted to an
infraction, I was convinced again, that a strict observance
of this rule, together with a close adherence to a method
of giving retreats alluded to in my second letter, produces
the happiest results. After completing the clerical retreat,
I complied with two other requests of giving the exercises.
A congregation of Sisters founded by a Canadian bishop
under the title of "Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus
and Mary," was the first to claim my services. Like so
many kindred institutions, which during the current century
sprang up in France and elsewhere, their main object is the
instruction of Christian youth, especially, the education of
girls.
The site of their convent is judiciously chosen; it commands a full view of very picturesque environs. From this
point Mt. Hood, though thi~ty miles distant, is distinctly
visible towering into the sky.
My next sojourn was at Fort Vancouver, the residence
of the Bishop of Nesqualy, ·washington Territory. There
I conducted the Sisters of St. Anne through the Spiritual
Exercises. Though I consider it out of the missionary's
province to give retreats to Sisters, since upon him devolves
the sterner duty of reclaiming the lost and wandering sheep,
while others care for those within the fold, still, as Priests
were so few and the Spiritual wants so many, I judged it
expedient to lend my aid in that direction, and perfect the
work of the diocese.
And now the time had come to set out for the extreme
end of the Western continent. Often when studying the
map of the U. S., I had said to myself: Would that I might
even reach that point and find, at least some Indians there
to baptize and console; but how agreeably was I surprised,
when the Bishop of Victoria, the capital of Vancouver's
Island, invited me to open a mission in his cathedral. I
embarked immediately, and as the projected road from Port-
�202
Father
~Vmillger
on .tlze Pacific Coast.
land to Puget Sound was not even begun, I had to make
the entire distance by sea. \Ve re-crossed the dreaded
Columbia Bar in safety, but soon another danger stared us
in the face. The woods sloping down to the coast and
girding the island caught fire. Dense clouds of smoke
drifted athwart our path and a heavy fog darkened the
whole atmosphere. This combination of untoward circumstances greatly imperilled our voyage; we were fortunate,
however, t~' escape every accident, and hove in sight of
Victoria. The steamer, in order to avoid paying wharfage
and duties twice, neither entered the harbor, nor delivered
her cargo, but stood off at a distance of three miles. In
consequence, all passengers bound for the city were obliged
to have recourse to boats and barges for transference. I
declined to engage a boat and waited for a schooner that
came .up, but, to my great regret, I learned that it was
destined exclusively for the transport of the Chinamen and
baggage aboard. Anxious to be in the city before night,
I was perplexed how to acccomplish my purpose. In this
plight, I descried a skiff skimming the waves and rapidly
advancing towards us. Soon it lay along side of our steamer. When the oarsman of the little craf!. a mere shell, offered
to carry two persons ashore, all the passengers urged me
to accept of his services and make one of the party. Besides, the seaman promised to row his best and outstrip the
schooner in reaching the city. Darkness was setting in
and there was no time to be lost. I accepted the terms, and
consigning my trunk to the transport I ventured to step
into the tiny boat.
Victoria, which is an important sea-port, ranks third on
the island, and is magnificently .situated. For the charms
of its surrounding scenery it stands unrivalled. Endless
perspe<;tives of rural beauty and wild ocean and mountain
grandeur lengthen out before you. Puget Sound, just
opposite, is dotted with a countless number of charming
little islands, and the shores when viewed from the Mountain
�Fat!ter TVeninger
011
t!te Pacific Coast.
203
Range or the Cascade line, where glaciers tower and glide,
gives a correct idea of the truly sublime in nature.
My labors opened here with a Retreat to the Sisters of
St. Anne, after which I entered upon the severer task of a
mission at the cathedral. To know in what language to
address my hearers, I inquired first, what nationalities were
represented in the congregation.
The answer was: "\Ve have here English, Irish, Germans,
French, Italians, Spaniards, Indians." My resolution was
easily taken. Learning, however, that, with the exception
of the Indians, all the rest understood English, I determined
to use that, language in 1'ny sermons, reserving the others
for use in the Confessional. The Mission was a great success; and I was especially glad that it was given in a city
called "Victoria," and iu a cathedral dedicated to St. Andrew,
the Apostle of the Cross. I said to myself: " You may
now be thankful to God, Christians of Victoria, that in my
missionary journeyings I have reached this end of the
continent and erected the emblem of salvation among you."
One of the local papers gave a most favorable account of
the rviission and its results.
.
After my Mission at Victoria I went to visit two congregations on the shores of Puget Sound. These congregations
must, of necessity, increase very rapidly, since the \Vestern
terminus of the Northern Pacific R. R. will be in their neighborhood; and a city is in prospect which, they say, will
far surpass San Francisco.
To go back to Portland and the Southern part of Oregon,
I had to pass over what is called the Olympia stage-road,
and I may remark that staging in that part of the country
is a most tiresome and o(ten, too, a most dangerous mode
of travelling. But that road over which I had to travel is
perhaps the very worst among the bad. It was in a most
wretched condition, with a great depth of mud on it and
innumerable· deep holes over which we had to jolt at an
awful rate. I determined that I would never be so severe
VoL. rn-No. 3·
26
�204
Fatltcr TVmingcr on tltc Pacific Coast.
I
as to give to any sinner whatever such a hard penance as
that of travelling over this road by stage. I myself was
far more wearied by six hours of it than by the whole
journey from N. York to San Francisco. The worst feature
of it all was that in the very ugliest part of the road, where
it was all covered with slush or water we heard the stern
command of the driver: " Gentlemen, walk !" I remonstrated, stating that I had only light shoes on me. " Can't help
you, Sir, this'is our rule." Soon we came to an elevation
so steep th;t it was with the greatest difficulty the poor
.horses could pull the stage after them, and it was distressing to hear their loud a.nd violent breathing. One of the
passengers exclaimed; "Goodness· me, I'm afraid those
horses will explode !"
A very interesting view, on that road through \Vashington Territory, is the height of the fir-trees reaching often
over 300 feet. This timber is used for ship-masts and sent
even to China and St. Petersburg. A man who had approached the Territory from the seaside seeing something
outtopping the clouds was curious enough to ask what it
could be. The answer he received was: "trees." " \Vhat,
said he, "trees above the clouds!" H~)hought it was but a
joke until he had.come ashore and seen with his own eyes
the immense height of those trees. The bases of some of
them were as much as twelve feet in diameter, and so difficult
a thing is it to fell such monsters and clear the ground
after their fall that few persons could think of settling there,
until the railroads brought activity and enterprise with them.
The climate is very agreeable and the temperature much
milder than that of the Eastern States in the same latitude.
·After a stay of some days at Portland, I took the stage
to Jacksonville, a city on the Southern borders of Oregon.
An incipent that occurred there will serve to show with
what zeal the people entered upon the Mission. A theatrical troupe arrived there on Friday and announced that
they would play a comedy on the next day. It is wonder-
�Fat!ter
~Veninger
on tlte Pacific Coast.
205
ful what excitement such an announcement causes in such a
place. Yet, though the drums were beating and the band
playing, inviting people to come to the show, only seven
persons attended it. They preferred to go to the Church
and hear the sermon, so the play was deferred until the
mission should have ended.
From Jacksonville I proceeded to Roseburg, where I
gave a mission, and had the pleasure of receiving into the
Church some Americans of note, among whom were relatives of the ex-Governor of Oregon. My next mission I
was obliged to preach in the courthouse of the town, as
there was no church fit for the purpose. Thence I proceeded to Corvallis. All these towns are situate in the
fertile, thickly settled and well cultivated \Vil!amette valley,
of about three hundred miles in extent, and containing
Salem the capital of the territory. At this latter place I
lectured on the Infalibility, while the Legislature was in
session, some of whose members came to listen and seemed
to appreciate the bearing of the arguments. During my
stay in Salem an amusing little incident happened to me in
'connection with a Jew who was a tailor in that city. ·Having visited him in order to secure tne services of his craft,
I was quite surprised to hear him launch forth into most
cordial eulogies on the advantages of my mission, begging
me not to forget to come from time to time, in order that
they might oftener have the opportunity of profiting by so
great a blessing. Not knowing what motives he could
have for such enthusia~tic admiration, I asked him why he
seemed so much pleased with the mission as even to desire
a repetition of the same. "It was owing to your mission"
he said "that restitution was made to me for stolen property.
A very fine thing that mission! I hope, Rev., Sir, to see you
again." Noticing· his good disposition, I asked him if he
sincerely believed all that the prophets had foretold respecting the coming of the Messiah. " Certainly I believe" he
replied. \Veil then, I continued, I shall simply refer to the
�206
Fatlzcr 1Ymingcr on t!tc P..zrijic Coast.
prophecy of Aggeus. This prophet tells us that the Jews,
at the command of God, erected a temple in honor of the
:Most High, but, seeing that "it was as not/zing in comparison
to the one" built by Solomon, they wept and refused to be
comforted. The prophet, to console them, affirmed that
this second temple, nevertheless, would become more glorious than the first, because "saitlz tlzc Lord of Hosts, tlzc
desired of all uations slzall come, and I will fill tlzis !tOltSt'
witlz glory."_ Now, I argued, this second temple is no
longer in exi~tence, and consequently, the Messiah must
have come when it did exist, or else the prophet has
deceived you. "This prophet you speak of," he replied,
"is not mentioned in our Hebrew Bible." "Yes he is," I
answered, and requesting him to bring me his bible I
pointed out the desired passage. Having read the prophecy
and convinced himself of the truth of my assertion, he
seemed quite perplexed and stood for some moments in
mute astonishment. At length, suddenly casting the book
into a corner of the room, he exclaimed; "No matter, let
the prophet say what he pleases ; sooner than become a
Christian I will perish with Jerusalem!". Not heeding this
outburst of passion I calmly remarked; ''How unreasonable!
prove to me that the :\Tessiah has not yet come and I,
Catholic priest that I am, will turn Jew. But He has come
as the prophet foretold. Please take this," I continued,
handing him a volume in defence of our holy Religion,
"and learn for yourself the claim which Catholicity possesses
in calling herself the true Church of the Messiah."
After leaving the capital of Oregon it was my good
fortune once again. to enjoy the magnificent scenery of the
Columbia River. Nowhere have I seen the wild grandeur
of creation more lavishly displayed than along the banks
of this noble stream. So varied are the scenes and so
multifarious the views, that the ·tourist must needs be ever
on the alert, if he would not fail to take in the entire extent
of their beauty and sublimity. The eye one moment
viewing towering cliffs, interspersed with dashing cascades,
�Fatlur lVcninger on tlze Pacific Coast.
207
the next, resting on numerous islands teeming with luxuriant vegetation, prompts one to speak of the Creator as
"!udms in orbc tcnmmn," playing in the world while creating it. The current of the river, in some places, is so
strong, that steamers are frequently, repulsed, and are often
obliged to exert their utmost force if they would make the
least headway.
The next mission I gave was at \Valla Walla, when I
preached before one English and two French congregations.
Here I had the happiness of meeting with three of our
Fathers residing among the Coeur d'Alene Indians, and saw
with ineffable consolation the incalculable amount of good,
which the good Fathers accomplished among these poor
children of the forest. \Vhat joy it gave me to witness
this rude people assemble regularly morning and evening
to repeat in unison their humble petitions and benedictions
to the Giver of all blessings! Happy Indians ! who live
with your holy priests safe from the danger of a corrupt
civilization, pure in your baptismal innocence, and rivalling
by the fervor and simplicity of your lives the heroic lessons
left us by the first followers of the Apostles. It is painful
to think how soon corruption, following in the train of advancing civilization, may invade your happy solitude, to
poison the pure joys which a simple Faith secures to you.
Concluding my missions at Walla Walla and neighborhood, I ·was obliged to undertake the tedious voyage back
again to Portland. Winter was now fast approaching, but
before I could return to San Francisco I was engaged to
give a series of sermons to a French Congregation at
Cowlitz in the diocese of Nesqualy. Thence I returned by
canoe to Portland, where I took the steamer for San Francisco. I was accompanied by Mr Holliday, the superintendent of the line, his son-in-law, and the ex-governor of
Oregon who were very attentive to me. I predicted a safe
and pleasant trip, and the event so justified my prediction
that the Captain said a voyage even in midsummer could
not have been more favorable.
�INDIAN MISSIONS-LAKE HURON.
KILLARNEY, l\IANITOULINE ISLAND,
MAY 6th, 1874·
F ATHEK,
P. C.
You no doubt accuse me of neglect' and ingratitude; but ad
impossibi!e 1zcmo tmctur. How could I write with paddle in
hand, or in the midst of a snow-shoe tramp? I suppose you
have heard of Father Ferard's quitting our mission for
Sault Ste. Marie, and leaving me alone \vith Father Blettner,
whose age and infirmities confine him to the village of
\Vikwemikong.* This throws the heavy burthen of our
vast ri1ission upon my poor shoulders; and thus, farewell
to the few snat<:hes of leisure I used to get before. \Valk-ing is no more enough, as it was formerly; I must be
alw·ays on the run, in the fond hope- of doing work that
would suffice for three zealous mission-~ries. Now, honestly,
can you accuse me of negligence?
DEAR REVEREr\0
*Killarney is the Post Office address of our mission of the Holy Cross,
lVikv:emikong the name of the Indian village where the missionaries
reside.
For the better understanding of our correspondent's winter labors, it
may not be amiss to remember the main outlines of his field of operations.
Lake Huron is divided into two unequal· portions by a long peninsula
trending to the North 'Vest, called Cabot's Head, and the Manitouline
chain of islands. In the largest of the chain, the Great Manitoulin or
Sncred Isle, is the 1\Iission of the Holy Cross. The Northern and Eastern
parts of the Lake are called :Manitou (i. e. Great Spirit) Bay or Lake, or
the N ortlt Channel, and Georgian Bay.,
Lake Nipissing lies to the North East of Lake Huron, nearly midway
between it and the Ottawa River. It covers an area of some 1700 square
miles, and connects with Georgian Bay by French River, the navigation
of which is impeded by numerous rapids.-ED. W. L.
�Indian Jlfissions-L.ake Huron.
Take a map of Lake Huron, measure the length and
breadth of the Georgian Bay, plus Lake Nipissing and its
surroundings: you will have the exact extent of oar mission,
of the field I have to range over at least twice a year-more
than three hundred miles from one end to the other. I have
to visit at least forty different stations scattered within those
limits. Nor are the means of locomotion remarkably easy:
in summer a steamboat helps me part of the way, but the
rest has to be done in barges or bark canoes, and in winter
most of the journey is hard snow-shoe walking.
I at first hesitated to. give you a sketch of my tramps this
last winter, for fear of discouraging the young recruits who
are preparing to join us and our dear Indians. But sober
second thoug~ts told me this fear was an insult to their
courage. The only effect of fatigues and dangers upon the
true soldier is to spur him on to renewed devotedness ; and
is not the missionary the truest of soldiers, he who battles
for a Crucified God? If I may be allowed to give evidence
for myself, I must say I have never regretted having asked
for these Indian Missions; I hope, \Vith God's grace, to
remain at my post till the end, and I should be only too
happy to die in harness.
Immediately after my annual Retreat (the only re-victualling time my poor soul has), began my winter excursions.
This was in the early part of December. Two villages, the
one ten miles, the other nineteen or twenty miles from our
head-quarters, were the first to be visited. After spending
a week in each, I came back to vVikwemikong, crossing
fields and forests, through water and mud, often knee-deep.
The day after my return, some people from Jiboanoning, a
village fifteen miles off, came to get me for the holy days of
Christmas and New Year's, intending to bring me back on
the ice.* I went with them, and remained there as late as
*Though the Great Lakes do not freeze over completely, still, just as
happens in the St. Lawrence for the last 200 miles of its course, where its
width increases from ten to fifty miles, the immediate coast-line, together
�210
Indian illissions-Lakt· Huron.
the Epiphany, waiting in vain to return by the icc-bridg<'.
But the bays and gulfs would not take; so, at last, I lost
all patience, and, knowing that I 'vas expected in other
villages by persons in danger of death, I resolved to make
an effort. I managed to get a small barge dragged over the
frozen shore-fringe and launched amid the floating cakes of
ice that met us on every side. ·with the help of two men
whojoined me in this rather dangerous attempt, I reached
our Holy Cross Mission at night-fall, safe and sound, thank
God, but sorely jaded and all covered with icicles.
. Ori the morrow of the next day,. I started off again, on
snow-shoes this time and alone, for Mitchiwigatinong,
thirty or forty miles from \Vikwemikong, and for my other
missions on the Grand Manitouline Island. On my way to
the second station, Shishigwoning, at least sixty miles from
Mitchiwigatinong, I suffered more than I can telL In the
midst ·of a terrific snow-storm, with the thermometer awfully
low, worn out more by hunger than fatigue, I fell prostrate
on the ice, at a short distance from the village I was going
to, unable to drag myself any farther. Thus, had not
Divine Providence willed otherwise, ~ should ha,·e ended
my days like Father de Noue, of the:Qld Society, who, as
you may remember, was found on his knees in the snow,
frozen to death. I was quite resigned to my fate, and was
even thanking Our Good God for so soon granting me the
grace I longed for, that of dying on the battle-field.
I felt but one pang of regret, and .that was for my poor
forsaken Indians. This it was which made me pray for
life. God was not slow to answer my unworthy prayer.
.Presently both wind and snow ceased, and you may imagine
with the bays and inlets, becomes ice· bound, thus affording a means of
and travel, cheaper, easier, and more expeditious than
anything short of steam communication. When the ice connects two
promontories 01 the opposite banks of a river, the ice·bn.dge is said to be
formed and the bay or river taken. Any protracted delay in this yearly
rom1ation is a eource of great inconvenience to travellers.-ED. W. L.
transport~tion
�Indian J1fissions-Lakc Huron.
211
my delight when I saw coming to my rescue several Redskins, who had spied me from their village. In a moment
they were by me, in another, they had taken off my snowshoes, laid me on a light sledge, and carried me off full tilt
to their huts, where a little food and a couple of hours in
a comfortable seat near a good fire, set me all right again.
That very evening, I said the night prayers with them, and,
all together, we sang a hymn of thanksgiving for my deliverance. Next day, I began my usu<J.l ministrations, as if I
had not been at death's door on the eve. Nine days were
spent in this village, preaching, catechizing, etc.
Afterwards, I went to a large saw-mill built at the mout_h
of the Spanish River, which falls into Lake Huron nearly
opposite to the centre of the north shore of Great Manitou:..
lin. This station is thirty or forty miles from the preceding
one. I spent some days here, and then followed the river
up some fifty miles, calling at the "shanties," (gatherings of
timber workmen), which supply the saw-mill. Thence I
moved on to Burch Lake, a _few miles from the last shanty;
there I remained some days with a band of Indians, part
Christian, part infidel, instructing some catechumens whom
I baptized before leaving. On the home stretch down
Spanish River, I visited a few families, settled here and
there, as well as some other stations, which it would be too
long to enumerate. Finally, after spending a few days more
at Mitchiwigatinong, the first station visited, I returned to
\Vikwemikong, stopping, on the way, at two stations which
had been passed by on the outward journey.
I had hoped for a short respite, after so long a tramp,
and well nigh two month's absence; but circumstances, or
rather God, forbade it. Even before my arrival at headquarters, a sick call had come from Kabekanong, seventy
odd miles away; and the dying had to be patient till my
return. Immediately therefore, and in great haste, I was
off again. A moment only did I halt by the way, to visit
another sick man who had been long waiting for me to die
VoL. m-No. 3·
•
27
�212
flldian Jfissions-Lakc Huron.
in peace. I reached Kabekanong in the middle of the night,
and, without delay, went to see a poor suffering woman,
whose illness ought to have killed her some months before,
but who would not consent to die, and would not die, she
said, before seeing the priest. \Vhether she had had a
revelation about it, or not, I cannot say; but, sure enough,
every thing turned out just as she had wished and foretold
it. She was lying on her bed when I came in. As soon as
she recognized my voice, she showed her gratitude by pressing my hand,-and blessed herself, asking me at the same
time to hear her confession, which she made with great
faith and. earnestness. \Vith a word of consolation, and a
promise to return with Holy Communion early on the
morrow, I betook myself to a neighboring house. Soon,
however, she sent for me again, saying she felt much weaker.
I accordingly gave her Extreme Unction and the plenary
indulgence in artim!o mortis; and scarcely an hour after,
she was yielding up to God her beautiful soul, with all the
marks of faith, love, and especially gratitude for the longwished-for gift. Truly, God has his chosen ones every
where, even among savages, and in the fastnesses of the
forest.
Twenty miles more brought me
Kitchikitigoning,
where I found another sick call. The Indians of this village, with whom I spent two days, did not cease to thank
me and to show how grateful they were, because, said they,
I was the first of the Fathers who had thought of visiting
them during winter, and who had dared to come so far, etc.
Returning, I evangelized the saw-mils and shanties of
Byng Inlet, and Collins Inlet,-and, lastly, came to Killarney,.where I spent the last four days of Holy \Veek, and
Easter Sunday. I returned, afterwards, to \Vikwemikong,
but could not remain long at head-quarters, as I have since
called at Michael's Bay, some thirty miles from \Vikwemikong, where I found our Indians making their sugar provision from the maple trees on the shores of·'' Manitou
to·
�Relations of "llifcdicinc-mnz'' witlt t!te Euil Spirit.
2I3
Lake." At present I have been here (at Killarney) eight
days, waiting for the steamboat to take me to my southerly
missions.
As you see, dear Reverend Father, I have precious little
time to spare: however, thanks be to God, my strength
seems to increase with my work.
You may pass this ktter to the scholastics. God grant
this feeble sketch of the labors of their fellow-novice may
foster, in the hearts of many, a vocation to these Indian
Missions, where true laurels are never wanting ! And let
them come soon, lest we should be completely crushed by
our overwhelming burthen.
Commending myself to your Holy Sacrifices and prayers,
I remain,
R;e. V;e. servulus in Christo,
PAUL NADEAU,
s. ].
RELATIONS OF "MEDICINE-MEN" WITH THE
EVIL SPIRIT.
-
In an interesting letter that Fr. Grassi sent us a few
months ago, he had occasion to speak of an epidemic that
had broken out among the Sinpesquensi Indians whilst he
was staying at their camp. "During this epidemic," he
writes, "no less than five Indian doctors were continually
busy about the sick and dying; and it was only after they
had tried all their incantations that I could have access to
the poor sufferers. In vain did I endeavor to dissuade them
from their foolish or devilish practices. I was speaking to
�214
Relations of "i}fcdicillc-JJZ<'Jz'' witlz tlzc Euil
~pirit.
the winds. Sorcery is practised by them to so great an
extent that most of the men have some satanic spell or
other about them. This is the way they manage to procure
it: One will go rambling alone in the woods, abstaining
from food and drink for ten, fifteen or even twenty days.
until at last from sheer exhaustion, he falls into a state of
senselessness. Then, whether in trance or waking he. does
not know, the gt'lzius loci appears to him and asks him if he
wishes to be·lucky in something or other, such as fishing,
hunting, trapping, or the curing of diseases. On the man's
answering in the affirmative he becomes the bondsman of
his visitor, from whom he receives a badge. It may be a
feather, or a claw, or a ring of the rattlesnake. This badge,
which they call someslz, they preserve with religious care
and, to doctors especially, who are supposed to have the
most powerful spell, it is a very rich source of revenue."
Naturally enough, such a piece of information coming to
us ·from such a source, aroused a lively interest and moved
us to inquire more fully into the matter. To these inquiries
Fr. Grassi replies by the following letter to Fr. Valente:
\VASHIXGTO~· TERRITORY,
ArrANAM, MAY 26,
'74·
REV. DEAR FATHER,
In my last trip I did not fail to ascertain, as you wished
me to do, the true story about the talisman which the medicine-men are saiq to receive from the evil one. I offer you
now the result of my investigations.
A famous medicine-man, whom I had baptized some
months ago, came lately to confession, and after he had
finished I asked him to sit down and began at once to
question him as to the way in which he had obtained his
someslz. This was his answer: \Vhen I was a boy about
twelve years of age I began to ramble alone on the mountains in search of a somcslz. One day-it was the fifth that
I had passed without having eaten or drunk anything-
�Relations of "illcdicine-lltm" witlt t!te Evil Spirit.
2 I5
whilst walking on the side of. a mountain, I heard a great
noise as if a mountain had fallen on the one where I was.
I stopped in dismay, when I heard a human voice calling
on me to approach. Immediately I hastened towards the
place whence the voice had come, when, upon raising my
eyes, I saw, at a distance of about fifteen steps, a very
beautiful young man covered with white feathers. He was,
indeed, a splendid sight to look upon and whilst I was
gazing, in mute wonder, at him, without approaching any
nearer to him, he told me not to fear, that he was a dweller
in another world far away from this, but that he had leave
to go and come at pleasure. He held in his hand a bow
and arrow which he showed to me saying that he meant to
give them to me, as he wished me to become valiant in
hunting. Having said this, he threw the bow and arrow on
the ground ; other things, too, he told me, which I have now
quite forgotten. At last he said: "vVell I am going away
now, but I shall see you again;" and he disappeared from
my sight. Then I went up to the spot where he had
thrown his bow and arrow, but there was nothing to be
seen. I looked all around among the trees, trying to catch
another glimpse of him, but in vain. I understood, however, what he meant. So I went·home and made myself a
bow and plenty of arrows ; and from that day my aim has
been unerring.
About one year after, whilst I was again travelling in
search of a someslt, I heard the voice of a man calling on
me and, upon looking up, I saw a bear. I was very much
frightened and began to look around for the man that had
called me. Then the bear, with precisely the same human
voice, spoke to me and said : " Approach and be not afraid.
I am a bear, a brute which you can kill with your arrow.
You will, in fact, kill me, flay me and eat my flesh. Now
I wish to teach you how to cure certain diseases-he mentioned what they were-You will apply your hands as I do.
Look-there was a stick there and, whilst he spoke, he put
�216
Relations of "ivfediciuc-mm" wit!t tlte Evil Spirit.
his paws upon it-Now, continued he, shoot me." Immediately I shot him dead, flayed him, ate a part of his flesh,
took his paw for a somes!t and went my way rejoicing.
Some two years later I was walking on the mountains and
heard the pici-a bird very common in these parts-I
looked to see him, but saw instead a very beautiful boy, white
and feathered and like in every respect, save his size, to the
one whom I h.'ad seen before. Near him was a rattlesnake
and the boy-tbld me how to cure the bite of the reptile.
"Kill that snake," said he, "and take his tooth for a somes!t."
I was <tfraid to stir, when, suddenly, the boy disappeared
and the pici pounced upon the_ rattlesnake and killed him.
Then I saw nothing more but the dead snake. I cautiously
approached and, finding him really dead, I took out his
poisonous tooth and went off.
The evil one shows himself very frequently to our medi- cine-m~n and speaks to them through wild geese and caiotes.
Usually he teaches them a song which they take good care
to sing during their incantations. By the application of the
hands I believe that magnetism is taught them; and that
they have worked cures thereby, not" only upon Indian
patients but upon white ones also, who -had been given up
by other doctors, are incontestible facts. Hoping that I
have fully satisfied your query,
I remain in the SS. Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Yours truly,
U. Grassi, S. J.
�DEATH OF MR. THOMAS
J.
DIXON, S.
J.
In recording the death of the young Religious whose name
appears at the head of this notice, we feel that we are
discharging a duty, not only of affection to our youthful
brother who has gone before us to his eternal rest, but
equally of gratitude to God who surrounded the last days
of that young life with so many striking manifestations of
a singular love and mercy. Those who witnessed this truly
beautiful death, which has left upon them all an impression
not likely soon to fail, understood the truth and the full
meaning of those words of Father Faber, that a death
precious in the sight of God " is a work of divine art,
accomplished by supernatmal skill and flushed with the
glow of eternal beauty." Such was his death-so peaceful,
so resigned, so full of faith and joyous hope. '
Our departed brother had come to us at the opening of
the last scholastic year, after a Juniorate which warranted
the brightest hopes of a brilliant course of Philosophy, and
full of ardor for his new work. But in the mysterious
Providence of God it was decreed that those bright hopes
should not be made good, according to our human views.
His Father's love had something far brighter and more
precious in store for him than brilliant success in human
science; he was to "fulfil a long time, being made perfect
in a short space." He had not fairly begun his studies
here when he was suddenly compelled to lay them aside.
An unexpected hemorrhage, apparently the result of a cold
which had not seemed to be serious, obliged him to keep
his room, with rare and short intervals, from the beginning
of the Autumn until the 5th of May, the day of his death.
�218
Dcatlt of Jllr. Thomas J. Dixon, S. J".
During all this long and tedious confinen1,ent, which must
have been peculiarly irksome to such a nature as his, young,
ardent, ·and active, we had many occasions daily to observe
the gentle but strongly efficacious working of divine grace
overcoming nature. Of a naturally quick and impetuous
disposition, he never once complained of this chafing restriction and unwelcome inaction ; of a· remarkably sensitive
temperament, keenly alive to the least physical pain, no
murmur ever escaped his lips ; though each week brought
new complications to his already painful disease, hardly a
suppressed sigh of suffering was ever allowed to distress
those who attended him with affectionate solicitude. He
was the youngest member of the community, snatched
away just as he was about to cross the threshold of manhood; but in patient self-restraint and unfailing submission
to the divine will he was truly a teacher to all.
As we watched the fluctuations of his illness, the hope
was often rekindled that he might yet recover and realize
the future of great usefulness which had seemed to be
prepared for him ; prayers and novenas were offered for
that life of so much promise, and at each successive relapse
he would smile and say: "\Veil, God.-·lsnows best what is
good for me. If He does not give me health of body, He
will grant to your charity what is much better for my soul."
At last it became evident that there was rio hope of his
recovery; and on the morning of Good Friday Rev. Fr.
Rector took occasion to tell him that in all human probability the end was very near. But the warning was not
needed. He received the tidings without any surprise, only
replying that he had felt already that he could not hope to
recover and that he had cheerfully made the offering of his
life in union with the offering which our Lord had made
for us on.· that day. And yet, though weak and wasted by
his long and trying sickness, his strong will and a generous
desire to inconvenience others as little as possible, enabled
him to appear stronger than he really was, and it was not
�Dcatlz of JJ:fr. Tlzomas
7. Dixpn, S. J.
219
until the last day of April that he ceased to sit up during
the day. It seemed to give him great consolation that not
till within three or four days before his death were any of
his brethren obliged to watch by him during the night.
This generous spirit of self-forgetfulness and of thoughtfulness for others, even in those moments when his sufferings
were most acute, was one of those beautiful traits of character which shone most strikingly throughout his \Vhole
illness and won him so much affectionate sympathy and
sincere admiration. Another was the rapt devotion with
which he used to receive the Blessed Eucharist, a privilege
which he enjoyed often during the last month or two of his
life. We have heard some of his companions, who accompanied the B. Sacrament to the sick room on these occasions,
telling how he seemed to be unconscious of any presence
save that of the Divine Physician, whom he received with
a faith and joyful love that shone most strikingly in his
countenance and whole bearing. The effects of these
blessed visits were visible far in the day to those who were
in the habit of attending to him daily, and seemed actually
to give him new physical endurance as they certainly did
renew the life and strength of the spirit.
On the Saturday before his death, it was thought proper
to administer to him the Sacrament of Extreme Unction,
which he received with a deep, fervent, and cheerful piety that
lit up his face while the prayers of the Church were recited.
Many, who had stayed to take leave of him, came from the
room with tears of emotion, an emotion which seems to
linger still when they speak of the beautiful scene they
witnessed then. He alone seemed to rejoice while others
wept, and he gently chid one of the Fathers who stood by
his bed-side and who had been his warm friend at college,
because he seemed to grieve.
On Monday, May 4th, early in the morning, a sudden
change came which seemed the immediate forerunner of
death ; the prayers for the dying were said and the last
VoL. m:........No. 3·
28
�220
Deatlz of .lvlr. Tlzomas
:J.
DLron, S.
:J.
absolution given. But he rallied again, though his state
was so doubtful during the remaining twenty-four. hours of
life that the Fathers, relieving each other at intervals,
remained by him continually until the moment of his death.
On the following morning he began to show those signs of
restlessness which betoken approaching death; he expressed
a desire to sit up but as·soon as he saw that those about
him seemed un_easy, for he was too weak to bear any movement at all, his habit of self-denying submission overcame
this natural i~;pulse: "Certainly," he said, "it is better so ;
I am quite satisfied." One of his companions, who was
sitting up with him at the time, brought him his crucifix
which he kissed devoutly, then laying it upon his breast he
folded his arms over it and kept it pressed to his heart for
about half an hour with a most touching expression of
deep love and quiet joy. All the restlessness disappeared;
he seemed to have. found real comfort and relief in that
silent communion with his Crucified Lord. At a little
after half past five o'clock Rev. Fr. Rector asked him if he
would like to receive the Viaticum again; joyfully he asked
to enjoy that favor once more, and at al;>aut six o'clock his
wish was gratified. After some moments spent in silent
thanksgiving, there came· a visible change and a quick
sinking. He continued to make ejaculatory prayers, com•mending himself to Jesus, Mary and Joseph, until strength
and utterance failed; his breathing which was quiet and
apparently painless, failed gradually until it became so
weak that when, at twenty-five minutes past seven o'clock,
it had ceased entirely, no one of those who were watching
him narrowly to catch his last breath, could say at what
precise moment he had passed away. He had kept his consciousness until within a very few moments before the end
and was perfectly aware of all that was going on about him.
Cheered and strengthened by all the sacred helps which
the Church and the Society can offer to the most favored
of their children, he died in the midst of his brethren
�Deatlt of Mr. Tltomas
J. Dixon, S. J.
22 I
whilst they were reciting the Church's prayers for his
departing soul.
How many, many beautiful incidents and traits of character we could recall of him, which are fixed in the memory
of those who had the melancholy satisfaction of ministering
to him during his long illness! 'vVe have recorded a few
facts which speak more eloquently than any panegyric, for
they are beautiful with the beauty of grace and holiness.
There are, however, two incidents connected with his early
life which we cannot refraip. from mentioning, because they
seem to reveal to us the action of that same loving Providence which since so strikingly marked him as a favored
child. He loved to tell how, in his early infancy, his nurse,
happening to enter with him one day into the cathedral of
his native city, Dublin, found that a number of little children
were just then being consecrated by the Archbishop to the
Blessed Virgin. The nurse immediately brought forward
her own little charge who was consecrated with the others
to the Mother of God. He never wavered in his love and
devotion to the Mother who seemed to have thus specially
adopted him as her own ; and in spite of all the calculations
of physicians and of the weakness and decay which threatened a much earlier end, his entrance into a better life was
reserved for the opening days of .Mary's own month of
grace and blessings.
As soon as he was old enough to serve at the altar, he
became a regular attendant in the sanctuary of the Jesuit
Church in Upper Gardiner St., Dublin, where, besides serving Mass, he took great deiight in helping to decorate the
altar, especially for the devotion to the Sacred Heart on
the first Friday of the month. The lamented Father
O'Callaghan, of holy memory, had occasion to say Mass
in this church when returning to America from the continent, about a year before his death. He had offered the
Mass for the intention of obtaining one or more recruits for
the Maryland Novitiate, of which he was then Rector. On
�-
222
--~-
-
~~~~~~~~~~~---
Dcat/z of 1Ur. Tlwmas :1. DLron, S. :1.
going into the sacristy, after his thanksgiving, he was met
by the bright, intelligent lqoking lad who had served his
Mass, and who, without any formal introduction or preface,
and with no further knowledge of the Father than that he
was a priest from the United States, asked eagerly to go
with him to America to become a priest. Under other
circumstances, the tender age of the youthful aspirant then
only thirteen years old, and the fact of his being an only
child, might have offered some difficulty. But the application looked so much like a direct answer to the petition
made in the Holy Sacrifice, and the ·generous faith of truly
·Catholic parents, who had no higher ambition than to see
their son dediCated to the service of the altar, removed all
difficulty concerning them, and accordingly the petition of
the young acolyte was granted. His career as a student in
Georgetown College, it does not belong to us to detail here;
what· his life was, as a Novice and afterwards as a student
in the Society, may be gathered from the manner of his
death, for which his life had been a continual preparation.
We cannot but grieve that this life of brilliant promise
was cut off before it had fairly passeq· its prime, but we
know that He who so visibly surrou~ded its close with
benedictions of sweetness and who ever '' doeth all things
well," will make what is a loss to us an everlasting gain for
our departed brother. May his soul rest in peace, and may
our last end be like to his !
..
-----~·
~------
�/
'
I
\
TRANSFER OF THE RELICS OF ST. JOHN
FRANCIS REGIS FROM THEIR
FORMER RECEPTACLE TO
THE NEW SHRINE.
ExTRACT FROM A LETTER OF FR. PRAT, JuLY, 1873.
*
*
*
*
*
\Vhen we make our pilgrimages to La Louvesc, we find it hard to content ourselves
with a short stay of twenty-four hours there. Happily for
me, I had a particular reason this time for remaining there
at least eight days, first to share the great privilege enjoyed
by the Fathers of that residence, and then to thank God
and His illustrious servant for the favor. I must say a few
words about what took place there on Saturday and Sunday,
the 19th and 2oth of July, 1S73. In 1792, four brothers,
sons of Mr. Buisson, then mayor of the place, risked their
lives to save the relics of St. John Francis Regis. Having
taken from the shrine the urn in which the sacred relics
reposed; they left instead some other bones which they had
gathered near the cemetery, and hid their treasure in their
father's house, about twenty minutes walk from La Louvesc:
-there it was kept concealed, with equal care and veneration, until the end of the persecution. In 1802, Mgr. de
Chabot, bishop of the diocese, visited the dwelling of the
Buissons to verify this precious deposit. The details of
this examination and authentication, carefully drawn up
in writing, were placed in the urn with the relics. Since
that time, seventy"one years ago, the receptacle had never
been opened, and it is probable that it would have remained closed much longer, but for a providential circum-
�J
I
I
224
Transfer of t!te Relics of St. Yolm Fra1tcis Regis:
stance which led the ecclesiastical authorities to institute a
new examination of -the relics of our holy missionary.
You are aware that a me~orial Church is being built on
the site of the old sanctuary. The choir is quite finished,
the porch nearly so; and in the course of next year they
will be joined. In the middle of the choir, which is encircled by a marble railing, which is also the communion-rail,
rises a splendid-'marble altar; and though richly adorned
with medallions and statues of angels and saints in gilt
bronze, it is still remarkable for a simplicity which enhances
its majestic beauty. The white marble tabernacle is
crowned by a socle, on which will rest the shrine containing
the relics. This new shrine, a real mastt:r-piece of bronzegilt, is not large enough to receive the case in which the
relics have been kept till now; a new case has accordingly
been made to fit in the new shrine, and the whole is in keeping with the style and proportions of the altar. It was necessary, then, to transfer the relics from their. former receptacle
to the new one. The bishop was informed of this necessity
_by Fr. Nicod, and delegated his Secretary, M. !'abbe Boyron, to perform the ceremony in his .~l:ead. M. Boyron,
following the prescriptions of the Congregation of Rites,
performed the ceremony quite privately, no· one being
present but the members of our community and those of
the Buisson family, the children and grandchildren of the
generous christians who had saved to the Church the
remains of the great and holy missionary.
At the appointed hour we all proceeded to the Sacristy.
My dear Father, I cannot tell you what we felt at that
moment! We were about to behold the sacred treasure on
which no human eye had looked for seventy-one years, and
which no man now living, perhaps, will have the happiness
of seeing! · The priests put on their surplices, and the few
who were present took their appointed places. Before us
was a large table on which was spread a fine linen cloth
between six lighted tapers. Close by stood the old case
�'I
:I
•I
,.
Transfer of t/ze Relics of St. :folzn Francis Regis.
225
sealed in 1802 by Mgr. de Chabot. After a short prayer
before the relics, the vespers of the saint were sung; then
the bishop's delegate stated the subject and motives of his
mission, and proceeded to verify the seals. At length the
case was opened and the sacred relics were removed, piece
by piece, and placed upon the linen cloth prepared for them.
I verily believe that we could not have been more deeply
moved than we were, had St. John Francis Regis been
brought back to life there before us. Tears flowed from
every eye, and our emotion was at its height when the
bishop's delegate placed the skull of the Saint upon the
table; it was in a state of perfect preserv~tion, except the
lower jaw, which was wanting; the other relics were in a
similarly good condition, but only about two thirds of the
bones remain which go to make up the human frame.
While the bishop's representative was 9rawing up his report,
Dr. Buisson, a grandson of one of the four brothers
already mentioned, and nephew of our Father Buisson,
examined the several bones and drew up a statement of
their condition, attaching to each one a label with the name
of the part thus designated; this inventory had been
neglected in the first authentication.
The official part of the proceeding being finished, we
venerated the sacred remains, recited some psalms and the
prayer of the Saint; then, after the delegate and the Rev.
Superior, we had the happiness of touching with our lips
the head of St. John Francis; I may add that we bathed it
with our tears, for no one present could master his emotion.
The report drawn up by M. l'abbe Boyron was then read
aloud and signed by all; meanwhile two priests had been
busy applying to the head of the Saint a great number of
medals, rosaries, crucifixes and other pious objects. Finally
the relics were placed in the new case of cedar wood, which
is covered with green silk. The case was then sealed in
.eight places with the bishop's seal, and placed in the shrine,
the key of which is in the keeping of the bishop's delegate.
.,
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226 Transfer of the Relics of St. :Joh11 Francis Regis.
On the following day, July 20th, the shrine was exposed
in the choir to the veneration of the faithful, who came in
crowds to visit the church. At three o'clock the Fathers,
in surplice, took their places in the choir, around the
shrine, and chanted vespers, at the close of which Father
J oyard made a short and touching discourse on the saint,
dwelling particularly on the veneration still paid to his
memory and on 'the ceremony of the day before. The
sermon was followed by Benediction, after which the shrine
was set in the place prepared for it above and a little back
of the tabernacle. The bishop's delegate, who had presided
throughout, closed the two days' proceedings by intoning
the Te Deum. The throng then withdrew slowly, as if
loth to leave the sacred spot, and we returned to the sacristy where M. Boyron expressed to us his gratification at
having been chosen to act for the bishop in so touching a
ceremony. He took away with him the sincere expression
of our gratitude ; but we will, I trust, bear away with us to
heaven the sweet and holy impressions of this true family
feast; for which we have to bless the Lord forever.
(FroinJiz_e Lm,al Letters.)
D. 0. M.
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The Woodstock Letters were a publication of the Society of Jesus from 1872 until 1969. They were named after Woodstock College, the Jesuit seminary in Maryland where they were published. Written almost entirely by Jesuits, and originally intended to be read only by Jesuits, the Letters were "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus in North and South America." They include historical articles, updates on work being done by the Jesuits, eyewitness accounts of historic events, book reviews, obituaries, enrollment statistics for Jesuit schools, and various other items of interest to the Society. The writings of many renowned Jesuit scholars and missionaries appeared in the Woodstock Letters, including Pedro Arrupe, Pierre-Jean de Smet, Avery Dulles, Daniel Lord, Walter Hill, John Courtney Murray, Walter Ong, and Gustave Weigel. They provide an invaluable record of the work done by American Jesuits throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries.
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
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A. M. D. G.
WOODSTOCIC LETTERS,
174.
A RECORD
Of Curl'eut Et·ents mul Llistm·ical Notes connected 1vitlt
the Colleyes a1ul J.1Iissions of the Soc. of Jesus
in North and South America.
VOL. IV.
"
WOODSTOCK COLLEGE,
Marquette
JESUIT
ARCHIVES
University
Printed for pn·vate circutati{Jll only.
�Pf R,
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IV/ (,5"X
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vVOODSTOCIC LETTERS.
VOL. 'IV., No.
1.
"'
. AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MISSION OF
NEW YORK AND CANADA.
(Continued.)
APPENDIX.*
Tlte Ilzdian Missions.
When, as stated in the body of the Sketch, Fr. Chazelle
with his little band of Missionaries returned in 1842, to
Canada, there was no residence in Montreal as yet ready
for his reception. To avoid inaction he gladly accepted the
parish of La Prairie, a charming village just opposite
Montreal, on the St. Lawrence and formerly one of the
"Seigneuries des Jesuites." Here in fact, the Fathers had
in 1668 planted a small French colony, and laid the foundations of their first permanent mission am~ng the Iroquois,
which afterwards became so celebrated under the name of
Sault St. Louis.
* The following
details are mostly taken from an account forwarded
by a former Superior of our 1\Iission, to t~e Society for the Propagation
of the Faith.
�4
JVew York mzd Canada JIIissioJZ.
The year following Fr. Chazelle's return, the Bishop of
Toronto offered the Society the charge of the Indian Missions of his diocese, together with a residence in Sandwich,
a town opposite Detroit, on lake St. Clair. This place had
formerly been the centre of the missions of the Society
among the Hurons and Algonquins, and about it were now
collected a great part of the French Canadians who had
founded Detroit. For at the time when that city and all
the lands on the \Vest bank of the River St. Clair were
ceded to the United States, they crossed to the Canadian
side, and there preserved their language and their faith.
To meet this new offer, two other Fathers left France for
Canada, and accompanied by one from Montreal, and two
brothers began their apostolic work. In 1844, this mission
round which the labors of our In1::Iian missionaries now
principally extend, was separated from that of Montreal and
under the title of "Mission of Upper Canada" entrusted to
Rev. Fr. Chazelle; while that of Lower Canada welcomed
Rev. Fr. Martin as its Superior.
At the time of the reinstalment of our Fathers at Sandwich, the Indians who, in olden times, had lived in great
numbers ar01.i"nd lake St. Clair, had either been almost
entirely· destroyed or compelled by the whites to transport
their wigwams towards the North, and the \Vest. Not
more than 1500 of them still remained about the lake, and
on the island of Walpole, which lies close to its Eastern
shore. Deprived of Catholic missionaries for more than
half a century, these poor people had greatly fallen off
from their former simplicity and purity of manners. Protestant missions, established, at great expense, by the Bible
Societies of England, and powerfully supported by the
government, had succeeded in partly estranging them from
the Catholic Faith, and had left them plunged in every vice.
Drunkenness especially, encouraged by the merciless cupidity of the whites, made fearful ravages among them.
It was under these unfavorable circumstances that Fr. D.
�New York a11d Canada llfissioll.
5
Du Ranquet was directed by R ev. Fr. Chazelle to leave
Sandwich, and endeavor to establish himself in the midst
of the Indians of \Valpole island. With no other help
than that of the Brother who accompanied him he built on
a corner of th e Island a rough chapel, and alongside a hut
for a dwelling-place. This done, in a light canoe he went
in search of the Indians through that marshy country,
inte rsected as it is in all directions with natural canals ; and
for six years amid extreme privations and fatigues, he
labored in the place with but little apparent fru it. On the
one hand, the attachment of the people to their vices, and
on the other, the abundant temporal assistance, which they
received from the Protestant ministers, prevented their
profiting by the exertions of our missionaries. It was not
only indifference that thwarted Fr. Du Ranquet's plans for
their salvation, positive hatred also rankled in their hearts.
On a Sunday, when he had crossed the river to offer the
H oly Sacrifice for a congregation of whites, whom he visited from time to time, some of the Indians maliciously set
fire to his chapel, which with a portion of his dwelling was
soon redu ced to ashes. However, the good Father, nothing
daunted, at once set about repairing the disaster. A certain
number of the natives, who till then had remained unmoved
at his trials and suffering, seemed really affected by his recent misfortune and lent him their assistance ; only asking
in return that he wou1d remain among them, as long as he
could. No doubt, their requ est would have been cheerfully
granted, had not Fr. Du Ranquet that very year, 1849, unexpectedly received an order to leave ·w alpole for the
island of Manitouli ne.
This new fi eld opened to his zeal, is the largest of the
almost countless islands that dot the great lakes of North
America, and lies in the northern portion of Lake Huron,
running East and ·west for a distance of nearly So mil es.
The greater portion of it is studded with more th an 30
small lakes, while the rest, at the tim e of which we speak,
�6
Ne-& York and Canada Jlfission.
was covered with immense forests. Near the Eastern
extremity of the island, on the shores of \Vikewemikong or
Castor Bay, a devoted Canadian priest, Rev. Father Proulx,
had some years previous planted a large cross, and around
it had succeeded in gathering a number of Indian families.
The village thus formed he called "Holy Cross," and in it
he. protected his flock against the pernicious influence of
their Protestant neighbors so plentifully assisted by the
Government. F. Proulx, however, soon perceived that in
spite of all his efforts he would be unable to carry out,
single-handed, the work he had undertaken, and that a
religious Order would be more likely to succeed in it. He
accordingly offer~d our Fathers the charge of his little flock
at Holy Cross : and in the fall of 1843 Fr. P. Chone was
sent with one Brother to relieve the devoted priest.
The importance of this Residence of Holy Cross on
1Ianitouline Island, soon determined the Superiors to despatch some more Fathers to the aid of Fr. Chone. Fr.
Joseph Hanipaux* was accordingly sent thither in 1845 ;
and about the same time, Fr. D. Du Ranquet, as already
mentioned,_ received word to leave \Val pole for this more
important centre of action. Still later, Fr. Nicholas Point
joined the little community on l\Ianitouline and erected a
church there for the poor Indians. Important though this
station was, a single residence did not suffice to enable the
Missionaries to visit all the Indians, scattered as they were
over the country, especially in the neighborhood of Lake
Superior : and it was the desire of remedying this that
induced Fr. Chazelle to undertake the journey during
which he died. After his de<tth Fr. l\Ienet, at the earnest
solicitation of l\Igr. Baraga, Bishop of the new diocese
of Sault Ste. Marie, was sent to assist his Lordship in his
noble labors for the conversion of the Indians.
*This devoted Father died not long ago at Quebec, after 27 years of
labor in our Indian 1\Iis;ions. See "Woodstock Letters," voL i, p. 122.
�JV~dl
York aud Canada llfission.
7
It was at this time the policy of the English Government,
to portion off the Indians everywhere into "Reserves" at a
distance from the sites which it wished to occupy. Thus,
on the Canadian side of the River of Sault Ste. Marie they
were forced to leave the shores of the Sault and occupy a
Reserve I 2 miles further down, near a river which they,
through longing regret for their old haunts, called the River of the Desert, but which the whites, as if in derision,
named Garden River. Amongst these exiled tribes Fr.
Kohler* took up his residence._ Finally in 1852, Fr. Du
Ranquet once more changed his residence, and set out for
the purpose of founding _ new !louse at Fort \Villiam, near
a
the northern extremity of Lake Superior. An agency of
the Hudson Ray Company established on this spot makes
it one of the most important points in that part of the
Canadian territory.
•
These three Residences comprise all our Indian Missions
in Upper Canada, or Ontario : each one being a centre for
long excursions radiating in all directions whether in Canada itself or in the United States, wherever a few natives
happen to be collected. The various tribes scattered about
these parts are all of the great Algonquin family ; but it is
difficult to estimate their exact number, which probably
does not exceed 10,000. Of these only one-third are
Catholics, a thousand perhaps, call themselves or allow
themselves to be called Protestants ; the rest are infidels.
The question has often been asked what results can be
shown to have repaid the devotedness of the missionaries ;
but to arrive at a just appreciation of these results, regard
must be had both to the character of the Indians and their
actual circumstances. As to their character it is almost
proverbial ; and modern civilization seems to have stopped
short of their wigwams.
*This Father perished about 2 years ago in a shipwreck on Lake
Huron.
�8
JVew York and Canada llfissimz.
Owing to their inferiority of intellect and inconstancy of
disposition, this poor race seems capable but of a very limited degree of cultivation ; and hence, they have no prospect of success among the whites, unless the latter, with
compassionate charity, take care of them as they would of
children. This is what the Catholics of Canada have been
doing for a long time back. But where can this spirit of
faith and charity be found in the governments of our day ?
True, they take· some precautionary measures to avoid still
greater evils, but the glaring fact still stares them in the
face, that wherever the Indians come into habitual contact
with the whites, ,their moral corruption, and, as a necessary
consequence, thei~ gradual extinction, is the inevitable
result. Before passing judgment then on the labors of
our missionaries, it will be much to the purpose to glance
at the results achieved by the English government working
under the most favorable conditions possible, and with
unlimited resources. To insure the success of its undertaking it began to build for the Indians the village of
Manitounang, a few miles west of Holy Cross ; and was
overjoyed .to find them all eager to avail themselves of the
advantages thus offered them. A church and a school
were erected ; and their necessary appendages, a minister
and a schoolmaster were, no doubt for a s!igltt compensation, prevailed on to forego the luxuries of civilized society
and devote their lives to the moral and mental enlightenment of the benighted natives. A number of master-craftsmen, and of ordinary laborers in iron and wood were also
secured to erect houses for all who wished to abandon
their wandering mode of life for more sedentary occupations. Such was the foresight of the Protestant government, that, to provide wit!t more t!zmz ordinmy pressure
against any sudden retum of the old love for the woods and
prairies, each homestead was to be surrounded by a
charming little plot of ground enclosed with palings.
Here the Indian could once more don his hunting gear and
�JVew York a11d Canada Missio1l.
•
9
give chase, at least for the space of a few yards, to some
unsuspecting squirrel ; or daubed with his war-paint could
recline in his rustic arm-chair, under a transplanted tree of
the forest, and shoot his poisoned arrows against the
painted stakes of his fence . The excess of pressure thus
innocently removed, he could pick up his arrows, return in
a twinkling to the bosom of civilization ; and having
washed off all the war-paint and slept off any remnant of
the old forest-feeling-could, the following day, hoe his
potatoes as usual with the rest of the warriors. Yes, /we
his potatoes, for, to leave no stone unturned for the happy
issue of its enterprise, the government had provided abundant implements of husbandry ; and these, together with
various kinds of seeds and g rains, fine cattle and young
fruit trees, were at the disposal of the Indians, while skilful
workmen were hired to instruct the uninitiated.
The only conditions for the enjoyment of these advantages were docility in submitting to the regulations, assistance
at the meeting-house once a week, sedate behavior during
the minister's sermon and the sending of the children to
the school.
As long as the presents lasted and the distribution of
provisions, clothing, &c. continued-all was well ; but after
a while the government deemed the Indians fullv settled
down, and sufficiently instructed in the manner of pro~iding
for their wants by their own labor, so that it gradually diminished the great expenses thus far incurred in their behalf.
Surely it was not exacting too much to ask them to h~w
their own fire-wood in the adjoining forest ; especially
when the means of transpC?rt were furnished gratuitously.
The government accordingly represented to them the propriety of their so doing. But civilized life had so far
sharpened Indian natural shrewdness that the object of all
this solicitude hit on a much simpler plan for procuring
fu el ; and judging it labor lost to fell trees and cart wood
when there was just at hand such an abundance of spienVoL. 1v- No. 1.
2
�10
1Vcw York and Canada Jlfissioll.
did palings, perfectly dry and all ready for the fire, they
showed their predilections by daily multiplying the breaches
in their neat little fences. The destruction of the palings
was at once followed by a series of representations on the
part of government, of reproaches, and of menaces ; it
even forced itself into the minister's Sunday sermons ; but
to no purpose : it was necessary to treat the Indians as
spoiled children, and "pass their imperfections by." ·when
the palings had disappeared and thus reduced the trim
gardens to their original prairie-like appearance, the beams
inside the houses were attacked, then the flooring, doors
and lastly the outside porches. All the dwellings were
treated in the same way, and when all vestiges of timber
had vanished from them, the agricultural implements were
next seized and broken to bits, to secure the wood work.
The domestic animals could not long be kept from the
voracity of the Indians, and what with the houses for fuel
and the oxen for food, the natives were indebted to the
Government for many a hearty meal. A few years later,
tired of so many useless efforts, it ceased its frequent distributions and at once the Indians dispersed, quitting the
famous village, now composed only of the school, the
meeting house, and a few of the government buildings.
About this group of dwellings, portions of the chimneys
of the former houses of the Indians still stand : an ironical
protest against the powerless efforts of all civilization of
which the Church is not the author, and the motive power,
religion.
Meanwhile, what was passing, a few miles off, at the village of Holy Cross ? The principal resources .of the
Catholic Mis"sionaries there, wer~ the alms received from
the Society for the Propagation of the Faith ; but the grace
of God enabled the devoted Fathers, even with such limited
means, to succeed in overcoming the natural indolence and
carelessness of the Indians. On plans drawn up by the
Missionaries, and without the aid of the whites, if we
�Ne-..v York and Canada 1liission.
I I
except two or three coadjutor Brothers of the Society, the
Indians built a large stone church, and a house for the
Fathers, also of sto ne ; moreover a school for their children, and finally frame houses for themselves along r~gu lar
streets traced out for them beforehand. All these labors
presupposed a great number of others, all which they
performed themselves. Thus they had to fell the trees, and
hew the timbers for the frame-work, quarry the stones, dig
out the lime and prepare the mortar. All that was bought
for them were planks for flooring, which it would have been
more costly to cut in the woods. The secret of this success
lay in the fatherly encouragement given to the Indians, a nd
the judicious payment for their services. Large quantities
of warm clothing, and provisions, such as flour and especially salt meat were purchased, and all the work was paid
for in these articles. During all the time these labors
lasted, the Indians lived contented, happy and quiet ; and
acquired, as far as their nature admits, a habit of working
which they have ever since preserved. To encourage t~em
still more, and reward them for their perseverance, the
Fathers built them a small water-mill to grind their grain ;
but as the island could boast of no river near the village,
they could only succeed in forming a very small reservoir.
It was however sufficient to grind the produce of each year.
In spite of all of these favorable prospects the Missionaries
had still their share of anxiety, owing to the total want of
foresight on the part of the Indians which seems to be an
incorrigible defect of their character. These simple natives
had to be continually urged and entreated not to let the
time for planting or sowing pass by ; but once the seed
began to appear above the ground, the contrary excess had
to be guarded against, and no little eloquence was necessary
to prevent their reaping before the crops were ripe, or setting off on a hunting or fishing excursion just at harvest
time. It was necessary, besides, to conceal the grain to be
used as seed the following year, as it is almost impossible
�12
1Vcw York and Cauada lllissioJz.
for the Indians to resist the temptation of devouring everything within their reach. All these cares, and many others
besides, required no doubt on the part of the missionaries
great patience and watchfulness ; in a word, great charity
with all the qualities enumerated by St. Paul. But in the
end, they obtained what seemed impossible, arid what really
is so, even with unlimited resources for a government
unaided by the charity of Jesus Christ. In fact this village
of Holy Cross in 1872 contained about 500 souls, twice as
many as can be found in any other settlement throughout
the whole country, except similar Reserves attended by the
Sulpician and Oblate Fathers near Montreal. Moreover
the Indians live there peaceably, no police being necessary
to maintain order ; they assist orderly at the religious
offices, regularly approach the Sacraments, many very frequently ; while the children assiduously frequent the
schools. Pious sodalities have been organized for allmen,women, boys and girls-and to enable each to assemble
its members apart, a little chapel has been erected by the
Indians:themselves without any help from the Missionaries.
The Indian Administration could not see without chagrin
the very different results of its own efforts and of the labors
of the Fathers ; and to do away with the standing condemnation of its method, resolved with more or less compensation made to the natives, and a more or less forced
consent extorted from them to appropriate the whole of the
island. But many of the Indians especially those of Holy
Cross were opposed to all cession. The same means however that procures majorities in more civilized assemblies
were employed, not without effect, in the forest council of
Manitouline, and the Government triumphed. To appear
condescending in its victory, and throw around its proceedings an air of justice, it left to the Indians of Holy Cross
the eastern extremity of the Isl~nd, in which the village
lies. This. small portion then about the twelfth part of the
entire island, still remains to them-though they cannot be
�JVt'w York and Canada Mission.
13
said to possess it, but only to have the use of it, and a very
restricted use at that Under the pretence of preventing
the destruction of the forest, they are forbidden to sell to
the whites the timber that grows in the neighborhood ;
they can only deliver it up to the Indian administration at
a fixed price far les? than they could obtain elsewhere.
Providence however seems to have wished to punish
the cruel rapacity of the administration, as two large
conflagrations have, within a few years of each other,
all but entirely consumed the forests that still remained in
the Reserve ; and even burned in great measure the very
soil which is now almost entirely unfit for cultivation. The
state of poverty to which the village is thus reduced. encourages the hope that the government will make no more
efforts to deprive the Indians of what remains of their once
lordly possessio ns. Though deprived of the riches once
. spread over their land, the water still furnished an abundant
means of support in the rich fisheries near the Island.
But the government hankered after these too ; and having
purchased the right of possessing the Island, concluded,
according to the immemorial law of the lion 's share, that
the fisheries had been surrendered with the land.
A number of speculators of Upper Canada had for a long
time coveted these sources of wealth, aud accordingly
bought them of the administration. Great was the indignation of the Indians, when they learned this new invasion
of their rights, of which there had not been the slightest
question in the pretended contract for the cession of their
Island. They therefore resolved to oppose this usurpation,
and, in fact, when the whites came to fi sh at these ancient
fisheries, the natives drove them away, and for the time
being, had the advantage by reason of their number. This
incident, which the administration, accustomed to the usual
in ert docility of the Indians, did not expect, was nevertheless heard of with pleasure. There was at length lega l
matter to justify the application of force and to put down,
�New York a1td Canada i1fission.
by a great stroke of authority, all further resistance to the
dui!i:::ing ~fforts of the Government. An act of rebellion
had been consummated, and the Missionaries, whom the
entire village obeyed, had no doubt been the instigators of
the revolt. A warrant of arrest was at once issued against
the Indians accused of the act of violence, and against the
Superior of the Missionaries ; while the person to whom
the fisheries had been sold was himself endowed with the
necessary authority, and, accompanied by a sufficient number of men, embarked for the village of Holy Cross. On
landing he went straight to the home of the Missionaries,
and summoned the· Father, whose name was on his warrant,
to .follow him on board his boat. Now the accusation had
so little foundation, and the warrant had been so hurriedly
issued, that the Father accused by name was actually absent
from the Island ; having left for a tour throughout the
Mission, before the breaking out of the troubles in question.
The man with the warrant was not prepared for this, and
feigned at first to disbelieve the absence of the Father; but
as it was a fact too easily proved, he bethought himself of
a way out of his difficulties. "No matter about the name,''
said he to Fr. Chone who received him, "if it was you who
were in the Island during the rebellion, it is you who are
its author, you must follow me." As there was no order
of arrest against !tim, Fr. Chone postively refused to obey.
\Vhile these things were taking place, the Indians of the
village, suspecting what was toward, had surrounded the
house and penetrated into the room where the scene was
passing. The discussion was growing warm : the m<J.n. of
the warrant fearing to fail in his attempt, if he did not bring
it to an end at once, produced irons to fetter the Father's
hands, when a sho~ of indignation burst from all parts of
the room. The man drew a revolver, and threatened to kill
whoever should attempt to oppose the execution of his
orders. An Indian thrust himself before the pistol, and
baring his bosom : "Kill me if you wish," said he, "but woe
�1Vcw York and Ca!lada Mission.
IS
to you if you dare." It was a critical moment : the Father
wishing to prevent, at any price, th e sheddi ng of blood, ordered the Indians to withdraw and said to the man, that,
thou gh protesting against the injustice and illegality of the
proceeding, still he would follow him. The India ns obeyed
the Father, and the latter departed at once with the man
and his followers, who steered straight for Sault Ste. l\Iarie,
where the court was sitting which was to try the authors of
the rebellion. Sault Ste. Marie is about ISO mil es from the
village of Holy Cross ; and was reached only the next day,
when the Father and his accusers appeared before the
court. The arrest b eing so evidently illegal, and so complete the absence of proof regarding any offence on the
part of the Father, he was immediately acquitted, and the
man of the warrant reprimanded by the court, for having
exceeded his powers. Covered with .con fusion and full of
rage, he reembarked, and, the following night, when the
boat was in the middle of the lake, disappeared. He had
been seen on deck "the evening before, silently pacing to and
fro with a gloomy air that bespoke some dark intention.
Every one understood that despair had caused him to throw
himse lf into the lake. Some weeks later, after f\luch sea rch,
the remains of his dead body were found.
Such was the end of this appeal to t!te law ; the punishment of the guilty one being so striki ng, no further measures were taken to punish the rebellion of the Fathers.
Force however was used to prevent the Indians from troubling for th~ future the whites in th e working of the fisheries ; and after the first excitement was over, the Indians
with their natural apathy a nd the consc iousness of their
inferiority, resigned themselves to endure what they could
not pt"event; thus the village was ·quiet again for a time.
Somewhat later an attempt was made by the Indians of
Holy Cross to avai l themselves of the right secured to
them by an early treaty with the E nglish to govern themselves, at least in the interior of the Rese rve ; but the only
�Ne-<» York and Canada fifissioll.
reply of the Government was the throwing into prison of
the foremost among the agitators. Fr. Chone himself, with
the ancient treaty in his hand, went to plead the cause of
his poor Indians before the Government in Canada, but he
was not even listened to; some independent journals published his appeal, but no more attention was paid to it, and
the entire spoliation of the Indians was an accomplished
f:'lct .
.Manitouline, the Island of the Great Spirit, has thus lost
the character it once had as the last stronghold of Indian
nationality ; but the village of Holy Cross still possesses
in the eyes of the Indians a great prestige as centre of the
Religion of the Gr~at Spirit. At Corpus Christi, the procession in the village, and the ceremonies performed with
all possible solemnity, attract the Indians from great distances, so that an unusual number of boats and canoes, for
several days together, cover the bay with life. The concourse, however, is less now than formerly, owing to the
greater poverty of the Indians, and the disappearance,
through the want of products for barter, of the fair that
used to be held on occasion of this feast.
If all the Catholic Indians were able and willing to assemble at Holy Cross, their religious instruction would be
more easy and complete ; but deriving their principal
means of subsistence from hunting and fishing, from maple
sugar and wild fruits, they are unable to live together in
great numbers ; especially now when the resources are as
rapidly diminishing as the whites are advancing. The great
number collected at Holy Cross is therefore an exception ;
and besides the Catholics of this village, about an equal
number are scattered throughout that part of the Mission
intrusted to the Fathers of Holy Cross. For this reason,
while one of the Fathers stays at the village, the other, or
the others, if there are several, are obliged to scour the
country, summer and winter, across forests and lakes, in
search of their flock. In summer, the Missionary sets out
�Nt·w York and Canada J
l!issimt.
17
. in a little bark canoe, light enough to be carried from one
river to another, or to be taken from the water where rapids
prevent navigation. nut in winter, he has to travel o n
Jar,ge snow-shoes , and to dra w after him his baggage on a
little sleig h. At all seaso ns, he is obliged to pass the nig ht
in the open air, and for this reason, usually carries a buffalo
robe to shdtcr himself again t the storms in summer or the
cold in winter. Besides this, he needs also a little chapel
to say 1\Iass, vestments and books, etc. For th e transportation of these objects, one or two Indians usually accompany the Father on his journeys. Arrived at a station of
Indians, our Missionary at once sets to work. He begins
by rec iting, and making them repeat the principal articles
o f the Christia n doctrine ; he th en administers the Sacraments, according to their needs, and sees that all fulfil
their duty of yearly communion. This done, he sets out fo r
the next statio n, distant generally several days' journey ;
and thus a tour is made, lasting one, two or even three
months.
During the fine season, which Ia ts three, or, at most,
four months, some Protestant ministers, mostly Methodists,
traverse the country, collecting about them some of the Indians, and not being ex acting as to the conditions necessary
for the admission of neophytes, usuall} publish, on their
return to the cities of Canada, an account of the astonishing
fruits of salvation they have produced ; of the thousands
of India ns who have escaped the toils of the Arch Enemy,
and the thousands of others, who ask only to hear the good
tidings in order to .throw themselves on the Lord. A few
years of such extensive conversions, would , one would
think, leave no more work for the Bible Societies, and yet,
stra nge to say, year after year, new thousands are converted
in the official reports and still a few thousands always remain to throw themselves on the Lord the following year
-for th ese, of course, generous contributions are of absolute necessity. Besides these fin e U.Jcatlter missionaries, there
VoL. Iv-No.
1.
3
�18
JVe::; York and Canada 1l£ission.
are at the Island of 1\I:mitouline, at Bruce 1\Iines, and at
Garden River, near Sault Ste. 1\Iarie, stationary Protestant
ministers, who have a certain number of Indians settled
around them; but the nu:nber of Protestant Indians is very
limited ; as the n;ttives that have no fixed abode but wander over the country, are all either Catholics or infidels.
\Ve have spoken almost entirely of the Residence of
Holy Cross at :1Ianitouline, because it is the most important of the three ; but the same account may be substantially applied to the other two, except that circumsta_nces
in these latter are less favorable for the preservation of the
Faith and of purity of morals among the Indians, owing to
more frequent intercourse with the whites than exists at
Holy Cross.
In the part of the 1\Iission, north of Lake Superior, visited by the Fathers residing at Fort ·william, there has been
for many years past not even the shadow of a Protestant
preacher, the country being too wild, and the journey
thither too painful. As the Indians are occupied almost
entirely in hunting for furs, to be sold to the agents of the
Hudson Ba3-:: Company, they are almost constantly dispersed in the forests, and can thus be but rarely visited by
the Missionary. This is a great drawback, as deprived of
the religious instruction, and the immediate society of the
1\Iissionary, it is with great difficulty they can preserve
themselves from evil.
Such being the actual condition of our Missions of Upper
Canada, it may be asked : what is to become of them ?
and should we still continue the labors <\nd sacrifices necessary for their existence ?
To the first question, it may be answered that, in all probability, the Indians will remain for quite a while longer,
in their present condition, as the greatest portion of their
country is unfit for cultivation ; and it will only be in case
r"ich metal mines are discovered, that a large population of
whites will resort thither. The advent of the whites would
�New York aud Canada Jrfission.
be sure to drive the Indians further northward ; but even
then, the positions occupied by the Catholic Missionaries
would be very useful for them to act upon the whites themselves ; and besides, it would be necessary to follow the
Indians into their exile; a fact which would require a still
greater number of Missionaries.
As to th~ second question, it must be confessed, it is not
unusual to met with very good people who own themselves
wearied at seeing the Indians profit so little by all the
efforts made for their improvement. Is it not time at length
for these extraordinary cares to cease ? Now that the
whites have penetrated so far in every direction, if the Indians have good will, what prevents them from profiting by
the advantages of civilization within their reach ? And if
they do not wish to do so, have they any right to expect
these extraordinary succors ? "In reply to these queries, I
can but repeat," says the Superior of our Mission, referred
to in the beginning, "the answer I received from one of
these Indians on this very subject. At a visit, I had occasion
to make, some years ago, to Holy Cross, Manitouline, the
chiefs were assembled at the house of the Missionaries to
bid me good-bye. I addressed them a few words, to move
them to gratitude towards the Fathers, who were, amid so
many sacrifices, devoting themselves to their welfare ; and
at the same time, to urge them to greater efforts t() place
themselves on a level with the whites, in order at length to
get on by themselves. They listened with deep attention
to my address, which one of the ·Fathers interpreted for
them, sentence by smtence ; and when I had finished, one of
the chiefs, rising with the approbation of the others, replied
in their name : he declared how much he and his companions were convinced of what I had said, and of the advantage they would derive from their emulation of the industry
and arts of the whites. 'But, Father,' said he, in conclusion-'there is one thing you have forgotten to take into
consideration : that we may be capable of the improvement
�20
New York and Canada llfission.
which you recommend ~o us, you must find a means to
cfiange our Indian skin into the skin of the whites ; for as
long as we remain with the skin in which we were born, we
will not be able to acquir(; more talents and intelligence than
the great Spirit has thought proper to allow us. Should
you not, then, have compassion on our weakness, and continue to supply us, as your own children, with that aid,
without which we will never be able to succeed !'
"Such was the really wise conclusion of this Indian, and
I had nothing to reply, but that we would continue our
assistance as long as possible. In fact, if it be true, as Our
Lord telb us, that.no one, with all his efforts, can add one
inch to the height of his body, it is not less true that our
intelligence also has its limits, different, not only in each individual, but also in each race, as the history of all ages
clearly proves ; limits which God has with infinite wisdom
and goodness fixed in the designs of His Providence, for
the greater good of each one. And if we consider what
use civilized nations, above all, those of our day, make, for
the glory of God and the salvation of their souls, of that
elevated degree of intelligence, with which they have been
enriched by Divine Providence, we will easily perceive that
they have no right to reproach the Indians with their negligence in this respect, and that they should rather apply to
themsefves the words of our Divine Saviour·: "Blessed are
the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
�THE NATCHEZ I N DI ANS I N 1730.
Ldtt·r from R ev. 1-r. Pttit, S. 7, to Rev. Fr. D avaugour, S. 7,
Promrator- Gmtral of t!tc Tfissions in \ ortll America.
(Continued. )
-
So far I have g iven y ou a general description of the religious worship of the Natchez. Marriages are co ntracted
among them without much ceremony. The young man
who wishes to marry, goes to the bride's father, or in case of
his decease, to her eldest brother, a nd at once treats with
hi m about her dower, which usually consists in hides, articles of furniture and the like. It matters little whether the
bride has led a chaste life or not, provided there is hope of
a change for the better in ma rried life. As high or low
birth is of no consideration , the only requisite is that she
be pleasing to the bridegroom. H er parents inqui re
whether he is a good husbandma n, fisherman, or hunter,
and accordi ng to his excellence in one · of these avocations,
dimini sh th e dowe r in proportion.
As soon as these prelimi naries have been settl ed, the
bridegroom and his companions go on a hunt, until they
have game, or fish, in sufficient quantity to feast the friends
of the engaged part ies. At the marriage feast, which is
held in th e h ouse of the bride's parents, the newly married
couple are first served, and they eat, in token of affection,
from the same dish. After the meal the husband presents
his you ng wife with a pipe of tobacco, the sign of friendship , and afterwards does the same honor to the g uests.
When they have fi nished smoking, the guests take leave of
�22
The Jllatc/te:; Indians in I?JO.
the married couple for the night. Early on the next day
the husband takes his wife to her father's house,' where she
remains in a separate room, until Friendship, as they say,
has built her a new hut to live. Whilst it is building, the
husband endeavors to procure by the chase good meals for
the builders.
The law allows the Natchez to have as many wives as
they please. It is customary, however, among the lower
classes to take only one or two, while the prince and his
subalterns, whose subjects are obliged to till their fields,
take many more, as they are able to support them.
The marriage feas!s of the princes cost very little. The
prince calls the father of the intended bride, informs him
that he ranks her among his wives, and concludt:s the contract with a few presents to the parents. Although the
prince has many wives, he only keeps one or two with him
in the palace ; the rest stay with their parents, where at
times he visits them.
On certain days of the month no man is permitted to live
with his wife. So far from being jealous, husbands frequently lend th_eir wives to good friends without demanding
pay. This liberal custom arises from the fact, that as long
as a wife has had no children, she ·can be divorced, but,
once with child, the marriage tie can never be severed.
\Vhen the Natchez have mustered their forces to wage
war with an enemy, the commander-in-chief orders them to
plant in the ground two birch trees, which are painted red
and adorned with gaudy feathers, arrows, war clubs, etc.
The trees are not perfectly erect, but lean toward the hostile country. After the men have armed, and painted their
bodies with varied colors and grotesque figures, they present themselves before the chief, who assigns each his particular station and proclaims his readiness to live and die
with them. They in turn promise to obey all his orders
and to endure with pleasure the toils of war. They rehearse his heroic .exploits, and rejoice that they have such
�T!tc 1Vatclu:: lndimzs in I7JO.
23
a leader to head them on the field of battle. Finally, they
ask to be placed in the first rank facing the enemy, in order
to have the first chance to strike off the head of their opponent.
Although the Natchez cut off the heads of their vi~tims
in the onset and first fury of the battle, it is to be remarked,
. that, when the struggle begins to subside, they only cut off
the scalps, which are borne home in triumph and hung on
the stakes which enclose the narrow court before the temple. The skulls are taken to the cabins.
The commander-in-chief answers the warriors with a few
words, and invites them to come on an appointed day to the
"taking of war-medicine." This is ,a strange ceremony.
The warriors seat themselves in a circle around a huge
caldron, in which certain roots are boiled in water. Two
pints of this liquid are portioned out to each warrior, who
vomits it forth again, with such yells as can be heard at a
great distance.
After this performance the chief appoints the day and
hour for setting out. The warriors assemble, in the interval, every morning and evening on the public square,
where, amidst the dance, they celebrate their exploits in
former wars and chant the funeral song.
He who would see them marching off with all imaginable pomp, would suppose that they were conquerors returning from a glorious victory, or that they were marching
to battle so certain of victory, that not even the prospect of
a terrible death could cool their ardor for heroic deeds.
Yet a trifle is enough to make them lose courage. If only
one of them made public a dream that they had been defeated, they would immediately return home. They are
great cowards. It is a well known fact that on one occasion the howling of a dog so terrified them that they fled
in a panic and ran from the imagined scene of danger, like
hares before the hunter's hounds.
They do not march in file, but in straggling bands. Four
�24
Tlte Natcltc::; Indians in I7JO.
or five men precede the main body as scouts, whose business it is to examine the line of march and inform the chief
-who follows the troops instead of leading them-of the
least sign of danger.
About an hour before sunset they pitch their tents for the
night, and kindle a large fire in the middle of the camp.
Everyone sleeps with gun in hand. Twenty men or more.
are sent out in all directions as sentinels, to be on the alert
against a sudden attack of the enemy. There are no
guards near or in the camp. The chief exhorts the warriors before retiring, not to indulge in too sound slumber,
and to have their guns in readiness. He points out a place
where all should gather in case. the enemy should attack
them in the dark Then all the fires are put out, and everyone rests for the night.
The commander suspends the idols, which are brought
along in a bag, from <l red staff which is inclined towards the
land of the enemy. The warriors dance around them before retiring to sleep, swinging the while their war-clubs
in the direction of the enemy.
\Vhen the-enemy is not far off, the Natchez, if numerous,
advance upon him in five or six columns. If they find that
their scouts have been discovered and that the enemy is
ready for an attack, they generally return home. Before
starting, however, they scour the neighboring woods in
sear~h for some solitary hunter, whom they either take
alive, or kill, in order to bear home his scalp or skull.
They enter their villages singing their late deeds and telling
how many scalps they have taken.
The prisoners are forced to dance and sing some days
before the temple, after which they are handed over to the
near relatives of those who fell in battle. These relatives,
who yell and weep bitterly whilst the captives are dancing,
and dry their tears with the hair of the captured scalps,
collect a sum of money for those who brought the prisoners, and finally burn these poor creatures alive.
�Tht• i\'atcltc:; Indians in I7JO.
25
Names are given to the Natchez warriors by the elders of
the nation, which are more or less honorable according to
the number of scalps or skulls taken in war. Such is the
custom among- all the savage tribes of Louisiana. The
title of a great murderer, for instance, is earned by capturing ten enemies and twenty scalps. Hence it happens that
the exploits of a warrior are known by his name.
If a warrior return s from his first battle with only one
prisoner or one scalp, he is not permitted to sleep with his
wife or eat flesh-meat, but must be contented with fish and
gruel. Should he violate this fa t and continence, which
last six months, he is made to believe that the spirit of his
victim will kill him by magic, and that he can gain no victory in future, but must certainly die by the slightest wound.
The ch iefs and officers take special care of the prince,
when he accompanies the troops to battle : for sho uld he be
captured or killed, they would most certainly be strangled
by the people.
The medicine-men of the Natchez are, for the most part,
o)d men, who without any knowledge of medicine, without
the use of herbs or roots, pretend to heal diseases by magic.
They sing and dance around the patient day and night, all
the time swallowing the smoke of. a large pipe of tobacco.
They abstain from all food during the performance, and, on
account of the ceaseless contortions of thei r naked bodies,
foam at the mouth. The medicine-man constantly carries
with him a small basket in which he keeps the spirits of
health , sucb as roots of various kinds, little bags tipped
with the hair of wild beasts, teeth of animals, polished pebbles, and the like. He calls upon them, without ceasing,
to cure the patient.
Some of the medicine-men carry about with them a
safety-root, which renders harmless the bite of the most
venomous serpents, and, when they have rubbed their hands
and body with it, they can lay hold of the most deadly
vipers without danger of being bitten. Others cut open
VoL 1v-No. 1.
4
�Tltc JVatchc::: Indians in I?JO.
the affected part of the patient's body with a piece of flint,
and, applying the mouth to the wound, suck out all the
blood, which they spit out along with a little cake of leather,
wood, or straw, that had been concealed under the tongue,
and cry out to the bystanders : "See, here is the true cause
of the malady." If the sick man recovers, the medicineman keeps the large sum of money which was paid before
hand, and receives unbounded praise. Should the patient
die, the impostor is beaten to death with clubs by the friends
of the deceased, without any interference on the part of
relatives ; such being the custom of the land.
There are likewise among the Natchez old sluggards,
who give out thah:hey can cause fair or rainy weather at
pleasure. They shrink from the labor which agriculture,
fishing and the chase require, and, consequently, take to
cozenage in order to support their families. In springtime,
the inhabitants of each settlement gather in public meeting
and raise money to buy from a deceiver good weather for
the year. A year of plenty makes the man's fortune: but,
if there be a scarcity, his head is broken. The busine~s
costs him lit~le labor. He begins with a strict fast. Then
he dances to the shrill notes of a fife filled with water, which
he pipes against the clouds wh~re they are thickest. This
done, he takes in one hand the Sissi Kuai, which resembles
a child's rattle, and in the other his idols, and, stretching
them toward heaven conjures the clouds to pour themselves
out upon the fields. \Vhen fair weather is desired, the fife
is not used, but the cheat, having climbed the roof of his
hut, with menacing gestures bids the clouds begone, and
whistles with the mouth so vigorously, as if he meant to
blow them away. Should the clouds break and be dispersed, he goes down into the hut, and, ·singing songs of
praise, dances around his idols. He fasts, smokes tobacco,
and offers his pipes to heaven if it should wish to use them.
Notwithstanding the merciless butchery of the cozener
when his threat~ are not fulfilled, many willingly stake their
�The JVatcht::: Indians in I7.JO.
27
lives in the hazardous business, because the reward for
success is very great. Besides, as no fair-weather-maker
is allowed to be a rain-maker, the number of such cozeners
is increased. Different kinds of weather, they say, have
different gods who do not interfere with each other, and,
consequently, rain-spirits cannot clear the sky, nor can
fair-weather spirits irrigate the fields, their respective powers being limited.
· \Vhen a Natchez dies, his relatives assemble and weep
his death for a whole day. Then they paint his face, dye
his hair and adorn it with feathers, and carry him so to
the grave, where a gun, a kettle and victuals are put at his
side, in order to prevent his suffering from want on the war
to the spirit land. From that time the mourners go to the
grave every morning and evening, and for half an hour
lament over the dead with such cries of grief, as suit their
degree of relationship. So when a father dies, the \vidow
shrieks: "oh dear husband !" the children cry: "dearest
£<ther !" and others : "oh my father-in-law ! oh brotheriii-law!" and so on. All who are related to the deceased in
the first degree, continue this mourning for three months,
during which time they wear the hair ~hort, do not paint
their bodies, and absent themselves from all feasf'> of joy.
\Vhen another people honor the Natchez with a·n embassy, a messenger is sent out to meet the envoys and
determine with them the day and hour of their entrance.
The prince orders his stewards to make all necessary preparations. They at once appoint the persons who must
furnish meals for the guests, as the prince never takes this
trouble on himself, but makes it the duty of his subjects.
The streets are repaired, and the houses, in which the
ambassadors are to be lodged, are cleaned and furnished .
Benches are placed under a broad roof on the high mound
where the prince's hut stands; and the throne, which is an
ornamented chair, is set upon mats.
On the day of the arrival, all the Natchez come from
�28
lltc iVatc/tc::; Indians in I7JO.
the seven villages to the mound. The chiefs, judges, and
old men, seat themselves on the benches next to the prince,
in such order as each one's dignity and the regulations of
the stewards require. The envoys halt at the distance of
five hundred paces from the prince's throne and sing a song
of peace.
An embassy generally consists of thirty men and six
women. The six men who surpass the others in handsomeness and clearness of voice, march at the head of their
companions, and intone stanza after stanza of the song.
The rest of the men follow in ranks of six, repeating each
stanza in a bass vo.ice, to which the women, who come last,
sing soprano. All of them beat time with little rattles.
After the song· the prince bids them approach. Those \vho
carry the calumets, or tobacco pipes, at once step forward
and begin to sing anew. They advance, dancing now in a
thick· crowd and the next moment in a sweeping circle,
when they fall into line and face the prince. During the
dance they contort, swing and twist their limbs in such
strange and unnatural ways, that it would not be a wonder
if the bones were to fly out of joint. ·when they reach
the mound they dance around the prince's throne, and
stroke his body with the pipes from below upwards. This
done, they dance back to their companions, and there fill a
pipe with tobacco. Then all the envoys leap and dance
toward the prince, to whom the noblest among them presents the pipe, while another offers fire. The prince lights
the pipe, and blows the first mouthful of smoke toward
heaven, the next to the earth, and the rest in the air
around. The envoys give pipes to the other princes and
chiefs also, so that all may smoke together. vVhen all
have done smoking, the envoys step up to the prince and,
as a sign of union between the two people, rub his stomach
with their hands, and with them stroke their bodies. The
pipes are fastened to little forks at the feet of the prince,
and the noblest envoy sets forth in a well-conceived speech,
�Tlte Natclte:: Indians i11 I?JO.
\\ hich lasts a full hour, the reasons of the embassy. \Vhen
he has done, the ambassadors, at a given sign, sit down on
the benches which stand in readiness behind the throne.
The prince ·gives a neat answer which lasts as long as the
address, and the state judge lights the great peace-pipe,
from which each envoy takes a pull and swallows the
smoke. The ambassadors are asked by the prince whether
they are well, and all the chiefs and elders go one by one
and put them the same question, and then lead them to the
lodgings, where they are treated to a magnificent banquet.
At sunset the envoys betake themselves to singing and
bearing pipes in their hands, to the feet of the prince, and
carry him on their shoulders to their lodging. There they
quickly spread a hide upon the ground and seat him upon
it. One of them steps behind and shakes him by the
shoulders, while the rest sit around and sing their warlike
deeds. After this ceremony, which is repeated morning
and evening for four days, the prince goes home. His last
visit has this peculiarity. The ambassadors drive a large
stake in the ground on an open field beside their dwelling,
and sit down around it. The Natchez warriors dance in
gaudy war-dress before them, celebrate their exploits, and
beat time by striking the stake with their clubs. At the
end of the dance they honor the envoys with presents, such
as kettles, pans, axes, guns, powder and bullets.
On the following, the fifth day, the guests are allowed to
go about the village, a privilege not granted before. Every
. evening a festive play is given in their honor on the great
meeting place, where men and women in their richest dress
dance till late in the night. Before their departure the state
judge supplies the ambassadors with all necessaries for the
Journey.
Hitherto I have described to your Reverence the government, superstition, and manners of the Natchez. I will
now lay before you an account of the bold insurrection of
this treacherous people against the French.
�ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.
[Continued.]
In August, 1844, Father Barbelin was made Superior of
the mission of St. Joseph's, which position he held for a
quarter of a century, glorious twenty-five years. At this
time Brother Ow~n Me Girr was sent to St. Joseph's.
Dear old Brother Me Girr! How I loved him, and admired
him, and feared him. His position in the Society was
humble, his usefulness great; and happy would it be for
many a member filling a more exalted station, did he possess his virtue, or even his natural ability. For many years
he performed the duties of his responsible office with
fidelity, and his influence for good was second only to that
of some Fathers. The friend of the quiet, well-behaved
lads, but the terror of the mischief-loving urchins ; his
bodily strength awed the beggar-impostor, whilst the sharpness of his wit taught the learned professor, who could
number his reverend pupils by the hundreds, that logic can
be acquired even outside the schools. Simple as a child,
his nasal tones have soothed the sorrowing heart of many
a poor mother; and ex-Provincials loved to joke with him
as a brother. Dear old Brother M c Girr, these eyes will.
be darkened by the shades of death when they do not
brighten at the mention of your name.
In 1845 the assistants of Father Barbelin were Fathers
Anthony Rey, Francis Vespre and John Blox. Fr. Rey
was at that time Socius and Admonitor of the Very Rev.
Father Provincial. He was afterwards one of the Chaplains of the United States army during the war in Mexico,
and on the 19th of January was murdered by the brigands.
�St. Yoseplz's Clmrdt, Pltiladelpllia.
31
Father Lucas, one of the most remarkable fathers of the .
Province, a man of deep learning, pure piety, and great natural wit, though nomina lly stationed at Goshenhoppen,
spent most of his time in Philadelphia, where he was much
esteemed.
The Spiritual Exercises were g iven this year by Fathers
Rey and Samuel Barber. The eloquence of the latter was
such as has seldom been heard, even in St. Joseph's. In
the concluding discourse, on Palm Sunday morning, the
congregation was so carried away by his pathetic eloquence,
. that, spontaneously, they fell upon their knees, while every
eye shed tears of penitence and joy.
In 1846, Fathers Augustine Me Mullin and Samuel Mulledy assisted Father Barbelin. These were holy years:
Father Barbelin full of zeal and his assistants cooperating
with him. Down in the Sunday School, ta lking with teachers and scholars; up in the Church, exhorting the·Sodalists,
who then filled the whole body of the Church, and whose
singing has never been equalled in Philadelphia; then back
again in the Sunday School, to g ive the parting advice; he
was fresh and ready for the vespers with his "few words of
edification." Nor was the week spent in idleness. His
Temperance Beneficial Society, established in 1840, was to
be superintended. His Saint Rose Society composed of
ladies of means, whose duty it was to visit the sick ; not
the poor only, but those of position ; carrying some little
delicacy a nd speaking words of consolation and advice,
was to be directed. His D orcas Society, for supplying the
poor with clothing, was to be encouraged. His reading
room and library, for men and youths, were to be visited.
His night school , for apprentice boys, was to be examined.
Ladies were stimulated to compose new hymns and adapt
new tunes. Children were to be prepared for the sacraments. Novenas were to be performed and practices of
piety taught: and whil e most faithful in the sacred box,
and most assi duous in pastoral visits, wisely thinking that
�32
St. Yosep!t's Clmrdz, P!tzladelpltia.
the pastor should know his flock, no Father administered
more Baptisms, blessed more marriages, or attended more
sick calls.
In 1847, the Church was enriched with a splendid marble
statue of our holy father, St. Joseph. Although younger
than the conceptions of many of the 'Foster Father,' beautiful is his face as well as that of the Divine Infant. This
large, life-size statue, together with the staft~ was chiselled
from one piece of pure white marble, and cost $450,00 ; its
present value would be $rooo,oo.
On the 21st of February, a collection was taken up for
the sufferers by the fearful famine in Ireland, and $850,00
were raised. \Vhen we take into consideration, that St.
Joseph's is the smallest parish in the diocese, that it is the
one where the ships carrying immigrants arrive, who, instead of bringing funds to the coffers of the Church, remain
only until' they can obtain a home elsewhere, and very frequently require assistance while they remain and when they
go, this collection was surprisingly large.
On November 1st, the "St. Joseph's Catholic Total Abstinence Beneficial Society" held a meeting in the basement,
at which, a'lnid great excitement, delegates were appointed
to meet Father Mathew, the Apostle of Temperance.
In 1848 Father Barbelin, with some of the leading Catholic gentlemen, organized a Society for the relief of the
distressed immigrants whom the awful sufferings of the
famine in Ireland drove to our city; most of whom arrived
in our parish. Having served its day of usefulness,
crowned with the blessing of the widow and the orphan,
and the poor man of family, this Society found itself with
a balance in its treasury. From this unusual fact sprang
St. Joseph's Hospital. Its inception began in the parlor of
St. Joseph's Residence. For a long time, until, after many
years of able management by the good sisters of St. Joseph,
it was placed in the charge of the Daughters of St. Vincent
de Paul; the .Board of Corporators and Directors met at
�·.
St. Yoseplt's Clwrclt, Pltiladelplzia.
33
St. Joseph's. It is now a noble institution, one of the boasts
of Phi ladel phia Cathol ics.
In 1849, Fathers Barbel in, Balfe and Thomas M ulledy
form ed the corps at St. Joseph's , but in midsummer, Father
J ohn Lynch ; belo nging to the Province of Ireland, replaced
Father Balfe. About this time Father Visitor Ignatius
Brocard began to agitate the question of building St. Joseph 's College. At first Father Barbelin objected; he had
bought ·sufficient ground, and had paid off most of the debt
of the Church and he was des irous of completely liquidating this debt, and of laying by some fun ds before commencing so costly an undertaking. But Father Brocard urged
and promised assistance from the Province. This assistance Father llarbelin understood as a gift, but it eventually
proved a loan. The work was placed in charge of Father
John Lynch, who pushed it on with vigor, so that by July,
18 51, the building was ready for occupancy. Even at that
early season it was foreseen that the proper position for
a college would be farther west; still, it was substantially
bu ilt and was large and airy. Being near the Merchants'
Exchange, where all th e omnibuses started, it was a very
excellent location for the tim e.
A lthough ourselves erectin g a large structure, in the first
two weeks of March, collections were taken up for the
Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul and over $2000,00 were
realized. In the month of May, a young scholastic,
thoug ht to be nea r his death, was sent to Philadelphia, that
he might have the consolation of dying in his native city.
He did not die , but immediately his health began to improve. It was then determined to open the College at
once, with him as one of the teachers. Father Burchard
Villiger, afterwards Provincial, then lately ordained, was
appointed Prefect of Studies. Two scholastics, one lay
brother, and one secular gentleman formed the corps of
professors. It was ordered by the Very Rev. Provincial,
VoL. 1v-No.
1.
5
�34
St. :foseplt's C!zurdz, Philadelphia.
that during the first year, there should be no class higher
than the Rudiments, adding a class each year.
The College opened on the 7th of September, the festival
of our l\Iother's Nativity, with nearly one hundred scholars,
some of them young men older than their teachers. Under
the able management of Father Villiger, discipline was
well kept up and the students studied, and had the spirit
then instilled been preserved, St. Joseph's College, in the
City of Philadelphia, would now number hundreds of
classical students.
At the time the College was commenced the poorer
boys of the pari~!l were not neglected. The parochial
school fo·r boys was re-opened, at first, in the basement, aftenvards in a building erected north of the Church, and
placed under the care of two lay brothers. It has had
varied success ; at times, there has been a large school of
promising lads, and again the attendance has been small.
Some of our most efficient young Catholic gentlemen have
been pupils of this school. At present, the number attending is small. and mostly young boys, but it is not deficient
in usefulness.
During this year Father John Lynch rented the large
house at the southwest corner of Union and Front streets,
as a home for young servant girls out of employment. He
placed it in the charge of a matron, intending soon to introduce the Sisters of Mercy to preside over it. For its
support, on tht~ 28th of September, he established a Conference of St. Vincent de Paul. This institution was
ephemeric ; but the Conference of St. Vincent was the
nucleus of the now powerful and ably managed Particular
Conference of Philadelphia.
During this year, Father James Ryder was stationed at
St. Joseph's, and began on the second Sunday in September
a series of sermons on the Blessed Mother, which he continued until the second Sunday in December,-a series of
sermons unsurpassed for their eloquence and learning.
�St. :Joseph's Clwrclt, P/tiladdpltia.
35
Each di8course seemed to exhaust the matter, only to be
equalled if not excelled by the next. The Church was
crowded to excess, and the sashes being raised, men filled
the quadrangle and the yard on the north side of the
Church, listening in rapt attention to the chaste words of
the eloquent divine.
In l\Iarch, 1852, a meeting of Italian Catholics was held
in the basement. This meeting gave rise to a movement
which eventuated in the building of the Church of St. Mary
.Magdalene de Pazzi for the Italians. At present there is a
fine Church; the new school house and pastor's residence
having been burned by the match of the incendiary. Still
a large ~umber of the faithful children of sunny Italy prefer to attend the early mass at St. Joseph's.
Father Barbelin thought it now high time. to open a
school for female children, there not being a single school
for Catholic girls in the city proper. For that purpose he
called ;i. meeting of the pew-holders, in the basement, on
Sunday afternoon, April 4th. He presided, and Wm. L.
Hirst, Esq., was Secretary. At this meeting it was resolved to increase the pew rents 33 J!3 per cent, and with
the fund thus raised to support a free school for girls. I
paid a visit with Fr. Barbelin to St. John's Orphan Asylum,
the head house in the diocese, of the Sisters of St. Joseph ;
where he went to make necessary arrangements to obtain
sisters as teachers. In the beginning of September, a
school was opened in a house in Fourth Street above Willing's Alley, which had been bought for the purpose, with
Sisters Veronica and De Sales, and Miss Susan McCaffery
for teachers. Now St. Joseph's Academy in Locust Street
employs six sisters and has over three hundred pupils, who
receive a good English education, and arc taught vocal and
instrumental music, plain and fancy needle work. This was
the fir~t school of the Sisters of St Joseph's, who now have
a splendid Convent and Academy at Mount Saint Joseph,
Chestnut Hill; conduct eight select and eleven parochial
�St. :Joseph's Church, Philadelphia. ·
schools, besides attending to other institutions of the
diocese.
The movement at St. Joseph's Church soon excited the
emulation of other congregations, and in the latter part of
the year a large meeting was held in St. John's basement of
delegates from different churches, to consult on the proper
steps to be taken in the matter. The delegates from St.
Joseph's were \Vm. L. Hirst, John C. Kirkpatrick, James
l\I. Smith, Denis Murphy and Joseph Dimond.
On Sunday, the first of May, the students of St. Joseph's
College had their first procession in honor of Immaculate
Mary, their chosen Queen of May. Heretofore almost all
the public devoti~iis, as May processions, Christmas entertainments, &c., had been confined to the young misses, but
now a great change was made; the boys took their proper
position -the lead in all such matters. The devotion
of May processions was carried to a very high degree
of perfection ; months were spent in the preparation of
the speaking and singing, and large sums of money expended on the adornments and floral decorations. These
processions ~ontinued for years, when the Scholastic who
had charge of them, seeing that the rivalries engendered
between the children and the Sodalities were growing into
sinful feelings, gave them over; and now the May processions, as in former years, are left to the young ladies.
During this year Father Villiger was succeeded in the
Prefecture of Schools, first by Father John Blox and then
by Father John McGuigan. The corps of professors consi~ted of four Fathers, two Scholastics and one lay brother.
The attendance was large, the discipline good, 'and the reputation of the school high even among Protestants, though
no Protestant boys were received as pupils.
In August, 1853, as the number of Scholastics was increased to five, a young Father was sent to St. Joseph's, as
Minister, Superior of the Scholastics and Prefect of schools.
Unhappily disc~pline relaxed, and on the removal of the
�St. :Joseph's Clmrclt, Plu'!adelpllia.
37
College to Filbert and Juniper Streets, the number of pupils
became small.
The promulgation of the glorious dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception was celebrated with the greatest pomp
at St. Joseph's. "All things obey money," and money was
not spared. Priests and laity vied with each other in doing
their best to honor the occasion ; even some Protestants
were happy to lend their richest ornaments to grace the
celebration. Back of the Altar was hung the rich golden
drapery of Mr. Joseph Ingersoll; upon a high pedestal of
crimson velvet, glittering with precious jewels, stood a pure
white marble statue of the Immaculate Queen ; bouquets
innumerable of choicest hot-house flowers and candelabra
uncountable made everything fragrant and bright. _It has
been sai d, when the altars were lighted, hundreds and hundreds of happy tapers glimmered as stars at Mary's feet.
The columns and galleries \Vere twined with bright flowers
and green foliage, through which twinkled the bright
flames of miniature chandeliers, lent us for the occasionthe tout mscmble was fairy-like in beauty. So great was
the number in attendance, that the crowd extended down
\Valnut Street to Third and even to the Merchant's Ex change.
Th e 29th of August was a day not soon to be forgotten
in thi s country. Ueing confined to my room by a severe
head-ache, three scholastics ·s pent an hour around my bed.
They were on their way to the College of the Holy Cross,
as teachers. At 1 1, A. M., I sent them down to the refectory to a substantial lunch; and th en -sayi ng a short prayer
in honor of the thorn-crowned head, I walked my floor for
hours iri intense pain .
About 4, P. M., being relieved, I went out to pay a visit
to my mother's. Afte r staying there a short time, I started
for home, and on the way met a young lady acquaintance,
with face the color of ashes of roses. " Oh! 0! Mr. ... ,
have you heard the news? the noon train to New York is
�St. :Joseph's Clmrch, Philadelplua.
smashed up, and oh! oh! oh! the young-the scholastics
. are all killed." I waited not to thank her for her kindness:
and indeed, Miss Kate Egan has a heart brimming full of
kindness for everyone who can lay claim to the title of
Jesuit, but started at double quick for Willing's Alley,
where I found that the scholastics were not "all killed,"
for there was Mr. \Voolts under the care of good Dr. :\lc
Neil. One was dead, one was severely injured, and one
was greatly, oh! greatly scared.
Poor l\Ir. Hugh Rush, a few more weeks and you would
have called yourself a man, but suddenly that warm heart
ceased to beat. J:.hose who knew you well tell me it was indeed a warm heart''that ceased to beat on that memorable
29th of August. You had just finished your retreat, l\Iary's
beads were in your hands, Mary's name was on your lips;
you were going to instil the love of .i\Iary and of Mary's
Son ; but Mary's Father and your God willed otherwise :
as good Brother John Dowling says: "Thanks be to God."
One Brother dead in Burlington, and another Brother
there dying, if not dead ! Father .... , armed with sacred
unction, anclhumble servant, started for \Valnut St. \Vharf,
to take the boat, to take the train, which, it was announced,
would, at 6 o'clock, take the relatives and friends of the
dead and wounded to Burlington. Six o'clock is passed,
7 o'clock is striking. "Say, sir, is there not a train to take
us to Burlington?" asked I of a clerk, who looked as if
ever there had been any blood in his bee, it had taken
lodgings elsewhere. " Yes, sir, we will be ready in a very
short time." Eight o'clock has been counted by the steel
tongue of the State House bell. " Mr. E ..... s," said I
to an employee of the Road whom I recogniz'ed as a
Catholic," it was announced that at 6 o'clock, there would
be a train to take us up to Burlington. Is there one to go
to-night?" "0 Mr. .... ! I hope none of our-of your,I hope none of our Fathers was on that train ? " " Yes,
there was one .'of ours, there were three of ours. Is there
�St. Yoseplz's Clwrclt , Pluladelpltia.
39
any hope of our getting there to-night ?" "Oh ! do come
with Father . . .. over to our house and Mrs. E . . .'s will
g ive you a cup of tea. \Ve cannot get the train started before 10 o'cl ock, bu t th en you 'll go right straig ht thro ugh,
without · any stopping: you'll get there in ten o r fifteen
minutes."
At I 2 o'clock we sta rted from Camden. Perhaps arrangements had been made, or at feast o rders given that
there should be no stoppages, but this I know that wh en
the engine was w"
ithin twelve i~ches of Rancocas Creek,
there was a whistle to put down brakes: a whistle that
would have wakened the seven sleepers, and a jerk that did
waken th e seventy-seven sleepers in th ose fou r. ·. cars, but
that it took seventy times seven whistles to waken the one
sleeper, whose duty it was to lower the draw, and whose
carelessness had nearly sent one hundred and twenty painfull y anxio us Phil adelphians to spend St. R ose's day, 1855 ,
with the sportive fis hes of the smooth flowing Delaware.
\Ve arrived in Burlington after I o'clock. Leaving
Father .... to look for the dead, I went in search of a man,
- in search of my brother. From room to room went I ;
but whilst many men I saw, my man I could not see. r\t
length I came to a long room, where at least twelve were
lying in anguish and pain. J have a natural aversion to
gazing on suffe ring, when I am powerless to relieve, but toni g ht, I, poor myope, la id as ide all delicacy. In the 1:-uthest
corner I saw a poor negro, whose d usky ski n p rocla imed
him one of Congo's noble princes. " He must be among
the dead, " solil oq uized I, as disappointed I turned away.
" Mr . ..... ," whispers my Ethiopian hero. " What! can
that be D enni s?" Yes , it was Dennis. A h! F ather O' Ka ~e ,
the mother that nursed you would not have recognized you
<>S her son; and your Christjan answer: "Yes I'm alive, but
go rescue first those who are suffering more than I," did
h onor to yo u and to the Society which ed ucated us. " Go
rescue first those who are sufferi ng more than I," Brother,
�St. J'osep!t's Church, Philaddphia.
there were few among the living who were sufiering more
than you, or as much as you, but they were not reciting the
beads of the Salus lnjimzomm when that terrible crash
came, they had not the Virgo Potens strengthening them.
Do you remember, brother, how, after a few words of
comfort, I went in search of Father .... , and how, while
you made your confession to him, interrupted by the ribald
jokes of the gentleman from the South ·who occupied the
next mattress, I went off and recognized the body of l\Ir.
Rush, by his red hair ; ~nd how his body with that of a
black bondswoman, the property of Dr. Whelan, of \Vashington, was senL ~p to the Church ; albeit she, poor creature, had no claims upon us but that of a common Faith ?
I remember how, together with Father .... , I went in
search of the priest, who after making some desultory enquiries from strangers, as to whether any one needed his
assistance; if any Catholics were on the train ; did one say
he wanted a priest : had gone home and was then sleeping
peacefully unconscious of the suffering around him. I remember the Mass at 5 o'clock in the church,-two living, a
Jesuit priest and a Jesuit Scholastic, and two dead, a Jesuit
Scholastic and a slave negress, lying side by side; no distinction before the Altar of the God of the black and the
white, the free and the bond. Do you remember how,
when you had been carried into a private room, while they
changed your clothes, you tried, in Latin, to supplement
the confession of the early morn, and how one of the surgeons told you what you were doing, and how you found
out that he was a former student of Georgetown College,
and how for weeks he used kindly to visit you and many a
pleasant chat you had together? I remember how I attended the coroner's inquest and took my first oath, swearing "this is the body of Henry Rush" when it was in reality
the body of Hugh Rush. I remember how the people
crowded round to view the corpse, and how it was not
necessary for the coroner to say : "Stand back, my friends;
�St. :Jostp!t's Omrdt, Pltiladc!p!tia.
41
and allow the Reverend gentleman to identify the remains."
Identify the remains? Not one day had passed since the
immortal spirit had fled its casket a nd who could recog nize
a feature? Corruption had been busy in that one day.
" Get it into the ea rth, sir, as soon as you can," was the
officer's kind remark, as he handed me the permit to take
possessio n of th e body.
•· Yo u arc deficient in Combativeness and Destructiveness,
and are not adapted to a work of purely exec utive character,' ' once wrote John L. Capen, the Phrenologist, concerning me. I wish he had seen me on the 30th of August,
1855, between the hours of nine and twelve. The Jerseymen of Burlington did not think I was wanting in combativeness. I remember how I took possession of a wagon,
and ordered that coffin to be carried down to the depot at
once, as if I owned J ersey and even America. I remember
how I hastened to the office and sent a telegram which
arrived as I was taking my dinner at St Joseph's. I remember how, when the train from New York came puffing and
snorting up to the depot, my combative faculties were
called into exercise. .At first, the conductor refused to receive the body, the train was too heavily laden. "That
coffin goes by this tra in," said I. " Well, then, it will have
to go in the car next the engine and you'll have to stand
and watch it." "No, sir, that coffin goes in the baggage car,
and handl e it carefully. I go in a passenger car." · Mr.
Capen, there was some executive abil ity in me ; it only required to be called out. . That coffin went safely to Camden,
but here I was met with a difficulty.
The hearse I had telegraphed for had not arrived, as they
had not received my teleg ram . Mr. Simon Gartland was
there with a wagon for the remains of young Ingersoll,
who, although apparently uninjured by the accident, had
died in the cars between Burlington and Bordentown. Mr.
Gartland asked permission of the Hon. Joseph to carry the
body of Mr. Rush with that of h is nephew. By the death
VoL. rv- No. 1. ·
6 ·
�Pottmvattomy Indimts.
of this young man within a few days of his majority nearly
a million dollars passed from the Ingersoll family. \:Vhether
soured by this fact or not, the permission was refused.
Here was a difficulty indeed : a dead body under my care
and no vehicle to carry it to the graveyard. All truly executive minds rise to the emergency. " Deny," says I to an
Irishman, looking with eyes and a mouth that could hide
away a pretty good sized praty, and whose name might be
Patrick, or Barney, or even Mick, for all I knew. "Deny,
you just please take the body Mr. Gartland has in his
charge up to its destination. Mr. Gartland pays you. Now,
Simon, put this body in your wagon, get a hack and follow
us up to the Church." It was an act of cool impertinence,
but agreeable considering the hot weather.
\Vhen the body arrived at the Church, Fathers Barbelin,
. Ryder and Tuffer followed it to St. Joseph's Cemetery and
while two men dug the grave, they gave the final absolution. As the body reached the bottom of the grave, the
coffin burst, and the remains of Hugh Rush mingled with
holy earth. " Dust returned unto the earth, from whence
it was, ana the spirit returned to God who gave it."
(To be continued.)
POTTOWATTOMY. INDIANS.
THEIR
MIGRATIONS ;-THE MISSIONARIES WHO LIVED AMONGST
TIIE~f.
The full history of the Pottowattomy tribe of Indi<tns
would be an interesting chapter upon the subject of the
aboriginal population that once held undisputed sway over
this entire continent. It would throw light upon all this singular race, and the sad doom that seems to await them. The
�Potttnt.Jatiomy l11dians.
43
following very general and somewhat desultory sketch may
help towards calling to this subject the attention of scholars who have better resources than are within the writer's
reach to treat it thoroughly. Some facts pertaining to the
history of the Pottowattomies are it is believed, herein for
the first time committed to print.
This tribe is frequently mentioned in the letters and narratives of the first missi01iaries to the regions abo ut Lake
Huron, Lake .Michigan and Lake Superior. In 1674, or
the year after, Father Marquette discovered the upper llfississippi, a name which in the Algonquin language means
great river, and not "father of waters," as erroneously rendered by some writers ; several Pottowatomies accompanied
the illustrious mi ssionary from Green Bay on his way to
the Kaskaskias of the upper Illinois river; but he was icebound and was detained sick all the winter near the Chicago
nver. The Pottowattomies are usually included in the
Otchepowe or Algonquin group of Aborigines. Their
language is free from harsh sounds, is quite musical, and is
found by the missionaries to be capable of easy cultivation ,
and to possess much beauty.
This tribe seems to have dwelt mainly in the region between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, and as far South as
the St. Joseph river, in northern Indiana, where early in the
present century they had above fifty villages. A division
of the tribe known then as the " Prairie Indians " dwelt in
• the regions still further west ; they were nomadic, and wilder in their habits than those that inhabited the villages.
The names of FF. Marquette, Lamarina, Le Franc, Dujaunais, and others, were still known, when the missionaries
visited them in 1822, by the very children, through tradition
of their parents, their grand and great grand sires as they
roved the forests or fished upon the lakes. · ( Catlzo!ic Miscella1l}', :January 7tlt, r824.)
Father Dujaunais dwelt in Mackinaw from July 12th,
1742, to July 3d, 1765, when he was recalled to Quebec.
�44
Pottmi/tlf/omy
Indians.
Up to this departure of the missionary from :\Iackinaw in
I765 the Christian Pottowattomies and their neighbors, the
Otto was, were visited regularly by the Fathers. But owing
to the troubles between the English and French governments, and the suppression of the Jesuit Society in I 773,
these Indian missions were rarely visited by priests, till I 82 I .
In I804, the fierce Shawnee Chiet: Tecumseh, started on
his round among the Indian tribes upon both banks of the
}Iississippi, and along the lake shores, from Lake Superior
to Lake Huron, in order to get up a combined movement
for utterly exterminating the white population throughout
the \Vest. He \~ilS assisted by his twin brother, commonly
called the "Prophet," whose incantations and jugglei}'
added authority to Tecumseh's wild eloquence, and they
succeeded in firing the red men of all the Northwest. The
Pottowattomies caught the warlike spirit, and a portion of
their braves took part in the battle of Tippecanoe on the
banks of the \Vabash river, in I 8 I I, where a number of
them were left dead on the field. (.'~·a Dmuson's Lifi· t~(
Harrison.)
In I807,-General Hull signed a treaty by which the Pottowattomies were permanently located in Lower l\Iichigan
and Northern Indiana, and all the region about the St. Joseph river was assigned to them. They signed another
treaty with Govcrner Cass at Chicago, in I 82 I, in which
they stipulated that the United States government should
send them a Catholic priest. Father Richard was among
the tribes of Michigan about this time, and visited the spot
where Marquette died, and planted a cross upon it, carving
on it with a penknife this inscription, "Fr. J. H. Marquette
died here on the 9th of lVIay, 1675." He lived in that vicinity, owing to head winds, for ten days, and sang High
Mass over Fr. Marquette's supposed grave. Fr. Marquette's
. remains, as is now well known, were taken up two years
after his death, were incased in a coffin of birch bark and
removed to St. Ignace at Mackinaw, where they were
buried under the church.
�Pottowattomy Indians.
45
It was perhaps the ·treaty of Chicago that led to Fr.
Badin, the great Missionary of Kentucky, being sent to the
Pottowattomies in 1822. Father Richard was elected a
delegate to Congress from Michigan in 18 23, and through
him thirty chiefs presented a peti tion to Congress for a
Jes uit .Missionary. The following extract from the Catholic
Jfiscd!aJZy of 1824, gives the text of that petition, along
with some interesting particulars conn ected with it. A
letter from Father Baxter, of Georgetown College, D. C.,
to a friend in England, premises the petition :
G EORGETOW:-< COLLEGE,
Dec.
12th, 1823.
Rc1•. and Dc,u· Fricud:
I have procured for you r inspection a copy of a petition presented to Congress this session,
from the Indians who live in the Michigan Territory. In
order to g ive you some idea of the following petition, I
mu st observe that Michigan, which is not yet a State, but
only a T erritory of the United States, has chosen the Rev.
l\Ir. Richard, a French clergyman, of excellent character,
both in a religious and literary point of view, to represent
th em in this XVI II. Congress. This fact will sound curi ously to English ears. Mr. R . had labored long among
the Indians bordering upon the Lakes, and they have given
him th ei r implicit confidence. \ Vhen they knew he was to
be the representative of the Michigan territory, they assembled, drew up the following petition, requested him to present it to Congress, and signed it in thei r Indian manner.
You know that they cannot write, a nd that they have very
few christian names. They generally take the name of
some beast, bird or fish, a nd the designation on paper of
these animals, constitutes their signature. The following
peti tior:t these Indian chiefs have signed, by making a rude
resemblance of the animal by which they chose to be desig nated . Mr. Richard has lent me th e original petition. I
have it now before me, and I have procured the assistance
�Pottowattomy Indians.
of one of our best engravers to copy with a pen the respecti\·e signatures, and to transcribe the petition for me ....
Your most devoted friend,
R.
RAXTER.
COP¥ OF THE PETITION :
"vVe, the undersigned chiefs, heads of families, and others, of the tribe of the Ottowas, residing at \Vaganakisi
(the Arbre Croche, i. e. the crooked tree), on the lower
eastern shore of Lake Michigan, take this mode to communicate our wants and wishes to our most respected father,
the President of the United States.
\Ve return our best thanks to our father and to Congress
for his and their exertions to bring us, your very affectionate
children, to civilization, and to the knowledge of Jesus, the
Redeemer of the red skins as well as of the white people.
Trusting on your paternal affection, we come forward,
and claiming the liberty of conscience, we most earnestly
pray, that you may be pleased to let us have a teacher, or
Minister of the Gospel belonging to the same denomination of Christians to which did belong the members of the
Catholic Missionary Society of St. Ignatius, established at
Michilimackinac, or at the Arbre Croche by Fr. Marquette
and others, of the Order of the Jesuits. During a great
many years they resided amongst us, occupied and cultivated a field on our own ground, and instructed our fathers
in the first principles of Christianity and agriculture.
Such teachers we have long since wished, and continue
to wish, to have. Such teache'rs appointed by your paternal affection, we invite to come and settle on the same spot,
formerly occupied,· until the year r 766, by Father Duganny
(Dujaunais), that is to say, on the shore of Lake Michigan,
near the lower end of our village at the Arbre Croche.
For so doing and granting to us, your devoted children,
this their humble petition, we will forever feel very grateful,
and pray the Great Spirit to bless you and your white children. In witness whereof we have made our tautious
(marks) on this day, the rzth of August, A. D.· 1823."
(Here follow thirty signatures as described in Fr. Baxter's
letter.)
�Pottozvattomy Indians.
47
In I 822, Fr. Badin established a congregation among the
Pottowattomies, on the St. Joseph river; and from this time
forth they were never again entirely without spiritual aid.
In I833, Fr. Deseilles having already devoted his large
patrimony in Belgium to this mission, came himself to live
and die among these wild men' of the Michigan forests.
He greatly improved the Indians, both temporally and spiritually, teaching them to cultivate the fields, to build commodious houses, and to observe the rules and practices of
Christian life. At the death of this worthy priest his place
was taken by Rev. Father Petit, from the diocese of Vincennes.
In I837, Michigan was admitted into the Union as a
State ; and in pursuance of policy already acted upon in the
admission of other States, the Indians were removed from
their reservations in the new State to territorial domains
under the immediate jurisdiction of the general government. The Pottowattomies were reluctant to depart from
their comfortable homes in Michigan and Northern Indiana
for an inhospitable wilderness beyond the western border of
l\Iissouri. But for the influence of Rev. Mr. Petit over
their minds, nothing but force could have induced them to
obey the order for their removal, to the Indian Territory,
which included the present State of Kansas.
The great body of the tribe started to their new home in
I 838, accompanied by their chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Petit.
The spot chosen for their settlement was about fifteen miles
west of the Missouri boundary, on Sugar Creek, a small
tributary of the north fork of the Osage river, about two
hundred and forty miles west of St. Louis.
Rev. Mr. Petit having conducted his simple flock to this
place was there but a short while before perceiving that
exposure to the weather, and privation,;, were seriously affecting his health. He resolved on returning to Vincennes,
and the Jesuit Fathers of St. Louis were requested to take
charge of the Indians on Sugar Creek, and of the Ottawas,
�Pott&wattolllj' Indians.
Miamis and other translated tribes dispersed over the circumjacent prames. He got as far as St. Louis where he
died at the St. Louis University early in 1839.
This request to the Jesuit fathers was made opportunely;
for the Kickapoo mission, where now stands Fort Leavenworth, had just been abandoned, and thus there were
several fa.thers who could be spared for new undertakings.
A young Kickapoo chief, who would not brook the
restraints which religion imposes on passion, published
himself among his people to be a seer. He ultimately succeeded by craft and specious lies in destroying the influence
of the devoted fathers throughout the tribe, and thus alienating the savages from all practice of virtue or religion.
The ascendancy which this arch-rogue acquired over the
whole Kickapoo settlement was so great that he induced
them in 1838 to move off to distant hunting grounds, and
escape from their troublesome monitors. The fathers, finding that all their labors and sacrifices were lost on this band
of incorrigible vagabonds, did not follow them in their
wanderings, but shook the dust from their feet, and departed
in quest of -;nore inviting fields for their evangelical zeal.
This mission among the Kickapoos was established in
1836 by Father Charles Van Quickenborn, who died the
following year at Portage des Sioux. FF. C. Hoecken, F.
V erreydt and A. Eysvogels, all labored am~ng the Kickapoos.
Father C. Hoecken succeeded the Rev. Mr. Petit in
charge of the Pottowattomies at Sugar Creek, early in the
year 1839. In the following April Father Aelen went to
his assistance.
At the time of its transfer from Michigan the Pottowattomy tribe numbered about two thousand souls, according
to the contemporaneous government reports of their census ; and of this number about one-third were Christians.
Late in 1839 two hundred and fifty Christians, who had
lingered in Michigan,-joined their brethren on Sugar Creek.
�Pottme•attomy Indians.
49
They ali regarded themselves as in banishment from their
home, and they sighed and wept, and talked much of the
more pleasant days they spent in the land where they left
the bones of their fathers : it was saddening to listen to
their lamentations.
Immediately after the arrival of the exiles they began
•the erection of a church, which was a rude structure of
unhewn logs, but large enough for.all to assemble in it at
Divine Service. A lodge was erected for the chaplain, but
it was without window or chimney, and the floor was of
riven timbers, roughly adjusted, and uneven, necessitating
both variety and precision of step in walking across· the room.
This cabin was the missionary's only house for two years.
Change of climate, unaccustomed habits, and the privations of a new settlement, caused much sickness and many
deaths among the Indians during the first few months after
their arrival at Sugar Creek. Father C. Hoecken was soon
prostrated with disease, and was compelled to leave the
rude hovel in which he was languishing, for St. Louis.
After his return to the St. Louis University, which took
place as early as May, 1839, all the duties of this difficult
and far off post devolved on Fr. Aelen alone.
The church put up at their first arrival on Sugar Creek
was a rude and insecure structure of logs, the work of only
four weeks labor, in which, however, the men, women and
children took part. In the beginning of 1840 it was determined to begin the erection of a more suitable church that
would be commodious, safe, and of ample dimensions.
They choose for its site a spot elevated one hundred feet
above the plane of the glen through which the little stream
flowed. The mea:ns for building were furnished by the
United States government in accordance with a promise
made when the Indians were required to move from Michigan.. The church was dedicated with becoming display on
Christmas day, 1840, beginning at midnight with the firing
of guns, the ringing of bells, and a. showy illumination.
VoL. IV-No.
1.
7
�so
Pottmvattonzv Indimts.
A necessary appendix to a church is a school, and accordingly in 1841 the missionary gave his attention to the
arrangements necessary for educating the children: Father
V erhaegen, who was then Vice Provincial, applied to the
Ladies of the Sacred ·Heart Society to delegate some of
their members for this work, promising them as inducements, much hardship and little human comfort. These
were decisive motives for the zealous ladies, and in July,
1841, four of them, with 1\'Iadame Lucille Mathenvon as
Superior, went to the Pottowattomy mission on Sugar
Creek. \Vhen ·the Indians first beheld them, they were
much struck at-the dress and appearance of the ladies, and
regarded them as beings come down from the skies. Their
arrival was a triumph, all the population assembling to
gaze at them, and to welcome them according to Indian
style. Their first lessons to the Pottowattomy girls were
listened to by all the nation ; and their first class room was
the shade of the wide spreading oaks. Instead of teaching
courtly manners to the children of the great, as they could
have. done had they preferred it, these self-sacrificing religious women were now training sulky and indocile young
savages in the first elements of human thought.
The Indians all united to provide, as soon as possible,
becoming lodgings for these devoted teachers of their
daughters, and within the space of two.nionths a two story
house of six rooms but rudely constructed was completed
for them.
In July, ISs I, Fr. Eysvogels was stationed at Sugar
Creek, and Fr. Aelen was recalled to St. Louis, though he
did not actually leave the mission till June, 1842. In 1841
a dwelling for the fathers, and a school-house for the boys,
were begun, but they were not ready for occupancy till the
following year. FF. Verreydt and C. Hoecken were sent
to the mission in ·september, 184i, and in 1843, Fr. A.
Hoecken, Verheydan and Soderini went as additional reinforcements. They were now able to establish missionary
�Pol/o·wal/omy lndiai1s.
5I
stations among the Ottawas, Osages, Chippewas and
Miamis ; and such of the children of these tribes as were
intrusted to their care were provided with schooling at the
Pottowattomy Institutions, the government of the United
States allowing seventy-five dollars per year for each child
in the school ·.
There were adult bapti ms every Sunday, and the number of catechumens was rarely less than thirty. In the
beginning of 1843 there were twelve hundred Christians at
the .Sugar Creek mission ;* adding to this number one
hundred and fifty christian Pottqwattomies, the last still
remaining at Pokegan, in Cass County, Michigan, the descendants and connexions of the noble chief Pokegan; and
we have a number exceeding half the entire tribe who were
then christians. Pokegan was both a pious christian and a
brave warrior. He was the first of the Pottowattomies
who, early in this century, invited the missionary to his
wigwam. This last remnant of the tribe in Michigan occupied a tract of land granted and confirmed to Pokegan by
the United States Government. The pagan Pottowattomies
still in 1\Iichigan at this date were subsequently united to
the main body of the tribe, their removal being accomplished under the guidance of Fr. Christian Hoecken, in
1852, after the tribe had gone to the new resen·ation on the
Kaw river, known as St. Mary's Mission, made to them by
the government in 1846. The christian Indians of Michigan, in 1852, who were civilized, had church and schools
and comfortable lodges, wisely refused to accompany the
five hundred pagans who then emigrate~ to the Kaw · river.
The cholera attacked the emigrants whilst on their war
from the Missouri river to St. Mary's Mission. Bishop
Miege hastened to their camp accompanied by a physician,
and they rendered them such spiritual and bodily aid as
*In thi!l estimate the Christi3ns of the neighhoring trihes 5eem to hn~e
Uc(•n includ(•d in the reports given.
�PottowattomJ' lndia1ts.
their condition demanded. They were much frightened,
and were practising their pagan superstitions.
The history of the Pottowattomy tribe from 1846 to the
present time \\ill form an interesting narrative which Fr.
Gailland alone can relate with minuteness and accuracy.
He has kindly consented to undertake this task. This tribe
is now losing its autonomy; its beautiful language is likely
soon to perish.
The venerable Fr. l\Iaurice Gailland, who has resided in
the midst of this tribe, now for nearly thirty years, gives in
a letter to the writer of this article, an interesting sketch of
their. language, both as to its history, and as to some outlines of its structure :
"The Pottowattomy language is a dialect of the Otchepowe. It has great affinity to the Ottawa, Sack, Kickapoo,
Miami, Illinois, Shawnee et.nd Menominee dialects. All
these tribes originally constituted but one family or nation,
the wide spread Otchepowe or Algonquin family, which in
the course of time was subdivided into these different
smaller tribes. They inhabited Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and a part of Canada.
"All the ;ounds in the Pottowattomy dialect are broad.
It has all the letters of the English alphabet, except F, L,
R, V. It has, besides, a letter which is unknown to English
speaking people. It is a half aspirate, half guttural; and
in order to pronounce it you must shut your "throat and reopen it, which is gracefully done by the Indians. The
vowels have the sounds which are usually given to them in
the Latin language as pronounced on the continent of
Europe, except the I, which has the sound which is given
to it in English, v. g., in mine.
"In the Pottowattomy language there is no gender; buf
instead of gender its substantives or nouns are distinguished
as auimatc or inanimate, and all substantives are included
under these classes: v. g. spirits, men, animals are all animate ; but among the plants, some are animate, and some
�Pottowattomy Indians.
53
are inanimate ; for instance the pea is inanimate, also the
melon ; but the bean and the potato are animate ; tobacco
is animate. Simple elements are inanimate; silk and lightning are animate. Animate nouns, in the plural number,
all terminate in k; the inanimate nouns of the plural number terminate in n.
''There are the following cases of the nouns: the nominative, the genitive or possessive, locative, vocative, and
dcpmdent case:>. The dative and accusative cases are always
like the nominative. The 'i)Ocatiz,e sometimes differs from
the nominative, and is sometimes of the same form with it;
for example, they say, nenne man, voc. nenne plural, nennewok men, voc. nennituk; nigwes, my son, voc. nigwese.
"The !ocati-uc case expresses the place where a thing is,
or also a similarity ; thus, pokwe, ashes ; pokwig, in the
ashes ; pokwig ishe nakwet, it is like ashes. The genitive
or possessive case is formed by prefixing the possessive
personal pronoun; okuma, the chief; nitokumam, my chief;
miseniukin a book ; nimisiniiikin, my book. Sometimes
the substantive in the possessive case is quite different from
that substantive in its primary form : nekitoshkisha, yikwam,
horse ; "do you see that horse?" kiwapimane o nekitoshkisha "Do you see my horse?" Kiwapimane nidiyikwam?
"The dcpendmt case is an animate noun depending in the
construction of the sentence on a third person or a third
animate noun. "Did you see my horse?" kikiwapimane
nitiyikyam ? "did you see his horse?" kikiwapimane otiyikwam ? A cow is pishuke the dependent is, pishukowim;
" I made the dog drive away the cow ;" nigikikatona onemosh ewi yatinashkowat pishukowin: "cow" here depends in
the construction on dog, a sort of third pers.on.
"As to adjectives, there are, properly speaking, none in
the Pottowattomy language. Wliat we call "adjective" is
either a particle affixed to the substantive, as mino, mitche, .
etc. ; for example, nichinabe, is a man, minonickinabe is a
�54
Pottowattomy l11di'ans.
good man ; mitchenichinabe, a bad man ; or, the adjective
meaning is expressed by changing a substantive into a verb.
Nor are there in this language any auxiliary verbs; what
the auxiliary expresses in other tongues, is all contained in
the verb itsel(
"The Pottowattomy has this other nice peculiarity ; it
has two first persons, as well as having the second and
third persons in common with other languages. It has a
first first person and a second first person ; the first first
excludes all except the speaker: the second first person includes the persons spoken to. These two persons are expressed by different prefixes or affixes."
The following letter from Father Gailland gives some
additional details in reference to the language of the tribe
which will interest those readers who are fond of comparative philology :
ST. MARY, May 21st, 1874·
Rez.•'d. and Dear .fatltcr Hi!!:
P.X.
I continue my observations
on the Potto\vattomie language : First, tqere is this peculiarity in our language, that the personal pronoun is joined
as a prefix to the verb, whilst in Hebrew it is joined to the
.same as an affix. The personal pronouns are ni, ki', o, Ni' or
ki, ki, o: for instance, they say, ui'wapima, I see him; kiwapima, thou seest him ; owapiman, he see~ him ; plural,
Ni'wapimamin, we, not you to whom I speak, see him ; kiwapimamin, we, I and you, see him ; ki'wapimawa, you see
him ; owapimawan, they see him. In the neutral verbs the
pronoun representing the third person is omitted : uiyakinoka, I am sick ; yakinoke, he is sick.
The Pottowattomie has four moods : the indicative, the
imperative, the subjunctive, the infinitive.
It has a great many voices, which are indicated by a
little inflection of the same word.
�Pottowattomy Iudiaus.
55
1 . The nctz., e oice animate or inanimate; with the object in the singular or plural number; niwapima, I see him
-niwapimak, I see them-niwapitan, I see it-niwapitanin,
I see them, namely, objects inanimate.
2. The pnssh•t' voice: niwapimeko-niwapimekon with
an object inanimate.
3· The rdatir c voice, that is, the verb in reference to
different pronouns: niwapimuk, he sees me; kiwapim, thou
seest me; niwapimukonanek, they see us. This is the
hardest part of the language, on account of the multiplied
relations of the different personal pronouns.
4· Vmtml voice: niwapitim, I am conscious that I see ;
niwapitcheke, I see ; niwapitchekas, I am seen.
5. The n:flc.rive voice: niwapites, I see myself.
6. The rcciprocc.l voice : wapitig, they see each other.
7· The dubitath c: niwapimatuk, I think I see him, but
I am not sur-!.
8. The simulati'i,,· voice : niwapitamokas, I pretend to
see, but in reality I do not see; niyakinoka, I am sick ; ni- ·
yakinokekas, I pretend to be sick, but I am not.
9· The lumriliative voice : niwepineke, I confess my sins;
niwepinekech, I wretched, miserable old sinner, make my
confession. It is a nice \\ay of showing self-contempt,
which is shown during the whole course of conversation.
10. The frt'qucJt/nlivc voice: it expresses the frequent
repetition of the action signified by the verb, niwapima, I
see him ; niwawapima, I see him over and over again ; kumowin, it rains ; kumokumowin, it rains often. If the
owe! of the first syllable is long, the frequentative is
formed by the reduplication of the first syllable; if it is
short, then the frequentative is formed by reduplicating the
first two syllables of the verb.
1 1. The depmdmt voice : \ hen the subject of the verb
is in the dependent case, the verb undergoes a special infl ection-his children came, onitchanisin piym instead of
piyek.
�Pottowattonq Indians.
I 2. The absolute voice: they say kctom instead of ketiwog, they see ; wapitam, instead of wapitamog ; wapima,
they see him.
I 3·
The lustorica! voice: \Vhen a man relates facts of
which neither he, nor those to whom he speaks, have been
eye witnesses, the perfect and pluperfect tenses undergo a
special modification : kiketo, he said ; jesos kiketik6kipin.
I4. The negatiz•c voice : \Vhen the verb is accompanied
with a negation it undergoes a change in the indicative
mood-niwapima, I see him ; tcho niwapimasi, I do not see
him; kiwapimin, I see thee; tcho kiwapimesinon, I do not
see thee.
IS. Inanimate voice: piya miket, it comes; nitchiwenimo, he or she rejoices ; nitchiwenimomiket, it rejoices.
The Indians, although rude and uneducated, respect the
rules of euphony in their speeches, so, for instance, instead
of saying, niyakinoka, I am sick, they say, nidakinoka; instead of kiyakinoka, they say, kitakinoka, for euphony's
sake.
For the same reason, in certain cases, in order not to
offend the ears with harsh sounds, they commute consonants
into corresponding ones. Thus b is changed into p, g into
kt·, d into t, s into :;.
Euphony requires also sometimes a change of vowels:
so i long is changed into a long, e short into e broad, as the
French e, o long is changed into oa, a into ;•a.
Next week I will try to answer your other questions.
Yours in Xst,
M. GAILLAND, s. J.
P. S.-In Pottowattomie .YOU can express distinctly
whether the object in question consist in action or word, or
thought; for instance kijeminito signifies the Great Spirit.
Now if I say niGijeminittoa, I say I treat him as God; if I
say niGijeminitoma, I simply say that I confess him to be
God. If I say, ni Gejeminitowenima, I say, that truly I
believe him to be God.
�JOHN BAXTER, S. J,
----
To the religious, a recital of the virtues that arc practised
in the shade of the hidden life is always refreshing and edifying. It is with thi~ view that we have undertaken to
sketch the life of our brother, John Baxter, who died but a
short time ago at the Novitiate in Frederick, and have
attempted to weave a modest garland, before they fade, of
the fond memories that cluster round his name in our
hearts. \Vould that they could catch a little of the sweet
fragrance of virtue which exhaled from his every action,
and which still lingers, as we love to believe, round the
calm and peaceful scenes that witnessed his life.
John Baxter (Van Boxstael in his native Flemish) was
born April 27th, 1854, in the town of Alost, Flanders.
His mother, as he himself described her to the novices of
Frederick, was a "woman of the country," full of that
strong, simple faith and earnest piety which form the glory
and the safeguard of Catholic Belgium. What wonder
Belgian sons are brave, generous and self-sacrificing, when
Belgian mothers arc so pious, so Catholic, and so devoted !
As he advanced in years, John was sent to a boarding college to receive his education, but was soon recalled by his
father's death to become, at the age of eighteen, the head
of the family, consisting of his mother and two sisters. At
the time of his father's death, his parents kept a small store
in Alost, which with John's faithful assistance, his widowed
mother still continued to carry on. At the same time he
attended the classes of our college in the same town, where
he made excellent progress in his studies, always holding a
good position in his class and showing a special aptitude
for languages.
VoL. rv-No. r.
8
�:Jolm Bax!t'r, S. J.
All this time he gave proofs of the most sincere and
solid piety. Every morning during his childhood, according to the beautiful Flemish custom, he knelt down and
asked his mother's blessing. \Ve have his own word that
he always tried to perform his studies in the presence of
God. Early each morning, while yet the dew was on the
grass, after attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, he
would hurry away to some retired piece of woods and there
practise his French declamation, et.c., unnoticed and undisturbed. But the most prominent characteristic of his devotion and that which seemed gradually to increase and grow
within him until it penetrated his whole being and absorbed
his whole life, was 'the desire to become a missionary.
John was for a long time undecided as to the particular
sphere of missionary labor in which God called him to
exercise his zeal. Should he join . the Society in Belgium,
and afterwards ask to be sent to the foreign missions ? But
his request might not be granted. Should he become a
member of some other Order or Congregation devoted especially to the conversion of the heathen ? What did God
require of h_im ? These were anxious questions which he
put to himself and to the solution of which, besides frequent consultations with his director, he devoted two
retreats, made in successive years, at our Novitiate of Tronchiennes. He was now making his rhetoric.. On the feast
of the Patronage of St. Joseph, March 19, 1873, at the end
of a novena he had made with this intention, he. received a
response from the Saint in the shape of a letter from a near
relative, who had joined the Society in the U. S., and who
wrote that if he wished to enter the Society in this country
there was no necessity for further delay. Overjoyed by this
solution of his difficulty, having made, by the advice of his
director, another novena to the Blessed Virgin and Saint
Joseph, which only served to strengthen and inflame his
resolution still more, and after some trouble caused by the
law of conscr\ption in Belgium, he set sail f~om the port of
�Yohll Baxter, S. Y .
59
Ostend, and landed at New York, June 23, I873· On the
25th of the same month, he entered our Novitiate at Fredcrick, the peaceful retreat which was to shelter his remain ing days ; days so few in number, so hid?en from the eyes
of the world, but full of merits and graced in the sight of
• God with numberless victories, more glorious and more
unfading than any that mail-clad Wd.rrior or laurelled conqueror ever achieved.
Brother Baxter, as he was henceforth called, entered upon
his novitiate in the dispositions with which it may be said
that most novi ces leave it. Thanks to his· simple, docile,
yet manly and earnest character, and to th e pure Catholic
influence and pious training to which he had been constantly subjected, both at home and at college, he . had no
bad habits to eradicate, no repugnance to overcome, no
waverings of the will to disturb him. He embraced this
higher, purer spiritual life which was opening before his
delighted gaze, with his whole heart and soul, "exulting as
a giant to run his course." Nothing could daunt him. No
menial office, however rep ulsive to nature, could disgust
him ; no command, however unreasonable in .appearance,
could shake his good will; no humiliation, however bitter
it might be, could disturb his serenity. He soon s urpassed
most of his companions, even those who were in their second year of novitiate. Nor was this first fervor soon to
grow cold and die away, as is so often the case : on the
contrary, it went on increasing in intensity, even to his
death. So he spent the first months of his novitiate, winning all hearts by his amiability and light-heartedness ;
edifying all by his minute observance of every, even the
least, rule or custom, and by his intense, fervent piety;
pleasing and charming by his sprightly, yet almost exclusively spiritual conversation ; aiding, encouraging and assisting by his example, his words, his -prayers.
On Ash Wednesday, March 23, the novices commenced
their long retreat. It is needless to say that, after such a
·'
�6o
:John Baxter, S. · J.
preparation, the Exercises were made by Brother Baxter in
the best possible manner and that they produced their full
effect. \Ve do not pretend to decide whether, among the
communications he received from God during this thirty days
of silence and prayer, there was any presentiment of his approaching end, but it is certain that his note book of this •
retreat is full of reflections on death, and in recalling to
mind his conversation, the same subject occupies the most
prominent position. God was about to pluck this flower in
all its dewy freshness and early beauty, leaving behind only
the sweet perfume of his virtues to tell that it had bloomed
amongst us. On E_;_tster Sunday the summons came. That
evening he felt unwell and did not go to recreation in the
•.
garden with the other novices, but spent the evening with
Father De vVolf, a fellow-countryman of his own, who was
at that time sick in the infirmary. Next morning, his desk,
at which he never failed to be present at the signal for any
duty, was empty. He had been taken down by a sudden
attack of pneumonia on both lungs, accompanied with
fever. Tuesday evening the news of his great danger fell
among us like a thunderbolt. Still more profound was the
impression the following morning, when Fr. Rector, before
the usual exhortation, begged our prayers for Bro. Baxter,
who, according to the doctor's opinion was on his way to
eternity. Shortly after this he received his ·vows, and at
about 10 A. l\L the last sacraments were administered to
him in the presence of all the novices of the second year,
the junior scholastics and several fathers of the community. From this time, the novices took turns in watching
at his bedside. His fever was violent, the pain in his chest
continual, his breathing hoarse and labored, and he himself
expected, though without reason, to die whenever the
cough attacked him ; yet he bore his great sufferings with
the utmost patience and fortitude, never once complaining.
and only turning his eyes towards Heaven, after any unusually violent paroxysm.
�:Jolm Baxter, S. :J.
6t
Still he lingered on, endeavoring through obedience to
catch a little sleep, yet constantly praying; now invoking
the Sacred Heart of our dear Lord, the Blessed Virgin, and
messed Margaret Mary, and now murmuring broken ejaculations, sometimes in English, sometimes in French. 'When
anyone entered his room he greeted him with a nod and a
smile that was bright, indeed, but oh ! so different from his
form er self. To hi s fellow novices who visited him he
spoke earn estly, exhorting th em to cherish tender devotion
to the Sacred Heart of our divine Lord, to the Blessed
Virgin and St. Jo ·eph, and promising to pray for them
when he should be in Heaven. He said that it was a great
consolation to him that he had never once wilfully violated
the least rule or custom of the Novitiate. As he was
speaking in this manner, with considerable effort, to one of
the novices who was alone with him at the time, the brother
infirmarian entered and requested the novice not to require
him to talk, as the doctor had given orders that he should
try to sleep. The infirmarian going out, the novice asked
Bro. Baxter if he could speak to him. " Brother," he
answered, "do not allow me to go before my God with the
slightest imperfection : let me only obey with blind obedience-1 took my vows to-day." Then after remaining
silent for a few minutes, he said, "If you have anything
particular to say, go and ask permission, and I will speak
to you." The novice went out, but not finding anyone, returned and sat quietly near the bed. Bro. Baxter closed
his eyes and remained silent, faithful to his rule even to the
last. So the weary hours dragged on, all \Vednesday afternoon, through the night a nd until late Thursday morning.
When hope was expressed that our Lord would spare him,
he said, •· As He wills." When the clock struck in the corridor, startling him from a half ·doze, he exclaimed; "I
thought it was time !" During the night he was frequently
delirious. In the morning he recovered the full use of his
senses but began to sink rapidly, and it was evident to all
�62
:1o1m Baxter, S.
7.
that the end was nigh. A glass of wine was ordered by the
doctor, to support his strength. He drank a little and positively refused to take the rest,/saying it would go to his
head ; but it needed only the word " Obedience," from Fr.
Rector's lips to make him swallow it all to the last drop. It
was feared from his strong frame and rob_ust constitution
and from the violence of the disease which was hurrying
him away, that his agony would be long and severe; but it
was not so. At about IO. r 5 A. M. he again lost the use of
his senses and within half an· hour at 10.40 he calmly and
peacefully yielded up his pure soul into the hands of its Creator. A smile full.of peace and joy lit up his features as the
icy hand of death f~il upon them, seeming to tell of the eternal gates opening before the eyes of his departing soul, and
of angelic choirs descending to meet him. A moment after
the solemn tolling of the De Profimdis bell sounded through
the house and all were on their knees; but it was rather
with the desire of asking his prayers, than of offering petitions for him, so confident were all that his spirit had flown
straight to the loving bosom of his Father and his God.
Bro. Baxter may be considered one more of those numerous examples of youthful sanctity and early perfection
which adorn the Society of Jesus. His vir~ue was of no
ordinary kind ; or rather, though common in the matter on
which it was exercised, it was extraordinary in degree. In
many things, he was the counterpart of his fellow-countryman, Blessed John Berchmans, whom he strove faithfully to
imitate. Like him the purity of his soul was preserved to
the highest degree. \Ve think there were few intimately
acquainted with him who would not willingly affirm their
belief that his innocence never suffered the stain of a mortal sin. Like him he seemed to live in another world, to
breathe a higher, purer atmosphere than other men, and
never to yield, even in the slightest degree, to the dictates
of poor human nature. His self-mortification was constant,
ingenious and unflinching. His life was wholly supernatu-
�:Joltu Baxter, S. 7.
ral and he seemed to be absorbed in continual prayer, even
while performing hi:; exterior duties with the utmost attention and exactness.
This spirit of prayer seemed to increase and absorb him
more and more, as the time of his death approached. \Ve
saw it, but we could not tell that it was the last deepening
flush of the sun about to set ; we could not see that it was
the swifter, broader sweep of the stream about to empty
itself into the· Eternal Ocean whence it came. But when
the demands of charity or obedience came to interrupt this
interior union with God, by obliging him to communicate
with others, it was easy to see from his considerate kindness, his frank gaiety, his sprightly, yet never trifling or
useless conversation, that this was but another effect of the
same spirit of God which animated his prayer. He showed
the same love for his vocation, the same ardent zeal, the
same unwearying charity as his blessed model ; like him, he
was grave and serious, yet always serene ; and if, in time of
silence, his gravity seemed to be somewhat too rigidly
maintained when some incident occurred which might seem
to call for a smile, this was amply compens<Jted by his constant cheerfulness at other times.
But his greatest point of resemblance to B. Berchmans,
was the extr~ordinary perfection with which he performed
the smallest actions. He seemed to. have adopted the
motto that it is not in uncommon things that perfection
consists, but in doing common things in an uncommon
manner. Did he recite a little prayer before beginning one
of his ordinary duties: it was with a fervor and recollection that was little less than angelic and that seemed to
surround his f.1ce with a seraphic radiance. Did he take
holy water on entering or leaving the room ; it was with
the same. attention and devotion that another might have
shown in receiving Holy Communion. Every one of his
duties, spiritual or corporal, was performed with the greatest care, attention and purity of intention that he could
�Osage Mission.
possibly attain. This it was that made his days full days ;
that heaped up the measure of his merits so quickly.
God grant that his example. may find many imitators,
and that, as in life his justice flourished like the lily, so in
death it may be as the odor of the balsam, drawing many to
the ways of virtue and of peace. Smzcti tui, Domine, jlorcbunt sicut !ilium ; et szcut odor balsami enmt ante te.
---------.-------
OSAGE MISSION.
OsAGE MrssroN, NEosHo CouNTY, KANsAs,
}ULY Ist,
1874.
DEAR FATHER:
To give you an idea of the way in \vhich our western
missions hav~ been established, increased, and kept up till
this day, I will write down an abridged account of the
method which we adopted from the very beginning, a
method which proved to be successful, and has been a
means in the hands of God of propagating.~ur holy Religion through these vast regions of Southern Kansas,
which we have always considered our missionary distrir::t,
leaving the northern part of the State to our Fathers of St.
Mary's Mission among the Pottowattomies, up on Kansas
river. Having myself resided at this mission now over
twenty-three years, I have been, not only an eye-witness,
but also an actor in most of what I shall relate, and thus
will give you light to understand the map which I made to
show you the field of our operations.
When this mission was first established, Kansas was but
a wild country,_ an Indian territory, where, with the excep-
�Osage JJ!Iission.
tion of some few tr.ading posts, you could not find a white
man's house. Various tribes of Aborigines were then living in this Territory ; the Osages were the most important
nation, numbering at that time some seven thousand souls.
They claimed the best part of Southern Kansas, namely, all
the land lying south of what I have called the 5th parallel,
which runs nearly half way between the 38th and 37th degrees of north latitude, forming a reservation some fifty-five
miles north and south, and some three hundred and fifty
miles east and west.
As early as 1827, the Osages; having left the State of
Missouri, formed settlements on the banks of the Neosho
River. Of these, the principal was at the confluence of a
small stream which, being at a distance of four miles from
this mission, is called Four Mile Creek. Here Father
Charles Van Quickenborn visited them, and though he exercised his holy ministry in the midst of them, yet he did
not select any special location for a mission. The Osages
having succeeded in obtaining. a Catholic mission from· the
United States Government, Father Felix Verreydt, S. ].,
was sent by our Superior to look up a suitable place for
buildings, and his choice fell on this very spot which we
now occupy. Then the U. S. Indian Agent, for the Osag-es,
built two very poor log houses for the accommodation of
the missionaries. These houses were hardly finished, when
Father Xavier de Coen, S. J., was sent here to inspect them.
He approved what had been done, and officially received
them. All that was now left to do was to occupy them,
and Father John Schoenmakers, S. J., was appointed Superior of the mission, which was placed in a special manner
under the patronage of St. Francis de Hieronymo. Father
John B. Bax, S. ].. was given Father J. Schoenmakers as a
companion, and he was also allowed three coadjutor brothers to take care of the house and farm.
They reached this place on the 29th of April, I 847, and
on the lOth of May, under the auspic·es of the Immaculate
VoL. Iv-No. I.
9
�66
Osage fifission.
Virgin Mother of God, this manual labor school for the
education of Osage children was inaugurated with a small
number of Indian boys in attendance as boarders.
The Osages now visit our mission every day, and show
themselves well pleased with the progress of their children.
These in fact were doing very well, and promised a good
deal, but it was useless for us to expect the education of a
few boys would work any permanent improvement in the
I
Osage youth, unless some provisions were also made for the
education of girls. For this reason Father ]. Schoenmakers, during the spring, went to Kentucky to pay visit to
the Rt. Rev. Bishgp of Louisville ; and having succeeded in
obtaining from him the assistance of some few Sisters of
Loretto, who were willing to consecrate themselves to the
tedious and laborious .task of educating Indian girls, he returned here to prepare them a house. In a short time all
was ready, and on the 5th of October of that very year,
1847, the Sisters of Loretto opened their Convent near this
mission, and on the same day began their school with
twenty-five Osage girls as boarders.
Now everything being set in good running order, it became our duty to visit the Osages in their different towns,
scattered all along the Neosho as w,ell as the Verdigris rivers. But how could we visit them and neglect their friends
and connections : I mean the Kansas, Quapaws, and Cherokee Indians, who are their kindred tribes ? How could we
pass over and neglect the Miamis, Peorias, Weasand Piankeshaws, amongst whom a mission had just been established by our Fathers, but unfortunately, after a few months,
had been abandoned ? And, in fact, our missionary cares
did gradually extend to these tribes, and we began to visit
them occasionaily.
But here again, who does not know that wherever there
are Indian reservations, there are also to be found laborers
and mechanics, white people of different nationalities,
amongst whom you frequently meet with Catholics ? This
a
�Osagt' i}fission.
being the case here, it followed that while we were taking
care of the Indians, we were also bound to assist these few
Catholic mechanics, and, as in many instances, these people
had their families and connexions living in the western
country of Missouri, bordering on Kansas, so we also could
not refuse to go and visit them sometimes in the year to
baptize their children, bless their marriages, and offer to all
an opportunity of complying with their christian duties.
This was so just and reasonable that the Most Rev. Arch-.
bishop of St. Louis not only approved of it, but gave us all
faculties we needed in the discharge of our missionary
duties.
So, it came to pass that whenever we had any time to
spare, especially when the whole body of our Osages were
far away in the west, hunting buffalos, we would visit now
one, then another of the western counties of Missouri, and
do all we could to help the Catholics living there. One
visit calling for another, by degrees we began to visit them
with some order, till at last we formed amongst them
regular missionary stations.
Since the opening of Kansas, in 1854, many Catholics
having come to settle in our eastern counties, it became our
duty to visit them occasionally ; and so new missionary
stations were opened upon our border counties, till every
county had its own. Finally, at the close of the late war,
the Osages ceded to the U.S. Government all their reservations west of the Verdigris river, and so a new and very
extensive territory was opened to immigration, and at the
same time a new field for our missionary labors. As soon
as our missionary stations began to be rich enough to put
up a new church, we went to work and built it. Here new
congregations were started, and these by degrees, one after
another, were transferred to our Rt. Rev. Bishop, who
placed them under the care of Secular Priests.
So, through our missions, the Catholic religion has been
established in twenty-seven counties, as you can see by the
�68
Osage Mission.
map I send you. Ours has been the work of pioneers, a
hard and rough work, but we hope not the less meritorious
before God. For nearly twenty-five years we have never
had more than three priests residing at this mission ; and so
only one of us could attend the stations abroad. Some two
years since, thanks be to God, one other Father was sent to
assist us, and so we are now able to attend to our missionary stations with more regularity. However, we are by no
·means equal to the need, for here in truth we can say:
" messis quidcm llllflta, opcran"i autcm pauci."
As for the Indians, formerly living on their reservations
within the boundaries of this State, they are all gone, and
nothing is left of them in Kansas but their names, perpetuated by here and there either a county or a city, a river or
a creek. The Indians have all now moved into the Indian
Territory south of us, and though that country, is under
the jurisdiction of the Rt. Rev. Bishop of Little Rock,
Arkansas, yet he kindly allows us to execute our missionary duties amongst them.
\Vhen the Osages left our mission they were thought by
many to kQow nothing about the value of Christian education, and the practice of religion. Protestants are taking
care of them now since 1869, and though they have tried
by all imaginable means to destroy the love and esteem
they have for the Roman Catholic Church.; though they
have tried by presents, promises and threats to induce them
to embrace Protestantism, they have so far met with
nothing but failure ; and two only, both notorious scoundrels, are supposed to have given up the Catholic faith in
which they had been raised.
An Osage woman was, last winter, afflicted by a very
severe sickness. When she was given up, and expected to
die in a few hours, one of these apostates came to visit her,
and after talking a good deal of nonsense, wished the dying
woman to join him in his new belie( People thought that
the poor woman had already lost the use of her mind, but
�Osage l'rfission.
it was not so ; she listened to the wretched man for a while,
but losing all patience, at last, with an effort, almost supernatural, she sat up, and said to him : "Go away from me,
you old rascal ; I know you well ! 'What have you to do
with me? Do you think that I will give up my faith to
please you ? Never! never! I learned my holy religion
from Father Schoenmakers, and I hope I shall keep it till I
die. Now I want to have nothing to do with you; go away
from here quickly, and let me alone!" The wicked man
was forced to leave the room. It was then towards evening,
and the sick woman raising her voice as loud as she could,
recited again and again all the prayers she knew, especially
the Hail Mary, to the great astonishment of all those that
were present, especially Protestants, who wondered how
such a poor woman could have such a strong faith. Her
faith saved her; she recover.::d.
All kind of allurements, and even seductions, have been
offered to the Osages to induce them to attend Protestant
\":orship on Sunday, but the half-breeds as well as the fullblooded refuse to attend. The Agent, seeing that he
cannot allure them, has even tried to punish them for not
complying with his wishes, but to no purpose. Some time
ago he threatened several that, if they would not attend
Protestant worship on Sundays, he would withdraw from
them their wages by putting them out of employment.
But these men, though ignorant Indians, simply replied
that they would rather lose their wages than act against
their conscience. Their answer was a noble one ; but
the result was that they were thrown out of employment. This is turning into real persecution; £<r, however,
from doing any harm to the Catholic portion of the Osages,
it has rather done them good, for since they begin to be
abused on account of their religion, they seem to appreciate
it more and more. This spring I visited them twice, and I
felt really happy in seeing the majority of them comply
with their Easter duty. Indeed, they edified me very much
�70
Osage 3fission.
by their piety and devotion. And here I must relate something quite wonderful which took place on this occasion.
Having got through visiting the Osage settlements
around the Agency, which is on Bird Creek, at a place
called Deep Ford, I came to pass the night in a large halfbreed settlement on Cony, and sent word all around inviting
the people to come to me on the.next morning at a certain
house where I would say Mass to give them an opportunity
of making their Easter. They all came on the next morning, and nearly all received the Holy Eucharist. Among
these there was a young woman who had been, for over two
weeks, suffering~ good deal from some ulcers on her tongue,
in consequence of''which s.he could not eat, and the pain of
hunger was worse than the disease. Now when she heard
that I was going to say Mass, she determined to come and
receive her Easter Communion. So she did, and wonderful
to say, at the very moment the Sacred Host touched her
tongue she felt she was perfectly cured. After Mass she
was invited to breakfast, and she eat as hearty as if she
had never had any soreness in her mouth. She herself
declared the fact to me before two witnesses.
As regards the new Reservation on which the Osages are
at present, it is indeed a most beautiful piece of land, nearly
fifty miles square. The land is well timbered, and irrigated
by many fine streams, and is excellent for farming. Several
families, following the example of the half breeds, devote
themselves to agriculture, and this year made good improvements. But the majority of this nation still depend
on the buffalos which they hunt on the far western plains.
This last winter they had a very good hunt, killing over
ten thousand buffalos; so that altogether their condition is
not bad. Indeed their condition would be a very good one
were it not for the annoyances to which they are subjected
by the bigotry of those officers and missionaries, who should
try to assist them.
The worst 9f the grievances now endured by the Osages
�Osage Miss£on.
71
is that. of being deprived qf a Catholic mission and school
for their children ; and this in spite of all the promises
made to them by the President of the United States and by
the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. This last gentleman,
in order to induce them to send their children to a new
school built last summer at their agency, and placed under
the control of Quaker missionaries, promised the Osages
that their children should never be interfered with in matters of religion, and the teachers he had given them should
never have anyreligious form of worship for them. The
Osages believed the words of the Commissioner, and
during last fall brought forty-five of their children to that
school. For a few weeks all went well enough, and no opposition was offered to the religion of the children. But
after a little while these good teachers forgot all their promises, and on a certain Sunday called all the children to their
religious ·meeting, and have since forced them to attend
such meetings on every Sunday. This proceeding excited
good deal of dissatisfaction among the Osages, who did not
expect such bad faith in persons they considered respectable.
One other great objection the Osages have to their Quaker school, is that in it their children, boys as well as girls,
are raised all together, and left together nearly the whole
day to do just what they please, without anybody watching
them. Some may think that Indians are not very particular about the morality of their children ; but they mistake
in so judging, for amongst Indians in general, there is more
morality and self-respect than in many of the white settlements. In consequence of all this some thirty children
have left the school during this spring, and the few remaining are not likely to stay there much longer.
I could wish to write more on this subject now, but
enough for the present. Yours in Christ,
PAUL MARY PoNZIGLIONE,
S. J.
�--
--------
-~----------------------
LETTER FROM CINCINNATI.
ST. XAVIER CoLLEGE, Cr:-ociNNATI,
OCTOBER,
0.
!874·
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
The even run ·f!.f our College life here has not been
marked, during the last eight months, by events of any
great importance. One of the first weeks in Lent was
taken up with a general Mission in our Church. Father
\Veninger was the solitary missioner; and without limiting
himself to the men alone, as Fr. \Valsh had done in the
memorable retreat of the previous year, he managed to get
through all his work in nine days. The confessions of the
four different classes, married women, young women, married men, young men, were heard at different times during
the mission ; so that, on about the third day all the married
women made their general Communion ; about the fifth,
the young women ; then the married men ; finally, the
young men. These general Communions· ·were very impressive, The communicants were led in lines from the
pews by a couple of Acolytes, with lighted torches ; and
when they had communicated were led back in the same
way, between two new lines of other communicants, that
were just approaching. That one idea of two Acolytes,
each with a lighted torch, heading a procession, whether
approaching or receding from the Communion rail, was
quite a feature. I have heard that in some parts of Europe
they are called " the Angels."
The moment for distributing the Holy Communion was
always a great.'one with the missioner. He addressed them
�Letter frmiz Cinci1lJZati.
73
in the warmest language, and then kneeling down before
the ciborium, open in the Priest's hand, he addressed our
Lord in his own most fervent way. Thereupon the Priests
began to distribute the Holy Communion, while Fr. \Veninger went down the Church to superintend. He did not
allow them to approach the Holy Eucharist at all, except
at his own stated times .. The mission began on Sunday,
the second in Lent. On the following \Vednesday, the day
for the married women, there were fourteen hundred Com. munions. How many of these were over and above the
number of that class alone, is not apparent; and so on the
other days. Thursday, the day for young women, had nine
hundred Communions; Friday, for none in particular, six
hundred ; Sunday for the married men, thirteen hundred ;
Monday, for the young men, fifteen hundred.
The mission closed with the erection of a Mission-Cross.
The Church was thronged to suffocation. A couple of
women had to be carried out.
Our Church, meanwhile, is receiving an architectural ad~
clition, which will make it remarkable. It has, thus far,
been without a steeple. Last year its, interior underwent a
thorough renovation, in the way of painting and general
decoration ; now the plan for a steeple has been submitted
and accepted. In height it will be 307 feet; and the spire
alone, from the top of the square tower, will be about onehalf of that height. The whole is to be of stone, and the
spire will receive a special beauty from the ornamented
openings which are in its whole length. However, the bids
which the stone contractors made were rather high-like
the steeple. So a division was necessary in the work :
for the present the square tower only will be constructed.
Its height is 56 feet above the present front of the Church,
and terminates in several pinnacles. Besides, stone steps
will be provided for the church entrance. These two works·
in the one contract come to $22,000.
The College year has opened again with nearly the same
VoL. 1v-No. 1.
10
�74
. Letter from Cittci1lnati.
number of boys as last year. This, considering the hard
times, and the competition we meet with here, is rather
favorable. The number is two hundred and thirty-six.
Rev. Fr. N. has had for a long time back, among his
penitents, one who was so deaf, that the Confessor recognized him by receiving no answer to his first questidn:
"How long is it sin<::e your last confession ?" Thereupon,
the Father would take the boy to the sacristy, and, talking
to him in the loudest tone of voice, would so finish the confession. Last vacation the boy's father intended to begin
the youth's education at a public school. This neither
mother nor boy··nor Fr. N. approved of. They desired
rather that he should come to the College ; though, to say
the truth, he could learn nothing anywhere, he was so deaf.
The Confessor recommended an application to Our Lady of
Lourdes. They began a novena, the boy using the water
and praying for such a faculty of hearing as would mab!e
!tim to go to school,-nothing more. On the first day of the
novena, he was better; second day, better still; last day,
just so well as to come to school ; and here he is now in
the lowest class.
The parochial school is fairly. begun in the old district
school-house : and the district school has opened its new
house on our old lot. The parish never had such a school
as now. It has despoiled Egypt-albeit "not without a fair
exchange; only that what we gave was first-class ground,
and what we got was a first-class house.
----~~+-------
�NEW MEXICO.
Letter of Fr. d' Aponte to Very Rev. Fr. D. Palomba, Provincial of tile Neapolitan Province.
LAs VEGAS, April, 1874.
For more than two months I have been giving missions.
I began with that of S. Miguel on the first Sunday of Lent,
with Fr. Gasparri and Fr. Carrozzini. In spite of the unfavorable weather, snowing nearly all the first week, we had
a large concourse; and it was truly edifying to see poor
people, without shoes, having their feet hardly covered by
two leather straps, coming from afar to listen to the word of
God. There were conversions of persons who had notreceived the sacraments for twenty, thirty, or even fifty years.
Not one was left in the whole plaza who had not made his
confession The second week was particularly devoted to
La Cuesta and two other small villages belonging to the
parish of S. Miguel. Three miles from La Cuesta, we met
some fifty men on horseback who had come to welcome us,
and they accompanied us, shooting off pistols. On entering
the village, they separated into two lines, and our wagon
passed between them, amidst the repeated firing of their
pistols, and a merry pealing of the bells. Without losing
time, we at once went to t.he church, where Fr. Gasparri
addressed the people and opened the mission. The plaza
was in a most deplorable state. Lust and theft prevailed;
and as the practice of confession was almost abandoned, the
sorrowful pastor of S. Miguel was not a little anxious about
the success of the mission. Yet, three only excepted, all
went to confession: restitutions were made, marriages legit-
�;6
1Vew 1l1e:dco.
imated, husbands and wives, long ago divorced, were recon.:
ciled. Even those who seemed the hardest, after having
been visited by us, yielded. We spent four days at La
Cuesta, then we visited las pla:;as of fueblo and S. Jose ;
and on Saturday we went back to S. Miguel, where we had
all appointed for the close of the. mission. Until midnight
the pastor and we heard confessions ; on the following day
we had a general communion, and the church was crowded.
In the afternoon, the final sermon was preached, after which
we perf~ni1ed the ceremonies of the blessing of a MissionCross, and more than two thousand people marched in procession, singing tl}e rosary of the Blessed Virgin. The
procession on its return halted in a large square before the
church, the crpss was erected, a joyous salute was fired, and
Fr. Gasparri made an address, which moved all to tears and
impressed them so much that they cried out that they
would die a thousand times rather than offend God again.
On the fourth Sunday of Lent began the mission of Las
Veg«s. We attended first to the first communion of the
children, which took place on St. Joseph's day, and then
.the rest of the time till Passion Sunday we devoted to grown
persons. On that day we closed the mission with a very
impressive celebration in honor of the Immaculate Mary
and Pius IX. The church, a very large building, was tastefully decorated inside and outside, with banners white, blue
;>.nd yellow ; and on both sides of the altar two trophies of
like banners supported beautiful escutcheons, with the monogram of the Virgin Mary and the arms of the Sovereign
Pontiff. The general communion surpassed all our hopes.
In the afternoon we sang the Rosary, a sermon was
preached and the Papal Bene;Jiction being given, and the
Mission-Cross blessed, the procession was quickly ·formed,
and started. It opened with some sixty men on horseback,
each one of them waving a flag of the colors of Mary and
Pius IX. Then followed the cross between two acolytes, then
all the ladies,.bearing banners of the colors of the Immacu-
�New JWexico.
77
late Mary. On five triumphal cars, singers accompanied by
music alternated hymns of the Mission, and next to them
the whole body of men marched with flags of the Pontifical colors. Lastly appeared the Mission-Cross, carried by
some twenty persons, amidst a squadron of nearly a hundred horsemen. The order of the procession was perfect,
and the sight truly .admirable. Protestants who witnessed
it, although irritated by the success of the mission, had to·
confess that such an imposing ceremony had never taken
place in New Mexico. When the procession halted before
the church to witness the erecting of the cross, a short
sermon was delivered, after which, in unanimous bursts of
devotion, all repeated acclamations to God, to Mary, to our
holy Religion, and to Pius IX. Not less than four thousand persons were then present. They entered the church,
a solemn Tc Deum was sung, and all ended with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
We have been consoled by many signal conversions.
Persons went to their duties after a neglect which varied
from one year to seventy.
On the following day', Fr. Gasparri set out for Albuquerque, and myself with Fr. Carrozzini for Manton de Alamos,
where we had to give a short mission. We gathered abundant fruit also among these good people, who, for the first
time, had the chance of attending the ceremonies of Holy
Week.
After Easter I took a few days of rest. Then I went to
Los Bacas. There a man of fifty, who had_ not yet made
his first communion, felt the sweetness of ;'Divine grace;
some ma!as vidas were aban<.loned, and some marriages
were made valid. From thence I passed over to visit Los
Valles de S. Geronimo. It is a large p!a::a, and the mission
lasted till the Feast of St. Joseph's Patronage. I had to
hear confessions from early morning till I I or even I 2 at
night.
I went back to Las Vegas much fatigued, but immensely
�78
Nc--..v Mexico.
rejoiced in thinking that so many who had abandoned the
sacraments of the Church for years, had now returned to
God with evident signs of true contrition. To-day and tomorrow I rest ; next \Vednesday I shall start for Recolote ;
and, si uilzzl obstat, for Los Vigiles and Las Gallinas.
JoHN D'APONTE,
D. 0. l\1.
S. ].
���WOODSTOCI{ LETTERS.
VOL. IV., No.
2.
EARLY MISSIONS OF OUR SOCIETY
IN ST. CHARLES CO., MO.
PORTAGE
DES
SIOUX-A
REPUTATION
OF
FRAGMENT
FATHER
OF HISTORY,
MARQUETTE
OR
THE
DEFENDED.
Immediately after the arrival of Father Van Quickenborn and party at St. Louis, on Corpus Christi, or May 29,
1823, and before they took up their residence at the Novitiate of St. Stanislaus, Florissant, Father Timmermans, one
of the party from Maryland, was appointed to assume
charge of "Portage des Sioux." This place is a small
hamlet on the right bank. of the Mississippi river, about
fourteen miles above its junction with the Missouri, and
some nine miles above Alton in Illinois. Portage des Sioux
derives its name from the fact that the Sioux Indians here
crossed the river from the Illinois shore, and passed to St.
Charles on the Missouri river, about twelve miles distant,
where they made a fierce attack upon the Sacks and Osages,
gaining a victory which proved disastrous to their enemy.
This seems to have happened a little before the French,
from Fort Chartres, forty-five miles below St. Louis, on the
�So Early Missions of Our Society in St. Cltar!es Co., Mo.
left or east bank of the Mississippi, settled this region in
1762. Portage seems neither to have declined nor to have
advanced within the last sixty years, though a mixture of
Americans, Irish and Germans has replaced, to a large extent, the simple Creole population that once owned the soil.
Colonel Brackenridge, in th~ journal of his travels
through this region in I8I I, describes the delta between
the two rivers, as seen from the two adjacent mounts near
St. Charles, named by the fanciful Creoles, "Les Mammelles." "Fifty thousand acres," he says, "of the finest
land, the whole e?'tent perfectly level, covered with long
waving grass, are. .':nder the eye at once, and yet on all this
space, there is but one little cultivated spot to be seen," and
this, doubtless, was the land immediately around Portage.
When Henry Schoolcraft passed up the Mississippi by
this spot, August 4, 182 I, he found a large number of
Fox Indians here temporarily encamped along the shore:
Schoolcraft was on his way to Chicago where all the Indian
chiefs of the Ottawa and Pottowattomy tribes were to meet
Governor Cass, for the purpose of making a treaty, in I 82 I.
The first~baptism administered by Fr. Timmermans at
Portage was signed June 13, 1823, and was that of Fran<sois
Rive; and on the same. day he recorded the marriage of
John C. Evans and Theresa Saucier. In. 1825, Fr. Van
Quickenborn began a stone church in St:·· Charles, and in
i827 he purchased a frame dwelling in that town, near the,
river bank. In this sarile year Fathers Smedts and Ver~.
reydt were ordained priests by Bishop Rosati, in the semi-·
nary chapel at the Barrens in Perry county. They went to.
reside at St. Charles, having in charge Portage des Sioux,
Dardenne or St. Peter's, Femme Osage and other stations.
Opposite Portage des Sioux, or on the Illinois shore~
are high rocky cliffs extending downwards to Alton nine.
miles below, and upwards to the Illinois river. It was high
up on one of these perpendicular rocks that Fr. Marquette
saw two paint'ed figures, monste:s as large as calves, having
�Early Missions of Our Society in St. Clzar/es Co., Mo. 81
human faces, their bodies covered with scales, and having
tails which twice coiled around their bodies and then ended
in fish tails. These figures were well painted, so well, he
affirmed, that even a Frenchman could not have painted
them better. The colors employed were red, green and
blackish. Fr. Marquette must have passed this spot about
the last day of June in 1673, allowing him to have averaged
the same rate of canoe travel that Fr. De Smet did under
similar circumstances, which was about thirty-five miles
per day.
Fr. Marquette was the first European who ever saw the
Upper Mississippi, the Pekitanoui, or Muddy River, now
called the Missouri, and the mouth of the Ohio. La Salle
and party did not see this region until eight or nine years
later, and they then had Marquette's published narrative to
guide them, as far, at least, as the mouth of the Arkansas
river. An effort was made by Fr. Donay, who was of La
Salle's party, and by others, to deprive Fr. Marquette of his
honor as first discoverer ; and they tried to show that his
descriptions of scenery and striking objects were all made
from mere hearsay among the Indians about the Lakes.
Father Anastasius Donay, Recollect, saw paintings on a
rock at what is now known as "Grand Tower," below St.
Genevieve, where the river passes through a sort of gate in
the original bluffs. This painting was not of monsters, he
alledges, but was a horse with other well-known animals
near him ; and besides, this painting was so near the water
that he could reach it from his canoe. In impugning the
veracity of Father Marquette's narrative, he laid much
stress on this circumstance of the paintings; and indeed, Fr.
Marquette's good name was not fully cleared till Mr. Shea
published his diary in 1852. Mr. Jared Sparks said early
in 1861 that this publication of Marquette's diary had
made it necessary for him to remodel several of his biographies. Marquette in his diary describes these paintings,
as seen by him, to have been above the mouth ofthe Miss-
�82
Early Missions of Our Socieiy ill St. Charles Co., JJ,fo.
ouri, and says he and his companions were still talking of
them when they heard the roar of rushing waters, and then
floated into the current of the Missouri river, rolling out its
forest of drift wood, and whole islands of mud and sand:
and this he said in order to intimate that the two scenes
were not far apart.
The older inhabitants of Portage des Sioux often saw
this famous painting, and they still relate the Indian traditions about it, as do also the old boatmen of the upper
river who are sure to learn and remember all that is marvelous in respect to striking spots along the streams which
they often naviga!e.
The following narrative in regard to this spot is in a
pamphlet published in Philadelphia, in 1840, and written by
Fr. DeSmet when he was among the "Prairie Indians" or
wild Pottowattomies at Council Bluffs, in 1838:
"I learned from the Chief of this nation a singular tradition prevailing among the various tribes of the Illinois
throughout the southwest. In ascending the Mississippi,
between Alton and the mouth of the Illinois river, the traveler observes, between two large hills, a narrow valley
down which a little stream flows into the great river. This
stream is called in the language of the natives, Piasa or tlze
bird tltat devours man. At this spot there is visible, on a
perpendicular rock, the Indians alledge, the figure of a huge
bird carved in the rock, and with its wings extended. The
bird which this figure represents, and which gave its name
to the stream, is called by them piasa. Many thousand
moons before the arrival of the white men, when the great
mammoth that was slain by Nanabush still roamed over
the wide, grassy prairies, there existed a great bird that
could seize and carry off a stag in his talons with as much
ease as a hawk could take up a wren. It once pounced on an
Indian, bore him off to a great cavern, and devoured him.
From that time forth it would feed on none but human
flesh. In its<voracity it depopulated whole villages of the
�Early Missions of Our Society ill St. Clzarles Co., Mo. 83
Illinois, nor could hundreds of brave warriors destroy it.
At lengt~ a bold chief named Outaga, whose fame extended beyond the great lakes, was commanded by the Great
Manitou, who appeared to him in a dream, to single out
twenty warriors armed with bows and poisoned arrows, and
by means of them the hungry piasa should be slain. They
found the great bird perched on the high rock that still
bears his name and figure. All let fly their arrows at once,
arid the fearful winged monster transfixed with twenty arrows fell dead at the feet of the brave chief Outaga. And
to this day in the caverns around the piasa rock are heaped
the bones of many thousand Indians whose flesh was food
for the insatiable maw of this monstrous bird."
An island just opposite this high butting rock, which is
still named on the maps, the "Paysa," was in former days
covered with dense, tall timber. This wild spot was also a
favorite haunt of the blood-thirsty fowl. Even the whitefaced boatman, in early days of western travel, ventured
past this awful woodland by night with timid caution ; and
it was rumored that the ruthless destroyer's form had been
seen in the moonlight by some of their own number, flapping its wings on the tree tops, and that its scream had
been heard echoing at black midnight through the dark
forest and far over the waters ; a story which gained willing
credence from these men of the pristine raft and flatboat.
For the matter of positive fact, the painting described by
Fr. Marquette, as to one at least of its figures, remained
visible, with its colors distinct and lively, till the year r866,
when a thrifty stone mason from St. Louis, more solicitous
for money than curious about relics of aboriginal history,
quarried the rock for a lime-kiln!
Having made some enquiries in writing of Mr. Henry
Le Sieur, a deserving and intelligent gentleman, who resides at Portage des Sioux, and whose father settled there
a while before the end of the last century, he sent the letter
to Mr. J. W. Wise, a worthy gentleman of Alton, who thus
�84 Early fifi'ssions of Our Society t"n St. C!tarles Co., Mo.
replies to the proposed questions: "The figure represented
what-seemed to be half animal and half bird, or perhaps I
should say, a dragon, having wings and a long tail such as
usually attributed to the dragon. There was but one figure;
it was painted at the distance of about fifteen or twenty feet
below the top of the cliff, about sixty feet above the base,
and the Lase was some twenty feet above ordinary high
water. This mass of rock was just above the upper part of
Alton and was eight miles from Portage. It was quarried
in r866 and r867 by Sheehan and Bro., of St. Louis." I
append what Mr:-Le Sieur* adds to these statements of Mr.
Wise, he being also an eye witness. I give his letter entire,
since it is a complete defense of Fr. Marquette's veracity,
by one who had no aim but to state the facts which he
knew ; and besides, there is historic force in presenting this
testimony concretely, with names and dates annexed:
"My impression was that the figure represented a griffin,
or a dragon. From persons here who had seen it, and
whom I consulted, I could get no eclaircissemcnt, as some
pronounced it a bird, while others said it was a quadruped.
Mr. Wise~says there was but one figure, although some say
that there was a small figure in front of the large one. I
will add to his description that it was a pale red. From the
foot of the rock, where I examined it, the outlines of the
figure appeared to have been indented into the rock; not
with a chisel, but with a scraping and round pointed instrument forming a groove, and then painted in the groove. It
was exposed to the storms coming from the south and the
west, which must have gradually washed off the paint.
Besides, the face of the rock was much marked with bullets. I have heard my father, who often passed it in company with fleets of Indian canoes, say that the Indians invariably discharged all their guns at it when they passed.
That was in the latter part of the last century. None of
.
*He writes under date of Dec. 13, 1873.
�Early Mtssi'ons of Our Society itt St. Clzarles Co., Mo.
85
them, at that time, had any knowledge as to when it had
been made. They said it was a manitou, and they seemed
to have a dread of it.
"Respectfully yours,
"HENRY LE SIEUR."
These statements leave no ground for rational doubt concerning the identity of this painting with the one described
in Fr. Marquette's narrative. What was said by Fr. Donay,
and others, of a painting seen by them at Grand Tower,
below St. Genevieve, at the most, merely shows that there
were paintings made by the Indians in more places than
one. No vestige of any painting at Grand Tower seems
ever to have been mentioned by any subsequent travelers,
or to have beeq observed by the white population living in
that vicinity, in latter times.
The recent removal of Bishop Van de Velde's remains
from Natchez, Miss., where he died of yellow fever Nov.13, rSss. to the beautiful little mound at St. Stanislaus'
Novitiate near Florissant, where they were reinterred on
Nov. 20. 1874, prompts one to wish that those of Fr. Marquette were translated to the same spot, there to rest until
the final day along with those of Frs. Van Quickenborn,
Verhaegen, De Smet; also with those of Fr. Meurin, which
were removed in I 849 from Prairie du Rocher in Illinois,
where he died in Feb. 1778.
Father Marquette's remains were exhumed by christian
Ottawas two years after his death, and removed from the
banks of the rivulet that bears his name, and which empties
into Lake Michigan about the middle point of its eastern
border, and were taken to point St. Ignace or Mackinaw,
where they were buried beneath the Church on the mainland. The resident priest at Mackinaw stated in a letter of
April 3, I 87 3, that the site of the missionary Church which
was burned down in 1706, could be found and certainly
identified; for doubtless the traditions of the neighbourhood preserve the memory of the exact locality.
�86 Early Missions of Our Socit'ty
itt
St. Charles Co., Mo.
This digression, so loquacious and narrative, quite defies
the laws of legitimate epic. Now to assume the theme
first proposed, which was the early missions of our Society
in St. Charles County, and particularly to declare the glories of Portage des Sioux: in regard to all of which, further
talk, for the present, must be limited to mere general outline. Father Verreydt built the brick Church at Portage
after Fr. De Theux became Superior of the Missouri mission in 1831. Fr. Van Quickenborn returned from the
Kickapoo mission, which he founded at Fort Leavenworth
in 1836, to Portage des Sioux, with his health much impaired. He did .. not grow better, and he died at Portage
August 17, 1837. About that time Fr. Aegidius DeBruyn
took charge of Portage, but he died the following year, or
Sept. 19, 1838. He was succeeded then by Fr. Paillasson
who was, during the same year, sent to Grand Coteau. His
place was taken at Portage by Fr. Van Assche, who remained till compelled by his physician to leave, in 1840,
when he returned to his former home at Florissant.
After the return of Fr. Van Assche to Florissant the congregation~at Portage des Sioux was made a dependency of
the Residence at St. Charles, and from that time to the present it has been attended from that place.
From the Novitiate near Florissant, the bold scenery
stretching from Alton far up the Mississippi, is visible. In
the early days of the Missouri Province, from the Novitiate
to Portage was a favorite walk of the Novices. The distance
from St. Stanislaus' was but little more than eight miles. It
was reached in the winter oftentimes by crossing the Missouri at the Charbonniere, * on the ice, and in warmer weather
* The Charbonnicre is a little mount near the river, and it is so called
because a scam of stove coal underlies it. The coal is of inferior quality,
but it may become valuable when timber grows more scarce. The
mound or bluff rises to the height of three hundred feet, and the table
land at its top gradually undulates back to the Novitiate, which is distant a little more than a tuile from the river. Fr. De Smet, shortly after
his niTival at the Novitiate in 1823, excavated some small mounds on the
Charbonniere and found the remains of Indian warriors there. He took
up a skeleton and kept it for 11 time, but was compelled by his compan·
ions to bury it, as its stench was peculiarly offensive.
�Early Mz'ssions
of Our Society in St. Cltarles Co., Mo. 87
by way of a ferry just below, and passing over the
vast natural meadow outspread between the two rivers.
Some of the Novices frequently went thither to r~lieve the
burden of the pastor on Sundays, giving the pious Creoles
pretty specimens of fervid youthful eloquence:. On one occasion, nearly forty years ago, when nine or ten Novices
had crossed ovt>r the frozen waters and gone to the hospitable house of Father Van Assche at Portage, a south
breeze set in, the ice in the river parted, floating away, no
ferry boat could make its way through the fields of moving
ice, and they were compelled to spend the night at Portage.
On their return to the Novitiate the following day, they
blamed the river for their disaster, but the anxious novice
master, Fr. De Vos, preferred, with wider views of what
was lost, to blame them ; and, after a paternal reproof, he
imposed three days of penance on them, which sentence,
however, in consideration of their meekness, he on the same
day commuted into the milder penalty of an extra feast in
thanksgiving to the good Angels and to God because his
precious clzarissimi had been preserved from graves in the
quicksands of the Missouri river. No wonder that one of
the first facts of cotemporaneous history learned by the
fresh Novice thirty years ago, was, "Portage des Sioux is a
great place !"
After passing in review the events of their simple history,
we can but make the reflexlon: what sufferings and privations were endured by these hardy pioneers of our Society
in the West! what a complete oblation of self, and what
living embodiments of our rule these men were! "Quam
pulchri super montes pedes annuntiantis et pra!dicantis pacem; annuntiantis bonum, pra!dicantis salutem, dicentis
Sion: regnabit Deus tuus." Isaias Iii, 7·
W. H. H.
ST.
Loms
UNIVERSITY,
JANUARY,
VoL. 1v-No.
2.
1875·
12
�EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM
LOUISIANA IN 1763.
The following account if not written by the exiles themselves, was at
least compiled from their notes. It was not intended for publication but
for the usc of the members of the Society and their friends. As our
readers may have a laudable curiosity to know its authority, we may
say that it is taken from our archin·s in Rome, and has been published
in the "Document.< ini>dits concernant la Compagnie de Jesus, publiis par le
P. Auguste Oarayon, d<J la meme Compagnie, n. xiv. Poitiers, 1865."
You tell me that you are surprised to learn of the arrival
in Paris of the Jesuits expelled from Louisiana in accordance with a decree issued against them in that Colony. You
would like to know the motives of this sentence and the
consequences of its execution. I am perfectly acquainted
with the matter which so much interests you and with
everything relating to it. I have lived nearly thirty years
in Louisiana and I left it only at the beginning of the present year. Being persuaded that your curiosity has no other
motive than your love for religion and truth, in the
account which I am about to give I shall be careful to say
nothing which departs in the least from either.
In the month of June, 1765, the Jesuits ·or- New Orleans,
the capital of Louisiana, were still fluctuating between hope
and fear as to their future fate. The preceding year they
had seen their enemies, with an air of triumph circulating
manuscript copies of the Bill passed by the Parliament at
Paris, Aug. 6, 1761. But some influential persons had reassured them. They expected much from the representations made in their favor and especially placed reliance on
the prayer which the French Bishops addressed to the
King. On the arrival of the vessel which brought the
news of peace, they became aware at last of what they had
to expect, for 'it carried orders for their destruction.
�Expulsion of the :Jesuits from Louisiana in z763.
89
M. D'Albadie, Commissary General of the Navy and
Commander of Louisiana, and M. De Ia Freniere, Attorney
General of the Supreme Assembly of this colony, both
lately appointed to their positions, came over on the vessel.
The Commissioner was not slow to inform the Superior of
the Jesuits of the preparations made against them. "I believe," he said, "that the Attorney General is charged with
some order which relates to you." His words were plain
enough, but, notwithstanding the example of so many Parliaments ,the Jesuits were persuaded that nothing would
be done against them in Louisiana; and at so critical a
moment they did not take ,the least precaution to secure
their property.
Proceedings commenced. It was ordered that the Institute of the Jesuits should be brought before the Council for
examination: quite a task for this tribunal. By right all the
judges who composed it should have studied at least theology, civil and ecclesiastical law: above all they should have
understood the language in which the Institute was written.
But this was not the kind of knowledge required of Judges
in the colonies. In appointing them they did not seek
graduates of the up.iversities; but they chose those of the
inhabitants who showed some capacity for business : and
accordingly in these councils were found ex-merchants,
Doctors and army officers. Those trained in the navy de·
partment are usually the best educated; so that such have
hitherto been most frequently appointed, at least in Louisiana, to the Presidency of the Council, a dignity attached to
the office of Commissioner or Commander.-These facts
fully justify us in saying that the Council of New Orleans
undertook a considerable task in assuming to decide on the
Institute of the Jesuits.
To tell the truth, it is but just to suppose that M. de Ia
Freniere, familiar with the latin language from his youth,
had also studied civil law during his long stay in France;
�go
Expulsion
of tlze :Jesuits from Louisiana in I763.
but his capacity could not be communicated to the judges
who were to decide the matter. A great number of them
were utterly unacquainted with the language of the documents on which they were going to pass judgment. The
matter under consideration was spiritual, if any ever was,
and yet the judges were all mere laymen. And after the
decision of the Council of Trent upon the Institute of the
Society of .Jesus, if another examination was necessary, to
whom else did it belong but to the universal Church?
None of these considerations influenced the Council of
Louisiana ; for, a powerful motive encouraged them to enter
on the matter a!· once. Many volumes of petitions and
reports on this suoject in the different Parliaments of France,
and the Bills passed in consequence had arrived. · For these
gentlemen it was sufficient to believe themselves competent;
there was no danger of going astray under such guides.
The petition was presented by the Attorney-general : the
sentence which I shall give shortly will make known the
nature of his action.
As to the opinions given, it is not clear that the ordinary
Counsellor.? were entirely unanimous : outside of them it is
certain that there was one man favorable to the Jesuits;
and this was M. de Chatillon, Lieutenant-Colonel of the
Angoumois regiment, who in his official capacity was entitled to be present at the Council and to g!ve his opinion.
This honorable old gentleman did not shrink from defending
those who had so few protectors left.
The sentence was pronounced on the gth of July. It was
declared that the Institute of the Society was an encroachment on the royal authority and the rights of the Bishops;
as well as dang(!rous to the public peace ; and that the
vows made in conformity with it were null and void.
Persons heretofore styling themselves Jesuits were forbidden henceforth to go by that name or to wear their ordinary
habit; and :in plac~ of it were to employ that of the secular
clergy. With the exception of their books and a few
�Expulsion of tlte :Jesuits from Louisiana in z763.
91
articles of furniture, every thing belonging to them, whether
personal property or real estate, was ordered to be seized
and sold at public auction. All the church ornaments and
sacred vessels of the New Orleans Jesuits were to be handed
over to the Rev. Capuchin Fathers; whilst those of the
Jesuits living in the Illinois country should be surrendered
to the King's representative in those parts. After this the
Churches were to be razed to the ground and the so-called
Jesuits were to be shipped to France by the first vessel
ready to sail: in the meantime they were not allowed to
live together. A sum of six hundred livres was allowed
to pay each one's passage and an additional fifteen hundred
francs for their maintenance during six months.
At the end of that time they were commanded to present themselves to M. Le due de Choiseul, Secretary of
State for the Navy Department, and ask for the pensions
which should be assigned them out of the money realized
from the sale of their property.
I have alre<~dy stated the general motives for the condemnation of the Jesuits in Louisiana; motives which were
modeled on the decrees of the French Parliament; but in
giving its decision, the Council of New Orleans was anxious
to add some new and specific charges. It declared that the
Jesuits in the colony !tad mtitely neglected their missions;
that they tltoug!zt o1t!y of increasing the value of their houses,
and tltat t!tey !tad usurped the m"car-gmeralsh£p qf New
Orlealls.
If there had been question only of their own interest, the
Jesuits of Louisiana, in addition to the loss of their property, could have also suffered in silence the injury done to
their reputation by this sentence. But there are times when
silence is equal to an avowal of guilt; and it is not allowable to acknowledge a crime laid to our charge when scandal will result therefrom. Now what greater scandal than
that missionaries sent to America for the instruction of th~
French and the savages, missionaries living on the favors of
�l
92
Expulsion of the :Jesuits from Louisiana in IJ6J.
the King, should be condemned by the voice of their conscience even tacitly to admit that they had neglected their
missions, that they had taken care only of their dwellings,
and moreover were self-confessed usurpers of the vicar-generalship of a diocese? No! conscience will not oblige the
Jesuits of Louisiana to admit their guilt. On the contrary
it obliges them to speak; and in justifying themselves they
have no fear of contradiction, or of this much, at least, they
are certain, that what may be said against them has neither
truth nor solidity.
There are few provinces in France at this day where there
is not to be f~und some person of consideration who has
lived in Louis'iana. Of these ,there is none who has not
known the Jesuits; the most of them have even been
enabled to examine them closely. The Jesuits appeal with
confidence to the testimony which these persons can give
in their favor, concerning the charges in question. Nay
more, they dare advance as witnesses of their conduct three
governors of Louisiana and a vicar-general of the diocese
of Quebec for this same colony, all of whom were still living in june of this year, 1764. Their approbation was
neither asked nor anticipated.
The first witness, then, shall be M. de Bienville, commander of the King's fleet, for the last twenty years living at
Paris. He may justly be regarded as· ~he founder of the
colony of Louisiana. He it was who in 1698 accompanied
his brother M. d'Herville when that illustrious navy officer
discovered the mouth of the Mississippi, after the famous
adventurer La Salle had failed. M. de Bienville was then
left on the banks of this river to commence a settlement.
He governed this colony for forty-four years with the
exception of a few short intervals. It was he who put it
almost in the condition in which we see it at present, by
building New Orleans and the post of Mobile and by establishing the other posts in Louisiana. During his long
official career he always paid marked attention to all that
�Erpulsion of the :Jesuits from Louisiana in q63.
93
was going on in that vast province; he knew the merit
of all who were employed there; and no person
the
country could have forgotten the remarkable good will he
always manifested towards the Jesuits there. Would he
have acted thus towards missionaries who, failing in the care
of their mission, would have failed in their most essential
duty?
The second witness is the Marquis de Vaudreuil, last
governor of New France. He succeeded M. de Bienville in
the government of Louisiana. The Jesuits found in him a
protector and a declared friend. It would be difficult to
add anything to the marks of favor he constantly showed
them. What could have attracted such kind attentions?
Surely nothing but the idea he conceived of their fidelity
to their most important duties. The integrity of M. de
Vaudreuil would not have permitted him to treat with such
honor missionaries who by neglect of their duty would
have deserved from him only reproaches and contempt.
The third witness for the Louisiana Jesuits is M. de Ker·
levee, post commander and last governor of this colony. A
single proof will suffice to show his opinion of them; it is
a letter which he wrote a short time before their destruction,
in which he recalled to them these words of our Lord to
His disciples: Beati eritzs cum vos oderint homines, d persemti vos fuerint, ct dLt:erint omtze malum adversum vos mentientcs, propter me: gaudete et exultate! Can we believe
that he would have applied this text to missionaries who
had taken no care of their missions?
Finally, a fourth witness shall be M. L'abbe de l'lsleDieu. For more than thirty years he was at Paris, vicargeneral of the Quebec Diocese and especially charged
with managing its affairs in connection with Louisiana. Yet
his opinion of the Jesuits in Louisiana may be gathered
from a letter he wrote to them after the sentence of Aug. 6,
1762, in which he says that they perislzed, to tlze regret of
t/ze wltole epzscopal body and of all good mm. Writing in
in
�l
94
Expulsion
of tlze :Jesuits from Louisiana in I 763.
this fashion, it is rather improbable that he judged them
to hav.:: failed in the care of their missions.
But it will be asked, could the Jesuits, then, defend themselves only by the testimony of others? Should they not
have put forward their practices in the missions, their works
and the fruits of their zeal to speak in their behalf? The
good actions of every person of character ought to be recounted to his praise in presence of his judges: Laud.-nt
cam in portis opera e;its. The Jesuits fear not to submit to
the examination here proposed; and to show what they did,
I am going to speak of their missions separately. First, of
the oldest, nam\';ly, those in the Illinois country, then of the
New Orleans mission, together with that of the Chactas and
Alibamons.
Among the Illinois the Jesuits had four established missions. The first was for the instruction of the savages
called Cascaskias ; and the following were the exercises
practised there : At sunrise the signal was given for prayers and Mass. The savages recited the prayers in their
own language and, during Mass, sang according to the
Roman form, hymns and canticles translated into their own
language with suitable petitions. At the end of Mass the
missionary taught Catechism to the children; on his return
to his dwelling he was engaged in teaching the adult Neophytes and Catechumens either in preparation for Baptism
or Penance, Holy Communion or Marriage.
\Vhen he was free he went through the village exciting the
faithful to fervor and exhorting the unbelievers to embrace
Christianity. The rest of the day was none too much to
recite the divine office, to study the language of the savages
and prepare instructions for Sundays and feast days. Certainly,care, and much care, was necessary for so many varied
and continual duties. At least the savages were persuaded
that the Jesuits took care of them, since at the first news of
the sentence pronounced against the missionaries, they
wished to go in search of the officer c~mmanding in those
�Expulsion of the 7esuits from Louisiana in I763.
95
parts, to beg that he would at least save them Father
Meurin who was in charge of their mission. And what
other idea could they form of the Jesuits? A single example will suffice as a representative of a body of men entirely
devoted to the instruction of the savages; it is Father de
Guyenne, who died in 1752. After having spent thirty-six
years in the Louisiana Missions he had labored in the Alibamon, the Arkansas and the Miami missicns. He had
been .cure of the Fort de Chartres and everywhere he was
respected as a man of rare virtue, singular prudence and
inviolable attachment to his missionary duties .
. Since 1736 he had devoted himself to the Illinois mission.
Called to more honorable and agreeable employments, he
preferred to remain with his savages, and by his constancy
. had not only preserved religion, very much weakened in
that nation, but had even considerably reanimated fervor by
his indefatigable application to all his duties. At -last, four
years before his death, though afflicted with partial paralysis
which rendered him incapable of motion, and though suffering from great weakness of the chest, an old malady
which hardly left him strength to make himself heard, he
ceased not to receive at all hours the dear Neophytes, who ·
came from a great distance to receive instruction from him.
He taught them catechism, exhorted them to virtue, heard
their confessions, and by virtue of his power as Superior
relieved them in their temporal necessities. Does not the
example of a man so faithful to his ministry to the last day
of his life, give us reason to assert that among the Jesuits
established with the Illinois there remained some zeal and
care for the missions?
At a league and a quarter from the village of the Illinois
savages was a French village also called Cascaskias, where
for forty-four years there has been a parish, always tinder
the care of the Jesuits. Of those who have been charged
with this office we dare to repeat what we have said of their
brethren in general, that there are few French provinces not
VoL. tv-No. 2.
13
�96
Er:pulsi01i of tlze Ycsuits from Louisi{ma in r;63;
still possessing witnesses of their. zeal in the ministry,
their fidelity in visiting the sick and relieving the poor,
their assiduity in the tribunal of penance and almost daily
instruction of the children. To this must be added the instruction of the negroes and the savages who were slaves
of the French, to dispose them for baptism and the reception of the other sacraments. Moreover public prayers
were said every evening in the Church in conjunction with
the reading of some pious book; and on Sundays and festivals two catechetical instructions were given, one to the
French children, another to the negro slaves and the savages, to say nothing of the solemn Masses and vespers
accurately sung, with the accompanying benediction.
·
But there is an example of still greater solicitude. Since
the year 1753 there had been at the French village of the
Cascaskias a newly built parish Church one hundred and
forty-four feet in length and forty-four feet front, which
would never have ueen finished had not the cost of building been paid out of the Church revenues and the contributions of the parishioners. Fathers Tartarin, vVatrin and
Aubert, Jesuits, ~successively charged with the care of this
parish, devoted to this work the greater part of the chance
offerings of the faithful and the alms received for Masses.
When they had the erection and adornment of their Church
so much at heart, it is not likely that they were wanting in
their other duties.
Is another proof needed of the Jesuits' solicitude in the
care of this parish? For fifteen years past a new village
called St. Genevieve has been established on the opposite
bank of the Mississippi, at a league's distance from the old
village. It became necessary then for the cure of the Cas·
caskias to visit this place for the administration of the Sacraments at least to the sick. When the population inincreased they asked for the erection of a Church. This
request being granted, the missionaries believed it their
• duty to encourage the good will and to minister to the
�Erpulsion of tlte :Jesuits from Louisiana £n I76J.
97
needs of their new parishioners by more frequent visits.
Neverthdess to reach this new Church it was necessary to cross the Missi ss ippi which at that place is about a mile
and a quarter wide. At times you had to trust yourself to
a slave who guided the canoe alone: and your life was exposed to imminent danger if a viol ent storm happened to
break upon you whilst on the way over. None of these
difficulties prevented th e cure of the Cascaskias frum going
over to St. Genevieve on a mission of charity, a task which
he continued to discharge until a few years ago when a.
resident cure was stationed there after the inhabitants had
built a house for him. These two villages of the Cascaskias and St. Genevieve were the second and third Jesuit
settlements in the Illinois country ; and it is clear to every
one that care, courage and constancy were needed to fulfil
even a part of the duties devolving on the missionaries.
At a distance of So leagues from the Illinois was Vincennes or Saint Ange, a post so called from the name of the
officers commanding there. . This settlement was on the
banks of the Ouabache (now \Vabash) which flows into th e
Ohio and, with it, enters the Mississipi,about seventy leagues
below. In the last mentioned place there were at least sixty
French families, to say nothing of the Miami savages who
lived close by. Here also there was ample field for Jesuit enterprise and zeal, and they were never found wanting. This
may easily be believed, if we consider that this settlement
was daily growing larger a nd that the new inhabitants, for
a long time given to a roving life, were little accustomed to
practise their christian duties. Instructions and exhortations,
public as well as private, were required to establish amo~gst
them even the semblance of a good life. That the Jesuits
acquitted themselves of their ch ange is proved by the
complaints of their parishioners, who pretended that their
cures went beyond the limits of their duty and took too
great a care of them. This is diametrically opposite to the
accusation of the Louisiana Council.
�98
Expulsion of t!te :Jesuits from Louisiana in z763.
But what were the Jesuits doing among the Alibamons
and Chactas? The French had settled near the Alibamon
savages, the missionary discharging the office of cure. In
this capacity Fr. Leroi had made them publicly promise to
sell no more whiskey to the savages. It is true that a resolution so useful and necessary for the religion as well as
for the temporal advantage of both Savages and French did
not last long; the ancient custom was soon reestablished
and the hope of sordid gain prevailed over reason and
justice; yet prudent men have not forgotten the services
done by the missionaries.
·what did they dQ for the savages? They lived with
them ever ready to teach them the Christian faith when it
pleased God to open their hearts. Meanwhile they endeavoured to keep them in close relations of alliance and
friendship with the French, and they succeeded because.
these people saw well enough by their conduct that they
had not come among them in quest of a fortune. This
disinterestedness gained them so much credit that they
became useful, even indispensable to the colony.
But it was especially in the Chactas nation that the missionaries rendered this essential service; and those who
know Louisiana can tell how important it was to maintain
friendly relations with this nation. If alienated from us,
they could rise up and in a single day put an end to the
colony, by destroying New Orleans, which had no defences
whatever. It was to prevent such an attack that the mis-·
sionaries led a weary life among a people as barbarous as
the Chactas, making them comprehend the advantage of
being at peace with the French and the value qf the presents given them regularly every year. If these subsidies
failed, as happened during the war, it became the missionary's task to conciliate their good will by promising indemnity for those losses. What services did not the Jesuits
render when they accompanied the Governors every year to
the fort of Mobile, where the Chactas assembled to receive
�MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
Erpulsion
if tltc
:Jesuits from Loui'si'cma in I76J.
99
their allowance? To make a useful as well as· a judicious
'distribution of presents, ~he Governor should have been acquainted with the chiefs of the nation and known the most
devoted and influential. Who could furnish him this information except the missionary who lived with them, was in
close connection with the most trustworthy, and regularly
visited the thirty villages of the Chactas to see what was
going on there. If there had only been question of visiting
the village! But during these many years that the Chactas
were divided among themselves into parties favorable or
hostile to the French, even to the extent of killing one another, to what dangers was not the missionary exposed
even in the solitude of his cabin? How often had he not
n~ason to fear that his life would be taken by those who
wished to have revenge upon the French for the death of
the Chactas killed by their partisans? Such were the missionary's invaluable services: and for twenty years this was
done by Fr. Baudoin, who now as Superior at New Orleans,
has been condemned by the sentence which accuses the
Jesuits of carelessness in the discharge of their duties.
Nevertheless it is hard to believe that there were not
some apparent motives for reproach. This might perhaps
have been the occasion: in I 763 there were no longer any
Jesuits with the Arkansas, where the Jesuits were obliged
to leave one, according to their grant. For many years Fr.
Carette had quitted this post: his brethren were of opinion
that he should have done so sooner. Though he had but
little hope of bringing these savages to Christianity, the
Father studied their language for a long time and tried in
vain to reform the morals of the French. He followed
them to the different settlements which the overflow of the
Mississippi obliged them to establish. Notwithstanding so
much difficulty, the missionary would not allow his efforts
to be rendered useless by the conduct of those who should
have assisted him: he accordingly continued in patience
till the occurrence of the event we are about to describe.
�100
St. :Joseph's Church, Philadelphia.
In the fort of the Arkansas there was no longer a chapel,_
not even an apartment where Mass could be said except the
hall where the commandant took his meals. Such a place
was ill suited to the purpose, not only because it was a
dining-hall, but still more because of the bad conduct and
licentious discourse of those who frequented it Every
living creature in the fort, not excepting the fowls from the
poultry yard, came there; a hen flying upon the altar upset
the chalice which remained there at the close of the Mass.
The spectators were not at all moved; one who should
have been most ~oncerned, crying out : See there I the traps
of tlte good God.q,re dmem. These sentiments were not more
impious than their lives. Fr. Carette judged proper to leave
the place until either a chapel was built or the people of the
fort were disposed to respect religion. Else,;;here he could
be employed with better hope of success.
(To be continued.)
ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.
[ Co11tinued.]
In the latter part of 1855 arrangements were made by
which some of our Fathers took charge of St. John's Church
and Congregation, Very Rev. Edward Sourin, the pastor
and former administrator of the diocese, entering the Novitiate on the eve of St. Stanislaus' day.
In January 1856, Fathers Ryder, Pacciarini and John
Me Guigan with one brother were stationed at StJohn's and
Father - - · with four Scholastics took possession of a
�St. Yoscp!t's Clmrclt, Pltiladelplzia.
101
building erected as a parochial school for St. John's parish,
but which was now converted into a College. The second
story or, as sometimes called, the first floor, being richly furnished, was fitted up as a Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, which sometime served the fashion;,lble congregation
of Philadelphia. Fathers Barbelin, Vespre and Tuffer,
with one Scholastic and four Brothers remained at St. Joseph's: so that from the beginning of 1856 there were three
Communities of Ours in the straight~laced City of Philadelphia. The Scholastic who remained at St. Joseph's, assisted
by a young secular gentleman, opened St. Joseph's Select
School, which soon had the names of a hundred boys on
its list.
On the Festival of the Epiphany, Bishop James Frederick Wood made his first visit to St. Joseph's. In his eloquent sermon, he remarked : "The spirit which laid the
first corner stone of its foundation is still as fresh, as vigorous, as warm, as it was then, and the recollection of the
services which this Church has given to religion is embalmed in the hearts of all."
On the I sth of August, the Festival of our Mother's
glorious Assumption, Father James vVard became Vice
Rector of the College at Filbert and Juniper, and Superior
of the Mission at St. John's.
During this year, Fr. Thomas Lilly began at St. Joseph's
a congregation of colored persons. They met at different
times on Sunday and once during the week. Their services
on Sunday evening were attended by many white persons.
He also established a school and placed it under the superintendence of a worthy colored dame, Mrs. Wood. The
school was afterwards placed under the care of the colored
Oblates of Mary.
I86o, a year of deaths. On the sth of January the
saintly Bishop Neumann, after dinner, before going to the
sinner's box, which he attended most faithfully, went out
for some business connected with the temporalities of the
�102
St. :Josep!t's Clmrclt, Plu"'adelphia.
Diocese. He died sitting upon a curbstone. Fr. Ryder,
who was paying some visits, heard the report and was
greatly shocked. He went to the house of one of my
brothers, Mr. Patrick Ward, and there became quite sick.
They codled him, and about dusk he came home much excited about the rumored death. After supper he went to the
confessional, retired to his room at nine o'clock, and went
to bed never to rise again. On the morning of the 12th, I
was rehearsing the boys for the Christmas play, when I was
told "the Reverend Father has departed."
That was an afternoon of excitement for Philadelphia. A
polished gentleman, a distinguished Jesuit, and a man of
God was dead, and Philadelphia felt it. Fr. Barbelin determined that no expense should be spared when showing
respect to the memory of "the pride of the Maryland Province." The most expert upholsterers were employed and
never before nor since has the Church been so beautifully
draped in mourning.
Rev. Wm. O'Hara D. D., now the Rt. Rev. Bishop of
Scranton, a former pupil of Father Ryder, and the leading
secular priest of the Philadelphia diocese, was engaged to
preach the funeral discourse. The only fear was that the
crowd attending would be beyond all precedent. Although
the day before the funeral was as genial as a Spring morning, before the time the sun should have risen the next day,
. it was snowing and hailing. The streets were almost impassable, and it was determined that no females should be
in the funeral procession; yet de:spite the storm and despite
the prohibition, they formed on the opposite sidewalk, and
were the first at the tomb.
The following obituary appeared in the "Public Ledger"
of January 13, 186o.
"Rev. James Ryder D·. D., lately officiating at St. Joseph's
Church, Willing's Alley, died yesterday morning at the
parsonage attached to the Church, from inflammation of
the bowels; after a short illness. His remains, we under-
�Brotltcr ]olm De Bruyn.
I I I
Florissant. Together with Brother John 'Sheehan, Br.
Thomas Coghlan, and Father John Bax he accompanied
Father John Schoenmakers, our Superior, to this Mission,
which they reached April 29th I847· To establish a Mission
in a wild country, was certainly not an easy task; and if
the two Fathers had to encounter much hard labor, the three .
Brothers, perhaps, fared still worse, on account of their
continual contact with the savages. The care of the farm
having been intrusted to Br. John Sheehan, Br. Thomas
Coghlan was charged with that of the house, while Br.
John De Bruyn was made cook, dispenser, refectorian,
gardener, sacristan; in a word, he was ad omnia, ever ready
for all kinds of work : the hardest and most disagreeable
being invariably his own choice. The zeal he displayed at
the very beginning of his labors in this portion of the
vineyard of our Lord, he preserved unabated to the end of
his life.
He labored in this Mission for over eighteen years. In
the latter part of October I865, he was attacked by a most
violent inflammation of the bowels, and was obliged to
surrender himself to the care of the Infirmarian. A 11 that
could be done to relieve him was tried, but to no purpose.
While lingering between life and death, a circumstance
happened which greatly moved him.
We had at that time in our service an excellent young
man by the name of Joseph Reams who was then just nineteen years of age. He came to us in order to be instructed
in our holy Religion and in one month had succeeded in
learning his prayers, and committing to memory a portion
of the catechism. The good catechumen was to be baptized in few days, when, on the morning of the 30th of
October, he was found dead in his bed! Br. John De Bruyn
had a great affection for the young man, they frequently
worked together, and both seemed to be happy when they
could spend some time in each other's company. Fearing
that the news of Joseph's sudden death might prove
VoL. Iv-No.
2.
15
�II2
Brotlzer :Jolm De Bru;m.
fatal to our dear Brother, we determined to conceal from
him what had happened. But he very soon found it out,
and the sorrow it occasioned him was truly great. He
prayed most fervently for a while, and afterwards looking at
those who were standing by, he said: "0, I am sure, that
God has been merciful to the poor boy ! 0 yes I know he
was very good, and wished only to be baptized! Now it is
done with him, you had better prepare to bury me also.'"
On the 2nd of November, all hope of his recovery being
dismissed it was thought proper to strengthen him with the
Sacraments of the Church. I myself administered them to
him while the whole Community knelt in prayer around
his bed. The piety and devotion with which he received
the Viaticum and Extreme Unction were remarkable, and
showed most evidently, that he not only did not fear death,
but on the contrary deemed it the prelude to endless joy.
vVhen this duty was performed they all returned to their
different avocations, and I remained alone with him. He
looked around to see whether any one else was in the room,
and finding that we were left alone he said to me in great
confidence: roo Father, I must acknowledge that I have
been a miserable sinner all the days of my life, but at this
last moment I cannot conceal from you that I have also
received many and great favors from God. Yes, Father,
years ago, in the Novitiate near Florissant, I was one day
very much troubled in mind, because I had been commanded
to do something to which I felt a great repugnance. I
went to walk in the garden, and lo! I beheld a crown of
thorns lying across my path. I wondered at the sight, and
could not understand how that crown could be found in
such a place; but what especially caused me surprise was
the fact that it resembled the crown which is wont to be
represented amongst the instruments of the Passion of our
· Lord. While I was gazing upon it in surprise it suddenly
disappeared, and I never saw it again. But the image of
that crown never departed from my mind, and the thought
�Brot!ter :Jo!tn De Bmyn.
113
of it ever afterwards in all my troubles helped me to be
resigned to the will of God.
"On another occasion as I was praying in the old Chapel of
the Novitiate I saw what appeared to me the ceiling opening
and the Immaculate Mother of God standing sensibly in the
air before me, and looking upon me with great affection.
Though this beautiful apparition lasted only a few minutes,
yet most powerful was the assistance which it gave me to
overcome the many difficulties I was meeting with in the
way of religious perfection.
"Finally, some ten years ago in this very hou:;e, as I was
one morning sweeping your room, I directed my eyes to the
picture of our Lady, which hung upon the wall, and I saw
the Mother of God standing before me. How she came
in I cannot tell, but of this I am positive, that I saw her as
clearly as I now see you. Full of confusion at the sight,
I threw myself on my knees and endeavored to speak to
her, but was unable to articulate a word, so great was the
excitement under which I labored. Then the Virgin looking upon me most sweetly, smiled, and disappeared. I
never again saw her. The memory of this delightful vision
rendered very easy all the hardships I have since endured."
Now, were I to be asked if I myself really give credence
to these visions of Br. John De Bruyn; in reply I would
say that I sincerely do, and this not only on account of
the intimate knowledge I had of Br. John's heart and soul,
but also because I believe they verified, even in our days,
what St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians (I. Cor. i. 27.), "qua!
stulta sunt mundi elegit Deus ut confundat sapientes."
Br. John De Bruyn revealed to me these facts about
twenty minutes after he had received the last Sacraments.
Having been always very humble, he certainly did not
relate them in order to elicit praise. I was his spiritual
director for upwards of fourteen years, and in conversing
with me he several times intimated, without however coming
to any particulars, that he had been the recipient of some
�114
Brotlzer Yolm De Bruy11.
extraordinary graces. Moreover, when I consider the solemnity of the moment in which he spoke to me, and when
I recall to mind how truthful and circumspect he was wont
to be in his expressions, I am forced to believe that the last
statements he made to me were true.
He felt that his hour had now come, and taking in his
hand the crucifix and an image of the Immaculate Virgin
he kissed them, and pressed them for a moment to his
bosom. Then turning to Br. Frederick Wenstrup, who was
in attendance upon him, he requested to be raised upright.
\Vith our assistance he stood for a moment on his feet,
then fell upon his ..knees beside his bed, and bowing his
head over his clasped hands, calmly expired. He was fifty
years of age, of which he had passed twenty-three in our
Society.
'What the cause was that prompted him to stand up, and
then suddenly to fall upon his knees, as it were in an act of
adoration, we cannot tell ; but it made the impression upon
us that some heavenly f:<vor was, at that last hour, granted
to him.
'vVe laid him on his pallet, and kneeling by his side prayed
God to give eternal rest to his soul. Looking at him you
would have thought he was sleeping; his countenence
wore the expression of a just man, who having spent many
years in the service of God, had departed to receive the
reward of his labors. Indeed his death was precious in the
sight of the Lord. May his soul rest in peace.
Yours in Christ,
PAuL MARY PoNZIGLIONE,
S. J.
�VOYAGE OF VERY REV. FR. JOHN ANTHONY
GRASSI, S. J. FROM RUSSIA TO AMERICA.
JAN. 1Sos-ocT. 1S10.
The Emperor of Russia, Paul I, was dissatisfied with the
professors of the University of Vilna and took the resolution
in 1799 to put that institution again under the charge of
the Society of Jesus, some of whose members had been
retained by his mother, Catharine II., in White Russia.
These Religious having represented to the Emperor, that,
without express permission from the Sovereign Pontiff, they
could not establi.sh a community in places where the brief of
suppression had been promulgated; accordingly, the Emperor took all the measures necessary to obtain this authorization from the Holy See; and Pius VII, in a brief dated
March 7, r So 1, granted to Father Kareu, then Superior
general of the Jesuit Fathers, the faculty full and entire of
establishing the Society throughout Russia, but no farther:
"Intra limitcs Rossiaci t'mpcrii tmztum."
The news of this grant of the Pope reached Pekin, where
an ex-Jesuit of France, Father Louis Poirot, was staying at
the Court of the Emperor in quality of musician, and this
Father took courage at the prospect of having some Jesuits
to succeed him in the important mission of China. Profiting by the return to Italy of a Lazarist missionary, he sent
letters to Pope Pius VII., and to the General of the Society,
entreating them to ·favor the realization of this hope. Fr.
Gabriel Gruber had already succeeded to the office and
cares of Father Kareu. In each of these letters he pleaded
that, whilst his advanced age (he was over So) and multiplied infirmities warned him daily of his approaching end,
�116
Voyage
of Very Rev. i'r. J'o/m Ant/tony Grassi
there was only one thing he cared to live for, and this he
desired most ardently: it was to see a member of the
Society of Jesus come to China to succeed him. In closing, he most earnestly solicited the privilege of renewing
his religious profession, that he might have the consolation
of dying a true son of the Society of Jesus.
The Pope despatched the petition to Father Gruber; and
he, having already received the letter intended for him, did
not take long to decide in accordance with the generosity
of his heart. He was encouraged in this step by a most
favorable turn of circumstances. The Russian Government,
which had long-before projected a Jesuit mission in China
with a fixed residence, such as the French Jesuits had Legun
under the protection of Louis XIV., was again, in 1804,
discussing the feasibility of this project. A solemn embassy
was then on the eve of departing for China. Count Golowkin, the ambassador who had been appointed to treat with
the Chinese Emperor and to be the bearer of magnificent
presents to the Chinese Court, had many learned men in
his suite and had set his heart on being accompanied by
some Jesuits. The proposal was made to Father Gruber,
who accepted it-remonstrating only that he could send no
more than two or three Religious for the time being, just to
tak~ possession of the mission.
He remarked moreover,
that, as the embassy was to enter China on the north by
the land route, while missionaries had invariably entered by
sea at Canton or Macao, it might prove an obstacle to their
mission were they to journey with the embassy. In consideration of this, the Court allowed the missionaries to go
by sea. It was agreed that they should repair to Gottenburg by land, and thence pass over to London, where they
would find every convenience for taking ship directly to
Canton. Father G~neral promised to write without delay
to Rev. William Strickland, a Father of the old Society in
England who was then living in London, to engage passages
�From Russia to America.
I
17
on board a vessel to be' ready for the missionaries as soon
as they would arrive in that City.
Arrangements being thus made for the voyage, towards the
middle of December, Fr. General wrote from his residence
at St. Petersburg to the Provim;ial of Polocz, Fr. Anthony
Lustyg, with orders to prepare for this mission the Fathers,
Norbert Korsack and John Anthony Grassi, with the lay
brother John Siirmer, a German, and once a sculptor by
profession; and to send them off at the earliest opportunity.
Father Korsack, who had been teaching Philosophy and
who was a native of White Russia, was appointed the
Superior. Fr. Grassi, formerly of Bergamo in Italy, was at
that time Rector of the College of Nobles attached to the
College of Polocz ; he had been destined for the mission of
Astrakhan on the borders of the Caspian Sea, and had been
applying to the study of Armenian. Fr. Jos. Pignatelli
had been his Novice-Master at Colorno-the first Novitiate
of the Society opened in Italy since 1799.
This letter from the General enjoined the three Religious
to come provided with books on Mathematics, on Physics
and on Astronomy ; but it made no mention of their destination. They set out from the College of Polocz, Jan. 14,
I 8os; and travelling day and night they arrived safely at
St. Petersburg, Jan. 19. There they were received kindly
by the Rector of the College who, after embracing them
recommended them to answer questions about their voyage
saying that they were going to Stockholm-words which
sounded to all very mysterious. Several days passed before
they were acquainted with the mission for which they had
been called.
At length Father General sent for Father Korsack and
let him know, that he and his companions were destined
for the mission of Pekin, and that the beginning of February
Was to be the time of their departure; meanwhile they were
to make necessary preparations. As to the General himself
he displayed wonderful activity and a truly paternal affection.
�118
Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. Yolm Ant/tom' Grassi
He provided each of the Fathers with full sets of vestments,
chalices etc., in a chest containing whatever may be needed'
for celebrating Mass and administering the Sacraments.
He purchased for them mathematical instruments and a
scientifical laboratory with .all the apparatus for physics and
astronomy ; and he supplied them also with medicines, and
with a stock of images, pictures and other little objects for
presents. He made them take along some good suits
of secular clothes with Russian furs. Finally he put in their
hands a document conferring on them all the privileges
customary for Jesuits on the Indian missions, he procured
them several letters of recommendation, and gave them as
much money as he judged sufficient to defray their expenses
on the voyage.
Having got all things in readiness, the General fixed their
departure for the feast of the Purification of the Blessed
Virgin. On that morning, he took the missionaries into his
chamber : there, after praying some moments on his knees
before a statue of St. Ignatius, he arose, blessed and
embraced them ; and presented each of them with some
object of-devotion as a token of his affection. They were
in secular dress, but they had taken along with them the
habit of the Society. Then they departed in three sledges,
one for the Fathers, another for the Brother and a Swede
who was to be their interpreter, and the third carried their
trunks and valises.
For two days the missionaries met with no accident; but
after that they felt the necessity of halting. They were
disabled, Fr. Korsack by an enormous swelling in the
throat, Br. Surmer from constipation in the bowels, and Fr.
Grassi who had from the beginning been barely convalescent, now felt such acute pain in his side that he was compelled to lie down. And so they spent some of the Saturday and the whole of Sunday on mattresses spread en the
floor of a spare room in the post-master's cabin, fortunate
enough that they had found any shelter at all in that desert
place.
�From Russia to America.
Their ills grew worse from day to day : and there was
no doctor within call, no medicines that would cure these
ailments. Nevertheless they took heart and were persuaded by their interpreter to travel in spite of sickness.
They arrived at a little town, where a garrison is kept on
the frontiers of Russia and Sweden and where they found
an inn. Besides, there was a doctor attending the soldiers,
under whose care they improved so steadily that in ten
days they were able to continue their journey.
Then the little band took the direction of Abo the capital
of Finland. Beyond that city our travellers crossed over
the frozen sea post haste, changing horses at every island
till they came to the island Aland. Here they were obliged
to remain many days for a change of weather to make the
Gulf of Bothnia passable either for sleds or ships. At
length on March 20, they crossed the gulf in a mail-boat
and landed on the shore of Sweden in safety. From this
out, they found the Swedish sleighs more convenient, being
narrower and longer than the Russian sledges, and so more
suited to the roads of Sweden, especially at that season.
In this kind of conveyance they arrived, March 22, at
Stockholm.
Immediately, they made enquiries for the Abbe Moretti,
the Superior of the Swedish missions, who had several times written to implore Fr. General to undertake
these missions. They learned to their sorrow that he had
died. But they found at the capital Mr. Fontana from
Leghorn, who had recently been nominated Russian consul
to Gottenbiirg, and who had been informed at St. Petersburg
of the mission undertaken by these three Jesuits. He
easily recognised them from the ample privileges expressed
in the Imperial passports, and he lost no time before he
presented them to Mr. Alopeus, the Russian minister at
Stockholm. They were received very graciously by His
Excellency, who however showed his disapproval of their
policy in seeking to embark from London: "The English,
VoL. 1v-No.
2.
16
�120
Voyage of VCJy Rev. Fr. :Jolm Anthony Grassi
said he, "from a spirit of jealousy, will not admit you on
one of their ships ; and even if they should, in consideration of our Emperor as an ally to their Government, grant
you passage, you run the risk of being landed without
ceremony on some desert island. Now I am informed that
a vessel bound for Canton is soon to set sail from Copenhagen ; so you will do well to direct your way to Copenhagen without delay, and to profit by the opportunity. I
will take care to write to St. Petersburg about it, and I can
furnish you with a note to Mr. Lisakiawicz, our minister
·at the court of Denmark."
The ministel"~ reasons approved themselves to all, especially to the mind of Mr. Fontana, who thought the new
plan excellent. Accordingly the three Jesuits advised the
very Rev. Fr. Vicar-general of their change of mind, traded
off their furs and sledges for two carriages, and left Stockholm for Copenhagen, March 19. They passed the Sound
between Helsingborg and Elsinore on March 24; there
they left their luggage at the custom house, and thus disencumbered they took a mail coach to Copenhagen, where
they arrived that evening.
The following day was the feast of the Annunciation;
and after celebrating Mass on their portable altar, they
presented themselves to Mr. Lisakiawicz, with the note
from Mr. Alopeus. His Excellency read the note, and
ordered enquiries to be made in haste when the ship was to
set sail for China.
The next day Mr. Von Brin, his secretary, came to
acquaint the Fathers that there was a ship bound for Canton,
but that it had already raised anchor, and it was outside the
harbor awaiting a favorable wind to hoist sail. He added
that he had sought an interview with the Director-in-chief
of the Danish Line of Indian vessels, to entreat his favor in
their behalf; but that this gentleman declared that the ship
could not possibly take any passengers, as she had no
convenience for them. The secretary urged, that the Fa-
�From Russia to America.
121
thers would be glad to have any kind of accommodation :
and as he insisted, the Director answered that it was absolutely impracticable-there was a Dutch convoy however,
which might take them on board. Mr. Von Brin went to
get information about this vessel, but with no better success.
The Fathers were at a loss and returned to advise with
his Excellency, the Russian minister, whether it were not
best to follow the route first intended and proceed to London, where Father General had already requested a friend
to engage a ship for their passage to Canton.
The minister assented, and they set out in quest of a
vessel to take them to England. They found one, but had
to wait long before it should go out of port. This interval
they spent at the Catholic Church of Copenhagen, where
they were the guests of Rev. Holzfurster and Bractesende,
two Benedictine Fathers from Germany, who treated them
very kindly. It was during their stay here, that Fr. Korsack
read in a newspaper, that Father General had died and had
appointed Fr. Anthony Lustyg to manage, as Vicar-general,
the affairs of the Society for the time being.
At last, on the 21st of April, the missionaries departed
from Copenhagen. But at Elsinore they put in to reclaim
their luggage, and after that the weather did not allow them
to continue the voyage till the 25th inst. From this they
made slow progress, till in the Skager Rack a violent
tempest attacked them by night on the 8th of May. The
ship was being driven out of the channel, the captain was
forced to veer round to the Norwegian coast, and the passengers were in constant alarms, till the storm began to
abate towards May I I th. On the 12th of May, they entered
a deep bay called Swenhur which, ensconced between headlands and protected by mountains, affords to distressed
vessels an excellent shelter from the rough seas, and there
they were detained by bad weather till the 17th. On the
22nd of May, they arrived in the roadstead of Gravesend;
and after showing their passports they were permitted to
proceed up the Thames to London.
�122
Voyage of Very Rev.. :John Anthony Grassi
Fr.
On May 25, they set foot in London. Fr. Strickland,
having sent to meet them, Fr. Anthony Kohlman-who
from the Paccanari Congregation had already been received into the Society-gave them a most hearty welcome
on their arrival, lodged them comfortably, and lavished on
them every attention with a cordiality truly fraternal.
However their hope of embarking for China was destined
again to be disappointed. In spite of repeated enquiries
and untiring searches made by himself and by many friends,
Fr. Strickland assured them that all efforts had been in vain
-their passage to China could not be bought by love or
money. Only o.11e means remained untried: it was to
interest Lord l\lacartney in their case. For Fr. Strickland
knew, that this gentleman, when ambassador at Pekin,
had been on friendly terms with the last Jesuit Missionaries
FF. Amiot and Poirot, at whose invitation the Fathers were
going out to China; and he hoped that as ex-Viceroy of
India, Lord Macartney would have some influence with the
East India Company. vVherefore he set out with them to
the Lord's residence, and introduced them to him. Lord
Macartney received them very kindly, telling them that he
was much indebted to the Jesuit Fathers at Pekin for the
services they had been able to render him, thanks to their
practical knowledge of the country. The noble Lord
frankly avowed that it was much to the· interest of the
India Company, if they could only be persuaded of it, to
promote these missions rather than to oppose them. He
promised to speak with the Directors of the Company on
this point, and on parting he assured them of the happiness
it would give him to help them to accomplish the end of
their desires.
On their return, they learned that the Russian minister,
Count vVoronzoff, had left his card, requesting an interview.
He had a letter for Fr. Poirot, which they were desired to
take instead of that of Fr. Gruber addressed to the same Father, which they had formerly received at St. Petersburg, as
�From Russia to America.
123
there were some expressions which might perhaps give
offence to the Chinese. This was all : he dared not meddle
in the affair of their voyage, having received no instructions
to that effect from St. Petersburg.
June 2 5, Fr. Strickland and the missionaries pa'id a second
visit to Lord l\Iacartney. He showed himself much interested in them, asked a multitude of questions about the
Society, spoke much of the Fathers Poi rot and Amiot (of
the latter of whom he had a portrait hanging in his boudoir),
and he assured them anew of his readiness to help them.
Yet in spite of all these professions of good will, they
gained nothing. For a fews days later, when Fr. Strickland pressed the main business, he was told that all Lord
Macartney's efforts had been in vain. He had spoken in
person with the Directors of the Company; but these had
put him off with polite phrases and fair promises always
evading a direct answer. Other persons of standing, who
had essayed to intercede for them with the ;Directors, met
with as· little satisfaction.
Thrown upon their own plans again, they dete.rmined to
follow the advice of Fr. Lustyg, their new Superior: he
had written to them, that in case they could not embark at
London they should repair to Lisbon and try to pass to
Macao in a Portuguese vessel. So after fresh troubles and
expensive delays at the custom houses, they got their luggage off on board a Portuguese brig that was to sail for
Lisbon on July 29. The captain of this brig, contrary to
the expectation of the pa!jsengers, turned off the course and
steered into Cork, Ireland, where he stopped to take in
cargo and more passengers. \Vith contrary winds they put
in at Cork only on Aug. 15, and they were delayed there
by unfavorable weather till Sept. 20.
Their stay in Ireland proved to them what they had heard
of the hospitality of that warm -hearted people; and
nowhere did they meet a kinder reception than from Dr.
Mayland, the Bishop of Cork.
�124
Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. Yo!m Anthony Grassi
The passage from Cork to Lisbon was more happy, the
only draw-back being sea-sickness which gave the good
Fathers a long exercise of patience. This yielded to other
feelings when they came in sight of the fortress St. Julian,
as there loomed up in the distance the walls of those
gloomy dungeons, in which Pombal had shut up so many
Priests and Religious for the sole crime of being Jesuits.
They landed at Lisbon, Sept. 28. The next day, they
put themselves in communication with Mr. Edward Stack,
an excellent Irish merchant to whom they had been recommended by· his friend, Fr. Jas. Jourdan, a Jesuit Father
residing iri Russif!,. This good gentleman befriended them
in many ways during their subsequent residence in Portugal,
not the least of which was his advice to be cautious in
their dealings in a place so hostile to their Order.
The Rector of the Irish College (an institution which
had been under the direction of the Old Society) was also
constant in his attentions during their sojourn at Lisbon.
Through the kind offices of a Portuguese, their fellow passenger, they took lodging at the monastery of the Fathers
of Penance, known in Rome by the name of Scalzetti.
Three cells were placed at their disposal, and in lieu of beds
a straw mattress was prepared for each.
The Jesuits next procured clerical habits, very like the
cassocks worn by secular Priests in England; and in this
costume they paid their respects to the Apostolic N uncia,
l\ionsignore Caleppi from Bergamo. The prelate did not
conceal his delight at seeing the Jesuits; for he was sincerely attached to their Order, which he once tried to enter,
and which he had made a vow to help to restore: he would,
he said, have gained admission, were it not for his parents
who were frightened on seeing the fate of the Spanish
Jesuits. Then the Nuncio promised to say a good word to
the Superior whose hospitality they were sharing at the
monastery, and recommended them to be very wary in their
conduct: for the persecuting laws of Pombal against the
�From Russia to America.
I
1-
125
Jesuits were yet in vigor, so much so, that recently a French
Father of the Paccanari Congregation, the Abbe Rabazac,
had been under the necessity of quitting Portuguese territory, simply because the police had set their suspicions on
him as a Jesuit,-and that in spite of the protection of the
Spanish minister, the Marquis del Campo. In parting, he
reminded them that the vessels bound for Macao were very
few, and that they sailed but once a year and that at Easter
or thereabouts ; and he invited them to come and dine
with him-a courtesy which they politely accepted and of
which they availed themselves more than once during their
trying delay at Lisbon.
The Russian minister, Mr. Vasilavicz, and his secretary
Mr. Kraft, to whom they paid a complimentary visit, appeared favorably disposed to their enterprise. But they
had become less sanguine now in their expectations ·from
ministers, and they awaited their opportunity seeking to
perfect themselves meanwhile in the studies of mathematics
and astronomy. For this purpose they spent much time
in the public libraries and museums. Having heard of an
Oratorian Father who went by the name of "the Father
Astronomer," they begged him of his charity to give
them some lessons in practical astronomy, to this Father's
infinite amusement; who assured them that all his science
consisted in correcting the other European Calendars
according to the meridian of Lisbon.
In these occupations two months had run by, when one
day Mr. Edward Stack made his appearance, with the
tidings of a ship that was soon to sail for Macao, with her
owner Mr. Nunez who was also going to make the voyage.
Rejoiced at this glad news, the missionaries hastened to the
Nuncio's residence to bid him farewell, little expecting
that their hopes would be thus soon overcast. The Nuncio
argued with them long and seriously, suggesting that
without the Pope's approbation, which they did not seem
to have expressly, they could hardly appear in the charac-
�126
Voyage of Very Rep. Fr. :1o1m Allfltony Grassi
ter of Jesuits on the missions, in a country where the decree
suppressing the Society of Jesus had been put into execution; that moreover no Portuguese vessel would take them
on board unless they were presented in the name of the
Pope; and, finally, that the Portuguese government was
very jealous of foreigners landing on their colonial possessions. The Fathers replied to this, that they felt satisfied
that they had the consent of the Pope, since their Superior
General was in correspondence with Rome, where he had
an agent residing, Fr. Gaetano Angiolini; but that as they
had no brief to produce in certification of this consent,
they relied on th<::.ir letters of recommendation to Mr. Vasilavicz, who, they were sure, could set his Excellency at
rest on this head. The prelate was pleased with this explanation ; nevertheless, he told them, that it was necessary
to write without delay to Rome and to Russia, on a point
of such paramount importance. The fathers, accordingly,
hastened to comply with these directions. In the letter to
Russia, they added (a necessary matter) that their funds
were run out and they saw no means of renewing them.
Owing to the long delays incurred, especially at Lisbon, their
goodly purse was nearly empty, and would have been
entirely exhausted but for the kindness of Father James
Jourdan, who had procured some money for them from his
parents at Lisbon. Yet they had incurred no unnecessary
expenses, limiting themselves even in diet to one meal a
day, and that consisting only of soup and one course of
meat, an economy to which the strictest interpretation of
religious poverty would not have bound them.
Letters travelled slowly in those days from Lisbon to St.
Petersburg. So they devoted the intervening time to
science. After many enquiries they found a man who
could teach them some practical astronomy. The "Ephemerides nautiques" of Portugal were directed by a French
emigre, Count Damoiseau de Montfort. To this man they
applied. And he took pleasure in teaching them the use
�From Russia to Amen'ca.
127
of the astronomical tables and the method of calculating
the results for the Naval Observations and for the almanacs.
The missionaries worked out the' operations for themselves,
applying the formulas step by step, in all the calculations
which the Count made for his "Ephemerides" and then, if an
error had escaped them, they were aLle to detect it by comparing results. Thus were they preparing themselves to be
eminently useful at Pekin in editing the Calendar; for the
Chinese were inferior to Europeans in this science, being
unable to attempt such high calculations-a fact which
served providentially to the propagation of Christianity
among that people.
When at length a letter returned from Russia addressed to
Fr. Korsack, it conveyed merely an order from Very Rev.
Thaddeus Brzozowski, then General of the Society of
Jesus, to make his solemn profession of the four vows in
the hands of the Apostolic Nuncio. His Grace was pleased
to receive it before many witnesses in his own palace,
March 2, 1806, giving him a written attestation of the fact;
and he continued to treat them with as much kindness as
ever, and so much the more that the Russian minister had
recommended them to his favor.
About this time the Fathers were notified of two ships
that were to leave Lisbon, one for Canton, the other for
Macao; but they offered but a precarious chance and such
. conditions as would have hampered the missionaries and
could not be accepted by them. In the month of February,
a French priest, called Francis Hanalt, was passing through
Lisbon on his way from Rome to the mission of Malabar,
in his capacity of missionary priest of the Propaganda, to
take the place of Fr. Manenti, a Sicilian ex-Jesuit, who was
exhausted and unable to continue any longer his missionary
labors. This excellent priest being friendly to the Jesuits,
called in to see the Fathers, and let them know, that their
project had created much excitement at the Propaganda at
Rome and had met with opposition from that quarter-a
VoL. Iv-No. 2.
17
�I
28
Voyage of Ve1y Rev. Fr. :John Autlzony Grassi
piece of information that was confirmed soon aftenvards by
Fr. Gaetano Angiolini in a letter dated from Sicily, Feb.
28, I 8o6. Now was a darker horizon revealed to them than
ever before : they realized that there was none but a distant
prospect of attaining the post assigned them by holy obedience. So they settled themselves down to a solid year
of study, and with this intent they thought of going to
Coimbra, where there was a University and an Observatory in full operation. The Abbe Jose Monteiro da Rocha,
an ex-Jesuit, had begun the Observatory, and to him they
had intended to· apply; but were dissuaded by Father
Sala, a member ~of the Society, who told them that that
Abbe was very hostile to the Society. In fact, he had delivered a Latin discourse at the University of Coimbra in
praise of Pombal, extolling him to the skies for having
annihilated the Society. Fr. Sala read to them some passages from that discourse, where Pombal is lauded for
having accomplished "an extraordinary and difficult enterprise-a superhuman undertaking, more worthy of fame
than all the victories of generals and the heroic achievements of history." The Nuncio approved of their design of
going to Coimbra, and gave them a letter of introduction
addressed to Antonio Joze Sariva de Amaral, one of the
Professors of that University.
.
\Vith this recommendation the two Fathers set out on
April 12, leaving the brother behind at Lisbon. They obtained full access to the Observatory attached to the University, and on every occasion they found the officials very obliging arid very ready to explain to them '~hatever they desired
to know. After two months practice in taking observations,
they made up their minds to return to Lisbon, since they
had learnt all that would be of use to them, and they could
find no one sufficiently versed in science to teach them
higher astronomy. On the way back to the Capital, they
saw the body of Pombal lying at Pombal exposed without
sepulture. ·
�From Russia to Amen'ca.
129
Arriving at Lisbon, they found a letter awaiting them
from Fr. Strickland, of the date of June 4· This contained
extracts from recent letters written by Fr. Gle, which
instructed them to continue to fit themselves more and
more for their mission, while abiding quietly at Lisbon the
turn of events at Rome ; for measures were being taken, to
obtain the Pope's full sanction for them to enter Pekin in
quality of Jesuits, and there were fair hopes of success.
Besides it held out to them a probability of pecuniary
assistance from the Emperor Alexander. And this came
true the next day, when His Excellency the minister sent
for them, and communicated to them the orders he had
received to keep them in funds; which he did liberally,
whenever the Fathers applied for them.
The newspapers about this time reported, that the embassy to China had not succeeded, owing to a point of
etiquette whic\1 was proudly insisted on by the Chinese
Court, and as proudly refused by Count Golowkin, whose
Russian dignity could not brook such insolence offered to
the representative of the Emperor of the Russias.
Bad news from another quarter came to the Nuncio in a
letter from the Abbe Marchini, the Procurator General of
the Propaganda at Macao. He recounted, how a missionary had enclosed a map of China in a letter destined for
Europe, how the Christian entrusted with the letter had
been arrested on his way to Macao and searched, how the
letter with the map had been found on his person, and how
the matter had been reported to the Emperor. This was
more than enough to arouse the suspicions of the jealous
Chinese. The Emperor forthwith fulminated an order for
the arrest of that missionary, who was immediately cast into
prison; and he thundered forth vengeance against missionaries in general and all Christians. There was every reason
to fear, added the dispatch, that all the missionaries would
be driven out of Pekin. The Chinese were contemplating
entrusting their Calendar to the Russians. Four French
�130
Voyage of Very Rev..Fr. :Jolm A11thony Grassi
missionaries had been waiting at Canton four long years,
expecting an imperial decree to allow them to penetrate as
far as Pekin; and having finally received permission they
were preparing to set out, when the order was countermanded, and they were even bid to depart from Canton at the
earliest opportunity-this, it was said, in consequence of a
letter from the King of England to the Emperor of China,
in which the French \Vere much abused.
Such untoward events the Nuncio judged wholly inauspicious for the enterprise of the missionaries. Having a
translation in Italian of the Chinese edict, he allowed them
to take two copie~ of it, one to be addressed to the General
of the Society, and the other, at the request of the Russian
Minister to be forwarded to St. Petersburg.
But soon after another very important and consoling
letter arrived, Dec. 2, I 8o6. It was Cardinal Casoni, Secretary of State, notifying the Nuncio that the Pope granted
full sanction to the mission of the Jesuits, and instructing
his Excellency to help them in their enterprise with all his
influence. This Mgr. Caleppi communicated to the missionaries, insisting, nevertheless, on the prudence of waiting
patiently while so many obstacles were presented on the
part of the Portuguese. The latest news from the East, he
added, reported the outbreak of persecution-already had
two of the most promin~nt Christians beeri driven into exile
for their constancy in the faith, and the Portuguese settlers
at Macao intended to take advantage of the hostility of the
Chinese, to rid their colony of the missionaries altogether.
The governor of Macao had recently received two missionaries with this ominous remark: "If the King of Portugal
wants to lose this colony," he said, "he does well to send us
these Chinese missionaries: it is clear, that His Majesty is
not cognizant of the state of feeling in his colonies."
Perhaps it looks suspicious, that the Pope's sanction had
been obtained so readily in spite of the opposition of the
Propaganda-'to the Jesuit missionaries. But a glance at
�From Russia to Amenca.
131
the relations then existing between Rome and St. Petersburg will clear up the mystery. A papal Nuncio had been
accustomed to reside at St. Petersburg, as at the other
capitals of the Catholic nations of Europe, until an unfortunate accident broke off these friendly relations. For an
official in the service of Russia, a French emigre, had been
arrested at Rome by the French Revolutionists, without
any interference from the Government at Rome. Though the
Pontifical Court alleged their ignorance of the fact, the Czar
took umbrage that the Pope had allowed the offense to go
unpunished, and he dismissed the Papal Nuncio, Mgr.
Arezzo. Since that, the Pope had been solicitous to
conciliate the powerful Court of St. Petersburg, seizing
upon every occasion and trying many expedients, but in
vain, to renew an alliance which he deemed potent in its
influence for religion and for the good of the Papal
States; and this petition from the General of the Jesuits
- whom the Czar was proud to acknowledge as his
protege-seemed to be a favorable opportunity. Neither
had Very Rev. Father Brzozowski at St. Petersburg been
blind' to the occasion, in his interview with the Czar's
mm1ster. In acquainting him with the embarrassing cir' cumstances of the Jesuit missionaries at Lisbon, he hinted
that the approbation of the Pope was what was needed to
remove the obstacles to their embarkation, and that this
would be granted readily, if asked in the name of the Czar.
The minister authorized him, to submit the petition to His
Holiness as a favor gratifying to His Majesty the Emperor.
And thus was facilitated the grant of the sanction, so much
desired by the Jesuit Fathers, and so necessary for the
success of their mission-conferring upon them, besides the
permission to go to Pekin in the capacity of Jesuit missionaries, all the powers and privileges, which the Society
before its suppression had enjoyed on those missions,
exempt from t!te ;itrisdzction of tlze Vicars Apostolic.
But this grant from the Pope did not hasten their ·depar-
�I
32
Vo;'age of Very Rev. Fr. Yolm Anthony Grass£
'
ture. Notwithstanding the letter and instructions from the
Cardinal Secretary of State, they found the Nuncio at their
next visit in a very bad humor, which he took no pains to
conceal. " I have heard" he said, "that your Superiors
suspect the sincerity of my dealings with you. Well, if your
General wishes you to rush into destruction, I can take no
part in measures that will ensure your ruin." To add
weight to his words, he produced a letter from Cardinal Di
Pietro forbidding the departure for China of a certain
Franciscan, Fr. Antonio da Cajazzo, because persecution
was raging throughout the country. Even Macao was not
safe ; for Abbe Marchini, the Procurator of the Propaganda,
had been obliged to retire from that city to the Philippine
Islands.
This speech of Mgr. Caleppi afflicted the good Fathers,
who had alw<tys found the Nuncio very kind. They
expressed their regret at the injustice done to His Excellency, assuring him that they could not account for such a
report, as in their letters they had had nothing to say of
him that was not good and gracious. This seemed to pacify the prelate considerably. He treated them as hospitably and as familiarly as ever. And after a few months, a
letter arrived from the General of the Society expressly '
denying the imputation of these rumors, which must have
been spread by designing men.
The Fathers did not devote all their time to the study of
science : other occupations also engaged their attention.
Thus, Fr. Korsack, who spoke German, had a German
Protestant under instruction. This convert made his profession of faith before the Bishop of Meliapore, then residing at the Tavora palace. The Fathers, on that occasion,
were introduced to the Marchioness of Tavora, the only one
remaining of the House of Tavora, a mercy which she owed
to the special favor of the KingDom Joseph, when Pombal
was bent on exterminating the Tavoras and Aveiros.
Fr. Grassi, on his part, was occupied in giving lessons in
�From Russia to Ameni:a.
133
Mathematics to the eldest son of Count Arcos. This
grandmother had known the Jesuits at court.
A year had thus gone by, when on Sept. 5, 1807, the
Nuncio summoned the missionaries to his palace. He had
received letters patent from the Propaganda, signed by the
Cardinal Secretary of State to His Holiness, which declared
that permission was given to the Father Norbert Korsack
and to the Father Anthony Grassi, Religious of the Society
of Jesus, to go to Pekin in quality of missionaries, "provided only tltat tlzey be subject to tlze ;iwisdzi:tion of t/ze Vzi:ars
Apostolic, like all t/ze ot/zer missionan'es of tlze Propaganda."
The Nuncio himself could not withhold his astonishment
after reading this document: it was so inconsistent, that
these letters should be sent on the authority of Cardinal
Casoni! and disagree with the tenor of the Cardinal's own
letter. The fathers felt as if a bombshell had fallen in their
midst, so completely were they taken aback at this coup
d'etat: they had nothing to say.
They wrote immediately to acquaint Father General, who,
no doubt, had meanwhile received the information through
his correspondent in Rome. In consequence, the 23rd of
September brought them an answer, that His Paternity
judged it useless for them to remain any longer in Portugal,
especially in view of the threatened invasion by the French.
They were therefore to return to England, at once, and to
repair to Stonyhurst College, where they could await
further instructions.
The Fathers accordingly sold their optical instruments and
other apparatus, as quickly as they could, reserving some
instruments however to present to Count de Montfort, in
token of gratitude for his instructions and kindness in aiding them to calculate for the correction of the Calendar.
Other articles they left with the Marquis Castel-Melhor,
whose family was very friendly to the Society-and these
were at a later period sent on to England.
The Nuncio, too, was anxious to leave Portugal before the
gentle~an's
�I
34 Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. Yolm Ant!tony Grassi
invasion, and he was preparing with all his court to pass
over to Brazil. He strongly approved of the missionaries'
return to England to await times more favorable to their
project, and he graciously made out for them a written
declaration in praise of their conduct during the two years
of their sojourn at Lisbon. This was afterwards fonvarded
to Russia.
At length, Oct. I6, I805, the three Jesuits embarked for
England on the British vessel Anna, which formed one
of a flotilla of sixty eight merchantmen. These vessels
bore the English residents in Portugal, with their families
and effects. A ~royal frigate convoyed the flotilla as a protection against French cruisers. In these circumstances a
young French Priest made their acquaintance, who was
desirous of entering the Society: his name was Montardier,
and he was chaplain to the Weld family of Lulworth
Castle, England. The captain of the vessel Amta was
an enthusiastic Free-Mason. The voyage, usually from ten
to fifteen days, continued for forty days ; for a circuit was
made to the west of about I 80 leagues, to avoid the
French m-en-of-war. And after that, a succession of heavy
gales set in, in which one vessel went down just beside the
Anna, another was dismasted, and two more ran ashore
by night and suffered grievous damages. · But misfortunes
seldom come singly. Owing to the protracted voyage, their
supply of biscuit and wine ran out on the Amza, and even
drinking water was failing. The frigate helped them with
four barrels of biscuits ; and heaven supplied them with
drink by a hail-storm so copious ·as to cover the deck two
feet in depth. This the captain ordered to be gathered in
casks ; but when it melted, it had such a smell of tar, that
the passengers felt it necessary to hold their nostrils while
drinking. I add to this, that the poor Fathers were stretched
out on the bare planks, through want of mattresses, that the
sea-sickness hardly left them during the whole voyage,
that they barely touched food, suffered bitterly from the
�From Russia to America.
135
cold, and were cramped for room-and you can imagine
how glad they were to sight Liverpool at last.
They disembarked on the Liverpool landing stage on the
16th of November, 1807. Thus they had the happiness
of saying Mass on the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, after
which they accepted the hospitable invitation of Fr. Sewall,
an American Jesuit, who took them to his mission at Portico ; and there they soon forgot the ills of travelling in
the warmth of lavish charity. This excellent Priest had two
other Jesuits-invalids-in his house : they were seven in
all at table; and it was remarkable that they represented
seven nationalities-American, English, French, German,
Italian, Polish and Belgian.
After getting their trunks once more through the customhouse, they set out for Stonyhurst and arrived at the College
on Dec. 2 I, I 807. It need not be added that they shared
the. princely hospitality for which that community is known.
There they soon made themselves at home : after they had
recovered from their fatigue, Fr. Korsack, was appointed to
the Chair of Moral Theology, and Fr. Gra~si was put to
give lessons in Italian to the secular students and to teach
Latin to the young postulant, Montardier. The lay-brother,
who was a sculptor, found plenty of work to his taste .
.Meanwhile the two Fathers took lessons in the higher
MathematiCs from Fr. Simpson, a Frenchman.
The whole year 1808 passed away silently as to Pekin
and' their mission. In November of that year, after the
opening of classes, Fr. Korsack was entrusted with the
cabinet of physics to which were attached the professorships
of mechanics, optics, and astrononiy ; besides this he taught
metaphysics to the course of 'philosophy of the second
year. Towards the close of that scholastic year, he gave
an exhibition in the natural sciences, according to the custom then prevailing in the Colleges of the Society.
All this time, the General had not lost sight of their
original destination. He insisted strongly on their studies in
calculus and astronomy; he urged them to perfect themVaL 1v-No. 2.
18
�136 Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. :Jo!m Ant!zouy Grassi,
selves _in taking observations and in chemical experiments.
The. better to fulfil his desires, it was decided that they
should both repair to London ; and they did so in the
beginning of January, 18 1o. There they applied at the office
of "The Nautical Almanac," which is the most reliable
scientific paper in the English marine service ; and one of
the writers agreed to give them lessons, in consideration of
a guinea a visit_ The Fathers accepted his condition; but
to avoid such expensive visits as far as possible, they
practised a: great deal in private, and had recourse to their
professor only when there were difficulties to be explained.
On April 10, thanarne year, a letter carne from the General
bidding them pack up and return to Russia, in the hope
that a passage to China would be feasible, over land, through
Independent Tartary. But another despatch arrived, a few
days afterwards, desiring them not to leave England yet, as
it was proposed to send them to America.
They departed from London, however, having no longer
any object in staying at that capital ; for Fr. Korsack had
become expert in chemistry, and Fr. Grassi sufficiently so
in astronomy for all that would be required on the mission.
So they found themselves again under the towers of
Stonyhurst, July 25, whither the tidings of their final des·
tination had preceded them. The English Provincial, Fr.
Stone, had written to the General to leave· the· Fathers in
England; and in the expectation of a favorable answer he
had intended Fr. Korsack to teach theology, and Fr. Gtassi
physics, at Stonyhurst. \Vel!; "man proposes, and God
disposes." By the letter of Father General, the two were
at last to part c<;>mpany. Fr. Korsack remained at Stony·
hurst; while Fr. Grassi \vas sent to America-to the College
of Georgetown, near \Vashington, in the United States.
He sailed from Liverpool, August 27, 181()--,-and on. Oct;
20, he landed in Baltimore; a:nd from that city was soon
conducted to the post assigned him by obedience.
The Chin~se Mission remained a forbidden field for the
zeal of Jesuits until 1841.
�UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF FR. ANTHONY
KOHLMANN, S. J., WITH A SHORT ACCOUNT
OF HIS LIFE.
.•
We are happy to publish in our domestic periodical some
letters of Rev. Fr. Anthony Kohlmann, S. J., lately copied
from the original found in the Archives of the English
Province.
Father Kohlmann is to be ranked among the lights of the
new Society, and its most celebrated members in America,
where he spent seventeen years of his laborious and saintly
life. Born at Kaysersberg near Colmar, Ju1y 13, 1771, he was,
at an early age, compelled by the French Revolution to seek
in Switzerland, an asylum for his studies and piety. Having
completed his theological course in Fribourg at the famous
College created by Blessed Peter Canisius, he received there
holy orders, and soon after, in 1796, he joined the congregation of the Fathers of the Sacred Heart.
·With an indefatigable and truly apostolic zeal, he labored
in Austria and Italy. Hut;tdreds ·of times he exposed his
life during the dreadful plague which at the close of the
last century made so many victims among the inhabitants of
Hagenbrunn. And it is difficult to forni even a faint idea
of the hardships Fr. Kohlmann underwent in the mifitary
hospitals of Padua, and Pavia, where the victims of war were
crowding in unceasingly. At one time there were in the
three hospitals of the latter town three thousand sick, and
but two priests to attend to them. Moreover, they were all
from different quarters of Europe, different in tongue as
well as in religion, heaped together, in the most needy and
pitiful state as for their body, and much more as for their
souls. During about two years which Fr. Kohlmann
�I
38
Sketclt of tlze Life
of Fr. Anthou;•
Kolt!mamz.
passed among them, he had to practise daily heroic acts of·
mortification, charity and zeal :-but God in his mercy
granted him the only reward he wished for. He had almost
all who were Catholics admitted to the reception of the
Sacraments of the"Church, and many hundreds of Protestants converted to the true faith.
From Italy he was sent by his Superiors, in those stormy
and ever changing times, first to Dillingen in Bavaria, as
director of the Ecclesiastical Seminary, then to Berlin, ahd
lastly to Amsterdam to preside over the College establish~cl
by the Fathers ofthe Faith of Jesus, to whom the Fathers
of the Sacred Ht;.art were united since the I 8th of April,
1799· But the moment had arrived for Fr. Kohlmann to see
realized the longing desire of his life. Pope Pius VII. had
acknowledged and approved the Society of Jesus existing
in Russia; and the Jesuits were allowed to have a Novitiate
at Dunebourg. There, on the 21st of June, 1803, Fr.
Kohlmann was admitted. He was already far advanced
in perfection, but this new life gave a fresh impulse to his
fervor, so that being considered by all as a model, and
having in a short time become a true son of St. Ignatius,
he was sent to the United States during the second year
of his Noviceship. From Georgtown where he was Socius
to Fr. Neale, Master of Novices, he went to give missions· to
several German congregations qf Pennsylvania, to the German Church in Baltimore, and attended the Congregation at
Alexandria, V a.
In October, I8o8, we find him in New York as Vicar
General and Rector of the very large and neglected congregation there existing.-He, with his worthy coadjutor
Fr. B. Fenwick, began at once to stir up the piety of the
faithful, and to spread among the Protestants, with the
teaching of Catholic faith, the sweet fragrance of religious
virtues. The increased number of Catholics in New York
called loudly for the erection of a new church, and Fr.
Kohlmann having purchased a large plot of ground in what
was then the unoc<;u{lied space between Broadway and
�Sketc!t of tlze Life of Pr. Antlzony Kolzlmmm.
139
the Bowery road laid the corner stone of St. Patrick's
Cathedral on the 8th of June, 1809.-A College also was
then established under the na.me of the New York Literary
Institution, which did the greatest credit to our religion, and
warranted the brightest hopes for its future interests.
It was during his ministry in the city of New York that
Fr. Kohlmann by his firmness in resisting the orders of a
tribunal, which called upon him to reveal the secrets of the
confessional, rendered an important service to religion. The
case produced a great sensation throughout the Union, and
the unflinching conduct of the Catholic priest was the occasion of an act of the Legislature of New York by which
any renewal of the attempt in future was prevented. Fr.
Kohlmann published the whole proceeding, followed by a
full exposition of the Catholic faith on the Sacrament of
Penance, under the title of "Catholic Question in America." Some years after, he published in Washington
another controversial and very learned work "Unitarianism,
Theologically and Philosophically considered" in refutation
of Mr. Jared Sparks and other Unitarian Ministers.-Anxious to supply all wants, he introduced in New York the
Ur~uline Sisters, whom he received through Fr. Betagh,
S. J.,* from the celebrated Blackrock convent at Cork, in
Ireland.
After the arrival of the Right Rev. John Connolly,
second Bishop of New York, Fr. Kohlmann was recalled
to Maryland, and was named successively Master of
Novices at Georgetown, Superior General of. the whole
Mission, on the departure of Fr. Grassi, 1817, and profes~
sor at the Washington Seminary.
But the time had come for him to be called to a much
more responsible duty. Pope' Leo XII. in 1824, had
*Very Rev. Fr. Thomas Betagh, S. J., died at Dublin on the 16th of
February, 1811. How much esteemed and loved he was, the following
inscription will tell. It was engraved on a monument erected to his
mem?ryin the Chapel of SS. Michael and John, Lower Exchan~e Street\
�140
Sketclt of tlte Life of Fr. Antlzony Ko!tlman.
restored the Roman College to the Society, and professors
were summoned from different Provinces to correspond to
the wishes of the generous Pontiff and to continue the
glorious traditions of that celebrated Institution. From
America, Fr. Kohlmann was called to Rome for the opening of the classes, and he was appointed to the chair of
theology, which he filled for five years with so much distinction, as to win the particular esteem and love of the
Pope :-it was even said that the Sovereign Pontiff intended
to confer on him the dignity of the Cardinalship. At that
time, his Eminence, Cardinal Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin,
was a student o( .~he Propaganda, and defended in a public
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----------Dublin, on the Epistle Side of the Altar.
··Glory to God, most good, most great."
"This :Marble,
Christian Brother, presents to your view, the likeness of
The Very Rev. Thomas Betagh, 8. J.
(Vicar General of the .Arch-Diocess of Dublin),
And during more than twenty years
The excellent and most vigilant pastor of this parish,
Who glowing with charity towards God and his neighbour,
_
Was eYer indefatigable in his miniBtry,
Teaching, preaching, and exerting all his powers
To confirm the true christian in 'the faith once deli>ered to the Saints,'
.And to bring back the straying into the ways of Sal>ation.
His chief delight and happiness it was
To instruct the young, especially the· needy and the orphan,
In Religion, Piety and Learning;
.And to forward and cherish them with affection truly paternal.
His zeal for the Salyation of souls
Continued to burn with undiminished ardour,
Until the last moment of his life,
'When worn down by lingering illness, and incessant labours,
This good and faithful servant delivered up his soul to God
In the year of his age, 73, and of our Redemption, 1811.
May he rest in peace.
To this most deserving man, the ornament of his Priesthood :md his
Country,
The Clergy and people of Dublin who attended his funeral,
With most mournful solemnity and unexampled concourse,
Have llrecte~. this monument as a lasting memorial of their love and
Gratitude. "
�Sketch of tltt: Life
of Fr. Anthony Kolzlmamz.
141
act of theology. Among all the professors who had to
object against and test the deep knowledge and quick fenci.ng of the young theologian, Fr. Kohlmann was particularly
noticed, and the Sovereign Pontiff, who was present, deigned
to express to him his delight and satisfaction. On another
occasion having been charged by the Pope to examine the
acts of a Council held in Transylvania, he merited the
highest praise as well for his profound learning and vast
erudition, as- fQr his promptness in the accomplishment of
his task.
Gregory XVI. did not differ from his predecessor with
regard to Fr. Kohlmann. Being already member of the
Congregations of Ecclesiastical Affairs, and of Bishops and
Regulars, and Consultor of the Roman Inquisition, he was
promoted by this glorious Pontiff to the office of Qualificator
of the same tribunal of the Inquisition. The last part of
his life, Fr. Kohlmann spent at the Gesu, in the constant
practice of every virtue, and of an ever-working and untiring zeal for the salvation of souls. He devoted himself
to the ministry of reconciliation in the holy tribunal of
penance with such assiduous care that he wished to go to
the Church to hear confessions till within three days of his
death. And God blessed his labors with abundant fruits
of sanctification, and numbers of striking conversions.
Among others, it was Fr. Kohlmann who reconciled tb
God, Augustine Theiner after many years of doubts, errors
and wanderings. May the recollection of this venerable
Father by whom he was admitte~ to the participation of
the Sacran~ents on the Wednesday in Holy Week, April
3d, 1833, and of whom with a grateful remembrance, he
published a feeling notice after his death, have been present
to his mind and cheered his last moments when lately he
was himself about to die in Civita Vecchia!
Surrounded by the esteem of all who ever knew him,
enjoying the affectionate benevolence of the most illustrious
persons, Fr. Kohlmann had always through h~mility a low
�142
Unpublis!ted Letters
of Fr. Antlzony Koltlmamz.
opinion of himself, and particularly showed his kind affection
towards our lay-Brothers, who in return loved and respected
him as a father. A holy death closed a life so full of works
and merits:· In 1836, during Lent and Easter time, he
overtasked himself as he felt that his labors were at an end.
On the 8th of April he was attacked by an inflammation of
the lungs, which within three days brought him to the grave:
his ardent faith shone forth with an exceptional brightness
when he received the holy Viaticum, and shortly after he
calmly slept in the Lord. Many pious pe'rsons after his
demise solicited as a great favor some particle of anything
he had made use of during life; and his memory has
remained among all in benediction.
In bonitatc ct alacritate anima: sua: placuit Dco.
Eccli. xlv. 29.
I.
To THE
MosT REv. MR. STRICKLAND,* PoLAND ST. LONDON.
-
Nr..v York in Nortlz America,
7 Nov., I8o8.
REV. FATHER AND DEAR SIR,
P. C.
· Your favor of the 6th Sept. was delivered to me at the
beginning of October in the City of New York, where our
*Father William Strickland, Son of Thomas Strickland, Esq., was
born at Sizergh, near Kendal, on the 28th of Oct. 1731. Having
renounced his title to the family estate in favor of his brother Charles,
he entered the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus, at 'Vatten, about two
leagues from St. Orner, on the 7th of Sept., 1748 He was ordained priest
at Liege, June 13th, 1756, and afler teaching Philosophy for some time,
was sent to the A.lnwick :Mission, where his moderation, urbanity and
talents won the esteem of all. He was admitted to the profession of
the Four Vows, on the 2nd of February, 1766. At the suppression of
the Society, he was chiefly instrumental in keeping up the Academy nt
Liege, and, in 1783, became its second President, on the death of Fr. ,John
Howard. His success in this new office may be inferred, from the fol·
lowing tribute paid to him, at that time, by Fr.•John Thorpe: "l\[r.
�Unpublis/zed Letters
of Fr.
Antlzony Kolt!inamz.
143
Rt. Rev. Bishop Carroll has thought proper to send me in
the capacity of Rector of this immense Congregation and
Vicar General of this Diocess till the arrival of the Rt.
Rev. Richard Luca Concanen, Bishop of New York. The
Congregation chiefly consists of Irish, some hundreds of
French, and as many Germans, in all according to the
common estimation of 14,000 souls. Rev. Mr. Fenwick, a
young Father of our Society distinguished for his learning
and piety, has been sent along with me.
I was no sooner arrived in this City, and, behold, the Trustees though before our arrival they had not spent a cent for
the reparation and furniture of their Clergyman's house, laid
out for the said purpose above ,S8oo.-All seem to revive at
the very name of the Society though yet little known in
this part of the country. The scandals given in this Congregation, as almost everywhere else, by the clergymen
have brought it very near its ruin. Our immediate predecessors, though respectable in every regard, could not prevent
its speedy decay. Almighty God seems to have permitted
Strickland will merit a statue on earth, besides the rjlward he may expect
in heaven, if he can raise up the ruins and disjointed fragments into a
solid structure. Liege is happy in having him to succeed ~Ir. Howard."
This difficult work he did accomplish, and then having installed the Rev.
:Marmaduke Stone, as his successor, he fixed his residence in London,
where he acted as Procurator for his brethren. He had also the consolation of seeing the flourishing establishment at Stonyhurst become one
of the first houses of education in Europe. After a long life of most useful
labours, Fr. Strickland died at No. 11 Poland St., London, April 23rd,
• 1819, and was buried at St. Pancras, where his assistant and friend, Rev.
Edward Scott, thus inscribed a stone to his memory:
Hie Jacet
Gulielmus Strickland
De Sizergh, S. J.
Sacerdos: Familia Nobilis
Doctrina praestans, morum sanctitate
Ac vitae simplicitnte admirabilis.
Vixit annos 88 et placida morte
Obdormivit in Domino die 23 Aprilis
1819
R. L P.
VoL. rv-No.
2.
19
�144
Unpublisltcd Letters of Fr.' Ant/tony Koltlmamt.
this, to furnish the Society with an opportunity of diffusing
the good odor of it, and of disposing the minds to favor
its establishment. 1\Iay we be so happy as to produce these
,
desirable effects upon the public mind!
I have brought along with me four young masters of our
Society to erect a College in this City, and with the divine
asistance I hope we shall succeed. \Ve live all together in
the same house observing our religious discipline as much
as it is consistent with our present situation.
There is the finest prospect for establishing a College in
Philadelphia. A certain 1\Ir. W ellers, who by his unremitting exertions has·carried on very important works for the
good of Religion, has promised to build a College in one
year, provided the Society furnish him with some masters.
Four or five suffice, at least in the beginning, for a College
in this Country, because if the pupils desire to go beyond
the inferiora, they may be sent to the College of Georgetown.
At this critical moment of the appointment of five new
Bishops, the great point for the Society is to take possession
of Boston, New York and Philadelphia, for fear we be
prevented by others. The establishing of Colleges in the
said cities: is too the only means of increasing and propagating the Society. I hope therefore your Reverence will
back, with a few lines, my petition to o~r Rt. Rev. Fr.·
General for a new supply of Fathers of the Society for this
country, seeing that nowhere they can be better employed
than here. I perfectly coincide with your Reverence in
thinking that this country wants but the solid establishment •
of the Society to become in a short time for the most part
Catholic.
On the 10th of August the Lord was pleased to call Mr.
Joseph Kelly, a pattern of religious perfection, blind obedience and holy simplicity, to his triumphant Society in
heaven, after having foretold the day of his death, etc.
I thank your Reverence for the agreeable account of the
prosperous state of Stonyhurst College. Our loving God
�Uupublislted
Letta~s
of Fr. Ant/tony Kohlmann.
145
gives us manifest proofs of His approving of our undertaking, that we cannot, it seems, be too much confiding in
His All Powerful protection. It gave me no small pleasure
to read that so well circumstanced prophecy of St. Theresa.
I was always extremely delighted in reading in V. F. Lancicius, the remarkable prediction8 respecting our little Society. According to them, to die in it and be a predestinate
are synonymous. What a felicity!
As to the finding out of the name of a merchant, who _
may unload at the mouth of the Cltesabee, the packet being
ready for sail, it is impossible for the present to find out
any.
It will be always a great deal of pleasure to receive from
time to time a few lines from your Reverence. Not to miss
the packet I will conclude by recommending me to your
Holy Sacrifices. I am respectfully,
Reverend Father and dear sir,
. Your most obedient and humble brother in Xt.,
ANTHONY KoHLMANN, S. J.
There are a few secular priests, whom your Reverence
would not guess at, who doubt the legal existence of the
Society in this country. Our Most Rev. Archbishop seems
to be of the same opinion on account of our not being furnished with an Apostolic Brief, though he favors the Soci ·
ety in every respect. Without the Pontifical Rescript we
will meet with some difficulties in reclaiming our estates in
Maryland, though, by and by, I hope we shall get them
back.
n:
TO THE SAME.
New York, I4tlt Sept., I8Io.
REv. AND DEAR FATHER.
Your letter of the 4th of May was duly delivered to me
yesterday, and inspired ~e with a new courage to pursue
�146
Unpublislzed Letters of Fr. Autlzony Kolzlmmm.
the work the Lord has begun in His infinite goodness, and
which continues to bless above all my conception. And
indeed it is but two years that we are arrived in this city,
without having a cent in our pocket, not even our passage
money, which the Trustees paid for Fr. Fenwick and me,
and to my other brothers now residing in the College, I for~
warded ·it from this place ; and to see things so far advanced
as to see not only the Catholic religion highly respected by
the first characters of the city, but even a Catholic College
established, the house well furnished both in town and in
the College; improvements made in the College for four or
five hundred dollars, without any other debt but that of the
property, of which we have paid already fifteen hundred
dollars, with a well founded prospect to pay off the whole in
the space of three or four years at length, is a thing which
I am at a loss to conceive and which I cannot ascribe but to
the infinite liberality of the Lord, to \Vhom alone, therefore,
be all glory and honor.
The C"ollege is in the centre not of Long Island. but of
the Island of New York, the most delightful and most
healthy spot of the whole Island, at a distance of four
.small miles from the city, and of half a mile from the East
and North rivers, both of which are seen from the house;
situated besides between two roads, which are very much
frequented, opposite to the botanic gardens, which belong
to the State. It has adjacent to it a beautiful lawn, garden,
orchard, etc. About a month ago we gave a public exami~
nation, advertised in the papers, on which occasion premi~
urns were distributed, speeches delivercc:d, all which gave
great satisfaction to the respectable audience of ladies and
gentlemen who attended on the occasion. Everyone thinks .
that if the reputation of the house be kept up, it will in a
short time rivalize any College in this country. I expect
we shall have thirty boarders for the beginning of next
month.
This city 'will always be the firs't city in America, on ac~
�Unpublis!ted Letters of Fr, Ant/tony Koltlmann.
147
count of its advantageous situation for commerce. From
the West Indies parents will send their children to this port
in preference to any other. The professors of the State's
or Columbia College have sent us,- these two years past, a
kind invitation to accompany, at what they call the annual
commencement, the procession of the students from the
College to some or other Church, where speeches are delivered and degrees conferred: they had never paid that
<J,ttention to the Catholic clergy before.
The College is on the following footing: Rev. Fr. Benedict Fenwick, an excellent scholar, has resided in it these
two months; but I find by experience that to attend about
fourteen thousand souls is too heavy a work for one man,
and so he will probably live again in the city, and visit the
College once a week. I generally come out on Saturday
to hear confessions, etc., etc. There lives also in the College a Spanish priest, who speaks also Italian, but little
English, a man of good morals and much beloved by the
pupils. Brother Wallace, a Scholastic of the Society, is
our master of mathematics, one of the ablest in the United
States. Brother White, Scholastic also of the Society, is
professor of the English, Latin and Greek tongues, with
which he is well acquainted. The teacher of the French
language is a native of France, much esteemed in town for
his knowledge, but does not reside in the house. Rev. Mr.
Green, now at Kensingto)l, would be of infinite service here
at the head of this College. Nothing should be wanting to
him; food, diet, climate and people are as good as in any
country in the world, besides an ample field for doing good,
etc. If then, your Reverence would succeed in persuading
h.im to come over to New York, you would promote the
cause of the Society in a very material manner; for I am
under the necessity of calling Fr. Fenwick, who till now
presided in the College, to the city to assist me. * * * * Rev.
Mr. Flaget, nominated Bishop of Kentucky, a Sulpician, arrived from France a fortnight ago with a deacon, postulant
�148
Unpub!islicd L etters of Fr. Ant/tony Kolllmmm.
of the Society, who is now in the noviceship. According to
his accounts our Holy Father has been dragged from the
prison of Savona to the Castle of Turin, where he . is
strictly guarded. * * * *
Be pleased to let me know what a good electrifying machine, a macltina pncumatica or air pump, a good telescope
and a machine for surveying, and the most essential instruments for navigation would come to. Such a like apparatus would strike the American people more than anything
else. \Ve have the finest set of globes in America, which
cost us $I6o.
~
I recommend myself to your Reverence's Holy Sacrifices,
and remain, with the deepest veneration,
Reverend and dear Father,
Your most humble and obedient servant in Xt,
ANTH. KOHLMANN,
s. J.
III.
TO THE SAME.
New York, 28th Ntrv., I8Io.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
P . .C.
Rev. Fr. Grassi, to my inexpressible joy, arrived about a
month ago in Baltimore, and resides at present in Georgetown College. I do not as yet know what will be his employment, but it is probable that he will ·succeed Rev. Fr.
Enoch Fenwick in the vice presidentship of the said College, who (Fr. Fenwick) has been long since applied for by
our Most Rev. Archbishop to live with him in Baltimore
and to attend to the congregation which, by the death of
the Rev. Mr. Beeston, became vacant. I wish this worthy
Father had landed in our port; I might then have acquainted him with the right situation of our affairs, which information, at the advice of our Most Rev. Archbishop, he
ardently wishes for, but which I cannot commit to paper.
�Unpublislzed Letters of Fr. Ant!tony Ko!tlmmm.
149
By this same packet I write to Rev. Mr. Muth, chaplain
of the German Chapel erected last year in London. He
was for two years my novice in the Pacanan{m Congregation, and was with me in Italy before he was priest. He is
an excellent young man. well informed, and had always an
intention to become a Jesuit. I exhort him to join us, and
to apply to your Reverence in case he should make up his
mind.*
Since Rev. Mr~ Fenwick. my worthy companion, resides
at our College, I stand in an absolute need of an assistant
priest, and I wish that no clergymen but such as are members of the Society should come into this State, and that
this State should be properly a settlement of the Society.
* * * * To make this city a central place of the Society and
a nursery of Jesuit laborers through the Northern States
of America, is the more easy, that Divine Providence has
disposed things in such a manner as to leave this diocese
under my immediate jurisdiction, scde 'lmcmztc, conformably
to a Bull of Benedict XIV.
I was always of opinion, that, to cause religion to flourish in this country, three things are essentially necessary:
Ist, a Catholic College for the education of the male youth ;
2dly, a nunnery for the education of young ladies; and
3dly, an orphan house conducted by nuns. The first of
these objects is partly accomplished in this State by the
establishment of our College, which, thanks to God, is in a
very prosperous way. In the space of about eight months
we received thirty-six pupils, that is as many as the house
can possibly admit, among whom are the son of the late
Governor Livingstone and the son of the present Governor
Tompkins, who are both very willing to support with all
their credit, the petition of a lottery we are about presenting to the Legislature. For the second object I have written to Dublin, to Rev. Fr. Betagh, to get some Ursulines
*He was reputed quite a Saint in London, and died at Pre~ton (St;
Ignatius'), 5tlt i\Iay, 1841.
.
.
�T!te Natc!tez I11dia11s in I7JO.
towards next spring. !'hope the Lord will bless this second
undertaking as well as the first, being _no iess conducive to
his glory than the former. After this, if the Almighty
grants, 've shall think of establishing an orphan house and
getting some nuns of the Order of the Presentation, flourishing at present in Ireland.
I just now received a letter from bUt Rt. Rev. Fathet'
General, dated August 22d, in which he promises to send
two other Fathers to America, expresses his joy at the establishment of our College, and warmly recommends to introduce everywhere-the salutary and amiable devotion of the
Sacred Hearts of.. Jesus and Mary.
In unio~ with the Sacred Heatts,
I remain most respectfully,
Rev. and dear Father,
Your most humble and obedient brother,
ANTH. KoHLMANN, S. J.
THE NATCHEZ INDIANS IN 1730.
Letter from Rev. Fr. Petit, S, J., to Rev. Fr,:IJ.avaugour, S. J.,
Procurator-General of tlze Missions in Nortlz America.
( Co11tinued.)
-
In December, 1729, we received at New Orleans the sad
news, that the Natchez had attacked and murdered nearly
all the French settlers in their territories. The first account
of the disaster was brought by a Frenchman who had narrowly escaped the fury of the murderers by a wearisome
flight. His. statement was confirmed by numbers of fugi·
�Tlte Natclze:; Indians in I730.
tives that succeeded in outwitting the vigilance of the
savages, and to reach their last asylum in safety; these
and the Frenchwomen, who had been rescued from a cruel
captivity among the Natchez, have given us a detailed view
of the course of the insurrection. The first rumors of the
dreadful calamity filled all New Orleans with the greatest
grief: so much so, that, though it had occurred many miles
off, the consternation was as great, as if it had happened
under our very eyes. Everybody had something to weep
for: one his relatives, another a dear friend, another his
goods. As it was with reason feared that all the Indians.
had conspired against the French, nobody here thought
himself safe.
The war of extermination began on Monday, November
28, at nine o'clock A. M. The Natchez thought they had
good reasons to complain of the Commandant ; and as
several richly laden vessels had just arrived with provisions
for the garrison and the settlers, they determined to wait
no longer, but to seize the favorable opportunity of not
only destroying their enemies but also of making themselves masters of the inviting booty that awaited them.
Accordingly they at once took up arms, and accomplished
their design long before the other savage nations had
expected it or had come to an understanding for joint action : their preparations had been made with the greatest
cunning. Under the pretext of a great hunt, the villains
stationed in the fort, in the village, and in the two new
settlements as many Natchez as there were Frenchmen;
and began to exchange their goods for guns, powder, and
bullets. The unsuspecting French, overjoyed at finding
their Indian customers extremely liberal, willingly agreed
to receive for their fire-arms a great number of chickens
and a large quantity of Indian corn. · The few that entertained suspicion of these proceedings were mocked at and
ridiculed as trembling Quakers, and their salutary warning
was rejected. When God intends to punish a nation, he
VoL. Iv-No. 2.
20
�The Natclte::; Indians ill I7JO.
deprives it of reason, and allows its rulers to be deluded;
Strange to say, on this occasion the Tchactas were treated
with distrust, while the Natchez with all their warlike pre-'
parations continued to enjoy the confidence of the settlers.
'When therefore the· Natchez had dexterously distributed
themselves in the French dwellings, they seized the fire-arms
and every Indian shot his man so promptly, that in less
than two hours two hundred Frenchmen were killed;
among the noblest of the victims were : M. de Chepar, the
Commandant; M. de Codere, the Commandant of the
Jassus; 1\L des Ursins; M. de Kolly with his son; Messieurs de Longray~, des Noyers, Bailly, and others.
At the same time when the Natchez were enacting this
fearful drama, Father du Poisson was returning from the
funeral of his companion, Brother Cruey, who had met
with a sudden death by sunstroke. The next object of his
journey was to consult with M. Perrier, as to how the
I
Arkansas might be brought to settle further down the Mississippi, for the greater security of those that navigated up
and down the stream. The Father arrived among the·
Natchez two days before the massacre. On the 27 of Nov.
the first Sunday of Advent, he said Mass and preached in
the parish Church, in place ofthe missionary, whom affairs of
importance kept away from his station. Contrary to his,
plan to return to the Arkansas in the aftenioon, Father du
Poisson was detained among the Natchez, in order to admin-·
ister to some of their sick the consolations of religion.
The hour for commenciqg the butchery was fast approaching. On his return from one of the sick persons to whom:
he had taken the viaticum after Mass on Monday, Nov. 28,'
the zealous apostle was attacked by a ringleader of the.:
Natchez, thrown to the ground, and in a few seconds a
woodaxe had severed his head from the body. Whilst:
falling, the Father repeated the words: "0 my God, 0 my:
God!" M. de Codere had indeed drawn his sword to save
the victim; but he too was instantly laid low by the well:
�Tltc Natc!te:: Indians in I7JO.
153
aimed ball from the rifle of a Natchez, of whose presence
he had not been aware.
All were butchered, except a sailor and a carpenter from
whose trades the savages intended to draw profit, and the
negro slaves that submitted of their own accord. The
savages cut open all the women that were with child; and
unwilling to listen to the cries of the children that were
still suckled, they strangled almost all the wretched mothers
with their babes. The remaining women were spared; still
they were not at liberty, but were reduced for two or three
months to the most abject slavery. Those that could render
service as seamstresses enjoyed a better fate; while the
others experienced the full misery of their condition by
being obliged to fell large forest-trees, to haul fuel to the
village, and to grind Indian corn. One thing that especially
embittered the lot of these unfortunate women was the fact,
that they were forced to serve the very murderers of their
husbands, and that they understood from the boasting
Natchez how the remaining French settlers had been dealt
with in the same manner, and how all the Indian territories
were cleared of the hated intruders.
Whilst the carnage was raging, the Natchez chief was
seated on a slight eminence, under the cover of a roof of
tobacco leaves. At his feet were placed the heads of the
Commandant and the most distinguished among the French
victims, while the bodies were left exposed on the roads to
be devoured by dogs and birds of prey. As soon as the
Indians had completed their bloody work, they sacked the
dwellings of the slain, the warehouse of the West IndiaCompany, and the richly freighted vessels which had lately
arrived. The warriors then proceeded to divide the spoils,
though the powder, for greater security, was deposited in
one of the houses.
The great quantity of whiskey which they discovered
among the spoils proved the fruitful occasion of savage
revels, which they continued day after day, heaping male-
�154
Thl' Natc!te::: Indians in I7JO.
dictions on the memory of the murdered French, and
wreaking their delirious vengeance on their mangled re·
mains. Nothing could surpass the insolence of the Natchez,
leagued as they were in dose union and friendliness with
the neighboring tribes ; but their overweening hardihood
almost proved fatal. One of the captive females, widow of
l\1. de Noyers, had conceived the bold idea of avenging the
death of her husband and his companions. The state of
utter intoxication in which the greater number of the Natchez were nightly buried, was favorable to the execution of
th~ plot; but one of the negro slaves, eager to conciliate
the favor of his new masters, betrayed the confidence which
Madame de Noyers had reposed in him, and by his treachery surrendered her to the blind fury of the savages.
Of the French that escaped the great massacre, one,
unable to endure any longer the pangs of hunger and the
inclemencies of the season, ventured to leave his asylum in
the depths of the forest, and to seek food and shelter in one
of the deserted dwellings. On approaching the house, he
found it occupied by Indians ; preferring however to die at
their hands rather than meet a slow but certain death in his
retreat, he boldly threw himself among them. To his utter
astonishment, he was received with the greatest kindness,
had all his wants liberally supplied, and was· provided with
a large canoe to enable him to regain his--·ftiends at New
Orleans. These tender-hearted men were Jassus on their
return home from an embassy to the tribes of Uma. The
chief of the savages sent word to M. de Perrier, the Com·
mandant of the garrison at New Orleans, assuring him of:
the loyalty of his tribe, and promising to put the French
vessels on their guard against the lurking Natchez.
The sequel will show with what distrust and caution we
are obliged to receive the assurances of this treacherous•
people, even when their fair promises are accompanied by
acts of liberality and seeming kindness. While the inhabi··
tants of New. 'Orleans were loud in extolling the sincere:
�Tltc Natchc:: Indians in I7JO.
ISS
attachment of the Jassus, and were far from foreboding the
cruel disenchantment that awaited them, a great change had
taken place: the presents of the Natchez had withdrawn
the Jassus from their allegiance to the French, and had persuaded them to join the Indian league for continuing the
war of extermination again:;t the unwelcome strangers. To,
strike a more decisive blow, it was determined to murder,
on the same day, all the French in the territories of the
Jassus and the Corroys. The missionary, Father Souel,
was the first to fall a victim to the hatred of the Indians.
On the 1 Ith of December, 1729, Father Souel, ever solicitous to conciliate the favor of the influential in behalf of
religion, had paid a complimentary visit to the chief of the
village, in order to render more lasting the friendship between the Aborigines and the French missionaries. While
the harmless old man, as he proceeded homeward, was revolving in his mind the flourishing congregations which
zeal and perseverance might plant in these parts, he met, in
the martyr's crown, the just reward of his past labors and
of the generous plans which he had formed for the future.
A number of Indians with loaded muskets awaited him: as
he approached his humble dwelling, three bullets stretched
him lifeless on the ground. His death was the signal for
pillaging the mission house; nothing escaped the lynx eyes
of the greedy robbers; and as a negro, the servant of the
murdered missionary, showed signs of resistance, he too
Was instantly cut down. When their fury had subsided,
~hey were horror-stricken at the foul deed which they had
perpetrated. But their momentary repentance yielded to
their thirst for blood; with this horrible draught they
would deaden the reproach of conscience. "Since the most
venerable of the French has fallen," said they, "no one
deserves mercy; courage, no one shall escape."
Meanwhile M. des Roches, the temporary Commandant
of the French soldiers among the Jassus, was ignorant of
the tragic events that had been transpiring in the territories
�The Natcltcz IJZdialls in I7JO.
of the Natchez and even in his immediate neigborhood.
\Vhen therefore on the following day a large number of
Jassus were seen approaching the fort, the garrison, confident
that the Indian braves had come to smoke the pipe of peace
with their lord, received them \vith civility. But their confidence was short-lived ; the soldiers, seventeen in number,
were butchered on the spot ; the women and children were
reduced to slavery.
Elated with their easy triumph, the Jassus sent messengers
to inform the Natchez of the extermination of the French.
Learning from Father Doutreleau himself of the danger he
had been exposeq.to in this bloody persecution, we ourselves
at New Orleans no longer doubted the truth of the direful
news that poured in upon us from all sides. I will take
this opportunity to give Father Doutreleau's adventures
more in detail.
At the time when the savages of his district retired to
their winter quarters in the forests, the venerable apostle intended to pay a visit to his brethren at New Orleans, and at
the same time to attend to some imp<;>rtant affairs relating to
his mission. He left his village early in the morning on the.
first of January, 1730, and expected to arrive in time at the
church of Father Souel to say Mass; seeing however that
he was mistaken in his calculations, he resolved to stop
near the mouth of the Jassu river, and to celebrate in the
hut of a poor husbandman who had hastened to offer food
and shelter to the beloved missionary and his companions.
Whilst the Father was erecting the portable altar of which
he made frequent use on his missionary excursions, the
Frenchmen that formed his escort amused themselves with
shooting at a flock of wild geese that was passing the house,
but neglected to reload the few rifles that were to serve for
their defence in case of necessity: they soon found occasion·
to regret their indiscretion. The altar was ready, Father
Doutreleau was performing some devotions before commencing the august sacrifice. At that moment a number·
�Tlte Natclzez Indians i1l IJJO. ·
157
of savages approached the shore ; this caused the travellers
some uneasiness. But their fears were soon dispelled, when
the Indians presented them with provisions for the journey,
and declared themselves to be of the tribe of the Jassus
whose faithful adherence to the French could not be
doubted. The better to carry out their base design, the
savages, although heathens, placed themselves behind the
unsuspecting travellers, as if in respect for the sublime
services of religion which were about to take place.
At the Kyn'c Eleisoll, the signal for the attack was given:
Fr. Doutreleau had his right arm pierced by a bullet, one of
his fellow travellers lay stretched lifeless on the ground; the
others tried to save themselves by flight. Deeming fruitless all attempts to escape and thus to prolong a life of such
importance to his neophytes, the Father recommended his
soul to his Maker, and knelt down to receive, as he thought,
the martyr's crown. But he was destined for greater labors:
the bullets of the murderers missed their aim; and the missionary, recognizing in this the visible interposition of
Providence, succeeded in making his escape from the hands
of the blood-thirsty savages. Thanks to his dexterity in
swimming, he reached a boat in which two Frenchmen had
saved themselves. They had heard the report of the rifles,
and could not conceive how their beloved Father had remained unharmed by the mortal weapons. The Indians,
however, had not been inactive : in a moment their largest
canoe was manned, and then ensued a spirited pursuit
which kept the wretched fugitives in imminent danger.
Yet, in spite of the unceasing firing of the Indians, the
missionary and his friends were enabled to screen themselves from the deadly missiles. They were fast floating
down the Jassu river, and were within a short distance of
the Mississippi, when at length worn out with fatigue and
paralyzed with terror at the scene they had just witnessed,
the Frenchmen deemed further efforts useless, and resolved
to surrender to the pursuing enemy. But Father Doutre- ·
�Tlze Natclze:: Indians i1z
I1JO.
ieau's activity and presence of mind inspired them with
new courage; he himself took hold of the helm ; his companions plied the oars; and in half an hour of unremitting
labor they had lost sight of their terrible pursuers.
As soon as the fugitives saw themselves secure from the
Jassus, they dressed their wounds as well as the scanty
means at their disposal would permit. But all danger was
not yet past: New Orleans was many miles off, their boat
offered them little shelter, and the immense river itself did
not favor their journey at that time of the year. To lighten
their little vessel, they determined to throw overboard
whatever wasnot needed for satisfying their most pressing
wants; and then, recommending themselves to the protection
of God, they cheerfully toiled on towards the territories of
the Natchez where Father du Poisson would receive them
with open arms. Their sanguine hopes were doomed to
meet with a sad disappointment. On approaching the shores
so friendly to them on former occasions, there was .no one
to welcome them : the French village lay desolate, and a
single glance informed them of the fearful disaster that had
befallen their friends ; instead of the warm reception which
they had anticipated from Father du Poisson, his murderers
saluted them with a volley of missiles. They now were
· convinced that a great conspiracy against the French was
on foot, and that they must treat with distrust all the Indian
tribes along the shores of the Mississippi. Their minds
were made up: only at New Orleans perfect security was
to be hoped for; should that place also be in the. power of
the savages, they were resolved to follow the river to the
gulf of Mexico where they would be .received on board a
French man-of-war.
A voiding therefore the hostile shores of the Natchez, they
continued their journey, their breasts filled with grief.
While passing the country of the Tonicas, they carefully
kept along the opposite shore in order to avoid new vexations; notwithstanding their precautions however they were
�Tlte Natclzez Indians in I7JO.
159
discovered, and a canoe, which had been sent to reconnoitre,
rapidly approached: the desperate condition of the fugitives
lent them almost superhuman strength; they did not relax
their gigantic efforts, until they distinguished among their
supposed pursuers the language that recalled to their memories the sweets of home, and emboldened them once
more to hope for protection and relie£ Their expectations
were realized: upon landing they were joyfully received by
the French garrison, had their wounds dressed by the
surgeon of the camp, and the brotherly love shown them
made them forget for a while their late sufferings. On the
following day they continued their journey in a comfortable
boat, and reached New Orleans in safety.
Your Reverence can easily judge with what surprise I
saw Father Doutreleau in so pitiful a plight: but my astonishment exceeded all bounds as I listened to the recital of
his adventures. I gave him immediately in charge of Br.
Parise!, whose assiduous care was crowned with prompt
.Success. Scarcely had the good Father sufficiently recovered from his wounds, when, according to a previous prom•
ise he had made to the officers of the little army, he acted
as field chaplain in an expedition against the _Natchez, bore
all the fatigues of the common soldiers cheerfully, and gave
new proofs of his indomitable courage, his indefatigable
zeal, and a prudence which was never at a loss in the occasionally intricate manceuvres of .an Indian campaign.
But neither the occupations which were needful to
quench his thirst after labors and sufferings, nor the com•
pany of his brethren in religion could make him forget his
mission : the season of spring had begun, the Indians were
teturning from their winter quarters and expected the missionary ; he could not brook the thought of depriving his
young congregation of their only support. Owing to the
risks attending journeys on the Mississippi during the rebellion of the savages, the Commandant had forbidden his
subjects to travel to the neighboring settlements except in
VoL. Iv-No.
2.
21
�Osage j}fission.
16o
considerable bodies; _thus Father Doutreleau was constrained to await the departure of a large convoy to the
Illinois. Amply provided with all the necessaries for his
fatiguing voyage, he set out for his mission on the 16th of
April. I since learned that he and all his companions
safely reached their destination.
____
OSAGE MISSION.
___
,
OsAGE MISSION, NEosHo CouNTY, KANSAS,
DECEMBER Ist,
1874·
DEAR FATHER:
·when this Neosho County was opened for settlement
one of our neighbors at the instigation of bad advisers
claimed I6o acres of land belonging to this Institution.
Our Superior, Father John Schoenmakers immediately protested against the intruder, in consequence of which this
man got very much excited against us; and brought the
case to law, compelling our Superior·to appear before the
courts. The trial lasted for a good while, and the opposing
lawyers seemed to take delight in using the most offensive
language against our Superior. Spite of all proposals for
compromise, the man would not agree. But finding out at
last that we had a better title to the land than he expected,
he gave up the suit and the whole matter was settled between
us peaceably.
Two years after the occurrence of these events this man
left Neosho and moved to Howard County, taking up his
residence in the vicinity of a town called Peru, some 75
miles So~th-west of this Mission. Having been in very
�Osage Jrfission.
r6r
poor health for nearly a year, last Summer he became quite
helpless, and perceiving that he was fast approaching the
end of his days, he sent a message requesting me to come
and assist him. I was by his bedside as soon as my
engagements permitted, and happily I was in time! The
poor man publicly apologized for the scandal given by his
unreasonable prosecution of our Superior, received the last
Sacraments with great devotion, and two days after died
most piously.
He lived in a district exclusively Protestant, but made up
of good and simple farmers who took care of him with
great love and attention during the whole .of his very long
sickness. They were puzzled however to know why this
man was so anxious to see me. When I heard that the
poor man was very sick, I would have come to him directly,
but my different appointments prevented me from doing so.
In consequence of this, the sick man began to fear that
perhaps I would not come at all : he began to be very
uneasy, and now and then would ask his friends whether
they had heard any thing about me, and would frequently
repeat "Oh, could I but see the Priest for a few moments,
how happy would I die!" These words made· a great
impression on his attendants, and I became in their estimation an object of great curiosit:y. So when at last I came
they watched me very closely. Having found out that I
was going to pass the night at the house of a certain
gentleman whose wife is a Catholic, they sent word round
to their friends requesting them all to come and see me that
very evening. The invitation was accepted, and just about,
one hour after sunset quite a number of people came to
the place where I was, and wished me to give them a lecture.
In truth they took me by surprise, but as I could not get
any better opportunity of giving them some light on our
holy Religion, I concluded that I would try to satisfy them
to the best of my power. The house being a large. one,
accomodation was soon made for seating all those who
�Osage ilfissioll.
could get in, the balance remained out doors sitting on the
ground by the light of a most brilliant July moon. I ad~
dressed them for an hour, and was really edified at their
good behavior and attention. May the Lord grant that the
good seed cast into their hearts that night may be productive of abundant fruit.
During these last six months we have noticed in our Con.
gregation not only a larger attendance than usual, but
what is more consoling, an increase of fervor and devotion.
It seems that the trials and afflictions with which God visited
our people contributed to this happy change. The majority
of the settlers her,t; being new-comers in these western
countries, their pecuniary means are necessarily scanty, and
all their dependence is on the work of their hands, and the
productions of the soil. Now as very few public improvements were going on this year, so mechanics had nothing
tp do. As to the productions of the soil, we had indeed a
most flattering prospect at the opening of Spring, but all at
once our expectation proved to be but an illusion! First of
all came the chinch bug, next followed legions of flies and
creeping things of every description : finally came the locusts without number; and, just as if all this had been
nothing, whatever had been spared by these devouring
insects was parched by tpe driest season we have seen here
during the 27 years that this Mission has been established.
These indeed have been discouraging circumstanct!s for our
poor settlers, yet spite of them they always carne before as
cheerful and satisfied, and whenever we asked them how they
were getting along in the midst of so many trials, we gen •
erally heard them repeating "the Lord be blessed, and his
will be done for ever."
In the afternoon of one of the warmest days of August,
I was coming by the house of some of our friends, and
being fatigued and tired I stepped in to cool and rest for
a little while. The landlady received me kindly, and call~
ing in her children requested me to bless them, and after-
�Osage .Mission.
wards pointing out the larger of them, a little girl ten years
old, she saic1; "Father, this child of mine the other day
eaused me to blush," ''How is that?" said I, "I will tel\
you," she replied; and having sent her children to the next
room to play, she continued: "I was returning from town
itbout this time, when getting near to the premises I saw a
p1an walking out of my house. I asked the children who
that man was, and my little daughter replied, that he was a
!)tranger to whom she had given dinner. I felt displeased on
hearing this, and said to her, why did you take into the
hou~e a person whom you did not knO\v? 'Well, mother,'
she answered, 'I let him in because he said he was hungry.'
Then I replied, my daughter, you well know that we are
short of provisions, and you ought rather have ~ent that
man to some other place." Here the good lady looked at me
very intently, saying; "Do you know what my little daughter
answered me?" "What?" said I. "She answered; •Mother,
on the day of judgment, Christ, our Lord, will say to me:
l was hungry and you gave Me to eat,'"
Since last July I visited the Indian Territory four times,
and as usual was well treated by the Osages, who· always
ask me the Sq!lle question: "When will good Fr. Schoenm~kers come and stay with us? Since we left him we have
seen but hard times!" In the month of August I found
the Osages very much excited. They were mourning over
four of their braves, who had just been treacherously killed
by a party of white men calling themselves State militia.
The Indian who related the news to me said: "Father,
God was looking at the boys when they were killed;" signifying by this, that they had behaved themselves right,
and gave no provocation to the white JUen, consequently
God was pleased with them and looked upon them with
pleasure. The Chiefs used all their influence to keep their
warriors from going to revenge their murdered . brethren,
and the U. S. Agent having promised thl).t the Government
Would giv:e them satisfaction, they did not retaliate on the
white people as they were determined to do.
�Osar:e J.1fission.
\Vhether the Osages will ever get the promised satisfaction is a matter of doubt; for those white men who killed
the four Indians were consummate villains; and having
stained their hands in innocent blood, they wrote down an
account of their barbarous deed, and sent it to some newspapers of Topeka to be published under the very eyes of
the Governor of this State. In this account they say, that
they had a great battle with the Osages, and how they defeated them at last. Such stories as these have been the
border gossip long since, and every year are more or less
repeated. There has been no fighting of any kind between
the Osages and the·U. S. troops, but all the war news that
came in the newspapers was manufactured on the border
line of this State by some parties who, by this means, succeeded in getting authorized to raise a company of militia,
made up of desperados, who went around for a while plundering the poor settlers and charging the blame of it on the
Osages.
This year I visited nearly all the different settlements
formed by the Osages in their beautiful new Reservation
which rests on the many tributaries of the river Cana, or
Cany as it is sometimes called. I gave them an opportunity of complying with their Christian duties, and thanks
b~~ to God, I had the pleasure of seeing the n1ajority of them
approach the Sacraments. I baptized a number of their
children, blessed some few marriages, and prepared some
for death. These visits of mine to the Osages could not
be very long, as I was allowed to stop with them only a
few days, but this is all we can do for them at present.
These western countries are daily filling up with poor
Catholic immigrants, and we are almost the only priests to
whom they can apply in their spiritual needs.
I cannot finish this letter without mentioning the conversion to our holy faith of one of my benefactors. About a
year ago I got acquainted with a Canadian Catholic living
quite near to· the City of Independence, in Mo.ntgomery
�Osage JJ![ission.
County, where I said Mass once every month. As the
Church of this town has no residence for the Pastor, I could
not get any more convenient place for stopping than this
gentleman's house. Having, therefore, called on him for
hospitality, he told me that I was welcome, and he wished
me to make his house my home whenever I would pass by.
Next he introduced me to his wife. She received me very
kindly, and told me that I should never pass by without
calling in, but, said she, "do not entertain the idea of making me a Roman Catholic, for I do believe that a Protestant
is as good as a Catholic." So time went on, and almost
every month I visited them. Some time during last Summer the good lady got quite sick. I came to her, and
found out that she was not only sick, but also very much
troubled in mind, so that she appeared to be melancholy
and disheartened. I did not know what to do to relieve her,
when a good thought struck me, and I said to her; "Madam, I have with me a wonderful book, and if you would
follow my advice and direction in reading it, you would
certainly feel better, and perhaps recover sooner than you
expect." To this she replied, "0 for God's sake give me
that book for I feel very bad." I gave her a copy of the
Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis, and told her, that
whenever she felt troubled in mind she should first say
sincerely "0 Lord, have mercy on me," and next open the
book at random, and she would most surely find the advice
she needed. The sick women laughed on hearing this, and
looking at me ·quite inquisitively she said, "What, is this
book a fortune teller?" '·No," said I, "but something better
yet; believe me and try it." She did as I told her, and she
found to her great satisfaction that I had told her the truth.
Two months afterwards she requested me to baptize her.
I felt very happy to hear this ; however, I thought better to
delay complying with her wishes for one month, that she
might be better prepared. She is now baptized, and the
melancholy and troubles by which she was afflicted have
�I
66
Deatlt
of Mr. P.
life Demzott, S.
Y.
disappeared, she is quite happy and contented. May the
Lord grant her perseverance in her good resolutions.
Yours in Christ.
PAuL MARY PoNZIGLIONE, S. ].
DEATH OF MR. P. McDERMOTT, S.
J.
·Twelve years ago a young man of twenty was graduated
from St. Xavier College; Cincinnati. Bright hopes and
cheerful prospects for the future were held out to him, for
he was of a cheerful, even a gay disposition, frank, generous,
warm-hearted and true. He was loved by his companions
who even yet remember him for his genial ways, his win~
ning manners, his unaffected cordiality. He was quick and
active in mind no less than body, and could hold his own
in the field of debate as well as athletic sports, in the class
room no less than in circles where wit and social qualities
were called for. This was Mr. Me Dermott twelve years
ago.
But he chose to forsake brighter prospects than had
ailured many an other, sacrificing to God what he possessed
and what he had every reason to hope for, by entering the
Society, 17th Oct., r862, at Florissant, Mo.
In leaving the world he needed but to turn into another
channel the qualities which endeared him to his friends and
direct them to a holier purpose and a nobler end. Ambi~
tion was ot become a holy desire to excel in virtue and
draw souls to God; activity was to be supernaturalized
in being made subservient to the interests of God ; his
�Deatlz of llfr. P. McDermott, S. :J.
167
spirited nature was henceforth to be occupied in doing and
preparing to do great things for God; his cheerfulness was
to keep alive in himself and others that buoyant, sprightly.
attractive virtue which makes a good life so· charming and
draws instead of repelling those who are to be benefited
by the ministry of the priest or the good offices of the re~
ligious. His dispositions and his tastes were modified, not
transformed or crushed by the religious training; his good
qualities were only chastened and their lurking imperfections worn away. Not an iota less genial or more forbid~
ding after so many years of religious life, those who knew
him when with a light heart and a warm grasp of the hand
he bade them good bye to enter the militia of Christ, recognized him still in the Jesuit Scholastic of twelve years' .
standing.
His novitiate lasted the customary two years, after which
he repeated his Poetry and Rhetoric during two years
more. Then came a year of teaching at St. Louis Univer·
sity and subsequently the study of Philosophy for three
years in the same institution. Now he was ready to labor
for the glory of God, and he was not the man to shrink
from it. The remaining four years of regency were passed
in St. Louis University, and St. Xavier College, Cincinnati,
as Professor of Poetry and afterwards of Rhetoric, in which
capacity, as everywhere else, he won the love and esteem
of all. The young men under his care learned to see in
him what had attracted the admiring notice of his religious
brethren, and to prize the interest he took in their welfare
and the uniform kindness, offspring of true charity, that he
always exhibited. He rebuked them if need were, but
they saw that he did so because it was his duty, for the
moment after he would address his scholar as kindly as if
he never had reason to be displeased.
Finally, after twelve years-a period interminably long
to those who do not understand the scope of the Society,
or those who refuse to acknowledge the value of the proVaL. rv-No. 2.
22
�168
Death
of .Mr. P. McDermott, S. :J.
longed studies not less than the unequivocal proofs of virtue
which she exacts from her children-he was sent to the
Scholasticate at Woodstock, Md., to begin his course of
Theology. But a few months after his arrival the disease
which carried him off and the seeds of which had been sown
during his years of teaching, displayed itself by degrees
until it seized upon him with such vigor that even his
strong constitution could not elude its grasp. Early in
December he caught a cold, but as he was never given to
being overcareful of himself, he paid little attention to it,
never thinking of applying a remedy for such a trifle. Yet
his summons had .. come, and towards the middle of the
month it became evident to all that Mr. McDermott was
suffering from a disease more dangerous than had been
imagined. Pneumonia confined him to his room, but with
his usual cheerfulness he thought that he would be well in
a couple of days and able to resume his studies. He continued to grow worse, but apprehended no danger. At last
his Superior informed him that his case was so extremely
critical that he could not prudently delay longer to make
his confession and put his affairs in order, while he enjoyed
the full use of his faculties.
And here, properly speaking, begin the most admirable
traits of his character and conduct. His life had been the
ordinary life of the Jesuit, his virtues were" such as a relig- ious sees practised around him every day, but his death
showed that there was beneath his ordinary actions a current of thought and pure intentions that had borne him
calmly along and fully prepared him for the terrors of death.
If it be true that sickness does not change a man but shows
· what he is, that the virtues practised then are but a reflex
of his life, that then the true sentiments and dispositions
are revealed in all their native lustre, then his was a life
rich in many a virtue and strong with the strength which
many an act of self-sacrifice had given.
The virtues' of the religious life are not the work of a
�Dcatlz of Mr. P. McDermott, S. J'.
169
day ; still they are not, thank God, so new to us that a departed brother must needs seem blooming with the loveliness of sanctity, because his last moments yield pleasing
fragrance, or that his brief obituary notice should teem
with the scent of "the wood that grows precious in burning." Yet, since they can only be accurately judged by
those who have consecrated themselves to God, and since
they are the principal ones that can adorn the death of
a religious, it will not be amiss to mention a few, that
by their silent eloquence they may warm the breast and
invigorate the souls of others whose duty it is still to reduce them to daily practice. His obedience was so exact
that it required but the mention of that word or the Superior's order to calm him even in the moments of delirium
consequent on his sickness. His cheerfulness never forsook
him, even to the last moments of his life; and when he received news that the physicians called to consult on his
case had given up hope, in ten minutes he had resigned
himself fully to the will of God and regained his wonted
composure. There was a dear friend of his who knew him
well, and had lived with liim almost constantly since they
both entered the Society, who asked him a short time bebefore his death whether he was afraid or sorry to die.
Quickly came the cheerful answer: "Not at all." His only
regret was, that his parents, now nearing their seventieth
year, would not have the inestimable consolation of being
rewarded for their sacrifice by seeing him a priest and
receiving his priestly blessing before closing their eyes in
death. But their hopes were not to be realized; they had
made a holocaust of their son, God was pleased to take
their offering at its full and, hard though it was, to receive
his death as the crowning jewel of their sacrifice and thus,
we trust, make their aged but generous hearts ripe for a
more lasting reward.
His religious brethren were unremitting in their attentions;
they prayed for his life and were loath to abandon hope
�1
;o
Deatll of Jlfr. P. .McDermott, S.
7.
even when physicians despaired. They practised untold
kindness in their care of him, but he deserved it ; and if
they needed ought to spur them on, the example of his
silent, unmurmuring goodness and the sight of the virtue
he exhibited on his death-bed were sufficient to animate·
them to do still more. They loved him, as did every one
who came in contact with him. But neither their assiduous
care nor fervent prayers availed, for God had judged otherwise. We cannot help thinking that so many Masses and
prayers offered for his ·recovery were but to be turned into
another channel and the offerings made so cheerfully,
instead of winning back a life already ebbing, were but
instrumental in making a death already certain, peaceful
and happy.
The sweet thought which ever gave consolation to the
dying man was, that he had heard the word of the Lord
and kept it ; that he had entered the Society of Jesus and
shared the precious boon of dying in its bosom. Those
who were with him in his dying moments say that they
were amply repaid for all that they had done for him whilst
sick, in being permitted to witness such a death, and asked
no further grace from God than to die as he died. On the
last day but one 't>f the year '74, at half-past three in the
morning, Mr. McDermott calmly breathed his last-a
peaceful and happy death.
··
�MISSIONS AT ARLINGTON AND LEXINGTON ;
RETREAT AT BOSTON COLLEGE, MASS., 1875·
(Letter from Fr. StroJZg.)
---------------We arrived at Arlington, Mass., on the 12th of February,
two days previous to the first Sunday in Lent, the time appointed for the opening of the Mission. Arlington, as you
are aware, one of the suburban towns surrounding Boston,
is situated about seven miles from that city. It is a small
town, composed of private residences occupied by persons
doing business in Boston.
The congregation consists of a small number of respectable trades people, the great majority are of the working
classes, farm hands and domestics. It is entirely Irish. To
meet the wants of the congregation, Arlington has two
priests, Rev. Jos. M. Finotti, and his assistant, Rev. John
Galvin, who began his primary studies at Boston College,
completed them at the College of Holy Cross, Worcester,
and was lately ordained priest at the Theological Seminary
at Troy. The church is a Gothic structure, capable of
seating eight hundred people. It contains also a basement
chapel about the same size as the upper church.
Our hopes of success were by no means promising. The
congregation had but a year previous enjoyed the benefits
'Of a Mission conducted by the Paulist Fathers. Hence the
field had already been gleaned and the present Mission
proved no novelty.
Instead of thousands, as we had been led to suppose his
1:ongregation consisted, we found it estimated at eight hundred adults.
Then, the weather was unpropitious ; the cold was intense; ice six inches thick covered the ground, and the
�172
Missions at Ar!ingtoll and Lexington ;
earth was frozen to the depth of five feet. The oldest inhabitants pronounced this spell of weather to be the coldest
experienced in New England for the last thirty years.
Before the opening of the Mission, to increase the drawbacks, snow fell to the depth of three feet, rendering it
almost impossible for many who lived at a distance of three
or four miles to approach the church. It was, therefore,
with no sanguine hope of success that we began our labors;
but the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Whom we confided the
Mission, blessed our humble endeavors far beyond our
expectations.
On the first Sunday of Lent the Mission commenced. It
was impossible to have a ~Iissa Ca11tata, so a low Mass
was said. After the Gospel, the pastor announced to his
congregation that a retreat would now begin. He said he
committed to our hands the care of his congregation over
which we should have all jurisdiction excepting parochial.
As a sign of his resignation he presented to each of us a
stole, and then exhorted his parishioners to take advantage
of the present retreat to advance in virtue. Rev. Fr. Me
Atee then preached the first sermon of the retreat. At
night, notwithstanding the drifting snow, the attendance
was sufficient to fill the church.
The Exercises of the Mission consisted· of two Masses
with meditations, at five o'clock in the morning; one in the
lower chapel for young men and women, the other in the
church for the married portion of the congregation. Another Mass with instruction at half past eight o'clock.
This Mass was numerously attended, the number increasing,
until near the close of the Mission, over five hundred persons were always present. At half past four in the afternoon an instruction was given to the children and young
people in the lower chapel. We found about five hun.dred
boys and girls, fifty of whom had made their first communion. At the same hour in the church, instructions were
given on different days to fathers, mothers, young men and
�Retreat at Boston College, Mass., I875·
173
women, upon the duties of their respective states. At half
past seven in the evening, beads, sermon and Benediction of
the Most Blessed Sacrament. Night services were always
well attended. The audience was composed entirely of
Catholics. A broad line of distinction between Catholics
and Protestants existing in this section of the country,
prevented the latter from attending the exercises. So
clearly is this line defined that the terms Yankee and Protestant, Catholic and Irish, are considered as synonyms.
The children considered it a sin to associate with Yankee
children. Whilst explaining the Creed to the children, I
asked the meaning of the words Catholic Church. Several
hands were instantly raised to signify their readiness to
answer. One said, it meant the "true church;" another
"the Church where the Pope was ;" a third said "it was
that Church out of which, if one died, he went to hell."
Finding their answers not entirely satisfactory, the hands
were lowered. But a bright little chap exclaimed, "please,
Mr. I think 1 know." "Well, my child, what does it
mean?" "The Catholic Church means the Irish Church, not
the Yankee." The smiling approval of the older ones who
were present seemed to say that the little fellow had solved
the difficulty.
It is not too much to say that the Mission was a successful one, and the more so because there was in the manner
in which it was conducted a total absence of any striving
after excitement or sensational effect. The solid spirituality
and practical common sense of St. Ignatius were discernible throughout. The number of confessions heard, not
counting duplicates, was one thousand and sixty. Among
these, many were general confessions. Some approached
the tribunal of penance who had been absent for many
years. The Scapular of our Lady of Mount Carmel was
given to four hundred and thirty-six. Two Sodalities were
formed in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus : that of the
unmarried women numbered one' hundred and sixty; and
the other for unmarried men counted seventy-two.
�174
Missions at Arlington and Lexington;
On the last night of the Mission the church was crowded;
the members to be received into the Sodalities marched in
procession from the lower chapel into the church where
seats for their accommodation had been placed in front of
the Sanctuary and in the aisles. After the intoning of the
Vmi Sancte, a short address was delivered ; then followed
the recitation of the Act of Consecration and the presenting to each member the badge of the association.
Great fervor was manifested by the recipients, and many
among the congregation were moved to tears. Rev. Fr.
Me A tee delivered· a discourse upon the necessity of perseverance. Then our Mission of two weeks at Arlington,
closed with the Papal Benediction followed by that of the
Most Blessed Sacrament.
There were but few in the congregation who did not take·
advantage of the Mission to approach the Sacraments.
\Ve must return thanks to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. for
having blessed our labors and rendering the Mission a
success, notwithstanding the many difficulties encountered.
\Ve started the next morning, March 1st, for the town
of Lexingt'On, which is situated about twelve miles from
Boston and is noted for being the place where the first
hostilities began between the British and Americans in 1775.
The congregation was supposed to consist ,~f four hundred
souls. The Paulists in their mission in 1874: had five hundred communions. This congregation is attended from
Arlington. The Catholics formerly possessed a neat little
chapel with a pastoral residence. This property was sold
about a year since and a site purchased for a new church.
They use for service for the present time a very old frame
building, formerly a hotel which has been adapted for
church purposes. This new purchase involved them in a
debt of eight thousand dollars, which they think it is impossible for them to liquidate and at the same time to erect
a new church.
Notwithstanding the snow which was over three feet in
•
�Retreat at Boston College, Mass., z875.
175
depth, the e.."Xercises were numerously attended. We heard
seven hundred and sixteen confessions, not counting duplicates, which number embraced as we are told every Catholic within the parish, with the exception of two. Some of
the confessions dated back as far as thirty years. The
scapular was given to four hundred and thirty-two. The
Temperance Society was in a languishing state. Rev. Fr.
Me A tee endeavored to restore it to its primitive fervor,
preached on temperance and had the consolation of seeing
all the pld members who had left the association return, and
thirty new ones admitted. Dressed in their regalia they
went to Holy Communion in a body, and on the last night
of the retreat, they publicly renewed their pledge. The
people became much attached to us, and on our leaving at
the end of the week, they gathered round the sleigh, shedding tears and wishing us God speed.
On the next morning, March 8th, we began the retreat
at Boston College. We found one hundred and fifty-seven
students ranging in age from fifteen to twenty-four years.
Yciuths deserving of all praise-attached to the institution,
-animated with the desire of study, devoted to their professors, and especially to the President of the institution.
We delivered three discourses every day and though they
followed closely on one another, yet the students were always attentive. This was the more remarkable as during
the time of instruction they were not under the vigilance of
a prefect. They all approached the Holy Table on the
last morning of the retreat
VoL. Iv-No. 2.
�.
MISSION AT GEORGETOWN, D. C., 1875 .
-
The Reverend pastor of Trinity church, thinking that he
could not do better at the beginning of his labors for the
congregation entrusted to his care a month or t\v.o ago,
than to give his p~ople the blessings of a Mission, applied
to Fr. Provincial fo"r the purpose and obtained the appointment of Fr. Emig and Fr. Coppens.
The Mission was intended not only for the conversion of
such as might need it, but also as a convenient opportunity
for all to gain the Indulgence of the Jubilee. The exercises were opened on the fourth Sunday in Lent and concluded
on Palm Sunday.
"Throughout the fifteen days," writes Fr. Emig, "the
church was _filled all day. In few places have I seen better
attendance. Even at times when there was neither Mass nor
instruction, hundreds of persons could be seen making their
visits for gaining the Jubilee. In a word, there was a
constant procession from early dawn till 10 ·P. M. \Ve had
four Masses daily, and at each from two hu~dred to three
hundred persons assisted; but the Mass at nine o'clock,
counted daily about six hundred. During the evening
exercises the church was crowded from the first day even to
the last. We had two thousand and three hundred confessions and over one !housand and five hundred Communions
-a result equal to that of the Mission given in the same
church two years ago. I may add that fifty were reconciled
to the Church after an estrangement of from two to sixty
years."
176
�THREE LITTLE MISSIONS.
(From a Letter of Fr. Emig.)
FREDERICK, April 24th, 1875·
The three little Missions given during April, happily
dosed on Wednesday morning. The fruit of the first and
second was in a special manner very great. Commencing
at Gloucester, N. ]., though the Exercises passed under the
name of the Forty Hours' Devotion, we had to continue
them for nearly five days, as a constant throng surrounded
the confessionals and were anxious to approach the Holy ·
Sacraments. Hence, of eleven hundred communicants, we
had over nine hundred, and had not other engagements
prevented me,· the eritire congregation would have presented itself before the close of the week.
My second battle field was in Berks Co., Pa., ten miles
northeast from Churchville. There through the efforts of
Fr. Schleuter, a shanty was built in the shape of a church
on Mt. Sion, for some two hundred Irishmen. who dig a
tunnel through the· same hill. At least one hundred and
sixty of them needed a Mission. All came to a man. The
affair was a clean sweep. · It does not often fall to the lot
of a mortal to see so much zeal and genuine happiness
under so many filthy rags. God be praised for His mercies!
The third Mission was to a mixture of Irish and Germans, a thing always disagreeable and scarcely ever successful, as both elements keep a jealous eye on the "Holy
Commissioner." The Irish were all on hand; and only five
or six of the Teutonic party were absent.
On my return home, I find plenty of work cut out for
me and my new companion, which. will keep us busy till
the middle of June.
177
�WASHINGTON TERRITORY.
(Letter of Fr. P. G. Guidi to Fr. A. Romano, S . .T.)
CoLVILLE, W. T., jANUARY zznd, 1875.
REV. DEAR FATHER:
P. C.
Your kind little letter came to hand two weeks ago.
Think of the pleasure of getting news about so many friends
of whom I had long had no chance to hear any thing at
all ! Deo gratias !
In return, to show my gratitude, I will tell you how we
celebrated here the last Christmas holidays.
Before the middle of December, a good number of Indians
had already gathered around our Church, coming from a
distance of ten, twenty, or even eighty miles ; and, as a
remote preparation for the solemnity, from the 12th to the
zoth of the month, the chiefs were busy with those who did
not behave as they should. A complete !>uccess answered
their care : some who for many years had· been wild and
independent, submitted to the rule, and not a few went
spontaneously to the chiefs to ask a penance as an atonement for the past. Three days before Christmas eve, for
the first time we inaugurated the Forty Hours Devotion.
An order issued by the chiefs forbade all kinds of amusements and put aside unnecessary transactions. All were
then totally occupied with.the practice of that devotion, and
·truly it was edifying to see bands of Indians going in turn
to the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with the greatest
modesty and :recollection. During those days the priests
were engaged in hearing confessions.
�Was!tington . Tem"tory.
179
When happy Christmas day came, at the first signal for
midnight Mass, our Indians lit a big fire on the top of the
hill opposite to the church ; at the second, they fired a
salute, and all the people entered the church singing a
beautiful and very appropriate song. High Mass began,
the Indians forming the choir. I preached a short English
sermon for many whites. who were present, and we had
four hundred and fifty communions. At the pressing request of our good people, an Indian went around, after
the Credo, taking a collection for the church, and he got
from the Indians twenty-eight dollars, which in the following days were increased to seventy dollars-indeed a considerable sum for this poor flock.
In order to keep them a longer time near the church, and
thereby to give them some more religious instructions,
we promised them another beautiful feast for New Year's
day, but we said nothing of the manner in which we would
celebrate it.
Well nigh all waited for it, and we had again on that day
a general communion at Mass. In the afternoon they were
ordered to meet in the church, whence they should mo\'e
in a procession to the Sisters' house, situated at a distance
of a quarter of a mile. Shortly before the appointed time,
a violent snow storm fell upon our place; but we did not
lose courage, and in spite of the raging tempest, the procession began to be formed in the church. On the very point
of starting, lo! the fury of the elements gave way, and the
wind subsided so much as to allow burning tapers to be
carried in the open air the whole time of the ceremony.
We went on reciting the Rosary, and when we reached the
Sisters; residence, a large frame with a devout image of our
Blessed Lady was uncovered to the multitude. This unexpected and consoling sight made all fall on their knees, and
shed tears of joy. Then a salute was fired, a song chanted
in honor of the Queen of Heaven, and the procession
went back to the church, where the image being exposed
�I
The J'ubilcc of the Sacred Heart.
8o
to the public veneration, Fr. Josi addressed the people in a
touching sermon. It was a matter of consolation for us to
look at those Indians, who by the expression of their
countenance, were telling, without mistake, the true sentiments of their happy hearts.
Experience teaches that the devotion towards the Blessed
Virgin takes well and strikes de~p roots among these savages, whom it keeps straight to follow in the right path.
Yours in Xt.
P. G. GuiDI, S. J.
-------.~-------
TH~
..
JUBILEE OF THE SACRED HEART.
-------
-----------
REVEREND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
_In compliance with your Reverence's request, I will
briefly sketch what I heard or witnessed _of the consoling
celebration of the feast of the Sacred ;Heart this year, and
of the solemn consecration of the Church to the same
Divine Heart, recommended to all the Faithful by our
Holy Father, Pius IX. It was to be expected that more
than usual solemnity would be thrown around the feast of
the Sacred Heart this year, which is the second centennial
of the devotion, and there was a universal anticipation
that the prayers and petitions of Bishops and people addressed to the Holy See to obtain the consecration of the
whole Church to the Sacred Heart would at least be heard
with favor, and that this year would crown the devotion
with this final triumph.
�T!te :Jubilee of tlze Sacred Heart.
181
At the approach of the feast, a circular was sent to all
the missions and houses of the Province, inviting all to
unite in a most fervent and solemn observance of the coming festival and prescribing certain exercises to be performed in public and in private during the novena or triduum and on the great day itself. The faithful committed
to our care in our various parishes and missions, responded
to the invitation in a manner which astonished their pastors.
I witnessed at Conewago and at Goshenhoppen a fervor
and a devotion which showed how deeply the hearts of
those people were stirred and how fully they had entered
into the spirit of the celebration. It was a busy season
with them; their fields called for all the time and care
which \Vere possible, and the church. was for most of them
no small distance. Yet twice every day the church, though
very spacious, was well attended, not only by the devout
female sex, but by men, young and old, from forest and
field. In the morning they assisted at solemn Mass : in
the evening they came again to prayers, sermon and Benediction. You can easily conclude from this what a number
of Communions there must have been on this blessed day
of the Sacred Heart.
I was at Goshenhoppen on the feast-a quiet, out-of-theway little mission in Pennsylvania-made up of a patri- '
archal race .of innocent, simple people. You would have
thought it was Christmas or Easter, at the sight of the
crowd in the church, around the Holy Table and at the
Masses.
Letters from Whitemarsh and St. Thomas, in Maryland,
speak of the same fervor, the same eagerness to share in
the graces of the feast. The pastors of the former place
could not explain to themselves the wonderful spirit manifested by their people. The entire region seemed to be
stirred to its centre. The services in the church were the
same as at Conewago, and in all these· places the Blessed
Sacrament was exposed all day on the feast. Whilst the
�I
82
Tlte :Jubilee of tlze Sacred Hearl.
pastors were delighted at the piety of the many visitors
who came to spend an hour or more in adoration, one of
them in his ingenuous humility declared that he had never
known till then what this devotion was. But now he knows
it: he has seen it at work.
At St. Thomas, many of the people eagerly secured pictures of the Sacred Heart of which the pastor had made a
provtswn. They had heard of the promise made by our
Lord to the Blessed Margaret Mary : that He would bless
those houses in which the picture of His Heart would
be exposed and honored.
I have no deh.ils in regard to the celebration of this
glorious festival in many of our churches but let the celebration at our church in Baltimore serve as a specimen; for
I have reason to believe that most of others did not remain
far behind it. My information is derived from one of the
pastors, who might have added to his description of the
grand solemnities: Quamm pars mag11a fui.
The immediate preparation for the feast consisted of a
triduum pr~ached by the Rev. Alfred Curtis, of the Cathedral. The Altar was magnificently adorned, a beautiful
statue of the Sacred Heart, lately imported from Munich,
was the prominent feature on the main altar. It was surrounded by an arch of gas jets designed.'by Fr. Jones of
New York, and giving in letters of light the ~vords : Fili
pra:be cor tuum milzi. The church was densely crowded
every evening, every available space being occupied. Fr.
<::;urtis proved himself a finished speaker, but that is saying
nothing. He was the orator of the Sacred Heart, and the
hearts of all that heard him were spell-bound-won irresistibly to the Heart of our Lord. His subjects were: 1st,
The Devotion to the Sacred Heart as a particular devotion
based upon Theology and Love ; 2nd, The Devotion as a
necessary offshoot of the Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation; 3d, The object of devotion considered as Reparation,
proved from Nature, Reason and Faith. My correspondent
�Tlzc :Jubilee of tlze Sacred Heart.
18 3
writes : "Fr. C. took us all by storm. His manner is unstudied, a perfect outpouring of ideas. He forgets himself
in his subject. Earnestness is natural to him," etc.
On the Sunday within the octave, according to the prescription of the circular, there was a Solemn High Mass.
The sermon was on the Sacred Heart considered as the Heart
of the Good Shepherd ; and though my informant is too
modest to say another word about it, yet I am sure that he
did ample justice to a subject which is perhaps the richest,
tenderest, noblest in the whole range of Catholic oratory.
In the evening of the same day, at the Solemn Benediction,
one of our Fathers from Washington preached another sermon on the Sacred Heart, which is called a complete treatise on the subject, and gave the grounds, end, aim and
fruits of the devotion. An immense congregation was
assembled, and one could feel that their hearts were moved
with intense devotion. It was during this ceremony that
the solemn consecration of our Province to the Sacred
Heart was renewed in all our churches. But I have no
doubt that Baltimore stood high in favor with the Sacred
Heart on that day and that the congregation of St. Ignatius
church, as well as the inmates of Loyola College, will
receive precious treasures in return for the deep and true
fervor manifested during those happy days.
But I must say the same of the churches in Philadelphia,
Washington, Boston, Frederick, etc. And now one might
suppose that after such a celebration of the novena, triduum
and feast, the devotion of the people required a respite
for a season. But just after the circular had been sent which
stirred all the above manifestations, came the glad news that,
the Holy Father had at last granted the petitions addressed
to him and had appointed the 16th of June as the day of
the consecration of the Church to the Sacred Heart. Deo
gratias! so this year was to be in very deed the Jubilee
year, the year of triumph for the Sacred Heart; and the
very day of the second centenary of the sweet revelation to
VoL. 1v-No. 2.
24
�184
Tlze :Jubilee of tile Sacred Heart.
the B. Margaret Mary, was to put the last seal to her work.
Here was news to stir up devotion once more to a tenfold
intensity, and yet we seemed to have done all that could be
done only the week previous to this new solemnity. But
the piety of the faithful was equ;:~l to the task-their devotion had only been brightened and strengthened by the
previous exercise-and when they were told that they would
be able to join their voices to that of Pius IX., their solemn
consecration to his, and that they would use his words, with
his sanction, and with the gift of a plenary Indulgence for
using them to bind themselves forever to the Sacred Heart;
when they saw him, the father and leader of God's people
standing like the Patriarch of old, at the gate in the side of
this last ark of salvation offered to our race, and heard
him exhort them to enter into it and be secure against the
deluge of God's anger, is it a wonder that they rushed in
with eager haste ? is it a wonder that all that had been done
· during the novena and on the feasts was outdone on the
16th?
The dear Messenger of the Sacred Heart deserves the
credit of making this good news known to us and of fur·
nishing us with the text of the prescribed formula, many
thousands of which were immediately printed and spread
over the country. I happened to be in rhiladelphia for
that occasion, and though in the absence of·the Bishop no
official notice had been given to the diocese, yet the day,
though not a feast day, could be compared only to some of
the greatest festivals of the year. The confessionals were
besieged all the day previous till late into the night and
again on the morning of the 16th. Many were disappointed
and could not perform their devotions. But the number of
communions was altogether marvellous. This is true of
both our churches in Philadelphia and of the other parish
churches of the city.
At Baltimore our church was again the scene of extra•
ordinary fervor. The sermon was a history of the devotion
�The :Jubilee of tlte Sacred Heart.
I 85
to the Sacred Heart, comprising the life of B. Margaret
Mary and the connection of the Society with the devotion, a
subject both interesting in itself and one which had not been
touched by the previous orators, so that the crowded
audience listened with almost breathless attention. The act
of consecration was recited during the Benediction. In
some of the churches it was read at all the Masses as well
as at Benediction.
What more is to be done to honor the Sacred Heart of
our Lord after this, it is not easy to say. · Its triumph seems
now complete. But the ever active spirit of devotion will
yet invent new ways-and the increased fervor of thousands
of hearts will only ~erve to suggest other means of honoring it. God grant that we of the Society may be true to our
trust, and prove ourselves the earnest, zealous, laborious
apostles of the S. Heart which has been pleased to place its
interests in our hands. Happy we who have lived to
see the day for which our fathers sighed and prayed for two
hundred years ! but happier if we imitate thdr zeal, emulate their ardor, both in practising the devotion ourselves,
and in spreading over the whole world by word and writing
and example that .holy fire which the Sacred Heart desires
to enkindle in all hearts.
I. remain in the Sacred Hearts of J. and M.,
Your Reverence's servant in Xt.,
P.M.
�· THE 16th OF JUNE IN CHICAGO.
(From a letter of Rev. Fr. Ferd. Coosemans, S. J. to Fr. Sestini, S. Y.)
ST. IGNATIUs CoLLEGE, JuNE 17th, 1875·
REV. DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
Yesterday was a grand solemn day in Chicago. In our
church alone over four thousand and four hundred communions were distributed. The novena preparatory to the
solemnity had been followed with extraordinary fervor.
Nearly one thousand and four hundred acts of consecration
have been distributed. After the High Mass, we had
yesterday a procession within the church, and then exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for the whole day. At night
grand service and eloquent sermon on the Sacred Heart by
Fr. Lawlor to a jammed congregation. After the sermon,
Fr. Damen read the act of consecration to the;! Sacred Heart
of Jesus, which had also been read after each Mass in the
morning, and finally benediction was given with the Blessed
s'acrament. When the serV'ice was over, one hundred and
seventy-five new members gave in their names for the Apostleship of Prayer.-Soli Deo honor et gloria.
186
�WHITEMARSH, MD.
(Extracts from a Letter of Fr. Wiget, S. Y., to Very Rc1.•.
Fr. Provincial.)
---~----
WHITEMARSH, June 17th, 1875·
REV. AND DEAR FATHER PROVINCIAL,
P.C.
We had here our Corpus Christi procession-it was simple and quiet, but I and others thought very lovely and full
of devotion-then the nine days devotion to the Sacred
Heart. On the feast itself, the Blessed Sacrament was
exposed from early morning until late in the evening.
Yesterday we had High Mass with the Blessed Sacrament
exposed and Benediction in the evening, when the Act of
Consecration was read. In all these exercises an unusual
fervor was shown :-this wonderful devotion to the most
amiable and loving Heart of our Divine Saviour seems to
give life· and blessing to all.
We have quite a string of petitions every month to send
to Woodstock, and many singular graces received, and, oh,
many others to be received! and I am sure we will get
them all, if A. M. D. G.
The whole mission is aroused in an extraordinary manner; and, no doubt, this Jubilee year will, with God's grace,
bring many into the Church. You know we had already
thirty-six converts confirmed lately, and they were not all.
I am asked for chapels in three new places.
�DESTRUCTION OF OUR COLLEGE AT BUENOS
AYRES, FEBRUARY 28, 1875.
SANTA F:E DE PARANA, 1\larch 14, 1875.
You are probably aware by this time of what has happened at Buenos _Ayres, and as you must also be anxious
to hear a trustworthy report of the affair, I shall endeavor
to give you a detailed acccount of the whole occurrence,
as I was in the midst of the trouble, and an eye-witness
of almost everything that took place.
The Most Rev. Archbishop had formed the intention of
confiding to our charge the church of San Ignacio, which
belonged to the Society in former times. In furtherance
of this· design, he communicated with the National Government, which readily granted tile desired permission.
But it was also necessary to obtain the sanction of the
Provincial Authorities, and wl1ile this was being carried
out, some private parties busied themselves in obtaining
signatures to a counter-petition, so that. t4e Government
of the Province might give a negative answer to the
Archbishop's request. The press of Buenos Ayres begun
to.discuss the question and declaimed in unmeasured and
shameful terms against the Prelate and the Jesuits. A
meeting was calledfor the 21st of February, but it was
forbidden by the authorities, because the country was
still in a state of siege; this condition of affairs was to
end by the 25th, and so the meeting was deferred until
the 28th. On that day, the last of. our short vacations,
we were quietly preparing to receive our pupils on the
morrow, and.to begin the ordinary routine of duties.
I\leanwhile, a caucus was being held at the Van"eties
188
�Destmction of Our College at Bumos Ayres,
189
Theatre, at which the University, C!emmt XIV., Carbonari,'
and other clubs were represented. The Italians from La
Boca had thronged together in such numbers as to fill two
whole squares of the street, or a space three hundred yards
long by fourteen wide. They carried the portrait of Bibadavia (the founder of masonry in Buenos Ayres), and the
Italian flag. Castro Boedo, an apostate priest of the city,
who claims to be bishop of the Argentine U1tiversal Clmrclt,
Romero Gomez, an apostate Spanish canon, and others of
the same character made such inflammatory harangues to
the crowd, that at length the shout was raised, "To the
Archbishop's palace!" Thither they betook themselves with
the Argentine, Spanish, Italian and other flags ; and entering the house without any opposition, they smashed every
thing in their way. Lucidly, the Archbishop chanced to be
just then with Fathers Del Val and Dalman at San Jose de
Flores, a village about four leagues distant from Buenos
Ayres. From the Archbishop's, the savages went to the
convents of St. Francis and St. Dominic, where they were
satisfied with breaking the window panes with showers of
stones. After that, they moved on to the church of San Ignacio, which had been the apple of discord, or, to speak more
properly, the pretext for stirring up the riot. They got inside
of the enclosure, but finding the church doors closed, they
did no further damage than to destroy some tables and
benches which were in the yard. Whilst they were standing
here some one cried out, "To the College del Salvador!" and
quick as lightning, their numbers swelled by new recruits
from the streets through which they passed, they came to
the Calle del Callao on which the main entrance of the
College faces. It was then about three o'clock in the after-,
noon.
We were quietly in our rooms, but on hearing the disorderly yells of the mob, we went to the porch of the
fourth division's dormitory, to find out why the crowd had
halted. Thereupon, one of those madmen, with the Ar-
�190
Destntctio!l of Our College at Bumos Ayres.
gentine flag in his hand, scaled the college wall which is
about five yards high. Many others quickly followed him,
and all of them with stones, crowbars and axes, set to work
breaking down the door of the public chapel. Father Rector was inside the chapel, having gone thither to ask for
light and grace from our dear Lord; fearing that the door
was about to give away, he rose up and went to the visitors' room, where we were surrounding the Vice-Consul of
.Brazil, who accompanied by his wife, had come a few moments before, to enter his son at the college. Little by little, the rabble had penetrated into the passages, class-rooms,
study-halls, dormitories and other departments of the building. Those who had forced their way into the chapel,
after profaning the sanctuary and stealing the sacred vessels, broke everything to pieces ; then they tore down an
iron door, which gave them free ingress to the Fathers'
rooms, where they held high carnival, wrecking each and
every one of our chambers. When Fr. Rector saw this, he
made a vow to St. Joseph, and promised to consecrate the
college to him. But the attack was waxing hotter, and we
could not remain much longer in our state of indecision.:
Just then Fr. Albi suggested that we should make for the
garden, and we all hurried there through the infirmary and
the kitchen. On seeing us come out of th~ visitors' room,
the crowd wanted to pursue us, but the Brazilian Vice-Consul stood on the stairways, and during the few moments
that he took to make himself known, we had time to get
away. In the corridors, staircases, infirmary and kitchen,
we came across several of the plunderers, but as they were
among the first who had broken into the house, they were
more intent on spoil than on doing us persenal harm. We
reached the garden, and Fathers Rector and Albi tried to
get through the gate, but the key was nowhere to be found.
Some of us climbed the wall :-Fathers Jordan, Soler,
Estanislao, Walter and myself, along with the Brothers,
Martirell, Balaguer and Bode. Whilst on the top of the
�Destruction of Our College at Buenos Ayres.
191
wall, before jumping down into the street, all of us instinctively scanned the countenances of those who from
the thoroughfare or the balconies of the neighboring
houses were witnessing what was taking place. Such was
the fright and uncertainty prevailing for the time being,
that no one spoke to us, nobody offered the protection of
his house. But at last, an Englishman, a Protestant too, as
we afterwards found out, taking pity on our condition,
offered us timely shelter. We accepted his offer, and whilst
he was shutting and strongly barring the door, his wife hid
us in a cellar, covering the entrance with a piece of matting.
Some parties threatened an attack upon the house, but the
Englishman showed such pluck and determination, that the
rabble thought it safer to turn its whole attention to the
destruction of the college. After a quarter of an hour, we
heard the cellar door opening; a pious lady had come to
remove us from this dungeon, and inform us that we were
now out of. danger. Here I interrupt the narration of what
happened to us, in order to return to Fr. Rector.
As he, in company with FF. Martovell and Albi, was still
searching for the key of the garden gate, the plunderers
were making repeated assaults upon it from the outside,
and at length it was flung wide open. The Fathers finding
themselves suddenly brought face to face with the multitude, asked them what they wanted, and why they were
thus destroying the property of the College. Several of
those who were in advance of the mob, and who entered
first, among whom were two soldiers, cried out: "Order!
Halt! they have surrendered!" Then making the Fathers
prisoners, they brought them to an inner court-yard, from
which they could witness the pillage of their own rooms.
Suddenly, some one in the crowd exclaimed:-"Fellowcitizens, a citizen has been assassinated !" At this announcement, other cries quickly follow: "Out with your
revolvers!" Death to the murderers!" etc. etc. Fr. Albi
protested, saying that if in the whole house any other arms
VoL. 1v-No. 2.
25
�192
Destmctio1Z
of Our College at Buenos Ayres.
were found except those in possession of the crowd, then
they might kill him on the spot. One of the soldiers took
him by the arm, and together they passed through the
rabble to see the murdered man. In fact, at the door of the
Cabinet of Physics, a blood-stained corpse was lying, and
close by they came across the murderer still brandishing
his dagger. In bursting through the door of the cabinet,
the first one who caught sight of the instruments and machines shouted out that the treasure was found; and thereupon the one who came behind him gave him several stabs.
When they had Fr. Albi along side the corpse, they
began to beat him·with sticks, and in this manner they led
him to the door where they had made a great fire with chairs,
benches, tables, pictures, etc. They tried to fling the Father
on the burning pile, but he clung so tightly to those who
were dragging him, that they were obliged to give up the
attempt.
Meantime, some of our friends making their way through
the crowd got the Father under their protection, took him
to an apothecary shop close by, and guarded the place while
his wounds \vere being dressed. Father Rector in company
with Fr. Martorell had remained in the garden, waiting the
return of Fr. Albi; but taking advantage of the confusion
produced by the announcement that a citizen had been
killed, they both tried to escape. Fr. Rector succeeded in
doing so, but not without receiving a cut on the forehead
while crossing the street. Two men took hold of Fr. Martorell, and were dragging him towards the fire, when some
ont.> in the crowd struck him on the head with a hatchet.
The Father raised his hand to the wound, when a second
stroke split his hand and felled him senseless to the ground.
It would now have been very easy to do with Fr. Martorell
that which they had been unable to accomplish in the case
of Fr. Albi, but our friends were gathering around now
fully aroused, knocked down those who were dragging the
Father along; and carried him to a neighboring house.
�Destntction of Our College at Bumos Ayres.
193
The raging multitude followed them, and threatened to set
the place on fire; but they replied that they would sweep
the street with a volley of shot, if it should be necessary,
in order to defend the house.
The garden gate had been abandoned by the mob after
the capture of FF. Rector, Albi and Martosell ; and so
several Fathers and Brothers escaped through it, without
encountering anyone to insult or injure them.
FF. Vilardell, Cabeza and Torres had betaken themselves
to the porch, as soon as the house was invaded; Fr. Torres
thinking that he could get out by the new church, had
climbed over the roof and through several windows, until
he reached the cornice of the first story; but the church
was already overrun by the mob, and as soon as they caught
sight of the Father, they began to pelt him with stones and
bricks, and even to shoot at him, so that he was compelled
to make his way back again to the porch. There he found
Fr. Cabeza stretched on the ground, streaming with blood,
and Fr. V elardell who had been pounded with cudgels. ·
The ruffians who had inflicted the brutal treatment, fell upon
Fr. Torres with their fists and sticks, and kicked him down
stairs. Providentially, he reached the foot of the stairs
without any serious injury, although they discharged two
pistol shots at him so close as to singe his clothing. Then
they began to haul him towards the fire; but on reaching
the street, some one saved him from their hands, and took
him to the apothecary shop, where Fr. Albi's wounds were
being dressed. Fr. Cabeza, who had received two terrible
wounds, was carried to the house of Dona Carmen Guerra.
Fr. Vilardell was saved by a good Biscayan, named Erausquin, who also rescued Br. Binimelis, wounded by a hatchet
in the arm. Br. Antonio Pinon, an old man of seventy
years, was found in an angle of the great marble stairway,
kneeling down "and crying bitterly. Erausquin saved him
also. Fr. Mazarrasa, who was grievously sick, had shut
himself up in his room at the first symptoms of disturbance,
�194
Destmction of Our College at Buenos Ayres.
and had bolted the door inside; but seeing that they were
bent upon bursting through the door, he got up to open it.
At the sight of this corpse, for the appearance of the good
Father was deathlike, the assailants were frightened, and
withdrew without entering the room. A few minutes afterwards some persons set him in a chair, and placed him in
safety, without anyone venturing to do him harm.
In this way, all of us who were in the college managed
to get away; and certainly, it was a special dispensation of
Providence, in the midst of such confusion, and taking
into account the fury of the populace, that no one of the
Fathers or Brothers was killed.
\Vhilst some were pursuing and maltreating the inmates
of the house, others had busied themselves in destroying
whatever they came across. They broke down the doors
of the rooms and study halls, pried into our private papers,
and searched the desks of our pupils ; and, finally, set fire
to the college on every side. All this happened at three
·o'clock in the afternoon, on Sunday, and in sight of the
whole city of Buenos Ayres.
Chalices, ~crucifixes, soutanes, church ornaments of every
kind were grossly outraged. Some dressed themselves in
soutanes, others put on chasubles and albs, and all made
sport and mockery of religion.
.
Doctor Palacios succeeded in saving the ·bodies of the
martyrs which were in the chapel. A pious lady picked up
from the ground several Hosts which had been scattered
from the ciborium, and brought them to Fr. Walter; and
all this at the imminent risk of her life.
About four o'clock, General Veaia, who had just arrived
from El Chaco, came upon the scene. He tried to disperse
the mob by himself, but they turned upon him, and he
barely escaped with his life. At about half after five, the
flames seized on the ~hole college, and the floors began
tumbling down one upon another, with such a crashing as
to make us who saw it from the neighboring dwellings,
�Destntctz(m of Our College at Buenos Ayres.
195
tremble with grie£ At six, the whole building was one
immense furnace, and in the midst of the flame and smoke,
nothing could be distinguished, except the cross surmounting the cupola, and we were all awaiting with anxious fears
for the moment when it would topple over.
At last, when there was no longer any use for them, a
squad of soldiers marched up. They fired upon the rioters,
and blocked up all the approaches to the college. We then
began to receive the attentions and visits of our friends,
above all of the ladies, who hurried from house to house
where we were, and gave us the news about our companions. But as these accounts were yet incomplete, we were
filled with the greatest apprehension as to the fate of some
whose whereabouts we were ignorant of, and whom we
naturally supposed to have been burned or murdered.
At seven in the evening, a chief of police came to the
house where FF. Jordan, Soler and I were staying, and he
said that we must go with him to another house. Father
Jordan, suspecting some treachery, replied that we were
well enough off and perfectly safe in our present quarters;
but the inspector answered that it could not be helped ; we
must concentrate ourselves in some one house, because the
force at his disposal was small, and if we obliged him to .
divide it, he could not answer for our lives. We were
obliged then to leave that house, and go between files of
soldiers and armed men, to another, where some fifteen of
of Ours were gathered together. Great was the consolation
with which we saw and embraced those whom we had
already given up for dead; but our joy was mingled with
sorrow, on seeing some with their hands and arms wounded,
others with their heads all gashed, and almost every one of
them bruised with clubs. There were several gentlemen
present, resolved to defend them at all hazards. Soon afterwards, Dr. Ayerza arrived, and he declared that it would be
absolutely necessary for us to be divided around among
different houses, if we did not wish to perish to a man
�196
Destntctio1l of Our College at Buenos Ayres.
where we were. We assured him that we had no apprehensions, and that there was a troop in the street for our
protection. "\Vhat troop?" said he. "Suppose that they
have all gone away, leaving only a few policemen." Such
was really the case, and on seeing this state of affairs, each
of the gentlemen present took as many as he could of Ours.
Dr. Castillo brought FF. Torres and Francoli to his residence. Fr. Torrens was sent to the house of Dona Carmen
Guerra, to assist P. Caluza in case of need, as he was staying there in a very low condition from his injuries. \Vith
a brother of the same Dr. Castillo went Fr. Serrat and two
Brothers. Senot'·Fresco, Dr. Ayerza, Dr. Zabala and Senor
Allende, took charge of two or three each. Thus we were
again parted at about nine o'clock P. M., and in order that
the distribution might be made with more convenience
and less danger, carriages were brought to conduct us by
unfrequented streets, to our several places of refuge.
Passing close by the college in the rear, we saw the servants'
quarters burning. The enclosure was completely ruined, as
well as the galleries of the first and second divisions. The
cupola alone remained apparently untouched, but the glare
of light through the windows showed that the fire within
was still alive. Of the whole building there remained only
a wing of the portion which faces on the s:alle del Callao,
and the refectory of the students ; and this latter portion
was set on fire the following night by some unknown hand.
Thus perished one of the finest structures in South America.
Fr. Rector, who was in the house of Dr. Palacios, received that same night, information of our abiding places,
and when all things were compared, it was found out that
Fr. Walter and Br. Schorro were missing. One of the police officers said that he believed some persons were in the
scaffolding of the cupola; he had called to them, but they
did not want to come down. Then Dr. Palacios himself
climbed up the cupola with a lantern about midnight, and
closely examined every spot ; but he found nobody there.
�DestructioJZ
of
Our College at Bumos Ayres.
197
The consequence was easily drawn; they had perished.
This was strengthened by the statement of an idle vagrant,
who testified that he had seen some one with a habit on,
dead in the middle of the flames. .·All these signs showed
that Br. Schorro was the victim ; but, thanks be to God,
Fr. Walter made his appearance on . Monday and the
Brother on Tuesday.
You .have here a circumstantial narration of what happened on the 28th of February. You have doubtless
observed that I mention even trivial details, and sometimes
repeat the same things, but the desire which I know you
have of learning accurately the whole course of events, has
forced me to descend to all these particulars. Besides, if
the narrative is carelessly written, you can easily excuse
that, knowing that my head is not in its normal state, and
that the desire of quieting your apprehensions in our regard, has been my sole motive for taking pen in hand.
But, to continue. On the next day, March Ist, everybody deplored the occurrence. The newspapers were loud
in condemnation of it. Shame on them! they had enkindled the flame, and were the prime cause of the whole
trouble.
Those of Ours who were at the Seminary received timely
warning of what was taking place at the college, and all of
them, five Fathers and four Brothers, were enabled to take
refuge in private houses.
Who could have conjectured a few hours before the catastrophe, that in place of receiving the scholars in our college on the first of March, we should be forced to seek an
asylum in their homes. This. day was one of continual
going to and fro on the part of the pupils and their families; they all came to visit us; they busied themselves in
giving news about us one to another ; every family wished
us to make its house our home, and none of those whose
hospitality we were sharing, was willing to let us go.
Fr. Rector settled that Fr. Soler and myself, together
�198
Destntction of Our College at Bumos Ayres.
with Brother Martorell, dressed as seculars, should set out
for Santa Fe, on Tuesday, March ·2nd, by the steamer
Lujan, in order to inform R. P. Superior of all that had
happened. Fr. Rector ·had given us a letter and some
money to pay for our passage and the necessary outfit, but
Senor Allende, at whose house we were staying, made us
return the money to Fr. Rector, and at his own expense
defrayed our passage and supplied each of us with a full
suit of clothing. Thanks to his charity, nothing was wanting to us. The kind hearted Allende spent in all some
five hundred pesos.' May God reward him for his generosity. I relate these little circumstances that you may aid us
in recommending to God these good people, who deserve
so much in our regard.
All that evening, until eleven o'clock, we were constantly
engaged in receiving the visits of our pupils and their relatives, who came to bid us good-bye. All felt our departure
very keenly, because, said they, if we once went away it
would be difficult for us to return again and open a college
at Buenos Ayres. Truth to tell, it gave us much pain to
think what would become of so many young persons
abandoned in the midst of this corrupt society. But God
so ordained it, and we had to submit to His will.
Very early next day we went to take le~y'e of Fr. Rector,
whom we found much improved as far as the wound of his
forehead was concerned, although he was still troubled with
pains in the shoulders from the clubbing he had received.
At half past nine, we proceeded to the river Tigre, to take
the steamboat. On arriving at the station, in spite of our
disguise, and although we gave each other no signs of
recognition, some one whispered ; "there goes a specimen
of monkery." On board the steamer they demanded o~r
passports, because, said they, on account of the troubles of
the past few days, the whole Province of Buenos Ayres
had been declared under martial law, and we could not
travel without a passport. It was, therefore, necessary to
�Destntction of Ozw College at Bumos Ayres.
199
return to the city for this document. The passport being
obtained, we were at last admitted to the cars; but we had
not completed half the distance, when we came across a
freight train which had been thrown off the track, and then
we had to wait until another train from the opposite direction should pass us ; but, when this other train arrived, the
conductor declared that he could not move on, as the boiler
was out of order ; and so we were once more obliged to
return to Buenos Ayres by the same train on which we had
started. Everything seemed to be conspiring against us.
On the following day, we got off for good; some passengers who recognized us were seriously debating about
throwing us into the river; but the captain threatened to do
the same to them, and he took the further precaution that
we should dine with himself in his private cabin. Then
some other passengers, finding out who we were, took our
part, and paid the greatest attention to us; and so all our •
fears vanished. At Parana, some boys who were coming
to the college of Santa Fe, got aboard the Steamer, and so
soon as they recognized me, they came up to offer their
salutations. Fr. Superior and Br. Calvo6 received us at the
wharf; which they had scarcely ever left during the last two
days, waiting for an arrival, in order to hear the first news
from Buenos Ayres.
Their delight on embraceing us was indescribable, for
they had already commenced the suffrages for us, and now
they saw us alive and well. What a consolation it was for
us and for the whole of this Community! At nightfall, on
the very Sunday of the catastrophe, the Governor of Santa
Fe was apprised of the doings at the capital. It was rumored about here that we had all been murdered or devoured by the flames. The telegraphic despatches, as fast
as they were received, were transmitted to the Superior.
The College and the whole town were filled with consternation. The Fathers, as you may well believe, did not
sleep a wink that whole night, and our house seemed to be
VoL. rv-No. 2.
26
�200
Destntction of Our College at Buenos Ayres.
a public resort for all classes of people; who were coming
and going all night long; at last, the Governor, fearing
some disturbance, surrounded the building with a company
of soldiers. To cap the misery, the telegraph ceased to
work after a few hours, and nothing more could be learned.
But the following day, more consoling accounts came from
various parties in Buenos Ayres, and finally, by our arrival,
on Wednesday, they found out that we were all safe. Several Fathers and Brothers came by the next boat
FF. Dalman and Jordan are in the colony of Jesus-Maria, a district of ~~ Rosario, at the re~idence of Mr. Cullen.
This gentleman, tfie owner of the steamboat Pn"mer Argentino which runs between Santa Fe and El Tigre, was no
sooner informed of the state of affairs, than he started for
Buenos Ayres, with the intention of taking us all on board
of his boat; but seeing that he could be of more service
in the city, he remained there, and gave a free passage to
all of Ours. He was the first to set on foot a subscription
to rebuild the college. It seems that forty or, as some say,
fifty thousand pesos have already been subscribed. Rev.
Fr. Superior is now at Buenos Ayres to see what is best to
be done.
The day after the riot, Fr. Rector of Buenos Ayres received more than a thousand calls from th·~ chief citizens
of the place. The President of the Republic sent his aidde-camp, and the Vice-President came in person to visit
him. It seems that the Government, b~th National and
Provincial, is firmly reSolved to see justice done in this
matter. The Province has been placed under martial law,
very many arrests have been made, and a searching enquiry is to be set on foot. Dr. Navarro Viola, President of
the Senate. has presented a bill, asking that body to take
upon itself the charge of punishing the guilty parties .
. Besides this, as during several days after the disaster, it was
impossible for a priest to pass .through the streets without
being insulted, the Government has issued very strict
�Destntction of Our College at Bumos Ayres.
201
orders, especially against the police, who neglect to arrest
those who commit any outrage of this kind.
This is enough for the present. After some time I may
write again. I do not know whither I shall be sent; the
others are in the same uncertainty as regards their destination. Deus providcbit. Yours in Jesus and Mary,
MIGUEL CODOMIN,
D.O.M.
s. J.
•
�•
�CONTENTS.
PAGE
New York and Canada Mission,
3
The Nat chez Indians in 1730,
21, 150
St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia,
30, 100
Pottowattomy Indians,
42"
John Baxter, S. J.,
57
Osage Mission, .
64, 160
Letter from Cincinnati,
72
New Mexico,
75
Early Missions in St. Charles Co., Mo.,
79
Expulsion of the Jesuits from Louisiana in 1763,
88
Brother John DeBruyn, .
110
Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. Grassi from Russia to America.
115
Unpublished Letters of Fr. Anthony Kohlmann,
137
Death of 1'\Ir. P. :McDermott, S. J., .
166
1\Iissions in 1\lassachusetts-Retreat at Boston College,
171
:Mission at Georgetown, D. C.,
176
Three Little Missions,
177
·washington Territory,
178
The Jubilee of the Sacred !kart,
180
The 16th of .June in Chicago,
186
Whitemarsh, 1\[d.,
187
Destruction of our College at Buenos Ayreo,
188
��
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Woodstock Letters
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The Woodstock Letters were a publication of the Society of Jesus from 1872 until 1969. They were named after Woodstock College, the Jesuit seminary in Maryland where they were published. Written almost entirely by Jesuits, and originally intended to be read only by Jesuits, the Letters were "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus in North and South America." They include historical articles, updates on work being done by the Jesuits, eyewitness accounts of historic events, book reviews, obituaries, enrollment statistics for Jesuit schools, and various other items of interest to the Society. The writings of many renowned Jesuit scholars and missionaries appeared in the Woodstock Letters, including Pedro Arrupe, Pierre-Jean de Smet, Avery Dulles, Daniel Lord, Walter Hill, John Courtney Murray, Walter Ong, and Gustave Weigel. They provide an invaluable record of the work done by American Jesuits throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries.
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021157.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Catholic Church--Periodicals</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
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Text
. vVOODSTOCI( LETTERS.
VOL. V., No.
1.
THE NATCHEZ INDIANS IN
1730.
Letter from Rev. Fr. Petit, S. 7., to Rev. Fr. Davaugour, S. Y.,
Procurator-Gmeral of the Missions in Nort/z America.
(Concluded.)
The pleasure, however, which I experienced in the company of Fr. Doutreleau after his almost miraculous escape,
was sadly disturbed by the thought of the loss sustained in
the death of the two missionaries who had fallen victims to
the fury of the savages. You know the merits of these
noble champions as well as I. To an amiable character
they joined the qualities and accomplishments that make
the apostle : they were in the vigor of manhood ; their
proficiency in the language of the Indians, the courage
with which they entered upon their arduous task, the affec3
�4
T!tc iVatclzc:; Indians in I7JO.
tion which they bore the savages, the rare success that
attended their first labors-everything led us to cherish the
fondest hopes for their future usefulness. So much indeed
does the unlooked for fate of these worthy men affect me,
that I seem to forget the considerable losses we have suffered in material resources, although even the privation of
these helps must necessarily, for a time at least, prove disastrous to a newly founded mission.
Notwithstanding, however, the tragic end of our much
esteemed brethren, we cannot give way to our tears without
at the same time being filled with the sweetest consolation,
when we remember that they had consecrated themselves
willingly and entirely to the conversion of the savages in
these regions: certainly their lot is enviable; and the Lord,
vVhose service they had at heart while on earth, will undoubtedly have received them with a fondness which would
never fall to the share of simple martyrs to the French
name. Knowing moreover the spirit of sacrifice which
animates our brethren in Europe, and the zeal which
prompts Superiors to accede to the pious entreaties of such
as are desirous to devote themselves to the missions, I
doubt not -but that our thinned ranks will be speedily filled
up by men worthy to follow in the footsteps of Frs. Du
Poisson and Souel.
Under the critical circumstances in wi:_ich the treachery
of the Indians had placed us, the Conmiandant showed
himself master of the situation, and, by his energetic measures, succeeded in avenging the French blood which had
been spilt, and in ~ecuring to the sorely harassed colony
the blessings of a lasting peace.
The melancholy news of the recent massacre had been
long in reaching New Orleans-our worthy Commandant
was more prompt in bringing relie( Without delay he had
full information conveyed to all the military posts from the
Gulf of Mexico to the territories of the Illinois ; he invited
our allies th~ Tchactas to take vengeance on the perfidious
�Tlte Natc/u::; Indians in I7JO.
5
• Natchez: he provided all the houses of the colony with
arms and ammunition; he equipped two vessels, the Due de
Bourbon and the Akxandre, to sail up the river to the country of the Tunicas; he surrounded the city with intrenchments ; he formed several companies of militia ; and, aware
of the greater danger that threatened smaller settlements,
his untiring 'labor did not cease until solid forts had been
erected at Clwpitoulas, Canm's-Brult:cs, Les Allemands, Bayou
Goula, and the Pointe-Coupt:c.
The indomitable courage which animated the devoted
soldier prompted him to take command in person of the
troops that were to go in quest of the murderers. But the
security of New Orleans demanded his presence there.
Danger was apprehended, on the one hand, from their fickle
allies who were not likely to let an opportunity escape of
falling on the city; on the other, from the numerous negro
slaves that might, under the favorable circumstances, make
a successful attempt to regain their freedom. The command
of the little army of Frenchmen devolved therefore on the
Chevalier de Lubois whose bravery and experience in Indian warfare were calculated fully to dispel the anxious
fears of the Commandant.
While the French were preparing for battle in the village
of the Tunicas, seven hundred Tchactas under the command
of M. Lesueur invaded the territories of the Natchez.
Ever since their revolt, on the 28th of November, 1729, the
Natchez had neglected all precaution and spent the nights
in celebrating their late triumphs. Little were they prepared therefore to meet the forces of the Tchactas who fell
upon them at daybreak of the 27th of January, 1730. In
less than three hours fifty French women and children, the
sailor and the carpenter, and one hundred and six negroes
with their children were rescued; eighteen Natchez were
reduced to slavery, sixty were scalped; the loss of the
T chactas amounted to only two dead and seven or eight
Wounded. The victory would have been complete, had the
�6
Tlze Natclze::: Indians i11 I7JO.
Tchactas, in accordance with the previous agreement,
awaited the arrival of the French army which was expected
with numerous auxiliaries from the Tunicas and the neighboring tribes.
Three days before this action, M. Mesplex with five other
Frenchmen had gone to the camp of the Natchez to reconnoitre, under pretext of bringing about a treaty of peace:
their mission was doomed to a fatal issue. As they left
their boat, they were saluted by savage yells, and in an
instant saw themselves surrounded by a horde of their
bloodthirsty enemies; another instant and three of the
Frenchmen were-, massacred; . the remaining three were
forced to accom~any their murderers to the next Indian
village. Blinded by their former successes, the Natchez
put no bounds to their insolence. They sent one of the
prisoners to M. de Lubois requesting the Commander to
send M. de Broutin and the chief of the Tunicas as hostages; as ransom however for the women, the children and
the negro slaves, the following articles were arrogantly
demanded: two hundred barrels of gunpowder, two hundred barr~ls of balls, two thousand flints, two hundred
axes, two hundred mattocks, eighty quarts of brandy,
twenty barrels of wine, twenty barrels of vermilion, two
hundred shirts, twenty boxes of Limburg cheese, twenty
bales of cloth, twenty suits laced on the s.t;:ams, twenty hats
with plumes, and a hundred ordinary suits. It was their
intention to slay the Frenchmen who were to deliver the
ransom; on the same day, M. Mesplex and his remaining
companion were burnt to death.
When however, a few days afterwards, the Natchez saw
themselves assailed by the Tchactas, their defeat seemed
unavoidable : abandoning themselves to the gloomy forebodings of despair, they retired into their forts, and spent
the greater part of the night dancing their dance of death ;
their fury vented itself in horrible imprecations on the
Tchactas fo~·supporting the hated strangers, whose destruction they had vowed.
�Tlze Natclte::: Indians in I730.-
7
On the 8th of February, the French with the warriors
of the Tunicas and some other tribes near the mouth of
the Mississippi entered the Territories of the Natchez, took
possession of their principal sanctuary, the temple dedicated to the sun, and laid siege to one of their most redoubtable strongholds. "If the Tchactas had then acted in
concert with the veterans of M. de Lubois and their Inrlian
allies, -a lasting peace might have been secured to the
colony, and the missionaries would have been consoled by
the brightest prospects to our holy religion among the
aborigines in these parts. But a number of circumstances
favorable to the Natchez combined to frustrate the sanguine
expectations of the French Commander and of my brethren
in religion. The impatience and obstinacy of the T chactas
who, like all the Indians, will make a coup de main, but in
a whim of humor relinquish all the success gained; the
scanty numbers of the French soldiery; the scarcity of
supplies and ammunition, occasioned by the carelessness
and dishonesty of the Indians; the spirited resistance of the
Natchez, who began to recover from their sudden panic,
regained their former courage, and were resolved to fight
for life and death-such were the obstacles with which M.
de Lubois had to contend, and which after seven days of a
fruitless siege, determined him to listen to proposals of
peace, and thus to save the remaining French captives,
whom the Natchez threatened to burn in case their overtures of peace should be neglected.
The conditions of peace were accepted and fulfilled by
both parties. The French army retired into a small fort,
that had been erected near the river, in order to keep the
wily Natchez in check, and to secure to travellers a passage
free from danger. The command was entrusted to M. Dartaguette as a reward for the gallantry with which he had,
during the late siege, undergone every fatigue and braved
every danger.
Here I should like to say a few words more about the
�8
Tlze Natclze::: Indians in I7JO.
general character and disposition of the Tchactas. Before
the warriors of this nation had determined to make common cause with the French in the last war, they had gone
to the Natchez to smoke the pipe of peace. On that
occasion the Natchez presented themselves decked out in
chasubles and altar-cloths, some paraded patens, others
offered their guests brandy in chalices and ciboriums:
when the Tchactas had vanquished the Natchez and plundered their villages, they renewed this scene of profanation
before our eyes .. , Their avarice is without bounds: not
content with the li.~eral allowances granted them by l\I. de
Lubois, they frequently appropriated by main force the
supplies of the French army; they retained great quantities of ammunition for their hunting expedition; for the
most trifling services they demanded exorbitant pay; and
after the first battle against the Natchez, most of their
chiefs made their appearance in New Orleans in order to
receive from the Commandant a remuneration for the scalps
which they had taken and for the captives whom they had
delivered. -Nothing indeed but their superior numbers
could have induced M. Perrier to call them to our assistance: their insolence, barbarity, loathsomeness, and avidity
are calculated to avert from their society I:tot only Europeans, but even the nobler Indian tribes. ~- •
During this war I met Paatlaco, one of the chiefs, and a
number of other Tchactas whose acquaintance I had made
on my first missionary tour in their territories. They favored me with many interesting visits and repeated to me
the same compliment which they had paid me on a former
occasion. "Our hearts," they said, "and the hearts of our
children are weeping ever since we have missed thy presence ; thou hadst commenced to have the same sentiments
as ourselves ; thou didst understand us, and we understood
thee ; thou lovest us, and we love thee ; why hast thou left
us? Why do.st thou delay thy return? Come, come with
us." Your Reverence is a ware that I could not grant their
�Tlte Natcltc::: Indians in I?JO.
9
petitiOn. I simply told them, therefore, that I would join
them as soon as possible; that, after all: I was in New Orleans only in body; that my heart remained always with
them. "But thy heart," answered one of the savages, "says
nothing to us ; it gives us nothing." Such is the love and
attachment of the Tchactas, as lasting as the presents
which we may have to offer!
Paatlaco did certainly show great courage in the war
against the Natchez. To console him for his wounds, he
was received with greater attention and cared for with more
solicitude than the others. These slight marks of affection
turned his head : scarcely had he arrived in the village
when he told Fr. Baudouin that the entire city of New
Orleans had been in consternation on account of his wounds,
and that M. Perrier had informed the king of his bravery
and the great services which he had rendered France in
the last expedition against the Natchez. Here you have
the ruling spirit of this tribe : presumption and pride.
No one could restrain his tears on witnessing the return
of the French women: the miseries which it had been their
lot to sustain during their captivity among the Natchez
were engraved on their countenances. Most of the little
ones, that after the war were left fatherless and motherless,
were adopted by their kindhearted countrymen; the remainder were added to the number of orphans under the care
of the Ursuline Si~ters, of whose admirable devotedness I
made mention on a former occasion.
Indeed it is a sweet consolation for each member of that
holy community, to behold the cheering results of their
labors and sacrifices : from them the orphans receive a
father's care and a mother's affection ; under their judicious
training, hundreds of young girls are preserved in innocence, and obtain an education at once christian and polite.
As the accommodations of the Sisters are inadequate to
the wants of the various establishments under their charge,
the inhabitants have resolved to offer them a spacious
VoL. v-No.
I.
2
�10
T!tc
~vatdzc::
lndzims in I7JO.
house with divisions for an orphanage, schools, a hospital,
and women of suspected v"irtue.
In France and other European countries such multiplied
occupations would be distributed among several communities, or even among different religious congregations.
Among us the heroic zeal of seven Ursulines, supplies their
great deficiency in numbers; still it is to be feared that,
unless speedy reinforcements arrive to lighten their burden,
these martyrs of charity will soon succumb under the
weight of their incessant labors. All are unanimous in
their praise : and those who at the time of their arrival
were loud in deClaiming against their large number and the
expediency of their institutions, are now numbered among
their warmest advocates and their sincerest friends.
The Tchicachas, a brave but treacherous nation, have been
trying to corrupt the nation of the Illinois, in order to win
them over more easily to the confederacy against the
French. But the Illinois nobly replied that most of them
were of the Prayer (i. e. Christians), and that the ties of
fri~ndship which bound them to the French could never be
severed~ -"We shall never hesitate," said they, "to march
against the enemies of our brothers, the French; he who
would injure the French must first pass over our corpses.''
Their deeds did not belie their words. ~f the first news of ·
the insurrection of the Natchez and the Jassus, the Illinois
came to New Orleans to lament the loss of the Blackgowns and the Frenchmen who had been murdered, and to
offer the services of their nation in order to take vengeance
on the rebels. I was with M. Perrier when they arrived:
Chicagou, whom you saw in Paris, headed the embassy of
the Michigamias, and Mamantouensa that of the Cascacias.
Chicagou was the first to speak. He spread a carpet on
the floor and placed on it his two calumets ; then handing
his presents to M. Perrier he said, pointing to the two calumets: "\Ve bring thee two words, one of religion, the
other of pe~ce or war according to thy desire. We listen
�T!tc
JVatdte~
Indians in IJJO.
I I
respectfully to the Commandants, because they bring us the
word of the king, our father; more yet do we esteem the
Black-gowns, because they announce to us the word of
God Himself, vVho is the King of kings. We have come
from afar to join thee in thy lamentations over the death of
the Frenchmen, and to send our warriors against the
nations which thou mayst point out to us : thou hast only
to speak. \Vhen I was in France, the king promised me
his protection if I should remain faithful to the Prayer; I
shall never forget his words. At present we beg thee to
protect us and our Black-gowns."
Mamantouensa spoke next ; his address was laconic
and somewhat different in style from what I had expected.
"Here," said he, turning to l\1. Perrier, "are two young
slaves, some furs and other trifles; my present is insignificant. I do not ask thee for a better one. All I ask of thee
is thy heart and thy protection ; I am more jealous of
these two things than of all the goods of the world ; and I
ask them only because I am of the Prayer. My sentiments
with regard to war are the same as Chicagou ; I need not
repeat what thou hast heard from his lips."
Finally, another old chief of venerable appearance rose,
proclaiming that he was desirous to die as he had lived, in
the Prayer. "The last word of our parents," said he, "was .
a recommendation, always to remain faithfully attached to
the Prayer ; they never ceased inculcating this truth on
the minds of their children, that the Prayer is the only
means to be happy in this life and in the other life after
death."
Mr. Perrier, whose devotedness to his office is equalled
only by his fervor as a christian, listened with sensible
pleasure to the characteristic harangues of his visitors: far
from having recourse to dissimulation, he abandoned himself to the movements of his heart, and was so happy in
the replies which he made to their several addresses, that
he could not have failed fully to satisfy the upright savages.
�12
Tltc 1Vatcltc:; Indians in I7JO.
During the three weeks of their sojourn among us, the
Illinois lived in our house, and gave us every opportunity
to observe and to admire their edifying life. Every evening they recited the Beads of the Bi'essed Virgin in common, two choirs alternating with each other. They were
present at my Mass each morning, singing hymns in
keeping with the feast of the day : the Sisters sang the
first verse in Latin, to the melody of the Gregorian chant;
and the Illinois continued the hymn in the same tone in
their own language. So novel a spectacle attracted large
numbers to our church, and filled every soul with tender
devotion ; indeed·; even a casual observer would have perceived that these simple savages showed more taste and
pleasure in singing holy canticles, than the dregs of the
French populace show in frivolous and indecent songs.
Your Reverence will be astonished on learning how well
our neophytes are instructed: they are acquainted with
almost all the historical events of the Oid and the New
Testaments; they are familiar with excellent methods of
hearing Mass and of receiving the Sacraments ; their catechism, of \vhich they have a full knowledge, is perfect, and
deserves to be recommended to such of our Fathers as are
about to commence new missions ; in short these savages
are ignorant of none of our holy mysteries, nor of their
religious duties. Persons that knew the5~- tribes in their
former savage state, are loud in extolling the heroic devotedness which the conversion of such barbarians must have
cost ; but the missionaries find their labors abundantly
recompensed, even in this life, by the blessings which the
Lord showers down upon their work.
The Illinois manifest great respect for the religious
women. On seeing one of them surrounded by a troop
of little girls, Mamantouensa said to her : "l see well that
you are none of those religious without work." He meant
that the Sisters are not simply intent on their own perfection. "You· are" he added, "like our Fathers, the Black-
�Tltc Natcltc::; Indians in I7JO.
gowns : you labor for others. Ah, would that we had two
or three of you with us ; our wives and daughters would
learn many useful things and become better christians."
"\Veil," said the Superioress, "choose some from among
the Sisters, and take them with you." "It is not for me to
choose," replied Mamantouensa, "but for you who know
them; the choice should fall upon such as are most closely
unitedto God and most devoted to their charge." What
labors will be required to implant. in the hearts of the
Tchactas sentiments at once so reasonable and so christian!
it can only be His work, who when He wills, changes
stones into children of Abraham.
· Chicagou preserves with the utmost care, in a purse
made especially for the purpose, the magnificent snuff-box
with which the late Duchess of Orleans presented him at
Versailles. Although considerable amounts in money or
valuables have been offered him for the article in question,
he could never be persuaded to part with an object which
reminded him of a personage, whose position in French
society demanded his respect and veneration; a remarkable
attention in a savage whose characteristic it is to throw
away in a moment that which he had been passionately
desiring.
On his returq from Europe, Chicagou brought such
accounts of France and its inhabitants as could not but
seem exaggerated to the simple minds of the Illinois.
"The French have paid thee," said they, "in order to make
us believe all these enticing fictions." "\Ve are wiliing to
believe thee," said his parents and nearest relations, "but
thy eyes were charmed, and not~1ing but visions passed
before thee ; for it is impossible that France should be as
thou .dost describe her." In vain did he assure his friends
that in France there are five wigwams, one upon the other,
as high as the largest trees; that in Paris, people in the
streets are as numerous as the blades of grass ot'l the prairie, or the mosquitoes in the woods; that the French travel
�Tile Natdtc::; Indians in I730.
in movable wigwams of leather ; that in the cities, the sick
are in large wigwams, under the care of experienced physicians: nothing seemed credible to the honest savages.
:\Iamantouensa could not understand, how the large vessels
which were built could be set afloat ; or how the immense
anchors could be lowered or raised; "certainly, thousands
of hands must be employed there," said he. Everything
was explained to him, and the savage chief could not sufficiently admire the inventive genius of the Europeans.
The mes~engers of the Illinois left on the last day of
June: probably -the warriors of this vigorous tribe will
join the Arkansas in their expeditions against the Jassus
and the Carroys. \Vhen the latter barbarians were returning after the scene of bloodshed which they had been
enacting, they were attacked first by the Tchactas who took
eighteen scalps, and liberated the French women and children; then by the Arkansas who took four scalps and made
several prisoners. As the victorious Arkansas approached
their home, they met two boats with soldiers. The sight
of the French uniform brought more vividly before their
minds. the-remembrance of the ttllen victims, but especially
that of Fr. du Poisson, their venerated missionary : they
swore that while an Arkansas was among the living, the
Natchez and the Jassus should not be \\:ithout an enemy.
After the death of Fr. Souel, the missiot;;r)' of the Jassus,
the faithful Arkansas had intended to bring the sacred
vestments and vessels, also the furniture of the mission
house to a place of safety, in order to make over everything to the new Black-gown: a bell and a few books were
all that the murderers had left behind them.
For some time it could not be ascertained what had
become of the corpse of Fr. Souel; only of late I succeeded
in obtaining the desired information. One of the French
women set free by the Tchactas had, after many entreaties,
obtained the body of the martyr from the Jassus, and interred it in secret spot.
a
�The ;Vatcltt"::: Indians in I7JO.
IS
Although we have to deplore the death of only two
missionaries, yet some other Fathers are even more exposed than the fallen victims. Thus, Fr. Baudouin is in
the midst of the powerful nation of the Tchactas, without
any other human protection than the respect which his
venerable age and his unbounded charity should inspire.
As I indicated above, the T~hac!as are becoming more
dangerous as our allies than the Natchez as our enemies:
their insolence knows no limits; and it is feared that the
majority of our soldiers will have to be employed in checking them, and in ensuring the safety of the French settlements within their boundaries. Fr. de Guyenne, the missionary of the Carolinas, is in circumstances not less precarious. His two mission houses have been burnt; and
he finds himself constrained to limit his zeal to the French
fort among the Alibamons, or to seek for a richer harvest
on the banks of the Mississippi.
Nothing now remains but to inform your Reverence of
the present condition of our enemies. They have collected
their forces near the river Ouachita-the Natchez to the
number of about five hundred warriors, the Jassus and
Corroys less than one hundred. To avenge the loss of some
of their warriors in a late affray with our friends, the Oumas
and Bayagoulas, they have begun to make their appearance
and to annoy our frontier settlements. Last week they fell
upon a small French fort, and massacred nine soldiers and
eighteen negroes; only three persons escaped the fury of
the ruthless murderers. New outrages are feared every day.
It is plain that such a war will sadly retard the firm
establishment of the French colony and render the spread
of Christianity among many of the Indian nations almost
impossible. On the other hand, the late disasters may
determine the .French government to take energetic measures, and to send without delay the forces necessary to
tranquillize the settlements, and to make them and our missions flourish anew. As far as our missionaries are con-
�I6
St. Clzarles' College, Graud Coteau, La.
cerned, the losses which they have sustained and the imminent dangers to which they see themselves exposed, only
serve to increase their zeal and to make them rely with
greater confidence on Him \Vhose assistance is at hand
even when all human resources are failing.
I recommend myself, our Fathers and Brothers, and our
labors to your Reverence's Sacrifices and prayers.
ST. CHARLES' COLLEGE, GRAND COTEAU, LA.
Letter of Fr. Jlfaitmgues, S. :1.
NoviTIATE, FREDERICK, Mn.,
Feast of St. Fr. Xa,uier, I875·
VERY REV. FR. PROVINCIAL,
P. C.
But lately, your Reverence expressed the desire to have
a brief outline of the history of St. Charleg College, Grand
Coteau.
Not being very familiar with the English language and
not having any document to guide me, the following attempt must needs be very imperfect; though, I trust, it will
not f.<il to prove my eagerness to comply with your wishes.
J.
MAITRUGUES,
S.
J.
�St. C/zarles' College, Grand Coteau, La.
17
ST. CHARLEs' CoLLEGE, GRAND CoTEAU, LA.
I PART.
[rs3s-rsss.]
Grand Coteau is situated in the Parish of St. Landry,
La., west of New Orleans, at a distance, in an air-line, of
about one hundred and sixty miles.
Should any one have the curiosity to visit that secluded
spot, which, not unlike Brieg, l\Iontrouge, Vals or vVoodstock, is perhaps destined to rise into fame, he might be
pleased to know that from New Orleans it may be reached
by two different ways: Brashear city, Bayou Teche and
Newtown (New Iberia, as this last is now called); or
Mississippi and Red rivers, the Atchafalaya and Bayou
Courtableau. The first route is the most expeditious, and
excepting on Sundays, offers daily accommodation; it is
objectionable on account of the necessary change and
transfer from railroad to steamboat, and from steamboat to
stage coach. The wild, beautiful scenery all along the way
renders the other more attractive; yet, during the summer,
it is not advisable on account ,of the low water.
Grand Coteau, as the name indicates, is somewhat more
elevated than the adjacent tracts of land. It forms to the
eye a rough circle of about four or five miles in diameter,
bounded by different creeks or bayous, with the usual
amount of oaks, cypress and hickory trees, from whose
branches the ornamental "Spanish beard" hangs to the
ground. The locality is generally considered free from
contagious or infectious diseases and may be pronounced
healthy, with the exception, perhaps, of the months of
August and September, when malaria is apt to exert a
deleterious influence.
Although on account of the richness of the land, almost
VoL. v-No.
I.
3
�r8
St. Cltar!es' College, Grand Coteau, La.
_every kind of produce may be cultivated, a greater attention is given to sugar, cotton and corn.
Grand Coteau forms the border line of the region where
orange trees thrive, and even there require special care; not
so much on account of the extreme cold as of the sudden
changes of the weather. vVhen a frosty night is succeeded
by a serene day, then, under the influence of the sun's rays,
the bark splits and the tree is considered lost.
But lately the number of people coming within the jurisdiction of the parish priest was estimated at eight thousand.
The greater part is of French origin and is called the old
population. About half a century ago, a certain number
of families came from Maryland : the Smiths, the Hardys,
the 1\Iillards, etc. The rest are chiefly late immigrants.
This variety of origin does not prevent among them a great
unity of purpose and good mutual understanding; which
may be accounted for by the fact that nearly all are Catholics, many educated by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart or
in our own College. And, since the occasion offers it, I
may here relate a word I heard from Mr. Anderson, who is
a Senator in Louisiana : "Your Grand Coteau population
hardly ever brings up a case of crime at the courts. 'Tis
wonderful !"
This may serve as a preliminary for th_e better understanding of this little notice concerning .. the parish and
College of St. Charles, Grand Coteau. And, not to appear
too egotistic, I must add that, except for the fertility of the
soil and for the merit of its inhabitants, the place would be
sad and dreary, being flat, generally bordered with swamps,
subject to excessive rains and droughts and offering little
attraction to an amatmr de Ia belle uature:
In 1835, or thereabouts, Archbishop Blanc of New Orleans, desired our Fathers to take charge of a college at
Iberville, La. For some cause or other, after having visited
the place they, did not consider it favorable. They were
then encouraged to look for a more advantageous site.
�St. Clzarles' College, Graud Coteau, La.
19
Several attempts were made under apparently good auspices, but notwithstanding the best intentions of all parties,
at the moment for final arrangements, something unforeseen
would occur and put a stop to further proceedings. ·what
took place at Donaldsonville may be told here, as showing
more clearly the designs of Providenue in favor of Grand
Coteau.
Our Fathers were very eager to establish themselves at
Donaldsonville, which was, at that time, a very thriving
place. Besides its being easy. of access from all parts of
Louisiana and of the adjacent States, it is a very healthy
and also a very agreeable site, affording a commanding
view of the king of waters. Rev. Fr. Point, who was then
Superior, went to work in earnest and soon all obstacles
were removed; so that it was already considered as arranged; the more so, as the understanding was likely to
prove advantageous to all parties. But, when the time for
final adjustment had come-the document being written
and needing only a few signatures (or its validity-some of
the inhabitants made an opposition so uncalled for, that
Fr. Point withdrew at once, declining further proceedings;
and as the Reverend Father had urgent business of a spiritual nature calling him to Grand Cote~u, he took a speedy
departure from Donaldsonville.
During his stay at Grand Coteau, Fr. l'oint, guided by
Providence, we may say, for mere human wisdom and prudence did not seem to advise that course, made final arrangements for a College in those parts. Meanwhile some
of the more fervent Catholics were endeavoring to set matters right at Donaldsonville. The subject was reconsidered
and it was decided that the Father should be given satisfaction on all subjects. But great was their disappointment
when they heard that another place had been chosen, and
that things were so far advanced that there was no possibility of return. From that time, Fr. Point was to feel at
what cost he was to deserve the title of Founder of St.
Charles' College, Grand Coteau.
�20
St. Charles' College, Grand Coteau, La.
It is said that the prince of this world leaves no spot unvisited; that he sends his emissaries everywhere-and that
consequently that 'out of the way' place was soon to be the
seat of a terrible conflict.
Fr. Point had nothing to begin with but a wooden church,
one small wooden house (which still serves as an infirmary),
and a kind of log house. He chose this last for his residence and that of his companions, and the other for the
intended College. It is said that, at that period, had it not
been for the charity of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, it
is not known how, our Fathers could have withstood the
trials they had to~endure.
The College notwithstanding was at once declared open.
This announcement was received with outcry by the outside world, not so much in Grand Coteau, as in the neighboring towns. We were held up to the public as objects
of hatred, unworthy to breathe the air of Louisiana, in short
we were "bound to leave the place." Timely warnings were
received in the shape of anonymous letters, containg among
other compliments the following: That if after fifteen days
we had not cleared the place, we should see ourselves
stripped, whipped and driven out.
That these were.' not mere words, idle threats, became
apparent; for real organizations were being set on foot in
Lafayette, the next parish to ours, with the~avowed purpose
of expelling us. Meanwhile, in Opelousas, the newspaper
was trying to excite a popular movement against us. It
was owing to the devotedness of the members of Grand
Coteau parish, that things did not take a worse turn; for
they too rose in arms and for many days made regular
daily and nightly rounds for the security of the Fathers.
When this became known, it spread terror in the enemy's
camp and they held their peace.
The newspaper gossip was stopped in the following way.
A gentleman of Opelousas, otherwise not known to be devoted to us, happened to enquire how the Fathers \vould
�St. C!tarles' College, Grand Coteau, La.
2I
meet the different charges brought against them, and hearing that they would bear all patiently, he became indignant
, and went at once to the editor, reproved him for the meanness of attacking unoffending priests; and in fine, assured
him .that, should these abuses be .repeated, he would call
again for redress. He was heard.*
Meanwhile amidst all this stirring up of the passions, the
College of St. Charles was progressing. Over sixty boys
had answered the first appeal and were located in the house
which at present is considered too poor and too small as an
infirmary. There, in that small place, the students studied,
ate and slept. During the day, the beds were removed and
tables for class and study were placed instead. \Ve are told
that those were "the gay times," that the students were fond
of the Fathers, and made rapid strides in the acquisition of
knowledge. .Soon there was to be a public exhibition; and
though it consisted mainly of recitations, it created great
enthusiasm. The College was duly cheered, and toasts
were offered for its prosperity.
The necessity of enlarging the college became apparent.
A tasteful building arose, as if by enchantment, and when
it was completed,· Fr. Point could not help exclaiming :
"Aft! le 1JOZ!£1 mjit~, le college St. C!tarles, enfant/: dans !a
douleur !" And he could say so truly, for it is difficult to
imagine the amount of vexation it had given rise to. It
was a common saying that Fr. Point could not have a brick
moved, but there was some one to find fault with it. Towards the end, as if to perfect his crown, he had a great
deal of troublesome business and had to go to law with the
contractors.
But the work of God was going on meanwhile, and from
year to year St. Charles' College was sending to their homes
a number of youths that know our Lord a little better.
Likewise the convent of the Sacred Heart was at work pre~---~-----------------------
* Dr. Millard's testimony.
--~ -----~---------·
�22
St. Cltarlcs' College, Grand Coteau, La.
paring the best sort of catechists, that is, good and christian mothers. And though much still remained to be done,
infidelity, heresy and secret societies received severe checks;
many a prejudice was removed, many a mind enlightened,
many a wound healed, as the present fervor proves. For
if in all that country, which extends from Brashear city to
Alexandria, the Catholic churches are better attended than
heretofore, it may, in part, be ascribed to the two causes
referred to. This would be the place to enter into highly
interesting details, were it not that the events and facts
are of too recent qccurrence. Suffice it to say that there
were at one tim~ one hundred and thirty pupils at St.
Charles; that many have since distinguished themselves
and reflected credit on their alma mater, and that all have
kept a good souvenir of their college days, as the little
anecdote I am about to relate plainly brings out.
It was during the late secession war that Fr. Abbadie, who
is the personification of St. Charles (having been employed
there from the first and in all the various offices), whilst on
one of his spiritual missions, had to pass over the Confederate lines.- Called upon to exhibit his permit, the good
Father acknowledged that he had never thought of such a
thing, and was accordingly marched to J1eadquarters. The
unfortunate sentry had no idea of the bright capture he had
made, but was soon to be enlightened. He· had not gone
far with his prize, before Fr. Abbadie was recognized by
some of his former pupils, and the news that he was a prisoner spread like wildfire through the camp. At once
numerous groups were seen emerging from under every
tent to see their dear Fr. Abbadie and hear his "God bless
you" once more. I will not attempt to describe the astonishment of the officer in charge when he saw this triumphal march, nor the poor sentry's embarassment the while.
The whole resulted in a flourish of three grand, general
hurrahs! and Fr. Abbadie could not grasp the numberless
hands stretched out to meet his.
�St. Cllarles' College, Grand Coteau, La.
23
There are such sweet moments for apostolic men, but
how far apart !
II PART.
About the year r 858, as St. Charles' College was still
advancing, another brick building, equal in size to the first,
was erected.
These were "the glorious times" throughout the United
States. vVealth and general prosperity were to be seen on
all sides. But Grand Coteau was a christian institution and
had to be fashioned according to the divine model. It was
during this truce with the outside world that internal trials
took place. Our Mission at the time had but few laborers,
and many were in consequence prevented from receiving
complete formation. Besides, there were several objections
to this establishment. It was difficult of access and otherwise unpromising, or at least it appeared, compared with
other houses, to be of inferior importance. And as it was
evident that some place must be abandoned, why not Grand
Coteau? Serious fears were already entertained by the
friends of the College for its further continuance. But just
then the cry of secession and war was heard and put an end
to this matter for the time. He would have been wise indeed, who, in such a crisis, would have judged what was
the most advisable course.
·Meanwhile, during three or four calamitous years, of which
I refrain from saying anything, our house at Grand Coteau
continued its mission and never failed one day to attend to
the parish and the convent, the camp and the school. Alternately visited by friends and foes, it received from both due
honor and protection. We have to thank divine Providence
that, besides the privations consequent on the blockade and
�24
St. Cltarles' College, Grand Coteau, La.
the mental agony of seeing so much desolation in the land,
we had no misfortune to bewail in that general catastrophe.
Soon after the war, two of Ours generously offered up
their lives for charity's sake. One caught the infectious
disease in \Vashington, La., whilst attending a dying priest,
and then gave it to the other who had come to assist his
brother in his agony. At a later date their remains were
brought to the College cemetery, and for safer transportation in coffins nailed together. \Vith all its roughness this
was so expressive and touching that we let it be: both went
down together. "One in life, e\'en in death they were not
divided." Their~names are Fr. Chaignon and Fr. Nachon.
\Vhilst mourning these and other losses, Grand Coteau
struggled to hold on, if not to gain, her former splendor.
But the question of its suppression returned with new
urgency, till towards the end of the year r868, by an order
of our Very Rev. Fr. General, Grand Coteau was no more.
a College. Those were "the gloomy times." This measure
did not proceed from a hasty deliberation, but was to be
definitive and in some way irrevocable. Accordingly measures were taken to dispose of all that belonged properly to
the College, furniture, goods, etc.
Nothing was to remain but the parish with its stations
and missions. \Vhat may have been th.~· regret of some
who had spent their lives at an ungrateful task, I cannot
say. \Vhat I know is that not a murmur was heard, and
that some only expressed their resignation and their intimate persuasion that the present trials would, like many
others, last only for a time. It is current among our people
that a certain religious of the convent, on her deathbed.
had foretold that St. Charles' College would have many a
hard trial to u'ndergo, but would come out triumphant at
the end.
A few months later, there was in Grand Coteau more life,
bustle and activity than ever before ; for it afforded a welcome and a· timely asylum to the whole community of
�St. C!tarles' College, Grand Coteau, La.
25
Spring Hill College, professors, students and all! So whilst
the latter received shelter and hospitality, they at the same
time resuscitated their sister- house.* \Vhen our Very Rev.
Fr. General heard of all these things, he sanctioned what
had been done, and expressed a wish that St. Charles' College should be suppressed no more and be allowed to work
out its own destiny. This glad intelligence was at once
communicated to the inhabitants who partook of our joy.
The number of students soon reached one hundred and
fifteen. They brought back life and animation, were seen
or heard through the fields and over the creeks, and soon
there was hardly left a rabbit unchased. The writer bears
witness that more than once he counted over thirty after a
single hunt. They had been caught without any other
stratagem than the throwing of a stick and sometimes a
direct run. This sort of recreation the students had not
enjoyed at Spring Hill to the same extent or with equal
success, so they. highly appreciated it. Later on came the
summer excursions, the bird-chase, etc., but all this together
with the other luxuries to be had at St. Charles', that land
of milk and honey, though sufficient to give content, did
not extinguish the students' longing after "old Spring Hill"
as it continued to be called, though it was now entirely
new ; and so, when Grand Coteau saw the end of that year
approach, it could not but feel a vague apprehension with
regard to the future.
Then it was that the noblest example of devotedness
was given us. By looking over the catalogue of I 870, one
can easily satisfy himself that the care of the College, church
and the other usual employments of Grand Coteau, such as
attendance at the convent, visiting the stations and missions,
devolved upon eight Fathers, the youngest of whom was
over fifty years ; it was also remarked that each one had
exercised superiority in the Society. These members divid-
"* Spring Hill CGllegc was burned to the ground in 18(i!l.
VoL. v-No. 1.
4
�26
St. C!tarlcs' College, Grallli Coteau, La.
ed their time for class and prefectship among themselves,
and as their health was but indifferent, they at times made
common cause and set all their ability to work; so much
so, that the saintly Rector, Fr. Benausse, whom God called
to his reward the following year, could say smilingly, as
was his wont, that he was "contributing to the advance
of civiiization by daily teaching Rosa, rosa:." To leave
nothing untold, a young Scholastic was sent to their aid ;
but it pleased Almighty God to leave us this example in
all its brightness, and he became useless during the course
of the year. Those were "the times of mercy."
Our Rev. Fr. ~Superior seeing that the expected help
from the Province did not arrive, concluded that some
scheme had to be devised to give stability to our works and
to fill up the vacancies ; for many had completed their
sacrifice or were on the point of doing so. He resolved to
go to Very Rev. Fr. General and represent the situation. It
was in the beginning of the year 1870. It \yas also the first
year of his administration and the affairs of our Mission
were in a sad state. New Orleans still felt the consequences
of a disastrous war; Spring Hill College was just being
rebuilt and Grand Coteau, as we have seen, was struggling
for existence.
It is said that our Father General was very much moved
when he heard of our works and that he p~aised the Mission and the zeal and patience of its members. He gave
hopes that help would come in due time and measures were
taken accordingly.
Meanwhile prayers were offered up for the success of this
undertaking, throughout our Mission. It would not be rash
to say that the results far surpassed Fr. Superior's expectations. He had indeed spared no trouble and had made
application to divers provinces ; and he had not done so
altogether in vain. Besides, provision had been made for
the education, of a goodly number of promising youths.
The return of· some members fresh from their studies was
�St. Charles' Colltge, Grand Coteau, La.
27
eagerly anticipated. The prospect was, without doubt,
much improved; but, as far as known, the organization of
a novitiate, though the want was felt by every one, had not
yet entered any one's mind as feasible. The hour had come
notwithstanding.
A year had not elapsed, since Fr. Superior's return, when
he was called to the parlor by twelve young strangers.
Great must have been his astonishment, and not less his
satisfaction, when he learned that they had come all the
way from Switzerland to ask admission into the Society of
Jesus. ,They then related how, while at the college in
Brieg, they had heard from Fr. Divine* of our Mission
and of its wants, and how by common accord they had
resolved to come and offer themselves. Though no immediate provision for their reception could be had in any of
our houses, they were, as a Godsend, directed to Grand
Coteau, in the hope that He Who had sent them would
also provide for them. Not unlike what is related of almost all of our Novitiates and particularly that of St.
Andrea, in Rome, of Lons-le-Saulnier, in France, and also
that of Frederick, the novitiate of Grand Coteau was, from
its cradle, adorned with all the insignia of the Kingdom of
Christ. Poverty was there foremost with her sisters, Suffering and Humiliation in the background. There was a
large room on the fourth story, once used as a sleeping
room but since much neglected. It was put in requisition
for the use of the novices. The little cortege of privations
arose from various causes, some of which can be ascribed
to the want of due accommodations. Next, but not least,
the installation of our heroic postulants had taken place in
midsummer and at the same time the full strictness of the
novices' regulations had been applied. As they were anxious to wear the habit, they were at once satisfied, but as
* Rev. Fr. Divine belongs to the German Province and has for a long
time resided at Brieg, where he is ehaplain of the Urs~line Convent.
He is nearly eighty years old.
�28
St. C/zarles' College, Grand Coteau, La.
everything in that as well as in the rest, had to be improvised for the occasion, a great variety ensued. It took our
college students a long while to realize the object of the
strangers and to become accustomed to see them go through
the different exercises and experiments.
They were not admitted as novices at once in globo. Each
one had to be tried and examined according to our custom.
Only six came safe through the first scrutiny and constituted the Novitiate. The others received a special order of the
day, in which study had the chief part, and they constituted our Seminary or, as it has sometimes been named,
though improperly, the Apostolic School. In fact, it is not
connected with the apostolic schools established in many
of our European colleges by Fr. de Foresta. The latter
subsist altogether upon alms, and leave the youth an entire
liberty to join any religious Order or Congregation as he
may feel inclined. In Grand Coteau the Mission itself bears
the burden of such as cannot defray their expenses and acquires certain claims on them. \Vhat a noble charity it
would be if our American Catholics were to emulate their
European brethren and have the satisfaction to prepare
young Levites for the sacred ministry!
At present there are eight such students in Grand Coteau.
The novices range between fifteen and t~venty, I believe,
representing many nationalities. Twenty br thereabouts,
having come out of the probation victorious, are going
through their Junior course.
During the last four years many little improvements have
been made, '~hich render the sojourn at Grand Coteau
more agreeable. The farm offers to all suitable diversion
on holidays, and as the seasons revolve, each brings its own
tribute to our enjoyments. The sugar grinding which t-tkes
place in November and December is hardly co,, i'- _ted.
when spring is hailed, which in its turn covers the oaks
with green and prepares cool shaded alleys for the summer.
In fine, it i~ not out of place to mention here, that, among
�~">!.
:John's Clmrclt and Residmcc, Fredcnck,
~~fd.
. 29
the blessings of God upon our Novitiate, not the least is its
having been preserved from dangerous diseases. Grand
Coteau is also much indebted to Dr. Millard, a student and
graduate of Georgetown, who, for the past forty years, has
been the attending physician at our house and as such deserves the title of benef~ctor and friend. The f9llowing are
his own words: "It seems to me that I can have no rest till
I know that everything is right at the College." Such words
need no comment.
And now, nothing remains but to express the confidence
we feel with regard to the future of Grand Coteau. It is
daily striking root deeper, and further trials may only render it more stable and more fruitful. Of course it will always be the same lonely spot, still be poor and humble ;
but who can deny that it is day after day working out a
noble task and fulfilling a bright destiny?
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH AND RESIDENCE,
FREDERICK, MD.
To write fully the history of St. John's Church and Residence is to give the history of Catholicity in Frederick
county. All the churches in the county have been more
or less connected with St. John's; St. Joseph's on the
Manor, the churches of Petersville, Liberty and Middletown are its offshoots. St. John's is also associated with
the churches of Mt. S. Mary's and Emmettsburg as having
had for a number of years the same pastor, the Rev. John
�30
St. Yolm's Clwrclt and Residence, Frederick, kid.
Dubois, afterwards Bishop of New York. In this paper,
however, no attempt will be made to speak at length of
these outlying missions; a· short account will be given of
them when the time comes to speak of their foundation.
By the middle of the last century a number of Catholics
had settled in Frederick valley. They were principally of
English origin, having emigrated immediately from England, or from the lower counties of the State. These settlers
were attracted thither by the fertility of the soil, or by the
inducements held out to them by l\Ir. Carroll, the father of
Charles Carroll of,Carrollton. About the year 1750, Mr.
Carroll, then living at Annapolis, went to Frederick county
on a hunting expedition. He was much taken with the
scenery, the pleasing variety of mountain and valley lands,
watered by the Potomac and the Monocacy. He determined to purchase a large tract, now called the Manor, and
though his wife said she "could see no use in throwing
away money for a forest," he was fixed in his resolution
and bought from the State, for the small sum of two hundred pounds, twelve thousand acres of land. This tract, a
considerable portion of which still belongs to. one of his
descendants, was divided into small farms by Mr. Carroll
and rented to persons whom he had engaged to go thither
from the lower part of the State .. These t~pants formed the
nucleus of St. Joseph's parish, now attencfed by Fathers
from the Novitiate.
It may be inferred that the first settlers on the l\Ianor
were Catholics, because Mr. Carroll, was no doubt, anxious
for his religion to get a foothold in the Frederick valley;
and that mm:t of them were from the lower part of the
State, since the names frequently occurring on the old baptismal and marriage records are the Catholic names from
St. Mary's, Charles and Prince George's counties. Other
Catholics were drawn to Frederick county, in order to escape the rigors of the penal laws, which were in full force
in the original colony, owing to the bigotry and tyranny of
�St. 7o!tn's Clmrclt a11tl Rcsidmcc, Frederick, jl!Jd.
31
the Protestants. Be this as it may, there can be no doubt
that the Darnalls, the Boones, Abells, Paynes, the Brookses,
the Jamisons, the Jarboes, whose names are found on the
records, are from the old Catholic settlement.
But whilst enumerating the Catholic population of Frederick valley a hundred years ago, the Germans have to be
reckoned ; they went either directly from Germany or from
·Pennsylvania, about the middle of the last century. Some
Hessians settled in Frederick Town at the end of the revolutionary war; but of these very few were Catholics. There
were also quite likely a few Irish Catholics scattered
through the county. Judging from the name, John Cary,
signed to a deed for a lot, on which the original Chapel was
built, an Irishman was the first benefactor of the Society in
Frederick. The deed is in favor of Fr. George Hunter and
bears date of the znd of October, 1765. In the document
it is stated that for and in consideration of the payment of
five shillings., current money, a title is given to the lot above
mentioned; this same lot had some years previously cost
the seller forty or fifty times that amount. Mr. Cary was a
merchant, as appears from the deed.
The spiritual needs of this population were looked to, as
well as circumstances allowed, by the Fathers from St.
Thomas' mission near Port Tobacco, then and for a long
time afterwards, the residence of the Superior. The Fathers of this mission had stations, churches, or residences
through Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and a part of
New York. Most likely Frederick valley was for sometime
attended directly from St. Thomas'. The Father who was
appointed for the work used, no doubt, to make long excursions, which would take in the Catholics of what is now
the District of Columbia, of Montgomery and Frederick
counties along the line of the Potomac river. After the
mission was begun at Conewago, some German Father
would, perhaps, go to Frederick Town, a distance of forty
miles, to administer the Sacraments to the faithful of his
nationality.
�32
St. :foltn's Clturclt and Residence, Fredcr'ck, liid.
In the course of time, the number of Catholics increased,
especially in Frederick Town, and it became ·necessary to
build a residence and chapel for the spiritual wants of the
faithful. This residence and chapel were accordingly built in
1763. by Fr. John Williams, an English Jesuit.* Very little is known about this Father; from papers in the possession of Rev. Fr. Rector of the Novitiate, it seems that he
came to the mission of Maryland, on June gth, 1758, in
company with Fathers James Framback and James Pellentz, the founders of the congregation at Conewago. How
long Fr. \Villiams-remained at Frederick, and who was his
immediate successor, is uncertain. He returned most probably to England, as his name is not mentioned among the
nineteen ex-Jesuitst in Maryland in 1774. whose names are
given by B. U. Campbell.! There is reason to believe that
Fr. George Hunter was the successor of Fr. \Villiams,
from the fact that his name occurs in the deed already mentioned. It may be answered that Fr. Hunter was the
Superior at that time, 1765, and the deed was consequently
made out in his name. These reasons are not conclusive;
for it is doubtful whether Fr. Hunter was Superior in 1765.§
* Fr. )!cElroy's )ISS.
t The members of the Society, who happened to be in Maryland and
Pennsylvania nt the time of the suppre~sion, formelf soon after nn nsso·
cintion and thus preserved most of the property: 1.'hey appointed a
Superior, who was also recognized ns Vicar-General by the Vicar Apostolic of London. Fr. George Hunter was the Superior until his death in
1779, and was succeeded by Fr. James Lewis. On the appointment of
Rev. John Carroll by Rome as Arch-Priest in 1784, Fr. Lewis was superseded, and this state of things remained until 1805. On May lOth, of
that year, Bishop Carroll, having previously obtained from Fr. Gruber
permission for the members of the late Society in the United States to
be united to those of the (never suppressed) Society in Hussia, called the
ex-Jesuits, six in number, to Baltimore, and admitted them into the
Society. Shortly after this date, he appointed Fr. Hobert )Iolyneux
Superior.
t )!emoirs of the Life aml Times of Archbishop CarrolL
2 Fr. Hunter came from England to this mission in 1760, and a second
time in 176!!. 'ne was Superior until his death in 1779. He labored
�St. '.1o1m's Clmrclz and Rcsidmcc, Fredcn"ck, 111d.
33
It is known that he was the Superior and Vicar-General in
1774, but this was after his return to Maryland. The other
reason based on the deed is equally unconclusive; for deeds
were not always made out in the names of the Superiors
as will be seen further on in this history.
In Campbell's list of ex-Jesuits, alluded to before, Fr.
James Framback is set down as the pastor of Frederick
Town in the year 177 3· The mission entrusted to Fr.
Framback was no easy one; Western Maryland and the
upper part of Virginia formed his parish, entailing upon him
long and perilous journeys to visit the Catholics scattered
through his extensive territory. Sick calls over mountains
and rivers for fifty and sixty miles must have come hard on
one who had already been on the laborious Maryland mission nearly twenty years. Not unfrequently he had to
exercise the greatest caution to avoid detection and captivity at the hands of the Protestants. "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, when on a visit to a Catholic family at Aquia Creek
in Virginia, by the fleetness of his horse in carrying him
through the waters of the Potomac, while he was fired upon
by his pursuers before he reached the Maryland side of the
river."* Father Framback was a German and came to the
mission in 1758; he died at St. Inigoes, Aug. 26, 1795, in
the seventy-third year of his age.
Fr. James Walton succeeded Fr. Framback. This statement is made on the authority of a deed for a part of the
Novitiate property. This deed was written in 1779; the
following extract will, perhaps, be interesting as giving an
long and well and died in the odor of sanctity at St. Thomas' in the 61st
year of his age. He built the fine residence at St. Thomas', which used
to be admired so much. The traditions of the Province place a halo of
sanctity about the name of this Father. It is to he lamented that more
is not known about him.
* Clarke's Lives of Deceased Bishops.
VoL. v-No.
1.
5
~:<?'
�34
\
J
St. :John's Clmrclz and Residence, Frederick, Jfd.
example of the wordiness of legal documents in the last
century:
"This indenture made this seventeenth day of November
in the year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and
Seventy Nine, Between Benjamin Ogle, Junior, of Frederick County in the State of Maryland, Merchant, of the one
part, and James \Valton ·of St. Mary's County in the State
aforesaid, Gentleman, of the other part, \Vitnesseth that the
same Benjamin Ogle for and in consideration of the sum o~
Five Hundred Pounds Current Money to him in hand paid
by the said James' Walton at and before the ensealing and
delivery of thes;··presents, the Receipt whereof is hereby
acknowledged, Hath given, granted, bargained, sold, aliened,
released, enfeoffed, and confirmed, and by these presents .
Doth give, grant, bargain, sell, alien, release, enfeoff, and
confirm unto him the said James Walton, his heirs, assigns,
all that Lott or portion of Ground, situate and lying in
Frederick Town, known and distinguished by the Number
Ninety-Six, containing sixty foot in breadth and three
Hundred and Ninety-three foot in length, lying and adjacent to, and on the South part of the Chapel or place of
worship used by the Roman Catholicks."
May it not be inferred from this indenture that Fr. Walton was in Frederick Town as pastor J~ 1779? He is
spoken of as from St. Mary's county for the reason, probably, that at the time of the purchase he had not been long
enough in Frederick county to acquire citizenship. Fr.
\Valton was an Englishman and came to Maryland in the
year 1776, and died at St. Inigoes in 18o3, in the sixty-fifth
year of his age.
The first residence erected, as was already stated, by
Fr. vVilliams, and which now forms part of the Novitiate,
was a two-story brick building ; it included on the first
floor three rooms and a passage, thus giving a front of
about fifty feet, and corresponding to what now are the
bed-room, the sitting-room of Fr. Rector, the passage in
�St. Yo!tn's Clmrclt and Residence, Frederick, Md.
35
the rear of the bed-room and the adjoining apartment now
appropriated to the pastor of the church; the second floor
was used as a chapel and has since been divided into the
library of the tertian Fathers, the chapel of the Blessed
Virgin, and the Fathers' recreation room. It is well to
mention that the entrance to the residence was by the passage in the rear of Fr. Rector's bed-room; this passage was
on a level with the street. Many years afterwards a basement was added to the building by the grading of the street.
This was the work of Fr. McElroy.
The small chapel of Fr. Williams was for nearly forty
years the only place of worship for the Catholics of Frederick county. The Fathers remained in Frederick Town
during the suppression or, at least, went thither now and
then. Fr. \Valton, the last Father of whom we have any
record as having been there, died in 1803; but sometime
before his death the chapel was attended by the Rev. John
Dubois. This change became necessary, as the Fathers of
the old Society were yearly becoming fewer and the number of Catholics was continually increasing. Many of the
more distant churches were given up to secular priests. St.
John's fell into good hands.
The Rev. John Dubois is too conspicuous in the history
of the Church in the United States, to need any notice here.
He began to minister to the spiritual wants of the faithful
in Frederick Town about the year 1792; he had also undtT
his care the Catholics about EIT!mettsburg, of Montgomery
county, Martinsburg, 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 Sacraments from distances of twenty, forty and sixty mi1es; and when any of them
were ill or dying the indefatigable pastor journeyed these
distances on horseback and sometimes on foot, to carry the
consolations of religion to them. His missionary labors
were extraordinary; he spared no pains, labors, or fatigues
�36
St. :Jolzn's Clwrclz and Residmcc, Frederick, .lfild.
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 instructing and catechising the
children and servants, etc." This extract is from the work .
of Mr. Clarke, and is given in order to show the difficulties
the predecessors of Rev. Mr. Dubois had to contend
against.
One of the first undertakings of the new pastor was to
build a church in the place of the small upper room in the
residence. The work was begun in the year I 800. The
people thought him mad and even Mr. Taney, afterwards
Chief Justice, \Vho was an eminent lawyer at Frederick and
a member of his congregation, said: "\Ve all thought that
the means could not be raised to pay for such a building;
that the church would never be completed, and, if completed, it would never be filled with Catholics."
The church was a brick building, eighty-two feet in
length and forty-five in breadth, and having been torn down
in part in 1859 and rebuilt and transformed, has since been
used for tlie Juniors and as an infirmary. Much difficulty
was met with by Rev. Mr. Dubois in paying for the church.
The usual means were resorted to ; and in I 804 a lottery
even, authorized by the State was resorted:to, but with little success. Venerable Fr. McElroy, th'en· in business in
Georgetown, took a ticket in the lottery, but the money
was returned owing to the failure of the enterprise.
The Rev. Mr. Dubois remained in Frederick until r8o6,
when he removed to Emmettsburg and from this place
most probably went to Frederick once or twice a month.
Things continued in this state until the time of Fr. Francis
Maleve of the Society, who took charge of the congregation in the year 18 I 1. Of this Father and his labors something will be said in the next paper.
(To be continued.)
�THE YOUNG MEN'S CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION
OF BOSTON COLLEGE.
As this enterprise is novel in our Province, and gives
expectation of fair results in the cause of religion, we trust
it will attract the notice and awaken the interest of Ours.
\Vith this in view, and in order to record a noteworthy
event we subjoin the particulars of the organization, condition and prospects of the new association.
\Vhilst the Catholic young men of other cities have
been supplied for years with satisfactory means of spending
their leisure evenings in an agreeable and profitable manner, their brothers of Boston liave not hitherto· enjoyed
a similar privilege. There were, indeed, divers literary
and dramatic clubs, but most of them were poorly attended
or lasted but a short time. In contrast with these ephemeral bodies, the Catholic Lyceum Association gave promise of vigorous and expansive growth. A zealous clergyman was its Moderator and distinguished laymen yielded
their moral support. Soon, however, from various causes,
among which the principal was that the reverend director
was charged with the burden of a parish, the canker of
declining interest set in, and after the lapse of half a decade
the society fell into irreparable decay. In the evening, then,
our young men were suffered to roam where inclination
might lead them, without the influence of a Catholic society
to withdraw them from dangerous paths. In consequence,
whilst the well disposed, avoiding the peril abroad, at home
fell into the snares of mental inactivity and settled down
in ennui, worse befell the youth who might bear Horace's
character of cereus iu m'tium Jlectz: Already, the Young
37
�38 The Young
~Wett's
Catholic Assoc'tz of Boskw College.
Men's Christian Association was beginning to inscribe upon
its roll of 2,2 I 5 members, some of our faith who were
allured solely by the excellence of its gymnasium. It was
time to put a stop to this evil.
In the beginning of the present year, when the Rector
of Boston College found himself in possession of an enlarged and spacious building, it occurred to him that these
roomy precincts, besides serving the purposes of the daily
student, might, in the evening, accommodate the Catholic
young men of the city. This idea speedily assumed the
shape of the proposal set fo~th in the following communication:
BosToN CoLLEGE, Oct. s. r875·
To tltc Editor of the Pilot.
DEAR SIR:
In the improvements lately made in this
building, I had it in view to prepare a place where the
Catholic young men of the vicinity might enjoy a harmless
recreation. I can now offer them a gymnasrum, a reading
room, a music room, a large hall, and a smaller hall for
debating societies. To carry out my plan, I wish to form a
Young Me"n's Catholic Association. My efforts will be
fruitless, unless I obtain the cooperation of those who are
convinced of the existence of the need I wish to supply.
All such persons I invite to a prelimin~ry meeting on
Wednesday, Nov. 3, at 7 Yz, p. m., in theN College lecture
room, entrance by the north door on James street.
Yours truly,
ROBERT FULTON.
Here, then is the final and practical solution of the difficulties that had heretofore rendered futile any attempt to
make a permanent provision for the me.ntal culture, physical development and proper relaxation of our young Catholics. As was to be expected, for your Bostonian is not
proverbially slow at seeing his opportunity and seizing it.
the response to the invitation was general and enthusiastic.
The evening 'of Nov. 3d, witnessed a large concourse of
�Tlze Young Men's Catltolic Assoc'n of Boston College. 39
young men, evidently keen in exploring the new movement,
earnest too, in joining it, if found satisfactory. The lectu,re
hall, though capable of holding a goodly number, soon
overflowed with the multitude and was abandoned for the
ample basement of the church, where an assembly estimated at eight hundred was convened. Men of prominence
in Catholic circles had been invited to this inaugural meeting. and gave it the benefit of their presence and counsel.
The Rev. President of the College arose and after a cordial
reception proceeded to state the object of the meeting. He
renewed his offer of rooms and conveniences for culture
and recreation to the Catholic young men. He invited
them to join the association which was now organizing for
the purpose of securing the right use of these facili~ies, and
concluded by asking them to exert their good sense and
manly virtue in embracing their new advantages. The
Chancellor of the Archdiocese, urged the necessity and unfolded the benefits of the project, which meets with the
hearty approval of the Archbishop. Frequent applause
greeted his remarks which were evidently inspired by his
sympathy for young men of whose character and nobler
aspirations, for the good and true, he formed no mean
estimate. The business of organization was then taken up
and a committee appointed to draft the constitution and
by-laws of the society. After several speeches that added
force to the preceding addresses and heightened the e.nthusiasm of all present, this preliminary meeting adjourned.
A fortnight later, under omens equally favorable, our
young Catholics, now fully in the current of the new movement, reassembled. A constitution, the result of deliberations in which some of the wisest heads and wannest hearts
of our Boston Catholics had a share, was read and unanimously accepted. We extract those clauses that are peculiar
to the association or of special significance.
1. This society shall be styled the Young Men's Catholic Association of Boston College.
�40 T!te Young Men's Catlzolic Assoc'1l of Boston College.
2.
Its object shall be to promote the physical, mental
and moral improvement of its members, and to provide
them with innocent recreation.
3· All male Catholics over eighteen years of age, of
good moral character, are eligible to membership.
5· For active membership will be required the payment
of the initiation fee of one dollar, and of twenty-five cents
thereafter, quarterly in advance; or of twenty dollars in
full for life.
6. To honorar~ membership the Board of Directors are
empowered to elecf eminent Catholic gentlemen, and especially the patrons df the Association.
7· The Board of Directors shall consist of a President,
Vice-President, Recording Secretary, Financial Secretary,
Treasurer, Librarian and ten Directors.
8. The President of Boston College shall be ipso facto
President of the Association, and shall appoint the Treasurer and five Directors. The other officers shall be elected.
9· The President shall have power to veto any action
of the Asso_ciation, or of any part of it, and to depute to
another the exercise of any of his rights.
14· Every year at some time appointed by the President, the members shall perform during three or more days
the exercises of a mission or a retreat, to' _which all the
Catholic young men of Boston shall be invited, and at the
termination receive Holy Communion in a body; and
should any one fail to comply with his obligation, the Secretary shall drop his name from the roll, unless his excuse
be deemed sufficient by the President.
If the framers of these by-laws have won our admiration
by the discernment which marks the statutes regarding
membership and goverri'ment, the expression of Catholic
sentiment that appears in the last mentioned clause deserves
our heartfelt thanks. This we hope to see observed in the
letter and in tbe spirit. 'vVe hope to see reproduced in our
Church of the Immaculate Conception, the scene that the
�Tlte Young J1fen's Cat!tolic Assoc'n of Boston College. 41
Cathedral of Paris witnessed in the days of F. de Ravignan
when "on the Easter morning, three thousand men-among
them the 1:/ite of the upper classes and of the schoolswith humility in their hearts and a holy confidence on their
brows, came forward, in order, to the sanctuary where the
chief pastor of the diocese and the orator of Notre Dame,
shared the joy of distributing to them the Bread of Angels."
This would surely prove an occasion of genuine happiness
to the members, of triumph to the patrons and projectors
of the Association and of comfort and edification to the
entire Catholic community.
The rest of the business transacted at this second meeting consisted in enrolling the names of the candidates of_
whom a splendid file marched up to the desk, and in announcing the resolution of the Catholic Lyceum Association which constituted the Boston College Society, the heir
of its funds and library. In subsequent conventions of the
associates and sittings of the Board of Directors, the details
of organization were settled and the care of arranging and
starting the mechanism of the various ·sections confided to
responsible committees. The opening of the reading room
and gymnasium was fixed for the first Tuesday in December; the halls for music and billiards chose to reserve their
attractions until the new year.
At this point we imagine that a sketch of the apartments
ceded to the club for occupation, will interest some of Ours
and display to all the material resources at hand from the
very start: a visit to the members is a matter of courtesy
and will prove a pleasure, and an exhibition of the advantages they possess is necessary to form a correct idea of
the present condition of the Association. First and chief
is the College Hall. This elegant place of assembly, beautiful in its decorations and ample in its capacity, is destined
to be the scene of many a public display, redounding, we
trust, to the credit of the associates. On this rostrum, some
will essay their oratory and from a friendly audience receive
VoL. v-No. r.
6
�42 Tlte Young J;fm's CatltOiic Assoc'n· of Boston College.
the first plaudits; under the management of others a purified drama will diffuse mirth or awaken noble sympathy,
from this stage. How admirably the hall is suited to the
literary and social ceremonies of a public reception extended
to men of position or distinction, was lately shown on the
occasion of our Cardinal's visit; and it is desirable that the
members should make frequent use of it for such purpose.
\Ve are not too sanguine when we hope that from its services in the cause of religion, this College Hall will ere long
grow as dear and sacred to Boston Catholics, as is Fanueil
Hall to the citizens of Boston in the cause of freedom.
In the building connecting the residence and school,
there is a lofty, large and neatly arranged room which will
comfortably seat two hundred and fifty. Here are held the
regular meetings of the Association and here its debating
club will have weekly sessions. This is the room of all
others that elicits c~mment. In the meetings, the society
exercises its vital functions, grows in strength and limb
and adopts measures for its preservation and development.
Here it m,!lst sincerely be the wish of every reflecting Catholic, that ability and wisdom may never resign the chair,
and concord and moderation rule in the council, so that the
many schemes for good, both particular to the Association
and general to Holy Church, which youth and enthusiasm
are apt to devise, may reach maturity and ·be applied with
effect.
For a literary club better quarters could not have been
contrived. The size and circumstance of the place call for
just the medium of vocal exertion desirable in reading and
declaiming for practice; whilst the debaters may thunder
over the opposition in tones most satisfactory to themselves.
The debating club should meet with the best countenance
of the whole Association. Its work, the prelude, we hope.
of the real and arduous labor which the Catholics and people of this ~ommonwealth may, later on, have reason ta
admire, must reflect honorably on the entire body. If our
�T!te Young Jlfen's Catlzo/ic Assoc'n of Boston College. 43
knights grow active and expert in these jousts, we may
look for valiant fighting in our ranks, that now cry in vain
for such champions. In this connection, we would congratulate the members on the chances afforded them, of always
obtaining correct views on subjects of moment in religion
and ethics ; in effect, they have the best security that they
need never leave the College walls without settled convictions on questions of this nature.
Passing out of the lecture hall and going down a flight,
we enter the library and reading-room. Once devoted
exclusively to the purposes of the College Debating Society,
this apartment was the favorite on which three successive
Presidents of that body, lavished all the resources of their
fertile invention and refined taste. The books, mostly of a
severe classic tone, were disposed in mahogany cases; a
table of the same material extended the length of the
room ; chandeliers and pictures and all that might add
dignity and elegance were procured. This rich furniture
remains, whilst the number of volumes is increased by the
incorporation of the Catholic Lyceum Library, and will, in
due time, receive substantial accessions in the branches of
science, history and lighter literature. A glance at the files
reveals the presence of the best British and American
papers and we hear it is the intention of the committee to
make a judicious selection of magazines and reviews. The
impression made on the visitor as he advances a few paces
into the room, is exceedingly agreeable. He finds himself
in company decidedly respectable, and must recognize the
appearance of the associates to be such as might be expected
of g~ntlemen embarked in the professions. Above, he has
encountered our young men absorbed in the vigorous exercise of their intellects, engaged in the gymnastics of the
brain; here, he notices some, review or paper in hand, moderately tasking the understanding or indulging the fancy,
whilst others have relieved the mind of all but the facile calculations of back-gammon and chess. If he is a moralist he
�44 Tlze Young JJ1m's Catltofic .-Jssoc'n of .Roston College.
will find consolation in the sight of so much intelligent and
promising manhood escaping the vortex of corruption into
which such masses are drawn, and spending the otherwise
perilous evening in society so safe, cheerful and improving.
It is gratifying to learn that the number of those regularly.
admitted to enjoy these benefits, has reached two hundred
and eight; and that those of the better class who have come
to inspect, have, without exception, applied for admission.
Taking a few steps in an opposite direction, the gymnasium and the forms of the athletes meet our eye. \Ne have
beheld the conveniences set apart for the culture of the
intellectual life; ·before us are the contrivances that tend to
pn;serve and fortify the physical. In this room, which is
the deepened basement of the old College building, are set
up the various inventions that compose a gymnastic apparatus : parallel bars and trapeze, ladders horizontal and
v~rtical, rings that sustain the bat-like flight of the men
around half the room, unromantic machines that will leave
you after fifteen minutes of hard rowing in precisely the
same spot of dry land, weights to lift and weights to pull,
·dumb-bells- and Indian clubs: in fine, every expedient to
strengthen the muscles, expand the chest and impart to the
person power combined with grace. We notice that our
friends are quite active in developing a soufld body, assured
that it is not the worst condition for a sou'~d mind. To the
Rev. Chairinan of the Committee we would hint that he
has opportunities for working in the good cause. If the
Germans make their Turnvereinc a powerful lever in politics, and the Young Men's Christian Association opens its
gymnasiums to encourage morality, why should we not use
ours to advance the manifold interests of Holy Church?
Arrived at the end of our circuit, we must compliment our
friends on the abundance of the means that invite them to
pass their vacant evening in a resort so serene and elegant.
Improvements, mainly in a material respect, are, of course,
still possible, "and will keep pace with the rising condition
of the finances.
�Tlze Young ilim's Catholic Assoc'n of Boston College. 45
This review of the facilities and present state of the
Association cannot fail to excite a feeling of intense gratification; does a glance into the future inspire a different
sentiment? Are there bright prospects of a permanent,
vigorous, influential existence? \Vill it survive when the
enthusiasm of the first moments is smouldering low ; survive, not with thinned ranks and flagging strength, but
marshalled in full column and animated by an energetic
and progressive spirit? It is usual to encourage young
enterprises by flattering promises of success and immunity
from decay; without cqnforming to this custom, we have
reason to predict a prosperous future for the Young Men's
Catholic Association. The fund of attractions as we have
witnessed, is inexhaustible and adapted to the diversities
of temperament and taste. The members, besides readily
yielding to the impulse of their Catholic zeal \Vhich incites
them to support an institution so favorable to religion, are
of a class to appreciate means and measures that will
evidently result in their improvement. Ardor is infused by
efficient committees whose duty and honor it is to raise
their several departments to a high degree of excellence.
Shall we sound the praises of the Board of Directors ?
Not to indulge in the panegyric of individual merit, we
must declare that as a body, they form the strongest guarantee for the preservation of the union and the promotion
of its interests. Our surest ground, however, of anticipating no early disaster for the craft launched so auspiciously,
is not in its construction or general seaworthiness, but in
the provision which secures its management to superior
officers whom vocation renders alike skilful and experienced. _ Suffice it to say, that the government of the Association is in the hands of those, whose ancestors have met
with eminent success in the direction of young men for
three centuries, in the course of which to use the language
of Cretineau-Joly, "Tasso and Benedict XIV, St. Francis
de Sales and Fenelon, St. Alphonsus Liguori and Bossuet,
�46 The Young
l}fen's
Catholic Assoc'n of Boston College.
Ferdinand of Austria and Maximilian of Bavaria, the Prince
de Conti and Turenne, piety and genius, the majesty of the
throne and the glory of the army, were united at meetings
of the Sodality over which a Jesuit presided." A mere
allusion to the flourishing state of the unions in London
and New York that are similarly conducted, will enforce
and close our reasons for believing, that even when the
echoes of the first complimentary "Esto perpetua" shall
have died away, our Association will live and prosper, and
that on this basis of permanency will be raised a structure
stately and beautiful. Nor is this the sum of our expectations. It is no g'reat flight of fancy to foresee that the
society will very soon outgrow the space which a kind but
necessarily limited generosity has allotted, and establish
itself in a building commensurate with its enlarged proportions. Colonies will spread the spirit and multiply the
benefits of the mother association in remote sections of the
city and vicinity. The results of its harmonious and effective action will lead to the formation of like bodies in the
larger proyincial towns of New England, whilst its wise
system will serve them as a model. And, finally, should
the commanding appeal ever go forth to unite under one
grand system all similar associations that are subject to the
vicissitudes of a separate career, what a gforious link will
ours form in the golden chain of this Cath~lic Fraternity t
�NOTES ON RETREATS AND MISSIONS GIVEN BY
THE FATHERS OF MARYLAND DURING
THE SUMMER AND FALL OF 1875·
REV. DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
It may be of some interest to your readers to set before
.them a short sketch of the missionary work which we have
been able to perform during the past few months. It will
show that our vacation is not all vacation, and that whilst
we give ourselves the repose which is necessary after a year
of close confinement and hard labor in the class-room,
we can still find time to keep up our practice in the use
of the spiritual weapons placed in our hands by our holy
Father-The Spiritual Exercises.
During the vacation of 1875, our Fathers gave fifty
Retreats to various communities who had applied for their
services. Of these eight were to the clergy of as many
Dioceses, some in Canada, some in the States ; one retreat
was for Seminarians, the rest to communities of Religious
men and women, scattered about the country from Wheeling, \Vest Va., to Halifax, N. S., and as far South as Columbia, S. C., from Hamilton to London· in Ontario. But this
is not a new thing among us. The vacation has been thus
spent for years back a~ far as any of us can remember. But
it seems the number of retreats is continually increasingas new communities are established ever year, each of which
is eager to enjoy the blessings of a retreat; whilst the .old
communities which have had the retreat in past years, continue their regular annual supplication for the same blessing. Your young friends around you, who are preparing
47
�48
Retreats a11d Jlfissious b;• tltc Fatllfrs of 1lfary!and,
themselves for the great battle-field on which they are
eager to appear, need not fear that when they come out,
there will not be work enough fol them to do. Let
them only come forth well-armed, well-disciplined and
full of courage. Deus promdebit for the rest. For those
who are willing to labor, there will always be found more
than they can do.
But the great event of the year and one which it was
hard to expect in our present condition, is the setting
apart of six Fathers for the Missions to the people during
the whole year. Jhese Fathers have been divided into two
bands, three of thein being destined for missions in New
England and its neighborhood, the other three for missions
in the southern portion of the Province and adjoining
States. Our missionaries went to work in a quiet, modest
way, beginning in small country parishes; but doing great
good everywhere.
The northern band was to commence its labors in Mar
at Leominster, So. Lawrence and Andover. Our Church
at Boston, St. Mary's, gave them a larger field, 7500 being
the number of communions at the end of the mission. At
Leominster there were 1000. A mission at Southington
besides giving good results in the usual waY. of confessions
and communions, brought to light a vocation_ to the Society
which is now being cultivated at the novitiate.
July and August interrupted the missions for the sake of
retreats to Priests and ~eligious-but early in September the
usual round of labors was resumed in New Brunswick. The
Cathedral parish of St. John's numbering twelve thousand
was first on the list. Nine thousand communions were the
result of two week's preaching. Frederickton and St.
Stephens in the same Diocese were evangelized in the
same month. A few days' rest was then taken by the
Fathers, who were no doubt in need of it, and then came a
mission at Brighton near Boston, which was pronounced
very successful. Next was a long and laborious mission
�dzm"ng tlzc Summer and Fall of £875·
49
at St. Joseph's Church, Boston. In this parish the mission
was divided between men and women. The latter had the
first part, and more than five thousand communions were
given. An equal number of communions rewarded the
second part of the mission which was exclusively for men.
Yet it had been told the missionaries that the whole population was not over six thousand. Indeed it was remarked
at all the missions that the pastors were astonished to find
that there were so many more Catholics within their jurisdiction than they had ever supposed. They came pouring
out of alleys, lanes, bye-ways, garrets and cellars, where no
priest had ever hunted them up.
This was foilowed by a mission at Canton, Mass., the
fruit of which was very consoling; but as the parish is
small sixteen hundred communions was considered a splendid result.
There may have been some more small expeditions by
the northern band, which have escaped my notice, but what
I do know is that they have already work enough promised
them for a year in advance ; and I hope your readers will
have some account of their success in· future numbers of
the LETTERS.
Jubilee missions \vere given by other Fathers during the
vacation at various places, viz. : Carroll Manor and Clarksville, Howard county, Md., Rockville and Tenallytown,
near Georgetown, D. C., as also in some of our churches in
the lower counties of Md. These were attended to by the
Fathers from the Colleges. The three regular southern
missionaries opened their campaign at St. Joseph's, Phila.,
late in September. One week had been allotted to this
congregation, but it was necessary to prolong the time.
But here let the missionary speak for himself:
"The mission at St. Joseph's, Philadelphia, was continued
a week beyond the stipulated time. It was a happy conception; the real fruit of our labors began only then to be
apparent. There was not that crowd of obdurate sinners,
VoL. v-No.
1.
7
�50
Retreats mzd 1l'lissious b_y tltc Fat!ters of Jfm]'faud,
which formerly flocked to St. Joseph's during a mission,
when the number of Churches in the city was comparatively small; still the amount of good done was not trifling.
Not a few cases of many years' standing presented themselves at the tribunal. Some 2,500 souls drew nigh to the
holy table.
".Holmesburg, however, surpassed all our expectations.
The parish is small, numbering at most four hundred communicants. The news of the mission stirred up the neighborhood of the rural district. People came from a distance
of over ten miles:', The little Church was well filled from
early morn until-9 P. :11. Not a few who had to walk from
three to four miles, were present at l\Iass at half-past five.
But their great fervor and zeal became patent during the
evening exercises at half-past seven. Upwards of a hundred had a journey to travel of from five to ten miles when
service was over, and among them not a few females. The
confessional claimed our presence all day without intermis-.
sion. \Vhales of immense size came into the net by scores,
and it did not break. At the conclusion, more than double
of the original number of the parish had made peace with
their Maker. We had about 840 communions. The good
pastor's heart was brimful of joy and gladness at the rich
harvest.
"Our next mission was at Richmond:· Va., where our
labors were blessed beyond all expectation. Persons who
had neglected their religious duties for many years, even as
far as thirty, came by hundreds. At the conclusion, the
fruit gathered in amounted to over 2400 confessions and
2109 communions, an excess of Soo over the mission given
here two years ago. Bishop and priests and people were
overjoyed. After my closing exhortation on Sunday evening, the Bishop arose and addressed the congregation in
one continued strain of happiness. He called his people to
witness to our untiring efforts and to the glorious fruit
reaped from' our labors. We left Richmond in triumph,
�during tlze Summer and Fall of I875·
5I
all the priests and seminarians accompanying us to the
depot."
From Richmond the three missionaries went to 'vVheeling, \Vest Va., but no account of the fruit has as yet
reached us. \Ve hope to hear of this and other missions
and would even beg the Fathers to give us some edifying
details, which will not only be interesting to the readers,
but also be the means of increasing onr zeal in preparing
ourselves for a work which gives so much consolation to
the workmen, so much glory to God.
P.M.
Nov. 23d, I87S·
P. S.-Since writing the above, we have received the following very interesting letter in regard to the mission at
Wheeling, which at first seemed not to promise very brilliant success :
"FREDERICK, Nov. 24, I87S·
"REV. AND DEAR FATHER PROVINCIAL.
''You were prophetic in your last to me, forwarded to
Wheeling. The ice did break and only by almost more
than human efforts did we stem the current and become
masters of the element. At the close of the first week
about nine hundred only had approached the Holy Table.
The parish numbered some t\venty-seven hundred communicants. A frightful indifference had seized upon the people. The female portion, who in all missions take the lead,
were alarmingly slow at Wheeling. Their example was
wanting for the good fight. It was patent, that the war
could not be carried on with success, if our batteries were
not changed. So we .commenced to apostrophize those
that slept in the Cathedral graveyard. We summoned the
parents, friends and relatives of our auditors to relate their
sufferings in purgatory and call for help in pitiful strains.
Handkerchiefs were soon in demand, and this was the signal of our victory.
"On Tuesday following, over five hundred females received their Lord, and light came out of darkness. During
�52
Retreats and 1lfissions by t!tc Fat!zcrs of Jlfaryland,
the rest of the week the Church was crowded at every service, the confessionals were thronged at the close, and on
Saturday we were busy all day till midnight, hearing about
eight hundred men, who approached the railing in a body
on Sunday morning. The sight was magnificent and touching. In the evening, squaring our accounts, we reached
the astonishing number of thirty-two hundred that had
come to confession, of whom twenty-eight hundred had
approached the Holy Table. This was an evident proof
that the status of the parish was not known to the priests,
who told us froll} 'the outset, that, should success crown our
labors, we should""have from twenty-two to twenty-four hundred for Holy Communion. God be blessed for all His
mercies! On Sunday evening more than five hundred
were invested with the holy scapular, and about the same
number had received it at various times during the mission."
From \Vheeling the Fathers went to Philadelphia, where
a regular mission was to be held in the Church of St. Cecilia, and a jubilee MiEsion at St. John's. Both were abundantly blessed with the usual good results. The latter was
especially important on account of the circumstances that
the two great Methodist revivalists were holding forth just
across the street from St. John's Church . . \Vhen the mission was about to open, the leader of the band was far from
feeling confident of success. His throat was sore from previous overwork, his voice husky and harsh, and yet the
opening sermon was to be given. Trusting in God, he
mounted the pulpit and spoke in a clear, ringing, well-modulated voice, such as he had been a stranger to for years;
and for sixteen sermons given by him during the mission,
this almost miraculous voice held out. Of course, the opposition over the way was not broken down, but it did no
injury to the mission. Indeed it is asserted that this jubilee
was the most successful effort of the whole campaign.
In the me;:intime our northern band was not idle. At St.
Paul's Church, Worcester, Mass., a very large congregation
�during tlte Summc1; mid Fall of I 875·
53
was thoroughly stirred up for two weeks. This Church is
one of the largest and most beautiful in the State, and had
just been completed. Its inauguration by a mission drew
immense crowds to the services. Another two weeks' mission was given in our Church of the Immaculate Conception at Boston, the result of which was six thousand communions, without counting several thousand more received
in other churches by those who had followed the exercises
and had conft:ssed to our missioners and their assistants
from the College. This truly magnificent Church is the
creation of our venerable Fr. McElroy the dean of the
whole Society, both in years of life and in years of religion,
and it may be said to have been the first church in New
England, certainly the first in Boston, which, by its architecture, size and splendor of adornment and of services,
attracted notice and admiration even from Protestants and
gave the example, happily followed since, of building
churches that reflect credit on our Holy Religion. It was
solemnly consecrated last August, and this mission was intended as a crown to that glorious ceremony, so as to sanctify and consecrate the congregation who frequents the
church.
Some smaller missions given by either band we pass over
in silence, but enough has been said to show that there is
great work to be done and that we must prepare ourselves
diligently for successful reaping in the field before us.
�OSAGE 1\IISSION.
ST. FRANCIS' INSTITUTION,
OsAGE 1\IIssiO.'I, NEOSHO
DEAR FATHER,
Co., KANSAS,
July 13, 1875.
-
The first day "of this year was a day of joy and holy
pride for my congregation of St. Stanislaus Kostka at Independence, Montgomery county, in this State of Kansas.
We had been trying for a time to organize a Catholic Temperance Society, and on that day this great work was
accomplished. As the men who were going to form the
society were known to be very prone. to indulge in intoxicating liquors, so the news that on this day they were
going to take the pledge, drew quite a number of people to
the church to see how the matter would be conducted.
I had Mass at ten o'clock, and during this explained
to the people what was the spirit of Cath9lic Temperance
Societies, their difference from societies of _the same name
among Protestants, etc. At the end of the Mass all the
members approached Holy Communion, and Mass being
over, all returned to the foot of the altar and took the
pledge. It was indeed a most beautiful sight to see men
with white hairs, heretofore notorious for their dissipation,
come now to gain such a victory over themselves ! It \vas
indeed a great lesson to the growing portion of my congregation.
Of those who had come to witness this ceremony, some
were strong unbelievers, and that day meeting me would
laugh at me and joke about my Temperance Society, saying,
"Father, do you think those old saloon customers will keep
54
�Osage Jvlission.
55
the pledge? Wait a few days, and the police officers will
tell you whether they kept it or not. \Ve know those fellows better than you do!" In reply I could but answer
that I did not know what they might do in after time; however I was fully confident that, with the help of God, they
could keep their pledge. Six months have just elapsed,
and I feel happy in stating that not one of them has yet
broken his pledge.
Long experience has proved to me most evidently, that
people who generally attend to their christian duties, are
never deprived of the happiness of receiving the last Sacraments at the hour of their death. I can prove this with
many instances that have happened to me during these last
twenty-five years of my missionary life in these western
countries. I will limit myself to mention three of these
which took place of late.
Sometime during last winter, travelling on Fall River, in
Greemvood county, to attend the congregation of St. Francis Regis in the vicinity of New Albany, I was told that
one of my best friends was on the point of death, that he
had sent for me, but they could not find me, and could get
no other priest to attend him. I hastened immediately to
his house. No sooner did the poor sick man see me stepping in, than his countenance seemed to be animated with
a new life. "Thanks be to God," he exclaimed, "0 Father
dear, you have come at last!" then looking to his wife, he
said, "Now it is all right, I am ready to die." It took him
about one hour to get over the excitement caused in his
system by my arrival. \Vhen I saw that his mind was quiet
and settled, I advised him to make his confession. So he
did. Aft~r this I told him that early next morning I would
give him the last Sacraments. He felt very m.uca satisfied,
and rested well for awhile. During the night he had a good
deal of trouble from a violent cough, which seemed to
choke him to death. At last he felt again a little easier, and
without losing any time at daybreak, I read Mass for him
�Osage Jfission.
in his room. At the end of it I administered to him the
~oly Viaticum and anointed him. He was at all times conscious, and edified us all with his devotion. The tranquillity
and calmness which he showed after having received the
last Sacraments, was such that all his friends thought he
would recover. Hardly four hours had passed, when he
most quietly expired, just like a man who falls asleep.
People wondered at the way this man came to his end.
Some, specially Protestants, were saying that he could not
die unless he had first seen the priest. The same was said
by the doctors, who had given him up several times in that
sickness; and he-himself always said that he could not die
before seeing me. He was a very good man in all respects,
and God granted him the wish of his heart. May his soul
rest in peace.
The same, with but very little difference, happened in the
case of two other most pious persons, who, considering the
circumstances by which they were surrounded, were almost
in the impossibility of sending others for me or any other
priest, and were bound to die deprived of the last consola-_
tions the Church can give us. But divine Providence
brought me to the place where they were, just in time to
assist them to die a christian death.
During these last six months I did not f?rget to visit the
Indian Territory, south of the State of :K'atisas, and I am
forced to say that the Osages always received me with
great respect and affection; but at the same time I am also
bound to acknowledge that, more or less, I always received
great annoyance from the Quakers, under whose care they
now are. Both Agent and missionaries seem to be bound
to oppose whatever might any way seem agreeab1e to the
Catholic portion of the nation: I mean to the half-breeds,
who number some sixty families, and not only are good and
pious, but also very intelligent and industrious. They have
almost all been raised at this Mission school, now called St.
Francis' Institution, and naturally can but feel thankful to
�Osage Jlission.
57
us for what they know, and wish to have their children
raised in the same way as they were. And this exactly is
their great crime before their present Agent as well as missionaries, who seem to burn with jealousy and passion
whenever they hear them saying that they wish to have a
Catholic school for their children. And because the halfbreeds as well as the full-blooded Osages signed several
petitions which they sent to the President of the United
States, requesting him to give them Catholic missionaries,
for this reason the Agent refused to give them rations, took
from them all lucrative employment, and refused to pay
them for the work they had done! This is the way the
poor Indian is treated.
The Agent does not like my visits to the Osages, and
much less to their children who are at the school of the
agency; for, he says, my visits always bring disturbance in
the camps of the Indians, as well as in the school. "vVhen
the mission priest comes here," says he, "all are after him,
some want to be married, others want him to baptize their
children, all want to go to confession and to hear Mass.
They even bring him to the graveyard and want him to
pray on the graves. Now this is too bad, and breaks all our
regulations. It must be stopped."
The school superintendent, an old-fashioned Quaker
about six feet high, whom all call Uncle Ben, and his evangelical wife, a small women, whom people call Aunt Annie,
seem to be moved by a good deal of zeal, especially when
I go to visit the children, and more than once, calling me
aside, requested me, with great politeness, not to tell the
children that one must be baptized, and that out of the
Catholic Church there is no salvation: these words, say
they, create great disturbance, and when we try to teach
them Christianity they do not want to listen to us l You
may imagine what answer I could give to the entreaties of
people who claim to teach Christianity and at the same time
deny the necessity of Baptism.
VoL. v-No.
I.
8
�Osage Jfissio11.
On the fourth Sunday of May, having been invited to
preach at the school-house in the afternoon, I did so, and
)ectured there for one hour. Not only the children were
present, but the Agent, teachers and other people, a good··
number not being Catholics. They did not interrupt me this
time, as they had done on a previous occasion, but once I
got through, the Agent stood up, and, in the presence of all,
said, in a very rough way, that I was interfering with the
order of the school and the directidn of the children. To
this I replied th~t I never did any sue~ thing, "but the
school managers," said I, "did this day act very unjustly towards the children and their parents. You acted unjustly
towards the children this morning by not allowing some of
them to come to hear Mass, and you acted unjustly towards
their parents, for all those who are here present well know
that their parents want them to be raised in the Roman
Catholic faith." The Agent did not reply to my remarks,
but abruptly said, "I want you to answer me some questions
just here." Seeing that he wanted in this way to start a
quarrel an~ get the advantage over me, I replied to him
that now I would not answer a single one of his questions,
that he well knew in what house I was staying, and if he
would come and see me there, he would be welcome, and
then I would give him full satisfaction. Having said this,
I took my hat and left the ·room.
This of course did not please the Agent ; so, after I had
left, he spoke a good deal against me, and his words were
confirmed by two of his friends, who most certainly had
combined with him, and intended to give me trouble, if I
had answered the questions of the Agent.
The people kept very quiet all the time, till at last a little
half-breed school girl, some thirteen years old, stepped on
the platform from which I had given the lecture, and,
pointing her finger at the Agent and his two friends, said
with a clear yoice, "You, you, want to pervert us, you want
to make us Quakers by force .... The Father never did try
�Indian Jlfissions-Lake Superior.
59
to pervert us, or to make us join his Church by force .....
\Ve are Roman Catholics, and will not give up our faith to
please you." This unexpected piece of eloquence broke up
·the whole meeting, and with the exception of a few partisans of the Agent, the balance sided with me and approved
my way of acting.
Not long since, the Kansas Indians, who used to live one
hundred miles north of this Mission, having been moved to
the Indian Territory west of the Osage Reservation, I went
to visit them about the end of last June. As I was not a
stranger among them, for, several years ago, I attended
them, they received me most kindly and requested me
not to give them up. I could not stop with them longer
than one night. I promised them that we would not abandon them, but, as soon as practicable, I would return to
visit them and give them an opportunity of complying with
their christian duties.
pAUL MARY l'ONZIGLIONE, S.
J.
INDIAN MISSIONS___..:.LAKE SUPERIOR.
FoRT WILLIAM, LAKE SuPERIOR.
October 24th, 1875·
* * * * * Leaving New York on the I5t~ ult., I
reached Toronto at five o'clock the next evening. I went
immediately to the Archbishop's residence, where I made
the acquaintance of the good, genial old Dean, Mr. Proulx,
a French Canadian priest. The few hours I spent with him
were quite a relie£ The 17th, Friday, at noon, I took the
train for Collingwood on the railway which connects Lake
�6o
Indian Jfissions-Lakc Superior.
Ontario with Nottawasaga Bay, a continuation of the Geor·
gian Bay, and, therefore, of Lake Huron.
On the steamer from Collingwood I found Fr. Vary who
was coming back from Montreal. \Ve got on board at five
in the evening; till eleven that night we met with a pretty
heavy swell in the Georgian Bay; but Saturday and Sunday morning turned out fine. As we steamed past the
Great Manitoulin Island, we had a view of Killarney, a
splendid harbor. This being the port of the Holy Cross
Mission, I said to myself: now for the land of hardships!
(Bonjour, misi:rc /} We hoped to see Fr. Hebert, who attends to the Catholics of this place, but we were disappointed. He hears confessions in Indian. Brother Koehmstedt, schoolmaster at vVikwemikung, seems to have been
very successful in mastering this language. Fr. Nadeau is
just cut out for his work.
On Sunday, Fr. Vary said Mass at Sault Ste. l\Iarie,
whence we started about midday. Here we are far out in
Lake Superior. Towards sundown the squalls begin. They
last all ni~_ht. The whole crew was up ; I did not sleep a
wink, and I felt that, whether the danger were real or magnified by my inexperience, there could be nothing wiser
than to draw near to God.
At one hundred and eighty miles from-~ault Ste. Marie
we sight Silver Islet, where the mines are worked by an
American company. They are picking out silver five hundred feet beneath the lake's bed, the miners, however, living above ground. None but Americans could succeed
there. A Canadian company had tried it and given it up as
a hopeless job. Captain T., who superintends these works,
allows Fr. Baxter to come first in the religious services of
Silver Islet, though he himself is a Protestant. The reason
he gives is that the priest needs no breakfast before his service. He also defrayed most. of the expenses for the chapel,
and made a present of a bell to our church at the Landing.
Besides this mission, Fr. Baxter visits lie Royale and La
Pointe a Miron.
�Indiau Missions-Lake Superior.
. 61
At length we got to Thunder Bay, a beautiful inlet on
the North Shore of the lake, twenty miles from Silver
Islet. The place at which the boat stops is called Prince
Arthur Landing. Out of a population of six hundred, two
or three hundred are Catholics. Fr. Vary goes there every
Sunday to say Mass. Happy we who have always lived
amid the splendors of Catholic worship! Those poor people have JVIass, and sermon in French and English-there
are no Indians there-once a week, on Sunday, and nothing
else, except catechism for the children. Low Mass, without
servers : for there, the priest is his own server, his own
sacristan, ad omuia. Then he breaks his fast with those
who are willing to invite him. Fr. Vary will try to have
some singing, vespers and benediction, a server, etc.; but
all is yet to be done.
Our Mission is seven miles from Thunder Bay, up the
river Kamini~tiquia. For sick calls from the Bay, the messenger has to paddle all the way, often in the dark: true,
there is a carriage road, but not on our bank of the river,
though one can generally find some means of crossing.
Often enough, too, Father Baxter is to be found at the Bay
during the week, but not always, as he has other missions
to attend to.
After spending the night of Monday the zoth, at our
Fathers' house near their church at the Landing, we
set out, in a steam-tug for our destination, the Indian Reserve. The Indians are not numerous. They are fond of a
roving life. At present, they are fishing or hunting, with a
view to winter provisions.
\Vhat shall I say of the country? Would it be too much
to call it a wolfish country (zm pays de loups) owing to its
climate, and a land of adventurers? Indians, half-breeds,
whites toiling in the gold, silver and copper mines. Among
the whites are all sorts of nationalities: English-speaking,
German, French Canadian, etc. Well, I have come to the
conclusion that it is very hard to say which climates are
�Indian .Missions-Lake Superior.
the best, the least demoralizing ; hot or cold ? a problem I
will not undertake to solve. [The writer spent a year in the
West Indies.] In these icy regions, the devil, getting no
assistance from atmospheric heat, makes great use of internal fires kindled by whiskey. The consequences are self. evident. Happily, the scourge has not succeeded in gaining
a foothold on the Indian Reserve, thanks to the zeal of our
Fathers.
A digression. To-day, the 27th of October, the ground
is covered with snow. 'vVe had a heavy snow-storm the night
before last: it mu~t have been terrible out on the lake. I
hope we shall have a thaw : else it would be winter beginning three weeks too soon. The ice here generally takes
about the middle of November and remains till the middle
of May. Last year it held out till early in June. As we
have but two mails a week, :Mondays and Saturdays, my
letter will leave under care of Blessed Alphonsus, and St.
Stanislaus will deliver it to you. A few minutes ago Fr.
Du Ranquet handed me a book of notes on our labors
here; he h!ls no objection to my making a few extracts for
you. I intend sending you a sample sometime in '76. The
good Father, accustomed to life in the woods, thinks himself in carnival here, and yet our ordinary fare .... Alas!
yes, 111011 clter, I take my meals, and now-' !his is, in very
truth, an act of pure reason. No doubt it is some compensation to be spared the trouble of examining what part of
the meal may be sacrificed. There is no describing the details: tasting is believing (on J' goz'ite et l'on comprcnd.) I
have heard of a doctor who, on the threshold of eternity.
left, as a legacy to suffering humanity, three prescriptions:
diet, water and exercise. Truly, those three may be met
with even and especially at Fort William.
Fr. Vary has just started for the Bay. He is going to
place a tabernacle in his church, and thus, at least once a
week, those r.oor people will enjoy the Real Presence.
"Years go quickly by," was a remark lately made to me
�lndimz Missions-Lake Supcn"or.
by Fr. Du Ranquet, who has been here twenty-three years,
and who had already labored ten years among the Indians of
Walpole Island on Lake St. Clair and in the neighborhood
of Detroit, as well as around Lake Hut~· and·among the
Montagnais. In all, thirty-three years of Indian missionary
life ! Is it not the strangest of paradoxes to say that time
does not hang heavily on the hands of men, who lead a life
of privations amounting to downright want? They suffer,
God only knows how much; moreover-and it is the work
of God's right hand (et Dieu fait encore 1111 coup de sa droite)
-they make no account of their sufferings, they live, without perceiving it, in a state of utter destitution. Fr. Du
Ranquet's life is less painful now than it used to be. He
meets oftener with white men. What, then, must have been
the heroism of Fathers Jogues, Lallemant, De Bd:breuf and
the other early missionaries!
The Indians, whom Fr. Du Ranquet visits, are scattered
over some five hundred miles: this is about the distance he
travelled last year. He visits at least a thousand of them,
but of these, two or three hundred only are christians, the
rest pagan. He never finds more than four or five families
in one place. On his excursions he starts by the steamboat,
taking along with him his bark canoe, which is to be his
only vehicle for a couple of hundred miles. When he goes
to Lake Nipigon, which lies towards the west in the direction of the Lake of the Woods, the journey is one of eight
days. Although he generally meets with some wayfarers,
he told me he once made a trip of a hundred miles alone
in his canoe, keeping always four or five miles out from the
lake shore. The Grand Portage is a break in the navigation nine miles long. There he steps out of his canoe, lifts it
up on the bank, ties to it his bag of provisions together with
his portable chapel, and hoists the unwieldy bundle on his
shoulders, holding it in its place by means of a broad
leather band resting on his forehead.* Thus freighted, he
* This way of carrying burdens is the one commonly adopted in the
backwoods of Canada. It is generally known by its French name, porter
collier. The muscles of the neck and head do all the work, leaving
<lu
�Indian 111issions-Lakc Superior.
toils through his three leagues till he can take to the water
again. In winter, he is always on snow-shoes, sleeping
alone in the "bush." Need I add anything about his humility and charity, or say that he lives only for his poor
Indians?
Fr. Blettner teaches me theology, Dogma in the morning,
:\fora! in the afternoon. One copy of Gury and one of
Schouppe for teacher and pupil. However this is no drawback for the teacher, seeing that he has been teaching these
things twenty-three years. \Ve hope soon to receive another Gury. As for Schouppe, I believe we are expecting
a new edition.
In these parts, we are easily brought to wonder at nothing. Let me tell you the only material advantages we enjoy
here: First, the steps from the wharf to the house are a
very gentle slope; secondly, the house is all on one flat; no
fatiguing staircases-that's all. My professor of theology
also teaches me Indian. I must say I do not find this language very attractive, though some think it remarkably
rich and bt~autiful: it is a matter of tastes. School is not
yet opened; it will be at All- Hallows ; at present, eclipse
of children, I don't know where they are. You must know
that English is very useful here: it is the or?inary language
of the whites around us; I trust I shall not forget it.
Fr. Blettner is sixty-nine; he began his missionary life at
fifty. Fr. Du Ranquet is sixty-two. Fr. Vary, who consulted a doctor when last he was in iVlontreal, will not be
able to go on the mission, owing to disease of the heart.
The doctor told him he had not long to live, and he speaks
of this with the greatest pleasure: it is evident he does not
cling to life. God grant that all these holy examples mar
not be lost upon me. Adieu, molt clter fn;re,
Yours unreservedly in Cordc :Jesu,
E. R., s. J.
----·------·
---------------------- ---------·--
the arms and hands free to ply the hatchet in cutting through the mulcr·
wood, and to grasp the branches of trees in a steep ascent. Some shanty·
men are said to have carried, in this manner, loads weighing between
six and seven hundred pounds for a distance of two or three miles.-[En.
WooDSTOCK LETTERs.]
�INDIAN MISSIONS-WASHINGTON TERRITORY.
From a letter of Fr. P. G. Gwdi, S.
7.
CoLVILLE, W. T., Aug. 17th, 1875·
I an1 happy to be able to satisfy your desire of hearing something about our missions. You will, I
am sure, be pleased to hear of the celebration of Corpus
Christi among the Indians. For a week before the Feast,
the various tribes, some from a great distance, began to
gather around the mission church, in great numbers. On
the Saturday before, we heard of the approach of two large
tribes that had come together on the way, and were coming
in a body. The Indians who had already arrived, received
orders from their chief~ to assemble in front of the church,
which stands on the slope of a beautiful hill. There they
waited with the banner of the Sodality and their military ,
standard displayed. Soon the new comers appeared, two
and two, on horseback, in very good order, and carrying
their guns over their shoulders. They halted a moment,
when they came in sight, and saluted us with a discharge
of their firearms, to which our Indians replied in like manner and then marched down to greet the approaching tribes.
Another double salvo, then the strangers dismounted, all
shook hands, and returned together to the church.
On the Sunday following we opened the exercises of the
Jubilee. A very devout procession was made in the evening, and throughout, the conduct of the Indians was most
edifying. Their chiefs had forbidden any unnecessary or
distracting occupations in the camp during that time. Three
Fathers were busy, for three days before the Feast, hearing
confessions.
* * * *
VoL. v-No.
1.
9
�66
Indian llfissions- fVas!tington Tem"tory.
On the Feast itself, two low :Masses and one Solemn
High Mass were celebrated; the attendance was very large
and there were many communions. Before the Solemn
Mass, the Great Chief made an address to the whites who
were present, expressing his gratification at their presence,
and urging them to strive, by their modesty and devotion,
to give no scandal to the Indians. After Mass there was a
long and orderly procession, in honor of the Blessed Sacra. ment, in \vhich all joined with most edifying piety, singing
hymns and canticlt;:s as they went. Among the whites were
six soldiers and~non-commissioned officers, belonging to
the United States 'troops stationed near here.
The celebration of this Feast was attended with many
blessings. Many who had strayed away were brought back
into the right path ; three infidels were converted, and
many received signal blessings in many ways. I accompanied one of the tribes on its homeward march, three
weeks after the Feast, and was much edified by the piety
and regularity which reigned among them. Every morning
and evening they gathered around my tent to say the regular prayers and to hear an instruction. On Sundays all
came to hear Mass, and many received Communion. Those
who lived near enough to my camp, came every morning to
Mass, and every evening to prayers and catechism. I baptized there three adults, and five others on my way home.
I might tell you many very touching incidents connected
with our missionary labors here, all tending to show that if
this field is one of hard work, it is not, by any means, without rich blessings and most abundant consolations.
�'
I
THE TEXAN CYCLONE.
Letter from Fr. lJ.fancz:
CuERO, DE vVITT Co., TEXAS.
November 30th, I87S·
REV. FATHER IN CHRIST,
P. C.
To comply with your Reverence's request, I will give you
some account of the disaster which laid waste the town of
Indianola two months ago. I should have done so before,
had not my many occupations and journeyings to and fro
thwarted my good intentions. The delay has no doubt
made my too vivid impressions of the scene settle into becoming serenity; my imagination is not now so painfully
sensitive as it was just after the event, when I wrote to Rev.
Fr. Artola with the clothes on my back still soaked in sea
water, and my poor brain crowded with the recollections of
that dreadful night. But, on the other hand, some important circumstances may, in the meantime, have slipped my
memory. However, I trust your Reverence will kindly
accept my best efforts to relate things just as they occur to
my mind.
The I sth of September was truly a dismal day for Indianola. It began with one of the largest funerals ever seen
in this town-a foreshadowing of the catastrophe which
was to follow in a few hours. On seeing the great concourse of people, I felt moved to say a word or two to them
on the vanities of the world and on the certainty of death's
uncertain hour: for Martin Mahon, whom we were mourning, had been taken away from amongst us quite suddenly.
6;
�68
The Texan C_yc!ollc.
After the funeral, towards noon, the sky darkened all at
once, and a silent fear crept into the hearts of all. I myself
was on the point of remaining in Indianola, had I notalready promised to go to Cuero where I had some children
to baptize, and some confessions to hear, and where I generally used to go once a month.
·
As I stepped into the railway cars, it began to rain and
to blow as if to usher in the hurricane of which all had a
presentiment, but whose ravages none could foresee. I
reached Cuero at half-past five in the evening, baptized,
heard confession~; and, next morning, the 16th, started, in
the midst of a pouring rain and a violent gale, for Indianola, as I had promised to return that morning. When we
got within ten or fifteen miles of this town, at about 10 A. M.
we began to slacken speed, the track being covered with
water, and to sound as we went slowly along, for we ran
the risk of running into the current beneath us. At 1 1 A.M.
we were half a mile from Indianola station, when a man
came running up to us and telling us to stop, because the
railroad had been washed away about seven o'clock that
morning. So we came to a stand-still. Your Reverence cannot imagine how intensely painful it was for me to hear the
conductor say that the train could not adv,ance, and that it
was impossible to reach the town on foot;-"on horseback, or ·
by swimming. It fairly knocked the breath out of me. Was
I then to be cut off from my flock in this awful extremity?
In my distress, I tried the Church's exorcism on the tempest; but heaven seemed to have sworn to chastise Indianola, and the storm raged with ever-increasing fury. The
waters went on rising two or three feet every hour. The
violence of the wind was so terrible, that, when I chanced
to put my head out of the door, my spectacles were whipped
off and blown away as if they had been a shred of straw.
About noon we saw a family making signs to us for help.
Some of us immediatelv ran to their rescue and succeeded
in saving two little b~ys with their father, mother and
�T!te Texan Cyclone.
grandmother. This act of charity snatched from us our
own chances of escape in the rear on the road to Victoria
and Cuero; because, meanwhile, the storm .had destroyed
the track behind us. ·However, as the sequel will show,
God was not going to allow Himself to be outdone in generosity.
Here we were, then, in the midst of a surging sea,
exposed to an unceasing blast, whose fearful impetuosity
may be gathered from the fact that it was, without a moment's interruption, driving before it, to a height of some
sixty feet and to the distance of forty-eight miles, the
waters of the Mexican Gulf. None but an eye-witness
could have a~y adequate idea of the violence of this hurricane. l\Iany people imagine that it was somewhat like an
inundation. But the inundation was nothing to the way in
which it was produced and to the wind which hurled the
waves about. It wrenched up whole houses, whirled away
the roofs, and flung down persons who were trying in vain
to keep their feet. I attempted to go out on the platform,
but I had to draw back immediately, for my breath was
gone, and I was running the risk of being blown off like a
leaf. The' sensation I experienced was as if a machine of
several horse-power had thrown a bucket of water into my
face.
'vVe thus remained spectators of the storm till seven in
the evening, when we began to feel its effects ourselves.
The passenger-car, in which we were eighteen, was no more
safe: the rails began to slide from beneath the wheels, and
soon the car itself was overturned, hurried away by the
waves, and broken up into several pieces. 'vVe had taken
refuge in the baggage-car next to us ; but when we saw the
passenger-car, which was much heavier than our present
shelter, up~et and smashed, we argued a fortiori that we
were in imminent danger. Accordingly, all the men on
the train, except the father of the two little boys whom we
had saved that morning, huddled together on the locomo-
�70
Tlzc Texan (yclouc.
tive for greater safety. I stayed in the baggage-car, hoping
to be able to baptize five children with their mothers and
the grandmother, and thus go to heaven in their company.
Never did death seem so near at hand as on that night of
the 16th of September. Its approach could be read on the
faces of my adult companions, whilst the five little boys,
lying on cushions here and there, had begun that sleep
which, to all appearances, was to end in the next world.
For about six hours we were in agony, helplessly stemming
the fury of the wind and waves. Often and often was our
car borne up on l!igh and almost overset. But still it stood,
and withstood the· rushing flood. An invisiule hand-it
was, I believe, St. Joseph's, to whom I made a vow-held
it up.
At a time when I had lost all hope of escape, with the
liberty of a priest of God, I spoke to one of the mothers
on the necessity under which she lay of preparing herself
and her children for the dread Judgment-seat whose shadow
was already upon us. "Neither you nor your sons," said I,
"are baptized. vVhat hope, then, can you have? I know
not what will become of those little ones, but I do know
. they can never see God; and you, you--." ''No, no,"
she answered with a foolhardy fearlessness of death, "neither
myself nor my three children shall ever ·be baptized." I
tried to persuade her, but in vain. So I passed on to the
other mother. She had been, with her two sons, baptized
by a "holy" Protestant minister. "But," I replied, "what if
the baptism was not properly administered?" To this she
answered: "At all events, baptism by a Catholic minister
can do no harm. Baptize me, then." Alas ! at this juncture, some evil genius stirred up the old grandmother, who
began to rave at me and load me with insults for destroying
he work of a "holy" Protestant minister. My remonstrances
were quite lost on the poor stubborn old woman, so that
even the well-meaning mother took back the permission
just granted.
�· Tlie Texan Cyclone.
71
Meanwhile the danger was becoming vastly greater, and,
as the emergency withdrew these children from the dominion of their parents, and gave me a right to act upon my
own responsibility, I determined to baptize the children as
best I could. The darkness favored my determination.
Taking some water in the hollow of my hand, and groping
for the little heads, I baptized four of the children, and one,
in particular, in the very arms of his father.
Somewhat satisfied with this partial success, I withdrew
into a corner to prepare for death, reciting the Rosary, and
making acts of contrition. During this time the grace of
God was at work in some hearts. Three of the passengers,
who had sought shelter in the locomotive, came to me,
asking me if we were really in danger of death. On my
answer that we were, and that they had better make a
good confession, they got down on their knees, one by one,
in the presence of the other passengers, and confessed their
sins. One of them I invested with the Scapular: eight or
ten days ago he was crushed to death under the wheels of
a railway car.
Others, who were not Catholics, made good resolves for
the future. I saw one, a Freemason, who, a short time
before, had politely informed me that he belonged to no
religion, bless himself with unmistakable devotion. Last
night he told me he intended to have himself and his little
daughter baptized at Christmas. I heard him saying to his
companions that henceforth he would cease to be a man
without religion.
It was now midnight. Hitherto the storm and flood had
been constantly on the increase. But now the wind which
had been blowing from the north-east-a murderous wind
for Indianola, as it sweeps the Gulf of Mexico into the
town-veered to the north, and immediately the water
began to subside, falling seven feet in five hours.
\Vith the veering of the wind our danger ceased, as the
car was placed directly north and south. Not so for Indian-
�72
Tlu Texan Cycloue.
ola. The north-east wind in its mad bout of twenty-four
hours, together with the mass of heaving water, had already
laid bare the foundations of the buildings: the north wind
did the rest. It overthrew more than two hundred and fifty
houses, tilted almost all the rest, and tumbled about in the
chopping waves from two hundred and fifty to three hundred victims-about one-sixth of the population of Indianola. Of these three hundred victims about two hundred
and thirty were recovered, but sixty of the bodies were
disfigured and bruised beyond recognition. Nearly all
perished after mid~ight, just at a time when my good angel
put it into my head to absolve sub ccwditione those who
were then struggling with death. They were morally present to me, and only a few steps off, though I could not
see them; but I felt that many were passing to their ac.count. I lost about twenty-five Catholics in Indianola, and
many others between Saluria, Matagorda and Peninsula,
places within my jurisdiction.
Daylight revealed the ruins of Indianola. I attempted to
wade up to-them through the water, but I could not do so
till half-past one in the afternoon. \Vhat a sad outlook
towards the town! A few hours since a charming seaport,
known for its health-restoring breeze; and .now a heap of
ruins, exhaling an indescribable stench, 0\Ving to the dead
bodies and the carcasses of animals to be met with at every
step. The sky was still threatening. \Ve might have
another hurricane. In fact, about one o'clock, while I was
waiting in the cars, a young man ran up to our train, shouting to us that we had better look out for another storm,
· as the wind had veered from the north to the north-west
and then to the south, and would most probably be back
to the north-east before nightfall, so that he thought we
ought to turn opr backs on the town, and seek shelter in
one of the nearest stations.
This warning settled my mind: I determined to try
fording once more and die, if God so willed it, in Indian-
�T!te Texan (vcloue.
73
ola, helping my flock. Leaning on the arm of one of the
the three who had confessed to me the previous night, I
reached the town, drenched from head to foot. I began
immediately to search the ruins of the church for the
Blessed Sacrament. To my surprise I found the Tabernacle
intact and still unopened. Reverently lifting it up, I went to
hide it in the priest's house, in a small room, of which but
the least part had escaped the universal ruin. I did not force
open the Tabernacle-door, because I hoped to find the key,
though, to tell the truth, there was precious little reason for
this hope, seeing that the press in which I had put it was
broken into splinters, and its contents buried in five feet of
sand. However, I appealed to St. Antony of Padua, and
next day a little girl brought me a small key : it was the
key of the Tabernacle. I opened the Holy Ciborium, and
did not find, either in it or on the veil which covered it, the
least trace of water.
I was also fortunate enough to come upon one of the
church pictures, the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was in
a perfect state of preservation, glass, frame and all, without
the least stain ; though another picture, which matched it,
was fearfully cut up. Many other pieces of altar furniture
were found, a fine large monstrance, five candlesticks, five
chasubles, corporals, albs, etc., the bell, and the organ almost
uninjured.
Having put by all these and the like valuables in the same
place, I went to see the Sisters of Mercy, whom a good
Protestant, their neighbor, had taken into his house. It
appears that hunger and thirty hours of anxiety had made
me look like a walking corpse : for they scarcely knew me.
I might have eaten in the cars, for, thanks to a kind Providence, we had eggs, butter, bread, spirits, rice, water, apd
fire withal for cooking; but I did not see the use of material food on the brink of eternity. I provided the Sisters
with a more suitable residence in the house of a Catholic,
who had offered them his home, and I went to lodge with
VoL. v-No.
1.
ro
�74
Tlzc Texan C)'c/onc.
1\Ir. R. T. Evans, an excellent Catholic and President of the
Indianola and Cuero Railroad. I should have remained in
the little room where I had hid the Blessed Sacrament, had
it not been full of the altar furniture, and, besides, damp and
encumbered with rubbish. It was now six o'clock in the
evening. After taking a mouthful, I went to console the
Sisters of Mercy and three Catholic families gathered in
the same house, under the hospitable roof of Mr. Regan,
one of the most influential Catholics of the town.
Sic transit glon·a. mzmdi was my first reflection on seeing
the young ladies ·\vho, the day before, had been flaunting
their fashionable finery, now wearing poor old clothes, and
quite penitential in their looks and words. No one ever
prayed better than in that terrible night. Never, since Indianola was founded, had so many solemn promises gone
up from it to God's throne. And not a few of these promises were kept. A woman had for many years past, been
·living with a man that was not her husband. Hitherto, my
repeated exhortations to a legitimate union had proved ineffectual. -After the storm, however, a mere hint from me
was enough : she married immediately. Others promised
and gave alms to the parish priest and the Sisters. .Some
came to confession; some, again, began..:to be practical
·
Catholics.
The first victim I buried was a little girl named Blanche
Madden, who was found drowned with her tiny arms clasping the neck of a cow. Of course there were many simila·r
touching incidents. A poor mother, wishing to cross over in
a boat with her two children to another part of the town, had
to leave one of them on the bank until she could retUI;n
for him. She came back just in time to see the child
swept away by the rising water. One horse was the salvation of four persons, two of whom got on his back, while
the two others clung to his tail; and in this fashion they
reached a house some two hundred yards off. A whole
family escaped on their roof, which floated away undamaged
�The Texan Cyclone.
75
to a great distance, though the,house beneath was completely demolished,
A gentleman, seeing his wife and children in danger,
made them climb up to the top of his ho_use ; but the
buildi,ng was giving way; he clasped his wife and then his
two. children iri his ~f~ls, and the flood' r~shed upon him
and them. 'I;k suc~e~ded in cat~qing hol_d of a plank, and·
held it. a~ long-. as· he. co~ld w!th his hands, till, his arms ' fail~ng hi,m, he ~lutche_d it v.zith._ his teeth, . . The wife and .
children were dt:.?WH~d; he alol)~ sur_v~ed.
Many, whQ.. had. b.een:-.mourqed. K>r. ~ dead, turned up .,
after three or four 'd~ys, h~\"ing..,be~n carri'ed by the cyclone
eight, ten- or eleven ?niles-tro~">th~ town. I myself witnessed the mes::ting of a sister with_a brother whom neither
'"' • ,~h!i! ·nor her r~s ever expected to see alive. They fell
on each other's neck and wept in the middle of the street.
After the disaster, all were brothers. They shared the little
that remained. A kitchen stood in stead of two or three
houses, one house sufficed for several families, and one
room for many persons. For a month there were two or
three sleeping in the same room as mysel(
The day following my return to Indianola, the 18th, I
made a chapel out of a hall on the ground floor of Mr.
· Evans's house, whither I brought the Tabernacle with the
Blessed Sacrament, our only consolation in these straits.
On Sunday, the I9th, I said Mass for the Sisters in Mr.
Regan's house, and another pro populo in the new chapel.
To this latter came a great crowd. In place of an explanation of the Gospel, I dwelt on the intentions for which I
was about to offer the Holy Sacrifice : First, for the repose of the souls of those who, three
days before, had been present with us at the Requiem Mass
and were now no more.· Several of these were Catholics in
deed. One, a mother who perished with her three children,
was actually making a novena to be freed from great distress, if it were for God's greater glory. Another mother,
�Tlzc Texan C)'donc.
also drowned with her three little children, had come a few
days ago to seek advice from me in her hardships. But
some there were who had neglected the Sacraments for
many years past. Again, among those who were dead and
gone, was a young lady whom I had caught, the previous
day at the church door, flirting with a young man.
Secondly, in thanksgiving for so great a mercy. Here I
reminded them of their feelings during the hurricane and of
their good resolves. Did we not then feel keenly our own
nothingness and the power of Him 'Who is mirabilis in a/tis
Dominus? Did~ we not feel that we had above us and
against us a Being immeasurably superior and exceedingly
terrible to the poor wretches who, but a few hours ago,
looked so brave as they scoffed at God and at His religion?*
vVoe to us if we do not keep our word with God! He may
have other scourges in store.
These and other things I said, though, assuredly, no
words were needed. The very thought of our Sacramental
King staying by us amid the ruins of His house, there interceding for us with His mighty voice, and now coming,
with unusual sweetness, into the hearts of those of us who
that morning had approached His Holy Table- this
thought alone was reason enough for ol!f tears and sobs.
What a contrast between this Sunday an'd the previous
\Vednesday, when we had all the splendors of Catholic
worship in the beautiful church of Indianola! Instead of
Vespers, which no one had the heart to sing, we told our
beads in honor of the Mother of Sorrows, and closed with
the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Fr. Gardet, the parish priest of Victoria, had come down
the day before to invite the Sisters and myself to Victoria,
but we preferred remaining where we were, to afford what
help we could to people that were· beside themselves with
-------~-----------,
_________ ______.:___
~-
*Two housell which had been used for public bulls and other worldly
amusements, sheltered from the storm about three hundred persons, thus
becoming the resorts of prayer and compunction.
�Tlte Tcxa n y'clonc.
77
grief and distress. Quite a number of them could hardly
recover composure of mind ; and, on the other hand, an
extraordinary panic seized hold of many. In two or three
days no less than two hundred left the town, some on foot
or in carts, others by steamboat for Galveston, Corpus
(hristi and New Orleans, as some seven miles of rail had
been torn up and could not be replaced before a fortnight.
Those who remained, though abundantly supplied through
the liberality of the generous town of Victoria, of Galveston, New Orleans, San Antonio, Boston, etc., still continued
to suffer from want of fresh water, and of lodgings, from
the hideous, desolate aspect of Indianola, and from the
threatening weather which every now and then looked as
if it were hatching new horrors. More than once did I rise
during the night to recommend our endangered and helpless Indianola to our Blessed Lord who was now dwelling
under the same roof with me. For I knew that the slightest storm would make havoc of a town already ploughed
up in at least seven places, through which the sea ebbed
and flowed as through so many convenient canals.
I cannot realize how a cyclone could in a few hours
work such destruction. In several parts of the town it cut
channels from seven to ten feet deep and two hundred or
more feet in width. It swept away even brick houses and
huge masses of iron to the distance of seven or eight miles,
as happened to a railway car and to the iron turn-table or
revolving platform for turning cars and locomotives.
Had I remained in Indianola, I should doubtless have
perished, as my bed room was destroyed, the roof of the
house having been torn off by the wind, and the church,
whither I should certainly have hurried to save the Blessed
Sacrament, fell into ruins. Nor could I have been of use to
any one: for the driving wind and water made it impossible
to see a house twenty yards off. Those only could help
each other who were standing in the same spot; otherwise
each one had to look out for himsel( So sudden was the
�T!tc Texa1Z Cyclone.
rush of water, that Mr. Evans, having left his house at 9
o'clock in the morning to run to the help of the Sisters,
could scarcely reach the convent, though it was not far distant. Still less could he return to his anxious family: he
had to stay where he was that whole day at the peril of his
life.
•
And here I cannot omit to mention something that happened in the home of this eminently conscientious and
right-minded Catholic. On the evening of the hurricane,
the inmates saw, with dismay, a house bearing down directly upon their- ..own. A shock would have been fatal.
Mrs. Buel, Mrs. Evans's mother, a venerable matron of oldtime faith and angelic ways, at the sight of the coming
danger, took a crucifix and placed it in the hands of one of
her granddaughters, saying. to the child: "Hold up this
holy crucifix to that house which is floating towards us:
Jesus will hear the prayer of your innocent lips." The little girl of seven years did as her grandmamma told her,
and raising the sacred sign, she cried out: "Jesus, our
Saviour, save us!" At that very moment the house stopped, standing near by as a monument of what faith could
do. The people who lived opposite say that it looked as
if an invisible hand had steadied it there and then. This
was truly a triumph of the Sacred Heart":· for the whole
Evans family (except the father who, as I have already said
was absent against his will) made a vow to the Heart of
Jesus, while the child was lifting up the crucifix. Thus, in
' no ordinary way, did Jesus and Mary, and Joseph the patron of our church of Indianola, save and protect me and
most of my parishioners. I thought I saw a pious type of
this preservation of the principal part of my flock, when
we found uninjured the head of a plaster statue of St.
Joseph.
Indianola had Mass every day for a month after the
storm, till Holy Obedience called me to Cuero, where I arn
founding a parish. Indianola's promises were very fair.
�Tlte Texan Cyclone.
79
Our Lord had blessed in a special manner my poor efforts.
Several infidels, heretics, and Catholics that had been living
for years without human or divine law, were moved by the
grace of God. I have turned a part of the priest's house
into a chapel capable of holding about a hundred persons.
~ext week Fr. Mac Kiniry, S.]., will give us there a little
miSSion. The past week he concluded one here at Cuero,
and now he is "missionizing" the Irish of St. Patrick's.
Cuero already contains twenty-nine Catholic families, and
many more Protestant. The latter listened with the greatest attention and tractableness to two eloquent and outspoken sermons from our Bishop, Mgr. Pellicer, who, last
Sunday, dedicated our church in honor of St. Michael.
Your Reverence will, I trust, entreat our Lord to give me.
· the physical and moral strength I need for my seven missions. I am tilling a field which, two years ago, was cultivated by four priests niuch stronger than myself. One of
these missions is German, another Polish, the others contain Irishmen, Americans, Englishmen, Italians, Spaniards,
Frenchmen, Mexicans, etc.
I am, in union with your Reverence's Holy Sacrifices
and prayers,
Your humble servant in Christ,
V. L. MANCI, S. J.
L. D. S.
�..-
�vVOODSTOCIC LETTERS.
VOL. V., No.
2.
ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.
[Concluded.]
Fr. Barbelin's early studies were pursued amid the feverish excitement of the then troubled state of France. From
boyhood he was desirous of devoti~ himself to the missions of the New World under the auspices of the Society
of Jesus; and with the consent of his Director, another ·
uncle or cousin, he made a vow to that. effect. The only
obstacle to the accomplishment of his ardent wishes was
the opposition of a mother, who, holy as she was, could
not reconcile herself to the thought of parting with the son
who had been the sunshine of her heart. Here was a
dilemma for the pious youth. God, through the silent
voice of the Spirit that breatheth where He willeth and the
living voice of his spiritual guide, calls him to the New
World, there to labor for the greater glory of God, and, at
VoL. v-No.
2.
II
8I
�82
St. 7oseplt"s Clwrdt, Pluladclphia.
the same time, the voice of God's \Vord and the voice of
Christian instruction tell him": "Hearken to thy father who
begot thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old:"
"Children, obey in the Lord your parents: for this is just."
'He was indeed perplexed; but he had recourse to his usual
refuge and comfort, holy prayer. Every morning, when at
home, he would hie away to the parish church and there,
before a beautiful painting of the Jlater Sah·atoris, beg her
assistance, saying: "Mother of my dear God and Saviour,
inspire my loved mother to give her son to thy Son." Could
Mary refuse such ,a prayer? It was well the young levite
should be tried, .<~;p.d tried he was for years. At length on
the last day of a novena made in honor of our Mother's
Immaculate Conception to obtain the wish of his heart, his
mother sent for him, and gave him her consent and blessing.
"Dearest son," said she, "the only sorrow you have ever
caused me is the desire of leaving me and going away
thousands of miles, where my dying eyes will not rest upon
your loved features. I had hoped to see you a holy priest,
like your uncles and cousins, laboring for the good of your
countrymen. But I know, son, 'he who !oveth father and
mother better than Me, is not worthy of Me, and he who
loveth son and daughter more than Me", is not worthy of Me.
And he who doth not take up his cross and follow after
Me, is not worthy of Me.' God has willed that you should
sojourn in a strange country; go, my son."
No second permission was required. A short visit of
thanksgiving to his God and to the Mediatrix, and then a
few hours sufficed for his hasty preparations; and before
night he was on his way to Paris ;-not that he was in haste
to leave the dear ones he loved and who loved him, but he
feared lest his mother's courage should f:1il and she should
withdraw her permission.
A few months later he landed in Norfolk, Va., where
he met the Rev. Alexander Hitzelberger, afterwards his
brother in R~ligion. On January 7th, I 83 I, he entered the
�St. :Josep!t's Clwrdt, Plziladdpltia.
Novitiate at Whitemarsh, under the kind and judicious
guidance of Fr. Fidelis Grivel. Only three of his fellow
novices are living, Fr. Augustine Bally, Superior of the.
Mission at Goshenhoppen, Mr. Charles Lancaster, Procm·ator of the Province of Maryland, and Rev .. Peter Havermans, pastor of St. Mary's Church, Troy, N. Y. He \Vas
raised to the priesthood on the Festival of the Seven
Dolors, September 22, 1835. and stationed at Georgetown
College, as teacher of French and assistant prefect. It was
about this time that the great rebellion took place among
the students, and so great was the respect, even of the rebels,
for the little French Prefect, that he could move among
them freely, though it was dangerous for the others.
In 1836 he was made assistant to Fr. Lucas at Holy
Trinity Church, Georgetown. I have many times heard
him laugh about the first marriage he blessed-that of two
paupers at the District alms house.
I have often wondered what gave Fr. Barbelin so great
an influence over children and won for him their affection.
Love, we are told, begets love. Fr. Barbelin had no spontaneous love for little ones. \Vith a few exceptions, he took
no delight in the presence of children : it was rather irksome to him. But he had read the words of Jesus: "Suffer
the little children and forbid them not to come unto Me :
for the kingdom of heaven is for such." And he not only
suffered, but endeavored to induce them to come. And this
was the secret of Fr. Barbelin's great labors for the young,
that he might entice them to the way of the Lord, knowing
that if, unfortunately, in mature life, they might wander
from the straight path, there were greater· hopes of their
return to the narrow way than if they had never walked in
it. His sacerdotal experience had shown him that not
unfrequently the chord that has lain unstrung for years,
has been struck to tuneful vibration by the sight of a child
with its hands joined in simple earnest prayer: that the
lips that had forgotten the saving name of Jesus, save to
�St. :Joseplt's Clwrclt, Plzi!adclphia.
blaspheme, had been lured to canticles of praise by the
sweet accents of a favorite daughter singing her "Jesus,
Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart:" that many a cursing father has been made a man of prayer by the dying
look of a cherished son, and many a prayerless mother has
been led to the house of God by the hand of a Sunday
School child. TeJI me not that there is no benefit in Sunday
Schools save to keep children from attending those of our
misled brethren. I tell you, with Fr. Barbelin, that the
influence there brought to bear upon them wiJI bring forth
effects when you and they and I have long been forgotten.
"Make the Sunday School attractive," was his motto. For
this purpose he employed every allurement, held out every
enticement, pictures and medals, processions, sodalities and
hymns. "Let the young praise the name of the Lord," he
would say. "Be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to
yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord," may
we imagine him to have often repeated to his own heart.
Before his coming, the recitation of the Catechism was the
ordinary routine of the Sunday School. One of his first
improvements was his opening and closing hymns, and
these together with his interesting pious histories soon collected around him those whose children _now crowd our
benches. No one could tell a legend as h;. 'It was not that
his language was eloquent, it was broken-it was not that
his gestures were graceful, we were not aware that we
noticed them-but when he spoke, the whole man spoke
-face, hands, arms, feet, every golden hair seemed to have
a tongue of its own, and while he watched every shade
upon the hundred little innocents' faces upturned to his
-he seemed to forget self and to be the hero or the
heroine he portrayed so exquisitely. He began a history
on one Sunday, and when we hung breathlessly upon
his words: ".Well, I see the time is up-I will tell you
how young Pancratius won some of those very naughty
�St. 7oseplz's Owrclt, P!ziladelp!zia.
ss
boys away from Paganism and made them Christians,
next Sunday," broke the spell, and we returned to ourselves with a sigh of relief, if with an expression of disappointment. "I wish it was always this Sunday and never
next Sunday," once said a little boy of nine. So would he
continue his serials, for two, three, and even five or six
Sundays, generally beginning a new one on the day he concluded an old one: and it seldom happened that a child
that heard one commenced failed to hear it concluded. Do
you wonder he drew the children around him? Why do
bees gather around flowers? So did we crowd around the
little French priest who told the stories-because he furnished to us the food our better natures craved for.
Fr. Barbelin was not naturally a prayerful man, but the
written guide of man told him, "all things whatever ye
shall ask in prayer with faith, ye shall receive." His good
parents had taught him from childhood, that "the continual
prayer of a just man availeth much;" and from boyhood
he had been accustomed to betake himself to "prayer and
supplication, praying always in spirit, and watching in it
with all earnestness and entreaty," and in manhood prayer
became a second nature to him. He fell to sleep with the
beads in his hand and Mary's name on his lips, and he
awakened with 'the "Laudetur 7esus C!zn"stus in sa:cula sa:culorum," as the natural tribute of his tongue. No enterprise
was undertaken without being sanctified by prayer, and
every doubt was laid before God in its hours,-it commenced
recreation and it finished labor. One moment he spoke with
men upon the affairs of the world as they affected their salvation, the next he was speaking to God about the things
of Heaven as they affected his own safety and that of those
entrusted to his care. Yes, he was a man of prayer, it was
his support under bodily ills, his consolation in mental
trials. Crosses and contradictions came, but with the
Psalmist did he say: "Instead of making me a return of
love, they oppose me: but I will give myself to prayer.'.'
�86
St. J'oseplz's Clmrclz, Philadelphia.
Nor was Fr. Barbelin naturally meek and forgiving .
. From his father he in~erited a temper not the coolest, and
like his mother, his will was to be bent only by spiritual
motives. But in his pious readings he found: "The patient
man is better than the valiant : and he that ruleth his spirit,
than he that taketh cities." For him it was not easy to forgive an insult; sensitive almost to excess, an injustice rankled
in his mind for years-jealous of his authority, he saw disrespect where none was thought of; still when the old man
would rise within him, he knelt before his crucifix and
pondered the threat of Him who was meek and humble of
heart: "If ye wilt· not forgive men, neither will your Father
forgive you your offences." And though it was difficult
to forget, he did forgive and exhibited no signs of resentment.
Prudence seemed his strong point : "wisdom and prudence abounded in him." \Veil he knew that in this sublunar sphere we are "as sheep in the midst of wolves;" and
he remembered the admonition of Jesus: "Be ye therefore
wary as serpents and guileless as doves." His religious
and ecclesiastical superiors placed the greatest confidence
in his judgment; they and others frequently sought his
advice. In an especial manner was this prudence shown in
the Sacred Tribunal. He may not have l!ad an abundant
flow of scholastic terms, but when consulted about a case of
conscience, his solution would not be found to disagree with
St. Liguori, or Voit, or Gury, or his favorite Busenbaum.
Clergyman had access to him at all times. He had no particular time for any particular class of penitents, but at the
appointed time great must be his sickness if he were not
one of the first to enter the "healing box" and one of the
last to leave it. Many a time has he been carried down
two flights of stairs to take his place for hours to listen to
the sins, and sorrows, and trials, and efforts, and successes
of his fellow pilgrims, and when, at ten o'clock, he was carried up again: his sighs could be heard throughout all the
�St. :Joseplz's C/mrc/z, Philadelphia.
87
house. In so great estimation was he held as a prudent
director of souls, that when Bishop Kenrick received the
despatch, transferring him to the Archiepiscopal See of
Baltimore, in his hasty preparation for departure, he took
time to write notes to some of his penitents advising them
to choose Fr. Barbelin as the director of their consciences.
"The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and he that is
sweet in words shall attain to great things."
"Let your modesty be known to all men," is the advice
of the great Apostle to the Philippians. If in one quality
Father Rarbelin stood preeminently conspicuous, it was in
that virtue which numbers us among the hundred and fortyfour thousand, who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth,-the first fruits to God. Never was an action seen,
never a word heard from him which was not adorned with
the charm of innocence.
He delighted in a joke, and could relate one with humor,
although he sometimes failed, as when, with all solemnity
he proposed the conundrum : "what little black berry is
that which is red when it is green?" But his anecdotes
were always of the nature that give pleasure to a refined
mind, and if any other were related in his presence, he not
only did not appreciate it, but he did not seem to understand it.
In the Confessional he could direct with delicacy, prudence and success, the most leprous conscience ; but once
outside of it he was as ignorant as an infant of all the misery of the world. Nor is this surprising in one who, in the
midst of the distractions of daily life, frequently raised his
heart with the aspiration : "Virgo Virgim11n, ora pro nobis!"
and while discussing some engrossing topic, would turn
his head aside to whisper the prayer: "111ater Pun'ssima,
sucurre mi/zi!" When asked the most powerful means of
driving away the dangerous assaults of the enemy, his answer was : avoid the occasions, pray, invoke and imitate
the "Virgin without spot."
�88
St. Yosep!t's Clmrclt, Plziladelpltia.
His devotion to our holy Mother the Society, and to his
Religious brethren was unbounded. He would not willingly have resigned his title of member of the Society of
Jesus for all the dignity of the purple. It was enough for
one to be a member of our loved Society, to find a place
in the heart of Fr. Barbelin, and to receive from him a
warm welcome to all he had to give.
He considered that men should be enticed, not driven, to
virtue. So he endeavored to make "all her ways beautiful
and all her paths peaceable." Hence his sodalities, his
excursions, his sociable gatherings, his processions, his little
altars ; so that th~ year was one beautiful rosary of novenas : and that he did thereby gain souls for God, none who
knew him will deny.
Father Barbelin was not a saint by nature; he had his
temptations and his faults. For men he had his likings
and his strong dislikes. The regularity of the Religious
life was never agreeable to him. In the last year of his life
he said: "I have been nearly forty years in the Society,
and rising at five is as difficult to me now as the day I
entered." ·But when the busy enemy gave him no peace
even in his latter days, he consoled himself with the words of
St. James: "Blessed is the man who suffereth trial; for when
he hath been proved he shall receive the crown of life,
which God hath promised to those who lc:i~e Him." With
all his little imperfections he was the "beloved of God and
men;" and when he c:almly expired on the evening of June
8th, 1869, the loud lamentations, yea, the cries of agonizing bereavement that rose in St. Joseph's Church, as the
muffled bell tolled his requiem, proclaimed that his name
was held in benediction.
It was about 10 o'clock P.M. that his agony commenced;
there knelt around his bed, as the prayers for the dying
were being recited, our good Father Provincial, with the
Fathers and Brothers of the Residence. At the same time
the boys in the room below, and the pupils in. the female
�St. J'osep!t' s Clmrclz, P/ziladelplzia.
Sg
Academy, in their rooms, were reciting the Rosary of the
ConsolatrLr A.fllictorum, for their beloved father. He continued in his agony until 7·55. when he expired.
The news of his death spread rapidly through the city,
and even in the sub.urbs people were heard loudly weeping;
and when interrogated as to the cause, they answered:
"Father Barbelin is dead, we have lost our father! Father
Barbelin is dead!" So great was the number who hastened at once to kiss his venerated remains, that it was
necessary to place a guard at the door. Among the first
to visit him was Rev. George Strobel, Pastor of St. Mary's
Church, whom Fr. Barbelin had received into our holy
Church. He knelt at his feet and wept like a child.
The next morning at 8.30, a Mass of Requiem was sung;
some of the principal singers of the city formed the choir,
and the number of communions was great indeed. Again
on the morning of the 10th, another Mass was sung, the
body being present, though not exposed ; and again the
sacred table was crowded.
Towards noon the remains were exposed on a raised
platform, in the sanctuary, and before the pulpit he had
adorned with such exquisite taste, and from which he had
distributed the food of wholesome doctrine for so many
years. Placid and smiling, there lay the guide of our boyhood and our youth ; ' the friend of our early and of our
later manhood: and while the sweet music of his accents
still lingered in our ears, we imagined we could hear him
say : "and now we will finish with some prayers to the
Blessed Virgin-remember poor sinners and the suffering
souls."
Yes, there he lay, where so oft he had knelt-before
those little temporary shrines he loved to have erected in
honor of the saints. Do you wonder that Protestants,
mingling with God's people, did as they did? knelt and
kissed his feet, while many a heart felt as never before, the
appropriateness of the words of the fire-touched tongue>
VoL. v-No.
2.
12
�St. Yoseph's Church, Philadelp!tia.
" How beautiful the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
and that preacheth peace: of him that showeth forth good,
that preacheth salvation."
The crowds that visited the Church during that gloriously sad day, were simply innumerable. They resembled
the ocean billows, one gave way but to be followed by another. Still, owing to the admirable arrangements of the
gentlemen of the Sodalities, Sunday School, and Conference of St. Vincent de Paul, there was no disorder. It has
been stated that, in that one day, over one hundred thousand persons were in a church which will not hold a thousand: and yetrnot an incident occurred to distract the
most dev0ut. During the afternoon, various Sodalities and
Confraternities visited the Church and sang their solemn
strains. But the little ones seemed to think that, by right,
belonged to them that sadly pleasing duty ; and if we had
permitted it, they would have been but too happy to spend
the afternoon there, raising their sweet little voices in "Oh
pray for the dead," and
"0 turn to Jesus, )!other, turn,
And call Him by His sweetest names ;
Pray for the holy souls that burn
This hour amid the cleansing flames."*
At 5 o'clock on the morning of the I I th the Propitiatory
Sacrifice was again offered for the sou! -<.lf the departed.
For more than an hour before, a large crowd had been
waiting at the entrance of the church, and during the many
Masses that followed at the three altars, there was no lack
of weeping.
The Age of Saturday, June 12, I 869, says:
"OBSEQUIES OF REv. FATHER BARBELl N-An Immense
Funeral- Impressive Ceremonies at the Cathedral.- The
great e'steem in which the late Felix J. Barbelin, S. J., Pastor of St. Joseph's Church, was held by the people of this
city, was fully manifested in the concourse of adults and
-
____ _____;___·-------~---------·------------·----- . ----------~
*Fr. Faber.
�St. J'oseplz's Clwrclt, Pltiladdpltia.
children that assembled about Third and Fourth streets and
Willing's Alley, at an early hour yesterday morning, to
assist in the last Christian ceremony and tribute of respect
to their departed pastor and friend. At 5 o'clock, Requiem
Mass was celebrated at S. Joseph's, at the conclusion of
which preparations were commenced for the funeral. It
required considerable time to arrange the numerous schools
and societies in order, but by quarter past 8 o'clock the
work was accomplished, and at that time the funeral moved
into Walnut street by Fourth street, out \Valnlit to Eighteenth street, and thence to the Cathedral of SS. Peter and
Paul. The solemn procession extended for many squares
and attracted the attention of thousands of persons as it
marched slowly to the Cathedral. Along the streets through
which it passed the windows of many houses were bowed
as a mark of respect to the deceased. The funeral moved
in the following order:
Society of the Christian Doctrine.
1\lale children of St. Joseph's Sunday and Parish Schools, undc;r the
direction of their· teachers.
Pupils of St. Joseph's Academy with the Sisters of the Institution.
Girls of St. Joseph's Sunday and Parish Schools in charge of their
teachers; attired in white dresses with black ribl!on at the waist.
Ladies' Branch of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin, of St. Joseph's.
Young Men's Branch of St. Joseph's Sodality of the Blessed Virgin.
Men's Branch of the Same Society.
Students of St. Joseph's College.
Philopatrian Literary Institute of Philadelphia.
St. Joseph's Conference of St. Vincent de Paul.
Congregation of St. Joseph's Parish.
•
Delegations from St. Vincent de Paul's Society, as follows:
Cathedral Conference; St. Paul's; St. Augustine's; St. Philip's;
St. Theresa's; St. James'; St. l\lalachi's; St. Michael's; St. Patrick's;
St. Agnes' of West Chester; and St. Francis'.
Then followed representations from the numerous Catholic congregations throughout the city.
�92
St. :Joseph's Clwrc!t, Plli!adclpltia.
The remains were exposed to view as the funeral passed
along and the solemnity of the occasion was thereby
greatly increased. A guard of honor, consisting of prominent members of the Young Men's Sodality of St. Joseph's
surrounded the funeral car.
Following the hearse, were carriages containing the
assistant priests of the late pastor, and the clergy of this
city. The right of the funeral column reached the Cathedral about quarter past nine o'clock, and entered by the
main doon\'ay, the seats in the nave of the great edifice
having been reserved for those who formed the procession.
After all the soCieties had entered, the body was taken from
the hearse, carried up the main aisle and placed upon a
magnificent catafalque, which was surrounded by pedestals
of marble, rich vases containing natural flowers, beautiful
candelabra and rows of lighted tapers. At the head of the
coffin stood an ivory crucifix. Long before the funeral
had started from St. Joseph's, that portion of the Cathedral,
unreserved, was filled with people, and many were required
to remain upon the street for several hours, the mighty
structfire being incapable of containing all who wished to
enter it. After the doors of the Cathedral were closed, the
clerical vestments were laid upon the deceased priest, and
a golden chalice with paten was placed in· his hands. Rt.
Rev. Bishop Wood then entered the San~tu'ary, followed by
the clergy and the seminarians of the diocese. The solemn
office of the dead was recited, the Rt. Rev. Bishop presiding. Near I I o'clock, A. l\1. solemn Pontifical Mass of
requiem was commenced, during which Rev. Michael
O'Connor, of St. Ignatius' Church, Baltimore, preached the·
funeral s~rmon ; taking for his text : 'The patient man is
better than the valiant, and he who ruleth his own spirit
better than he who taketh cities.'-Prov., xvi. He began
by saying that pomp and honors would seem to be nowhere
so much out of place as in the presence of death; because
in death is sbown the vanity of all things. The proudest
�Si.
J'oseplz's Clwrclz, Plziladelp/zia.
93
of men and all things earthly, pass away as bubbles before
it; and yt:t, the feeling which induces us to honor the virtues
of the dead must have its legitimate effect. It is the great
virtues of the departed one which have caused the deep feeJing of regret at his death which pervades this enlightened
city, which has brought this vast multitude around his remains, and calls forth this homage. While I feel entirely
inadequate to explain the character of Fr. Barbelin; I feel
that some reference thereto is requisite on this occasion.
'Whatever is said in hi~ praise at this time, I know will be
but the expression of all here assembled. Among the
• thousands and tens of thousands who knew the departed,
there is not one who can remember him otherwise than
with the deepest affection and respect. There are none
who knew him, but who believe that every word and act of
his was prompted by the strictest virtue. After a rapid
sketch of Fr. Barbelin's early life, the speaker continued:
How he entered upon every duty belonging to his sacred
office, and continually extended his good works, you who
knew him can all bear testimony. Seeking God only, and
for the sake of God, he labored diligently for the welfare of
all men. It would be doing injustice to allow this sad
occasion to pass without making some mention of the
great works of our departed friend. The foremost of his
labors was devotion to the children, by his zeal and gentleness leading them to virtue. In that little church of St.
Joseph's, his zealous efforts brought around him each Sunday, from 1,500 to z,ooo boys and girls to chant the praises
of God. He labored for them because he loved thembecause he saw in them that holy innocence which he
labored to keep untarnished. There is nothing that can
take the place of love; and where christian love exists it
is a lever which effects wonderful works. It was this love
which so closely bound together Father Barbelin and the
children of his church.
I recollect having seen him in a
distant parish, where children were being prepared for
�94
St. :Josep!t's Clmrclt, Pluladdp!tia.
confirmation. At first, the children were struck with awe
by the presence of the strange priest ; but as the gentle
voice and manners of Fr. Barbelin were unfolded, the faces
of the children brightened, and they warmed up to genuine
affection for the stranger. An instance of the love existing
between Fr. Barbelin and the children who knew him, was
shown in the case of a lost child, which occurred a few
years ago. The wandering little boy could tell nothing of
his name, parents or home, and after repeated efforts to
learn something that might lead to his return to his parents, a lady chanced to ask him whether he did not remember the name of any body. In a moment he replied: " I
know Fr. Barbelin/' and that reply led to the finding of the
lost child's home.
It was Fr. Barbelin who founded those Sodalities, which
now unite the young of both sexes in devotional exercises ; ·
and that good work, commenced in St. Joseph's, has
extended throughout this diocese, and become general
throughout the Church.
As in his love for children, so in many other good works,
Fr. Barbelih took a leading part. The Hospital of St.
Joseph's may solely be considered the result of his labors.
Years ago, when the dread pestilence, the ship-fever, was
striking down the people of the lower part_of this city, Fr.
Barbelin labored zealously to relieve the"il< and then it
was that the idea of the present Hospital originated with
him. He labored for God, and for God only, and was
esteemed by the high and the humble. He accomplished
great works by the power of his well known virtues. He
was not what might be termed brilliant in the performance
of his labors ; and it was only the power of virtues,
simply expressed, which gave him a place in the hearts of
the people. It is by such that the virtuous man is greater
than the valiant. I say to you, then, imitate him by loving
all with whom you come in contact-imitate his virtues.
To the Reverend clergy, I would on this occasion suggest
�St. 7oseplt's C/wrclt, P!tiladelp!tia.
95
the value of renewing our love for God, and through love
for God, renew our love for our people. Though we may
all be engaged in various pursuits, let us remember that
virtue survives the shock of death. May that day which
ends our earthly labors, bring us all to God to receive the
reward of virtue and good works. Through that bond of
union which God has ordained in our Church, let us perform such devotional works as may benefit the departed,
and be of service to ourselves. "
After the Pontifical Mass, the absolution followed, and
at 2, P. M., the funeral train left the Cathedral and passed to
St. Joseph's Cemetery, where the body was interred in the
presence of many thousand people. In so great respect
was he held even by Protestants, that on the day of his funeral work was suspended on the great Masonic Temple to
allow the artisans and laborers to be present at the obsequies.
After the funeral ceremonies, the Bishop of the diocese,
well pleased with the respect shown to the Apostle of Philadelphia, remarked : "If this Cathedral had been built for
this occasion alone, the money would have been well expended." On the next day I met one of the leading parsons of the Episcopal church. He stopped, and in the
course of conversation, remarked: •· Father, there was no
need of any sermon in the Cathedral yesterday, the sight
of those children was eulogy enough for one man."
On the evening of the 25th of July, the Particular Conference of St. Vincent de Paul met in the basement of the
Church, when the Hon. Joseph R. Chandler delivered a
most eloquent discourse upon Fr. Barbelin as "The sincere man," concluding with these words: Oh! how all the
life of Fr. Barbelin illustrated the character of a christian
gentleman. How his death, peaceful, confiding, submissive,
illustrates the power of christian faith.
" He taught us how to live, and oh, too high
The price of knowledge, taught us how to die."
�St. J'oseplt's Clmrclt, P!tiladdpltia.
\Ve mourn our loss, but we fail to comprehend his infinite
gain. \Ve, my brethren, "are of the earth, earthy," and in
this life we walk by faith, whose light is dimmed by the
impurity on which it rests ; but Fr. Barbelin is of Heaven,
Heavenly, and with affections and views all purified, all
sanctified,
-"He walks with God,
High in salvation and the climes of bliss."
Immediately after his death, there was a movement
made to raise a suitable monument in the quadrangle near
the Church, and to beautify the Cemetery where his remains repose. S).;lnday after Sunday, even during the
inclement winter, the children and teachers, some on each
Sunday, and others on the Sunday following the 8th of
every month, visited his grave and strewed it with the
flowers he loved so much.
On Pentecost Sunday, the sth of June, I 870, the memorial in the Southern wall, erected during the preceding
week, was unveiled. Hundreds of the old and the young,
approached the table of the Lord. Solemn High Mass
was sung. -John Duross O'Bryan, Esq., a former pupil of
St. J<?seph's, delivered a most eloquent discourse on the
life and labors of our late Pastor. There amid the soulstirring strains of martial music without, accompanied by
the swelling organ, the pealing trumpet, and the rolling
drum within the Church, the curtain was withdrawn, and
many gazed upon the chiseled features of one who from
Heaven gazed and smiled on them.
In the afternoon, the children of the Sunday School
with their teachers, went in joyful procession to strew with
flowers the lowly mound where the remains of their friend
and father slept. The idea· was the children's, but the
Sodalities joined ; and then the Conferences, and the Beneficial Societies, and then the congregation. Arrived at the
Cemetery, ranged 'round the grassy mound, infant and
childish voices, the voice of lad and maiden, of man and
�St. 'Joscp!t's Clmrdt, P!tiladdpltia.
97
woman, joined in familiar hymns to Saints Joseph, Felix,
Ignatius, to the Queen of Saints, and to the loved Name of
Jesus-then a few short prayers were recited, and the immense concourse separated, passing around the hallowed
spot and depositing their floral offerings-many to return
to the Church to receive the Benediction of the Lord of the
quick and dead.
This touching ceremony was repeated in 1871 ; and on
\V ednesday the 8th of June, an Anniversary service was
held.
How more appropriately bring to a close these somewhat tedious pages, than with an affecting tribute, sent from
the green plains of distant Minnesota, by one who had
known him well and had felt the power of his virtues :
IN MEMORIAM
REV. FELIX JOSEPH
BARBELIN.
I.
Father and friend, shepherd of many lambs!
Is it too late for this one to druw near,
And drop from out her prayer-enfolded palms
The flowers of saddest song upon thy bier?
Out of the distant 'Vest in spirit come,
To kneel beside thee tremulous and dumb!
II.
That crowded church,-how well my fancy paints
Its sombre drapery, its solemn light!
And in the midst a visage like a saint's
Shining from out the shadows pure and white;
The dear old hands, like lilies laid at rest
Beneat.h the crucifix upon his breast.
III.
That meek, good face,-' mid children still a child's
The smile upon it was forever young;
And well they loved his accents soft and mild,
The broken music of his foreign tongue;
The serpent's guile, the innocence of dove,
Mingling forever in its zealous love.
VoL. v-No.
2.
13
�St. Yosep!t's Clwrdt, P!tiladdplzia.
IV.
His heart was with them: from the baptiz<>d babe,
Up to the stripling and the maiden fair;
His mission Jay among the little ones
Whom Christ committed to His Spouse's care;
And how he did his work-how long and well
He labored-let St. Joseph's children tell.
v.
Early and late, through sunshine and through storm,
In the Tribunal, at the altar rail,
For thirty years his dear familiar form,
His pleasant face with suffering often pale,
,.,. ent to and fro in guise of common things,
Doing an angel's work on tireless wings.
VI.
Who that-has heard his }lass-who that has knelt
In the Confessional and heard his voice,
Pleading God's cause so sweetly-but has felt
A secret thrill which made his heart rejoice!
And going forth, has breathed a summer air,
As though our Lord Himself had spoken there.
VII.
All ! how we'll miss him, who was ever found
Ready to sympathize, and strong to guide ;
Ah ! how we'll miss him as the years roll round,
And life grows stern and griefs are multiplied!
How often yearn, 'mid vexing cares, to be,
Children, to tell our story at his knee.
VIII .
•\.dvent and Christmas we shall, thronging, meet
To seek our friend 'mid Bethlehem's delights;
}..nd throagh the Lent, the crowdetl, close Hetreat : 'Ve'll miss his reading of the prayers o' nights ;
And when the words of final blessing-spund,
Full many a secret tear will dew the ground.
IX.
:\lay-time will come, and twinkling lights will shine
And flower and incense fill the air with balm;
But one dear visage at the blessed shrine,
'Villlook no more upon us, meek and C<llm,
And other hands than his wiil then dispense
The Fin;t Communion to the innocents.
X.
Lo! in the octave of the SACRED IIEART,
He sought his refuge in that school of peaceTake him, 0 Lord! all-JoYing as Thou art,
Clad in the raiment of his fr<>sh release ;
· Take him and fold him there in deathless bliss.
may our latter end be like to his !
1\ncl
�ST. JOHN'S CHURCH AND RESIDENCE,
FREDERICK, MD.
(Continued.)
The first entry made by Fr. Maleve in the baptismal
record of St. John's is dated the 3rd day of February, I8I I.
Hence it might be inferred that he began his labors in
Frederick about the beginning of that year; though it
would appear from the archives of the Province that his
arrival was two years earlier.
·
The state of Catholicity was somewhat improved; the
number of the faithful had increased, especially in the more
distant stations; so that it became necessary a few years
later to build small churches in several parts of the County.
The German element had become more numerous in Frederick ; still the English and Irish names were in the majority. At Petersville, Liberty, and on the Manor there
always has been a preponderance of English and Irish
Catholics. During the years that had passed since the
Revolution, a great many slaves had been brought into the
County; and as a great. proportion of them were Catholics,
their instruction in religious matters entailed no trifling
burden on the pastor. The Church of St. John's was still
unfinished, and was even unsafe. The interior was not
plastered, and the roof had been so poorly made, that it had
begun to sink , Supports from within became a matter of
necessity, as the side walls, yielding to the weight, were
pressed out. Fr. l\Ialeve had the Church plastered in 1812.
The building was made safe when the roof had been rendered secure by means of wooden columns.
There was certainly, a wide field of labor for one man in
Frederick Fr. Makve was not discouraged, but gave
himself up wholly to the work.
99
�roo St. :John's Clwrclt and Residence, Frederick, Jv!d.
This zealous missionary was born Dec. rst, 1770. His
naturalization papers speak of him as a native of Russia,
and a subject of the Emperor of that country. In early
life he entered the Order of St. Francis of Assisi ; but on
account of the troubles at the end of the last century, he
was forced, after the dispersion of his. Order, to live in the
world as a secular. In 1804, with the permission of the
Holy See, he entered the Society in Russia. \Vhilst yet a
novice, he was sent to the United States; and was indeed
'the first Jesuit that came to us from \Vhite Russia. At
Georgetown he spent some months in the study of English.
His progress in~this undertaking was not over flattering.
A man of great energy, of large frame, over six feet in
height, with a voice of stentorian strength, he was anxious
to exercise his indefatigable zeal for the good of souls. He
was allowed to preach occasionally to the students of the
College, as they were, no doubt, thought to be less severe
upon the blunders he was wont to make, as when he said
several times in one of his sermons that the Blessed Virgin
Mary had been assumptcd into Heaven. Many other amusing anecdotes are handed down concerning his attempts at
sermons, before he became more of a master in English.
In r8o6, as the members of the Society in the United
States had been permitted to renew th~ir vows and to
receive novices, a Novitiate was opened at Georgetow·n.
On the I rth of October, the little Community was formed;
it consisted of ten persons-a Father, seven Scholastic and
two lay Brother novices. The Father novice, the Rev.
Francis Neale, acted also as master of the probation. The
thirty days' retreat was begun immediately,* and lasted
until the feast of St. Stanislaus. On that day, it was thought
to be a good thing to have the solen1n opening of the Novitiate before the public. Besides this, one of the Fathers
of the Old Society t was to make his Profession into the
* :uanresa, as the Novitiate was called, is a small house on First Street,
for a long time the residence of the pastor.
t Father Charles Neale.
�St. :Jo!tn's Clmrdt and Rcsidmcc, Frederick, J11d.
IOI
hands of Archbishop Carroll ; an event quite novel at that
time, and perhaps the first Religious Profession ever made
in the United States. Old Trinity Church was chosen for
the purpose.
A congregation had assembled, and the
novices and many Fathers from the College were seated in
the sanctuary. Fr. Maleve, in his enthusiasm for the Society, asked permission to say a few words. His zeal was
greater than his knowledge; unable to express himself in
English, he was forced to use the Latin tongue, to the great
wonderment of the faithful and the Archbishop.*
Father Maleve was at no time more than a,tolerable
scholar in English. He seemed to have great difficulty
with English and Irish names: Me Mollin (Me Mullin),
Ryda (Ryder), Me Cherry and Tomptson, etc. (Me Sherry
and Thompson, etc.), are frequent mistakes in his writings.
Once in Frederick, Fr. l\Ialeve gave himself wholly to
the spiritual advancement of his flock. No labor was too
excessive for his zeal; no fatigue superior to his untiring
energy. The two churches in the northern part of the
County, at Emmettsburg and Mt. St. Mary's, lessened considerably the number of his parishioners. The work, however, that remained for him was very hard. The sick calls
were sometimes at great distances, even as far as Harper's
Ferry and Martinsburg; that is, to places twenty and forty
miles away. Yet he was always cheerful and enthusiastic
in the midst of his hardships. Glancing over the records,
one is struck with his style of writing; it is an index of his
enthusiastic nature. His penmanship is not that of neat,
pent-up Utica, but bold, expansive and rugged. The people
loved him, though his nature was on occasions rather
brusque. It is told of him that once he went to see a
-------------------------------------
*The Archbishop said to one of the novices: "\Vhat is he talking
about? There ought to be a sermon in English." One of the Fathers,
thinking it better to read a good sermon than to extemporize a poor one,
offered to read a discourse from AucnER for the people. This was done.
A member of the choir remarked that the sermon was very good, but
the reading spoiled it.
�102
St. 7o!tn's Clmrc!t and Rcsidmce, Frederick, J1ld.
mechanic about some work in the Church. He was observed coming, and the workman enjoined his wife to say
that he was not at home. She did as she was told. "That's
not true; I know it from the way you say it. Your husband is at home. Come down; I see you up there behind
the chimney." Notwithstanding such plain-spoken langwige, no one was offended.
Fr. l\Ialeve was allowed to take his last vows on the 29th.
of June, r8r5. He prepared himself for this religious act
with great fervor. He looked on it as the realization of
long che;ished hopes. On his return to Frederick he continued the work-he had been doing so well. The next
undertaking worthy of notice was the building of St. Joseph's Church, on the l\Ianor. about seven miles from
Frederick. The work was finished in rSzo. The lot of
ground for the church and graveyard, with a portion of
the funds, no doubt, for the building itself, was a gift to the
Father from Charles Carroll of Carrollton. There is, perhaps, not a piece of land in Frederick County that has, for
its size, more great names connected with it, than the St. Joseph's property. First, the gift already mentioned ; then
another by the Pattersons, another by the Harpers and
Me Tavishes: and, finally, in r8;3. Mary Ann, Marchioness of \Vellesley, makes an offering. Tl1e document by
which the ~Iarchioness conveys the prop;rty has an international character, as it had to pass the office of the American consul in London, the Hon.l\Ir. Ingersol.* St. Joseph's
congregation has always been under the charge of our
Fathers, who have attended it from the Residence in Frederick, or from the Novitiate.
In r8zr, Mr. Coale, a prominent Catholic of Liberty, a
town about I 2 miles from Frederick, offered a lot of ground
*St. Joseph's Church has not been forgotten by the members of the
Carroll family. Only a few years ago, the old building was torn down
and a new :mel much larger one erected in its stead, at a cost of seven
thousand dollars. Of this sum, five thousand dollars were given by u
great grand-daughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton.
�St. :1o1m's Clwrclt and Rcsidmcc, Fredcn"ck, J.vid.
103
for a church. Fr. :\Taleve, with the approbation of the
Superiors, accepted it, and a building was begun; the work,
however, went on slowly; and was not completed until
after his death. This Church has, with the exception of
two or three years, been always attended by the F.athers of
Frederick. About three years ago the old building was
torn down, and a new one erected, at a cost of fifteen thou'sand dollars. General Coale, the son of the donor of the
land, bore all the expenses of the new church.
The state of religion in Frederick County in 1822 was
encouraging. ·with the congregation of St. John's mur.h
increased, and a necessity for churches in other parts of
the County, the prospect was indeed cheering, and, no
doubt, made the Pastor look forward to a rich harvest.
Now he could begin to see the effect of thirteen years' incessant toil ; but he was not permitted by the Master
whom he served so well, to continue the work. Towards
the end of September, he began to suffer from an attack of
bilious fever, which, in those days, used to be prevalent in
autumn about Frederick. At first, trusting to his strong
constitution, he may have looked on the attack as trifling ..
He grew no better, and soon serious apprehensions were
entertained about his recovery. The Superior of the Mission, Fr. Charles Neale, having been informed of his illness,
sent one of Ours to give him all the assistance necessary'
in his dying moments. Fr. John Me Elroy was chosen for
this sad duty. On his arrival in Frederick, he found his
much esteemed brother in Religion very ill. He administered the last Sacraments, and waited in hope for some
favorable turn in the disease; but God willed otherwise.
Fr.. Malevc died on the 3rd of October, 1822. His death
was a great affliction to the flock. After the Mass and funeral service by Fr. Me Elroy, the remains of the beloved
Pastor were placed in the little graveyard behind the Church.
In the meanwhile, the Superior had been informed of the
death. A successor to the deceased F. Maleve was expect-
�104 St. :John's Clmrclt and Rcsidma, Frederick, 11ld.
•
ed to arrive from Georgetown. Several gentlemen in the
congregation, amongst whom 'was Mr. Taney, addressed a
letter to the Fr. Superior, asking to retain Fr. l\Ic Elroy.
The request was granted; and thus was begun a career of
usefulness which, if we consider the resources at hand, has
•
been scarcely equalled in any city in the country. \Vhatever Catholicity has in Frederick, that it may point to with
pride, is owing to Fr. Me Elroy. He found the congrega- ·
· tion small, the church sadly in need of repair, the residence
old and weather-beaten; after twenty-three years, when
he was called away, he left the congregation large and
flourishing, whilst·the old church had given place to one of
the finest churches in the States, and the old two story residence had been greatly enlarged, and was doing service as
a Novitiate of the Society. The new residence, on Church
Street, the buildings for St. John's Literary Institution, and
the .school and Orphanage of the Sisters of Charity, gave
proof also of the energy and skill of the Pastor of St. J olm's.
It is an easy matter to show financial tact in large cities
with liberal congregations; but it was quite a task to build
schools and~churches in Frederick fifty years ago, as money
· was scarce, and the little that could be had, was to be used
'vith consummate ability, in order to accomplish anything.
These works will be spoken of more in detail, and in the
order of time.
~Fr. Me Elroy was expected to carry on the work of his
predecessor without any assistant. The rest of the year
(I 822 ), passed away without any event of special importance. In 1823, the new Pastor's loneliness was cheered by
the arrival of Fr. Van Quickenborne, with a colony of
Ours, CJt route for Missouri. They remained a few days,
and then set out on the long journey to their destined home
beyond the Mississippi, where so much good has been done
for the people of the \Vest and the increase of the Society.
Towards the end of 182 3, negotiations were begun with
the Superior 'of the Sisters of Charity, for the establish·
�St. :John's Clwrclt and Residmce, Frederick, llfd.
105
ment of a community in Frederick. The help the Sisters
could render to the pastor for school purposes was much
needed. Early in 1824, five Sisters arrived from Emmettsburg and were domiciled in a wretched log cabin, built in
the days of the revolution on what is now the Convent property. This had but two rooms on the ground floor and
overhead a miserable attic. The school was opened, however. A notice had been previously inserted in the papers
to this effect:
"St. John's Female Benevolent and Frederick Free School
will be opened on the 3d of January, 1824. Reading, writing and needle-work, etc., will be taught. All denominations admitted."
The ministers were greatly offended that the benighted
Catholics should have a free school and that Protestants
should attend it in great numbers. The text in every pulpit
was sharpened, so as to wound the harmless Sisters. Bells
were rung; public meetings held to denounce the Papist
aggressions. Vile epithets were vomited forth against
priests and nuns and, above all, the Sisters of Charity. A
Free School Association was formed, by which each church
was to have its own school, and the attacks of Rome to be
warded off. A petition was sent to the Legislature for pecuniary help for the "free schools" of Frederick. Of course,
the Catholic school was ignored. Fr. l\IcElroy got wind
of the movement, and, through the exertions of Mr. Frank
Thomas, afterwards Governor of the State, Col. William
Schley, Mr. Harper, a Catholic, and several other Catholic
members from the lower counties, obtained a part of the
money donated by the Legislature.
In the meanwhile, the ministers were not idle. In their
visits from house to house and by means of the newspapers,
every effort was made to draw away the children, from the
Sisters' influence. "Beware of the she-wolves," said they,
breaking the figure : "beware of the she-wolves that want
to kidnap your children." These clamors of the press and
VoL. v-No.
2.
14
�ro6 St. :Jo!tn's Clzurclz and Residence, Frederick,llfd.
the parsons were unheeded, and the good work went on.
The Protestants would not withdraw their children, though
urged to do so by their preachers, especially by a certain
Rev. Mr. Schaeffer, who was looked. up to as the leader of
the anti-Catholic movement. The true-blue orthodoxy of
this man was undoubted, though it would seem that he was
acting more in his official capacity than from private malice.
The following announcement clipped from a paper of 1837
will show what kind of gospel he expounded:
"The Rev. Mr. Schaeffer will deliver the Sacrament in
the Baptist Church to-morrow, in the German and English
languages, at 10-<?.'clock in the forenoon."*
The Sisters' school soon had two hundred pupils. The
Protestant children were much attached to them and used
to learn the catechism, Catholic prayers and hymns, the
"Angelus," etc. It was a common thing with them in their
homes, to the no little astonishment of the parents, to sing
the hymns and recite the prayers they had been taught by
the Sisters; and when the "Angelus" bell was rung, they
were wont to fall on their knees to say the beautiful proyer
to the Mother of God. Opposition had only perfected the
work. It would seem natural to expect many conversions
among the children. Unfortunately, this was not the case;
for though prejudices were removed, yet very few embraced
the faith, owing to the oath which then,~and even now, is
exacted from the candidates, for what is called Confirmation, of never abandoning their belie( This custom is found
in the Luthera1,1 and Dutch Reformed churches, which are
numerous in Frederick County.
In 1825, it became necessary to build a large establishment for the Sisters, to serve for a school and an orphan
*Not VPfY unlike the spirit of this notice, taken from a Copenhagen
paper: "Noving & Co. have constantly on band a Protestant minister
who will, on the shortest notice and on the most reasonable terms, administer all the Sacraments; namely, Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony,
Divorce aud Funerals."- London Register.
�St. 7o!tn's Clmrdt and Reszdcnce, Frederick, iV!d. 107
asylum. How do such a thing with the means in hand?
In New York, or some of the large cities such a work
could be easily done, but how do it here ? The work was
done and paid for; the orphans, too, were well supported
by the alms of the people and especially by the farmers of
the Manor. When then the building was finished, a sign
was put over the door with the words: St. 7o!tn's Female
Benevolent and .First Frcdenck Free Scltool. These words
had given great offence already, but the sign with the addition of the epithet first, was not at all pleasing. l\Ir. Taney
said it was right to have the fact put before the eyes of the
bigots, that the Catholics had the first free school in the
city. Not so, thought a certain doctor of medicine who
undertook to prove in the public prints that the fact was not
true. His attacks, as well as those of so many others, since
the opening of the school, were not noticed ; a style of defence that might be oftener adopted. Many of the Protestants who were educated by the Sisters always kept up
kindly sentiments towards them. Even now one may sometimes meet with Catholic books in the houses of Protestants; these books were given as prizes by the Sisters.
During this year (1825), Fr. Me Elroy had as his assistant Fr. P. \V. \Valsh.* One was much needed, as the congregation in Frederick was enough for a priest. The help
of another Father became more imperative next year, when
a church was built at Petersville. The land for this church
was given by Mr. \Vest, a Protestant gentleman. Our
Fathers yet attend this congregation. A few years ago the
old log building was enlarged. The colored people form
the larger portion of the congregation, and, what may seem
* Fr. :McElroy had at different times, from 1825 to 1845, the following
assistants: Fathers ·walsh, Grace, Peeters, a martyr of charity for the
fever-stricken workmen on the canal, Dubuisson, Pise, a secular priest,
V. II. Barber, Flautt, a secular priest, Kroes, McGerry, a secular priest,
McCarthy, Ryder, Moore, Aloysius Young, Steinbacher, Powers, Dietz,
Logan, Enders, Tuffer, and George Villiger.
�108 St. :1o1m's Clmrclt and Residmcc, Frederick, llfd.
strange to those who look on this class of people as dull
and uninstructed, have the choir to themselves and sing
very fair music at Mass on Sundays. Of late years a great
deal has been done for the religious education of the colored
children by the heroic self-devotion of a young lady who,
though wealthy and admired by the world, has given herself entirely to this good work.
It had long been evident to all that some provision should
be made for the education of the male youth of St. John's
congregation. The girls were excellently cared for by the
Sisters; something had to be done for the boys also, who
were much in want of religious and literary knowledge.
The usual difficulty presented itsel£ How raise the money?
How support the school?
On August 7th, 1828, the octave of the feast of our holy
Founder, the corner-stone of St. John's Literary Institute
was laid. In I 829, the classes were begun, and soon St.
John's College, for by this name it was more commonly
known throughout the State, became the rival of Georgetown and remained so until 1853, when it received a check
by the expulsion of a large number of students at one
time. It has never recovered ; and, in truth, no effort has
been made to restore it to its former glory, as the system
was justly thought to be attended with g(eat dangers for
the morals of the young men. The stude~ts used to board
in private families and were subject to the domiciliary visits
of the prefects. This regulation, though succeeding well at
first, was not sufficient afterwards to keep out abuses. The
college was in a measure a free school, as many students
were educated gratuitously. St. John's has given many
vocations to the Society, and to the legal and medical professions some of the most distinguished names in this city
and State. The school is still kept for the youth of Frederick. A charter was obtained from the legislature in I 829,
together with ·an annual donation of three hundred dollars.
This sum is still faithfolly paid by the Comptroller of the
State.
�St. :John's 'Cimrclt and Residence, Frederick, J.l1d. 109
The pastor had done a great deal toward finishing and
beautifying the old Church ; but on account ofthe increase
in the congregation, it was thought advisable to extend the
front of the Church fifteen or twenty feet and to erect galleries. This plan was proposed to the people in 1830; all
readily agreed to contribute to the work. Several builders
were consulted about the contemplated addition; they were
unanimous that it would be a waste of money, and advised
rather the pulling down of the old Church and the erecting
of a new one. The project was abandoned for some· time
for want of money. In 1832, the new plan was put before
the congregation; this time four thousand dollars were subscribed. \Vith this amount and a legacy of another thousand dollars, a beginning was considered to be warranted.
Very Rev. Fr. Peter Kenny, Superior and Visitor, was
consulted and, after an interchange of opinions, it was
finally resolved in January, 1833, that the work should be
undertaken and the site changed from that on which the
old Church stood to the lot on the opposite side of the
street. Books of architecture were obtained from Georgetown; with the aid of these, Fr. Me Elroy an~ l\Ir. Tehan,
a well known builder of those days, fixed upon a plan for
the new edifice. The form was to be that of a Latin cross ;
the nave to be a hundred and thirty-six feet in length and
forty-nine in width; the transept, forty-nine feet in width
and ninety-four in length; length of nave to transept, sixtythree feet; height from floor to ceiling, forty feet. The
Society's Church in Gardiner St., Dublin, was used as a
model for the ground plan, though St. John's is considerably
larger.
The corner-stone was laid in the north east angle of the
nave on St. Joseph's day, 1833. Amid the greatest difficulties the work went on. Money came somehow. Subscriptions, loans, legacies, contributions from the employees
of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal, enabled the pastor to finish the building
�I 10
St. 7o!m's Clwrc!t and Residence, Freden"ck, ilid.
by April 1837. Among the presents recorded for the altar
were a dozen candlesticks and two crucifixes ; these articles cost twelve hm)dred francs, and were sent by Very Rev.
John Roothan, General of the Society.*
On the 26th of April, St. John's was consecrated to the
service of God, and was perhaps the first church thus solemnly dedicated in this part of the United States. The
Rev. John Hughes who had been ·chosen to preach the
sermon of the day was forced to decline, owing to the
death of his father a short time before. This distinguished
ecclesiastic published in the Herald and Visitor, of Philadelphia, an account of the consecration. From it a few
items are taken :-t
"MR. EDITOR : Knowing that the readers of your
widely circulating and useful Herald will be edified by the
record of whatever marks the progress of the one Faith, I
take the liberty of forwarding some account of the consecration of St. John's Church, in Frederick, which took
place the 26th ult. (April).
"The consecration was performed according to the solemn rite of the Roman Pontifical. There were present the
]\lost Rev. Samuel Eccleston, Archbishop of Baltimore,
and eight Suffragan Bishops, viz: Rt. Rev: John England,
Bishop of Charleston; Rt. Rev. Benedict ~Fenwick, Bishop
of Boston; Rt. Rev. Joseph Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis;
Rt. Rev. John B. Purcell, Bishop of Cincinnati; Rt. Rev.
Guy Ignatius Chabrat, Bishop of Bolina and Coadjutor of
Bardstown; Rt. Rev. Simon Gabriel Brute, Bishop of Vincennes ; Rt. Rev. William Clancy, Bishop of Orio and
Coadjutor of Charleston ; Rt. Rev. Anthony Blanc, Bishop
of New Orleans. Besides these, there were present a large
concourse of clergymen from almost every section of the
-------------------------
* The Church cost $ 3G,064.!)G: it could not be built now for much less
than $100,000. :
t Herald and Visitor, ~lay 4, 1837.
�St. Yo!tn's Clwrclt and Residence, Frederick, 111d.
I I I
United States, about seventy in all. Among them I may
mention Very Rev. Louis Deluol, D. D., Superior of the
Sulpicians, Baltimore; Very Rev. William McSherry, Provincial of the Society of Jesus in Maryland; Very Rev. P.
Verhaegen, Superior of the same Society in Missouri and
President of the College of St. Louis; Rev. Thomas Mulledy, S. J., President of Georgetown College; Rev. Thomas
Butler, President of Mt. St. Mary's College, near Emmetts~
burg; Rev. John Hickey, Superior of the Sisters of Charity;
Very Rev. Felix Varella, of New York; Very Rev. John
Hughes, of Philadelphia; Rev. Ignatius A. Reynolds, of
Louisville, Kentucky; Rev. Stephen Theodore Badin, the
pioneer of religion in the West and among the Indians, the
first ordained priest of the country, and, as he was appropriately designated, "The eldest Son of the American
Church." There was a great number also of clergymen
from the neighboring Missions, as well as the ecclesiastics
belonging to the Seminary of Emmettsburg, the Novitiate
of the Society of Jesus, under the direction of the learned
and venerable Fr. Francis Dzierozynski. They were dressed
in surplices; the priests in chasubles of the richest kind,
and the bishops in copes and mitres.
''The day was calm and bright, as if to harmonize with
the scene and with the feelings which it was calculated to
awaken in every good breast. The ceremony of consecration, which was performed by the Most Rev. Archbishop,
commenced about six o'clock, A. M., and terminated about
eleven. The solemn procession for removing the relics
from the old church was one of the most imposing spectacles which it was possible to conceive. * * *
"After the consecration of the Church, there was Solemn
Pontifical Mass by the Most Rev. Archbishop, Very Rev.
Dr. Deluol, Assistant Priest, Rev. George Fenwick of
Georgetown, and Rev. Thomas Butler, of Emmettsburg,
Deacon and Subdeacon. As soon as the Gospel was sung
by the Deacon, Rt. Rev. Dr. England ascended the pulpit,
�1I2
St. :Jo!tn's C!turclt and Residmce, Frederick, JJid. ,
and the vVord of God was proclaimed for the first time in
the temple which had been reared and just consecrated to
His greater honor and glory. The sermon was a mild and
dignified vindication of the principles of the Catholic faith,
in connection with the rites, sacerdotal vesture, language
and ceremonies, which are employed in the public worship
of God.
"The variety of topics on which it was necessary for him
to touch, in a sermon of this kind, would seem unfavorable
to what has been regarded as a peculiarity of his mind
more than of any.,other living orator: that is, a power of
unfolding a princip,le and extracting from its development
evidences of truth, which sometimes even those who are
familiar with the principle, do not suspect it capable of containing, or cannot exhibit with that clearness and perspicuity, which carry at once light and conviction to the minds
of audiences. vVhen you hear the Bishop of Charleston
on a subject of this description, you are borne along on a
tide, which may at first seem barely able to sustain you,
but which is continuous and cumulative in its progress,
until it acquires a force that overwhelms everything which
cannot spring to its surface. On such an occasion, he and
the advocate of the error he is confuting, seem at the commencement of his discourse to be nearly on an equality,
but as he advances, you mark the growing--strength on the
one side and the progressive weakness on the other. He
defeats his adversary by the very unfolding of the principles
involved in the contest; but when he gathers up his evidences in a concentrated form and shows them in their collected might, you see that the opponent is not only defeated,
but absolutely crushed to the earth, until your sense of pity
becomes oppressive, and you would almost interpose for his
rescue. You are so interested in the condition of him who
is stricken by the thunderbolts of the Bishop's unerring
logic, that at l~st you become almost insensible to the flashes
of eloquence in the midst of which he launches them forth.
�St. Yo!tn's C!mrclt and Residence, Freden'ck, 1Vd.
1I 3
"The sermon on thi.s occasion was not, owing- to the
variety of topics to be treated, of the description now
given. I have listenea to him, and always with rapture,
and yet I never listened to him with more admiration than
in hearing his consecration sermon of the Church of St. John
in Frederick. The sermon was one hour and a half long
and was listened to with profound attention by the large
congregation, who must have been deeply instructed and
edified.
"In the afternoon, there were solemn Vespers and the
benediction of the Holy Sacrament. The Rt. Rev. Bishop
Purcell of Cincinnati preached. The subject was the duty
.of Christian charity, in connexion with the obligation of
asserting the truth as it is in Christ. He denounced that,
as but the mockery of charity, which would sacrifice truth,
in order to conciliate the opinions of men. But whilst we
are to profess our faith, and to proclaim the necessity of
what our Divine Saviour taught, our kindness, our affection,
our best offices are equally due to those who are estranged
from us in religious belie( His discourse was brief and
eloquent, not the result of special preparation, but springing from the impulse of the occasion and his disposition to
accede to the request of the respected Pastor.
"The next day the Sacrifice of Mass was offered with
solemn rite by the venerable Bishop of St. Louis. After
the Gospel, an instruction was addressed to the people by
the Rev. Mr. Hughes of Philadelphia. The object of his
discourse was to establish the identity of religious truth
from the beginning, to point out the manner in which God
communicated the truth to mankind, and the means by
which He has chosen to have it preserved.
"It was a singular coincidence that the Pastor of the
Church, and the three preachers who were the first to occupy the pulpit in succession, should all happen to be called
the same name as the glorious Apostle, under whose spe-
VoL v-No.
2.
15
�114 St. :.John's Clmrch and Residence, Fredcn"ck, Jl1d.
cia! invocation the temple had been dedicated and consecrated to the service of Almighty God. * * * * *
"If any one would learn from ocular evidence what wonders can be accomplished by the unchanging purpose, the
patient but sleepless energies of a single mind, under the
guidance of that immortal index which ever points to the
"Greater Glory of God," let such a person visit the monuments which have been erected by the zeal and piety of Fr.
l\Ic Elroy. Let him visit not only the splendid Church of
St. John, but also the splendid Orphan Asylum on the
right, as the equally noble Academy on the left of the
Church. * * -* * * "
The steeple of St. John's was completed in 1854, by,
Fr. Burchard Villiger. Two years ago the interior of the
Church was restored and beautified, a tribute to the good
taste of the designer of the improvement.
l\Iany ask why it is that this Church, architecturally
viewed, ranks so high. \Ve have larger churches: we
have surely churches that cost more money; but when we
come back to St. John's, we find the old charm revived.
Why is this? St. John's Church does not offend against
· any of the common laws of architecture; it is not merely
a chaotic pile of stone with a roof, with windows at convenient distances in the side-walls, whilst the interior, abounding in glaring patches from all the old".orders, is made
rather grotesque by gothic arches and stained glass; it is
not a long and high building with rows of columns, which,
more than amply sufficient to support the roof, act also as a
screen for the altars and the pulpit-Good taste is the
charm of St. John's.
(To be continued.)
�THE JESUITS. IN CINCINNATI.
Though it is our mam object in this paper to give our
readers a sketch of St. Xavier College and Church and a
brief account of the labors of our Fathers in Cincinnati,
still, the birth of Catholicity in this vicinity is so intimately
connected with their early history, that we may be pardoned for referring to the first Cafholic mis=:ions in this
section of the country.
Rev. Edward Fenwick, a Dominican, who established St.
Rose's Church, near Springfield, Ky., in r8o6, appears
to have been the first priest that did much service here.
Though stationed so far away, he traversed the dreary
forests of Ohio every now and then in his missionary excursions, from I8Io to I8zz, when he was made first Bishop
of Cincinnati. His small congregation here numbered in
I 8 I 8, about one hundred members. By an intolerant city
ordinance the Catholics were prohibited from building a
church within the city li~its or the so called "out lots," and
were obliged to put up their small frame building in the
"Northern Liberties" (corner of Vine and Liberty). How
far out of the way this Church lay can be conceived from
the fact that according to the original survey of Cincinnati
village, its limits were Eastern Row, now Broadway, Western Row, called Central Avenue within the last fourteen or
fifteen years, 7th Street on which our College now stands,
and on the south, "La belle riviere." The streets were laid
out through a dense forest, their corners being marked
upon the trees. In I8zo the number of inhabitants was
9602. What a change in fifty years ! Our Church has
about as many parishioners as Cincinnati had inhabitants at
115
�II6
Tlze :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
that time. 250,000 would be considered a moderate esti. mate of our whole population now.
The majority of the Catholics being Germans, the Bishop
in 1844 obtained from Pope Leo XIL the assistance of Fr.
Frederick Reese or Rese, whom he made his Vicar General. The ordinance above mentioned had by this time been
annulled, through the exertions of the Catholics; and in
1823 the frame church, north of the city, was removed to
Sycamore Street, and occupied the ground on which St.
Xavier Church now stands. Such was our first Cathedral:
nor is it difficult to believe that the "Episcopal palace" often
suffered sore distress when his "Lordship" thought himself
fortunate in obtaining from a Catholic layman the loan of
500 francs wit/zout interest.
The frame building was soon after taken down and replaced by a larger and more permanent structure of brick
built in the gothic style, and capable of holding about Soo
persons. The latter edifice, with its tower and handsome
spire, formed at that early day one of the most ornamental
buildings in the city. It remained standing till about 186o.
\Ve shall see-in course oftime what a sad story was weaved
about its fall.
Beside the church a school soon sprang up. Judiciously
organized and efficiently manageq, almost a.;.· once without
intermediate stages it grew into the proportions of an advanced literary Institute, affording the youth in this section
of the country an opportunity of acquiring a higher education. This institution was called Tlzc Atltma:um. Thirtyfive years ago it was considered a marvel of architectural
beauty and seemed to embody the laudable pride of its
founders as it towered above its less pretentious neighbors.
But the times have gone on and humbled the pride of the
old Athen;eum. It stands even now, it is true; but with
all our efforts to make it put on a modern appearance and
holiday attire, its bright garment of sheeny paint cannot
hide its decrepit features or persuade the observer that it is
�T/zc :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
anything else but a relic of the past. The wonder of the
passer-by has given place to indifference, and another generation sports through the time-honored corridors and but
for the watchful eye of the master would disfigure the \~ails
with as little consideration as they smile at the quaint
square brick on which they tread and stop to joke at the
solidity of the occasional fantastic framework which their
fathers considered admirable. To understand the object of
its erection and the scope of its studies we need but read
the inscription carved on the front of the building :
ATHEN.tEUM
It must have puzzled the brain of more than one simple
inhabitant of our young city as he stood with gaping eyes
to make out the mystic meaning of that motto.
The beginning of the Athena;um was very auspicious, but
it did not continue in its original flourishing condition. At
length, after varied fortunes and a season of doubtful success which answered but poorly the expectations of its
friends and patrons, it was establised on a new basis in
1840, being given by Most Rev. Archbishop J. B. Purcell,
D. D., to the Fathers .of the Society of Jesus, who have
conducted it ever since. From that date it began to be
known as St. Xavier College; and then, properly speaking begins the history of the College as it exists to-day.
Though established in October, 1831, by the Right Rev.
E. D. Fenwick, not until 1842 was it incorporated by the
General Assembly of the State of Ohio, under the name
which it now bears, with all the privileges usually granted
to universities. Boarders as well as day scholars were re-
�II8
Tlze :Jesuits in Cincimwti.
ceived for instruction. The advantages held out to students
from abroad who desired to board at the College were: an
institution easily accessible from all parts of the Union ; a
location peculiarly conducive to mental improvement and
bodily comfort; an opportunity of attending many interesting lectures on the arts and sciences, delivered at the
various institutions in the city; regular and well supplied
markets, and, in case of sickness, the best medical attendance. Taking into consideration the frugal spirit of the
times, which was more manly and vigorous as well as less
prone to luxury than the present, the buildings were spacious, well ventilated and well adapted to school purposes.
As a consequence, students flocked from the Southern and
Western States, Mexico and Cuba. To give some idea how
our College was regarded by non-Catholics we may be
allowed to quote a passage from a book entitled "The
Schools of Cincinnati and its Vicinity," by John P. Foote,
whose work shows that he is evidently a Protestant, speaking of St. Xavier's College, he says :
" * * * A good school was organized, with a sufficient
number of teachers to attend closely to all the pupils, both
during their hours of study and recreation. This feature,
in which most of our prominent seminaries are defective,
gave the school a reputation which induc<;_d a number of
Protestants to prefer it to any of our other scbools for the
education of their sons. It had then become (as it has since
continued in the \Vest) an established rule, that teachers
should not be allowed to punish pupils for any fault. The
consequence was that such a degree of lawlessness prevailed
in our schools as to deprive them of much of their usefulness. The arrangement of subordinate teachers in numbers
sufficient to keep every pupil constantly in view, served as a
substitute for the old fashioned system of discipline by the
rod and ferule, and caused the Athenceum to become a
popular and flourishing school. The institution continued
but a short time, however, in its original flourishing state,
�Tlze :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
I
19
and although the denomination increased so rapidly that it
now [that was more than twenty years ago] possesses thirteen very large churches, with a splendid Cathedral-one
of the best specimens of Grecian architecture in the cityall of which are crowded with worshippers on Sunday, yet
the College did not seem to partake of their progress, and
it was a few years since transferred to the Order of the
Jesuits."
No State aid was ever given to St. Xavier's. The effort
made about 1850 to secure a division of the school fund
for denominational schools, however manifestly just from
the Catholic standpoint, failed; and it would have been
worse than hopeless for the College to expect State assistance. Every one knows that repeated attempts since then,
have resulted in repeated failure; and that agitation, instead
of benefiting our fortune, seems to have removed us farther
away from the accomplishment of our purpose. Both
Catholics and Protestants in this part of the country start
out with the grand major proposition that the common
schools should be administered for the common good and
should not be sectarian : therefore, the schools should be
continued on the present basis, argues the Protestant. Catholics, however, have modestly requested the courts of justice
to hear their little atqui before deciding and see if an opposite conclusion could not be reached by the ordinary rules
of sound logic. But it must be confessed that Justice has
been asleep whilst Bigotry was up and doing, until, now,
the most that we are granted is expressed in that un-American word, toleration. Toleration! in a land where the first
European blood that moistened the soil of these ·western
States was that of the Church's noblest sons .
. During the decade from 1842-52, the terms for board and
tuition were $I 30 per session of ten months, exclusive of
personal expenses, and for day scholars $40. A couple of
years after that the College ceased to receive boarders, but
continued to accept other pupils at the same rate of tuition,
�120
The :Jesuits in Cincimwti.
till 1863, when the high price of every commodity and the
depreciated value of money necessitated an advance of the
terms to $6o. The tuition fee remains the same still.
Almost coeval with the existence of the College was the
establishment of several 8ocieties for improvement in literature, music and the various branches which form a portion
of a finished education. One of these, the Philopcedian
Society, still exists, bearing after thirty-four years no marks
of age to mar the lustre of success. It still fosters literature
and eloquence, and meets once a week to exercise its members in debate, invites the attendance of honorary as well as
of regular memberi, and from time to time gives a public
entertainment or lecture.
So remarkable was the change effected in the people in a
very short space of time by the Fathers in attendance upon
the Church, that in I 846, amongst other edifying items, the
following tribute was contained in a leading editorial in one
of the city Catholic papers :
"It is extremely gratifying to \vitness the great increase
of piety in that quarter of the city where the Church of St.
Francis Xavier is situated. Two years ago there was only
a small chapel in that part of town, and now the spacious
accommodations .of the Church of the Jesuit Fathers, is
scarce sufficient for the numerous congregation that attends
it. The rapid increase of this congregati~n is a subject
of frequent remark by our people, and its character is no'
less gratifying than its numbers. The instructions given at
this church on Sundays at Vespers attract a great many
Protestants, who listen with marked attention to the familiar, yet impressive exposition of the Catholic faith and
morals, which is usually delivered by the President of the
University. * * * * The good done is witnessed, not only
'in the number of conversions that have taken, and are taking place in our city, but also in the great improvement in
the general tone of piety, in the striking reformation that
has occurred in many families and individuals, and especially
�.T!te :Jesuits in Cillcinnati.
121
in the epifying beh-avior of the male portion of the congregation."
Let us pass on to the year 1847· Fr. Elet, of happy
memory, had been Rector of the College since it passed
into the hands of Ours; but h,aving been named Procurator
of the Province, he went to Rome in August, Fr. Blox
taking his place in the mean time. Under his administration a peaceable secession was effected, the long wished-for
separation of the large and small boys took place. The
juniors had an opportunity of enjoying country life at the
Purcell mansion on \Valnut Hills, under the Presidency of
Rev. George Carrell, afterwards Bishop of Covington, Ky.,
the College proper continuing to receive large boys as usual.
At this period the Institution enjoyed unexampled prosperity, and the number of its pupils was greater than at any
previous time. This, however, lasted but a short time.
It is difficult, at this date, to assign the cause or causes of
the great change which took place. \Ve find that at the
end of the scholastic year I 848-9, the number of boys in
attendance had dwindled down to 140. It is not improbable
that either political or local causes were at work to produce
this fluctuation ; for no change had taken place in the management of the College to justify this capricious variation.
A note in one of the old catalogues may throw some light
on the matter. It is of 1848-9 and reads as follows: "On
account of the prevalence of the cholera at the present time,
the greater part of the exercises (i. e. commencement exercises) have been postponed till the opening of next session."
\Vhat sad pictures of sorrow and distress this reference recalls to the minds of those who witnessed the harrowing
scenes of those eventful years !
About this. time our parochial schools were established,
with a hundred children in attendance after the first few
days. The seed was cast in good soil. At present our
parish schools contain nearly two thousand children, including the girls, who are taught exclusively by the Sisters of
VoL. v-No.
2.
16
�122
The Ycsuits in Cincinnati.
Notre Dame. Independent of these, our College, and a
pay school conducted by the Sisters of Notre Dame, swell
the number of those educated in our parish about four hundred more: This is a pleasing picture to look back upon.
The reality far exceeds the ]1ighest hopes of those who
projected the scheme. The good done by those years of
silent labor is incalculable.
During the cholera season one of our Fathers died a victim
of charity in the service of the sick. It was Fr. Angelus
l\laesseele, a Belgian. He used to visit the pest house
where he contracted the disease, and before he was completely cured, his- zeal urged him out to assist those who
were attacked with cholera. The fatal malady laid hold on
him in June, I 849, and he died gloriously, after spending
twelve years in the Society. Fr. Genelli, the author of the
life of St. Ignatius, died here of cholera also, in I 8 50, but
under different circumstances. A Prussian by birth, he
entered the Society in 1842, when over forty years of age.
He came to America in 1848 and spent two years in Missouri, suffering greatly from the climate. On this account
he was recilled to Europe. On his way back he stopped
at St. Xavier's, the day after he fell sick with what subsequently proved· to be the cholera, and died of that disease
in a day or two.
~- .
In the next yeaif~ill another victim of the 'cholera! This
time it was a Scho~if:, Mr. J. D. Johnston, a Virginian by
birth and a Protesta;1tt'by education, whose name is held in
benediction by those who knew him best. More than one
aged eye will be dimmed with affectionate tears should it
chance to follow the page I devote to his memory. How
often I have heard his name when a boy. From his tenderest years all of Mr. Johnston's associations were Protestant, and his advance to that blessedness for which he
yearned clogged by unbelieving friends and the allurements
of the world. , But hearkening to divine grace, he was at ·
last converted' in St. Louis. Though a lawyer and bur-
�Tltc :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
I23
dened with the care of a family, he led such a pious life in
the world that he is believed to have been gifted even then
with a lofty spirit of prayer and love of God. Finally, the
death of his wife releasing him from every difficulty and
doubt, after providing for his two young daughters, he entered the Society on the feast of the Assumption, I 844.
It is by no means wonderful to see him the pattern of every
virtue, after having overcome so many obstacles. In prayer
and the mortification of his flesh he was so remarkable, that
he spent a great part of the night in these holy exercises,
and gave to sleep only the time absolutely necessary for preserving his strength-even that, he took lying on a bare
board. Amid the most acute sufferings of cholera he en·
joyed a most delightful peace, and in persevering prayer
passed to a better life in June I 8 5 I. He it was who wrote
that devout translation of the little office of the Immaculate Conception, now so generally used and so highly esteemed for boys' manuals of devotion.
Pursuant to our purpose of speeding past the names of
the living, we omit some facts which, though of interest,
would still too evidently redound to the praise of the Rector
of that day. The next incumbent was Father (afterwards
Bishop) Carrell, during whose term of office the Sodality of
the Immaculate Conception for young men was established
by F/ Francis Acmal (Van Agtmael) in the free school.
It began with a hundred members, and ever since its foundation has continued to be a source of great good in the
parish and in the rest of the city ; and has bound together
a large body of young men whom temptation no less than
want of instruction or example would otherwise lead astray.
It is still known among the people as the Young Mens'
Sodality, though the heads of many of its members are
whitened with the snows of more than fifty or sixty winters.
They are very likely young men, indeed! The elements
are so heterogeneous because, since many continued belonging to it after they were married, and there was then
�124
Tlte :Jesuits lit Cincinnati.
no longer any distinctive character given to membership,
some were permitted to join the body, though advanced in
years.
This Sodality has quite an extensive library in active and
useful operation; a well supplied reading-room; a hall devoted to billiards and other games, opened nightly; in fact
all possible inducements to withdraw young men from vicious company. Debating societies have also been formed
in it from time to time.
\Vhilst speaking of their debating societies it may not be
qut of the way to Il?ention a system which proved eminently
successful in eradic;;ating false notions and keeping up interest. A suggestion may give an idea or two, which can be
practically of great service. Each speaker was subject to
be called upon at the close of his remarks by any one for
proofs of his assertions. The director especially exercised
this power, and even whilst engaged in speaking, when a
member touched upon a question where false impressions
might be made, he would sometimes interrupt him for
proo(<;. The interruption was never taken amiss. Notably
in one case,-that of education, which was debated in several
successive meetings, some openly acknowledged themselves
convinced and adopted the right opinion, to which they had
before been sincerely opposed.
.
•'
Another side play, as it were, which could be of great utility in a young city, and easily initiated, was of absorbing
interest to many young men intellectually serious. It was
to collect from the old inhabitants facts in connection with
the early history of Catholicity in the city ; for example:
who was the first priest; who. said the first Mass; the number of Catholic inhabitants at stated periods ; various incidents in connection with the growth of Catholicity; the
building of churches and similar topics, which a few years
hence could not possibly ue obtained. Those engaged in
the work would visit persons from whom they were likely
to obtain information, collate the facts, narrate in the next
�Tlzc :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
125
meeting their adventures, success or ill success, read a
paper on the subject, if they had prepared one, or at all
events, keep the notes gathered.
\Vhat we have said will give our readers an idea of subsidiary education imparted without the appearance of instruction, and the laudable efforts made by our Fathers for the
mental improvement of young men beyond the age for didactic direction.
Our parish is composed mainly of the poor, devoted
children of the green Isle of saints. They are very liberal
according to their means, but the greater part of them can
hardly give more than the widow's mite for the support of
the Church. Nevertheless, by the favor of Heaven, the
self-sacrifice and priestly abnegation of the pastors have
earned them such an enviable reputation that the people
never allowed the Church to want means for magnificent
decorations, ceremonial, and all the needful improvements
for making it one of the most attractive and devotional of
Catholic Churches in the city. \Vorshippers come from
other parishes, some even have pews in St. Xavier's as well
as in their own churches. For confessions and communions the "Jesuits' Church" is always besieged- both the
facilities for approaching these Sacraments as well as the
reputation of the Fathers and the affectionate veneration of
all classes contributing to this effect.
(To be coutinued.)
------+~+------
�THE COLLEGE DEL SALVADOR, BUENOS AYRES.
\Ve had the sad task last year of announcing and describing the destruction of one of our Colleges at Buenos
Ayres. \Ve have the pleasure on the present occasion of
narrating an event which forms an agreeable contrast with
that calamity. M~sures are being taken to restore the
College; and at the distribution of premiums to the students, Dec. 2oth last, Dr. Emilio Lamarca delivered a speech
which is calculated to bring consolation to our hearts.
To recal briefly the circumstances of the conflagration, a
meeting was held by an excited mob, at the theatre Variedades / the cry was raised, "Down with the Jesuits;" a rush
was made to the College; and the incendiaries inflicted a
loss of five millions of pesos (S4.65o,ooo).
The College was an establishment of the first order. The
building had been raised at the cost of great sacrifice and
labor by our Fathers, not without the assistance of some
public offerings; and one of the results had ·been no small
accession of importance to that whole porii~n of the city,
which became frequented by more than two hundred and
fifty students.
On entering the College del Salvador, you passed through
numerous halls, each bearing its inscription of the use to
which it was put :-philosophy, physics, chemistry, natural
history, mathematics, arithmetic, cosmography, national and
general literature, ~sthetics, history, religious lectures,
Latin, Greek, Spanish, French, English, German, geography, calligraphy, school of design, vocal and instrumental
music-a complete preparatory course of science.
There was a ·magnificent library, a cabinet full of precious
126
�T!te College del Salvador.
127
specimens, a laboratory, and a valuable collection of minerals. There was a botanical collection, large-sized globes
for the study of geography and cosmography, besides a
number of maps.
All this, with all the furniture, became a prey to the mad
fury of Feb. 28th, 1875! The very walls of the building
fell in ruins; all except one, that was the fa«ade. It stood
there when all the rest had fallen as if to shut from view
the marks of the horrible crime, which miscreants had committed against religion and society, against the priesthood
and science, against the Church and their country.
Our Fathers were dispersed as a matter of course. They
found shelter where they could; and the most respectable
citizens received them with honor and sympathy, and soon
there was a manifestation of public opinion throughout
the city, and it called for an immediate reparation. Such a
crime should not leave its blot upon a civilized and cultured
people.
Our professors were urged to return to their post and renew their labors. This Ours were only too glad to do; and
though they had barely escaped with their lives, they were
ready to risk them again. Meanwhile, a Commissioner
was nominated and charged with the reconstruction of the
College del Salvador. It opened a subscription list, and,
though the times were hard, the citizens were not backward.
In nine months they had subscribed six hundred thousand
pesos (SssS,ooo), four hundred and fifty thousand of which
were in ready money. However, to repair the whole loss,
without counting the scientific cabinets, nothing less than a
million of pesos ~re needed.
At all events, a large portion of the building has been
reconstructed; and on Dec. 20th, 1875. the distribution of
premiums took place. Dr. Emilio Lamarca, Secretary
to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine Republic, read, on this occasion, a report of the Commissioner
charged with the reconstruction of the College. At the
�128
The College del Salvador.
same time he delivered a fine speech, which was published,
and which we subjoin below.
\Ve call attention particularly to the duty which, in the
course of his speech, the orator imposed upon Sig. Edw.
Calvari~ Consul of the Republic at Geneva. It was to bear
to His Holiness, Pope Pius IX, the consoling information,
that if the mad fury of assassins undertook to renew in
Buenos Ayres the awful scenes of the Commune in Paris,
at least the faith, the generosity and patriotism of the Argentine citizens knew how to make a prompt reparation.
SPEECH OF DR. LAMARCA.
You will certainly excuse me, gentlemen, if, obeying the
impulse of my heart, I give expression to a few thoughts
which will create an echo in your hearts; for my words are
the expression of a noble desire. I feel encouraged to believe that in addressing this select circle of our best society
in the State, I take the most powerful means of making
emphatic and energetic the protest of our republic against
the mad and 'Criminal attempt of Feb. 28.
I do not mean to speak of the Jesuits, towards whom I
entertain profound gratitude and respect: for I recognize in
the Jesuit the beloved master and guide of nn~ earlier years.
Nor will' I speak of those sons of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who
shed their blood in the Indies for the Catholic faith, and
confront the enemies of souls and of nations. I think it
useless to recall how much America owes to them, in the
way of faith and civilization; and how once, in this very
State, they thought it preferable to leave it and sacrifice all,
rather than sanction tyranny. I will not follow this line of
thought, because I should be open to suspicion ; lest that
very love which I profess towards my masters should make
me speak, from an over heated zeal, in extravagant terms of
affection.
It is from motives of a different kind that I speak of the
�T!te College del Salvador. ·
129
necessity which is upon us of completing the reconstruction
of this College. They are motives of national honor and
dignity; for as long as a brick remains out of its place, as
long as a single wall of this house bears traces of that infamous piece of incendiarism, so long are we under the
weight and und.er the disgrace of that condemnation which
the European press pronounced on Buenos Ayres, when it
beheld a band of assassins strong enough to upset the public order, to despise the public authority, and reproduce a
chapter from the pages of barbaric history.
I have seen the information which our Minister at foreign courts despatched to' our government, relative to the
views taken by foreign journalists about Feb. 28. They
condemned the crime loudly. Even Bismarck's official
journal condemned it. And reasonably enough. The Chancellor of the German Empire could not understand how a
people could fight with itself and burn down its own monuments. Notwithstanding his own crusade against Cathor
licism, he could never admit as weapons of warfare the mad
attempts of popular frenzy. The very journals which had
inflamed the passions of the mob, were struck with fear at
the excesses perpetrated, and entered their protest against
them with the rest:
These protests came rather late, and the evil is already
done; and they do not build up walls that are in ruins, nor
repair outrages upon the state of public morals.
I beg of the members of the diplomatic corps, who honor
us with their presepce, that if they have in their correspondence made mention of the unhappy calamity, they will
now state likewise that a commission formed of citizens and
assisted by citizens has invited them to attend and witness
this solemn act of reparation, and that upon the ruins made
by a mob of madmen, the Argentine people, condemning
the mob, turns to rebuild a great College.
I beg of Sig. Calvari, our Consul in Italy, who honors us
to-day with his presence, that, since he was not able to pro-
VaL. v-No.
2.
17
�The College dd Salvador.
nounce those telegrams false which bore to Rome the news
of the conflagration, he will now announce to His Holiness
that the Argentine republic is removing every trace of the
crime; for it would not have that blot attach to the body
of a people which boasts of being christian. If this bring
consolation to the Father of the Faithful, ask of him, Signor, his blessing on this work, and his prayers, whereby the
Almighty may be moved to establish the College del Salvador as a lasting glory of our city, a trophy of our faith
and of the aspirations of a free people.
It remains now ··for our own press to make known and
publish to the world at large, that the Argentine people
does itself the honor of erecting again at its own expense
the walls laid low by a frenzied mob. This will prove that
such a spirit of hatred is not a product of our soil, and will
never find support among a people \vho react at once, powerfully and resolutely, against every assault upon their lib~rties. Let us blot out then from our memories and remove
from before our £1.ces the disgrace of that unhappy day.
On that day, February 28th, 1875, we had a view of the
horrors of Paris, a reflection of the Commune. On February 28th it seemed that our Constitution was a sarcasm-a
sarcasm, I say, gentlemen, because all the liberties which it
guarantees were trampled under foot, and_·all the rights
which it sanctions were spurned. There {vas spurned the
right of property, when they consigned to the flames a
public institution; there was spurned the right of free
education, \vhen they pursued and disp}':rsed public professors, and endeavored to frighten the best families of Buenos
Ayres from choosing for their sons the teachers they liked
best. The very right to existence was trampled under the
feet of assassins, when they set on peaceful citizens and
attempted to take their lives; for, gentlemen, even the
priest is a citizen. They spurned and contemned the right
of liberty of conscience, religious freedom, when they profaned with sacrilegious enmity objects the most sacred, and
�Assassination o.f Don Garcia Mormo.
13 r
belonging to that very worship which is proclaimed by our
social compact.
Excuse me, gentlemen, if I have uttered my thoughts
with undue vehemence: it has more than a sufficient reason
in the enormity of the crime perpetrated. In fact, I think
as a Catholic and feel as an Argentine citizen: I think and
feel like yourselves, gentlemen. And now, in the name of
your faith, of liberty, of the most sacred duties of patriotism, I call upon you to lend your support that the ruins of
the College del Salvador remain no longer in their present
state, to raise a blush of shame for the honor of our country and of civilization.
BuENOS AYRES, December 20, 1875·
- - - - - - - +. . + - - - - - - -
ASSASSINATION OF DON GARCIA MORENO,
PRES. OF THE REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR.
Letter o.f Fatlzer Brugier, * Professor o.f JJfatltematics in t!tc
Po~vtcdmic Sc!too! o.f Quito, to t!tc Sc!to!astics o.f Aix.
On the 6th of August, 1875, the first Friday of the month
and consecrated to the Sat red Heart of Jesus, !Jon G~rcia
Moreno, according to his usual practice, had approached
the Sacraments. Returning to his home he put the finishing strokes to his address for the opening session of Congress, which was to be held on the roth. Scarcely had he
completed his task wht'n he received notice, in the first
instance from the police, but shortly after from a private
* Fr. Brugier writes : "I send you this account just as I received it
from the lips of the Governor and of two eye-witnesses."
�13 2
Assassination o.f Don Garcia iliorcno.
source, that his life was threatened. To these ominous
communications, the President made no other reply than the
single word, "Cobardia !"(cowardice). In spite, however, of
the slight importance which he himself appeared to attach
to this double warning, it is hard to see how the police can
be excused for their want of vigilance whilst entertaining
suspicions so strong.
One o'clock had just struck when Garcia Moreno left his
residence to proceed to the Palacio del Gubicnzo, as the
building is called which contains the government offices.
As usual, his only companion was a decano or adjutant, in
citizen's dress and-unarmed; for, full of confidence in God,
he had always refused the armed escort which his friends,
alarmed by the rumors that were afloat of plots laid against
his life, had entreated him to accept. His ordinary attendant was Don Martinez, a man of small stature, but vigorous and resolute, and hence held in salutary fear. On the
present occasion, however, it happened to be the turn of
the second adjutant, who, unfortunately, was not possessed
of all the good qualities of his superior.
The Pala;io is separated from the Cathedral only by the
width of the street. The President entered the church,
where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, and remained a
few moments in deep prayer. Before long',. an emissary
approached and begged him to hasten to th~ Palacio, because, as he said, important despatches had just been received from Guayaquil. The President then rose and left
the church, followed by the adjutant at a distance of twenty
or thirty paces. In front of the Palacio is a Doric colonnade, about thirteen feet in height. Here, between the
second and third columns were posted three murderers:
Roberto Andrade, a law student, Manuel Cornejo, also a
student, and Moncajo, a former pupil of the Jesuits, but
expelled from the college. Beside these stood two other
wretches : Rayo, a captain degraded from his rank, the
chief of this band of assassins, and Campuzano, a fellow
�Assassination of Don Garcia Mormo.
133
who had already been once condemned to capital punishment. The presence of these men in such a place was in
itself nothing unusual or surprising. The traitors even
saluted the President very respectfully as he passed, and
then followed him up the steps. He was about to enter
the building when Rayo, crying out: "Robber! brigand!"
struck him on the shoulder with a mac/tete (a kind of long
and broad knife). Don Garcia Moreno turned upon his
assailants; but as he did so he received a severe cut on the
left side of the head, and as he attempted to draw his revolver, another blow from the mac/tete and a fourfold discharge from the weapons of his adversaries prevented him.
\Vounded to death, he tried to support himself against a
column, but was again struck and fell to the ground. Then
Rayo, seizing him with satanic rage, hurled him from the
top of the stairs to the pavement below. The four others,
as cruel as they were cowardly, again discharged their revolvers upon the dying man. The monster Rayo hastened
down the stairs and began to hack with his knife the grey
and venerable head of his victim. Meanwhile, the President's attendant had taken to flight with but a slight scratch
to prove his fidelity to his chief.
During all this scene of horror, Garcia Moreno uttered
not a single word, until he saw Rayo approaching to inflict
new wounds; then he said to him, in a half broken voice,
"God does not die!" It was only at this point that four
soldiers came up, detached from the guard on duty. The
commandant of the post, hearing the noise from a distance,
had sent them, though with no very clear idea of what was
going on. The soldiers threw themselves furiously upon
Rayo, who fled with only a slight bayonet wound, ~ut a
second and more vigorous thrust from one of his pursuers
brought him to the ground. He rose again, but was immediately seized by the soldiers. By this time the commanding officer had come up, and to his exclamation of horror,
Rayo replied: "Yes; I have killed the tyrant." At these
�I
34
, Assassination of Don Garcia llformo.
words, one of the soldiers, a negro, stepping back a few
paces, cried to the murderer: "Basta, no mas!" (Enough,
no more), and shot him dead on the spot. His corpse, an
object of horror to all the soldiers, was thrown by them
into a sewer. The rest of the murderers had fled on horses
which their accomplices held ready.
Meantime the poor President, horribly disfigured, and
bleeding from seventeen wounds, was borne into a side
chapel of the Cathedral. He still gave signs of life. Physicians were immediately summoned, and hastened to the
spot, but there was no longer any hope. The priest was
still able to addres.S" some questions to the dying man, who
answered him by feeble signs : when the minister of God
asked him whether he forgave his murderers, he energetically inclined his head. Then he received absolution and
Extreme Unction, and at three o'clock the tolling of the
bells announced to Quito that the Republic had lost its
father.
If Garcia Moreno's enemies had ever entertained the
hope of finding partisans and approvers among the people,
they were doomed to complete disappointment. Had any
doubt existed as to the sincere love and attachment of the
people for the illustrious dead, it must have been dispelled
by the heartfelt sorrow for his loss manifeste2.'by all classes,
as well as by their horror for the atrocity of the deed and
their apprehensions for the future. Men, women and children of all ranks, wept and sobbed in the open street. The
whole city was in mourning, and for three days the houses
remained draped with funeral colors. The people thronged
in crowds to the Cathedral, ~vhere the body lay in state.
The funeral ceremonies were solemn and touching in the
extreme. On the monument of the noble victim were inscribed the words: To THE REGENERATOR OF EcuADOR AND
THE ARDENT DEFENDER OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH, BY HIS
EVER-GRATEFUL COUNTRY.
The officers ·of the various army corps, the citizens of
�AssassiuatiOJt
of Don Garcia JWormo.
I
35
Quito, and especially our own good students, spontaneously
addressed to the government assurances that the existing
order of things should be, on their part, faithfully preserved.
Like addresses, no less forcible than touching, were forwarded by the Provinces; nowhere was public order or
security disturbed; nowhere was there shown the least defection or even hesitation among the troops : the members
of the government. on their part, showed a praiseworthy
activity, free from all party spirit. Such facts must astonish
anyone who is acquainted with South American manners
and customs. Still more surprising was the conduct of the
public journals: whatever their peculiar shades of opinion,
all loudly condemned the assassination and filled their columns almost entirely with communications on the subject
from the different classes of society.
The first care of the government was to institute a search
for the murderers and proceed with the inquest. Campuzano, Rayo's most active accomplice, was arrested on the
very day of the murder, and was shot the \Vednesday following, on the spot where the deed was committed. A few
days later, a third of the band, Cornejo, was seized. From
an intercepted letter, which he had written to his mother,
it was learned that he was lying hid in the neighboring
mountain chain of the Cordilleras, on the Pasuchoa, a peak
very difficult of access. On the same mountain are situated
four little hamlets. When the villagers heard that the criminal was on the peak above, they turned out in a body, cut
off on one side, the approach to the heights, and on the
other set fire to the long Paramo grass; so that Cornejo, in
order to escape the flames, was obliged to fly in the direction where they were awaiting him. In this manner he was
taken, and a small body of cavalry then conducted him to
Quito, where he was brought before the court. He showed
great repentance and detestation for his crime, and himself
asked for the death penalty, in order, he said, to make some
reparation to his country and his family. On the way to the
•
�r 36
•
Assassi1tation of Don Garcia Jlformo.
principal Plaza, where he was executed, he several times
asked pardon of those whom he met; indeed, he died in
the best dispositions. In consideration of this fact, his body,
an hour after the execution, was delivered to his family,
that they might obtain for it christian burial.
The two remaining murderers have not yet been taken,
and there seems to be little hope of laying hands upon
. them; for, to all appearances, they have passed beyond the
territory of the Republic.
Some other persons were also arrested ; and the sad inquest brought to light the names of about two hundred
Liberals, who, either in the city or from a distance, had
taken part in the conspiracy. It was not, moreover, the
murder alone that the band of assassins had in view. Garcia Moreno once out of the way, they intended to force an
entrance into the college of the Jesuits, massacre all whom
they might meet, and then, breaking through a thin partition wall on the upper floor, pass into the arsenal adjoining
the college, and seize the arms. But the wretches who held
themselves in readiness for this part of the enterprise, deprived of their leader by the death of Rayo, and disconcerted by the firm attitude of the people and the army, took to
flight without daring to strike a blow. They did not, however, give up their design, but proposed to take the arsenal
by surprise during the funeral services, whicli took place on
Monday, the 9th. Their plan was to effect this while the
body of the President was being carried in procession from
the Cathedral to the church of Blessed Maria Anna de
Paredes, the church of the Jesuits. As the soldiers had to
form part of the procession, it would have been easy for
the conspirators to make an unresisted entrance into the
sacristy of the church and thence into the college: another
band was to have fallen, at the same moment, upon the illguarded posts. The authorities, however, informed of this
new plot, dispensed with the transportation of the body,
and took mea~ures so effectual as to remove from even
the boldest all desire of attempting an outbreak.
�Assassination of Don Garcia fiforeno.
I
37
During the blessing of the corpse, two emissaries presented themselves at the house of the deceased President's
mother-in-law, bearing a message, as they had the effrontery
to assert, from the· Jesuits: "the Fathers begged her, they
said, to use her influence to obtain that the original intention of removing the body might be carried out. The lady,
with great prudence, sent for more certain information, and
thus the falsehood and the snare concealed under it were
discovered.
Another treacherous attack made, on the evening of the
10th of August, upon the person of Don Garcia Moreno's
nephew, shows in a still clearer light, if possible, of what
baseness the President's enemies are capable. This young
man, a student of medicine, was suddenly called, at nine
o'clock in the evening, to the bedside of a sick person. He
fell into the trap, and, at the corner of the cathedral, was
treacherously assaulted; but, happily, the two sabre strokes
which he received, one upon the head and the other on the
side, inflicted no wound. He cried for help, the patrol came
up, and the villains took to flight.
It seems almost incredible, but even the President's little
son, a child only five or six years old, had been devoted to
the dagger; for it was well known that the President was
in the habit of taking the boy with him to the Palacio. On
the 6th of August, it happened providentially that he did
not take him as usual, and thus the child escaped the dreadful fate that was awaiting him. ·Later on, however, the
conspiratbrs endeavored, on two several occasions, to get
him into their hands. One evening, about eight o'clock, a
stranger came to the child's mother, pretending to have
been sent by the Jesuit Father N., in order to conduct her
son to the College, where he would be in much greater
safety. Of course the message was false and the lady
judged it prudent not to trust her son to so suspicious an
ambassador. On another occasion, a like proposition was
made to the mother, purporting to come from the French
nuns: the offer was, happily, declined.
VoL. v-No. z.
r8
�I
3S
Assassination of Don Garcia Mormo.
It may naturally be aske? by whom all these villainies
were planned and carried out. By the Freemasons. Mgr.
Vannutelli, formerly Nuncio of the Holy See at Quito, and
now at Brussels, learned, before his departure, from the
President's own lips, that the latter was expecting the blow.
He had received, he said, on good authority, the assurance
that his assassination had been resolved upon at a meeting
of a lodge held at Lima; and Garcia Moreno even named
the very day. This assertion, that the Freemasons directed
the whole affair, is fully confirmed, as well by the judicial
enquiry, as by a passage from a letter written by the immortal President to. the Holy Father. vVe copy this extract as it was given by the Osstrl'atore Romano:
''I beg that your Holiness would deign to give me again
your Apostolic benediction; for I have just been reelected,
for six years, President of the Catholic Republic of Ecuador.
This new term of my presidency begins on the 30th of
August, the day on which I am to take the oath of fidelity
to the constitution of the Republic, and when it will become my duty to notify your Holiness officially of my
reelection. Nevertheless, I send you the news to-day and
beg your Holiness to pray to God for me that I may show
myself a devoted son of our Lord and a submissive servant
of His infallible Vicar. Already, at the instigation of Prussia, the neighboring powers are pouring fo"rth against me
the grossest insults and calumnies, and are even preparing
in secret to assassinate me. I stand more than ever in need
of God's help, to live and die a defender of our holy reli·
gion, and of this Republic, to the government of which God
has call-ed me. Nevertheless, I esteem myself happy in
being hated and calumniated because of the love I bear my
divine Saviour. It would be my greatest joy if your Holiness' blessing were to obtain for me the grace of shedding
my blood for Him Who, God though He is, willingly poured
forth His for us, and immolated Himself upon the tree of
the cross for o'ur salvation."
�Assassination of Don Garcia fiformo.
I
39
'What aspect will affairs now assume? \Vhat will be the
future course of events in this republic? God alone knows.
'Without doubt, the men of the trowel and apron, the party '
that calls itself liberal, and boasts itself the standard-bearer
of civilization, will not remain idle. Will it gain its endthat is to say, the overthrow of the new constitution? vVill
the new government follow in the footsteps of Garcia Moreno? All these are mere conjectures. The official proclamation which followed the death of the President seems
to offer some guarantees for the maintenance of the present
order of things, but only the success of the new presidential election can completely assure the future of the Republic.
The proclamation first expresses the deep sorrow which
affiicts all the citizens for the death of "Garcia Moreno, that
innocent victim, struck down by the blows of infamous
assassins ; of that good citizen, torn from his country by '
the most execrable of crimes." The proclamation then continues in these terms: "Our country shall not perish; and
we will die a thousand deaths rather than proclaim the
reign of crime and parricide which Free-masonry has dared
to inaugurate over the corpse of Garcia Moreno. People
of Ecuador! imitate the virtue and the constancy of the
hero whom we have but now lost; copy the model of his
profound piety; remain unshaken, after his example, in
maintaining the sacred rights of religion and justice. Alas!
Garcia Moreno is no more! Guiltless and generous victim,
he has taken his flight to Heaven, where without doubt, he
already enjoys the reward of his admirable virtues, while all
good men mourn for him and will forever call down blessings on his name. QurTo, Aug. r6th 1875.''
The government has remained faithful to these principles.
It is still composed of the same elements as before the
death of the President: the Minister of the Interior, according to the constitution of the Republic, has become
Vice- President, and his former office has been given to the
father-in-law of Garcia Moreno. This venerable man is so
�140
Assassination
of Don Garcia Jlformo.
far advanced in years that he can scarcely even walk without support; yet by his rare energy and prudence he is the
very soul of the Republic. The condition of the army is
excellent; and of this all the honor is -due to Garcia Moreno.
He alone, first as Commander-in-chief, afterwards as President, transformed a band of brigands, as it might not
unjustly have been called before he took command, into a
well-disciplined army, inured to labor and fatigue. He
calmed the revolutionary fever that pervaded the staff, and
inspired many of its members with true love of country.
Still, though there are some true patriots in Ecuador, their
number is very small: we see on all sides only petty
intrigues, private interest of families, and pa~ty spirit, which
hamper all good, and, by unhappy divisions, threaten us
anew with some great calamity. A proof of this is the
very manner in which the canvass is being carried on for
the election of a new President on the 17th of next October.
One fraction of the Conservatives puts forward as their candidate Don Salazar, a high functionary in the Supreme
Court of Justice. He is a prudent man, well versed in
affairs of government, and of undoubted integrity; but as
one of his brothers is Minister of War, and another, General in active service, and as, moreover, the family already
enjoys great influence, many Conservatives !Yere of opinion
that such a choice would be too favorable to family interests,
and hence unpopular. A second portion lean towards
Saenz, an excellent General, under whom we should have
every assurance of a prosperous future. But other Conservatives, finding this division in the party of right and
order full of danger, nominated, on condition that the two
former aspirants should retire, a third candidate, Don Carbajal, an important official in the judiciary, and a former
Minister. If anyone is able to save the country, it is certainly this old companion in arms and inseparable friend of
Don Garcia Mo~eno, who, besides his other good qualities,
possesses the n'ecessary energy to keep the state officials to
�, ..
/
Assassination of Don Garcia 111ormo. -
141
their duty. Moreover, in his case, no family intrigues are
possible, for almost all of his relatives have preceded him
to the grave. But unfortunately, neither of the other two
candidates has retired from the lists: in fact, Don Carbajal
himself has thought it his duty, under the circumstances,
to withdraw, and has really announced, with a noble unselfishness, all claims to the presidency. Nevertheless, he will
still receive some votes, and thus the division of the Conservative party has only been increased by his nomination.
The Liberal party, on the contrary, has from the very
first, centred its support upon a single candidate, Borrero, a
lawyer of great ·popularity. The adherents of this party,
although nearly all extreme radicals, have prudently contented themselves with Borrero, who is a sincere, practical
and zealous Catholic, but withal slightly imbued with Liberalism. Thus they hope to secure a heavy ballot f~r their
candidate, especially as many even of the Conservatives
will certainly cast their votes for him.
This is the state of affairs at present in the Republic of
Ecuador. It seems that events are about to be unfolded
according to the plan of the secret societies in Europe.
"First let Garcia Moreno be put out of,the way: that alone
is quite enough," was their watchword. Once let a Liberal,
even the most moderate, sit in the presidential chair, and
this is all that could be desired for a first year: the Radicals will know how to dispose of him when it suits their
purpose.
NoTE.-On the body of the President, after his_ death,
was found the second part of the discourse which he was
to pronounce at the opening of Congress. The following
are the closing words of the peroration: "If I have committed any faults, I ask pardon for them again and again;
yes, I ask pardon from all my fellow-citizens, with tears that
are sincere, and with the consciousness that those faults
were at least involuntary. If, on the contrary, you think
that I have done any good, oh! attribute it above all to.·
�. 14~
T!te J1fissions in Clzar!es Co.,· llfd.
God and to our Immaculate Lady, who dispenses the inexhaustible riches of His mercy; attribute it to the people, to
the army, and to all those who by their services in the different branches of the administration, have sustained me in
the discharge of my arduous duties."-[From the Lcttres
des Sclzo!astiques d 'Az~r]. ,
THE MISSIONS IN CHARLES. CO., MD.
ST. THOMAS, Dec. 31, 1875·
REV. AND DEAR FATHER:
* * * I cannot complain about chills and fevers any
more: they, God be blessed, are gone. What a change
from my previous life! Here I have made, since my arrival
August 29, ~on horseback or in the buggy, nearly a thou·
sand miles: to this,day, nine hundred and sixty-two miles,
and ten more this P. M., and no frolicking about it, I assure
you. For instance take Christmas season .._: Thursday, the
23, off on the way to Cobb Neck; Friday, 1\iass at a station. At such stations, the neighbors come together for
confessions, etc. N. B.-Strictioris observantize and fast in
the country. The 25th, first Mass at five o'dock at lgn.
Lancaster's ; a nice little congregation; fifteen confessions.
Off by daylight to the Church; second Mass, confessions ;
High Mass, sermon, Benediction, etc. ; ten o'clock a hurried breakfast in the crowded little sacristy. Plenty of invitations to Xmas dinners, but the afternoon was spent in the
church waiting for a marriage till 6 o'clock P. M. Then
drove through ·the dark, damp woods (and oh, what roads!)
to the night quarters, almost sick, I must confess this time,
�T/ze Missions m C/zarles Co., Md.
I43
with fatigue; but the cheerful, kind reception of my hosts
and a good night's rest fixed all right again for Sunday's
work, which ran as usual. Crowds of confessions; High
Mass, sermon, Benediction; hurried breakfast, and then off
for Newport district, where, at- a station, I held service on
Monday morning the 27th, and was home at St. Thomas
after one o'clock P. M. The Superior was away on a sick
call or station work ; the Brother was sick in bed; the cook
nowhere to be found, but the solitary drumstick of a Christmas turkey, found in an unprotected pantry, with the inevitable pork, strengthened the weary missionary.
A note left by the Superior informed me of a sick call to
the (to me) unexplored Indian territory of the Chickamoxen ..
So, Tuesday morning, according as the note directed, I left
for. Chickamoxen, the rain pouring down. Away down the
hills and up the hills, through swamps and woods, through
mud, water and rain, Chickamoxen lies between Cornwallis
Neck and Nanjemoy, along the Potomac, a lonesome and
spiritually a very forsaken district, with few Catholics. But
an old colored man, born in I So I, wanted to die a Catholic.
So I instructed him as well as I could, baptized that seventy-four year old child, heard his confession, and next day
brought him Holy Communion. I stayed all night, about a
mile from the old man's cabin, with a poor Catholic family,
and said Mass there on vVednesday morning. The holy
simplicity of the old man and his consolation to see the
priest, as also the consolation of this poor family, with
eleven children, of whom the eldest is only eighteen years
old, paid me well for this Christmas frolic of the excursion
to the Chickamoxen. I got home vVednesday night.
I praise God and sincerely thank Him, that he has given
me and continues to give excellent health and strength, and,
I trust and pray, also a perfect will to do something for
His glory. The wandering life I lead-1 had in these four
months twenty-five different night quarters-reminds me
that we have no permanent dwelling place in. this world;
�Osage
144
~Vissiou.
and every sick call I attend, and every confession I hear,
and every communion I give, gives me some more little
hope that our Lord will be merciful to me in life and death.
B. F. \VIGET, S. ].
ccreo
OSAGE MISSION.
RESIDENCE OF ST. FRA:\CIS OF H IERONYI\10,
OsAGE MissiON, NEosHo Co., KANSAS,
January Ist, 1876.
DEAR FATHER:
The year just gone has been for us one of trials and also
one of wonders. The common in1pression at the beginning
' of last year was that we had to look for nothing less than a
dreadful fami·ne. The crops of 1874 having proved almost
a total failure, all our hope was in the wheat sowed during
the fall of that year, but the severe winter and dry spring
that followed began to diminish our expectations, and when
at the opening of last March we saw our fiel~s and gardens
covered with legions of locusts we indeed gave it up. People who had any means began to lay in provisions to last
them for one year, those who were not able to do it left the
country.
April, May and June passed and nothing green could be
seen, with the exception of some wheat and oats on the
high prairies, and the grass, so much needed in this country
where so many herds of cattle are depending upon it for
their existence, was not yet coming out. Horses as well as
cattle could be seen roaming about in a starving condition,
feeding on brushwood and the lower limbs of the trees
�Osage .Mission.
145
which they were stripping as far as they could reach. This
state of affairs was really discouraging, and was made still
worse by different reports, daily coming in, of several
deaths occasioned by want of food. And though in some
instances there was exaggeration in such reports, yet it is
certain that during last winter and spring several died of
starvation in this part of Kansas.
There was no time to lose; the depressed spirit of our
people was to be aroused, and the best way to succeed in
this, was that of applying to prayer. vVe therefore an-.
nounced to our congregation that we would make some
solemn processions, to move God to be merciful to us.
Our plan was favorably received, and people came in good
numbers to attend the processions. Vve had the first on
St. Patrick's day, and on each of the Rogation days we
again marched out, singing the. Litanies of the Saints and
blessing the fields. Some of our Protestant and infidel
neighbors were very much surprised at this public demonstration of faith, but we did not mind them and on we went.
At the end of June, though the locusts had diminished,
yet large numbers of them could be seen, especially along
the Neosho river. There was not a blade of grass in the
woods, nor a vegetable in the gardens, and the corn though
planted and re-planted many times, would not show itself;
for as soon as it sprouted out it was devoured by the invading insects. The trees indeed were covered with new leaves,
but the ground was as bare as in winter time.
Such was the condition of this country till the beginning of July, when at last a change took place for the better. With the opening of this month heavy clouds began
to appear in the sky, and rain fell in abundance, so that in
a few days the whole country was flooded. With this the
locust invasion was over. Vegetation which had been generally interrupted now takes a new start: plants grow
luxuriantly, and the much needed grass began at last to
sp'i}Jut upon these interminable western plains, which now
VoL. v-No. 2.,
19
�146
Osage
~llission.
seem covered with a beautiful emerald carpet strewn over
with a ·variety of flowers. The farmers feel encouraged,
and losing no time, they go to work re-planting their corn
and vegetables. God blesses their .labor in a way that no
one ever expected ; and after all the fear that we should
have a dreadful famine, we on the contrary gathered an
abundance, not only unexpected, but I might say unprecedented, of all kinds of cereals.
In consequence of this, our people are cheered up, they
appear very contented, and acknowledge that God indeed
heard their prayers.' \Ve could not get a better opportunity
to call on them to··come and comply with the conditions
necessary for gaining the great indulgence of the Jubilee.
\Ve therefore invited them to come during eight days to
assist at some spiritual exercises. They came most willingly, and the attendance was always large. Every day we
marched in procession, reciting the beads, to an oratory of
the Immaculate Virgin, which some years since we erected
in our garden. Our Protestant neighbors who have noticed
the result of our last processions, seem now to have more
respect for this exhibition of christian faith. The Jubilee
here was a real success, and brought to their religious duties
persons, who for .many years had neglected to comply with
them.
:
About the middle of July, our Superi~r; Father John
Schoen makers left with Br. Thomas O'Donnell for the Indian
Territory, to visit the Osages and give them an opportunity
of making their Jubilee. But unforeseen circumstances did
not allow him to carry his plan into execution. Just about
that time a committee of United States officers having been
sent from Washington to investigate the conduct of J. T.
Gibson, U. S. Agent for the Osages, a great excitement
was created among these Indians, who well knew that this
committee would do them no justice.
While this was going on Fr. Schoenmakers fell sick at the
Osage Agency on Bird river, which at that place is ca~led
�Osage llfission.
147
Deep Ford. In a few days his sickness became almost
fatal, and might have proved such but for the great care
with \Vhich he was attended by the half-breeds, and especially by the Doctor of the Agency, who though neither a
Catholic nor a friend of Ours, yet did the best he could.
All this kept our Superior absent from this Mission for two
months; at last on the 25th of September he returned to us.
During ihese last seven years the Osages repeatedly sent
petitions to the President of the United States, asking him
to restore to them our Mission, but to no purpose ; for the
only answer they received from the Indian Department was,
that they had a very good school at the Agency (a Quaker
school) and that was sufficient. But as this answer could
not satisfy them, at last the Indian Department allowed
them to send some of their children to our Institution.
On the 29th of October, forty-three Osage boys and eleven
half-breed girls came here to be educated. The boys remained with us, and the girls were sent to the Sisters of
Loretto, not far distant from our house.
About the end of November I visited the Osages on their
Reservation, and they as usual received me most kindly.
But their Agent treated me rather roughly. He would not
allow the very few Catholic Osage children, who are yet at
the Agency's school, to come to hear Mass on the Sunday
I was there. I remonstrated that they had a right to come
to Mass, and to receive instruction in their religion, and
that moreover such was the wish of their parents; but all
to no purpose:
From the Agency on Deep Ford I came to visit the halfbreeds and 'invited them to make their Jubilee. They came
in good number at the appointed places to hear Mass and
to approach the Sacraments. I was really edified at their
devotion. These Osage half-breeds are not very many, but
are quite industrious, and this year they have good crops,
spite of the opposition carried on against them by their
Agent, who far from assisting them, as it is his duty, tries
�lndiau Jllissions-Lake Hurou.
rather to break them down, because they are Catholics, and
stick to their faith most firmly. They submit with christian
fortitude and resignation to this persecution, and seldom
would you hear them complaining about it. Their principal settlement is along the river Cana, and the lands they
cultivate are most fertile. They apply themselves exclusively to agriculture ; God has blessed them so far, and
they are prospering.
PAuL MARY PoNziGLIONE,
S. ].
INDIAN MISSIONS-LAKE HURON.
Letter from Fr. Cltone to t!te Councillors of tlte Propagatiort
of .flte Faitlt.
WrKWEMIKONG, MANITOULINE IsLAND,
November 22d, r875·
GENTLEMEN :
~-
The Manitouline Mission numbers about 2532 Catholic
Indians and 555 whites, also Catholics. There are besides,
some 790 Indian Methodists and 342 heathens. This population is scattered through thirty-two stations, of which
the principal on Manitouline Island are \Vikwemikong or
Holy Cross, the residence of the missionaries, Mitchikiwatinong, \Vikwemikonsing, Atchitawniganing and Chichigwaning. The village of Wikwemikong alone contains more
than seven hundred souls, and goes on increasing, not by
· immigration, but by its own natural growth. Last year's
returns (1874) are a good example of their material civilization. They' harvested between fifteen and sixteen hun-
�Indian J1fissions-Lake Hurou.
dred bushels of wheat, besides Indian corn and other cereals, and potatoes in abundance. Formerly the village lots
were scarcely ever tilled, but now every house has its garden and the f~nces may, in general, be called elegant. From
year to year the houses are becoming more numerous and
are improving in appearance, both within and without. The
live stock census of 1874 gives 104 horses, 219 head of
horned cattle, 226 sheep, besides pigs and poultry; but, by
the way, the number of dogs-the inseparable friends and
servants of the Indian-has diminished by one-half, and we
do not regret it._ As to farming implements, the supply is
in proportion with the foregoing figures. The other villages
are imitating Wikwemikong.
The girls' school, under the direction of the Sisters of the
Sacred Heart of Mary (Fzlles du S. C. de llfarie), has no
small share in civilizing our Indians. It is a real school of
arts and manufactures for the young squaws. The establishment is provided with weaving looms, cards and spinning wheels: moreover, there are already a great many of
these in the Indian dwellings, as each family is anxious to
increase the number of sheep and thus produce more wool.
The same year (I 87 4), his Grace the Archbishop of
Toronto, on his way to Sault Ste. Marie with our Vicar
Apostolic, Mgr. Jamot, wished to visit Wikwemikong. His
astonishment at what he saw reminded one of the Queen
of Saba at the court of Solomon. Three times a year, on
the two festivals of the Holy Cross (the Invention and the
Exaltation), and on All Souls' Day we have a grand procession to the cemetery, where the graves are adorned with ,
the Ihdians' most precious treasures, shawls, pieces of calico,
etc. ; on witnessing this ceremony, the Archbishop was
visibly sensitive of the atmosphere of faith in which we
were moving. He requested that everybody should go and
kneel. on the graves of their relatives. Immediately the
procession broke up and the cemetery was straightway
covered with the Indian faithful praying with their Pastor
�Indian jlfissious-Lake Hurou.
for the repose of the suffering souls. "See," he exclaimed,
"how well these good Indians know the last resting place
of their dead, and how earnestly they are praying !"
At a meeting of the leading men of the village, his
Grace congratulated them on their faith, seeing that they
had not received the word of God in vain, and on their
progress in the path of civilization. He went on to promise
that he would see about setting up an industrial school in
their village for the benefit of the whole mission. Our good
Indians were not slow to appreciate this promise, and they
are looking forward .to its fulfilment.
1\Tgr. Jamot left .. the Archbishop at Holy Cross and
started off in true missionary style, in a small skiff, with a
tent for the night, a piece of salt pork and some bread in
his wallet, to visit, in another part of the island, the village
which ranks next in importance after Holy Cross. \Vhen
he got there, he was delighted with this little Indian Reduction: a neat, pretty church, houses in good trim, fields
well tilled and covered with plentiful crops. He was especially struck with the respect which these new Christians,
commonly spoken of as savages, show their priests.
As he had taken only a hurried look at \Vikwemikong,
he resolved to return the following year and then see some
of the other villages. He had sent us word that he wished
to be here for All-Hallow-tide; but the unusually severe
storms which made many wrecks on our lakes, stopped the
steamboats that would have brought him to Killarney, a
port and little half-breed village about five leagues by water
from Holy Cross.
It was the 3d of November, and half-past seven l'h the
evening, before he came to us, shivering with cold and very
hungry. The ringing of the bell warned the Indians that
their long looked for Bishop was in their midst. Next
morning, at six o'clock, the first bell, rung in three full
peals, made the faithful crowd into the church. His Lordship, after his Mass, said a few words of affectionate and
�Indian llfissions-Lake Huron.
joyful greeting, and announced that he would give Confirmation on the following day, the first Friday of the month,
a day on which we always have exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament morning and evening, in honor of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus.
On the morning of Saturday, the chiefs sent their messenger to ask if Mgr. Jamot would receive a deputation.
His Lordship was well pleased with their request; so they
came at the appointed time. The Bishop spoke to them
with genuine fatherly kindness, and renewed the Archbishop's promise, adding that, though he could do nothing
as yet during the ensuing year, he would certainly attend
to the matter the year after next. One of his Grace's intentions in founding this establishment is the forming of good
catechists and schoolmasters - a great want at present,
owing to those vultures, especially of the Methodist kind,
who come with what is called civilization and swoop down
upon our little colonies so long peaceful, not to carry captive heathen souls, but to rend asunder the Catholic flock.
When is Lordship had done speaking, the first chief
rose, and after reviewing in a remarkably apt and happy
manner the many advantages for which he and his fellows
felt themselves beholden to the Bishops who sent them
missionaries-the knowledge of God and of their duties,
the blessing of instruction for their children, the girls' industrial school, the fruits of this institution which are constantly increasing under the watchful care of the Anamil:ik<vhzak (nuns), their own progress in farming, etc.-he
thanked his Lordship, saying (with that unceremonious
tlzceing and tlzouing-tutoiemcnt-for which there is. no Eng·
!ish equivalent): "I who speak to thee, do not speak alone.
All those whom thou seest here with me, as well as all our
brethren whom we represent, speak to thee down in their
hearts in the same way. vVe see in thy words and in thy
presence here at this season, the love which thou bearest to
us and the interest which thou dost take in thy childrens'
�Indian i1fissions-Lakc Huron.
welfare. Enjoy in thy heart the blessings which thou
makest us enjoy, and speak to God that we may use them
well, in order that we may be happy in the abode of light."
His Lordship then gave each of the chiefs a little cross,
and medals to the others. Not being able to visit, as he
at first intended, at least one of the neighboring villages, he
took his leave of us on the Saturday afternoon, escorted by
two boats manned by twenty men. From the boat in which
he was, he solemnly gave his episcopal blessing to the
kneeling crowd, which had followed him to the shore in
grand procession, with the cross at their head, with altarboys and a long line. of little girls dressed in white.
This year, his Lordship having obtained from the Department of Indian Affairs subsidies (which have not yet
come), we have opened schools in the four other villages on
the Island. Many other places stand in great need of
schoolmasters, thanks to the above-mentioned vultures, who
allure our neophytes with the prospect of an English education, a bait which easily turns the head of our poor Indians.
\Ve have also added to the residence of the Sisters (Fillcs
du S. C. de JTTan"c) two stories at a cost of two thousand
dollars which we had asked the Indian Department for this
purpose; but the Bishop could get only one thousand.
More than fifteen hundred are needed to £!lake the first
story at least habitable; thus the deficit is alCon our shoulders. 'vVe even deem ourselves fortunate· in having been
able to make room, little though it be, for the twelve orphan
girls in the house and for those whom Providence will enable us to receive. Throughout the whole mission there are
very many of these motherless girls, Catholic, Protestant
and heathen, :vho might all be admitted into this house;
but funds are wanting, and so we are obliged to keep within
bounds.
I have the honor to be with respect and gratitude, gentlemen, your most humble and obedient servant,
P. CHONE,S.J.
�Indian Jlissions-Lakc Huron.
I
53
Letter of }/·. Yadmu to Vo:)' Rev. Fr. T. Cltarmtx.
\VrKwmuKo:s-G, November, ::!9, 1875·
REV. FATHER,
P. C.:
There has been a long gap since my last ietter, but I was
so overwhelmed with work that it was unavoidable. Even
breviary has to lie over till night time, when, too, the most
pressing letters have to be answered. Very often have (
tried to write to you; but just as often had to give it up,
when fairly under way. Duties·take up every minute of my
time, and even my good old father and mother are fortunate
if they hear from me once or twice a year. However, I
hope that by. next spring, when Fr. Hebert is stronger
in health and on the score of Indian phraseology, my
burden will be somewhat lighter. Meantime I am on the
run from morning till night, and from one year's end to the
other. Not that I complain, for, while God gives me strength,
it shall be spent in His service and for His greater glory ;
but you will understand how I can hardly be much of a
letter writer.
Since your Reverence was here last, I have been continually on the mdrch. Just as I got back to Killarney, from
my missions in the dioceses of Torontp and Hamilton,
news came that the bishop was to arrive by the next boat.
I accordingly remained over, and brought him with me up
to Wikwemikong. His Lordship spent two whole days
there, ~nd was never weary of telling me how delighted he
was with his visit, with the faith of the Indians, and the profound respect they showed him. After confirming about
thirty children, he set out on his return. \Vhen his departure was announced, all the Indians of the village came
trooping in ; and when the bishop finally bade them goodVaL. v-No. 2.
20
�154
Indian Jlfissions-Lakc 1-furon.
bye, they formed in procession and escorted him down to
the shore. His Lordship once more gave them his blessing
and we started for Killarney.
.
\Ve now had another chance to admire the earnest faith
• of the Indians. There were many .of them encamped all
along the shore and on the islands of the lake, and as soon
as they saw our boat in the distance, men, women and children would invariably hurry down to the water's edge and
throw themselves on their knees for the bishop's blessing.
His Lordship did not stint them, but scattered benedictions
right and left incessantly. He was continually exclaiming:
"What faith in th~,?e poor Indians! What faith!" We
reached Killarney Saturday night; next morning he administered Confirmation to some children, and in the afternoon
the steamboat arrived which was to take him to Toronto.
Next spring he will return to \Vikwemikong for the feast
· of Corpus Christi, and will then visit Manitoulin and the
neighboring missions.
I did not go back straight to \Vikwemikong, but went to
look after some Indians scattered here and there through
the country.- I had time only for my annual retreat which
I begin to-night; and I am sorely in need of it to gain
strength for the battles of every description I have to fight
here, especially against a pack of Methodist.preachers who
keep pestering us in every conceivable way':'- ··True, I have
only to show myself to put them to flight; but as soon as
I am gone they appear again and succeed only too often in·
corrupting the hearts of our poor Indians. The very devil
seems to keep them supplied with agents and money ! and
the Indians not being sufficiently instructed to detect their
artifices are actually being bought over body and soul by
these wretches. A tribe of teachers generally follow in the
track of the ministers, and by means of a good salary with
promise of more and a prospect of becoming preachers
themselves, as _soon as they get a few unfortunate people
together, are kept continually on the alert. It is easy to
�Indian "lfissions-Lake Huron.
155
understand how our missions are exposed, unless we can
contrive to have catechists here and there, to support the
weak and instruct and convert those who are not yet baptized. The easy l\Iethodist doctrine which insists on nothing .
but baptism and the addition of a name to its lists, while it
leaves the convert in his former ignorance and superstition,
with his vanity excited and his gross passions very often
ministered to, are but too likely to be attractive to the lazy
nature of the Indian.
How then can I rest? vVhen so many foes are to be
faced, every instant is precious. It is useless to say, "Take
care; do not kill yourself before the time." · It would be
like advising a general to spare himself when his troops are
imperilled, or a shepherd when wolves are devouring his
sheep, or a father whose children are in danger of perishing.
Inaction then would be treason.
Such, reverend father, has been my situation these three
years past. How can I rest when there is question of immortal souls whom God has redeemed and given me to
take care of! I am still able to fight and, if need be, to die
on the battle field, and if my body is some of these days
found under the snow or floating down the river, will it not
be all the better? I have already looked death in the face
pretty closely, many times, but God vVho saved me then,
almo'3t miraculously, can do it again, if He wants me to
work any longer for His service and glory. Besides, even
if I did wish to rest, I could scarcely well do it, as the
bishop keeps finding new missions \vhich are hard to get at
or much exposed to these Methodist attacks, and hands
them over to me ; and as he has been so kind to us all
along, I don't feel it in my heart to refuse, especially, as
many of them lie on my route.
·
Do not. think, reverend father, I write all this to complain. Far from it ; but it is to let you know the critical
condition of our missions and the extreme need we have of
another father among us, who can prepare himself for this
�:J.
Alfred Gouglt, .LVo<'., S.
:J.
sort of life before dear old Fr. Chone goes to the grave, and
that may happen at any moment. True, Fr. Hebert will
soon be ready, but suppose Fr. Chone or your humble servant were to die, what would become of our work here?
What is Fr. B. doing? Has he given up all idea of his
Indian missions, in spite of his knowlege of the language
which he acquired so soon? Is it true that Fr. C. is only
waiting for a word from you to come and share our labors ?
Send us, I beg you, reverend father, another recruit soon,
before the burden grows too heavy for me, or some of the
missions have to be. given up.
·when my retreat is over, with the help of God, I shall
,_strap on my snow shoes for the winter's tramp. By the time
my letter reaches you, I shall already be a good distance
off. Give my respects to Fr. Me Donell, and do not forget,
in your Holy Sacrifices and other prayers, the poor Indian
missionary, who is your Reverence's
Most obedient servant in Christ,
P. NADEAU, S. J.
J.
ALFRED GOUGH, NOVICf:~
·s. J.
Novices are always of especial interest to the whole Society. \Vhether the hard working missionary snatch a few
moments from his busy day to read this account, or the
weary professor soothe his tired mind with happy recollections which this may suggest, or the patient student look
back to the happiness he but a short while ago left, all will
see a picture of a good novice, which must recall happy
remembrances.'
�:J. Alfred Gouglt, Nov., S. :J.
I
57
Br. Alfred Gough is a name that now shines with peculiar brightness in the annals of our Novitiate. Around it
cluster those delicate virtues, so charming to the hearts of
religious; early blossoms, which diffuse sweet perfume in
the paradise of God. A youth of such genuine sweetness,
-in whose heart was the innocence of childhood, on whose
brow the modesty of religion, in whose whole bearing a
model son of St. Ignatius-is an example sent for the comfort and edification of all. Such was Br. Alfred Gough, the
angel of our Novitiate, whose happy career was so short
that we can hope to draw but an imperfect outline of his
beautiful character.
Alfred was born I 5 July, I 8 59, of an old Catholic family
of Maryland, which we can trace back to the landing of Fr.
·white, and the first settlement of St. Mary's, which was the
birth place of our Brother. The happy days of childhood
were passed amid the pleasant scenes of his native place.
He attended one of the little day-schools of the district and
left home for the first time to study at Conewago, before
entering the Novitiate. \Ve know little more of his early
life, than what is said in the Gospel of the childhood of
Jesus. In a letter from his mother, at the news of her son's
death, we have a beautiful testimony to his innocence :
"His whole life, from childhood, has been one of innocence
and goodness for which, I hope, he is now reaping his reward in Heaven." During two years study at Conewago,
he was the same innocent, openhearted lad, that so beautified those natural virtues, by a short career of religious life.
Next, we see him as a novice; and surely, there could not
have shone from the countenance of the saints, a more
beautiful innocence and candor of soul.
In the beginning, his ardent nature felt it somewhat hard,
to bear the continual restraint of religious training; but no
sooner did he comprehend the spirit of the novitiate, than
he embraced it with all his soul. In his holy simplicity, he
looked upon the minutest customs of the novices, as inva-
�Y. Alfred Gouglt, Nov., S. Y.
riably sacred, and with a manly spirit, he did not flinch from
observing them under any circumstances.
It was his duty, as sacristan, to supply the rooms of the
house with holy water. \Vhen any of the in~ates thought
to commend him for his carefulness in this office, or exchange a few words with him, his only answer was a smile
or a modest bow of the head. This exactness, which was
noticed by all, he extended to all the minutia: of novice life.
Novices, who so easily perceive the least fault, looked
upon him as an example of fidelity in all things ; which is
• certainly no slight praise. From his gait, gesture, words,
looks and his whole..bearing, beamed the beautiful virtue of
modesty. In him \vas verified the saying, "Mens sana in
corpore sano; " for, we might here add, his appearance was
mpst pleasing. He was slenderly built, but well proportioned, light in his carriage and sprightly, but modest withal.
His actions were unaffected, still, something seemed to enhance all he did, whether it was !'!xactness, modesty, charity
or innocence, certainly, there was virtue revealed that pervaded his whole being.
It is especially in unguarded conversation, that the hidden sentiments of hearts are revealed. From his language,
it was evident what thoughts were uppermost in his mind.
There was one that was most congenial to h}s nature, and
that shows forth better than anything else the. tendency of
his innocent affections. It was devotion to the Infant Jesus.
This was his favorite topic of conversation, this was his
favorite subject of meditation, and as we know from himself,
it was as an Infant he loved to look upon our Lord in the
Blessed Sacrament and wait upon Him in his office of
sacristan.
So lived Br. Gough amongst us, the general favorite of
the house, on account of his goodness. Great were the
hopes of Superiors and bright the expectations of all for
his future career. Shall we say they were all blasted by
.'conquering death, or all soon crowned by a happy death ?
�J. Alfred Gouglt, Nov:, S. :f.
159
On the Epiphany, the novices began the long retreat.
Some time before this, Br. Gough asked them all to pray for
him, as he did not expect to live long. He remarked the
same to Fr. Minister; his excellent health and happy spirits,
only gained for him incredulous smiles. But he told some
not to be surprised, if they heard the " De Profundis" bell
ring for him before the end of their retreat. His earnestness was noticed by all the novices, but little did any of
them think that this good-bye was to be his last. He made
his general confession at the beginning of this retreat, and
if we could judge of his feelings, from the tone and manner
in which he said the "culpa," for his past disedification, they
must have been akin to the repentance of the innocent
Aloysius. About the last week of the long retreat (Jan. 28),
he was confined to his bed by a serious attack of erysipelas.
His illness grew rapidly more dangerous, so that in a few
days, the last Sacraments were administered. There was
sadness in the ,house, for he gradually grew fainter and
fainter, until, to all appearances, he was dying; still, he recovered from his agony. Immediately arose the spirits of
the whole Community, prayers were redoubled, hopes entertained by all.
It was the eve of the last day of the retreat. All had assembled for the points ofthe morrow's meditation. Hardly
had the patrons been announced, when the first peal of the
Community bell sent a thrill of fear into every heart. There
was a momentary silence ;-again the shrill sound is heard
-a sound of mourning for us, of exultation for him, whose
pure soul had taken its flight. (Feb. 3, 9.20 P. 111.) It was
with difficulty the exercise could be continued, on account
of the emotions of grief expressed by all. Such was the
impression made by the death of Br. Gough.
The many little touching scenes of piety, that surround
the dying hours of holy souls, were not wanting here. In
taking his medicine and nourishment, in speaking, praying
and the many other circumstances of illness, his obedience
�r6o
J. Alfred Goug!t, 1\ 0<'., S. J.
7
was a picture of the spirit of the Society : "perinde ac cadaver." So long as he retained the use of his senses, he was
always fearful, lest he should miss the time of meditation mexamen. He spoke much of the Infant Jesus. Once, taking
the crucifix in his hands, he told those in the room to kneel
down, while he prayed for them to the Holy Infant. He
then broke forth into tender aspirations, asked for patience
in his trial and pardon for any impatience he might have
shown in his illness; all in such an humble and fervent
tone, that those presenf were much moved. And it was
truly wonderful, that one so young and of such an ardent
temperament, shoufd· have had so much power over himself,
during so painful a trial as his must have been.
Beautiful· and edifying as \vas his life, so, calm and holy
was his death. \Ve subjoin the sentiments of his fellow .
novices :-\Ve miss him very much, but we feel sure he now
looks down upon us from his heavenly home. He took such
interest in our joys and sorrows, when amongst us, now,
certainly, in Heaven, his love for us must be greater. He
was our example in the Novitiate, now we have him for a
patron.- The~e, too, are the sentiments of all that knew
him, for we all loved him, we all miss the innocent novice.
L. D. S.
�WOODSTOCK LETTERS.
VOL V., No. 3·
EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM ·
LOUISIANA IN 1763.
( ContiJZued.)
Hitherto we have confined ourselves to the occupations
of the Jesuits in the different parts of Louisiana, it is but
right to say what they did at New Orleans. A royal hospital
had been erected in this town, the title of chaplain had been
given to Fr. d'Outreleau in 1737 and since then had been
always reserved to the Jesuits. It was an employment requiring the whole attention of a missionary. In the same town
there was also an Ursuline convent, the religious of which
were according to the terms of their foundation devoted to
the education of thirty orphan girls cared for at the expense
of the king. They always had many besides these under
their charge, for their institute required them to instruct day
scholars and their house served as a boarding school for
quite a number of young ladies. For thirty years the Superior of the Jesuits had the direction of this house, and so
much had to be done that the services of one of his brethren was indispensable.
VoL. v-No. 3·
21
161
�162
Erpulsioll of the Yesuits from Louisia1ta ill z763.
Finally' the Jesuits kept on their land a hundred and
twenty or a hundred and thirty slaves, whose instruction
and management might justly claim the care of some of the
missionaries, since fourteen familes sufficed for the establishment of a parish.
If it be asked what fruit the Jesuits of Louisiana have
reaped from their missions, the reply is that the missionary's duty is only to labor, but it belongs to God to give
the fruit when He pleases; that the most laborious missions
have often appeared the most ungrateful, as for instance
Canada, where the missionaries engaged in the instruction
of the Outouas, the .Pontouatamis, the Sauteurs, the Outagamis or Foxes and the Miamis have produced hardly any
sensible fruit and have nevertheless been revered as truly
apostolic laborers. Such was the opinion the brilliant
Mgr. de Ponbriand, Bishop of Quebec, entertained of one
of the missionaries, Fr. Chardon, during the many years
which he spent in the forests with the Outagamis and other
savages. This Father had apparently no success in his labors ; yet on his return to Quebec at an advanced age, the
Prelate deigned to honor him with a visit when on the
_point of death iJ.nd asked his blessing. The humble missionary threw himself at the feet of his bishop to ask his,
and having obtained it he was obliged to .accede to the
wishes of Mgr. de Ponbriand.
.. •
Still the missionaries of Louisiana have not labored absolutely without fruit; for the most precious fruits are the
virtues practised on the missions, especial1y charity when
. it reaches heroism, when it moves a minister of Jesus
Christ to sacrifice his life for his brother as happened to
many a Je~llit in Louisiana, who expired in the actual exercise of his ministry. Thus in 1729, Fr. du Poisson, living
with the Arkansas, happening to be at the fort of the Natchez on the very day fixed for the slaughter of the French,
fell in the general massacre. This conspiracy can well bear
comparison witli the Sicilian· Vespers. The French in charge
�Expulsion of tlze :Jesuits from Louisiana ill I76J.
163
of this post treated with the utmost insolence the Natchez
· nation, a people most useful to the colony and most devoted. They determined to have revenge. Fr. du Poisson
being requested to remain a day to perform some ministe- .
rial duty in the absence of the cure, consented, thus becoming a victim to his devotedness and charity. A month
later the Yasous another savage nation entered into a similar conspiracy and killed all the French in the neighbor·
hood, not even sparing their missionary Fr. Soue!. He was
so much beloved by his negro slave that the latter met
death in attempting to defend his master. About the same
time Fr. d'Outreleau, coming down from the Illinois country on business connected with the mission, stopped on the
banks of the Mississippi to say Mass. A band of the same
Yasous who had killed Fr. Souel arriving at the place with
some savage allies, watched the movements of the French,
and especially of the Father who was engaged in the Holy
Sacrifice, and then fired, killing some of the French and
wounding others. Fr. d'Outreleau was wounded in the arm
and received some large shot in the mouth, his escape with
such slight injuries being regarded as a mark of Divine protection. Far from being disconcerted by this_ attack, he reassured his companions by his firmness and courage, thereby
enabling them to escape from the savages and return to
New Orleans. Shortly after, when an expedition was organized for the punishment of the Indians engaged in these
butcheries, especially the Natchez, Fr. d'Outreleau was
made chaplain and ever codtinued to display the same
resolution.
In 1736 Fr. Senat, then a nusswnary with the Illinois,
was appointed to accompany M. d'Artaguiette in an attack
upon the Chicachas. The enterprise failed; the French
were on the point of being hemmed in by the savages when
the missionary was told that there was still time for escape
and a horse was offered to him. Mindful of his divine
mission and of the need the French prisoners would soon
�164
Erpulsimz of the Ycsuits from Lomsia1la ill I76J.
have for his assistance, he refused to fly, was captured with
the rest and. like them led to execution. One of the squaws
entirely ignorant of the christian religion, having witnessed
their death, sometime afterwards nar~ated how the French
taken by the Chicachas were thrown on a funeral pile
erected in a large cabin and there burnt, after lzavi1lg sung
that they miglzt go to God; for she understood from their
appearance and gestures thaf the prayers at that solemn
moment were intended to open the way to heaven.
Four years previously, that is to say in 1732, Fr. Auneau had accompanied M. de la Verenderie, the younger,
who commanded an expedition in search of the Western
Sea. This young officer had joined a party of Christineaux, who were on the war path against the Sioux, a very
barbarous people. These latter savages recognized the
French mingled with their enemies, and resolving to have
their revenge upon them, they shortly afterwards planned
an ambuscade against some other French voyageurs, and
killed twenty-two of them. Among the slain was Fr. Au·
neau.
The fort at Niagara was vigorously besieged by the
English army in July, 1759, and twelve hundred French
troops were sent to the relief of that post, so necessary for
the preservation of Canada. Fr. Virot was appointed chaplain of the French army, but as it was com.pl~tely routed,
the missionary fell into the hands of the Iroquois, and was
cut to pieces.
Finally, in the month of july, 1763, when the savages of
Canada revolted against the English, the Indians (Sautcurs)
of Michilimackinac fell upon the English garrison of that
post. They had already destroyed a great portion of it,
· when Fr. du Jaunay threw open his house as an asylum for
the surviving soldiers and English traders, thus endangering his own life in order to save theirs. The young braves,
enraged at seeing half of their prey snatched from their
grasp, were fully bent on indemnifying themselves at the
�Expulsion of the :Jesuits from Louisiana in I763.
165
expense of Fr. du Jaunay, and the chiefs of the tribe had
great difficulty in restraining them. . ·
Such are the trials to which the Jesuit missionaries of
Canada and Louisiana have been constantly exposed, and
we have here some of the precious fruits of their labors ;
this is what must be expected by all those who take up
their abode in the midst of savages, above all when they
are obliged to travel on the Mississippi. After the revolt
of the Natchez in 1729, there was no longer any safety in
ascending that stream ; almost every year chronicled the
death of some Frenchmen; and all the precautions that
could be employed during the three months voyage required to reach the Illinois, were never able to ward off all
danger. Now, at least twenty-six or twenty-seven voyages
were made by the Jesuits on the Mississippi after the sad
affair of 1729. We have joined the missions of Louisiana
and Canada in one account, partly because they were formerly united, and partly because, even at the present day,
the manner of living in both is the same, and the same
risks are to be incurred.
But should anyone persist in demanding of the Jesuits in
Louisiana those practical results which are expected from
missions, the following statement will show that they were
not wanting. In the three French parishes of the Illinois
territory, a pretty fair number of true christians could be
reckoned ; some there were who resisted the evil example
and the false maxims which had commenced to spread ,
through Louisiana from the . neighboring colonies ; and
amongst the Illinois at least the missionaries had checked
the progress of the evil, for there were many persons there
who were models of sobriety despite the numerous drunkards who led the savages astray by the firewater which they
supplied to them. Many others preferred to be in want
of the most necessary provisions, rather than engage in
this destructive traffic. It is true that there were some men
who neglected the care of their children and slaves, but
�166 Expulsion of the :Jesuits from Louisiaua in I76J.
there were many others, who either personally taught them,
or procured the necessary instruction for them, and managed to hold them to their duty. There were some christians who seemed to have forgotten ~he precepts of abstinence and fasting, of confession and communion, and even
of hearing Mass, but others were very faithful to these
obligations, and were zealous frequenters of the sacraments.
How many pastors are there in France, whose labors are
considered satisfactory, if they can produce fruits equal to
these?
As regards the mission to the Illinois savages, the \Vord
of God has not been-announced to them in vain. Despite the
fickleness of this people, the religion established among
them a long time ago holds its ground even to the present
day; the superstitions of the medicine-men were almost
entirely rooted out; even the infidels were eager to have
their children baptized; many neophytes judged worthy of
communion did not by their subsequent behavior belie the
opinion that had been formed of them; many triumphed
over the passion for strong drink, which is so violent among
these people, --and kept themselves within the bounds of
temperance, even when they could gratiiy this appetite
without any expense to themselves. \Vhat grand results
might have been produced in this mission if a.serious effort
had been made to check the sale of whiskey;· \Vhich in this
country is the bane of religion. It is true this trade was
prohibited by the regulations of the Church and by royal
statute, but many of those. whose duty it was to publish
these prohibitions and to attend to their execution were
among the foremost in spreading the forbidden poison.
The first charge against the Jesuits, in the decree of the
Council of Louisiana which condemns them, is :-Because
they have taken no care of their missions. From all that has
just been said, it can be seen whether this imputation is
groundless or not.
The second cause of complaint is thus worded : Because
�Expulsion of tlze :Jesuits from Louisiana in I763.
167
the Jesuits of this colony have cared for nothing else excep_t
to extend their possessions. But does not the answer to the
first charge meet this second one also? For if the Jesuits,
as has been shown, did take care of their missions, they
have by that very fact cared for other things besides their
own possessions. Btit perhaps the intention was to assert
that it is not fitting for missionaries to hold extensive establishments, because it distracts them from their spiritual
ministry; granting all that, in order to avoid this embarrassment, it would. have been required to provide by other
means for their support, for traveling expenses, for the construction and current expenditures of their houses and
chapels. Now, by the terms of their foundation, each Jesuit received a pension of eight hundred livres (though the .
writer _is not quite sure of that), and to build and support
six houses and chapels they had received fifteen thousand
livres, which amount was paid down once for all ; and
although the engagement was not without risk, still they
were not free to give it up. Where then could they have
found the means for these outlays, or even for their food
and clothing, when under the pressing difficulties of the
government, the treasurers of the colony could not have
met the obligations of the most privileged debts? When
a yard of cloth or of very common linen cost fifty crowns
at New Orleans, an ordinary handkerchief one hundred
francs, when a keg of wine sold for two thousand five hundred francs, and could not be forwarded to the Illinois
under a cost of five or six hundred livres; when such was
the scale of prices, was it not of paramount necessity to be
careful in regard to the means of subsistence? How then
could the Council of New Orleans make this a crime and a
cause of condemnation in their decree?
A third charge remains to be disposed of:-it is the
usurpation of the Vicar-Generalship of Quebec. So far as
New Orleans is concerned, the judges of that city cast this
imputation upon the Jesuits, but they can scarcely persuade
�168
Expulsion
of tlze :Jesuits from Louisia11a in IJ6J.
themselves that every body has forgotten the fact that they
themselves a few years before had given a contrary decision.
The case stands as follows: About eighteen or twenty
years ago, Mgr. de Ponbriand, Bishop of Quebec, wrote to
Fr. Vitry, Superior of the Jesuits in New Orleans, constituting him his Vicar-General. These letters were placed on ,
file by the Superior Council; on the death of Fr. Vitry in
1750, Fr. Baudoin received the same appointment, and he
exercised the duties of this office for some time without let
or hindrance. But troubles arose afterwards ; for the Capuchin Fathers believed that the appointment of a Jesuit was
an infringement upon their rights. As the name and office
of Vicar-General had been given to their Superior by the
Bishop of Quebec, at the same time as the ~ndian Company
had appointed him pastor of New Orleans, they were of
the opinion that these two positions should henceforth be
inseparable, and should consequently belong to their body.
Mgr. de Ponbriand was fully aware of these pretensions ;
and the Jesuits themselves (many persons will scarcely credit it, but the fact is not thereby less certain) used every
effort to get rid of an employment, which was only a source
of annoyance and opposition to them ; but the prelate
firmly insisted that they should retain the office. Notwithstanding his expressed wish the Capuchins ,_refused to acknowledge Fr. Baudoin. The matter was fin~lly brought ·
before the Council, and after many examinations that body
formally decided that the Jesuits were in legitimate possession of the office: the records of the Council prove this,
the Jesuits continued to exercise the functions of the office,
New Orleans and the entire colony testify to the fact. Fr.
Baudoin, despite the past reclamations and some occasional
opposition, had the name of Vicar General and exercised
the jurisdiction belonging to the office, until the day on
which the decree of destruction ·was passed. Will it be
believed that a· Council established to dispense justice
dared to contradict itself by a solemn decree,-by a decree
�Expulsion of t!tc :Jesuits from Louisimza in z763.
169
which expressly belies another decision given a short time
before on the same matter, and that matter of too much
importance to be easily forgotten, since for several years it
had occupied the attention of New Orleans ? Will it be
believed that those who had been declared the rightful pos- '
sessors, should, a short time afterw·ards, without the slightest change in the case, be condemned as usurpers? Reflecting upon this decree, passed without examination, without
legal formality, without a hearing given to those interested,
is it not very natural to conclude that the Council of New
Orleans looked upon the Jesuits as men against whom any
charges could be made, any outrages perpetrated, with im.:
punity?
We have thus disposed, one by one, of the motives assigned for the condemnation of the Jesuits; we must now
speak of the manner in which the decree was carried into
execution. It had to be done without delay at New Orleans,
and afterwards in the Illinois territory, which is four or five
hundred leagues away. There was in that country, as we
have already mentioned, a mission of the Jesuits, which
comprised four different stations. These were not overlooked; and a messenger was despatched to them with the
decree of condemnation. Meantime the provisions of the
decree were promptly carried out at New Orleans. Their
establishment was quite near the city, and was calculated to
support twelve·missionaries; it had a number of slaves for
plantation work and for various handicrafts, as is the custom in the colonies ; all these, together with the different
buildings, the live stock, the workshops, in a word, everything they possessed, was seized, an inventory made out,
and the goods exposed at auction sale. It required a long
time to bring the business to a close, and those who had
charge of it took their meals in the house. They were the
best qualified officers of justice together with their subordinates ; the former behaved with propriety but the others
did not think themselves obliged to disguise their real
VoL. v-No. 3·
22
�170
Expulsio1t of the :Jesuits from Loui'sialla in IJ6J.
character: they saw that they were in clover, and being
sure of good pay, they did not try to conceal their feelings.
The Superior of the Jesuits was forced to be present at the
grand feasts which were given in his house whilst the plundering went on, and he was witness of the hilarity which
reigned at them.
After the sale of the real estate and personal property,
there remained only the chapel with its ornaments and sacred vessels ; it was set forth in the decree that these
effects should be handed over to the Capuchins. This was
accordingly done; and it was the least bad use that could
be made of them.~ .:rhe chapel was then demolished, and
the last resting place of those who had lain buried here
and in the neighboring graveyard for the past thirty years,
was exposed to profanation. The Jesuits who returned from
Louisiana have frequently been asked the reasons for such
proceedings; people have testified to them the astonish:
ment and horror that they felt over such an occurrence ;
they have been told that such treatment could have been
expected only from the declared enemies of the Catholic
faith :-the Jesuits could answer only by their silence.
Nothing was now wanting to the full execution of the
decree except to send back to France those who had been
condemned; such Fathers as happened to J:?e at New Orleans did not wait for a formal order to depiit~ Fr. Carette
took ship for San Domingo; Fr. Roy withdrew to Pensacola, at the very time that the English were entering that
port to take possession of it, and the Spaniards were evacuating the place, according to treaty stipulations ; he embarked on the vessel which was to transport the Governor
of the town to Vera Cruz. He was most charitably welcomed by the Spanish Fathers of the College there, and
shortly afterwards he was admitted into the Mexican Province by Fr. Francis Zeballos, the Superior. His letter
written on this ,subject expressed the most generous and
christian sentiments, and all the Jesuits banished from the
�Expulsion of t!te :Jesuits from Louisiana in IJ6J.
171
French dominions were cordially invited to the same place
9f refuge. Fr. Le Predour was among the Alabamas, at a distance of about t\vo hundred leagues; considerable time was
required to serve a copy of the decree upon him, and after
he had received it he was obliged to wait his opportunity
to reach the fort at Mobile, and afterwards to come to New
Orleans. We have lately learned that he has gone back to
France. Fr. Baudoin, Superior of all the Missions, now
alone remained ; but he was seventy-two years of age and
very feeble, as can be easily believed of a man who had
spent thirty· five years in Louisiana; and of these years
some twenty had been spent in the forests among the
Choctaws. As he had neither relatives nor acquaintance in
, France, being a Canadian by birth, they allowed him to remain. They gave him a pension of nine hundred livres,
which would be worth about four hundred francs in France.
M. Bore, an old settler of the country, offered him an asylum on his plantation, and thus gave proof of the sincerity
of the friendship which he had always shown towards the
Society.
The courier, who had been sent to carry the decree to
the Illinois country, arrived on Sept. 23 at fort Chartres,
which is six miles distant from the residence of the Jesuits.
He presented to the royal commissioner the order charging
him with the execution of the decree, and on the following
day that official came to the Jesuits at eight or nine o'clock
in the morning; he was accompanied by the notary and
the constable of the district. Some days subsequently this
functionary took credit to himself for the moderation he
had displayed in not coming during the night time as, he
said, his orders warranted ; to this extent. no fault can be
found with his exact observance of orders. He read the
decree to Fr. Watrin, the Superior, and made him immediately withdraw from his room, to which he affixed the seals;
the same was done to the other missionaries who hap-,
pened to be at home. One large chamber remained in
�172
Expulsion of tlze :Jesuits frozn Louisi{ma in I76J.
which they could have roomed together, though with great
, inconvenience, but this favor was refused them, because the
keepers in charge of the property were opposed to it; they
were not willing that the Jesuits should be able from so
close a neighborhood to throw light upon their behavior.
The royal officer was afraid of giving offence to these
guards, and he was unwilling even to allow the Jesuits to
take up their abode with one of their brethren, cure of the
place, who had a private residence close to the parochial
church ; this house had been left untouched, because there
was nothing of any value in it. The missionaries thus driven
from their dwelling ,place, lodged as best they could. The
Superior, who was sixty-seven years of age, set out on foot
for the residence of a fellow-missionary, who lived at a
good league's distance, among the savages, and the French
who met him on the way were filled with grief at seeing
that he was the first victim of the persecution.
As soon as the savages were apprised of his arrival
among them, they came to show to him and to Fr. Meurin,
that they shared in the affliction of their Fathers; the news
of their condemnation had already caused many tears to flow
in the village. They inquired why such treatment had been
meted out to them, especially in a country where so many
disorders had for a long time been tolerated .. _.The aged missionary, after oft-repeated interrogations, at length replied:
-"because we find too much fault with folly." They understood the meaning of this answer, knowing, as they did,
that in whatsoever place the Jesuits have a foothold, they
deem themselves obliged by their profession to make war
upon vice, and that by their opposition to iniquity, they
raise up enemies against themselves.
The Christian Indians then proposed to depute their
Chiefs, in order to petition the local authorities to allow, at
least Fr. Meurin, their missionary, to be retained at his post;
but the Jesuits told them to do nothing of the kind, because'
such a proceeding would be open to the suspicion of hav-
�Expulsion of tlze :Jesuits from Louisia1ta in I763.
173
ing been suggested to them, and would consequently be of
no avail, and would be rejected with contempt. They
wished then to ask for the preservation of the chapel and
residence, so that those among them who were best instructed might be able to call the children together to repeat
their prayers, and that on Sundays and festivals, the prayi1lg,
i. e. the Christian Indians, might assemble at the sound of
the bell to fulfil the duties of religion as far as was in their
power; they made this petition, and their prayer was
granted.
Meantime the royal officer relaxed a little from his severity; about the same time he received four letters in a single
day from M. Bobe, the Commissioner, who begged him to
temper his zeal, and he finally consented to allo\v the Jesuits
to join their brethren who had been in charge of the French
settlements. They were here very much crowded, as the
house was intended to accommodate but one person ; their
former rooms had been thrown open to allow each one to
get his mattress and bed-clothes, which they spread upon
the floor in the house of the cure. This style of sleeping,
which lasted well nigh a· month, was a good preparation
for the voyage which they were shortly to take on the
Mississippi ; for this is the only way of camping out on
the banks of that river. They were allowed to take away
their clothing and books, which were exempted from seizure. ·Finally, provision was made for the support of the
Fathers, till such time as they should be obliged to go
down to New Orleans. The greater portion of the provisions in their house was made over to them, and this sufficed for the rest of their stay among the Illinois.
�ST. JOHN'S CHURCH AND RESIDENCE,
FREDERICK, MD.
( Co1tcluded.)
Our history has reached the year 1837. During the time
that the n~w church was building an important event in
the affairs of the Pro:vince took place. This was the transferring ofthe Novitiate from White Marsh to the residence
in Frederick The change was proposed almost jokingly
by Fr. McElroy to Very Rev. Fr. Kenny in 1832; the latter took it in earnest and was determined to carry out the
idea, and would have done so but for his recall to Ireland.
Very Rev. Fr. McSherry, the successor of Fr. Kenny, had
tpe same views and, in 1833, a large addition was made to
the residence. Fr. McElroy, with the others engaged in the
college and church, moved into the new residence on Church
Street.*
From time to time the establishment of the Sisters had
been enlarged to meet the wants of the orP.hans and the
school. A large addition was made about ·the year 1827
and this last effort of Fr. McElroy for the education of the
young was extremely beneficial.t
Many remarkable conversions were the fruit of the long
* The addition consisted of a story to the old building and the exten·
sion of the west end from what is now Father Rector's sitting-room to
the passage leading to the refectory. The wing now used by the novices,
, together with the chapel, was added by Fr. Samuel Barber. The east ex·
tension, from the pastor's room to the alley, was made by the Very Rev.
Fr. Brocard. The infirmary wing, as was said already, was the improve·
ment made by Fr. Paresce in 1859.
t The school building was burnt down in 1845; but was soon replaced
by another. ,
·
174
�St. :John's Clmrclt and Residmce,· Frederick, JWd. 175
labors of Fr. McElroy in Frederick. He regrets in his
diary that he did not keep a record of them. The following
account which is given in his diary for Sept. 2, 1839, is, no
doubt, worth preserving :
"Sent for, to perform the funeral service of Cynthia Summers, who was born blind. Her parents were members of
the Church of England, and she was instructed in the principles of that sect. When at mature age, the Methodists
made a great noise by their preaching and frequent meetings, she together with a blind sister and brother, resolved
to join them, and did so, contrary to the wish of their
father. The deceased was among the most zealous of her
sect, and was sent for, from time to time, to make exhortations, prayers etc., in the neighborhood. Her sister died in
the same belief, and her brother was licensed as a Methodist preacher and continued to act as such. He was not
present at his sister's decease or interment.
"In the year 1827, a schism took place in the Methodist
sect, and the conflicting parties carried on a fierce war of
words, in writing and otherwise. This staggered our Cynthia,
and gave her serious doubts as to the divinity of her faith.
She saw· the house divided against itself, a want of that
unity by which the true Church was to be known, and she
concluded to withdraw from them. As Providence would
have it, about this time her sister, who had always read for
her, took up a Catholic prayer book which happened to be
in the house, and read from the beginning of the book the
Creed of Pius the Fourth. This she did not relish at first.
The prayers for Mass, Confession, Communion, etc., were
read, and they pleased her very much and she found com·
fort in them. Another Catholic book was in the house,
"Temporal and Eternal." This she read also, and it pleased
her very much. A Catholic family of her acquaintance
procured from me, at her request, a Catechism. She learned
the whole of it. She committed to memory the prayers for
morning and night, the Mass, prayers before and after
�176 St. :Jo!tn's Clmrclt aud Residmce, Frederick, ll1d.
Confession and Commuion, a little office for every day in
the week, the Penitential Psalms, Rosary of the Blessed
Virgin, with all the prayers and meditations.
"After two years spent in this manner, she accompanied a
member of the Catholic family to our church, unknown to
her father, for the first time. She came on Sunday morning a distance of fifteen miles, fasting, although of delicate
health. The young lady, her companion, told me that such
a person wished to confess; that she was fasting and expected to receive Holy Communion. I replied that she
could not without more instruction. She presented herself,
however, and made-her confession as one who had always
be,en.a Catholic. I interrogated her on the whole of the
small catechism: she answered perfectly well. I could not,
therefore, withold for a moment imparting to her the blessings that awaited her. In fine she was baptized and received
Holy Communion before leaving the church. She requested
the loan of books, which I gave her from time to time:
Lives of the Saints, Rodriguez, etc. She profited so much
by them, that she retained nearly all she had heard read,
and, still more, reduced it to practice. Her attachment to
our holy religion was manifested in every way. She defended its tenets with success against all who opposed them :
so much so, that sectarians were afraid to treat' with her on
these matters ; even her own brother avoided'!iisputation of
this kind.
"To show her delicacy, if I may say so, in her adherence
to her faith, the following circumstance may be adduced.
Her good sister, to whom, under God, she was indebted for
all she knew, had to read also for her brother, the preacher.
This gave her pain and doubts, inasmuch as she had to listen to the reading of a Protestant Bible and heretical books.
She solicited advice in this particular and followed it. Her
mortification and self-denial were great. She never ate
meat after her conversion, and in Lent she observed a rigid
fast throughout· the penitential time. A slight meal of
�St. 7olm's Clmrclt and Residence, Frederick, .Jfd. 177
bread and milk, without butter, eggs or anything else, was
her food during this time. She continually suffered from
pains in the stomach. She was afflicted also with a pulmo-nary affection, but she never complained. She bore with
patience for many years the opposition made by her family
to her religion. In silence and peace she offered all to our
Lord.
"Her piety was of the most edifying kind, and that peculiar character which placed it beyond suspicion was attached
to it, viz. uniform perseverance: All hours of the day were
regulated: prayers, manual work, the necessary refreshment
of the body, etc. She rose early, made her morning oblation,
her hour's meditation, her spiritual Mass; at noon the Angelus, "particular examen ;" through the day, the "Little
Office" proper for each day, the third part of the Rosary,
and some other practices of devotion. In all these she was
scrupulously exact, and by means of them she advanced '
daily in the ways of interior life and union with God.
"One of her greatest privations was the impossibility of
frequent communion. The great distance from the Church,
and the great difficulty of coming, prevented her receiving
more than four or five times a year; but she supplied for this
by spiritual communions, which she learned to make from
Rodriguez and other books. These. virtues, practised by her
in perfection, were well calculated to merit the respect and
admiration of all. And such, indeed, was the case. All the
neighbors looked upon her as a saint. The negroes were
prompt in their obedience to her, though not so to other
members of the family, as her father informed me : ~o irresistible is the example of solid virtue. Her edification in her
last sickness was such as might be expected from such a life.
Although in a continual state of suffering, no complaint
escaped her, no murmur, no impatience. Her own words
were: "I am always che-erful, always happy. What I suffer·
is little compared to the sufferings of my Saviour." Her
ejaculations were almost continual. When she requested to
VoL; v-No. 3·
23
�178 St. :fohn's Clmrclt and Residence, Frederick, Md.
see me for the last time, I went promptly, as she desired to
receive from my hands the Holy Communion, having received from the same hands her First Communion. I spent
the night there and was much consoled. The family were
very kind and attentive to me. I left her with the promise
that I would attend her funeral, and was sent for last night
for that purpose. I left home this morning at nine o'clock
and went to her father's residence, a distance of fifteen miles.
The neighbors had assembled there in large nu(nbers. I
addressed them for an hour on the doctrine of Purgatory,
as supported by the authority of the Catholic Church. On
this I dwelt chiefly ·as the unerring authority, capable of
settling all disputes on religious matters. I spoke of the
want of this authority in all the sects, which I reviewed in
their present divided state in this country. I said that it
was owing to this that the deceased discovered she was in
error and sought for the centre of unity, etc. All were attentive and respectful. I then performed the funeral service,
walked to the burial ground, a private one, in my cassock,
surplice and stole. There I blessed the grave and concluded
the service. The old gentleman seemed much pleased and
expressed his gratitude for my kindness. Her sister told
me that the last moments of the deceased were the same as
throughout her illness. Cynthia begged her sister to inform
her when she was near her end. Teresa did so,"~nd Cynthia,
although she could not speak, continued to pray interiorly,
and was observed striking her breast sometimes as if reciting the Confitevr. She requested that her beads, scapular
and miraculous medal might remain around her neck where
she always wore them, and be buried with her. She begged
her sister also to recite daily a pair of beads for the repose
of her soul.
,"By reading for her sister, Teresa* could not fail to become instructed in the principles of the faith. For some
* She became a Ca~holic and died a few years ago. She was looked
upon as a very holy person by all who were acquainted with her.
�St. :Jo!tn's Clmrclt and Residence, Frederick, Md. · I79
years she observed the fasts, abstinences, etc., of the Church,
reciting the beads every day, besides the usual prayers;
and finding no difficulty now from her parents or others,
she promised me that she would come to Frederick 'and
make her first communion.
"This brief memoir I have drawn up hastily for the edification of those who may read it hereafter. I regret not
having taken more notes in detail of many other interesting
particulars of this favored servant of God."
In I839, we find Fr. James Ryder acting as the assistant of
Fr. McElroy in the church and in the school, where he was
prefect and teacher of French and writing. As a worker in
the church, he used to lecture every Sunday at vespers, and
it may be easily imagined that the efforts of the Father, then
in the first glow of his career as an orator, caused a smsation. He delivered several eloquent discourses on the
"Marks of the Church." The Protestants came in great
numbers to hear him. But it was not until he had finished
his course of lectures on "The Real Presence" that the
ministers took the alarm. The effect of the eloquence of
Fr. Ryder was so decided that each minister felt himself
bound to attempt a refutation of the arguments. Their
labors were in vain. Failing in this, they invited the Rev.
Mr. Breckenridge to come from Baltimore to Fr~derick to
rescue them in their sore distress. This firebrand, who had
not long before become notorious by his tirades against the
Carmelite nuns in Baltimore, where he had called on his
congregation to rush en masse to liberate a crazy sister, who
in the eyes of the bigots was a victim of cruel persecution,
was ready to buckle on his armor again. The deeds of violence he had well nigh brought about in Baltimore might
be realized in Frederick. On August I I, he preached three
times against the arguments of Fr. Ryder, or, at least,
made the attempt, and continued his invectives on Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday. On one occasion he began in
this wise: "Here, beloved brethren, is a thing the Catholics
�i8o St. :John's C!turclz and Residence, Frederick, Md.
adore," holding up a rosary; "here is one of the Romish
idols." "That's a lie!" cried out a young girl in the audience. "Put him out! put him out!" was the exclamation
of many, not knowing who the offending person was. The
interruption was so annoying to the preacher, that he was
unable to continue his discourse. The combined efforts of
the ministers, backed by those of the great champion who
had been-brought from another city, to arouse the flagging
energies of the parsons and to worry the papists, did produce a little excitement. The abusive and rambling character of all the sermons, together with the vulgar and indelicate language used by some of the ministers, disgusted the
conservative portion of the Protestants who regretted the
course pursued by their pastors. Fr. Ryder never deigned
to notice the affair.
The length of the history of St. John's bids us hurry on
to the end of the work. The rest of the stay of Fr. McElroy
was attended by the usual events of a church and college.
Fr. Thomas Lilly succeeded Fr. McElroy in September,
I845· The assistants were Frs. George Villiger, Stonestreet,
Meredith Jenkins, Finotti and Bague. During the three
years that followed, the church and college continued t!=J
flourish. Quite a number of colored adults were received
into the C_hurch by Fr. Lilly.
..· .
In I 846, the Sisters of Charity withdrew a1id were replaced by the Nuns of the Visitation from Georgetown.
The Convent of the Visitation is now the finest establishment of education in the city. The school enjoys a fine
reputation here and elsewhere. The Catholics of Frederick
will always be grateful to the good Sisters of the Visitation;
the poorer classes have especial reason for gratitude, on
account of the free school which the Nuns have always
kept up for the needs of the parish.
In I 848, Fr. Charles H. Stonestreet became the successor
of Fr. Lilly. The assistants at different times during the
two years were Frs. Bague, Finotti and Ciampi. The col-
I
.
�St. :John's Clwrcli and Residence, Frederick,'Md. I8I
lege still went on with its usual success; indeed, many
things might be said concerning the earnest endeavors of
the new president to advance the academic standing of St.
John's; we are forced, however, to omit them. The church
in the meantime was well attended to.
A remarkable event, the sudden restoration to health of
a person in the last stage of consumption, deserves to be
recorded. This favor was obtained through the prayers of
Prince Hohenlohe. The Father who attended the invalid
brought her the Holy Communion at 4 o'clock on the
morning of the day fixed upon by the Prince. As soon as
·the sick person had communicated, health was restored.
About a year afterwards, the malady returned through imprudence. Again the invalid said she would like to ask
for her recovery, and asserted that she thought she had
faith enough to obtain it ; but the Father, knowing the
dangers she was exposed to when in good health, advised
her not to ask for the favor.
During the presidency of Fr. Stonestreet, the Very Rev.
Francis Dzierozynski, who was looked upon by all as a
saintly man, died at the residence. The following extract
from the Catlto!ic Almanac of I85 I will show how highly
he was esteemed by those who knew him :
"Died, September zzd, I850, at St. John's College, of the
Society of Jesus, in Frederick city, Md., the Very Rev. Fr.
Dzierozynski, S. J., in the 73d year of his age.
"Fr. Dzierozynski was a native of Orsani in Poland, and
was born on the 3d of June, I777· After the usual preparatory studies, in the pursuit of which he exhibited talents of
a rare order, he, in obedience to the Divine call, entered
the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus, August I 3th, I 794,
at the early age of fifteen. Bringing with him as he did, to
that school of heavenly wisdom, an unsullied innocence and
purity of soul, it is not to be wondered ·that the foundation
of a sanctity, conspicuous through the whole course of his
after life, should have been laid deep in his heart. Associa-
�'
182
I
St. J'o/m's Clwrclz and Residmce, Fredenck, Md.
ted, during his novitiate and scholasticate, with many ~f the
surviving Fathers of the old Society, who were cherished
in Russia, though outraged and condemned by all the
the world beside, he may be regarded as forming one of the
few remaining links that connected that noble race of spiritual giants with the successors of the renovated Society.
As such his loss is severely felt by his younger brethren,
who have been accustomed to hang upon his lips, to catch
the soul-stirring traditions of their Fathers, and animate
themselves to a generous rivalry in carrying out the spirit
of their lofty vocation.
"After the compktion of his probation, and consequent
dedication of himself to the Spouse of souls, by the simple
vows of the Society, he was applied by his superiors to the
prosecution of the regular studies of the Order. Under the
guidance of able professors, he spent one year in the study
of Rhetoric; three years were given to the study of Mental
Philosophy .and the Physical Sciences, and four years (the
ordinary course of the Society) were devoted to Theology.
"Of the advantages he derived from the facilities so
abundantly supplied by the Society, those can best judge,
who, in their familiar intercourse with him, have so often
had occasion to admire the depth and variety of his attainments in every branch of sacred and profane learning.
"After his ordination he was made professci~ 6f Theology
in the University of Polosk, from the faculty of which he
received the insignia of the Doctorate.
"On the 2nd of February, 1812, he was admitted to the
highest grade in the Society, and completed by his solemn
profession the perfect sacrifice of himself to the service of
God and His Vicar upon earth.
"In the year 1820, the Russian Government, which had
sheltered and cherished the Society of Jesus, during the
storms that had so long raged against her in other portions
of the world, turned fiercely upon her, and in the blindness
of bigotry, drove forth the civilizer of its barbarous hordes,
· to wander as exiles on the face of the earth.
�' St. :John's Clmrclt and Residence, Freden'ck, Md. · '183
"Among these exiles were Fr. Dzierozynski and his
faithfur companion, the lamented Sacchi. Italy' afforded
them an asylum for awhile. On the 30th of June, 1821,
the good Father and his friend embarked from Leghorn
for the United States, and arrived in Georgetown on the
12th of November of the same year. Fr. Dzierozynski on
his arrival was appointed professor of Mental Philosophy in
Georgetown College. Whilst engaged in this office, he
gained the friendship of John C. Calhoun, who would frequently visit the good father, for the purpose of gleaning
from his conversation some of that philosophic lore for
which the great .southerner had so keen a relish.
"At the time of the arrival of Fr. Dzierozynski, the Society in this country had not assumed the regular form
which it now possesses. All the Jesuits, both of the east
and west, under the title of the "Mission of Maryland,"
were subject to the jurisdiction of a Superior, or Visitor, _
mostly resident at Georgetown.
"Fr. Dzierozynski was appointed to this high trust on the
I 3th of August, I 823, and in it he gave renewed evidence
of his untiring zeal and love for the Society. When we
consider that in addition to this extensive charge, the burden of forming the novices of the Order also fell on his
shoulders, and that both were faithfully borne, we may
judge of the indefatigable spirit of the man.
"During this time, too, although but imperfectly acquainted with the English tongue, his ardent zeal for souls found
occupation in missionary duty. Many an old christian in
Montgomery county and elsewhere still speaks in tender
terms of his labors among them, and recalls, in thanksgiving to God, the memory of solace and assistance afforded
through his holy ministrations.
"During his Superiorship, the present flourishing college
of St. John's, Frederick city, was founded, and an impetus
given to education in that town, which calls for the gratitude of its citizens.
�184 St. Yo!tn's Clmrclz and Residettce, Frederick, Md.
"On the 12th of November, 1830, he was succeeded m
the Superiorship of the Mission by the celebrated Fr. Peter
Kenny. Fr. Dzierozynski from that date until 1834 occupied the chair of Theology in Georgetown College, performing at the same time, the duties of Spiritual Father of the
house and Chaplain and Confessor of the Sisters of the
Visitation of Georgetown.
"The "Mission of Maryland" by this time acquired the
form of a regnlar province of the Society, and the late Fr.
\Villiam McSherry was appointed its first Provincial.
"In December, 1834, Fr. Dzierozynski was sent to take
charge of the Novitiute in Frederick. To this responsible
trust he brought with him the matured fruits of long experience in religious life and a sanctity so conspicuous in all
his actions, though perfectly unobtrusive, as to gain him
more than an ordinary degree of love and veneration on the
part of his spiritual children.
"On the death of Fr. McSherry in 1840, Fr. Dzierozynski was appointed to the Provincialship. During his term
of office, the· College of Holy Cross of \Vorcester, Mass.,
was founded.~ Fr. Dzierozynski was succeeded in the Provincialship by the Very Rev. Fr. James Ryder, in 1843. He
- was again made Master of Novices in 1844, which office he
held until 1846, when he retired to the re!lldence of St.
John's of Frederick. Almost worn out, b.:;t 'not satiated
with labors, he continued to perform the duties of Spiritual Director of the community and Confessor of the
Nuns of the Visitation from 1846, nearly up to the time
of his death._ The good Sisters of the Visitation mourn
his loss as that of a father, for in his extraordinary charity
and never failing cheerfulness they saw the semblance of
their own amiable founder, the sainted De Sales. The
young aspirant to the holy Institute of Ignatius, weeps for
his privation, for in Father Francis* he had lost a guide
and a model in the following of Jesus."
* Though he had been in the Society fifty-eight years, he used to ask
the novices to pray for his perseverance.
�St. :Jo!tn's Clmrclt and Residence, Frederick, llfd. 185
Fr. Thomas l\Iulledy was appointed the successor of Fr.
Stonestreet at the end of 1850. Under his administration
it became necessary to expel so large a number of students
from the college that it began to decline and has since· been
used merely as a school for the city. The president of the
college was now known as the pastor of the church.
The Superiors after Fr. Mulledy were Frs. Villiger, Samuel Barber, Hippolyte De Neckere, Blenkinsop and McAtee.
The assistants during this period from 1853 to 186o, were
at different times, Frs. Bague, Duddy and Tuffer.
In 1860, the residence on Church Street was rented out
and the Fathers and Brothers connected with the Church
and college took up their abode in the Novitiate, where they
have since remained.
The events of the decade from 186o to 1870 were the
ordinary ones of a parish. There was, however, an episode,
caused by the war. One of the greatest battles of the
struggle was fought at Antietam, only seventeen miles from
Frederick, and many of the wounded soldiers were brought
to the city. A part of the Novitiate was used as a hospital;
and the Fathers and Scholastics gave great assistance to the
suffering. During the three months that the Novitiate was
used as a hospital, besides a good number of Catholics prepared for death, about one hundred and forty Protestants
were received into the Church. Again in 1864, after the
battle of the l\'Ionocacy, when the barracks were turned into
a hospital, thirty-five Protestants were baptized and some
Catholics received the last Sacraments.
The pastors who followed Fr. Sourin who had charge of
the church from 1860 to 1870, were Frs. O'Kane, Smith,
Jenkins, Ciampi, Fulmer and lastly Fr. Stonestreet, who,
after an absence of twenty-five years, has returned to the
congregation as its parish priest.
The outlying missions during all these years have not
been neglected. New churches have been built and the old
ones enlarged. Five years ago the present pastor of the
VoL. v-No. 3·
24
�r86 St. 7o!uz's Clmrclt and Residwcc, Frederick, Md.
missions* concluded to build a small church in Middletown,
a place seven miles from Frederick. It was needed; as
many poor persons were hindred from attending Mass on
account of the distance to any church. But Middletown
was considered a bitter Protestant place. In fact, several
well-intentioned people advised the Father not to attempt
• the work, as the church might be burned down by the ill- .
disposed inhabitants of the town. He thought otherwise,
and engaged at first a room in a private house, where he
said Mass now and then. Later on, the church was erected,
· and, to this day, if we except a few shouts from the boys,
when they saw the priest for the first time, not a disagreeable word has been noticed. \Vhen the church was dedicated, the Protestants offered the benches from one of their
churches for the accommodation of the audience.
A remarkable incident occurred about this time, which
must have served to lessen any prejudice that might have
existed. In a Dunkard family, far up on the mountain, seven or eight miles from the tmvn, there was a young lady
who had been confined to bed for many years by an incurable malady. Medical science had failed, and she had been
told to make up her mind to eke out the few remaining years
·of her life in pain and sorrow. By somt> good fortune she
heard of the new church, which was beint: built'in the town,
and, having previously received some crude ;;otions about
the faith and especially in regard to the Real Presence, conceived the idea that if she became a Catholic and partook
of Holy Communion, a miracle might be performed by our
Lord in her favor. This idea she clung to the more steadfastly, as, by some meams, she had heard of the great wonders which were being wrought so frequently by the water
of Lourdes. Accordingly, she one day asked her father to
send for the priest to cure her. He laughed at her. She
asked her brother, and he at first was unwilling, but when
he saw her always insisting on the same thing, he made up
*Fr. John Gaffney. He succeeded Fr. Tulfer about ten years ago.
�St. 7olm's Clwrclt and Residence, -Frederick, .ftfd.
I
87
his mind to do what was asked of him.. The priest was
called; he instructed the young woman and received her
into the Church. On the day of her Communion, though
previously she had been confined to her bed for years and
was weak to such a degree that she was perfectly helpless,
yet as soon as she received the Blessed Sacrament new life,
was infused into her withered limbs and soon she was able
to arise from her bed and walk across the room. In a few
days the invalid was quite well. Last October she was con- ·
firmed. The Most Rev. Archbishop having heard of the
cure, sent for the young lady, in order to see the person
who had received such favors from the Almighty.
Recently a small church was built near the town of Urbana. It was dedicated during the last summer. It is intended in a great measure for a colony of colored people
that have settled in the neighborhood. The village inhabited by them is quite a Catholic place. The bell is rung
twice a day for prayers, and on Sundays, when there is.no,
Mass, one of the men who is better instructed, assembles
all the people and reads the prayers for Mass and instructs
the chilrlren in the catechism. Whenever the priest makes
his appearance in the village, all, old and young, hasten to
do him reverence and ask his blessing.
Some have indulged in gloomy forebodings in regard to
Catholicity in Frederick city and county. This view they
have taken, no doubt, from the fact that many have been
lost to the Church by mixed marriages and other causes.
\Ve should not despond so readily. In 18oo, the Catholics
in Frederick county had a small room for a chapel; and
now they have nine churches, some of them quite large ..
And this is more consoling from the fact that there has.been
very little emigration to Frederick county, whilst we know
that a large number of Catholics have moved away to other
parts of the country.*
* During the last ten years many Catholics have been reclaimed and a
number of Protestants converted to the faith by the pastors of St. John's,
and the Fathers on the missions.
�r88
The :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
And this ends our history of St. John's Church and Residence, Frederick, Md. It is an imperfect one, but imperfect as it is, no little labor has been spent on it-labor that
was the harder as the data were few and difficult to obtain,
and as the time for the work had to -be snatched from the
well-filled up day of a Father of the third probation.
THE JESUITS IN CINCINNATI.
( Contiuued.)
In the year 1852 there is mention made in the history of
the house of a temporal coadjutor, \Villiam Hayes, who
possessed the ~virtue of meekness, silence and modesty in
an eminent degree, and fell a victim to cholera.
The names of only one hundred and ninety-two students
adorn the records of the college this year. The free school
was never without four hundred or five hund-red. Of the
latter more than three hundred made their first communion
at this time, and fourteen persons were converted to the
faith by Ours.
Whilst speaking of the schools, it may as well be remarked here that of late years the smaller boys have been
taught by lady teachers." who are found more devoted as
well as better able to form the little fellows of the parish to
docility and piety.
·
How they are to be pitied, those poor children, whose
home is an abode of wretchedness and want-by whom
made such it is nOt for me to say-whose minds flash forth
�The :Jesuits m Cincinnati.
at times the spark of mother-wit and whose hearts are_ filled
with deep-seated love of goodness second only to that which
they bear to the Catholic faith and the priest. Diamonds in
the rough! their lack of cultivation is their greatest sin, for
their home education has almost made them believe boorishness a virtue. Have I not seen them take by the hand
and press around a poor, forsaken, dirt-begrimed "lost child"
in the streets, thrusting their pennies, their bread and molasses into his hand to make him forget that he had lost his
mother and cause him to dry his swelling tears ! How they
patted his innocent little cheeks, with fatherly affection offering him their services, when other boys brimful of social
politeness passed on unheeding.
But here is a sample of the adventurous disposition and
romantic taste which the parish school had to deal with.
After the terrible battle of Shiloh, one of the parochial
school boys misled by older chums was enticed from home
and induced to take passage with them on a steamboat to
go down the river and see for himself the scene of hostilities at Pittsburg Landing. Alarmed at his unexpected dis·
appearance, his father makes inquiries only to find that his
charming boy has left home in search of adventure, and
was by this far from the reach of the paternal rod. The
telegraph is brought into requisition and the police in a
river town, where the boat was likely to stop, were instructed to put a quietus on the young knight-errant's aspirations.
On arriving at the designated place, the· little fellow, in stepping off the steamer in the darkness of night, falls into the
river. Twice he rises to the surface and is on the point of
sinking for the last time, when he providentially grasps the
wheel of the boat and clings to it with the tenacity of death.
He is carried round two or three times with the revolving
wheel, crying out all the time as best he could, "Stop the
wheel!" His cries are at length heard, the wheel stopped
and he rescued from a watery grave. Thus alive and safe
the prodigal returns home even more joyfully than he had
�Tlze :Jesuits in Cincinnati. ,
departed, consoling his parents no less by his improved behavior ,than by his safe return, causing every one who had
heard of the incident to say that it was miraculous. It is
easy to understand after this how far the independent spirit
of "Young America" had invaded the breasts, even of the
youngest, in those perilous war times, when watchfulness
was relaxed at home, virtue imperiled abroad and rascality
reduced to a systematic science by youthful thieves and
desperadoes who took Jack Shepherd and the Forty Thieves
for their accomplished models.
'vVe come now to what must be called the second period
of our labors in Gipcinnati, when a notable change took
place in the management of the college. In 1853, Fr. Baudreaux succeeded in the Rectorship Fr. Carrell, who was
appointed Bishop of Covington. Heretofore the students
had mostly been boarders, but the number constantly decreasing, so as not to justify the continuance of a boarding
college, it was determined to receive henceforth none !Jut
day scholars. This was beginning a new era, or rather it
was equivalent to beginning anew. 'vVhat had hitherto been
done counted-for little or nothing. Then came the darkest
hour (and may we not say at the same time the most glorious days?) of St. Xavier's existence. But with renewed
energy they labored on to make the college _prosper in its
new sphere, sparing for the purpose neither efforts nor toil.
Had he known the circumstances and the sacrifices made
by the faculty to keep alive the sacred flame of knowledge,
at a time when none but God smiled upon their efforts,
common charity might have suggested to Mr. Foote to
spare himself the trouble and others the pain of this sentence in his work on the Schools of Cincinnati :
"The College of St Xavier has not been an exception to
the remark respecting the colleges generally of America
and Europe, that they have exhibited extraordinary powers
of standing still,,while everything else is in rapid progress."
- - But St. Xavier's was not so badly off after all: "the col-
It''
�Tlze :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
leges generally of America and Europe" kept it company,
according to our patronizing friend. And yet only a few
lines above he strenuously opposed the giving of any aid to
our schools. If beings of flesh and blood could live on air,
or zeal, instead of the "nickels," defray incidental expenses,
I dare say western Catholic colleges could cope on pretty
equal terms with any institution here. Even as itis, ours is
not behind hand. But air is very unsubstantial diet for the
ordinary run of men, and money cannot conveniently be
dispensed with when there is question of paying taxes.
Next came Fr. Oakly as Rector. Pardon an allusion
which flows so naturally: what. a rendezvous of former
Rectors young Chicago has become! At the present writing (Jan. '76.) there are in that city no less than three Fathers who were once Superiors here; for the honored names
of Frs. De Blieck, Oakly and Shultz adorn its status. In
addition the Superior of the Missions makes Chicago his
headquarters. For good measure St. Louis University has
contributed Fr. Verdin, and the whole Province, not to be
behind hand, has given her a former Provincial to look to
her spiritual interests.
But to return to the thread of our story. The new Rector seemed to feel that not only the condition of the college
should be improved, but the whole position of Ours in this
city should be made more influential and commanding. Accordingly the college building underwent a renovation and
it was determined to begin at once the erection of a new
church. Old St. Xavier's Church had long since ceased to
be the Cathedral, for St. Peter's, on Plum and Eighth streets, '
had been consecrated in 1844, Cardinal McClosky, then
Bishop of Albany, preaching the dedication sermon. It is
now valued at over $200,000, exclusive of the ground, seats
over twelve hundred persons, and is quite rich in pictures.
One of the latter, representing St. Peter's delivery from
prison, possesses historic as well as artistic value. It was
one of the four M urillos taken from the Cathedral of Se- •
�The :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
ville, during the Peninsular war, by l\Iarshal Soult, and
given on his return to Paris to Cardinal Fesch, Napoleon's
uncle. \Vhen in 1824 Bishop Fenwick was in Paris; this
picture was presented to him by the Cardinal, and is now
one of the chief glories of art in America. Another painting,
which has also quite a history, is an Italian work dating
· from the Sixteenth century and a copy of the original now
. in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris. It would take us
too far from our course to mention other facts of interest
connected with St. Peter's.
St. Xavier's, in 186o, with its mournfully interesting history, is more than \\"tl can.do justice to. Some evil genius
must have presided over the destruction of the old church,
for truly it was a work of destruction. The old edifice
could not give way to the new without a holocaust of lives.
I was a boy at the time the accident happened, and I remember how, a few moments after the north wall had fallen,
I rushed in with all the recklessness of a child, without a
thought of other walls towering above me, which, for aught
I knew, might hav~ been as insecure as the one which had
just crushed out the lives of thirteen fellow beings, sending
them to an untimely account. Little did I think that some
unfortunate laborer might at that very moment be breathing
out in agony his last act of contrition bene,;Hh the very
bricks on which I stood in gaping wonder. On! it was an
awful scene and a crushing blow to our good Fathers whose
hopes were blasted and spirits crushed.
The papers of the day stated that no contract was given
out for the demolition of the building, in order that employment might be given to members of the congregation.
Yet their best intentions were perverted. The plan adopted
for taking down the church was that of undermining a portion of the wall and letting it fall into the interior. No
.precaution was taken against accident by "shoving" the
wall, as its insecurity seems to have been the last thing
thought of by Ours, much less by the contractors and work-
�T!te 7esuits in Cincimza,tz:
193
men who had taken down buildings in that way hundreds
of times. The usual number of post factum prophets, however, had foreseen the result, though they kept the knmvledge locked up in their bosoms.
,
The work of undermining commenced on Tuesday and
at nightfall was nearly completed. \Vould to God that it.
had been finis/zed I for had it not been left to settle and
sway from the perpendicular during the heavy rains of Wednesday and strong winds of \Vednesday night, the catastrophe would not have happened. A few strokes of the pick
and the removal of a few bricks on Thursday morning
sealed the fate of the laborers.
Whilst the bodies were being rapidly disinterred, the
sound of the pick and spade in the hands of more than a
hundred eager toilers was drowned in the cries of weeping
wives and children, who waited in terrible suspense, hoping
against hope that their dear ones might have escaped. Who
does not know what it is to see the mangled mass of bleeding members which can scarcely be recognized as human
after they have been drawn from the cruel mass of brick
and mortar? One woman was said to have become insane
before night, owing to the loss of her husband. A little
boy going to school heard of the accident, not knowing
that his father was at work there ; .he came over to gratify
his curiosity. Whilst standing near looking on, he saw the
body of his father taken from the ruins, and instantly recognizing it, cast away his books with a shriek and threw
himself on the mangled remains. The scene caused a
cessation in the labor of recovery, for there were few who
witnessed it that did not have to wipe away the tear of
sympathy for that agonized heart. A young woman with an
infant in her arms and a child apparently about two years old
tugging at the skirt of her dress, with hair dishevelled and
horror-stricken countenance, burst through the surrounding
crowd, which instinctively opened to afford a passage to one
whose appearance too surely proclaimed her right to explore
VoL. v-No. 3·
25
�194
Tlze :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
_ the scene of misery. In one glance she had drunk in the
full extent of her loss-she was a widow and her little ones
were fatherless. "0 John," said she, and those who heard
her despairing accents did not soon forget them, "I parted
from you this morning with an unkind word upon my
tongue!"
The Cincinnati Ga:::ette must have been then a different
paper from what it is now. In an editorial we find the following:
"Terrible as is the accident, and lamentable as it is that
precaution had not been taken against it, we must not be
too hasty in condemning those to whose charge the work
was committed. Their distress is doubtless poignant enough
without being made more so by an uncharitable judgment.
Men of greater experience, not dreaming of danger, are
often overwhelmed with equally sudden and unlooked for
calamities, and made the innocent subjects of no less fearful responsibility, and until we are more wise and prudent
than we are, we may always expect the occasional recurrence of like mournful scenes. Those who are in the most
haste to judge and condemn, would probably in the same
circumstances have committed the same unfortunate oversight."
Some of the Fathers had a narrow escape,:one of them
having just left the interior of the church \vhen the crash
came. The man who had charge of the work, appeared
before the coroner's jury and asked the privilege of making
some further statements, in which he corroborated the testimony given by the pastor, and freely acknowledged that
none other save he was at fault or to blame. \Vas not
this a heroic act of charity at a trying moment? During
these troubles, the minds of men were so much affected that
it was deemed necessary to have our house guarded by the
police. But all danger happily passed away.
This calamity, was scarce forgotten when the civil war
broke out. Its ·effect upon us was indirect and mainly fi-
�The ·:resuits in Cincinnati.
195
nancial. Considerable dc:bts had been contracted in putting
up the church, in the hope that the contributions of the
peoplt; would in course of time prove adequate to its liquidation. This hope proved fallacious; for, with the greatest good will possible, the parishioners were unable to afford
any very substantial assistance. Things looked dark enough
for awhile, but the clouds cleared away at last, to such a
degree, that twenty or thirty thousand dollars more would
now finish the magnificent steeple in contemplation and partially completed.
It is of Beuna Vista free stone, of which the church front
is constructed, and will be 320 feet in height from the ground.
For several years its outward appearance was marred by an
unsightly weather-board cover over the buttress weathering
just where the steeple ought to begin, while the steps approaching the church doors were of wood.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of Fr. Driscoll's pastorship,
about two years ago, was the occasion of resuming the
work, the parishioners having presented him on that occasion quite a neat little purse for the purpose. As it stands
to-day, the top of the church is 207 feet from the ground.
When completed, St. Xavier's spire will be 325 feet high,
.far overtopping, not only the highest steeples in the city,
but even in the whole country. By way of comparis<m let
us remark that the height of the Cathedral of Cologne is
5or feet; dome of St. Peter's, 457 feet; St. Paul's, London,
365 feet; and passing to the new world the Capitol of Wash-.
ington is 287 feet; Trinity Church, N. Y., 286 feet; Bunker
Hill Monument, 221 feet. Of course the comparison is .
merely in point of height, for in massiveness, grandeur and
·costliness St. Xavier's can bear no competition with many
inferior architectural works which have not been mentioned.
The church proper, to the point where the steeple begins, ,
is 105 feet from the ground, measuring from its base to the
floor of the church nearly seven feet. In the centre, above
the base courses of the front, are two elaborately cut panels
�The 7esuits in Cincinnati.
under two Louvre windows. Above this the buttresses
reach back with weatherings, and then continue unbroken,
finishing with four large dragons, four by six feet, so arranged, the curious tell us, as to catch all the rain which
passes through their mouths. In the centre of each front
is a large clock dial, nine feet in diameter, and within, the
bell and clock room with space enough for a chime of
twenty-four bells. The base at the floor of the bell room
is twenty-six feet square, with buttresses projecting seven
feet at an angle of forty-five degrees. The small size of the
base in comparison with the immense height will give an
idea how light and graceful the steeple will be.
Even in its unfinished state the church, as seen from Mt.
Lookout or Eden Park, compares very favorably with the
other churches of the city. The famous hand-steeple of
the First Presbyterian Church on Fourth street, the highest
in the city, measures from the ground to its extreme top
only 285 feet, and it is not of stone either. The next highest is the cathedral, an object of pride to our citizens and
satisfaction to the cultured stranger. In its perfect Corinthian proportions, long an architectural monument and
harmonious offering to taste and beauty and grace, it rises
245 feet. A temporary metallic cupola, costing somewhat
less than $I ,ooo, surmounts the portion of th.e steeple already finished. During the summer of I 87 5··if was struck
by lightning, but beyond the derangement of a few iron
bolts and demolition of some water spouts, but little damage resulted. \Vhat still remains to be done will consist of
open stone work embellished with gothic tracery of the
most elegant and elaborate kind. It will be strengthened
by an interior framework of wrought iron rings, anchors,·
etc. As very little work of this character has been done
this side of the Atlantic, great difficulty was experienced
in obtaining' estimates from builders, who knew that rare
skill was required, but had no criterion by which to judge
the cost. To prevent injury to the completed work, all the
�T!te :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
1 97
hoisting has been done from within by means of steam
power and a double-boom derrick. A stairway leads to the
present cupola and wil1 be continued up to 234 feet, whence,
through little gothic windows can be had the finest imaginable view of the city, the hills that gird it, the prospect of
the neighboring cities and the Kentucky highlands. \Vhen
will the work be completed, is a problem that may be reduced to a question in proportion: If it takes fifteen years
to build three-fourths of a church, what time will be required
to complete it?
\Vhilst the steeple contractors were engaged in their operations, a strange attempt was made to do injury. On a
Saturday night, when the usual number of penitents were
going to confession, two men who were leaving the church
noticed smoke issuing from some material in the vestibule.
On removing some sacks of cement, they found a wicker
basket on fire. They had scarcely thrown it into the street
when a loud explosion followed. An examination of the debris showed that five one-pound cans of powder and a can of
coal oil had been wrapped in cotton batting and ignited. The
mystery was never unravelled. If it was some miscreant
who wished to injure the church he must have been wonderfully ignorant, for the quantity of explosive substance
was laughably small. If he was a religious fanatic, who
desired to injure the parishioners, he nearly succeeded with
the two men who discovered the basket. The most probable explanation is that it was an attempt to do harm to the
contractors, for the ropes leading to their scaffolding were ·
found saturated with oil, but even had they caught fire little
damage could have accrued to the stone work.
During the administration of Fr. Schultz, beginning in
r861, owing to the circumstances of the time no less than
the unsettled state of everything which ought to be stable,
Ours were more than usually exposed to dangers and difficulties from without; but at the same time they labored
more than ever to acquire from within the virtues they
�Tlze :Jesuits in Czitczimati.
needed and to breathe into their efforts the spirit of union.
Happily, Very Rev. Fr. Sopranis came as Visitor at the
time, and whilst edifying all with his virtues confirmed them
in their good undertakings and left .many a memorial of
his experience and prudence.
After the breaking out of the war, and even before it, the
number of students for several years never reached higher
than a hundred. The cause of this falling off may in great
measure be attributed to the position as well as location of
the college. The building had grown old and dilapidated,
quite behind the time; in fact, so that even under the most
favorable circumstances it was inadequate to the purposes
for which it was intended and applied. But now especially
that the church had risen up close beside it, one-half of the
house was left in almost Egyptian darkness. It was no unusual occurrence to carry on school by lamplight even in
the middle of the day. It will surprise all except those
who have lived in Cincinnati (sometimes a few days residence is sufficient to learn the lesson), to know that gas
must often be used even in the best lighted apartments till
eight o'clock in the morning, and ·in the afternoon as early
as four. If the weather happens to be rainy, independent
of the clouds of smoke in which the factories continually
shroud us, one can scarcely read with ease i.IJ' his room at
midday. Visitors sometimes pass several days -without being able to catch a glimpse of the extent of the city from
any of the steeples or hills, owing to the smoke. One of
the blessings of this manufacturing city is that you can see
it decently as a whole only on Sundays or national holidays.
As to keeping clean that is next to impossible. The ground
on which the city is built being somewhat in the shape of
an amphitheatre, surrounded by hills on all sides except the
south, where the river flows majestically along, cannot readily extend beyond the several ranges; so that little or no
space is allowed for gardens or vacant lots, whilst the strictest economy in occupying ground by means of large, high
�T!ze :Jesuits ill Cincinnati.
199
buildings is everywhere visible, especially where property is
most valuable. In fact, in the business portion of the city,
you will find whole squares of immense stone-front houses,
built very compactly together and rather poorly lighted
naturally, especially when in narrow streets such as Pearl.
To make matters worse for us, the portion of the city
north and east of our college was perfectly deluged with
factories, the smoke of which, when the wind blows strong
from that direction, can almost be cut with a knife. A gentleman actually held up his umbrella one day to protect his
face and eyes from soot. \Ve seem to have been established
in a very unfortunate neighborhood, for in the rear of the
church is a refinery which uses charcoal so extensively that
it goes by the name of the "charcoal factory," and the alley
which separates our property from that delectable spot,
"charcoal alley." Not far off is a tenement house, which
has been denominated by Ours from time immemorial as
"Noah's Ark." Comment unnecessary.
Most of our students come from other parts of the city
than our own parish, quite a number being from Covington
and Newport, across the river in Kentucky. Of the classical course, the five upper classes, containing in the aggre- .
gate more than seventy boys, about one-tenth are from our
parish. They are nearly all Catholics, and mostly of German parentage. As a class, the students are quick, intelligent and extremely studious, often needing to be restrained
rather than urged on. Piety always finds a grateful soil in
their bosoms, for they listen with docility and try to practise what they are taught. Sodalities among them have always subsisted and borne rare fruit in the way of good morals and discipline. Obedience and respect to superiors are.
their characteristic virtues, which make it an easier task for
a teacher to be interested and devoted in the discharge of
his duties; but rivalry sometimes springs up between the
classes and results in an inconvenience much to be regretted
and difficult to root out. Truth will not suffer us to lay
�200
Tlte :Jesuits ill Cincinnati.
claim to all this good ; since, though it flows partly from
our efforts, it is mainly due to the care of parents and the
genuine christian example and training they receive at home.
For there are in this city a number of admirable Catholic
families, often in but moderate circumstances, from which
issue forth youth whose mature virtue might cause a religious to blush. Year by year God blesses the efforts of
many such families, granting them prosperity and even
wealth.
With more ample means at our disposal, at a time when
\vell conducted and ·appointed public schools offer a high
bid for public patronage; with a better location and extensive builClings, the amount of good possible appears almost
incalculable.
After these statements, is it a matter of surprise that St.
Xavier College has of late years been a nursery for Jesuit
novices? One-third of the Scholastics in the Missouri
Province at present (thirty-three out of one hundred and
four), were educated wholly or partially at St. Xavier's, or
received thereat the influence which determined them to
become Jesuig. Nearly all of these were born and brought
up in this country, though of German or Irish descent.
Though the sketch of our rise and progress here seems
- little better than a chapter of accidents and difficulties, it is
agreeable to note the abundant fruits which "h<l.ve resulted
from our labors. Where the numberless obstacles in our
way seemed to doom our efforts to lasting sterility, God has
raised up around us a generation that blesses the womb
which bore them. No mean share of the young secular
clergy of this city and vicinity received their classical training at our college, and still keep up the friendly relations
, which have always subsisted between them and their Alma
Mater.
To foster the spirit of piety among the parishioners, numerous sodalities have been established. Their number is
not less than terr, to suit the varied conditions of age, sex
�'Tlte :Jesuits m Cincinnati.
201
and social standing. The prosperous state of the parish is
in great measure due to the spirit of fervor a~d emulation
which seems their peculiar heritage. Human respect disappears like morning mist before the sun in the presence of
their regular and public frequentation of the Sacraments,
nor do even the young blush to give evident and unmistakable public signs of their zeal and liberality, when christian
charity and the call of mercy asks a helping hand. Several
of the sodalities for women hold their meetings at and under
the immediate care of the Sisters of Notre Dame, whose
convent is about a square from the church. One of our
fathers is the Director, and in matters of moment regulates
what is to be done; for the rest, everything goes on just as
well under the guidance of a nun, and the father is left
more free to attend to his other duties.
But the labors of Ours were never confined within the
limits of our own parish. The hospitals and public institutions always claimed a share of attention. For more than
ten years one devoted father wasted his strength and undermined his life in the service of the miserable beings in the
pest-house and similar institutions. The results were immense, the conversion of sinners to penance and of heretics
to the true faith being almost as wonderful as they were
frequent. Ex uno disce omncs. There was in one of these
establishments an infidel, or better, an upright pagan, whose
happy fortune was a bright example of the preventing grace
of God. The father, after explaining in brief as best he
could (for h.e knew better the language of zeal than the
beauties of our stern Anglo-Saxon), the principal points of
the Christian Doctrine, asked the man if he desired to be
baptized, but he would not. Shortly after, however, struck
by some sudden light from heaven arid taught interiorly
what Baptism really was, for he never knew before, he begged to be received among the children of God. After his
conversion, evil counsellors about him thought to take advantage of his bodily weakness to influence his languishing
VoL. v-No. 3·
26
�202
Mission of Goslzenlwppm.
mind, so that he might at least profess to be a Protestant.
But behold how wonderful God is in his works! Lying in
his weary bed, sick unto death, he suddenly saw himself
~urrounded by a bright light and Jesus Himself showing
His Heart from which flamed forth- burning fires of grace
divine. Touched by the sight, he was so filled with consolation and strengthened in his newly acquired faith that to
all his tempters he only answered, "I know now that there
is but one road to heaven"-and that path he followed.
(To be continued.)
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MISSION OF
GOSHENHOPPEN, NOW CHURCHVILLE, PA.
Drawn from tlze Archives of the Mission, and from tlte Personal Expen"ence of Rev. Aug. Bally, S. 7., who has
been connected tlzerewitlz for forty years.
The tract of land belonging to the Mission of Goshenhappen consisted at first of three hundred and seventy-three
acres and one hundred perches, and was bought by the Rev.
Joseph Greaton, S. J., Clerk or Pn.cst of Plziladclpltia, from
Thomas and Richard Penn, true and lawful proprietaries of
the Province of Pennsylvania and Governors of the counties
of New Castle, Kent, etc. Its price was fifty-seven pounds,
eighteen shillings and three pence. The patent of this
tract, with the Proprietaries' seal attached, is kept at Loyola
College, Baltimore, Md. ; a copy being preserved at the
mission, bearing date of August 3. A. D. 1752. A second
tract of a hundred and twenty-two acres was bought from
�l'rfission of Gosltmlzoppm.
203
Ulrick Beidler by Rev. Francis Neale, S. J., in 1747, the
deed of which is also at Loyola in Baltimore, and a copy
thereof is kept at the mission. From time to time, \vith permission of the proper authorities, portions of this land were
sold to increase the funds necessary for the other undertakings throughout the province; nor was this a loss to the
Goshenhoppen Mission, but rather an advantage, as the
sales being in small lots generally, gave an opportunity to
several, who could purchase only on a small scale, of acquiring little freeholds in the immediate vicinity of the
mission, and of thus establishing what is now the thriving
little village of Omrcltville.
As far back as 1741, and even prior to that date, Fr. Farmer and other priests of St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia,
made missionary visits to the Goshenhoppen district, then
Hereford Township, Philadelphia county, now Washington
Township, Berk's county. As we have seen, it was not long
after this that Fr. Greaten purchased the mission property
from the Penns.
In 1741, Rev. Theodore Schneider, S. J., a Gennan, fixed·
his residence at Goshenhoppen, and with the assistance of
the few Catholic neighbors, and also of the Mennonites,
built the first little church. Fr. Schneider, to reward the
poor sectaries for their charitable aid, gave back to them
their meeting house and an acre of land that had become
his by purchase.
The register 9f baptisms, marriages and burials begins to
date from this year, 1741. The entries are legibly written
and the volume is in a good state of preservation. It has
frequently appeared as evidence, to prove the validity of
marriages, in the courts of Philadelphia, Lancaster and elsewhere, and has more than once evoked the encomiums of
judges on the diligence ·of the Church in recording these
sacred contracts.
As seen from these records, Fr. Schneider's mission embraced the provinces of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New
�204
.Jfission
of Goslzenlzoppm.
York. His labors were directed to almost every part of
this vast field; his visits were as frequent as he could make
them, and his invariable conveyance, a horse, which was
the best means of passing to distant points available to the
missionaries of those days. Owing to the bigotry of the
times and the open persecution that was often practised, he
found it necessary, eager missionary as he was, to travel
under the guise of a physician; and hence it was, that Fr.
Schneider was more generally known and received as a medical doctor than as a priest. His extensive mission kept
him, during the less severe seasons, almost constantly from
home. During the~winter he was unable to travel much,
but his time at home appears to have been little less occupied than that which he had spent away from it. Among
the many labors that he accomplished while at home, he
wrote out entire, in a good, legible hand, two copies of the
Roman ~lfissal. Since we may safely say that one so occupied would not h~ve done this for mere pastime, we may
learn from his having labored so much in the copying, the
scarcity of even these necessary books at a period so recent.
One of these Missals was brought by Fr. Thomas Mulledy,
then Provincial, to Georgetown College library, where it
may now be seen.
And in these days of ours, when there is ;;o much intemperate and ill-argued disputation on th; question of
schools, it is not without interest to note that this old Jesuit
missionary, amid the multiplicity of his occupations, found
time, and ·in his one apartment, room to teach a school,
which was eagerly attended by the few children of both
Catholics and Protestants. Not very long ago, when the
public schools were by law established in the vicinity,
some were found who were narrow-minded and ungrateful
enough to wish to ignore the memories of a century, and
the sterling patronage given by the Catholic Church during that. time, to education, when it was altogether neglected
�Jl1ission of Goslzenlzoppcn.
205
even by the ancestors of those who now clamor against
the vital interests of that Church. But a sense of justice
in the public authorities and their clear-sighted gratitude
for benefits conferred when they cost dear, caused them to
remember the old school of Fr. Schneider. They made an
annual appropriation, by which the Catholic teacher should
be paid for the four winter months' tuition out of the township treasury, as the public school teachers are paid.
After a laborious missionary life of twenty-four years, Fr.
Schneider fell mortally sick. He was alone; and it was
only the charity of a neighbor that procured for him the
consolations of religion that during his long apostolate he
had brought to the death-bed of so many of the early settlers of the Quaker State. This charitable parishioner rode
post-haste to Philadelphia, and informed Fr. Farmer of the
extremity of his brother in religion. The brother priest
was not slow to answer the call of his brother, and on the
IOth of July 1764, Fr. Schneider died, full of years and rich
in the merits of a zealous missionary life, having previously
received all the consolations of our holy religion. He was
buried in our little church by Fr. Farmer, who then· returned to St. Joseph's, Philadelphia. The inscription on Fr.
Schneider's tomb is as follows: "Hie jacct Rev. Tlzeodorus
SchJZeider, S. 7. Missionis ltzljits Fmzdator. Obiit IOa :Julii
I764. ktatis 62. Missioms 24. R.I.P."
The following in connection with this early missionary
cannot be without interest, forcing upon us, as it does, the
reality of our own not very remote relations with times and
people, when and amongst whom principles were held and
things done that we look upon, either as almost impossible
or as worthy only of the dark ages. A certain John Kuhns,
whose father lived here in the time of Fr. Schneider, related to me, on the authority of his father, that Fr. Schneider~
was one of three priests, on whose heads was set a reward of
£so by the Governor of the province of New York, because,
forsooth, he was informed that the missionaries were emis-
�2o6
.ftfissi'on -of Goshmhoppm.
saries of foreign powers, sent to alienate the colonists from
their allegiance to the British crown. The accused went
themselves to the Governor, disavowed any such intention,
showed on the contrary that their presence and labors
among the people would be the surest means of attracting
to the province the great number of emigrants who professed the Catholic faith; and, in a word, fully cleared
themselves of the calumnious imputation. The order was,
consequently, revoked. No mention of this occurrence
is made in Fr. Schneider's writings. I give it on the authority cited.
In the baptismal registry is the following entry: "Ego
Joannes Baptista De Ritter, S. J., 14 a Julii. 1765, baptizavi,"
etc.; from which it appears that the second priest, who attended this mission, Fr. De Ritter, came here about a year
after Fr. Schneider's death. The same extent of territory
was still to be visited, and Fr. De Ritter was in consequence
seldom to be found at home. Many old people who made
their first communion in his time and who remember him
well, tell of him, that on his almost uninterrupted journeyings, he would never take his much needed repose in a bed;
- but, with his saddle for a pillow, a little straw and a blanket,
he was satisfied with a short rest, that was at once a necessary refreshment after the past, and a prepar'!tion for the
coming day's labor. All speak of him as an 'Indefatigable
laborer in our little vineyard, where he died F ebrary 3d,
1787. His remains rest under our church. On his deathbed, it is thought, he received spiritual aid from Philadel- phia, though no record of his burial is made in the Register.
This, however, may have been forgotten, and the visit from
St. Joseph's, Philadelphia, made to the dying pastor, all the
same. On his tombstone, which, like Fr. Schneider's, was
erected by Rev. Paul Ernsten, is read: "Hie jacet Rev. :Joan.
Bapt. De Ritter, S. J. Obiit 3" Feb. I787. /Etatis 70. il1issioms 20. R. I. P.': As Fr. Ernsten came to the mission as
early as April, 1793, he must have been familiar with the
�Mission of Gosltcnlwppm. _
circumstances attending Fr. De Ritter's death, after which
we find no other Jesuit of the old Society stationed at
Goshenhoppen.
During the succeeding years, and while the suppression_
of the Society lasted, our church registers attest the presence at different periods, and but for short intervals at a
time, of two German priests. The first of these, Rev. Peter
Helbron, being sent by Rev. Dr. Carroll, Superior of the
Missions in the United States, came in October, 1787, a few
months after the death of Fr. de Ritter, and went away in
July, 1791. In August of this.year succeeded Rev. Nicholas Delvaux, who also left in February, 1793. It cannot be
drawn from any document at our disposal that these two
priests, or either of them, belonged to any religious Order.
In their papers they are styled Missionaries, sent by Dr.
Carroll, of Marlyland.
Rev. Paul Ernsten succeeded Fr. Delvaux, and for twentyseven years labored in this mission, where finally he died.
He belonged to a religious Order, probably the Franciscan.
Although the extent of the mission had at this period been
restricted to Pennsylvania, Fr. Ernsten's zeal found plenty of
outlets within what now not unreasonably seems to us a very
large parish ; i. e., all the country around our church, within a radius of from fifty to eighty miles. He came here in
1793, and there are yet those in our parish who remember
him well and affectionately, and speak of him as always
ready for a sick-call, stout, hearty, zealous missionary as he
was. He improved the church much, and rented out the
land. But death put an end to his long contin~ed toil and
called him to the rest he would not seek on earth. Upon
his falling ill, he sent to Philadelphia for Fr. De Barth, that
he might receive the last consolations of religion. But the
Angel of Death was speedier than the Church's minister,
and before Fr. De Barth's arrival, Fr. Ernsten was found
dead in his bed; in his hands, the Imitation of Clzrist, his
finger marking the chapter that treats of our last end.
�20S
J}fission
of
Gosltc~zlwppm.
He was buried in our church, a great concourse of all classes of people attending his solemn funeral, Protestants vying
with Catholics in showing their respect for the memory of
the deceased benefactor of their houses. The inscription on
his tomb resembles that on those of his predecessors :
"Hie Jacet Rev. Paul Ernstm. Obzit 20' 1liaii I8I8. Aitatis
53· 1lfissionis 27. R. I. P."
Fr. De Barth applied to the court at Reading, Pa., for
powers of administration of the effects of Paul Ernsten,
deceased, and obtained them. All claims being settled, a
considerable sum remained ;vhich was employed in improving the property by~ .building the large barn which still
. stands upon it. This was an equitable disposition, as the
deceased had drawn revenues from the land for a long term
of years.
From ISIS till October, ISig, the mission was attended
by two secular priests; Fr. Schoenfelder, of Reading, and
Fr. Brennewitz, a missionary who paid it some flying visits.
In October,_ISig, Fr. Paul Kohlmann, S. J., brother of the
well-known Anthony Kohlmann, S. J., arrived and remained
till IS27. Under his auspices began to be held the regular
~hurch service in this mission; and the various practices of
devotion that hitherto had been in use only from time to
time, were now permanently established, the Angelus, the
beads before late Mass on Sundays and holida'ys, and the
like. He was a zealous and fervent propagator of the faith
of which he was the minister; but while his unremitted
labors. and salutary teaching gained for him the hearts of
his Catholic children, they did not fail to arouse against
him the hostility of.some of those who were outside the
Church. These seemed to back their opposition on the fact
that Fr. Kohlmann was candid and bold enough, without
any indiscretion, we believe, to tell in true language· of the
defection and the deceits of Martin Luther, among whose
· misled followers many of those who now showed their
dislike, could be numbered.
�Mission of Goslzmlzoppm.
Fr. Kohlmann was joined in 1822 by Fr. Boniface Curvin
(Krawkoffski), S. J., a Pole, as his name indicates, who had
come to the United States with Fr. Dzierozynski. Fr. Curvin
being hale and strong, and fond too of riding on horseback, took charge of the outlying missions which, even at
this late date, extended over a great part of Berk's, Buck's,
Montgomery, Lehigh and Schuylkill counties, a circuit of
fifty miles. Fr. Kohlmann took charge of the district immediately surrounding the mission house, till 1829, when he
was called elsewhere by Superiors.
The mission houst" of which we speak, it must be noticed, consisted of a single room, which, however, the two
shared as brothers. The story goes, that they put up a sort
of partition, which could not however remedy the difficulty
that arose from the different temperaments of the fathers
with regard to heat and cold, as there still remained only
one wood stove to be heated according to the liking of both.
Now good Fr. Curvin was from the land of the Cossack,
while Fr. Kohlmann was more kindly affected to warm quarters. The latter, is is said, got the better of the bargain, as
he had the partition so constructed, as to leave the stove
door on his side the fence, whence naturally he fell into the office of fireman and could therefore be as generous with
ihe fuel as his taste directed.
•
In this same room, the present pastor of Churchville
lived for sometime alone, afterwards in company with Fr. _
Varin, a secular priest, who had been sent by Fr. Thomas
Mulledy to end his days at our mission. At this juncture,
however, luxuries had grown apace at Goshenhoppen, and
each of us had his own stove to fire as best he could. This
Fr. Varin, who died here in 1840, was a great linguist in
his day, and had been professor of German to Fr. Curley in
Georgetown College, and to others of Ours who may yet
remember him.
Shortly after Fr. Kohlmann's departure, Fr. E. McCarthy,·
S. J., came to assist Fr. Curvin. He did telling work, parVaL. v-No. 3·
27
�210
jJ,fissioll of Gos/zen/zoppm.
ticularly among the English speaking population of the
home and outside missions. During his short stay he was
especially successful in his labors at Pottsville. Here he
introduced, for the first time, temperance societies, which
soon proved a power for reform among the coal miners. A
change for the better was soon evident, and Fr. McCarthy
so won the approbation and esteem of the citizens at large,
that when his superiors signified their intention of removing him, the mayor himself, backed by all the influential
citizens, did their best, by petitioning, to prevent it.
After his departure, which seems not to have been delayed by this intervention, Fr. Curvin was left alone in the
labors of the mission for some years, until he was joined by
Fr. Nicholas Steinbacher, S. J. The latter soon busily occupied himself in the surrounding stations, leaving his older
associate the work at home. He remained working for
months together, and with great fruit, now at Reading and
again at Lebanon. He laid the foundation of a new mission in Nippeno's Valley, Lycoming county, one hundred
and fifty miles north of Goshenhoppen. Here he purchased
I 100 acres of land at half a dollar per acre, selling it afterwards by degrees to Catholic settlers for a dollar per acre .
. With the proceeds he built what is now the sanctuary of
quite a large church, which, with its flouris~ing congregation, was afterwards given by Ours to the Bishop of Philadelphia.
Fr. Steinbacher remained at Goshenhoppeil till the death
of Fr. Curvin, and for a year after this event in company
with Fr. Augustin Bally, S. ]., the present incumbent. It
was during this year our church \Vas finished, which at Fr.
Curvin's death had just b"een closed in.
Fr. Steinbacher was called by his superiors to other
scenes of labor in Maryland, Philadelphia and elsewhere, and
finally ended his useful life at St. Mary's Church, Boston,
Feb. 14, 1862.. He used to tell of himself, that during a
missionary excursion of his, fifty miles northwest of Nip-
�lV!ission of Gosltmlwppcn.
2II
peno's Valley, he came one evening wet and hungry to the
log cabin house of comfort in that quarter. Here he found
four young gentlemen, who were on a sporting tour from
Philadelphia, and had been attracted to this spot by the
abundance of trout in the neighboring waters. They appeared to be struck by rather a comic humor at the good
father's not very dignified appearance at the moment, and
passed several remarks concerning him among themselves·,
now' in French, and then in Italian and modern Greek: "We
will have rare sport with the old fellow; he is a professional temperance man, though perhaps not a practical one.
His necktie would be his ticket of admission to any mee~
ing-house in the State;" and so on. After enjoying their
jokes quietly for sometime, Fr. Steinbacher took occasion
from some faults that slipped them in the foreign languages
they were speaking, politely to correct them, remarking that,
although they seemed perfectly to understand the foreign
modes of cooking-they were engaged in preparing their
own supper-they did not seem to be so much at home in
the languages. The young men were of course astonished.
Mutual explanations followed, and Fr. Steinbacher used to
smile as he would tell how no small share of their conve.,.
niences fell to him. They had been students at Georgetown
College; afterwards attaclzes in foreign legations and thus
became familiar with the languages.
Fr. Curvin's mission continued with great success, and in
I836 he built the present church, at least the main portion
of it, measuring eighty-five feet in length ~nd forty-four in
width, which being added, as it was, to the old church
building put up in I744, gives us a church edifice one hundred and twenty-one feet long, which is ornamented with a
tower and steeple of just the same height.
The death of Fr. Curvin occurred suddenly in Philadelphia, October II, I837· It was not, however, unprovided.
He had left th~ mission after his Sunday duties, in order to
procure materials in Philadelphia for the church. The
�212
Mission of Goslzenlzoppeu.
morning after his arrival there he went to confession and
afterwards, in company with Fr. Ryder, started to see the
physician, in order to consult him concerning a pain which
he had been feeling in the region of the heart. But his
hour had sounded. Before they could reach the doctor's
residence he fell, and, upon being carried there, was bled.
Heavy breathing was the only sign of life he ever gave. A
priest of St. Mary's Church, who was passing on his way
from a sick call, was summoned into the doctor's house.
He administered Extreme Unction and gave the last absolution, when Fr. Curvin tranquilly passed away. He was
laid temporarily in ·vault at St. John's Church, and eighteen months later his remains were brought to Goshenhoppen by Frs. Ryder and Barbelin. Before reinterment, his
coffin was opened, and the body and even the vestments
were found in a state of good pres'ervation. The writer of
this remembers it; the finger nails had grown somewhat
and some mildew had gathered on the robes ; otherwise,
everything was as it had been on the day of the funeral. A
year later, Fr. Dzierozynski, who was then Provincial, was
asked if the c~ffin might be again opened for examination,
as there were not wanting those who held the holiness
of the deceased in great estimation and looked for a con. firmation of it ; but the good Provincial, a '-:~·ry holy man
himself, answered that the dead should be left to their rest:
,perhaps, later on, the Lord would dispose it, that this curiosity should be gratified.
- Among the pious memories of Fr. Curvin, it is recollected regarding him, that, rising all the year round at four
o'clock, from that time till five, wheri he always said Mass,
he could be found kneeling, absorbed in prayer, on the altar
step in front of the tabernacle.
Fr. McSherry, Provincial of Maryland, sent Fr. Augustin
Bally, S. J., to Goshenhoppen, immediately after the death
of Fr. Curvin. Fr. Bally, ever since that date, has been att.ending the missions, which by the building of new churches
a
�Mission of Gos/tenlwppm.
213
and. the arrival of other priests, have been diminished in
extent of territory from an area of over fifty miles to one of
about twenty square miles, our present parish.
During Fr. Bally's long career here he has had many colaborers at various times. They were Frs. Steinbacher, S. J.,
Varin, who had been chaplain to the King of Bavaria;
Dietz, S. J., Polk, S. J, George Villiger, S. J., Tuffer, S. ].,
Schleuter, S. J., and the present assistant, Fr. Meurer, S. J.
The present condition of this historic old parish shows
no signs of decay. Its age seems rather to have gathered
within it all of good that.during its long life has been added
from time to time in other parishes as they sprung up: a
good parochial school, the Confraternities of the Holy Rosary, Bona Mors, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. There is also a large Sodality
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to which is attached a very·
useful Beneficial Sodality. The church is handsomely
frescoed, contains three altars, two hundred pews and a fine
organ. A very efficient choir adds solemnity and much
devotion to the regular services that are held, and more
than one hundred communicants edify the co?gregation
every Sunday and holiday.
May this little, remote family of God's children, that, in
this land, where everything is new, seems to have more of a·
Catholic tradition in the soil than most of its fellow-parishes,
go on increasing in good works for God's glory, and in the
future, as in the past, God's blessing will rest upon it.
�NOTES FROM OUR MISSIONARIES.
REV. DEAR FATHER.
P. C.
Since my last summary of our Missionaries' letters, the
work has been going on bravely and briskly, especially
during the past Lent,~when both our bands were strengthened by the accession of the Tertian Fathers from Frederick.
The first mission of which we have notice was given at
the end of January, at vVare, Mass., and lasted four days
only, with a result of seven hundred communions and two
converts. The next was a ten days' mission at Cambridge,
near Boston, which gave three thousand communions. Six
thousand were invested with the Scapular, and four presented themselves for admission into the Church.
The Lel}ten campaign was opened at the church of St.
Peter and St. Paul, in South Boston. "Our labors have been
abundantly blessed," writes the Superior, "we have had ten
thousand communions. One thousand childre!l, who have
not made their first communion, came to confession. Six
hundred and twenty adults were confirmed, and of these,
two hundred and fifty had been prepared "by us for their
first communion. Two thousand received the scapular and
eight converts were baptized. vVe gave one week to the
men and one week to the women, and three days afterwards
to the children and to the preparation of adults for communion and confirmation. It was a double mission, as all the
exercises were performed simultaneously in the church and
in the basement." The mission closed on the 25th March.
·From Boston the Fathers went to Providence, R. 1.,
where several missions had been bespoken, which extended
214
�Notes from Our JJfissionaries.
215
beyond Easter. The work began at St. Patrick's Church,
and at the close of the first week there, some of the missionaries opened in St. Mary's whilst the others continued
at the former. When the second week was ended at St.
Patrick's, all united at St. Mary's. During the first week
eighteen hundred women approached the holy table, six
converts were baptized and forty persons prepared for first
communion and confirmation. When the mission closed
thirty-six hundred was the number of communions, though
the pastor had not expected over two thousand as a brilliant success. \Vhen spoken to about a class for confirmation, he thought there might be a few candidates for the
sacrament. The Fathers prepared one hundred and thirty
and presented them to the Bishop, all adults of course.
Nine persons were baptized. "At St. Mary's we were told,"
says the Superior of the band, "that three thousand would
be the limit of communions. There were forty-five hundred."
About one hundred adults were confirmed, and many more
would have been prepared had not the Bishop come too
soon. Many of those confirmed in each of these churches·
had lived to an advanced age. We often meet persons in
middle life, who have never been to confession, never knew
that our Lord gave us seven sacraments, and whose knowledge of God and the Holy Trinity is sadly in need of recontruction. The confirmation class will be a feature tn all
future missions."
'vVe now come to the southern band, which has not been
less occupied or less successful. On the sixth of February
they began at Bristol, on the Delaware, not far from Philadelphia, and continued till the fifteenth. "The. success was
beyond all expectation. As the Forty Hours' Devotion
preceded the Jubilee Exercises, the confessional claimed
our presence from the day of our arrival. If you except the
time for meals, the balance from early morning till ten or
eleven P. M., was passed in the church. There were four
sermons a day, all well attended, though the people live
�I-
216
Notes from Our .Llfissiouaries.
scattered over a radius of nearly twelve miles. The good
priest seemed amazed at the crowds _that came to make
their peace with Heaven. His calculation fell below the
real status by about one third of the actual number. Asking for the baptismal register, and counting the number of
baptisms from January to January, I gave him.the result of
my calculation. He was incredulous when informed that
his flock consisted of about sixteen hundred souls. At the
close of the mission, however, he had become a convert to
my arithmetic, and upon request I explained my method of
counting. Sixty baptisms are allowed for a thousand souls.
Three-fifths of these4~re communicants: the balance are
below the age of twelve. Hence a parish of one thousand
consists of two hundred families. The experiment has been
tried in various localities, and it is a safe criterion to follow.
\Vhenever I found a pastor with a complete census of his
people, the above proportions are the infallible result,
scarcely ever leaving a discrepany of fifty even in a number
of three thousand.
"This was the first mission ever given at Bristol, and
hence many accounts unsettled for a quarter of a century
were to be balanced. Though everything just now is centennial in this latitude, still we had no centennial penitents.
Over fifteen hundred approached the Holy Table, certainly
an unusually large number for a country parislf ·The priest
acknowledged that he scarcely knew half of the people.
There were two special features in this mission that are
worthy of notice. The one regards the investing with the
scapular. Each day during the Jubilee one hour was to be
devoted to it to satisfy all. Nearly one thousand were enrolled. It was a glorious spectacle to see so many gray·headed men coming forward to receive this badge of love
and veneration in honor of their Blessed Mother. The
other, for consolation, stands foremost in our labors. Dozens of young persons, of both sexes, little instructed in
their christian duties and destitute of even the knowledge
�JVotes from 'Our Jlfissionaries.
217
of the alphabet, presented themselves for their first confession. They were at the same time to be prepared for
Holy Communion : to delay to a future occasion would be
to lose them to the Church. No efforts were considered too
great to bring these little ones of the flock to the Table of
their Lord. During the concluding exercises the baptismal
vows were renewed and the entire church was in tears. We
left Bristol with every blessing that a good christian people
could impart."
The next expedition was to a wilder region: Mauch
Chunk, an unseemly name, but not a bad field for missionary zeal. Let the missionary himself tell us the events of
that battle. "After every mission we have almost the same
report to make, ipsissimis verbis, and yet I am sure that the
lack of variety in the narrative cannot, in any way, mar the
interest your Reverence will feel in reading the account of '
the mission we gave lately in Mauch Chunk. The Catholic
population is composed of about a thousand souls. A mission is attached to it, some five miles off, numbering a little
over three hundred. Hence, the maximum number of communicants may be reckoned at eight hundred for both places.
The good people nearly all belong to the poorer class.
The Lehigh Valley canal, running through the town, gives
them employment for well nigh eight months of the year;
but, sad to say, during the same period, prayers, Mass· on
Sundays, Sacraments and all that could be of benefit to the
soul, are at a frightful discount. You can surmise from
these antecedents, what material we had to work on: miners,
boatmen, coal-heavers; rather unpromising subjects, one
would imagine, for a missionary to deal with. Add to this,
the 'Nild reports published by newspapers during the past
year, about the alarming spread of secret societies and
dangerous principles among the coal regions of Pennsylvania (more truth than poetry), and you will not wonder that
our expectations were not very sanguine. Imagine then,
what must have been our consolation to see the Catliolics
•
VoL. v-No. 3·
28
�218
LVott'S from Our JIIissionan·t's.
of Mauch Chunk manifest the greatest fervor during the
; whole time that we were among them. From the opening
of the mission,_Feb. 2oth, until its close on the 28th, we
had a large attendance at each of the exercises. At early
morning they hurried in crowds to the Church to hear Mass
and instruction. At 9 o'clock the Church was packed for
the same purpose. A similar sight presented itself at 3 P. M.
But the evening service surpassed all; people flocked together from great distances-many of them as much as
twenty and twenty-five miles. ·whilst we recited the Rosary, as we always do immediately before the evening ser- .
mon, for the good s~ccess of the mission, it was evident
from the earnestness and fervor of their prayers, that grace
was doing its work, and that God's special blessing was upon
the mission.
Some thirteen hundred approached the holy table ;
among them many young persons from fifteen to twenty
years af age, who, at the same time, had to make their first
confession.
We invested with the holy scapular from ten to twelve
hundred; and -so great was the demand for St. Ignatius'
holy water, that we had to bless over a hundred gallons.
This little item serves to show the simple Irish faith of the
people among whom we labored. They were ready to make
any sacrifice in order to secure the full blessing of the
mission.
About twenty men severed their connection with the
Ancient Order of Hibernians-an organization condemned
in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
On the last day of the mission the Church was crowded
from morning till night. At the first Mass, I gave the holy
Communion to nearly four hundred, mostly men. In the
evening, the exercises were concluded with the renewal of
the baptismal vows, and the Papal Benediction. It was
really a touching sight to see the whole congregation in
tears, and to hear.'them renewing the promises of childhood
�Notes< from Our Missionan"es.
2I9
with a vigor that betokened a strong determination to keep
them. On the next morning we celebrated a Mass of Requiem for the deceased relatives and friends of those who
had made the mission."
The whole of Lent was devoted to the several churches
in the city of Wilmington, Del., beginning with the Cathedral. The Bishop had told the Missionaries that the greatest number of communions would be fifteen hundred; at
the end of the mission twenty-six hundred had been to
confession, and twenty-three hundred had received the
bread of life, and several Protestants had entered the Church,
whilst others were still under instruction. -Every member
of the congregation was enrolled in the Confraternity of
the Scapular. The next mission was at St. Paul's Church,
where the number of communions was greater by two hundred, with the same exercises and the same consolation.
St. James' came next in order; a new parish, ·in which
hardly more than six hundred communions could be ex- _
pected. As this labor Yvas light, one of the Fathers could
be spared to help in the annual retreat at St. Joseph's in
Philadelphia. This brought the Missionaries to Holy Week,.
which was spent at home. After Easter a mission was
given at St. Joseph's Church, near Wilmington, with theresult of fourteen hundred communions.
I may close for this time with the additional remark that,
triduums were also given during Lent and after Easter by
some of the Tertian Fathers, to the students of Georgetown
College and at Gonzaga College, Washington, as also to
the pupils of the Visitation Academies of Georgetown,
Washington and Wheeling; and finally, to the students of
Loyola College, Baltimore.
We have reason to thank and praise our dear Lord for
the abundant blessings which He deigned to pour out from
His Sacred Heart on the labors of our Fathers.
P.M.
BALTIMORE, Mo., I I MAY, I8J6.
�MISSIONS IN PROVIDENCE, R. I.
HoLY CRoss CoLLEGE,
\VORCESTER, MASS.,
jULY
18th, 1876.
REV. FATHER,
P. C.
On Low Sunday, April 23d, the Fathers of the northern
missionary band of the Maryland Province, began a third
mission in Providence, R. I.
As the congregation was not very large, the pastor, Rev.
Daniel· Kelly, thought the separation of the women from
the men unadvisable; but the superior of the mission insisted, and the church which was ·packed during the women's week, was not less so during that of the men. Indeed,
the men, in ail the missions given so far, have attended
quite as well as the women. In the confessional, the great
test of success, the men have come in numbers equally as
large as the women ; sometimes the odds have_'been on the
side of the men. The separation works weii, because all
could not get into the church, where the congregation is
large, and the men would soon become disgusted and stay
away; and, what is all important, would make no attempt
to go to confession, seeing they would have to fight their
way through the crowds of women that always besiege the
confessional. The men, in such straits, yield to the devout
sex, some of whom would make it a point to go to every
one of the ltoly commissioners, though there were ten thousand more waiting for a shrift. Now the women have their
week, and after it is over, are not heard; but the whole
week is given to' the men. The separation works well m
220
�"}fissions in Providence, R. I.
22I
another way : the women act as so many preachers, let the
men know what is going on, and give them no rest until
they also have in their turn heard the Fathers and made
the mission.
There were about four thousand eight hundred communions. Three hundred and twenty-seven adults were confirmed; amongst whom were numbered ninety Portuguese,
who had been previously well instructed, in their own language, by the Rev. James A. Ward, a secular priest, just
returned from Portugal. Ten adults were baptized during
the mission.
On Sunday, May 7th, another two week's mission was
begun at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Rev.
Edward Cooney, pastor. Great good was brought about
by this mission also. There were over five thousand communions twelve adult baptisms, and a confirmation class of
seven hundred and twenty-four persons: of these last, there
were about two hundred and fifty grown people .
.This ended our labors in Providence, in four of the largest churches of the city.
In the missions given, there were in all, about fifteen
hundred persons confirmed: of these a third had never
been to communion, and a hundred or so, never even to
confession. It was no easy matter to prepare them for the
sacraments, as a great many were very ignorant, and, to add
to the difficulty, a good number could not read, You may
imagine the toil of instructing such persons.
The missions in Providence must have given us at least
thirty thousand confessions. \N e owe otir thanks to the
secular clergy who helped us so well, sacrificing their time,
in order to urge on the good work.
Great good, of course, was effected in regard to those
who were in danger of losing the faith, or who were leading lives of sin on account of matrimonial difficulties.
The converts gave us much consolation. A young Protestant girl went to confession to one of the Fathers, and it
�~fissiolls
222
iu Providence, R. I.
I
was only by accident that he found out who she was. When
asked why she had come, she said: "I scarcely know what
moves me to come, but I want to save my soul." Another
young girl told the Father that she wanted to be a Catholic,
because her mother was a Catholic, etc. \Vhen asked why
she had never been baptized, she replied that her father
would not allow it; but that now she was of age and
meant to save her soul in spite of him. A young man
preparing for his first Communion, said that his mother was
an apostate. and that he had never been to a Catholic
church before the mission. "How is it," said the Father,
"that you now come to .. me." "My mother had me baptized·
in the Catholic church, and though she has lost her faith
and I have always attended Protestant churches, yet I want
to be Catholic in practice." Several converts, when asked
why they wished to become Catholics, answered that they
wanted their sins to be forgiven, and that no other church
could do it but the Catholic. Many other edifying things
I might give you, but I have trespassed enough on your
kindness.
YouRs TRULY,
J.
•
•
A. M., S.
J.
�OSAGE MISSION.
ST. FRANCis' INSTITUTION, OsAGE MISSION,
NEOSHO
Co.,
KANSAS,
JULY Ist, 1876.
DEAR FATHER,
From year to year our miSSionary labors in these western countries have been advancing, and leaving here and
there permanent marks of the progress of Catholicity.
From the very foundation of this mission we have been in
the habit of establishing missionary stati-ons at convenient
points, as centres, where we could meet for a while, and
afterwards, in proportion as the people began to increase,
we went on erecting churches, more or less large and elegant, according to the means the new congregation could
afford. Following this plan, we began this year, 1876, by
opening a new church, or rather a small chapel, of simple
structure indeed, but sufficient for the present, and free of
debt.
This chapel is in the small town of Thayre, and eighteen _
miles from this mission. Father John Schoenmakers, our
Superior, had the honor of blessing this new house of ,
prayer, on the 9th of January, and placing it under the patronage of St. Agnes.
In this town, as in all others through this region of
country, are to be found people professing all kinds of.
creeds, the Catholics being but few and generally poor.
The erection of our chapel occasioned a great many remarks among the Protestants. They have long been talking of building a large church; but as they have not been
able to agree together, nothing has yet been done. Our
I
223
�224
· Osage i11ission.
poor Catholics did not taik much; they knew that they
needed a church, they soon came to be of one mind about
it, and went to work at once. The result was that St. Agnes' church rose up as if by magic, and has the glory of
being the first church built in that town.
Thayre, though small in size, is not without resources,
for it .lies on the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston
Railway, is surrounded by a very rich farming country, and
has in its vicinity an abundance of coal mines, yielding the
best kind of fossil. Unfortunately, miners are commonly a
bibulous set of people, and no· wonder ; for being the
whole day buried in the ground like moles, when they get
out they feel rather dry, and will go directly to a grog shop,
and in spite of their generally good intention, once in,
somehow or other they begin to stagger, and find difficulty
in getting out. ~o remedy this evil, a Temperance Society
was started, soon after the blessing of St. Agnes', and nearly
all our miners pledged themselves to it. Thanks be to God,
this Society has so far been a success.
Now looking around us, we can say that this our mission
church though a combination of log and frame buildingsa real monument of North American antiquity-has a right
to the title of Metropolitan Church, because it is the happy
mother of several other churches. For, to say_nothing of
those which, a good while since, we transferred--to the secular clergy, it is to-day surrounded by eight churches, and
by a large number of missionary stations, where no churches have yet been built, though they are regularly attended.
On the roth of January, twenty-nine new Osage children
came here to be educated at. our Institution; so that the
number of Osage children in attendance at this school during
the year has been eighty-three.
The last winter and spring have been very sickly seasons
with us. \Ve had a great many sick children. Of these,
the whites, as well. as the half breeds, passed through the
period of their sickness very easily, and soon recovered,
�Osage Mission.
225
but we had a hard time with the Indians. We lost one
half breed and six Indian boys. If we consider that they
had the happiness of being baptized, and of receiving all
the assistance the Church could give them before death, we
have every reason to believe that they are better off now; yet
their death was felt very much by us all, and caused a momentary panic amongst our 'boarders. Indeed we feared
that several would run away; however, thanks be to God,
the excitement lasted but a short time; better counsels
soon prevailed, they again appear to be well satisfied, and
apply themselves to their studies as well as before.
These Osage children are, on the whole, very intelligent,
and willing to learn, and behave themselves better than
many white children are in the habit of doing. To succeed
better in educating these Osages, we give them a separate
apartment, and special teachers. They were taught every
day for as many hours as the white children, and meanwhile they were learning the rudiments of an English education ; they were also carefully taught their prayers and
catechism. Of these Indian children, twenty-seven were
baptized this year, four in articulo mortis, and twenty-three
on Easter Saturday. The ceremony was an interesting one,
and pleased the people who witnessed it. According to
the liturgy of that day, first of all, the baptismal font was
solemnly blessed; this done, the twenty-three catechumens
advanced, and placed themselves in a large semi-circle
around the font, near to the main door of the church. Having first recited the christian Acts in their own language,
the ceremony began ; and it was most touching to hear
these poor children of the forest answer to the ordinary
questions, and to see them kneel down and bow their heads
to receive the regenerating water.
About this time a fresh contingent of Osage children,
nearly as many as we already had, was preparing to come
to our Institution, when we received orders from the Indian
Department not to receive them: nay, we were requested to
VoL. v-No. 3·
29
�226
Osage JWissio1l.
send back to their homes those we had. This was a fatal
blow to us; and the sadness which spread among the children when they heard the news, evidently proved that they
were all pleased and satisfied to be with us.
'I_'he Commissioner of. Indian affairs, in giving us this order, brought as a reason for it, that the funds appropriated
by the Indian Department for this fiscal year were exhausted, that they were greatly in debt, and that to reduce expenses their schools were to be shut up. And as no money
was left for the education of their children, the only expedient was to send them back to their homes as soon as
practicable. This however was, it seems, only a pretext ;
for the expressions made use of by the Commissioner in
his letters, show that he never expected that we would have
such a large number of Osage children in attendance at
this school. It seems that the Osage Agent, as well as
some of his friends, had repeatedly tried to persuade the
Indian Department, that though there had heretofore been
a good deal of noise made amongst the Osages about our
school, and though several petitions were signed by them
calling for it, yet this did not express the will of the Osages
at large; and if a fair chance were given them of sending
their children elsewhere, they would not send them here.
But the fact evidently proved how much they were mistaken, and how great is the esteem the Osages ha~e for us and
Jor our system of education.
In consequence of the orders received, as soon as Easter
was over, we hastened to send our Osages back to the Indian Territory, with the exception of some few who were
allowed to remain with us till the end of the scholastic year.
Sickness and bad weather did not allow us, this last
spring, to attend our missionary stations as regularly as we
would have wished. Immediately after Easter I started on
one of my western excursions. I was in time to bring the
last comforts of our holy Church to a couple of good young
~men, who were dangerously sick; and it would appear that
�Osage Mission.
227
the Extreme Unction, which they received with great devotion, was very beneficial to them, for both recovered. But
I was too late for two others, who died without any assistance. Of these, the first was a native of Poland, some
twenty years old ; the other was an Alsatian, thirty-two
years old. Both had received a very pious education, and
ne~er departed from the good principles they had learned
in the old country. Both died a most edifying death.
And here I cannot pass over a circumstance which preceded the death of the Alsatian. After having suffered for
many years from epileptic fits, at last, about the beginning
of last April, he grew worse, and fears were entertained that
he would soon die. Early on Palm Sunday, the 9th of
April, he was attacked by such a violent fit, that his parents
thought he might die that very day. So they sent quickly
for his elder brother, who was living with his family at no
great distance. Before the message was delivered, and they .
were ready to come, it was about noon, and when they
came in, they found, to their great surprise, that their sick
brother had just come down from his room, and was sitting
by the door of the house, seeming to be no worse than
usual.
Here the elder brother began to apologize for coming so
late, saying: "My dear brother, we would have come soon-·
er, but the messenger you sent having found us reading our
Mass prayers, which this day, you well know, are longer
than usual, and did not want to disturb us until we had finished, so we have come late." To this the sick man replied
that it was all right now; "however," said he, "I am sorry
that this morning you were not here with me up stairs ; for
I too had my Mass prayers, and more yet, for I also re-.
ceived holy communion." "How can that be," said his
sister-in-law, "for there was no priest here?" But the sick
man answered: "I do assure you that I received holy communion. I do not know who gave it to me, but I am as
sure as I am here that I did receive it. I saw the sacred
�228
Osage Missio11.
Host with my eyes, I felt it with my tongue, and its taste
is still in my mouth, I never experienced such a happiness
as I did at that moment."
On hearing these words, which I learned from the sick
man's father, who is very religious, and would by no means
tell me one thing for another on this subject, the whole
family wondered. A feeling of respect and fear came upon
them for a while, and no one dared to speak! Two days
after these things happened, the sick man died the death of
the just.
During the Eastertide I visited the Osages to give them
an .opportunity of complying with their christian duties.
I passed a few days with them, giving Mass at different
places, to accommodate all, as far as possible. And I feel
happy to say, that almost all answered willingly to my call;
and I at last saw some coming to the sacraments, who had
neglected to do so for quite a long time.
Having got through saying Mass, preaching, etc. in one
of the settlements, on Big Cana river, the people were sitting out of doors, in the shade of the house, enjoying themselves, when a naif breed boy came in, leading a beautiful
but very wild horse. He stood looking at the people for
a little while, then calling on another half breed boy, asked
him to ride that horse. But the boy did not:seem much
inclined to do so, and gave as a reason, that he' feared the
horse would kill him. Hearing this, some of his friends
said to him: "Do not be afraid to ride that horse, for even
supposing you should be killed, it would do you no harm,
for just a little while ago you received the blessed Sacrament, and you can have no better time for dying than the
present." The good boy needed no more encouragement,
he at once sprang on the beautiful steed, and off he went
as fast as a deer pursued by the hounds.
This incident may appear of no importance, yet it shows
evidently that the education given to these youths at this
mission has not oeen altogether useless ; for t~ough they
�Indian Missions-Lake Superior.
229
have had neither priest nor church for several years, still
they hold on to our holy religion, and well remember what
are the advantages that arise from the worthy reception of
the sacraments of Penance and the holy Eucharis~.
YouRs,
PAUL MARY PONZIGLIONE,
s. J.
INDIAN MISSIONS-LAKE SUPERIOR.
Extract of a letter from Fr. C!zone.
WIKWEMIKONG, JuLY
6th, 1876.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
The Saturday within the octave of Corpus Christi was a
day of unusual joy here, for on that day we were favored
with a long-promised visit from his Lordship, our Vicar
Apostolic. Preparations had been made to welcome him
with a formal reception, but a change in the weather well
nigh disconcerted all our plans. As soon, however, as we
descried the small craft which was conveying him from
Killarney to our shores, the fact was announced by the toll. ing of bells. As I was just then summoned away to administer baptism, I deputed Fr. Hebert to organize the procession. Almost all our people were present-the choir boys
clad in surplice, the little convent girls in white, and the
"soldiers" parading their only title to military distinction,
viz., the cast-off accoutrements of some English officers.
Headed by a cross-bearer, the procession advanced to wei-
�230
India1Z llfissions-Lake Superior.
come the Bishop. As soon as he landed, he was saluted
with a discharge of musketry, after which the multitude,
having received his blessing, proceeded to the Church. On
the following morning, his Lordship celebrated Pontifical
Mass, and delivered an instructive and pathetic discourse to
the people. In the afternoon, after the singing of a psalm,
a hymn and the Magnificat-which service our honest Indian population dignified with the name of "Vespers"the procession was formed, and although it filed in double
lines on either side of the way, it seemed almost interminable. The route was almost two miles, in which, at suitable intervals, four handsome repositories had been erected.
At each of these, the benediction of the blessed Sacrament
was given-which was announced to the remoter parts of
the procession by a discharge of musketry. The last benediction was given at the Church, after which his Lordship,
notwithstanding his fatigue, delivered another highly appropriate discourse.
On Monday, his Lordship granted an audience to the
chief and a number of the dignitaries of the village. The
speaker, a man- of considerable good sense, and of high
standing among the people, addressing the Bishop, passed
in review the many benefits which our holy religion had
brought them;- a priest to teach them their duties-a
school for the education of their sons, where~- they were
taught respect for their parents, a love for labor, etc. ; an
academy for their daughters, where they learned the use of
the needle, etc., etc. The Bishop responded in terms befitting the occasion. At last the hour for the grand ceremony
arrived. An immense concourse of people had gathered
in front of our house; the belfry and the roofs of the
neighboring dwellings were alive with eager spectators.
Seats were disposed in the form of an amphitheatre, facing
a temporary platform reserved for the orators of the occasion. According to custom, several large vessels were filled
with sugared water, familiar to the Indians under the name
�Indian Missions-Lake Supen"or.
231
of Okimawabo, "water of the chief," so styled, because Indian etiquette requires that when the chief holds a convention, he should be regaled with this beverage. A quantity
of meat, potatoes, flour, tea, tobacco and pipes, amounting
in all to th~ value of $ro, was substituted as an apology for
the feast which was to have preceded the ceremony. The
programme opened with short addresses, spoken by two
little Indian boys; these were fol_lowed by a discourse in
German, delivered by Br. Koemstedt; another by Br. Devine
in English; th~ French address being reserved for Br. Jennesseaux. In conclusion, Fr. Hebert, who had organized
the whole ceremony, briefly resumed in Latin the substance
of the other discourses. The speaker of the morning then
advanced, and taking the Bishop by the hand, conducted
him to the front of the stand; then addressing the assembly, said that he was about to confer upon their first Father,
a name hallowed with grateful memories of one of their
chiefs in years gone by, who in his day wrought a great
deal of good in his tribe-that no one had a better title to
this name than their great black-gown, for no one had ever
done them greater aud more enduring good: he said that
this name was Sagakki, and that henceforth they would call
their guest, "Our first Father Sagakki-Our great blackgown Sagakki." This proposal was welcomd with unanimous applause. Scarcely had the burst of approbation
subsided when a dance was started, in which some of the
Indians made the round of the little amphitheatre three or
four times, each one singing all the while and holding his
Wiiaweieian by the hand, whilst the others kept time, with
the guttural sound of Hen I Generally the dancers are followed by a band of natives who indulge in a variety of grotesque gesticulations and grimaces, interspersed with their
own peculiarly wild airs. On this occasion however, this
appendix was dispensed with, probably through respect for
their honored guest. The Bishop, addressing the people in
English, since many of them understood that language,
�232
India1t
J~fissions-Lakc
Supen"or.
r
graciously thanked all those who had taken part in the ceremony; congratulated himself upon the new title to paternity with which he had been invested; spoke of the Society of Jesus under whose banner he had once resolved to
enroll himself, etc., etc. On the Monday following, after
having visited some of the neighboring villages, under the
guidance of FF. Nadeau and Hebert, he took his leave of
us, assuring us that he was delighted with his visit.
Rev. Father, I cannot close this letter without recounting
to you an incident, which I learned a short time since from
the Superioress of the: school at Fort William. At the
opening of the month. of March, thirty of her boarders,
French and English, presented a written pe~ition to St. Joseph, laying it at the feet of that Saint's statue. Besides
the spiritual favors demanded, some asked for a new dress ;
others for a new pair of shoes; others for a bonnet; enjoining upon him at the same time, to discharge their commission by the end of the month, which closed with the feast
of Easter. Well, the friend of innocence proved faithful to
his trust; for, sure enough, with the last day of the month
came the different parcels, containing the various objects
asked for; in addition to all of which, by way of an earnest of his good pleasure, St. Joseph sent them a quantity
of extra fine candy.
_
A certain Emily Cooper, from P. A. Landing (a neighboring village, situated in the bay), had begun to waver in her
confidence, fearing that her request had not been granted,
when her father arrived, bringing her a handsome new
dress, the object of her eager prayers. On receiving it she
exclaimed, "it is just what I asked St. Joseph for." The father desired to see the written petition. I brought it from the
altar, and the first words he read were these: "St. Joseph,
you know my father is a Lutheran, and consequently that
he is in great danger of losing his soul : my mother and I
will go to Heaven because we are Catholics. We do not
want to go there without him; therefore you must convert
�Indian Missions-Lake Superior.
233
him." Then followed the other requests. On reading these
lines, the father's heart was moved. and he wept: turning
to his daughter he said : "your desire, my child, shall be
granted." We had no previous knowledge of the contents
of the letter.
Excuse this hastily written letter, my dear Father-I was
anxious to make amends for my long silence.
I am with great respect,
YouR REVERENcE's SERVANT IN CHRIST,
P.
D. 0. M.
VoL. v-No. 3·
CHONE,
s. J.
��CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
The Natchez Indians in 1730
3
St. Charles' College, Grand Coteau, La.
16
St. John's Church and Residence, Frederick, }!d.
29, 99, 174
The Young Men's Catholic Association of Boston College
37
Retreats and }fissions by the Fathers of Maryland, during the
Summer and Fall of 1875
Osage Mission
47
54, 144, 223
Indian :Missions-Lake Superior
-Washington Territory
-Lake Huron
59, 229
65
148
The Texan Cyclone
67
St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia
81
The Jesuits in Cincinnati
115, 188
The College del Salvador, Buenos Ayres
126
Assassination of Don Garcia }!oreno
131
The }fissions in Charles Co., }!d.
142
.J. Alfred Gough, Nov., S. J.
156
Expulsion of the Jesuits from Louisiana in 1763
161
Notes from Our Missionaries
214
in Providence, R. I.
220
~Iissions
�
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Woodstock Letters
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The Woodstock Letters were a publication of the Society of Jesus from 1872 until 1969. They were named after Woodstock College, the Jesuit seminary in Maryland where they were published. Written almost entirely by Jesuits, and originally intended to be read only by Jesuits, the Letters were "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus in North and South America." They include historical articles, updates on work being done by the Jesuits, eyewitness accounts of historic events, book reviews, obituaries, enrollment statistics for Jesuit schools, and various other items of interest to the Society. The writings of many renowned Jesuit scholars and missionaries appeared in the Woodstock Letters, including Pedro Arrupe, Pierre-Jean de Smet, Avery Dulles, Daniel Lord, Walter Hill, John Courtney Murray, Walter Ong, and Gustave Weigel. They provide an invaluable record of the work done by American Jesuits throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries.
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021157.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Catholic Church--Periodicals</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
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Woodstock Letters - Volume 5 (1876)
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I
I
A.M. D. G.
WOODSTOCI( LETTERS.
1_75
A RECORD
Of Current Events antl IIistorical Notes connected witlt
the College.<~ and .illission.'4 of tlte Soc. of JesU.'4
in North aud South Amct·ica.
VOL. VI.
;
\
t
;
~.·
WOODSTOCK COLLEGE
\87J.
FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION.
�/
�I
t
I
I
WOODSTOCK LETTERS.
VOL. VI, No. r.
POTTOWATTOMY INDIANS.
THE MISSION OF OUR FATHERS AMONG THEM FROM I846
TO THE PRESENT TIME.
In the \VooosTOCK LETTERS for January I875 I gave a
brief historical sketch of the Pottowattomy Indians, in
which it was stated that this tribe was partially civilized in
Michigan by Fathers of the Old Society; that after the
suppression of our Society they were cared for by secular
priests ; that the United States government removed the
tribe in I 8 38, from Michigan to Sugar Creek, at the head
waters of Osage River, and just outside the western border
of Missouri. At the death of Rev. Mr. Pettit, in January
1839, the Pottowattomy mission, it was said, passed under
the spiritual care of our Fathers. Some general account of
their language was given in the preceding article; also the
progress of the mission till I846, was therein briefly described. It is proposed now to complete the narrative, and
bring the history of this interesting tribe of Indians down
to the present time.
In I846 it was determined by the Government again to.
3
�4
Tlzc Pottmuattomy Indians.
remove the Pottowattomy Indians, as also the Osage tribe ; *
this purpose was not executed however till 1847· The
district of land selected as a reservation for the Pottowattomies was on the Kansas river, or as it is called by the people of Kansas, the Kaw river; it was just thirty miles square,
lying immediately west of Topeka. The town, St. Mary's
mission in the S. E. corner of Pottowattomy county, is
twenty five miles west of Topeka and it is at the centre of
the reservation.
Before agai.n taking up the thread of their history, a few
general remarks concerning the Indian races in America
and their languages, may not be out of place. There
have been described and enumerated four hundred Indian
languages, all quite distinct from each other. Of these
four hundred tongues, one hundred and fifty were spoken in North America; sixty were spoken in Central
America and the West Indian Islands; one hundred and
ninety were spoken in South America, the greater portion
of them_by tribes inhabiting the forests and llanos between
the Amazon and the Orinoco rivers. I never found it possible to doubt the unity of this wonderful race of men, if
we consider their physiological type. Just as the most
cursory and superficial observer does not mistake the Chinaman, wherever he may see him ; so, no one will ever confound the aboriginal American, from any part· of the continent, with the inhabitant of another hemisphere. It seems
equally certain, if we judge by the same norma of physiognomy and general appearance, that the American Indian is
of the Semitic race; and, on inquiry, I find. this to have'
been the opinion most generally held from the beginning,
by the learned in ethnology. The languages of the aborigi*The Osage tribe was settled in south east Kansas, on the Neosho river, and
it was under the spiritual charge of Fathers Schoen makers and Bax. Father
Bax, early in •.April of 1847, came to the Novitiate to bi<l good-bye, ask the
prayers of the novices and to conduct to St. Louis the lay brothers appointed
for the new Osage mission, viz: Bros. John Sheehan, Thomas Coghlan anoi
John DeBruyn.
�T/ze Pottowattomy ludiam.
5
nes have not as yet been fully mastered and collated by
learned philologists. The Mezzofanti, ·wiseman or Max
Muller, who is to trace their analogies, reduce them to
unity, and show their Asiatic parentage, as the Aryan Jan-.
guages, including the Sanscrit, * have been followed up to
a Japhetic origin; the great minds, I say, that are to do this
work for the American languages have yet to appear. H urnbolt after extensive travel in North and South America,
concluded to the striking likeness of the aboriginal races,
but he doubted as to the common origin of their languages.t
Many learned philologists have found points of agreement
in the general struaure of these four hundred tongues, and
in their sounds of vowels and consonants. One peculiarity
which is, in a greater or less degree, common to all Indian
languages as spoken, is that they abound in gutturals, which
are so deep that many authors describe them as peaoral
sounds. Father Adrian Hoecken, when a missioner among
• the Flatheads, met on the Rocky Mountains in the northern part of Montana, a tribe of Indians who when talking
seemed to speak entirely with the throat and chest; so
that they did not use the tongue, the teeth, or the lips, at
all, in talking; and hence, their language, if it can be
styled such, possesses no consonant sounds; and no interpreter was able to learn their mode of speaking so as to
be understood by them. Among these four hundred
aboriginal tongues, several have beeri found to possess striking analogy to the Hebrew; and of those possessing this
resemblance to the language of David and Isaiah, was one
'')lax Uuller, Lectures on the science nf L·mgnage, credits the .Jesuits at Goa
with being the first Europeans that learned and made known to the Christian
nation.• the Sanscrit. Sir William Jones who perfected grammars and dictionaries of that rich language, was no doubt, much aided by the writings of
those early missionaries.
t "From the Terra del Fuego islands to the river St. Lawrence and Behring•,
straits, we are struck at the first glance with the general resemblance in the
features of the inhabitants. We think we perceive that they all descend from
the same stock, notwithstanding the enormous diversity of language which·
•eparates them from one another."-New Sp-rin, book ii, chap. G.
�, I
6
The Pottozvattomy Indians.
spoken south of Patagonia, on the Islands about Cape Horn.
Father Gailland, who besides being learned in many polite
languages, both ancient and modern, is an adept in the
Pottowattomy and some of its cognate Algonquin dialects,
thus speaks in a letter received from him under the date
St. Mary's Mi-;sion, Sept. I, 1876:
"That the Pottowattomy Indians belong to the Semitic
race, may be inferred, it seems to me, from the great analofy
of their language to the Hebrew; and from the similarity of
their habits with those of the Jews. First: In the Pottowattomy language the personal pronoun is inserted in the
verb, as is done in the Hebrew: with this difference, however,
that in the Pottowattomy it is placed in the beginning of
the verb ; while, in the Hebrew, it is at the end. When
two personal pronouns are so combined that one is the subject of the verb, and the other the object, as for instance,
'/ze is angry agaillst us' that combination is expressed in
both languages by a final variation in the verb. Besides,
both the Hebrew and the Pottowattomy have a greater
number-of voices than any of the European languages:
this' constitutes the chief beauty and strength of the Ian, guages; e. g. besides the voices peculiar to the Latin, the
Pottowattomy and the Hebrew have the.causative, frequen- ·
tative, etc., etc. Secondly: As regards ·family arid social
habits, the Pottowattomies, like the Jews, call first cousins,
'my brothers, my sisters.' Again, it was an ancient custom
among the Pottowattomies, when a man died childless, that
his brother should marry the wife of the deceased, in order
that children might be raised up to the departed brother.
And generally a man called his brother's children, 'my sons,
my daughters,' and also a woman was wont to call her
sister's children, 'my ~ons, my daughters.' "
These analogies, and the like customs pointed out by
Father Gailland, are striking, and they say much in proof
that the Pottowattomies and the Hebrews are kindred
races of men. It is true, that, on the other hand, at least
�17te Pottowattomy lndiaus:
7
one aboriginal language of America was found to have affinity to the Basque; and others were believed to have points
of agreement with the Uralo-Altaic families of languages.
These facts, if admitted, would show that there were migrati~ns to America from Europe also; but the dominance
of the Semitic type is still plain to be seen by the general
observer, in the physiological facts; and by the learned
philologist also in the analogies of language. It is not
improbable that several races migrated to America in primitive times, but that all these different races were, so to say
it, absorbed or assimilated by a dominant one, which dominant one was Semitic; somewhat as all the nationalities,
with their languages, in the United States, are now merged
and finally lost in the English.
But to return to the removal of the Pottowatromy. Indians in 1847 from Sugar Creek, to their new reservation
on the Kansas or Kaw river, the Fathers themselves were
very desirous for this change. The mission at Sugar 'Creek
was surrounded, and often disturbed by roving bands of savages, belonging to various tribes; and little good was effected
among them by the missioners. Their vicinity to the Missouri border enabled these savages to procure whiskey
with facility; and when maddened with the wicked "fire
water," no bounds coul·d be set to the bravado and ferocity
of these vile ruffians. The Kickapoos, who, as said in the
former article, had run away from the missioners and their
own homes near the present Fort Leavenworth, in 1838,
persuaded to take the step by "the bold eloquence and the
big promises of a young prophet, these same Kickapoos,
finally made their way to the neighborhood of the Sugar
Creek mission, where they excelled all the wild men of the
prairie, as drunkards * and horse thieves. For a detailed
statement of the facts and circumstances connected with the
*'Henry R. Schoolcraft, writing of the Indians in 1821 reflects on the fact
that they all manifest a strong inclinatio;1 to intoxicating 'drinks. Also Alexander Ilumbolt, in the work above cited, New Spain, book ii, chap. 6, notices
�8
T!te Pottowattomy Indians.
transfer of the Mission to St. Mary's, I shall have to subjoin
a letter from Father M. Gailland, which is written in simple
and graphic language, and is the testimony of an eye witness to most of what he says, he having gone to the Pottowattomy Mission in 1848. He consented to write this narrative on being importuned, though he is very infirm from
long exposure and many hardships endured in the course
of nearly thirty years beyond the borders of civilized settlements.
WALTER H. HILL,
S. J.
LETTER OF FATHER GAILLAND TO FR. W. H. HILL
ON THE HISTORY OF THE POTTOWATTOMIES.
1847-48-49.-In the fall of 1847 Rev. Christian Hoecken
with B. Andrew Mazzella accompanied the Indians who
left for the Kansas valley, where their reservation had been
selected. There they found the prairie band, that had come
from Iowa. They were in great exultation to meet their
friend~ and relations once more, after the lapse of many
years, and to be ready to support each other against the
wild tribes of the Rocky Mountains. The valley was beautiful and rich; but like almost all the western regions, rather
destitute of timber. Immediately they set to work ; built
wigwams, split rails, cleared up fields in scattered villages:
Unfortunately the fear of the Pawnees and of the Sioux,
their enemies, drove th~m too far south, into the Shawnee
reservation ; in the spring, they had to move back north,
and recommence their work. The spot for the location of
the mission, had been wisely chosen on the northern ~ide of
the Kansas. It was nearly in the centre of the reservation
the same faet; but he says that the tribes of So nth America show an aversion
to all such beverages. Does this difference arise from that of elimatP, race, or
from what is more purely an oceasional cause? The letters of early mission·
aries likewise testify to these same facts.
�-=-.1
Tlze Pottowattomy Indians.
9
and of easy access to all the villages around. But the difficulty was to persuade the Indians to come and settle in the
vicinity. This they refused to do, under various pretexts,
but in reality because they feared the incursions of the wild
tribes. And yet, unless they gathered close to the mission,
no permanent and solid good could be done among them.
At last, the decisive step was taken ; F. Verreydt, the superior of the mission, with Fr. Gailland, and a lay brother,
and four religious of the Sacred Heart, struck their tents
and started for the place where they intended to locate the
mtsston. On the 8th of September they were detained by
high water on the bank of the Kansas. Next morning, as
the water had subsided, they forded the river, opposite
Uniontown. At noon they stopped for dinner on the bank
of a river, afterwards called Cross Creek, in the very place
where now stands Rosseville. After dinner they continued
their journey till sunset, when they were standing on the
mission-site. That day was to be memorable in the annals
of the mission, it was the day of the foundation of St.
Mary's, a day afterwards dedicated to B. Peter Claver, the
9th of September, I 848. Two log-houses were prepared
for us in the prairie. We began to work at them, that we
might have a comfortable shelter against the cold of the
winter: for as yet they had no door, no window, no floor.
In October, the Indians began to move near to the mission'
in large numbers,.
In spring I849, we built the church, a log-building, which,
although not elegant in form, an<;! of mean material, had
however the honor of being the first church in that, wide
region between the Mississippi and California, and was afterwards raised to the rank of a pro-cathedral. The Indians
contributed with their own money to the ereCl:ion of the
church, they gave to that effeCt: $I7oo; the Society for the
Propagation of the Faith gave $6oo. The church was
dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. Henceforth the
mission assumed the name of St. Mary's. During the
VoL. VI-No. 1.
2
�10
The Pottowattomy Indians.
same year, we also put up the school buildings, one for the
girls, the other for the boys. \Ve began immediately to
keep school. We had at first great difficulty in getting children and keeping them for any length of time; the parents
did not appreciate as they should the education of the
youth. Another source of much annoyance was the.Baptist
school, which was set up in opposition to ours. The least
trouble that arose between us and the children, was for the
parents a sufficient reason to withdraw the children from
our school and send them to the Baptist's. Nay, frequently
the children.took it upon themselves to leave us and go to
the other sch~ol, which conduct of course was nearly always right and we were in the wrong. This year also the
•
mission underwent another considerable change. F. Verreydt, who had presided over its cradle and subsequent
expansion, left for St. Louis, and Rev. Father J. B. Durinck succeeded him as superior.
F. Hoecken also left early in 1849 for Michigan to visit
the scattered Pottowattomies that had remained, and to induce them, if possible, to migrate to the \Vest; but in this he
was sorely disappointed ; they were indeed glad to hear a
priest that spoke their language so well, but would not
hear of moving out of Michigan.
18 50.-Aithough on the northern side of the Kansas,
where the mission had been located, the soil was richer,
less broken and better timbered, yet we could not prevail on
some Indians to come and live at St. Mary's. Some said
the ground was too low and therefore subject to inundations; others, that there was not timber enough to supply
the wants of all ; some pretended they could not afford to
lose the improvements already made on the spot where
they had first "squatted." But this was only a pretext to
hide their cowardice; the true reason of it was the fear of
the wild Indians, of the Pawnees principally and of the
Sioux. They thought St. Mary's was too much exposed
to the incursions of those barbarians. Nearly the half of
�'17te Pottowattomy fndia11s.
I I
·our neophytes refused to come over the Kansas. In order
therefore to keep up their faith and piety we built two chapels in their respeCtive villages ; one in the village of St.
Joseph, near the Baptist mission, the other on Mission
Creek, which was dedicated to our Lady of the Seven
Sorrows.
18 5 I . -This year shall be forever memorable in the annals of St. Mary's. The Holy See decreed to appoint a
Vicar-Apostolic for that vast region, which lies east of the
Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River. Rev. Fr. ]. B.
Miege, S. J., was seleCted for that arduous work. The new
prelate was consecrated in St. Xavier's church, St. Louis,
on the 25th of March, 1851. The new Bishop was invited
to come and fix his residence in St. Mary's, as that mission wa~ older and had more catholics than any other
place in the Vicariate. The Bishop willingly accepted the
invitation. We prepared for his reception. At last, on the
24th of May he arrived at St. Mary's. An Italian Father,
F. Ponziglione, destined for the Osage mission, accompanied
him, as also a lay· brother. The Fathers of St. Mary's,
with a number of Indians went in procession to meet him
the distance of a mile, and conduCted him to the church.
It was too late in the evening to perform the solemn reception; it was postponed to the next day. Early in the morning of the 25th, the Indians, men and women, filled our
mission yard, and were very anxious to show their high
consideration for the great Black-gown. The women were
on foot, carrying on their shoulders their squealing babies,
wrapped up in red, green or blue blankets. The men were
on horseback. At the fixed time the procession began
towards the church, headed by the choir-boys, followed
by the acolytes and clergymen, with the Bishop. The
Indians in their cavalcade by quick and precise evolutions
representing a variety of figures, displayed a grand and
attraCtive speCtacle. The singing of the choir, the frequent
discharge of musketry by the soldiers, the modesty and
�12
i'
I:
I
Tilt' Pottowattom;• flldia!ts.
piety of the neophytes added to the solemnity .of the ceremony.
But, in this world, it seems, sorrow must tread on the
heels of joy. \Ve had hardly rejoiced at the arrival of our
Bi:;hop, when we had to weep over the melancholy death of
our beloved missionary, F. Christian Hoecken. He had
left for St. Louis, to accompany F. de Smet on his journey
to the Rocky Mountains. On the third or fourth day of
navigation on a steamer bound for the Yellowstone, the
cholera broke out on the boat, and in a short time it had
laid low eleY.en victims. F. Christian ministered to the
sick day and night, until at last he was attacked himself
and fell a victim of charity, expiring in the arms of his
friend F. de Smet. He was a native of Holland and had
spent over fifteen years among the Indians, whose language he spoke admirably well. It would be difficult to
find a priest as zealous for the salvation of souls, as forgetful of self and as pious. He was particularly devoted to
the poor and the sick, and his delight was to be with them.
Although exhausted with fatigues and weakened by many
infirmities, he always recited the divine Office kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament. And whenever he held the
Sacred Host for Communion or Benediction, his face beamed wit!~ an uncontrollable joy. One of the Fathers of St.
Mary's went immediately to St. Joseph's to carry that melancholy news. In order to test at the same time the affection
of the Indians for the deceased, at the end of the l\'lass,
having simply announced F. Hoecken's death, he told the
chief of the village to address a few words to the people.
Immediately Joseph Meohkomie arose, and with a gravity
dignified by the circumst;;tnces, said: "My fellow Christians:
'Ve have sustained a great loss in F. Hoecken, we lose a
ttther, a protector, that for so many years tended our sick,
fed our poor, watched over all of us. F. Hoeck en is dead,
and we hope gone to his everlasting reward. Let us shed
no idle tears. The love, the respect we had for F. Hoecken
�Tlu• Pottowattolll)' Indians.
13
let us transfer to his successor here present. He is sent by
the same Lord, invested with the same power, preaches the
same doCtrine. The man is changed, not the authority, nor
the doCtrine of truth."
During summer we had the visit of Major Fitzpatrick,
Agent of the Cheyennes and Arrapahoes, who took to
\Vashington a delegation of the most distinguished Indians·
of various tribes, to inspire them with fear and respeCt for
the great American nation. They were extremely pleased
with the reception; in return they gave us wild songs, .
dances, delivered speeches each in his own dinleCt. They
greatly admired the morality and industry of the Pottowattomies. "We go to vVashington," they said, "we will tell
our Great Father to send us the same Black-gowns, that are
among the Pottowattomies, to do among us what they are
doing at St. Mary's."
1852.-The present year was very calamitous to the mission; two contagious diseases succesively visited us anddecimated our neophytes. First, towards the end of December, 185 I, the small-pox broke out in our village and
raged for two months, carrying away one, two, three and
even five viCtims every day. In some families five died in
a few days. So great was the number of the sick that some
days one could not find anybody to dig the graves or to
make the coffins. Then in the summer time, the measles
took away the children whom the small-pox had spared.
At last, the long and continual dread of the Pawnees
came to an end. From the very day they settled at St.
Mary's our neophytes never spent one night in peace;
they were repeatedly startled by some alarming news of
the coming of the Pawnees, and indeed the Pawnees did
come several times and stole horses, until they were finally
pursued and chastised by our Indians. This chastisement
brought them to a sober mind, they concluded to make
peace with the Pottowattomies. Thev came therefore to
the number of two hundred or three l;undred, and smoked
�14
T!tc Pottmoattomy Indians.
the calumet of peace with them. Thus ended the war
between the two nations, kindled by the treachery of the
cowardly Kaws.
Twenty-five miles below St. Mary's, where Soldier Creek
empties itself into the Kansas, there was a good settlement
of Pottowattomies and half-breed Kaws, that had never
been visited by the missionaries. One day, one of the
Fathers of St. Mary's was going· as usual to St. Joseph's,
across the Kansas; but no sooner had he left the mission,
than he heard an interior voice urging him to go to Soldier·
Creek instead. of St. Joseph's. So strong is the interior
command, that he feels forced to obey it. It was not in
vain that he went there. Just as he arrived on the spot,
they were sending to the mission to call the priest for a
man dying of the cholera. The Father baptized him, and
prepared him for death, which soon took place. On that
occasion several persons begged the priest to instruCt: and
baptize them. The Father yielded to the wishes of many,
and stayed ten days with them. As the number of Christians had increased quite considerably this year, we built a
chapel in that settlement; it was· dedicated to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus.
1853.-The emigrants to California, that went across this
vast Indian country, had given such a favorable description
of its riches and beauty, that there was a general disposition in the neighboring States to have it opened to the
whites for colonization. It seems that some half-breed
Wyandots were put up to agitate that question before the
American people: they organised a kind of mock-government, and begged the Government in vVashington to
receive them into the Union. With that prospeCt: in view
General Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian affairs at
Washington, came up to St. Mary's, to examine what were
the dispositions of the Pottowattomies. He had them
assembled, and having communicated to them the future
policy of the Goverment in regard to the settlement of this
I
�Tltc PottO'wattomy Indians.
IS
hitherto inaccessible desert, he asked whether they would,
like to have their land divided and ·become citizens, or to
exchange this country for another of their own choice.
The Chiefs replied that they were not ready as yet to answer
that question; and it would take some time, before they
would have matured an answer.
This year (1853) the Pottowattomies had an opportunity
of showing the sincerity of their friendship for the 'Pawness. The latter sometime this summer, while on the
buffalo-ground, were attacked by the Sioux and overpowered by their number. Hearing that the l'ottowattomies
were in the neighborhood, they sent word to the~, informing them of their distress. The Pottowattomies immediately sped to the battlefield and did not leave it until they
had fought off the foe.
As some disorder began to creep into the community, to
stop the evil, the Chief'> framed some la"ws, and appointed
some honest and impartial men to see to the execution of
said laws.
I854.-ln the beginning of March, Bishop Miege returned from Rome, where he had been sent to assist at the
General Congregation, which eleB:ed Rev. F. Beckx General
of the Society of Jesus. He brought fine presents to our
poor cathedral: an organ, a painting of the Immaculate
Conception, vestments, a chalice, an ostensorium. This year
we had flourishing schools of eighty pupils. The Commander of Fort Riley invited us to visit that garrison; we
complied with his wishes. One of the Fathers had the celebration of divine service every month for the soldiers.
At last a radical change is coming for all the Indian
tribes of this country; Congress has organized two Territories in their midst, Nebraska and Kansas. This vast
region is now open to the whites for settlement. The Indians will have finally to become citizens and disappear.
r8ss.-This year the Pottowattomie mission assisted
other houses of the province of Missouri, where assistance
�16
Tlze PottowattomJ' Indians.
was much needed. \Ve gave to the Novitiate of Florissant
two thousand dollars, and to the Osage mission five hundred dollars. The present year is again a year of calamities: we had to endure the horrors of famine, pestilence
and war. In the first place the great drought of I 854 having completely ruined the crops, many people were reduced
to the last degree of destitution, the Indians especially, who
are
improvident. They subsisted on their scanty small
game and on the little help they received from the relief
committees. vVe shall ever be thankful to Generals Pomeroy and Lane: as also to Mr. Collamer, l\Iayor of Lawrence,
for their liberality. The cholera did havoc also among
our peotJle. But the worst of all the calamities was the
civil war which broke out on account of slavery. The war
was first confined to Kansas, but such was the agitation of
minds throughout all the States, that it was easy to prediCt:
it would become general. Some wanted to take up arms in
defence of the South. We advised them to be on their
guard and not to side with any party. When the Government sl;all call upon your help, we added, then you shall
have an ample opportunity to declare your fidelity. They
obeyed, though with relu8:ance; they remained neutral for
two years, and then, at the call of the Goverment, one hundred young men enlisted for the service of the United
States.
IS$6.-'-The vVinnebagos sent a delegation to the Pottowattomies from Minnesota, begging to be received into their
reservation: the place where they were located was untenable; they were surrounded by implacable enemies. The
Pottowattomies received them kindly: but on account of
the absence. of the principal Chiefs they could give no decisive answer; they requested them to come the next year to
present their petition.
Our annals record the wonderful death of Catherine
Kwashinia, a girl four or five years old. Catherine's parents being pagans she was reared by her aunt Piwosikwe.
so
�Tlze Pottowattom_J' Indians.
17
Catherine's intelligence was wonderfully precocious : ~he
understood and relished spiritual things like a grown person.
One day as Piwosikwe was going from her house to the
river to wash, Catherine taking her by the arm, went along.
As they were walking, Catherine said to her aunt: "Aunt,
is it true that in heaven there shall be no hunger, no thirst,
no cold, no excessive heat ?"-"It is so, my niece."-"Is
it true, that in heaven there is no sickness ?"-"It is undoubtedly so, Kate. In heaven there is no fever and ague,
no pleurisy, no consumption; no suffering, but a perpetual
blooming health; no old age, but a continual spring of life
is enjoyed in heaven. The life of God is infused into the
blessed soul."-"No tear, no sorrow!" exclaimed young
Kate. "No, my dear niece, no tear, no sorrow, no privation
is felt by the blessed in heaven," rejoined Piwosikwe.
"Heaven is the home of joy and comfort. In heaven
everything is good, unchangeable, eternal like God.""Pray, dear aunt, tell me, whence proceeds this pure and
incomparable happiness?" asked Catherine.-"From God
himsdf," answered Piwosikwe; "the citizens of heaven see
God in His divine light, possess Him without fear of ever
losing Him, are happy with Him forever. Heaven is
our true home, we shall never be happy until we are in
heaven. Do you understand me, Kate ?"-"Not very well,
aunt; please explain it to me."-"Well, Kate," said Pi-·
wosikwe, "here on earth we do not see God our Father,
we see but his works·; we are, as it were, far from Him.
Again, the earth is not our permanent home; heave·n is
to be our everlasting home ; we are created not for the earth,
but for heaven."-Kate for a moment was silent, as it were
amazed and enraptured ; then bursting forth, she exclaimed :
"How beautiful is heaven, aunt, how happy are its inhabitants ! I want to go there; here on earth we are too miserable. I must tell you, dear aunt, what vision I had last
night. I saw myself carried up above the clouds into the
beautiful place; there were myriads of people all beaming
VoL. VI-No. 1.
3
'·
�18
Tlze Pottmvattomy Indz'a~zs.
with happiness. There I saw your own son, my aunt, filled
with joy."-This circumstance is the more striking, that
Piwosikwe's son mentioned in the narrative, had died many
years before Kate was born, and no one remembered having spoken to her of the dead child.-"In the centre of
that beautiful place there was ereCted a large cross glittering like gold," continued Kate ; "by the cross stood a lady
of an amiable and dignified countenance. She beckoned to
me to come near and occupy the place prepared for me in
that rich abode." Piwosikwe, having finished the washing,
returned home with young Catherine, who complained,
in the way, of headache. Arrived home, Kate laid herself
on her bed; a few minutes later she had lost consciousness.
Three days after, Kat~'s body was lifeless, and her uncontaminated soul had fled to the celestial mansions.
1857--0ur annals this year record two illustrious deaths.
That of Sister Louise at the convent of the Sacred Heart,
who, although in feeble health for twenty years, taught
the Pot!owattomy girls, and edified them by her charity and
humility. The second loss we had to sustain is that of the
Superior of the mission, the most loved and lamented R.
F. Durinck. He was navigating with five men on the Missouri river, going from Leavenworth to Independence.
The skiff struck against a snag and upset. He had by
hard labor put the mission on a good footing. His patience, longanimity and charity endeared him to all.
(To be continue;/.)
�EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM
LOUISIANA IN 1763.
(Concluded.)
At last the inventory was begun ! It took some time to
gather together and put in order the goods and furniture of
so large an establishment (that of the Jesuits in Illinois, six
leagues from Fort De Chartres), and to colleCt the cattle
dispersed through the woods and open country: besides,
there was good reason for being in no great hurry about the
matter-the longer the delay, the greater was the profit to
those engaged in the work.
While this was going on, the people of the country
around had plenty of time to refleCt on what was passing
before their eyes. The condemnation of the Jesuits was
sorrowful news to the savages ; the French were for the
most part thrown into consternation by it, and regarded it
as a public calamity. Justly attached to their pastor, they
were about to lose him with no prospeCt of getting another
in his place. No time was lost, therefore, in presenting to
the Commandant and to the Commissioner of the country
a petition asking in the name of almost all the people that
at least Father Aubert, pastor of the French Cascakias,
might be retained. As the answer to this petition seemed
to be unreasonably delayed, a second was sent a short time
afterwards. In the meantime, the more thoughtful and sensible of the inhabitants began to ask themselves by what
right the goods of the Jesuits had been seized, and what
power the French aHthorities could have over their persons
in a land ceded by treaty to the crown of England. Then
too, said they, eighteen months had been granted to all the
settlers in the Illinois territory, without distinCtion, to decide
19
�20
Expulsion of t!tc :Jesuits from Louisiana in I76.J.
whether they would remain there or remove elswhere ; why
were the Jesuits excepted from this general benefit. \Vhat
especially aroused their indignation was the seizure of certain sacred vessels belonging to a chapel of the Hurons of
Detroit. Father Salleneuve, a missionary to that nation.
had brought these vessels with him to the country of .the
Illinois, when he took refuge there, two years and a half
before this time.
This Father, moreover, who had come from the Huron
mission, and F~ther de la Morinie, of the post of St. Joseph,
did not belong to Louisiana, but to Canada; extreme want
·alone had forced them to withdraw to the Illinois territory,
and they were only waiting for a favorable opportunity to return to their posts. Father Salleneuve had received no employment on the Illinois mission, and if Father de la Morinie
had taken charge of the church of St. Genevieve, it was not
because that charge had been laid upon him, but because he
was moved to do so by a zeal which could refuse no labor
for God's sake. Plainly, the Council of New Orleans could
have had no knowledge or thought of these two Fathers
when decreeing the expulsion of their brethren ; but the
authorities of the Illinois country were of a different opinion, and the Jesuits submitted without complaint or resistance to any interpretation that might be given to the command. Indeed it is hard to see what else they could have
done. To protest against the order and its execution was
useless, for the notary who must have received the remonstrance was himself personally interested in their destruction: he had aB:ed the part of sheriff in carrying out the
decree for their expulsion, and had not even troubled himself
to keep up a show of propriety. To put up their protest
in public would have been worse than useless: they would
have been treated as rebels against the public authority,
seized, and perhaps put in irons as felons; on this point,
explicit orders had been given. But the Jesuits had no such
intention : their Superior at New Orleans had begged them,
�Expulsion of tlze :Jesuits from Louisiana in z763.
21
in the name of Jesus Christ, to submit to. every thing, and
to take their way to that city without regard to any reason
which might seem to dispense them from obeying; and their
only desire was to fulfil this command. They remembered
that they were disciples of that divine Master who delivered himself up to them who judged him unjustly, and who
like the lamb before the shearer, opened not his mouth.
This time, at least, not even their bitterest enemies. could
find fault with their practice of blind obedience. They
went farther: fearful lest the petitions presented by the settlers might bring upon them the suspicion of intriguing
and fomenting rebellion, they wrote to the Commandant
and to the Commissioner, asking them to pay no attention
to the representations made to them, but to hasten arrangements for the departure. The officials, however, had less
regard for this letter than for the danger of a popular outbreak with which they were threatened, and they accordingly gave orders that Father Aubert, pastor of the Cascakias, should remain at his post until the Council of New
Orleans should decide what was to be done with him.
Meanwhile, the auction had been finished: house, furniture, lands, and stock were sold; the slaves were to be
taken to New Orleans and sold for the benefit of the King;
the chapel was to be razed to the ground by its new owner.
The Jesuits were allowed their house, the use of which until
the time of their departure had been guaranteed to them by
an article of the sale. They did not find themselves at all
embarrassed by the amount of furniture that had been left in
it; in fact, the bedsteads and mattresses were the only
articles remaining, so that they were obliged to borrow some
chairs and a little table from their friends. The chapel was
in a still more lamentable condition; the sacred vessels had
been taken away, the steps of the altar had been cast down,
the rich lining of the vestments had been given to negresses
notorious for their bad life, while the great crucifix which
had stood upon the altar, and the candlesticks, now figured
�22
Expulsion of t!te :Jesuits from Louisia11a in I76J.
upon the side-board of a house of ill fame. From the marks
of spoliation visible in the chapel, it might have been supposed that the enemies of the Catholic religion had been at
work there.
At this stage of their affairs, the Jesuits of the Illinois
mission were joined by a brother missionary, Father de
Vernay, who came from the station of Saint Angelo, some
two hundred miles away. The order for his expulsion had
been sent thither, and so faithfully was it executed that even
a little store of chestnuts found in his house, was seized
and sold with the rest of his modest furniture. Father de
Vernay, be it remarked, had at this time, been sick with the
fever for six months, and he did not recover until after his
arrival in France, six months later. But this was no reason
for deferring his departure: the decree had gone forth; and
besides, how could he remain in a dwelling destitute of both
furniture and provisions? He began his march in the month
of November: he had to traverse woods and moist prairies,
exposed to the rain and the cold; and so poor Father de
Vernay was in a sad plight when he came to join the little
band of exiles awaiting embarkation.
It was the interest of the Jesuits that this embarkation
should not be too long delayed. There was reason to fear
danger from the ice which fills the Mississippi, sometimes
as early as the end of November, and which, closing in
upon the boats caught in it, crushes them, or at least stops
their progress and reduces those on board to a great want
of provisions.
The time fixed for their departure at length arrived, and
·on the 24th of November, 1763, the Jesuits went on board
the flat-boat which was to carry them down the Mississippi
to New Orleans. The craft was by no means overloaded
by the weight of their baggage; they had nothing but their
beds and a little wearing apparel, with some provisions
which they had reserved for the voyage and which had to
serve not only for their own subsistence, but also for that of
�Expulsion of tlte :Jesuits from Louisialla ill IJ6J.
23
forty-eight slaves who were in their company. These negroes were suffering severely from the distress prevalent in
the colony. They no longer belonged to the Jesuits, having
been confiscated to the King, but their old masters retained
for them the same kind regard which they had always
shown them, and shared very willingly with these wretched
creatures the provisions which they had brought with them.
This charity was the more necessary, as the provisions put
on board by the royal authority were very moderate, being
sufficient for only fifteen or twenty days; whereas at that
season, as several years' experience had shown, the voyage
would in all probability require from forty to forty-five days.
Fortunately, M. de Volsey, the officer in command of the
troops, took care to provide whatever was wanting. He
was in another boat with about twenty Englishmen : these
men had been made prisoners some months before by the
savages in revolt against the English, and had been carried
by them to the Illinois settlements, and handed over to the
French. The Commandant of the fort at Chartres sent
them to New Orleans. All were men of vigorous appetite.
Every evening, after landing, M. de Volsey, the chief of the
whole party, accompanied by some others, went into the
woods to hunt. They were almost always successful, and
the bears and buffaloes which they shot amply supplied the
deficiency of provisions.
This was not the only kindness shown to the party by the
courteous Commandant. In this winter season a considerable time was required for the embarkation and landing of
such a number of slaves, old men, women, and children: on
landing in the evening, they had to climb the high, steep,
and slippery banks of the stream, at the risk of falling into
the Mississippi and being drowned. Then, after reaching
~he top of the bank in safety, they had to look for a campmg-place in the woods with which the river is everywhere
bordered; this was oftentimes to be found only by clearing
some spot thickly set with briers and undergrowth ; then
�24
Expulsion of tltc :Jesuits from Louisiana in I76J.
it was necessary to gather wood enough to keep up seven
or eight large fires all night; and finally, tents were to
be erected in order to protect the travellers from the keen
air of the November nights. Luckily the Jesuits were provided with tents for themselves and the slaves, this privilege
having been granted them in the seizure of their goods.
M. de V olsey always allowed full time for these various
labors.
The weather proving much more favorable than is usual
at this season of the year, the voyage, which might have
been much loilger, lasted only twenty-seven days. During
this time, the Fathers managed to say Mass on every Sunday and feast day.
Along the whole extent of the route, about one thousand
miles, there are, if we except the settlement of the Germans not far from the city itself, only two posts established,
one among the Arkansas, and the other at Pointe Coupee.
At the Arkansas settlement, which is distant about four
hundred miles from the Illinois region, M. Labaret d' Estrepy, Commandant of the post, gave the Jesuits a courteous and honorable welcome. At Pointe Coupee, also, M.
d'Esmazilieres, the Captain in command, gave them the same
kind reception. Father Iren<eus, a Capuchin stationed at
the latter place, in charge of a parish some thirty or forty
miles in extent, showed the Jesuits Fathers as much attention as he could have done to his own religious brethren.
Finally, when they were about twenty miles from their destination, they stopped at the house of M. de Maccarty, formerly the King's Lieutenant at New Orleans, who by his
kindness recalled to their remembrance the good will which
he had always shown towards the Illinois missionaries while
he held the position of General Commandant. This gentleman gave them additional proofs of his friendship after
their arrival in the city.
On leaving the friendly shelter of M. de Maccarty's roof,
the Jesuits found themselves in a difficult position. New
i.
�Expulsion of tltc :Jesuits from Louisiaua in IJ6J..
25 ·
Orleans was before them, but they knew not where to obtain
a lodging. They could not go to their old house, for they
knew that it had been sold and was already occupied by
other masters; and in the present condition of their fortunes, they could not reckon upon the charity of their former acquaintances. But Providence provided for them in
their necessity.
l\L Foucaut, Comptroller of the Navy and Shipping, who
was in command at New Orleans during the absence of
his superior officer, learned from M. de Vols1ey the embarrassment of the Jesuits, and sending for them to his own
house, told them that he had procured for them lodging
with M. Le Sassier, a member of the Council. By this
gentleman they were treated with great politeness; he even
invited them to make his house their home until their departure for France.
Meanwhile, the Capuchins, hearing of the Jesuits' arrival,
came at six o'clock in the evening of December 21st, to
meet them on their landing, in order to testify their sympathy for those in misfortune, and their desire to render them
every service in their power. The Jesuits w~nt next morning to thank the good Fathers, and were received by them
with every mark of the warmest charity: the Capuchim
begged them to take their meals with none but themselves
during all the time of their stay. This invitation was gladly
accepted. The Capuchins could not offer the exiles a shelter under their own roof, for their convent was only a dwelling which they had rented and which did not even afford
room for the whole of their own community; but the Jesuits took a house in the neighborhood, and during the six
weeks which elapsed before their departure they received
every mark of kindness and charity from the good religious.
The Jesuits found means to show their gratitude for this
treatment: the books of the New Orleans residence had
been left to their own disposal by the decree of expulsion ;
with these they formed a library, small, it is true, but of no
VoL. VI-No.
1.
4
�26
Erpu!sion of tltc :Jesuits from Louisiana in I76J.
mean value in so new a country, and begged the Capuchins
to accept it.
Many others also, even among the most distinguished
persons of the city, showed a friendliness towards the Jesuits, which, under the circumstances, could not be suspeCl:ed
of insincerity. The Procurator General visited them and
assurefj them of the pain which he had felt in executing so
odious a duty in their regard. A short time before their
departure, the chief Commissioner, M. d'Albadie, sent them
a letter which he had written for them to the French Secretary of the -Navy, and which he wished them to present
with their own hands; in it he asked a pension for each of
the Fathers, and gave favorable testimony of their conduCl:.
In spite of all this, the Jesuits saw plainly that their
longer stay in New Orleans was not desired. It was the
month of January, perhaps the very worst season of the
year for a voyage across the Atlantic; but they found a
new and staunch ship, the ilfincrva of Bayonne, commanded
by a certain C?ptain Balanquet, who had made himself
famous in the last war, and who was in high repute for honor
~nd probity. These reasons determined the "jesuits to embark in his vessel. However, two out of the six Fathers remained behind. Father de Ia Morinie remembered the terrible sea-sickness which he had suffered on his former voyage,
and which had almost proved fatal, and he therefore preferred "
to delay his departure until the Spring, when the sea would
be less rough. Father Meurin petitioned the Council for
permission to return to the Illinois. Under the circumstances, this was rather a bold resolution, for he had absolutely nothing 'to count upon for subsistence: the goods of
the Jesuits were sold, the French settlers were under no
obligation to Father Meurin, and the savages were in a
condition rather to need assistance than to afford it. Moreover, the health of this Father was very poor, as it had
always been during the twenty- one years which he had
spent in Louisiana; but he saw the great danger in which the
�Expulsion of tlze Ycsuits from Louisiana in IJ6J.
27
Illinois neophytes were of forgetting their religion, if they
remained long deprived of missionaries, and counted all
difficulties as nothing, provided he could but resume the
labors of his mission. Father Meurin's request was granted,
and the members of the Council even promised to ask a
pension of six hundred francs for him from the King.
The four other Jesuits sailed on the 6th of February,
1764, in company with the Abbe Forget du Verger, member
of the Congregation for the Foreign Missions, and Vicar
General of the Archbishop of Quebec in th<:,Illinois region.
For ten ,years this clergyman had shown himself very
friendly to the Jesuits in that country, and his company at
this time was an offset to whatever was disagreeable in their
voyage.
The weather continued favorable until the vessel was off
the Bahamas. Here they had to pass the famous strait of
Martyr's Island. The captain, vigilant and skilful, did his
best to avoid it·; for about twelve hours he kept the helm
down and the vessel headed towards the east, but in yain :
towards midnight, the ship was carried by the violent currents upon the outlying rocks around the Martyr. The
shocks of the vessel upon the rocks were terrible : a craft
less staunch would surely have been shattered, or at least
would have opened her seams, but the Minerva shipped
- not an inch of water more than ordinary. Meantime the
passengers fell to their prayers and made various vows for
their safety. By sunrise they were off the rocks : after
tacking all day from one side of the strait to the other, they
found forty-five fathoms of water towards evening, and
shortly after the lead failed to reach the bottom. The travellers breathed freely once more, and the next morning they
sang the Te Deum in thanksgiving for their preservation. The
weather was fine for the rest of the voyage, excepting the
day and night of the 6th of March ; the evening before
this day, St. Elmo's fire, as the sailors call those mysterious
elearic flames which sometimes play around the mast-head
I
;
�28
Erpulsion of tltc :Jesuits from Louisiana in I76J.
and yard-arms of vessels at sea had foretold bad weather,
and in fact the storm was very violent, and extended so far
that its force was felt equally at Bayonne, almost three
thousand miles distant from the vessel.
On the 6th of April, the flfincr<•a cast anchor in the
roadstead of St. Sebastian, in Spain, the weather being too
unfavorable to admit of her crossing the bar of Bayonne.
The Jesuits of the college of St. Sebastian received the
French missionaries with all the charity due to strangers
and exiles. They could not help expressing their surprise
that even in the depths of the North American forests,
peaceful missionaries engaged in converting the savages
and ministering to the spiritual needs of the French were
not safe from the persecution of their Catholic fellow-countrymen. Like the Illinois settlers, they could not understand what pow~r the French authorities could lawfully
exercise over subjects transferred by treaty to the crown of
England. A suprise was also in store for the newly-landed
Jesuits t~emselves; they were being sent to France, and
· here they found their brother-religious of that kingdom,
banished from France and taking refuge in Spain.
It was at St. Sebastian that they heard of the ordinances
of the Parliaments of l'aris and of other places, decreeing
the expulsion of those members of the Society who would
not apostatize by abjuring their Institute. They had been
in town only two days when Father Nektous, the last Provincial of the Guyenne province arrived. This threw the
missionaries into a new perplexity : how could they venture
to enter France at the very time when their brothers were
being chased out of it? They took courage, however, and
remembering that they bore a letter to the Secretary of the
Navy which they were obliged to present with their own
hands, they resolved to cross the Pyrenees at all hazards.
At San Juan de Luz, they found three Jesuits who were
crossing i~to France. The two older of these religious
were nearly eighty years of age; the third, a young man,
�Expulsion- of t!te :Jesuits from Louisiana in I76J.
29
had undertaken to guide his aged companions across the
mountains. The cheerfulness and frank gayety of these
new travelling comrades reassured the missionaries and encouraged them to continue the journey which they had begun. Reaching Bayonne on the eve of Palm Sunday, they
met there several bands of their fugitive brother-religious, on
their way into Spain. All of them were welcomed kindly
by the Archbishop of Bayonne. On Holy Thursday this
prelate gave them communion with his own hand in his
Cathedral, immediately after having communicated the canons: on the following day, he asked a dozen of them to
dine with him, and showed them many other marks of
friendly interest. During their stay of a fortnight at Bayonne, the Jesuits received similar marks of kindness from
many other persons, and notably from the Baron d'Oriol.
This gentleman scarcely ever quitted them, and did every
service that could have been expe8:ed even from the oldest
and most affeCtionate friend. On leaving Bayonne, the Jesuits took out a passport
from the mayor of the city. This is a precaution which
foreigners are obliged to take in order to enter the country
and travel therein with safety, and as the Jesuits regarded
themselves thenceforth as strangers in France, they desired
to shelter themselves by this means from any ill-treatment
they might encounter. At Bordeaux they found a large
number of their brethren gathered together, uncertain of
their future lot and fearful lest the corporation of that city
should follow the example set by the capital. The two
bands of exiles consoled each other by the story of their
adventures.
Up to this point the fou~ Jesuits from Louisiana had travelled together. On leaving this city they separated and
each one directed his steps to that part of the co,untry
where his own particular business called him. Two met
again at Paris. On their different routes they found as before many kind persons to assist them, particularly at Or-
�\ ~·
30
'
Expulsion of tlte :Jesuits from Louisiana in I763.
leans, where the monks of Chartreuse showed them that
warm attachment and charity which their holy order has
ever entertained for the Society. Everywhere the same
surprise was felt that the cession of the Illinois territory to
the English had not proteB:ed the Jesuits from all harm.
Those who spoke with them were astonished at their tranquillity in the midst of their trials, and in view of the diffi·
culties they had to fear for the future. The Fathers foresaw
how hard it would be for them to find suitable retreats and
necessary means of subsistence; but they placed their confidence in the providence of God, which had never deserted
them, and they firmly believed that it is only when human
means fail that the loving hand of the Lord makes itself
most plainly felt.
Arriving at last in Paris, although entirely unknown in
that city, they received the same marks of esteem and
friendliness which they had met with in the whole course
of their journey. People of all ranks, even the highest,
who had always been attached to the Jesuits, took this
opportunity to give new proofs of their love for the order.
The four fathers met at Versailles in order to present to
the Secretary of the Navy the letter which they bore for
him, but as the day which he appointed for their first audience was still far off, they sent the letter by post, and each
one withdrew whither he hoped to receive the assistance to
which he was justly entitled.
I believe that I have faithfully kept the promise which I
made at the beginning of this letter to tell only the exaCt:
truth, and I believe also that I have said nothing that can
give offence to any one; you may therefore show this document to all who wish to see it.
PARIS, SEPTEMBER
3.
I764.
�RESIDENCE OF ST. MARY'S, BOSTON, MASS.
1868-1876.
The residence of St. Mary's, Endicott and Cooper streets,
was given in the year of our Lord 1847, by the Right Rev.
Bishop of Boston, John B. Fitzpatrick, to the Rev. Fr. John
Me Elroy, as the representative of the Society of Jesus, il). ·
the province of Maryland. From that date to the present
year 1876, the Society has held the original property, consisting of a church, and house adjoining; and by purchase
has added thereunto.
When the property first came into the hands of the Society, it had a front of only 85 feet on Endicott St., with an
equal depth on Cooper St.; to-day, preserving its original
depth, its frontage is 285 feet. Then, the parish embraced
the whole territory known as North End, and a very large
section of the West End of Boston. It was however, subdivided by the Ordinary: and the church of St. Joseph in the
West End, and of St. Stephen in the North End, have taken
a large part of the original parish.
In the year I 87 I, the Lowell Eastern and Fitchburg
Rail Road Companies, received permission from the Legislature, to enlarge their facilities for traffic, by condemning
for the public good, Andover St. and parts of Nashua and
Minot St., thereby curtailing the limits of the parish, and
reducing its numbers. The Gas-house Company, also, by
extending their works and levelling many dwellings lessened the population. At present the parish counts nearly ,
ten thousand souls.
The dimensions of the "Old Church" wer~ 6o by 85 feet.
The floor and galleries gave sitting room to about 800 persons. The basement was used exclusively for the boys of
the parish and accommodated easily five hundred and more.
31
�32
f
!
I
Residence of St. "Jfary?s, Boston, lllass.
To provide room for our people, a chapel in the upper story
of the schoolhouse, on Lancaster St. where the Sisters of
Notre Dame labored, was opened, and there l\Iass was said
for the girls at 9 A. lll. and for the people in that neighborhood at 10 A.M.
Rev. Father Me Elroy and one assistant Priest, with two
lay brothers, formed the first Community of Ours iri Boston: but as more Masses were needed, and two Fathers
could not attend to the wants of their charge, Superiors sent two other Fathers, and from that time, to the
years 1875 ~nd 1876, four of Ours labored in the Mission of
St. Mary's, ln the years 1875 and 1876, the number was increased to five. These Fathers said regularly on Sundays
and holidays of obligation, eight Masses for the people, and
notwithstanding, many for want of room were unable to be
present at the Holy Sacrifice.
From the year 1868 to 1876, the want of church-room,
entailed on the Fathers, besides the labor of two Masses,
each, the fatigue, on the part of two of their number, of singing the late Masses at half-past ten A. M. and of preaching
thereat. It was a very exhausting duty after the labors of
the three previous days spent in the confessional.
Before the arrival of Ours in Boston, the small number
of Priests, the want of church-room, the. absence of any system to gather together the faithful, except to hear Mass,
precluded the organization of Sodalities. \Vith the introduCtion of the Sisters of Notre Dame, these difficulties
were somewhat lessened or removed. Fr. Me Elroy with
the sanCtion of the Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick, organized the .Married Ladies' Sodality, and entrusted its management to the Sisters of Notre Dame. The Bishop frequently
assisted at the reception of members, and by his presence and
words of fatherly encouragement, gave his approval of
the ereCtion and spread of Sodalities. The Sodality of the
Married J_adies, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, numbers in its ranks three hundred and sixty mothers.
I
�Rcsidmce
of St. lVfary's, Boston, lvfass.
33
The meetings are held weekly in Lancaster St. chapel,
are presided over by a Sister, and frequently receive an
instruCtion from one of the Fathers.
In the year 1857, Rev. Fr. Bernardine \Viget, S. J., called
a meeting of the men of the congregation in the basement
of the church for the purpose of forming a Sodality among
the male members. About twenty-five responded. The
meeting was organized, and the first reception was held in
February 1857· The good example of tlte few, the words
of encouragement from the ordinary and pastors, the regularity in the lives of the Socialists, in a short time attraCted
candidates from every se8:ion of the city. This Sodality
was more properly a Sodality of men, without the distinction of married or unmarried, in its earliest days. It em- ·
braced all classes, from the age of sixteen upwards ; and
soon numbered, between old and young, youths and boys,
nearly eighteen hundred on its roll.
Some years after, Fr. R. W. Brady, S. J., Superior of the
house, saw the necessity of separating the young unmarried ,
men from the old, and of forming them into a distinCt: Sodality, to be known as the Young Men's Sodality of St
Mary's. These two Sodalities require the members to attend meetings weekly, and to receive the Sacraments of
Penance and holy Eucharist monthly. The Mal?'ied Men's
Sodality meets on Sunday at 7 P. M., \vhen the Rosary and
Office of the Blessed Virgin are said and an instruCtion
is given by the DireCtor. This Sodality numbers nearly
five hundred a8:ive members. The sick and poor of the
Sodality are helped pecuniarily by private colleCtions taken
up among the members and by disbursements from the
treasury. On days of communion, it is a most edifying sight
to witness the well-filled ranks, approaching the Holy Table.
Since their separation from the Mam"ed Mm's Sodality, the
Young Men, ranging in age from sixteen years, to twentyfive, have gone on steadily increasing in numbers. Like
the senior Sodality, this body is presided over by one of
VoL. vr-No.
1.
5
�L-
34
Residence
of St. Mary's, Boston, Mass.
the Fathers. Meetings are held weekly, at which the attendance, especially during the winter months, is large. An
instruCtion is always given by the DireCtor. The members
receive the Sacraments, on the .third Sunday of every
month. Officers are generally faithful to their duties, kind
and prudent in seeking delinquent members, and reporting
to the council the cause of absence. The number of
members at the last count was within one or two of four
hundred.
To spread the devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and to
, provide for tlw regular accession of members to the Young
llfeJI's Sodali!J', and from them to the llfarried Men's Sodali!J•, two other Sodalities for the youth of the parish were
organized.
The Catholic Sclzool Sodality is composed of those pupils
of the boys' school, who have made their first communion.
They remain therewith connected, until they have reached
- the age of sixteen, when, by "transfer" they are admitted
amongst the young men. By "transfer" is meant, that a
testimoniai of membership is given, signed by the DireCtor,
the Prefect, and Secretary, which testimonial entitles the
bearer to membership without probation, in the Young .Afen's
Sodality. This system of "transfer," is adoped in behalf of
a member of the Yozmg- Men's Sodality, who enters the
married state. He is forthwith admitted as a regular member among the married men.
The Public School Sodali!J', is another source from which
recruits are obtained for the ranks of the two Sodalities mentioned above. This is composed of boys under sixteen, who
go to the public schools, but attend the parochial Sunday
school. Weekly meetings are held on Sunday afternoon, at
five o'clock. The Rev. Director, after the singing of the
Litany by the members, and the recitation of the Little Office of the B. Virgin, gives them an instruCtion. The fourth
Sunday of the month, is their day of communion. The two
Sodalities of boys, approach holy communion on the same
�Resideuce of St. Mmy's, Boston, Mass.
3'5
Sunday, at the Mass for the children of the parish, to which
no one is admitted but teachers or officers conneCted with
the schools.
In conneCtion with the Catholic school, and under the
charge of one of the teachers, but subjeCt to the control of
the DireCtor of the school, there is a Sodality for those
preparing for their first communion, and known as the Holy
Angels' Sodality. These, on the day of first communion, or
as soon after as many be convenient, are received, without
probation, into the Catltolic Sc!tool Sodality of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, thereby transferring them to the care of the
Queen of Angels.
The Sisters of Notre Dame have, besides the Sodality of
the married ladies, one for young ladies, to whom instruction is given suitable to their state. It is formed in part from
the graauates of the school, not however to the exclusion
of any young lady of the parish of virtuous inclination.
Amongst these Socialists are to be found, that remarkable
portion of the "devout sex," who, though humble in life, are
recognized by the Catholic and Protestant world as models
of purity and attachment to the faith.
A Girl's Sodality is organized amongst the scholars of the
school, and is composed of those more advanced in learning.
It numbers one hundred and thirty members. Under the
charge of the Sisters, and formed of the pupils attending
school, is the Sodality of the Holy Angels, numbering two
hundred and ten- also the Sodality of t/ze Infant :Jesus
for the little ones of our school, with one hundred and twenty~
six members. The Public Sc!tool Sodality for girls is also
under the supervision of the Sisters of Notre Dame, with
one hundred and fifty members.
The Bona Mors Association was formed from the beginning of the parish. Every third Sunday of the month, the
members receive holy communion, attend vespers, after
which the celebrant reads the prayers of the association,
and the large attendance, loud and fervent responses of the
�36
Residmce of St. 11fary's, Boston, llfass.
people, bespeak the earnestness of the members. About
four thousand, are enrolled within this association. Sanc-tuary and Scapular Societies furnish the sanCI:uary with all
things necessary, and promote the devotion of the Scapular
of Mt. Carmel.
The Confcrmce of St. Vi11cmt de Paul is composed of the
most influential and praCI:ical members of our Church.
Under its direCI:ion the distribution of alms to the poor,
has been most judiciously made. Previous to its establishment, many. received assistance who were unworthy of it.
The members, according to rule, meet weekly, and the wants
of the poor 'of the parish are made known to the Conference, which appoints a committee to examine, report and
relieve the worthy and needy. The members also very
kindly give their services in caring for the public school children, by assisting the Rev. DireCI:or in ascertaining the
cause of absence from their Sodalities. This Conference,
to secure funds to relieve the poor, avails itself of leCI:ures.
concerts, lotteries, and donations from Sodalities, etc., etc.
The Temperance Society requires from the members an
assessment of 25 cents per month, to meet the expenses of
the Society, which, besides its spiritual charaCI:er, provides
for the wants' of the sick of the association. It may be
properly called a temporal and beneficial Society. Members, wearing .badges, and under the officers, receive the
Sacraments (by rule) on the 4th Sunday of the month.
The meetings are bi-monthly. Men and women compose
this organization. At the public meeting, usually, an address . is made by one of the Fathers. The number of
members at the present date, December, 1876, is two hundred.
The Sc!tool Association is in a temporal sense, what the
Sodalities are in a spiritual sense. It has been, and is to-day
the bank from which has been drawn the revenue to support the,school of our parish. Every member is assessed
the sum of 25 cents monthly, or three dollars per year.
�I
I
t
t
I
L'
'
'
'·
'
Residence if St. Mary's, Boston, Mass.
37
This assessment is gathered by gentlemen of the congregation, who undertake this work gratuitously, and who, in
the discharge of this duty, go from house to house, from
cellar to garret. It is, on their pait, a work not unfrequently
attended with great inconvenience, as it is done principally
after work hours and on Sundays. The parish is distriCl:ed, ·,
and the people are notified from the altar, of the appointment of a colleCl:or. The amount received from this source,
per month, during favorable times, has ranged between five
hundred and six hundred dollars. As some compensation,
if we may so speak, the Holy Sacrifice is offered twice in
the week for these our good benefaCtors. Before the opening of schools in other parishes the colleCl:ors were permitted to receive members and their dues from these parishes,
but this source is now closed, and our dependence is mainly
on our own parish.
In conneCtion with this association, we ought not to omit
the name of one, whom we regard as worthy of all praise. A
poor man, with a large family, engaged in the dirt and heat
of the gas house of the city, obliged by contraCt: to ten
hours of labor, gave since the year 1859, from the noblest
and most disinterested motives, his time, every evening, after
work hours, to this association. On Sundays after Mass and
holy communion-he is a weekly communicant-he has
tramped the whole day, going from house to house, from
suburb to suburb, in search of members and their dues. No·
weather, winter or summer, cold or hot, rain or sunshine was
able to prevent him in his zeal in behalf ofthe Catholic school.
Unable to read or write, he was obliged to have a companion to inscribe the names of members and the amount received. God blessed his zeal. During the last seventeen
years, his books of account show the incredible sum of
more than sixty thousand dollars collected by him alone,
after the fatigue of the day. The name of William Whall
deserves the respeCt: and gratitude of every member of our
Province. Now in his seventieth year, he is still aCl:ive,
�i
L
38
Residence of St. llfary's, Boston, Mass.
,!-
still asking the good God to spare him a few years more,
that his eyes may behold another better and larger building
for school purposes, than the one destroyed to make room
for the new Church.
The Fathers hear confessions on Thursday evening from
7 till IO P. M., with an interruption for supper. Thursdays
are set apart for those who approach weekly, and the other
days for all who come. The Fathers estimate the number
of confessions heard by each of them as ranging between
twelve and fifteen thousand yearly. The brother sacristan,
who counts the particles, reports the number yearly distributed as ~ranging between sixty and seventy thousand.
Though from this a correCt: estimate of the number of confessions cannot be formed, for many who confess at our
church go to communion elsewhere.
Since the year 1868 three missions conduB:ed by Ours, of
New York, Missouri or Maryland were given. Each was
successful, in proportion to the facilities offered the faithful
for receiving the Sacraments. We have no data, to guide
us in giving the number of converts. The Baptismal record
of 1875 and 1876 mentions forty-five for these years. Our
·surroundings are almost entirely Catholic, few Protestants
living in the parish.
On the first Friday of the month, aftt;:r Mass, the prayers
in honor of the SACRED HEART are said, and the Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament is given. This Mass
(at 7 P.M.) is always numerously attended, and the-kneeling.
crowd resembles a Sunday congregation. During the Mass
the girls of the parish school sing appropriate hymns. The
number of communicants is between four and five hundred.
The devotion of our people to the Sacred Heart, was strikingly manifested on the occasion of the consecration of
the parish, December 7th, 1873. The confessionals were
thronged, communions numerous, and many date from that
day the .end of a career of sin. It was announced at the
Masses, that the aB: of consecrating the parish and people
.,
·-l
,l
�Residence of St. Mary's, Boston, Mass.
39
to the Sacred Heart, would take place after evening services.
When the Father came to robe for solemn Benediaion,
with Deacon and Subdeacon, they found every part of the
church and galleries crowded by the people. Many, unable
to gain admission to the church, remained kneeling in the
vestibule, exposed to the cold of a northern winter. Our
aged sacristan, who has been and yet remains conneaed
with the church from the year 1847, had prepared the altars, and lighted every gas jet and candle. At the foot of
the altar, surrounded by the members of the Society, knelt
the Father superior, who, in a loud voice, in the name of
the people, repeated sentence by sentence, the aa of consecration, and was responded to by the assistants, and the
kneeling masses of devout worshippers. One felt that this
aa of consecration, was, at one and the same 'time, a declaration of faith and a manifestation of love towards the
Sacred Heart of Jesus. From that day the devotion is
more known and appreciated by the people. Many private
Novenas are made by the affliaed for temporal or spiritual
succor. Mothers make them for their husbands, negleaful
of their Easter duties or addiaed to some vice, and the
wayward one is silently yet irresistibly brought back to
grace. Temporal favors are granted, such as work or situations, ere the novena is concluded.
Many remarkable instances of the intercession of Our Lady
of Lourdes have occurred within the parish. Cures have
been effeaed, which, in the course of nature, seemed impossible-acute pain has instantly left the sufferer, on the application of the Water of Lourdes. Every day, and sometimes five times a day, are requests made for the water, as a
.relief in danger. But particularly in child-bearing has the
miraculous interposition of our Mother been felt. 1'he
medical praaice of the day, besides the lamentable example
of sterility or feticide amongst those who differ from us in
faith, is a temptation and danger to a Catholic mother in
labor. Our Fathers have had occasion to exaa a promise,
�. 40
Residmce
of St. Jlfary's, Boston, llfass.
not to allow the offspring to be put in danger of temporal
and spiritual death, to save hersel£ On one occassion, a
mother was declared by the physician, as not able to give
birth to the fruit of her womb. The mother was growing
weaker and weaker. She sent for a Father, made known
her condition, the opinion of the physicians-for the family
physician had called a consultation, and it had been decided
that the mother could not bring forth the child, nor could
they save her without causing its death. The Father having heard the confession of the sufferer and given her
holy comm~nion, bade her have hope, and on his return
home, sent her a small phial of the water of Lourdes, with
the request to place her confidence in the Mother of God,
and on no account permit the physicians to attempt feticide.
Her prayer was heard-mother and child are strong and
healthy.
Our brother sacristan is obliged to keep on hand a large
supply of St.· IguatzitS' Holy ~Vater, to satisfy the devotion
of the people, who use it for any and all the ailments life
is subject to. In diseases of the eyes and throat, the faith
of the patient is frequently rewarded.
Our people belong to what is called the poor class, a
laboring people, living from day to day by the work of their
hands, and rarely are able to lay by a· little for the day of
sickness, or loss of work. They are mostly from Ireland,
or of Irish descent of the first and second generation.
Their faith is strong-their nature generous. \Vhen an appeal is made by the priest of God, their last farthing is given
in the spirit of faith. Few among them own the house in
which they live, and hence, when unable from loss of health
or work, to pay the rent, collected weekly. they are obliged
to remove, and seek accommodations elsewhere. They have
their faults as a people, but their faith in God, and openhancfed generosity, will overbalance the failings of an impulsive-nature. We have had many exhibitions of their
faith and generosity, but none so strikingly great as when
�Residmcc of St. llfary's, Boston, 'Mass.
41
we contemplated the building of a new church and residence.
To appreciate their generosity, it must be remembered,
that when the old church, built in 1835, was open for service,
the Bishop of Boston, Rt. Rev. B. J. Fenwick, S. J., in order
to raise funds, was obliged to sell the pews in fee simple,
giving thereby this property into the hands of the purchaser,
to be at his disposal, for his own benefit, subjeB: however to
a tax of six per cent. for the benefit of the pastor. When
therefore it was announced that another church was to be
built, a difficulty presented itself, involving a probable outlay
of twenty thousand dollars, to secure the pews, without
losing the good will of the people. Many of the pew-holders
depended on the rent for their daily bread-the pews had
descended to them by will or purchase in better timessome might be supposed ready to question the right in law
to remove the pews ; others, living at a distance, and not at
all interested in a new church, might demand the full cost
of the pew. Besides, to add to the difficulty, the pew-holders
had before them the example of the late Bishop, J. B. Fitzpatrick, who, in the sale of the Cathedral property, on
Franklin St., indemnified the pew-holders. But our people as
a body, gave up cheerfully all right to the pews-those who
depended on them for their bread, were met in a generous
spirit by the pastor, and his terms willingly accepted. No
grumbling, lawsuits, or unkind reproaches were heard of
againstany one of the Society.
We record another instance of their faith and generosity.
When it was announced that a new church was to be built,
and that on them we leaned for support in this great undertaking, an appeal was made to them from the altar to come
forward and say what they were willing to contribute:
.by this appeal, and but once made, they subscribed more
than ten thousand dollars, to be paid in instalments halfyearly, or yearly. Their faith seemed to grow livelier and
more aB:ive, when they saw the preparations made for the
VoL. VI-No. 1.
6
�[c'
'.
~.
t:
42
Residence
of
St. .fifar:)"s, Boston, .fifass.
building. During the digging out of the foundation, every
one seemed to watch the progress of the work and take the
. deepest interest in it.
As a means of raising money to purchase land, etc., a
grand fair was announced. After three months of preparation, the fair was opened during Easter week of the year
1874. It was held during six weeks, and at its close, the
people placed in the hands of the pastor, as the net result
of their labor, the unprecedented sum of forty one tlzousand
dollars. So large a sum of money was never before given,
by any parish or congregation in the United States.
Again, Ja'nuary the 1st, 1876, our good people were told
that a fair would be held in the new basement, to continue
during the month of February. With one month's preparation, and four weeks of fair, our people exceeded, if we consider the times and the short preparation, their first munificent offering ; for they presented as the net result of their
fair, the sum of tlu'rty tltousand dollars.
We may sum up the amount contributed in the space of
le5s than two years as over eigltty tlwusaud dollars in ·cash,
and in the equivalent, by the surrender of the deeds of the
pews, as more than ten tltousand dollars. It is but just to
say, that we found many generous friends among the other
parishes: they felt the warmth of friendship for St. Mary's,
either because they once belonged to the parish, or because
they had chosen Ours for confessors.
To these figures, add the yearly sum, through the school
association, of more than five thousand dollars-the collections at Pentecost for the education of Ecclesiastics for the
diocese averaging two hundred and fifty dollars-Christmas
and Easter offerings, complimentary to the pastor, each nine
hundred dollars-colleCtions for the Home of Destitute Catlzolic Cltildren, yearly two hundred and fifty dollars-the Orplzan asylum fund of one hundred and fifty dollars yearlythe offt;ring to the holy Father, averaging four hundred dollars-the new Cathedral colleCtion, about four hundred anI'
�Residence of St. Mary's, Boston, Mass.
43
nually-the \Voodstock colleaion, averaging three hundred
dollars-colleaions for the poor, under the auspices of St.
Mary's conference-appeals from the Sisters of t!te good
Sltep!terd, the Infant asylum, the Carney Hospital, the General
Hospital colleaion. To those add the almost monthly authorization of some private begging. Yet despite this strain
on their resources, and its frequency, our people have never
- failed to give more liberally than any other congregation in
the city.
Again, in the year 186g, the want of accommodations
obliged Superiors to buy a residence, at a distance of two
streets from the church, the cost of which was ten thousand
dollars. Our people, in the joy of their hearts at seeing
the Fathers better accommodated, gave the sum of $8,8go,
at the fair, to cancel the debt.
It is time to give some details about the New Church and
Residence. During May, 1873, the negotiations for the
purchase of land adjoining the school property were concluded. The land together with the houses there, nine in
number, seven of brick and two of wood, was bought' at a
cost of $6o,ooo dollars-securing thereby a lot, including
the site of the school and old church, of 285 feet in length,
by 85 feet deep. The plans for the improvements were
drawn by the master architea of church buildings in the
United States, Mr. l'. C. Keely. The church is of the Roman
style. The external dimensions are 198 feet, 4 inches by 83
feet, 6 inches.
The towers are 26 feet square, and 16o feet high from
the sidewalk to the top of the cross. The basement is 13
feet, IO inches between the floor and ceiling, excellently
lighted by nine large windows, 8 by 7 Yz feet, on each side.
There are 6 confessionals; 212 pews furnished in ash, each
easily seating seven persons; two altars and a large sanctuary and vestry. The whole building is to be heated by
steam. The contraa for heating was made for the small
sum of $5,200 dollars.
�44
Reszilmce of St. Mary's, Boston, Jvlass.
The nave ceiling of the church is 68 feet in height; the
side-aisle ceiling, 35 feet. The church is entered from
Thacher Street, by an arcade of three large doorways, between the two towers.
The church floor, will have 276 pews, finished in cherry
and ash, of the same dimensions as those in the basement,
accommodating 1932 persons. The chancel is apsidallarge and spacious for all our requirements. The niches for
the two side altars, are sufficiently deep to give good effect to
the altars. ·The vestries are two in number and large.
The chantry. or rooms over the vestries, will go around the
entire apsis, and will open by an arcade of pillars and
arches into the sanctuary. The openings in this arcade
will be closed by a lattice screen, so that the singers-a
choir of sanctuary boys-will not be seen by the congregation in the church. The body of the church is divided
into nave and aisles, with two rows of light beautiful columns with handsome capitals. The ceiling is vaulted and
enriched with pictures, representing the Assumption, Annunciation, and Immaculate Conception. The church windows are high from the floor to guard against the street
noise. The organ gallery over the vestibule. is 34 feet deep
and 40 feet wide. The basement walls are of trimmed granite, and the body of the church of face brick, with granite
. trimmings and mouldings.
The High altar, when finished, will be a grand feature of
the church. The style is Roman. The extreme height
from the floor to the top is 36 feet; the width 20 feet. It
stands out from the wall five feet-the depth of altar is 6
feet 7 in. The ascent to the platform is by five steps, with a
rise of 7 inches and a tread of 14 inches. The materials of
which the altar is made, are white, black, and Bardilio marble, so arranged as to give light and shade; and no other
material will be used in its construction, from base to top.
Marble or metal statues, fifteen in all, will be placed in this
order: two archangels in the side niches of the anti pen-
'\
�Residence of St. Mary's, Boston, Mass.
45
dium; an Easter Lamb in the central niche; the crucifixion
in the Exposition niche; four Seraphim in niches on either
side of the Tabernacle; two large statues, one of St. Ignatius,
and the other of St. Francis Xavier in the end niches and
reredos; in the centre over the Exposition niche, a life-size .
statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or Mary; over the
niches of SS. Ignatius and Fr. Xavier, two adoring angels.
The altar will be surmounted by a broken pediment, on
which will be two reclining angels. There will be twelve
columns-eight in the antipendium and four in the reredos
-the whole altar to be surmounted by a magnificent halo.
The sanCtuary will be 75 feet wide; the depth from communion rail to altar steps, I 2 feet.
The foundation of the new church was begun in the summer of 1874. The first Mass said in the basement, was the
first communion Mass of the children of the parish, June,
I 3th, I 876, and the basement was opened for the people, Sunday, July 30th, 1876.
The Pastoral Residence is built on the site of the foundation of the old church. Its dimensions are 6o feet on Endicott St. by 85 feet on Cooper. It is four stories high,
and contains eighteen· rooms for the Community, independent of the basement, with kitchen, store rooms, etc. The
style is in keeping with the church-the basement of granite,
and the windows arched. A small area of I 3 feet separates the church from the house, with a covered way for the
use of the Fathers. The work on the residence was begun
Monday, Sept. 25th, 1876, and the house completed will be
given into our possession in March, 1877.
A few words on our Sc!tools for Boys and Girls. March
14th, r858, a boy in the "Eliot school," a public school, situated on Bennett St., North End, was severely and cruelly
flogged for thirty minutes by a master, for refusing to recite
the commandments as worded in a Protestant Bible, or Bible
history. Several other boys were flogged for the same offence, and in consequence of this interference with the rights
�Residence of St. llfiuJ''s, Boston, llfass.
of conscience, nearly four hundred boys left the school. To
provide for their education and to protea them against the
law of truancy, Rev. Bernardine Wiget, S. J., then the Direaor of the men's Sodality, appealed to them, by their faith,
to assume the cost and responsibility of the education of
these youthful confessors of the faith. Subscription lists
were opened, and funds in abundance were placed at his disposal-a building was let-teachers and books were provided. Such is the origin of the Catholic school for boys,
under the guidance of our Fathers. From that day to this
the school has .existed. During the period of many years,
the attendance has numbered over four hundred pupils. A
Father gives his immediate attention to the studies and discipline. The teachers are eight in number, at present.
Besides the duty of the class room, the teachers are required
to be present on Sundays and holydays with their scholars.
A plain English education is given. Students distinguishing
themselves in the master's room, may win a scholarship in
Boston College, entitling the recipient to a full classical
course,' free of any expense, except for books. These scholarships were granted to compensate in part the people of St.
Mary's parish for moneys taken therefrom to build the College. The first idea in the mind of the Rev. John McElroy,
and which was approved by the Ordinary, was to erea the
College and church on the "Jail Lands." This property was
bought for that purpose, and at that time was situated within
the limits of St. Mary's parish. A municipal law of the
city empowers the inhabitants of wards to objea and deny
their sanaion to certain kinds of buildings. Their approval
was refused for college or church purposes, and, in consequence, the land was sold back to the city from which it had
been bought. No other suitable property being for sale, the
South End of the city was chosen for a church and college.
The change of position and the desire to reconcile and compensate our parish for moneys taken from it, led to the grant
of scholarships. The boys of the school are well behaved,
�Rcsideucc of St. Mary's, Boston, Mass.
47
attentive to study and school, and praaical in religious
duties. Their faith is not endangered by the surroundings·
of Protestantism, but quickened by every event, and by the
example and influence of teachers and companions.
During the prevalence of the small pox, in the year 1872,
our school was specially proteaed from the loss of a single
child, in the months of September, oaober, and November.
Some few contraaed the disease, but in every instance regained their health. This special proteaion we attribute
to the confidence of the children in the Mother of God.
Every child received a miraculous medal to wear in her
honor, and was told to say daily some prayer to her. Moreover, the Direaor of the school, remembering the example
of our Fathers at St. Louis, in a somewhat similar danger, had placed a medal over the doors opening into the
school, and over the doors of each class room. Death was
around us, and the parish seemed a fair field for the ravages
of the disease. The Fathers were busy from morning till
night, giving the rites of the church to the infeaed, their
visits reaching as high as twenty a day, during the worst
season. The master of the school, was seized by the disease, unknown to himself, and passed through . the worst
form of the attack in the discharge of his duties, before
any one discovered his condition. As soon as it was known,
the city authorities obliged him to go to the common hospital until recovery. Notwithstanding this entrance of the
disease within the very walls of the class room, thanks to
the Mother of God, not a clti/d lost /zis life. The master
after a few weeks returned to his duty.
From so Catholic a parish, we might reasonably complain
of the comparatively small number of children attending the
two schools. There are between eight and nine hundred
in both ; but these do not represent more then one half of
the male and female children under our charge. The
enemy has sown cockle amongst us, by the ereaion of eight
public schools, in our parish, and immediately adjoining us.
Books without cost-large and attraaive buildings-the
�48
Residence of St. llfary's, Boston, Mass.
officers for truants most aetive to Jearn the cause and prevent the frequency of absence-the prospeCt or hope of parents that their daughters may obtain, after graduation, the
position of teachers, may be assigned as some of the causes
of the small number attending the Catholic school. So far,
our parish is the only one in the city of Boston, and probably in the State of Massachussets, that maintains a parochial
school for boys.
The school for girls is under the charge of the Sisters of
Notre Dame, a body of religious women first introduced
into the Eastern States by Fr. John Me Elroy. They began to te~'ch in an humble building on Stiiiman Street.
The present school building, situated on Lancaster St., was
bought for a school for boys, to be taught by the Christian
Brothers; but, as they had not the men to send, the building
was given to the Sisters to be used as a school for girls.
These Sisters, by superior taft in controlling their pupils, by
the maintenance of a kind but firm discipline, by the influence
of example and the spirit of perfeCt docility, in every measure~ conneCted with school, to the wishes of the Ordinary
and pastors, have won for their body the good will, respeCt,
and veneration of pastors and people. Their schools are
numerously attended, and their scholars, in after life, show
the training received, by their fidelity to the praCtices of
holy faith. The number of scholars, at the present time, is
.
five hundred and twelve.
These Sisters have under their charge the Sodalities of
Married Ladies
360 members
Young Ladies
476
"
Pupils of the School I 30
Holy Angels
210
Infant Jesus
I26
"
Public school
I 50
"
Add Sunday School children
340
Total
1792
Number of Sisters employed, 9·
i
L
�Residence of St. Mary's, Boston, Mass.
49
The Fathers have under their charge the Sodalities of
Married Men
Young Men
C. School Sodality
Sunday School Sodality
Holy Angels
Boys in Sunday School
Temperance Society
St. Vincent's Conference
Boys of Catholic school
Total
500 members
400
"
100
"
175
"
8o
"
"
377
200
"
"
37
500
"
--
2369.
FATHER JoHN PRENDERGAST,
S.
J.
The hand of death has spared our Community, with but
two exceptions, during the period of eight years. Fr. Prendergast, after the completion of his studies, was sent by su-·
periors to St. Mary's. From the beginning, great things
were prediB:ed of him. His energy in teaching-indomitable perseverance in the interest of his pupils, the many
efforts made, from year to year, to lead the van of classes
in college, gave evidence of zeal for the glory of God
within his heart. After his studies, the field of zeal was
changed, but not the spirit that won all hearts, especially
amongst an apparently abandoned class of the ragged poor
boys, who made their living by selling papers, cleaning
boots or running errands. The class assembled on Sundays
for Mass and instruCtion in the basement of the old church.
Fr. John was entrusted with their care. It was in the exercise of his duty as lnstruB:or that the seeds of death were
sown in a body naturally robust. He preached with the
same energy and zeal with which he had taught, and so
absorbed at times was he, that clad in the vestments for
Mass, he passed from the altar down the aisles without being
VoL. VI-No. 1.
7
�50
Residmce of St. Mary's, Boston, Mass.
aware of his position, His confessional was crowded by
his boys on the evenings preceding the monthly communion. Late at night, he awaited the coming of some little
fellow whose work did not allow him to be present before
10 P. M.
Early the next morning, Fr. Prendergast was expecting others who could not go to confession at any other
time, and from 7 till 9 o'clock, the time for Mass, he was in
the midst of his little parishioners, reproving this one, encouraging that one, and mercifully absolving all of them.
He loved them, and they loved him. Superiors recognizing his tact in the management of boys, gave him the position of Director of the Young Men's Sodality. Fr. John
saw but few attending the weekly meetings, and still fewer
approaching the Sacraments. He braced hinself for the
work, to bring back absentees, to persuade others to join, to
induce all to a monthly reception of holy communion.
His zeal was blessed. The Mother of sinners heard his
prayer, saw his zeal and gave a force to his pleadings to join
the Sodality, which even the most indifferent could not
resist. He sought them everywhere, in season and out of
season. If he met a number standing on the street corners,
Fr. John had a kind word for all, and he left them not
without having asked the oft-repeated question, "do you belong to the Sodality?" The Sodality, soon counted in its
ranks hundreds, ranging in age, from sixteen to twenty-five
years, all monthly communicants. Death called him to his
reward when. young in years, but full of good works.
Fr. Prendergast was born in Ireland, April 1st, 1830-entered the Society, August 13th, 185 I, died May I Ith, 186g,
at Boston College, whither he was taken in the first days
of his sickness. A rupture of the bowels was the cause
which, by undermining his system, eventually led to his
death. Afterwards an abscess formed in his throat, which
ended in dropsy.
'
.l
l
i·
'
I
l'
r
I
i
�Residence of St. Mary's, Boston, Mass.
FATHER JAMES
A.
McGUIGAN,
S.
51
J.
Father James A. McGuigan, S. J. was born in Philadelphia, December 10th, 1818. .He entered the Society, August 30th, 1847, was ordained priest August 18th, 1856, in
the church of St. Ignatius, Baltimore, Md., and died in Boston, at the Residence of St. Mary's, Salem St., December
18th, 1876. In his youth, he was remarkable for devotion
to the Blessed Mother of God, and was among the first to
be enrolled in the Young Men's Sodality, attached to St.
Joseph's church, in his native city. Besides taking an aCtive
part in everything relating to the Sodality, he was one of
the most regular at meetings and at the monthly communions. He thus merited the approbation of his companions,
who eleeted him to the office of PrefeCt: of the Sodality.
In his twenty-fifth year. feeling himself called to a closer
union with God, he left all, abandoning the world, and went
to Holy Cross College, to study, and, if deemed worthy, to
enter the Society. The same habits of regularity which
distinguished him in the counting house, accompanied him
in the duties of student and teacher; for in this latter capacity •
he was engaged during the three years of his residence at
Holy Cross, from 1843 to Aug., 1847, when with the approval of Superiors, he went to Frederick, Md., to begin his
noviceship. Every duty of the fervent novice was faithfully performed by him.
After the two years of probation, he was sent to Georgetown College, in the capacity of prefeCt: and teacher of the
class of rudiments. Besides the five hours in the class room,
he shared equally with others the duties of prefeCt:, in keeping studies, yard, and dormitory. Multiplied as were these
duties, and made the occasion of exemption by others not
so exaCt:, our good Scholastic, scrupled the omission of the
least part of a quarter of an hour given to spiritual reading.
During the ten years of the combined duties of prefeCt: and
teacher, from our personal knowledge of his habits, we
�52
Residmce of St. Mary's, Boston, Jt£ass.
never knew him to omit, or curtail the common duties of a
most fervent religious. Meditation, examens, spiritual reading, weekly communions, each had for him its due interest;
not that of routine, but of duty before God. During the
days and months of a lax discipline in college, when authority was despised, and on more than one occasion, openly
defied by the majority of the students, no change was observable in the habits of regularity in our brother. Faithful to every duty assigned, he sought not himself but God
in the midst of disorder and rebellion. The obedient scholar and disorderly pupil, each received from Fr. McGuigan
a conscientious attention; the former, paternal kindness, the
, latter, inflexible justice tempered with mercy, hidden from
all but the recipient.
After his ordination the duties of prefect, teacher and
priest, were as faithfully performed, as when less was required
of him. During his twenty years of priesthood, he was
never known to omit the offering of the Holy Sacrifice
daily, if we except the last nine months of his life, when
sickness prevented him. He was heard to say, that the
Holy Sacrifice daily offered, was the best preparation for
• death. When sent to the Residence of St. Mary's, he never
once availed himself of the privilege of five hours confes·
sional duty, to excuse or exempt himself from Matins and.
Lauds. Almost to the day of his death, he said the divine
Office, as regularly as when in health.
By nature possessing a strong will, he heroically conquered it, whenever obedience demanded, through the voice
of Superiors. His love of poverty was as remarkable as the
regularity of his life. Amongst his effects, after death,
there was found nothing superfluous-but rather a scarcity
of necessary clothing. Heart disease, of which he died,
showed him a patient and resigned religious, under a most
painful strangling or suffocation. No murmur escaped him.
God's holy will was his prayer and comfort. May he rest in
peace.
�THE JESUITS IN CINCINNATI.
( Co?Zcluded.)
·,
At the time when the war was raging fiercely in Kentucky
and Tennessee, when every steamboat and screeching locomotive dragged to the city its freight of wounded humanity
and living woe, new hospitals were opened for the wounded
and dying from the battlefields of the South-west, and our
Fathers were busy night and day.administering the Sacraments to Catholics, and laboring at the conversion of nonCatholics, many of whose hearts had been opened by the
self-sacrificing devotion of the Sisters of Charity. "To the
angel of the army of the Cumberland," a toast was publicly
offered and a eulogy pronounced, in the principal hotel of
this city, at a reunion of the officers of the army of the
Cumberland. This is a trifle but it shows what the veterans
thought of the soldiers' friend, the Catholic Sisters of
Charity.
Here as elswhere, at the urgent solicitation· of the Most
Rev. Archbishop, our Fathers, besides renewing the spirit
of many Orders of religious women frequently every year
by the Spiritual Exercises of our holy founder, give regular
exhortations to these sanctified servants of Mary. From
time to time, as if by stealth, they go forth to give missions
in the adjacent country, and during vacation they follow the
laudable custom of finding rest from their ordinary labors
by applying themselves to the work of giving retreats.
Such facts are well known, they help to fill the gaps- of
time usefully; but they are so universally in practice as to
need no special comment among us. A friendly spirit has
always existed between the clergy of the city and ourselves,
as is evidenced by the fact that they procure students for
53
�54
, T/ze :Jesuits in · Cincin1lati.
the College in preference to other institutions, and frequently
invite Ours to preach and perform public functions of various kinds.
If prudence did not admonish us to respect the modesty
of the living and be silent in their praise, a word should be
said of the labors of that missionary, whose name is known
throughout the length and breadth of the land, for his eminent success in evangelizing the German and French speaking portion of the population-Fr. Weninger. He makes
Cincinnati his headquarters, whence he goes abroad to hear
his thirty thousand confessions every year, and do those
other great works of zeal, the story of which is echoed in
the books and treatises he has published.
There is still another way of producing fruit in souls in
which the Jesuits of Cincinnati have not been idle or failed to
contribute their mite to the common good; that is the publishing of good books. Because they were mostly of a religious character and of general rather than collegiate
interest, they were known by their connection with their
several- authors rather than with the College. Still, the
offices and practices of devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, the billets of the confraternity, minor treatises on kindred devotions and similar works were very early, if not
first, published here. Again and again reprinted, they have
scattered hence over the Union. The Spiritual Exercises of
St. Ignatius, with explanations in Latin, for the use of religious and priests took their rise here; likewise the Epitome
Pastora!zS, in which little work all that pertains to the sacred
ministry and sacerdotal life is given briefly but clearly, and
adapted to the peculiar circumstances of this country. Afterwards, the "Manual of Christian Doctrine" was issued in
its English dress, from the original German. It is, as it
were, a compendium of Dogmatic and Moral Theology,
where both Protestants and Catholics can learn for themselves the true religion. This work, praised by so many,
though somewhat inelegant as far as English diction is con-
�Tlze :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
55
cerned, passed through several editions within the first year
after its original appearance. Then followed a book dedicated to the people of America, wherein the author shows
that Protestantism is not only a form of belief begetting
internal anguish and despair and leading direCt: to infidelity;
but that the Catholic religion is the only true one, that it is
full of consolation, that it should be embraced by every rightminded man who casts off the prejudices of the seB:s and
removes the principles of infidelity, both of which the author refutes. To show how thoroughly up to the times this
book was found, it need only be stated that within a few
months no less than four editions were exhausted.
There was likewise published that truly golden book
"The Imitation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus." It remains
a monument of Fr. Arnoudt's piety more lasting than storied urn, and praise chiselled in the mute marble.
Fr.
Fastre in the translation did full justice to the latinity of
the saintly author. On his own account the same Father
has written several volumes of a devotional charaB:er, on the
lives of the early martyrs, which appeared first in serial
form in the pages of the "Messenger of the Sacred Heart."
Whilst the publishing of these books, manuals of devotion
and occasional smaller works was going on, another Father
was instituting a Sodality or community of prayers for the
conversion of America- Our Holy Father Pius IX has
enriched the confraternity with many indulgences, and even
during the life-time of its founder it had taken root in other
dioceses.
During the years r862-63 this house ·seems to have suffered somewhat from the want of a full pastoral staff. In
faa, the frequent sickness of several of our members produced a pressure of work on nearly all-but the religious
spirit set everything to rights; for, as the history of the
house puts it, "quisque suo (sc. officio) strenuam operam navarunt." The College opened under favorable auspices, and
nine of the students received their degree at the end of the
�,<
Tile :Jesuits in Cindnuati.
year. It is the custom here for the graduates to make a
retreat of some days shortly after the commencement, in
order to determine their vocation and begin life with due
consideration. The results have always been very beneficial and saved many a bitter sorrow in after life to those
who might otherwise have made a false step.
Another event was the purchase of the ground on which
our new building now stands. Though all felt the need,
few perhaps cherished the hope, of seeing the edifice so
soon rise in stately proportions to gratify their eager longings. Bet\veen forty and fifty thousand confessions and
communions ·~ewarded the labors of the years 1862-63.
It is well known that in those troublesome times not only
native born and adopted citizens, but also all such as had
declared their intentions of becoming citizens were subjeCt
to compulsory service in the army. When the draft took
place in this city, four of Ours were unfortunate enough to
draw prizes in the lottery. Two of them were priests and
two scholastics. Thanks to physical infirmity, both the
priests and one of the scholastics were legitimately dispensed, but the remaining one of the four was compelled to buy
a substitute for $300. The parishioners, on hearing the
news, generously came forward and contributed enough
to buy off all; but, thanks be to God, their assistance was but
slightly needed.
The number of scholars increased this year, principally
on account of the extension of the Commercial course.
This department has never received the encouragement
given to the classical course, on which most of our care
has always been lavished. In faa the quality of the students who take this course would hardly justify extended
efforts; for they remain under our influence only a short
time, as a general thing, and the difference between them
and the boys engaged in the classics, both in abilities, spirited effort and good will has always seemed an anomaly.
Meanwhile the fervor of piety continued, encouraged as
�Tlte :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
57
it was by the industries of the chaplain as well as the assistance of the professors. I forbear mentioning the name of
that Father, to whom the College owes a debt of gratitude,
and to whom the Society is indebted for more than one
vocation which, but for his fostering care, might have been
lost. He took an interest in the boys, and they felt it. He
had the judgment to see that the whole body could not he·
direaed like some vast machine ; on which account he
treated with them individually, advising, encouraging or
scolding them apart, as necessity required. A thousand
little industries, constantly varied, made the fickleness and
caprice of boyhood an element for good in the formation
of a solid, pious, christian charaaer, which stole upon them
almost without their knowledge, and certainly without the
least degree of irksomeness. Praaical exhortations suggest-.
ing ever new devices for honoring God easily and secretly;
special novenas and devotions from time to time; now some
orchestral music by the boys; again an unexpeaed or unusual adornment of the chapel ; little billets suggesting exercises of devotion or spiritual reading. These and similar
ways in which the activity of the boys was brought into
play, made the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary prosperous and influential.
Though an indication of zeal on the part of the secular
clergy, it is a matter of regret for us that circumstances
have changed this condition of things within a very few
years. Now almost every parish has a boy's Sodality conneaed with it. Believing that charity begins at home, the
pastors try to keep our s.tudents in their own parish Sodality, in order to give stability to the young organization.
Nor can we insist on retaining. our own pupils so easily as
might be supposed ; since the good will of the secular
clergy, their influence and patronage has a great deal to do
with the success of our College. Thus what is more or less
a necessity of the present time, will grow into a precedent
or custom, which it may afterwards be difficult to change.
VoL. vr-No.
1.
8
�Tlze :Jesuits m Cincinnati.
The same difficulty of steering safe between the Scylla of
excessive concession and the Charybdis of unwise opposition, we likewise experience in regard to confession and holy
communion ; because some of the boys are under the patronage of the clergy who like to keep their control, and
their parents are anxious that they should go to confession
and communion at their own church, and with them.
It is no unusual thing to see the chapel quite crowded
during recess with those who go to visit the Blessed Sacrament. They are advised to do so, it is true ; but they are
left entirely free to visit or not. Though many of them
may perform the act with all the levity of childhood, still
a good spirit is thereby fostered, and human respect which
might prevent many really well intentioned from visiting the
Blessed Sacrament, if they were observably the only ones
-to do it, is now not at all harmful. The greater number of
the boys in arriving here in the morning, go first to the
chapel to call down the grace of God on their work of the
day, and many before returning home after class likewise
drop into the sacred place to say some prayers. \Vhen we
consider that all this is freely done, that in nine cases out
of ten, they know that no professor can possibly observe
them, that God is their only witness, there is certainly matter for much rejoicing.
In 1863-64 the grand altar of our church was finished.
It is large and suits the architecture of the church. There
are sixteen statues, in niches throughout the various portions of the altar. A centre piece, of much beauty and
artistic merit, placed in a recess., represents St. Francis
Xavier (the patron of the church) preaching to the Japanese. The statues of the Japanese, one of whom is a Bonze,
as well as that of the Saint are extremely natural and fully
life size. These statues were made and painted in a Bavarian monastery. The whole structure cost about $5000
or $6oob. The altar together with the rest of the church
is rather dark-colored, because it would be impossible, if
�Tlte :Jesuits m Cincinnati.
59
painted light, to keep it clean or neat-looking in such a
smoky city as Cincinnati.
Some years ago it was customary to perform some drama
at the annual Commencements. For reasons easily understood and appreciated, this praCtice has been discontinued.
The ordinary exhibitions now are exclusively literary. If
at times it seems proper to get up either an original or
classical drama, it is either rehearsed in private or aCted in
public for some charitable objeCt. Thus of late years considerable sums have been raised for needed charities, and laudable emulation produced among the students. In the early
. days of the College, i. e. about 1846-47, the annual Commencements embraced several successive nights, one of
which, for instance, would be devoted to the exercises of the
juniors, another to those of the senior students; or one was
set apart for striCtly literary, but elementary exercises, an-.
other for dramatic or linguistic performances, a third for
nothing but discourses, graduates valediCtory, masters orations, and the President's Address. This custom, though
to the taste of the present day rather crude, seems to have
succeeded quite well.
On the feast of St. Ignatius, in the year 1864, a temporal
coadjutor, Brother Francis Vander Borgt, a Belgian, died
holily in this house. He was in many respeCts a remarkable man. My earliest recolleCtions of him are coupled
with the idea of never having seen him wear a hat: winter
or summer, it was all the same: he went hatless. It is said
of him, truly or not, I cannot say, that he was so unaccustomed to any head covering that he once got into an
omnibus on his way to St. Louis, without noticing at all
the absence of his chapeau. Though somewhat eccentric,
"Brother Frank" easily acquired an ascendency over people.
He was sacristan for many years, in which office he had
ample opportunities of attraCting veneration by his sanCtity
of life and inspiring the wayward and undisciplined with a
holy fear of his rebukes. It may well be doubted whether
�6o
Tlze :Jesuits in Cincimzati.
his influence was not greater than that of many priests.
He labored, "according to his degree," to advance piety and
devotion, by exhortation, by distributing rosaries and pictures, and especially by instituting a "congregation of the
Immaculate Conception," which is still in flourishing existence. In the eyes of hundreds, no one was equal to "Brother Frank;" and yet he had few natural gifts in his favor.
A shrivelled old man, low of stature, mean and humble in
exterior, not at all prepossessing, but poorly acquainted with
the English language, gifted apparently with nothing but
virtue, zeal, a~d an intense desire of keeping the altar and
church like hi's own heart, worthy of his divine master ..
When he died there fell upon his bier the tears of many, of
whose prayers we might well be jealous.
The history of the house refers again and again to the
admirable spirit of harmony and fraternal charity existing in
this community during these sad years; as if it were a relief
to turn from the outward picture of discord and ruin caused
by the civil war, to view the serene happiness of that life to
which our Saviour has so kindly called us. May it never
disappear from among us! That nothing has ever happened to ruffle it, the writer of this article can, with thanksgiving to God, bear ample testimony.
In 1866, a church for the colored people was opened by
Ours in Cincinnati. Any one who is acquainted with the
character of the negroes, knows what sacrifices are demanded of the pastor of St. Ann's, and how ungrateful is the
soil which the "negro priest" cultivates. These poor creatures degraded and debased by years of hereditary servitude, seem destined as a class to remain in perpetual childhood, and as a race almost bear the marks of divine displeasure. Those who have lived in the North or been raised
in cities, being more intelligent, almost look down on their
less fortunate brethren; but the mass of their people are
dull, ignorant, slow, fickle, unreasonable, moved by the
slightest impulse of feeling or pleasure, jealous of one an-
�T!te :Jesuits z"n Cindnnatz:
61
other to the last degree, appreciating so little any efforts
made for their elevation, that the favors of long years and
the devotion of a life-time of charity are no security for
fidelity on their part, if the promise of greater temporal good
is held out to them. They seem to have caught by instinCl:
the doCl:rine of some modern Philosophers, that religion is a
sentiment. They believe that it consists in external rites
and show, rather than in faith or any unity of doCl:rine. To·
day they may seem to be bound to Catholicity with bands
of iron, to-morrow they will cast off what before they held
most firmly, in apparently happy unconsciousness of their
inconsistency and their sin. No one who has not dealt with
or instruCl:ed them can conceive the extent of their ingratitude and stupidity. The only gleam of hope for any extensive good among the race, the only prospeCl: f6r the permanent conversion of any considerable number, lies in the
education of the young: little can be hoped till another
generation has risen. This is the reason why a school for
negro children has been in conneCl:ion with St. Ann's from
the beginning. The boys are taught by hired teachers, the
girls are taken care of by generous and devoted Sisters of
Notre Dame. The contributions of the poor colored people
would scarcely supply the church with candles; but Fr.
\Veninger and the Blessed Peter Claver Society (composed
of white citizens, mostly Germans, and founded by that venerable missionary), have hitherto supplied the pastor with
the means of carrying on the good work. Vipat, jioreat,
crcscat; but successful or unsuccessful, the task has been ennobled by the sacrifices and sufferings of generous apostles.
With the years 1866-67 we come to what may be termed
"The Third Epoch" in the history of St. Xavier's; for this
year was signalized by the ereCl:ion of a new edifice, designed, it is true, originally, as a residence for Ours, but
used partially for class rooms, till divine Providence sends
us the means of putting up the buildings which our needs
require. The struCl:ure is situated on 7th and Sycamore
�62
T/ze, :Jesuits m Cincinnati.
streets. Even in its unfinished state it attraCts the admiring gaze of visitors to our city; but when completed will be
one of the objeCts of interest, not only for every tourist, but
also for our citizens. That portion now finished is 66 feet
in breath, facing on Sycamore street, by 120 in depth on
Seventh ; is five stories high, exclusive of the mansard roof;
with the exception of the stone foundation and basement
story is of brick peculiarly made, and finished with heavy
stone facings; massive and majestic, suggestive of strength
and durability no less than beauty. The motto, Ad Jlfajorem Dei Glon{mz, deeply carved in a rosette of solid stone,
set in the c~iling of the freestone porch, tells the charaCter
of the Institution to the curious stranger whose admiration
has been attraCted by the imposing struCture. Towards
this undertaking one zealous clergyman subscribed $10,000,
another $1000, whilst a catholic layman of this city, who is ·
always foremost in works of charity, donated$ 1000. These
sums together with a few smaller amounts were all the aid
received from without; the remaining funds, amounting to
about_$130,000, were the result of years of saving and economy in the management of the College finances. It remains to be seen lvhether in the completion of the undertaking, the founding of Professorships, the establishing of
suitable annual prizes for excellence_ in the ancient and
modern languages, and in the sciences, there are persons
who will emulate the generous founders of numerous non·
catholic In.stitutions. It is to be hoped that the work may
be speedily finished, and thus an Institution be here permanently established in which the branches of the very highest
education may be taught.
A strenuous effort has been made for years past to bring
the library of the College up to a standard suitable to its
necessities and reputation. The result is that inside of twenty
years, notwithstanding the poverty of our treasury and the
outlays.for new buildings, the number of volumes has advanced from six thousand to about twelve or fourteen thou-
�The :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
sand, exlusive of pamphlets, all purchased with the funds of
the College or obtained by private donation. The works
are in the main well seleCted, many of them valuable and
rare. Among the latter may be mentioned a "Universal
History," translated from English into French, in one hundred and twenty-six volumes; the "Classica Latina," in one
hundred and fifty volumes; a French "History of China," in
fourteen volumes; the Greek and Latin Fathers in one hundred and twenty-five; Lord Kings borough's "Mexican Antiquities," in nine folio volumes, elegantly bound; and Bibles
of various dates and in different languages, with a copy of
the first edition of it printed in America, the Lord's prayer
in fifty-three different languages etc., etc. In the colleCtion
of old and rare books are contained several published within
half a century after the invention of printing. Among the
books of languages beyond the range of ordinary study at
the present day, may be mentioned a Chinese Speaker, a
Sanscrit grammar, an Ethiopic Latin diCtionary, all the alphabets of the nations of Hindostan, several works in various Indian language, etc., etc. It contains the ordinary
standard works in general literature both English and foreign, as also in History and Philosophy; it is most complete,
however, in its Theological department.
The Library, properly classified, is conveniently and neatly
arranged in a hall on the ground floor of the new College
building. The books occupy open shelves in a series of
alcoves ranged along the side of the wall ; above being a
gallery with additional shelves. The framework is of wood,
adorned with simple and appropriate carving. The library
by itself, together with an explanation of the system on
which it is carried on and order produced, would merit an
extended notice.
The Museum contains a tolerably fair colleCtion of conchological, geological and mineralogical specimens, but is yet
far from perfeCtion. From the preceding sketch of our difficulties and comparatively rapid progress in other respeCts,
'.
�l.
The :Jesuits ill Cincinnati.
11
material as ,\rell as spiritual, the reader will be prepared to
hear without surprise or censure, that our provision of philosophical and chemical apparatus, at the disposal of the
professor of physical sciences, is rather unsatisfaB:ory and
inco.mplete. Not having the ample resources which State
schools command, this department necessarily absorbs a
large share of the solicitude anp all the available funds of
those whose duty it is to provide apparatus suitable to advancing science.
Secular gentlemen of marked abilities have invariably
presided over special branches, such as music and drawing.
Prof. Eich, Pro( Brusselbach, now holding a prominent position in the public schools of Cincinnati, and Pro( Gerold, the
distinguished organ~st, have had charge of the musical department since about 1859· Mr. C. Collier well known to
others beside Cincinnatians, now a Trappist, and Mr. A.
Piket, the architeB:, direB:ed for a long time the school
of drawing. I may remark en passant, that both these
branches, and notably drawing, have become of late quite
a feature in the education of the public schools of this city.
The growing importance of our annual industrial expositions and the mechanical genius of our citizens, no less
than the spreading tendency to raise the standard of common school education and have the highest degree of intelleB:ual and artistic culture, at the minimum cost to the
private purse of individuals, may explain the prevalence of
one; whilst the large number of German citizens, to whom
music is a national heritage, and the well deserved fame of
Cincinnati in the encouragement of the art as well as the
science of music, are sufficient to account for the attention
paid to the other.
This year, 1866, began the custom now in vogue here, of
having BenediB:ion of the Most Blessed Sacrament and an
inst~uB:ion on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, at night, on the
first Friday of every month. It has worked well, the attendance being large and the fruit remarkable. In two or
�T!tc :fcsuits ,i1l· Cindmzati.
three months after beginning this praCtice, the number of
communions was more than doubled. The Confraternity of
the Sacred Heart as well as the Apostleship of Prayer are
in a8:ive and successful operation in the parish. Among
the students of the College, the first Friday of the month
is celebrated with BenediCtion and an exhortation by the
Chaplain; and every Saturday afternoon the Litany of the
Blessed Virgin is sung in the Chapel by all the boys.
To add to the number of Sodalities in our parish, a new.
one was instituted in 1867. It was designed for thereformation and continuance in the faith of poor little boys, who
at an early age are forced to earn their living as boot-blacks
and newsboys. The temptations and dangers to which they
are exposed are innumerable; yet, thanks to the zealous
labor of one of our Fathers, they have in great measure
ceased to be the scandal, but have become the edification of
all. No means is left untried by the various Protestant
Sunday Schools of the city to attraCt: these poor little fellows to a new belief. An establishment called" T!tc Bet/tel,"
situated on the public landing, where the harvest is likely
to be most plentiful, has for years carried on its work of
proselytism, by means of gifts, cheap or altogether free
meals, donations of clothing, and such like inducements
for selling birthright for a mess of pottage.
Reading
rooms have been established, special facilities afforded to
the boys in the pursuit of their calling, military companies
and battalions of cadets have been organized, public dinners have been gotten up, a regular system of pic-nics inaugurated, and, to crown all, besides the almost countless
contributions of all classes of citizens, one "public spirited"
gentleman gave $90,000 or $Ioo,ooo towards endowing this
useful establishment. From this it may be judged how
necessary it was to make some efforts to keep the unproteCted little ones of Christ from the ravening wolves.
Though no such inducements for fidelity were or could be
offered by our poor priest, he has kept around him by
VoL. vi-No.
I.
9
�66
\
T/ze Yesuits in Ci1tcinnati.
charity, sacrifice, and all the attraCtions his humble means
afforded, a goodly number of youths who else had lost the
faith. It would be an interesting narrative to tell the various industries to which he had recourse in his work ; such as
appointing monitors for given squares in the city, to report
whatever any of the members of his Sodality were guilty of,
and often the members were so well disposed, that they
would come of their own accord to report their delinquencies. On one occasion the Reverend DireB:or found himself in a very disagreeable situation, through his anxiety to
see to the welfare of his young charges. A pic-nic was
set on~ foot for the newsboys by a certain Col. Moore, a
philanthropic gentleman of the city who takes a lively interest in them. As there was nothing obviously wrong, our
Father could not prevent his boys from going, but as he
had reason to believe that some anti-catholic impressions
might be left, or some designs be had against their faith, he
determined to go there himsel( Promptly at the appointed
hour he was at the rendezvous, when he saw that most of
those encouraging the business were the DireB:ors of" The
Bet/tel," he would have liked to withdraw, but it was now too
late to retire from the contest, without betraying too evident
want of good faith, and making known his design ; so he
made the best of a bad bargain arid tried to feel at his ease.
But that was only the least of his troubles. ·when the
procession was ready to start, Fr. B.- was requested to
head the line in company with the DireB:or of the Bethel
and a certain judge of some fame in this city. Preceded
by a band, arm in arm with Brother Lee of the Bethel and
Judge Carter, he marched through the principal streets of
the city, feeling at every step of the way as if he were the
only objeCt: that any one cared to look at, and bewailing the
misfortune which had placed him in such a plight. But of
this enough ! It is said that many of these boys lead a life
of comparative innocence amidst all their temptations, and
that· their worst transgressions afford matter for confessions
�T!te :Jesuits in Cincin11ati.
;.
I
),
f
r
I
I
I
- 67
which persons of apparently more sanCtified life might envy.
Whence can God not draw glory for His name! Where'
can He not manifest His grace and power!
The original charter granted to the College was limited;
but in 1869 an advantageous and perpetual charter was secured, by a law passed in the General Assembly of the State.
The ACt of Incorporation was accepted, of course, by the
Board of Trustees. Its passage called forth some rampant
eloquence against the Jesuits, from a member of the Hamilton county delegation in the House, who was chagrined
at not being allowed to present the bill and thereby acquire
the prestige and influence growing out of its adoption.
There was however, very little opposition developed.
The harmony existing among the community _this year
may be judged from the faCt that not only those of other
houses envied those living here, but even the inmates of this
College were accustomed to style themselves "the happy
family." Happy, indeed, the superior who feels that he
can make obedience sweet and the yoke of the Lord so
light! That the masters, who are in general notably laborious, might be afforded means of suitable recreation
from time to time, according to the mind of St. Ignatius,
an eligible and delightful villa overlooking the Ohio river
and situated in Kentucky, six miles from this city, was purchased at a cost of $I8,ooo. The scholastics returning
from their course of studies at Woodstock have often had
occasion to enjoy this pleasant retreat.
A successful business transaCtion in 1871 enabled us to
pay off some of our debts, as well as indireCtly put us in a
position to obtain a new parish school house on favorable
conditions. The Purcell Mansion property on Walnut
Hills, though bringing in very little rent had been every
year increasing in value to such an extent that it was
deemed advisable to sell it. A street or place graded and
paved at our expense was run through the premises and the
property divided off into lots. By this mano=uvre several
�68
thous~nd
T!te :Jesuits in Cincinnati.
dollars more were realized, than could have been
obtained by selling the whole piece of ground. $29,000 of
the proceeds were at once laid out in purchasing a city lot
about two squares from our church, with the intention of
building a parish school there in course of time. But God
provided otherwise, giving us still easier means of obtaining
our end. There was a distriCt: school within about a square
and a half from our house, very well appointed and excellently furnished, one of the buildings being quite new; but
the accommodations were insufficient for the number of
boys and girls ~ttending. Accordingly, the city Board of
Education had tieen anxious to obtain a lot in the same
neighborhood sufficiently large to ereCt: on it a new school
house; but some how or other could not find any so well
· suited to the purpose as our new purchase. Negotiations
were entered into to see on what condition Ours would give
up their lot. The result was that they gave us their school
houses together with the ground on which they were built,
which was smaller than ours, their furniture, a neat bonus of
several thousand dollars in exchange for our property, and
agreed to pay $300 for every month they occupied the premises after the date of exchange. This transaCl:ion was
not effeCl:ed without some trouble, newspaper opposition and
slanders, nor without the evident assistance of St. Joseph, to
whom Masses and other offerings had been promised in
the event of success. Some friends of ours in the Common
· Council and Board of Education were of considerable service to us in the matter, though they probably looked to
their own interest and that of the city, more than ours.
The exchange was an advantage to us, for we might not
have been able to build for years. Together with our large
_ Jot we sacrificed fine prospeCl:s, but acquired a present good
of probably greater value. Owing to our meagre finances
we could not have done better in the way of a bargain, but
neither could the city with all its appropriations. If it did
not choose to accept the conditions it was free to purchase
elsewhere if it could.
�College of San Salvador, Bumos Ayres.
6g
As we approach nearer to the present time, prudence
bids us err on the side of deficiency rather than abundance.
With the year 1873 we draw this sketch to a close;in the
hope that a worthier pen may some day trace the good
deeds, and hold up to merited admiration the virtues of
those who have labored and suffered and given their hearts'
warm affeCl:ions to the advancement of our Society and the
greater glory of God in this city.
May the success of the past be but a prelude to what is
in store for us ; may our present flourishing condition be a
faint omen of the future; may God make our virtues as
·bright as our labors are profitable, and deign to give the
blessing of abundance to both !
COLLEGE OF SAN SALVADOR, BUENOS AYRES.
SEQUEL TO THE ACCOUNT OF ITS DESTRUCTION.
Two years ago we furnished. our readers with an account
of the burning of our College at Buenos Ayres, and in the
May number of last year we related the beginning of the
reparation. On the present occasion we can furnish an
agreeable sequel to that history. The best citizens and
men of standing have united in a body to restore the College, and the central wing of the west part is already built.
The first floor of the portion reconstruCted is intended for
the boys' refeCl:ory: above that, will be one of the dormitories. But, for the present, Superiors think of using that
upper floor for the classes, which, during the interval since
the catastrophe, have been held in the remains of the old
building. This old building will be assigned for the present to the professors, who have been subjeCl: to the grave
inconvenience of going to the Seminary every evening and
returning in the morning to the College. The building is
�70
College of San Salvador, Buenos Ayres.
advancing, though money is very scarce; in faCt:, becoming
more and more so.
The new struCture will offer advantages such as the old
one had not. At the same time, it will not present the
magnificent appearance of the other, which had three fine
stories besides the basement. The present has only twothis is out of prudential motives, for our enemies are already
grumbling that the Jesuits have gained by the whole transaCtion ; that they have a new college finer than the old,
without paying a cent for it. The church adjoining the
College escap<::d the flames, only because there was but little
combustible matter about it : the rabble intended to burn
it; indeed they were more furious where things were more
sacred. It was in the course of construCtion at the time of
the fire, and now it is almost completed, owing to the untiring care of Fr. Sato. It has a magnificent cupola, rising
majestically over everything else in the city.
However, with all this we cannot congratulate ourselves
on enjoying peace and security. It is only the good and
honorable citizens who interest themselves in reconstruCting the College, and removing the disgrace of February
28th. As to our enemies, they surround us on every side,
live in impunity, through the fault of a weak and seCtarian
government, are bitterly disappointed that they have not
routed us out, and are setting new snares, concoCting new
plots in secret. This gives us the more reason to wonder
that we maintain our ground against them; and we implore
the favor of God, that as He gave us strength and protection in the first attempt, He will not fail us in the second
and third, if our objeCt: is His glory and the salvation of our
pupils.
In close conneCtion with the events of the riot and conflagration, I might say something about the sickness and
death of Fr. Albi. The cause of his sickness was the hard
usage he met with on that occasion; and the effeCt: it produced upon his mind was such, that neither the distraCting
occupations of college life, nor the natural gaiety of his
�College of San Salvador, Buenos Ayres._
71
temperament, could relieve him from the impressions of grief
produced by the catastrophe. Sadness slowly consumed
his vigorous and robust constitution. Excellent religious
as he was, and mortified in his habits, he suppressed the
signs of his internal sadness, and endeavored to preserve
his old joviality, which, in circumstances such as ours,
was no slight comfort and relaxation to us. But Gutta
cavat lapidem. Under the pressure of his gloom and moved
by a special inspiration from heaven, he begged of the Blessed Virgin to send him some grave infirmity, or even death,
if it were best for the salvation of his soul; and to secure
his objeCt: he recommended it to the prayers of his penitents. Distinguished among them was an excellent lady,
Rosa Britto, who is conneB:ed by blood with Blessed John
de Britto. She came to the College, lamenting with tears
in her eyes that her confessor, whom she loved as a father,
should entertain such an idea. On the 16th of July, the
feast of Our Lady of Carmel, Fr. Albi delivered the panegyric in our Church of the Conception : he renewed his fervent prayers to her who is styled Comfort of tlte AjjliCled ,·
and after a few days he began to suffer in the head, was attacked by a serious malady, and took to his bed on the
feast of St. James. On finding himself thus seized by what
the doB:ors pronounced to be a galloping consumption,
and seeing that his prayers were heard, he exclai!l)ed: "I
have no reason to complain, for it is what I desired." In
this manner he prepared himself for the praB:ice of extraordinary patience, which was particularly necessary under the
violent remedies applied. Two days before his death, he
requested to have Fr. ReB:or called, and among other
things said that his Reverence should not be affiiB:ed at his
sickness, for he had himself begged for it, through the intercession of Mary, and also death itself, if it were for the
good of his soul: he desired only to be recommended to
the prayers of all, that God might grant him the resignation
and patience necessary in his condition. The prayer seemed
to produce a good effeCt:; for the malady abated, and on the
�72
College
of Sail Salvador, Buenos Ayres.
30th of July, the doCl:ors congratulated themselves on having arrested the pulmonary affeCl:ion and placed the patient
out of danger. But, towards midnight, after having confessed to prepare for holy communion on the feast of St.
Ignatius, he began to be delirious. The disease was complicated. His confessor was called: in an interval of the
delirium, he said: "Come, Father, let us finish quickly."
Then having confessed, he began to wander again, till Extreme UnCl:ion was administered. Coming to himself once
more, he recovered his former serenity, answered every question, and, as long as he had strength left, continued to recite with devotion various ejaculatory prayers and sentences of Holy Scripture, particularly: fifonatur a11ima mea
morte ;itstonmz. At length, he breathed his last without a
struggle, at 10 o'clock on the morning of St. Ignatius' feast.
His funeral was quite an ovation. Fr. Albi had been one
of those who suffered most in the attack upon our College,
and our friends availed themselves of this occasion to show
a mark of their love for the Society. They did so in excellent style; it was a protest against the barbarity of our
enemies; and their savagery. The procession was made up
of his Grace, the Archbishop, various canons, priests, religious, senators, deputies, etc. Fr. ReCl:or could not prevail
on them to ride, but they would all walk on foot from the
College to the cemetery, about a mile; 'the bier was carried by hand: more than seventy carriages followed empty.
Let us trust in God, who can draw good out of evil, that
this testimony of genuine affeCl:ion for us will help to keep
us in a city, which stands so much in need of good colleges, and of a christian education for the young. The
dangers for· innocence are so great, where the general corruption is so wide-spread. May it please God that our enemies too be moved by a ray of grace, and returning to
their duty do, as one of them has already done-he has
abjured his errors in presence of Fr. Sato, and broken off
his conneCl:ion with the secret societies.
C. P., s. J.
�WOODSTOCK LETTERS._
VOL. VI, No.
2.
POTTOWATTOMY INDIANS.
THE
MISSION OF OUR FATHERS AMONG
THEM FROM
1846
TO THE PRESENT TIME.
(Concluded.)
1858-Napshinga, first Chief of the Miami tribe came to
St. Mary's with all his family to be instruCted in the Catholic religion. After a sufficient instruCtion they were admitted to baptism. Napshinga is a good sensible man. At
every council of the nation he tries hard to get a Catholic
school and Catholic missionaries. He is the only man of his tribe that has not fallen a viCtim to whiskey.
'
The country around us is fast being settled. The Indians
are afraid the whites will covet their land, which lies at the
gates of Topeka, the capital of Kansas. They fear, not
without reason, that very soon they will be compelled to
sell out their lands and look out for a home in another wild
region. To avert that impending calamity, in their national
councils the Chiefs with the elders and wise men of the tribe
begin to agitate the question of seCtionizing the land and
becoming citizens of the United States. The question created two parties: the seetionizers and the anti-seetionizers,
VoL. vr-No.
2.
ro
�74
Tlze Pottowattomy Indians.
and produced great animosity between then. The question
therefore remained for the present undecided.
I8S8-I86o-Rev. John Schultz, who since Fr. Durinck's
death had direCted the mission, is appointed ReCtor of the
College of Cincinnati. Rev. J. Diels succeeds in capacity of
Superior. This year there was in the Indian territory, but
especially in Kansas, such a heat and drought that it surpassed any human recolleCtion. Nearly all the springs and
creeks dried up ; the fruits burned on the trees ; for the
whole spring and summer not a blade of green grass or
vegetable of any kind could be seen. Had not divine goodness had mercy on us, undoubtedly we would have all perished. But divine providence did not fail at that hour of
need. All the States vied with each other, which should be
the quickest and most liberal in helping their suffering fellow-citizens of Kansas.
I 86 I - The country is being settled fast. One of the
Fathers of St. Mary's attends exclusively to the whites.
He rides hundreds of miles to direCt the Catholics to certain pQints, where afterwards they, will build a church; and
by his instruCtions and exhortations to keep up their faith.
During the fall, one of the Fathers went to the head waters
of the Grasshopper to visit our Kickapoo neighbors. He
was welcomed by the Chiefs and the notabilities of the tribe.
They requested him to stay with them: establish a school,
and build a church. The Father replied that he could not
stay himself, as he was needed in St. Mary's, but if they
persevered in their present dispositions, they surely one day
would realise their hopes. In September, Rev. J. Schoenmakers, Superior of the Osage mission, all on a sudden,
arrived at St. Mary's. He had to fly from the o~age mission: some of the Rebel leaders, suspeCting him of preventing the Osages from going to the South, threatened his life.
At last the Pottowattomies have arrived at the culminating p~int of their historical life and material prosperity.
The step they are taking forebodes their final ruin as a tribe ;
�Tlte Pottowattomy Indians.
75
but it is unavoidable, being brought on by the force of
events. A delegation, has come from Washington to make
a treaty with the Pottowattomies, by which they will sectionize their lands, have a portion thereof allotted to each
individual, acquire, if they choose, the right of becoming
citizens, and cede the surplus of the land to a Railroad
Company. There was a strong opposition to the treaty,
especially by the prairie band. The leader of the opposition
was the eloquent Shahgwee.
On the day appointed for the meeting, all the Indians
were at the Agency, sitting on the sod. After the preliminary preparation, Commissioner Dole arose, and said: "My
friends, by order of the President I have called you to this
meeting to induce you to seCtionize your land and come under the law as citizens of the United States; or to sell out
here entirely, and take in exchange another reservation,
which shall be assigned to you farther west." · Hereupon
Shahgwee came to greet the delegates : all eyes were on
him. He is painted, wears a feather cap; he has broad
shoulders and high breast, that gives his lungs and the magnitude of his heart free and easy play. His full Indian attire adds solemnity to the circumstances. Then standing
in front of the delegation our speaker said: "Gentlemen
of the delegation, I too come before you to speak in the
name of my fellow Pottowattomies : I tell you, Messrs.
Commissioners, we cannot accept either of these propositions; we are not prepared to seB:ionize our land and come '
under the law: it is only now we begin to see into the habits of the white men. Were I to make that step now, the
whites would immediately surround me by the hundred, and
by a thousand artifices get hold of my property ; like so
many leeches they would suck my blood, until I should be
dead of exhaustion. No, we are not advanced enough in
civilization to become citizens.'' "But then the laws will
proteCt: you," said Mr. Dole. "Ah, the law proteCt: me!"
answered Shahgwee; the law proteB:s him, that understands
�' 76
Tlze Pottowattomy India11s.
it; but to the poor and ignorant like the Indians it is not a
shield of proteCtion; on the contrary it is a cloak to cover
·the lawgiver's malice." The Commissioner replied: "If
you do not think proper to become citizens, then choose
the other alternative given you ; sell out to the Government
this reservation and purchase another farther west, where
you will be unmolested by the whites; we will pay you well."
"You will pay me well! Ah ! not all your gold can buy
from us this our sweet home, the nearest to the graves of
our ancestors. Here we have been born, here we have
grown up and reached manhood, here we shall die. But ye
white men wby are you so covetous, so ravenous of this my
poor limited home ? Behold with what liberality I treated
thee. I was once the undisputed owner of that vast region,
which lies around the lakes and between the great rivers;
I ceded them to thee for this paltry reservation in the barren west. I gave to thee Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois,
Indiana, and thou begrudgest me this little spot, on which
I am allowed to rest and labor! Is this thy return to my
benefis_ence? Is this the charaCter of thy mercy ? Thou
hast driven my forefathers from the shores of the Atlantic;
are you going to pursue me until I disappear in the waters
of the Pacific? Oh ! for God's sake have mercy on me;
cease to hunt me from desert to desert like a wild beast.
Show us barbarians, that civilization - has softened your
hearts as well as enlightened your minds." Hereupon Commissioner Dole reminded the speaker that the President
wished them for their own good either to seCtionize the
land or move away from Kansas. Shahgwee answered:
"I do not thank the President for such a desire; I think we
know as well our interests, as the President: when he is enjoying himself with his friends, what does he care about us
poor, benighted, forlorn Indians? One thing I wonder at,
that the President, who should be like a rock, immovable in
his mind and conviCtions, changes so often and so quickly.
To-day he thinks and says the contrary of yesterday. On
�T/ze Pottcr&attomy Indians.
77
the same subjeCt: he speaks one thing to ine and another to
you. The President told me, when he assigned me this reservation, I remember it well, he told me that this land
should be my last and permanent home. What business
has he to tell me to change my abode ? This place is mine :
I can leave it or keep it as I please." Thereupon one of
the delegates remarked, that this country being settled by
the whites as well as by the Indians, "it is but right that in
our regulation we consult their wishes; otherwise there will
be no peace, no harmony between the two races." Shahgwee replied: "A pretty thing is this. Suppose a stranger
comes into your house, and declares himself dissatisfied
with the way your domestic affairs are managed, would you
listen to his whims? What have we to do with the whites
that are settling among us? If our manner of aB:ing displeases them, why do they come in our way ? Let them
allow us to manage our own affairs, and we will let them
manage their own." Here Com. Dole called the speaker's
attention to the division of parties, that were among them.
"You were once," said he, "a great nation, formidable to
your enemies. The name of Pottowattomy was a terror to
the Sioux and the Osages ; unite once more ; reconcile the
different parties for your common interests, and you will be
again a great and happy people." Shahgwee quickly retorted : "You have the brass of exhorting us to peace and
union, whilst at home you take up arms against each other
and fight to the knife. The South is arrayed against the
North, the son fights against the father; the brother against
the brother. Your country is turned into one vast battlefield; and those rich plains, that once produced so abundant
crops, are laid waste and reddened with the blood of American citizens. Sir, restore peace and union among yourselves, before you come and preach it to us." These words
provoked Com. Dole, who betrayed his emotion. He
quickly arose and said : "Whether you like it or no, you
must sign the treaty." The orator, no less excited and in-
�. ;8
The Pot/(Tt.i.Ja!tomy Indians .
dignant, several times repeated the words, "you must, you
must," adding : "This is an imperious command ;" then in a
doleful tone he said to the Commissioner: "Ah! thou art
the strongest ; I am the weakest." After which, turning
himself and casting an angry look at the young men seated
on the sod, in a thundering voice he said: "Ye braves of
the Pottowattomy nation, why do you not rise; but no, the
braves are all dead ; you are mere children." This is the
last eloquent appeal to the patriotism of the Pottowattomy
youth : this is the last effort of the Pottowattomy nation to
preserve her life and autonomy. From this we will see her
dwindle aw.i.y gradually, until she will have disappeared in
the night of oblivion.
After a few days the treaty was signed by the chiefs vVewesa, Majce, Miyenigo, Micorica, and afterwards ratified in
Washington. By this treaty each head of a family is entitled to one hundred and sixty acres of land : the others to
eighty acres. They are moreover therewith to draw in different instalments all the money due to them by the Government,, such as, annuity funds,-agricultural funds-school
funds; and if they choose, to become citizens. The mission was to receive six hundred and forty acres ; but without the knowledge of the Chiefs the grant was reduced to
three hundred acres. To make up for ~hat, the Chiefs had a
provision inserted in the treaty, which allowed us, besides
the three hundred acres, to purchase at the Government
price one thousand acres.
It is greatly to be regretted that the surplus lands should
have been sold to a Railroad Company; both the Indians
and the settlers would have been much benefited by it.
1862-During the present year civil war is raging with
the utmost fury. The Government made an appeal to the
Pottowattomies for ):lelp ; immediately about sixty young
men responded to the call and showed themselves ready to
defend their country.
1863-The present Agent of the Pottowattomies is very
�The Pottowattomy Indians.
79
much opposed to our mission and to our schools especially.
More than once he tried to have us migrate south with
the Indians, as if we were a nuisance to him here. With
this object in view he tried to form a delegation of Chiefs to
go to ·washington to make some addition to the treaty.
But when he thought he had succeeded in his plan, his own
friends turned against him, and declared openly, that they
did not trust his honesty and would have nothing to do with
him any more. Providence was kind to us, the hostile of- ·
ficer was removed, and a good man, a sincere friend, put in
his place.
We have a right to rejoice: this year our mission acquired
a new protectress in heaven. Mother Marianne O'Connor,
a religious of the Sacred Heart, went, we hope, to receive
the reward of a laborious life among the Indians.
1864-When General Price advanced towards Westport,.
Mo. with his army, and threatened to invade Kansas, some
Pottowattomy Indians fearing a general massacre fled into
old Mexico, crossing the Rio Grande at a place called El
Presidio del Norte; they were about one hundred in all. In
their march they were first attacked. by the northern troops
as secessionists; then they were hotly pursued by the southern army.
1865-0ur schools are flourishing both as to the number
of pupils and their proficiency. Many people in high station passing by, ask to be allowed to see them, and bestow
high praises on them. But we have enemies ever in the
city of Washington, who would fain see them suppressed.
Senator Pomeroy was obliged to take up their defence. He
did it nobly.
1866-A delegation of Chiefs go to Washington to arrange minor matters concerning the last treaty. Dr. Palmer
is at the head of it. This year the Pacific railroad came
through St. Mary's.
1867-In order to undo what in the last treaty had been
done in favor of the mission, our enemies are hard at work
�So
The Potttr..vattomy · India!ls.
to have our good agent removed from office, and have ano ·
ther less favorable installed in his place. But happily their
design failed-The Indians begin to sell part of their lands
-The whites are getting numerous about St. Mary's.
I 868-1 86g-This year several secular priests resorted
~o St. Mary's mission to make a few days retreat.
Partly
on account of political disturbance, partly through the
wickedness of designing men, the treaty with the Government having not yet been ratified by the Senate, our agent,
Dr. Palmer, took a delegation to vVashington to have it carried through. But the doetor did not dissemble the difficulties he ,;as to meet with in the capital with such delegates. The free-masons had gained over to their side the
principal Chief. They boasted openly that they would soon
put a stop to the ambitious encroachments of the priests;
that if the mission was not entirely suppressed, at least it
would be so crippled as to do no harm any more to the Indians. Tired of his stubbornness, the Indians held a public
meeting, in which John Pomnnie, a secondary Chief, severely
reprel!ended Wewesa for playing into the hands of the enemies of the Fathers, of the Catholic faith they professed,
the free-masons, the excommunicated children of the
Church. "You are not," said he, "invested with the authority of Chief to aet according to your notions, but to promote the welfare of the community ·over which you have
been placed. Now, what interest is dearer to us than to
possess in our midst the Fathers to watch us and direCt us,
the Catholic school to educate our children; and you would
take as our representatives at Washington men of such description·? Can infidelity represent religion? Can the devil
represent God? But, keep your delegates, if you are so infatuated by them ; all we ask is that Mr. Bertrand should be
added to the delegation as the representative of the Catholic
party." Mr. Bery Bertrand was brought out and chosen as
one of the delegates by universal acclamation. At Washington Dr. Palmer had no trouble in carrying out his views.
�The Pottowattomy l1Zdians.
8I
Having declared before the Department of the Interior, that
Mr. Bertrand truly represented the great majority of the
seCtionized Pottowattomies, whilst all· the other delegates
together represented but a few individuals, all the measures
concerning the mission proposed by Mr. Bertrand were
adopted. The treaty was finally ratified by the Senate and
approved by President Johnson. By the treaty the mission
had the right to purchase one thousand acres of land at the
Government price, viz. at a dollar and a quarter per acre.
But some malicious fellow without consulting the Chiefs
had inserted the words in a body; as all the land was supposed preempted about St. Mary's, he thought to compel
us to leave the fine bottom and to pick up our thousand
acres over the hill. Happily there were left in the elbow
of the river about seventy acres unpreempted, which enabled us to take up our thousand acres i1l a body from the
mission down to the big bend of the river. · To avoid any
farther difficulty we immediately paid down the price of
the land, and the Government issued letters patent for it.
About five hundred of the prairie band refused to sign
the treaty : they were allowed on Soldier Creek a diminished reserve of ten miles square. There they are now
owning the land in common, receiving annuities from the
Government, and send their children to a Quaker school.
They daily get thinner by sickness. The whites that surround them steal their timber and their ponies.
The greatest change for St. Mary's took place during
this year: the thing was so much the more startling for us,
as it was the less expeCted. In the month of May, Rev.
Fr. Keller came up to St. Mary's and announced to us that
it had been concluded in the council of the province, that a
grand college should be built in St. Mary's, and orders were
given to commence the work early the ensuing spring.
God, it seems, in his infinite wisdom and mercy has decreed
that St. Mary's should continue for future ages the mission
commenced in Indian times, namely, that St. Mary's should
VoL. vi-No.
2.
II
�82
· The Pott{Y'..vattomy Indians.
diffuse all around among the white population the light of
faith with human knowledge, as she did among the poor
benighted savages. · The college meets with a good deal of
difficulty and opposition ; it has to pass through the ordeal
of humiliations, lest falling into pride it become unfit to
promote the glory of our crucified Lord. We may indulge
the hope, that placed under the patronage of the Immaculate Virgin, it will one day triumph and fulfil its glorious
destiny.
We had the projeCted institution chartered according to
the formali;y' of the laws of Kansas in December, 1868.
vVe also bou'ght a seal for the college: in it is represented
the rising sun of Kansas; and a young eagle ready to take
his flight high up, with this motto: "To science and virtue."
May the college prosper to the greater glory of God.Amen. On the 4th December 1869 Rev. Fr. Patrick Ward
succeeded Rev. Fr. Diels as superior of the mission. Rev.
Fr. Diels had. to pass through turbulent times ; but with
prudence and perseverance he steered his course through
tempestuous seas and finally brought the ship safe into the
harbor.
1870-1876-What a change has been brought on the mission in the space of twenty-eight years l The railroad has
replaced the hunter's path; on those hills, where the antelope
used to range exclusively, thriving towns, rich orchards and
vineyards charm the traveller's eye; the centennial prairies
are turned by the hand of industry into vast fields yielding
crops of all descriptions; a stately stone church is ereeted
by the old log cathedral, a magnificent brick college stands
on the ruins of the rickety building of the Indian mission.
Would to God that refinement and malice had not replaced
innocence and simplicity.
We have arrived at the gloomiest page of the Pottowattomy mission ; a sudden cold wind from the northern regions has blasted the beautiful flowers, that but yesterday
displayed so much freshness in its magnificent garden. Un-
�T!ze Pottcrt.Vattomy lndiaus.
til this time the Pottowattomie3 had acquired to a great degree the habit of industry, were regular in attending to their
religious duties, and by the purity of their morals and vivacity of their faith had been the edification of their white
neighbors. But now, in accordance with the treaty stipulations, the Government begins in different instalments to
pay out to them large sums of money. The whiskey comes
along with the money and flows in torrents; nearly every
house in St. Mary's is turned into a saloon. Sharks of all
kinds follow the Indians wherever they go, and never lose
sight of them night and day; they use all manner of frauds
and artifices to get hold of the Indian's money and property. Seeing himself undone by those he looked upon as
friends and protectors, the poor Indian. in despair of ever
redeeming his condition plunges still deeper into drinking
and all sorts of excess. In consequence thereof many of
our neophytes have become quite negligent in the practice
of their religious duties. Many have sold their lands and
become homeless. Many by imprudent exposure to the
inclemency of the weather have met with a premature death.
Some were drowned, some crushed by the cars, some fell by
the hands of assassins.
What a sad spectacle it is for a missionary to see the work
of so many years thus destroyed, and his flock devoured
by merciless wolves. Like the prophet standing amidst
the ruins, what else remains for him but to weep over the
work of destruction ; to bewail his sins, to implore divine
mercy, and to sigh after a better home? One thing, however, in my bitter grief consoles me, that a certain number,
small indeed, have remained firm, and that to my knowledge
none of those that have forsaken the path of virtue have lost
the faith ; this revives in them sooner or later especially in
times of sickness and adversity.
Now of that once great Pottowattomy tribe some live
in Canada; three small bands have remained in Michigan; about one hundred inhabit the northern part of Wis-
�Aposto!ical Labors i1l Havana.
consin; a few are scattered through Iowa. Some have
emigrated to the Indian Territory; one hundred near to
Chetopa; they are attended by Rev. Bononcini; about two
or three hundred settled on the Canadian river. They are
attended by Rt. Rev. Robot, 0. S. B. Within the old reserve the seCtionized Indians may count perhaps six hundred.
APOSTOL! CAL LABORS IN HAVANA.
HAVANA, SEPT. Ist,
1875·
DEAR FATHER PaRTES,
I have contraCted a heavy debt with your Reverence and
am now about to pay you a little instalment. But I must
tell you, first of all, that the multitude of my occupations
has been the sole cause of my long silence. They have,
indeed, been far more numerous, of late, than is ordinarily
the case, and my only comfort is that Almighty God has
bountifully supplied me with strength equal to the emergency. Though I cannot boast of enjoying good health, I
manage to get on pretty well.
·.
The political and financial condition of this Island does
not interest us except in so far as it may exercise an influence on morality. I shall, therefore, merely mention that
the state of uneasiness, produced by the present scarcity and
the gloomy prospeCt: for the future, has a great deal to do
with hindering the people from hearing the word of God
with profit. However, our labors are not entirely fruitless,
as they are sometimes rewarded with an abundant spiritual
harvest. Such was notably the case at Santiago de Cuba.
This place, one of the oldest settlements on the Island,
thickly .populated, rich in produB:s and carrying on an extensive commerce with Europe, has been, of late years, vis-
�Apostolical Labors m Havana.
85
ited by very heavy calamities. The insurreaion caused
sad havoc there, wasting its fields, checking its commerce,
and reducing to a state of misery many families who had
before been in easy circumstances, or even wealthy. In this
place the masonic headquarters for the whole Island had
been established and the busiest and most powerful of the
members dwelt there. Add to this, the awful scandal of
having a schismatic clergyman, in the shape of a pseudoArchbishop, pretending to exercise the sacred funaions !
With the cruelty of a Nero, this man sent into exile, or to
prison, the priests who remained faithful to the Roman
Pontiff. You may imagine what great damage this must
have caused!
The ecclesiastical authority having been reestablished
and the exiled priests restored to their ministries, they commenced again their labors with renewed zeal and aaivity.
But while a few persons admired them as martyrs of the '
faith and discipline of the Church, the greater part looked
upon them with suspicious eyes, and stood aloof from them,
owing to the prejudices caused by the masonic and schismatic seas. Such being. the state of things, and as they
saw that their authority and prestige were not great enough
to put a remedy to the evil, they applied to our Father Rector, asking from him two Fathers of the Society to give the
spiritual retreat to the clergy, and a mission to the people.
Father Ignacio Santos and I were appointed to this enterprise, because we happened to be the only ones whose occupations allowed them to be absent, for some time, from the
college.
We started from Havana, on the 20th of Jan., with the
blessing of Heaven, and with so visible a proteaion, that
there was nothing more to wish for. Both in going and returning our voyage was very happy, and our health could
not be better for continual work. Besides, magnificent and
unexpeaed results crowned our labors.
We reached Santiago de Cuba on the night of the 24th
�86
Apostolical Labors in Havana.
and took lodging in the Seminary, where the substitute of
the ecclesiastical Administrator of the Diocese resided,
together with the canons and priests, who had remained
faithful to the ecclesiastical authority. All of them were
very pious and edified us by the joy they felt at having suffered for the Lord.
The 25th was spent in preparing the plan of attack, and
on the 26th the work began in the following way :-Father
Santos was engaged alone to give the retreat to the clergy
who had been schismatical. The other priests also assisted, for some .hours, when their occupations allowed them
to do so. Father Santos gained their good will by his gentle manner of aB:ing, and induced them by his exhortations
to make a public retraB:ation of their errors ; so that one
of them, best qualified by his dignity, after a sermon of
Father Santos, made a solemn retraCtation, from the pulpit,
before a numerous concourse of people. His noble aB:ion
moved all to tears and feelings of thankfulness to God who
thus changed the hearts of men.
Meanwhile I was occupied in another task of less, though
not of little importance. In the morning I used to go to
the military hospital, where were to be found more than
one thousand inmates. As the departments were so vast
that it was impossible for me to go through them all, I
brought together the convalescents, who were very numerous indeed, and gave them an exhortation. Then I went
along the wards, stopping with those who were more dangerously ill. I exhorted them, in a loud voice, in order
that the others, also, might hear me; and thus I disposed
th~:: dying to receive the last sacraments and gave, at the
same time, religious instruB:ion to all.
In the evening I went to the prison, and there having
gathered together all the prisoners, I taught them the christian doCl:rine, and preached the eternal truths. So I was
engaged for ten days, which was the time spent by Father
Santos in giving the retreat to the clergy.
�· Apostolical Labors in Havana.
8;
The result of my labors was that more than sixty convalescents in the hospital, and eighty prisoners, received holy
communion: for the greater part of the latter it was the
first confession and communion made in all their life. The
former were Spanish soldiers, who knew·the christian doc-·
trine and had praCtised it, but had not received the holy
sacraments since the insurreCtion broke out, because they
were compelled by their military duties, to pass most of
their time in the woo.ds pursuing the enemy.
On the 6th of Feb., Saturday before Quinquagesima Sunday, we inaugurated our mission to the people in the Cathedral. I was very much afraid indeed. It was necessary
to speak on burning subjeCts, but in such a way that they
should not burn nor cause any pain. We had to convince
them of our mission of peace, but without a compromise with
error or vice. All lent us an attentive ear, and looked at
us with a sharp eye to form their opinion about what we
said, either from our words or from the gestures with
which they were delivered. But to what purpose all that
attitude of suspicion towards us? Almighty God was with
us, and spoke through us; and thus they became very soon
persuaded that nothing but charity moved us: their prejudices were overcome, and they surrendered unconditionally.
The Cathedral. which has five broad aisles, was not wide
enough to contain the people that flocked to !\ear the sermons. Such recolleCtion and such earnest attention I have
never seen in this Island, nor even in Spain. Father Santos
took for himself the most difficult task, the catechetical
instruCtions, and I preached the sermons, both using as
much freedom as if we had been in a thoroughly christian
hamlet: so sure were we of the docility and good will with
which they listened to us !
We spent the mornings of Ash Wednesday and the three
following days in explaining the christian doCtrine to the
children of the colleges, in two different churches; and on
the first Sunday of Lent the general communion of these
�88
Apostolical Labors in Havana.
little angels took place, with much edification to the older
people, who admired their devout and modest behavior.
We devoted the following week entirely to the older per- sons, attending to the confessional, in the mornings, and
-preaching, in the evenings, until Sunday, on which day
there was a general communion. This was not so numerous as those that take place in Spain under our Fathers;
but perhaps none of them numbers so many persons who
entirely reform their lives, or who come from so great a distance to receive holy communion.
Besides what was done in the hospital, whose inmates
were somewliat backward in christian instruction, and among
the prisoners, who, for the most part, had not received any
other sacrament than Baptism ; and besides what was done·
in the schools, where the children had been neglected, is it
not a wonder of G~d's grace, that more than three hundred
persons returned to the reception of sacraments for which
they had not cared for a long time-some of them for a
space of thirty years? Is it not a miracle of the grace·
of God to have gained to Him many schismatics and not
a few f;eemasons? Is it not a great result to have gained_
those souls, winning them back to respect for the Church
and to submission to her lawful pastors? And all this in
one month, by two priests only ! Had we remained there
during the whole of Lent, the fruit that we should have
reaped is incalculable: because it was precisely then,\vhen
all human respect was overcome, that those who had not
before attended the mission were hastening to join it, so
that up to the hour of our departure we kept on receiving
men of importance and hearing their confessions.
But time was pressing us, and it was necessary to return
to the college by the end of February; because on the zd
of March another mission was to begin, here in Belen,
which I was to preach; and Father Santos was to resume
his charge as secretary of the college.
We se.t off from Santiago de Cuba on the evening of
�Apostolical Labors in Havana.
the 24th, accompanied to the steamer by the ecclesiastical
Administrator, the canons, and all the seminarians, with
very remarkable demonstrations of affection towards us,
and of sorro'w at our departure.
The zd of March, one day after my arrival at Havana,
the spiritual Exercises in our Church of Belen were commenced. This Mission is giv~n every year at this time.
Father Rector gave the explanation of the christian doctrine, and I preached the sermons. There was a large attendance of men anxious to hear the explanation of the .
commandments of God, given with such clearness and abundance of practical instruction. The result was excellent ;
and if all did. not make their confessions, it was not for want
of conviction, but for other impediments very common in
this country. 'liVe hope, however, that God will grant that
the seed sown in their hearts may bear fruit some later day.
We closed this mission on the 14th, and I started, on the
Igth, fo~ Cardenas, where they waited for me to continue
the work begun in May of the previous year. I will tell
you now what had been done in the aforesaid month of
May.
I resided in the College of Sancti-Spiritus, and as our
Church was not yet entirely built, I had no place where I
could constantly preach: therefore I wrote to Father Rector of Belen, telling. him that if there was plenty of work,
I was •at his disposal. He took me at my word, and called
me to Belen. Here I preached some sermons during Lent,
and many in sundry villages, which have all the vices of the
cities without their culture and good manners.
The fruit was almost imperceptible among the adults. I
only obtained a general communion from the boys and girls,
the good effect of which is yet felt, thanks to the constant care of an excellent priest they have now.
Before that time the parish priest of Cardenas had asked
a Father to preach during Holy Week, but as I knew the
importance of such a city, I told him to wait for me until
VoL. vi-No. z.
12
�Apostoli'cal Labors £n Havana.
the month of May, when I should be at leisure to devote
myself to his parish. In faB:, about the middle of April
I was there. I commenced with the prisoners, and before
May, all of them, more than eighty in numbe·r, had made
their confession and received holy communion. I tried
to give all possible solemnity to this aB:; the military
Governor, the b~dy of Magistrates, and all the corporations of the city, accompanied by the band of the Volunteers, were present, so that it attraB:ed the attention, and
excited the curiosity of the city, whose inhabitants cared very
little for all that belongs to the Church: little iess was done
in the hospital.
With these preliminaries I began my preaching of the
month of May. I used in my sermons very few flowers,
but many big truths. There was a large attendance, and it
was always increasing, so that many a day the church could
not contain the people. The parish priest and all the clergy,
who are very exemplary there, helped me admirably. I
spent one week in the preparation of the children; and
gave_ them, at the end, holy communion. On the last Sunday of the month, the general communion took place, with
such a concourse, that it was necessary to have a second
communion on the festival of Corpus Christi, because we
could not hear the confessions of alL the people for the first.
The best of all was that the Congregation of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus was established, and continues to in"crease
and prosper. It is wonderful, that whilst before, there was
scarcely anybody who communicated in that parish, now
more than two hundred persons approach the sacred table
on the first Sunday of each m-onth.
It is worthy of mention that in the first general communion, at the end of May, six young ladies at least, whose
confessions I heard, and some of whom were twenty years
of age communicated then for the first time in their lives.
Then I went to Cardenas, as I was telling you, and
preached every day until the end of Holy Week. The ef-
�Apostolical Labors in Havana.
feB: of my labor was, to strengthen those who walked in the
right way, and to conquer some of the obstinate. The
communions of prisoners and sick persons, of children and
old people, took place as had happened in the other cases.
I then came back to Havana. A short time afterwards,
came the month of May with all its work. There was
daily preaching in our Church, but this did not prevent me
from going to other churches, where a Father of the Society
was asked for with great eagerness.
Those labors were not fruitless ; but where God gave his
special and very abundant benediCtion, was in the ACl: of
Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was too late
when the news came, so that there was not time, humanly
speaking, to prepare the people--:- doubtless because our
Lord wished that the power of his grace should be shown
all the more visibly.
In our Church, and I believe this was the only one, we
had a triduum of sermons before the day of the Consecration ; but there was time enough to print and distribute
twelve thousand copies of the order and wish of the Holy
Father, together with the aCl: of consecration ; and the reading of this document was so efficacious, and the grace by
which it was accompanied so abundant, that never have the
churches of Havana been attended by so many truly devout
men, all of whom went to confession and communion.
I will relate to you an incident, which happened in our
Church, and is of great significance:- A lady, one of
the highest rank in Havana, had, set in a ring, a precious
stone of great value, and of very pleasant associations to
her, because it was a family gift. This lady as she was
about to communicate, remarked that she had lost the diamond. She did not became disturbed, but communicated,
gave thanks, and went to the sacristy to leave her address,
in order that the lost treasure could be returned to her. She
said afterwards, with great simplicity, that she had not felt
anxious about it, because, as all the people who were in the
�Aposto!i'cal Labors m Havana.
Church at that time, had approached holy communion,
whoever had found the, diamond, would return it to its , '
owner; and so indeed it happened.
Almost the same attendance was remarked in the other
churches of the city, and an unusual movement was observed in the other parts of the diocese. \Vhat wonders
God works without the aid of anybody !
I related to you the principal things that occurred here,
but do not think we limited ourselves to them : it would
not be fair., Besides preaching in our church on every Sunday, every festival, and whenever any person asked a function, of tl;anksgiving, for instance, to be celebrated, we went
very frequently to preach in the churches of the city, and
of the neighboring country. Indeed if it were not that
Father ReCt:or is very circumspeCt: in the concessions he
makes, all the members of this community would not be
sufficient for these labors. Sometimes, however, it cannot
be denied that we are more than hurried to fulfil all our
labor. See the catalogue and you will remark that every
body in the College has plenty to do, that is to say, has his
own allotted burden. \Vithout negleCt:ing any of those
duties, many missions were given in Cardenas, in the beginning of November and about the end of the same month, in
the parish del Angel, of .this city; in December, in Regia, in
San Felipe of this city, during the spiritual exercises in
Belen; and besides that, some Fathers went away to preach
in Holy Week at Bejucal, Alquizar, Giiines and Quioican.
vVe are to give the spiritual exercises in five Convents, to
the seminarians, and to the Sodality of the Children of
Mary. We have to preach every month to the Sodalities
under our care: these are, St. Joseph, All Souls, and that
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We have to give an exhortation every week to the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart of
Mary, to the Conferences of St. Vincent of Paul, and I know
not h<?W many other things that I cannot now call to mind.
In short there is incessant work ; and if we consider the small
�Apostolical Labors in Havana.
93
number of workers, and the circumstances of this country
and climate, it would be quite impossible to perform it if God
our Lord did not care for us with a special providence. A
thousand times blessed be His name because He grants us
strength to \vork for His glory and the salvation of souls!
I omitted, on purpose, to speak about the Sodality de Ia
Ammciata, and of the feast they celebrated in the month of
May, since I know an account of all that was sent to your
house. I will only say that this Sodality is increasing, and
is destined to be one of the works that will give great glory
to God, here in Havana; for youths of great promise, who
will have a great influence on the habits of others, belong
to it.
We direCt: also a Sodality of Ladies, in which those of the
highest rank and standing in Havana are enrolled, and this
serves as a powerful check upon many of them, and a more
powerful allurement to virtue. At the present moment, they
are preparing a great catholic demonstration, after having
obtained from the ecclesiatical Administrator permission to
gain the Jubilee, provided they visit in procession three
churches only, and they are going to do it on the 9th, 10th
and I I th of this month. That will be a thing never seen in
Havana before, and will arouse the attention of the slothful.
I will tell you something about this after it shall have taken
place.
Now, my dear Father, it is time for me to bring this letter
to a close. It is quite a long one for me, engrossed as I am
by so many occupations, but it will seem rather short, I fear,
to you in your desire to learn all that we are doing here for
the glory of God. Indeed, I would like to relate to your
Reverence, and all our dear Fathers and Brothers, many
other things that could contribute to their joy in the Lord:
for the Society continues always working with great zeal
and, thanks to the blessings which Almighty God showers
upon her, all our undertakings produce grand results. May
God keep us every day more and more closely united to
�94
Our First Vacation at Sf. Inigoes.
Him, as we are children of the same Mother, and of so good
a Mother.
I recommend myself to the holy SS. and prayers of your
Reverence.
YouR sERVANT IN CHRIST,
JuAN HIDALGO.
(From tlze "Cartas de Po;•amze," :July, z876.)
OUR FIRST VACATION AT ST. INIGOES,
ST. MARY'S CO., MD.
It was an intensely hot day last 4th of July when the
philosophers were busy packing trunks and valises to take
with them to their new sea-side retreat. Nor can we forget the happy cheerful looks of all, but especially of the
younger portion, that bespoke the feelings of joyful expectation that filled their breasts.
The one great need which had been felt since the opening
of ·woodstock had been remedied.-A new villa through
the kind provision of superiors had .been built at the close
of the scholastic year I 876, on the shores of old St. Mary's
river and was ready for occupation.- Hence the joyous
bustle of preparation for departure.
Four P. M. came and with it the train that was to bear
them to Baltimore. Arriving there in about an hour, they
boarded the staunch old steamer Erpress that soon after
swung from her moorings to carry them to their destination.
We will not describe their trip, as we were not of the party,
it having been arranged that we theologians should have
our turn after the philosophers. We anxiously await news
from .the villa. After a few days, communications are received lauding it in the highest terms and speaking in the·
•
1
�Our First Vacation at St. Inigoes.
95
most enthusiastic maimer of the completeness with which
every thing necessary to their enjoyment had been provided.
Our philosophers found their most sanguine expeCtations
realized and they now thought of their return to Woodstock as of an event that was to terminate a most agreeable
vacation by the sea-side.
Meanwhile the theologians were biding their time at
Woodstock, and seeking, during those days of intensest
heat, a breath of cool air. Ah ! who can forget those days
of last July, with the thermometer, day after day, up to a
point frequently above a hundred?
Three weeks at length rolled by, and in the afternoon of
July 25th, there was another departure from Woodstock,
and this time it was a party oJ theologians. No fear was
depiCted on any countenance, no misgiving filled any breast
-all knew that the villa was a success .
•
The same boat lay at her wharf to convey the second party
to St. Inigoes. Steaming out of the basin, as the North
branch of the Patapsco is here called, attention was soon
attraCted to the wharves and immense Elevators of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company and, a little farther beyond, to the embankments of Fort McHenry, celebrated
for its noble and successful resistance to the British fleet in
the war r8 I 2.
Further down the Patapsco we pass Fort Carroll. At
North Point, celebrated as the site of one of the land -engagements of the war of 1812, we enter the Chesapeake
Bay. Night has already closed on us and soon the numerous lights appearing on our right announce to us that we·
are opposite Annapolis, the capital of our State. It is situated at the mouth of the Severn river.
We remain on deck to enjoy the refreshing breeze. At
about ten we pass the ll:fary Washington, conveying on their
return trip, our brothers, the philosophers. Our courses
lay in opposite direCtions-opposite, yet the same, for both
they and we were following the course marked out by obedi-·
ence. May our paths thus always converge!
�.g6
Our First Vacation at St. InigNs .
Early next morning we came in sight of the numerous
wharves at which our boat had to touch; we did not reach
our landing till some hours afterwards. At seven we bade
good bye to the very gentlemanly officers of the Express
and distributed ourselves amongst the fleet of row-boats
that had been left for us on the shore. A row of half an
hour brought us to the villa, when the priests who were of
the party prepared to say Mass and the others to assist.
After breakfast, the next thing in order was to take a
view of the surroundings. On all sides could be heard expressions of wonder and delight at the natural advantages
of the site"and the wisdom of superiors is seleCting it as a
place for vacation.
The villa is construCted with a view to comfort rather
then architeCtural beauty: It is seventy feet long by sixty
in width, and three stories high. On the first floor are situated the chapel, refeCtory, the rooms of Frs. ReCtor, Minister, and two smaller rooms for guests. On the second floor
are located a large recreation room, a spacious billiard room
and_ four smaller rooms for guests. On the third floor is
the general dormitory capable of accommodating fifty or
sixty. The building, as we intimated, was found to be
neither of Moorish nor Gothic design, but built in what
might be designated the country style, pure and simple.
The view from the point on which the villa has been
ereCted is certainly very grand. In front, the St. Mary's, St.
George's, and Potomac rivers, unite in their onward flow to
the Chesapeake, and form an expanse of water ten miles in
·width, and bounded on the south by the Virginia shore.
On the north our land is bounded by St. Inigoes Creek, a
beautiful body of water and large enough to float the assembled navy of the United States. Indeed it was for some
time seriously contemplated by the Government to establish
here a large naval station and the projeCt has not been
abandoned.
There are many places to which excursions can be made.
�Our First Vacation at St. Ini[;oes.
_ 97
St. George's Island, a few miles off, and once owned by the
Society, was the terminus of several excursions. Gunboat
Spring, a favorite locality for the crews of the gunboats that,
during the late war, guarded these waters, was a chosen
resort for boating parties. Chancellor's Point too became
familiar to our oarsmen. A few more daring spirits rowed
down the St. Mary's, crossed the Potomac and landed on
the Virginia shore. Theirs was a feat to boast of, but they
found no imitators to follow in their course and emulate
their fame.
Four miles up the St. Mary's river, and on the east bank,
is the site of old St. Mary's city founded by Lord Baltimore,
but of which not a vestige now remains. It is perhaps the
most charming site in the State, but St. Mary's was not
destined to be the metropolis of Maryland. Patriotism and
pleasure combined to make this the objeClive point with
many an excursion party. The innumerable inlets, tributaries of the St. Mary's, and in themselves large sheets of
water, gave to the boating a very pleasing variety.
With regard to the bathing, that most important feature
of summer resorts, it cannot be denied that St. Inigoes
possesses very decided advantages. It can be indulged in
freely and safely, and the water is sufficiently impregnated
with salt to make such exercise both refreshing and invigorating. The prevalence, at times, of sea-nettles is the only
drawback to enjoyment derived from this source. We cannot attempt to describe the senstion which follows the sting
of the nettle-It must be felt to be appreciated.
Those whose inclinations led them, even in the midst of
the pleasure season, to seek the spiritual welfare of their
neighbor, had opportunities for gratifying their pious bent.
On every Sunday and holy day the pulpit of the little church
near by was filled by one of the visitors-an arrangement
which proved grateful to both pastor and people. A s~ort
mission, too, was given, attended with the happiest results.
The crowds that flocked to the church from all the country
VoL. vr-No.
2.
13
�Our First Vacation at St. hzig,,cs.
around, despite bad roads, hot weather and the busy season,
their eager attention, close observance of the order of exercises and fervent reception of the sacraments gave proof of
the deep and lively faith within them. The simple, earnest
piety of the colored people, who form about a third of the
congregation, was particulary edifying. All were anxious
to avail themselves fully of the season of grace which the
mission inaugurated, and at the closing ceremonies, when the
Papal benediCtion was solemnly given, every portion of the
church and sacristy was filled with devout worshippers.
After thi~ ·'exhibition of sincere interest in their spiritual
welfare, it 5'eems hardly just to speak of St. Inigoes' congregation as lacking that spirit of faith and devotion to the
Church bequeathed them by their pious ancestors. They
certainly left upon the minds of those who witnessed the progress of the mission, the impresion that they were. ready
to respond heartily to any well-direB:ed efforts in their
behalf.
Besides the advantages which St. Inigoes so justly
claims as a spot where our days of vacation may be spent so
pleasantly and so profitably, it has other charms which must
forever endear it to the members of the Society. The history
of the Society in these parts is coeval with the settlement
of. Maryland and many of the earlie~t scenes of the history
are laid in and about St. Inigoes. A few miles off, the first
cross was reared on the soil by Jesuit hands, and the first
sacrifice offered to God. But a mile above us, the pilgrims
of the Ark and Dove landed in quest of a settlement. They
laid out the city of St. Mary's, and there our Fathers lived,
labored, and died. The very property on which the villa
is reared has descended to us from the pioneers ; and but a.
few yards distant, near where the modest residence of the
pastor now stands, the stately mansion till recently overlooked the river and bore witness to colonial times.
Near by, too, is still pointed out the site of the old church
which must have been built when St. Mary's ceased to be
�ucnnu •
Our First Vacation at St. Inigoes.
99
a city. It in turn yielded to the present edifice whose
erection dates from 1820. The adjoining graveyard holds
all that was mortal of the few of Ours whose place of burial
is known. It is to be regretted that reverence for the holy
dead did not urge their successors in the mission to place
above their remains some mark to tell the names of those
who lie beneath. This kindly office has been done for three
only. The marble shaft over the grave of Fr. Carberry,
the last buried at St. Inigoes, was reared by his flo_ck, and
is a fit memorial of his virtues and their devotion. His name
is still in benediCtion among the old members of the congregation.
It would be too long to enumerate the places and objeCts
which carry us back to the days of the first settlement:, and
serve as conneCting links between the present and the distant ,
past. There is scarcely a place of note in this portion of
St. Mary's County which does not borrow much of its interest from association with doings of the Fathers who
planted the faith in the mission of Maryland.
Amid such scenes, and with every facility for innocent and
healthful enjoyment, it is not strange that weeks went by
which seemed as days, and brought to a close the first" vacation at St. Inigoes, marked by constant evidence of the most
untiring solicitude and unwearying kindness on the part of
Superiors, and of lively appreciation and heartfelt gratitude
on the part of the Scholastics.
,t
�',
OSAGE MISSION.
OsAGE MissiON, NEOSHO Co., KANSAs,
DECEMBER 30th, I 876.
DEAR FATHER,
The health of Fr. Schoenmakers having been considerably impaired since his return from the Indian Territory, at
his own request he was relieved from the office of superior
of this mission, which he had held since April 29th, 1847.
His place was taken by Fr. Adrian Sweere, who came here
on the 6th of July, 1876.
The last ~pring was a very wet one. Rain fell without
measure and the floods that followed were unprecedented.
Both Fall river in the west and the Cana in the south occasioned an incalculable loss of property. In the Osage Reservation, down in the Territory, the Cana rose to a height
never known before. I saw the marks left by the water at
fifty feet over the ordinary level. People had to run to the
hills to save their lives, houses were badly damaged, crops
and fences were washed away. The Osage half breed settlements were almost ruined.
The Protestant Ministers, who have succeeded us in taking
care of the Osages, are in the habit of saying that the education we give is antiquated, and is not fit to give noble
aspirations and generous feelings to the youth.. Well, a little
incident which took place during the last flood comes just
in time to bring light on this subjeCt.
It had hardly rained for two days when the Osage Agency
which lies on the left bank of Deep ford, one of the tributaries of the Cana, was all flooded. Along the stream, quite
close . to the Agency, there stands a stone building, some
thirty-five feet high, and used as a steam mill. This was
soon invaded by the water in a fearful way. The employes
100
�Osage Mission.
101
having noticed the quick rising of the \vater, lost no time,
and all ran away as fast as they could, with the exception
of one, a young man who was sleeping some where above
stairs. The water however coming to his bed made him
get up. The poor fellow looked all around, and saw that
there was no longer any chance for him to 'get out by the
ordinary door, for the basement was already all filled up ; the
only way left open was that of going higher up, and as the
water was rising all the time, he was compelled to get on
the very roof of the building, and you may imagine with
what loud and pitiful cries he was calling for assistance!
He was heard, and a large number of people soon assembled
on the bank of the creek to see what could be done to save
him.
The water had formed quite a river between the mill and
the Agency. A skiff was procured and two stout men,
well provided with all kind of rigging to be ready for all
contingencies, started to the rescue of their friend. They
had gone but a few yards from the bank, when seeing how
high the waves were rising, and how rapid the current was,
they lost courage and gave up the undertaking ! At the
moment they had started on such a noble enterprise a universal cheering from the bystanders accompanied them for
a few minutes, but now that they return, a silence of death
prevails amongst the people ; they look at one another, not
knowing what to do ! In this general suspense behold a
brave young Osage Indian, by name Martin Nickatuka, advances with an air full of determination; without saying a
word, gets on the skiff, throws out all the rigging, with the
exception of two oars, and lets himself be carried down by
the stream.
People are bewildered at such daring, and wonder what
will be the success of the young brave! But Martin had
made his plan and well he knew what he was doing.
He had noticed that the waters rushing against the mill,
just as against an island, divided themselves into two streams
�102
Osage 1l1ission. _
rolling down with great rapidity, and meeting together into
a main current a good way below, leaving between the point
of junCtion and the building a large body of still water.
Now all the hope of Martin was to get into this harbor if
_possible. There was no time to lose.
' He had gone but few rods when seeing that the moment
was favorable, he made a dash a cross the current, and with
an herculean effort paddling his skiff over the waves he enters the calm water in safety. And now rowing his little
boat without any trouble reaches the building, and helping
the poor young man into his skiff, is steering quietly down
the streatii;· and after a while lands him among his friends.
This Martin Nickatuka, who is a married man some thirty
years old, was reared at our school, he well knows how little
sympathy the white men have for his race, he can tell you
how many wrongs his people have suffered, especially of
late years from white speculators. But he forgets all this,
and shows himself a good christian by returning good for
evil, even at the risk of his life.
1!1 consequence of this very wet season, our travelling
through these western plains not only became more laborious, but also more dangerous. However, we attended to the
needs of our people as usual, without any serious damage,
divine Providence always assisting. I}S, sometimes even in
most wonderful ways.
This last summer we ereCted another small church in the
beautiful little town of Neodesha, which lies at the confluence of Fall river with the Verdigris in the County of Wilson, some thirty-five miles south west of this Mission. I
had the first Mass in this church on the 6th of August,
Sunday in the oB:ave of St. Ignatius; and therefore I gave
the name of our holy Founder to the new church.
During the month of September I visited the Osages and
found them in a state of destitution. The Agent, who managed ~heir affairs for nearly three years, having squandered
all their money on the pretext of civilizing them, had
�Osage Mission.
brought them to a state of beggary. Visiting the settlements on the Big Cana, I heard that this vast Indian Territory south of Kansas had been formed into an Apostolic
PrefeB:ure, and I was officially assured that very Rev. Dom
Isidore Robot (with whom we are personally acquainted)
had been appointed by the Congregation de Propaganda
Fide as a PrefeCt Apostolic over this Indian Territory, nay
more, he had already visited the Osage settlements on Bird
creek. It was natural for me to conclude that my duties
with the Osages were now over, so bidding them farewell, I
left the Indian Territory. By this arrangement the Province of Missouri loses the missions she had amongst these
Indians since 1824.
I have at present nothing more to say in regard of the
Indians; but before I conclude these letters I am bound to
acknowledge that during the twenty-six years I have labored amongst them as socius of Fr. John Schoenmakers,
they have been very kind to me, and this I must say not
only of the Osages, but of all the other tribes with whom
I came in contaCt during this long period of time.
As to the result in christianizing them, if it has not been
as abundant, as perhaps it was expeCted, this is to be attributed to different causes. First, to the want of laborers in
this barren part of the Lord's vineyard ; for during our
long stay with them we never were i:nore than three priests,
and for a good while we were only two. One of us being
bound to mind the temporalities of this mission, and the
other having to attend to the church, to the education of
the Indian children, and at the same time visit the half
breeds, who formed quite a little parish, there remained only
one free to devote himself to the good of 'the wild Indians.
And as these, according to the different seasons of the year,
now pitching their camp in the midst of large forests, and
then moving on the top of very high hills, keeping always
their towns at a good distance one from another (say one
day's travel), it follows that the poor missionary charged
�104
Osage· Jliissiou.
with the duty of visiting them, not only had very hard
work in running after them, but never could do anything
permanent amongst them, and all that he could do was to
keep them friendly, and induce them to sent their children
to this school.
Another great difficulty we met with during the many
years we lived with the Osages, was the want of funds necessary to effeCt: anything amongst them ; for with the exception of a small allowance yearly given us by the U. S.
Government for the board and tuition of the Indian children,
we never re~eived any assistance either from the Propagation
of the Faith' (established in Lyons, France) or from our Rt.
Rev. Bishop, or from our Superiors, or from any Catholic
Associations of the different States of the Union ; but as an
old proverb says, we were left to paddle our own canoe the
best we could.
Finally the greatest obstacle we had was a systematic
opposition of Government Agents to all that we were doing,
or would advise to be done for the temporal as well as spirituaLadvantage of our poor Osages.
In regard to the Osage half breeds, who are the more
en lighted part of the nation, I must say that not only they
always treated me well, but generally they also answered to
my calls, and attended to their christian duties as regularly as
circumstances would allow, though they well knew that in
so doing they were incurring the disgrace of their Agents,
who always abuse them because of the religion they are
professing. May the Lord bless them, and grant them to
persevere in their good dispositions.
Before I finish these letters I should chronicle the death
of Fr. Philip Colleton, our colaborer in this mission for over
eight years. He was a zealous, energetic, and very popular
missionary. He was gifted with a great power, that of
~ringing the most obstinate sinners to the Sacraments of
Penance and holy Eucharist. He had a great devotion
to the Mother of God, and did his best to propagate the
,
�Retreats and Missions by tlte Fat/zers of Maryla11d. 105
same amongst the people. He was brought to his end
almost suddenly, by a violent cough, which afflicted him for
several months. He died on the first day of this month
being fifty-five years old, of these he had passed twenty- '
four in our Society.-R. I. P.
·
PAUL MARY PONZIGLIONE,
s. J.
RETREATS AND MISSIONS BY THE FATHERS
OF MARYLAND.
Since our last sketch of missionary labors, our Fathers
have again gone through the usual round of Retreats to
Priests, Seminarians and Religious Communities. Fortyfive retreats are on the list for the vacation of 1876, all given
during the excessively hot months of July and August.
This work at such a season is somewhat severe ; but it is
cheerfully done in view of the great good it produces; and
as the .vacation is the only time at which the Fathers are
free to give Retreats and the communities to make them,
nothing remains but to make a virtue of necessity and to
enter bravely on th~ task, in the hope· of the gratification
experienced when it is happily accomplished:
Our missionary bands have not been idle since the last
report. A mission at St. Joseph's church, Providence, R. 1.,
gave forty-five hundred communions, and thirteen adults
baptized; besides a confirmation class of three hundred
and twenty-seven, seventy of whom, though advanced in
years, had never received Holy Communion, and many had
never been to Confession.
The next mission was at the church of the Immaculate
Conception, in the same city. On the 2d or 3d day, five
children were baptized, presented by their mother who had
VoL. vx-No.
2.
14
�''
106 Retreats and Jlfissi'ons by the Fathers o.f JJ,fary'land.
been touched by the grace of God after many years of
negleCt:. Another mother came to one of the Fathers, in
great distress about her three children, who for the sake of
clothes, had been sent to a Protestant church by their ·
negligent father. The missionary, of course, expressed his
sense of such conduCt: in somewhat forcible language, which
may have been reported at home. At any rate, on the following evening, the negligent man sent his eldest child to
confession and removed them all from the danger of perversion: five thousand communions and seven hundred and
twenty-four- confirmations, crowned the work.
On the 23d May, the Fathers left Providence after four
weeks of severe and uninterrupted labors. After a few days
of much needed repose at Holy Cross College, Worcester,
they went to Portsmouth, N.H., where a small congregation
gave them comparatively easy work. Nine hundred communions was the result, together with two hundred and
seven confirmations, the half of adults.
Our southern band had but one mission since our last
notice. Pittsburg was the field of labor for two weeks in
June, and yielded a good harvest to the three Fathers engaged there. This closed the spring campaign ; the summer
months being devoted to the Retreats. Early in September
- the missionary work was resumed, but this time by one
band only; as sickness, fatigue and old age had prevented
the formation of a second.
September 16th found the Fathers at Chicopee, Mass., for a
mission which gave the usual result of considerable fatigue,
rewarded by consoling effeCl:s of divine grace. No particulars however have reached us in regard to number of
communions, etc.
OCl:ober 8th a mission was begun in the Cathedral of Providence; the success of previous missions in the city had given
the Fathers a great name; and in consequence, their reappearance was hailed with enthusiasm and the church was
more than filled at every exercise. The "notes" of the mis-
�Retreats and Missions by tlte Fatlzers of Mmyland. 107 ,
sionary call it "a grand success.-The church is packed at
night; many have been turned away for want of room; two
or three hundred must have been obliged to go away without having heard the preacher. As the church is old and
poorly construB:ed, the Bishop and priest are uneasy at
the crowds that come into it." ExtraCts from the public
papers were sent to us, all speaking in the highest terms of
the success of the Fathers but we all know sufficiently well
the weight of such praises, and therefore we care not to
insert them here. It is however worth noticing that such
sentiments expressed by the secular press show that Catholic works and praCtices are looked upon with less prejudice now than they were some years ago in New England.
It is a sign of progress in the right direCtion.
At the close of the first week, the letters tell us that
four thousand communions had been given. The Bishop
says that the women, to whom the first week was devoted,
have been thoroughly roused. A large number of difficult
marriage cases, hardened sinners, persons who had abandoned the church and were not known to be Catholics, had
been attended to.
·
.
The second week was for the men, and produced similar
fruits. Eight thousand communions were announced at the
close of the mission, as the result, and on the last day, three
hundred adults were confirmed by the Bishop. The papers
of the city, with one voice, proclaimed this as the grandest,
and most fruitful mission ever given in Providence.
Next came New Bedford, Mass., and here the political
excitement inseparable from a Presidential eleB:ion was to be
dreaded as an impediment, to say nothing of bad weather.
But in spite of all difficulties, the communions were thirtythree hundred, or one thousand more than they had been at
the last mission there not long before. Six converts were
baptized, many marriages reCtified; but perhaps the best fruit
of all was the ereCtion of two Sodalities, one for young men
and one for young ladies. These give the best promise of
permanence to the conversions wrought by the mission.
�108 Retreats aud flfi'ssions by tlze Fatlzers of Jrfary!mzd.
Abington, Mass., was the next on the list. There had
been some trouble in this parish, and it was feared that many
would not approach the sacraments. But the grace of God
overcame all obstacles. . "The mission at Abington," says
the letter of Nov. 29th, "ended last Sunday night with the
usual ceremonies. \Ve thought it best to remain over a day
· for the stragglers; and it was worth while, for some of the
people could not come at any other time and some hardened sinners held back, but in the end came to confession.
The population is much scattered; in faCt, it is made up of
people from small towns in the neighborhood. Many persons hav; ··to come over country roads, five, six, and even
ten miles. The larger part of the congregation is at Rockland, about two miles off. The first days of the mission
were very stormy, and yet·the people attended well. When
the storm was over they ·came in crowds. The pastor
thought there were about two thousand people all told; we
had two thousand communions. Much good was effeCted.
Many had said they would never come to church again ;
the _young men, especially, had fallen away. The pastor,
an excellent man and a graduate of vVorcester, was extremely anxious about them, as many had not been to
Mass since the trouble began. Thanks be to God, I think
all came and made the mission. Certainly there was no lack
of young men at confession. It was the impression of the
pastor that all had made the mission. Many who had been
away for years and had weathered two other missions, came
up this time. and were reconciled. This 'people as a body
is the best I have seen here; living in the country, most of
them having their pieces of land, they are free from the
taints of our cities. Temperance is held is esteem by them.
By the by, our superior was so much pleased that he gave
a leCture on Monday in order to encourage the members of
the T. A. Society.
The Sodalities for young ladies and young men were
looked to and stirred up last Sunday. I think we have
�Retreats and Missions by tlze Fatlzers
of Maryland. 109
every reason to be satisfied, and to all appearances the faith
has been revived where it had received a severe shock."
The next letter speaks of a mission given at Cambridge,
near Boston, the site of the celebrated Harvard University.
Of course, the mission was not called for by the students of
the University, but by the zealous pastor of the Catholic
congregation of the town. The letter also gives a sort of
summary of previous missions, and hence we shall insert it
here in full. It is dated Dec. 23d, 1876. "The mission at
Cambridge ended a week ago, and now two of our bands
are resting here whilst the superior has gone to a little place,
Turner's Falls, Mass., to give a mission. Our labors in
Cambridge were quite consoling, some hard cases turned up,
though there had been a mission there last February. Some
veterans came to confession who had not surrendered for
many years before.
The cause of temperance, which our superior advocated
in February, had thriven meanwhile, and in the confessional we saw the good effects. At the end of the mission,
he gave another lecture on temperance and about four hundred men took the pledge.
There were about three thousand communions in ten days.
Six or seven of the students of the University attended and
made the mission. One of the young men, a sophomore,
called to see about his vocation to the priesthood; beyond
this move of his I know nothing. There were four baptisms, two being the children of an infidel, who lost the faith
sometime ago. His daughter, a young woman, made her
first communion, and another daughter, her first confession.
Such cases of neglect are not rare in these parts. The
father did not come to the mission.
Altogether we have had this season more than twenty
thousand communions: there were about twenty baptisms.
In Chicopee, the point most worthy of note was the good
done to the drunkards, though the labors of the band were
eminently successful in other respects.
�1 10
Retreats and Jlfission,s by tlzc Fatlters of Maryland.
In Providence, many persons who for a long time had
negleCted their duties and had been dallying with Protes. tantism returned to the Church; an apostate made a public recantation. Several marriages were reCtified by the
Bishop: three hundred adults were confirmed, about a hundred of whom made their first communion. The Bishop
was highly delighted, as you may judge from his letter to
me some time ago.
The mission of New Bedford was a success. Many marriage cases, some of long standing, were settled. The Protestants attended regularly, which is quite unusual in this part
of the world. A few adult Catholics were prepared for first
communion and these would have been a large class for
confirmation, but the Bishop could not come.
Abington, of which I wrote to you so recently was up to
the standard, though there had been so many causes.to
shock the faith of the people.
I shall be in Manchester, N. H., from the 28th to the 1st
proximo, to give a triduum to some Sisters of Mercy. Our
next mission will be in Dedham."
The mission at Turner's Falls, referred to in the preceding letter is thus recorded in a letter from the Father who
gave it: "The congregation is small but very good. They
come four and five miles over the snow in every cold weather, and attended regularly all the exercises. Many Prot·
estants assisted and their prejudices were removed. On
Sunday, 24th Dec. I sang late Mass and preached, and did
the same on Christmas day, as the Pastor went to another
station five miles away. The poor people never had a mission before. Many had been away from the sacraments for
. ten or twenty years. There were four hundred commu·
nions and one hundred confessions of children who had
not made there first communion."
This closed the centennial year, 1876, and we have no
doub.t that there was more joy in heaven over the results of
these missions and retreats, than over all the display of
worldly pride and prosperity at the grand Exhibition.
�Retreats lmd Missio!ls ~Y t!ze Fatlzers of Maryland. I I I ·
The year I877 is too young yet to furnish much matter
for our notices. But we can quote another letter to close
'this account, in the hope of more materials rn future. The
date is 1st Feb. I877· "The '!zoly commissiollers' have just
returned from giving a very successful mission at Brighton,
Mass. Many who had allowed the last mission to pass without coming to the church, attended regularly this time and
received the sacraments. Brighton in a sui gmens place ;
a goodly proportion of the population is made up of drovers,
butchers, jockeys and stable boys; and at first sight, one
would prefer christians of more lenity, to use a phrase from
moral; but I must say that they made the mission well;
and we look at results, not antecedents. The hardest sinners, many who had not been inside of a church for years
and were looked upon as almost lost to the fold, came and
made the mission. About two dozen, mostly adults, were
prepared for their first communion; there were fifteen hundred communions, and more than seventeen hundred confessions. At the end of the mission, a Sodaiity was organized
with two hundred members to begin with. By the way, I am
glad to see that Sodalities are becoming quite popular in
New England, and that they are doing a great deal of good.
Some parishes in Boston have large and well- managed
Sodalities.
During the Christmas vacation I gave a triduum inN. H.
The pastor of the place treated me very kindly. He is a
great friend of the Society, and took occasion to say, whilst
I was with him, that the coming of Fr. Me Elroy to these
parts was a new era for the church and that his labors have
been followed up and improved on by excellent men. He
notices a happy change in affairs in the last twenty years,
and says that it is in a great measure, if not wholly, due to
the Society, that sent good and zealous men here whose
example was imitated by others and was the cause of emulation to all."
�112
Execution in Cltarlcs Co., Md.
Finally let me invite your readers to unite with me in
giving heartfelt thanks to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the
graces and blessings bestowed on the mission, only a few of
which can be known or mentioned. Let us implore the
Divine Heart to increase the number of zealous laborers,
to bless their words with power to melt the hardest hearts,
and to multiply the fruits of the Precious Blood.
P.M.
THE EXECUTION OF CHARLES H. SIMPSON
AND MARTIN HENRY, ON THE 9TH OF FEB.,
1877, AT PORT TOBACCO, CHARLES CO., MD.
'-
Early in November of 1876 I visited two prisoners, who
had recently arrived from Leonardtown, in St. Mary's Co.
I found them in solitary confinement, charged with a murder and robbery, \vhich had been perpetrated on the previous 9th of July. I was not only admitted, but welcomed
to communicate with them by all the public officials. The
only reply that Martin Henry made to my offers of instruction, was, that he was State's evidence and that he was not
exposed to the risks of a trial, much less to the probability
of condemnation. His public confession, which he made
implicating the other prisoner, afforded him ample protection, whilst he awaited only the time of court to testify and
go forth as a guardian of society. I could make very little
impression upon him and left him to seek Charles H. Simpson. Simpson determined to deny not only all partiCipation
in the crime for which they had been arrested, but his presence in the county at the time of the alleged murder. He
expr~ssed his thanks for my visit, but his mind being wholly
absorbed by the thoughts of his impending trial, he could
�-Et:ecution m Clwrles Co., Md.
I I
3
attend very little to religious discourse. My first visit then
resulted merely in a manifestation of good will, profitless
to the prisoner and discouraging to myself.
Their trial came on, they were furnished with able counsel, no direa proof could be produced against them, yet so
conneeted was the circumstantial evidence,· that no man
reasonably doubted their guilt. The verdiet was murder in
the first degree. The sentence of death, after three days of
investigation in open court and three days more after it had
been concluded, was solemnly pronounced by Chief justice
Brent, the least affeeted persons being the prisoners themselves.
They were now doomed to die; and so great was the public indignation, excitement and terror arising from the crime
they had committed and the danger to which the unprotea, ed portion of the community might be exposed, that no
voice was raised in their behalf and no commutation of sentence could be expeeted. One of their counsel, who was a
Catholic, visited them in prison and clearly stated to them,
the necessity of preparing for another world and the futility
of delay. He told them also, that however diverse might
be the path which ministers might point out to them as
leading to heaven, the only secure road was the Catholic
Church. He had been their greatest friend, and the assurance that the day which the Governor appointed for their
execution would be the last of their lives, induced them to
listen seriously to religious truths.
Martin Henry was born in Louisiana of a Catholic mother
who died when he was about two years old ; until six years
of age, he lived with a Catholic woman, but after that time,
although his master and family called themselves Catholics,
he was taught neither the faith nor the praCtices of the
Catholic religion. He grew up like a wild shrub in the
garden, neither cultivated by the hoe nor pruned by the
knife, or like a' beast of burden, regarded as profitable for
VoL. VI-No. 2.
IS
�I
14
Erecution in Cltarlcs Co., Md.
the amount of labor he might perform and the. sum he
might bring if he were to pass into other hands. After the
emancipation he left Louisiana and lived for several years
in ConneCticut. Being gifted with a good memory, he there
learned to read; but indulging in intoxicating drink and various kinds of dissipation, he was compelled to seek an asylum in some other place. He came to Washington city,
and thence to the works on the southern Maryland railroad,
and there he became acquainted with Charles H. Simpson.
Simpson was born in Fauquier County, Va., and belonged
to a family n~med Ferguson. His master and mistress, who
were advanced in age, regarded their colored people as if
they were their own children, imposing no restraints and
allowing them almost unbounded license. Simpson particularly was a pet, encouraged to show his manliness in
beating every boy of like age on the farm and in the neighborhood. He knew no law but his own will, no fear but
that some one stronger than himself would retaliate. The
lady of the family occasionally attended church ; the colored- people's church was amusement on Sundays. He
grew up a reckless savage ; gross pleasures were his aim;
anything that thwarted this purpose, was the only evil objeCt
in the world. After the emancipation he wandered away
from Virginia into Washington and .thence to St. Mary's
County where he lived probably for the space of two years.
There he usually attended St. Joseph's church and learned
in this cursory way some of the doCtrines and many of the
praCtices of the Catholic faith. There also he met Martin
Henry.
The work on the railroad in St. Mary's County was soon
suspended, and the two new acquaintances journeyed to
Washington, working in that city and the country adjacent,
sometimes together, sometimes apart. Late in the month
of June of last year, Simpson went down to Charles County,
. where-he had previously worked at the fisheries, and whilst
�Execution in Charles Co., Md.
IIS
there formed a plan of robbing a store, which was considerably exposed to danger, near the high road. Fearful of
being unable to accomplish this alone, he proceeds to
Washington again, where meeting Martin Henry, .te induces
him to accompany him on the projected expedition. They
landed at Glymont, called at one or two places on their
way to the store, asking some questions rega~ding it which
subsequently became strong evidence against them. They
even entered the store after dark, bought some little articles ;
deterred however by the presence of two or three men,
whom they found in the store, they retired and taking their
position behind an adjoining fence, they waited until the clerk
closed the store and sought rest for the night in his accustomed place in the attic. Owing to the great heat, the windows were left open, and he lay upon a pallet on the floor,
placing a revolver near his hand; although so unusual are
robberies in our county, that no danger was apprehended.
The moon was shining brightly. The men ascended a shed,
looked through the open window, then one keeping guard,
the other ascended by another shed in the rear, struck the
sleeping man three blows, obtained a small sum of money,
with other trifling articles, and fled towards the nearest railroad station. The cars had however passed before they arrived. The robbery and murder were discovered early in
the morning, parties were sent out to the steamboat landing
and along the railroad; yet they escaped to Washington and
thence to Montgomery County, where they lay concealed
nearly three months notwithstanding large rewards had been
offered by the County Commissioners, the people of the
ndghborhood, where the store was located, the masonic
lodge to which the young man belonged, and the Governor
of the State of Maryland. Simpson wrote a letter to a
woman in St. Mary's County, with whom he had lived.
She, unable to read, asked the gentleman in whose house
she was employed to read it for her. Some obscure hints
led him to believe that Simpson might be connected with
�II6
Executio1t zn Charles _Co., Md.
the recent events in Charles Co. Following up the clew, he
obtained additional information, arrested the parties in Mont-,
gomery County, confined them in the jail at Leonardtown,
where they were sufficiently identified to effeCt an indiCtment
against them by the Grand jury of Charles County.
Such a sight as an execution for murder had not been
witnessed in our community for more than fifty years, the
excitement was great, mingled with pity, particularly when ,
it became known how their religious training had been
negleCted in their youth. Many and fervent prayers were
offered up for them, and to these we must attribute the divine mercy so signally displayed in their regard.
I visited them again after their condemnation with different results from my previous attempts.
The hours of their incarceration became wearisome,
crowds flocked to see them, asking them curious and useless
questions, so that they begged the guards to allow no one
ingress except myself and their lawyer friend, who still
continued his charitable attentions to them. In my intercourse with them in the beginning, I did not allow them
to speak of themselves or their past life, I sought no details
of their crime, my purpose was to gain their good will by
making my visit a forgetfulness for them of their present
misery and a relief from their apprehension of their fate. I
related to them the examples of ·scripture, displaying the
mercy of God, and the quaint anecdotes scattered among the
writings of devout authors. My appearance, I was glad to
see, was soon welcomed as a relief, they would eagerly ask
when I would return and always tell me what had occurred
during my absence. They were especially gratified, when I
knelt down, as I usually did before leaving, and prayed for
them. As soon as I perceived that I had softened their
untutored hearts, I began to instruCt their intelleCts in the
truths of faith, to which they now listened with wonderful
docility. Simpson admitted every article I propounded to
him·as soon as announced, but Martin Henry, who was of a
�Exemtion in Cltarles Co., hid.
II7
much more acute intellea, oftentimes proposed objeaions
that surprised me, and he would believe nothing unless he
perceived the evident proofs, but when once convinced, I felt
assured that he would suffer martyrdom rather than deny his
faith. Simpson too was often despondent, Henry was generally cheerful, revolving something in his mind that I had
taught him. Henry, after some time, when he 4ad learned
that sin was forgiven by sacramental confession, was anxious
to confess, even before I thought him sufficiently prepared.
Simpson procrastinated regarding his Baptism, and only in
the afternoon of Christmas day was he at length received
into the fold of Christ. To prepare them for the first communion was, I feared, a very serious undertaking, and how
could I predispose men so gross to believe a mystery, the
very avowal of which staggered the mind of the Jews, when
they heard it announced even from the lips of the Messiah !
Simpson as usual seemed to admit it without apparently
comprehending what I taught him, but Henry required the
most complete and ample arguments ; but when he once
understood and believed it, it became as it were an ocean of
the mercy of God, an oasis in the desert along which he
journeyed, an assurance that, notwithstanding the multitude
of his follies, obedience to his Saviour compelled him to
take that Saviour to himself and to lean on His bosom during
the fearful passage over the valley of death.
I was compelled to be absent about a week, and Fr. Wiget
with his usual zeal and goodness continued their instruaion
until I returned. I had chosen the 1st of February as the day
upon which they were to receive, but it seemed, that all the
old people had chosen that day to be sick and threaten to
die, for I was incessantly occupied in riding for two or three
days before and also after that time in attending them, and
it was only on the fifth, the festival of the Martyrs of Japan,
that they met for the first time since their confinement in
the County. After confessing and long prayers they at
length received the Lamb of God, who had been treated
�118
Execution in Clzarles Co., Md.
like a slave, that He might redeem the slaves of sin; who
had been chained and imprisoned like themselves and who
had died an ignominious death, even as they were to die
ignominiously. These analogies gave them great comfort;
from Monday until the following Friday, the day of their
execution, they sought to be absolutely alone and unobserved by anyone. Some of the young men who guarded
them, read for Simpson during a large portion of the day,
when I could not be present, and both only thought of preparing for the great aCt: of expiation. They frequently
expressed !heir gratitude to God, that they had not been
·seized by a mob, as there had been some fear, and that they
had so many facilities for repenting for their sins and preparing for their final exit from the world. Many benevolent people sent them little delicacies from time to time as
a token of their sympathy and a solace in their· sorrows;
and as the day of their death drew near, I recommended
them to the prayers of our different congregations, and the
good people, who had been always zealous for their salvation,_redoubled their supplications to the throne of mercy.
I said Mass for them on the morning of their first communion and also on the "Friday of their death. One family
daily recited the Litany for a good death, another made a
Novena, others offered up communions, and the name by
which they were called was not the murderers, but the poor
prisoners. Early in the morning of the 6th of February, I
returned to the jail where I had spent some time the previous night, heard their confessions for the last time and administered the holy communion, when after thanksgiving,
Fr. Wiget arrived and kept their minds devoutly occupied,
whilst I retired for some hours to say Mass and then returned to accompany the men to the scaffold. The execution
was to take place between the hours of ten and two o'clock.
The Sheriff had been advised not to delay to the last instant, _through fear of some disorderly scenes that might
occur among a promiscuous crowd assembled to witness
�Exemtion ill Cltarles Co., Md.
II9
what was to take place. About the hour of eleven the pris- '
oners proceeded from the jail, accompanied by Fr. Wiget
and myself reciting in a low tone the 5oth psalm. They
walked firmly, ascended the scaffold without any assistance, .
meekly submitted to the adjusting of the rope and the binding of their hands and feet, in imitation of Him whose feet
were bound to the wood of the cross by cruel nails. They
had intended, but declined, to say anything, likewise in
imitation of Him, who submitted like a lamb when led
to the slaughter. I recited a prayer aloud, and then the
prisoners and ourselves, whilst the vast crowd uncovered
their heads, recited the aa of contrition ; a kiss of the
crucifix, a moment more, and these unfortunate, yet happy
men were suspended between heaven and earth. A few
moments and their souls appeared before Him who had
been so merciful a Redeemer to them here, there we trust
an indulgent judge.
In a short space of time, the bodies in their coffins were
placed in a wagon, followed by the guards for a short distance, where halting I prayed aloud again, and then the
guards returned and St. Joseph's colored Society accompanied them to St. Thomas' church, where they lay until 9
o'clock the next· day, when after celebrating Mass for
their souls, we buried them with the usual prayers for interment; and they now after all their wanderings, find rest
under the shadow of the cross, in which they trusted, so
late yet so sincerely.-Requiescant in pace.
F. McATEE, S. J.
I
�RETREAT AT ST. IGNATIUS' CHURCH, BALTIMORE-FORTY HOURS' DEVOTION.
\
LoYOLA CoLLEGE, MAR. 8th, 1877.
REV. DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
I send you an account of the retreat given to the Sodality
of the B. V. "Mary, attached to our Church, in the hope that
it may prove a source of interest and edification to your
readers. The retreat began on the first Sunday of Lent,
and was conducted by Fr. Me Gurk. The opening sermon
was given in the evening at 8 o'clock, at which time the
Sodality had assembled and filled up about three-fourths oi
the pews. The remaning portion of the church was occupied by such members of the congregation as had accepted
the invitation, extended to all, to join in the exercises with
the S-odality.
A sermon was preached each evening during the week,
followed by BenediCtion of the Blessed Sacrament. The
large attendance and edifying demeanor of the Sodalists
and others engaged in the exercises, were a subject of admiration to all. It was very evident that the preaching was
of that kind which is intended to go to the heart, and that
in this particular case it had certainly reached its mark.
On the following Sunday the retreat was brought to a
close at the 7 o'clock Mass, at which a sermon on perseverance was delivered. At this Mass, the Sodality approached
the Holy Table in a body. It was, indeed, a most consoling sight, to see rail after rail, first of men, then of women,
returning to their pews, after having received their Lord,
. their countenances beaming with devotion. Owing to the
excellent arrangements made, there reigned that order and
regularity which contributed much to the fervor and devo120
�,,
St. Ignatius' Clturclt, Baltimore, Md.
I2 I ·
tion of all. The retreat was certainly a success. God was evidently dwelling in the midst of His holy sodalists and their
fri.ends. Owing to the large number that received holy
communion, the Mass was not concluded till half-past eight.
This, however, had been anticipated, and the 8 o'clock Mass
for the people was celebrated, according to previous announcement, in the basement.
The Sodality is now is a most flourishing condition,
being constantly augmented by new accessions to its ranks.
Last September, Fr. Reetor assumed the charge of the Sodality and infused new life and vigor into the organization
The meetings are held every Wednesday evening. On
the 8th of last December, feast of the Immaculate Conception, a reception into the Sodality took place, and one
hundred and thirty-three new members were received. The
church was very tastefully illuminated, and an eloquent discourse was preached to the Sodalists by V. R. Fr. Provincial.
The Sodality now numbers about six hundred members.
On the Sunday that marked the close of the retreat to
the Sodality, the Forty Hours' Devotion was commenced.
The Solemn High Mass of Exposition took place at halfpast ten o'clock. The music was excellent and the decoration of the altar strikingly grand.
During these three days a constant stream of worshippers
was pouring in and out of the church, and at all the services the sacred edifice was full. The members of the congregation showed an ardent desire to gain the Indulgence
attached to the Devotion and to give a testimony of their
love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The number of
communions was over two thousand.
An incident conneCted with the Forty Hours' Devotion
must not be omitted, since to our mind it was the most
beautiful, most touching event of the three days. On the
Sunday on which the Devotion commenced, the Sundayschool children were notified that they would visit the
Blessed Sacrament in a body. Accordingly, at half-past
VoL. VI-No. 2.
I6
�122
'
St. Ignatius' Clwrclz,
Balt~·more.
fifd.
three in the afternoon, they filed into the church, under the
charge of their teachers, numbering about six hundred; they
filled up about three-fourths of the pews. When all had
arrived in their places, at a signal from Fr. Denny, the
church was filled with most charming music-six hundred
innocent hearts were pouring forth their tribute of love and
praise to Jesus enthroned above the altar. It was a spectacle to make angels rejoice and men weep tears of tenderest devotion. We felt that there was something more moving
still than earnest speech, more touching yet than eloquent
discourse, and for us it was the sweetly-harmonious hymning of six h~ndred innocent children. After singing several
hymns with that unison and harmony that could come only .
from long and patient training, and with the ardor and love
born of youthful, innocent devotion, the children formed
in line to return to their school, whilst we reluCtantly prepared to descend from that heaven to which their tender,
moving melodies had transported us.
A word in conclusion about the colleetions recently
taken up in the churches of the city for the Pope. It gives
us pleasure to record, that as St. Ignatius' Church exceeded
all the others in the promptness with which the call was
responded to, so has it surpassed all in the amount collected. The returns received at th~. Cathedral make the
following exhibit: St. Ignatius, $95 I, I 6; next highest,
Cathedral, $833,62.
YouRs IN CHRIST,
P. H. T., s. J.'
�,I
MISSION IN ST. MARY~S CHURCH,
PROVIDENCE, R. I.
HoLY CRoss CoLLEGE,
MARCH 8th, I87J.
VERY REV. FATHER PROVINCIAL,
The mission given by the Fathers at Providence, in St.
Mary's church, where we gave one last year, has had more
than the usual success. Hundreds made the mission this
time who did not come near the church last spring-hundreds of hard cases, sadly in need of reconstruCtion. The
pastor is delighted with the wonderful fruit of OJ.lr labors.
During the first week of the mission, when the women
crowded the confessionals, we could see the good effeCt: of
the last mission; most of them had been to their duties
several times during the interval, at least once. The
church was fearfully crowded every night of the women's
week. I say fearfully, for I have no little dread when I see
the crowds in the churches here and know at the same time
the poor exit in. case of danger. But if this were the case
in the women's week, what ought to be said of the men's
week. The crowd had to invade the sanB:uary, though I
had a detachment of fifty adults under instruCtion for first
communion; whilst two gentlemen had a class of a hundred
boys for the same purpose. This crowd continued during
the whole week, indeed, I might say for the two weeks.
The popularity of Fr. Superior seems to .be on the increase;
and I think that what I said before is true, that no man in
the United States could do more in Providence than he.
The pastor of St. Mary's, in a printed circular, estimates
his congregation at five thousand souls. We had five thousand communions. About sixty adults were prepared for
the sacraments of Penance and holy Eucharist. Eight per123
�124
Dcat!t of Fr. Vito Carro:::zini.
sons have been baptized, or are preparing for baptism. An
unusual number of marriage cases was settled, as the bishop
gave us ample powers in this regard. Altogether, the mission was the hardest we have had this year, from the fact
that we had to do all the work ourselves during the day
time, and had some help only at night. During the two
weeks I spent seven and eight hours almost daily in the
confessional. vVe were much pleased to see the number of
young men who attended the mission and received the sacraments.
I think fiv~ thousand communions must have been brought
about by persons from oth.er parishes;_ and yet we know
that many who went to confession to us did not receive at
St. l\Iary's. I think we might add five hundred to the five
thousand,,as the number of communicants, who availed
- themselves of the mission.
J. A.M.
IN MEMORIAM
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF FR. VITO CARROZZINI, S.
J.
On the I Ith of January last, Rev. Fr. Vito Carrozzini
breathed his beautiful soul, adorned with many virtues and
rich in merits, into the hands of our Blessed Redeemer.
We thought it would prove of no little interest to all our
_readers, most of who!Jl were personally acquainted with the
good Father, to set before them a few glimpses of his life,
which was truly exemplary and closed by a most edifying
and consoling death. Fr. Carrozzini was born in Soleto,
near the city of Leece, in the southernmost part of Italy, of
parents blessed with affluence in the things of this world,
�Dcatlt of Fr. Vito Carro:::zini.
125
but not less richly endowed with that which constitutes .
the real worth of a Christian-piety and a spirit of self
sacrifice: He studied, up to rhetoric, in Leece under the
direEtion of the Jesuit Fathers of the Neapolitan Province,
which he joined in Dec., 1857, being then in the 20th year
of his age. His example was followed a year later by one
of his brothers, who died a happy death at Havana. While
Fr. Carrozzini was yet a postulant at the Novitiate, he was
assailed by a violent temptation to give up his resolution
and forsake the hallowed place; he battled with it a whole
month, but finally conquered it and took the habit. This
viEtory and a sub.sequent occurrence which we shall mention a little below, made him conceive the tenderest and
most loyal affeEtion for the Society. It was remarked by
his fellow-novices, especially during his pilgrimage and in
the hospital which they attended, that he would invariably
choose for himself the most painful and repugnant duties,
with such ease and unstudied simplicity, as were always
sure to please and edify. He had spent a year in the J uniorate, when in 1860 the revolution broke out in the kingdom
of Naples, and, as is always the case, Ours were its first
viEtims; our houses and colleges were closed and the inmates were consequently scattered through several other
Provinces of the Society. Fr. Carrozzini was sent to Balaguer, in Spain, with his brother, to pursue the course of philosophy. In the fall of 1863, by order of Superiors they left
Balaguer for Porto Rico, by way o( the Antilles. Having
arrived at Havana, they were compelled to land, as Fr. Carrozzini's brother had been taken dangerously ill, and they
put up at the college of the Society in that city. The sick
scholastic had reached well nigh the end of his mortal
journey ; he was aware of it, and rejoiced, while Fr. Carrozzini's countenance betrayed the gloom which had seized
upon his mind, and the grief that was preying upon his
heart. His brother perceived it and said to him: "Why
should you grieve at my approaching end? We have
�126
Death of Fr. Vito Carro.=:::ini.
been praying daily and beseeching God for perseverance in
the Society ; since, then, He is about to grant it to me, we .
must rather be cheerful and give way to sentiments of joy."
These words, uttered with the earnestness and sincerity
of a dying man, produced an impression upon Fr. Carrozzini which remained ever after deeply engraven in his
mind, and their unetion was never to die away in his
soul.
As classes were soon to re-open in Porto Rico, Fr. Carrozzini had to resume his journey, leaving his brother in
Havana, where he died but three or four days after. In
Porto Ric;··Fr. Carrozzini spent a year teaching grammar,
and four years leCturing on natural sciences; giving at the
same time evident proofs of his zeal for the salvation of
souls by the persevering care he took of the negroes in the
town. Owing to the scanty means for ventilating the room
where he was lecruring, he inhaled a great quantity of noxious gas; this brought upon him the heart disease which, a
few years later, carried him to the grave.
In_ 1868 he was called back to Spain to begin the study
· of theology, in the city of Leon; but hardly had he set foot
again in Spain, when the revolution, which had been long
brooding over the country, showed the first symptoms of
its destruCtive fury by driving the So"ciety out of the whole
of Spain. Fr. Carrozzini arrived just in time to attend
the opening leCture, and then-the very day after-to be
sent to Laval, where he passed four years in the study of
theology. His happy temper, his artless and winning
manners, his conversation full of life and humor, all graced
and colored by a tint of sin.cere and unaffeeted humility,
charmed all his fellow-students, so that even long after his
departure for America, which occurred in I 873, he was remembered with the greatest pleasure, and frequently formed
the subjeCt of their discourses.
Aft~r crossing the Atlantic, he passed a year in Frederick,
Md., for his third probation, and then started for New Mex-
�Deatlt of Fr. Vito Carroszini.
127
ico. His zeal here found a large field: suffering and trials
of every sort came in his way; privations were his daily
bread, th.e salvation of souls his great object; prayer, and· ,
especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, his strength and
support.
\Ve have thus, in few words, drawn out his missionary
career, for it would take us too long were we to detail in
every particular the hardships to which he was subjected,
and the straits to which he was often reduced, in his apostolic excursions, and while travelling over those immense plains
that separate one town from another in New Mexico and
Colorado. Often he set out on a visit to some one of the
catholic families that lie scattered over the boundless and
wild expanse that stretches from Las Animas to Trinidad,
and after having journeyed for miles and miles, he found
himself so completely at a loss which way to turn, that
he was obliged to pass the night in the open air, without even a drop of water to quench his thirst. On one occasion, as he was driving across a river, his carriage sank
so deep in the mud that the horses were unable either to
advance or retreat. Happily the Father on perceiving the
danger jumped out of the carriage in time and got safely
to the bank. As there was no trace of a living creature
around to give. him help, Fr. Carrozzini turned to the
souls in Purgatory; and behold ! a man appeared unexpectedly, ready to help him out of the difficulty; and by
his assistance he succeeded in saving both carriage and
horses. ·Incidents of this kind were by no means rare with
him.
During his stay at Fort Union, one Longmayer called,
on some business or other, at the house where Fr. Carrozzini just then happened to be. On seeing Fr. Carrozzini,
the persori asked him: "Are you the catholic priest of the
place?" "I am," answered the Father, "can I do anything
for you?" "From what I heard," said the man, "you have
�Dcat!t of Fr. Vito Carro:::::;i}zi.
insulted me and my family this morning in your sermon."
"Sir," replied the Father, "I have not the pleasure of knowing either you or your family-not even your name." "Yet
you have insulted me" replied the other; and thus ;aying, he
dealt him two heavy blows in the face, and gave him two
vigorous kicks. "Thank you sir," said the Father; and
without another word, he withdrew, offering up all to God.
The faa however was soon noised abroad ; the catholics of
the town were boiling with rage and indignation against
the brutal assailant, and took measures to obtain suitable
reparation for the scandalous treatment.
Fr. Carro~zini labored much at San .!lfigucl, Las Vi:gas,
Las Animas, and in the towns of La 7unta and Pueblo; but
amidst his indefatigable toils and labors he was continually
harrassed by his heart disease, which, while he was in Pueblo, became so violent and alarming that it was thought
prudent to remove the Father from his mission, and send
him to try the milder climate of California. He arrived at
Santa Clara, Cal. in the month of June, 1876. There he
soon· recovered almost entirely, when suddenly he was
struck down again, worse than ever. "It was a distressing
sight," says an eyewitness, "to see the good Father, seated
in a large arm chair, as he could not ~tay in bed on account
of his asthma, with his arms extended, and his mouth wide
open, as though he were continually strangling." "His last
illness was very trying and painful," writes anoth.er eyewitness, "and his sufferings were so acute that he was forced
to cry aloud with pain. But he bore all with a wonderful
patience. I had the good fortune of remaining with him
now and then, and have heard him saying 'Deo gratias,' as
the sharps pains would make him writhe. He did not lose
the use of his senses until the very last. He suffered much
and merited much. One day he called me to him and besought me to tell all the scholastics, in his name, to be faith·
ful to their vocation. 'A man in my position,' said he, 'sees
things 'clearly and in a light quite different from that in
�Deatlt
of Fr. Vito Carrozzini.
129
which they appear at other times. Ah ! I would exhort
them to persevere.-Many of my companions did not persevere!' When he spoke of these, the poor Father wept like
a child. He died ·in Brother B's arms, just as Fr. C. had
repeated for the third time, 'Domine, suscipe spiritum meum.' ".
He was in the 39th year of his age and in the 19th of his
life in the Society. He was well versed in natural sciences,
and had a particular talent for painting. The picture of our
holy Father St. Ignatius, which is kept in the recreation
room of the Fathers in Woodstock College, as well as several other pictures, is his work. Bu_t above all, there shone
in him true and genuine humility, joined to such a degree
of cheerfulness, that his company was always most agreeable and his correspondence most interesting. He did not
value himself at all, yet he was one of the most efficient
members of the Mission of New Mexico and Colorado.
He labored much, he suffered more, and concealed all from
the eyes of men. May lze rest i1z peace, and may our md be
like unto !tis.
-'
VoL. vr-No.
2.
r6*
�'i ·'
"DESCRIPTION OF THE CEILING
OF
WOODSTOCK COLLEGE LIBRARY.
CENTRAL POINT---THE SUN.
ORBITS.
Orbit of Mercury.
2.
" " Venus.
" The Earth .
3·
4·
"
" Mars.
5· Region of the Asteroids.
6. Orbit of Jupiter.
7.
" " Saturn.
8. - "
" Uranus.
9·
"
" Neptune.
The globes inside of Saturn's orbit are the planets with
their magnitudes taken proportionally to that of the Sun,
whose disk is represented by the orbit of Saturn.
I.
..
10.
I I.
I2.
I3.
I4.
I$.
I6.
I7.
I 8.
PLANETS.
Mercury.
Venus.
The Earth and Satellite.
Mars.
Asteroids.
Jupiter and Satellites.
Saturn and Satellites.
Uranus and Satellites.
:N" eptune and Satellite.
I30
I
�T!ze Ceili11g
of
Woodstock College Library.
I
3I
COMETS.
20.
21.
22.
23.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
Orbit of Encke's Comet.
" Biela's Comet.
" Faye's Comet.
"
" Halley's Comet.
Donati's Comet of 1858.
Comet of 1853.
Comet of 1843.
Comet of 1744·
General cele~tial map, representing the Milky Way and
all the stars visible without the assistance of the telescope.
Nebul<e.
I. Orion's Nebula.
II. The cluster in which, according to Sir William
Herschel, is our Solar System.
The other Nebul<e are among those observed by Sir J.
Herschel and the Earl of Ross.
On the globes between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus
are the Signs of the Zodiac.
ON THE FOUR CORNERS
The terrestrial globe is represented, i. e., at the corner A
the Southern, and at the corner B the Northern hemisphere;
at the corners C and D the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
LATERALLY
At the central point, between the corners A and B the
solar sphere is represented, and, on each side of it, magnified
spots and facul<e, as observed by Fr. Secchi and others. On
the opposite side, and at the centre between C and D, the
�I
32
Tlte Ceiling
of TVoodstock College Library.
eclipsed Sun is represented, showing the halo and prominences; and on both sides of it are magnified prominences
as observed by various astronomers.
ON THE OVALS
At the four corners are geological representations, i. e., at
the corner A one represents a glacier, the other the gate of
a glacier: at the corner B an iceberg and morenas: at the
corner C on one of the ovals a geyser and the opening of the
geyser when the jet ceases ; on the other oval a submarine
volcano : at- ~he last corner the first and second stage of a
sub<eral volcanic eruption.
D. 0. M.
�W 0 0 D ST 0 C K L E T.T E RS.
VOL. VI, No. 3·
ACCOUNT OF THE DEATH OF BR. RENE GOUPIL,
BY FR. JOGUES.
(Deatlz of a martyr related by a martyr.)
Rene Goupil was born in Angers, and, whilst yet in the
flower of his age, asked with earnestness for admission into
the Society. He was received into the Novitiate at Paris,
and dwelt there several months, giving good example to all.
Sickness, however, came to snatch from him the longedfor happiness of binding himself forever to God by our
holy vows. Nevertheless, as soon as his health permitted it,
he sailed for New France, desiring to aid the Jesuits there
as far as he could, since he had been obliged to forego the
blessing of becoming one of their number in France.
On his arrival, wishing, despite his freedom from all
obligations, to lead a life of obedience, he put himself
entirely at the disposal of the Superior of the Mission.
By him the holy youth was employed for two years in the
most menial offices of the house, and in nursing the sick
and wounded in the hospital ; and in these employments
he gave striking proofs of humility and tender charity.
VoL. v1-No. 3·
20
�I
34
Dmtlt of a Martyr related by a Martyr.
He was very skilful in caring for the sick, and his kindness and other virtues left behind him such a sweet perfume
that his memory is even now in benediction.
In July, 1642, we passed through Montreal, and, as our
Hurons were in great need of a surgeon, we asked Fr. Vimont to allow Rene to come with us. No one can tell
how great was the joy of the holy young man whi!n he was
requested to accompany us; and yet he knew the hatred
of the Iroquois against the French, and the risk to which,
on this account, he was exposing his life. But obedience
was dearer to him than life ; and so, when our company
started fo-1'' Three Rivers, he cheerfully set out with us.
We began our journey on the Ist of August, the day after
the Feast of our Holy Father; and on the following day
we were attacked by two bands of Iroquois. Almost all
the Hurons fled, and we were made prisoners.
Then the virtue of Rene showed itself; for, as soon as he
was seized, he cried to me: "0 my father, God be blessed;
He has allowed it, He has willed it; His holy will be done.
I lc~ve it, cherish it, embrace it with all the powers of my
heart and soul." Then, while the Iroquois were pursuing
the fugitives, I heard the confession of my young companion, not knowing what might soon befall us.
As soon as our captors returned,' they rushed on us like
mad dogs, tore off our finger-nails, and bruised and crushed
our fingers. These torments Rene bore patiently and
unflinchingly, and, mindless of the pain which he felt, he
helped me to instruct those of the Hurons that were not yet
baptized. As I was caring for them in turn, just as I met
them, he called my attention to the fact that a poor old In·
dian, named Indonhiraon, would probably be among the first
victims. I employed, therefore, in preparing this unfortunate
man the time that the Iroquois spent in shipping the canoes
of goods which we had intended for our missionaries
among the Hurons; and, I saw him butchered before rny
eyes,'just after I had given him a second birth in baptism.
�Dcat!t of a lvlart;•r related by a 1lfartyr.
135
As we had the happiness of journeying together, I had
the opportunity of witnessing many aas of virtue on the
part of Rene. He was always thinking of God; his every
word breathed submission to the Divine Will, and an earnest desire to be offered as a sacrifice in the fires of the
Iroquois, lighted for the holocaust by the hand of God
Himself.
Shortly after our capture, as we were travelling along, he
said to me: "Father, God has always made me desirous of
giving myself to His service by the vows of the Society;
but my sins have hitherto made me unworthy of this
honor. I trust, however, that now our Saviour will vouchsafe to receive the vows which I wish to make to Him
through you." Then having obtained leave from me, the
pious youth pronounced the vows of the Society with great
devotion.
Although wounded himself, his thoughts were of others
who were suffering, even of our cruel enemies ; one of
whom he bier as tenderly and as charitably as if he were
caring for one of his best friends. This humility and
obedience to our captors made me ashamed of my own
conduCt. On one occasion, two of them took Rene and me
into their canoe, and told me to take a paddle and help
them: but I, proud evc:n in misfortune, refused to aid them.
Some time after, they asked Rene to paddle, and he at once
began to do so ; then they turned to me, and tried to persuade me to follow his example ; seeing this Rene begged
me to pardon him.
Many times I did what I could to persuade him to take
advantage of the freedom granted us to make his escape
-a thing which I could not think of doing myself, as I had
to care for the souls of a Frenchman and twenty-four or
twenty-five Hurons. But as God, into Whose hands he
had wholly put himself, never suggested thoughts of escape,
he could not be brought to attempt it.
On the Lake we met. two hundred Iroquois, who had
�I
36
Deatlt of a JWartyr related by a .Martyr.
come to Richelieu when the fort was building. They beat
us, tore our flesh, and ma:de us feel the effeCt: of hell-inspired
rage. The youthful saint bore all these torments most
patiently, revenging himself only by his humility and charity towards those who maltreated him. Having fallen
under a shower of blows, dealt with clubs and iron rods,
Rene could not arise, and so he was carried half dead to a
platform in the middle of the town, where we had by this
time arrived.
His appearance was enough, one would think, to move
to pity cx:~.elty itself; his whole body was bruised and
mangled, and his face was so much disfigured that only the
white of his eyes could be seen ; but he was on this very
account all the more beatiful in the sight of the Angels of
Him of vVhom were spoken these words: "We·have seen
Him as a leper," etc. "There was in Him neither comeliness nor beauty."
Scarcely giving him time to breathe, the savages began
to beat him with a heavy club, as they haq done before.
Then they cut off my thumb, and afterwards his right
thumb as far as the first joint; whilst he unceasingly cried
out: "Jesus! Mary! Joseph!"
For six days we were left to the ba.d treatment and insults
of any one who might wish to annoy us. The sweetness
ever shown by· Rene was truly wonderful ; . and yet, besides
the torments already borne, he had his breast burnt by the
hot coals and ashes thrown on us by the children as we lay
fastened to the bare ground during the night. Natural instinB:s had made me more skilful in avoiding some of these
torments.
We were told at first that we were going to be burnt at
the stake ; but we soon found out that they had no real
intention of taking away our lives. After some time rny
.young companion became very sick and suffered exceedingly,· not the least on account of the kind of food given
him. I being unwell myself, and not having a single whole
�Deatlz of a Martyr related by a Martyr.
137
finger, could do nothing to help him. I must hasten, however, to give an account of his death, which had all those
marks by which a martyr's death is recognized.
When our captivity had lasted six weeks,_ a dispute arose
in the council of the Iroquois, some of whom had wished
to set us free. This quarrel took away our last hope of
seeing our Mission of Three Rivers that year. 'vVe consoled one another, and tried to make ourselves ready to bear
patiently any trials that God might be pleased to send us.
Rene did not know so well as I the full extent of our danger,
and hence I took care to be ever advising him to hold himself in readiness.
One day, as we were walking outside the town, whither
we had gone to pray undisturbed, two young men came
and told us to go back to our house. I had some presentiment of what was about to happen, and so I said to
Rene: "Let us recommend ourselves to our Lord and to
our Blessed Mother; these men have, I think, some evil
designs upon us." A short while before we had offered
ourselves to our Lord, beseeching Him to receive our blood
and our lives, in union with His own Life and Blood, fo'r the
salvation of these poor savages.
At the bidding of the young men, we returned; and
continued as we went along the recitation of the Rorary, which they had interrupted. On arriving at the entrance of the town, we stopped to wait for further orders
from the Indians, when one of them, drawing a hatchet
which he had hitherto concealed in his bosom, struck
Rene ove'r the head with it. The holy youth sank down
with his face to the ground, invoking as he fell the Sacred
Name of Jesus-for we had often resolved that this Blessed
Name .should close our lips and our lives.
Turning around, I saw the hatchet all covered with blood,
and, falling on my knees, I awaited the stroke which would
make me a partaker in Rene's martyrdom. They did not
wish to kill me, however ; and so I went to give the last
�I
38
Dcatlt
of a
.ll1art;·r rdated by a 111art;•t·.
absolution to my dying brother, whom the savages soon
killed with two more blows of the hatchet. From the beginning of our captivity, had given him the absolution
every second day. It was the 29th of September, the Feast
of St. Michael, that this angel in innocence, and blessed
martyr, gave his life for the Lord, \Vho had given His own
for him.
As soon as he was dead, the murderers ordered me to
return to my cabin, where I remained for two days in momentary expectation of the same fate. It was the common
belief that ..I would soon follow Rene, and, indeed, warriors
came several times to put me to death. Our Lord, however, prevented their designs in ways which it were now too
long to explain.
The following morning, I went to the place where they
had thrown the martyr's body, as I was determined to bury
it at any cost. Some Iroquois who wished to save me
from death, said to me: "You have no common sense;
do you not see that your enemies are everywhere seeking
for -a chance to kill you ? And yet you must go to look for
a half-corrupted corpse, which they have dragged away to
a great distance. Do you not see those young warriors
coming out of the town to slay yo~ as soon as you are beyond the protection of the palisades?.:· These words did not
make me hesitate. God had given me such courage that I
was willing to die in the performance of this work of charity; and so, aided by an Algonquin, who had become one
of the tribe, I succeeded in finding the holy remains.
After the murder, the children of the tribe had ·put a rope
around the neck of Rene's corpse, and had dragged it to a
stream which flowed beyond the town. I could not restrain my tears at the sight of the martyr's body, which the
dogs had already partly eaten. Taking it from the water,
I fastened several stones to it and then let it sink to the bot·
tom uf the river, where, I thought, it would be safe from the
·profanation of the Indians until the day following, when I
r
�Deat!t of a }}fartyr related by a iJfartyr.
139
would come and bury it. Several of the young savages
had, however, been watching me, and after I had gone away
they took the body out of the water again.
The next day some of my enemies sought once more to
put me to death, and, as I think, to avoid having me murdered, my aunt (a name given to one who takes care of a
prisoner) sent me to work in a field belonging to her. I was
thus obliged to put off the burial of my martyred friend; and
unfortunately, during the night the river was much swollen
by a heavy rain.
On the following morning, borrowing a pickaxe-not
from my aunt but from another, in order the better to conceal my intention-! went to that part of the river where I
had put Rene's corpse; but it was not there. Thinking
that perhaps the violence of the current had carried it away,
I went into the bitterly cold water and walked about in the
vain hope of finding it. How many were the tears that I
shed as I pursued my search and said aloud the prayers for
the souls departed! As I was thus engaged, a woman with
whom I was acquainted, came along. I asked if she knew
what they had done with the body ; and was told that they
had dragged it to a part of the river which was unknown
to me, at a distance of about a quarter of a mile. This was
false; for the young savages, after pulling it out of the
stream, had taken it to a wood hard by, where, duri"ng the
autumn and winter, the foxes, the dogs and the crows preyed
on it.
When the spring came, same one told me of this, and I
went three times to search for it, but in vain. The fourth
time I found the head and some remnants of the bones.
These I buried, after kissing them reverently as the relics
of a blessed martyr. I resolved to carry these sacred remains with me, if my captors took me back to Three Rivers, as they spoke of doing.
I have given Rene the title of martyr, not only because
he was slain by the enemies of God and of His Church,
�140
Deatlt of a .Mmt;•r related by a llfartyr.
while engaged in a work of zeal and charity, in which he
risked his life through pure love of God ; but especially
because his death was occasioned by his devotion to prayer,
and, in particular, by his having made the sign of the Cross.
He had been praying in a cabin, as was his wont, and this
greatly angered an old man who saw him. One day, a
child of three or four years of age came near Rene, and he,
through an excess of devotion and love of the Cross, and
with a simplicity which we, more prudent according to the
flesh, would. not have had, took off his own cap, placed it
on the chil.d's head, and then made a large sign of the Cross
on the child's body. The old man seeing this, called a
youth who was about to become a warrior, and ordered
him to kill Rene. The command was executed as I have
narrated above.
The mother of the young child told me on one occasion,
when I found myself in her company, that Rene had lost
his life for having made that sign of the Cross.
One day, I myself was sent to the old man's cabin to eat,
and before beginning I made the sign of the Cross. "Ah!"
shouted the old man, "that is what we hate; it was for doing
so that your companion was killed: for it you also shall die.
Our European neighbors do not ma~e that sign." Another
time, when I was out hunting, and kne~t to say some prayers,
I was told by my companions that they hated such conduCt,
that they had killed the other Frenchman because he acted
in this way, and that they would put me to death for it on
my return to the village.
�ORIGIN OF THE OSAGE MISSION.
It is hard to determine when the Osages first pitched their
camps on the beautiful banks of the Neosho. However,
we can record some few faCts, which may one day prove
interesting, concerning the early settlement of this p~rt of
the Neosho Valley, now known as Neosho county.
In the year I 820, the Osages, being in the vicinity of St.
Louis, sent a delegation of their leading men, headed by
one of the chiefs of the nation, to Rt. Rev. Dr. De Bourg,
Roman Catholic Bishop of New Orleans, then visiting the
State of Missouri, which formed the Northern part of his
immense Diocese. The objeCt: of this delegation was to
obtain some Catholic Missionary to visit their towns and
teach them the ways of God. ·
The Bishop was very much pleased with this delegation,
and promised that, as soon as praCticable, he would send
them a Missionary. Rev. Charles La Croix S. J. was, after
a few days, appointed to the post. He visited the Osages
·repeatedly, baptized a great many of their children, and
\Vas about to build a chapel among them, when, exhausted
by his labors, he was taken away by death
Rev. Charles L~ Croix was succeeded in his Mission
by Rev. Father Charles Van Quickenborn S. J. who not
oniy visited the Osages in their towns, but used all his
enetgy in providing for the education of their youth. For
this reason, in June, I824, he established the first Manual
·Labor School· that ever existed among them. He collected the boys in the residence of St. Stanislaus, not far
from the town of Florissant, Missouri, and placed the girls
·in the Convent of the Sacred Heart, in the town of St.
Charles, St. Charles county. The two places not being
very far apart, he could without much trouble, provide
VoL. VI-No. 3·
2I
(I4I)
�Origin
of t/ze
Osage Jlfission.
for the welfare and instruCtion of both sexes. The work
of education was now proceeding prosperously, and promising great things for the future, when the Osages, having
made a new treaty with the United States Government,
obliged themselves to vacate the State of Missouri, and
withdraw into Kansas, then generally known under. the
name of Western Indian Territory.
This new arrangement frustrated the plan of Father Van
Quickenborn, and the work so successfully begun came to
a prematu~e end.
The Osages having removed to their new home, a school
was provided for them by a Board of Presbyterians. It
\vas located near the western line of the State of Missouri,
on the left bank of the Marais des Cygnes, some three
miles north of Papinsville, in Bates county.
Though Father Van Quickenborn had now no school
among the Osages, yet he continued to take care of them.
He visited them regularly at their Mission, which was called
Harmony, and baptized several of their children in the Mission.. House, where the Presbyterian Minister most kindly
and liberally allowed him a room to use as a chapel.
In 1827, Father Van Quickenborn came from Harmony
Mission to visit the Osages on Neosho river, in this very
county, where they had just begun.."to form permanent set·
tlements. These, however, were not confined to this county,
but were in two great divisions, the one along the Neosho,
the other near the Verdigris ; each containing from six to
nine Indian towns, having their respeCtive chiefs. But as
the head chief of the whole Osage nation resided on the
Neosho, and had his house built on what is now called
August Creek, and as his people were forming their towns,
sometimes on the west, and at other times on the east side
of the Neosho, on the identical spot where our beautiful
town now stands; so this place was considered from the
earlie?t days of its existence as tlze place of business.
The Indian towns of the first division stretched from the
�Origin of tlu Osage Mission.
143
confluence of the Labott with the Neosho to that of Owl
Creek with the same river. Those of the second division
extended from the junCtion of Pumpkin Creek, to that of
Chetopa Creek with the Verdigris.
The "half-breed" settlement lay, for the most part, between
Flat Rock Creek, and what is now called Canville Creek.
The mechanics allowed to the Osages under their late treaty
with the United States, were established on Flat Rock; and
the principal depot of the American Fur Company was on
Can ville Creek. But as the Agency was situated, for a considerable time, not far from the mouth of Flat Rock, our present town site was considered the most important place on
the Neosho.
About this time the Presbyterian Board of Missions established another school at Saline in the Cherokee Nation,
for the education of those Osages who were living on the
Verdigris. But this institution, as well as the other at Harmony after a few years' existence could not be continued; so
they were abandoned. After the breaking up of these schools,
the same Missionaries tried to get up another one in this
county. For this purpose they ereB:ed a large house on
the left, or east bank of Four Mile Creek, about one-fourth
of a mile from its junCtion with the Neosho. They lived
and preached in this building ; but some difficulty prevented
the successful opening of a school, and the Missionaries,
seeing that they were losing time and could do nothing
with the Osages, gave this place up likewise, and abandoned
the whole Osage Nation.
Father Charles Van Quickenborn having died in 1828,
the spiritual care of the Osages was transferred to the Fathers of St. Mary's Mission among the Pottawattomie Indians, then living on Big Sugar Creek in Linn county, where
the town of Paris now stands. These Fathers visited the
Osages as regularly as they could until 1847; when the
tribe having requested Rt. Rev. Peter R. Kenrick, Bishop
of'St. Louis, for a Catholic School, Father John Schoen-
�144
Origin
of tlte
Osage Missio11.
makers, S. J., was appointed Superior of the Mission, and
reached this place on the 2oth day of April, 1847.
Father Schoenmakers took possession of two buildings,
yet unfinished, which had just been put up for the use of
this new Mission by order of the Indian Department. While ·
he was having these buildings completed, his companion,
Father John Bax, went about visiting among the Osages,
speaking to them with great zeal on the importance of becoming civilized and embracing Christianity. They were
pleased with him, and having offered him several of their
children th<!-.t he might give them a Christian education, he
promised that he soon would return after them. On the
10th day of May, the houses being finished, he collected a
small number of Indian children and brought them in; and
so began, on that day, the Osage manual labor School, on
the very spot on which it now stands. One of the two
buildings, was used for the boys, the other for the girls.
On the 5th day of October, 1854, several sisters of Loretto, having come from the State of Kentucky to devote
themselves to the education of Indian girls, the present
Convent was opened, and has flourished to this day.
In a short time the two houses were found too small to
accommodate the pupils who were bt;ought in, and it became
necessary to enlarge the buildings, .and next to multiply
them. So Father Schoenmakers went to work, and, having
first built a nice church, he, by degrees, added other houses
which gave to this institution the appearance of quite a
.
town.
The Church was dedicated to God, in honor of St. Francis
of Jerome; and it soon became the terminus of a·holy pil·
grimage, which most of the Catholics living within a circuit
of from fifty to eighty miles performed once a year, in order
to comply with their Christian duties.
The Fathers, attending this Mission, visited the adjacent
tribes, such as the New York Indians, the Miamis Peorias,
Sacs, Foxes, Quawpaws, as well as others who resided south
�On"g-in of tlze Osage Mission.
145
of the old Santa Fe road. They established several Missionary stations amongst these people, and also amongst
the white Catholics who were scattered over an extent of
country some two hundred miles in diameter. But the
Osage Mission was always considered as the Mother House,
on which all the other Stations depended. The church in
which I this day officiated, is the one which was first built,
and which, with its additions, now forms a building thirty by
ninety three feet ·in size, though it is by no means large
enough to seat the numbers who attend Divine services in it.
A few years after Father Schoenmakers had established
the Mission, the Osage Agency was moved from here to
Quawpaw Nation, on a small brook called Lost Creek, some
four miles from the south east corner of this state. This,
however, did not seem to detraCt: from the prosperity of the
place, as the United States Agents came several times every
year to visit us. They would assemble the Osages in council, examine our school children; and would generally
make rich presents of flour, beef, etc. to the tribe, particularly when payment of the annuities was being made.
The payment of the annuities was always celebrated by
the Indians with great rejoicings. The nation would, on
such an occasion, come here and build their camps around
the Mission ; and nearly every year some other tribe came at
this season to pay a visit to the Osages. Sometimes you
would see the Sacs and Foxes; sometimes the Kaws or
Otoes; sometimes the Kiowas and Comanehes. The objeCt:
of these visits was to renew their old friendship, which they
did by smoking the calumet, engaging in war dances and
running horse races, to the great amusement of their white
visitors, who used to be present in large numbers.
The time of payment was likewise a time of rendezvous
for traders and travellers of every description. All visited
the Mission, which was really an oasis in the desert; for no
settlement then existed nearer than Fort Scott, forty miles
away, so that all who came stopped with us to rest their
�Ongin of tlte Osage 111issioll.
teams, to repair their wagons, or to supply themselves with
provtswns. Thus it is that the Osage Mission can, with
all truth, be called the cradle of civilization in the Neosho
Valley.
Whether the labors and expenses undertaken by the Mission for the civilization of the Osages, have been of real
utility to the Indians, I do not now intend to discuss. We
know this much from the perusal of history; that to bring
aborigines from their barbarism to a state of civilization,
and then to make of them good Christians, has always been
the work of c~turies, not of a few years. However we do
not hesitate to ~·ay that the Mission established by the Catholic Church among the Osages in 1820, and continued to
this day, has been of great benefit to humanity at large;
for it has kept the savages from ravaging the neighboring
settlements, given them an idea, at least, of honesty and
righteousness, inspired in them respe~ for religion, and inculcated upon their youth the importance of Christianity.
If, during a period of forty years, the Osages as a nation
have not taken up arms against the United States Goverment, if they have not made wholesale slaughter of trains
and caravans crossing the plains, if they have not ravaged the
country along the borders of both Missouri and Kansas if,
in a word, they have never shown themse_lves hostile to the
white people; this is due in great part to the influence
which the Catholic Church exerted over them though her
Missionaries.
The school of the Osage Mission has generally been a
success, even during the late war, which proved detrimental
to so many institutions of the kind.
The number of pupils in attendance has always been large,
the boarders one year being as many as two hundred and
thirty six. Strangers who at different times have visited this
school and examined the pupils, have found, to their satisfaction, th~t the children of the Osages are as capable as
any other children of acquiring an education. To be
�Ongin of tlze Osage Mission.
147
convinced of the truth of this assertion, it is sufficient to
open the Annual Reports, given by the United States Agents
to the Indian Department, concerning this Osage Mission
Manual Labor School.
And though we must confess with sorrow that many of
our pupils, after having left us and returned to their parents,
have resumed their Indian customs, and in some instances
become very bad; yet the greater number have turned out
very well, and earn their bread honestly.
By the treaty of September 29th, 1865, the Osages, having deeded this part of their country to the United States,
Government, again removed to the Verdigris River, They
left, however, a good many of their children at the Osage
Mission School, where they yet are.
The white people who first came to this part of the country seemed to prefer this place to any other, and began
to talk of building a town. Father John Schoenmakers
donated for this purpose a quarter secrion of land to a Town.
Company. They laid out the town, and went to work without delay, and have been very successful; for though great
has been the opposition made to Osage Mission, yet it has
flourished beyond all hope and is at this day one of the
most thriving towns in southern Kansas.
( f-.Vritten by Fatlzer Ponzzglione in z869.)
�CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH OF THE
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, BOSTON, MASS.
The zealous and very successful labors of the venerable
Father John Me Elroy S. J., in purchasing the valuable property on Harrison Avenue and ereB:ing upon it the stately
and substantial buildings, that are now an ornament, even
to the city. of Boston, where so many beautiful struB:ures
are found,-the faithful cooperation of his successor Father
John Bapst, S. J., whose influence and efforts did much to
reduce the necessarily heavy debt incurred,-and the continued interest and efficient exertions of Father Robert
Fulton S. ]., the present ReB:or, who completed the liquidation of the debt, besides enlarging and beautifying the
buildings,-all were to receive the finishing touch of perfeCtion, on the feast of our Lady's Assumption 1875· On
this day the stately granite temple, that for years already,
under the auspices of her Immaculate Conception, had been
the centre of a fruitful apostola.te for the Catholics of Boston
and by the grandeur of its ceremonies and the learning and
zeal of the occupants of its pulpit, had done much to elevate
the church in the estimation of a community, that looks a
good deal to the exterior of things,-on this day, the church
was to be given over wholly to God by solemn consecration,
as happily, and in accordance with the Canons, all debts on
it being cleared, men could no longer claim any share in its
ownership.
Though it will not cease to strike the beholder with ad·
miration, as long as it shall stand, one cannot at the present
stage of church architeCture in this country, form an adequate idea of the magnitude of the scheme of its ereCtion,
if the precise date hereof be remembered. For architeCture,
in all its applications, has like everything else in this coun(148)
�Clmrclt of t/ze Immamlatc Conception, Boston, 1Vass.
149
try, been going forward towards perfeCtion during the last
score of years, with amazing rapidity. Twenty years ago,
and scarce one of the thousand beautiful churches and
cathedrals that now honor God and His Church in every
part of the land, was stamling; and notably, in the city of
. Boston, which now boasts its magnificent cathedral, our own
beautiful new churches of St. Mary and the Holy Trinity,
the costly church of St. James and others. that of the Immaculate Conception was looked upon as an entirely new, an
almost startling enterprise in the matter of chur<:h building,
especially for poor Catholics. The advance in beauty and
grandeur of design in church edifices has not however yet,
and indeed cannot go far enough, to leave behind iri any
point of excellence the beautiful and graceful building of
which we write. Its noble dimensions, chaste design, costly
finish, artistic decoration, and above all its admirable fitness
for the many calls to be made on its usefulness by an immense catholic congregation, with all the adjuna associa·
tions that this implies when under the charge of Fathers
of the Society, will always make the church of the Immaculate Conception a model of its kind.
Under the church is a basement chapel of good height
and of the same dimensions as the church, fitted and furnished in a complete manner, and accommodating an immense congregation of children, that would well crowd any
ordinary city church. This basement, as well as the church
itself, is furnished with a first-class organ of great power :
that of the church being among the finest in the country.
The altars of the church are of costly white marble, richly
carved and heavily gilded in such a way as to show to
better advantage the various relievos and other ornaments ;
the Sanctuary is ample and well fitted for the ceremonial of
the Church, even when carried out on the most extensive
scale, as was well shown on the occasion of the consecration. Indeed the sacristies themselves are worthy of a detailed description, spacious, well appointed in every respeCt,
VoL.
VI-No.
3·
22
0
0
�150
Consuratio1Z of tlze Clwrclz of tlze
and furnished with a full and precious wardrobe of every
suitable vestment, together with a valuable and \•.rell assorted stock of altar decorations and ornaments of varied character. There are anterooms, closets for storing articles not
in use, meeting rooms, a small chapel of St. Valentine, in
the basement ; in a word, all the modern improvements and_
conveniences, if we may speak so without irreverence in
conneaion with so sacred a thing as a catholic church.
But we do not intend to go into all the details necessary to
give a comprehensive idea of this church; for to do this
would reqtiin~ also a description of the really grand college
buildings in the immediate vicinity, that stand so favorably
in comparison with those of other institutions of the city,
whose endowments are given by hundreds of thousands of
dollars yearly. We would only add a few words concerning
the ceremony of consecration, which, as matter of course,
was not very intelligently reported, from a religious point
of view at least, by the Protestant press.
Preparations for the funaion had been going on for about
a month before the day appointed : the great organ of the
church, however, appeared to excel, as was proper, in the
endless notes of preparation that it gave forth during that
time, almost at any hour from early m<;>rning till dusk. The
energetic and skilful brother Sacristan was unwearying in
his labors, and among the feats he performed may be reck·
oned his conveying a freight-car load of laurel branches for
the interior decorations, from a grove at the college villa,
about sixty miles distant from the city. This with numer·
ous additions of green branches of various descriptions was
woven into garlands. by the younger members of the congregation, during the week preceding the lete, in the large
hall of the college gymnasium. Indeed it reminded one of
what we have read of the preparations for the church festi·
vals in old Catholic Europe, to see these parties of New
England boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, merrily weaving the beautiful garlands to decorate our Lady's beautiful
�Immaculate Conception, Boston, Mass.
I
5I
'
shrine which lies almost under the shadow of Bunker Hill
monument. We wonder if the shades of the old Puritan
sires were altogether easy, in those pleasant August evenings, or those of the more modern and less worthy iconoclasts, who thought to burn out all roots of Catholicity as
their ancestors did the witches, in the flames of the Charles
town convent.
Of course, matters more immediately conneaed with the
consecration were not overlooked. The officers for the
ceremony were assigned, distinguished clergymen, secular
and religious, filling the principal places. Fifty acolytes
were put in training, twice daily, for two w0eks, and were
found fit to appear to advantage in the imposing services of
the great day. The twelve crosses for the walls, required
by the Roman Pontifical, were made after the Greek style,
each arm terminating in a trefoil. They are of beautiful
colored marble, the edges bevelled and richly gilded. The
relics to be inserted in the main altar, which alone was consecrated, were the same as those previously used at the
dedication of the church, when the same altar had been
consecrated as a portable one. The relics were enclosed in
due form, with parchment document and incense grains, in
a new case of sheet copper, which was sealed by the Most
Reverend Archbishop, and the many articles to be used in
the ceremonial were prepared with a view to the stria observance of every prescription of the Roman Pontifical.
On the vigil of the great day the church itself, as well as
the college and surroundings, presented a scene of bustle
and excitement. The church proper, from which the Blessed Sacrament had been removed, was almost as much
thronged by operatives, as it would be by a congregation
on an occasion of more than ordinary interest; the taberna·
cle, baldachino, pulpit, chancel-rail, side altars, choir gallery,
organ and each separate part of the building, had its own
committe of ladies of the congregation, charged with its
decoration : and these with a host of gentlemen assistants
4
�152
Consecration of tltc Clwrclt of tlze
were vtemg with each other, that the result of each one's
skill and labor might outshine in beauty that of all the rest.
The college was filled with guests, and owners of private
houses in the neighborhood courteously offered hospitality
to others. Some had to find quarters at the magnificent St.
James' hotel, which stands in the rear of the college-hall
building. Unremitting labor did all that was possible to
complete the work of preparation at an early hour, but notwithstanding every effort, it was half-past six in the morning when the last ladder was removed. A few moments
afterwards th~ 'Archbishop drove up, and within half an
hour the ceremony had begun.
As prescribed, the relics were exposed on the previous
evening in the domestic chapel, and during the entire night
the Fathers of the college by turns recited the appointed office before them. It was here that the consecrating Prelate,
Most Reverend Archbishop 'Williams, of Boston. vested
prior to the ceremony, whence through the main door of the
college the first procession started. None took part in this
except those who were immediately to be engaged in the
consecration proper. It would be long, to go through the
beautifully impressive ceremony of the consecration, certainly among the most splendid and richest in significance
of all the ceremonies in the Church's .. ~!Jblime ritual. Its
full details are within reach of all, being found in the Roman Pontifical. On this occasion the ceremony lasted just
three hours, though the details had been so foreseen and
provided for as to do away with any interruption, and
though the reverend celebrant went as rapidly through
every part of the function, as was consistent with the dignity
and grace which befitted the service and for which he is
remarkable.
The church being consecrated, the Pontifical High Mass
followed. Meanwhile the doors were opened and an immense cop.gregation filled the spacious building in a short
time. There was, however, no overcrowding, as none were
�Immaculate Conception, Boston, Mass.
I
53
admitted who had not cards of invitation which had previously been judiciously and not too lavishly distributed. A
large corps of attentive and courteous ushers kept admirable order within the building, showing visitors to their
places and keeping the aisles clear; and a detachment of
city police performed the like service without, where a large
crowd had gathered early and remained until the conclusion
ofthe Mass.
It had been suggested to the Archbishop, that it might
tire his strength overmuch to celebrate after the ceremony,
which indeed was very exhausting on that hot August
morning; for it must be remembered that the mere walking
round about the large edifice, for the lustrations, annointings, etc., reached into a question of miles. But he preferred to sing the Mass, and so the matter was arranged.
The augmented choir was in place; the Germania orchestra gave token of their presence by the tuning of pipe and
string; and the great organ was breathing at intervals ~hole
, gusts of melody, forewarning the burst of harmony that
was to follow. Both the sacristies and passages leading to
them were crowded with those who were to participate in
the last ~nd most important part of the beautiful celebration.
The fumes of incense floating up from behind the reredos,
gave the signal to the orchestra and organ, which swelled
forth in the thrilling strains of Mendelssohn's March in
Athalie, as the procession began to move solemnly from the
Gospel vestry, The processional cross came first, carried
by a Scholastic in dalmatic, with the acolytes of the day
bearing their candlesticks, and clad in purple and crimson
cassocks with train and swiss muslin cottas handsomely ·
trimmed with lace ; next the censer-bearers swinging their
censers and similarly dressed. After these came a body of
fifty choir boys, walking two abreast, with hands joined and
eyes cast down, striving to keep their little minds as recollected as they might in the midst of such a thrilling scene,
in which too they formed such a prominent feature. They
�154
Consecration of tlze Clmrclz of the
were dressed as those mentioned above, except that the
colors were varied; red, purple and black being the distinctive marks of three separate divisions. After the boys,
about seventy priests, secular and religious, from the city of
Boston and other localities, filed out two and two, vested in
cassock, lace surplice and biretum. Then came singly, the
assistant Bishops clad in purple, each attended by a little
choir boy, who acred as train-bearer. Behind these came
the archiepiscopal cross borne by a Scholastic in dalmatic,
nine of the larger choir boys who were to form the body ot
attendants-Qn the officiating Prelate, the sacred ministers,
the deacons of honor, the assistant priest and last the Archbishop of Boston attired in full pontificals and wearing the
Sacred Pallium. As the line moved with slow and solemn
pace it took a considerable time before all were in their
places; but we are assured no one tired of the sight, which
was calculated to give a good idea of what the Church loves
to do and can alone do for the glory of God, and for the
elevation of the souls of her children above the commonplace wants and pleasures of everyday life. On this occasion the vestments, worn for the first time, were a most precious and chastely beautiful set that had been ma~ufaB:ured
in Rome for this church. They are. of the Roman style,
made of rich moire brocaded with silver and shot with gold.
Upon this as a ground work are wrought, in the greatest
profusion, and with exquisite skill, beautiful designs in
richly varied bullions.
The solemn grandeur of a Pontifical Mass, when decorously carried out in all the details of the rubrics, with the
powerful adjunct of an old master's music well rendered,
and, above all, made usefully significant unto the salvation
of many, by the presence of a thronging multitude, deeply
impressed by the thought, that this hour the beautiful temple, which was the offering of their generous hearts to God,
was sealed to the service of the Most High forever--these
and many other causes gave to the solemn pageant of that
morning a pleasant place in the recolleCtion of every one
�Immaculate Conception, Boston, Mass.
I
5S
that witnessed it. For two hours of solemn joy to that
vast throng, the music rose and fell ; now a solo of sacred
song, now a harmonious chorus; the incense fumes arose
with the silent prayer of the multitude; the gorgeously
robed prelates and priests moved back and forth, and the
lines of edifying youths paced to and fro in solemn procession at stated intervals; the air was luminous with hundreds
of lighted tapers, that circled around every column and
traced in lines of light almost every part of the architecture
about the sanctuary. The whole scene almost carried one
out of himself, till the tinkling chimes would recall his
believing soul and his faith tell him that it all was in
honor of the Present God, Who, when the solemn stillnes;;
of a few moments at the Elevation followed, spoke as audibly to each believing heart, as if the words really h:td
sounded in the ears, "The Lord is in His holy temple, let
all the earth keep silence before Him." And then raising
the eyes towards heaven, one saw amid the graceful festoons
of costly flowers, the beauteous figure of the Queen of
Heaven, and the heart leaped again with joy to know, that
at least faith enough is left yet in these latter days to prompt
men to do much honor to her whom the King of kings has
so much honored.
At the end of the Mass, the reverend Rector of the college advanced to the railing and read a telegram just received from the venerable Father McElroy, of whom every
one present had no doubt thought long and often on this
most joyous day, which owed most of its glory to his indomitable energy and true religious zeal, in founding this
noble establishment, when almost an octogenarian. Fear~
on the part of prudent superiors lest the journey should
prove too much for him, were the cause of his absence,
rather than any positive present infirmity. He sent his
~aternal blessing to his thousands of spiritual children and
It was all that was wanted to make the happiness of the
day complete.
�I
56
Cousecration of tlte Clmrclz
of t!te
After this followed the really grandest spectcle of the
morning. The organ and orchestra. swelling out into the
grand Coronation March of Meyerbeer, the procession
formed in the same order as that in which it had entered
the sanctuary, with the addition of several evolutions and
counter movements, which, while they added much to the
scene, were necessary in order to bring the different parts of
the line from their various positions in and around the sanctuary, without disorder, to the central chancel gate. Front
this they filed down the central aisle with solemn pace, as
the music continued in the organ loft above; then from the
church, the line turned to the right in Harrison Avenue to
the main gate of the college by which it entered. On the
line reaching the door of the domestic chapel, those whu
were partners separated and halted face to face, forming a
double line in single file with an alley six feet wide betwee1!·
Through this the Most Reverend Archbishop with the
sacred ministers and attendants proceeded to the chapel
where the disrobing took place. The procession then disbande<! and the beautiful ceremony concluded without mishap or accident of any kind.
In the evening there were Pontifical Vespers sung by the
Right Reverend Bishop Conroy of Albany, before a congregation, more numerous even than that of the morning, as
tickets of admission were not required. The Right Reverend ·Bishop de Goesbriand of Burlington, Vt., preached,
and Benediction followed.
The newspapers, on Monday the 16th, gave extended
notices of the ceremony in terms of admiration and praise
which must have been very gratifying to those who had so
well earned it by their generous labors during the days of
preparation. After calling attention to the fact that but two
other churches in the State have been consecrated, the Cathedral at Springfield and the Holyoke church, they went
on to de~cribe the floral decorations, which, they all pronounced to be the finest ever seen in Boston. The follow-
�Immaculate Conception, Bostoll, lllass.
157
ing description, taken from the Boston Post, may stand for
all, as all, very naturally, did but give the same account in
substance:
"The plants and flowers were of the most varied size, hue
and fragrance, and were arranged-with a taste and elaborateness highly creditable to the management of Bro. Fealy
and his corps of auxiliaries, ladies and gentlemen. From
the centre of the arches of the numerous windows on the
sides of the building laurel leaves were dependent in festoons, nearly to the floor, and from the ceiling, between the
windows and the columns of the main arch, the space was
handsomely relieved in this manner. The columns were
entwined with vines depending from hanging baskets, and
the base of each column supported pot plants and hot-house
plants, and rarest of exotics. The spaces between the columns contained elegant hanging baskets of flowers and
green ivy. The windows and gallery fronts were handsomely adorned with flowers and evergreens, as was the
organ. At the base of the twelve pillars in the body of the
church were placed, as already stated, a singular display of
large and valuable potted plants. All these were gratuitously
offered to the church by Mr. Wm. Dogue, the florist. The
pulpit was elegantly trimmed with flowers and green leaves,
and the sounding board above almost covered with delicate
smilax. From the top of the board hung a beautifully
formed white dove with outspread wfngs, made of carnation
pinks. This beautiful piece of handicraft was suspended so
as to be over the head of Bishop de Goesbriand as he stood
in the pulpit, and together with all the flowers on the pulpit was the gift of Mr. Horatio Harris, of ·walnut Avenue.
The decorations on the ~[tars were rich and pleasing. From
the centre of the main arch over it, festooned and connected
at either side, were suspended laurel leaves, while the pillars above and around the altar were similarly decorated.
The altar floor, which had been considerably extended, was
most profusely decorated with plants and potted flow~rs.
VoL. vr-No. 3·
23
�15 8 Clturclt
o/ tltc Immaculate Conception, Boston, .ftfass.
On either side of the space just inside the altar railing stood
a huge banana plant surrounded with other but smaller
plants in pots. On top of the tabernacle on the altar, was
a white lily hemisphere, on the top of which stood a small
but beautifully colored flower cross. The sills of the side
windows by the altar were adorned with fresh green plants.
and over the door leading from the altar to the sanauary
was another large colleCtion of fine flowers. The painted
. insignia of the Archbishop and the Popes's coat of arms
hung facing one another, on the left and right sides of the
wall near th~. altar, and were framed in roses and smilax.
By the altar railing were placed ferns and variegated flowers, which exhaled a delicate perfume, which mingled
sweetly with that of the incense, wafted heavenward by
the young assistants during the services. Besides all those
a tea-rose cross of Saint Andrew, about five feet high,
stood just within the railing. Many of these cut flowers
were from the establishment of the Norton Brothers. White
lilies, roses, geraniur.1s, pinks, azaleas, poppies, ferns, smilax
and a·thousand other varieties and kinds of plants, domestic
and foreign, abounded on all sides. The side altars of SS.
Joseph and Aloysius were covered with the greenhouse exotics, giving the whole church the appearance of a tropical
garden."
·•
·The following is a list of the prelates and clergymen who
took part in the services during the day : The Most Rev.
Archbishop Williams; the Rt. Rev. Bishop Conroy, of Albany; the Rt. Rev. Bishop O'Reilly, of Springfield; the Rt.
Rev. Bishop de Goesbriand, of Burlington; the Rt. Rev.
Bishop Hendricken, of Providence; the Rev. Fr. Miege, S.].,
ex-bishop of Leavenworth, Kansas; the Rev. Fr. Keller,
S. J., ProvinCial of Maryland; the Rev. Fr. Galberry, Pro·
vincial of the Augustinian Order ; the Very Rev. P. F.
Lyndon, Vicar General of the diocese ; Fr. Fulton, ReCtor
of Boston College and pastor of the Church ; and Fa·
thers Bapst, Dompieri, Duncan, Sabetti, Maguire, Simeon,
�Fatltcr 11-farquette-Discovery
of lzis Remains.
159
Me Gurk, Byrne, Blenkinsop, Degni and O'Connor of the
Society of Jesus; Fr. Freitag, C. SS. R.; with the following
clergymen from other churches : Frs. Metcalf, Blenkinsop,
O'Brien, Flood, Supple, O'Callaghan, Toole, Lamy, Hummel, Riordan and O'Bierne.
FATHER MARQUETTE, S. J.
DISCOVERY OF HIS REMAINS.
Some account of the steps that have been recently taken
for the discovery and identification of the remains of Father
Marquette, S. J., cannot fail to be interesting to our readers.
The life and labors of this zealous missionary of the red
man of the west, and explorer of the Father of Waters,
are too well-known to need recounting here. They have
oeen the admiration of the world and the incentive of zeal
to his brethren in religion.
The historical records of his death and burial are briefly
these. In fulfilment of a promise made to the Kaskaskia
Indians, to return and teach them the faith, he set out from
the Mission at Mackinac on the 25th of OEl:ober, I674.
Steering his bark canoe down the western shore of Lake
Michigan, he reached on the 4th of December the spot on
which Chicago now stands, where, owing to the weakness
of his health, he encamped for the winter. Early in the
spring, he resumed his journey, and on Maundy Thursday,
the I rth of April, I675, he offered up the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass on the prairies of the Kaskaskias. His health
now so rapidly declined, that a few days after Easter he
found it necessary to return immediately, or abandon the
hope of dying in the arms of his brethern at Mackinac.
Be set out with an escort of Kaskaskias, ascending the
�160
Fat!tcr llfarqucttc-DisCO'l!CrJ' of Ius Remains.
east shore> of Lake Michigan. Becoming so seriously ill
during the journey, that he judged it impossible to continue
to its end, he turned into a small river, since designated by
his name, where on Saturday, the 18th day of 1\'lay, 1675,
like another Francis Xavier, he expired and was buried.
Two years later, his remains were conveyed by the Kiskakon Indians to the mission of St. Ignatius, Point St. Ignace,
Michilimackinac, where, on the gth of June, 1677, they
were enclosed in a birch bark box and deposited in a little
vault under, the chapel.
\Vith reg~rd to the questions, whether the remains of the
illustrious explorer were removed when the mission was
abandoned in 1796; what place was designated Michillimackinac; in what particular spot the chapel was built; what
are the local traditions; what steps have recently been
taken for the discovery of the remains; they cannot be
better answered than by inserting the two following letters
of Father Jacker, present pastor of St. Ignatius' Church,
l\'Iackinaw, whose zeal for the honor of God's servant is
equalled only by his caution in research.
ST. IGNACE, Mich., June 13, 1877.
The report concerning the discovery of Fr. Marquette's
remains, in this place, as first published in a Cheboygan
paper, is a very ex;:~ggerated affair. All that has been found,
thus far, is the foundation of a log building that might possibly have been a church, on or near the traditional site of
that Father's grave. There are ma~y circumstances, indeed,
that make it quite probable that this was the second chapel
ereCted by the Jesuits in their mission of St. Ignace de Michilimackinac, the one in which Fr. Marquette's bones were
deposited, June g, 1677; but unless some digging is done,
and human remains gathered in a box, or at least some articles that would prove the building to have been a church,
be discovered, it will forever remain a matter of doubt
whether we have struck the right place. I have the confi-
�Fatlter Marquette-Discovery
of Ius Romains
161
dence that if the saintly missionary's remains are there, and
if it is the will of God that they should be honored, something will happen to change the determination of the owner
of the ground, who positively refuses to have any search
made.
Our reasons for believing that the spot in question is the
site of the ancient chapel are principally these: The local
tradition points to that neighborhood. Old persons, now
dead, declared that a "Bishop" was buried' there. As they
received their information from Indians, in whose language
"Bishop" and "great priest" (kitc/zimekatewikmzaie) are the
same terms, the tradition may well enough have reference
to that great missionary whose memory is still fresh among
the tribe. Besides it is certain no Bishop could have been
buried there, and as certain that Marquette is the only
priest ever interred in this neighborhood.
Besides the tradition concerning the "great black coat's"
grave, there is another one asserting the former existence of
a chapel in the neighborhood. It has a somewhat legendary character. "No one," our folks said, "is allowed to approach that holy ground. lt is so thickly overgrown with
brushes that is impossible to penetrate." And singularly
enough, about an acre of ground, quite close to the buildings erected by the present owners some twenty years ago,
has been left undisturbed until lately. They cut down the
heavy timber (second or third growth), but allowed the
underbrush to grow up again. Only this year, standing in
need of more arable ground, they chopped it off, and then
the foundation of the supposed chapel and presbytery became plainly visible. Had this clearing been done before a
livelier interest in this matter was awakened (i. e., quite of
late), those traces would very probably not have attracted
much attention and become obliterated by plowing up the
ground.
But what is the verdict of written history? That the
chapel in which Fr. Marquette's bones were deposited stood
�162
Fat!ter .A1arquette-Diswvery of lzis Remains.
near the point of the upper peninsula of Michigan, oppo~ite
the Island of Mackinac, is an indisputable faCt, whatever
Schoolcraft and others may have said to the contrary. That
chapel was in the close neighborhood of Tionontate, Hu·
ron's village, which has given our little bay its Indian name
of Nadowekweyamishing, i. e., Little Huron Bay (the East
Moran Bay of the maps). Lahontan, who was here in r688,
and later, gives a pretty detailed description of the French,
Huron and Ottawa settlements on this bay, and the Jesuits'
residence, together with a plan that shows their respeCtive
positions. ~With that plan and description everything thus
far discovered on the ground in question agrees ; one could
not wish for anything better. I have not time now to enter
into details, but may do so at a future occasion.
It remains only to prove that the foundations laid bare
last month are those of the Jesuits' chapel, residence and
other buildings. The largest of the edifices (about 30x45)
can hardly have been anything else but a church or a ware·
house. This we surmise from the circumstance that it had
no fire-place like the other small buildings. The foundation, which consists of flattish limestones has also been
more carefully laid. According to Fr. Dablon's Relation
( r673-9), Fr. Marquette's remains were deposited in a vault
(or cellar, cavern) in the middle of the chapel. The exca·
vation on the spot barely approaches with one of its corners
the centre of the building. It is now about four feet deep,
and may originally have measured eight by eight. There
is a smaller hollow in the left front corner, where the baptismal fonts may have stood. A narrow room seems to
have run along the rear of the supposed chapel (perhaps the
sacristy) conneCting if with a pretty large building, which
projeCts a few feet on one side. It contained a large fireplace, the only spot where some superficial digging was
done before the owner issued his prohibition. The articles
found, -~uch as fragments of a sa~, fish-spears, gun-locks,
etc., some charcoal, vitrified cinders, and th~ like, make it
�Fatlter llifarquette-Di'scovery of lzis Remains.
163
evident that a forge or smithy mus~ have been in operation
on that spot for a number of years. This is a somewhat
suspicious circumstance; not the faCl: of its existence within
the establishment-for the Jesuit Brothers did such workbut its close proximity to what we should think to have
been the sacristy. Two or three other smaller buildings
stood a few feet apart from the presumed presbytery; and
in what seems to have been ~corner of the enclosure (the
establishment was surrounded with palisades, the traces of
which are plainly visible) there is a collapsed root-house
(caveau), such as Canadian farmers used to construCl:.
It would be but the work of a day for a few men to make
a thorough search on the premises, such as would in all
probability bring to light some articles that might clear up
our doubts. It might reveal the faCl: that no human remains are here; but e~en this would be some satisfaCtion.
It is doubtful whether Fr. Marquette's bones were left under
the ruins of the chapel ; the missionaries may have removed
them before they set fire to the building. The records of
that period-the first decade of the last century-are very
scanty. It is not likely, however, that the Fathers took
those remains along to Canada, whither they went on abandoning the mission. Nor do I deem it probable that they
removed them to their new mission at "Old Mackinac," on
the northern point of the lower peninsula, established a few
years later. If this were the case, Charlevoix (who was
there in 1721) should have heard of it. He was not even
aware of the faa of the Father's remains having been transferred from his first burial place to the mission at Point St.
Ignace.
Yours very sincerely,
EDWARD
JACKER.
�164
Fatlzer llfarquctte-Discovcry of lzis Remains.
ST. IGNACE, Sept. 13, 1877.
The report concerning the discovery of Father
Marquette's remains, which must have speedily travelled
over the wires and spread throughout the country, is this
time, I am glad to say, not a fable or an exaggeration. I
am now writing within a few paces of the little casket which
contains all that is left of the saintly Jesuit's perishable part.
But, alas, it is very little! If the fragments of bones gathered from the humble grave, were to be given away for
their weight In gold, a person of moderate means could
easily acquire" them.
I wrote you, this day three months, that the owner of the
ground in question would not allow any search for the supposed grave. His principal motive was a sort of religious
awe. To disturb the remains of a saintly priest, and still
more to remove them from the resting-place assigned them
by their brethren, appeared to Mr. David Murray (a native
of county Mayo, Ireland), as something akin to profanation,
Nothing less than the word of a Bishop was required toremove his scruples. Accordingly, in the presence of Right
Rev. Ignatius 1\Irak, Bishop of Marquette, who was prevailed upon to remove, himself, the first spadeful of ground,
and of a goodly number of our poor peo"ple-most of them of
mixed French and Indian descent-we began our search on
the afternoon of Monday, the 3d instant. Commencing in
the centre of the area circumscribed by what we took to be
the foundation of the Jesuits' chapel-an opinion that had
become more and more confirmed within the last three
months-and there finding not even as much as would
prove the former existence of a building and the fact of its
destruction by fire, we proceeded towards the ancient pit or
cellar-like excavation (let us simply call it a cellar), near the
left or southern wall of the chapel, and just in front of what
in our .churches generally is, and in the Jesuits', chapel
probably was, the Blessed Virgin's altar. Once there, our
�Father Marquette-Discovery of Ius Remains.
165
search began to assume a more interesting character. Quite
a number of objects were dug out from under the vegetable
soil, which, in the course of 171 years, had accumulated to
the depth of a foot or more above. Pieces of half burned
wood, apparently fragments of hewn planks or beams, all
very much decayed, and coal-dust mixed with the sand or
gravel that underlies the soil of the level ground around
the head of our little bay, left no doubt as to the fact of the
building having been destroyed by fire. A few spikes and
a number of nails, some of them twisted and seemingly
melted together, an iron hinge that may have belonged to
the trap door of the cellar, and similar objects tended to
prove the same fact.
In order to facilitate the understanding of what follows,
I shall make use of a diagram :
v-
d
D
I
c/~
e
b
c
f: ...... : g
The broken line A, B, C, D, represents the cellar as it
appeared before being disturbed by the spade. The line
b c shows the bottom of the ancient excavation, and. the
perpendicular lines, ab and cd, complete its probable contour. The asterisks (*****) mark the space within which
most of the above-mentioned objects were found.
It was when reaching the old bottom, between e and It,
We first met with a piece of birch bark, well preserved, but
evidently scorched by intense heat-an object well calcuVoL. vr-No. 3·
24
�166
Fat!ter llfarquette-Disarvery of Ius Remai1ls.
lated to revive our sinking hopes. You remember that
Father Marquette's remains, as brought to St. Ignace in
1677, consisted of his bones, dissected by the Indians and
stripped of the least particle of the adhering tissues; and
that they were enclosed in a birch bark case or box. In
that poor casket, in all probability, they were entrusted to
the ground. Now, if they had been removed by the missionaries before firing the chapel, we could hardly expect
to find even the box, or fragments of it; for in that case the
casket would most likely have been taken out, together with
the bones_ 'A birch bark box, placed in dry sand, would,
after twenty-nine years (from 1677 to 1706), have been
found almost as solid as it was on the day of interment.
On the contrary, if the removal of the bones took place
after the fire, which could not but injure the bark (unless
protected by a solid vault), some parts of it at least should be
expected to have remained in the tomb. And such proved to
be the case. Within the space marked by e,f, g, It numer·
ous pieces of birch bark, some almost sound, a few blackened
and ~superficially burned, but most of them only more or
less scorched or made brittle by the heat, were found im· I
bedded in the blackened sand and gravel, which had to all
appearence fallen in, or been washed jn from above, and thus
filled up the little tomb after the. removal of its contents.
Pieces of mortar, likewise more or less blac~ened, and
smaller particles of plaster, and even pure white lime, were
also met with.
Nor were fragments of bones wanting. A very small
one, almost black, but solid, and a larg.:r one, about an inch
in length, quite white but brittle, were found within the space
apparently once occupied by the box (e,f, g, It, in the dia·
gram). But our hopes to find all, or a considerable part of
the remains, soon vanished when, at a depth of about one
and a half feet from where the first· fragment of bark was
discov~red, a large piece of the same material was found in
its original horizontal position, resting on cle:tn sand and
�Father JJ;farquettc-Di'scovery of !lis Remaius.
167
gravel. It was nearly two feet long, cut round at one corner, and evidently formed part of the bottom of the box.
Outside of it, and on the same plane, three long pieces of
wood-you would say about 2-inch scantling-and so much
decayed that they fell into pieces as they were taken out,
were found imbedded in the sand. They undoubtedly once
formed the support of the box. Their appearance, as well
as 'that of the large piece of bark, and especially a piece of
white paper, which was also found, gave evidence that the
aaion of the fire had not penetrated to the lower part of
the tomb. The relative position of these wooden supports
seemed to show that those who removed the contents of the
tomb had displaced one of them and perhaps thrown out a
fourth one; unless, indeed, these pieces of wood were
placed under the box in the way we found them, merely to
level it. From the space enclosed by them, I should judge
that the box most have mea~~ured over two feet in length.
There was probably not a person who witnessed the
search thus far, who felt not CS!rtain that the long-sought
for grave was found at last. N'or was the disappearance of
the remains of difficult explanation. Their remov~l had
taken place-most probably, at least-after the destruction
of the church. Who, then, were the people that inhabited
this neighborhood, or resorted to it after the missionaries'
departure? Indians, principally pagan, with some apostates
-the whole Tionontate tribe and the better _part of the
Ottawas had removed to Detroit-and French "Coureurs
de bois" (bush rangers), a class of men portrayed in very
dark colors by the writers of the period. In fact, it was
their licentious conduct, and the excesses fostered by their
selling liquor to the Indians, that compelled the Jesuits to
abandon the mission and burn the chapel in order to prevent
its profanation. Hence, it is not likely that pious hands
should have removed to some other place the remains of
the great servant of God. For those pagan Indians, on the
other hand, a very strong temptation existed to take pos-
�168
Fatlzer Marquette-Discovery
of lzis Remains.
session of them. Human bones are frequently used by the
Algonquin tribes for superstitious purposes, and this efficacy is believed to depend partly on the qualities of the
individuals they once formed part o( What, then, should
those poor people not expeB: of the remains of a man to
whom miraculous power was attributed by their Christian
clansmen? It was almost a matter of cours~ that they
should secure such a treasure at the earliest opportunity.
But could not the Jesuits themselves, after their return to
this neighborhood, a few years later, and the renewal of the
mission at a point distant only six miles from St. Ignace,
("Old MacKinac," at the apex of the !ower peninsula of
Michigan,) have come over and transferred the remains of
the founder of the mission to their new church? If such
was the case, we could hardly fail-as already observed in
my first letter-to be informed of the faB: by Father Charlevoix, who visited "Old Mackinac" in 1721. There is,
however, another circumstance that makes me strongly
incline to the belief that Im!ians robbed the grave.
When the bones were taken out, and the damaged box
torn t; shreds, the former were apparently thrown on the
floor of the cellar and a number of small fragments were
left there, mixed up with the debris of the building, and
some shreds of the box ; a way of proceeding that would
hardly be expeB:ed of the missionarie;, who, on the contrary, would have been careful to gather the last particle of
their venerated brother's remains. Those fragments-some
thirty-six in number, and belonging to different parts of the
frame-were discovered on the second day after our search.
A person of this place who, rather stealthily, searched for
a piece of bark or some other little keepsake, was the lucky
finder, and honest enough to hand them to me on my return
from Mackinac Island, whither I had accompanied our Rt.
Rev. Bishop the day after the first discovery. On sifting
the ground on the same spot I found another little fragment.
A physician to whom I have since shown all the larger
�Father Marquette-Discovery of /zzs Remains.
169
bones declared them to be, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
fragments of human bones, aeted upon by intense heat and
remarkably well preserved. On one of them, apparently
of the frontal bone, he discovered a slight incision running
over its whole surface, and evidently produced by the point
of a cutting instrument. That cut was mo~t likely made
during the process of removing the skin, as described by
Father Dablon in the Relation of 1673--9·
In order not to delay the sending off of this-perhaps
already too lengthy-letter, I will not enter into more details, or into a discussion on the probable surroundings of
the place of interment (to be inferred from the fragments of
lime, plaster and mortar found in and around the grave). Let
me only add that we confidently look for assistance from
outside for the ereCtion of some kind of tomb or mortuary chapel to be raised, the sooner the better, over Father
Marquette's grave. We covered it, temporarily, with a
floor of boards. Mr. Murray having generously promised
to donate one-half acre of land, the proprietorship of the
ground will soon pass over into the proper hands. Could
not, in the meantime, steps be taken towards the organizing
of committees for the colleCtion of necessary funds? St.
Ignace itself is a very poor place, and the immediate neighborhood is not much better, especially as far as the great
majority of our own people are concerned. We are none
the less a very happy people, and consider ourselves rich
in possessing Father Marquette's grave and remains. If
the latter are scanty they are only the more precious. We
preserve them in our little sacristy, together with the most
I
remarkable objeCts found in the grave. In due time they
will be transferred into the tomb or chapel on the spot where
they lay for the past two hundred years, there to remain an
objeCt: of pious interest for thousands of pilgrims from all
parts of the country-many hundreds have already visited
the spot during the last three months-who in ever increasing numbers will come to honor the memory of "the gentle
�170
Father Marquette-DiscO'very of !tis Remains.
Marquette." May, in the meantime, only things much more
precious than his remains fall to our inheritance; a small
share of his humility, his compassion for the poor and forsaken, his tender devotion to the "Blessed Virgin Immaculate!"
Yours very truly,
EDWARD ]ACKER.
P. S.-In regard to the suspicious circumstance adverted
to, that there should have been a forge in such close proximity to th~ sacristy, it has since occurred to me that such
an establishment might have been kept there by some of
the Frenchmen living in the place after the Fathers' departure. Those immense "colonial" chimneys brave any fire,
and are the last part of a building to tumble down. The
one in the Jesuits' house, being probably the most substantial in the settlement, may have been made use of by those
settlers, or by the coureurs de bois, for the ereCtion of a little
forge, where to patch their kettles, repair guns, etc. Our
old~ baptismal records show that up to the close of the
second mission (1765), there must have been a little French
population at Pointe St. Ignace. In faCt, from the time
when Father Allonez met some Frenchmen and Indians in
this vicinity, on Nov. the 11th, 166g, up to the time when
the ancestors of a part of the present population settled here
(after 1765), these shores have never been uninhabited.
E.].
It was said above that Fr. Marquette died and was buried
onthe bank of a small river since designated by his name.
On the spot grew up a village, which for many years also
bore his name; the following letter from a friend in St. Louis
will convey some interesting particulars in regard to it:
�Fatlter Marquette-Discoz•ery of !tis Re-mains.
·
I7I
ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY,
OcTOBER
znd,
I877.
REVEREND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
Now that the late discovery of Father Marquette's remains has renewed the loving interest which we all feel in
whatever relates to that noble son of our little Society, the
following few items will, I trust, be acceptable to your readers, as they concern the ,present condition of the locality,
where the great missionary died, and where his mortal
remains first found a temporary resting place. I have
gathered these items from one of our Fathers, who lately
gave a mission on that venerated spot. The place was
known for many years as Pere Marquette, Michigan.
This town contained, among other settlers, some hundreds
of Catholics of various nationalities ; but it had no regular
attendance from any priest. Gradually the torch of faith
had grown so dim that most of the Catholics had lost sight
of its guidance, and many attended protestant churches.
For all these the Catholic name of Pere Marquette had lost
its charm, and they readily parted with it in exchange for
that of Ludington, the name of a wealthy man in the neighborhood, who promised them $500 as his part of the bargain.
Things were in that sad state, when a zealous secular
priest, Rev. C. L. Ceuninck, nearly a year ago took up his
abode there, and vigorously set about the hard task of
reclaiming the hallowed spot. But with,all his efforts, he
had last spring only thirty Easter Communions. Then he
resolved to try the effeas of a mission, to be given by
· members of our Society.
The mission commenced on the 26th of last August and
closed on the 4th of September. It was preached by Rev.
Fathers Coghlan, Condon, and D. Niederkorn. The parish
being composed of three different nationalities, it was
�172
Death of Father Van Assclte.
necessary to preach in three different languages to reach
all. Father Coghlan, superior of. the missionary band,
gave the leading sermons in English, and Father Condon
the instruCtion; while Father Niederkorn preached alternately in French and in German.
The result was highly gratifying: five hundred of the
stray sheep were brought back to the fold; the total number
of holy Communions being five hundred and twenty-eight.
Of these, forty-six were first Communions of adults, one
of whom was fifty-two years of jlge. Twenty protestants
joined our Holy Church, and three members of secret socie·
ties return~ea to the praCtice of their religion. All felt
ashamed of having sold the name of good Fr. Marquette
for a handful of gold, and they will no doubt exert themselves to redress the wrong.
It was with deep emotions of gratitude, hope, and love, .
that the three missionaries knelt on the venerated spot where
the body of Father Marquette had been first buried; and
as they rose from their knees, they felt confident that from
the .height of heaven the blessed soul of their illustrious
predecessor would guard and foster the precious seed, which
they had so hopefully dropped in that hallowed soil.
c.
DEATH OF FR. VAN ASSCHE, S.
J.
Rev. Judocus Francis Van Assche, S. J., departed this life
on Tuesday, June 26, at 12 o'clock noon, in his seventyeighth year. On the 26th of last May he started on horseback to visit the sick, carrying with him the Blessed Sacrament. When two miles from Florissant, out on the Cross
Keys road, he was suddenly attacked with paralysis, and fell
from h!s horse. The faithful animal stood still, seemingly
waiting for him to rise and remount. He lay helpless on
�Death of Fat!ter Van Assclze.
173•
the ground, till a gentleman, happening to pass that way,
assisted him upon his horse. He wished to go on to the
house of the sick person, but, after riding a short distance,
felt that he could proceed no farther, and returned to his
home at Florissant, which he reached with much difficulty.
Dr. Hereford, being called, found the attack to be a serious
one, and to offer little hope of recovery. The patient was
removed to the St. Stanislaus' Novitiate, about two miles
distant. where, despite all that the medical art and the
kindness of friends could do for him, he gradually sank
until noon of the 26th of June, when he breathed his last.
The word "good Father Van Assche is dead," rapidly
travelled to the village and through the surrounding country;
and perhaps none that knew him personally, ever knew
another person to whom the epithet, "good" in all its meaning, could be so appropriately given- for Father Van
Assche was a man of remarkable goodness, both by nature
and from every amiable virtue. He never had an enemy ;
and an unkind word was never spoken against him. He
had the simplicity of a child ; he was so cheerful, so kindly
in his manners, so ready to serve others and to give the
preference to any one over himself, that no man knew him
that did not love him, and no one could meet him and converse with him, without desiring tomeet and converse with
him again. Every member of his congregation looked on
him as a special friend, and all revered him as a wise and
saintly man. He was a father to the poor and to those in
sorrow; he never turned away a beggar from his do'or
without giving something, even when having little for himself; "For," he would say to his friends, "even if the beggar
be an undeserving drunkard, he must be in great need if he
comes to ask a pittance of me." Father Van Assche realized
in his whole life and conduct the ideal of a Christian pastor,
made perfect beyond all ordinary men, by a charity unfeigned ; because it knew no exception, refused no work,
and feared no sacrifice. His zeal was not like that of the
VoL. vi-No. 3·
25
�·174
Deatlz of Fatlzer Van Assche.
Pharisee, fiery and impatient; it was persuasive but gentle,
making duty a pleasure, not an insupportable burden.
He was distinguished for his praCl:ical good sense and for
the solidity of his judgment concerning all the affairs of
human life; he was observant and thoughtful; his opinions
showed so much wisdom and prudence on all matters falling
under his notice that his ~dvice was sought for and most
highly valued even by most learned acquaintances. It was
instruCl:ion to hear him express his thoughts on public and
social questions. Having spent in the United States fiftysix years of his long life, he had become as attached to the
country and Its institutions as if he had known no other.
He often said pleasantly to his young friends who were born
here: "I am more of an American than you, for,two reasons;
one is, I am here longer than you have been ; and the other
is, I am an American by choice, while you are one by accident." He lamented the growth of avarice, saying "Now
the people no longer work for a living, but to become rich."
He began to minister at the altar in 1827, fifty years ago;
he baptized in their infancy the grandparents of many now
living i~ the city and county of St. Louis. "Good Father
Van Assche," as he was for many years styled by every one,
was buried on the spot-a little mound-where repose the
remains of Father DeSmet, the illustriqJ,is Indian missionary,
and those of Father Meurin, a member -of the old Society,
who died at Kaskaskia in 1777. Fifty long years ago,
Father Van Assche heard the whip-poorwill's nightly song
from its perch on t~e tall trees covering the ground beneath
whose sod he now sleeps his last long sleep.
When this good and much-loved old missionary first
reached St. Louis, May 30, r823, it was then but a struggling frontier town.
Father Judocus F. Van Assche was born at St. Amand,
which is on the banks of the Scheid, five leagues above
Antwerp.· His father, J udocus Van Assche, dealt in spun
cotton an'd flax. Young Van Assche wished to be a sailor
�Deatlz
if Fatlzer Vall Assc/ze.
175
and·his father applied to a captain, known to be a good man,
to receive him ; but the captain declined to accept any more
boys. The youth was sent to school at Mechlin. His
playfulness caused his teacher, who did not rightly estimate
the innocent vivacity of a boyish nature, to request his
father to recall him from school ; his father declined to do
so till his son was given further trial. The youth soon became distinguished for his diligence in study, obedience to
rules, success in his classes, and all virtues becoming his age.
In r8r6, the illustrious Kentucky missionary Father Chas.
Nerinckx went to his native country, Belgium, in the interests of his various missions in the diocese of Bardstown,
Ky. On his return to the United States, in I8IJ, he was
accompanied by James Oliver Van de Velde, who joined
the Society at Georgetown College, D. C. In Belgium, the
latter was tutor of French to young Judocus F. Van Assche,
who would have accompanied him had not his youth.and
the lack of means rendered such a step impra.B:icable at that
time. His desire to join his friend at Georgetown he however kept, and only waited for an opportunity to go to
America .. In 1820, Father Nerinckx again set out on a visit
to Belgium, and, passing by way of Georgetown, was made
the bearer of a letter from Mr. Van de Velde to young Van
Assche. Young Van Assche resolved to accompany the
Rev. Mr. Nerinckx on his return to America, and revealing
his intention ~o his schoolmate John B. Elet, he too determined to go. A little after, John B. Smedts joined them in
their proposed journey, and then P. J. DeSmet, Felix Verreydt and P. J. Verhaegen also determined to join the party.
In order to raise the funds necessary for the trip they disposed of their books and furniture, pawning their pianos and
Watches for redemption by their parents. After overcoming
many difficulties they collected together on the Texel, a
small island off the coast of North Holland. Near the
island the ship "Columbus," on which they were to sail,
rode at anchor waiting for them. They boarded and went
�Deatlz
if Fatlzer Van Assc/ze.
quietly out upon the main sea. They seemed to have cast
no lingering, longing looks back upon the shores which
most of them were never to see again; for their purpose
was to give up all in order to devote their lives to the Indian missions of America.They reached Philadelphia on Sunday, September 23,
1821, whence they proceeded at once by way of Baltimore,
to Georgetown. They were received as novices and sent at
once to the house of probation, at Whitemarsh.
In the yea:- 1823, Bishop Dubourg, who was bishop of
Upper and Lower Louisiana, went to Georgetown to ask for
a colony of Jesuits, for the evangelization of the Indians in
the State of Missouri. Father Van Quickenborne, with
Messrs. Van Assche, De Smet, Verhaegen, Verreydt,
Smedts, Elet, and Brother de Meyer, who still survives at
the good old age of eighty-four, offered themselves for the
missions in the far West. They left Whitemarsh about the
middle of April, 1823, went to Baltimore, where they procured wagons for their luggage, and started on the journey
byway of Frederick, Md., Conewaga, Pa., Cumberland, Md.,
thence across the Alleghany Mountains, reaching Wheeling
after a journey of about two weeks. They were here enter·
tained for a few days by a kind gentleman, Mr. Thompson,
whose daughter subsequently became a distinguished mem·
ber of the Sacred Heart Order. They procured two flat
boats, which they lashed together, placing upon one of them
a wagon, some negroes that accompanied them, their stock
of provisions for the journey, etc.,-the reverend gentlemen,
with their library and various articles of church furniture,
being on the other boat. After a trip of some twelve days
down the river, without striking incidents, they reached
Louisville Ky., where they met the Reverend Charles Ner·
inckx, who was there awaiting their arrival. A "Falls pilot"
was engaged to get their boats safely over the falls. They
went down the Ohio to Shawneetown, where they disem·
barked, and sending their baggage around to St. Louis by
�Deatlt
of Fatlzer Van Assclze.
177
steamboat, they journeyed across by land to the same destination.
They reached St. Louis May 30, and, on the evening of
the same day, Father Van Quickenborne rode on horseback
out to Florissant. The present novitiate farm, or at least
that part of it on which the houses stand, had been donated
by Bishop Dubourg to Father Van Quickenborne and companions. They took possession of the place, and began at
once to clear land for a garden ; and on July 3 I they began
to dig the c~llar for a dwelling, which, in the style of that
day, was a log cabin. Mr. Van Assche was ordained priest
in 1827, and assumed two years later the regular charge of
the congregation at the village of Florissant. This congregation had been for a year in charge of the Trappists, who
gave it up in I 8 ro, removing to Monks' Mound, on Cahokia
Creek, Ill. When the Monks left Illinois in I813, to return
to Europe, Rev. M. Durand, a member of their order, remained in Missouri and had charge of the congregation at
Florissant for some seven years, residing a part of that time
in the village. His congregation was afterwards under the
care of Rev. Mr. De Lacroix, from 1820 till I823, during
which time he built the present brick church of that place.
In 1823 Mr. De La Croix made over the church to the
Jesuit Fathers, under whose charge it has remained till the
present time. In 1832 Father Van Assche began to reside
at Florissant. He lived a couple of years at Portage des
Sioux, but in 1840 he was required by his physicians to
leave the place, which was subjeCt to malarious influences,
on account of the low, wet lands surrounding it. He returned to Florissant, and, with the exception of three years'
residence at St. Charles Mo., Father Van Assche made Florissant his home till his death. He lived fifty-four years of
his long life in Missouri ; and, except for two short visits,
one to Cincinnati, ·and one to Chicago, he never in that
time went beyond St. Louis and St. Charles Counties. He
has now gone to the reward of a long and useful life, fol-
�178
Death
of Father John Me Elroy.
lmved by the praises and the blessings of all that knew him.
He was a man of God, who gave up native country, a home
among loved ones - all that is near and dear to the human heart, in order to make himself useful as a missionary
in a strange land. He set the example of a pious and
blameless life; and .full of days, and full of merit, he expired calmly. He bore his last illness without murmur
or complaint, and seemingly without any pain. No one
who knew him personally, will refuse giving assent to the
prayer-May he rest in peace! and may my last end be
like to that..?,f good Father Van Assche.
DEATH OF FATHER JOHN McELROY.
A satisfactory history of a life extending over so long a
period of time, so crowded with great works, and so interwoven for many years with almost all the important events
in the history of the Church and the Society in this country,
as was that of Father John Me Elroy, would require volumes: nevertheless, while waiting for. the promised biography which will, it is hoped, fulfil this·task in a worthy manner, we think that a short sketch of his life and last moments,
however meagre and imperfect, may not perhaps be without
consolation for those who mourn for his loss, and edification
for those who wish to follow in his footsteps.
John Me Elroy was born in the town of Enniskillen.
county Fermanagh, Province of Ulster, Ireland, on the 14th
day of May, 1782. His early education, like that of so
many others in those times, when Ireland was just awaking
from the long and fitful sleep of ignorance into which the
penal laws had cast her, was of the scantiest description.
Every morning, if we remember correctly the circumstances
which we heard in former years from his own lips, he trudged
�Deatlz of Fatlzer Jolzn Me Elroy.
179
off barefoot to school, with his brothers and the children of
the neighborhood, each bearing under his arm the brick of
turf which was to serve as his contribution to the schoolhouse fire for that day. The children sat on the floor, for
want of benches, and received an instruction which corresponded to this primitive style of heating arrangements and
furniture. His Catholic parents, however, took care to instil
into his mind those important principles which are so often
neglected in methods of education supposed to be of a
much higher order; viz. a deep love for the Faith and a
frank and sincere piety. These afterwards proved to be for
him the seeds, not only of sanctity, but also of learning.
In the year I80J, being then twenty years of age, he
joined in the tide of emigration which was already setting,
swift and strong, towards the western shores of the Atlantic.
Landing at Baltimore, he made his way to Georgetown, and
there entered into mercantile pursuits.
The fathers of the suppressed Society of Jesus who were
in Maryland, had no sooner heard, in the year 1801, that
Pope Pius VII. had reestablished their beloved Society in
the Empire of Russia, as a congregation, with the power of
affiliating members in other countries,* than they wrote to
the General in Russia, Father Francis Kareu, and obtained
permission to aggregate themselves to the Company. This
was about twelve years before its formal reestablishment as
an Order throughout the whole world. When John McElroy, therefore, came to Georgetown in 1803, he found the
Jesuits just struggling again into existence, and it was not
long before he heard the voice of God calling him to serve
Him in the new Society. He entered as a lay-brother. His
long retreat was made at Georgetown College, in company
with several other novices, the ineditations being read from
l!f The Society, it will be remembered, was no sooner reestablished throughout
the world, than it-was expelled from its place of refuge in the snows of Russia.
It may interest our readers to know that, according to the catalogue of Galicia
for 1877, there still remain twelve members of the old Russian province,
scattered through the provinces of Galicia, Naples, Rome, 'lurin and Venice.
�180
Death of Father john Me Elroy.
a book by a priest who was himself a novice at the time.
Brother Me Elroy remained in the college in the capacity
of buyer and bookkeeper for four or five years. But the
Very Rev. Father Grassi, who then governed the Society in
Maryland, thought that he discovered in him extraordinary
qualities, great prudence, virtue and judgment, and he therefore made him apply himself to his studies, that he might be
elevated to the Priesthood. He was accordingly instruCted
in the necessary branches to prepare him for ordination, and
while pursuing his studies at the College, he still retained
charge of its temporal affairs.
It was du.~ing this period that he witnessed, from the
windows of the College, the burning of Washington by the
British troops under General Ross, who, after the battle of
Bladensburgh, advanced to Washington, burned the Capitol
and other public buildings, ate the dinner which had been
prepared in the President's house for the American officers,
and then set fire to the roof under which they had received
such unexpeCl:ed hospitality.
After making his course, Father Me Elroy was ordained
Priest on the 3rd of May, 1817, at the age of thirty-five
years. Not long after his ordination, his great talent for
preaching was discovered almost by a~cident. It happened
one Saturday that the Pastor of the cqurch was absent, and
could not return for the Mass on Sunday. The Superior
asked Father Me Elroy, with some doubt expressed in his
manner, if he thought he could preach the next day.
"Well," replied the young priest, "if you tell me, I will try.'"
With the aid of an old volume of Father De Ponte's Meditations, which he had found lying in a corner, negleCl:ed and
covered with dust, he prepared his first sermon. All who
heard him were so much pleased that it was not long before
he was again appointed for the same duty : after that, the
preaching was given entirely into his hands, and from that
day forward, he had the consolation of seeing his congre·
gation steadily increasing every Sunday. He remained for
�Deatlt
of Father Jolm Me Elroy.
181
a short time as pastor of the church in Georgetown, at the
same time looking after the temporal concerns of the College, direCting the accounts, and purchasing the supplies.
In 1822, he was sent to the city of Frederick to take the
place of the worthy Father Malave, who was at that time
very ill ; and here he began that series of great works
which have entitled him to rank among the founders of the
Church in the United States. The old church which had
been built by Father Dubois, predecessor of Father Malave
and afterwards Bishop of New York, was going rapidly to
decay. The congregation was not large, but with that
resistless energy and invincible trust in Providence which
were his distinguishing charaCteristics, Father Me Elroy
commenced and brought to completion the Church of St.
John. This noble edifice is an exaCt copy, in all save a few
details, of the church of the Society, St. Francis Xavier's,
in Dublin, but it surpasses its prototype in dimensions. It
is built on such a scale that but few priests could be found,
even at the present day, who would be willing to undertake
its erection in so small a city as Frederick; fewer still, perhaps, who could bring it to a successful termination. But
Father Me Elroy's courage knew no limits when the glory
of God was in question. Indefatigable himself, he bore all
along with him by his energy and contagious zeal.
St. John's College, under the wand of this powerful
enchanter, soon arose, and began to pour forth a host of
graduates who have since become eminent for learning and
piety.
He introduced the Sisters; opened, with their aid, the
first free-school which ever existed in Frederick, and had
painted over their door, much to the disgust of some of the
good people of that city, these words: "First Catholic
Frederick Free-School."
His labors. were not confined to the Frederick Valley,
but extended as far as Pennsylvania and Virginia. He used
to ride sometimes a hundred miles to attend some man who
VoL. VI-No. 3·
26
�Deatlz of Fatlzer John lt:fc Elroy.
was dying. There were no railroads, no conveniences of
travel, and many a night had to be spent in the woods.
Enduring countless hardships, always exposed to danger in
fording swollen streams and riding through forests, the missionary priest of those days had to go about like the Good
Shepherd, ever ready to lay down his life for his sheep.
In early times, Frederick· and the vicinity had a large
transient population of Catholic laborers. The building of
the great "National Road," or military highway, which
passes through Frederick, and binds together the East and
the West,J~e construCtion of the Baltimore and Ohio R. R.
and other works, brought many Catholic Irishmen into the
field of Father Me Elroy's influence. Besides, Frederick,
with its ·many turnpikes radiating to all points of the com·
pass, was the centre and starting point of the great wagon
trade with the \Vest, which preceded the introduCtion of
railroads; and this faCt: may have contributed to the same
result. Father Me Elroy's influence with these men was
immense, and it is said that on one occasion his sole pres·
ence and exhortations sufficed to quell an outbreak among
them, similar in nature, though not so great in extent, as
the late strike which it required so lamentable an expenditure of life to put down. His care o_f these poor men, when
the terrible plague of the cholera,-i_n 1831, was sweeping
them off by the hundred, and his solicitude in providing for
their orphan children, fully justified the confidence and esteem which they had shown him. *
'*In addition to these manifold labors, there was another, still more essential
to the Institute, in which Father ::lie Elroy led the way. This was the work
of giving the Spiritual exercises. Bishops ::\[arechal, Du Bois, Cheverus, and,
in fact, all of those venerable men who are justly esteemed as the Fathers of
the Church in this country, were his friends, and were anxious to secure his
aid in fanning the flame of Faith and Piety which their own virtue and labors
had kindled in their dioceses. If we look now upon the regions which were
the scenes of those labors and which witnessed those virtues, we must exclaira:
"Behold how small a fire, what a great wood it kindleth!" But it was not
without patient and zealous labor that this result was obtained. Father }.{eEl·
roy traversed the length and breadth of the land, giving retreats to priests,
�Deatlt
of Fatlzer Jolm Me Elroy.
,.
After twenty-three years of indefatigable labor in Frederick City, Father Me Elroy was transferred to Georgetown,
but not for a long time. Early in I 846 the Mexican war
broke out, and President Polk appealed to the Bishops in
council assembled, for the purpose of getting Catholic chaplains for the army. This request was made by the President in order to prevent, as far as possible, the vices incident
to the life of soldiers in the field, and also to remove a false
impression which the Mexicans had in some way received,
that they were warred upon on account of their religion as
Catholics. The Superiors of the Society were called upon
religious houses and seminaries, and missions to the people. In his retreats to
the secular clergy, he was especially careful to urge them to the attainment of
the highest perfection, and to leave no room for the idea that such an aim is for
religious only. "I always told them," said he, speaking incidentally on this
subject during the period of retirement which preceded the close of his lite:
"I always told them that Poverty was not an ivy which should grow on convent walls alone."
It would be hard to imagine any one better suited to the work of missions
than Father :McElroy, as he was at this time. His commanding stature and
dignified bearing, his powerful, yet sweet voice, the noble and forcible language
in which his thoughts seemed spontaneously to clothe themselves; his simple,
affectionate earnestness of manner, and the strain of tenderness which ran like
a silver thread through all the warp and woof of his mind and speech-above
all, the burning ardor of a soul given up to God and consumed with zeal for
the glory of His house, gave him such a command over the hearts of the people
that he turned them which way he would-and this was always heavenward.
The effects of his missions were incalculable. \Ve insert here an extract from
a late "Freeman's Journal," which will give some idea of the good which he
effected in this way:
"Father Drumgoole saitl (on the occasion of a visit hy Father Damen and
others to St. Vincent's Home for Boys, of which he is the Director) that one
of the earliest and sweetest remembrances of his lite was hearing, when a boy
himself, that illustrious Jesuit ~lissionary, Father McElroy, who but recently
died full of years and sanctity, preach at a mission given at St. Patrick's Cathedral, in New York City, under the sanction of the lamented Archbishop
Hughes. That was the first mission ever given in the city of New York, and
bl~ssed and manifold were its fruits. Over forty persons, to my own knowledge,
Said Father Drumgoole, embraced a religious life after attending it, and they
became, both priests and nuns, all noted for their piety. At the close of the
mission, Bishop Hughes admonished all the young persons especially to bear
in mind the remembrances of that holy mi"Bion, and vividly do I now recall
how we all knelt to receive Father J\Ic Elroy's blessing ere he departed from
among us at that time."
�1 84
Death
of Fat!ter Jo!tJZ
Me Elroy.
to furnish the priests required, and. Father McElroy was
seleaed, together with Father Rey, for the arduous post.
He remained with General Taylor's army for about three
years, and by his words and example effeaed much good
and many conversions among the soldiers.
On his return from the war, he was sent to Boston, to
take possession of St. Mary's Church, which Bishop Fitzpatrick had just offered to the Society. Owing to preceding
circumstances of an unfavorable charaaer, the charge of
this parish promised to be no very pleasant task, but under
the .magnetic.influence of Father Me Elroy's zeal and devo·
tion, all difficulties were smoothed away, and this church
and congregation became what they are at the present day
-one of the most edifying and flourishing in the whole
extent of North America.
After some years, Father McElroy succeeded, in spite of
difficulties, prejudices and opposition, in ereaing Boston
College and the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
This pile of buildings, magnificent in its proportions, and
still more so in the results which are being there achieved
for the Church in New England, is the noblest monument
of his zeal. When he had finished it, the work of his life
was done. His sight failed, and his frame, g·igantic though
it was, could no longer withstand the~effeas of nearly three
quarters of a century spent in unflagging toil in the service
of God. His superiors therefore sent him again to Frederick, and there, in the peaceful quiet of the Novitiate, he
calmly awaited the end. Perfealy blind, and scarcely able
to walk to the chapel, he yet persever~d in saying Mass (the
Mass of the Blessed Virgin, which he knew by heart), every
day until he was aaually confined to his bed. Always
bright and cheerful, he never gave the slightest sign of repining at his blindness: even if questioned upon the subjeCt,
he always answered that it gave him no unhappiness. His
light was the fire of divine love, which glowed the brighter
in his heart as the flame of his earthly life burned low and
�Deatlz of Fat!ter }olm Me Elroy.
flickered in the socket. His· conversation with the. novices
and others around him always breathed of heaven, and it
was easy to see that he was impatient for the time when
his eyes should gaze, without darkness or shadow, upon
the face of his beloved Master. "The Angel of Death has
passed me by," he would say; "I am afraid Our Lord
has forgotten to call me home." It seemed that God wished
him to remain on earth to see the reaping of the harvest
which he himself had sown, and that we might see what
kind of men our fathers were in their generation. At last
the summons came, and, gradually sinking, he breathed his
last. He died at the Novitiate in Frederick, September
12th, 1877, at the age of ninety-five years and four months.*
*At the time of his death, Father McElroy was older by four years than
any other member of the Society. Those whose ages approach nearest to his
are two lay-brothers, Br. Spreafico, of the province of Turin, and Br. D'Amico,
of Sicily, both of whom were born in the year 1786, and were therefore ninety·
one years old when Father McElroy died. Next after them, came Father
Arnaud Boisacq of Champagne, and Br. Baryszewski of Galicia, born in 1788.
After these, another step of two years, when we find Fathers Sortini and Sordi,
the first of the Sicilian province, and the second of the Venetian. Then there
. are two born in 1791, three in 1792, and three in 1793. Of 1794, no less than
seven appear on the catalogues, including Father Emmanuel Gill, of the Cas·
tilian province, Assistant for Spain. The year 1795 also shows seven, the
oldest of whom is our Rev'd Father General, Peter Beckx, who was born in
February of that year. Two out of these seven, Father Maas, a Belgian, and
Bro. Grocholski, of the Galician province, were born on the same day, June
13th, and bear the name of its patron, St. Anthony. The oldest Jesuit in
America is Bro. Peter de ~I eyer of the ~Iissouri Province, born in 1793.
Father ~fc Elroy was, at the time of his death, the oldest member of the
!lociety not only in years l:)ut also in religious life, having entered the Novitiate in 1806. Next after him we find in the catalogues for 1877, Br. D'Amico,
(Sicily), who entered on the 20th of June 1812. Father Ignatius Poczobut,
formerly of the Province of 'Vhite Russia, and now of the Province of Turin,
25th of July 1812. Father Joseph Siedmiogrodzki (Gallicia) 4th of July 1813;
Father Camillus lemma (Sicily) 3rd of Sept. 1813; Father Anthony Grocholski (Galicia) 31st of of July 1814; Father Robert Haly (Ireland) 7th of
Sept. 1814; Father Bernard Addis (England) 7th of Oct. 1814; Father John
Curtis (Ireland) lOth of Oct. 1814; Father Anthony Maas (Belgium) 12th
of Oct. 1814; Father F. X. Patrizi (Rome) 12th of Nov. 1814.
. Father Thomas Finnigan, of the Maryland Province, has spent more years
In religion than any other member of the Society in America. having entered
on the 5th of February 1815.
�186
Deat!t
of Fatlter ](1/m Me Elroy.
His was a noble charaB:er; massive and grand as some
rugged mountain-peak; tender and sweet as the last ray of
sunlight that lingers upon its summit. . Sound and prudent
in judgment, broad and comprehensive in his views, careful
and deliberate in coming to a decision, but swift and untiring
in its execution, he was in the spiritual republic what our
patriot forefathers were in the material commonwealth.
His charaB:er, like theirs, was so perfeB:ly balanced, so
evenly developed, that to one who knew him but slightly
the full extent of its greatness might perhaps have been
scarcely apparent; just as in sog1e noble pile of buildings,
where all the parts are in perfeB: harmony and proportion,
where nothing is given an undue prominence or disproportioned development, we cannot, at first sight, realize the vast
dimensions of the whole. What added greatly, in his case,
to this effeB:, was his simple and unaffeB:ed humility.
He could look around upon the Church as it is in the
United States at this moment, and say with truth: "This is
my doing," for in every one of her works for the education,
instruCtion, conversion, and reformation of America, he had
helped to lay the foundation upon which others are building
so prosperously : yet no word of his ever indicated that he
considered himself anything more than a simple priest and
an unprofitable servant. \Vhether he'preached or conversed,
there was a kind of simple dignity and grave tenderness in
his manner which spoke the saint, and like the Spirit of God
itself, moved the hearts of those who listened to him. The
world, could it appreciate his work, would call him a "selfmade man ; " but he himself would have scorned the appellation. The grace of God made him what he was, and
never was nobler piece o.f workmanship.-R. I. P.
�INDIAN MISSIONS-LAKE SUPERIOR.
WIKWEMIKONG, April 24th, 1877·
REVEREND FATHER,
P. C.
The last occasion on which I wrote to you, I promised
that my next letter would be longer. I will endeavor to fulfil
that promise to-day \vhilst the ice, which a short time ago
was covering the country all around, is thawing, and thus
gives me some leisure. This is the only time in the year
when I can rest from the hard work of winter; I avail myself
of it to answer the letter which came during the last season,
and to write other letters equally important. . To begin, I
will tell you about our little community which seems to
increase in number and in strength. Fr. Chane is far from
being as well as one might wish him to be; he probably
will soon fail like a taper that is burned away. Br. Keys is
always the same: he seems to be but waiting for an occasion
to leave us. Brs. Clarke and Koemstedt are getting weaker
and weaker, especially the first. Good old Br. Jennesseau is
so so; and Br. Divine is the only one that enjoys good
health. Fr. Baudin is getting accustomed to the climate of
our island; his health, at least exteriorly, seems much better than when he first came here. He already speaks
pretty well the language of our savages.
As to your humble servant, he continues to be, as it were,
a stranger to Wikwemikong ; he goes there rarely, and then
stops but a very short time. For, since Fr. Hebert left us,
and Fr. Chane took sick, all the work of our numerous
missions hangs heavy upon him. I will write to you, then,
only about the missions which are particularly my own, and
especially about those which I visited last winter. We will
begin with those nearest to Wikwemikong. Wikmemikon(187)
�188
Indian Missions- Lake Superior.
sing and Achitawargoning are the first; I visited them last
December.
In each one of these missions there are schools and a
church; but the schoolhouse being still in course of construB:ion, we were obliged to rent a room, in order not to
interrupt the classes; but I hope that with the help of divine Providence these houses will soon be finished. A few
days before Christmas I left again to visit Milchigiwatinong,
a pretty important village of the Indians containing three
or four hundred men. It has a fine church which the savages themselves built, and which is admired by strangers ;
it has also a -school which is in working order. \Vith some
help from the savages, I had a large, substantial schoolhouse
built there : it is not yet finished, but still is good enough
to teach in. I intend to have it finished entirely by next
summer. I ~hen direB:ed my steps towards Mudge Bay
and Gore Bay in order to visit some families of white men
dispersed here and there among Protestants, and consequently much exposed to lose their faith. I then went to
Shishigivaning and on my way I again came very near losing
my life. I say again, because it was in traversing the very
same bay that I almost perished some years ago.
We were this time again caught by a frightful snow storm
and opposed by a north wind which' was blowing in our
faces. This storm was so strong that \..;e could scarcely see
each other at the distance of a few steps; so that we were
obliged to grope around and were in great danger of losing
ourselves and getting frozen. Still we could not come back
on that great Bay ; we were obliged to reach the other side.
Finally, with the help of God, we succeeded in making our
way as best we could through that frightful storm, and we
arrived safe and sound. It is true, some parts of our bodies were frozen ; but one cannot go to war without expenses.
Shishgroming is magnificently situated, and has a population of about one hundred and fifty. It has a church and
�·Indian Missions- Lake Superior.
189
a s~hool; but they are now building a new church, which
is to be finer than the old one, and which will be used
as a schoolhouse. This poor little mission was, for some
time, a prey to the wolves, ·I mean to the Methodists.
During seven years, they could not, to all appearances, make
a single convert; they merely left there the seeds of impiety
which are now insensibly disappearing. It was only last
year that I succeeded in getting entirely rid of these raging wolves and in chasing them from the flock of the Lord.
I thus traversed, on the ice, the wide strait which divides
Manitoulin Island from the main land, and went to Misisaging, where they were anxiously expecting me; a fatal war
was to be waged with our old enemies, the Methodists, who,
chased from Shishigwaning, had settled on the river Missisaging, in spite of the prohibition from the second chief and
from all the Catholic Indians. These poor savages, new
christians mostly, with some white and half-breed families,
were impatiently waiting for me, like young recruits unused
to war, who, being suddenly besieged during the absence
of their chief by an audacious enemy, are at a loss what to
do against his more or less devilish tricks. Such was the
state of mind of these poor people, when I came among
them.
But that you may understand better the boldness and the
shamelessness of the opponents with whom we have to deal,
I will tell you what lately happened to us. About two
years ago a pair of Methodist ministers alighted at Mississiging; they gathered together the white people and the
Indians, and proposed to them, as they are wont to do, to
establish a school there, gratis. They had no other end in
vit:w, they said, than the happiness and the education of the
children, and knowing that they were Catholics already, they
Would take great care not to speak against that religion, etc.
These poor people, who had no school there, and who were
anxious to have one, were soon caught in the net and not
only gave their consent, but promised, especially the whites,
to build a schoolhouse.
VoL. VI-No. 3·
27
�190
Indian Missions- Lake Superior.
At my next visitation, I soon heard what had been done;
but the Methodist gentlemen were already gone, congratulating themselves on their happy and easy success. You
may well suppose what I did! I struck a different chord, and
showed them the right side of the medal ; as well as the
danger in which they were of losing themselves, their children, and their religion. vVell! all understood me perfectly and resolved never more to listen to the deceiving
insinuations of those wretches. I then baptised some families of infidels, and, before I left, I promised to send them
a catechist ·to instruct the new christians and to begin a
kind of school, until I might be able to do something better
for them.
I kept my word, and since that time they have a good old
man teaching them prayers, catechism, etc. So that when
the Methodists came back, they found all minds rather
changed. For not only did the people refuse to build a
schoolhouse, but they thanked the gentlemen for their disinterested services and told them that there would be no
need for any further trouble. But the Methodists did not
think themselves vanquished; they came back the following
spring (for these gentlemen happen not to use snow-shoes)
in order to sound the place, at Shishigwaning and at Missisaging; but receiving a decided reSuff at Shishigwaning,
they came back to Missisaging well resolved, this time, to
take the place by storm, if it were possible. In order to succeed they used their usual weapons, lies and corruption;
they offered to build a schoolhouse, a church, etc., all gratis.
But this time, all the christian Indians showed themselves
immovable; they rejected all proposals, told them that
they had what they wanted in that line, and that they would
not have any thing to do with them. You think that this
time at least they were discouraged, acknowledged themselves vanquished and left the place: not in the least; you
don't know yet all the audacity and boldness of these men.
They tried their very best to gain at least a few to their
�Indian Missions- Lake Superior.
191
party; and what with gifts and money they succeeded in
getting a half~breed and the first chief who was still infidel.
Hoping thus to make new conquests later on, they sent
immediately a schoolmaster who spoke the language of the
Indians, in opposition to the one whom I had appointed.
But as the poor fellow had only two or three pupils, and the
whole tribe was against him, he went away after a few
weeks.
In the mean time our famous Methodists were not idle ;
they were working secretly, and had made up their minds
to establish themselves there in force, in spite of every body
and every thing. With this end in view they wrote first to
the Indian Agent, then to the Indian Department, etc., in
order to obtain leave from the authorities to build a schoolhouse, and thus to establish themselves in that place.
Luckily enough, the Agent of the Indians, an honest Protestant with whom I am on good terms, warned me in time
of what was planned, and let me know all that happened.
He even showed to me some letters which were sent to him
in the name of the famous chief above mentioned, who had
sided with them, though he was still an infidel. I then wrote,
myself, to the Indian Department to unmask the hypocrisy
and bad faith of the Methodists, who on that account received a negative answer. Undeterred by this, they determined to build, at any cost, a schoolhouse in the reserve,
with the approbation of the first chief, now become a traitor; but fearing, and not without reason, the open opposition of all the Indians, they waited till fall, when all would
go hunting. When the tribe had gone, they began their
undertaking. You may easily conjecture the astonishment and just indignation of the Indians, when they came
back from their hunt at the b~ginning of winter and saw the
house built on their reserve. They were furious against
their chief who had thus betrayed them,· and especially
against the Methodists, who would likely have had a hard
time of it had they not been prudent enough to leave the
�f11dimz Jlli'ssions- Lake Superior.
t
place before the tribe returned. They therefore agreed
to depose their chief, who had become so unworthy of
their trust, and to take possession of the schoolhouse; but
they waited to see whether I would approve their resolution.
This was the state of things when I arrived there. I succeeded in making them forbear a little, and recommended
them to pray to God with me for the conversion of the
chief, who was able to settle every thing. I then called
that famous chief, so rebellious to God and to his people; he
came, and, after long conversations with him, I succeeded
with the help of God, in maRing him take the resolution
of becomin!f a christian: \Veil, after I had prepared him
the best way I could in the circumstances in which we were,
I baptized him with his whole family, to the great satisfaction of all, even the catechumens; and by baptism the
lion became a docile lamb. The chief and his people wrote
immediately to the Methodists that the reserve was shut to
them forever. Thus, with the help of God, we gained once
more the vietory over our fearful enemies, without shedding
a drop of blood. Now, perfeCt peace and union are reign. ing there : all participate of the same faith and of the same
sacraments. A very pretty little church will be built there
soon, through the generosity of a rich merchant, Mr. E.
Sayers, a good and fervent christian:. Thus the calm succeeded to the storm ; let us hope that it will last long for
the happiness of this little congregation.
After that I went to the island of Cockburn, and going
down, I visited Blind River, Algoma Mill, Spanish River,
Moshkamosaging, Sagamok, La Cloche, Wigwassiganagog,
Sugar Creek, the Little Current and Shigwaienda. Then I
came back to Wikwemikong, after having been absent for
more than two months. For the present I only give you
the names of the places which I visited; I will give you
details another time. After three days I again left Wikwemikong '!nd traversed the north coast of Georgian Bay ; in this
journey I visited Killarney, Collins' Inlet, Grambling Point,
Kabekonong, Kilchikiliganing and Byng Inlet with its wood-
�l11dian Missions- Lake Supen"or.
193
yards, etc. I came back on the last ice. Since then I made
another excursion on the shores of Lake Menito among our
sugar manufaCtories. I was going to leave to-morrow for
Killarney, in order to wait there for the first steamboat, on
which I would have gone to the lower missions. But Fr.
Chone thought otherwise, so that I will go to some other
place. A long time ago our bishop asked to see me towards
. the middle of May, at Collingwood, in order to begin a new
campaign. God grant that I may make it safely!
But here is enough, I think, Reverend Father, in order
to give you at least an idea of my work during last winter.
I do not think that I could be accused of laziness or sloth.
But alas ! with all my efforts and fatigue, I cannot do more
than half of what is to be done. If I could only multiply myself, so as to attend to the needs of my numerous .
missions, I would not complain; for I fear neither work nor
fatigue: but I must acknowledge that, alone, I am incapable of cultivating so vast a field, which would require the
labor of three stout workmen. And when I see many of
those missions, which have cost so much toil and sweat, in
danger of relapsing into infidelity; or, what is worse, about
to become the viCl:ims of ferocious wolves always ready to
devour them ; this thought is far more troublesome to me
than all my fatigue and labors, which indeed have become
my daily bread.
I beg of you again to send us, if you can, some help, before I yield under the heavy burden which weighs on my
shoulders, and thus spare us the affliCtion of seeing some of
our missions become heretic. I ask every day of the great
St. Joseph to send us sufficient help, and to inspire some
zealous Fathers with the efficacious desire of coming soon
to partake of our works. Ask it with us, Reverend Father;
this great ProteCtor will hear our prayers. Also pray, at
least now and then, for the poor little missionary who calls
himself-YouR REVERENCE's
Unworthy Servant in CHRIST,
P. NADEAUX, s. ].
�OSAGE MISSION.
NEosHo Co., KANSAs,
July Ist, 1877.
REVEREND FATHER,
P. C.
I stated in my last that the Congregation De Propaganda
Fzde having formed the Indian Territory lying sou.th of Kansas into an Apostolic PrefeB:ure, and given the charge of it to
the Very Rev. Dom. Isidore Robot, 0. S. B. with the office
of PrefeB: Apostolic, our missions among the Osages as
well as the neighboring tribes had come to an end. But
the burden put on Father Isidore Robot's shoulders soon
proved to be heavier than he could carry, for he had nobody
to help him. So, as we expeB:ed, he requested us to continue, for the time being, our spiritual labors in behalf of
these Indians ; granting us, at the same time, all the necessary faculties.
In consequence of this, as soon as spring opened and the
roads became praCticable, I started to visit once more my
poor Osages. I was well received indeed, but oh ! in what
a condition did I find them. Before ·~caching their settlement, I could hear the wailing, and mourning of the deso·
late people for their departed children and friends. Death
had been in the midst of them, and ~vithout mercy had, in
three months, carried away over three hundred viB:ims!
No special sickness or epidemic of any kind prevailed. Ex·
posure, want of proper food, and hard living in general,
were the causes of it. In almost every case, no medical
attendance was given them, though the nation pays high
wages to a doB:or, who is comfortably located at the Agency,
but does not give himself much trouble about the Indians.
(194)
�Osage Mission.
195
Among the departed, many were members of our holy
Church; but the distance, the winter season which renders
travelling very difficult through the Territory, on account
of the streams and rivers which one cannot cross but by
fording them-a thing dangerous in time of high waterfinally, the want of means for sending us notice in time;
were the reasons why not one of them could receive the last
sacraments before dying.
·
.
In the general affliction the Osages lamented two of their
principal chiefs : both were young and wild in their habits.
All the juggleries of Indian medicine work were resorted to
in order to save their lives, but to no purpose. Their death
was followed by all those rites which the pagan ritual, ab
immemorabi!i, has ordered for such occasions.
The Osages are naturally good, and kind-hearted. They
are full of affection towards their sick, and particularly
towards their children. Once however death has struck a
fatal blow, they are left without any hope. They indeed
believe in a future life; but their ideas about it are very much
confused; and when death takes away any one, especially a
dear child, they think that the affliction has been brought
upon them by one of their enemies, who, not daring to
attack them personally, has done this through the agency
of some wicked spirit. Hence, no sooner have they buried
the dead, than they swear vengeance, leave for the plains,
not to return till they have killed some of their enemies, in
retaliation for their loss.
The funeral of the pagan Osage does not occupy much
time. On the spot where a dear one has expired, the mother,
the wife, and the other women in attendance take a handfull of mud and besmear with it the right half of their long
hair-as it were to show that they come from dust, and to
dust they must return. This done, they at once begin their
solemn dirge. This consists in repeating again and again,
as loud as they can, the words Idol Idol I-dao I daol dao I
inflecting these words in a very peculiar way. They
�Osage Mission.
pronounce the first two in a lamenting, interrogatory tone;
the last three they sound in the note of the wild dove's
moaning, so familiar to people living near the woods.
\Vhat they mean by these sorrowful words, is a mystery
to me; they themselves cannot give any account of it, except
that it is an expression of love and sorrow they have learned
from their grandfathers. As a great many facts could be
brought to prove that the Osages as well as all these western
Indians originated from the Hebrew race, why could we not
say that these, words are derived from the old ldida? I
leave to lingui;;ts to decide the question.
The heart-rending mourning of the women is soon followed by the ferocious voices of the men, who in their turn
make the very air vibrate with terror. N:ow their feelings
are excited most powerfully; so much so, that sometimes, in
their wild excitement, gesticulating with their knives, they
sl:1sh themselves in order to see some blood flowing, for it
seems that this is one of their dogmas, that they cannot
appease the Great Spirit and render Him favorable towards
the departed, but by blood.
This exciting scene will last a little over one hour; then
they proceed to the burial. A high bluff is generally seleCted for the purpose. Here no grave is dug, but the dead is
seated on the sod, leaning on some rocks, and facing the
nsmg sun. His head is shaved, and is painted with vermilion. Numbers of rings ornament his ears and fingers, his
naked arms are bound with beautiful bracelets, and long
wampums fall from his neck on his bare breast. His loins
are girded with a nicely woven sash, and he wears well trimmed leggings tied with rich garters. The whole body is
wrapt in a new blanket. On one side they place his bow
and arrows, on the other his tomahawk and calumet. Now
a chief addresses him for the last time, and bids him farewell. This done, the women like industrious bees go to work,
and very quickly put up a wall, either with rocks or sods,
around the remains of their departed friend. While this is
�·Osage .Mission.
197
going on, the favorite horse of the dead man is slain on the
spot. Scalps of enemies and the head of the horse are
hung on two posts, as tutelar genii to protea the grave,
and with this the funeral ends.
· However the mourning is not over yet. No indeed; but
the dearer the departed was, the longer it will last. It consists in very severe fasting, which they protraa for weeks
and months, so strialy as not to allow themselves any food
but once in twenty-four hours, and this after sunset. At
the end of a week they take a day of rest, and, this over,
they continue their seven days fasting for a long time, abstaining during all this period from every kind of enjoyment.
We have seen some very robust men come to a premature
death by this mode of penance, by which they think they
can propitiate the Great Spirit in favor of their departed
friends.
,
Oh ! how different is the death of the christian Osage from
that of the pagan. Ignorant as these poor Indians are, they
know the foolishness of all such rites; they know the power
of prayer, and the strength their soul receives from the sacraments. Hence, as soon as they find themselves attacked
by a dangerous sickness, if they possibly can, they send for
the priest to come to assist them. But if circumstances will
not allow them to do so, they do not become disheartened ; '
they recite long prayers, they call on their friends to pray
with them ; in some instances they even make public confessions, and if they can but get hold of a crucifix, or beads,
or an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, they will not give it
up till they die. And these articles tif devotion are generally buried with them. No christian Indian will allow a
scalp to be hung over his grave; on the contrary, it is always
ornamented with a small cross, which is rude in materialfor it consists commonly of two simple sticks tied together
With bark-but is nevertheless the symbol of pardon, and
of hope of a better life to come.
I would be too long, if I related to you how piously and
VoL. VI-No. 3·
28
�Osage llfission.
devoutly some of our Osages died during this last winter.
I am fully confident that their death has been a gain to them.
Had our labors amongst the Osages brought forth no other
fruit than to procure to a great many of them a happy
death, we would have reason to be well satisfied, and to
thank God for it.
During my last excursion I visited the eastern portion of
their .Reservation, and also delayed for a while in a Delaware settlement. These latter Indians are not Catholics,
but have a great respect for our holy religion; they received
me kindly and requested me to return to visit them.
Death hia preached among the Osages a sermon stronger
than any I could deliver; and I felt happy in gathering its
fruits in the numerous confessions and communions I had
in the different settlements, where I said Mass to give all
an opportunity to comply with their Easter duty.
No opposition was offered to me in this last visit by any
of the Protestants who have care of the Osages, with but
one exception, and this was at the Agency on Deep Ford,
whece the school superintendent, though very liberal in al·
lowing the chi ldren to attend any kind of Protestant or
pagan meetings , would not allow them to come to hear
Mass .. This is the kind of liberty granted to the Indians.
From the Osage Reservation I re·t.urned to my missions
in this state of Kansas, and I am proud to say that, wherever I went, I was edified by the fervor and devotion which
I saw displayed by the people in coming to receive the sacraments. No distance, no inclemency of the weather would
keep them from coming to meet me at the appointed stations:
The rainy season this spring proved most inconvenient
to our farmers, but especially to the miners, who, at some
eighteen miles west of this mission, are extraCting coal from
the hills that run along a creek called Chitopa.
· And here I cannot help relating how mercifully God in
His pzovidence saved two poor miners from a most dreadful
death. They had, during last winter, opened a la~ge shaft,
�Osage Mission.
199
from which they had taken a good deal of coal. One day,
early in this spring, after they had passed all the morning
at their work, they came out at noon for their meals. They
were just washing at the creek running by, when, hardly five
minutes after they had come out, they heard a great crash,
and found themselves enveloped in a dark cloud of dust.
What was the matter? It seems that on account of the
great rains, the water had made its way from the top of the
hill, some fifty feet above, and, penetrating into the mine,
caused "by degrees the caving in of the hill. The two men
had a very narrow escape from being buried alive. This
was for them a far better instruCtion than any I could give
them, to convince them how important it is for a man to
keep himself ready; for indeed we do not know at what
hour God may call us.
This spring, immediately after Easter, we were happy in
getting two zealous Fathers from St. Louis, Rev. Fathers
Henry C. A. Bronsgeest, and Joseph J. Zealand, to give a
mission for eight days to our congregation. The weather
was unfavorable, but the people attended at the instruCtions
in great numbers, especially in the evening. Protestants
were particularly invited, and they came. They seemed to
be well pleased. The fruit drawn from it was very abundant.
Of the Protestants, sixteen adults were baptized. Many
Catholics who were negleCting their duties, came at last to
comply with them. May the Lord recompense these two
good Fathers for their labors in behalf of our congregation,
and may God grant the grace of perseverance to those who
were brought to a more christian life.
PAUL MARY PONZIGLIONE,
D. 0. M.
s. J.
��CONTENTS OF VOL. VI.
Pottowattomy Indians ...... ·.................................... 3, 73
Expulsion of the Jesuits from Louisiana in 1763 .................... 19
Residence of St.
~Iary's,
Boston, Mass .............................. 31
The Jesuits in Cincinnati. ......................................... 53"
College of San Salvador, Buenos Ayres ............................ 69
Apostolical Labors in Havana ..................................... 84
Our First Vacation at St. Inigoes .................................. 94
Osage Mission ............................................... 100, 194
Retreats and
~Hssions
by the Fathers of
~Iaryland ................. 105
Execution in Charles Co., JUd ..................................... 112
Retreat and Forty Hours' Devotion at St. Ignatius' Clmtch,
Baltimore, !Id ............................................... 120
.
Mission at St. :Mary's Church, Providence, R. I. ................... 123
Death of Fr. Vito Carrozzini. .................................... 124
Description of the Ceiling of Woodstock College Library .......... 130
Account of the de,lth of Br. Rene Goupil, by Fr. Jogues ............ 133
Origin of the Osage lllission ...................................... 141
Consecration of the Church of the Immaculate Conception,
Boston,
~lass ................................................ 148
Discovery of Fr. ~Iarquette's Remains ............................ 159
Death of Fr. Van Assche ......................................... 172
Death of Fr. John l\IcElroy ...................................... 178
Indian ~fissions-Lake Superior .................................. 187
�I
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/
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�
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The Woodstock Letters were a publication of the Society of Jesus from 1872 until 1969. They were named after Woodstock College, the Jesuit seminary in Maryland where they were published. Written almost entirely by Jesuits, and originally intended to be read only by Jesuits, the Letters were "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus in North and South America." They include historical articles, updates on work being done by the Jesuits, eyewitness accounts of historic events, book reviews, obituaries, enrollment statistics for Jesuit schools, and various other items of interest to the Society. The writings of many renowned Jesuit scholars and missionaries appeared in the Woodstock Letters, including Pedro Arrupe, Pierre-Jean de Smet, Avery Dulles, Daniel Lord, Walter Hill, John Courtney Murray, Walter Ong, and Gustave Weigel. They provide an invaluable record of the work done by American Jesuits throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries.
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021157.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Catholic Church--Periodicals</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
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Text
WOODSTOCK LETTERS.
VOL. VII, No. r.
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE,
ITs EARLY HISTO¥-Y, WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ITS
FOUNDER, AND EXTRACTS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE.
John Carroll, the founder of Georgetown College, born
at Upper Marlboro', Prince George's Co., Md., Jan. 8th,
1735, was the third son of Daniel Carroll and Eleanor Darnall. The Carroll family, an ancient and distinguished one
in Ireland, had lost their estates there through their fidelity
to the old religion ; their descendants in Maryland doubtless more than made up these losses, for Daniel, as well as
others of the name, became possessed of large and valuable
tracts of land in the colony. The Darnalls were Catholics,
.early settlers, and at one time, large land-holders in Maryland. Mrs. Carroll's youthful years were spent in France,
where she had been sent to be educated: thus, to a noble
character, she added a cultivated mipd and accomplished
manners. Daniel was a merchant in Upper Marlboro', acquired wealth, and died during his son John's absence
abroad ; whereupon his widow moved to Rock Creek, with
her family. There were two sons and several daughters.
The older son Daniel Carroll, Jr. (married to Eleanor, Cousin of Chas. Carroll of Carrollton), became a member of
(3)
�4
Gcorgetmun College.
the first senate formed in Maryland after the adoption of its
constitution ; was a delegate to the Continental Congress
from 1780 to 1784; signed the articles of Confederation,
and, as a member of the federal convention of 1787, also
the Constitution; was a representative in Congress from
Maryland, from 1789 to 1791; voted while in Congress for
locating the seat of government on the Potomac, and was
very influential in carrying that measure through: was appointed by Gen. Washington in 1791 one of _the three
,. Commissioners for locating and surveying the District lines.
He died in May, 1796,* aged 66.
John, the younger son, was sent by his parents,-being
then about eleven years of age,-to acquire the rudiments
of education at a school kept by the Jesuits at Bohemia
Manor in Cecil Co. Of this school, which may be called
the predecessor of Georgetown, no history is preserved:
even the building in which it was held was pulled down fifty
years ago. It is not to be expected, however, that many
details of the school should be found on record: it was
held in-a retired nook of Maryland, and afforded a resource
for the education of the sons of the Catholic colonists which
was unattainable elsewhere in the colony, under the persecuting laws that then prevailed. A very: considerable period
doubtless intervened between active bperations at this old
school of the hunted Jesuits and the foundation made in
happier days on the heights of Georgetown. There was
but one priest, Father Peter Morris,t of the late Society,
residing at Boliemia at the time of the American Revolution, as there was but one a hundred years later, Fr. George
Villiger, S. J., the present resident. The school must have
ceased to be kept before Father Morris's time : it is not
likely that one priest, with the care of a mission and the
• Lanman: Dictionary of Congress. J. Carroll Brent's Biographical Sketch
,,f Arehbis.hop Carroll.
t :Fr. Morris, an Englishman, no doubt, was born, 1743, became a novice,
liGO, entered the missions of ~faryland in 1768, and <lied at Newtown, St.
).lary's Co., Nov. 19, 1783.
�Georgetown College.
5
cultivation of a farm depending on him, could take charge
of scholars : nor did the changed circumstances of the time,
in the relaxation of anti-Catholic bitterness and the increase
(to some limited degree) of educational facilities, require
that he should.
Bohemia Academy, however, is said to have sheltered at
one time nearly twenty of the sons of the richer Catholic
Marylanders. Among young Carroll's schoolmates were
his cousin Charles, the subsequent signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Robert Brent of Aquia Creek,
Stafford Co., Va., whose ancestor emigrated to the Old
Dominion from England in 1687, under a special proteCtion
from James II.; a safeguard rendered necessary in the condition of the laws of Virginia at that time against Catholics.
In I 747, when young Carroll had spent a year or less at
Bohemia he was sent with these two companions to St.
Orner's in French Flanders, to complete his education; St.
Orner's was established by the English Jesuits in 1590, or
towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth, as a school for the
Catholic youth of England, who were denied all means of
education at home except upon the abandonment of their
faith. About five years before the entrance of the three
young Americans, an additional establishment for the reception of young boys had been opened at St. Orner's by the
Fathers : here these youths doubtless entered: passing in
the course of time, to the greater College. The Carrolls
spent six years at St. Orner's, and Brent probably did the
same.
At the end of the six years course, namely in 1753, John,
feeling himself called to the religious state, entered the
Novitiate of the Jesuits at Watten, two leagues from St.
Orner's. Charles proceeded for further study to the estab·
lishments of the Jesuits at Rheims and Paris, began the
study of the law at Bourges anq completed it at the Temple
in London. He did not return to his native country until
1764, when he was twenty-seven years of age. This pupil
�6
Georgetown College.
of the Jesuits profited by his long training among them to
become, soon after his arrival, the foremost advocate of civil
liberty in Maryland. His subsequent career is too well
known to be further dwelt upon here.
On the cpmpletion of his noviceship in 1755, John, our
young Jesuit, was sent to the Society's house in Leige to
make his studies in philosophy and theology. After the
completion of a four years course of study, he was ordained
priest in 1759, being then twenty-four years of age: was
immediately sent to St. Orner's to teach: and subsequently
to Liege, wh~re he was professor of philosophy and then of
theology. His theological manuscripts, which he prepared
for his own use, either as student or professor, are still preserved in Georgetown College library.
In the meantime, the conspiracy against religion and social order which met its culminating point later, in the
French Revolution of 1789, made an important advance
by the expulsion of the Jesuits from French territory in
1762.* In consequence, both St. Orner's an.d the novitiate
at Watten were dosed, and their inmates transferred to
Bruges in Austrian Netherlands, whither they were invited
by the people, the magistracy, and even the Austrian impe·
rial authorities: invited, only to be again plundered, maltreated, and banished twelve years ~later by these same
authorities on the publication of the Brief suppressing the
Society, in 1773. A most affecting narrative t of the cir*'At the death, in 176-!, of the depraved ~!~dame de Pompadour, the mis·
tress of Louis XV., it was expected by the friends of the Jesuits that they
would be restored to France, now that one of their most influential enemies
was removed. Father Carroll seems to have shared in this expectation, as
appears from a letter of his written at this time to his brother Daniel. See
Brent's Biography, p. 29. An interesting letter to the same, written in 1769,
on the occasion of the death of Clement XIII, whose namesake and successor
suppressed the Society, appears on p. 27 of that work, et seq. It gives some
insight into the plots against the Jesuits which were even then being actively
urged at Rome.
t:Mannsci-ipt copy from the original, made by Rev. Dr. Chas. I. White
while assistant pastor at the Baltimore Cathedrai: the concluding portion is
lacking. :Mr. Brent, in his Biography (p. 21) refers to two other narratives of
�Georgetmem College.
7
cumstances attending this later event was subsequently
written out by Rev. Mr. Carroll, during his stay in England.
At the time of the suppression, there were two hundred
and twenty students at Bruges, many of them members of
ancient or noble Catholic families of England. Meanwhile,
in IJJI, before the final crash came, Father John Carroll
took his last vows as Professed Father of the Society of
Jesus. By appointment of superiors, and at the request of
Lord Stourton, whose son was doubtless among the students
at Bruges at that time, he took charge of the latter as travelling tutor during 1772-3. They visited together, France,
Germany, Switzerland, Italy, etc., an account of the tour
being preserved in a journal kept by Fr. Carroll.*
He had no sooner restored the Hon. Mr. Stourton to his
father's hands in England, and returned to Bruges to take
the position of "Spiritual Prefect" there, than the brief of
Clement XIV. suppressing the Society was published. It
had been signed by the Pope on the 21st of July, but was
kept secret in the interval, or at least until announced to the
Fathers in Rome on the 16th of August. It reached Bruges only on the 5th of September, and was immediately put
into execution by the Austrian authorities, as it had been
everywhere else under the Bourbon governments, with great
brutality. Father Carroll, writing to his brother on the I Ith
of September, six days after, announces the catastrophe
that had overtaken himself and his brethren, and adds: "I
am not, and perhaps never shall be recovered from the
shock of this dreadful intelligence. The greatest blessing
Which in my estimation I could receive from God, would be
immediate death : but if he deny me this, may his holy and
adorable designs on me be wholly fulfilled." He refers to
Father Carroll's from both of which he quotes. One describes the means resorted to by the enemies of the Society in high places to procure its de"truction.
The other was "an able and eloquent vindication of the Society" from the
charges unjustly brought against it by its enemies. The latter, having been circulated in manuscript form. and never printed, is said to be almost entirely lost.
*The "Journal" appears in full in the Appendix to l\Ir. Brent's book.
�8
Georget£rd!Jl College.
the funCl:ions exercised in times past by the Society, and to
the labors and charities to which its members devoted
themselves, and continues: "Such I have beheld it in every
part of my travels; the first of all ecclesiastical bodies in
the esteem and confidence of the faithful, and certainly the
most laborious. \Vhat will become of our flourishing congregations with you, and those cultivated by the German
fathers ? These refleCl:ions crowd so fast upon me that I
almost lose my senses." He then announces his intention,
now that he :is left to his own direCtion, of returning to
Maryland tht:. next spring, if possible.
After the suppression, the English Jesuits,-or rather
now ex-Jesuits,-returned to their own country, and Rev.
Mr. Carroll accompanied them. In England, he aCl:ed as
the secretary at their meetings, and also conduCl:ed an important.correspondence * with the French government with
regard to the property of the suppressed Society in France.
Shortly after his arrival in England, he was invited by Lord
Arundel-a member of a distinguished family that still
adhered to the ancient faith-to become the chaplain of
his household at Wardour Castle. "It was appropriate,"
remarks the late lamented B. U. Campbell,t" that he who
was to begin the hierarchy of the United States in Maryland,
should find a home during exile, ii{ the halls where was
born the wife t of Cecilius Lord Baltimore, the founder of
Maryland." During his-stay of less than a year with the
Arundels he made many warm friends among the Catholic
clergy and gentry, whom he never ceased to cherish in his
subsequent recolleCtions. However, he had, as we have
seen, expressed his intention of returning as soon as practicable to the land of his birth and of his love : and the
threatening condition of the relations between England and
her American colonies; warned him not to delay the exe*Richard H. Clarke, L. L. D., Lives of Deceased Bishops.
t "Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll," U. S.. Catholic l\Iagazine, 1844.
t Anne Arundel Co., set off under Cecilius in 1650, was named after this lady.
�Georgetown College.
9
cution of his intention. Moreover, a venerable mother,
now in her seventieth ye<J.r, and to whom he was ever devotedly attached, still awaited him there. The state of religipn, too, called for such service as he was able to render:
He accordingly set sail, and after the usual tedious voyage
of those days, landed upon his native soil, in the vicinity of
Richland, the seat of the Brents at Acquia Creek, June 26th,
1774- Here, two of his sisters resided, one married to
William Brent, the other to his kinsman Robert, the former
schoolmate of John Carroll at Bohemia Manor and St.
Orner's. The two younger sisters resided with their mother
at Rock Creek, in what was then Frederick Co. (now
Montgomery Co.,-set off in 1776); a few miles north-east
of Georgetown. Hither, he hastened, after a brief stay of
two days with the Brents. The emotions of mother and
son on embracing one another after a separation of twentyseven years-years so eventful to him,-may well be imagined. The change that time had made in him from a lad
of twelve to a man of forty, made her fail to recognize him
at first, so it is said.
At the time of Rev. Mr. Carroll's arrival, there were
living in Maryland and Pennsylvania twenty-two priests who
were members of the Society when it was disbanded. They
were:* Thomas Digges, BenediCt Neale, John Lewis, Ma*This list differs materially from the one given by Campbell and followed
by Clarke: but it is made up from a manuscript register in the archhes of the
Provincial of Maryland, containing the dates of the arrival of the several
Fathers who served the mission of Maryland between 1632 and li84. On a
succeeding page is a record of deaths. By comparing the two, this list has
been obtained. The first death among those named above is that of Father
Mathias Manners (originally Siettensperger), who died [June 15th] 1775 : the
last is that of Sylvester Boarman, who died Jan. 11th, 1811. The regiGter referred to mentions a Father Anthony Carroll as having arrived with his nameeake John, and on the same day, June 26th, 1774, but he probably made no
stay in this country. He is recorded in "Oliver's Collections" among the
Irish members S. J., but nothing is said of his flying visit to :Maryland, if he
made one. lie was born in 1722, ordained at Liege in 1754, was on the mission in Englantl, and became a Professed Father. lie died of a violent assault
made on him for the purpose of robbery, in the streets of London, 1794.
There is reason to believe that the dates given in the MS. register referred
VoL. vu-No.
1.
2
�10
Georgetown College.
thias Manners, Ferdinand Farmer, Joseph Moseley, James
Frambach, James Pellentz, Lewis Roels, John B. De Ritter,
John Boone, James \Valton, Ignatius Matthews, Peter Morris, Lucas Geisler, George Hunter, Robert Molyneux, John
Bolton, Sylvester Boarman, John Boarman, Charles Sewall
and Austin Jenkins. The names are here given in the order
in which they came to Maryland: the first named arrived
in 1741, and the last two a month previous to Mr. Carroll.
Messrs. Digges, Neale, Boone, Matthews, Sewall, Jenkins,
and the Boarmans, were natives of Maryland, of well-known
Catholic families. These clergymen were all supported
from the revenues of the former Jesuit estates, which remained intaCt after the dissolution of the Society, and were
administered by Rev. John Lewis, the late superior of the
Jesuits, and now the vicar of the Catholic bishop of London, or "Vicar Apostolic of the London DistriCt," as the
title ran until the restoration of the English hierarchy under
Cardinal \Viseman in 1850. Rev. Mr. Lewis, as the representative of the London prelate, held the position of superior over all the Catholic clergy in the colonies: and when
the colonies became states, still held it until the appointment
by the H()ly See of Rev. Mr. Carroll himself as superior in
1784. Although the late members of. the Society were no
longer bound by the vow of obedience to the superior, they
aCted under Rev. Mr. Lewis's direCtion, and he expeCted
the acknowledgement of his authority to assign them to
such stations as he thought proper.* _·Rev. Mr. Carroll,
having chosen Rock Creek as his residence, and being unwilling to be separated from his venerable parent, was held
by Mr. Lewis not to be entitled to any salary or emolument
from the means of the former Society. \Vith that disinterto above, are not in all cases correct. Possibly, Father Bernard Diderick and
.Joseph Doyne were already in ~[aryland, although the register assigns a later
elate as that of their arrival. They as well as Fr. John Lucas-in regard to
whom th~ register is silent-are mentioned by Campbell. The addition of
these names would bring the number of priests resident in the ~lission in lii ~.
to twenty-five.
'*Campbell: "Life and Times," etc.
�Georgetown College.
II
estedness which was a striking feature in his charaCter, he
, . acquiesced in this decision although not possessed of any
means of his own: unless indeed, his brother and sisters
restored to him the patrimony he had divested himself of
in their favor on becoming a Professed Father in I 771.
This seems not unlikely, for otherwise he would have been
wholly dependent upon his mother, as he brought nothing
with him from Europe. \Vhen he and his I.Jrethren were
expelled from Bruges, they were deprived not only of all
the property belonging to the Society, but of their personal
effeCts, even to the books of which they were individually
possessed. Yet at Rock Creek, in addition to the ordinary
expenses of living, he was obliged to keep a horse for th~
long journeys required in visiting the scattered Catholics of
the adjacent region, and it is not improbable, besides, that
he observed the custom of his clerical brethren in Maryland
at that time, of inviting to breakfast * those who had c"ome
from a long distance to partake of holy communion,-a
kind and thoughtful proceeding no doubt, and charaCteristic
of Maryland hospitality, but none the less a pecuniary burthen to the host.
A letter to his friend Plowden in England, during his
residence at Rock Creek, though written in r 779, explains
his circumstances at the outset: "No such division of property has yet taken place here as yo:.J mention in England;
on the contrary, everything has been conduCted as heretofore. I think the English plan has too much of the frigidum i!lud verbum. I think we unfortunate inhabitants of
the foreign houses are doomed to be the outcasts of every
society. Robbed and plundered at Bruges, dismissed without any consideration or reparation, excluded from a share
in England, we must try if heaven will not make us amends
----
*Campbell: "Life and Times," t"tc. etc., U.S. Cath. ~lag. for 1845.
The letter quoted in the succeeding paragraph to the above, is from the vol.
for 1844. It appears from it that the English ex-Jesuits, with the exception of
those who lived abroad at the time of the suppression, were supported, likt'
:hose of ~Iaryland, from the former means of the Society. Fr. Plowden, havIng been a resident abroad for many years, was thus excluded.
�12
GeorgetfYWn College.
hereafter for all our losses here. As you are shut out from
a share in England, so am I here. I have care of a very
large congregation, have often to ride twenty-five or thirty
miles to the sick; besides which, I go once a month between fifty and sixty miles to another congregation in Virginia"-the Brents and their Catholic neighbors at Acquia
Creek,-"yet, because I live with my mother, for whose
sake alone I sacrificed the very best place in England, and
told Mr. Lewis that I did not choose to be subjeCt to be
removed froin place to place, now that we had no longer
the vow of ~obedience to entitle us to the merit of it, he
does not choose to bear any part of my expenses. I do not
· mention this by way of complaint, as I am perfeB:ly easy
at present," etc.
These old estates of the Jesuits which furnished them
\vith a support even after the dissolution of their Society,
it might be well to remark, were acquired by their first
missionaries in Maryland in 1634 and subsequent years,
under the "conditions of plantation" which entitled every
settle; who brought five able bodied men into the province
at his own expense, to two thousand acres of land, at a
small quit rent. These possessions were increased by a
few donations of land from the I~_dians during the first
years of the settlement, for building cnurches and supporting priests in the Indian nations.* The Indians of Maryland were faithfully served while they remained on the soil,
and by their docility and gentleness gave evidence of the
good effeB:s of the Catholic instruCtion they received: while,
as to the whites, they were at no further expense for the
support of the missionaries, who maintained themselves, at
least after a time, on their own farms. Some of these farms
are still preserved: it was from their revenues or from sales
of lands that Georgetown College was mainly built, before
the Society was restored: and after the restoration, that
the means were found for the support of the novitiate, and
in later days, the Woodstock scholasticate.
*Campbell.
�Georgetmvn College.
13
When, in 1689, the persecution of the Catholics began
at the hands of those to whom they had given a shelter
from persecution elsewhere, these farms served another
useful purpose; Catholic worship, forbidden everywhere
else, was permitted in private houses; and on each of the
farms a small church was built, or a room in the dwelling
set apart for a chapel, to which the Catholics for many miles
around repaired on Sundays and festivals.* "Some of these
chapels are still standing," says Me Sherry,t "as monuments of the intolerance of the age before the revolution
in 1776, when, in the general emancipation which that glorious struggle secured, religious liberty again became the
proud and holy heritage of Maryland." One such is still
to be seen at Doughoregan Manor, the former residence of
Charles Carroll .of Carrollton, a chapel t conneCted with
the mansion by a continuous roof, and in those days attended once a month by a priest from Whitemarsh, who then
passed on to "Baltimore Town'' to say Mass in Thos. Fotterall's unfinished building, near the site of the present
Battle monument: or, for the accommodation of the' Acadian
French, a portion of those who had been banished by the
British from Nova Scotia in 1756, and had settled in South
Charles street, he held service in one of their houses in
that seB:ion, a seCtion then and long after known as Frenchtown. Old St. Peter's, in Baltimore, a little struCture of
twenty-five by thirty feet (afterwards enlarged), was at last
built in 1770-1,-at whose instigation it does not appear,but remained unfinished and unopened until the close of
the Revolutionary war, on account of the bankruptcy of _.
the builder, a certain John Me Nabp. Had it even. been
used sooner, in contravention of the aa of 1704, "for preVenting the growth of Popery,"§ it is hardly likely, in the
ameliorated temper of the times, that the officers of the law
Would have seriously molested anybody conneCted with it.
*Campbell.
t History of Maryland, p. 96.
tIn this chapel is the tomb of the venerable Signer.
*Laws of )laryland, 170-!, Chap. 95: qnoted by Campbell.
�Georgctmun College.
Elsewhere in Maryland, however, no experiments of the
kind were tried until all these persecuting enaCtments were
struck from her statute-books by the effe8:s of the Revolution. When Rev. l\Ir. Carroll established himself at Rock
Creek, he was content with fitting up a room in his mother's
house, which served as a chapel, and could even perhaps
accommodate at first all the Catholics of the neighborhood.
He afterwards built, upon a knoll within view of his mother's house, a little church, which was thus described in
I 844: * "an, humble frame building of about thirty feet
square, whic.\1 still remains, though often patched and seldom painted, a frail and tottering memorial of its saintly
pastor, and an evidence of the humble condition of Catholics sixty years ago." Since that time, the old building has
been replaced by a larger frame struCture more neatly kept,
and attended twice a month by the past~r of Rockville.
It bears the name of "St. John's," as doubtless its predecessor did, a tribute by the original builder to the apostle
whose name he bore and whose virtues he imitated.
Around it lie the graves of many Carrolls, relatives of the
first pastor, as were also the Brents, Digges's, and perhaps
Fen wicks, Neales, etc., who are buried here. \Vithin the
enclosure of the Brents is the grave .of his venerable mother; the head-stone, now, after more" than four-score years,
sunk so as partly to obscure the inscription. The old ma::\sion, with its holy memories of mother and son, was destroyed by fire many years since, and its site is occupied by
a modern dwelling.
1
·:*Campbell.
(To be continued.)
�FATHER MAURICE GAILLAND, S. J.
Father Maurice Gailland, died at St. Mary's Mission~
Kansas, about 8 o'clock P. M., on Sunday, Aug. I 2th, I 877.
He was born in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland, on October 27th ISIS, and entered the Society at Brieg, in the Diocese of Sion, Switzerland, October 27th, I834. During the
political troubles of Switzerland in I847, the revolutionists,
in November of that year, seized the College of Freiburg
and other establishments belonging to the Swiss Jesuits, and
the inmates were compelled to leave the country for personal
safety, some going to Turin, others to Chambery. Father
Gailland and many of his fellow refugees came to Missouri
early in 1848; and he with several of his companions remained here permanently, and became useful auxiliaries to
the various missions and colleges of the West.
Shortly after Father Gailland reached St. Louis, in I848,
he was sent to the Pottowattomy Mission, in Kansas. In
1838 the ·Pottowattomy tribe of Indians were transferred by
the United States Government from Michigan to Sugar
Creek, a little tributary of the Osage River, near its head
waters, and the spot chosen for their settlement was about
fifteen miles beyond the western border of Missouri. Early
in 1839, on the death of their chaplain Rev. Mr. Petit, a
secular priest from the diocese of Vincennes, Indiana, the
Pottowattomy Mission was committed to the care of the
Jesuit Fathers of St. Louis. In I846 the Government again
determined to remove the Pottowattomy tribe, assigning to
them, this time, a reservation on the Kaw or Kansas River,
extending west from where now stands Topeka, the capital
of Kansas. Schools had been established at the Sugar
Creek Mission in I84I; Ladies of the Sacred Heart, with
Madame Mathevon as superior, laking charge of the Indian
(I 5)
�Fatlzer Maurice Gail!and, S. J
girls. The tribe was not aB:ually removed from Sugar
Creek, however, till I847, and they then settled, by mistake,
on the lands of the Pawnees. They were moved again in
1848, accompanied this time by Father Gailland, and the
other Fathers in charge of the tribe, and by the Ladies of
the Sacred Heart; all reaching the present site of St. Mary's Mission, in the Kaw Valley, September 8th, I 848, late
in the evening.
The tniB: of land seleB:ed by them was fertile and well
supplied with timber. As quickly as it could be done, they
ereB:ed houses. The Fathers and the Indian boys had a
row of cabins one story high, covered with boards, the crevices between the logs being filled with sticks and clay.
The house for the Ladies and the Indian girls was of better
finish, being two stories high and having the rooms rudely
plastered. The church was a rough, wooden struB:ure,
made of coarse plank and riven timbers, and its ceiling and
inner walls were simply covered with canvas instead of
being plastered. These humble struB:ures, put up at the
beginning of St. Mary's Mission, remained their only dwellings and boarding schools till a few years since, when they
were replaced by stately brick buildings, four stories high,
now called "St. Mary's College, Kansas," and the "Sacred
Heart Academy, St. Mary's Kansas." There is also a
large parochial church, built of stone, and handsomely
finished.'
Father Gailland lived through all the changes that took
place in Kansas from I 848, when it was an unsettled terri·
tory, until it was opened for immigrants, and became a state.
The Pottowattomy reservation was sold by the Indians ; the
Kansas Pacific Railroad was built through it; thriving towns
and· villages sprang up; and in time the whole distriCt: was
filled with an industrious agricultural population. He spent
nearly thirty years of his life among these Indians in unremitting efforts for their civilization and. their conversion to
Christianity. When the reservation first began to be en-
�Father Maurice Gail/and, S. J
17
croached on by white settlers, about two-thirds of the tribe
had been made Christian, its entire number then . being
nearly three thousand souls. He became an adept in the
Pottowattomy language, besides mastering several other
dialeCts of the Otchepone or Algonquin family. He regarded the Pottowattomy as a language of much beauty, it
being free from all harsh sounds, and possessing much
power and variety. He wrote an elaborate diCtionary and
grammar of this tongue, which will constitute a most valuable addition to works on the aboriginal languages of
America. His proficiency in many polite languages of both
ancient and modern times, gives much weight to his opinions in comparative philology. Arguing from the general
analogies of language, he reached the conclusion, as most
probable, that the Indian races of America must have been
principally of Semitic origin; which is the opinion also
most generally held by learned ethnologists.
That Father Gailland was a man of no ordinary virtue,
is most certainly proved by the faCt that he spent well nigh
thirty years of his life religiously in painful and laborious
employments for the spiritual good of a savage race, and
that in all this, he was rewarded or encouraged with little
that is pleasing to human nature. The morose, indolent
and obstinate aborigines improve but slowly, and their poor
progress towards better things would baffle any but heroic
virtue and perseverance; and thus it is that some tribes
which were under the care of devoted missionaries, even
for generations, were never wholly civilized, or permanently
converted to Christianity. Father Gailland traversed a large
distriCt of country, extending far around the spot where he
breathed his last, to hunt up and care for the scattered Indians; inducing them to send their children to the schools,
to cease their roving habits and settle down to a steady
_mode of living. No kind of weather, no condition of the
paths through the prairies, and no distance of place, ever
prevented this hard-working missionary from keeping his
VoL. VII-No. 1.
3
�18
Fatlter lrfaurice Gail/and, S.].
engagements, or from visiting the sick and looking after
the strayed members of his flock. He possessed an iron
constitution, a courage that knew no fear, and an energy
that hesitated at no hardship or difficulty. Surely, a man
that has spent the flower of his life among rude and savag-e
people, beyond the confines of civilized society, destitute
of the ordinary comforts and conveniences that are deemed
necessary even for the poor, gives thereby unmistakable
proof both that great and disinterested motives impel him
thus to aa. and that his virtues transcend all that is usual
even among those that are good. In Father Gailland, it
was the ze.~l and charity of a devoted and self.sacrificing
missionary which made him live in this manner, and endure
such things for the good of unreclaimed savages.
Father Gailland was of a gentle, cheerful and amiable
disposition; his voice, countenance and whole deportment,
bespoke the goodness of his nature; and hence, his kindliness won for him the love and confidence of all the Indians. His reproofs were so p'rudent and well-measured,
that. they were nearly always efficacious; and to such a de·
gree of uprightness in conduct did he raise the Christian
Indians, that locks and bolts to their chests and doors remained useless, till the advent of the avaricious white man.
But now the cupidity and other vi~~s of the white people
have, to a great extent, beggared and demoralized the entire
tribe, scattering its members, and almost destroying the
autonomy of this once 'happy nation.
Some few years ago, when Father Gailland was returning
from a missionary excursion, in mid-winter, he was compelled to swim the Kaw river, then swollen by cold rains,
or else spend a dark and chiily night on the lonely prairie.
After stemming the rushing current, trusting to his courage
and the vigor of his constitution, he rode on horseback for
eleven hours, his clothes being frozen upon his person.
This proved too much even for his extraordinary physical
strength and health which never yet had known what it is to
�Father Jlaurice Gail!and, S. J
be sick. On the day after reaching home, he felt symptoms
of paralysis ; and thenceforth, he was subject to more and
more violent.attacks of this unconquerable disease, till the
final one took him off, at 8 o'clock Sunday evening, August
12th. The Indians who still remain near St. Mary's,-they
having refused to go with the other bands of the tribe that
moved of( some to the Indian Territory, some to the Canadian river towards the Rocky Mountains, and others to the
region about Lake Superior,-often visited him in his declining health, to be encouraged and comforted by him; for
they loved him with the fondness of children for their father,
and he was the o~ly friend whom they fully trusted. He
often regretted his inability, from loss of health and strength,
to follow the tribe to the Indian Territory, where he fain
would have collected them all together once more. But he
had done his task in life; and he had done it well; and the
providence of God ordered things in another manner, as regards the Red Men so long under his charge. In the Pottowattomy tribe, Father Gailland's name can never die, till the
tribe itself is finally extinguished; for, the memory of him,
and of his teachings, is deeply engraved in the hearts of all
that Indian race. It was meet that the devoted old missionary, so many years a good and faithful servant in the
vineyard of his Lord, should at last go to his reward;
should be freed from his sufferings and at length fi,nd rest
after his long and weary labors.
Few missionaries of recent times among the aborigines
of America have accomplished greater and more solid good,
than did the saintly, noble-hearted, long-suffering and most
charitable Father Gailland. His life was a model of every
high Christian virtue, and his death was the befitting close
to such a career; for it was peaceful and happy in that hope
that confoundeth not. Up to his dying day he never missed
a community exercise, to which he was physically able to
attend; and in order to spare others trouble, he would permit no one to serve him in anything which he. was at all
able to do for himsel(
�FATHER PETER L. MILLER, S.
J.
Father Peter Louis Miller was born in Belgium on the
first of February I 82 I. The good seeds which afterwards produced snch plentiful fruits were planted in his
young heart by the thoroughly Catholic training received
in a Catholic home from pious parents. It was not surprising then that even early in life he should have turned his
thoughts to -the service of God, in the religious life. He
entered the Society, in Belgium, in I 84I, and yielding to his
zeal for aetive missionary work, for which the new world
offered a large field, he came to the United States in the
Autumn of 1845· Having finished his theological studies
at Georgetown College, where the Scholasticate then was,
he was ordained in I848, and at once threw himself heartily
into the work of his chosen state of life.
His first duties in the ministry were exercised in behalf
of th; colored Catholics of Georgetown. Here he manifested that loving, earnest desire for the interests of this race
that marked his whole career as a priest. After some time
he was sent to Frederick and here tqo he labored strenuously in promoting the spiritual welfare of those who were
his chosen people.
From Frederick Fr. Miller was transferred to St. Mary's
County. Here he soon won the affeCtionate esteem of all
by his earnest, self-sacrificing efforts to advance the eternal
interests of those committed to his care.
From St. Mary's County Fr. Miller was called to Balti·
more. Here at last, in this large and more extended field of
labor he found an opportunity of giving full vent to that
consuming zeal which prompted him, in the very beginning
of his priestly course, to consecrate to the spiritual advancement of the colored people the ardent devotion of a gene·
rous heart, the untiring efforts of an enthusiastic nature.
(zo)
�Father Peter L. Miller, S. J.
,
21
About two years before F. Miller's arrival in Baltimore,
in 1850, the basement of St. Ignatius' Church had been
secured for the use of the colored Catholics. Of this
congregation Fr. Miller took charge and celebrated here
the divine Sacrifice ~very Sunday morning. Here also on
Sunday afternoons the congregation assisted at Vespers,
and sodality exercises. During the week Fr. Miller visited
the members of his flock, in order to stimulate their zeal
and thus supplement his other efforts to increase their
numbers and their spirit of devotion.
In the course of a few years it was found necessary to
provide for the colored people a more commodious edifice.
In the carrying out of this projeCt, Fr. Miller was fortunate
in securing the warmest sympathy, the heartiest cooperation
of the late Fr. Michael O'Connor, who himself, going from
house to house, colleCted six thousand dollars. Negotiations were then opened, which resulted in the purchase of
the church at the corner of Calvert and Pleasant Sts. It
had belonged to the Unitarians, though, for some time prior
to its sale, no religious services had been held in it. By
means of extensive alterations, ti:Ws building was converted
into a handsome church, exceedingly well adapted to the
purpose for which it had been secured. It was dedicated
under the invocation of St. Francis Xavier. After opening
the church, Fr. Miller organized a day-school for colored
children in the basement.
Now Fr. Miller's heart expanded with joy, because he
was in a position to labor successfully for the best interests
of a congregation ardently attached to him. He instituted
special services and by means of novenas, processions and
other pious exercises he nourished the spirit of fervor in
those who fittingly re::ponded to the earnest, well-direCted
efforts of their pastor.
Some years previous to the opening of St. Francis Xavier's Church, that is, in r850, Fr. Miller had taken charge
of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, commonly called the
�22
Fiztlzer Peter L. llfil!er, S. J
Colored Sisters. In directing this community and in promoting the success of their academy he spent much time
and gave much zealous care. No wonder that the good
Sisters came to look upon him as their devoted proteCtor
and best friend. No wonder that they cast all their cares
and sorrows upon him, knowing that he had nothing more at
heart than the spiritual welfare and happiness of all. Nor
did Fr. Miller's interest in the prosperity of this community
and their most excellent undertakings fail to the very end.
All through his sickness he heard with pleasure of their
daily progress and almost his last words were a message
sent to these·his devoted spiritual children to pray for him,
as he was already entering on his agony.
Amongst the other works organized by Fr. Miller, we
must not omit to mention the Free School for colored children, begun in 1865-, and the Orphan Asylum, opened a
year ·later. This latter was his most cherished and, we
might perhaps also add, his most consoling undertaking.
For w~ilst providing all necessary means to keep the adult
portion of his flock £>ithful in the practice of their holy
religion, he was de.termil'ted, as far as in him lay, that .the
helpless little orphan should not be snatched from the fold.
He was resolved that it should not ~e brought up in the
worship of strange gods and thus robbed of that priceless
boon, its Catholic faith. Here amidst these innocent children Fr. Miller was wont, until increasing infirmities rendered hi~ incapable of leaving the house, to spend his
afternoons. Here he was happy, for his coming amongst his
little ones brought to them extreme delight, extreme joy.
A chorus of happy voices greeted him at his entrance and
pleaded· eloquently at his departure for his speedy return:
It was a proud moment for Fr. l\'liller whenever he met
any of Ours who had not yet seen his orphans. An invitation, which was not to be rejected, was immediately extended ~nd soo!f a new visitor was ushered into the midst
of his little flock. On such occasions it was difficult to say
�Missionary Labors.
23
which was the more worthy of admiration, the simple
child-like joy of Fr. Miller, or the cheerful, confiding love
of his little children.
About three years ago consumption began to make inroads into Fr. Miller's hitherto robust constitution. It
remained now for him to give a last proof of his love of
that God to whom he had dedicated his life. A long, weary,
painful sickness was to put his virtue to its last test. How
well he bore this trial those who lived with him will cheerfully testify. When gradually forced by sickness to lead a
life of inaCtivity, of cessation from labor, he would at times
sigh for the strength of former days, that he might engage
once more in his cherished work; ye~ when he found that
his days of labor had ceased, he resigned himself to the
manifest decree of God and resolved to patiently suffer
on till the end. On Wednesday, the 26th of last September,
in the fifty-eighth year of his age and in the most edifying
sentiments Fr. Miller breathed his last. After a ~ll-spent,
laborious life, he died a calm and peaceful death.
MISSIONARY LABORS.
BRIEF ACCOUNT OF MISSIONS GIVEN llY FATHER DAMEN,
S.
J.
AND HIS FIVE COMPANIONS, FROM AUGUST I876
TO JUNE 1877.
Aug. 2d, I 876.- The first mission of th.e season was
opened by Fr. Damen, assisted by Frs. Zealand, Niederkorn, and Bronsgeest, in St. Joseph's Church, Edina. This
town is situated in the State of Missouri, and belongs to
the archdiocese of St. Louis, which has a Catholic population of three hundred and fifty thousand. • A large majority
of the m~mbers of this congregation live at a great distance
�24
Missionary Labors.
from the Church, but they displayed wonderful fervor and
zeal in attending all the exercises. The mission lasted ten
days, and produced the following consoling results: one
thousand five hundred and thirty-five Communions, eight
converts; and thirty-five First Communions of adults.
Sept. 10th.- On this day a mission was begun in the
Church of All Saints, Chicago, Illinois. This city has five
hundred thousand inhabitants, thirty-eight Catholic churches, and the Catholic population of the diocese, numbers
three hundred, thousand. In this mission Fr. Damen was
assisted by Frs. Zealand, Niederkorn, Bronsgeest, Hillman,
and, towards the end, as necessity required it, by Fr. l\lassclis. This congregation is only a little more than a year
in existence. The reverend pastor, E. J. Dunne, has built
a large school house, the upper part of which is used as a
temporary church. A mission of ten days was rather too
short for this place, yet the fruits were quite satisfaaory,
viz: two' thousand and three hundred Communions, twelve
converts, twenty-six First Communions of adults, and two
hundred and eight Confirmations by the Rt. Rev. Bishop
Foley, Administrator of the diocese.
Sept. 24th.-From Chicago the missionaries started for
Brooklyn, N. Y., where they spent several weeks. This
city has about six hundred thousand inhabitants, forty Catholic churches; and the Catholic population of the diocese
numbers two hundred thousand.
The first mission was given in the Church of St. Vincent
de Paul by Fr. Damen, assisted by Frs. Masselis, Zealand,
Bronsgeest, Hillman and Condon. The enthusiasm and
fervor of the people were very great, and the church was
crowded even at the 5 o'clock Mass. On Saturday morning, oaober 7th, over nine hundred men received Holy
Communion. This mission lasted seventeen days. Results : eight thousand Communions, thirty-nine converts:
sixty-five First Communions of adults, two hundred and
twelve Confirmations administered by the Rt. Rev. Bishop
Loughlin.
�ll1issionary Labors.
Oct. 15.--The second mission was given by the same
Fathers in the beautiful church of the Sacred Heart. The
congregation is only a few years in existence; _it is rather
small, but most edifying. This mission lasted sixteen days,
and the results were consoling, viz: five thousand seven
hundred Communions, twenty converts and sixty-six First
Communions of adults.
Nov. 5th.-On this day a third mission was opened by
the same Fathers, in the church of St. Mary, Star of the
Sea. All the exercises were well attended from the beginning to the end. The missionilries and some secular priests
were busily occupied in the confessional. Hence the salutary results were as follows: seven thousand five hundred
Communions, eighteen converts, one hundred and twentyfour First Communions of adults, and one hundred and
ninety Confirmations. During the second week, the zealous
pastor, Rev. Eug. Cassidy, was affii8:ed with a severe sickness of which he died a few days after the mission.
Besides the mission, the Fathers preached and leCtured
in different churches in the city of Brooklyn and its vicinity. Fr. Bronsgeest gave a retreat to the boarders of the
·Academy at Flushing, under the charge of the Sisters of
St. Joseph. Fr. M~sselis, assisted by Fr. Condon, gave a
little mission of five days, in St. Mary's Church, at Rockaway, Long Island, a fashionable summer resort on the sea
coast. More than three hundred persons approached the
Sacraments, and a lady, whose husband holds a high position in society, embraced the Catholic religion. Fr. Zealand
and others, also attended to the spiritual wants of the
men employed in the United States Navy Yard. On the 4th
of November, the whole missionary band went on board of
the war vessels, and heard the confessions of the marines,
sailors, recruits and prisoners ; and the next morning these
men received Holy Communion.
Dec. 3d.-On this day, Fr. Damen, assisted by his companions, opened a mission in the Church of the Immaculate
VoL. vn-No.
I.
4
�JV!issionary Labors.
Conception, Philadelphia. This city has eight hundred
thousand inhabitants, forty-four Catholic churches, and the
Catholic population of the archdiocese is two hundred and
fifty thousand. The mission lasted sixteen days, and was
very well attended. The results were as follows : five thousand Communions, fifty-two First Communions of adults,
'and one hundred and six Confirmations administered by
the Rt. Rev. J. F. Shanahan, Bishop of Harrisburg.
During the first week Fr. Masselis and Condon gave a
country mission in Pottstown, which is situated forty miles
from Philade~,Phia. Three hundred and fifty persons approached the Sacraments.
Jan. 28th 1877.-After their retreat, some of the missionaries accompanied Fr. Coghlan to the church of St. Teresa,
New York. But at the end of the first week, Fr. Damen,
assisted by Frs. Masselis, Zealand, Bronsgeest, Hillman
and Condon, opened another mission in the church of St.
Francis of Sales, Boston. This city, which is a great manufaCturing emporium, and the metropolis of New England,
has about three hundred thousand inhabitants, thirty Catholic churches, and the Catholic population of the archdiocese numbers three hundred and ten thousand. The
members of St. Francis' congregation p.;e truly fervent, and
regular in frequenting the Sacrament5, and they manifested
an astonishing zeal in attending the various exercises. The
mission lasted sixteen days, and produced the following
successful results: eight thousand five hundred Communions, eight conve_rts; one hundred arid fifty adults were
prepared for their First Communion.
Feb. I8th.-From the East, Father Damen and his companions travelled South, a distance of one thousand seven.
hundred and eighty four miles, where a mission was solemnly opened with Pontifical High Mass, in St. Patrick's
Church, New Orleans. This city, which is the largest and
most in;portant sea-port in the Gulf States, has two hundred
thousand inhabitants, thirty Catholic churches, and the
�111issionary Labors.
27
Catholic population of the archdiocese numbers two hundred and fifty thousand. \Vhether it was owing to the
great political excitement which wa3 occasioned by the contest for the office of State Governor, or to the natural indifference and lukewarmness of the prevailing French spirit,
it seemed to the missionaries that Catholicity here was at
a rather low ebb, and made a poor show when compared
with the fervor and piety manifested in our Eastern and
. Western states. However, the Archbishop and clergy declared that this mission had succeeded better than any
other before, and that it had given a general impulse to
religion in New Orleans. At the end of the second week
the results were, two thousand five hundred Communions,
thirty converts, among whom was General Longstreet, sixtyfive First Communions of adults, and one hundred and six
Confirmations administered by the Most Reverend Archbishop, Napoleon Jos. Perche.
During this mission Fathers Zealand and Bronsgeest
went on board the United States gunboat, Plymouth, in
order to afford the Catholic sailors an opportunity of complying with their Easter duties. Notwithstanding the preparatory instructions, only forty received Holy Communion,
the others being either engaged at their work, or afraid to
make a public profession of their faith.
March 1 rth.-From New Orleans the missionaries went
to Mobile, Alabama, where Father Damen, assisted by
Fathers Masselis, Hillman and Condon opened a two weeks'
mission in. the Cathedral. This city has over thirty two
thousand fnhabitants, five Catholic churches, and the Catholic population of the diocese is about sixteen thousand.
The number of influential and well-educated Catholics
appears to be larger in this congregation, than in those
which we commonly visit in the East or the West. They
availed themselves, in good earnest, of the spiritual favors
conferred on them, and the mission was considered a
great success. There were four thousand five hundred
�28
ffifissionary Labors.
Communions, twenty three converts, thirty First Communions of adults; and eighty-eight persons were confirmed
by the Rt. Reverend Bishop Quinlan.
\Vhile some of the missionaries were engaged in 1\Iobile,
Fathers Zealand and Bronsgeest went to another portion of
the diocese, called \Vest Florida, where they gave a week's
mission in St Michael's church, Pensacola. The congregation is chiefly composed of the descendants of Spaniards;
there is also a considerable number of Irish who come
from Quebec, Canada, for the sake of trading in pine wood.
Owing to the zeal and skilful management of the worthy
pastor, Revered J. A. Bergrath, Catholicity is making daily
progress. Communions, eight hundred; converts, twenty
four. The same Fathers also devoted three days to the
men of the United States Navy Yard, in the church of St.
John, \Varrington, which is situated seven miles from Pensacola. Here they had three hundred Communions, one
convert and three adults for First Communion.
Father Zealand gave a retreat to the young ladies of the
Visitation Convent near Mobile; and Father Bronsgeest to
the students of Spring Hill College, which is under the direCtion of the Jesuits.
April Sth.-On the first Sunday ;ifter Easter there took
place the solemn opening of a mis.~ion of sixteen days, in
St. John's Church, Chicago, during which Fr. Damen was
assisted by Frs. Masselis, Hillman and Condon. This
congregation is composed of a simple and hard-working
class of people, who are truly fervent and exemplary Catholics. Rev. ]. ·waldron has been pastor of the parish for
about twenty years. Although hi$ Reverence is accustomed
to have a mission every second year, he acknowledged that
the last one was the most successful, viz: six thousand
Communions twenty-three converts, seventy-six First Com·
munions of adults, and one hundred and sixty Confirma·
tions administered by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Foley.
April 8th.-Whilst the mission was going on in Chicago,
�111issionar;' Labors.
Frs. Zealand and Bronsgeest labored with success in the
diocese of Leavenworth, Kansas, which h::ts a Catholic
population of forty thousand. They commenced with the
Osage mission, where they spent a week in the Church of
St. Francis Hieronymo. The members of this congregation
are simple and docile: they nearly all, to the number of
eight hundred, approached the Sacraments; there were
besides seventeen converts to the true Faith.
April I sth.-On this day, Frs. Zealand and Bronsgeest
extended their labors to St. Patrick's Church, Parson's Station, which is attended once a month from the Osage mission. Here they remained five days, and had two hundred
and forty Communions and three converts. The condition
of Catholicity here was rather deplorable, and, in order
to apply an efficacious remedy, the missionaries exhorted
the faithful to assemble in the church every Sunday during
the year, when the priest cannot visit the station, and to
spend about an hour in reading Mass, prayers and extraEI:s
from some spiritual book, and in singing Catholic hymns.
April 29th.-Fr. Damen, assisted by his five companions,
opened a mission in the magnificent new church of St. Ann,
Philadelphia. The congregation is very large ard most
exemplary; hence the mission which lasted seventeen days
produced the following salutary fruits: ten thousand five
·hundred Communions thirty-three converts; eighty-three
First Communions of adults, and three hundred and twelve
Confirmations administered by the Rt. Rev. J. F. Shanahan
of Harrisburg.
l\Iay 26th.-On Pentecost Sunday Fr. Damen, assisted
by Frs. Zealand Bronsgeest and Condon, gave a mission in
Lynn, Massachusetts, in the archdiocese of Boston. It is
a great shoe manufaEI:uring town, about nine miles from the
city. The people seemed to take peculiar interest in the
mission, and attended the exercises with fervor and regularity. Results: four thousand two hundred Communions,
fourteen converts, one huf:ldred First Communions of adults,
�Missionary Labors.
and four hundred Confirmations of children and adults administered by the Most Rev. Archbishop, John Joseph
Williams.
\Vhilst the mission was going on in Lynn, Frs. Masselis
and Hillman visited the stations attended Ly the Rev. J. C.
Roche in Jasco County, Michigan, in the diocese of Detroit
which has a Catholic population of one hundred and seventy-five thousand. Results: five hundred and twenty Communions, one convert, four First Communions 6f adults.
June- roth.-·-The last mission was given by Frs. Damen,
Zealand, B'ronsgeest and Condon, in the Church of the
Annunciation, in the city of Chicago. It lasted two weeks.
The Catholics attended pretty well, but the church was
never crowded. Results: two thousand Communions, one
convert, and twenty First Communions of adults. The
worthy pastor, the Rev. Thomas Edwards, died on the 26th
of the following month.
REMARKS-1St. \Vhenever the mission lasts two weeks,
the first is generally for the women, and the second for the
men-=-at least in regard to the evening sermons or leCl:ures.
Protestants, however, of either sex are admitted both weeks.
Experience has taught that this separation encourages the
men wonderfully, and creates such ;:_rn enthusiasm that ordinarily the number of communica.nts in each division is
about equal; and sometimes the men's Communions are
even more numerous than those of the women.
2d. Towards the end of the mission, Fr. Damen usually
establishes the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart and the
Apostleship of Prayer, and ereets a large mission cross.
GENERAL RESULTS :-Communions 71,545; Converts 276;
First Communions of adults 906; Confirmations 1,782.
�Missionary Labors.
31
BRIEF ACCOUNT OF•.!IIISSIONS GIVEN BY FATHER COGHLAN?.
AND
J.
CO~IPANIONS.
Sept. IOLh 1876.-The first mission was given at Morris,
Ill. by Fr. John Ignatius Coghlan assisted by Fr. John
D. Condon. It began on the roth and finished on the 19th
of September, 1876. It is marked in the diary as well attended. The fruits were eight hundred and twenty-five
holy Communions, forty First Communions of adults, and
eight converts to our holy Faith. Fr. Coghlan established
a young ladies' sodality.
Sept. 24th.-In the next mission which was .given, Fr.
Condon was replaced by Fr. D. Niederkorn, who remained
as Fr. Coghlan's assistant throughout the year. It was he
who kept the diary, from which I quote almost verbatim.
This mission was given in Missouri, at St. Mary's Landing,
from Sept. 24th to Oct. zd, and was a great success. The
congregation is composed of English, French and Germans.
It was found necessary to preach in English and in German,
and to make the announcements, at least, in French. The
congregation had been greatly negleCted, and the ~ealous
young parish priest, Rev. J. Lilly, could do but little good.
It took three days before there was a satisfaCtory attendance.
Then the fears of failure were dissipated. Nearly all received the Sacraments; there \Vere three hundred and twenty-five Communions, thirty-five First Communions of adults,
and nine converts, Deo Gratias. The missionaries told me
of a venerable old gentleman, who was publicly kn_own not
to have approached the holy Table since his marriage,
forty-nine years ago, and who after the mission could not
contain his joy at having been at last reconciled with his
~od. He is now as fervent as he was negligent before, and
15
preparing to celebrate in a holy manner the golden jubilee of his married life.
Oct:. Sth.-From OCtober the 8th to the 17th a mission
�32
Missionary Labors.
was given at Detroit, Michigan, in the Church of Our Lady
of Help. The exercises were well attended from the bee
ginning. Several priests of the city offered their services
and helped to hear confessions. About two thousand two
hundred confessions, forty First Communions of adults
and fifty Confirmations amply rewarded their labors. Although many Protestants attended the e\·ening leCtures,
none were received into the Church. An altar society
was established, which one hundred and sixty members
joined at once. The young men's sodality was also revived,
fifty members being added to it.
OCt. 22d.-The 22d of OCtober found our two missionaries in Nebraska, at the Cathedral of Omaha. Here difficulties arose from an Irish society which had been for some
time at variance with the pastor. Still the people were full
of faith: the services were well attended, and Fr. Coghlan's
leCtures on confession and on the Church were a great
success. There were two thou~and three hundred Communions, fifty First Communions of adults, one hundred and
fifty persons confirmed, and nine converts. An altar society was established with about one hundred members, a
men's sodality with sixty, a temperance society with fifty;
while the Fathers distributed seven hundred tickets of the
Apostleship of Prayer. A special feature was the large attendance at the 5 o'clock Mass, and at the leCture given for
the benefit of the children's sodality.
Nov. 1zth.-Colorado was the next. field of labor. The
first mission there was given at Denver, from Nov. the 12th
to the 28th, in English and in German. The attendance was
very good from the beginning. Numbers of Protestants,
both German and American, attended in the evenings.
thirty-one of whom were converted; while many Catholics
who had joined secret societies were reclaimed. There were
one thousand five hundred Holy Communions, seventy-four
Confirmations, thirty-four First Communions of adults.
The altar society was" increased in numbers and the Apostleship of Prayer revived. A building society was organised
�Missionary Labors.
33
for the erection of a German Church. A special feature
was that all the Protestant preachers of the city attended
the lecture on the subject: "Is one Church as good as
another?"
Dec. 3d.-Then followed some minor missions. A two
days mission at Golden, a little village, resulted in forty-three
Communions. On the 3d of December the missionaries
separated for a few days. Fr. Coghlan gave a mission at
Georgetown, Colorado, where, in five days, he had three
hundred and forty-four Communions and four converts.
Meanwhile Fr. Niederkorn preached in Central City, under
circumst:mces of special difficulty. Three hundred and
eighty Communions rewarded his toil: many returned to
their duties, who had never been in the church since their
present pastor arrived, seven years ago. At Boulder both
met on December the 9th, and preached in the court house
for want of a church: they had eighty-four Confessions.
Departing thence they separated again, Fr. Coghlan to
give a three days mission at Pueblo, Fr. Niederkorn one at
Smith's settlement. Neither place afforded much consolation: at Pueblo many would not come near the Church ;
only sixty approached the Sacraments; while at Smith's
settlement there were but five Catholic families and these
far apart-still there were thirty-one Confessions. Passing
together through Cheyenne, they were requested to stop
for a day or two to preach and lecture, which they did quite
successfully, and heard fifty Confessions.
All the missionaries meet yearly at Christmas in their
residence, St. Ignatius' College, Chicago, hearing nurr.erous
Confessions there during that holy season. After New-Year
they make their yearly retreat. The 14th of January
found our little band again at work, this time at St. Teresa's
Church, New York city. During the first week they were
aided by the stronger band of missionaries consisting of
Frs. Damen, Hillman, Zealand and Condon, as also by Rev.
]. McQuaid, S. J. of New York, who remained till the end.
VoL. vu-No. 1.
5
�34
Missionary Labors.
The worthy pastor of St. Teresa's, Rev. F. O'Farrell, an
exemplary man, and his assistants Frs. Flynn, Farrell and
\Vard, as well as some priests of the neighboring parishes,
were assiduous in hearing Confessions. The fruits of these
combined efforts were eleven thousand three hundred Communions, one hundred and forty First Communions of
adults, and thirty-eight converts. To aid in paying offtQ.e
debt of the Church, Fr. Coghlan gave two lectures, one on
St. Patrick. and the other on the subjeEl: "Is one Church as
good as another? "
Feb. 4th.~On the 4th of February, 1877, Fr. Coghlan,
assisted by Frs. Niederkorn, McQuaid and Bouige, opened
a mission in St. Mary's Church, Troy, N. Y. From the
day of the opening, the church was too small to contain
the crowd. Our Fathers of Troy, and the Rev. professors
of the Seminary there, kindly helped to hear Confessions:
the venerable pastor Fr. Havermans was indefatigable.
The fruits were abundant, viz: nine thousand five hundred
Communions, about eighty First Communions of adults
and torty-three converts.
Feb. 25th.-Shamokin, Pa. was the next scene of labor,
from February the 25th to March the 5th. There were sermons in English and in German, till Thursday, when Fr.
Niederkorn left for Iowa. Frs. Coghlan and Bouige closed
the mission on Sunday with one thousand six- hundred
Communions, twenty First Communions of adults and eight
converts. The leEl:ure on Monday drew an immense crowd
of Catholics and Protestants.
The mission at Davenport, Iowa, was meanwhile begun
earlier than had been anticipated, owing to an oversight as
to the time ; still it was blessed by our dear Lord with
more than ordinary success, Three days after Fr. Niederkorn had opened it, his two companions arrived. Many
Protestants and Catholics from the neighboring towns
swelled the congregation. The number of Communions
surpassed by one-third that of any former mission given in
�Missionary Labors.
35
·the town: there w'ere two thousand three hundred Communions, fifteen First Communions of adults and twenty-one
converts. The leCture for the support of the schools was
not less successful.
March I8th.-Our little band of three (for Fr. Bonige remained in it), on March the 18th, began a ten days mission
at East St. Louis, Ill. A large crowd from the first, and
abundant fruit. About two thousand two hundred persons
received the Sacraments, twenty adults made their First
Communion and sixteen were received into the Church.
A Protestant preacher, after hearing Fr. Coghlan, undertook
to refute his arguments in his own church; but many of
his parishioners, who had heard the missionaries, left the
meeting house and reported their preacher to the presbytery.
Apr. 8th.-The next mission was at Bunker Hill, Ill., from
the 8th to the 16th of April. The pastor, Fr. Neu, is a
very zealous man, and so the mission was well announced.
Whilst it was carried on by Frs. Coghlan and Bouige, Fr.
Niederkorn went to Bethalto, a small village about twelve
miles off, where he preached in English, French and German, heard sixty-one Confessions, and returned to Bunker
Hill. Then Fr. Bouige went to Gillespie, where he too
heard some sixty Confessions. The main mission was
meanwhile concluded with about six hundred Communions,
ten First Communions of adults, and twelve converts to the
Faith.
Apr. 22d.-From the 22d to the 30th of April Litchfield,
Pa. was evangelized. The results were most consoling: all
the parishioners approached the Sacraments, twenty-five
adults made their First Communion, and eight Protestants
Were converted.
May 6th.-Oliphant, Pa. occupied our laborers from May
the 6th to the 14th, furnishing one thousand six' hundred
communicants, besides fifteen prepared for their first holy
Communion. But the Protestants were bigoted: although
�Missiouary Labors.
many attended the leaures, none applied for instruaion. It
was almost the same in the next mission at Dunmore, where
there was but one convert. Still the consolations were
abundant: three thousand seven hundred confessed, and fifteen made their First Communion. From Dunmore, the Fathers started for Pleasant Valley, in the same state of Pennsylvania. This mission attraaed a v2.st crowd, not from
the town alone, but also from Scranton and other places in
the neighborhood. More than six hundred persons, besides
the regular communicants of the parish, approached the
Sacraments: there were in all one thousand seven hundred
Communions, fifteen First Communions of adults and seven
converts.
The last labors of the scholastic year were bestowed on the
parish of Rochelle, Ill., a place that had been sadly negleaed
for some time. The happy fruits far surpassed the expeaations of all: there were six hundred and sixty holy Communions, twelve First Communions of adults and three
converts.
GENE~AL RESULTS- Communions, 44,720; converts, 208;
First Communion of adults, 558; Confirmations, 274·
MISSIONS GIVEN BY FR. MAGUIRE AND HIS
COMPANIONS.
BosTON, oa. Ist I877·
VERY REV. FATHER PROVINCIAL,
P. C.
According to your Reverence's request, I send an account
of the mi?sions given by our Fathers since the last number
of the "LETTERs" was published.
St. 1\h~y's, Cambridgeport, Mass.-This mission began
on the fourth Sunday of lent and lasted tor two weeks.
The fruits attending the labors of the Fathers were very
�..Missionary Labors.
37
consoling. There were over three thousand Communions.
About a hundred adults were prepared for their First Communion. A class of Confirmation was undertaken, and with
very happy results, as over two hundred grown persons
presented themselves for instruCtion. During the first week
of the exercises, the Archbishop confirmed these candidates
and many others who had been previously prepared by the
pastor. There were twenty-five baptisms-sixteen adults
and nine children of mixed marriages; most of them being
above seven years of age.
The pastor of St. Mary's, Rev. Thomas Scully, had been
laboring very earnestly in the cause of Catholic education ;
but here, as elsewhere, there were found persons who did
not see the necessity of having Catholic schools, and were
very willing to do away with what they looked upon as an
expensive luxury. In consequence of this feeling, considerable opposition was shown toward the schools attached
to the church. Various reasons were alleged for this hostility. Wordly prospeCts, the apparent indifference of persons in authority in some parts of the country, and many
other cunning arguments were resorted to. Some went so
far as to say, that Catholic schools make us less liberal in
our views toward Protestants, or, in other words, will not
allow us to have that broad religion so much in keeping
with the genius of the age. Those who had been educated
in the public schools fell back upon such arguments, as upon
this coup de grace reason : the Catholic schools are not so
respeC!:able, which, being interpreted, means, perhaps, we
don't wish to be taken for Catholics, since they are gener;tlly poor and most frequently despised. These sentiments
in regard to our schools are not confined to one city or
town; they are but too common in these parts. The Fathers did their utmost to promote the views of the pastor in
regard to this matter, and succeeded in obtaining many new
pupils, so that now not more than thirty or forty children
of the parish attend the public schools.
An effort was made, and successfully, to increase the
�Missionary Labors.
membership in the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin. Four
hundred candidates presented themselves for admission.
Our church of the Holy Family, Philadelphia.- The Exc
ercises lasted from the 29th of April to the 14th of May;
and great good \vas effeB:ed by them. The Communions
were somewhat under five thousand. One hundred and
thirty adults, many of whom during this mission received
the holy Communion for the first time, were confirmed.
Thirty-tn:o persons were baptized-twenty-four adults and .
eight children of various ages, the <lffspring of mixed marriages. -The parents of some of these negleB:ed children
had been considered as apostates; but since God gave them
the grace to make the mission, they returned to the Faith
and acquitted themselves of a solemn duty, so long de·
fer red.
In no mission were there so many conversions from
heresy; and, if time had allowed it, there would have been
many more. The Fathers firid that the announcing at
every Exercise, that persons who are desirous of receiving
instruB:ion for Baptism, should give .in their names and
come to some fixed place for information, does a great deal
of good. Many come who would otherwise be too timid,
or not know how to proceed, in· order to get instrutlion.
A young man baptized during the' mi ssion, told one of the
Fathers that he would have joined the Church at the retreat
four years ago, but he did not know what to do, to accom·
plish it. It might be useful to adopt a similar praB:ice in all
of our Churches, even for ordinary occasions.
Pawtucket, R . I.-This is a manuf~B:uring town, three
miles from Providence. It has a population · of twenty
thousand souls, one half of whom are Catholics divided into
four congregations. The church is under the title of the
Sacred Heart and was dedicated last year. The Exercises
we're well attended. Three thousand persons received
Communion. Many grown person's were. confirmed, as maY
be seen from the following extraB: from the Providence
�Missionary Labors.
39
Journal: "The interesting and impressive ceremonial of
Confirmation occurred at the Church of the Sacred Heart
in Central Falls (Pawtucket), yesterday forenoon, in the
presence of an immense congregation. The Jesuit Fathers
have been giving a mission there for some days past, and
the class of candidates for Confirmation was prepared as an
out-growth of this remarkable revival. The Sacrament was
administered by Rt. Rev. Bishop Hendricken, at 8 o'clock,
A • .M., to three hundred and sixty-one persons, one hundred
and twenty of whom were adults, including several converts."
Many new members were added to the Society of the
Children of Mary. The devotion to the Sacred Heart was
established at the request of the pastor Rev. M. Fitzgerald,
and one of the Fathers remained a few days after the close
of the mission, to help on the good work. The Exercises
lasted from the zoth of May to the 1st of June. Four
adults were received into the Church. On the last night
but one of the retreat, a sermon was preached in the cause
of temperance, and over a thousand people took the pledge
for a year.
South La\vrence, Mass.-Lawrence is one of the great
faCl:ory towns on the Merrimac river and has a population
of thirty thousand. The Catholics number about fifteen
thousand. On the north bank of the river there are three
English speaking congregations; in charge of the Augustinian Fathers. St. Mary's, the principal Church, is one of
the largest ahd most elaborate specimens of Gothic architeCl:ure in New England. South of the river there is a
congregation of twenty-five hundred souls under the care
of Rev. James Murphy and an assistant. The usual work
of the mission was continued for a week with the wonted
success. The Communions numbered over three thousand,
as many persons came from the other parishes. A sodality
was begun. Some grown persons were prepared for the
Sacraments. Four or five converts were made from Protestantism.
�40
Missionary Labors.
At the conclusion of the mission (June 3-10), the Fathers
gave the Exercises for three days at North Andover, a town
two miles away. The congregation is small ; but all the
members of it, with a few exceptions, made the mission and
approached the Sacraments.
In Lawrence and Andover, as in all the missions, there
were the usual cases of persons returning t6 the Sacraments
after having been negligent for twenty, thirty and forty
years, etc. It is a source of great consolation to add that
some who had apostatized, and many who had married out
of the Chur.ch were brought back.
This was the last mission of the season. During the
summer vacation, the Fathers were engaged in giving retreats in different parts of the country.
I give a summary of the labors of the spring campaign
of less than seven weeks duration :
Communions 16,000; Adults Confirmed 450; First Communion of adults 300; Baptisms, adults 49; Baptisms,
children of mixed marriages 19; Sodality membership 800;
Ternperance pledges 1,200.
This exhibit is flattering; but not unfrequently the same
amount. of work is done in half the time .
..·
LAS VEGAS COLLEGE, NEW MEXICO.
We have received the ProspeCtus of Las Vegas College
which our Fathers, at the earnest solicitation of Most Rev.
Abp. La my and of the citizens of Las Vegas, have recently
opened.
We are happy to learn that over one hundred boys, boarders and day-scholars, are already in attendance. It was at
first called St. Mary's College; but as another college, about
forty miles distant, under the direction of the Christian
Brothers, goes by the same name, it was thought advisable
�Las Vegas College, Neu• Mexico.
to adopt the title of Las Vegas College. The following are
extraCts from its prospeCtus :-This College, to be inaugurated on the first Monday in November 1877, will be placed
under the direCtion of the Jesuit Fathers.-Until a new and
commodious building, now in progress of·ereetion, is completed, the College will occupy the house of Dam Francisco
Lopez, which has been fitted up to suit the purpose, as far as
a private residence could easily be adapted to it.-The institution is intended both for boarders and day scholars, and
is open to all, regardless of difference in religious tenets.Only such matters will be taught as are deemed to meet the
special requirements of our Territory, and will be adapted
to the capacity and gradual proficiency of pupils. Consequently, Reading and Writing, and elementary lessons in
English and Spanish Grammar, in History, Geography,
Arithmetic and Book-keeping will be parts of the regular
scholastic course.-A few applications for the study of Latin
having been already received, that language together with.
French, Italian and music of piano or organ, will be left to
the option of parents; but all will form separate charges,
except Latin. Board and Tuition, per annum ,$200,00.
Day scholars will be required to pay from ,Sr,oo to $3,00
monthly, or admitted gratuitously if desired.
As will be seen, a great dea! of opposition was manifested, in certain quarters, to the incorporation of this
institution. The aet of incorporation, once defeated, was,
after two years, again presented, and having passed the
Legislature, met with an emphatic veto from the Governor, who, to give more weight to his message, went to the
House to deliver it in person. Attorney General Breeden
having been requested by the Governor to prepare an opinion on the aet, presented the following: "The bill, in my
opinion, is clearly in violation of the said law of the United
States." The Message, is so remarkable a specimen of historical erudition, and of religious toleration that we quote
it in full:
VoL. vn-No. r.
6
'I
I
,,
�42
Las Vegas College, New Mexico.
To t/ze Honorable Legislative Council of tlte Territory of
1Vcw Jlfexico-Gentlemen: I return to you, with my objec-
tions, an aCt: to incorporate the Jesuit Fathers in New Mexico. For the purpose of obtaining for your information the
best legal advice within my reach, I requested the Attorney
General of the Territory, Hon. William Breeden, to prepare
a careful opinion upon the case; this opinion I make part of
my Message and lay it in full before you. Attorney General Breeden says: "The bill, in my opinion, is clearly in
violation of the said law of the· United States." This
opinion I fully endorse, and if you pass this bill over General Breeden's opinion, and over my veto, you will do so
with your eyes open, in violation of your oaths of office,
and the laws of the United States. There are many other
objeCtions to the bill, a few only of which I will bring to
your notice. It is difficult to decide whether the man who
seeks to establich the Society or the Society which he
seeks to establish is worse. Both are so bad that you cannot
decide between them. This Neapolitan adventurer, GAsPARR!, teaches the public that his dogmas and assertions
are superior to the statutes of the United States and the
laws of the Territory. No do8:rine or teaching can be
more dangerous to good government than this; especially
in New Mexic~ where the mass of 't.he people are ignorant.
He also by his writings and harangues endeavors to excite
animosities, and to stimulate the people to war on those legitimately exercising civil authority over them, and to aets of
violence. He comes here while the legislative assembly is
in·· session and lobbies, in the most brazen and shameless
manner, to defeat needed and wholesome laws, and to force
through bills antagonistic to the laws of the United States.
Two years ago he intruded himself in the lower house, and
remained within the bar, and by the speaker's side, till. he
forced .the passage of this bill; but at that session it was
defeated by an honest legislative council. He now presents
himself again, and, being fully informed that what he asks
�Las ,Vegas College, New Mexico.
43
is contrary to the laws of the United States, urges you to
violate your oaths and pass the bill. The Society which he
seeks to establish in New Mexico is worthy of just such a
leader. It has been denounced time and again by the head
of the Catholif Church, and justly expelled from the most
enlightened countries of Europe. But apart from the dangerous charaCter of its chief, the bill is especially objeCtionable because it does not require that the incorporators shall
be citizens of the United States, orresidents of New Mexico. The number who may be hereafter associated with
them is unlimited, and they might all be aliens and reside
abroad. Again, the bill here permits these people to own,
free of taxation, an unlimited amount of property. They are
permitted to own all kinds of real and personal estate in all
parts of the Territory, and are not subjeCt to any supervision
by the Legislature, nor required to pay anything toward the
support of the government. The provisions of the bill are
contrary to public policy and in direCt violation of the
laws of the United States, and cannot receive my approval.
S. B. AxTELL,
Go·l'entor of tlte Ten-itory of New Mexico.
Notwithstanding- the veto of the Governor, a second vote
was taken, and the aCt passed by a majority exceeding two
thirds. We congratulate the Fathers, and trust that this
is but another exemplification of the saying of our holy
Founder: "Tempestas absque nostra culpa in nos sa::viens,
est .qua::dam futuri et secuturi brevi proventus significatio."
�EXTRACTS OF A LETTER FROM PUEBLO,
COLORADO.
PUEBLO,
Dec. 28th, 1877.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
I fear that I have incurred your displeasure by having
put off so -lbng my answer to your last kind letter, and I
judge so from your ominous silence. Can I hope, dear
Father, to remove it by stating that overwhelming occupation has been the only cause of my delay?
Perhaps you do not know yet that since the beginning of
last September we have established a school here. Our
pupils represent a great variety of religious denominations;
as some of them are Jews, others Lutherans, Episcopalians,
Presgyterians or Methodists, and others again profess no
belief of any kind. Only five are Catholics. Does not this
seem an odd state of things for a Jesuit school-house? The
tableau is doubtlessly perfeCt, especially as it is not without
shades, there being two negro boys,}s black as coal, among
the pupils. Our school has not been so far the only one
in Pueblo : besides two others under the management of
Protestant ladies, there was one kept by a preacher up to
the early part of this month. He w~s a Baptist minister,
who, reckoning upon the absence of a Public School, and
thinking it to be a fair opportunity for making money, succeeded in securing .a certain number of pupils. He styled
himself a graduate of Harvard University, he even gave the
name of this institution to his school. In order to inspire
his pupils with a feeling of perfeCt confidence in his abilities,
and t~· endear himself to the outside people, he would often
entertain them with the in~eresting enumeration of his numberless personal accomplishments, at the head of which, of
. course, was his being a freemason.
. (44)
�Letter from Colorado.
45
His pupils presented the greatest variety, if not the best
seleB:ion ; they were of every age and of both sexes;
boys and girls, or rather young ladies and young men.
They all seemed perfeB:ly satisfied with each other, so
much satisfied that "too much fun," as people said, was
constantly going on amongst the students. But with such
fun many of their parents were by no means pleased, and
they withdrew their children from the Harvard University,
sending them either to the Sisters or to us. The poor, wellmeaning Baptist minister understood at last that even his
world-wide reputation was powerless to prop up his crumbling Harvard University; so, a few weeks ago, he dismissed
his pupils and became clerk in a hotel in which he had secured a place.
We are now enjoying very fine weather, and can hardly
realize that we are in December and not in May.-Some
thirty miles west of Pueblo rises the majestic Snowy Range.
That abode of perpetual winter is not altogether destitute
of human inhabitants ; many mining camps having perched
themselves away up in the lofty region of eagles. Amongst
the most important of these, is Rosita, situated on one of
the very highest summits of the range, nearly two thousand
feet above the level of the sea. It has a population of about
fifteen hundred inhabitants, who are mostly Protestants, or
rather nothing at -all; only a few being Catholics. However, the Catholics have been the first to ereCt: a church, a
modest frame struCture which, not without trouble, one of
our Fathers caused to be built some two or three years ago.
In the early part of this month, I went to administer in that
locality, travelling in a wagon in company with a numerous
party of farmers. After one day's journey we reached, late
in the evening, the foot of the range, where, on the bank
of a creek, we pitched our camp for the night. We cooked
our own supper, which we took in a very good mood and
with appetite. Afterwards we retired to rest, every one
stretching himself on the ground between two buffalo skins,
Within a circle of blazing fires. Our bed was not very soft
�Letter from Colorado,
indeed, but it was by no means uncomfortable, especially
since we had the satisfaaion of being warm on the very
limits of the snow region. Our Blessed Lord, most certainly, had not such comforts, and suffered much more from
cold on the night of his birth. I reached Rosita in the
evening of the following day, at nearly the same time as a
heavy snow storm, which had been hurrying up from an opposite direaion. This storm was not the affair of a moment; it lasted two days without a moment's interruption,
that is, as long as I remained on that pinnacle of Colorado.
This how~ver did not prevent me from "having church," and
gathering ~-pretty numerous congregation, including some
of the Protestant element. Two Episcopalian families were
the first that entered the church : they complimented me
by contrasting my attention to my Catholic flock with the
indifference of the Episcopalian minister of the-place towards his congregation "which," remarked a lady, all flushed
with holy indignation, "he let die through sheer spiritual
starvation." They also told me that it did not matter to
them whether they entered a Catholic or an Episcopalian
church, on the score of the very little difference existing
between them. I smiled such a smile as could not readily
be misconstrued into approbation. . They were all Marylanders. After Mass I baptized some fifteen infants, and
spent the remainder of the day in visiting my wild Catholics, all, of course, engaged in the mining business.
The next day I went seven miles farther, to a beautiful
place, called \Vet Mountain Valley. It is, as its very name
suggests a fertile valley, about twenty miles long and five
miles wide, watered by a hundred creeks, and well settled
by German farmers at the two ends, and by French Canadians in the middle. I spent two days among the Canadians, who know so little English that every thing is carried
on among them in old French style. I really imagined
myself again in France. The main feature of this my Canadian excursion, and by far the most pleasant, was that I
received back into the Catholic fold two wretched brothers
�Letter from Colorado.
47
who, many years ago, had the misfortune of giving up their
faith and joining a Protestant sea. They were what are
called "well read men," so I did not think it unfit to make
an appeal to their erudition as well as to their national feeling, a thing about which French people are, as you know
well, always exceedingly touchy. "How is it" exclaimed
I, in a tone of deep indignation, and in the presence of all
the Canadian colony assembled in a large hall, "how is it
my wretched, iny dear wretched fellows, that you were
ever prevailed upon to abandon the religion of France, and
of your great Bossuet, in order to embrace the teaching of
an apostate German monk?" These words cut them to the
quick, as was evident from their quivering frames.-"To
the d --with the Germans,•· they exclaimed, "and with
them all their apostate monks! There was,'a coup sur, more
wisdom and learning in one of Bossuet's small fingers than
in all those hair-plucked German heads of yore. Yes, Father, Bossuet's religion and the religion of France must
again be our religion also." There was a great feast among
those good Canadians on that day. . The day after this
scene I was on my way back to Pueblo. Here I must
bring my letter to a close, but not before recommending
myself to your prayers, whilst I remain
Your humble servant in Christ,
A.M.,
S.
J.
�OHIO COLLEGE ASSOCIATION.
ST. XAVIER CoLLEGE,
CINCINNATI, Jan. Ist, I878.
REV. FATHER,
P. C.
A brief notice of the. annual meeting of the "Ohio ColCollege Association" and of the part which Ours took in
its proceedings may prove interesting to your readers.
The name itself gives us to understand, that the "Ohio College Association" is a society of professors from the different
colleges of the state. Organized for the purpose of mutual
interchange of ideas on collegiate matters, it gathers its
members every winter vacation to have them proffer their
accumulated experience of the class-room, and to accept in
ret.,!lrn the well matured thoughts of the essayists chosen
for the occasion, together with the results of the ensuing
discussions.
A request was made of Rev. Fr. Recror to have St. Xavier
College represented at the meet~~g by an address on our
manner of teaching the classics. The invitation was accepted, and one of the professors appointed to prepare a paper
on that subjeCt:. Five of Ours attended the sessions: the
President and Vice-president of the College, and the professors of Philosophy, Rhetoric and Mathematics. I must confess to some slight confusion when I beheld the worthy
assembly of men, venerable for their age and acquirements.
But whatever surprise I at first experienced, it soon gave
way to· the respeCt: which was due to these cultivated
gentlemen on account of their many excellencies, the produCt:· of refinement and education. No ostentation of man·
ner, no jealousy, no triviality, but instead, a charming sirn·
plicity, a large-hearted kindness, a deep earnestness, and,
(48)
�0/zio College Association.
49
let me add, an obliging deference to Ours. There was no
cavilling, but questions were asked for information, and discussions begun for the practical developments to be hoped
from them.
There was very little said or done at the meeting of
which we could not approve. The members were extremely
conservative. There was no disposition to do away with
classical studies or to even abridge them. The universal
sentiment was in favor of raising, rather than lowering the
standard.
On Wednesday evening, December 26th, 1877, the Association met to hear an address of welcome from a prominent
member of the Cincinnati bar, and the inaugural address by
the President, A. A. E. Taylor of the University of Wooster.
The latter contained much valuable information about Ohio
colleges and presented some very sound views on disputed
questions. I will instance his defence of sectarian colleges
as distinct from institutions under no denominational control: "It cannot be denied that the influence of the various denominations is largely responsible for the number of
our colleges. Of the present thirty, twenty-two seem to be
under denominational influence and direction, and among
them most of those of the highest grade. Drawn together
upon common territory, as we are in this Association, and
being thus bound to advise together concerning points of
mutual interest, and to allay the spirit of unnecessary dissension, it would seem out of place here to enter into a formal defence of denominational colleges as such. However,
We may fairly say this much, that the various denominations
have seemed to feel the need of taking pains to secure
higher schools for their sons, in which they can be assured
that the truths which they hold sacred will be certainly
respected, arid where contrary opinions and influences may
not be supposed to find encouragement from chairs of instruction. Besides, amid the intense pressure of competing
professions and remunerative occupations, a denomination
VoL. vn-No. I.
7
�so
Ohio College Associatimz.
can scarcely maintain a ministry of high grade without some
such college work in self defence. Moreover, each church
may well entertain the laudable design of adding its quota
of means and influence to the grand cause of higher education, without being compelled to cast its portion into a
common treasury of men and means, concerning the management of which, in so far as the interests of that church
are concerned, there must be more or less distrust."
Two sessions were held on the forenoon of Thursday: .in
the first was· read and discussed, a paper hearing the title:
''lnstruetio~· by LeCtures: how far desirable, and how best
conduCted:" in the second the Association met in sections,
respeaively of Languages, Philosophy and Rhetoric, Mathematics and Natural Sciences; at which methods, experiences, text books, etc. were talked over in a less formal but
in a nowise superficial manner. The afternoon saw the
members assembled to listen to two papers, the first with the
title: "The Jesuit System of Teaching the Classics," the
second treating of "The Importance of a Knowledge of
Philology to the Teacher of Classics." The evening session
was occupied with the reading of the following papers :
"The value of Marking, Prizes, and College Hon~rs" and
"Scientific Courses of Study." During the forenoon of
Friday a very excellent paper was r'ead on "The Place of
English in the College Course, and how to teach it."
The sessions of Thursday forenoon were held in the Uni·
versity of Cincinnati; those of Friday in the Cincinnati
Wesleyan College, the rest in College Hall.
Let us return to the paper "The Jesuit System of Teach·
ing the Classics" and descend to some particulars. Though
none of the ideas were new to us, as they simply explained
the Ratio Studiorum in its workings at St. Xavier's; yet,
the style of the composition, and still more, the practical .lessons which it contained, commanded the stricrest
attention and drew forth hearty applause from the audi·
ence and many a sincere congratulation afterwards tendered
�Ohio Co!!ege Association.
5I
to its autho~. When he had finished, some questions were
asked about our manner of teaching, but all in an earnest,
sincere manner, without any attempt at fault finding, and
purely for information. I mention this with a desire to
show how real merit in a system never fails to please unbiassed minds. "The Jesuit System" could not help bearing
ofithis victory; for it is a system which, "dating back several centuries, was conceived by giant intellects, and has been
enobled by not a few scars of success."
Some of the professors were so struck with the superiority of the method laid down in the Ratio as to tell us that
they considered it deserving the closest study. After the
session was over, several of them came to inquire about
our College, ask for catalogues and to tender their congratulations. One gentleman especially found the essay to
answer his expectations fully, though he had come to the
city principally to hear it. He also inquired whether sources of information on that subject were accessible to every
one, as he wished to study the method thoroughly with a
view to reducing it to practice.
Let me quote the concluding remarks of the paper, which
make prominent the motives that direct a Jesuit's labors:
"If the spirit of the society be in its members, it will say to
them in unmistakable accents: Your motives and the
spirit aCtuating your labors must alone be the keynote of
your success. Banish self-interest and individual aggrandizement in favor of a common good, which will live when
you are gone and forgotten. Cherish no hope of preferment, aspire to no personal fame : you are above them.
Make your conduct subservient to your duty; give your
whole minds and hearts to your work; and when your lives
are worn out, you need expect to have gained nothing in this
World, but what the world can not refuse its bitterest enemies-sustenance and the liberty of following a higher law.
Leaving no heirs to your property, no monuments to your
fame, no relics of a false life, fix your eyes with abiding
�52
Ohio College Association.
hope on another life, because you have consec,rated yourselves to education that you might gain the 'greater glory
of God!'"
One consoling occurrence I must record here. An expresident, whose silvery head told of four score years, was
extremely delighted with an axiom laid down in the opening of the paper, "that the object of all true and solid education is not only to cultivate and adorn the mind, but also
to form the heart to principles of honor and virtue ; " and
he stated his- conviB:ion that every Catholic, every Protestant, every good man would acknowledge the training of
the will to be of even greater importance than the development of the intellect. No exception was taken to his last
assertion; on the contrary, hearty approbation greeted it
from all sides.
I will not go into further details, except to say a word or
two on the "Report of Committee on Ohio Colleges, and
conditions of membership in the Association." The Committe<;: advocated a high standard of classical training as a
condition for any college to be received into the Association, on the ground that the public would form their notion
of what a college should be from the minimum which the
Association wonld assign as necessary for admission to its
body, and consequently for the enjoyment of the name of
a college. Many schools that undeservedly assume to
themselves such a title, would thus be quietly forced to
drop it, or else merit it by increased excellen,ce in their
courses of study. Scientific, technical and agricultural institutions under the name of colleges, which apply for admission in the Association, will have to submit their application to a committee, upon whose favorable report they
may be admitted by vote. The course of studies in all
colleges belonging to the Association, must include four
years of Latin and Greek, besides a preparatory course of
three years in Latin, and at least two in Greek.
It was a great pleasure to those of Ours who took part
�Marcella Street Home, Boston.
53
in these proceedings, to meet so many teachers who are at
one with us in the importance to be attached to classical
training. It is an encouragement to us all to aim still higher
in our collegiate .labors, to know that our work is appreciated by those who are most capable of understanding it.
*
BOSTON CoLLEGE, Dec. 29th,
R'Ev.
I
sn.
AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
*
* I received on the 22d of this month,
* *
a very kind invitation to attend an entertainment to be
given to the boys, at the Marcella St. Home, of which we
have the spiritual charge.* I send you a little account of
it, and of our doings at the Home.
The entertainment took place on Wednesday night and
only two of us could go; as all the Fathers were engaged
in one way or another, and the scholastics were busy in
making ready for the plays which were to come off at the
college during the holydays. The Archbishop was expeB:ed, but was unable to come. In addition to those who
were to take part in the singing, there were thirty or forty
of the most respeB:able Catholics of Boston present-most
of them, I believe, connected with the Union. Altogether
the ladies and gentlemen present made up quite a select
audience. The cathedral choristers, about forty in number,
sang three or four Christmas pieces. One gentleman sang
several comic songs, others sang pieces of various kinds,
*The l\Iarcella St. Home is an institution provided by the city of Bo>ton
for the care and amendment of boys who are the wards of the city, though
not criminals. The spiritual care of this establishment, as well as that of
another on Deer Island, intended for boys who are dassed among the crimi·
nals, was entrusted, not long ago by Archbishop Williams to our Fathers.
�54
Marcella Street Home, Boston.
so that there was a pleasing variety. The boys of the
Home sang a Christmas carol. Mr. Blackstone, the superintendent of the Home, seemed pleased and the boys were
delighted. The entertainment was a real success. On the
Sunday before Christmas, Mr. Blackstone asked me whether
I could not say Mass somewhat later on Christmas day
and give the boys music. The singers and organist were
secured for the occasion and I began ·my Masses at 7· I
had previously heard the confessions of the old women who
are employed as servants in the house, and gave then:
Communioll·\lt my first Mass. At my third Mass the boys
were marched up and as they entered each was presented
with a new prayer book. During the Mass our quartet sang
the Kyrie, Gloria and Credo from one of Hayden's Masses.
The choir and the boys together sang the Adeste, and at
the end one of Fr. Denny's Christmas carols. I gave a
little instruB:ion, and as they filed out past me I gave to
each one a pretty little picture. Every thing went off satisfaCtorily and the boys seemed very happy.
Yesterday Frs. Rector, Minister, two other Fathers and
I went out and heard the confessions of the boys. I
thought it would be good to make Holy Innocents of them
all. Their earnestness and sincerity \Yere most remarkable.
Many of them confessed with tears· trickling down their
cheeks. Mr. Blackstone cooperated most kindly with us.,
The Fathers were pleased with their n;wrning's work. Fr.
ReCtor remarked afterwards that this ·mission was one
most worthy of cultivation. Four of the large boys want
to become Catholics; they presented themselves to me to
find out when they might go to confession. Our plays.went
off very well; but of this you will hear later.
�APPENDIX.
I-EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN LETTERS.
Zikawei, Clzi1ta, Sept., I877·
Your account of the Ia* * *
*
*
bors of our Fathers in the United States was a source of
great pleasure and consolation to me. Ours here are also
working hard to do the little that is in their power. Fr.
Zottoli continues the publication of his work; it will appear in 6 vols. under the title of "Cursus Literatur~ Sinic<e Neo-Missionariis accomodatus," and is intended as a
text book for a five years' course. The first volume is entitled "Lingua Familiaris," the second "Studium Classicorum," the third "Studium Canonicorum," the fourth "Stylus
Rhetoricus," the fifth "Pars Oratoria et Poetica," and the
sixth "Syntagma Verborum."-Fr. Rabouin is lithographing a French-Chinese diCtionary in the Shanghai dialeCt:.
Fr. Sica is preparing for the missionaries of China a second
,edition of his "Cases of Conscience," and a little volume
(6o pages) of InstruCtions. Fr. Dechevreux's Meteorological and Magnetical Observations are now in press. .Add
to these the Chinese books, on which some of Ours are
engaged, and the list of our labors in this line will be
complete. The publication of all these works is left to the
direCl:ion of Br. Hersant. Rumor has it that at Paris they
are going to print a Latin manuscript of a Polish Father,
containing the history of the ll}issions of China from 1640,
the year with which Bartoli ends his work, to 1704 or 1708.
Twice a month, a small sheet, giving a brief resume of
the principal doings of our Society and a general outlook
*
(SS)
�Extrafls from Letters.
of the state of the civilized world, is prepared by one of
Ours and sent to every Father on the missions. For many
this is their only source of information.
The results of our apostolic labors for 1876-77 in the 47
distrias, entrusted to our care, are as follows :
Churches and chapels
Congregations
2,142
Catechumens
93·366
Christians
825
Adults-baptized
..
Children of infidel parents baptized
Infants nursed during the year
Confessions at missions
Communions "
"
Confessions of devotion
Communions "
Extreme Unaion administered to
Marriages
"
revalidated
Schools for boys
Boys attending
Schools for girls
Girls attending
College
Students attending
Boarding schools for boys
Boarders
Boarding schools for girls
Boarders
Orphanage for boys
Orphan boys
Orphanage for girls
. Orphan girls
Small Orphan asylums
Orphans
Hospitals for the sick
1],372
6,000
6o,766
52,o66
211,409
252,584
518
665
15
347
6,025
213
2,791
I
76
12
307
7
3o6
255
I .
502
7
1,554
3
�Extra{ls from Letters.
.
57
Sick attended to
47I
Hospitals for the aged
2
Inmates, male
34
female
38
School for European boys
Boys attending
59
School for European girls
Girls attending
95
Apothecaries
69
Complete meteorological and magnetical observatory I
Museum of Natural History (in formation)
22
Carmelite nuns (in I convent)
Sisters of the Poor Souls (in 2 houses)
40
Sisters of the Presentation (native born)
3I
Our numbers for the Kiang-nan mission do not, as a general thing, run so high as those of last year. The cause lies
in the persecution which has been raging in this distriCt: during the greater part of the year. ·The Chinese government
has indemnified us for our material, but not for our moral
losses; yet these constitute our chief misfortune. The Viceroy is following a course that is as cunning as it is worthy
of the Evil One; for he is constantly separating the cause of
the missionaries from that of their flocks, on the pretext that
they, being Europeans, have no right to meddle in Chinese
affairs, the management of which belongs only to the Mandarins. Thus we are at every moment interfered with in all
our undertakings. Yet in spite of all these obstacles we
are again gaining ground. Our Fathers of Ning-kooe-fou,
Nankin and Tcheukiang have returned to their posts and
are repairing losses. Fr. Sechinger has begun a new mission at Vouhou, a port on the river lately opened; and Fr.
Gondar has obtained a house at Tsingho, an important
town in the northern part of the province.
Fr. Heud~ is still pursuing his researches in tortoises;
thus far he has discovered upwards of a hundred new species. For variety he at times turns his attention to new
kinds of mollusks, fishes, etc.
VoL. vn-No. I.
8
�ss
E-ctrac?s from Letters.
From all this you can judge what hardships we ·undergo
for the glory of the Church and the Society; Our schools
for children of European parents are prospering, with the
blessing of God, and will, in a short time, produce abundant fruits. They give us also standing and influence in the
society by which we are surrounded. Unhappily the preparatory and theological seminaries are falling off in the
number of their students. You cannot .imagine how difficult
a task it is .to carry a Chinaman through a complete and
thorough CO:~rse of preparation for the ministry.
* *
* The statistics for Tcheli, the mission of the
province of Champagne, during the past year are :
Congregations
387
Christians
26,033
Catechumens
2,988
Adults baptized
1,110
Children of pagan parents baptized
5,183
Confessions during the missions
16,171
·Confessions of devotion
24,384
Schools for boys
67
Boys attending
712
Schools for girls
63
Girls attending
~- . .
696
The mission is enjoying peace, but suffers greatly from
drought, so that the present year threatens to be one of even
greater misery than the last. Bands of beggars and of
thieves are forming on every side, while famine is aCtually
raging in the northern provinces of China.
*
*
College o:f St. Francis Xavier,
Bombay, Dec. I)th, 1877* * * * Our college is frequented by a very
large number of pupils-about seven hundred-of all na·
tions and religions in India. There is also a clerical seminary attached to it for those Indians who aspire to the priest-.
hood, as we have a secular clergy helping us.· Besides, a
�Extrafls from Letters.
59
limited boarding house for those of the higher classes is also
attached to St. Xavier's College. I learn just now, from the
newspapers, that his Grace the Archbishop of Goa (a good
friend of the Society and a pious and clever pastor), has
formally announced that the exposition of the body of St.
Francis Xavier. at Goa, will take place on the Saint's festival day, the 3d of Dec., 1878. We all heartily rejoice at
these good tidings, as the occasion will lead to the performance of many miracles and to the increase of faith, hope
and charity among all classes. Crowds of devout pilgrims
will repair to the sacred shrine.
I send you a description of a late visit of the Governor of
Bombay to St. Xavier's College and St. Mary's Institution,
both under the care of the Fathers of the Society. It is
.
taken from an Indian newspaper.
His Excellency, the Honorable Sir Richard Temple, Bart.,
K. C. S. 1., accompanied by Lieut. Anderson, his aide-decamp, paid a private visit to St. Xavier's College, on Monday, at 5 o'clock P. 111. Notice of the unexpected honor was
received at the college two hours before the arrival of the
distinguished visitor.
His Lordship the Right Rev. Dr. L. Meurin, S. ]., the
ReCt:or of the college, Rev. E. de Vos, S. ]., with the college staff, received his Excellency at the principal entrance,
and conducted him, amid the enthusiastic cheers of the
boys and the strains of the college band, to the seat of
honor in the large hall of the college. A sweet duet by
Caraffa, "Sempre piu," was then sung, accompanied on the
piano, and elicited universal applause. In a short address
improvised by an undergraduate boarder, his Excellency
received the thanks of the professors and boys for the
honor conferred on the college.
*
*
*
His
Excellency rose amid deafening cheers, such as seven hundred lusty throats can raise, and familiarly approaching the
boys, in a kind and impressive speech, thanked the profesSors and boys for the kind feelings expressed, and assured
�6o
ExtraEls from Letters.
them that it would give him the greatest pleasure to be
among them on every festive and joyous occasion. He was
glad to s~e among them boys of all creeds and races, Christians, Jews, Mahomedans, Hindoos, Parsees, thus making the
,institution the representative-of all classes inhabiting Bombay. They enjoyed here the benefit of being under the
influence of Christian teaching, and would thus be enabled,
from their own experience and from the noble example of
their teachers, to form a true estimate of Ch;istian virtue
and Christian conduCt:. (Cheers). They had reminped him
of St. Xa\lter's, the sister college of Calcutta. He was glad
to say that he felt the warmest interest in that college-a
college which, both by the numbers passed at the University examinations and the high proficiency, as far as that is
shown by the University test, ever had distinguished herself
among the other colleges there. He was not yet sufficiently
informed whether the Bombay St. Xavier's College held,
in this respeCt:, the same high position among her sister
coll~ges in Bombay; but he could have little doubt of this
from the faCt: that the gentlemen entrusted with their education were of the Society of Jesus. The splendid pile of
buildings, this noble hall, the gentlemen professors, everything around them here was of a: nature to rouse their
hearts and minds to noble ideas an'a noble feelings. "' * *
A part-song, from Schiller's "Glocke," by Rhomberg; tastefully and enthusiastically delivered, terminated the reception.
Though darkness had already set in, his Excellency, on
leaving the hall, which he appeared greatly to admire,
expressed a wish to take a cursory view of the buildings;
and having first visited some of the classes, the cabinet of ·
. physics, the chemical laboratory, he mounted to the very
top of the College tower, admiring the panorama, which, .
his Excellency remarked, could from no other site be en·
joye~ to such a perfeCtion. His Excellency left the premises at about a quarter past six.
On Tuesday afternoon, his Excellency paid a visit to St.
�Extra[ls from Letters.
61
Mary's Institution in Nesbit Lane, Byculla, where the Mazagon Company of the. Bombay Volunteers formed a guard
of honor to receive the Governor. At 5 o'clock his Excellency drove up, accompanied by an aid-de-camp, and
was received by the following gentlemen :-The Right Rev.
Dr. Meurin, the Very Re\·. B. Hafely, Superior of the I~
stitution, the Very Rev. N. Pagani, Rev. Fathers Daling,
Cooke, Clarke, Drs. Willy, Bochum and Althoff, also the
Hon. Justice Green, Mr. Lynch, and Col. Sexton. His Ex. cellency was escorted upstairs, where the boys of the school
numbering about two hundred and fifty, were assembled,
when a very tasteful address was read by one of the pupils.
* * His Excellency thanked the boys for the address,
and for the kind greeting he had received. He was pleased,
he said, to see such a large number of healthy and happylooking boys, that they had such a comfortable home and
nice play-ground, and that they were instruaed in every
branch of education, including music, of which latter he
had sufficient evidence· by the fine band they had. He
thought they had reason to be thankful to their instruaors
for these blessings, which would enable them, in after years,
to earn an honest livelihood and become respeaable members of society. He said· tqat this was only a. preliminary
visit, but he hoped to see them again and to have the pl~as
ure of distributing prizes amongst them at the time of the
examination. The boys then gave hearty cheers for the
Governor. His Excellency was then conduaed through
the spacious building. He walked through the dormitories,
went up to the terrace or Watch Tower, then into the chapel,
visited the infirmary, play-ground, school-rooms, etc., and
expressed himself highly pleased with the neatness and
cleanliness of the whole establishment. The band of the
school played a few lively airs while his Excellency was
going round the building, which showed that they had been
Well trained under the management of Rev. W. Althoff.
His Excellency continued his stay on the premises for
�62
Van·a.
more than an hour, during which he expressed his desire
that a corps of volunteer cadets should be formed by the
elder boys of the Institution, and if an instruCtor were required he would see that they should have one appointed
for that purpose. His Excellency's desire was at once acceded to by the Rev. Fathers, and a number of volunteer
cadets will soon be enrolled.
On his Excellency's departure he thanked the authorities
of the Institution for the kind reception he had met with,
and for the very pleasant time he had spent. The .band of
the school then played the national anthem and the volunteers presented anns.
z-VARIA.
Afi·ica-Father Depelchin, Rector of Bombay, has been
appointed to go with the Belgian Expedition to Central
Africa. The members of the exploring party, themselves,
asked for Jesuits to accompany them.
,
Australia-A Sydney papei state!{ that the Archbishop
has invited the Jesuits into his diocese, to the great joy of
the whole Catholic population. Our Fathers will open a
high school in the city, and a college and diocesan seminary on the North Shore, both of which will prepare can·
didates for the de.grees of the state university.
Belgium-A celebration is announced to take place next
May, at Termonde, the birth place of Father DeSmet. A
magnificent bronze statue will be ere8:ed in honor of the
great miSSionary. A deputation of Americans is expeCl:ed
to be present at the solemn unveiling.-Father Goethals,
formerly Provincial of Belgium, is the new Archbishop of
�Van·a.
Calcutta. This is one of the very last nominations of Pius
'IX. Father Van Impe accompanies Father Goethals as secretary.
Boston, lVIass.- On Thursday, Feb. 28th, the Young
Men's .Catholic Association of Boston College, held a reception in the College Hall, in honor of the Most Rev.
Archbishop. The exercises consisted of several well executed pieces of vocal and instrumental music, an address
by the President, Father Fulton, and an address of welcome
to his Grace, by a member of the Association. The response of the Archbishop could not have been more encouraging or friendly in its tone. He began by saying that his
predecessor had brought the Jesuits into the diocese to put
their mark on the young men of Boston, and they had
done so, and would do so yet more in the future. Boston
College, he said, would be a "house of benediCtion" for
many yet to come. He continued that, in his charge of
the diocese, his mind was freed from all anxiety wherever
the Jesuits were; for he knew that .the souls entrusted to
them would be well cared for. He went on in this strain
for some time, and with the greatest earnestness. The
Archbishop was followed by Mayor Pier~e in a short but
elegant address. His Excellency, the Governor, who spoke
next, was, as usual, very eloquent and full of friendliness.
He said that he was happy to attend at any time the College entertainments, and declared that it always did him
good to come within its walls. At the dose of the regular
exercises, the audience visited the reading, music and billiard rooms, and witnessed a performance in the gymnasium.
The Governor was quite enthusiastic in his admiration of
all that he saw.
France-The Theological Seminary of Mans which was
offered to Ours, has been refused.-The Jesuits are not, after
ali, to b'e entrusted with the theological professorships at
�Van·a.
Lille or the other new Catholic universities. Fathers Ramiere and Desjardins ha,ve been given the chairs of Ethics·
at Toulouse, and Father Joubert that of Mathematics at
Paris.- The results of the preliminary examinations at
the Polytechnic and the military school of St. Cyr, have
been published. Our colleges, as usual, sent up the largest
number of successful candidates. At St. Cyr, our school of
the Rue des Postes had ninety-six_:_nearly one third of the
whole number-and besides carried off the first, second and
third places. .. At the Polytechnic, the Rue des Postes had
twenty-seven, St. Louis twenty-three, R0llin twenty-one; all
the other schools in Paris, together, only twelve.
Germany- * * As to the German empire, the government
never permitted the Fathers to open a college within the
boundaries of the different states. So they looked out for
a place in Austria, and began, in 1857, a college at Feldkirch
in Vorarlberg for day scholars and boarders. But they
were'Obliged to yield to the anti-catholic movement in the
Austrian Reichsrath, a!ld had to dismiss the day scholars;
so that of late years they have only·a private college (i e.,
not acknowledged by the state) for. boarders. It has a
large number of students. After..:t!le expulsion of our
Fathers from Germany, a college was opened at Ordrupshoy
near Copenhagen in: Denmark. The number of students is
small. The college in Buffalo N. Y. is promising well.
Besides the flourishing' college at Bombay there is still
another college conduCted by the German. Fathers in St.
Leopolda near Porte Alegro in Brazil.
India-The College of Culcutta (Belgian Province) is
succeeding very well and is attended by a large number of
students. It enjoys a high reputation throughout India for
studies and discipline. After the last public examinations,
in which the· candidates from the college held the first
places, several Protestant ministers entered their sons in
the classes. Last December, Lord Lytton, accompanied by
�Vana.
Lady Lytton, visited the college, and in an eloquent speech,
insisted on the absolute necessity of a religious training as
the antidote for the evils of the age. The deification of reason, he said, had always led to anarchy and barbarism.
Italy-A letter from Naples says: The Neapolitan Province has opened a novitiate in the city of Naples with some
twelve novices and one in Las Vegas for the missions of
New Mexico and Colorado. Father Piccirelli is teaching
theology in Vals and Father Jovino Oriental languages and
Sanscrit in Louvain.-The province of Venice has opened
two new colleges, at Scutari and Cremona.-Our Fathers
are preaching and giving missions very successfully, and
without opposition, in many parts of the Peninsula.-Two
of Ours have been sent to the University of Padua and one
to Innsbruck, to follow the courses and take their degrees.
Although known as Jesuits, they are treated with the greatest respeCt. One of them lately passed a brilliant examination in the philosophy of history, obtaining the votes of all
the examiners, although he refuted the doCtrines taught by
his professor.
San Juan, Porto Rico* * Our Fathers were
sent here by the Spanish Government in the year 1858, and
authorized by a royal decree to confer the degree of A. B.
But for want of a suitable building, the civil magistrates
applied to the Bishop, who was not unwilling to place his
seminary under the direCtion of the Society. They came
to the agreement that our Fathers should undertake the
management of the seminary and instruCt the seminarists
as well as those who were desirous of obtaining academic
degrees. In such a provisional state, things went on for
fifteen years, when the present Bishop expressed the desire
of having the seminary exclusively for clerical students.
Thi~, far from being a misfortune, has proved to be most
advantageous to us. For the Provincial Deputation, so- ·
VoL. vn-No.
1.
9
�66
Varia.
licitous of keeping us for the instruCtion of the secular
youth, met in consultation and determined to build a college
(Provincial Institute) and commit it to our charge. The
ereCl:ion of the building was begun eight months ago, and
we hope that we will be able to enter on the academic course
of studies in it next year, if our friends succeed in removing
the obstacles that arise from the natives and from bad men
who are exceedingly angry at our presence in the Island.
Spain-Our Fathers have regained possession of most of
the colleges \Vhich they lost in r868, when they were driven
into exile by the revolutionary party. They have, besides,
opened several new ones-two in Aragon, two in Castile.
A new college is building at Saragossa ; and a charitable
lady has left a legacy of$ 100,000 for the ereCl:ion of another
at Morella.-There is reason to believe that our Fathers
will soon have a magnificent church in Gandia, with the
palace of St. Francis Borgia as· a residence.- The old
church_ at Palma in Majorca, containing the tomb of Bl.
Alphonsus Rodrigues, has been restored to the Society.
One of Ours is editing the writings of the holy brother for
early publication.-Our Fathers are preaching the lenten
sermons in many cathedrals. The gtissionary bands are
kept very busy in all parts of the cou"ntry : their services
are eagerly demanded by the Bishops and the people, and
their labors are crowned with most consoling and abundant
fruits.
Woodstock College -On the 13th of February, his Grace
the Most Rev. Archbishop of Baltimore, his Excellency
Dr. Conroy, Apostolic Delegate to Canada, Bishops Gross,
Moore and Becker, the Provincial of the Redemptorists
and a large number of priests paid a visit to Woodstock.
After dinner, a reception was given them in the library.
Dr. Con~oy returned to Woodstock, a few days later, to rest
from his labors and to make a retreat. He was present at
�Varia.
6;
the disputations in theology and philosophy, and at a specimen in chemistry, and expressed himself highly delighted
with the course of studies pursued in the Society, as
exemplified at \Voodstock. After leaving Woodstock, he
spent a few days at Georgetown College, and then started
for the West. In company with Archbishop Purcell,
Bishop O'Connor and several of the secular clergy, lie visited
our college in Cincinnati, where he was received by the
students with addresses of welcome in Latin, French, German and English. A like reception was given him at our
college in St. Louis, which he visited with several prelates.
* * * ~Ve sltould be very happy to be able to record i"n
tlze LETTERS wlzat was do1ze in tlu c!mrclzes and colleges of
tlze Society £n America 011 t!te occasioll of tlze deatlt of Pius
IX, and also to presmt to our readers a correll list of the
tmmber of studmts w!to attmded the various colleges of the
wltole Soci'ety duri11g t!te year I877-78. Data 011 both mbjefls are respeilfully siJlici'ted.
D.O. M.
��WOODSTOCK LETTERS.
VOL. VII, No.
2.
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE,
hs
EARLY HISTORY, WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ITS
FOUNDER, AND EXTRACTS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE.
(Continued.)
"Mr. Carroll," says Col. Campbell,* "had been zealously
occupied in the duties of a missionary priest about a year
and a half, when an appeal to his patriotism by that congress which afterwards declared our independence caused
him to leave the field of his pious labors for some months
and take a part in the great drama of the American revolution, in which he was able to display the purest love of
country, while performing the office of a minister of peace."
This "great drama" had already opened, and confliCts had
occurred in various places between the British troops and
the hastily organized forces of the Americans; there was,
moreover, every possibility, considering the unyielding
temper of the British ministry and the ever lessening prospect: of arriving at any accommodation with the mother
country, that the colonies would have to unite in referring
their grievances to the arbitrament of war. After the failure
of Dr. Franklin's attempts at conciliation in his conference
*Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll.
VoL. vn-No. 2.
10
�70
Georgeto-wn College.
with the ministry in London, in 177 4, a final severance
from the British empire was the issue clearly foreseen by
many of the leading minds among the Americans. Chas.
Carroll' was conspicuously of the number, and doubtless
his reverend friend and conneCtion shared his sentiments;
but the people at large were hardly yet prepared for an issue so grave, and still hoped that a better understanding
might be had with Great Britain, and thus a protraCted war
be averted. It might have been avoided could Canada
have been prevailed on to present a common front with the
colonies. -However, the Continental Congress then sitting
at Philadelphia, deemed it a duty to prepare for all contingencies whether of peace or of· war. If the Canadians
could not be induced to unite with the Americans, they
were to be urged to neutrality at least, and thus the northern
border be secured from invasion. The Canadians had indeed some time before manifested friendly feelings for the
Americans, but it began to be noticed that after the death
of tbe brave Montgomery at the storming of Quebec, Dec.
31st, 1775, their ardor cooled. A further estrangement
was occasioned by the ill-usage the /zabitans and sometimes
their priests received from the American troops which still
held positions within Canadian terr.i.tory.
The Commissioners to treat with the Canadians, Dr. Ben.
Franklin, Samuel Chase of Maryland, and Charles Carroll
of Carrollton, were appointed Feb. I sth, 1776, and Congress
added a special resolution requesting Mr. Carroll to prevail
on the Reverend John Carroll to accompany the committee:
"it being supposed," says Sparks, "that from his religious
sentiments, charaCter and knowledge of the French language, his presence and counsels might be useful in pro. moting the objeB:s of the mission with the Canadians."
Rev. Mr. Carroll acceded to the request, says Mr. Brent,
"with the view so far as he was to have an agency, to induce the inhabitants of that country who professed the
same religion as himself, to remain neutral, and to refrain
from taking up arms on the side of Great Britain : further
�GeorgetrrLVn College.
JI
than this he deemed it incompatible with his charaCl:er as a
ministP.r of religion to interfere." The· Commissioners
received their instruCl:ions on the 20th of March, and soon
after, joined by Rev. Mr. Carroll, set out on their long and
arduous journey. They left New York on the 2d of April
by vessel up the .Hudson, and on the 29th reached Montreal where they were received with great" distinCl:ion by
General Arnold, then in command at that post. From this
point, Rev. Mr. Carroll wrote to his mother on the 30th of
April (dated Ist of May). From a reference in this letter,
he must have written to her previously, after the passage
over lake George to Ticonderoga, which according to the
Journal kept by Charles Carroll, was on the 22d of April.
This letter however was probably not preserved. In the
one from Montreal he gives an account of the flattering
attentions the party re,ceived from the military and the citizens, describes the incidents of the journey thither, makes
chatty reference to persons and things that came under his
observation in the course of it, and adds some notice of
the hospitable reception they met with from General Schuyler at Albany and· on his fine estate at Saratoga whither
the General conduCl:ed them.
Dr. Franklin, now seventy years of age and in feeble
health, had suffered so much from his journey that he was
unable to attend to any aCl:ive business, but the other Commissioners employed themselves assiduously in the duties
of their trust, and kept Congress duly informed of all that
was worthy of note; among other things, giving details of
the condition of the American troops in Canada, a condition
so desperate that unless help came, no resource was left
but evacuation of the country, which ~ndeed followed before
the end of May. While they were thus engaged, Rev. Mr.
Carroll employed himself in visiting the clergy and conferring with individuals among them. He set before them
the American case and its claims to the sympathy of the
Canadian people, but was met by the objeCl:ion that the
�72
Georgetoam College.
Canadians themselves had no complaint to make of the
British government which had fulfilled all the obligations
of the treaty by which Canada had b~en acquired, and had
even protected the ancient laws and customs of the country:
that as to the assurances of religious equality held out to
them if they would unite their fortunes with those of the
Americans, the Canadians had nothing more to ask for
than they received already from the British government,
which left them in full possession of their ecclesiastical
property, and guaranteed to them entire liberty of worship.
They alleg.cd on the other hand, that in some of the
American colonies severe laws against Catholics and especially .ilgainst priests still subsisted, and that Catholic missionaries among the Indians were rudely and cruelly treated.
Rev. Mr. Carroll's explanation that these harsh measures
were the result in great part of the l~ws of the royal government .did not entirely satisfy the Canadian representatives ; for they thought they saw no disposition on the part
of the colonists themselves to ameliorate the effect of these
laws": On the contrary, the intolerant temper of the Americans was c~nspicuously manifested on the occasion of the
passage of the "Quebec Act" by the British Parliament in
1773, the very aCt: which secured the Canadians in the religious rights they now enjoyed: tfiis· measure was met in
the colonies-though the legislation was one that no way
concerned themselves-with a storm of anti-Catholic demonstrations; while the Continental Congress of 1774 in
an address to the people of Great Brittain, adopted on the
21st of Oetober (only eighteen months before the visit of
the Committee to Canada), stigmatized the concession in
the most violent terms that bigotry could suggest. Finally,
· the clergy thought that allegiance was due to proteCtion, a
principle well established. ·wherefore, they could not teach
neutrality to their people in the impending struggle, regarding neutrality as inconsistent with the allegiance due to
such ample proteCtion as Great Britain had shown the Catholics of Canada.
�Georgetown College.
73
Thus Rev. Mr. Carroll's mission was, through no fault
of his, barren of result, and he prepared to return to Philadelphia with Dr. Franklin, whose health continued precarious. They set out on the 11th of May, and reached their
destination on the 31st. Dr. Franklin writing back to his
fellow Commissioners from New York, on the 27th, gratefully remarked that he "should hardly have got along so
far but for Mr. Carroll's friendly assistance and tend:~r care."
The other two Commissioners remained to complete their
business, and did not reach Philadelphia until the 20th of
June, two weeks before the Declaration of Independence.
During the few days he spent in Philadelphia, Mr. Carroll
enjoyed at St. Joseph's Church the society of his former
brethren, Ferdimnd Farmer and Robert Molyneux.* On
the 2d of June, he wrote to Charles the father of Chas.
Carroll of Carrollton residing at Elkridge, Md., informing
him that his son was safe and well and would return very
shortly, if not detained by an express which "Mr. Hancock"
informed the writer had been sent to delay the return of the
two Commissioners : that he himself expeB:ed to call at
Elkridge on his way home the following week,t etc. Father Carroll therefore returning to his humble field of
labors t in Maryland awaited the progress of events, ready
to serve his country as well as his Church in any capacity ,
in which he <:ould be useful.
*'Ferdinand Farmer. (originally Steenmyer) a native of Suabia, was born
li20, entered the Society at Landsperge, 1743: came to Maryland, 1752: was
professed, 1761: died at Philadelphia in the odor of sanctity, August 17,1786.
Robert J\Iolyneux, born in Lancashire, England, 1783: entered the. Society,
1757: was promoted to the priesthood and came to Maryland in 1771; was one
of the first to join the Society at its re-establishment here in 1806, and became
its first Superior: meanwhile, was President of Georgetown College, 1793 to
li96: was made President again, Oct. 1st, 1806, died in office, Dec. 8th, 1808,
and was buried at the College.
t The original of his letter is in the possession of the Maryland Historical
Society, and was published in connection with the Journal of Chas. Carroll
of Carrollton.
t The little missal from which Father Carroll read Mass, during his missionary career at Rock Creek was presented to Georgetown College by the
late Bishop Chanche of Natchez and is preserved in the library.
.
�74
Georgetoam College.
ExtraCts from letters written or received by him in the
succeeding interval prior to the establishment of Georgetown College will serve moreover to fill up a hiatus that
would otherwise for lack of incident intervene in this short
sketch of his life. He received, in 1775 .. a letter from his
friend Plowden,* and on account of the interruption. caused
by the war of the Revolution, no others for three years.
The next succeeding one, dated at Paris, Nov. 7th, 1778,
was replied to by Mr. Carroll from Rock Creek, Feb. 28th,
1779· In this letter, after referring to the miscarriage of
some of tfieir former letters, Mr. Carroll says : "Belie\'e
me my dear Charles, there is no person with whom I would
choose holding a correspondence rather than yourself, and
thus renewing the memory of those happy days I spent
with you at Bologna.t and should have spent at Bruges,
had not pnblic misfortune damped all sense of private happiness. For the future however, now that we have opened
a chann.el of correspondence, I hope we shall continue it
uninterruptedly while we live; and indeed, I entertain some
plea;ing idea of making our correspondence personal, for a
few months at least, sometime or other of my life. I left so
many dear friends behind me in Europe, that I am at times
determined to return thither for a twelvemonth when peace
is restored and when I shall be e~ab!ed conveniently to
bear the expense of a voyage thither and back again."
Then follows the passage quoted heretofore in reference
to Rev. Mr. Lewis and himself and his own field of labor
at Rock Creek. The letter continues: "You inquire how
congress intended to treat the Catholics in this country.
*Charles Plowden, born at Salop, England, 1743, entered the novitiate at
. Watten (St. Orner's) 1759: was ordained at Rome, 1770: after filling various
posts of responsibility, was made Provincial of England and Rector of Stony·
hurst, 1817: Died June 13th, 1821. llis letters of 1775 and 1778 are probably
to be found at the Archbishop's residence, Baltimore.
t Fath~r Plowden completed his theological studies in Bologna prior to his
ordination in 17i0: Fr. Carroll was then already a priest; and this is the only
reference that appears anywhere to the fact that he was at Bologna at that
time. Fr. Plowden was Minister at Bruges while Fr. Carroll was there in
1773.
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75
To this I must answer you that congress has n'o authority
or jurisdiCtion relative to the internal government or concerns of the particular states of the Union ; these are all
settled by the constitutions and laws of the states themselves. I am glad however to inform you that the fullest
and largest system of toleration* is adopted in almost all
the American states; public proteCtion and encouragement
are extended alike to all denominations, and Roman Catholics are members of congress, assemblies, and hold civil
and millitary 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.
"You are then going, my dear Charles, to make another
tour into Italy. How many affeB:ing sights will you have
during your travels ; I fear more than Gothic waste and
plunder, and, what is still more distressing, many aged
venerable men, worn out in the service of Religion, doomed
to drag out the remainder of their lives in want and poverty! Pray remember me to many by name at Rome and
Venice; thank the Abbe Grant and Mr. Stonor for the many
facilities I received from them during my stay there. Tell
Abbe Grant that my young countryman of the name of
Smith whom I accidentally met and introduced to him at
Rome, is the same who now a lieutenant colonel, so bravely
defended Mud. Island fort in Delaware the autumn before
last."
The next letter found on record, at least in part, from
Rev. Mr. Carroll to his friend, is dated April 27th, 1780.
After mentioning that he had received no letters from
Europe since Mr. Plowden's own of November, 1778, previously acknowledged, the writer continues: "When we
Parted, it was your intention to settle in France, but will
*By "toleration" is meant "religious liberty:" but "toleration" was the
more familiar word in those days.
�Georgetown College.
you not return to your own country and enjoy that indulgence and relaxation of penal laws which the spirit of toleration has procured for you in England? and to which, as
well as to the removal of the obstruCtions on the Irish trade,
our American Revolution has not a little contributed by
making it necessary for England to unite all parties at home,
and stifle all opposition in Ireland. This is all I shall say
on politics at present. Since my· last to you, died here
universally ~egretted by his acquaintance, Mr. George Hunter.* He was truly a holy man, full of the spirit of God
and the zeir of souls, His death happened during the hot
months last summer, which always had a terrible effeCt
upon his health. Your old friend Molyneux, with whom
you have passed so many happy hours, is still at Philadelphia: he is anxious to be removed into his province, tho' he
is now, as he writes me, in high credit, being teacher of the
English language to the Chevlr. de Ia Luzerne, the French
Minister Plenipotentiary there. Your school-fellow Ashton t lives about twenty-five miles from me, and is the most
industrious man in Maryland : it is a pity he could not have
the management of all the estates belonging to the clergy
in this country: they would yield thrice as much as they
now do. Mr. Matthews t who succeeds Mr. Hunter at
Port Tobacco, promises, I am told, ~ery well: but James
'*George Hunter, born in Northumberland, England, 1713, entered the So·
ciety 1730: came to :Maryland, 17-17: was professed the year after: returned
to England, 1755: came back to )[aryland, 1739: went again to England, by
way of Canada, and came back to )laryland finally in 17G9. He died at Port
Tobacco, in odor of sanctity, .Tune lUth, 1779. He was the Superior in Mary·
land prior to Rev. John Lewis.
t John Ashton, horn in Ireland, 17-12, entered the Society in 17 59. He came
to )fa ryland in 1767, and resided for thirty-nine years at Whitemarsh, part of
· the time with Rev. )lr. Carroll himself. He did not join his brethren at the
time of the restoration, but left ""hitemarsh,· and survived till 1815. It will
be seen that the management of the estates was afterwards given to him, and
that he was financial agent for building Georgetown College.
! Ignatius )latthews, born in )farylanrl, 1730, entered the Society, 1763, after
finishing his theological course. Returned from Europe, li66, and died al
Newtown, May 11, 1790.
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77
Walton,* who has as fine land a;; any in America, .is said
to make a bad hand at farming. This you, who know him,
will not be surprised at. But if he does no't succeed in
temporals, he is indefatigable in his spiritual occupations.
With him lives, amongst others, that man without guile,
little Austin Jenkins.t I am told he is almost adored by
his acquaintance; and I dare say, very deservedly. Of the
rest I have only to say that they continue as they were
when I wrote last." He then asks if the Academy at Liege
were still subsisting. and says he has written to Aston-at
Liege-who was President of the minor college at Bruges
at the time of the suppression; to Elleker, also then at
Liege, and to others. These observations indicate that
Rev. Mr. Carroll was probably even then thinking of establishing an "Academy" in Maryland, and of drawing teachers
for it from among those who had had experience at Liege.
(In a letter written later, he does actually make application
to this effect). He enquires after his "excellent and noble
friends, Lord and Lady Arundel," and the "good old Lord
Stourton and his son," with whom Mr. Carroll made the
tour of Europ\'! seven or eight years before: regrets not
receiving Mr. Plowden's letter from Turin, containing details
concerning friends : desires to be remembered to his acquaintance in Italy, from whom he received "such numerous
instances of sincere good will," a~d concludes as follows:
"As to myself, I continue as when I wrote last, living with
my mother in a retired part of the country, and enjoying
great domestic felicity. My brother t resides at Annapolis,
our capital, being in public employ there. I still retain the
*James 'Valton, (a native of Lancashire?) born 1736, 'entered the Society,
1757: was probably a priest when he came to Maryland with Father Ignatius
)Iatthews in 1766: died at St. Inigoes, 1803. ·At the time the above was writ·
ten, he was living at Newtown, St. Mary's Co.
.
t.Austin (or Augustus) Jenkins, born 1747, entered the Society, 1766: was
ordained at Liege: came to Maryland in 1774: after a zealous career, died
Feb. 2nd, 1800.
t Daniel Carroll,
referred to in the beginning of this sketch.
VoL. vu-No.
2.
II
�Gcorge!IJI-Uil College.
same inclination as when I wrote last, to visit my European
friends, but have little hopes of bringing it about."
As the establishment at Liege is frequently mentioned in
this sketch, or alluded to in the correspondence of Rev.
Mr. Carroll and his friends, it would be well to give some
account of it. The English novitiate of the Society, originally established at Louvain in 16o6 and endowed by the
Lady Aloysia de Caravajal of Valladolid, was removed
hither in 1614. It received further endowments from George
Talbot, afterwards ninth Earl of Shrewsbury, and from
Prince Maximilian Duke of Bavaria. The novitiate; however, was removed from Liege to \Vatton near St. Orner's
in 1622, and Liege became exclusively a scholasticate or
house of studies for those pursuing their Philosophy and
Theology in preparation for ordination in the Society. Here
our founder completed his course and became afterwards
the preceptor of others. The suppression of the Society
in 1773 closed the institutiC?n and transferred the property
to ot!_ler hands after possession of it had been held by the
Jesuits for more than a century and a half. The Prince
Bishop of Liege immediatly restored the hquse to the late
superior, John Howard,* as a place of educ:ation for the
English Catholic gentry, as well as.a seminary for ecclesi·
astics. Rev. 1\Ir. Howard died in IJ83, and was succeeded
by Rev. William Strickla~d, a highly val~ed friend and correspondent of our founder's, who greatly promoted the success of the institution; so that in 1787 there were one
hundred and thirteen scholars. Rev. Mr. Strickland resigned
*This Howard was not of the noble family of that name. His family name
was originally Holme. It is needless to add that all the reverend gentlemen
mentioned here were members of the Society at the time of the suppression,
. and all with the exception of Father Howard, lived to rejoin it at its restora·
tion. ln 1774, during :Mr. Howard's presidency, :Mr. Plowden was "Spiritual
Prefect" of the Academy. He had been, as stated before, :Minister at Bruges,
and at the suppression was imprisoned from the 20th September, 1773, to·the
25th :May, 1774. 'Vhen released, he visited his friends at Liege, and thence
went to England on a short visit, returning to Liege. In 1784, he was tutor to
:Mr. Weld's sons at Lulworth.
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79
his office in 1790, and repaired to England as Procurator
for his brethren, leaving Rev. Marmaduke Stone as his successor. The latter was President both before and after the
final emigration to Stonyhurst * in 1794. The removal from
Liege was caused by the invasion of that territory by the
French troops and its annexation to France: in consequence
of which, an end was also put to the long line of Prince
Bishops of Liege.
,
More than a year elapses without the record of any correspondence between Rev. l\Ir. Carroll and his friends, until
May 1 Ith, 1781, when he writes from Rock Creek to his
friend Governor Lee of Maryland. This letter-:-written after
Mr. Carroll's return from one of his periodical visits to the
Brents in Virginia-and those which follow it to the same
person, are interesting on account of the reference made
therein to events transpiring at the time. The writer acknowledges the Governor's last favor and now begs that he
will cause to be despatched to him a:t "Mellwood," the family seat of the Digges-mutual relatives it appears of the
Lees and Carrolls-a letter for him lying at Annapolis,
which he sees advertised in the .Maryland Gazette of April
26th. He expected to be at Mellwood where his sister
Betsy then was, or would be the following week, and adds :
"It would be a great addition to the pleasure of my visit to
find you there, tho' I much fear the business of the ,Assembly will confine you at home. The late manceuvres of oui
enemy show that they understand the business of destruction better than you, but cannot plan so rational a plan of
conquest, or permanent advantage at least, as that laid
down in your last favour." He then goes on to give an
account of the devastation committed by the British naval
forces on their ascent of James River, Virginia, as commu*Stonyhurst was a foundation niade by Thomas Weld, Esq., of Lulworth
castle, a member of an ancient and distinguished Catholic house.
�So
Georgeto-wn College.
nicated to him by several American officers and merchants
from Richmond, Petersburg, etc., whom he met at the house
of the Brents. He speaks of some bloodthirsty threats
made by Philips, the British officer in command, "if America
did not in a very short time come into the terms of unconditional surrender." Col. Wm. Brent, Jr., informed him of
these threats, and states that the enemy were expeCted up
the "Patowmac." The Virginians were preparing for them
•
there, and the writer adds: "I doubt not but you are taking
measures ofthe same tendency; as far as our defenceless
situation wfit admit.-In my way home, I heard of a sudden
revolution in .money matter, all old continental money being
out of credit. If you can inform me of any method of getting off a small parcel of about four hundred dollars, I shall
be obliged to you. I unfortunately exchanged Virginia
currency for it the day before. My mother and Molly join
me in giving you joy for the birth of another son, and present their best compliments. If Mr. Carroll and lady are
still Ln town, be pleased to assure them of my affeCtionate
regard. I am, with very sincere affeCtion and utmost esteem,
my dear sir, your most obedient humble servant, J. Carroll."
[The Molly and Betsy referred to in the above were the
two unmarried sisters of the writer.' Col. vVm. Brent, Jr.,
was the son of their sister Eleanor, \vife of W m. Brent of
Acquia Creek. "Mr. Carroll" was their conneCtion, Charles
of Carrollton, then a member of the Maryland Assembly.]
Another letter to Governor Lee, of July 17th, the same
year, from "Rock Creek," exhibits that courtliness of ex·
pression which flowed so naturally from Mr. Carroll's pen,
the counter part doubtless of those graces of manner which
. belonged to the gentlemen of his time, and which, from his
familiarity with the best society in Europe and America,
must have been habitual with h.im, even in his intercourse
with t_he humblest persons. "My dear Sir: The pleasure
and happiness of being acquainted with you and of enjoying.
as I flatter myself, some share of your esteem, has raised
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81
my credit greatly in this neighborhood. This you will un. derstand from the earnest application made by the bearer of
this for a letter in his favour. The young gentleman is son
of the late Mr. Richard Beall, and grandson to Col. Sam'!.
Beall. I am not acquainted with him personally, but have
heard his aCtivity and diligence much commended. The
good whiggism of his family is well known to you. He
solicits a command in the p1ilitia to be raised immediately,
and will conduCt himself, I dare say from his charaCter, with
propriety and credit if he should obtain it. I hope you will
convince him that my interest with you is as great as it is
supposed here. If you should not, I shall immediately experience a great diminution of the respeCt now shown me,
for I look upon it to be no more than a borrowed lustre
darted upon me from some self-shining luminary. I find I
have begun my letter on the wrong side of my paper.·
Your favurite Lord Chesterfield would write it over again
rather than send it in its present form : but you will excuse
me for many reasons.
"Your brother informed me that you had received some
time since a letter from the Pres. of Congress, of which
you would send me a copy when at liberty. I shall be very
happy to understand from it, when I do see it, that there is
any prospeCt of peace, an honorable one I mean. We are
very anxious here to know all the particulars of Gen'l.
Wayne's · aCtion with Corp. wallis. Three of my mother's
grandsons [sons of Robert and William Brent] are with the
Marquis [Lafayette], and the uncertainty of their fate gives
unceasing disquiet to this family. My mother and sisters
present their love to Mrs. Lee and respeCtful compliments
to yourself," etc.
The MS. collection of letters before referred to contains
also copies of some from Charles Carroll of Carrollton to
Gov. Lee, addressed from Doughoragan Manor (spelt by
him "Doohoragan"), the ancient seat of the Carrolls and
still their homestead. These letters are devoted entirely to
�82
GeorgetOLmz College.
the discusssion of affairs in Europe, and the military situation in America. The first is dated Aug. 4th, I 78 I. The
second was written the following evening, to be sent off by
"break of day" in care of "the Express,* Mr. Purdie," who
brought the letter to which it is a reply. In anticipation of
an attack on Annapolis by the British fleet, the writer says:
" [ entreat the favour of you to direct my clerk to send up
a messenger from the quarter, if the enemy should appear
before Annapolis. I intend in that case to come down and
join in the common fate and defence of this country." The
third, of tli.e I Ith August, speaks in this commendatory
manner of Gen. Greene : "He has really done wonders, he
is a patient persevering General, of the temper and cast of
mind peculiarly suited to our situation and affairs; he makes
the most of a little force, retires when pressed, and pushes
his enemy in turn. I think his campaign 'hitherto a most
brilliant one."
The fourth and last letter recorded of Chas. Carroll's to
the_Governor, is of the I 8th of the same month, and among
other things, makes reference to 'the currency troubles of
the time. Paper money had been issued both by the State
and by Congress in such quantities as to have become
greatly depreciated in value. Th.e General Assembly of
Maryland following a similar enactm~nt by Congress, passed
in December, 1780, an act declaring that after the zoth
March, I 78 I, all such money sh~:mld cease to have value or
to pass current in the State but that, in the mean time, one
dollar of a new emission would be exchanged for every
forty dollars of the old. Rev. Mr. Carroll's "four hundred
dollars," worth ten dollars when he received them, were
therefore when he wrote to Gov. Lee, but waste paper, ,the
period for their redemption having expired.
.
During 1782, but one letter of Rev. Mr. Carroll's is found
'"An official employed by the Legislature in those days to convey messages
to absent members.
�Georgetown College.
on record.* It is to his friend Plowden, under date of Feb.
2oth: "I have not seen since my last, but often hear from
our good friend Molyneux. \Vhen I have next the pleasure
of meeting him I expect to find him perfectly metamorphosed. Phila. is become a place of the greatest gaiety,
the resort of all the rich people in America, and of the
French officers serving in this country. M. has been English master to the Chev. Luzerne, and undoubtedly often
among the brilliant company at his hotel. Now as you
know his natural talen_ts for elegant life and manners, you
will judge of his proficiency.
"I observe in your last letter that some events had happened and othP.rs were likely to follow that afforded hope to
the sanguine, of a re-establishment of the Society: I rejoice
indeed at these events, and particularly that it has pleased
God to vindicate and make known so publicly the innocence
of the poor sufferers in Portugal.t This is a great step towards a complete justification, and with serious people,
*There is a fragment noted of a previous letter, of the 2d Feb., referring to
the recent announcement of the death of one of the writer's former brethren:
"F. Wapeler's candor and artless disposition of heart always endeared him to
me." IVilliam IV apeler, born in IV estphalia, li11, entered the Sol'iety in
1728: came to Maryland in li-H: established the mission at Conewago (Adams
Co. Pa.) the same year, and that at Lancaster,-since surrendered by the Society-in 1742. His health failing, he returned to Europe in 1748, and was
professed, 1749, probably at Ghent, where he took up his residence. He was
subsequently 5ent to Rruges, where Fr. Carroll made his acquaintance, and
where he died in September, 1781. The letter of Feb. 20th (above) is taken
partly from Rev. Dr. White's letter-book, and partly from Campbell's Sketch,
U.S. Cath. ~lag. 1844. p. 308.
tThE\ revelations to which the writer-refers were those which followed the
downfall, in 1777, of the Marquis of Pombal, the cruel and unscrupulous persecutor of the Portuguese Jesuits. The wretched man, shortly after the above
letter was written, viz: May 5th, 178:2, surrendered to the Eternal Judge the
remains of life which the clemency of his sovereign had spared to him. His
?ody remained unentom bed until the restoration of the Society in Portugal
In 1832,-fifty years after his death, when a Uass was said over it by a mem-·
her of that religious family which he had first smirched with calumny and
then driven from the kingdom. For full details of the persecution, and an
account of the proceedings in Paraguay, see a recent work by Rev. Alfred
,~- eld, S. J.: "The Suppression of the Society of Jesus in the Portuguese domiD!ons." London, Burns and Oates, 1877.
�GeorgelfT<i.lll College.
might be a sufficient reason to call in question and examine
the other scandalous aspersions which were cast upon our
dear Society. But I hope nothing beyond this," etc. Here,
he comments upon the spirit of despotism among European
monarchs, growing side by side with the development of
a lawless sentiment among the governed, portents of the
revolution which was shortly to shake Europe to its centre.
He continues on the subjeCt: so dear to his heart, the restoration of the Society, which he nevertheless considers unlikely to occur, because, as he says, it "would be opposed
by the united voices of all these plunderers who have enriched themselves with the lands, the furniture of the colleges, the plate and treasure of the churches and P.arishes."
. He adds, with that honest indignation at the injuries suffered
by his brethren, which-as these are words that pass in all
the candor of familiar intercourse between one former member of the Society and another-may well be set in vindication of it against volumes of the loose inveCtive commonly
employed on the other side: "I can assure you that one of
my strongest inducements to leave Europe was to be removed not only out of sight, but even out of the hearing
of those scenes of iniquity, duplicity, and depredation, of
which I had heard and seen so much. This long war which
has raged between our western co~tinent and your highminded island, at the same time that it deprived me of the
pleasure of hearing from my friends, has at least afforded
me the consolation that I have not been mortified with the
recital of the rapines, the defamation, and insl!lts, to which
those I love best have been exposed." Even the books he
reads bring this painful subjeCt: before him. "In my retirement here," he says, "I have scarcely any other amusement
than reading over and over the few books I have and can
borrow from my friends, and amongst others, I have bee!l
refreshing my memory by revising Muratori's account of
the ~issions of Paraguay. What a dreadful havoc did irreligion make when it tore up, root and branch, that noble
�Georgetown · College.
85
establishment, the triumph of ·zeal, of humanity, and Christianity! You will wonder my dear .Charles, how I could
fall into this long dissertation, but really when I write to
you, or think on my friends in Europe, my grief and, I fear,
indignation, get the better of every consideration."
Remarks upon other writings, comments on European
. affairs,-among other things, the disturbances created in
England by "that madman, Lord G. Gordon,"-references
to friends in England and on the continent, etc., occupy the
chief portion of this interesting letter, which is, however,
too long to be transcribed in full, at least here. It refers to
the then recent surrender of Lord Cornwallis' army: whence
the inference that peace between England and America was
not remote; and with peace would come greater facility of
intercourse between friends by letter. The writer says of
the venerable Challoner, whom he supposes then no more :
"God has given a great blessing to his labors: some of his
writings, and particularly his Catholic Christian, do infinite
service here." And indeed this is true at the present day.
From the tenor of -the following remarks in reference to
the condition of the ex-Jesuits in Maryland, it is evident
that the writer's comprehensive mind ·clearly grasped the
necessities of the situation, while his zealous spirit chafed
at the obstacles which threatened to impede the progress of
religion. He thus gives unconscious evidence that he was
the man of all others, whom it was proper to choose to regulate the affairs of the Church at this central point of its
missionary labor in the States. Another proof of his eminent fitness for the superiority to which he was subsequently
called by the suffrages of his clerical brethren is afforded
in the same letter, where he speaks in such high terms of
the then superior of the clergy, Rev. Mr. Lewis, the same
who had excluded Mr. Carroll himself from all share in the
revenues of the late Jesuit estates; thus showing that no
personal considerations could warp the writer's calm and
equable judgment of men: "The clergymen here continue
Vot. VII-No.
2.
12
�86
Georgcttnrm College.
to live in the old form; it is the effeCt: of habit, and if they
could promise themselves immortality, it would be well
enough. But I regret that indolence prevents any form of
administration being adopted which might tend to secure
to posterity a succession of Catholic clergymen and secure
to them a comfortable subsistence. I said that the former
system of administration (that is every thing being in the.
power of a superior) continued: but all those checks upon
him so wisely provided by our former constitutions"-the
writer ref~rs to those of the suppressed Society-"are at
an end. It ..is happy that the present superior is a person
free from every selfish view and ambition; but his successor
may not (be]; and what is likewise to be feared, the succeeding generation, which will not be trained in the same
habits and discipline as the present, will in all probability
be infeB:ed much more strongly with interested and private
views. The system therefore which they will adopt will be
less calculated for the public or future benefit than would
be agreed to now, if they could be prevailed upon to enter
at all into the business."
•
It will be seen, further on, that these defeB:s in the status
of the clergy were remedied in good time, chiefly through
the aB:ive intervention of Rev. Mi.. Carroll himself; and
that side by side with the projeCt: of ·an Academy which, it
seems probable, already occupied his thoughts, grew up
the, design of an institution for the training of ecclesiastics,
the need of which he so clearly indicates, above.
(To be continue d.)
�·THE MISSIONS OF FREDERICK Co., Mn.
On the 25th of September,-1865, a Father was sent to take
charge of the missions in Frederick Co.
From the first day on which he began his labor the
Liberty mission claimed and received much of his attention.
The faith had not died out among the people of this mission. To be stirred up and added to was all that was needed.
The Copper mines, worked by a goodly number of Irish,
turned out to be a fertile field ready to bring forth good
fruit in season. A number of Protestants asked for and
received instruCtion ; and in due time were all received
into the Church. In this way things went on, varied only·
by the occasional visit of the Archbishop who administered
Confirmation, or by the usual happy excitement which ever
accompanies first Communion. Four or five years passed
away, and the necessity of a new and larger church began
to be evident. The old one was in a very dilapidated condition, and day by day gave new signs of its incapacity to
seat the growing congregation. With a cheerful and hearty
zeal they began the new church, which was dedicated to the
. worship of Almighty God on the 10th day of June 1871.
· A few days later the last payment of debt on the church
~m~
.
The following year saw the secular priests in charge of
the church and congregation. They, in turn, gave way to
our Fathers who now have charge of the mission.
About this time the want of a church in Middletown
Valley was sensibly felt. A number of families were in
great danger of losing their faith. A new one therefore
under happy auspices, was ereeted, and on the day of its
dedication, not one cent of debt remained to be paid. This
little mission. in the Valley has given a greater proportion
(87)
�88
Tlte .Jlfissions of Fredrriek Co., Md.
of- converts to the Church than any of the other missions.
And here it will not be out of place to give, in brief, the
incidents which accompanied the conversion of Miss Ezial
Shoryer. This poor young girl' who had been bed-ridden
for eight or ten years, heard that the priest who was building a Catholic church in Middletown, was saying Mass once
a month at the residence of Mr. Shorb, and was frequently
seen riding near her father's house· on sick calls or in performance of other duties. She expressed a wish to see him.
The membE~rs of her family laughed at her, and turned her
wish into ridicule. She however persisted, and obtained a
promise from her brother Joseph to call on the Father on
·the following Sunday. He did so, modestly making his
appearance after Mass. The Father heard him and promised to visit his sister on the next day. No little excitement on the part of the family, and among the neighbors,
was caused by the expeCted arrival of the missionary.
Much speculation as to what he would do, how he would
behave himself, and if he were in any manner like the rest
of mankind.
·
All these and many other notions filled the heads of those
simple mountain peopl~ on that day. The poor crippled
creature who anxiously looked foe-the priest, was beside
herself with joy when he at last arriv~d. She was bold in
telling them all, t!tat t!zat was tlze being she had so often
seen in her di-eams. She undoubtedly believed in him and
the Church that sent him.
A little blue-covered catechism contained all the theology
that was necessary, and the Father opened its golden leaves,
and instruCted the full room for two hours. When he ended
all seemed pleased with what had been said. A lesson
was then given to the poor invalid who publicly expressed
her determination to become a member of our holy Church;
and a day was appointed to revisit and continue the instructions. On the day fixed the Father returned, and found
that to the three pages given as a lesson, the intelligent
�The Missions of Frederick Co., Md.
child had added twelve others, which she recited perfectly.
She not only knew them by heart, but she also thoroughly
understood them. The grace of God seemed to have taken
complete possession of her "soul. She knew well and understood all that she read, and seemed possessed of a wonderfully strong and deep faith in all that God has taught His
Church. Two other visits completed the instructions, and
Miss. S. was baptized in presence of her family and many
of her friends. Very little more was needed to prepare her
for first Communion; and Easter Monday of that year was
fixed upon as the happy day. In the mean time the Father
promised her some books to read, and kept his word. From.
one of those books she read to her mother and sister the
miraculous cure of a young person on the day of her first
Communion; when the Father again saw her, she said to him
with much confidence, that she also would be cured on the
day of her first Communion. He comritended her faith, but .
advised her to be satisfied with whatever God might be
pleased to do. If for His greater glory and her greater
good He would certainly cure her. But if the contrary,
she must be resigned to suffer on. She would be, she said,
perfectly resigned. Day after day brought her nearer to
our Lord in holy Communion, and day after day, did she
with great faith, redouble her fervent prayers.
On Easter Monday, 14th of April, 1873, at the hour of
Io o'clock, the priest and his penitent were found preparing
for the great act. After the absolution, the little table
being ready, all her friends and some neighbors entering the
room, she received holy Communion with extraordinary
devotion.
The Father read the prayers of thanksgiving, after which
a!~ except her sister left the room. A short quarter of an
hour later, the girl's father, mother, and the priest reentered
the room, and found Miss. S. dressed. She appeared to
suffer from nervous excitement, and looked very pale. She
however declared she was better, and said she could walk
�go
Tlte .!Vfi'ssz·ons of Freden.ck Co., 111d.
to the door of her room which looked out on the Valley.
A chair was placed in the doorway by the Father, and the
young girl, in presence of her parents and friends, walked,
with some little help, to the door, and looked out on the
whole Valley, and saw with much pleasure the pretty little
meadow below and the old orchard near it, where years ago,
she played with her companions. She by the power and
goodness of God was cured. Her mother and sister were
afterwards baptized. She her,elf, two years later, was confirmed in th!! neat little church in Middletown by the Most
Rev. Archbishop Bailey, who after Mass called for the girl
_and spoke with her. She is very well at present, and by her
industry makes an honest living.
The mission of St. Joseph's on the manor has ever been
to our Fathers a source of great consolation. Almost all
the members of the congregation approach the Sacraments
monthly. The small and almost ruined old church has
given place to a new and more commodious one. All debt
on the new church has long since been paid. In this congregation we have had many converts. A Sodality which
comprises nearly all the colored people was established in
1s65.
The largest congregation in this county is attached to St.
Mary's church, Petersville. There al~o much consolation
has been given to the Fathers by the fervor of the members.
The old church built by Fr. McElroy was partially torn
down in 1873 and rebuilt. All debt on it has been paid.
Schools for the colored children have been established, and
are being taught by Miss Eliza Mitchell. The schools are
well attended.
A number of Catholic families living in the distriCts of
Urbana and New Market have been for years loudly calling
for a church in their seCtion of the country, to meet the irn·
mediate and special wants of the rising generation.
A colony of colored people, under the temporal direEtion
of their old patriarch, Ignatius Toodle, purchased a traCl: of
�Tlte Missio11s of Frederick Co., .llfd.
land in Urbana distriCt:, and soon ereB:ed a number of dwellings sufficient to justify the inhabitants in giving the place
the name of their good and holy leader. Toodlestown,
then, is the name. In the heart of the little town stands the
school-house, which before the ereCtion of the new church,
was used as a chapel. The Sunday Mass prayers, Angelus,
Vespers, singing schools and night prayers, with litany of
B. V. M. are all conduB:ed by the most intelligent and spiritual man in the community, John Contee. John is a species of deacon, who rings his bell four times on Sundays,
for these services ; and on week days once for night prayers.
During the holy season of Lent they have the exercises
proper for that time. During the month of May also, eachday has its devotion.
The men and women of Toodlestown often walk to Frederick city, a distance of fifteen miles, in order to go to Confession and Communion. Church-going for them is a labor
of love. No extreme heat or cold, rain or snow, can deter
them or keep them home on their regular church Sunday.
After a grave consultation with the principal men of both
distriCts, the happy determination of ereB:ing a new church
in Urbana was taken. The building, under the happiest
auspices, was commenced on the 10th day of February, 1876,
and was solemnly dedicated to the worship of Almighty
God on the I sth day, and third Sunday, of July of the same
year. The last payment of debt on the fhurch is one h~n
dred and twenty-five dollars, which in a few months they
hope to pay.
We are often called upon to witness extraordinary workings of divine grace in the souls of those who have been
entrusted to our spiritual care. The Fathers employed on
these missions experience some privations and a great
many consolations.
.
�INDIAN MISSIONS.
MISSION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION,
FoRT \VILLIAM, Nov. 22d, I877.
REVEREND FATHER,
P. C.
I have'before me your charming letter from St. Inigoes,
dated August 2, I 876, and I have not written to you since.
Besides, while I was yet at Wikwemikong, Fr. Nadeau read
me these words from a letter of yours: "Tell Fr. Hebert to
wipe the rust off his pen." I shall not try to free myself
from blame, as I have already defended bad causes enough.
Then of what avail were it? You know me of old. The
place from which your letter is dated was heretofore known
to me by name only. The details you gave regarding St.
Inigoes and its surroundings were full of interest to Fr.
Chol!e, Bro. Jenesseaux and mysel£ But why didn't they
get this fine villa for Woodstock some years before? I
could have gone thither myself and perhaps have left there
dyspepsia and headaches. But 'twas not in the counties that
I had to get rid of them. I had to' tire them out in my
snow-shoe tramps and bark-canoe ~oyages on Lake Superior. I had to kill them by doses of fat pork and hard-tack
-recipe for dyspeptics who live in the midst of comfort.
The faa is, dear Father, that my health has greatly im·
proved since my arrival in these missions, especially since
I came to Fort William. Since my strength increases, I
would have you obtain for me from God's goodness, the
grace to spend it all for Him.
I left Wikmemikong in the month of Oetober, I876, and
after a month'~ stay there, went to Grand- Portage where I
spent .three months. Grand- Portage was, as you know, a
very important trading-post of the Hudson Bay Company.
Now there is nothing there but a handful of poor, wretched
(92)
�Indian
ll1ission~.
93
Indians. I found, however, the thing for which I came,
people who with thei-r savage language, speak pretty pure
od;i'bce.
On my return hither, in the last days of February, I
remained but a short while. On March 15, Rev. Fr. Du
Ranquet and I set out on the grand spring tour. \Ve followed the Pacific railroad as far as the Riviere aux Ang!ais.
In the night-time we sought shelter in the "shanties." In
them we fell in with men of many nations, Swedes and Nor\vegians being in the majority.
At Riviere aux Ang!ais we hired h~o Indian lads to help
us carry our baggage-each of us had an altar-and to guide
us to Fort Nepigon. It \Vould be a hard task to tell how
often we had to shoulder our canoes, how many lakes of all
sizes we crossed. The snow was still quite deep, and when it
melted under the influence of the noonday suns, our shoes
were filled with water. Very often the nights were extremely cold. Our companions falling sick, we had to bear
the heavy burdens and drag along the tobagan.
After the day's travelling, we had to encamp at nightfall,
cut wood for the night, make a fire, cook our supper and
finish our breviary, straining' our eyes over the fitful light
of the camp-fire. More than once the smoke forced tears
from our eyes and we might have been taken for saints, if
we had not made so many grimaces. 'Twas quite late ere
our bed-time came. As we journeyed along during the day,
I was often obliged to take off mittens, comforter and cloak ;
but I lay down to sleep in full rig, cap, mittens and co~
forter, and even then, I was often forced to get up during
the night to put on more fuel. My hardy mentor had but
one blanket over him, while I had two ; and yet he seemed
to bear the cold at least as well as I did. As for the savages, I have often seen them sleeping soundly, though their
feet were uncovered. That's what comes from habit!
When we reached Fort Nepigon, we were completely worn
out; our clothes even were m rags and we needed some
. VoL~ VII-No. 2.
13
�94
Indimr JJ1issions.
spare time to remove the marks of our travelling. We
were received with open arms by M. Henri de la Ronde,
who is in charge of Fort Nepigon. M. de la Ronde is a
half-breed. He received a classical education in a Prot"
estant college, to which his father was imprudent enough to
send him to make his studies. Being quite young he soon
lost his faith; the Protestants wanted him to become a min.
ister. The father, who was a sincere Catholic, heard of
what was going on, and deeply angered, at once wrote to .
bid them send him h.ome. Jhey paid no attention to this
order ; and· .then he tried something else : he sent no more
money to defray his son's expenses. The consequence was
that his son soon returned, not only to his father's house, but
also to our holy religion, which he had abandoned only
because he did not well know it. To-day his zeal and attachment to the faith are wonderful. Here we found good
lodging, a well-cared for table and rest, which enabled us
soon to recover strength.
Here also it was that our ministry, properly speaking,
began; for scanty, in sooth, were the gleanings left in his
harvest-field by the indefatigable Fr. Baxter, who cares for
the souls of those dwelling on the railroad line; and between
the track and Fort Nepigon we found but a handful of'In~
dians scattered here and there.
..,..
At the Fort, however, our painstaking was well repaid,
not that there were many at the fort on our arrival, but on
the spreading abroad of the news of our coming, the people
flocked in from all the villages lying on the banks of Lake
Nepigon. This was their first chance of fulfilling their
Easter duties, and they earnestly put it to profit. I was
greatly edified by their recolleCtion and sincere piety. Poor
savages ! They have the consolations of religion but once
or twice a year, and they know how to appreciate thern.
They are full of eagerness in these matters. Can it be that
the saying, consueta vi/esczmt, is apt even in things of bound·
less value!
�Indian Missions.
95
We left Fort Nepigon after ten days' stay. Our clothes,
our strength, our provisions, everything was renewed, thanks
to the kindheartedness of our host. He gave us also a
good viaticum and subscribed one hundred dollars for the
building of a church at Red Rock, on Lake Helen, not far
from Lake Superior. He sent men, besides, to accompany
us about twenty miles. The scene at the time of our setting
out was one of the most laughable that I have witnessed
during my life. Horses, as you are aware, are not known
hereabouts. Dogs have to take their place. Accordingly
when we were about to start, and the sleds and harness with
their many strings of little bells were brought out, all the
dogs of the fort began to bark at once, showing, some one
told me, their desire to take part in the journey. But the
happy privileged ones were to be but eleven, six to draw
the sledge of the Reverend Father and five for mine. This
preference gave rise to jealousy, and a general battle followed. Those sharing in the fight, barked and howled, and
our men shouted until their throats were sore to bring
back quiet. 'Twas truly a deafening hub-hub, and in the
midst of it I had to turn away and hold my sides.
Peace at length came, and then the dogs that were to
draw the sleds were put in harness and arranged in due
order. But you don't go to war without paying the costs
of it. This was plain in the many marks of biting which
these poor dogs bore. To all this, however, they were insensible, and their hurry to be off was shown by their barking, glancing around and pawing the snow ..
Finally they were put to the sleds, we bade adieu to the
people of the fort, got on our sleds, and Charlie cries out:
"Go along, Shoo-fly." We went with an astonishing speed,
and as the ice was hard we soon began to describe all kinds
of curves, and it was as much as we could do to keep our
seats on the sleds; and yet I laughed like a buffoon. We
made in a short time, I assure you, the twenty miles between the fort and the place we went to visit,
�g6
Indian JJ{issions.
From the time we left Fort Nepigon until the end of
April, we were engaged in the holy ministry among those
living on the shores of Lake Nepigon towards the northeast.
They are in groups of two, three or more families. These
hamlets lie from twenty to fifty miles apart. I noticed
among these people a great desire of receiving the Sacraments, and I was edified by their behavior. Nothing,
however, especially noteworthy happened save in a place
styled Negondinong, i. e., String of Islands.
We arrive.d there towards midday, and were at once told
that there was a woman in the village, who had for a long
time been dangerously ill. We hastened to her wigwam,
and we found in truth that sh_e was very, very weak. From
what we were told and what we ourselves saw, we were led
to believe that consumption was about to carry her off.
She seemed to be in great pain. Rev. Fr. Du Ranquet at
once began to hear her confession, the rest of us retiring.
After dinner the Rev. Father went again to see her, and as
he said nothing of Extreme Unaion,-though he did not
intend to put it off-she herself said to him : "make haste
and give me the last Sacraments, for I feel that I am going."
He at once complied with the pious )Vish of the dying woman, and two or three hours afterwards she died, leaving
us little room for doubt as to the happiness in store for her.
Does it not seem to you that she had been awaiting the
coming of him who could open heaven to her? Thus it
is that God watches over those whom He has chosen: et
1ze111o tollet iOS de manu mea. These plain signs of the
loving kindness of God in saving the poor Indian woman,
kept us from being as much moved as we would else have
been at sight of the wretchedness we witnessed.·
When the poor woman had breathed her last (without
changing the garments which covered her), they sowed
around her what had once been a white woolen blanket,
and then left the corpse there covered, stretched out upon
some branches in the hut. One of her relatives found some
�Indian Missions.
97
old planks and nails in a ruined hut near by and managed
to patch up something like a coffin. But what about digging a grave? The ground was rocky, still frozen, and
they had neither pickaxe nor spade! They succeeded,
nevertheless, by means of hatchets and stakes in digging a
hole a few feet deep. On the morrow we paid the last rites
to the departed, and then laid the mortal remains of the
poor Indian in the grave which was already half filled with
water. What privation! and yet how full of comfort to
see that the one who bore it died the death of the just.
Towards the end of April, Fr. Du Ranquet, my superior,
decided on sending me to Red Rock, to give those living
there the chance of fulfilling their Easter duties, and also·
to build there a sorely needed chi.1rch. Thus the veteran
kept for himself the gr~ater share in the toil, and gave but
a trifling portion to the recruit. In fact, see what he took
for himself: he was to remain five days ministering to these
poor and dirty savages, then to start to Lake Long, which
was a week's journey from this place; thence he was to
go to Pio on Lake Superior, and this by all but impassable
roads; thence to Michissic?ton; which would keep him
away from Fort William until August.
When we separated and I found myself with none but
the two Indians he had given me as companions; distant
from Red-Rock, whither I was bound, and sparingly supplied with provisions; a feeling, till that moment a stranger to me, strived to gain the mastery in my soul, but van- •
ished when I called to mind the last words of the Rev.
Father on leaving me: "l\Iay the Angel of the Lo~d accompany you."
I reached my journey's end six days after leaving my
venerable companion. The march was attended with fatigue
.and danger. As for instance at Lake Helen, a short distance
from the Fort belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, at
Red Rock. It was then covered over with ice, which the
rays of the sun had made very unsafe. \Ve tried to cross
�Indian JI;Jissions.
it, carrying with us large stones, to serve in case of need.
\Ve had almost put foot on shore, when the ice gave way
under one of my companions, and down he went, up to the
waist; by the aid of his staff, however, he got out again.
Seeing the mishap which had befallen my man, I was more
careful. I noticed that the ice over which I was about to go,
was here and there speckled, so to say, with black : I struck
it with my staff, which pierced it through and through. I
cannot say that the sight of this peril made no impression
on me. I ml\de many a round to avoid dangerous places,
and at last reached land, safe and sound.
On my arrival I found the people of Red Rock well disposed, and delighted to see a missionary among them. At
this place which is about a mile from the Fort of the Hudson Bay Company, I passed the greater part of the summer occupied in the ereB:ion of a house for the missionaries,
as well as of the church of which I said a word above.
I could tell you many things about my labors at Red
Rock~ which I think would interest you. As my letter is
however already far too lengthy, I must put off further
details to another time.
* * *
As regards the Indians,-they are not
saints yet, but they are improving both in behavior and in
religion. I feel quite sure that you are not unmindful of
them in your holy Sacrifices.
*
*
*
Be kind enough to give my respeB:s and
, my most sincere assurances of love to my dear professors,
and to all whom I have had the happiness of knowing at
Woodstock. Tell them that I shall not forget them in my
poor prayers and in the holy Sacrifice.
As you will see, it is a long time since I began this letter;
we are now at December 3 rst, but I've had to interrupt the
writing, of it, to go to Grand Portage; whence I returned,
by boat (the long continuance of mild weather having melted
the ice and made almost impracticable the road we usually
take in going to Grand Portage). Before travelling, a severe
�\\
Indian Missions.
99
attack of rheumatism paid me a visit and hasn't yet gone
away. The goodness of God enabled me to catch _two zvlzite
fislz, at Grand Portage ; one was a Methodist, the other, a
Presbyterian. I instruCted and baptized them a few days
before my return.
I present to you, Reverend Father, and to your large
community, particularly to my old professors, my wellwishes for the new year, which will begin to-morrow.
In union with your holy Sacrifices,
R•• v•• inf. in Xto Servus,
J.
HEBERT,
S.
J.
OsAGE MissiON, NEosHO CouNTY, KANSAs,
December Jist, I877·
REVEREND FATHER,
P. C.
J)uring the last six months I visited thrice the Indian
Territory. From the Settlements of the Osages and Quawpaws I passed to those of the Kansas, or as they are commonly called, Kaw Indians. The new Reservation allotted
to these Indians extends along the left or north bank of the
Arkansas river and is about ten miles square. It is irrigated
by two fine streams, Beaver and Bear creeks; the soil is
excellent; and is well provided with timber, but in spite of
all this the Indians dwelling on it are very poor.
I was most kindly received not only by the half-breeds,
who are all Catholics, but also by the full-bloods, who
though pagans, yet appreciate our holy religion, and constantly ask for Catholic missionaries. I passed St. Ignatius'
day among them ; and going around with. a small Indian
boy as my interpreter, I visited their cabins trying to keep
Up their faith. I baptized about twenty children, and rectified several marriages. At their most earnest request I
�100
Indimz 1l1issious.
said Mass in their presence for the first time in this Reservation, and was really surprised at the piety and fervor they
exhibited in attending it.
These poor Indians have neither Catholic schools nor
missionaries, and have had none for a very long time ; they
are entirely under the care of Protestants, like the Osages
and Quawpaws. All that we do amongst them is at our
risk; for those ,;ho now take care of them dislike us, fear
our influence over them, and do not wish to see us about
them.
I was just leaving the Kaw Reservation, when the principal chief of the nation sent for me. "You are the blackgown," said he, "and I wish that you would try to come
here to teach my children, for we do not like the teachers
we have now. They do not take care of our children;
they do not teach them any thing good; my children seem
to be getting worse every day. I wish you to come here,
and stay with us, and teach us the ways of the Great Spirit."
I advised the chief to make a petition about this matter
and send it in due form to the great father in Washingt~n.
He promised that he would do so, and I doubt very much
whether the great father will ever take the trouble of look·
ing at it.
•
.
But here you might ask me, do·· you really think, that
the Indians are sincere in asking for Catholic missionaries?
do you really think, that they have any correct idea of God
and religion, and that they care much about saving their
souls. From the little knowledge which my dealing with
them, for twenty-six years, has procured me, I think that I
can answer in the affirmative. The Indians generally, but
especially the Osages, a:re eminently religious in their ways.
There are neither materialists nor fatalists amongst them.
They all admit the existence of a great Being who is over
them, and who is the master of all things; to Him they
attribute their origin, and Him they worship as a supreme
ruler to whom there is no equal. No vestige of idolatry is
�Indian Missions.
IOI
to be found amongst the Osages, or any of the W!'!stern
tribes with which I am acquainted.
The traditions which have been handed down amongst
them concerning their origin, are much confused, and have
been mixed up with numberless fables not worthy of mention. Their chronology does not extend any further back
than the great flood of Noah; and the more we consider
their national customs, the more we are inclined to think
that these tribes are of Jewish descent. Nay their very
language seems to justify such a conclusion. In fact, a very
learned Protestant writer, havi~g studied the different languages of these western Indians, tells us, that a majority of
them call God by the same name as the Osages use, viz :
Waconta ,· which he proves to be nothing else than the ancient word Jdtovalz, gone through several inflections, a very
common thing in the history of words.
I am confident that if you could come with me and spend
one night out in an· Osage town, you would be exceedingly
delighted. \Veil, then, imagine for a few minutes that you
are with me. See how the sun has just disappeared on the
horizon, which is red and cloudless. The moon is bright
and full without obscuring the light that comes from the
millions of glittering stars. Do you notice that long line
of wigwams and tents, some round like overis, others oblong
like hay stacks, stretching away in two regular rows, and
forming as it were a long avenue? See moreover how many
other smaller camps branch off in every. direction, forming
streets and lanes. vVell this is an Osage town, and the
high and strong palisade which you notice around it is intended for the defence of its inhabitants. Now let us stroll
through the place for a short while.
Observe what a number of men, women and children are
moving to and fro; they all seem to enjoy themselves.
Some are chatting, others laughing, some are dancing,
others lying down quietly smoking their calumets. These
are playing, and those are eating and drinking. Hear what
VoL. vn-No. 2.
14
�102
Indian 1lfissions.
a confused sound of different voices arises around you; the
noise indeed is great, yet listen carefully, and you will catch
the monotonous song that comes from a corner of the town.
Let us go nearer; do you perceive that group of young ·
men sitting in a circle, watching intent by a blazing fire?
Do you understand what they sing? For over an hour
they have been repeating again and again the same tune, in
which their voices.rise and fall like the moaning of tide on
the sea shore, always however keeping the same wild cadence. You certainly wish to know who they are, and
what they-are singing? They are what the Osages call
"TVaconta-clzi" that is ministers of religion, or to use a more
common name, mcdicine-mm. They are repeating three
words, namely Om, Ha, lfimz. vVhat they mean by these
words, they cannot tell you. They are singing a "worship
song" which we might call their canonical hours, for every
day, at certain stated times, they p:rform most faithfully this
ceremony.
Now, as no one of the Medicine-men can give us an explan~tion of this rite, I think that we can safely receive that
given by Fr. Calamette who, as reported by Chateaubriand
in his Genius of Christianity, book I, chap. 3, says that the
Indians of far Thibet by these thre~ words used to signify
the three Persons of the Holy Tr'fnity. This Father tells
us that the doCtrine of the Holy Trinity is known in the
East Indies and in Thibet, and he says that the inhabitants
of those countries have a kind of a chaplet over which they
pronounce the formula Om, Ha, Hum, and that these three
words together signify God.
Here r wish you to remark that not only the Osages, but
most of the other tribes of this western country use the
same song in their worship. How does this come? I con
explain it only by supposing that at some very distant
period all these nations must have been conneeted with
those. of far Thibet, and must have learned the mysteries
of our holy religion from some of St. Thomas' disciples.
�Indian Missions.
103
St. Thomas and his disciples have passed away; the churches which they built have been destroyed, either by time or
by pagan intolerance; but the knowledge of the great mysteries of our religion which were engrafted in the heart of
poor savages by means of this song outlives all the vicissi-.
tudes of time and persecution, and like a rich inheritance
has Leen transmitted through generations to this very day.
But this is not enough. A careful study of the ways of
the Osages will compel us to admit that their ancestors
must also have been acquainted with the mystery of the
Incarnation, passion, and death of the Son of God : and we
come to this conclusion by examining their greatest aa of
worship, namely the sacrifice, which. they offer very faithfully every year, just about the time when we are accustomed to celebrate the mysteries of Holy ·week.
The Osages from time immemorial were used to sacrifice
a bat which they fastened with spread wings to a board,
and left there until it was dead. They again cannot give
a reason for so doing. I asked many of their Medicine-men
to explain to me the meaning .of this sacrifice, but I could
never get a satisfaB:ory answer. At last one better ac- ·
quainted with the religious customs of the tribe, told me
that in very ancient times TVaconta or the supreme Being
had been most grievously offended by some of the people,
and had therefore determined to destroy the whole human
race. But after a while He changed his mind; He felt pity
for His creatures, and concluded to spare them if they
would make amends for their fault. But no creature was
big enough to satisfy for the injury done to the supreme
Being; and upon this His own son came forward, and offered to make the reparation due to His father. For this
reason He came down from heaven, suffered and died.
Now, continued this great Medicine-man, our great grandfathers represented by the bat, the son of the supreme
Being.
But here you might say, why did the old Osages pick
�104
Indian Missions.
out such an ugly animal, when there were thousands of
better looking birds? The reason seems to have been
this ; in their rude opinion they thought that no other bird
could better typify the two distinct natures of the son of
the supreme Being, namely divine and human nature in one
person-tor we may say that these two natures are represented in the bat which is a flying bird, and a creeping
animal at the same time. Moreover, this bat they would
fasten to a board with spread wings, and would leave it
there till iJ \vas dead, representing by this, in some way,
the suffering and death of the son of God on the wood of
the cross.
However since the Osages came in closer contact with
the white people, they felt ashamed of worshipping such a
mean animal; and being, it seems, ignorant of the reason
why their forefathers had adopted the bat, they substituted
for it the sparrow-hawk, which they preferred to all others,
as being, in their judgment, the greatest hunter amongst
the birds. This, as you see, is a novelty in their worship;
yet it does not destroy the conclusion which one naturally
·will draw, that, namely, the grandfathers of the Osages,
and we may say, in truth, of all these western Indians, not
only had an idea of the existence o{~ supreme Being, but
also, that from the most remote times they must have been
acquainted with the principal mysteries of our holy religion.
But I fear that I am imposing on your patience with my
long letter. The reason why I have. been so particular
upon this subject, is to correct, as far as I can, the idea of
some who would make us believe that the Indians are noth·
ing but simple automata, having no idea of God and that
consequently there is no use in teaching them religion.
On the first Sunday of August 1876, I had the pleasure
of dedicating a new church in honor of our holy Father
St. Ignatius, in the town of Neodesha, in Wilson County;
and on the first Sunday of September, 1877, I felt very
happy also in dedicating another in honor of St. Francis
�Missiollary Labors.
I05
Xavier, in the town of Cherryvale Montgomery County,
some thirty-five miles south west of this Mission. This
time again, when the Protestants heard that we were going
to build a church, they had a good deal to say about it, and
passed resolutions that they would be ahead of us. We
did not mind them, and went to work; the result was that
our church was the first ere8:ed in this town. So we go on
fixing new land-marks, which in after times will show that·
our missionaries were the pioneers of the faith in this beautiful land of Kansas.
PAUL MARY PoNzrGLIONE, S. J .
. MISSIONARY LABORS.
BosToN, April, 1878.
REv. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
I now fulfil a promise, which I made some time ago, of
giving you an account of our missions from the beginning
of the scholastic year.
.
The first missions of the year, from 29th of September
to 08:ober 2oth, were given at Chicopee Falls, Indian Orchard, and Greenfield, three small towns in the State of
Massachusetts. Only two of the Fathers were engaged in
this work, and were quite satisfied with the result of their
labor for three weeks, that is to say, four thousand Communions and six converts from Protestantism.
ST. JosEPH's PROVIDEXCE, R. I.-The Fathers began the
mission here on 08::. 29th. This congregation was well
known to them, as they had already, eighteen months previously, given the Exercises in the same place. Besides,
additional interest was attached to these people, since in the
meanwhile, their church had been transferred to the Society
�106
111issirmary Labors.
by the Rt. Rev. Bishop. The Communions numbered a little
under five thousand. Five persons were brought into the
Church. Notwithstanding that, at the previous mission,
three hundred adults of advanced age had been confirmed,
seventy grown persons received the same sacrament. Sometimes when asked why they did not come before, they answered that they had not heard of it. When questioned
also concerning their negleCt:, some replied that they had
missed their .examination in the old country. Here, as in
other places, ·some hardened sinners were brought to confession by ~~ans of notes and visiting cards. A note or
c'ard is sent ; an interview takes place and a confession is
obtained.
\VILLIAMSPORT, PA.-The work began here on Nov. 18th,
and kept the Fathers occupied for ten days. This beautiful
city in the northern part of the romantic Cumberland valley
is the centre of the lumber trade for the State. Situated on
the chief branch of the Susquehanna, and conneB:ed by
railroads with the north and west, and by a fine canal and
railroad with the south, its trade used to be immense, especially, during the war. The mission was well attended and
did much good. The church was no~ large enough for the
crowds that came every night to hear _the sermons. Here,
as in Providence, the Protestants not only came to the evening services but even during the day, and some to the early
morning instruCtions. This congregation was once under
the charge of Fr. Stack whose misconduCt: in engaging in a
lawsuit against the Bishop is too well known. Just before
the Fathers arrived a favorable decision had been obtained
by him from the county court. It was thought some
trouble might arise and hinder the mission. But it now
appeared that he had lost his former influence. There
were fifteen hundred Communions, and six baptisms. Six or
se\'en persons were left under instruB:ion for baptism. A
three day's mission was given to the children. The usual
announcements were made concerning it beforehand. The
�Missionary Labors.
I07
first day, a Protestant came with two children and said he
wanted them to make the mission. He said they had been
baptized in the church some four or five years ago, and that
he and his wife were about to become Catholics at that time,
but the bad example of certain men had kept them back.
The children he said, were baptized and should be Catholics.
A friendly visit from the superior of the mission and the
parish priest overcame his difficulties. He and his wife
and two other children were left under the care of the priest
for instruction. A sodality was founded at the end of the
Exercises.
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER's, PHILADELPHIA.-This mission was
from the 3d to the I 8th of December. Results: eight
thousand Communions; three years previously there were
five thousand. Fourteen persons applied for baptism. A
number of grown persons was prepared for first Communion,
as was the case in the former mission. More men than
women received the holy Communion. The Fathers always
encourage the faithful to buy good books and have done a
great deal towards circulating that excellent work, "The
Faith of our Fathers." At this church a large number was
sold. In truth, no work takes better anywhere and gives
more satisfaction.
CLINTON, MAss.-This mission lasted from Dec. 23d to
Jan. 6th. The pastor said that the Fathers would have easy
times. Less than two years had passed since the last mission, at which fifteen hundred approached the Sacraments.
This time, owing no doubt, to recruits from the neighboring
towns, three thousand received the Communion. Two hundred children and a few grown persons were instructed
during the Exercis~s and approached the holy Table for the
first time.
ST. MARY's, BosTON.-The mission lasted for seventeen
days. This new church of the Society was dedicated in
December. Twelve thousand persons were at Communion
during the retreat. Five hundred and twenty grown per-
�108
Jlfissio11ary Labors.
sons were confirmed; of these, one hundred made the first
Communion. It would be far from the truth to think that
all these adults so wanting in Sacraments were from this
parish; they came from every parish in the city. Thirty
Protestants applied for baptism. The sodality membership was greatly increased, and a grand re-union was held
at the end of the second week of the Exercises for the men.
Here, as in every other mission, a number of marriages was
made valid.
ST. VINCENT's, BALTI:O.lORE, l\lo.-From Feb. 3d to 17th.
Result: eight" thousand Communions: one hundred and
forty grown persons approached the holy Table for the first
time. The hard cases of this part of the city came in force.
The pungy men and others engaged in the oyster trade
flocked to the church. The pastor was unwilling to have
separate services for the men and the women; he changed
his views after a few days, and thus the number of communicants was greatly increased. Fifty persons applied for
reception into the Church, of whom' thirty-eight were baptized and the rest left under instruCtion. On the last day
the Most Rev. Archbishop administered Confirmation to
six hundred and twenty-five persons, five hundred and
twenty-five of whom were adults. Tlie number of Protestants received into the Church at thi~- p1ace was a subjeCt of
remark. No doubt, many more would have been baptized,
if the mission had lasted longer.
ST. FR. XAVIER's CHURCH, BALTIMORE, Mo.-The mission
for the colored Catholics of Baltimore began in this church
on Sexagesima Sunday, Feb. 24th, and closed on Ash Wednesday evening, March 6th. It was conduCted by the Rev.
Frs. McAtee and Nagle. The solemn high Mass on the
opening day was celebrated by Rev. Fr. McAtee. Fr. Nagle
delivered the sermon, in which he spoke of the objeCt of
the mi~sion, its necessity and advantages. The church was
filled with attentive listeners, among whom were many who
were not Catholics. Fr. McAtee gave a very instruCtive
�Missionary Labors.
109
discourse in the evening. The first Mass was celebrated
every morning at five o'clock by Fr. Nagle, who at its close
gave an instruction lasting from twenty to thirty minutes.
Other Masses followed by priests attached to the church,
and after the 8.30 A. M. Mass, Fr. Me Atee gave an instruction to the children preparing for first Communion and
Confirmation. This instruction was followed by the blessing of beads, crucifixes, religious pictures, etc. At three
o'clock P. M. a second instruction was given to the children
by Fr. Me Atee. At 7.30 P. ~L the beads were said, followed
by a short instruction of fifteen minutes. Sermons on the
great truths of our holy religion were given each evening
·at e.ight o'clock by Frs. Me Atee and Nagle, alternately,
Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament closing the
exercises. Confessions were heard from the first Mass till
noon, and from 3 P. M. ti'll a late hour at night-Many a
poor soul that had wandered away from God came. back
again with repentant heart, after twenty and thirty years
spent in sin and spiritual darkness.
The missionary Fathers were assisted in the confessional
by the Rev. Fathers of Loyola College and the good, zealous priests of St. Francis.' These latter went through the
dark alleys and lanes of the city, and found out and encouraged many to come and assist at the mission. Their labors were blessed in a signal manner; and they had the
consolation of seeing many make the mission who had
neglected their religious duties for years.
The·last of the series of sermons was given by Fr. Nagle,
who. exhorted his hearers to preserve in their hearts the
fruits of the mission and to show forth these fruits in their
daily lives.
At five o'clock on Ash \Vednesday morning a solemn
Mass was sung and the ashes blessed by Fr. Nag!~, who
discoursed briefly on the ancient custom of the Church in
blessing the ashes and sprinkling them on the heads of the
VoL. vrr-No. 2.
15
�I 10
JJfissionary Labors.
faithful. At half past seven P. ~I. the Most Rev. Archbishop administered the holy Sacrament of Confirmation
to one hundred and fifty persons, eighty-two of whom were
adults. At the entrance of the church he was received by
the Rev. missionaries, the clergymen of St. Francis,' and
the knights of St. Augustine in full uniform. These latter
are members of the congregation, and attend in a body all
the solemn festivals to the Church. Whilst the Archbishop
and clergy walked up the centre aisle, the knights with
drawn swords opened line, thus forming an imposing escort
and garde du corps to the Archbishop.
Previous to conferring the Sacrament of Confirmation, his
Grace addressed those about to be confirmed, and com-·
plimented the congregation for the earnestness and zeal
they had manifested in their endeavor to make the mission profitably; and thanked the Fathers who had conduB:ed
it to. so happy a termination. At the conclusion of the
ceremony of Confirmation, the Archbishop, assisted by Frs.
Me A tee and Nagle, imparted the papal benediCtion, as is
the custom at the close of each mission. This was followed
by the BenediCtion of the Blessed Sacrament, given by the
Archbishop.
As he moved down the aisle to the carriage in waiting,
the entire congregation arose, whilsf"the clergy and knights
accompanied him. A brass band, whose members are
young men belonging to the congregation, discoursed
during the while, sweet music. A very noticeable feature
of this mission was the introduCtion of congregational singing. This was brought about through the exertions of Fr.
Me Atee, who in a very few days saw his humble efforts
crowned with far greater success than he had anticipated.
The congregation was ripe for the happy experiment;
and the precision and harmony which were maintained
during this exercise, proved but too clearly, what is an acknowledged faCt:, that colored persons are naturally good
musicians. The Archbishop expressed himself highly grat-
�Missionary Labors.
III
ified with the new feature, and earnestly recommended its
continuance to the pastor and his good assistants.
The fruits of the mission are summed up as follows by
Fr. Walsh, the pastor, in a late letter to Fr. Nagle: 34
adults baptized; 150 confirmed, of \vhom 83 were adults;
1,700 Communions.
The same letter says: "The congregational singing which
was. introduced at the mission is a great success. The
church is now crowded as it never before was, with colored
people."
ST. CHARLES BoRROMEO, PHILADELPHIA. This mission began March· IOth and ended March 28th. Communions,
fourteen thousand ; Baptisms, twenty-five; grown persons,
confirmed, one hundred and seventy ; first Communion of
adults, sixty. Of the baptized, seven or eight were children
of various ages, the offspring of mixed marriages-A faCt
of not unfrequent occurrence, which shows what dangers
mixed marriages occasion, and by which we can estimate
the alarming losses the Church meets with on their account.
PASCHALVILLE, PHILADELPHIA. March 31st, April 15th.
This was an easy mission and came very opportunely
after the labors at St. Charles.' There were over one thousand three hundred Communions; thirty grown persons
were prepared for Confirmation. Five Protestants were
baptized.
Summary of the work from the 29th of September to
April I 5th. Communions, 56,6oo; Confirmation of adults,
I,2g8; first Communions of adults, 452; Baptisms of
adults, 156; left under instruCtion 43· *
. *The above missions were given by Frs. Maguire, McAtee and Morgan,
assisted occasionally by some other Father, as was the case in the colored
mission.
�PARISH WORK AT MILWAUKEE.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN,
April 12th, I878.
REv. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
)Receive -my heartfelt thanks for the interesting news
you were pleased to send me some time ago. I would have
answered your letter sooner, and complied with your request, had time allowed me to fulfil that most pleasing duty.
But during my brief experience in the sacred ministry I
have found out that the grave responsibility of a pastor requires all his time and attention.
On leaving \Voodstock I was sent hither to assist the
pastor of St. Gall's. However, at the expiration of two
monl:hs, ·viz. last August, I was entrusted with the care of
the church of the Holy Name of Jesus. Notwithstanding
the heavy duty imposed on me, I took courage, knowing
that it was the will of God Who "tempers the wind to the
shorn lamb," and I at once entered u·pon my work. I began
by visiting the different families of the widely spread con~re
gation, which numbers about three hundred, some living
two or three miles apart, and dispersed throughout the
country. Among them I found several who had neglecred
their religious duties for years, and not a few who _had lost
the faith entirely, or at least were wavering in the first principles of their religion. Through the mercy of God many
of these now lead a most edifying life.
I was also _consoled by the conversion of some outside
the true fold. As I have frequent intercourse with such
during my mission excursions, I neglect no opportunity
of doing what I can to prepare their minds and remove all
obstacles to the grace of God. I begin by turning the
(1I2)
�Parislz work at Milwaukee.
113
conversation to religious topics, in order to make them
see the necessity of laboring for the salvation of their
immortal souls ; then I explain the principal points of our
holy religion, answer all their objections, remove their
doubts, and thus gradually make t~em acknowledge and
renounce their errors. Lately two respectable ladies thus
forswore their Spiritualism, and one of them is now a
weekly, the other a monthly communicant. During the
last two Jl10nths, I baptized two Lutherans, one Episcopalian, and one infidel who had struggled for a long time
against the grace of God. Had I time, a great deal of
good could be done among them, but the lukewarm Catholics, who almost exclusively claim my attention, need to be
aroused to a sense of their dangerous state.
Let me give you an idea of a pastor's work :-Saturdays
and eves of festivals I devote entirely to the confessional.
On the following day, I say Mass at half past seven o'clock,
hear confessions till ten o'clock, then sing high Mass and
preach on the gospel of the day: at two in the afternoon I
begin Sunday school, at four, sing vespers and give Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and end my day's labors by
\ldministering the Sacrament of Baptism.
Speaking of Sunday school reminds me of the great need
we have of Catholic schools. I began with forty-five pupils,
but, through the blessing of God, the number has increased
to one hundred and twenty, most of whom came from the
public schools. I found, to my sorrow, that they were extensively patronized by Catholics, who consequently abandoned their religion. To stem the current Of infidelity,
which grows in Milwaukee every day, and to save our youth
from utter shipwreck, a Catholic college is very much needed
and greatly desired both by English and German Catholics.
A city of one hundred thousand inhabitants can well afford
to support such an institution, and they are only too anxious
to have one, for they feel the necessity of training their children in the sound principles of a thoroughly Christian education.
�ll4
Parislt work at llfilwaukee.
About three miles from St. Gall's Church is situated the
National House of Milwaukee, an institution for those who
were wounded, or who contraCted some disease during the
late war. Of the nine hundred who are there at present
about one-half ·are Catholics. On Tuesday evenings, I
preach a sermon, to which they listen with breathless attention, and then I hear their confessions. Some, having lost
a leg in the war, come up limping on one foot; others,
whose hands were amputated, place their short. stumps on
the table fQr support; others again, who are blind, grope
around with a little cane to find the kneeling bench, and all,
to my great edification, make a straightforward confession
with the greatest devotion, showing by their tears their deep
sorrow for their sins. They hail the priest's <;oming with '
the greatest joy, and many have told me that they would not
leave an institution in which they have so fine an opportu·
nity of attending to the salvation of their souls. On Wednesdays I say Mass for them, at half-past five in summer
and -at six o'clock in winter, at which time as many as three
hundred go to Holy Communion together. The poor fellows get up before the others, pass through the sleeping
apartment very quietly, lest they might disturb their com·
panions and be reported to the general, and after perform·
ing their devotions with great fervor, they are back with the
rest for roll-call.
I next visit the hospital conneCted with National House.
Here much good can be done for those unfortunate ones
who are on the brink of eternity, for then our good Lord
grants his grace most lavishly; I have already baptized three
Protestants on their death-bed. The first was a Predestinarian, and when I encouraged him to have confidence in
God, he replied: "I am predestined for hell." "By no
mean~,'' said I, "and if you follow iny advice you will be in
heaven." "Impossible," he answered in despair; I insisted,
proved to him that God wished all to be saved, but he must
believe in Christ his Redeemer, and live according to His
�Paris!t work at Milwaukee.
115
holy teaching. "So then I can be saved," he exclaimed,
while his face brightened up, as the light of faith dawned
on his soul. I instruB:ed and baptized him, and after giving
him Holy Communion, his constant prayer was, Jesus,
Mary, and Joseph pray for me; and in these holy sentiments
he calmly expired. The second was a Universalist who had
no hope beyond the grave. As I approached him one day
he asked: "Sir, could you show me what will happen to
man after death ?" You may easily guess I lost no time in
giving the necessary information on that important point ;
apparently to his satisfaB:ion. Two days after, he was attacked by a violent hemorrhage, and sent for me in great
haste. The scales had fallen from his eyes, and I promised
to baptize him next morning. "No," he exclaimed, "I may
be dead before morning." I complied with his desires. Next
morning I went quite early to see him; he was very low,
so that I judged it prudent to anoint him. I had scarcely
done so when he went to receive the reward of his faith.
The third was a Presbyterian, most tenaciously attached to
his seB:arian. conviB:ions.
He first received me very
coldly, would talk on any topic except religion, and did not
want me to trouble him on that point, as he was determined
to die in his own belie( I complied, adding however, that
it was absolutely necessary for salvation to die in the true
Church of Christ, which is essentially one, and telling him
to refleB: seriously whether he was on the right way that
leads to heaven, and then I left him. As he grew weaker
in body he became stronger in soul, for grace had done its
Work. He called for me, and as soon as I came, he begged
me to give him instruB:ion in our holy faith; I did so with
joy. After being baptized h~ exclaimed: "What a fool I
Was not to become a Catholic thirty-five years ago! I knew
I was wrong." Before ~ight days had elapsed he too went
to receive the crown of justice.
I was not quite so successful in the case of another soldier,
who was also a Universalist. Though he admitted the util-
�II6
Parish work at Jlfitwaukec."
ity of Baptism, he denied its necessity, maintaining that
faith in Christ was sufficient for salvation. Opening his
own bible, I read from the third chapter of St. John, and
after briefly explaining the words: "Unless a man be born
again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God," he acknowledged the necessity of
Baptism, frankly confessing that he never understood the
text in the same light. I promised to return soon and explain more _fully the other important truths of our religion.
Meanwhile he began to sink, and as there happened to be a.
Protestant fuinister present at the time, he was baptized by
him. I arrived next day, and, totally ignorant of what had
occurred on the day preceding, I began my instruCl:ion,
introducing occasionally some consoling remarks, which,
I considered, his precarious condition required. But he
appeared very sad, dispirited and reticent, notwithstanding
my cheering words. Just then a Catholic soldier called me
aside and revealed the mystery to me. I returned immediately, determined to. do the best I could under these peculiar circumstances, to save a poor soul, ready to appear
before its Creator. I finally succeeded in extraCting some
confession from him, and, hoping that he was in good faith,
gave him conditional absolution. :Many others there are
whose mortal life is drawing to a 'Close, but who are much
better disposed.
See, then, how much good carr be done here for the glory
of God, and how much consolation such scenes afford a missionary; but alas! how sad to think that the laborers are so
few, and the harvest so great. Pray the Sacred Hearts of
Jesus and Mary, to send more laborers into the vineyard of
the Lord, and to grant us the means of establishing a col·lege for the instruCtion and salvation of the Catholic youth
of Milwaukee.
�CONSECRATION OF A CHURCH IN CUBA.
(From the Cartas de Poyamze.)
SANTI SPIRITUS,*
Jan. sth,
I878.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
On the first Sunday of Advent, Dec. 2d, I877, our new
church dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was
• consecrated with great solemnity. The ceremony was
performed by the Most Rev. Archbishop of Guatemala,
who, driven from his own diocese by the revolutionary
government, has taken refuge in Cuba, and is staying at our
college of Belen, Havana, and at the request of our Rev'd
Fr. Retl:or, kindly came hither for the above mentioned
purpose. The ceremony was attended by a commission of
the municipal government, consisting of the Governor,
Marshal, Commander in Chief, and other officials, and by a
large concourse of people, and was concluded by the celebration of low Mass.
On the following Thursday, Dec. 6th, the Most Blessed
Sacrament was transferred, from the sacristy, which was
used as a provisional church, to the new church in solemn
procession ; which, consisting of many of the magistrates
and most influential citizens, a body of troops, with bands
of music, and various societies, started from the sacristy,
paraded the streets of the city and returned to the church,
where,,after a solemn Te Deum and Salve Regina had been
sung, the Blessed Sacrament was deposited in the Tabernacle.
On the 7th a Pontifical high Mass was sung by the
Most Rev. Archbishop, and Fr. P. Aldecon, S. J. preached.
After the evening instruCtion, a statue of our Lady was
*The province of Castile has in the island of Cuba two colleges, one in a
small town called Santi Spiritus, the other in Havana. The first has no spe·
cial name; the second is called the college of Belen (Bethlehem), for having
been formerly occupied by Bethelehemites.
VoL. vn-No.
2.
16
{1 17)
�I I
8
C(Jnsecration
of a
Clwrc/z in Cuba.
carried in procession on the shoulders of the colored people,
according to the custom of the Island.
On the 8th, Fr. V. Salinero, S. J. preached at the high
Mass ; and in the evening, there was another procession
and a sermon by Mr. B. Pina, D. D. of the Archbishop's
suite. At 10 o'clock A. M. a breakfast attended by the
magistrates and principal persons of the city had been.
served as an official banquet.
On the 9th, Fr. T. Fernandez preached at the solemn
high Mass; At the evening service a novena commenced •
which concluded a week later with another procession;
on which occasion the Daughters of Mary who had been
prevented by bad weather on the previous occasions, were
able to satisfy their pious desire of marching in the procession. It was edifying to see them, about two hundred in
number modestly marching, all dressed in white, each bearing in her hand a small image of our Lady. After the
evening services of this day our pupils furnished quite an
er{tertainment to a large audience of ladies and gentlemen,
by the performance of a comedy.
The new church is of the composite style of architecture,
very neat, sufficiently large, and finely ornamented and
finished. The cupola and towers will be built later. The
Archbishop stayed a week longet"to administer Confirmation; and when he departed the authorities granted him
and his suite, at the request of the ladies of the city, a free
passage by boat and rail.
�OBITUARY.
FATHER FERDINAND COOSEMANS.
The Missouri province has lately lost, in Fr. Ferd.
Coosemans, one who for. many years had been cherished
• by all her members as a revered and most beloved parent.
He was one of those able, kind and most edifying men, that
Providence sends from time to time as a choice gift to religious bodies, to be the guide and models of their brethren.
Rev. F. Coosemans was born the 5th of Febuary, 1823, in
Brussels, Belgium, where he was educated at the College
St. Michel of our Society. At the age of nineteen he left his
native land for the American missions, entering the novitiate of Florissant Mo., on OCl:ober the 30th, 1842. From
the beginning of his religious career, he was distinguished
for piety, discretion, and a ready will to sacrifice himself
for the work on which he had entered. His opportunities
for study were scanty indeed; but his remarkable talents
and the blessing which God granted to the obedient man
soon enabled him to teach the high classes, and to render
other V<;tluable services in various colleges of Missouri and
at Grand Coteau, Louisiana. In 1852, immediately after his
ordination, we find him 'marked in the catalogue engaged
in the St. Louis university as direCtor of the students' sodality, president of the Spanish academy, professor of the
first Latin and Greek, and the second English and French
classes. The next year he was prefeCt: of studies in the
same college; but he was soon applied to still more important duties. On oa. the 2d, 1854. he was made President
of St. Joseph's college, Bardstown, Ky., and from that time
onward, with the brief interruption of his third year of probation and a few months spent on the missions, he was em-
( I 19)
�120
Fatlzer Ferdinand Coosemans.
ployed in governing, being in January, 1859, appointed
Reaor of the St. Louis university, in 1862, vice-Provincial,
and on the 3d of December the first Provincial of Missouri;
a~d after presiding over this province for nine consecutive
years, was made Reaor of St. Ignatius' college, Chicago, in
which capacity he continued to lead a life of great aaivity,
till he was suddenly disabled by a stroke of paralysis, while·
actually preaching in his church of the Holy Family, in the
summer of 1874.
During_~ll the years which he spent in governing, he·
had been, as far as the duties of his office allowed, a zealous laborer in the ministry, reaping rich fruit in the spiritual harvest. Without being an orator, he spoke with so
much unaion that he produced a deep impression on all
classes of hearers; while, in the direaion of souls, especially in religious communities, he inspired the most marked
confidence and veneration for his person and his counsels.
Severe towards himself, he was a kind father to his inferiors
and- his penitents, as humble as a child, and as simple in
manners as he was venerable in personal appearance. Ever
full of confidence in our good Lord, he possessed his soul
in peace and holy joy, even when times were most troublesome, thinkin{ only of sanaifying. _his every ·aaion, and
drawing all around him nearer to his God, with whom he
was at all times intimately united. He was tenderly devout
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and contributed largely to
propagate this devotion in the West, while he personally
spent much time before the Blessed Sacrament, where he
daily recited the entire divine office on his knees. He was
also a loving child of the Blessed Virgi~ Mary, about
whom he managed to introduce at least a few words in every
one of his sermons.
When partially paralysed and disabled from aaive duties
during the last four years of his life, he continued to give
the greatest edification to all by his spiritual conversation
and his cheerful resignation to the divine will ; aaing mean-
�Fat/zer Jo!zn Rover.
121
while as spiritual Father and confessor to our own members
and some religious communities in Chicago; most happy
when his health allowed him to aa as chaplain to the little
Sisters of the Poor. On the 6th of last February, 1878,
while at dinner with the community in St. Ignatius' college,
where he had continued to reside, the good Father was
suddenly seized with a third attack of paralysis, and after
receiving the last Sacraments, he lost his senses to recover
them no more. He died quietly on the next day, a few
hours after our lamented Pontiff Pius IX, aged fifty-five
years and two days.-R. I. P.
Death has taken away from our midst two of our brethren,
one a young Father, the other a Scholastic, both highly
esteemed for the labors, they had undergone, and for the
promise which their personal qualities gave of much greater
fruit in the future.
FR. JOHN ROVER.
John William Rover was born at Mount Airy in Virginia,
Sept. 27th, 1845, and after spending his early years and
passing his collegiate course of studies at Washington, entered the novitiate at Frederick, when eighteen years of
age. His health was not robust; and when he had spent
four years in the novitiate and juniorate, neither the northern climate of Bostori, where he taught, nor the milder air
of Baltimore, where he continued his course of teaching,
succeeded in establishing. that robust constitution which is
so desirable for the work of the colleges. After three years,
therefore, of this work, he was placed in Woodstock, and
here he remained during nearly seven years, without any
other break than that of vacation time. In the leisure
and repose of studies, his health was generally good; and
at length towards the close of his sixth year, he happily,
�122
Fat!ter Jolm Ro·ver.
and, to all appearances, in good condition reached that term
of his ambition, the priesthood. He was ordained priest,
Easter week, 1877· However, the germs of ·a neglected
disease were developing in his system. He was extremely
slow in making any account of bodily maladies, and still
slower in mentioning them, when that became necessary.
The disease had to betray itself, as it did at the beginning of
this scholastic year, four months after his ordination. His
face became very much emaciated, he was evidently very
weak ; and ..though fond of active exercise he abstained
from it now through sheer debility. His case had indeed
become desperate; and after a few weeks of forced idleness
he was sent to \Vashington to consult an eminent physician.
He said Mass there on the first day in St. Aloysius' church
and he never said another. That day in the afternoon he
was prostrated with a fever, while visiting Trinity church.
There he remained an invalid, in a sinking condition during
three days, when he was removed to the college infirmary,
adjoining. It was seen that he was dying; and he himself,
with his own characteristic coolness and imperturbable habit
of mind, recognized the fact, and prepared by rec~iving the
Sacraments, in the midst of his reJigious brethren. His
friends and family in consternation, for .they had never dreamt
of any such contingency as this, visited him, and were overwhelmed with grief. But he, though of a nervous temperament, yet as he had always been in the affairs of life so was
he now at the moment of death undisturbed, self-possessed.
\Vhen in the last hours, that night and the following morning, his consciousness came and left him by turns, the one
thing which he asked for in the intervals of self-possession
was that the prayers might be repeated and the absolution
granted. And when his self-possession left him again, his
own prayers continued still aloud, with the tenacity of an
old fo~med habit. He.died peacefully on Tuesday, the 23rd
of October.
This sketch of his career reveals something of the rnan.
�ilfr. James Wi"er.
123
He seems to have had such control over sentiment and feeling that there was no change to be seen in Fr. Rover-always the same. And this solidity of virtue combined with
talents, which were particularly eminent in abstruse mathematics, and with an affability which made him at home with
every one, and every one with him, shows what a loss the
Society and the province particularly have suffered in this
promising young Father, who was just on the point of embarking, well equipped, and finished, into the aCtive life.
MR. JAMES WIER.
The subjeCt of this memoir had a feature altogether in
common with the young Father of whom we have just
spoken. He did not care either to speak or to think of any
thing which affeCted himself, but quietly suffered and said
nothing about it. He was always in his young years reserved and retiring; and this quality elevated by the principle of self-denial in religion made him keep up external
appearances and follow community life, when, as the doCtor
said, it was a wonder how he could be standing on his feet
at all. It was an excellent and a most edifying feature in
our young brother; only it has cost the province to which
he belonged the loss· of a future useful member.
He was born at Cincinnati, Aug. rst, 1852, and studied
at our college there. Entering the Society in August r87r,
he passed through his novitiate and juniorate, perfeCting
with religious virtues the charaCter which had won the
esteem of professors and school-fellows at college. Reserved
as we said before, and almost bashful, he had nevertheless
C:xercised among· his fellow-students an influence which he
commanded by his earnestness, his steadiness, and his rigid
adherence to high principle. And these same qualities
allowed to expand and studiously developed by him in a
religious atmosphere made of him a solidly virtuous and
�124
Mr. James 1¥ier.
agreeably influential young man. He was sent to St. Mary's college, Kansas, where as prefea, professor, president
of several societies he held the same even course in a larger
sphere; and after a couple of years he was placed in \Voodstock, to commence his course of higher studies. Here
during a year and a half he was known by his spirit of work,
whether at his books or out of doors, by the quiet evenness
of his manners, and above all, by his obliging disposition
which would make him dispense with any comfort or convenience of'his own in behalf of others, and think no more
about it. -He contraCl:ed a very severe cold in the throat,
this negleCl:ed became grievous, extended down, and affeCl:ed
his-lungs: pneumonia and typhoid resulted; not to mention
other maladies of which he had said nothing. Being confined to his bed, he received every kindness from superiors
and showed all manner of submissive patience in return.
A couple of weeks later his mind began to wander, and
then it was that the true charaCl:er of his disease became
evid_ent. At times he recovered self-possession during the
weeks which followed ; and his spirit of patience and obedience was remarkable, so much so, that even when wandering in mind and suffering intensely in body, an order, a
word was enough and he obeyed. Fr. Minister said to him
on one occasion, when he had be~n- desired to turn over
and could not do it: ''You must suit yourself." "I don't
want to suit myselt~" he answered, and with a painful, struggling effort turned over on his side, as he had been desired
to do. On Friday before Passion Sunday the moment came
for a crisis; and a kind Providence so arranged it that he
was perfeCl:ly tranquil for a long time, and received the last
Sacraments, while the whole community assisted. As the
day advanced, he sank rapidly, and could not last through
the night. After two o'clock in the morning the last mo·
ment came, and by a look he asked for absolution. It was
confe.rred, the prayers were recited, and in five minutes he
drew his last breath in the Lord.
He was gifted naturally in a special degree with talents
�Requiem for Pius IX in Sltmzglzai.
125
for literature, and his English style was excellent. He was
humorous too, and though unobtrusive and retiring \Vas
neither slow of speech nor wanting in an abundance of dry
wit. l-Iis feelings were tender, and the predomi-nant fruit of
his charaCter may be said to have been an extraordinary
display of the queen of all virtues-charity. Adorned as
he was with this combination of natural gifts and spiritual
endowments, it is no wonder that we laid him in his grave
with a lively sorrow; while the youth who had known him
as their prefeCt, professor and friend, showed in a public
and touching manner that his memory remains in benediction with them. May he res~ in peace.
APPENDIX.
REQUIEM FOR POPE PIUS IX. IN SHANGHAI.
(From tlte Nortlt Cltina Daily News, Marclt 4!/t, I8J8.)
"On Saturday morning last, March 2nd, there was performed at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, in the French Concession, one of those gorgeous and at the same time solemn
ceremonies with which the Roman Catholic Church delights.
to pay a passing tribute to the memory of deceased Popes
and Princes-a Requiem Mass, for the quiet or rest of the
soul. The death of a Pope of course affords an opportunity
for elaborating with more than ordinary splendour the ritual
of the service for the dead, and the Requiem that was performed for the repose of the soul of the late Pius IX. far
exceeded, we are assured, anything of the kind previously
attempted in this part of the world. The prominent part
taken by the deceased Pope in the history of the last thirty
Years, and the vicissitudes that attended his lengthened
VoL. vn-No. 2.
17
�126
Requiem for Pius IX. in 5/zang/zai.
reign, coupled with the Revolutions, Reformations, and
changes' generally which have occurred on the Continent of
Europe since his assumption of the Papal authority in June,
1846, have made his name familiar as a household word;
and to speak of Pius IX. became at last as though speaking
of one personally known. It cannot, therefore, be matter
for surprise that the heads of the Rom ish Church in Shanghai should have resolved to perform for him those ornate
funereal rites with which the passing away of Kings and
Princes who die in that religious faith, is marked.
For days· before the time appointed for the ceremonial,
the interior of the Cathedral had been undergoing preparation, and the effecr ultimately produced astonished the beholder unused to such adornment. On entering, the first
impression was the absence of anything like preponderant
gloom ; for although black was of course the prevailing
colour, it was so relieved by the presence of other colours
as to lose much of the depression usually caused by the
exhjbition of the trappings of woe. Black velvet screens
hung from the turn of every arch and drooped for a considerable depth, but the columns were entwined with black
and white, while at every vantage point were. displayed the
Papal arms-the crossed keys, ti~ra, and shield-and the
monogram, "PP. IX." These, being In colours, relieved the
deadness of the prevailing sombre hue; and the yellow of
the Papal flags which were displayed in different parts of
the Cathedral further assisted to relieve the eye. In recesses above the arches were placed, in pairs, tablets containing the dates of the principal epochs of the late Pope's career, from which we gathered the following :-Born, 13th
May, 1792; made a priest, 10th April, 1819; bishop, 3rd
June, 1827; cardinal, 14th December, 1840; Pope, 16th
June, 1846; crowned Pope, 21st June, 1846 ; returned from
exile1' 12th April, I85o; gave out the decree of the Immaculate Conception, 8th December, 1854; miraculously pre·
served from injury from the falling of a scaffold in the church
�Requiem for Pius IX in Sltanglzai.
127
of St. Agnes, Rome, 7th April, r855; issued the great Syllabus, 8th December, 1864; canonization of 200 Japanese
Christian martyrs, 8th June, 1867; convocation of Vatican
Council, 29th June, 1868; proclamation of infallibility, r8th
July, 1870; feast of the 18th Centennial of St. Peter, 16th
June, 1871; died, 7th Feb., 1878.
In the open space fronting the altar rails was placed a
large black catafalque, covered with a canopy and crowned
with white ostrich plumes. The catafalque was of three
tiers, and on the topmost was what resembled a coffin, the
lid of which bore an emblazoned stole and triple crown, the
whole being illuminated by about 150 tall candles, singly
and in groups of candelabra, producing a splendid effeCt.
Candles were also placed on the high altar, where also pre-,
paration had been made for solemn Mass. In front of the
organ gallery was suspended a shield, surmounted by a bouquet of Papal flags, the shield bearing the following inscription:PIO NONO
PONTIFIC! MAXIMO
CERTISSIMO VERITATIS VINDICI
IMMORTAL!
EXIMIORVM OPERVM CONDITORI
PARENTALIA
CVM LACRIMIS
Other shields, suspended from the capitals of columns,
bore the following inscriptions:Pauperes parente, Tutela oppressos, Splendido ecclesiam
ornamento, 111iro populos exemplo, Una orbavit dies, Effusi in
lacn·mas, Lugent boni.
Non irruens undique turbo, Non efferata in rabiem, Diutina
Proce!la, Sermo intrepidum fronte, Navis concussere ducem,
Sed Adversi conflict us, Magnum ftcere majorem.
Non si qui1zos supra oflogeuos, Viceque a sceClt!is inaudita,
�128
Requiem for Pius IX ill Slz.wglzai.
hztegros Petri excessit amzos, Orbi tmnm vi'sus cat!tolico, Vixi'sse satis, Rzter Pmztifex Jl!agi'ster, Sedulus ad exemplum.
. Salve anima inclita, Summis recepta sideribus, Immamlata:
quam assentisti virginis, Fmere triumplzzs, Prr.esmtique sospites
ope Ecclesiam.
Upwards of forty priests, assisted by nearly as many acolytes, thurifers, etc., took part in the service, the Rev. Father
Chauvin, S. J., with a deacon and sub-deacon, officiating at
the altar during.Mass; Father Des Jacques, S. J., directing
the entire· ceremonial, which was very complicated. The
choir was·composed of about fifty voices, and was supplemented by a harmonium and violins; while the St. Cecilia
brass band, with drums, occupied one of the transept galleries, and after the Gospel and during the offertory played
triumphal marches very effectively, the whole being under
the direCtion of Father Basuiau, S. J., who also composed the triumphal marches and other portions of the
Requiem. After the Mass, the ceremony of absolution was
performed, and this was one of the most striking portions
of the service. The whole of the priests-many of them
attired in glittering robes of black and gold, the others in
less showy raiment-the acolytes and thurifers wearing
scarlet and white-entered in proc~ssion from both sides of
the church-and, followed by thei; attendants, filed into the
altar space within the rails, until they completely filled it;
and then, to wailing strains of music, proceeded to perform
the final solemnity. Headed by a large silver processional
cross, the whole body of priests moved in slow march and
took up a position round the catafalque, the band playing a
Dead· March. Holy water was then used, and amid clouds
of incense, the mournful cadence of tolling bells, and subdued harmony, the last solemn rites were performed, and
the impc,sing procession retired in the same order as it advanced.
In·a ftw minutes afterwards the Cathedral was deserted
by the irr mense congregation of foreigners and Chinese,
who had filled it in all parts from whence a view of the
solemn ceremony could be obtained.
�Jrfission of Madura, etc.
129
Yesterday afternoon, a Te Deum was sung in honor of the
new Pope Leo XIII.; and the St. Cecilia band played appropriate seleCtions of music at the beginning and end of
the service."
MISSION OF MADURA.
Our Fathers in Madura have much to do because of the
smallness of their own number and the greatness of that of
the spreaders of Protestantism. With all their earnestness
and self-sacrifice they can visit their flocks but once a year,
and can then give them but a few days only. For the remaining eleven months, consequently, the faithful are for
the most part without a priest to instruCt: them, to administer the Sacraments, and to help the dying. For many years
the Protestants have been hard at work. In the south they
have a Normal School for teachers, a sort of Seminary for
the forming of native catechists, a large Seminary for native
ministers and a vast printing-office for the diffusion of error
and calumnies against Catholics, in books as well as in a
daily paper. In the southern distriCt: alone they have five
hundred and ninety native teachers, all carefully formed,
and one hundred and forty female teachers for the education of girls. The pupils number twelve thousand three
hundred and fifteen. Their enthusiasm in other parts of the
mission is of the same stamp ; and yet the people of India
come to us more willingly, as well on account of their disgust at the coldness and absence of outward pomp in the
Protestant worship, as because of the vexations they suffer
or see others suffering at the hands of Protestant agents.
Our Fathers are awaiting the arrival of more missionaries
in order to undertake the conversion of the pagans. There
is a fine harvest, but there are no workmen to gather it in.
In the south there are one million four hundred and fifteen
thousand six hundred and ninety-eight pagans, to fortyseven thousand seven hundred and seventeen Catholics and
fifty-five thousand Protestants. In the north the pagans are
even more numerous and the Catholics of smaller number:
�Ji1issimz of Jlfadura, etc.
there being three million one hundred and forty-six thousand one hundred and nine pagans, forty-seven thousand
and seventeen Catholics, and nine thousand six hundred
Protestants. In the central district the Catholics number
fifty-two thousand nine hundred and eighty-two, the pagans
one million two hundred and eighty thousand four hundred
and the Turks forty-nine thousand five hundred and ninety-two. In this distritl: alone, therefore, there are one million
three hundred and twenty-nine thousand nine hundred and
ninety·tiVo to be converted. Each Father"of Madura would,
according lo these figures, have, besides five or six thous-~nd
·.Christians to attend to, two hundre~ thousand pagans to
convert.
·In the northern district there are fifty-three churches and
one hundred and sixty-four chapels. The Fathers are
helped in their work by Religious of various congregations.
At Trichinopoly there are native-born Brothers of Our
Lady of the Seven Dolors, who take care of orphans and
teach school. European nuns of the Congregation of Marie Reparatrice have a very large establishment in the city,
containing an orphanage in which they have at present one
hundred girls, an hospital, house for catechumens, etc. There
is also in Trichinopoly a convent of fifteen Sisters, nativeborn, of Our Lady of the Seven D~lors, who, besides having a boarding-school in their own home, have a large
school for externs in the central part of the city. At the
request of the Propaganda, asylums are founding for widows
of high caste, who are not allowed to re-marry. The Sisters of St. Ann have undertaken this charge and that of
preparing widows for the office of baptizing. We are about
to open in their convent a home for destitute pagan women
over sixty years of age. The· nuns will prepare them for
baptism and take care of them till they die, thus imitating
the Little Sisters of the Poor.
The. Propaganda requires the starting in the Apostolic
Vicariates of India of schools like that of the Government,
�1lfission of Madura, etc.
131
in which young men may be made able to pass the English
University examinations. The college of Nagapatam, the
corps of teachers of which is as large as that of a French
college, fully answers this demand. In one of the four
schools of Trichinopoly similar preparation is made.
In the central district of Marava there are seventee~
schools with three hundred and forty-four pupils. The
English language is employed in the schools of Dindigul .
and Madura. The orphanage at Dindigul has at present
one hundred occupants, most of whom work in the fields.
At Sarougany they have opened a house for catechumens
and an hospital in which a great deal of good has been done
during the famine. In this district there _are thirty-six
churches and three hundred <tnd twenty-nine-chapels.
In the south there are forty-four churches and forty-three
chapels; twenty-six schools attended by seven hundred and
eighty-five boys; six schools frequented by one hundred
and ninety-seven girls; an orphanage for boys under the
care of one of our Fathers ; another for girls under the
management of the Sisters of the Congregation of Our Lady
of the Seven Dolors ; a house for cat~chumens and an hospital for Christians and pagans alike.
WE HAVE received from France a pamphlet of 124 pages
(lithograph) with the title, "Gnices et Guerisons Extraordinaires Attributes a /'intercession des Peres 0/ivaint, Ducoudray, Caubert, Clerc et de Bmgy." It contains an account
of some thirty most remarkable favors obtained by persons
who had invoked the intercession of our martyred brethren.
In several cases the attestations of physicians, ecclesiastical
superiors, etc. are given in full. We give here one of the
briefest, though not one of the most striking of the accounts,
that, namely, of the cure of an Augustinian nun at the Hospital of Saint Quentin.
"Through the intercession of Father Olivaint, a miracle
was wrought at the Hospital of St. Quentin. A religious,
�132
Varia.
Sister St. John, was seized with a cancer in the stomach.
It had reached the throat and prevented her from taking
any nourishment. She suffered very much. Mr. Cordier,
the physician of the hospital, told the Superior that medicine
was no longer of any avail to the sufferer, and that nothing
£hort of a miracle could save her.
"Sister St. John was encouraged by this thought, and addressed herself to Father Olivaint, asking of our good Lord,
through his intercession, her cure or her death within eight
hours; an~ the community prayed for the same intention
during this lime. At the end of eight hours she was wholly
cured, and asked to rise.
"The arch-priest was sent for, and, coming immediately,
asked Sister St. John whether she felt well enough to chant
the Te Deum. She intoned it at once, and sang the whole
of it, together with the llfagnijicat. On the following day
she hearu Mass in the chapel and received Holy Communion. She went to the refectory with the rest of the community, as if she had never been sick.
"This event gave rise to much excitement at St. Quentin,
and many persons weut to see Sister St. John."
VARIA.
Incorporation of Las Vegas College, N. M- The bill of in·
corporation, which our Fathers of New Mexico presented
to the Legislature of Santa Fe, was an exact copy of that
which the Sisters of Loretto and the Christian Brothers
presented four years ago to the same Assembly. The peti·
tion of the Sisters and Brothers was approved by the Ter·
ritorial Legislature and afterwards confirmed by Congress in
·washington. The Governor of New Mexico put his veto
on the' bill presented by our Fathers, after it had passed the
Legislature by a large majority. The message of the Gov·
ernor with the veto was published in the last number of
�Varia.
133
our LETTERS. A few newspapers of the Territory, political
organs of Mr. Axtell, followed up the attack on the Society,
by adding new calumnies to those which were contained in
the insulting message. The old Monita Secreta and many
other slanders taken from "Pascal's Letters" were published
in the New llfc.rican of Santa Fe, and in the Gaccta of Las
Vegas. The Rczn'sta Cato!ica, a weekly paper published by
our Fathers in, Las Vegas. answered these falsehoods with
wit and vigor, but at the same time with prudence. Many
other papers published in the territory, as well as in Colorado and other States, congratulated the Rez,ista Catolica
and eventually defended the rights of our Fathers.
The first result of this storm is a constant increase of
pupils in the new College of Las Vegas, for which the bill
of incorporation was asked ; and besides a large accession to
the subscription list of the Rez,ista. Cato!ica. The aet of i~
corporation, however, has been annulled at Washington by
the Senate Committee on Territories, because, as they said,
the aa was in violation of seCtion 1889 of the revised statutes, which prohibits the legislative assemblies of Territories
from granting private charters or special privileges .
. By this aCl the Fathers were authorized to hold every
class of real and personal property, which was made exempt
from taxation. It was also provided that the college might
make such by-laws and rules for its government as would
not be in violation of the constitution and laws of the United States or of the Ter~itory.
Our Fathers of New Mexico are now_ awaiting more favorable circumstances for proposing the bill again to the Legislature, and w.e cordially wish them success in their next
effort to obtain all they need for advancing th.e greater glory •
of God.
Marquette's Monummt.-"At the fifth annual meeting of
the Michigan State Pioneer Society, Rev. Duffield, D. D.,
one of the members, paid eloquent tribute to the illustrious
VoL. vii-No. 2.
18
�134
Varia.
missionary, Father James l\larquette. Bancroft prophesied
that 'the people of the \Vest would build his monument,'
and Mr. Duffield said the time for it has come. 'There is
only one regret that I should have,' he writes to a friend,
'in the ereCtion of such a monument as Bancroft long since
prediCted, and that is that it should be built by our Catholic
friends alone. \Vill they not permit us all to unite in itMichigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and the whole Northwestand do him honor? the monument to b~ of the natural
rocks in that immediate vicinity, and which have been so
long waiting, apparently for a noble purpose.' "
The Lansing (l\Iich.) Republicall, of April 30, says: "Rev.
George Duffield, of this city, has received a letter from Jas.
H. Dormer, of Buffalo, N.Y., in reference to the ereCtion
of a monument to Marquette, the great explorer, at Mackinac, near where his grave \vas recently discovered. It is
proposed that an association be formed for ereCting this
monument, with Senator Ferry as President, and the Governors of Michigan, ·wisconsin and Illinois as Vice Presidents, and leading men of all religious denominations in
the \Vest as associates. Although Marquette was a Roman
Catholic and a Jesuit, geographical discoveries and his personal heroism were conspicuous, al}d deserve to be remembered. It is said that one thousa.nd dollars have already
been pledged in the State of New York, nine-tenths of it by
Protestants, for the erecrion of a suitable monument to the
man who is now only remembered in the shadowy pages of
history, and in his name being attached to a city, a county,
and in part a railroad. It is suggested the latter part of July
will be a favorable time to take acrion at Mackinac relative
to the proposed monument, as a greater number of summer
visitors are then on the memorable island than at any other
period."
D. 0. M.
�WOODSTOCK 'LETTERS.
VOL. VII, No. 3·
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE,
Jrs
EARLY HISTORY, WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ITS
FOUNDER, AND EXTRACTS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE.
(CoNtinued.)
The final triumph of the American arms in the war of
Independence led to negotiations on both sides for a cessation of hostilities, and a treaty of peace was signed at Paris
by commissioners from England and America, Nov. 30th,
I782: a more definite one, Sept. 3d, 1783, settled all matters
in dispute. Three months after, the American army disbanded. On the 23d of December, I783, the Commanderin-chief of the American forces repaired to Annapolis,
where Congress was at the time in session, and surrendered
his military authority to those who had conferred it upon
him.
In this interval, Rev. Mr. Carroll's attention was drawn
to the objectionable relations subsisting between the Maryland clergy and the country from which the American people had just wrung their independence. Rev. Mr. Lewis's
~osition as ecclesiastical superior under a Bishop resident
tn England, seemed to him inconsistent with the political
order now established: and indeed Mr. Lewis himself took
(135)
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the same view. l\Ieetings of the clergy were called during
1783, to consider the subject, and also to take measures for
the protection of the property interests committed to their
charge. Considering Rev. Mr. Carroll's views on the latter
topic; as expressed in the correspondence already quoted,
it.is not difficult to surmise his active agency in procuring
these meetings, as the documents and correspondence preceeding them would doubtless show, were they at hand.
In these conferences, first or last, his plan of an "Academy"
was considered, developing subsequently into the establishment of GEORGETOWN CoLLEGE. But before proceeding to
narrate the business transacted at the meetings, the following extract from Campbell's biography * of our founder,
seems an appropriate introduction. It was the growth of the
more tolP.rant sentiments of their fellow-countrymen, as here
described, that held up the hands of these venerable missionaries, in the work they now entered upon :-which inspired these orphaned sons of the persecuted and maligned
Socjety of Jesus with new activity, in the prospect of reaping with joy, in the field of religion, the fruits, that had
hitherto been gathered by them with tears.
"Several circumstances during the progress of the revolutionary war had contributed to remove or diminish the prejudices entertained in many states· against the Catholic
religion. \Vhile engaged in the formation of constitutions,
their citizens were led to study the principles of li~erty in
their practical application to government; and the injustice
of proscribing men for their religious belief, or for their
mode of worshipping the Almighty, was generally admitted.
But long settled habits of intolerance still kept alive, in
many places, feelings of aversion to a religion wh(ch they
only knew from the misrepresentations of their English
ancestors-who, the spoilers of church property, sought to
justify themselves in their ill-gotten possessions, by misrepresentations of the doctrines, and slanderous imputations
'~"Life
and Time,," &c. U.S. Cath. )lag. for 1844, p. 370.
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137
ag~inst the morals of the plundered and proscribed Catholics. Until the revolutionary war, the worship of God, according to the rites of the Catholic church, had never been
praCtised in New England. And the solemn farce in commemoration ofthe deliverance from the gunpowder plot,*
was performed in many places to keep up a holy horror for
the abominations of popery. Even Rhode Island-the Ian d
of 'Roger ·williams-had such exhibitions; and in Charleston, South Carolina, as late as 1774, the pope and the devil
were made performers in the same pageant.t The alliance
with France, however, and the aid of her Catholic armies
to the cause of American independence, dissipated some of
the mists of prejudice, and when the French fleet approached
Rhode Island the laws against Catholics were repealed.
When those who had been so far the dupes of misrepresentations and intolerance as to believe that Catholics are as
ignorant and debased as their calumniators had represented
them to be-beheld the accomplished and respeCtable officers of the French army and navy, and the gallant Kosciusko, Pulaski; &c. &c. piously engaged in the most solemn
exercises of the Catholic religion, they learned to respeCt
what they had before scoffed at. The French regiments and
ships were accompanied by priests as chaplains, and in the
march through the country, Catholic worship was frequently
performed in the meeting houses of other denominations.
The faCt: too that many catholic citizens had contributed by
their services and their labors to the achievement of independence, had established a claim to liberty of conscience
that silenced the bigot and the persecutor, and justified
Catholics in their exertions to place their Church upon an
equal with the members of other denominations. On the
conclusion of the revolutionary war, and the restoration of
*For a severe reproof by Washington'hilllflelf of the "ridiculous and child·
ish custom of burning the effigy of the Pope," see extract from his Orderly
Book, Nov. 5th. 1775, quoted by Sparks, Vol. III. p. 144.
t Drayton's Memoirs.
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peace by the treaty of 1783, the Catholic clergy were anxious
to adopt regulations for their own government, and for the
preservation and management of the property held for the
benefit of religion, which, being in the names of individuals
in confidential trust, it was impossible to take precautions
to guard against the alienation of it by death or any other
cause.
"A letter from several of the clergy having been addressed
to Rev. Mr. Lewis, vicar of the bishop of London for Maryland and Pennsylvania, &c. &c., and superior at the time of
the dissolution of the Society of Jesus, praying that he
would attend a meeting which they conceived to be absolutely necessary for the preservation and well government
of all matters and concerns of the clergy, and the service
of religion in those countries, Mr. Lewis expressed his entire
approbation of the design, and notice was accordingly given
to the Clergy generally of the time and place of meeting
and their attendance requested.
"<)n the 27th of June, 1783, the first meeting was held at
\Vhiterilarsh, Prince George's county, at which were present
Revds. John Carroll, John Ashton, Charles Sewell, Bernard
Diderick, Sylvester Boarman, who attended in their own
behalf as clergymen in the service o(· this country; and
Leonard Neale in behalf of himself and "Ignatius Mathews,
Lewis Roels *and John Bolton, residing at Port Tobacco,
Maryland. The objeCt: was agreed to be, to establish a
form of government for the clergy, and lay dowri rules for
administration and government of their property.
"At this meeting, the first draft of a form of government
,1, Louis Benjamin Roels, born in Belgium in 1732, enterred the Society in
1753, and came to J\Iaryland in 1761. He died at St. Thomas' l\Ianor, Port
·Tobacco, Feb. 27th, 1794. No details are preserved in regard to him.
John Bolton, an Englishman and a Professed Father, born in 1742, entered
the Society in 1761, and came to :Maryland in 1771. Our US. record assigns
the year 1805 as the date of his death', but Oliver is probably more correct in
the date he gives, Sept. 9th, 1809. Bp. Carroll in announcing his death to C.
Plowden, said, "though he was not a man of learning, he achieved much good
by his zeal and piety."
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139
was made, which was revised at a second meeting at the
same place on the 6th of November following, by delegates
of all the clergy: namely, Revds. John Lewis for the northern distriCt:, which comprised the whole of Pennsylvania
and the eastern shore of Maryland ; John Carroll and Bernard Diderick for the middle distriCt:, composed of all that
part of the western shore of Maryland which is north of
Charles county; and Ignatius Matthews and James Walton
for the southern distriCt:, composed of Charles and St. Mary"s
counties, and the regulations were completed at a third
meeting at the same place, on the 1 Ith of OB:ober, 1784,
'and declared to be binding on all persons at present composing the body of clergy in Maryland and Pennsylvania.' "
In reference to the custody of the estates, the regulations
finally adopted were embraced in a series of nineteen articles,* a brief summary of which may here be given. The
chapter or representative body of the clergy, clothed with
general control of the whole property, was to consist of
deputies, two in number from each of the three districts
above-mentioned. The chapter was to meet at least every
three years, and rules are added providing for any vacancies
that might occur in it. A procurator, with the power of
administering the estate and distributing their revenues, but
without faculties for alienating any portion of them, was to
be chosen from the general body of the clergy, at a salary
of forty pounds, or one hundred and six dollars, which was
no doubt thought a very respeCtable compensation at the
time. The existence of a Superior in spirituals is supposed ;
and his salary is fixed at what must have been a munificent
sum, a hundred pounds, or four hundred and forty-four dollars, "together with a servant, a chair and a horse"-"chair"
meaning, no doubt, "chaise." The pay of individual members of the clergy was fixed at a very moderate rate, and
regulations were adopted for admitting new members, as
Withdrawing support from unworthy members. Article
• ~fore fully given in "Life and Times," page 371, etc.
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XIV. provides as follows: "\Vith respeCt: to members aCtually forming part of the body of the clergy, there shall be
no arbitrary power of removing them at will, or for greater
convenience ; but when a vacancy happens, which the good
of religion requires to be supplied, the members of the
Chapter of the district in which the vacancy lies, shall endeavor to prevail upon the person they judge fittest, to accept of the vacant charge, application having first been made
to the Superior in spiritua!ibus."
·
Article XIX. provides that "the person invested with the
spiritual jurisdicrion in this country, shall not, in that capacity, have any power over or in the temporal property of the
clergy." Some supplementary provisions prescribe "tha.t
when two or more clergymen reside together, a system of
equality shall be observed, and every idea of dependence on,
or subjeCl:ion of one to the other, must be excluded." A
standing committee was appointed, consisting of Reverends
John Lewis, Thos. Digges and Ferdinand Farmer, to whom
aU qifferences were to be referred that might arise among
the clergy. Provision was also made for Masses for deceased members.
The clergy who formed these regulations were all former
members of the Society, and alth9_ugh only ten years had
elapsed since its suppression, their liopes were ever confidently turned towards its early restoration. The solicitude,
therefore, with which they guarded its former property may
easily be understood. They affirmed, furthermore, at each
of the two latter meeting, in November, 1783, and OC!:ober,
I 784, that they would "to the best of their power promote
and effeCt: an absolute and entire restoration to the Society
of Jesus (if it should please Almighty God to re-establish it
in this country), of all the property formerly belonging to it;
and if any person who has done good and faithful services
to rel!gion in this country should not enter with the Society,
so re-established, he is, nevertheless, to receive equal maintenance whilst he continues to render the same services,
�Georgetown College.
and to be provided for, as others, in old age and infirmity."*
Finally, the Rev. John Ashton, the individual indicated by
Rev. Mr. Carroll four years previously as the most suitable
person for such an office, was chosen Procurator General.
In the interval between the first and second meetings of
the clergy at \Vhitemarsh, Rev. Mr. Carroll says, in a letter
from Rock Creek, under date of September 26th, 1783, to
)lis friend Plowden: "\Ve are endeavoring to establish some
regulations tending to perpetuate a succession of laborers in the vineyard, to preserve their morals, to prevent
idleness, and to secure an equitable and frugal administration of our temporals. An immense field is open to the
zeal of apostolic men. Universal toleration throughout this
immense country, and innumerable Roman Catholics going
into the new regions bordering on the Mississippi, perhaps
the finest in the world, and impatiently clamorous for clergymen to attend them." t
Other portions of the above letter, which seems to have
touched upon a variety of topics, are found scattered here
and there in Campbell's "Life and Times."! In reference
to a memorial which Mr. Plowden had forwarded to the
Austrian Emperor, asking compensation for the robberies
committed at Bruges by the Imperial authorities, at the
time ofthe expulsion of the Jesuits from that city, the writer says: "If the Emperor is desirous of establishing indeed
the characrer of justice and impartial administration which
he so much affecrs, he cannot refuse a demand so undeniably just." But Mr. Carroll thought that from one who exhibited the traits that charaCterized Joseph II. little was to
be expecred; for, says he: "I cannot help thinking that
every prince who strives so much to concentre all power
within himself; to destroy every other exercise of authority,
*"Life and Times," page 27:l.
tSee pages 363, 663 and 79:l, United States Catholic Magazine for 1844.
t Brent's Biographical Sketch, page 57.
VoL. vu-No. 3·
19
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however respectable and ancient; to render the condition of
his subjects precarious by obliging many to relinquish the
state they were engaged in under the sanction of all the
laws sacred and civil; I say th1.t I cannot help thinking
that every such prince is in his dispo~ition a despotical
tyrant."
The following extract concerns affairs nearer home. The
sturdy American spirit Of the pastor of Rock Creek and
the insular prejudices of his British friend are brought finely
into relie(' Mr. Carroll writes: "You tell me that you
perceived-fhat in my last I was afraid of entering into politics; but that you will force me into the subjeCt. Indeed, '
my dear Charles, 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 sentiments with
the utmost freedom. But when I was writing to you I had
so many other subjects nearer to my heart to talk of, that I
suppose I left them (the political ones) to the public papers.
You have adopted the language of some of the prints on
your side of the water, by representing us under imperious
leaders, and the trammels of France; but alas ! our imperious leaders, by whom I suppos~_.you mean the 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 has at all times been a difficult
matter to get men disinterested and patriotic enough to ac·
cept 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 magnanimity
and moderation, and have repaid it with an honorable fidelity to our engagements. By both of us proceeding on these
prin~iples, the war has been brought to an issue, with which,
if you are pleased, all is well, for we are certainly satisfied."
The younger Pitt was in his twenty-iourth year, at the time
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143
just rising into distinCtion, and Mr.' Carr'oll remarks: "I
sincerely rejoice that the son of my favorite, the late Chatham, conduEts himself with such ability and integrity. You
did not expeCt: so much perhaps from an American;· and indeed we should b~ _excusable (if not as Christians, at least
politically) for not bearing you much good will in return for
all the lies and misrc!prc:sentations which many of your
soured and indignant countrymen·. are· every day coining
about us." In another place, he says: "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 parliam~:ntary
taxation, 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 fait!tless leaders and fait!t!ess
allies, aft~:r which we will be done with politics."
The following passage couples two names of former
brethren of Mr. Carroll's in the Society, whose subsequent
career in life afforded a contrast as wide as it is possible to
imagine. One became afterwards his coadjutor in the See
of Baltimore, President of Georgetown College, and finally
Archbishop. The other, Rev. Mr. Wharton, a scion, like
Rev. Mr. Neale, of an old Catholic family of Maryland and
a relation of Mr. Carroll's, became the foremost apostate of
his day, infliCting, by his course, the bitterest anguish upon
him who here s·o charitably doubts the disparaging rumors
that had reached his ears in reference to him. "Since my
last to you, Messrs. Leonard Neale, from Demarara, and
Ch. vVharton have come into this country. Have seen the
latter only once, and propose returning his visit in about a
fortnight. I find him indeed possessed of considerable
�-~
144
Georgetrrum Col!ege.
knowledge, and endo\~ed with all those talents which render society agreeable. If upon a further acquaintance I discover any of those blemishes which s~me of his companions
in England thought they did, it would give me great con.
cern, and I should speak freely to him about them. He
has surely too much knowledge, and is too well grounded
in sound philosophy and sacred literature to adopt the incoherent and impious principles of modern infidelity."
The last-~xtraet that will be given here refers to the wonderful pres~.rvation of the Society in the Russian dominions ;
the Empress Catherine having refused to allow the Brief of
suppression to be published, and the members of the Society
in Russia being permitted by Clement XIV., who issued
the Brief, to remain in statu quo. His successor, Pius VI.,
approved of and encouraged them. The news that reached
Rev. Mr. Carroll, and to which doubtless he here refers, was
the eleCtion by the Russian Jesuits of a Superior-General
on the 25th of June, 1782; approved by Pius VI. the following March, six months before the present letter was
written: "God grant that the little beginning in White Russia may prove a foundation for ereCting the Society upon
once again; but I cannot help wishing that the protectress
of it were a more respeCtable chara(ter than she has often
been represented." The writer was destined not only to see
his pious wish accomplished, of the restoration of the Society
through the medium of the Fathers in Russia, but to be
himself the agent in receiving it from that country, and reestablishing it on the soil of Maryland.
- - - - - - - - - - --------N01'E.-Of the eight clerical delegates, besides Re\', John Carroll, who as·
sembled at the old Jesuit residence at \Vhitemarsh in 1783, and unconsciously
laid the foundations of the present hierarchy of the United States, some notice
is due in this place, omitting those that have been already mentioned. (see foot
notes, pages 76, 77, 138.)
Jon::s LEWIS, born iu 1721, probably in England, entered the Society 1740,
came to :Maryland in 1750, and was professed eight years after. In what year
he succeeded Father George Hunter as Superior in )Jaryland does not appear.
It was probably shortly before the suppression of the Society in 1773. Thenceforward for eleven years he was Superior of the clergy, until succeeded by Mr.
J
l
�OBSEQUIES OF PIUS IX.
Through the kindness of several Fathers and Scholastics,
who have responded to the request made in our last number and in private letters, accounts have reached us from
various quarters of-the funeral services performed in our
Carroll in 178-!. He died at Bohemia, in Cecil co~nty, four years later. Dr.
Oliver adds to the few particulars he gives of him: "He oftren passed by the
name of Leppard. He was the mild Superior of his brethren in -:\Iaryland,
where he departed to our Lord, 2-!th of March, 1788. Dr. John Carroll, in a
letter dated the 20th of April, that year, movingly regrets the loss of this valuable Father." (No copy of the letter referred to is in the collections at hand.)
Dr. Oliver mentions another John Lewis, no account of whom appears in the
documents so far consulted for the purposes of this history. He says of him,
that he "finished his lengthened course in the Maryland :\fission, 6th April,
li95, aet. 74, Soc. 55, Prof. 37." He may be the same person mentioned by
Campbell as "Rev. John Lucas," residing at St. Inigoes in 177-!.
LEO:s-ARf\ NEALE, of a family which in his own and other generations has
been remarkably fruitful in religious vocations, was born in Charles county
in li-16. The founder of the family in -:\fa ryland, Capt. James Neale, settled
here in 1642. Capt. Neale had been previously in the confidential employ of
Charles I., and filled offices of trust and distinction in the colony, after taking
up his residence in it. His wife was a friend of Queen Henrietta l\Iaria, after
whom -:\Iaryland has been named. Leonard and his brother Charles were sent
to St. Orner's together, in 1758, to be educated, and both subsequently entered
the Society. After the suppression, Leonard repaired to England, whence, in
17i9, he set sail for Demarara. After four years of unavailing labor and hardships in that trying field, he came to Maryland in April, 1783, shortly before
the first Whitemarsh meeting. His subsequent record belongs in great part
to the history of Georgetown College. For a tiill biography, see volume I,
"Lives of Deceased Bishops" in the United States, by our alumnus, Richard
H. Clarke, LLD.
.
CHARLES SEWALL was born in St. -:\Iary's county, Md., 1774, at 1\fattapany
on the Potomac, sixteen miles north of St. Inigoes. Charles Calvert, third
Lord Baltimore, son of Cecilius, the founder of the colony, married a daughter of Hon. Henry Sewall of this family, and built at l\Iattapany a fortified
residence. Here he made his home from 1662 to 1684, when he returned to
England. His Lordship's fortress-home seems, however, not to have been
built in a very substantial manner, for the father of Charles was obliged to
substitute it by another, a fine brick residence near by, and no doubt still
standing. Charles and his younger brother Nicholas were sent over to St.
( 145)
�Obsequies of Pius /)(.
churches for the repose of the soul of our beloved Holy
Father, Pius IX. \Vant of spac~ forbids us to give in full
the details so kindly furnished by our correspondents ; we
must, therefore, content ourselves with the main outlines of
the celebration in each place.
The church of St. Ignatius, Baltimore, was heavily draped
in mourning. Large bands of black cloth hung in immense
festoons from the tops of the pilasters, as low as the stations,
including organ and sanCtuary in their circuit, while shorter
bands were ·looped from station to station. In front of th:::
sanCtuary stood twelve towering candlestick;, heavily draped.
Nearly in the centre of the church was the catafalque, surmounted by a casket which was covered with a heavy black
velvd pall bearing a large cross of white satin in its centre.
The canopy consisted of a broad band of black vel vet, studded
with silver stars, from which hung heavy black curtains relieved by a back-ground of white lace and looped back at
each corner to expose to view the catafalque beneath. FuOmer's in 1758, for their education. Like the Neale brothers th~y both became J esnits. Charles entered in 1764, became a professed Father, and returned to ~Iaryland in 1774. He finished his apostolical course November
lOth, 18013, says Oliver,-in 1805,.says our ~IS. necrology. incorrectly, no
doubt. Nicholas Sewall ne\•er returneLl to his pative country, but remained
in England, succeeded Rev. Charles Plowden.as Provincial in 18~1, and died
in 1834.
•
BERXARD DIDERICK, who, from his name, was probably of German birth,
is recorded in our local ~IS. as having come to ~Iaryland in July, 1784, which
is evidently incorrect, since the first "•hitemarsh meeting (at which his pres·
ence is recorded) was held more than a year before that date. Beyond the
prominent part he took in the proceedings at these meetings, nothing seems
to have been left on record in regard to him, except the event of his death,
which occured at "Notly Hall," July 3d, 1793.
SYLYESTER BoAR)IAN, the brother of Rev. John Boarman, who is men·
tioned by Oliver, while Sylvester is not, was a native ~Iarylander. Both were
no doubt sent to St. Orner's together, like the Neales, Sewalls and others, and
they are recorded as having returned to ~Iaryland together in 1774. Svlvester,
who was professed with the four vows while in Europe, died at N e'~port, in
his native county of Charles, January 7th, 1811; age not stated. His brother,
of whom Oliver says, "without much pretentious to talents, he proved a most
diligent and valuable missionary in his own country," preceded him to the
tomb, dying at Newtown, St. Mary's county, in li9i, aged fifty-four.
�Obsequies of Pius IX.
147
nereal plumes of white and black waved from the corners
of the canopy. The papal arms, a picture of the Pope and
flowers, completed the decorations.
The solemn l\Iass of requiem commenced at 9 o'clock on
:\Ionday, Feb. r8th, Rev. Father Me Gurk, Ret1or of Loyola College, was celebrant, assisted by Rev. Fr. Sheerin and
:\Ir. Becket. The music of the Mass was Gregorian. Rev.
Fr. Denny preached with more than wonted eloquence on
the virtues of him whom all christendom was mourning,
"the white robed warrior of the Vatican," and was listened
to with rapt attention for three quarters of an hour.
At St. Joseph's, Philadelphia, the Sunday-school children
took the lead in showing their grief for the death of the
Holy Father, who, during his life; had bestowed upon them
more than one mark of his kind regard. Sunday afternoon,
February roth, a short but touching service of thanksgiving
for his glorious works and of earnest prayer for his speedy
reward, took place in the Sunday-school chapel. "The
discourse of the Father Instructor was a heartfelt effusion,
and brought tears from youthful and manly eyes, and sighs
from innocent, sincere hearts.
On the following Sunday morning, the members of the
sodalities, in honor. of the Blessed Virgin, offered up their
Holy Communion for the repose of the soul of him whose
highest glory it is to have authoritatively declared Mary
Immaculate. The same was done by the Confraternity of
the Sacred. Heart on the succeeding Friday.
The solemn Mass of requiem was sung on Thursday Feb.
I{th, by Father Jamison, as Celebrant, Father Ardia, as
Deacon, and Father Romano, Sub-deacon. The church
was draped richly and heavily, but in good taste and without
any attempt at vulgar display. The catafalque was surrounded by mounds of fragrant flowers and trailing vines,
and by numerous tapers in alternate silver and gilt candelabra. A unique ornament, peculiar to St. Joseph's and very
much admired, was a tiara of white camelias, lilies of the
valley, and violets-the gift of a poor woman.
�Obsequies of Pius IX
Very Rev. Dr. Corcoran, of the Diocesan Seminary of
St. Charles Borromeo, delivered the sermon. It was a
thoughtful, learned, and earnest tribute to the memory of
the late Sovereign Pontiff, but unfortunately it was inaudible
to a great portion of the congregation.
The church of the Immaculate Conception, Boston, fdt
itself under an especial obligation to celebrate the Requiem
services with extraordinary solemnity. It was Pius IX. who
proclaimed that cherished dogma of our faith, the Immaculate Con~eption of the Blessed Mother of God; what place
then more..fitting in which to render homage to the memory
of the great Pontiff than the church dedicated to Our Lady
under that sacred title?
The Mass of requiem was celebrated on Thursday Feb.
21st at 10 o'clock. The mourning decorations and the
catafalque corresponded in grandeur to the solemnity of the
occasion. The church itself, usually so lightsome, was
darkened to- a solemn and sombre twilight, which w;ts singularly impressive.
The Young Men's Catholic Association occupied chairs
in front of the sanauary railing. Father O'Connor was
Celebrant, Father Charlier, Deacon, and Mr. Buckley, Subdeacon. The music of the Mass was from Verdi and Mozart
Father Fulton preached the ser~on. After a resume of
the great events and wise and noble aaions which con·
stantly marked the pontificate which had just come to an
end, he reviewed in a few words the relations of Pius IX.
with his fellow-men and in his private life. "If aught," said
he, "could have been found to censure in him, there were
not wanting those who were ready to point it out, yet, now
that he is dead, a chorus goes up from all the world paying
tribute to his charaaer. If you had once been admitted to
his presence, and had heard that voice so full of power and
tenderness, or observed the benignity of his countenance,
you could understand something of the personal love which
he inspired. There was no one who ever came under the
�Obsequies of Pius I X
149
influence of Pius IX. who did not love him. Shall we not
then call Pius IX., 'the Great'? But, whilst we have been
celebrating these obsequies for the dead, the news has spread
across the Atlantic of the auspicious eleaion of a successor.
Not that we shall forget Pius IX.-to him our prayers and
loving remembrance; but for Leo XIII. our loyalty and
loving obedience. The Pope is dead! Long live the Pope!"
The West was not behind the Ee1-;t in the testimonials of
her affeaion for Pius IX. In faa, the obsequies in the
western cities, agreeably to the charaaer of the people, had
perhaps even more of the nature of popular demonstrations
of emotion than was evident in those celebrated in the Atlantic sea-board towns.
At St. Xavier's, Cincinnati, special public prayers for the
repose of the soul of our beloved Holy Father were said
publicly on Sunday, Feb. the 10th and during the following
week, while many Communions were offered for the same
intention. _Besides these, fifteen hundred Holy Communions
were received in our church alone on the day set apart for
the memorial services.
In common with the rest of the clergy, Ours were waiting for his Grace, Most Rev. Archbishop Purcell, to take
the initiative. Owing to his absence from the city, no plan
was drawn up till it was too late to announce the intended
programme at the Sunday Masses. Thus the commemoration, solemn as it was, may be considered in the light of a
spontaneous and impr.:mzptu expression of Catholic feeling;
without the usual time devoted to preparation or the ordinary means of making the congregation aware of the appointed hour.
We take the following details from the daily newspapers
of the time:
From an early hour in the morning St. Xavier's church
Was crowded with worshippers. At half-past seven o'clock
Father Boex's scholars, of St. Xavier's parochial school,
met at St. Thomas' church, on Sycamore between Fifth and
VoL. VII-No. 3·
20
�Obsequies of Pius IX
Sixth streets, where each one of the thousand lads was giv- ·
en a piece of crape, which was tied around the arm and
decked with the Papal colors. They made a fine appearance, as two by two, they marched to the church. At eight
o'clock they filed into the centre and left doors, and placed
their society banners in front of the main altar. The female
scholars from the convent on Sixth street were also in attendance.
The solemn High Mass at nine o'clock was the principal
feature of the day's celebration. The day and night previous the thurch had been tastefully anu appropriately draped
in mourning by skilful and eager hands, under the superintendence of the reverend pastor, Father Rose, and an abundant supply of elegant and rich tropical plants procured
for the purposes of decoration. A rich catafalque, raised
some five feet from the floor, was placed immediately below
the railing in the upper part of the church. The floral designs were unique-a massive cross of flowers,,which was
covered with a pall, and over it a representation of the Rock
of Peter. Above the rock rested a snow-white dove with
outstretched wings, an emblem whose significanct: was not
lost on the lookers-on. A marble bust of Pius, executed
with excellent grace and finish, ·was placed immediately
below the cross, and around the"'.coffin hundreds of waxen
tapers and ornamental candles threw a mellow light on the
gorgeous decorations. On the floor and around the catafalque fragrant flowers were distributed. The steps leading
to the Communion-rail and the railing above the coffin were
almost concealed by lights, flowers and plants, and signs of
mourning, intermingled with delightful effect.
At nine o'clock solemn High Mass began with Rev.
Charles Driscol celebrant, Rev. Wm. Boex, deacon, Rev.
V. Putten, subdeacon; Mr. J. E. Kennedy, S. J., master
of ceremonies. The choir was at its best, and accom·
p an'ied by a full orchestra. Schmidt's Requiem Mass was
successfully and feelingly rendered under the direction of
�Obsequies of Pius IX.
151
Prof. Gerold. After the solemn Dies free, the Rev. H.
A. Schaapman, ascended the pulpit without giving any
text, for it was not his object to preach either a sermon or
a eulogy. He recounted the great deeds of the Pontificate
of Pius IX., but said that although these acts distinguished
him above other Popes, they did not form his personal merit. If we consider his life we shall find-and this is what
we must carry away with us as the fruit of this day's devo-.
tion and treasure up for future thought-that Pius IX. was
great, because he never swerved from duty and never lost
sight of the ideal which he had formed in the beginning of
his Pontificate. Principle was his, and duty dictated the uncompromising 1toll possumus with which he met every attempt to make him bow to the accomplished facts which
seemed to demand a surrender of his rights. This is the
clear lesson of his life, and is an example which each one
can imitate. The preacher's manner was earnest and wholesouled, and evidently made a deep impression on his
hearers.
On the 26th of February the collegiate literary exercises
were held in commemoration of Pius IX. ·They consisted
of readings, declamations and an excellent eulogy of our
late Holy Father, all delivered by members of the Philopa=dian Society of the college. The faculty of the college, the
Acolytical Society, the German Literary Society, and the
members of the Collegiate Department were present.
At the church of the Holy Family, Chicago, the usual
Mass was held at eight o'clock, and at that hour the church
was quite full. At this Mass the Rev. Fr. Koopmans was
celebrant, administering holy Communion to an unusually
large number of persons. The office of the dead commenced about nine o'clock. The sight of the congregation
within that spacious and richly ornamented church, as seen
from the upper galleries, was one not to be soon forgotten.
The lofty altar, than which there is no more ornate shrine
Within any great church in the \Vest, was completely covered
�Obsequies of Pius IX.
with sable vestments. The tabernacle of the Holy Eucharist was concealed within long hangings of black velvet and
satin, its place being marked with but a simple golden crucifix which was shrouded in white lace. Not a vestige of
ornament or picture, unnecessary light or color, could be
observed anywhere.
At the head of the main aisle, just resting at the foot of
the altar, was a plumed and draped catafalque, on each side
of which burned three lofty tapers in golden candlesticks.
The bier~was covered with a crimson pall, on the surface of
which a stole, the keys of Peter, and the papal tiara were
richly embroidered in gold and colors.
The office of the dead being finished, the Requiem Mass
was. begun. Father Schultz was celebrant, Father Lambert,
Deacon, 1\Ir. Schlechter, S.J.Sub-deacon. Among the clergy
present were Rev. Father Thos. H. Miles, President of the
College, Father R. ]. Meyer, Vice-President, and preacher
of the day, Fathers O'Neill, Van den Eerden, De Blieck, and
other Fathers and Scholastics of St. Ignatius College.
The musical setting of the Mass was by Franz. Schmidt,
a churchlike composition of much feeling, which was excel·
lently sung.
Father Meyer's sermon was '6ased upon the following
verses of scripture from the forty-fifl:h chapter of the book
of Ecclesiasticus, which, it will be seen, form a remarkably
appropriate text :
"Beloved of God, and men; whose memory is in benediction.
''He made him like the saints in glory, and magnified
him in the fear of his enemies, and with his words he made
prodigies to cease.
"He glorified him in the sight of kings, and gave him
commandments in the sight of His people, and showed him
His glory.
"He sanCtified him in his faith and meekness, and chose
him out of all flesh.
�Obsequies of Pius l.X.
153
"For he heard him and his voice, and brought him into
a cloud.
"He made an everlasting covenant with him, and gave
him the priesthood of the nation, and made him blessed in
glory.
"He gave him a holy robe of gqld and blue and purple,
a woven work, of a wise man, endued with judgment and
truth.
"And a crown of gold upon his mitre wherein was engraved Holiness, an ornament of honor."
The preacher dwelt upon the grcatucss of Pius IX., analyzing its true charaCter and extent, and drawing from it an
impressive lesson of moral firmness and devotion to the
Church for the spiritual benefit of his hearers.
At the close of the sermon the "Libera me" was beautifully sung by the chorus to some grand old Gregorian tones
and the Mass was then proceeded with to the end.
At St. Xavier'!> church, St. Louis, the services began by
the chanting of the office of the dead. Father Hill, in his
sermon, considered the life of Pius IX. rather from a philosophical point of view, showing how his mission was to repair that great scandal, the Reformation, and how the whole
aCl:ion and tendency of his pontificate was the direCt contradiCl:ion and refutation of the innumerable systems of error
which have taken their rise from that source. He had to
face errors starting from nearly every first principle of reason
and extending over all species of matter, all objeCl:s of human knowledge and volition ; the nature of God, the nature
and destiny of man, the nature of the visible world, and
every known objeCl: in it.
The nations that followed out to their end the principles
of the Reformation are called back by Pius IX. to the true
first principles that God revealed.
The services terminated by the singing of the psalm
"Miserere," in Gregorian chant.
Here also, as in Cincinnati, the students of the University
�154
Obsequies of Pius IX.
gave separate expression to their grief for him who had so
much at heart the interests of Catholic education, and especially of Catholic UnivP.rsities. The Philalethic Society
held a public session at which essays and poems were read
and orations delivered in honor of the deceased Pontiff.
Detroit, although the last established of all our Western
colleges, was not behind the others in the te,;timonials of
her affetl:ion for Pius IX.
"The solemn Requiem Mass for Pope Pius IX. celebrated at the ~hurch of SS. Peter and Paul," says the Detroit
"Home Journal," "was largely attended. Rev, Fr. Miege,
was the celebrant; Rev. Fr. Brady, Deacon; Rev. Fr. Erley,
Sub· deacon; Mr. Grimmelsman, S. J. Master of Ceremonies.
Rev. Frs. Real, Donovan and Van den Driesche were present in the santl:uary, which was most elaborately decorated
and brilliantly illuminated with candles and gas jets tastefully arranged.
The church was draped in mourning, and the light was
excluded, so that the sombre appearance lent much to the
solemnity of the celebration. In front of the santl:uary
stood the magnificent catafalque. It was three stories high
and covered with the richest velvet b.raided with silver. The
whole was strewn with the choicest flowers in great profusion.
The area surrounding the catafalque was a forest of tropical
plants, while nearly one thousand lights and jets of gas,
mingling with these, presented a most striking pitl:ure, and
so impressed the people that they could with difficulty
withdraw their gaze from it."
Mr. Grimmelsman's newly organized Society of Acolytes~
thirty in number, assisted at the services, dressed in purple
cassocks and pure lace surplices, while a scarf of black
cloth fell from their shoulders. Mozart's grand Requiem
Mass,was sung by the choir.
At the Gospel, Rev. Fr. Walsh, delivered a splendid
tribute to the deceased Pontiff. He showed how the three
great virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity, which dwelling in
I
�Obsequies
of Pius IX. .
155
the soul make the saint, shone in the life of Pius IX., and
constituted an imperative claim that we should venerate
him, and that his children "should rise up and call him
blessed."
At San Francisco, it had been previously announced in
the church of St. Ignatius, that a Requiem Mass would be
celebrated on vVednesday, February zoth, in honor of the
deceased Pontiff, and the faithful of the congregation had
been recommended to approach Holy Communion on that
day in union with the above intention, and, also, for the
Conclave then in session. In accordance with this suggestion, multitudes went to Holy Communion, and received
from the Fathers, at the hands of an acolyte, as a precious
memento of the occasion, a medal blessed by Pius IX., at
the time of the visit of Very Rev. A. Varsi, the present Su~
peri or of the Society in this city.
The decorations of the church by their magnificence
manifested the ardor of affeCl:ion and reverence in which the
Holy Pontiff is held by the Fathers, mariy of whom are Italians and were personal acquaintances of his Holiness.
Thousands of yards of soft black and white material encircled the walls, looped in graceful festoons and fastened
with rosettes. The eighteen pillars which support the gal·
leries were covered closely with black, as were also the
chancel walls and arched ceiling of the sanCl:uary __:_ the
altar-piece of which, covered also in black, was rendered
very effeCl:ive by a massive white cross of stately proportions which appeared as if planted in front of it, and brought
into bold relief by the black back-ground.
Twelve pews had been removed 'from the body of the
church, direCl:ly in front of the high altar to give space for
the dais that was to serve as the foundation supporting the
catafalque and memorial monument. This dais arose in a
succession of five stages or steps, painted in close imitation
ofblack-veined marble, and on these were arranged innumerable bouquets of flowers in costly vases of Bohemian and
�. Obsequies of Pius IX
other rare and exquisite wares-delicate wreaths of pure
white camillas, interwoven with religious designs-the anchor of hop~. the cro:;s of faith, the heart of charity, the
coat of arms of the dead Pontiff, all with the most cunning
skill of the florist's art. On the floor stood six tall candlesticks surrounding the catafalque; on the upper steps at
each of the four corners a large golden candelabrum, bearing nine lights and a very large bouquet, and in every available spot were smaller candelabra bearing wax candles.
On this black-veined marble dais rested the coffin. It was
draped in ;·very rich gold-fringed silk pall, and had at the
head, resting on a black velvet cushion fringed also with
gold, the triple crown, a silver and gold tiara. It seemed,
indeed, the lying in state of a right royal monarch, one not
disowned by an envious brotherhood.
The space occupied by the catafalque was marked by four
short columns, formed in clusters of three, and painted in
imitation of red porphyry, which supported the base of the
fine!y proportioned monumental obelisk in white marble
rising grandly thirty-two feet, and terminated by an elegant
cross that almost reached to the frescoes of the roof.
The face of the pedestal of the obelisk, looking towards
the entrance, presented a fine portra_it of the benignant Pius,
by Tojetti, the Italian Catholic ard~t~ who boasts of numbering among his patrons the illustrious Pope. The por·
trait is a bust robed in red vestments and surrounded by a
crown composed, the lower portion, of oak leaves with the
young acorns, significant of stability and fortitude, so characteristic of Pi us I X. ; and the upper portion, of the victor's
laurel also putting forth its fruit.
In the midst of all this decoration stood the pulpit arrayed
in its mourning robes with such modesty and becomingness
as to suggest that the decorator had in his mind's eye, while
he d<_!signed, the unassuming Jesuit as its only occupant.
The celebrant of the Mass was Very Rev. A. Varsi, the
Superior. He was assisted by Rev. Fr. Messea as deacon,
�Obsequies of Pius I X
157
J., as sub-deacon, and 1\'lr. Crowley, S. J.,
the prefeCt of the SanCtuary Society, as master of ceremonies.
The sermon was preached by Rev. Fr. Buchard. During
its course, as he pronounced the words; "We do not mourn
as those without hope," a sudden gleam of sunshine broke
with a startling radiance through the clouds which had darkened the sky.
The music for the occasion consisted of the Requiem,
Kyrie and San{lus from Mozart's fifteenth Mass; the Libera
and Dies Ira: from Rossi ; Offertory and Agmts Dei from
Amb'roise Thomas, and a quartet I! Sa!uto a Pio Nono from
Verdi, which was sung after the sermon and the Libera.
We have kept for the last, two accounts which will perhaps have more interest for our readers than any of the
preceding- those of the Requiem Mass at Las Vegas in
the New Mexico Mission, and of the funeral services among
the Cceurd'alene Indians of the Rocky Mountain Mission.
The former we translate from the Revista Catto!i'ca edited
and published by our Fathers at Las Vegas; "At Las
Vegas, Feb. 14th the funeral rites were performed in
memory of Pius IX. We candidly confess that we have
seen very few things in this country which so deeply moved
and impressed us as did this sad ceremony. The funeral
pomp of the church, the number of priests, the chant, and
the extraordinary concourse of people, all had a share in
greatly moving the minds of all. The priests there gathered
were, besides the Rev. parish priests of this and of some of
the neigboring parishes, Frs. Tommassini, Persone, Gasparri, Marra and Minasi, S. J. The church, which is of no
mean dimensions, was crowded with people, and this is so
much the more edifying, as very bad weather prevailed the
whole morning, which, no doubt, prevented many others
from assisting. At one sid-: of the funeral bier were the
pupils of Las Vegas College with Frs. Rossi and Fede, S. J.,
and at the other were the Sisters, also with their pupils.
"The services began with the chant of Matins and Lauds ;
by Mr. Collins, S.
VoL. vu-No. 3·
21
�Obsequies of Pius IX.
afterwards Rev. Fr. Fayet, parish priest of St. Miguel, celebrated Mass, Fr. Tommassini being deacon, and Fr. Minasi
sub-deacon. When the Mass was over Fr. Gasparri delivered a funeral eulogy of Pius IX. After having traced in
a few words the life of John Mastai Ferretti from his childhood to his elevation to the chair of St. Peter, the orator
showed forth in Pius IX. the Universal Pastor and the Infallible Teacher of the Church. He showed also how God
in his providence had disposed that the Supreme Pontiff, in
order to exercise his supremacy and teaching office, should
have temporal power. From this the orator took occasion
to speak of the temporal power of the Pope, and of the
many sufferings which Pius IX. had to bear for this cause.
He closed his eulogy by speaking of the desire he entertained of one day seeing raised to our altars the glorious
Pontiff for whose rest the funeral rites were performed, and
of venerating him hereafter as a saint.
"The services ended with the u~ual blessing and the chant
of the Libera. \Ve are sure that those who were present
at this ceremony will forget neither the impression that
it produced upon all, nor the greatness of him in whose
honor it was celebrated."
The letter from the Indian Mission is so interesting that
we cannot help transcribing it as it stands.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
As in your WoODSTOCK LETTERS you ask for news of the
funeral rites for Pius IX., I answer for my own mission.
When the Cceurd'alene Indians heard the first sad news of
the death of Pius IX., they were awe-stricken and overwhelmed by a gloom and sorrow which would never have
been expeB:ed of savages, even at the death of any of their
nearest and dearest. They said : We are now fatherless; if
we ~ourn for our father, how much more must we do for
him who was the father of our souls in place of Jesus Christ?
�Obsequies
of Pius IX
159
A boy to whom the news was first communiCated started
away, chanting the sad tidings in a loud mournful tone
through the valleys and dales. We then announced to the
few who were near the church that the next day, Sexagesima Sunday, we should have a solemn Mass for the repose
of his glorious soul. All came to confession, and we could
notice there the deep impression which such a death had
made on their savage hearts.
·
Sunday morning other Indians came to church, and, hearing the sad news on their way, all felt the same sacred gloom
creeping over them. In order to give time, both for hearing
their confessions and for preparing the catafalque, the High
Mass was deferred until twelve o'clock. A general Communion was offered for their beloved Father, and at the Offertory every one presented himself at the altar, offering his
mite in order to have Masses said for the repose of the holy
soul of Pius IX. During the sermon, prior to the Absolution, scarcely a dry eye was to be seen. The preacher felt
a scruple in asking prayers for such a sainted man : he publicly invoked Pius IX. to pray for him and for his mission.
At two o'clock the congregation was dismissed with a deep
but hopeful sadness depieted on their countenances.
The next day, the greater part of the chiefs and people
arrived from afar off coming to celebrate Ash-Wednesday.
While still at a distance they heard the sad news and sent
a courier to know whether it were lawful, at so mournful a
season, to perform the usual ceremonies of welcome to their
chiefs. They came· in, all grieving and complaining that
they had been deprived of the happiness of the previous
day. The chief, Andrew Seltis, a man of unimpeachable
charaCt:er and a lively faith, wished for another Mass the
next day, but it was determined to defer it to the next Sunday, Quinquagesima, in order· to call in every member of
the tribe and prepare the church better. The pontifical
catafalque (a very modest one it was to deserve such a
title), was however still standing in the church, and the new-
�100
Obsequies of Pius IX.
comers begged to be allowed to go there every day and say
their beads for the Holy Father.
Next Sunday, Quinquagesima, every one went to confession and made another Communion, really a general one
this time, at the High Mass. Before the beginning of Mass,
all the Indians, even the boys and girls, were running
around to find money ; they even sold horses to have a
bit to offer. I can say ·with truth that no empty hand
was seen at the Offertory: the very babies had a bit to offer
for the Hoi)• Father. Those who had nothing ready, presented a piece of paper with the pledge to give something
at some definite period. vVe had hard work to prevent
them from incurring debts for the Pope.
After Mass, the chief, Andrew, came to invite the Fathers
and Brothers to a repast with the whole people: "You can·
not refuse," said he, "the Holy .Father was your chief as
well as mine; we are all his children and must all unite together." Of course, we could not decline. For a table
they _had stretched in a room a wagon-box, upside-down,
spread with blankets and covered with viCtuals. The priests
sat at the head, the chief<> around the sides, while one of the
chiefs waited upon us.
They wanted a little speech : the.-S_uperior rose, and seeing there some of a tribe who had Protestant Indians mingled with them, after congratulating the Catholics on their
unequivocal expression of their attachment to their faith,
he said: "A few years ago died Mr. Spalding, the great
preacher of the Presbyterian Indian·s. Well, what did
his children feel for him? They had seen him, had been
instruCted and baptized by him; yet, at his death, no one
felt a particle of grief. Why do you Cceurd'alenes give such
expression to your sorrow? You have never seen Pius IX.,
know very little of him : yet' you cannot find anything suffi·
cient t~ declare your love, respeCt and sorrow. Why? Because
by Baptism you were unknowingly made children of the
Pope, and you feel instinCtively that he is your father; not
�illissionary Labors.
161
by your own study do you know this truth, but by the impulse of the Holy Ghost, who inspires you as also so many
others, with this attachment and sorrow for the Holy Father.
The chief was pleased, and went out to repeat the speech to
, the crowd who were waiting out-doors for their dinner.
MISSIONARY LABORS.
AccOUNT OF THE MISSIONS GIVEN BY FATHER DAMEN AND
HIS Cm.IPANIONS, FRm.I SEPT. 1877 TO }ULY 1878.
On Monday, August zoth, Fathers Damen and Hillman
left Chicago for Osage Mission, Kansas, a residence of our
Fathers, to give a short repetition of the mission preached by
Fathers Bronsgeest and Zealand, some four months before.
They learned the news that not only the seventeen converts
made during that mission had persevered in the faith, but,
that shortly after, eight others had been received into the
Church. ·Father Damen exhorted the congregation to contribute liberally for the beautiful, new stone church now in
process of erection. The farmers volunteered to haul the
stone from the quarry to the place where the church is to be
built.
During the short stay of Father Damen, six huT!dred and
fifty three consecrated particles were distributed and four
converts received into the Church.
ST. GALL's CHURCH, MILWAUKEE-The congregation is
under the charge of our Fathers. The mission which lasted
from September 9th till September 19th was very well attended. The results were four thousand Communions, four
converts, ten adults prepared for First Communion.
YoNKERS N.Y. CHuRcH oF THE IMMACULATE CoNCEPTION
-In this mission Father Damen was assisted by Fathers
Masselis, Zealand and Hillman. They had three thousand
�162
Missionary Labors.
five hundred Communions, eleven converts, and forty-five
adults for First Communion.
Some of the Protestant neighbors complaim:d to the
mayor that the ringing of the bell at four and a half A. M.,
disturbed their rest. The mayor sent the protest to the
Reverend Pastor \vho thought it proper not to heed the
notice and to continue the ringing.
Meanwhile Fathers Bronsgeest and Bouige gave successful missions in Alpena, Michigan, wher€ they had eight hundred and .t\venty-five Communions, and in several little
parishes of ·the diocese of Louisville, viz: in Hardens burg,
in Cloverport, in St. Mary's Church, Long Lick, in St. Mary's Church, Breckinridge County and in Litchfield, Grayson
Co. Kentucky. The result of their labors in these parishes
was : one thousand one hundred and thirty Communions
and fifty-one converts; besides these converts twenty-nine
adults were prepared for their First Communion.
The population of these parishes is almost exclusively
American, descendants of the Maryland settlers who came
over from England to avoid religious persecution. They
are very constant and fervent in their faith. They came
early in the morning from great di~tances, brought along
their dinner and stopped till the end pf the exercises about
5 P.M.
To the fervor of the Catholics was due the great success
of the missions in many conversions from Protestantism
during the three or four weeks we were amongst them.
They went around stirring up the lukewarm, encouraging
the wavering, convincing the Protestants of their errors and
introducing them to the missionaries. They faithfully adhere to the devotional practices which they learned from
their pious ancestors. The members of every family, for
instance, say prayers in common, morning and night. On
approaching a priest they salute him with a kind of genu·
flection ; and if the priest reaches out his hand in token of
friendship, many, especially the women, kiss it with rever-
�Missionary Labors.
ence. .The Fathers will never forget the cordial affeCtion
bestowed upon them by these grateful people.
From OCt. 7th till Dec. 4th, Father Damen assisted by
Fathers Masselis, Zealand, Condon, Bronsgeest and Hillman
gave three very successful missions.
The Ist at ST. GABRIEL's CHURCH, N. Y- where they
had seven thousand Communions, twenty-five converts,
ninety-four adults for First Communion and two hundred
and two adults for Confirmation.
The 2nd at ST. JoHN's CHURCH, N. Y-with eight thousand six hundred Communions, twenty converts, one hundred and two adults prepared for First Communion and
two hundred and ninety-five adults for Confirmation.
The 3rd at ST. JoHN's CHURCH, BROOKLYN-with six thousand five hundred Communions, sixteen converts, ninetyeight adults prepared for First Communion and three hundred and fifteen adults for Confirmation.
Each mission given by Father Damen in the large cities
lasts two weeks and a hal( The order of exercises is:
5 A. M., Mass and sermon ; 8.30 A. M., Mass and sermon ;
3 P. M., stations; and 7.30 P. M., beads, sermon and BenediCtion.
The first week is for the women, the second week for the
men, i. e. those whose week it is are alone admitted to the
night services, and have the privilege of going first to confession. This arrangement has many advantages : First, it
gives to all a chance to attend the exercises. Second, the
men, who, for the most part work all day are tired at night
and a seat in the church is an objeCt with them. Third,
the women having complied with their duties become very
fervent and urge on their husbands, sons or brothers to
avail themselves of the grace of the mission.
Father Damen is accustomed to give two controversial
leCl:ures during each week. The utility of these leCtures
is very great, not only for Protestants who always attend in
great numbers and whose prejudices are thereby greatly di-
�lvfissz'onary Labors.
minished, but, principally for Catholics who are wonderfully
strengthened in their faith. If, moreover, Almighty God
gives the grace of conversion to a number of Protestants,
the ceremony of their baptism or reception into the church
creates great enthusiasm amongst the Catholics, who glory
with a laudable pride that so many are gathered into the
true fold.
A result of the missions that deserves special notice is
the number of adults, that are prepared for their First Communion. Their delay in receiving the Sacraments is owing
generally to--carelessness on the part of parents. Pastors
can but rarely prevail upon them to come for the necessary
instructions. Those people are instructed at night by anc
other missionary Father during the mission-sermon of Fr.
Damen. So also with regard to Confirmation. In most
places the Bishop confers this sacrament every year, the
Pastors making the proper announcement beforehand and
inviting all who have never been confirmed; but human
respect keeps many back. It is only after receiving the
grace of the mission that they can muster courage to come
to the feet of the Bishop. During the few days of repose
allotted to them at the close of these great missions, the
Fathers visited some charitable institutions in New York.
They saw St. Vincent's Home for 'homeless boys, where
Father Drumgoole, a very zealous Irish priest, keeps a
house for news-boys and shoe-blacks, who pay ten cents a
day for board and lodging. He has as many as he can
accommodate and many are refused for want of room. The
boys hear Mass on Sundays in the chapel of the Institution
and receive the Sacraments at regular, stated times.
The Fathers visited also the Protectorate, Westchester,
N.Y. The boys' division is conducted by Christian Brothers, that of the girls by Sisters of Charity. Two Dominican Fathers residing at the ProteCtorate of the boys provide
for the "spiritual wants of both houses. There ·are over one
thousand five hundred boys. Besides attending school they
�Missionary Labors.
work four hours a day, principally at shocmaking. Some
are employed in the printing office, some in the chair-caning
room and others in the tailorshop.
The girls' department numbers six hundred inmates.
They receive a common school education and are employed
a few hours each day at making shirts. Both buildings
are grand structures. These Institutions are supported at
the expense of the city, which pays one hundred and ten
dollars a year for every boy condemned by court for vagrancy.
Some of the Fathers also visited the House of the Good
Shepherd, a very large Institution on 9oth St. and East
River, just opposite Hell-Gate. It contains three hundred
and seventy-two penitents besides a number of female prisoners and a class of children of preservation. Their spiritual wants are attended by the Jesuit Fathers of Yorkville.
On Dec. 4th, Fathers Bronsgeest and Hillman opened a
retreat for the young Ladies of the Academy at· Flushing,
L. I. They concluded it on the morning of the feast of the
Immaculate Conception.
On the 9th they commenced a ten days mission in St.
Theresa's Church, Brooklyn, with very happy results: two
thousand nine hundred Communions, eight converts, twenty-seven adults for First Communion.
At the same time Father Damen, assisted by Fathers
Masselis, Zealand and Condon, was laboring successfully at
St. Joseph's Church, Jersey City. Three thousand seven
hundred received Holy Communion, there were ten converts,
eighty-one adults were prepared for First Communion, two
hundred and one adults were confirmed by Right Reverend
Bishop Corrigan. The pastor of St. Joseph's is the Right
Reverend Dr. Seton, Prothonotary Apostolic, a nephew of
the celebrated and saintly Mother Seton, Foundress of
the Sisters of Charity in this country. He is connected
With the royal family ofthe Stuarts and was, for this reasop;
admitted for his studies into the Collegium Nobilium. After
VoL. vrr-No. 3·
22
�!66
J1Jissionary Labors.
these missions, the Fathers went to Chicago to render assistance during the Christmas holidays and make their annual
retreat. From January 13-23 Father Damen, assisted by
Fathers Zealand and Bronsgeest, gave a mission in St. Augustine's Church, Cleveland, Ohio. The fruits of this mission were nearly one thousand Communions, five converts
and twelve adults prepared for their First Communion.
There is a statute in the diocese of Cleavland imposing
the penalty_ of a public reparation on Catholics, whocontraa
marriage ~?etore a Protestant preacher. Two couples submitted to tnis law and consented to have their names rearl
out after the half-past eight o'clock Mass, begging pardon of
the congregation for the scandal given. ·
These Fathers then repaired to Hartford, Conn., to give a
mission in St. Patrick's church. Here they were joined by
Frs. Masselis, Bouige and Hillman, who had been assisting
Father Coghlan in the mission at the church of the Nativity,
Chicago, Ill. The mission proved very successful. The
faithful came not only from the parishes in the city, but also
from the neighboring towns. Over ten thousand approached Holy Communion, twenty were converted to the true
faith, one hundred and thirty-five were prepared for their
First Communion, and four hundred' and ninety-three adults
for Confirmation, which was administered by Rt. Reverend
Bishop Galberry, 0. S. A., Bishop of Hartford. Through
the exertions of the pastor, Very Rev. James Hughes, a
magnificent church has been ereB:ed on the ruins of the old
one, and a beautiful school and orphan asylums have been
provided for the children of this congregation.
From Hartford we went to the church of the Transfiguration, Brooklyn, L. 1., where we had thirty-five hundred
Communions, fourteen converts, seventy-one adults prepared
for First Communion and one hundred and fifty-nine adults
for C.onfirmation .
• Next in order came S. Theresa's church, New York,
where, as usual, great enthusiasm prevailed. Over eight
�Missionary Labors.
thousand persons approached the sacraments, twenty-two
were received into the Church, eighty-one adults were prepared for their First Communion and two hundred and sixtysix adults for Confirmation, which was administered by
Rt. Rev. Bishop Loughlin of Brooklyn, his Eminence
Cardinal McCloskey being at that time in Europe, to assist
at the Conclave for the election of the new Pope.
On our way westward, we met with an accident on the
Erie railroad. About noon on Friday, 1\larch 29th, the
engine and -all the passenger cars ran off the track near
Jamestown, in the southwest part of the State of New York.
Happily nobody was injured and the only inconvenience
resulting from the accident was a delay of six hours on the
spot and of six others by reason of missing conneCtions. It
was a good warning for the fathers to keep up the praCtice
of reciting the litanies ·of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a
safeguard against accidents. \Ve arrived in Chicago on Saturday and went at once to the beautiful cathedral, where on
March 3 rst, our last mission before Easter was opened.
The exercises were well attended, with the following consoling results: Eight thousand Communions, thirteen converts, fifty-two prepared for First Communion and two hundred and eighty-five for confirmation.
On the first Sunday after Easter, Fathers Damen, Zealand,
Masselis and Hillman opened a mission in St. Mary's
Church; Cambridgeport, Mass., which lasted sixteen days.
During that time four thousand approached Communion;
there were eleven com·erts and eighty-four adults were prec
pared for their First Communion. Father Scully, the pastor,
is the only secular priest in the State of Massachusetts who
has a parish school for boys. He succeeds admirably well,
notwithstanding the opposition he meets with.
From Massachusetts, the same fathers went to Sing-Sing
in the State of New York. The mission lasted eight days,
during which thirteen hundred Communions were distributed and seventeen adults prepared for their First Communion.
�168
Afissi(mary Labors.
On Sunday, May 26th, Father Hasson, the pastor, accompanied by Frs. Damen, Zealand and Hillman, went to
the State prison, situated on the east bank of the Hudson
river, about three-quarters of a mile southwest of the town.
A solemn High Mass was celebrated, an event which had
never before taken place within the walls of this Institution.
At the time of the visit one thousand seven hundred and
fifty male convicts were in the prison, most of them young
men betwee.n the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. The
large hall.r,~aced at their disposal has a seating capacity of
about fifteen hundred .. The remaining two hundred and
fifty were therefore deprived of the benefit of their visit.
During the Mass, Fr. Damen delivered a very stirring sermon on the importance of salvation, and after the Mass he
addressed the Catholic portion of the prisoners, amounting
to seven hundred or eight hundred, on the subjeCt: of confession, explaining especially the motives of contrition. He
also announced to them, that on the following day the
whole band of missioners and the parish priest would return to hear confessions. After the service the prisoners
were marched, as is customary, in single file and in companies of fifty, each under the care of? ke~per, to their cells,
where they were to remain confined Jill the next morning.
On their way thither they received their rations for noon
and evening. Next morning, at nine o'clock, the Fathers
were there according to promise, and were told that nearly
three hundred had asked leave from the Protestant chaplain
to make their confession. The Fathers went to work at once
and heard confessions till twelve o'clock. In the evening
they returned. They were similarly engaged on Tuesday
and Wednesday.
They brought the Blessed Sacrament with them each
morning to give Communion to those who were still fasting. ·Over three hundred confessions had been heard, but
only two hundred and forty-one Communions were distributed, not all having kept their fast. Several of those who
�~lfissimzary
Labors.
came to confession and Communion, did so for the first time
in their lives. Three were privately baptized and also admitted to their First Communion. Perhaps the saddest
feature of this Institution is, that there are only one thousand two hundred cells, the consequence being, that in
over five hundred cells, the prisoners are "doubled up," as
they term it, which, as will be easily understood does not
promote the morality of the prison. The prisoners are variously occupied in the laundry, in the iron-foundry or the
shoe-faCtory.
Father Hasson was delighted with the results, as was
also the very kind and gentlemanly \Varden, Mr. Davies,
who, as a substantial token of his appreciation, presented
Reverend Father Hasson with a purse of five hundred dollars in recognition of the labors the Reverend gentleman
had gratuitously undertaken during the past two years.
The offering of this handsome present was, moreover, a
virtual recognition of Father Hasson as assistant-chaplain
of the State Prison, with a salary of five hundred dollars a
year, a position which this zealous priest had looked for
most anxiously, as it would give him a firmer footing in the
Institution, and would enable him to work more successfully among the prisoners.
Father Damen and companions completed their yearly
campaign by a small mission in St. Joseph's Church, East
Saginaw, Mich. The people came from neighboring parishes
and swelled the number of Communions to one thousand.
Seven were· prepared for baptism and eighteen for First
Communion.
·whilst Father Damen was in the east, Fathers Bronsgeest
and Bouige gave missions in Burlington, Iowa, Waukeegan,
Ill., Saginaw City and Wenona, Mich. In the two latter
missions they were assisted by Father Hillman. The result
of their labors in these congregations is as follows : over
five thousand Communions, twenty seven converts and sixty-six adults prepared for their First Communion.
�111issivlta1J' Labors.
Among the converts in \\'enona was a lady aged eighty
nine, and her daughter aged fifty.
Before the last mission was finished, Father Bronsgeest
and Father Hillman left for Florissant, Mo., to give a mission in St. Ferdinand's Church, which i~ under the care of
Re\·erend A. Hayden, S. J. The results were seven hundred
and fifty Communions, three converts and ten adults prepared for First Communion. Right Reverend Bishop Ryan
of St. Louis, administered the Sacrament of Confirmation
on the last 'day of the mission, to seventy-five persons,
thirteen of ~~·hom were adults.
The total results of the missions of Father Damen and
his companions are:
Communions 129,828; Converts 451; Adults prepared
for First Communion I ,980; Adults prepared for Confirmation 2,989. These figures include the results of the missions which were given under the direction of Fr. Coghlan.
AccOUNT OF THE MISSIONS GI\'EN BY FR. MAGUIRE AND
COMPANIONS FRO~! APRIL 1878 TO ] ULY I 878.
HIS
~OSTON, July 8, 1878.
REv. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
Having reached the end of our work for a while, I send
you a brief account of what has been done. Since my last
letter, missions have been given in several places where
nothing of the kind had been seen before, and consequently
the good effeCl:ed partook somewhat of the unusual, even in
missionary annals.
TRINITY CnuRcii, GEORGETOWN.-After ten days of work
(April 28-May 7) we were gratified to see that over two
thousand persons had received Holy Communion. Here
the Fathers departed from their custom of dividing the congregation (men and women), thinking such a movement
unnecessary. But, even in this place, the number of Corn-
�11lissiolltliJ' Labors.
171
munions would have been larger and the good effected more
extended, if only three nights had been set apart for the
men. An experiment made on the second Sunday night
of the mission. filled the church entirely with men. A Protestant who had attended every night did not come when
the services were exclusively for the men, for, as he said, he
thought the doors would be locked and everyone made to
go to confession; and he was not quite ready for that. Protestants, and many of them of high social standing, attended
the exercises every day. Eleven persons, including one or
two children of mixed n;arriages, were baptized. Ten or
twelve adults were prepartd for first Communion. Many,
who had not been near the church for many years, received
the sacraments during this time of grace. An effort was
made, with what success, I know not, to increase the Sodality membership. The fathers were greatly pleased at seeing so many students from the college at the night exercises.
May 12-20.-The next mission was begun at Towanda,
Pa., where the Rev. Charles Kelly is pastor. This town is
situated in the northeast corner of the State and is about
thirty miks frorh Elmira, N. Y. The Lehigh Valley Railroad com1eCI:s it with the outer world. The country around
is mountainous and romantic, and can furnish any amount
of adventure to persons fond of hunting, fishing and hairbreadth escapes. The congregation is much scattered, being made up of farmers principally, who live at great distances from the church. It was a common thing to meet
persons every day that had walked eight and ten miles
fasting, in order to make the mission. After a week well
spent here, the exercises were given in Barclay, a church
under the care of the same clergyman. Barclay is a rough
looking mining town, on the top of a mountain, sixteen
miles from Towanda. The whole place belongs to the Erie
Railroad Company, and is one of its chief coal centres.
The people are simple and pious, just as they came from
the old country. Seldom do we meet with a more fervent·
�172
lvfissionary Labors.
congregation, and one where more good could be done.
Results in the two places : Communions, 2,500 ; baptisms, 6;
First Communions of adults, 20. Here, as everywhere,
several marriages were made valid.
HYDE PARK, MAss.-The work was begun, May 26th and
ended on the 9th of June. Owing to ·the lateness of the
season, it was deemed advisable to undertake the mission
at once. Consequently, the Superior of the mission left
two Fathers at Hyde Park, whilst with a Father from St.
Mary's of ~this city he undertook a retreat in Maine.
The Fatl1ers in Hyde Park had every reason to thank
Almighty God for blessing tht>ir labors. A mission was a
novelty here. The attendance was very large; in a word,
no one could tell where the people came from. Many had
been scarcely looked upon as Catholics; many had never
·been seen in the church before. The pastor, the Reverend
James Conlan, recently appointed to the parish, gave us
every encouragement in our work and seconded our efforts
in regard to forming a sodality, the surest means of making
the fruits of the mission lasting.
Results: Communions 2,500; Baptisms 2; First Communion of adults 20. Nearly a hundred children were after
due preparation admitted to the J-l_oly Table for the first
time.
\Vhilst the mission at Hyde Park was in progress, our
Superior was engagetl in giving the exercises in Rockland
and Thomaston, Maine. The good people of these towns
had never made a mission and whe delighted with the opportunity of taking part in one. Even the Protestants, with
their ministers came in large numbers, to see what was going on. Very consoling effeCts were produced. The Com·
munions were about I ,500; three persons were baptized;
I 2 adults received the Holy Eucharist for the first time.
From the 9th to I 7th of June a mission was given in
\Voodstock, New Brunswick. For the time it lasted, the
• work was the hardest of the whole year. Almost half the
I
f
�Mi'ssionm y Laborf.
173
congregation are farmers and lumber-men who live a long
way from the church, fifteen, twenty and thirty miles. Two
hundred adults, most of them deplorably ignorant, had to
be prepared for first Communion. Many had not been inside of a church for years, and had forgotten their prayers
and the little they ever knew about their religion. To prepare these in the short time at our disposal was a cause of
great trouble and anxiety. Nearly every day persons would
present themselves and ask for permission to make their
first Communion. What could be done? the majority of
them were over thirty. They knew little and never could
learn much ; besides they had walked fasting eight or ten
miles and were obliged to return home soon. The Protestants of the place came in crowds to hear what the Jesuits
from the States had to say. A very favorable impression
was made and though the election for the provincial parliament was being conducted and canvassing quite brisk, the
audience of Protestants continued to increase. In a neighboring county, a Catholic candidate was stigmatized as a
tool of the Jesuits; but this political dodge was not resorted
to on our account.
A few Indians (Malicetis) came to the mission; they are
Catholics and speak English well enough. An elderly man
of the tribe was asked what had become of several of the
young men who were seen in the church the day before.
"He drunk; he gone down the river," was his reply. Here,
as with us, the same vice is decimating the remnants of the
once flourishing tribes.
After the work was done, the superior remained a day,
in order to give a lecture on temperance. A large audience
was present and hundreds took the pledge.
Results: Communions 1,000; Adults first Communion
200 ; Baptism 1.
The first mission of Woodstock was, therefore, not by
any means a failure.
Summary for the Springtime, i. e. since Low-Sunday:
VoL. vu-No. 3·
23
�I74
Indian Missions.
Communions 9,500; Baptisms 23; Adults for first communion 26;. Adding to these figures those of former missions,·
page I I I, we have for the total of this year :
Communions 66, IOO; First Communions of adults 7I9;
Baptisms of adults 222.
INDIAN MISSIONS.
FoRT CoLVILLE, ·wAsH. Tv., April 23rd, I878..
REVEREND FATHER,
P. C.
My winter trip to the encampments of the various tribes
began on the I7th of December I877, and ended on the
I 2th of the present April. Taking a south-easterly direCtion,
I travelled about eighty miles, when I arrived at the encampment of the Spokane Indians who were eager to see me.
With them I passed the Christmas holydays. Then I
journeyed north sixty miles to visit the Kalispels whom, on
my arrival, I found gathered a~~ording to custom for
their .devotions. Thence I returned to Colville, where I
stopped only one day for fear that the snow would block up
the road on the mountains which divide the Sgoielpi from the
other tribes, that belong to our mission, south and west of
them. On the second day after starting, the fall of an ad·
ditional foot of snow fairly shook the determination of my
companion to go with me, at least for two or three days.
But Providence supplied his place. A straggling Indian of
a neighboring nation was about to return to his home. I
asked him whether I might accompany him; for he belongs
to
tribe unfavorable to the missionary. He consented
and we started; it was well for him that he took me for com·
panion, for I was a very efficient assistant on the way, help·
a
�Indian Missions.
175
ing him to raise his ponies, which, being very lean and
greatly overloaded, fell every two or three miles under their
load. On the way we had many discussions, but I had to
be very moderate for fear of offending him. "See now," he
would say, "how foolish you are. Do you think that God
who made the innocent babes, is going to cast them off when
they die ? Where do you find parents that cast off their
children? What good can Baptism do a person? We see
very good people among the unbaptized, and very bad
ones among the baptized. Answer that." We reached
his tribe after four days travelling.
In this tribe there is a prophet who is very popular and
deceives the poor Indians by a thousand artifices. Some
years ago he told his people that God ordered him, as Noe
of old, to build an ark, because there would be another
deluge; those who would follow his prayer, he would receive into the ark and save. In consequence of this order
from above, he set his young men to sawing lumber during
the whole winter. He thus keeps them from mischief, so
that his nation compares favorably with other neighboring
tribes, which gives him no little credit. He tells his people
that he can read, though he never learned how, and that,
were the whites to fire at him, they could not hurt him, as
God had made him invulnerable. He says that God Almighty spoke through Jesus Christ, but of late He speaks to
His chosen ones through himself, and that all such as follow
the Black-Robe can certainly never obtain heaven. He
is a sharper. As he is a cripple he would starve, but he manages to live splendidly and even to make a fortune by many of
his revelations.
On arriving at his tribe I was kindly received by arelative of my companion. The time for prayer approaching,
I was asked whether I would attend. I answered that
I would if I were allowed to speak. Upon this one of
them started to know the mind of the prophet. He answered that I might go to their prayer if I wished, but
that I could not speak. On hearing the bell, however
�Indian ·Jlfissi'o ns:
I went, and spoke too ; but I spoke to the wind as far
as I could judge; for the prophet interrupted me and told
me that I had spoken too much already; that they would
not receive my prayers; that though he would not blame
me for having adopted the prayer of Jesus Christ, I had
no right to impose it upon others who had a different
one. After him several others spoke, even more vehemently
than the pseudo-prophet; some arguing that the prayer of
their prophet was the right one, others maintaining that
Baptism was'of no use, as it was nothing but the power of
understanding the word of God and doing it. Their speeches were often interrupted by vociferous applause. The
speeches were followed by a prayer calmly said and devoutly, the bell being rung at different times; a hymn,
without words, consisting. only of an intonation of Alz, ali,
aft, wound up the whole affair. I remained two days among
them, but with no fruit. I left them much astonished by
telling them that they would never reach heaven by the
prayer of their prophet.
I tr;velled two days more and arrived at another small
tribe, who also have a prophet for their chief and teacher.
I was received rather coldly at first, but little by little I
gained their good will. I was consiqerably helped by five
or six who were already baptized and who happened to be
there. vVith these I said morning and evening prayers
and I taught them some catechism. Soon some infidels
joined them, and once in a while their chief came to honor
us by his presence. He is a man of good heart, and is
very intelligent. When Sunday came he invited me to go
to his prayers. I went, and with some little effort I persuaded him to leave off his and say the Black-Robe's
prayer. After the prayer he spoke to his people, telling them to make their hearts ready to receive the
prayer of the Black-Robe. His address was long, animated and eloquent. At noon we met again in the chiefs
house, a large log house, and I spoke at length, touching
�Indian Jvfz'ssions.
177
upon all the principal tenets of our holy religion. In the
evening he requested me to let him say his own prayer, telling·
me that it was the wish of his people. I of course, assented.
It was a melange of our tenets and soHle private revelations
of his own. I took good care after his prayer to congratulate him on what it had in common with the BlackRobe's. I remained with this tribe twelve days, praying
morning and evening, on work-days in my cabin and on
Sundays in the chief's house. At the end of twelve days
he came to me and told me that his people would on the
morrow disperse for the deer-hunt; that both he and his
people wished to receive Baptism at some future time,
that one thing kept them back, his distance from the BlackRobe; for a visit only once in a while could not satisfy
him and his people. On the morrow I baptized two
children and then departed. Many others, I heard aftenvards, wished to have their children baptized, but the
good chief hindered them, telling the parents that when he
would be baptized then they and their children might join
him.
About sixty miles from this place I found the first camp
of the Okinagan Indians. I was received most cordially,
as they were all christians. I remained with them one week,
gathering them together in a large place three times a day
for prayer and instruCtions.
On hearing that a child was dying at a second camp of
the same tribe, about twenty miles further off, I hastened my
departure. I arrived at this second camp during the night
very wet. The chief is unbaptized and a little odd. He received me in his lodge with difficulty and refused me something to eat, but the next day he was more humane and
tractable. I remained another week at this camp, and then
passed from camp to camp, remaining in each the same
length of time gathering together the people in some places
three times, in others four times a day. Where the christians
were in the majority I was well received, but not so well
where the infidels were more numerous.
�178
Indian Missions.
Having ascended the Okinagan river up to the boundary
line between the U.S. and British America (and a few
miles beyond it for sick calls), visiting all the Indians on my
route, I descended the same river revisiting them all, but
making a much shorter stay with them until I reached the
camp of the Mitgan Indians. With these I spent the same
. length of time as with the others, and used the same method
of instruCtion.
I then descended the Columbia river to see the Chelan,
the Inliclikurp and the Weenachee. These three tribes I
found much disturbed in mind; they seemed to be under
the impression that the Americans wanted them to leave
their lands ;tnd go to some Reservation, to which they
have a great aversion. This state of things had not
little to do with their behaviour. The youngsters seemed
to care very little about their prayers, and gave themselves up to gambling and disorders. I calmed them by
telling them that, if they would fence up a piece of land, build
on it a little house and live peaceably they would never
be molested. This pleased them. I proceeded in each
of these tribes as usual with my missionary exercises,
which were always well attended. Qn leaving them God
gave me a great consolation in the-· conversion of a white
man who occasionally preached to the Indians. Before
my arrival I met several Indians rehearsing to me with some
degree of boldness certain objeCtions of the Protestants
against our holy tenets, which they had learned from him.
After his conversion, that neophite promised that hereafter
he would, with the help of God, do as much good as he had
fonnerly done harm to the Church, a promise I encouraged
him to keep.
·
As Holy-Week was approaching, I hastened my return
homeward, having had during my trip forty-five baptisms, of
which fifteen were of adults, the others of children, some of
Christians, others of infidel parents and about twelve marriages.
U.G.,S.j
�f1tdian Missions.
ST. MARY's, MoNTANA
179
Tv.,
May
6th, I 8;8.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
To give your Reverence some idea of this mission among
the Flat-Head Indians of St. Mary's Valley, or as the whites
now call it, Bitter-Root Valley, in Montana Territory, I
must make some remarks about their relations with the
Government and with the whites. You must not imagine
that we are here in a wilderness, far apart from the civilized
world. No, we have, in this valley which extends about
sixty miles, a populous settlement of whites.
Formerly, indeed, this valley was an Indian Reservation, and according to Governor Stevens' treaty, made in
1855, with the three united tribes of the Flat-Heads,
Pen-d'Oreilles, and Koote-nays, no white man should have
been allowed to pass an established temporary boundary,
until the Government would decide whether another valley, that of the Jocko, the actual Reservation of the Pend'Oreille Indians, would be more fit for them. But little by
little the whites, some with permission of the chief of the tribe,
others without it, began to pass the established boundary,
and when a few years ago the Bitter-Root Valley was opened
for settlers, it was already taken up by whites.
Our Indians are now in a very precarious condition. The
Government, in consequence of the misrepresentations of
the money-seeking officials, regards the Flat-Head tribe as
having given up their tribal relations, and patents have been
issued by the Land Office for the fifty-two families which are
supposed to be willing to become citizens, the other families
being regarded as having removed to the Jocko Reservation. But the Indians continue to go on as before; they
still consider their chief as their principal authority, and few
only are living on the farms surveyed for them, and for
which the patents, though issued two years ago, are not yet
�ISO
Indian lriissions.
delivered. The only difference is, that for the last six years
they have not received a cent from the Government. A
few of the Flat-Heads, about six families, moved to the
Jocko Reservation, and it is among these few families that
are divided the five thousand dollars which were promised
these [ndians for ten years, besides the annuities, granted
by the treaty made with Gen. Garfield, about six years ago.
While the whole of the tribe here in Bitter- Root Valley,
about three hundred and fifty in number, in recompense for
their histori~cal fidelity to the Government and the whites,
have to support themselves as best they can. To aggravate
their condition they are now forbidden to buy ammunition,
though most of them have paid high prices for their breechloading guns. Moreover very few of them have any seed, so
that, next summer, their condition will be worse. The only
means of subsistence left to them, at present is the buffalohunt. But this, be:;ides the inconvenience of detaining
them for about eight months in the year, far from the mission, .is now full of danger; their horses and lives being
exposed to the greediness of a multitude of hostile Indians,·
who are well armed. In faet, last winter our Indians lost
many horses on the buffalo ground.
In proof of the fidelity of these Fl~t- Heads to the Government, and of their friendship to the whites, notwithstanding the ill treatment they have experienced at the hands
of government officials, and of many whites, I will give you
a brief account of their behavior during the late Nez-Perces
war, from which also your Reverence will see the influence·
our holy religion has over the passions of these savages,
and that our work among them is not altogether fruitless.
Early last summer, as soon as the tidings of the hostility
of a band of Nez-Perces in the lower country, reached Bitter- Root Valley, and there appeared some possibility that
the hostile Indians might take refuge from the soldiers
in this valley with whose passes· they were familiar, the
whites here became alarmed. There are two Indian trails
�Indian JJfissions.
181
leading into this valley from the Nez- Perces country in
Idaho Territory; one, called the Lo Lo (Laurence) Fork's
trail, enters at the lower end of the valley, the other, at the
head of the valley. Both trails are very rough, and though
many of the Nez- Perces used to follow them to the buffalo
hunt, it was generally thought impossible for them to enter
by either, burdened as they were with women and children
and over one thousand horses. But as soon as the rumor
spread that the soldiers were driving the Indians toward
these trails, most of the Bitter-Root Valley settlers, many
of whom were already prejudiced against the Flat-Heads,
chiefly on account of their being Catholic, began openly to
show their feelings ; and the more so because a few of these
Indians are intermarried with Nez-Perces, and some NezPerces families lived in the valley. The alarm grew to
such an extent that they sent for arms, built three forts, and
some weeks before the hostile party arrived, left their farms
and shut up themselves and families in the forts. The
newspapers of the county had frequent spicy articles full
of calumnies against the Flat-Heads, and exciting in the
settlers feelings of fear and distrust. Every movement of
the Indians was watched; in their most innocent aCtions
hostile intentions were discovered by the alarmed people ;
no powder nor ammunition was allowed to be sold to them.
It was of no use for me to tell the people that they had no
reason to suspeCt the Flat-Heads; that by aCting in so distrustful and cowardly a way without the least foundation
for it, they were provoking the Indians and exciting them
to revolt. The settlers would not believe me and some
went 'so f<tr as to say that the Fathers were urging the Indians to get rid of the white settlers.
At last the official news came that the hostile band, driven by the soldiers, was entering Bitter-Root Valley by Lo
Lo Fork's trail. The excitement then grew intense. Many
people were talking of killing all the Indians. The intentions of the Chief Charles, son of the famous Flat-Head
VoL. vu-No. 3·
24
�182
Indian Jlfissions.
ChiefViEtor, were sounded by the Indian Agent and the
commanding officer of the recently established military post
in l\Iissoula. Charles answered that he and his people
would remain neutral, if not provoked by either party.
About twenty-five soldiers and all the volunteers that could
be gathered together, about two hundred, fortified themselves at the mouth of the Lo Lo Fork's defile, by which
the Nez-Perces were coming. The exaa number of their
warriors was not known, but it was reported that they were
well armed-~nd had plenty of horses. Their armed men
must have been three hundred or three hundred and fifty,
under four principal chiefs, the most notorious of whom
was Joseph, now a ·prisoner in Leavenworth. Some halfbreeds, and some whites, friends of our Indians, with the
intention of reconciling them with the settlers, persuaded
some to follow the volunteers. They went, moved rather
by curiosity than by the desire of fighting. It was by them
that Charles, in order to avoid fighting, sent word to the
hostile party to take some other trail to the buffalo country.
The commanding officer, distrusting the courage of his
volunteers, many of whom were of the opinion that the hostile Indians should be allowed to pass unmolested through
the valley, had two parleys with the··enemy who refused to
surrender on the severe and, it seems, unreasonable conditions offered to them. A last intimation was therefore
given to them, that unless they surrendered by noon of the
next day, they would have to fight their way through. They
then held a council, in which it was proposed to make a
night attack upon the soldiers and volunteers. Had they
aEted upon this, a regular butchery of the soldier's anJ
whites would have been the result. But their scouts reported that Flat-Heads were in the volunteers' camp; and
fearing to be obliged to fight not only the whites but also
the Flat~ Heads and their allies, the Pen-d'Oreilles and Kootenays, they took the bold resolution of getting out of the
defile by way of the hills. So, early in the morning they
�Indiall lldissions.
broke up their camp, and climbing up a steep hill which it
was thought impossible for them to ascend, encumbered as
they were with about two thousand tired horses and a multitude of women and children, and in sight of the soldiers
and volunteers, they emerged from the defile in splendid
order and marched up the valley without a shot being fired
on either side, and encamped about five miles further upon
the road.
Next day, Sunday, they again decamped, and were to
pass about a mile from our Mission, on the opposite side of
the river. Charles, who did not like the idea of being
slighted by the Nez-Perces, gathet;ed around the Mission
all his Indians, about seventy in number, many of them
without arms or ammunition, and went out to see them
pass, ready to fight them had they showed any such inclination. He had told his men before to pray with fervor at
the Mass I said for them early in the morning. When the
Nez-Perces passed by, all well armed, Charles, with true
bravery, refused to shake hands with their chiefs, or to have
any communication with them, because of the murders committed by them in Idaho Territory.
For the next two days, the settlers, whose love of money
overcame their fear of the hostile Indians, began to trade
with them. They were destitute of provisions, though they
had plenty of money. To give you an idea of the booty
they had accumulated in Idaho Territory by the destruction
of several large stores and by robbing a large party of Chinamen, I will say that they had rolls of gold coin, heavy
bags of gold dust and a quantity of greenbacks. In the
small village of Stevensville, near our Mission, they spent
over one thousand dollars, and would have spent more had
they not been hurried off by the news that Howard was
close behind them with a large force.
The sight of these Nez-Perces, all well armed, boasting
oftheir exploits in Ida~o Territory, and almost masters of
the country, was a great enticement for our Indians. Yet
�Iudiall 1liissions.
not one joined them. \Vhat 'a contrast to the good behavior of our Indians was that of some whites, who, for the
sake of making few dollars, sold whiskey to the savage;;,
thus exposing the whole settlement to ruin. To the praise
of our Indians, be it said, that, after the Nez-Perces went
out of the valley according to their promise, without molesting the settlers, Charles, in accordance with the neutrality he professed, refused even a scout to the General.
Among th,e Nez-Perces that passed here there were no
Catholics, with the exception of a few women who were
forced to foiiow the camp.
S_uch a proof of fidelity. on the part of our Indians should
have convinced the government officials that they had no
thing to fear from our Catholic Indians ; and yet they are
forbidden ammunition for hunting purposes. May God reward them for their uprightness and relieve them from the
distress which it has brought upon them.
Your humble servant,
a
J. D'A.,S.j
ST. FRANCis' INSTITUTE, OsAGE MissiON,
NEosHo Co., KANSAS, July I, 1878.
REV. FATHER,
..-
P. C.
The following few items about our Mission and Indians
may not be uninteresting to your readers.
During the past year we· have succeeded in supplying
what has long been felt to be a great want to our Mission.
The log cabins, used a~ school-houses, built in the early
days of the Mission, having become inconvenient and even
dangerous, have been replaced by a splendid stone schoolhouse, measuring sixty-five feet front, forty feet deep and
thirty-eight feet high. It would have been a great consolatio!l to our good Brother O'Donnell to witness before
his death, the completion of this work for which he prayed
and worked so hard; but on the twenty-fourth of last Oc-
�Indian JJ1issi01zs.
tober, he was called to receive the reward of his many labors for the glory of God and the prosperity of this Mission
during the twenty-nine y~ars he spent among us. May his
soul rest in peace.
This year we had hardly any winter, but the weather
was worse than wintry. Rain, rain, perpetual rain! The
country around was flooded, the roads impassable. It was
very difficult to attend to our distant missions, and we must
thank our Guardian Angels that we suffered no serious inconvenience. I narrowly escaped drowning in crossing the
Cana; while Fathers Driessen and Van der Hagan were
left in the mud, their horses having broken loose from their
buggy.
.
During the rainy season three missions were given in this
neighborhood by Fr. Van Goch; one at Parson, another at
Independence, the third at Humboldt. Notwithstanding the
state of the weather and of the roads which were impassable
by wagon or on horseback, the people came faithfully to
the exercises, though often obliged to wade through deep
water. Many Protestants also attended ; they condu8:ed
themselves becomingly and appeared well satisfied. The
missions were quite successftil; many careless Catholics
returned to their duties, and several Protestants were reconciled to the Church.
Owing to the weather it was impossible for me to visit
the Osages last winter. But as soon as it dried up a little,
I started for the settlement north of the Cana, to afford the
people an opportunity of complying with their Easter duties;
and I had the consolation of seeing most of them respond
to my invitation. I also visited the Poncas, a tribe that after Custer's massacre were removed from the Black Hills
to this country. They belong to the great nation of the
Dacotahs, and number about seven hundred and eighty.
Of these, one hundred and fifty, mostly half-breeds, are
Catholics, having been baptized by Fr. De Smet of happy
memory. Since my visit to them they have been ordered
�186
Indian Jlfissions.
to remove to a new Reservation on the salt fork of the Arkansas River. L::tst winter they sent to the President at
Washington, a petition signed by ~very man of the nation,
and endorsed by their Agent, Col. A. G. Boone, asking for
a Catholic school and Mission. The fate of the petition has
not yet been heard of.
The Poncas,like the Osages, being blanket Indians, averse
to civilization and very wild, there was some fear of trouble
between them and the other Indians; but none has happened.
The Indians who have removed to this southern Territory are of a- ·variety of nations, or rather the remnants of
nations that were once populous, but are now almost annihilated. The only powerful tribe left is that of the Kioway~.
who may eventually give som"e trouble to the United States
Government; all the others are friendly with the whites.
Among themselves, however, they have occasional wars,
which might more properly be called retaliatory expeditions,
and which end as soon as satisfaction has been obtained.
. The following example of one that took place here among
our o~n Indians some years ago will give you an idea of
what they amount to. A party of Sacs and Foxes killed a
boy,. belonging to a band called the Little Osages, while he
was attending the horses of his peopl~· on the prairie. The
head chief of the Little Osages with ~everal of his principal
men was at the time paying us a visit. It was a long summer
day, and the braves were lying on the ground after their
meal, smoking their calumets and watching the children at
play. Suddenly a runner appeared in great haste, announcing that the boy had been killed by the Sacs and Foxes.
At once, all were up ; a war-whoop .was given, and in
less than twenty mi!1utes all the men of the town were
mounted and on the war-path. The head chief told us not
to fear for they would soon settle this matter, and dashed
off. \V,: watched them from the housetop until nothing
more could be seen of them than a cloud of dust indicating
the direction they had taken.
�l1tdiau Jl,fissious.
187
\Vhile this was going on, our attention was attracted by
seven or eight old women, advancing with long sticks in
their hands. \Ve wondered what these fury-like creatures
were about. They came on until they reached the open
road, then turning their faces in the direCtion in which the
warriors had gone, they formed a line, sat upon the ground
and began a most hideous cry, accompanied with a clapping
of hands. Then they beat the ground with their long sticks,
at the same time pointing with one finger towards the enemy, gesticulating as if arguing with some distant person
and uttering imprecatiom. against the enemy. \Ve learned
afterwards that this was the pagan way of praying to God
for viB:ory over their foes.
The Osages started on the war path about noon, and in
less than three hours overtook the Sacs and Foxes who immediately fled. The pursuit was hot until a Sac chief was
killed. This satisfied both parties. The war was at an end.
The Sacs carried off their dead chief, and the Osages desisted from further revenge.
The chief of the Osages, knowing that we would be uneasy, kindly dispatched a messenger to inform us of the-result of the expedition, and gave him orders to be sure to
"go and see the Sisters, who take care of our daughters, and
tell them not to be afraid, but to sleep as soundly as if
nothing had happened."
This is the way in which Indian wars are generally condufted; for, except in some extraordinary cases, the Indians
dislike much bloodshed.
PAUL MARY PONZIGLIONE,
S.
J.
�OBITUARY.
FATHER SERAPHIM SCHE1L\1EL.
Father Seraphim Schemmel was born at Rouffach, of the
diocese of Strasbourg, in the department of Haut-Rhin,
Alsace, on the 24th of January, I 8 I 7. As he was of a very
retiring disP.osition, and not much given to talking about
himself, next to nothing is known of his early life. It seems
that he studied grammar and the classics at the college of
Rouffach some seven years, that afterwards he made a year
of rhetoric and another year of philosophy at St. Joseph's
Seminary in Strasbourg, and that he wound up by no less
than five years of theology, four of which were spent in the
Strasbourg Seminary and one in private study in the Bishop's residence. On the eve of Passion Sunday, I 84I, he was
ordained priest by 1\Igr. A. Raess, then Coadjutor of Strasbourg, and still Bishop of that same see.
-For nine years and a half Father Schemmel acted as curate in a country parish. There, no ,doubt, he became convinced that he was not intended for;the bustle of the outer
world. Remarkably timid, carrying on a very diminutive
body a head more massive and learned-looking than attractive, fond of study and quiet, he welcomed with his whole
heart his Master's call to a life of greater perfection. He
had the good fortune to enter the Issenheim noviceship
wh,ile Father Cote! ruled it with all the tenderness of a
mother. For his second year of noviceship he was sent to
Notre Dame de Liesse, and the next year he took his first
vows in Paris, on the 22d of August, 1852, on his way to
Laval, where, after one yea~ of review, he successfully
passed his examination de uuiversa tlzeologia.
In 1853, while the Mission of New York and Canada
still belonged to the Province of France, he was sent to
Fordham, where he taught altern.ately dogmatic theology,
(188)
�Fatlzer Serapltim Schemmd.
Hebrew, philosophy and Holy Scripture during five years.
Then he spent five other years in Montreal, teaching philosophy to the boys.
·
In 1863, we find Fr. Schemmel again in Fordham, teaching dogmatic theology and Hebrew. He seems to have
had quite definite opinions of his own in controverted mat~
ters; but in the class-room it was very hard to make out
his bias. He stated both sides fairly, and left you to choose.
It was impossible to draw him out, however much you
might question him. In private "coaching" for examination
he was unrivalled: his clear, concise method was invaluable
to one who wanted briefly the pith of an argument or the
answer to possible objeCtions.
From 1866 to 1868 he taught philosophy in New York;
the following year he read metaphysics to Ours at Fordham. In 1869, when Woodstock was opened, he went there
and taught for three years moral theology, the short course,
or logic and metaphysics. Towards the middle of the academic year I872-73, which he spent at Fordham, he fell ill
with inflammatory rheumatism. As he was no better at the
end of the year, he was removed to St. Vincent's Hospital in
New York, where the devoted siSters took him gently
through a year of acute suffering. The little man used afterwards to relate how the nuns obliged him, according to
the doCtor's prescription, to drink his bottle of brandy every
day ; and lest such a dose would scandalize us in so regular a man, he would add: "My blood was so bad that I felt
the brandy no more than if it had been water."
As soon as he got well enough, he was sent back to his
dear old Woodstock, where he taught either ecclesiastical
history or the short course for two years. Here he was in
his element, cheerful in the midst of lris books. Though
so timid and diffident, and withal so humble that he imagined people ought to avoid him because he was, in his
own eyes, so unbearable, yet he could not resist the temptation of an occasional witty remark or passing joke; only,
if it was in the class-room, as he did not dare to look at his
VoL. vn-No. 3·
25
�Fatlzer Serapllim Sclzemmel.
pupils, he would direCt: his half-playful, half-bashful glance
to a remote corner of the ceiling-which strange manceuvre
was generally a signal to his hearers to prick up their ears
for a forthcoming joke.
·
Woodstock saw the last of his public teaching, though,
strange to say, what we might call his public life was only
about to begin. Hitherto he had been altogether an indoor man, having nothing or scarcely anything to do with
the exterior ministry; but now, in 1876, coming to New
York just after Father Legouais's death, he unexpeB:edly
stepped into his shoes. Literally speaking, they were not
much to small, seeing that, while Father Legouais was a
trifle under five feet, Father Schemmel cannot have been
more than a trifle over the same. Morally, the said shoes
fitted to perfeB:ion; in faB:, as Father Schemmel took Father Legouais's confessional, it is piously believed that some
good people never perceived the change of personality. As
had been the dead man, so was the -live one: clear and
pointed in his advice, patient, gentle, always at home, always
easy of access. His private lessons of theology to a couple
of scholastics being no very great drain upon his time, he
even ventured to toddle through the streets on errands of
mercy, looking timidly over his shoulder every now and
then, as if-this is the way that lo'6k was accounted for by
a facetious Virginian-as if he was making sure that his
guardian angel was following on his trail.
Although he never completely recovered from his long
illness, he·seemed in this last year to be growing stronger
and less infirm. The day before he was struck down by the
disease that carried him off so suddenly, he went to see a
German who had been hurt on the Elevated Railway. He
was always called for Germans, because, though decidedly
French in charaB:er and training, he was more;: of a German
in his talk; even French he spoke with a ·marked German
accent. On that day, then, Sunday, the 7th of July, he
;;eem~d to be in his usual health and spirits. On Monday
afternoon he was called again to see a sick woman in St.
Joseph's Home, 15th Street. Coming back in time for ~ec·
ond table, he went to sit with the Fathers during recreatwn.
This was unusual with him. As he was troubled, after
�Fatlter Ser<Ip!zim Srhemme!.
meals, with a tendency to choking, which sitting down only
aggravated, he made it a point to walk, generally with some
of the Scholastics ; but this evening, whether because it wa~
vacation time, and they were .all at Fort-Hill, or because
his sick call had fatigued him, so it was, that he sat down
with the Fathers. and very good-naturedly stood their chaffing him about it.
He went to bed at about ten ?'clock, without showing
any signs of what was so soon to come. One of the Brothers happened to be passing by his. room at half-past eleven.
Hearing groans, he went in, and found the poor little man
sitting in his chair and complaining of great oppression in
the chest. Father Rector was called, and immediately sent
for the doctor. The latter eventually came, but all efforts
to save the good Father's life were unavailing. The disease
seems to have been congestion of the lungs brought on by
rheumatism; it gave him intense pain, leaving him, however,
the full use of his faculties. He made his confession, and
was anointed without delay, but, as he seemed threatened
with vomiting, Holy Communion was not given to him. At
twenty-five minutes past one, only three hours and a half
after he left the recreation room apparently in good health,
he went to his rest.
We had reason to think that the suddenness of his death
was a mercy. He had formerly been very scrupulous, even
in direCting others, so much so that, in the consciousness of
his infirmity, he is known to have advised one of his scrupulous penitents to look out for some other direCtor. Latterly he has been found very definite, precise and unhesitating in the confes;;ional and in spiritual direction ; but who
knows if the old tendency to over exactness might not have
mastered him in the dreary trials of a lingering illness ?
The very morning of his death, a lady came to ask for
the "little Father." She was one of those who had found
in him a worthy successor of Fr. Legouais. The Brother
at the door pointed to the parlor, where the body was laid
out, saying ominously, "He is there!" It was on the 9th
of last July. He was buried on the following day, not quite
twenty-eight years after his entrance into the Society, and
about fourteen years and a half after his profession. Quietly
and unobtrusively he died as he had ·lived, a man of solid
and well digested learning, but above all an interior man
who seems never to have swerved, in any important detail,
from the path of duty.
�APPENDIX.
VARIA.
Amen"ca-:-:-A young woman told one of the missiOnary
Fathers t~at she had been associating with Protestants for
years and going to their churches; she scarcely considered
herself a Catholic. The only thing that kept her from formal apostasy was the thought of having to give up the Rosary if she became a Protestant. That she could not do. She
made the mission and was extremely penitent.
Another, a Protestant woman, was sweeping in a public
place, and found a piece of paper, on which was printed the
"Hail Mary." She learned the prayer by heart, and was
pleased to say it often. This practice led to other things,
and she was received into the Church by Fr. Dompieri.
k priest was called in at \Voodstock, New Brunswick, to
a man who was dying. He was born of Protestant parents,
and probably unbaptized, and knew nothing of religion.
When asked by the Father how it was that he had sent
for a priest and what made him as~ for admission into the
Church, the poor man replied; "I ·don't know anything
about religion; I want 'to be a Catholic. It appears that
when a young man he heard Catholics saying the Angelical
Salutation, and had picked up a few words of it and used
to say every day: "0, holy Mary, bring us to the Father
and the Son."
Asia llfinor-Our Fathers in Beyrout have a very fine
printing office which excites the admiration of even European visitors. They have made a new Arabic translation of
the Bible which is at present printing. The third volume
will contain an Index Biblicus, a novelty in the East. A
splendid copy of the first volume has been sent to the Paris
Exposition.-The Fathers in Aleppo have gained the good
will and respect of the whole population, by their exertions
during the plague, and they have received besides a gold
medal of honor from the French Government.
�Varia.
193
East Indies-The Mission of Mangalore has been transferred to the care of the Society by the Congregation of the
Propaganda. V. Rev. Fr. General has entrusted it to the
Province of Venice. Six priests and two lay-brother will
go at once to take charge of it.
France-On the evening of May 12th, the relics of Fr.
de la Colombiere were taken from the tomb in the chapel
of the convent at Paray le Monial, where they had rested
one hundred· and nine years; and on July 22d-the birthday of Blessed Margaret Mary-they were deposited in the
public chapel of our house of third probation.
Spain-His Eminence, the Cardinal Archbishop of Saragossa, has given a public testimony of affeCtion towards the
Society by visiting our Novitiate and Juniorate in Verneh
(Aragon), to celebrate the feast of our holy Founder.. He
sang Solemn Pontifical Mass, and in the evening gave the
BenediCtion of the Blessed Sacrament. He remained over
eight days with the community. He seemed to take the
greatest delight in dealing familiarily with our young people, walki.ng out with them, making them explain the distribution of time, the matter studied in the J uniorate, the
method of studying, etc. A month later, just before starting for Rome, he wrote a very kind letter to the ReCl:or,
thanking him and his community for the pleasure which the
visit had given him. "I am going to Rome," said his Eminence, "and I am sure that I will afford great consolation to
our Holy Father, to the Sacred College and to the· Fathers
of the Society (on whom I will call), by simply relating
what I have witnessed in that house." His Eminence is a
member of the illustrious Order of St. Dominic.
We stated o1z page IJJ, t/zat, in consequence of tlze confirmation of tlte 'l!Cto of Governor Axtell by t/ze Senate Committee
o1z Territories, our Fathers would have to presmt mzot/zer Bill
of Incorporation. We /zave since learned t!tat, itz cotzseqzteTzce
of tlze refusal of tlte House of Represmtatives to concur in
t/zis measure, matters remai1l as they were after the passage of
the bill over the Govenzor's veto.
�""'
OUR COLLEGES IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA FOR 1877-78.
!'LAG~:
NAME
l'ROVINGE
STUDENTS
. Loyola College, d.* .. ......... }laryland ...••...............
80
. Boston College, d ... ...•.•.•.. J\laryland .....•...•.•........
212
. Canisius College, b.t .......... Germany ..............•.....
119
. St. Ignatius College, d . •...•.. J\Hssouri.....................
236
. St. Francis Xavier College, d .• J\lissouri. .........•.....•....
270
D
. Detroit College, d .•••••••••• ·l~li~souri. ........•...........
84
F
. St. John's College, b••••. ••••• New York and Canada Mission
185
G
in Georgetown College, b• ••••••• J\Iaryland .....•.•......•.....
196
L
. Las Vegas College, b• •••.••••• Naples.............•.....••..
130
]\
. St. J\lnry's College, b •••••••••• New York and Canada Mission
254
N
. St. Francis Xavier College, d .• New York and Canada J\Iission
477
N
, Immaculate Concept. College, d'Lyons .......................
200
s
s
s
s
Santa Clara College, b••••••. . Turin................•.......
209
. San Francisco College, d •••••• Turin ........................
672
. St. Louis University, b .••••••• J\lissouri. ....................
333
St. :Mary's College, b . •••.•••.. Lyons .......................
178
·
1 Tra.nspoteo
s_
St. Joseph's College,tb ........ Missouri. ....................
150
w
, Gonzaga College, d .......... • 1\Iaryland ....................
110
Woreester, Massachusetts ..... IIIoly Cross
(J()~~ge,b .........
1
ll\Inryland .................... I 147
Creighton College, at Omaha, and St. Peter's, Jersey City, were opened this month-so that we can give no
* d Day college; t b Boarding college.
statistics concerning them.
�CONTENTS OF VOL. VII.
Page
Georgetown College ....................••...•••........... 3, 69, 135
l\lissionary Labors ...............•........... 23, 31, 36, 105, 161, 170
Las Vegas College ..••••..••.•........•.....••.••..••.•.......... 40
Letter from Colorado ...............••..••••.••.•................ 44
Ohio College Association ..........•.......•...................... 48
Marcella Street Home, Boston ....................••.............. 53
The l\Iissions of Frederick County, Md ..•.........•.........•..... 87
Indian l\lissions ......................•.......... 92, 99, 174, 179, 184
Parish Work at l\Iilwaukee .......•.............•••...........•.. 112
Consecration of a Church in.Cuba ....................•.•......•.. 117
Obsequies of Pius IX.................. • .••••.........•....•..• 145
Our Colleges in the United States and Canada for 1877-78 .•....... 194
OBITUARY-
Father l\Iaurice Gailland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . 15
Peter L. 1\Iiller. . . . . . . . . • . • . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Ferdinand Coosemans ...............•................ 119
John Rover ...••••...••....•..........••............ 111
1\lr. James 'Vier ............................................ 123
Father Seraphim Schemmel. . . .. .. . . .. .. . . . . . • .. . . .. . . .. . . . . . 188
APPENDIX-
Extracts from Foreign Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . • • . . . 55
Requiem for Pius IX. in Shanghai ... :. . .. . . . .. .. .. . .. . .. . • .. 125
1\Iission of .Madura. • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Varia ........................................ : ...... 62,132, 192
�•
..· .-
�
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Woodstock Letters
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The Woodstock Letters were a publication of the Society of Jesus from 1872 until 1969. They were named after Woodstock College, the Jesuit seminary in Maryland where they were published. Written almost entirely by Jesuits, and originally intended to be read only by Jesuits, the Letters were "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus in North and South America." They include historical articles, updates on work being done by the Jesuits, eyewitness accounts of historic events, book reviews, obituaries, enrollment statistics for Jesuit schools, and various other items of interest to the Society. The writings of many renowned Jesuit scholars and missionaries appeared in the Woodstock Letters, including Pedro Arrupe, Pierre-Jean de Smet, Avery Dulles, Daniel Lord, Walter Hill, John Courtney Murray, Walter Ong, and Gustave Weigel. They provide an invaluable record of the work done by American Jesuits throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries.
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1872-1969
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021157.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Catholic Church--Periodicals</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004995.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--20th century</a>
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Woodstock Letters - Volume 7 (1878)
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1878 edition of the Woodstock Letters, "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus."
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Text
A.M. D. G.
WOODSTOCI( LETTERS
A RECORD
Of
C~t~•rent
Events mul Historical :Notes connected with
the Colleges and ~1Iissions of tlte Soc. of Jesus
in J•rorth antl South America.
VOL. VIII.
WOODSTOCK COLLEGE
I879·
FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION.
�Through inadvertence the promise of the writer of the History of
Georgetown College, to reproduce the Proposals in the style of tl1e
Original, was not entirely carried out by us in the reprint of that doc·
..
ument.
ERRATA
Page 5
" 8
"
14
line
,,
23
36
"
11
for
"
"
by read be
In
I
"
Jaques " ,Jacques
...... . :
�WOODSTOCK LETTERS.
VOL. VIII, No.
I.
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE,
lTS EARLY HISTORY, WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ITS
FOUNDER, AND EXTRACTS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE.
( Contzizued.)
Our regular narrative will be passed over at this point in
order to give place to the following documents, which are
too lengthy to be reproduced in the place where they belong,
further on. They will be referred to when that period ( 1787)
shall have been reached. The first is a copy of a letter from
Rev. John Carroll to Rev. Charles Plowden, or at least of
so much of it as refers to the proposed "Academy." No one
that reads it can fail to be struck with the evidence it affords
of the zeal, the scholastic tastes and fervor, and the administrative foresight of our founder. If Georgetown College
had never had any existence beyond the germ of it conceived
in the mind of John Carroll, the sketch he has drawn would ·
have been held in respeB:ful admiration as a guide proper to
be followed in realizing the projeCt::
"Your continued attention and earnestness for the prosperity of the American church entitle you to every information concerning it. We have now two great undertakings
on hand, for the success of which we stand in.need of every
( 3)
�4
Georgetov.m College.
support and best advice of the friends of Religion. vVe have
resolved to establish an Academy for the education of youth:
and to solicit the appointment of a Diocesan Bishop: the lat.
ter is a necessary consequence of the former; for ~mr great
view in the cstabli!i!hment of ~n Academy is tp form subjeCls
capable of becoming useful members of the ministry ; and to
these a Bishop, for ordination, will be indispensably necessary.
"I shall send to London, either to Strickland or Talbot,*
a printed paper containing the general outlines of the plan
for an Aca_&my. It will be afterwards put into Mr; Nihell'st
hands to o'e forwarded to you. But as it only contains as
much as it was necessary the public should know, with you
I will be more particular. In the beginning, the Academy
will not receive boarders, but they ~ust provide lodgings in
town: but all notorious deviations from the rules of morality, out, as well as in school, must be subjected to exemplary
.correCtion : every care and precaution that can be devised
will be employed to preserve attention to the duties of religion and good JTianners, in which other American schools
are most notoriously defi~ient. One of our own gentlemen
and the best qualified we can get, will live at the Academy
to have the general diretl:ion _of the studies and superintendence over scholars and masters ...-'Four other of our gentlemen will be nominated to visit the Academy at stated
times, and whenever they can make it convenient, to see that
the business is properly conducted. In the beginning, we
shall be obliged to employ secular masters, under the super:intendent, of which many, and tolerably good ones have already solicited appointments. The great influx from Europe of men of all professions and talents has procured this
*Rev. Thomas Talbot, formerly Prefect of Studies at St. Orner's, was at this
time living in London. Rev. Wm. Strickland, President of Liege AcademY•
1783 to 1790, may possibly have been in that city when this was written.
t Rev. Edw. Nihell, a scholastic of the Society at the time of suppression,
subsequently taught at Liege, was ordained in 1776, and came to England
about this time.
�Georget01.VJZ College.
5
opportunity of providing teachers. But this is not intended
to be a permanent system. We trust in God that many
youths will be called to the service of the Church. After
finishing the academical studies, these will be sent to a seminary, which will be established in one of our houses; and
we have, through God's mercy, a place ami situation* admirably calculated for the purpose of retirement, where these
youths may be perfeCl:ed in their first and initiated into the
higher studies, and at the same time formed to the virtues
becoming their station. Before these young Seminarists are
admitted to orders, they will be sent to teach some years at
the Academy, which will improve their knowledge and ripen
their minds still more, before they irrevocably engage themselves to the church.
''You will observe that the perfeCting of this plan requires
great exertions: and in particular,_demands persons of considerable ability for the conduCl: of the Academy: and will
hereafter stand in further need of able and interior men to
take charge of the Seminary. The difficulties indeed perplex, but do not dishearten me. J3ut I stand greatly in need
of your powerful assistance to procure as soon as possible a
fit gentleman to open, as superintendent, the new establishment,t which we hope may by next autumn, or at furthest
the spring twelvemonth. How often have I said to myself:
what a blessing to this country would my friend Plowden
be! what reputation and solid advantage would accrue to the
Academy from such a direCtor! and what a lasting blessing
would he procure to America by forming the whole plan of
studies and system of discipline for that institution where the
minds of Catholic youth are to be formed and the first foun'"Meaning, no doubt, the present site of Georgetown College: unless, indeed,
it was designed to establish the Academy at this point and the Seminary at
some other, say Whitemarsh. This ~was prior to the arrival of the Sulpi·
cians and the establishment of their Seminary in Baltimore.
t Although the "Seminary" has just been mentioned, it is evident that now
the Academy alone is meant. In fact, the two institutions seem to have been
United in the mind of the writer, who no doubt, designed to erect them side by
side.
�6
George!tr&n College.
dations laid of raising a Catholic ministry equal to the exigencies of the country! Could the zeal of a Xaverius wish
a more promising field to exert his talents? But, my dear
· sir, I am sensible that I can indulge this happiness only in
idea: Europe will hold you too fast to spare yoti to America. But if you cannot come yourself, is there no one on
whom you can direCt your views, capable of filling this place
with credit and advantage? I trust this important concern
almost entirely to your management. You see, he must be
a person old enough to carry a considerable weight of authority and.fespea: experienced in the detail of government
for such a place of education ; and capable of embracing in
his mind a general and indeed universal plan of studies, of
which the academical institution is only a part. He should
have considerable knowledge of the world, as he will be
obliged to converse with many different persons : and he
should be capable of abstraCting his mind from the methods
used in the colleges where he has lived, so as to adopt only
as much of them as is suited to the circumstances of the
country; and of substituting such others as are better adapted to the views and inclinations of those with whom he has
to deal.
"You see I require a good deal; b.ut all I mention is necessary to give reputation and permap.ency to the plan; for
you may be assured that in the Institutions of other professions they have procured from Europe some literary characters of the first class ; and this likewise makes me desirous
of not falling behindhand with them. I have heard Mr.
Kemper and Mr. Barrow* spoken of with great commenda*Thomas Barrow of the old Society, is spoken of by Oliver as a "prodigy of
learning." He rendered incalculable service at Liege and subsequently at
Stony hurst. Rev. Herman Kemper, his colleague in both establishments, was,
says Oliver, "one of the ablest scholars and most valuable members of the Eng·
lish Province." Thus our founder aimed high. "Messrs. Mattingly and
Semmes," mentioned a few lines further on, were both Marylanders. John
Mattingly, born in 1745, was sent to St. Orner's in 1760, entered the Society in
1766, and after the suppression, became travelling tutor to Sir William Gerard
and other of the English Catholic gentry. "He was justly esteemed for his
�Georgetown College.
7
tion. Can Liege spare them or either of them? and would
either of them be willing to come over to our assistance?
You perhaps can point out some other able and proper per_
son. I shall mention the matter to Messrs. Mattingly and
Semmes; and if you correspond with Liege, you will I hope
aCt in concert with them. We cannot afford, in the beginning, to offer very great encouragement: if the Academy
should prosper, we probably should have it in onr power to
make the superintendent's situation exceedingly comfortable
indeed: but in the beginning, we dare not exceed an offer of
6o£ St. pr. ann. I again entreat you, my dear sir, to exert
your utmost industry in this business, and to give immediate
information of your success. You see the importance of the
commission: and your exertions will, I hope, be adequate to
the great concern at stake. Mr. Kemper's uncle, the worthy
Mr. \Vapeler, having devoted so many of his labors to this
country, may be a motive with the nephew to sacrifice his
. own labors likewise to the perfeCting the work done by the
former.
"Next to the choice of a proper superintendent or Principal, your assistance will be requisite principally in the designation of proper elementary books for our establishment.
You will therefore be so kind as to write me immediately
which are the best of every kind for teaching English, Latin,
Greek, Geometry, and the first principles of Mathematics. I
remember that the catastrophe of the Society came upon you
when you were engaged in simplifying the Latin Grammar
and making it more easy to be understood. Did you afterwards at Liege finish your plan ? or was any other Grammar
adopted there, and with what success? what Syntax? what
Prosody? what Greek Grammar and other elementary works
elegance of manners, literary attainments, and solid virtues," says Oliver. He
died in 1807, while on a visit to Ireland. Joseph Semmes, born 1743, entered
the Society in 1761, and eight years later became Professor of Philosophy at
Liege; on the removal to Stonyhurst in 1794, he continued to teach philosophy
and subsequently added Divinity. He died at Stonyhurst in 1809. Neither of
these two ever revisited their native country.
�8
Georgetown College.
of that language do you recommend? In the schools established through this country, I find they have adopted
Grammar and Syntaxes, both .for Greek and Latin, much
more concise than those of Alvarez and Gretzer: whether
they are equal in other respeCts l cannot tell, excepting that
they are preferable. for containing the rules in English, which
the students understand, instead of being in Latin, which
they do not.
"Besides these elementary books, I wish you to recorrl"
mend the best works you know for forming and improving
the taste of students, and enlarging their minds without
endangering their moral principles. I remember to have
heard great commendations of the Com's de belles lettres, by
l'Abbe Batteux. I never read it, as it did not lay in m)'
line of studies at that time. You probably have, and I hear
it is translated into English.-In a word, set your mind to
work, and you will, I doubt not, send us a very good system,
Above all be not afraid of tiring me by descending into too .
great a detail; you may see, by my inquiries, how much
information I want; and particularly with respeCt to the minuti;:e of the business. At the same time, inform me where
the elementary books, the Classics, Ma.ps, Globes, etc. may
be had on the most reasonable terms.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
"Amongst other difficulties which we have to overcome
in the undertaking of the Academy, pecuniary resources
will be a great one. I expeCt, indeed, that considerable
subscriptions, considering the abilities of our people, will be
obtained amongst them, but the first expense of ereCling
proper buildings and securing the salaries for the Masters
will be very great. Notwithstanding our debilitated circumstances, by the continuance of an expensive war, yet it so
happens that all services are paid higher here than perhaps
in any: country. The common Grammar masters in the colleges·and Academies amongst us have the enormous salaries
of £ St I so to I So and 200. In hope, indeed, to get ours
�Georgeto-wn College.
9
at an under rate ; but hardly for less than £6o to £8o St. ·
pr. ann. On this occasion may I not hope that the opulent
Catholics of great Britain will contribute to a work so
eminently useful as the proposed one is; and that they will
remember that by giving it their assistance they probably
render as essential and permanent service to religion as ever
will be in their power, and entitle themselves to i:he gratitude
of millions yet unborn, besides the superior prospect of a
transcendent reward in heaven. These motives and encouragements, you, my dear sir, will know how to place in a
proper light; and in this as well as in the other matters recommended above, I place great dependence on your zeal.~'
An original copy of the printed document containing the
proposals referred to in the above letter, and probably the
identical one there spoken of, has been brought or transmitted to this ·country as a curiosity, and lies before us. In
reproducing it here, the style of it will be imitated as nearly
as our modern typography will admit. The document is
folded in the form of a large letter, six by eight inches, and
is addressed, "Mr. Charles Plowden, Lullworth Castle, near
\Vareham, Dorset." The seal is of wax, bearing a crest now
partially obliterated. The word "Ship" is rudely stamped
on the outside, indicating the mode of conveyance: and a
circular stamp, a little less rude, bears the date at which it
no doubt arrived in London, "May 25, '87," nearly two
months after it was dispatched. The postage inscribed is
"62 Yz" (cts.). The sheet when opened is found to be printed
only at one end; and the name of "Edward Weld, Esqr."
is. written in Rev. Mr. Carroll's hand at the left upper corner. Rev. Mr. Piowden, through whose hands the document was transmitted to that gentleman, was at the time
residing at the Castle in the capacity of tutor to Mr. Weld's
children. When spread open, the paper measures fifteen by
eighteen inches, and its general appearance conforms with
that of the official documents of the period. It was no
VoL. vm-No. 1.
2
�10
Georgetown College.
• doubt printed at Annapolis by the Greens, the State printers
of the day.
Within, is another printed paper conveying an express
authorization to the person addressed, to colleCt monies for
the objeCt specified. The blank spaces, as filled in writing,
will. here be indicated by the words enclosed in brackets ..
The document is headed, "To all liberally inclined to promote
the education of Youth," and then continues, substituting
"humbly requested" for the printed word "appointed,"
through which a line is drawn with the pen; in like manner,
"desire" r~places "authorize," and "humbly requested," again,
substitutes"""authorized,"-the change having been made,
out of respeCt to the distinguished social position of the
Welds: "Be it known by these presents, that I, the underwritten, have (humbly reque3ted Edw'd Weld Esqr. and
Lady) to receive any generous donations for the purpose
set forth in a certain printed paper, entitled, Proposals for
establishing an Academy, at Georgetown, Potomack River,
Maryland; for which (they) will give receipts to the benefactors, and remit the monies received by (them) to me the
aforesaid underwritten, one of the direCtors of this undertaking. Conscious also of the merited confidence placed
in the aforesaid (Edward Weld Esqr. and Lady) I moreover
(desire them) to appoint any othe;_person or persons to
execute the same liberal office as (they are humbly requested) by me to execute. (Maryland), this (3oth) day of
(March), 17(87). Signed and sealed,"- then follows the
autograph, "}. Carroll." For an official seal, the corner of
the paper under the signature is turned over and thus held
in place by a wafer, without any device stamped thereon.
Ninety years have elapsed since these missives were despatched, freighted with the best hopes of our energetic
founder, but destined, as tradition states, to prove fruitless
of result. People doubtless said that, "the clergy were rich"
and needed no help: just as they have alleged since of the
Jesuits who succeeded them. So, the clergy, left to their
�Georgetrncm College.
II
own resources, divested themselves of a portion of the old
patrimony of the Society which formed their own modest
support, and which they had hoped to hand down undiminished to the Society again, when it should be restored :
therewith contributing out of their own pockets, as it were,
.to the erection of an institution of learning designed for the
benefit of the community at large. The Jesuits, whose resources were thus ultimately diminished, have been left,
ever since their restoration, to maintain the enterprise by
their own labors, without gratuitous help from any other
quarter, or, with so little as hardly to deserve mention.
Now that a similar appeal, for only the second .time within
a hundred years, has been made in behalf of the grand
structure which is about to rise, will the burthen continue
to be left to their unassisted shoulders ?
PROPOSALS
FoR ESTABLISHING A.N AcADEMY, AT GEORGE-TowN,
p ATOW.liiACK- RIVER, MARYLAND.
THE Object of the proposed Institution is, to unite the
Means of communicating Science with an effectual Provision for guarding and improving the Morals of Youth.
With this View, the Seminary will be superintended by
those, who, having had Experience in similar Institutions,
know that an undivi-ded Attention may be given to the Cultivation of Virtue, and literary Improvement; and that a
System of Discipline may be introduced and preserved, incompatible with Indolence and Inattention in the Professor,
or with· incorrigible Habits of Immorality in the Student.
The Benefit of this Establishment should be as general
as the Attainment of its Object is desirable. It will, therefore, receive Pupils as soon as they have learned the first
Elements of Letters, and will conduct them, through the
several Branches of classical Learning, to that Stage of
Education, from which they may proceed, with Advantage~
�12
Georgc!tr&Jl College.
to the Study of the higher Sciences, in the University of
this, or those of the neighboring States. Thus it will be
calculated for every Class of Citizens ;-as Reading, 'Writing,
Arithmetic, the earlier Branches of the Mathematics, and
the Grammar of our native Tongue will be attended to, no
less than the learned Languages.
Agreeably to the liberal Principle of our Constitution, the
Seminary will be open to Students of EVERY RELIGIOUS PROFESSION.-They, who in this RespeCt differ from the Superintendents of the Academy, will be at Liberty to frequent
the Places of Worship and InstruCtion appointed by their
Parents; but with RespeCt to their moral ConduCt, all must
be subjeCt to general and uniform Discipline.
In the Choice of Situation, Salubrity of Air, Convenience
of Communication, and Cheapness of living, have been principally consulted; and George-Town offers these united
Advantages:
The Price of Tuition will be moderate; in the Course of
a few Years, it will be reduced still lower, if the System,
formed for this Seminary, be effeCtually carried into execution.
Such a Plan of Education solicits, and, it is not Presumption to add, deserves public Encouragement.
The following Gentlemen, and· others, that may be appointed hereafter, will receive Subscriptions, and inform the
Subscribers, to whom, and in what Proportion, Payments
are to be made :-In Maryland.-The Hon. Charles Carroll,
of Carr.ollton, Henry Rozer, Notley Young, Robert Darnall,
George Diggs, Edmund Plowden, Esqrs., Mr. Joseph Millard, Capt. John Lancaster, Mr. Baker Brooke, Chandler
Brent, Esq.; Mr. Bernard O'Neill, and Mr. Marsham Waring, Merchants, John Darnall, and Ignatius Wheeler, Esqrs.,
on the Western-Shore; and on the Eastern, Rev. Mr. Joseph
Mosley, John Blake, Francis Hall, Charles Blake, William
Matthews, and John Tuitte, Esqrs.- In PennsylvaniaGeorge Mead and Thomas Fitzsimmons, Esqrs., Mr. Joseph
�The Old College of Quebec.
13
Cauffman, Mr. Mark Wilcox, and Mr. Thomas Lilly.- In
Virginia-Col. Fitzgerald, and George Brent, Esq. ;-and at
New York, Dominic Lynch, Esquire.
Subscriptions will also be received, and every necessary
information given, by the following Gentlemen, DireCtors
of the Undertaking:-The Rev. Messrs. John Carroll, James
Pellentz, Robert Molyneux, John Ashton, and Leonard
Neale.
(To be continued.)
THE OLD COLLEGE OF QUEBEC.
(From "Les Missions Catholiques.")
The old College of our Fathers, in the city of Quebec,
better known for years back as the Jesuit Barracks ( Casenze s
des jesuites), was, by order of the provincial government, in
June, 1877, condemned to be destroyed. The walls, it appears, were ready to fall. Abandoned for a long while, and
left uncared for, exposed to all the ravages of storm and
frost, the vast building had served of late to lodge a few
poor families, who hastened perhaps the day of its destruction by making free use, in keeping up their fires, •of whatever wood or other combustible material the edifice contained. Our Fathers were allowed, as we learn from a Canadian paper, to remove the belfry of their old college, as
well as the cornice placed over the principal entrance, both
of which were adorned with inscriptions recalling the labors
of the missionaries in the early days of the colony.
The college was built in front of the cathedral,.on the
slope of the hill, in the form of a vast square, with a courtyard in the interior, the principal front being on the marketplace. As its history is intimately conneCted with that of
the Society in Canada, it will, we are confident, be of interest
to our readers.
�14
Tlze Old College of Quebec.
I
The College of Quebec, founded in 1635, one year before
Harvard University (Cambridge, near Boston) was the old~
est establishment of the kind in North America. The project of its foundation and the first steps towards carrying it
out were made at a still earlier date. In 1625 the Jesuits,
at the request of the Recollect Fathers, came to help in the
work of evangelizing Canada.
Fathers Charles Lallemant, Ennemond Masse and Jean
de Bn!beuf, accompanied by Fathers Francis and Gilbert,
settled at first on the other side of the St. Charles river, in
a place called Fort Jaques Cartier. The following year they
built, in the neighborhood of the same place, an humble
dwelling, called afterwards Our Lady of the Angels.
Persuaded that the future of the colony depended upon
the education of its youth, the Fathers had scarcely landed
when they began to consider how they might best ensure
it. Rene Rohault, eldest son of the Marquis de Gamache,
had obtained leave from his family to enter the Society and
to devote himself to the missions of Canada. His relatives,
having learned from him his ardent desire that a coilege
should be founded in Quebec, resolved to give him this
. further satisfaaion. Accordingly they offered the Superior
of the Fathers 6ooo louis for that purpose. Their offer was
gratefully accepted. The work, howev~r; was not begun at
once ; for the colony was yet too little developed for its inhabitants to avail themselves of the advantages of a college.
On July 20th, 1629, a sad event occurred, which caused
still further delay. David Kertk, a cruiser of Dieppe, in the
pay of England, succeeded in intercepting Roquemont's
little fleet, and forced Champlain, the Governor of Quebec,
to capi~ulate. It was left to the choice of the colonists to
remain or to return to France. The religious, however,
were all compelled to cross the sea.
�Tlze Old College
of Quebec.
IS
Influenced by zeal for religion, rather than by motives of
state-policy or self-interest, Louis XIII. refused to give up
this sorely-tried colony. His just remonstrances were listened to; and, by the treaty of Saint-Germain en Laye, Canada was restored to France. But in what a condition ! The
Governor's house had been burned down : its blackened
walls alon~ remained. The Jesuit residence was in ruins;
doors and windows had been carried off and broken to
pieces. The convent of the RecolleCts had fared still worse.
Our Fathers, on their return, set to work with renewed
ardor. The beginning was humble enough. Fr. Paul Lejeune wrote in 1632: "I am teaching in Canada. I have at
present two scholars who are learning to read. After so
many years of teaching, back again at A, B, C! Still, I am
so happy and contented that I would not change my two
scholars for the finest audience in France." The following
year he added: "I had two scholars last year. This year
I am rich ; I have now more than twenty."
The promises of the Marquis de Gamache had not been
forgotten: they were about to be fulfilled. In 1635, classes
were opened by Fathers Charles Lallemant and De Quen,
and at the same time materials for the construB.ion of temporary buildings were gathered. The foundations of the
College of Quebec were laid near Fort St. Louis, a piece of
land, six arpmts in size, having been given by the colony.
The result was that several well-to-do families came to Canada, where they could now hope to give their children a
Christian education, and one in keeping with their position
in society. Immigration received a new impetus. Still, the
college walls were long in rising from the ground.
Champlain survived but a few months the foundation of
an establishment in which he had taken deep interest. He
died Dec. 25, 1635. His death was mourned by all as a
public calamity. Fr. Lejeune pronounced an eloquent dis.course over his grave, and then quietlyresumed his humble
class.
�16
Tlze Old College of Quebec.
Fr. Bartholemew Vimont, who, Aug. I, 1639. brought to
Canada the first of the Ursulines and Hospital Nuns, and
remained there as Superior of our Fathers, was occupied in
promoting the welfare of the rising college, when new trials
caused fresh delays. The Jesuit residence having been destroyed by fire, the Governor placed the Fathers, for the
time being, in the house which had been occupied by the
Hm:pital Nuns. It contained but two rooms, which served
turn about as kitchen, sleeping rooms, and class rooms.
The cour<:~ge of the Fathers seemed to rise with the difficulties whiEli beset them. God blessed their efforts, and
they were soon consoled with the prospeCt of a brilliant future. They were, besides, nearly all men of rare talent and
tried virtue. Those who were· charged with the care of
the college, however humble its beginning, were, for the
most part, men distinguished as much by birth and previous
service, as by their learning and ability. The following list
will give some idea of the positions they had filled while
still in France:
Fr.. Lejeune, professor of rhetoric and afterwards superior
of one of our houses.
Fr. Charles Lallemant, professor of physics at Bruges,
prefeCt of the College of Louis the Great, and afterwards
reCtor of the college at Rouen.
~·.
Fr. Jerome Lallemant, professor o(logic and direCtor at
Paris before his first coming to Canada; afterwards reCtor
of the College of La Fleche, where there were twelve hundred students, when he obtained, at the request of the
Bishop of Laval, permission to return to Canada.
Fr. Paul Raguenau, professor of literature at Bourges,
and of philosophy at A miens.
Fr. Peter Chastelain, professor at the College of Louis
the Great in 1629, who died in Quebec in 1684, after spending forty-eight years in Canada, author of the pious and delightf\11 work: Ajfeflus anima: amantis Jesum.
Fr. Bartholomew Vimont, prefeCt of studies and reCtor at
Vannes.
�Tlze Old College
of Quebec.
17
Fr. John de Quen, professor of grammar at Paris, and of
literature at Port-l'Eveque.
Fr. Rene Menard, profe~sor of rhetoric at Moulins ..
Fr. Ambrose Davost, minister and procurator of the college of Bourges.
The College of Quebec had, besides, the glory of being
the resting-place, and in some cases, the dwelling of those
martyrs to apostolic zeal, who, in the seventeenth century,
watered the soil of Canada with their sweat and blood.
Fathers John de Brebeuf and Gabriel Lallemant, who, on
the 15th and 17th of March, -1649, terminated by a heroic
death a life of unheard-of toil and privation, may be claimed
as belonging to the College of Quebec. Accordingly, as a
memorial of his glorious death, his family presented to the
coliege a life-size silver bust of Fr. de Bn!beuf. It stands
on a pedestal, in which is enshrined the head of the renowned missionary. This precious relic has passed into
other hands. It is at present kept in the Hotel-Dieu of
Quebec.
On OCl:ober g, 1668, the feast of St. Denis, took place the
solemn inauguration of the petit seminaire of Quebec. Destined for the education of those who might be judged suitable for the priesthood, the establishment met with all the
success that could be expeCted. The scholars, few in number in the beginning, but judiciously seleCl:ed, followed the
classes at the college; and a close frien~ship existed be~
tween the two houses.
The population of Canada grew larger and larger, as well
through natural increase as by continued immigration from
France. In 1721 there were only twenty-five thousand inhabitants, and in 1744 the number reached fifty thousand!
II.
During the years which elapsed from 1721 to 1744, the
buildings which have just been destroyed were completed.
We read in Fr. Charlevoix's journal, OCl:. 28, 1720: "You
have doubtless read in certain relations, that the Jesuit colVaL. vm-No. 1.
3
�18
T!te Old College of Qurbrc.
lege at Quebec is a very fine building. \Vhen the city was
but a shapeless gathering of wretched hovels and Indian
wigwams, this building, the only one, with the exception of
the fort, which was built of stone, had some pretentious.
The first travelers, comparing it with its surroundings, represented it as a magnificent edifice. Those who came after
them copied what they had said, according to custom.
Since then the wigwams have disappeared, and the hovels
have grown into houses, for the most part well built, so
that the college is at present an eyesore, and threatens to
fall in ruins." The quarto edition of 1744 has the following
note: "Since then the college has been entirely rebuilt, and
i3 now a very fine edifice.''
The prosperity of Quebec had excited the jealousy of the
neighboring colony. Louisburg, especially, was a thorn in
the side of New England. The loss of this important place,
which was forced to capitulate June 17, 1748, was the prelude to all the other disasters which followed, and which
ended, in spite of a heroic assistance, in the surrender of
Quebec, Sept. 18, 1659, and of Montreal, Sept. 8, 176o.
From that time the struggle was over. A few weeks later,
the English vessels took back to France the officers and
soldiers of the army and fleet, together with a great number
of the most notable among the colonists. The college of
Quebec could not long survive so-~tide a shock.
As Canada still belonged to France, the colonists cherished the hope that the mother·country would not abandon
them, but would secure their restoration at the close of hostilities. But, after three long years of waiting, their hopes
were sadly disappointed. The treaty of Paris, February IO,
1763, settled their fate by handing them over to England.
The result was a second emigration. From one thousand
to twelve hundred persons of note, who had remained after
the capitulation, now ·withdrew to France or to San Domingo. With the exception of a few families of the better
class, there remained only some of the lower officials, some
mechanics, and the members of the religious orders.
�Vacation ¥Vork oj Sclzo!astic Priests.
19
The College of Quebec con~inued to exist as best it might,
until 1768, when the s~:n=n•ry, which until then had sent
its scholars to follow the classes of our Fathers, received
within its walls the last of our pupils in Quebec, some sixty
in number. In I776, the English government took possession of a portion of the college, and kept there the public
records, deeming itself generous in leaving the rest of the
building at the disposal of the surviving members of the Order. \Vhen, in I8oo, the last of their number, Fr. Cazot,
died, the crown, acting on the principle that might makes
right, declared, without other form of law, the property of
the Jesuits, the college included, forfeited; as if the Church,
to whom it belongs, was not immortal.
The college was turned into a barracks, and was occupied
by the British troops until they were withdrawn from Canada in 1869. From that time the building was utterly
abandoned. It seemed to be awaiting speedy and total destruEl:ion. However, one day of glory it was yet to witness.
On OEI:ober I, 1874, the two hundredth anniversary of the
diocese of Quebec, the windows of the venerable edifice
were adorned with transparencies, on which, in letters of
gold by day, and -of flame by night, all Canada might read
the glorious past of the old college of the Jesuits at Quebec.
VACATION WORK OF SCHOLASTIC PRIESTS.
MISSIONS IN ST. MARY's CouNTY, Mn.
Missions were given during the vacations in several parts
of the counties of Maryland. · Those preached in St. Mary's
County, in which scholastic Fathers from Woodstock had
any part, were given at St. George's church, St. Nicholas,'
St. Inigoes,' the Sacred Heart church and St. John's. Frs.
Smith and Hughes from Woodstock, under the direb:ion of
�20
Vacation TVork of Sclzolastic Priests.
the pastor, Fr. Neale, began at St. George's, on July 14th,
a Sunday, and ended there on the following Tue~day. A
sermon, a couple of instruCtions, catechism, and various
devotions, besides Mass at 10. 30 A. M., filled up the day
from 10 o'clock each morning till 4 or later in the afternoon. The church and congregation are small: the Communions came to about seventy. Two days later the same
programme was followed out in the same way at St. Nicholas,' beginning on Friday, and ending with Sunday. The
congregation of this church, which is under the same pastor, Fr. N~~le, is much larger, more cultivated in every respeCt:, and the church itself is a hundred years old, quite interesting and antique in its form, and well cared for by the
ladies of the congregation. The altar is very neat, and everything, the faithful themselves not excepted, is calculated
to help devotion. There were about one hundred and
ninety Communions. It was quite noticeable that whether
at the altar-rail or in the confe::;sional, there was a degree
of religious cultivation manifested by men and women alike
that- was more than refreshing. On the follo\ving Wednesday, the same mission-sermons and instruCtions were begun
at St. Inigoes' church, of which Fr. Vigilante is pastor. These
exercises spread over four days, w~th very full attendance
throughout, and ended on the fifth.d?y with the usual Sunday morning services. The number of Communions
amounted to over three hundred. A good number of men
returned to their duties after periods of negleCt: ranging
freely from one to thirty-four years.
A most remarkable feature of this mission was the work
done with the children, of whom there were present from
eighty to one hundred. Several scholastics had kindly taken a catechism class in hand, as soon as the villa opened
at St. Inigoes, some three weeks before the mission; and dividing the children into various seCtions, devoting a whole
morning to them three times a week, encouraging them in
every way, the zealous catechists had managed in the
�Vacation Work of Sclzolastic Priests.
21
course of three weeks to have in daily attendance, at the
mission; a large body of well-organized children, amounting
to between eighty and one hundred. Several weeks after
the scholastics had left, there were still found at the ordinary
Saturday catechism of the children, as many as sixty in attendance. So that a large number evidently had occasion
in the course of that month, to lay something like a solid
foundation of instruCtion for their future life.
The recent disaster in the Chesapeake has a remote but
sadly interesting conneCtion with the work of the scholastics.
On the day after they had left St. Inigoes, Fr. Hughes who
remained behind announced at Mass-it was the feast of St.
Ignatius,- that· he desired to continue for a little while
longer the special work of catechizing, which the scholas·
tics had so kindly performed; he .therefore asked for assistance from such of the ladies of the congregation as
could afford to come and teach a class. The very first who
appeared in the sacristy after the sermon was a good mother
of a family, whose children had all of them been particularly noted for their knowledge of the catechism ; and her
eldest daughter had not an equal in this respeCt i one might
suppose she had received a convent education. The good
mother offered her services and those of her daughter.
They were accepted; and on the subseq1.1ent catechism days
the mother taught the prayers and perhaps the aCts, while
the daughter taught a higher class. Among the four
women- passengers aboard the ill-fated Express was this
Mrs. Tarlton with an infant in her arms: she was lost in the
general wreck.*
*It is reported that, during the last hour before the catastrophe, the helpless
female victims, the special objects of the Captain's solicitude, kept themselves
in the saloon calm and resigned, preparing for the worst. The agitation of the
moment betrayed itself only by a prayer or ejaculation that escaped them.
We can imagine that :Mrs. Tarlton, who was the only Catholic among the
three white ladies, taught her catechism once more, and went through the
prayers and acts for the poor Protestants; particularly through the act of
contrition. Be that as it may, when the saloon was swept away by a furious
�.,
t
22
Vacation TVork of Sc!tolastic Pn"ests.
At the close of these missions, one of the young Fathers
remaining on the ground relieved the regular Pastor. The
people being still roused, much good could be done. One
entire family, besides scattered individuals in different families, were under instruCtion preparatory to Baptism. l\lass
was said at different stations down to Point Lookout; and in
one of these stations held in a private house, as many as ninety-two Communions were given, on different days in the
course of a fortnight; which number with eighteen Communions at oth~r less populous places made a total of one hundred and ted.', outside of St. Inigoes' church just after the mission. There were many more confessions at these stations
than Communions; many of the penitents not having fasted,
and intending to communicate on Sunday at the church.
There was a general desire for hearing instruCtions, as many
as eighty persons, whether colored or white, waiting till noon
on week days to hear all the catechism, which the Priest
could afford time to explain. If there is a thing which promises ~vell in these parts, it is the thirst in Catholics and Protestants to hear and never seem tired of hearing and understanding Christian doetrine.
Higher up on the Patuxent, other missions were commenced on August 21st, in a mor<:· populous part of the
country, among larger congregations'and with more abundant fruit. Fr. D. Haugh, assisted by Fr. \Vm. Doherty from
\Voodstock, began at the Sacred Heart church, of which
Fr. Holland is pastor. Two sermons, with one instruClion,
and one catechism, besides other devotions, covered the
time from 9 o'clock in the morning till 4 in the afternoon.
Intervals were allowed after all the exercises; and in the intervals the hearing of confessions was resumed, having begun about 5 o'clock in the morning, and not closing until
about 6 in the evening. The intervals were many and short.
wave carrying everything with it, they were washed overboard. Fifteen
minutes later the quarter-master saw through the darkness )Irs. Tarlton cling·
ing with one hand to a raft, and on the other arm holding her baby's head
over the water. She was never seen again.
�Vacation Work
of Sclzolastic Priests.
23
In the missions mentioned above, besides such chance relaxations, during the exercises, as the singing of the litanies,
etc., might afford, there was only one long interval from I 2
o'clock till 2, which interval itself allowed time for one public exercise, the way of the cross. There were five hundred
Communions at this church of the Sacred Heart; and the
mission, which opened on Sunday, was closed in the middle
of Thursday. The good people regard it as quite a sacred
duty to attend the mission; and prominent dates in former
years are "when I made my Mission" or, "my Jubilee!" as
if it were a recognized yearly retreat. And they will prepare
for it previously by getting work off their hands, and leaving
other work standing over until they have made the mission.
And if there are many who have been guilty of neglect, it
is only neglect and not any decided aversion which has kept
them from their duties. So that a little personal solicitation
is all that is required to have them begin anew.
On the following Sunday, the same scholastic Priest, Fr.
Doherty, assisting Fr. McAtee, opened another mission at
St. John's, the church of Fr. Pacciarini. The order was
slightly different. There were two sermons and two instructions, the rest remaining much the same. We remember
hearing somewhere in the direction of St. George's from
some Protestant, that he had heard the sermon of this Sunday, and he would not have missed it for the world. There
were always a good number of Methodists attending, curious to hear, and no doubt to profit. At this Church of
St. John's there were seven hundred Communions; with the
same constant stream of penitents. The mission closed on
Thursday at noon.
There were two other missions given in St. Mary's Co. at
the same time; no scholastic Father was eng~ged in them.
Frs. Emig and McAtee, assisted in the confessional by the
pastor, Fr. Pacciarini, gave one at St. Joseph's. Frs. Emig
and Haugh gave the other at Leonardtown. The fruit was
very large; eleven hundred Communions in the first; five
hundred in the other.
�24
Vacation TVork of Sclwlastic Pn·ests.
CARROLL Co.,
Mo.
The mission of St. Joseph's ch'urch, Sykesville, closed the
vacation work of the scholastic Fathers of Woodstock. It
was preached by Frs. Calzia and Smith, and lasted five days,
commencing Sept. rst. As the Catholics are scattered and
most of them live at great distances from the church, it
was found difficult to carry out any programme which would
require their presence during the day, so that the exercises
were limited to Mass and an instruCtion in the morning, catechism for the children in the afternoon, and an instruction
followed by·a sermon in the evening. The Catholic population of the village and surrounding country does not exceed
one hundred and twenty, nearly all of whom went to their
duties.
The mission was immediately followed by the Devotion
ofthe Forty Hours, during which the sermons were preached
by Frs. Denny of Baltimore, and Hughes of \Voodstock.
The altar and the sanctuary were adorned with a profuse display 9f tapestry, various colored transparencies, flowers, etc.,
which proved to be quite an attraCtive feature. It was a
matter of no little consolation to witness the eagerness with
which the Protestants attended the evening exercises, not
only during the Forty Hours' Devo.tion but during the entire week. Some even went so far as· to participate in the
ceremonies of the \Vay of the Cross, which had been erected
during the early part of the mission. The presence of these
strangers w~s no doubt owing in great measure to the plan,
adopted by the Fathers, of studiously abstaining from saying
anything in their discourses which might wound the religious susceptil::iilities of those who do not kneel at the same
altar as ourselves. Hence many, led by curiosity or from a
desire of information, were encouraged to go and see tor
themselves what Catholics do and teach in their 'revivals.'
Four:of the scholastic Priests, Frs. Bosche, Brandi, Cal·
mer and Poland, were engaged during different parts of the
vacation in the residences of Washington, Baltimore, Conewago and Georgetown.
�ECLIPSE EXPEDITION OF THREE
MARYLAND PROFESSORS.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
You have asked me to write for the \VooosTOCK LETTERS a narrative of our scientific trip to the Far \Vest the
past summer. I shall gratify your wish cheerfully: however,
if my account fail to interest the readers of the LETTERS,
you must bear the responsibility on your own shoulders.
Without more prelude, I shall enter on my subject.
It was announced, with the exactness and certainty for
which the predictions of astronomers are proverbial, that on
the 29th of last July there would be an eclipse of the sun,
which would be total along a narrow belt of country in the
States and Territories of the Far West. Such a phenomenon
is always of interest and value to astronomers, and especially
so at present when the great amount of knowledge regarding the sun, acquired in recent years, has quickened the
desire for more. Naturally it attracted the attention of Fr.
Sestini, who is an astronomer of long standing, a pupil of
the distinguished Fr. de Vico ; and the idea occurred to
him of forming a little party of Ours to go and observe it.
Superiors, aftt.>r duly weighing the matter, gave their approval. It was his desire to have two others in the party
besides those who finally went; but obstacles came in the
way, and our number was reduced to three, Fr. Sestini, Fr.
Degni, Pro( of Physics at Woodstock, and the Pro( of Physics at Georgetown College. The neighborhood of Denver,
Colorado, was selected as the place of observation. Through
the gentlemen of the Government Observatory in Washington, we obtained round-trip tickets at a much reduced rate;
and the route was quite an acceptable one to us, going by
the way of Pittsburg, Chicago, Omaha, Cheyenne, to DenVaL. vm-No. 1.
4
(25)
�Eclipse Expedition.
ver, and returning by St. Mary's, in Kansas, St. Louis, and
Indianapolis.
Fr. Sestini started first, as ht: had engaged to give a short retreat in Colorado before the eclipse.
Fr. Degni and I started some days later: we arrived in
Chicago about the 18th of July. We remained a few days
in the great city of the prairies, at St. Ignatius College,
where we were received very hospitably by Ours. They
kindly showed us the city, as far as our time allowed, so
that we took in its charaCteristics, its great extent, the surprising bustle and aCtivity observed in its numerous business
streets, and, the enduring wonder of its rapid rebuilding
after the great fire which reduced it to ashes for miles and
miles. "\Vhere is the burnt distriCt:?" I asked of Fr.
Lambert, as we were walking with him through a part of
the city made up of long rows of imposing buildings, which
did not appear new. "Here it is," said he, "as far as your
eye can reach-1 don't expeCt: you to believe me, but it is
striCl:ly true." \Ve were glad to see how much good our
Fathers are doing in Chicago, with two large churches, a
thriving college, and parochial schools in which the chi!·
dren- are numbered by thousands.
After a few days we resumed our journey westward,
starting for Omaha on Monday morning, J u!y 22d. Our
journey across the states of Illinois _:wd Iowa was uneventful: nothing striking in the scenery, as far at least as I observed. We had a large company with us on the train;
and among those in our Pullman car was the distinguished
English astronomer, J. Norman Lockyer, who had come
from England to observe the eclipse, bringing his instruments with him. Fr. Degni had a long conversation with
him in French, and found him very polite <Jnd agreeable.
He had a great esteem for Fr. Secchi, had corresponded with
him on most friendly terms, and had arranged a meeting
with him a few years ago in Sicily, which however was prevented from taking place.
After a journey of about twenty-four hours we arrived in
�Edipsc Expeditiou.
27
Omaha, a city of between twenty and thirty thousand inhabitants, on the Missouri River, on the opposite bank from
Iowa. We soon found ours:!lves in our own college, and
were received mo..;t kin:l~y by Fr. Shaffel, the Superior, and
Fr. Hill. The college! was built within·a year by the munificence of a W;!althy C:1tholic couple, and then given to Ours
together with a yearly income of IO,ooo dollars, so that it
mi"{ht be conduct:!d ai a free college. It is a handsome
building, though only a portion of the entire plan, and
beautifully situated on high ground, with an extensive view
of the city, the country and the river.
After one day's stay in Omaha we left for Cheyenne, just
one day's journey west, and the term of our westward travel, as Denver lies south of it. We remained there an hour
or two in the middle of the day, dining there, and seeing
enough of the place to perceive its inferiority to Omaha and
Denver. At last we began our five hour's journey to
the latter place and surrendered to the conductor the last
coupon of our ticket outward. And now the grand Rocky
Mountains loomed into view, presenting different shapes to
our eyes as the locomotive hurried us on constantly to new
points of observation. Distant though they were·, their outlines were distinctly visible, on account of the dryness and
purity of the atmosphere. Distance also lent enchantment
to the view, and their "cliffs of shadowy tint" truly appeared
"more bright than all the landscape smiling near."
We arriveti in Denver about eight o'clock, when it was
quite dark, and betook ourselves immediately to the residence of Bishop Machebceuf, where we were most hospitably received. Three days yet remained before the eclipse,
and during the two following we were shown the city and
vicinity through the kindness of the Bishop and his priests.
Denver is a bright, lively, elegant little city, of about 20,000
inhabitants, with some fine business streets and many handsome residences. The country around is a plain, with the
Rocky Mountains running along in the West, on which
streaks and patches of snow are plainly visible, baffling the
�Ecli'pse &pcditimr.
attempts of the summer's heat to melt them. Almost no
rain falls on the plains in Colorado during the greater part
of the year, and great enterprise is shown in the system of
artificial irrigation for Denver and its vicinity, without which
nothing whatever would grow, not even the numerous trees
which beautify the streets. The Platte River, a shallow
stream flowing by the town, has been tapped many miles
away at a high level, and its waters, led by a canal, are
distributed by a network of ditches wherever needed, in
Denver and the country around. The owners of the property pay for the water which they thus use.
I remarked that the morning newspapers of Denver, unlike those here in the Eastern cities, are published on Sunday and have no issue on Monday; a custom more conducive certainly to the observance of the Sunday. There is
only one Catholic church in the town, that of the Bishop;
and it is an inferior edifice, too.
Denver was the most important place in the belt of totality, favorable also otherwise for observations ; and more
observers flocked there than to any other place. The
eclipse was the topic of greatest interest there for some
time before and after its occurrence, and the name was attached to any thing to which attention was to be drawn.
It was announced, for instance, in.Jhe newspapers that a
certain Protestant clergyman would preach on the "Eclipse
of Christian Faith;" and I remember seeing an advertisment
of an excursion, headed "Eclipse Excursion," because it
was to eclipse every other.
For several days preceding that of the eclipse the weather
was cloudy or rainy-unusually so, we were told, for that
country; and we had serious fears that our long journey
would be all for nothing. Fr. Sestini had first seleCted
Central City, forty miles distant and high in the mountains.
as our place of observation ; and there he had gone before
us, to give a short retreat. As it was constantly cloudy
there, however, for several days, he judged that there would
�Eclipse Expedition.
be more chances for a clear sky at Denver, away from the
mountains; and he therefore joined Fr. Degni and myself
there a day or two before the eclipse. The Sisters of
Charity have a home for invalids, ·situated a short distance
outside of the city; and on the open ground near it we determined·.to take our observations. Thither we had our
telescope, chronometer and other instruments taken ; and
two of our party sojourned with the Sisters some days,
receiving the kindest treatment from them. Providence
seemed to favor the scientific ardor of so many, as the
day of the eclipse dawned bright and cloudless, and so
continued. However, for fear of a sudden change at Denver, a train was engaged by some of the scientific men, to
carry them promptly to some other point which they should
learn by telegraph to be suitable. Business was pretty generally suspended in Denver a good part of the day. We
were at our post in due time, busy in making preparations.
There were a few other parties of observers stationed quite
near us, the nearest being a bevy of lady astronomers,
with instruments, under the leadership of Miss Mitchell,
the well known Professor of astronomy in Vassar Female
College N. Y. Quite a number of persons also from the
city were assembled on a knoll a short distance from us
desirous of seeing the shadow of the moon travelling rapidly
over the country just before totality. The first contaCt:
took place at about twenty minutes past two, P. M., the sun
was entirely covered a little more than an hour later, remaining so less than three minutes, and the eclipse ended
about half-past four. It was certainly a solemn as well
as a beautiful speCl:acle.- the sudden conversion of day
· into night, the subduing effeCt: upon animals. the beautiful
appearances of the clouds in the mountains, and the exquisite halo surrounding the dark moon. We, however, did
not enjoy it nearly so much as others around us who were
unoccupied with the care of exaCt: and special observations.
I was reminded of the· French astronomer, who on the oc-
�Ecli'pse Expedition.
casion of an eclipse some .years ago, resolved to view the
next one not as an astronomer, but as a simple spectator
contemplating a thing of beauty.
Although the day had been very warm, it became so cool
during the totality, that Fr. Degni, who wore his duster
while using the telescope, called for another coat, to the
amusement of the Bishop, who h1d joined us about the
beginning of the eclipse.-I shall not say anything about the
scientific aspect of the eclipse or the results of our observations. All these points have been treated by Fr. Degni,
in th:! scientific article on the subject, written by him for
the October .. number of the American Catholic Quarterly.
The Denver newspapers had notices of our party before and
after the eclipse. It may not be amiss to quote from the
"Rocky Mountain News" of the following day, July 30th.
It devoted a large part of its space to a general account of
the eclipse, which it styles in large letters "The great event
of the century in Colorado;" then it makes special mention
of the different observers, and of us among them, as follows:
OBSERVATIONS OF THE WOODSTOCK PARTY.
"The distinguished party of astronomers from the University of Woodstock, Maryland, consisting of Rev. Fr.
Sestini, Rev. Fr. Degni, of the faculty, and Rev. Fr. Ryan,
of the Georgetown (D. C.) College, m~de their observations
from an elevated plateau near the Sisters' hospital. They
were provided with telescopes and spectroscopes; but, owing
to the limited number in the party, confined themselves to
observing the construction of the corona and protuberances,
really the most important subjects of study in connection
with the eclipse.
Fr. Sestini reports that, toward the end of totality, he
observed some small continuous protuberances-not any
well defined. Streaks of light and shade were observed on
the gr~und just preceding the total phas~. The corona
around· the whole solar disc was very bright, with luminous
offshoots on both sides in the direction of the motion of the
�Eclipse Expedition.
31
moon, each extending about one and a half diameters of
the sun. There were also two other offshoots, situated
nearly at right angles to those above mentioned, and in
length about half the solar diameter. Father Sestini is well
satisfied with the results of his observations. The members
of his party gave considerable attention to swteping for
intra Mercurial planets, but without success_ In this, however, he is not alone, as only one person thus far has been
able to report any thing that presents indications of there
being a new planet."
And now I must be bringing my already too lengthy narrative to a close. After a few days we were obliged to
separate. Fr. Sestini started eastward the next day, having been appointed to give the retreat to the community
at Worcester before the 15th of August. Fr. Degni,
the day following, departed on a visit to Ours in New
Mexico, which adjoins Colorado; and I, on the same day,
began a short retreat to the Sisters of Charity at Denver,
cheerfully acceding to the Bishop's earnest request, in consideration of his and the Sisters' great kindness toward us.
After the retreat I went to Pueblo, where the nearest house
of Ours is, and spent a couple of days there under the
hospitable roof of Fr. Gubitosi. On my return to Denver
I stopped at the town called Colorado Springs, and spent
several hours in visiting the springs, five miles distant.
For me this was one of the pleasantest days of the whole trip.
The springs, cool and briskly effervescing with carbonic
acid gas, and a number of large hotels grouped around
them, are situated in a narrow opening in the Rocky
Mountains, at an elevation of six thousand feet. It is a
charming spot, most fitly called by the Indians, Manitou,
for it is well calculated to elevate one's thoughts to the
great Spirit. It is just at the foot of Pike's Peak, which
rises yet eight thousand feet higher. On my drive to
the springs I was treated to grand mountain views, and
exquisite scenery, which I have not time or space to
�32
Eclipse E-,;peditioll.
describe. They reminded me of the choicest gems among
Sir Walter Scott's descriptions of the Highlands.-The next
day I started eastward from Denver, stopped some days
at our college in Kansas, and again in St. Louis, experiencing great kindness and charity from Ours in both places,
and reached Baltimore a few days after the middle of August. Fr. Degni r<:!turned later, and now all three of us are
again at our year's work. Pleasant memories remain of our
eclipse excursion, and we hope also that it has not been
without its good results.
:.~
J. J. R., S.j
INDIAN MISSIONS.
FoRT CoL VILLE,
\V ASH. Tv.,
July 20th, 1878.
REv. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
I returned the other day from the Calispellem; and in •
compliance with the request of Fr. Grassi I send you the
following account of my trip.
I left the mission at Fort Colville ·r~··company with a band
of Sgoielpi who were going after cammas, and travelled
with them three days. Their chief was very kind to me,
treating me as his own child. He packed my horse every morning, and his wife cooked my breakfast and supper.
Wednesday evening we reached the Calispellem country
where the people came out to welcome me and shake hands
with me. There were about fourteen lodges of the Sgoielpi
who encamped in a valley about a mile west of the Pend
'Oreille river. I took up my quarters among the Calispellem,
who had about twenty lodges near mine and as many
more on the other side of the stream. About a mile and a
half south in the valley were two other tribes; viz., the Koikoitememla with ten lodges, and the Singumene; only six
�Jndiall J1!issions.
33
or seven were Catholics, the rest Protestants. In all there
were, in this little valley six .miles long anJ three miles
wide, about eighty lod_;2s of the genuine children of the
forest.
As soon as I arrived I had a sick call to the other side
of the river. The Indian's light canoe carried me over in
about seven minute~. There I found a poor girl, very low,
scarcely able to speak: she expressed her joy at seeing me
once more before dying, made her confession, received the
last Sacraments, and I departed, promising to return the
next day.
The next day, afte; prayers, a canoe stopped before my
lodge and an old man, the chief Victor, came in, and shaking hands with me, said: "Good day, Father. I think I
must be a bad man, because the priest did not come to see
me." "Perhaps so," I replied. "I shall know you soon and
we will have a talk together. Now go home and tell the
people on the other side of the river to come across and
place their lodges near mine, because I have a great many
important things to tell them." "All right," he said, and departed. Then I called the second chief, Simon, and told
him to build a chapel. He told this to the Indian women,
and they took four or five tents and covered a space that
could hold about two and fifty persons. This, though
· better than nothing. was still hardly half large enough. The
following day the Indians who were encamped on the other
side of the river, came over, and I began work.
My first plan was to preach four times a day; but seeing
the number of children between seven and fifteen years of
age who needed instruction, I concluded to preach twice a
day for the grown people, and twice a day to give catechetical instruction to the children. I learned that the most frequent and public sins were gambling, sorcery and adultery. I
began by inveighing against the first two in strong terms.
After a few days the chief came to me and acknowledged
that he had encouraged these practices for the amusement
VoL. vm-No.
1. ·
5
�34
iNdian .1lfissions.
of his people. "As you have been the cause of them,"
said I, "you must stop them. To-night call together your
people and forbid them to aCt: thus, and I shall do the rest."
He did so. I continued to denounce them so strongly that
the young men thought me too severe. \Vhen I preached
against adultery, the young men, much offended, began to
gather together and plot against me. · On learning this, I
reproached them for their behavior, and told them that, willing or unwilling, they should do what I told them. ·when
they saw that their opposition only made me speak more
freely and strongly, some of them went to their chief and
told him they were glad that at last they knew their crimes,
and that they were willing to reform. They sent their chief
to tell me that they were well disposed towards me, because
I freely made known their faults to them, and to request me
to speak even more forcibly that they might be more impressed by my words. Others more bold and fervent, came
to me accusing their chief as the cause of their faults, and
one added: "I think that it would be good lor us, before
confessing our sins, to go to our chief and ask him to whip
us for them." "That is not my business," I replied. "Do as
you think fit about being whipped; but pray to God to
change your hearts and hereafter be good children." I separated two who had been living in 3:dultery for the last ten
years, and arranged two other cases~ "In a few days things
were all right again. I took two charms or instruments
which they use in their incantations. They are parts of the
animal under whose form the devil appears to them in their
dreams. These often curiously wrought, and powerful ins·
truments of crime are called Soncesh. The process used
in the incantations is this: the charm is prepared for
use by being smoked in the fumes of certain roots which
are dug up and burned. Then the people are gatqered in a
secret place, and the medicine man begins the song taught
him by .the devil in a dream. The people yell and become
intensely excited, being worked up by shaking the Soncesh
�Indian Jlfissi'ons.
35
and this operation is continued day and night until they
obtain the cure, or wliatevcr else they have been asking for.
I was once called to hear the confession of a sick person
who had just been left by the medicine-man, and had been
under the influence of the charm. I was really frightened.
The woman was in the greatest excitement. Her language
was so filthy that even the Indians could not endure it. Her
eyes stared wildly, her hair was dishevelled, her strength
exhausted. She had been partially cured, but she relapsed
and died the same year.
God blessed my labors. One day I had one hundred and
twenty Communions, and the people told me that only one
of the Cali spells did not go to his duties, and they were rejoiced to sec so many approachinv, the Sacraments who for
years had been living scandalous lives. Our division of
time was as follows: early in the morning I rung the Angelus bell; and I had the consolation of knowing that the
prayer was recited in every lodge. Shortly after, Mass,
beads, sermon; after which the people went to their work.
About nine o'clock, catechism for the children; after which
they practised shooting with the bow and arrow. They
arranged themselves sometimes in two lines, sometimes
in a semicircle. One boy had a wooden hoop, covered
with rags, which he rolled along the ground and the other
boys shot at it while it was rolling; many of the lads
were so dexterous as to pierce its edge or its centre and
stop it altogether. They next went swimming; and some
of them could swim a long distance. Again we had catechism after which they went to fish or to hunt prairiechickens and ducks. After dinner, the young men had horse
races for three or four hours. At this exercise they look
very wild, being nearly naked, with faces painted red. Before
starting they yell hideously; they then set out and run the.ir
horses almost to death. ·while racing, their yelling increases and they practice several manceuvres, picking from
the ground sticks or other objects while at full speed. The
�ludiau 1lfi'ssions.
women are constantly at work digging or tanning skins.
An hour before sunset they all return·home to prepare for
prayer. Before sunset, they come to prayer and sermon,
after which they return to their lodges where they chat and
sing in their own language. One evening I heard them sing
a hymn to St. Ignatius, which so pleased me, that the next
day, I had them sing it after sermon. Though my soul had
the consolation of seeing these poor people listening so attentively to the word of God, my body had to endure privations; the dogs got at my stock of provisions, which
obliged me:to subsist sometimes on one meal a day. One
day I had~but a few roots to eat, when a boy entered and
saw my repast. He looked sad, but said nothing. That
day I missed him from catechism class; towards evening he
came to me with three trout, saying: "These are good fish,
I think you will like them. I caught many more but they
are full of bones and not good for you ;" and, quite happy,
he ran off before I had time to thank him. The boy spoke
of my situation and it came to the ears of the chief, who
that night went around the camp saying: "Black Robe is
fasti~g. we must feed him." Next morning a poor girl
brought me a small dish of roots, and a poor old woman
three eggs, saying: "if I can get more I will give them to
you." Three men went hunting; '!_ffer three days they re
turned with nine deer and made me ·a present of one ham
and another good piece of the meat, which lasted me
nearly a week.
Though I had been so rough with them, until they correCted their faults, they loved me very much, and strove
to gratify my every wish. I told them that I did not complain of my food, nor of my tent and bedding; all that I
wished was that they should become good children ; and
they did as well as I could expeCt. Fasting and preaching
were my least difficulties : the greatest was hearing their
complaints and arranging their affairs, especially respeCting
marria.ges. These duties occupied me nearly all day and
a great part of the night.
�Indian i11issions.
37
Observing that little respect was paid to the authority of
the chiefs, and that the young men did as they pleased, I
called the two chief-;, and told them that the young people
had to be restrained, otherwise the good done would soon
be lost. "Don't you know," said they, "that the young people laugh at us, and tell us that we are good-for-nothing, and
pay no heed to what we say to them." "This happens," I
answered, "because you are not firm enough. You have a
tongue, but neither. arms nor feet. I wish to give you the
anns to tie the rascals and the feet to go wherever mischief
is being done. To morrow, therefore, I wish to see fifteen·
of the best men of the triLe, who will be your police. I will
teach them their duty and how to prevent crime." ''\Veil,
then," ,;aid they, "we will see if we can find so many." I
urged the matter in a sermon, so that after three days I had
organized fifteen good men under the chiefs authority to
act as soldiers; besides that, I appointed a captain who had
to be on hand only when something of importance occurred.
I called a meeting of the chiefs, soldiers and head men of
the tribe; and after having exhorted them to be of one heart
and one mind, I explained to them the offices of the head
and the other members of the human body, and thus tried
to make them understand their duties towards each other.
They set to work immediately and with courage. In
the evening sermon, I told them that gambling, dealing
with the devil and other crimes, once stopped, should
be stopped for ever; that they now had their guardian
angels who would watch over them and help them to
do good; and that whosoever should oppose the police
in the discharge of their duties, would be punished very
severely by the chief.<>. The young men did not relish this,
but they had to bear it, because the police, once organized, were able to check them. In visiting them a month
later I was quite pleased with their behavior. One of the
soldiers told me that there was no gambling.
ThP. next day I was called to see several sick people. A
kind of contagious fever had suddenly attacked them which
�l~tdiaJZ ~1fissioJtS.
deprived them of sight and caused them to fall frequently.
was alarmed. I had medicines with me and administered
some to one of the patients. To my surprise, in two days
he was nearly well. Encouraged by this success I gave the
same medicine to others, and in a few days they all recovered. The next Monday morning at about tltree o'clock.
when I attempted to rise from my bed, I sank to the ground
knocking my head again<;t the pole of my tent. I again
tried to get up; but I grew dizzy, my sight deserted me and,
I fell, hurting- my side. I was burning with heat and for
sometime I remained motionless. I had caught the fever.
As soon as ~I. recovered my sight, I looked for the box of
medicine. took a good dose of it, and in three days was well
again. On the day of my recovery, I heard a gunshot, and
the chief came to notify me of the death of that poor girl of
whom I have spoken. "How glad I am," said he, "that she
saw the priest and received the last Sacraments. Oh ! if the
priest could remain with us constantly, we would have all
we desire upon earth." Then I told him to thank God that
I had been able to visit them twice this year, and perhaps
might visit them again in the fall-but that I had so many
people to attend that I could not then remain longer than a
month. "You know" said I, "that we have an extent of two
hundred miles along the Columbii•. about ninety miles
towards the Spokanes, over one hund;ed miles towards the
Okinakane, aud about eighty miles to come to you, and besides we have to attend all Colville valley, settled by whites.
For all this work we are only three-an old Father who is
atending principally to the whites, Fr. Grassi and mysel(
Though we travel regardless of the seasons and of all difficulties, we can hardly visit all uur people. How then can I
remain here longer?" "I hope" said he, "that when we shall
have the church built, you will come with one of your brothers and pass the winter with us. I and my people pray
every day that God may not let us die during the winter,
· becaus~ then. we should die without seing the priest." "I
�Indian 111issions.
39
hope,'" said I, "that God will answer your prayers favorably;
but it is altogether impossible foi· rne to !>top here longer,
and in two or three weeks I will be a hundred miles away,
visiting the Spokanes and the Szikaezilini. Sometime ago
I made a promise to go to them, but I could not keep it on
account of my sickness." He retired sadly and silently.
Soon after I heard that gambling was going on every day.
I called together the chiefs and the principal men of the
tribe to enquire about this. They answered: "Not one of
ours is gambling, nor any of those that belong to the Catholic Church. The gamblers are the Protestant Singumenes."
"They came to me," said Simon, "asking me to allow my
people to gamble at horse racing for one day. I answered
that I had already many sins to atone for, and did not wish
to increase the number. They urged their petitions no
further. I send every day some trustworthy men to watch
our young people, and they tell me, that not one of the Catholics, whether Calispell, Sgoielpi or Singumene, gamble."
I suggested that our land was not a place for gambling, even
though our own people did not take part in it; that strangers ought to obey the laws of the place an<:! not give our
young men bad example. He understood what I meant,
and answered that the Protestant3 were numerous, that they·
had sent their women home, while the men remained to
gamble among themselves, and that it might be prudent not
to trouble them. I saw that he was afraid to interfere, and
so I said that I would attend to it myself. I called the captain
of the soldiers, and told him to go immediately to the camp
of the Singumenes and tell them that Alena, the blackrobe,
said that gambling of every kind must be stopped. He was
silent for a moment, then said that if he talked thus, they
would bind and whip him. "Coward," said I, "you must not
speak those words as your own, but as coming from me;
and if any one dare to harm you he shall suffer for it." Then
he went and told them my words. They answered: "We
gamble very little, but now we shall stop altogether and
�40
Indian illissions.
depart." And so they did: after two or three days· all had
left, and I thanked God that such a scandal had c'eased. ·
For about fifteen days we had very bad weather, and only
as many a3 could be sheltered in the lodge came to prayer.
Then I determined to build a chapel and a reside1:ce for the
priest. I spoke to them about it, telling them that a church
large enough to accommodate all the tribe, ought to be
ereCted. These Indians are so lazy that though they \rould
have liked to see the church up, they did not like the labor of
building it. I had an interview with the principal men, and
made therrd.lromise to undertake it. The chief and myself
seleCted a site. He wished to have it on the eastern side of
the river because he lived there; but I told him that we
ought to look to the convenience not of a few, but of all. An
Indian who lived on the other side of the river, came to tell
me that the church would not be built, for the people would
not work. I told him that it would. "If you build it yourself," said he, "it \viii; but the people will not work." I
preached again, exhorting them to begin at once. A subchief, came to me, saying, "the chief knows nothing about
a chapel to be built in that place, and how can we build it."
"Am I not a chief?" said I: "you have to obey me; that's
all. I am the chief who will build the chu.-ch." Hearing
this, he smiled and went away. Next'day, the time appointed
to begin the work, I asked Simon: ·7How many will work
to day?" "I don't know." "\Veil" said I," now take your
axe, say a few words to the people, and go to the woods to
cut down-trees." He did so, I watched to see how many
would follow him, but saw none. Then I went out, and
crying to them in a loud voice: "Let us go to work, follow
me, and do not be lazy in the service of the Lord," I started
for the woods. Before I had gone far three stout young
men with their axes followed me, and the nurnber kept on
increasing until all the young people on the western side of
the river were at work. In a few hours, we had chopped
down eighty trees, which we thought would be sufficient
for the building.
�Extraordt"lzary Cure of a Novice.
41
On. tile octave of SS. Peter and Paul we began to haul the
logs. As we had no harness for our horses, this had to be
done by hand, and a difficult task it was. When we had
got the timber out of the woods, we hitched ropes to the
pack saddles of the horses, and ·putting three or four horses
to each ·piece we dragged it to the required place. Then.
we begah to build, and; in a few days, the walls were up and
the roof on. For want of proper tools, I could not make
shingles for the roof, nor planks for the flooring ; so I told
the Indians to wait until they returned from the chase in
the fall, when I would have every thing necessary to prosecute the work. By spring I expect to have ready a nice
little church 20 by 30, as well as a small cabin to live in.
This is what has been done by these poor Indians whilst
I have been among them. If we had another Father to
help us, we could do a great deal more; for it is hard for a
few to accomplish much, when the stations are so far apart
and travelling is beset with so many difficulties.
A.
DIOMEDI,
S.
J.
EXTRAORDINARY CURE OF A NOVICE.
SANTA CLARA CoLLEGE,
September 5th, 1878.
A few days ago one of the novices obtained a _signal favor from our Blessed Lady. He was in danger of losing
his vocation on account of sore eyes. His sight was so
weak that he could not go about the house without spectacles, and it was growing worse and worse every day. Meanwhile he made long and fervent prayers to our Blessed Lady
to obtain his cure. An hour before supper, on the 25th
of Aug., the novice betook himself to the domestic chapel
VoL. vm-No. 1.
6
�42
Fr. Mazzella's Departure from Woodstock College.
to finish saying the office of the Immaculate Conception,
which he chose to recite on that day in horior of the Blessed
Virgin. As he entered the chapel, he took off his spectacles, but had to replace them immediately, because without
them he could not see, even so much as to find his way
among the benches. Having found a place, he knelt down
to read the office, but in vain ; for though he had the spec~
tacles on he could not see. Thereupon he turned to our
Blessed Gdy and said the "Sub tuum prmsidimiz." This
prayer over, he· felt a change taking place in his eyes. He
got up and'1approached the sanCtuary lamp, but even then
he could not read. He put away his speB:acles, and to his
surprise he read perfeB:ly well-better than he had done
for many years past. He now reads, and walks about the
house arid outside, without using speCtacles. Praise be to.
God· and His holy Mother.
FATHER MAZZELLA'S DEPARTURE FROM
WOODSTOCK COLLEGE.
On the 1st of OCl:ober, Fr. Mazze)la, our morning Professor of Dogma, received a summons ~from V. Rev. Fr. General
to change the scene of his labors from Woodstock to the
Roman College. After the first pause of surprise and regret,
the members of our community became anxious to give
expression to the very natural sentiments they entertained
towards one who, both as a teacher of theology and as Prefeet of Studies had won a more than ordinary share of regard;
affeB:ion and gratitude; Superiors not only granted a ready •
consent to such a tribute; but invited· Ours of. the vicinity to.
honor the demonstration with their. attendance; Accord~ ·
ingly on the evening qf the 5th of the same month, a far~
well entertainment was tendered Fr. Mazzella in the presence·
�FJ'. Mazzella's Departure from Woodstock College.
43
of Rev. Fr. Provincial, the Rectors of Georgetown, Gonzaga,
Loyola and of the Novitiate, and the Superiors of the neighboring residences. The programme made up of musical
Sc:!lections and addresses in prose:! and versewrit_ten in the
Latin, Italian, FreQch and English languages, was of sufficient variety to avoid the monotony apt to creep in on similat:
occasions. As the renaissance of the pure scholastic system of philosophy and theology to be inaugurated under the
immediate auspices of his Holiness, Leo XIII., is the cause
of Fr. Mazzella's dep~rttu:e, a cpnspicuoJ..Is feature of the exercises was the meed .of honor b.estowed upon th.e do&rine an,<;l
genius Qf St. Thomas Aq1,1inas. On that evening, the disciple received an ovation, and the master celebrated a triumph,
At the end, Fr. Mazzella made M acknowledgment of the
compliments paid him, and gave the community an assu~
ranee of reciprOGal feelings of attachment ;tnd of consequent
• pain at his removal from their midst. In the course of his
remarks, he expressed the conviction that much good had
accrued to the Society and to the country from· ·the Seminary of Woodstock, and he augured an increase of this
goqd, if supj!riors an<;! rectors in the different provinces contiu.J..Ie to ext.end their· favor .and contribute their material
support to the institution.
On the following morning, a (ull escort of fathers and
s.chplastics attended their dear fr.iend and professor to the
r.aHway station and wished him a final gods peed on his journey. Before sailing f~:om America, his thoughtful courtesy
led him to exchange a last embrace with his brethren o( pur
colleges and. r,esidences in. New England,
Some days after Father.Mazzella's departure, the following brief arriV;ed from Rollle:
�44
Brief Addrrssed to Frs. Mazzella & de Augustinis.
Dildlis in Clmsto Filiis C:AllliLLO MAZZELLA et LEMILIO·
M. DE AuGusTINIS, Professon"bus T/zeol. Dogin. in Collegio
SS. Cordzs Jesu ad TVoodstock, ill Fffderatis Amen·cm Sept.
Statibus.
LEO PP. XIII.
Dilecti Filii Salutem et Apostolicam Benediction em:
Pr<eletl:iories theologicas, quas hatl:enus edidistis, libenter
accepimus;-.gratasque habuimus, tamquam vestr<e in Nos et
in hanc Apostolicam Sedem voluntatis significationem, et
observanti<e testimonium. Maximi momenti est, nostris
pr<esertim temporibus, Clerum solidis sincerisque dctl:rinis
alte imbuere. Quod certe fiet, si dotl:rina S. Thom<e in
scholis vestris floreat, prout Nobis non sine magna animi
lcetitia nunciatum est. Hoc autem maxime decet homines~
quibus pr<ecipitur, ut "sequantur omnino in scholastica
theologia dotl:rinam S. Thom~, eumque ut dotl:orem pr<r
prium habeant, ponantque omnem operam ut auditores
erga illum quam optime afficiantur."
Itaque addant
vobis animum in opere tam pr<eclaro regul<e officium, mens
et jussa legiferi Patris Ignatii, decreta Congregationum
vestrarum, necnon desideria et hoitationes hujus Sanche
Sedis Apostolic<e, qu<e bane dotl:rinam insigni ellogiorum
singularitate probavit. Nee dubitamus, quin vestigiis tanti
dotl:oris fideliter insistentes, l<etissimos et uberes pro religione et animarum salute frutl:us precepturi sitis. Ab hac
pal<estra expetl:at Ecclesia Dei fortissimos milites ad profligandos errores, ad rem catholicam defendendam. Quod ut
vobis Deus copiose concedat, auspicem divin<e grati<e Apostolicam beneditl:ionem peramanter impertimur.
Datum Rom<e apud S. Petrum die 27 Septembris 1878,
Pontificatus Nostri anno primo.
LEO PP. XIII.
�Brief Addressed to Frs. Mazzella & de Augustinis.
45
To Our beloved sous in Christ, CAMILLUS MAZZELLA and
Professors of Dogmatic Tlzeology in tlze College of tlzc Sacred Heart ofJesus at Woodstock,
in the United States of 1Vortlz America.
E11ULIUS M. DE AuGUSTINIS,
LEO XIII. POPE.
Beloved Sons, Health and Apostolic Benediction~
We have received with pleasure the theological treatises
which you have thus far published. They were very acceptable to Us as a token of your affecrion and as a proof of
your devotion to Us and this Apostolic See. It is of the
highest importance, in these times especially, that the clergy
be deeply imbued with sound and solid docrrine. This
result will certainly be attained if, as We have learned to
Our great joy, the docrrine of St. Thomas flourish in your
schools. This is eminently becoming ·in men upon whom
it has been enjoin;d "to follow by all means, in Scholastic
Theology, the docrrine of St. Thomas, to hold him as their
own Master, and to do all in their power to make him highly
esteemed by their pupils." Therefore, the obligation of
your rule, the intention and commands of your Fatht>r
and Founder, St. Ignatius, the decrees of your Congregations, and the wishes and exhortations of this Holy
Apostolic See, which has approved and commended
this docrrine in a remarkable and extraordinary manner,
should fill you with courage to carry out so glorious a work.
Nor do We doubt, that by following f.<ithfully in the footsteps of so great a Docror, you will reap the happiest and
richest fruits for religion and the salvation of souls. From
your schools the Church of God expecrs to receive soldiers
most strenuous in combating error and in defending the
cause of Catholic truth. That God may grant you this favor
abundantly, We very affecrionately impart to you, as a
pledge of divine grace, the Apostolic benedicrion.
Given at Rome, from St. Peter's, the 27th day of Sept.,
1878, the first year of our Pontificate.
LEO XIII. POPE.
�LAYING OF THE CORNER STONE OF ST.
IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE,
SAN FRANCISCO.*
The blessing and laying of the corner stone of St.
Ignatius Church and College, on Hayes Street and Van Nes~
Avenue, were conduCted with very impressive ~nd imp?sing
ceremonies on the afternoon of Ott. 2oth. The day was
extremely -.fi,pe, and there were between five and six thousand persons gathered to witness this event in the history
of the in~titution .. The ceremony was performed by Bishop
Eugene O'Connell of Marysville, assisted by a large number
of clergy.
A procession formed upon the grounds shortly after two
o'clock in the following order: Marshal and Aids, First
Regiment Band, Mac Mahon G!enadier Guard, students of
the College Sodality, gentlemen of the ColJege Sodali):Y1
Ancient Order of Hibernians in uniform, rep~esentatives. of
·Catholic Societies, boys of the SanCtuary Society, Faculty
:and Clergy, Bishop O'Connell, supported by .Fathers Ne!.i
and Messea. Commencing at' the northwest corner of th~
.
'
.
··lot, the procession walked east tq Van-Ness Avenl1e, thence
by Hayes street, to the cen~_re of the chur,ch b~ilding. M.ount:
ipg the steps there, tqey pro~eeded to a raise<;! platfqrp.J at
the Grove Street end of the building. The platform w.~
40 by 75 (eet. In the centre was .Pl<lced a stand bearing th!f
rp.arble stone to q~ us~d as a receptacle for the vario!fs
documents, coins, etc, to be l~d awax in. th~ corner stone.
To the east of thisstand, was erected a_pulpit, which was
ne;1tl; draped wi0 colo~eq cloth· ·.!<?.the qor~h st~od ~
massive white cross, and on the south the faldstool for tq~
Bishop.. Th~e were iq~losed by a semicircle to ·th~ soutp,
'
*This account is taken from a local paper.
�St. Ignatius Clzurclz and College, San Francisco.
47
composed of the Fathers present, joined to a like circle on
the north, composed of the Sancl:uary Society of the Altar
boys of St. Ignatius Church, the whole inclosed by the
officers of the various societies represented. On the east
side near the pulpit were the choristers. On the south,
behind the Bishop and Fathers, were the numerous flags
and banners of the societies present. The Guard were stationed in parallel rows extending south from the foot of the
steps leading to the platform.
The ·exercises were opened by singing, after which the
Bishop blessed the water which was to be sprinkled upon
the walls and corner stone. He then blessed the marble
stone, and Father Buchard read the following English translation of the Latin document which was to be placed in it:
A.M. D. G.
On the· 2oth day of 0[lober. Sacred to the Purity of the
Immaculate Virgin Mary. In the _year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and se1'mty-eight. In the Pontificate of ·
LEO XIII.
JosEPHS. ALEMAN¥,
Being Arclzbislzop and Metropolitan of the City of San
Francisco;
PETER BECKX,
.Prepositus Gmeral ofthe Society of Jesus;
ALOYSIUS V ARSI;
Superior of tlte Mission of t/ze Society of Jesus in California;
JoHN PrNAsco;
Retlor of tlze College of Saint lgnat~·us, in tlte Cz"ty of San
Francisco,·
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES,
President of the wkole United States of North America;
WILLIAM
IRWIN,
· Govemor of California ;
ANDREW J; BRYANT,
Mayor of the City of San Francisco,
�Laying
of tlte Corner Stone of
In presence of the Pupils and Sodali'sts of tlte College, and a
great multitude of the Faitlzful,
EuGEXE O'CoxNELL,
·
Bislzop of Grass Valley,
Surrounded by an illustn"ous companx of Pn"ests, Secular and
Regular,
Set and Laid,
Witlz solemn n"tes, according to the Canons of tlte Holy Roman
Churclt,
THIS CORNER STONE
Of tle,e Clzurch and College of St. Ignatius.
}AMES A. ROONEY, 0. P.
Addressed, in pious and fitting terms, the assembled faithful.
'With much care and labor, Hugh Me Keadney prepared
the plans of the Church and College ; Robert Mitchell
directed the bricklaying; Augustus Sa ph the work of the
carpenters.
0 Christ, our Saviour, Who together with the Father and
·the Holy Ghost hast from the beginning created all things,
be Thou, we pray Thee, the beginning, progress and consummation of this work. Set the seal of salvation on this
place, and suffer not the destroying angel to enter here.
Immaculate Virgin Mary, holy patroness, be nigh at hand
with thy blessed spouse Joseph, that this place be ever destined to prayer and to the invocation ahd praise of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Holy Father Ignatius accept this offering of thy sons, and
let thy twofold spirit remain always with them.
This being delivered by Bishop O'Connell to Rev. Father
Varsi, was enclosed by him in a glass tube. Other documents were handed to the Father for enclosure in the same
tube. The Grand Marshal, Mr. James R. Kelly, handed
on a piece of parchment the names of the officers and members of the Ladies' Sodality of St. Ignatius College, with
their seaL Similar papers were handed by the Prefect of the
gentlemen's Sodality, the Sanctuary Society; and also a list
�St. Ignatius Clmrclt and College, San Francisco.
49
of benefaCtors'· names. AU these documentst were placed
in the glass tube and sealed. I~-a sil~er box there were
placed sixty-four silver and gold coins,•representing nearly
all countries. This box, together with the· gl~ss tube,
was enclosed by Father Varsi in the piece of marble that
was to be placed in the block of granite forming the corner
stone or'the whole structure_ When tht! Bishop-and clergy
reached. this· pl~ce, which was the northwest corner of the
building, Father V~rsi took the piece ofmarble which had
been carried there by two acolytes, and placed. it in the
cavity prepared for it. The Bishop put some mortar· in the
wali with a solid silver trowel having an ivory handi~, and
the· granite stone was lowered to its proper place. The silver
trowel was afterwards presented by the Fathers to Mr. Mitcheli;. the contractor for the· work. · On the blad~ of the
trowel the following inscription.was neatly engraved: "Presented' to Robert Mitchell by the Fathers of the St. Ignatius
College on the occasion of laying. the corner stone of their
new church and college, corner of Van Ness Avenue and
Hayes Street, San Francisco, October 20th 1878."
After the laying and blessing.of the stone, the procession
marched to the left, around the walls of the church, which
are now-about twenty feet high, the Bishop sprinkling. the
walis en route, and halting. frequently to bless· them. On
the conclusion of this ceremony., the procession returned
again to the stand. Fr. Rooney., 0. P. was then introduced,
and addressed the vast audience on "Education and Religion."
At the conclusion of Father Rooneyls· discourse, the procession, led by.· the b'and, marched· down the sidewalk on Hayes Street· to Van Ness Avenue,· to Grove; to Frankll~,
and ·dispersed.
Adjoining:; the- church and extending. down to Van N~ss
avenue;· will be the house·for· th'e· Fathers.· It will. b'e four
stories in height, built after the Doric and Ionic order of
arch-itecture, and affording ample and convenient quarters
VoL. vm-No. 1.
7
�so
LaJ'ing of tlze Comer Stone of
for its occupants. From the end next the church, and extending towards Grove Avenue, there will be a wing which
will be devoted to the use of the Fathers. On the corner of
Grove and Van Ness Avenue, and fronting on the latter
thoroughfare, will be built the new college. It will be about
120 feet on Van Ness Avenue and will extend back to the
church. There are to be four porches or entrances on
Van Ness Avenue, and the facade of the building will be
very handsome. The two lower stories will be devoted to
clas::; and lecture rooms, while the space that would be occupied by t-he two upper stories is thrown into a large hall,
capable of~~·eating 4,500 people. The hall will be 100 feet
wide by 120 long, and the stage will be 40 by 72 feet,.
furnished with scenery, curtains, and everything that is
to be found in a well appointed theatre. The seats are
to be arranged as segments of a· circle, and the stage as a
centre, and the floor will gradually rise as it recedes fro·m
the stage, thus giving a perfect view from every part of the
house.
B~tween the college building and the house of the Fathers on Van Ness Avenue, will be the garden, which will be
an ornament to the street. This will give a pleasant prospect from the rear windows of the Fathers' house. The new
college will accommodate about ~ 72oo pupils, and· every
effort will be made to render its laboratories and other facilities for instruction as complete as can be furnished. When
the building for juvenile students is erected on Franklin
Street, the capacity of the institution will be greatly in- creased. · There will be comparatively little wood used in
the structure, it being the design to make it as fireproof as
possible. Hugh Me Keadney, the a·rchitect, proposes to
make the Grove Street front of the buildings absolutely fireproof, as the greatest danger from fire is in that direB:ion.
The exterior of the wall will be covered with Portland
cemen~. thus giving the structure the appearance of a stone
building.
�St. Ignatius Clmrclt a11d College, San Francisco.
5I
The cost of the buildings is estimated at about $I ,ooo,ooo.
From seven to eight millions of bricks will be required in
their construCtion and employment given to about five hundred men. The site fronts 400 feet on Hayes and Grove
Streets, and 275 feet on Van Nass Avenue and Franklin
street. The struCture will cover the greater part of this lot,
leaving a strip I ro feet wide along Franklin Street for other
buildings to be ereeted for the accommodation of young
students. It was the. original intention to have the church
front on Van Ness Avenue, but as the wind blows such
douds of dust down that street, it. was thought best to place
it on Hayes Street, where it will be proteCted from the wind
.and dust. Accordingly, the handsome struCture forming
the church will stand a little to the west, or middle of the
Hayes Street front. It will be built of brick, and will have
two towers, each 195 feet. high, at the corners on the front
of the building. These towers will be very ornamental.
The orders of architeCture are the Doric for the first story,
Ionic for the second; while in the towers the Corinthian and
the Composite will be used. There will be a flight of stone
steps leading up from Hayes Street to the entrance, which
will be broad and handsome. The church will accommodate
the same number as the old one on Market street. From
the floor to the ceiling the distance will be seventy-three
feet, making a lofty and airy interior. It will be finished
with the utmost care.
�DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW BUILDING AT
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE.*
The building is pure Romanesque in style, that is, more
ancient than the Gothic, and is the. one adopted by the
Jesuit Fathers in Europe for their Colleges and $eminarie~.
In the United States there are several instances of it, notably
St. Mary'~ 'Catholic church in Boston, and the _Baptist
church in Yonkers, N.Y. It seems peculiarly adapted for
collegiate institutions, being suggestive of many quiet nooks
where boo,ks are the most welcom,e co.mpanions. Our building will be 307 feet in its entire front, and will be subdivided
so as to utilize every part of its great extent. First, we .have
the basement. We will commence at the north end of this..
Passing through an archway beneath the main entrance,for there is another .entrance with a highly decorated archway"t on the basement level, hard by,-we enter a corridor
running east and west; first on our left is a large room destined for the storage and reception of boxes, packages, and
trunks; a sort of custom house it will be, where custom
house restriCtions as to contraband· articles will doubtless
prevail: on our right are six rooms whose destination at
present is simply as store-rooms. Beneath these six rooms
is the sub-cellar where the heating apparatus will be placed.
This will consist of three large boilers, with furnaces and
iron pipes to and from them to carry the hot water to all
parts of the building. At the left and northwest end of the
corridor is the clothes-room, and here we come in view of
the grand corridor, running the entire length of the building,
the numerous arches and the softened light from the windows opening on the area to the west, serving to magnify
its length, so that a grown man at the farther end appea~s
!
'
\
.
.
....
'-'From the Georgetown College Journal.
(52)
�1Jescript£on of tlte New BuZ:lding at Georgetown College. 53
to :be a small ;boy. ·Passing south in this corridor we meet
first .on our left the main .staircase (of blue stone, all the
way) .that leads to the upper stories and gives access:finally
to the great ·hall-; .next on our left are two long .rooms .designed, .one for a recreation room, the other Jor a reading
room ; then we reach the transverse corridor under the
centre tower, then two more large rooms about. thirty feet
wide and forty :long that will be .recreation and billiard
rooms ; :then we .come ;to the laboratory. Here will be
the .chemical .class-room, whicl;l .on three sides is arched
over. The class-room will occupy .the open .spa{;e, while
along the walls and in the alcoves the .experiment :tables,
chemicals, and all :the apparatus will ;be kept; in the alcove
abutting on the .corridor and cover.ed :in by beautiful grained
arches, will be the furnaces.
At the southern end of the corridor, we reach the :Stone
stair-cas.e in the south tower; w.e turn to the right and an
ascent .of half a dozen steps brings us to .a wide arched
doorway looking towards .the infirmary ; but following ·the
stairs by easy flights and comfortable platforms, we reach
.the :first floor and look into the scientific lecture room,
the plan of which, .as seen on paper and explained by
the Superintendent, was, before its actual construilion,
quite a stumblingblock to the general comprehension, but
now :is understood by all. The lecturer will stand on a
platform next the corridor wa:ll, and just over the grained
arches of the chemistry room : his audience will be seated
on three sides of him on the elevated _seats formed by :the
over-arching of the room below, thus making a sort of amphitheatre. When completed, the room will seat about
three hundred persons. For the purpose :to which it is to
devoted, it will have no equal in this country; and will in
itself furnish the :college just occasion for pride. Leaving
the lecture room and foilowing the .corridor of this story,
we pass on our right four large class-rooms corresponding
to the recreation rooms below. The transverse corridor,.
midway Of the building, opens out at the front in an arched_
�54 Description of tlte New Building at Georgetcr&n College.
portal, the students' entrance: opposite which a similar
door-way given access to the court between the buildings.
The main corridors are all lighted from spacious windows
opening on the court. At the north end of this corridor,
on the left, is the Treasurer's room, with its great vault
walled in by solid masonry three feet thick. Opposite the
Treasurer'~ room is the visitors' drawing room, a large and
lofty apartment, twenty feet wide and forty long. At the
end of the corridor we come to the transverse corridor of
the north pavilion, opening out at the east on the main entrance for vi'sitors. \Vhile the public drawing room is on
the left of-this entrance, six small parlors for individual
parties of visitors range along to the right.
Facing the main entrance, and at the extremity of this
short corridor, is a wide stairway leading to the President's
room, the Museum, and the Debating Hall, on the floor
above. Access to the upper floor is also gained by the re·gular flight of stone steps, near by. In the Museum, we
.are struck by its splendid dimensions, its massive girders
and geautifully turned wooden columns and brackets, the
Bay oak and Georgia pine showing in beautiful contrast
with each other. The Museum occupies the whole east
front of the north pavilion. Just out of the Museum and
to the right (the n.orth), is the Debatil}g Hall, and opposite
to that is the President"s room, the entrance to which is on
the main corridor. The beautiful Ohio stone corbels in the
President's room are works of art, and will not fail to please
the eye as will also the carved wood work of the ventilator.
Again on the main corridor (now the second story) we come
first to the main stairway and then to four large class-rooms
corresponding to those of the floor below. At the far southern end we reach the doors by which part of the audience
will have access to the seats in the scientific leCture room.
These seats are on such an incline that from each row the.
person.can see over the heads of those in front; and the lecturer and his table will be in full view from all parts of the
hall.
�Drscription ofthe New Building at Georgetown College. 55
Just beyond, we ascend the winding stair of the south
tower, all, together with the platforms, made of the famous
blue stone flagging from the Hudson River. Arriving on
the third floor, the first door to our right leads into the library, a grand room forty-two feet by sixty, in which will
be stored the 30,000 books of the present library, with room
to spare for four times as many more.-The ceiling will be
nearly thirty feet from the floor. \Vith its lofty windows,
nineteen feet high, from which a prospeB: is presented· to
the eye that cannot be surpassed on the continent, the ne\v
library will be the most splendid in all our country. .On
this floor, the corridor is changed to the middle of the building, so as to allow on each side the arranging of rooms for
the use of such students as may desire privacy, and whose
purses may enable them to indulge in the luxury. On this
floor there will be twenty-six private rooms, about twelve
feet wide by sixteen long. The partition walls, where the
brick ones are not carried up from the floor below, will be
of a new material called Limeofteil, a mastic, fire and water
proo( It is well here to call attention to the fire-proof chai-aB:er of the . work. At convenient distances are placed
fire-plugs conneB:ed with water-pipes on every floor, while
the floors will be double, having a lining of three inches of
concrete between them. Moreover, small towers at four
points of the building with circular iron stairways inside will
serve as fire-escapes. For greater security to the library,
a dead-wall separates it from the rest of the house. At the
northerly end of the corridor on the third floor we enter the
Aula Maxima, the noble proportions of which strike the
beholder with genuine admiration: its lofty ceiling, its magnificent corridors with their carved mullions and caps, the
hanging gallery, the oriel look-out, all combining to make
it a finer hall than any other institution can boast. The
hall is capable of giving ample room to fifteen hundred
people. Here is an opportunity for some open-handed capitalist to hand his name down to posterity by giving $20~
�56 Description oft!te Nn.t! Building at Georgetown College.
ooo· to finish- and decorate the' hall in such a·. mann·er as: its
proportions demand. The hall will thenceforth be known
by the donor's name. Where could' the same money be
placed to- more advantage? The library and haH occupy
the height of two stories, in all· thirty-two· feet.
The• fourth floor in the curtin e. (the main· stretch' of the
building between the pavilions) is a duplicate of the third,
having twenty-six rooms for students. Ventilating flues
communicating with corridors and rooms; are profusely set
in the walls. The heating apparatus in. set in the recesses
of the wind~ws.
Such· are''the interior arrangements of this magnificent
structure.. Let us now try to comprehend its· extent by
some statistics. In. its towering walls are laid over three
;thousand cubic yards of stone,, and for the rear and interior
1walls· more· than· two millions of brick have been used. For
:the girders, joists; and roofing timbers, nearly three hundred
:and' fifty thousand feet of Georgia· yellow pine have been
:required. For the floors-, nearly two· hundred· thousand
feet, .and thirty thousand- feet more of lumber· for the roof;
in· all· more than· half a: million feet of lumber.
-- •·
�APPENDIX.
I-EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN LETTERS.
Bombay, 3 Ist July, I878.
The new Mission or Vicariate of Mangalore has been given to the Society by the
Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda. For several years
back, the Christians of Mangalore, seeing the progress of
the Catholic religion in Bombay and observing, in particular,
the success of higher education in our schools and colleges,
have been frequently requesting the Congregation to entrust the Vicariate to our Fathers. But for certain delicate reasons, V. Rev. Fr. General again and again declined
. the proposals of the Propaganda. At last, however, the
Holy Father himself insisted so strongly that it was impossible to refuse.
* *
We have now five Vicariates
in I"ndia, viz: Calcutta, Madura, Bombay, Poona, and Mangalore.
·*
*
It is estimated that there are in the
new mission fifty-five thousand Christians.
*
*
*
The beginning will, I surmise, be very difficult for our missionaries. The natives - many of them being high-caste
Brahmins-are intelligent, and far superior to our Bombay
people. But they will expect our Fathers to erect at once
splendid colleges and convents, as we have done here;
whilst pecuniary means and a perfect knowledge of the' various languages will be wanting to us for a long time to
come. English will be a prime requisite, as the people are
very anxious to have a high school conducted by Catholic
teachers. Besides English and Portuguese, the missionaries
will have to speak the two dialects used by the natives. Indeed, next to the climate. which is so enervating to both
mental and bodily activity; the greatest difficulty which
VoL. vm-No. 1.
8
(57)
*
*
*
*
*
�ss
Extracts from Foreign Letters.
our missionaries meet with here, is the necessity of learning
so many different languages.-Our College of St. Francis
Xavier, in Bombay, has at present six hundred and seventyseven students, of whom four hundred and forty-five are
Christians, mostly Catholics; one hundred and nine Hindoo
idolaters; ninety-five Parsee fire-worshippers; nine Musselmans; three Jews. The college prepares for all the university degrees up to that of l\Iaster of Arts, and is held in
high esteem by all classes.-The sacred body of St. Francis
Xavier will be exposed for public veneration, during about
two weeks, in December next. Great preparations are going on, and··large crowds of pilgrims are expeCted from all
parts. I hope that I shall be one of them, as most of our
Fathers are to go. A preliminary examination of the body
of the Apostle of India was held on the 18th in st. in the
presence of the Archbishop, the members of the Government Council, the Capitulars, the Medical Board, and the
Board of Health of the "old city" of Goa; a small number.
of outside speCtators being also present. The coffin was
removed to one of the side altars, and after the usual prayers
the iid was taken off. It is said that the body is in the same
state of preservation as at the last exposition twenty years
ago.-His Grace, the Archbishop of Goa, Don Ayres d'Oruellas· e Vasconcellos, has always be~,ri very friendly towards
the Society. Before coming to India, he went to V. R. F.
General, at Fiesole and asked for some Portuguese Fathers
to undertake the direCtion of the Archiepiscopal Seminary
in Goa. His request was granted very willingly, as it is a
fruitful work for the glory of God to educate so many Indian priests, who are afterwards scattered all over the country wherever there are Christians belonging to the Arch"
bishop of Goa. Formerly the direCtion of the seminarians
*
*
*
In the
was entrusted to native priests.
beginning of this year about seven hundred pagan converts
to Protestantism, asked of His Lordship, Bishop Meurin, '
Vicar 'Apostolic of Bombay, to be received into the true
�Extrac7s from ·Foreign Letters.
59
fold.
*
*
*
I would, indeed, always prefer that
our converts should be made direetly from paganism. They
are more constant in their faith, and more submissive to the
voice of their pastors ; while those who come over to us
from the seas have become accustomed to be urged on by
money and other worldly motives, and are more or less infeeted with Protestant notions.
Poymzne Nov. 22d, I878.
I have scarcely time to tell you
anything about our novices. We have sixty-four, together
with five candidates. Among the novices are sixteen priests ;
and it is most edifying to see these fathers, doetors in theology, philosophy and the sciences, as humble as the youngest
novices of fourteen. One of the number, who was grand
penitentiary of the Cathedral of Burgos, has recently been
appointed Professor of Moral and Canon Law in this Col*
*
*
At Murcia in our Province of
lege.
Castile, a new Novitiate has lately been opened with anumber of novices from this house. Five started from here several days ago, eighteen others will shortly follow. We
hope to have vocations for both novitiates, confident that
our dear Patron, St. Joseph, will not forget us. During the
past four months, thirteen novices joined the Society here.
Our colleges throughout Spain are in a very prosperous
condition. Had our Rev. ,Fr. Provincial more subjeCts and
more money, they might be much more numerous, for in
several towns fine old buildings have been offered to him
for colleges, but he is unable to accept them.
*
*
*
*
�Varia.
6o
•
2-VARIA .
Afnca-Very Rev. Father General writes to Fr. Depelchin : "The Congregation of the Propaganda desires that
our Society found a mission in Central Africa and devote
its labors to the conversion of that country. As temporal
means are necessary to bring this about, His Eminence,
the Cardinal Prefect, thinks good that from this moment we
should collect alms among the faithful. As I have, with
the approvai of the same Cardinal Prefect, destined your
Reverence to begin this mission, I authorize you to prepare
the way and to receive alms, in order that you and those
who shall be given you as companions, may repair to that
country, carefully view the field of your labors, order everything as may seem necessary or convenient, and, in fine,
begin your apostolic work. To this end, I implore 1he
Divine Goodness, to shower numberless blessings on your
holy work, and to direct and preserve your Reverence and
your Jellow-laborers."
Belgium-Festivities in Dendermonde on the occasion of
the unveiling of the Statue of Fr. De Smet.
On Sunday, Sept. 22d, early in the.m9rning, all the houses
of the city, except those of a few liberals, were gaily decorated, and streaming banners .were stretched across the
streets. Towards noon, eager crowds gathered near the
starting point of the procession. The cavalcade which represented various historical events of the city, began its
march at two o'clock P. M. The sight was very grand.
The dresses of the cavaliers were gorgeous, and so well portrayed the costumes of olden times that the spectators imagined themselves transported back to the 13th or 14th century. Even the liberals were obliged to acknowledge the
magnif1cence of the display. The cavalcade had passed
through the principal streets of the city by half past five
o'clock, at which time the famous "Ros Bayard" was exhib-
�Varia.
61
ited. This is a masterpiece of sculpture, representing a
gigantic horse mounted by four young men. Its present
exhibition was the third since the beginning of the century.
It is in memory of the great Count Aymon of Dendermonde who possessed an enormous charger which could be
ridden only by his four sons together.
In the evening, at halfpast eight o'clock, a Venetian festival was represented and a display of fireworks given on
the river. A number of boats, built in fantastic shapes of
swans, fishes and pavilions, preceded two large ships which
carried the orchestra and the fireworks.
On Monday, 23d, after the solemn High Mass, which was
celebrated at 10 o'clock, Fr. Verbecke S. J. delivered an
eloquent panegyric on Fr. DeSmet. The spacious cathedral
was unable to hold the crowds of worshippers.
The unveiling of the statue took place at three o'clock
in the afternoon. Every available spot was occupied long
before the hour. At half-past two a heavy rain began to
fall, and the liberals rejoiced; but everybody remained in
his place. At three o'clock the sun reappeared and was
greeted with loud and continued cheering.
The ceremonies were opened by the orchestra, which performed a choice piece of music. Then the statue was unveiled. The enthusiasm of the multitude was at its height.
Thousands of hats were waved in the air, and nothing could
be heard but the cry of "Vivat Pater De Smet." Silence
was commanded, and then between six and seven hundred
singers, accompanied by the orchestra, executed the grand
cantata, composed expressly for the occasion. From seventy to eighty thousand persons attended the festivities.
The statue is of bronze, and measures, with the pedestal,
eight metres (a little over twenty-five feet) in height. Fr.
De Smet, whose bearing and features are expressive of great
majesty, seems to be coming forth from the cathedral, and,.
with the crucifix in his hand, to be moving with a rapid
stride towards the Rocky Mountains.
�62
Varia.
Among the devices cut on the pedestal are, a Bible, a
cross and a torch. On the base are the words "Fortiter et
Sua'uitcr."
Cltina-During the month of May, the number of pilgrimages to the shrine of our Lady of Help at Zo-se was quite
considerable; 142 Masses were said there, and 5980 Communions distributed. On the 24th of May, 33 missionaries,
I 2 scholastics, and from 5000 to 6ooo pilgrims celebrated
there the titulary feast of thP. place.
On the sarne da); at Choei-tong in the district of Ning-kofou, seven other missionaries with from 200 to 300 Christians
went through a ceremony, not so solemn, perhaps, but no
less calculated to fill all hearts with hope. The name of
Ning-ko-fou, and the persecution under which it has groaned
for two years are well known. Some time ago the Superior
General of the mission made a vow to the Blessed Virgin,
promising her, that if she would check the fury of the enemy
and give the necessary means to repair the ruins caused by
the iqcendiary's torch and the axe of the destroyer, he wou\d
erect a sanctuary under the title of our Lady of Help. His
prayer was heard; and on the 24th of May, Father Seckinger blessed the first stone of the new shrine which now
lifts its spires towards heaven in hoQ6r of Mary.
A somewhat singular discovery was lately made at Kouang-te-tcheou, in this same district of Ning-ko-fou. Whilst
a mason was pulling down an old wall in the neighborhood
of Tchang-hong-bou, he found there a Chinese book written
on European paper. He sent it to Fr. Chenleang. It is an
eight-day retreat, dictated or composed by Fr. Nee-jo-wang,
and followed by ten instructions on the Commandments of
God. The retreat comprises four meditations for each day;
and the whole is written in the classic language of the mandarins. How came the book to be hidden in that wall?
It would be hard to say. However it happened, Nee-jo-wang
is the Chinese name of Fr. John Duarte, a Portuguese, who
�Varia.
was born on the 27th of Nov. 1671, entered the Society of
Jesus on the 17th of July, r6go, arrived in China in 1700.
The year of his death and his burial-place are unknown.
France- The students of Vaugirard have made a collection for the church of the Sacred Heart, realizing more than
5000 francs. The proceeds will go to build one of the columns of the ci-ypt. These columns number one hundred
and one.-A chair of Theology in the Catholic University of
Paris has been entrusted to one of our Fathers.
Kentuck)'-During part of the Autumn, Frs. Bronsgeest
and Hillman gave eleven small missions in the country districts of Kentucky. Most of the places visited were "stations," attended only at intervals from the towns. The
labors of the two Fathers had the following results: Holy
Communions, 4514; Adults baptized, 6r; Children baptized,
50; First Communion of adults, 21 5·
Spain- Everywhere in Barcelona we met souvenirs of the
old Society. \Ve saw the palace of St. Francis Borgia, over
the main entrance of which stands a fine bust of the saint.
The church of the Society, now in charge of secular priests,
has the appearance of a grand cathedral. The college is
used as a seminary. They have removed from the church
the pictures of our Saints, and stored them away in a garret,
where we found them covered with dust in a heap of cast
off lumber. All the relics of our Holy Founder are in the
hands of strangers who showed them to us with the greatest
indifference. To see the sword of St. Ignatius, we had to
secure the services of a chaplain, who was, by no means,_
over obliging. I kissed it with love and veneration. It is:
about six palms in length, and is very sfender; the guard'
is missing; the hilt is simple and without ornament. The
weapon was evidently meant for use, not for mere display ..
\Ve were shown next a piece of the mantle,- the wide cuff
of one of the sleeves, of blue silk and tulle. At the end of
the sacristy stands a bust of our Holy Father, said to be
modelled after the cast taken from him after death, by order
of Father Ribadeneira. We might have seen the hard, nar~
row pallet on which he used to take his rest, and the little
stool on which he sat in the boy's school; but the sacris. tan was absent, and no one could tell us when he would be:
back. (Extract from Aiz Letters.)
�Varia.
*
* The pilgrimage to the tomb of Blessed
Canisius at Friburg, has brought together more than twentyfive thousand persons.
*
Fr Pagani has been appointed Pro-Vicar Apostolic of the
new mission of Mangalore.
St. Francis de Hieronymo has been given as special proteaor to the Assistancy of Italy.
The Irish Fathers have received from the Propaganda
the mission of New Zealand.
NUMERUS SCHOLARIUM IN COLLEGIIS
UNIVERS.lE SOCIETATIS, AN. 1878.
AssxsTENTI.IE
PROVINCILE
8CHOL.
Romana *. . . .. .. . . .
Neapolitana t.......
Sicula ..............
{ Taurinensis .........
Veneta .............
449
130
200
1003
291
Austrire.. . . .. .. .. .. .
Belgica .............
GERMANI.IE
Galicire ......... ,...
{ Germanire.. . . . • • • . . .
Neerlandire .. • .. .. ..
1069
5264
GALLI.IE
Camp~nire . .._,'.: .. .. .
Franc1re .....••• . . . . .
Lugdunensis ........
{ Tolosana . .. .. • .. . . .
Miss. N. Ebor et Can.
1839
3835
3875
2553
916
HISP ANI.IE
Aragon ire.. • . • • .. • . . 3029
Castellana . • • . . • . . . . 2036
{ !Iexicana t........
50
lTALI.IE
ANGLI.IE
110
1294
510
rAnglire .. ......... .. 1074
' .•••••••••
870
Hibernire
~
Uarylandire ........ . 745
...•••.• 1101
l Uissouriana
*Non recensetur collegium in Brasilia.
tin Novo Mexico tantum.
~In Texas tan tum.
�WOODSTOOI{: LETTERS.
VOL VIII, No.
2.
A SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JAMES
OLIVER VAN DE VELDE, S. J.
The following sketch of Father Van de Velde, afterwards
Bishop Van de Velde of Nat chez, is not a complete history of
his life; it contains little else than some princip:tl facts of
his career in our Society. He had more than ordinary qualities, and it may be said that he left something of his impre8s on the province of Missouri; which is still traceable,
as in a still more distinct manner is that of Father Kenny.
On this account, it is believed that some notice of Father
Van de Velde's labors as a follower of St. Ignatius, may,
perhaps, prove both interesting and useful at this time.
James Oliver Van de Velde was born near Teremonde,
Flanders, April 3rd 1795. His childhood was spent with
an aunt at St. Amand. In 1810, when fifteen years old, he
was sent to a boarding school near Ghent, where he distinguished himself in his classes, sho\ving much aptitude,
especially for languages. In I 8 I 3 he taught French for a
time at Puers; and in the autumn of that year he entered
the Seminary of Mechlin. By the treaty of Vienna, in
1815, Belgium and Holland ~vere united under William I of
Holland, an arrangement by which Belgium was placed
under a Protestant sovereign; and this so stung young Van
de Velde that he thought of going to England or to Italy.
VoL. vm-No. 2.
9
(65)
�puerornm et puella·
rum in ~dwli~o~, c1na~i
paroehialibus.
Xnmern~
MINISTERIA SPIRITUALIA PATRUM PROV. ANG. 1877.
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' · e1ens t Holy Cross. . . 3
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-
---~
-----Numerus puerornn1 ct pnellarnm in :-::cholis quas1 paroehialltms .
MINISTER. SPIRIT. PATRUM APUD EXTERAS GENTES.
ANNO 1877.
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1
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l
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1
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S. AfricaGrahamstown ........... .
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N. District. ............. .
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2581
1
401
I
1
G II 154
1
1
oa2 -7-,75
G!l
46
14
7
,
We present the foregoing summary of the "Opera pia" of the English Province, in hopes of receiving n
list from our American Provinces, for the m•xt number of the LETTEHS.
�66 Biograplzical Skctclz offamcs Oli< 1cr Van de Vc!dc, S.j.
He began the study of both the English and the Italian
languages, being undetermined in mind as to whether he
should seek a home in London or in Rome; but the providence of God disposed his future course for him.
In 1816 Rev. Charles Nerinckx, the illustrious Belgian
missionary who had gone to Kentucky in 1805, arrived in
Belgium on his way to Rome, whither he was going to
offer the rule of his new society, the Sisters of Loretto, to
Pius VII for examination, and approval, if deemed worthy
of it. BefQr~ going on to Rome, Father Nerinckx published
a pamphlet "in Belgium, which gave an edifying and impressive account of his missions, and the prospeB:s of religion
in the United States, but especially in the diocese of Bardstown then governed by Bishop Flaget. The reading of this
pamphlet caused a number of young men, and among them
Mr. Van de Velde, to conceive the thought of accompanying Father Nerinckx to America on his return, the following year. Accordingly when Father Nerinckx, May 8th.
181 r, went on board the brig Mars, Captain Hall, at Amsterdam, bound for America, he found that he was to have,
among other companions on the journey, James Oliver Van
de Velde, Rev. P. DeVos, Messrs. Timmermans, Verh::egan,
De Smct, and de Mey~r. Of this list)\'Ir. Timmermans, afterwards Father Timmermans, Brother Peter De Meyer, and
Mr. Van de Velde, subsequently belonged to the vice province of Missouri; but Rev. P. De:! Vos, M<:!ssrs. Verha:gen
and De Smet were not the three persons of those names
who were afterwards distinguished members of the Missouri
province.
The party reached Baltimore July 29th 1817, where they
pas,ed several days at the Su.lpitian Seminary over which
Rev. Mr. Marechal, afterwards Archbishop, was Superior;
and on July 31st they reached Georgetown College. Brother De Meyer was received as a novice on August sth.
Mr. Timmermans became a Scholastic novice on Aug. 18th,
and Mr. Van de Velde on Aug. 23rd. Mr. Van de Velde
�Biograplzica! Sketclz ojJamcs Oliver Van de Velde, S.J. 67
had not left Belgium with the i~tention of becoming a Jesuit; he took the resolution to enter the Society on sea, after
narrowly escaping a serious accident; and in this choice he
was commended and encouraged by the saintly Father
:Nerinckx. R<l-v. Charles Neale was then provincial of
Maryland, and the novitiate was at Georgetown College,
but if was removed to ·white-Marsh two years later.
Young Van de Vel de was an apt novice, and after a few
months of training he was found to be capable of rendering
great service as a teacher in the college. He had already
·begun the study of English some two years before leaving
Belgium; under his able instru~ors at Georgetown College,
and helped by the well sdeC1:ed library, he made rapid progress. . Few scholars, even among those whose vernacular
tungue was English, ever acquired a more thorough mastery of the language, or could speak and write it with more
purity and propriety, than he could when he was raised to
priesthood, which took place Sept. 25th I827. He was ordained at Baltimore, by Archbishop Marechal. From that
time till I829 he tau~;ht at Georgetown College, saying
.Mass at the Visitation Academy and giving weekly instructions to the pupils. In 1829 the mission at Rockville and
Rock-creek, Montgomery County, was assigned to him,
and he continued to perform this pastoral duty till 183 I.
Here we should state that in 1823 Rt, Rev. Dr. Du Bourg,
Bishop of Upper* and Lower Louisiana applied to the provincial of Maryland for a community of the Society to accept a house from him near' St. Louis, with' a view to evangelizing the Indian tribes still lingering in Missouri. It was
in compliance with this request made by Bishop Du Bourg,
that Father Charles Van Quickenborne and his companions, twelve in all, left \Vhite-Marsh for St. Louis on
April I Ith I823, reaching St. Louis at I o'clock P. M. on
Saturday May 31st I823. After this colony was established in Missouri, it remained subjeCt to the provincial of
'*All the territory west of the ~lississippi river was then ealled Louisiana:
the present State of Missouri was then comprised in "Upper Louisiana."
�68 Biograplziral Sketclz ojJames Oliver Van de Velde, S.J.
Maryland, till the year 1831; and Father Ozierozinski was
sent from Maryland on a visitation of the Missouri mission
in 1827. \Vhen Father Kenny was sent by Very Rev. Fr.
General as visitor to the United States in 1831, the mission
of Missouri was separated from the province of Maryland,
and it was henceforth governed by its own local superior
who was made immediately subjeCt: to the General. When
it had been determined that this separation should take
place, owing to the great want of members in Missouri
where as yet no Scholastic novice had been received, Fr.
Kenny decided to send Father Van de Velde, Father Van·
Lommel, and Mr. Van Sweevelt to the mission of Missouri,
there to remain permanently. A college had already been
opened in St. Louis as long ago as 1829, and the number
of students at the end of the third year was large, many
among them being advanced in their studies. It was partly
owing to the want of teachers for the higher classes that
Father Van de Velde was sent to St. Louis in 1831.
Irwas arranged for Father Van de Velde, Father Van
Lominel, and Mr. Van Sweevelt to leave Georgetown for
St. Louis about the 1st of September 1831 ; but their departure was delayed owing to a fever contraCted by Father
Van de Velde during a visit to St.' Mary's and Charles
Counties. Father Van Lommel a·~d· Mr. Van Sweevelt
started on September 15th, but when they reached Cumberland, Father Van Lommel was attacked with a fever and
they were detained there two weeks. Father Van de Velde
did not start ti'll oa. 4th, when he had the pleasure of
accomp~nying Father Kenny, and Father Me Sherry who
went on a visit to Missouri at that time. They reached
St. Louis on Monday OCl:ober 24th 1831, after an interesting and pleasant trip. Father Kenny remained more than
a year in ·Missouri; he found all to be well disposed, and
that every thing favored the constituting of Missouri into a
distinct mission, under its own local government.
Father Van de Velde was appointed professor of Rhet-
�Biographical Sketch of james Oliver Van de Velde, S.J
69
oric and Mathematics, immediately after his arrival; and
when the college was organized under its new charter, at the
beginning of the year 1833, to his other duties were added those of vice president. He continued to hold these
office.s, with the duties of procurator joined to them, after
his solemn profession in 1837 till the year 1840, when he
was appointed president of the St. Louis University. His
elevation to this office inaugurated a new era in the history
of the college, and, we may say, indeed, of the entire Missouri misston.
One of the first works undertaken by Father Van de
Velde, after his entrance into office as president, was the
church of St. Francis Xavier adjoining the college; it was
finally dedicated on Palm Sunday 1843, and it was, for that
period, an imposing and costly struCI:ure. For many succeeding years the Catholic who was even but a casual visitor to St. Louis, could scarcely fail to be impressed with the
faCI:, that St. Louis University along with St. Francis Xavier's Church, was praCI:ically the centre of Catholicity for all
that distriCI: of the Mississippi valley of which St. Louis
was the commercial metropolis.
As the natural complement of this work, parochiai
schools were next established; the Sisters cf Charity were
invited to take charge of a free school, and to conduCl
along with it an academy in which the higher accomplishments for young ladies would be t:wght-an invitation which
the zealous Sisters accepted. Father George Carrell, the
late bishop of Covington, was the first that was made pastor of St. Xavier's church; and the school building for the
girls of the parish was ereCI:ed under his supervision, the
Sisters taking possession of it, and opening school on Sept.
4th 1843, with one hundred seventy-~ve pupils. The Sisters
had arrived on Low Sunday, and they kept a school for a
few months on Washington Av., near Seventh Street. The
school for boys was begun in the basement of the new
church, on March 25th 1843 with two hundred and seven-
�70 Biograpltical Sketclt ofJames OHver Van de Velde, S.J.
ty-five pupils; this same school opened in the following September with three hundred and fifty boys taught by four
Scholastics. In January I 844, there were four hundred and
twenty in the school for boys, and two hundred and twenty
in that for girls. The property was given in trust for the
girls' school by Mrs. Ann Hunt. On July 4th 1843. Rev.
DoRor Martin J. Spalding of Louisville, Ky., afterwards
Archbishop of Baltimore, gave an eloquent leRure in St.
Francis Xavier's Church, St. Louis, to a large audience, for
the benefit of'these new schools.
When Father Van de Velde became president of the St.
Louis University, he gave a new impulse to the studies
and the classes in the college, elevating them to a higher
grade. He accomplished thi'i improvement, especially by
the pains he took to train up and form his young teachers.
He insisted that in order for them to be successful as professors, it was necessary that they should acquire proficiency
in the English language and in its best literature. He
stimulated a laudable ambition in talented young men to
make pulpit orators of themselves, and to acquire facility
in writing the English language with force and elegance,
convincing them that no degree of superior learning could
be made by them any means of impqrtant good for the
people of this country, unless they be~aine well trained in
the idioms of the language, the words and phrases that
reach the hearts of the people, and, therefore, unless they
learned their national history, their allusions, their models
of literature, their ideal of style and taste. He himself
trained those young men in elocution and in the art of composition, also seleRing for them modeb on which to form
their style. Our province owes much to the prudent and
well direRed zeal of Father Van de Velde in this matter,
his efforts leading to the formation of many useful and eminently successful members; among whom one that is now
dead may be named, tl;e well known Father Smarius; than
whom, few abler orators ever occupied the Catholic pulpit
�Biograplziml Sketch ofJames Oliver Va1l dt> Velde, S.j. 71
in the United States. Father Van de Velde's enlightened
and eminently praCtical zeal sought to convert every available natural good into means of supernatural gain. He
was a man of prayer, and he had a peculiarly strong faith,
always counting on the help of God in whatever he undertook; and his success, he, in all cases, ascribed to our
Lord's special favor.
On Sq..Jtember 17th, 1843, Father Van de Velde was
elevated to the office of vice provincial, and he held this
position in the vice province of Missouri till June 3d, I 848.
The Rev. George Carrell succeeded him as president of the
St. Louis University. -In the office of vice provincial, Father Van de Velde had a still wider field for the exercise of
his administrative ability and forecast. As the number of
novices did not then equal the want of members for the
works and missions of the vice province, one of his first
important undertakings was to build a more commodious
house for the novitiate. The novices still occupied the little
cabins which were the home of the original twelve founders who came in 1823. To the cabin containing but one
room, which was on the farm given to them by Bishop
du Bourg, they had added other little cabins, raising them
all to two stories in height; nevertheless, at the time now
spoken of they were in rude contrast with the poorest institutions aronnd St. Louis. As the vice province had then
no resources at all, beyond the small annuities contributed
by its two colleges, the St. Louis University and St. Xavier
College in Cincinnati, which had been taken in 1840, and
by a few poor residences, it was judged expedient that our
lay brothers, should, under the circumstances, mainly do the
work of ereCting a new house for the novices. lt was also
decided that the new house should be of stone; and a
quarry furnishing suitable materials was found on the banks
of the Missouri River, at a point seven miles below the noVItiate. A number of the brothers would go to the quarry
every Monday and return home on the following Saturday
�72 Biog-raphical Sketch ofJames Oliver Vall de Velde, S.j.
afternoon. This work was begun in 1844; but the house
was not ready for occupancy till 1849.
At the time of Father Van de Velde's appointment to
the provincialship there was in St. Louis a numerous body
of Catholic Germans whose religious wants \vere not suitably provided for. They enlisted the zeal and charity of
Father Van de Velde, who took necessary steps to have a
church built for them at the N. E. corner of 11th and Biddle Streets, on a lot given for the purpose by 1\Irs. Biddle.
The corner st'one of St. Joseph's Church was laid by Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick, April 14th, 1845, in the presence of a great multitude of Catholic Germans; and by
order of the Bishop, the church was made succursal to that
of St. Francis Xavier. St. Joseph's Church soon drew
around it one of the largest and most prosperous congregations in the city, numbering some seven or eight thousand
souls, and having a regular attendance in its parochial
schools of one thousand children.
The Jndian missions also were objeCts of the energetic
and comprehensive zeal of Father Van de Velde. It was
during his provincialship that the prosperous and important
Osage Mission was established, in what is now South Eastern Kansas. In the spring of 1847, Fq_ther John Schoenmakers and Father John Bax were sent to-found a permanent
establishment at that place, for christianizing and civilizing
the Osage tribe. They were accompanied by three lay
brothers, Francis De Bruyn, John Sheehan, and Thomas
Coghlan; and when all arrangements were completed for
beginning schools, a colony of Loretto Sisters from Kentu_cky accepted an invitation to share with the Fathers in
the task of educating savage children, in this· distriCt then
so far away from the confines of civilization.
During the year 1847, steps were also taken to transfer
the Pottowattomy tribe from Sugar Creek, a small branch
of the Osage River, where the Indians were too near the
Missouri border, and were thus exposed to injury by contaCt
�Biograplzical Sketclz ofJamt's Oliver Van de Velde, S.J. 73
with the whites. They were removed to a more advantageous reservation set aside for them by the government, in
the "Kaw valley," or at the St. Mary's Mission, about twenty-five miles west of Top~ka, the present capital of Kansas.
But through an error of the guides, the Indians and missionaries went to the wrong place ; and they did not finally reach
their own lands till September 1848. It was during Father
Van de Velde's term of office that many of the Indian missions in the Rocky :\fountains were established; the particuIars of which, however, cannot be detailed here.
In the autumn of 1842, when Father Van de Velde was
president of the St. Louis University, the Medical department began a full course of lectures in that faculty's new
building on \Vashington Avenue, immediately adjoining
the western limit of our property. Dr. Moses L. Linton,
who subsequently became conspicuous in St. Louis, was
one of the first professors .. Dr. Linton was thenceforth visiting physician of the University, and he also remained a
member of the Medical Faculty for thirty years, or till his
death, which occured at the beginning of June 1872. In
the year 1843. the Law department of the St. Louis University began its first sessi~n. In consequence of the
"Know Nothing" troubles of 1854 and 1855, the medical
faculty applied to be placed under its own separate charter;
and, despite the opposition made to this projeCl by Dr. Linton, it obtained from the legislature of the State a distinct
and independent charter in 1858. The Law School met
with only limited success, and the organization soon dissolved.
(To be continued.)
VoL. vm-No.
2.
10
�JOURNAL OF MISSIONS IN KENTUCKY.
ST. JoHN's, HARDIN Co., Kv.,
August 25th, 1878.
On Thursday night, the 22nd of Aug., Frs. Hillman and
Bronsgeest left for Kentucky, where they were to labor for
nearly thre!! 'months, in the diocese of Louisville.
The first 'mission was given to the parish of St. John,
Hardin Co. The pastor of this congregation, the Rev. H.
Mertens, is chaplain of the Loretto Sisters in Bethlehem
Academy, and resides in the priest's house near the convent.
Here the Frs. were very kindly received. To compensate the
Sisters for their trouble, Father Bronsgeest gave a Triduum
to nine invalid Sisters who had been unable to go to the
mother house for their annual retreat. \Ve observed the
following order of exercises in this and in all the subsequent
country missions: -g A. M. Mass and sermon; II, instruction; 1.30 P. M. Stations or instruCtion; 3, beads, sermon,
BenediCtion.
The mission at St. John's was very..,~_ell attended. People
came from a great distance; and although chills and fever
were very prevalent in this seCtion, even the sick could not
be kept home. Every d.ty a number of them were seen
stretched on the grass, on the shady siuP. of the church-yard.
At three o'clo<;:k the crowds were so great that the
church could not contain them; and as the weather was
pleasam, we determined to hold the exercises in the open
air. The preparations were decidedly rustic. A pulpit was
improvised by taking a wagon bed off its truck and placing
it on logs. The people gathered around in a semicircle.
Most of the women were seated on benches taken from the
church, the sick found seats in wagons and on logs. All
seemed to be comfortable, but the causes of distraCtion
(74)
�Jountal of JIIissions in Kentucky.
75
were many; for whilst the missionary was leauring, the
wagon-horses, molested by th~ flies, shook the chains of
their harness, the m:tres wc:re neighing for their foals, the
dogs were hunting for chicken bones and the remains of
the dinners, or a drove of young pigs came on the premises,
grunting and snuffing in search of acorns and grass. However, all things consid~red, the shady cover was preferable
to the intensely close atmosphere of the little church, resounding with the crying of restless babies.
Next in order came three stations of Fr. Fahrenbach;
Big Clifty, Bear Creek and Nolin. The Pastor resides at
Bear Creek; consequently we had to put up at a farmer's
house. Mr Fowler, our kin9 host, lives about a mile from
the church, to which he took us every morning in his farm
wagon, and brought us back at night. The surrounding
farmers, each one in turn, snpplied us with food in regular
picnic style. Old Uncle Harry, a Catholic negro, spread
our meals on a board that served as a table and waited on
us with peculiar solicitude and attention. \Vhilst conversing
with this truly good man, we discovered that doubts were
entertained concerning the baptism of his mother. On enquiring from the former master, Mr. Higdon, we found that
these doubts were not without foundation. To settle the
matter the old lady was baptized conditionally, at the age
of 103. One day as Fr. Bronsgeest returned from the
neighboring school, where he had instruaed Protestants,
he noticed a squad of men engaged in very earnest conversation. On walking up to them, one remarked: "Father,
here is a man who boasts that he does not believe there is
a God." "Where is he?" ''Here-the school teacher," they
replied. "Is that so? do you not believe that there is a
God?" "Well, no," saiJ he in a very insulting tone, "I am
not satisfied that there is one." The priest stooped, and
having plucked a blade of grass,-"\Vell now dear friend"
he said, "who made this blade of grass?'' "Ah," said the
school teacher, "I am not so well educated as you are, I do
�1
l
;6
Jounzal of Missions itz Kmtucky.
not want to argue with you."-"1 see" replied the missionary, "that although you have come regularly to the mission
exercises, you have not derived much profit from the sermons. But learn to-day this le!>son :-never talk about a.
thing which you do not understand." Saying this, he went
on, leaving the proud boaster, greatly humbled, to the ridicule of the bystanders.
On Friday, Sept. 6th, Mr. Mattingly conveyed us in a
spring wagon to Bear Creek Church, situated about one
mile distant· from the Grayson Springs. These Springs,
eight in number, within an area of about half an acre, possess medicinal properties, and many invalids resort to them
during the summer months. A Catholic gentleman from
Louisiana having died near the springs, his widow caused a
memorial brick church to be erected over the tomb, for the
use of the people of Bear Creek congregation.
During the mission we received many calls from the people of Litchfield, where Frs. Bouige and Bronsgeest had
preached a mission the year previous. The converts especially showed great fervor and affection.
On Saturday, Sept. 14th, we were driven to Nolin, sixteen
miles west of Grayson Springs. We have had, on several
occasions, reason to admire the great j1onesty of the people
of Kentucky. Here is an example. \Vhllst travelling along
we saw from a distance something lying on the stump of a
tree. "\Vhat is that?" we inquired, pointing in the direction.
"That," said Mr. Mudd, our companion, "is a bundle of
sieves, about half a dozen. I reckon somebody who had
bought them in Litchfield, dropped them off his wagon, and
another man passing by placed them on that stump, so that
when the owner returns he may find them without trouble."
Another example.-When we lodged with Mr. Fowler, in
Big Clifty, we noticed that there were neither locks nor
bolts to the doors 0f the house. "You do not seem to be
afraid of thieves or robbers."-"No" he answered, "we are
never troubled by thieves. Some years ago we kept a ne-
'
�Joumal
of Missions £n Ketttucky.
77
gro boy and he had a key for the meat house; but since
he left we do not lock it, yet, we have never missed anything."
In Nolin an incident happened, which amused the farmers
very much. A lecture on Confession having been announced, an ex-preacher rode up to the church in company
of a number of farmers. He brought his own Bible along
to verify the quotations. "If,"' said he to his travelling
companions, "if that man can prove from my Bible that I
have to go to confession, I will give him my mule."-"Well,"
answered a Catholic, "I am sure that he will do so. I will
request the priest to quote from your own Protestant Bible
during the lecture." Of course the preacher's Bible was
used with great display. Towards the end of the lecture,
the preacher stole quietly out of the church, and struck for
home with his mule, leaving the Bible behind him. In
Nolin we were entertained by two gentlemen well known in
that part of the country ; we had the pleasure of preparing
one of them for his First Communion and of reconciling
the other with God, after many year's negligence. The
next trip from Nolin to Sunfish, Edmondson Co., was too
long to be made in one day. On Friday, Sept. 20th, we
travelled about six miles, and stopped at Mr. Summer's, in
whose house we said Mass the next morning. On that day
we made the remaining eighteen miles. We travelled for a
good while on the road leading to the famous Mammoth
Cave, and at one point we came within eight miles of it.
Our appointments did not, however, allow us to visit that
wonder of nature. Naturally enough we tried to gather
some information from the farmers who live in the neighborhood; but no one had ever seen it. We finally met
a man who had entered its mouth and had seen thousands of
bats hanging in clusters from the ceiling; this was the only
information we could obtain from him. After a wearisome
ride of six hours, we arrived at our destination at about 3
o'clock, P. M. After thanking God for our safe journey we
�Jounzal of Missions in Kentucky.
commenced to make arrangements for our stay, as in this
place no suitable lodging-house could be obtained. We
fixed our beds in the sacristy, built a fire, closed the paneless windows, and put every thing in order. Here, as in
other parishes, we lived on whatever was brought to us.
But at night we had to do our own cooking. \Vhen the
people had left for home, the missionaries prepared supper;
they warmed their meat, cooked their coffee, washed their
potatoes, and prepared a better meal than they had had for
weeks. There existed a great abuse among the people of
the parish of .Sunfish, namely the custom of marrying relatives. The consequence is that many are affliCted with
deafness, others have the look of idiots, and most of them
are devoid of all energy. It must, however, be said in their
praise, that they but very rarely marry Protestants.
The mission in Sunfish was attended by many Protestants,
principally Baptists and Campbellites. Fr. Hillman gave
some controversial sermons on "Infant B1ptism," and "Baptism by Immersion," making remarks which encouraged
the Catholics, shook the faith of the Protestants, and greatly
exasperated the preachers, who could find no arguments to
reply in defence of their praCtices.
\Vhen the mission in Sunfish ended :ve started for Marion
County. vVe travelled the distance~ of about eighty-five
miles partly in a farm-wagon, partly by railroad; and a few
miles were made on horseback. The soil of Marion Co.,
although far from being rich, is much better than that of
Grayson Co. The people are better to do, better clad and
fed, and much more enlightened. On Sept. 29th, we opened
a mission at Holy Cross, the oldest congregation in Ken·
tucky, established nearly one hundred years ago. The
people attended very well.
During the week following, we gave a mission at Manton,
a station ,of the same Fr. Feehan. vVe were kindly entertained by Dr. Pash. and Squire Blines. The mission was
very successful. Besides a number of Protestants, we re-
�Journal of Missions in Kmtucky.
79
ceiverl into the Church two notorious Free-masons. On the
day we concluded, an old farmer who had not approached
the Sacraments within the memory of any of the Catholics
around, hut had now been reconciled with God, drove us
in a handsome carriage to Loretto Convent, a very fine
Academy, and the mother house of the Sisters of Loretto.
The next day we left for St. Matthew's Church on Muldraugh's Hill, a station of Fr. Me Connell of Raywick.
Here we lodged with a Mr. Davis, near the church. Mr.
Davis is a generous, kind-hearted man, but has little accommodations for strangers. We slept sometimes as many as
five in a room. Much good was done for this place during
the few days we stayed in it.
Now we were bound for Owensboro, a thriving town on
the Ohio River, one hundred and fifty-five miles west of
Louisville.
Fr. Dom. Crane, the pastor, is an intt>lligept and zealous priest. The mission was well attended. The controversiai leCl:ures created quite a stir among the Protestants.
The trouble was, that too many Protestants attended them.
In consequence of this, many who desired to become Catholics were prevented from taking that important step
through fear of incurring hatred or ridicule.
The following week we gave a mission in English to the
German congregation. At first the attendance was small,
owing to dissensiOns about the building of a new church.
Towards the end of the mission the church was filled to
overflowing; and on the night of the conclusion, the missionary entoned the "Groszer Gott," which was taken up by
the congregation with enthusiasm.
Our last mission in Kentucky was in Hawesville, Hancock
Co., which we reached after a pleasant trip on the Ohio
River. The congregation of Hawesville had been greatly
negleCled. It had been sometimes as long as two years
without receiving the visit of a priest. Some families had
completely lost the faith. They have a fine little stone
�So
Indian Missions.
church built by the contributions of the Irish miners who
in former years, used to work here.
There are not more than a hundred and twenty Catholics
in the parish; but the Protestants swelled the number of
attendants, bringing with them the organ of the Baptist
church. At night, fully three-fourths of the audience were
Protestants. In the beginning they behaved as they do in
their own meeting-houses, talking. laughing, tvalking in
and out, etc. But after the missionaries had called them to
order, they w~re very respectful. Only at the end of service,
was there an)>' kind of disturbance. They did not stir until
the priest told them that all was over, and they could go.
Then the fathers of the family would rise, put on their hats,
and call Mary, Jane and Nancy, to go home with them We
had much consolation during this mission, for, although the
number of Catholics was small, the results were beyond
expectation .•
INDIAN MISSIONS.
NEOSHO C(.'ll!NTY, KANSAS,
December rsth, I878.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
In the year 1870, almost all the lands of this Neosho
County having been claimed by actual settlers, the tide of
emigration began to turn away from us in its natural course
westward. Several Catholic families wishing to live together
went tu form a colony in the very centre of a large county,
at that time called Howard. No sooner had spring fairly
opened, and the roads become passable, than I started in
search o_f them in hopes of being able to reach their settlement on the eve of the great feast of Pentecost, which was
near at hand. But not being acquainted with that part of
�flldiall .Missions.
l:il
the country, and not finding any one to direCl: me through
these endkss wcs·ern prairies, I l~st my way, and it was only
at nu"n of Pentecost that I came to the place. There was
h.1rd1y a house built in the sdtlement; the people camped
out, close to their wagons. without any shelter. I l1 .d
no time to spare; so I qu1ckly dispatched some boys to inform all the neighbors that we would have Mass on the
next morning.
As we had no' houst', a largt.: tent was chosen for the purpose, and a simple. but neat altar was raised on the green
sward, the prairie furnishing a great variety of beautiful wild
fL.>wers to orn.un:::nr it. 0.1 the next morning. May 26th,
our rustic chapel was filled wnh devout people, who attended with great fervor the celebration of the holy Sacrifice, and respeCtfully approached the Holy Eucharist.
That very day, the leading men went out and surveyed a
town-site, which they called Boston. Its central location
was such as to bring to it many advantages, and in particular that of becoming the seat of government for the
whole county. But jealousy and bigotry soon stepped in to
interfere with the work. The Protestant neighbors declared
that they would never allow the Catholics to hold the
county seat, and as the elections soon fixed this in Boston,
-which being a central point w,1s a more convenient place
for all- the opposition party began to contest the elections. New elections were ordered, and new contests followed them. Difficulties and quarrels on the subjeCl: were
the order of the day during the space of four years, till the
opposih.on party seeing that the eleCl:ions always favored
Boston, came to the determination of dividing the county;
and so, through fraud and bribery they carried out their
purpose, in spite of the will of the majority who were against
the division. Thus Howard County was de~troyed, or rather
two new counties were made out of it, the first called Elk,
the second Chautauqua. Not sati~fied with this, to prevent
Boston from ever becoming a county seat, the dividing line
VoL. vm-No. z.
1I
�82
Indian liiissions.
was drawn through the very middle of the town leaving
half in one county and hif in the other. In consequence
of this division the town began to dwindle away, business
was carried to other places, and in a short time only a
few houses were left to show where Boston once stood.
However the partition of the county did not succeed in
destroying the Catholic colony. I continued to visit the
place and say Mass at regular times, thus keeping up the
courage of the people. New k'lmilies came to settle in the
vicinity, so, that this year we numbered thirty Catholic families, an'd. we thought it was now time to try to build a
church. I succeeded in gathering a tolerably good subscription for that purpose, and on the 23d uf June I had the
pleasure of laying the corner stone.
It was the second Sunday after Pentecost, the weather
was lovely, and the old town-site of Boston presented a gala
appearance, for the Catholics were· pouring in from e.very
direcrion. As usual, we had Mass in a very large school
house. This over, we marched to the spot selecred for the
chu-rch. Having recited a short prayer, I exposed to the
assembled people the objeCt: of the ceremony I was going
to perform, and then, after having blessed the corner stone, I
placed the whole work under the protecrion of the Mother
of God by giving to the building 'just begun the name of
St. Mary, Star of the \Vest.
This done, I left for the Indian country to visit the Osages, and having passed a few days with them, I returned to
this mission. Here I heard that our Right Rev. Bishop,
Louis M. Fink, 0. S. B., had at last appointed a secular
priest to take care of several of my western missions, that
of Boston included. As Independence was considered my
headquarters, I hastened to that place, and there I found
that Rev. Robert Loehrer had already arrived to establish
himself in that town, and take possession of that church.
On the 1st of August I transferred to him the charge of all
the missions I had in the counties of Montgomery, Elk, and
�Indian Missions.
Chautauqua, reserving for myself those I have m Wilson
County, and the Indian Territory.
On the 25th of August our mission suffered a heavy loss.
A sudden death put an end to the very useful life of Father
James Christian Van Goch. Father James had come here
on the zsth of August I8S8, yet a novice of our Society.
On the 25th of August 1859, he took his first vows, and
remained with us for three years and seven months. During this time he was a most faithful companion in my missionary labors. Our life was then an exceedingly rough one,
for we lived far away from civilized people, surrounded by
wild Indians, and deprived of many of the comforts of life.
We had tu be very frequently on the road visiting either
the Osages, or other neighboring tribes. Sometimes we were
almost frozen by the northern blasts, so terrible on these
endless plains where one has to travel twenty or thirty
miles without finding either a tree or a cabin to shelter himself; whilst at others, we groaned under the rays of a burning summer's sun, without being able to find a drop of
water to quench our thirst. More than once after a long
day's travelling, with our clothes all wet on account of the
rain, or of the streams and swamps through which we had
to pass, we were obliged to spend the night on the open
ground, under the canopy of heaven, without any fire to dry
us, with no bed but our blanket and no pillow but our saddle. The food we had on such occasions was in perfect
keeping with the lodging, and consisted of a few hard biscuits and some slices of smoked meat, the nearest creek
supplying us with plenty of water to drink. This was by
no means a comfortable life, yet in spite of it, good Father
James always appeared cheerful and satisfied.
On the 18th of March 1862 he was called away from this
mission, and did not return to us till the 27th of August ·
1877; and he told us, in his own pleasant way, that he had
come here to die. This and like expressions were frequently
on his lips, and judging from the way in which he spoke
�llldiall Jl1zssions.
one would feel inclined to think that he had a presentiment
of his approaching end. On the morning of the ::?5th of
last August, he kept his bed, complaining of some pains in
his spine; however he did not seem to suffer very much
from it. At 3 P. 111. he began to sing the Credo, but in such
a loud voice that we got alarmed and went to his room
to see what was the matter. We found him out of his mind.
Unconscious of our presence, he kept on singing till he had
f.nished these words, which were his lasi: : d e:rpet?o rtSIIrrct?ionem. ·I:-Jere his voice failed him, and a severe fit attacked him~ The death struggle had begun, and we saw
that there was no time to lose, so I hastened to administer
Extreme Unction. Jn a few minutes after I had finished
anointing him, and while we were reciting the prayers for
the dying, he breathed his last.
Father James Van Goch's life was a useful one to us.
He was a fervent mi-;~ionary, energetic in business, and
generally successful. The sobs and tears of the people who
attended his funeral, clearly proved how much he was loved.
More than four hundred per:>ons accompanied his remains
to the burying ground. It was a procession of devout children mourning for the loss of their dear father. Their cries,
when his coffin was lowered into tpe grave, were heartrending. R. I. P.
~
The extremely wet weather of last winter and spring
was followed by a very dry season this fall. This contributed to improve the roads, which, at the opening of summer, were almost unfit for travelling. Taking advantage
of this circumstance, I directed my course south of this mission along the bank~ of the Neosho, or Grand River, as it
is called, some fifty miles below this place. Years ago the
Osages had formed some settlements on a stream called the
Salt Fork of the Grand River; but as that land belonged
already .to the Cherokee nation, after a while they left the
place, a·nd moved to their own reservation, locating their
towns on the Verdigris as well as on the Neosho. How ever
�Iudia1t Jl1issions.
some of our half-breeds wl10 had intermarried with the
Cherokees, remained on the Grand River. Several of these
having been educated at our mission, were baptised and
still persevere in the faith. As regards the Cherokees, at
present they mostly all profess to be Protestants. I say
at present ; for when· they were living in the old states of
Georgia, Tenn.~ssee, and Florida, they were all Catholics.
They moved to this western country some forty-five years
ago; and it being- impossible for.the few priesb of the states
from which they had come to follow them here, they were
left alone, and soon fell into the g-ra-.p of Protestants. Now
among these people you find some calling themselves
Methodists, others Baptists, or Pre->byterians ; but in reality they do not believe in any such denominations, and in
spite of _being under the care of Protestants, they show
great respect for the Catholic relig!on and wish to see Catholic missionaries amongst them. I visited Tahlequah, Fort
Gibson and Veneta, the three principal towns of this nation;
I said Mass for the few Catholics I found living here and
there, and baptised some children. Wherever I went, I was
received most kindly, and invited to return as soon as possible to give them a chance to know something more about
the Roman Catholic Church.
I cannot conclude this letter without relating to you a circumstance which procured me great pleasure and surprise.
I was travelling along through the forest that spreads all
over the flint-hills which are so abundant in this section
o(the Cherokee country. After admiring the huge rocks
sparkling with mica, I was looking at the ancient trees which
line the road, when my eyes fell upon a large cross, carved
on the bark of one of them. The cross stands on a pedestal;
the incision on the bark has grown round at the edges, and
a strong second bark has undergrown the whole. From these
indications it clearly appears that the tree, which now is a
stately one, must have been about six inches in diameter
when the cross was carved on it. The cross has grown with
�86
India1t
~1fissions.
the tree and is now some two feet high, about three inches
wide, and well proportioned. I noticed here and there several
other trees marked with crosses, but this was the best of all.
I kept on my way, when after a while my attention was attraCl:ed by another tree on which were cut these beautiful
words, Ave Afarz"a. The letters of Man·a are somewhat
effaced by time, but the word Ave stands out as distinCl:ly
as if it had been carved to-day. In this instance also the
incision on t~e bark shows signs of its having been made
a great many 'years ago.
Now, how "aid it happen that these crosses, and the first
two words of the Angelical Salutation were carved on these
trees? This is quite a puzzle to me. It may be that Protestants have carved those crosses, but it is not likely ;
generally they have no liking for such things. As to the
words of the Angelical Salutation, they most certainly cannot have carved them, for every one knows what are their
feelings on the subjeCl:. The only explanation I can give of
this, i!i,. that some of those good Catholic Indians, who years
ago migrated to these western countries, poor and destitute,
having neither house nor church in which to meet, must
have been in the habit of assembling in the woods before
some of these crosses, and there, just...i~ if they had been in
a chapel, must have recited their daily prayers. And the
tree with the beautiful words of the Angelical Salutation
must have been of a special sanCl:uary where these poor Indians came to implore the assistance of that sweet Mother
whom they had been taught to call Help of Christians and
Refuge of Sinners. 0! may this amiable Mother look once
more with love upon these abandoned children of the forest,
and, through her intercession, may they deserve to return to
the faith of their fathers.
PAUL MARY PONZIGLIONE,
s. ].
�indian Mtssions.
Tv.,
Dec. 30th, 1878.
* * * \Ve had a very nice celebration on Christmas,
night.
Most of the Indians who had not gone after the
buffalo-about thirty families in all-came to their duties.
People and newspapers may say what they please of the
ignorance, stupidity, treachery, wickedness of the Indians;
but I can assure you that, in regard to religion, a great
many of these savages can bear honorable comparison with
white persons. I am more and more surprised, every day,
at th'e way in which they make their confessions; you could
not look for more from well instruCted whites. You see
plainly the work of divine grace in them. What sincerity,
what earnestness, what desires, what efforts! Were all the
Indians blessed with the benefits of Catholic teaching, were·
confession in use among them, instead of the dry Protestant
worship imposed upon many of them, the government
would not need the army to keep them quiet. Strangers
who come sometimes to our church, on occasion of great
feasts, are struck with surprise and admiration at seeing
how respeCtfully, how attentively and with what earnestness our Indians behave; and this in spite of having before
their eyes the bad example of almost all the whites that
surround them; whom they never see praying, or observing the holydays or, in fine, performing any praCtices of
religion. These poor people have several times remarked
to me, that whenever they meet whites together, the most
common topic of conversation is money.
No obstacle is considered by our Indians as sufficient
to prevent them from coming to Mass on Sundays. Distance, high water, snow, cold weather, children to pack on
their back, are all looked on as nothing when there is
question of co~1ing to church. When they return home
from the buffalo-hunt, after an absence of over six months,
it is not uncommon to hear them say, when they present
ST. MARY's, MoNTANA
�88
Indiall Missions.
themselves at the sacred tribunal: •·Father, I am glad and
thankful to God that I came back, and am able to go ag.tin
tu confession; I was every day praying to God for this grace.
My only fear, when f.tr from !10me was that I might die
without having the consolatJOib of our relig1on." vVhen
taken sick, they are not very anxious about the doctor
vsiting them; but they must havt.: the priest, no 111atter
whether it be night or day. I was once called to the bed
side of a young married man. After I had administert'd the
sacraments to,him, his f.d1er turned towards those present
and said: "now I (eel well, my heart is glad and I thank God
sincerely. My boy has now rece1ved the Sacraments of the
Church; he is well prepared to die. It does not grieve me
very much to see him depart from me." vVhen any one in
a family is dangerously sick, a crowd of persons gather
around, and offer prayers to God, day and 111ght lor the
person. One winter, there was living, about two and a half
miles from the mission, an old man over eighty years of
age. His canoe had been carried away, and he had no
horse lo ford the river, nor any neighbors from whom he
could possibly get one. Christmas came and he wanted
very badly to cross the river; but the water, which was about
three feet deep, and a foot of snow along the road, prevented
him from coming to church. New Y~ai"'s Day arrived, and
the same state of affairs continued. At last, the Three Kings'
Day was here, and then, though there was no change in the
circumstances, he determined to come "ny llliW. Trusting
to God, he blessed himself, stripped and forded the river,
walked his way to the mission, fasting, and felt happy at
having been enabled to go to confession and to approach
the holy Table.
When the Indians come to see the Father, they do not
talk much. Yet, in confession, they explain themselves
quite freely and answer without hesitation, the questions
put to them. Prayer for their dead seems to be their devotion of predileCtion, and they like to receive the blessed
�llfissionary Labors.
Sacrament in order to help the souls of their departed friends
(temtemnei). All Souls day is among them a holy day. I
am really edified and consoled at the way in which the greatest number of th~se poor Indians prepare themselves for
death. They seem confident that heaven is opened to them.
During the last nine ye::trs I have had but one case, in which
I could see any agitation or fear at the approach of death.
These facts are sufficient, I believe, to prove to your Reverence that our work in behalf of these poor people is not
entirely lost, and that our sowing is not altogether in barren
soil. May it please God that our labors be not frustrated by
any general Indian war, to which our people might be
forced, by the abuses and injustices committed against them
by some bad characters among the whites, who, being themselves worse and more barbarous than the natives, bear
hatred and contempt for the Indian race, and would like to
see it disappear from the face of the earth.-! recommend
myself to your holy Sacrifices.
]. D'A, S. J.
MISSIONARY LABORS OF FATHER MAGUIRE
AND COMPANIONS
FROM SEPTEMBER I878 TO THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY, I879·
FRANKFORD, PHILADELPHIA-In St Joachim's Church, of
which the Rev. P. Byrne is pastor, Father Maguire assisted
by Frs. Me Atee and Strong began the missions of autumn.
Their labors extended from the beginning to the I 5th of
September. It was thought at first that the Fathers would
have easy work, as at a mission given three years before
only eight hundred persons received Holy Communion.
When we see the result of the exercises, we have every
reason to thank God for the blessing bestowed upon them.
Thirty-six hundred communicants made the mission. Five
VoL. vm-No. 2.
12
�go
Missionary Labors.
Protestants were received into the Church, and sixty-eight
adults were prepared for first Communion.
A scandal of long standing, on account of a law suit between two members of the congregation, was happily removed by the efforts of one of the Fathers.
CHESTER, PA.-This place is well known to the outside
world by reason of the ship-yards belonging to the Roach
Company. There are two Catholic churches in the city,
in one of which, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Fathers
gave a missio~'of ten days (Sept. 22nd-OCI:. 3rd). A special
effort was m~ae here, as in other places, to do some good
for the children, who received instruCtions every afternoon
upon the sacraments and kindred topics. Results of the
work: Communions, one thousand four hundred; Baptisms,
three; adults for Communion, forty-five.
ST. PATRicK's CHURCH, BROOKLYN-Father Taaffe, the
zealous pastor of this church, had so well prepared the
ground, before the arrival of the Fathers, that they did not
find th~ same amount' of work in regard to adults to be made
ready for the sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Confirmation. Classes had already been formed for such persons;
and though considerably enlarged during the two weeks of
the spiritual exercises, the main work_. was already done.
Nevertheless, the mission from the 6th to the zoth of OCt:.
was laborious; and, although six Fathers- Frs. Maguire,
Stonestreet, Me Atee, Jamison, Strong, and Morgan, together with five or six secular priests, were engaged in hearing
confessions, it was difficult to leave the church before 10.30
or I I o'clock, on the last three nights of each week. Great
crowds attended during all the exercises; and in the evening, the church, a very large one, was frequently filled an
hour before the services began.
The Communions were eight thousand; seven persons
were baptized, and five were left under instruCtion. Several
children, whose parents, on account of unfortunate marriages, \Vere wanting in their duty, received baptism. About
�Jl[issionary Labors.
seventy adults were prepared for Confirmation; forty for
first Communion.
ST. JosEPH CHURCH.-Fathers Maguire, Me Atee, Strong
and Morgan began on the same day that the mission ended at St. Patrick's, another at St. Joseph's-Rev. Fr. Corcoran, pastor. They were employed for sixteen days, though
the mission work lasted for two \veeks. The Bishop of
the diocese administered Confirmation, after the retreat
was over, to a number of children and fifty grown persons, gathered by the Fathers. There were six thousand
five hundred Communions. Thirty adults made their first
Communion. The children had a separate hour for themselves, and the first day of each week was set apart for their
confessions. All, little and big, were invited to the catechism,
and would, no doubt, have proven to be a great rabble, but
for the tact of the Father in charge, who, by seasonable rewards, and never failing novelty, managed to keep their
attention.-Three converts were made to the faith. Thus
was ended a hard month's work, in Brooklyn. With their
first labors here, the Fathers have every reason to be satisfied. They were much pleased with the prosperity of the
Church. No where have they seen the wants of the faithful
so well looked after. The forty churches and their parish
schools have done, and are doing, a great work, and Catholicity seems to be on a firmer basis than in any other city
on this side of the continent. The two hundred thousand
Catholics so well provided with churches and schools exercise an influence for good that makes this an exceptional
city in regards to morality.
HARRISBURG CATHEDRAL, (Nov. I0-20)-As the congregation is small, no division was made of the men and women.
More Protestants came to the sermons here than in any
other place. Twelve were received into the Church, and
four others were left under instruction. Four children of
various ages were baptized. Of course these were the offspring of mixed marriages, which are very common in Harrisburg.
�92
Missionary Labors.
·when the Fathers spoke of a class of Confirmation, the
pastor said it was useless, as he had taken special pains the
year before to gather in the adults. He thought that there
was no grown person who had not presented himself at the
last Confirmation. Notwithstanding his zeal, eighty-seven
had escaped, and were confirmed by the Bishop at the end
of the mission. Results: Communions, sixteen hundred:
Confirmations, eighty-seven; first Communions, twenty;
Baptisms, sixteen.
St. JosEPH's; BALTIMORE.-BeforP. the work was finished
in Harrisburg,··Frs. Maguire and Strong began the exercises
in this church. Our Fathers were well remembered and
kindly welcomed, as this church belonged to the Society
for some years. The congregation, for two weeks (Nov.
17th-Dec. 2nd), responded cordially to every effort made
in their behalf. The church was too small, though the
congregation was divided. On some nights, notably on
the last night of the men's week, many were turned away.
The same fact was noted here that had occured in other
places auring the autumn, a larger number of men than
women received Holy Communion.
Results: Communions, two thousand five hundred; adults
confirmed, one hundred and thirty six; first Communions of
adults, fifty; Baptisms of adults, eight; of children, five.
ST. AGATHA's, PHILADELPHIA-This mission lasted from
the 8th to the 23rd of December. The church is large and
beautiful, and has a congregation, according to the accurate census of the pastor, Rev. John Fitzmaurice, of two
thousand five hundred souls. The Fathers had enough to
do, however, as very many came from other parishes, and
distant ones, too, though no notice was taken by any of the
papers of the work that was going on. Several marriage
cases were settled; but this is no novelty during a mission.
Numbers were brought back to the Church who had for
years been very negligent; and not a few who had almost
lost the faith, returned to their duty. A man of sixty years
�Missiouary Labors.
93'
made his first Communion, whose only outward sign of the
faith in him during the rest of his life was in fighting the
Native Americans in 1844.
St. Agatha's is a new and costly church, and architecturally, one of the finest the Catholics have in the city; and
shows the energy and prudence of the pastor who built it
and has almost cleared it of debt.
Results; four thousand five hundred Communions; first
Communions of adults, forty; Baptisms five, with several left
under instruction.
YoRK, PA.-The Fathers had thought of taking January
for rest, so much needed after the long and wearisome labors since September, but at the earnest request of Fr. Kenny
who has care of the church in this town, Frs. Maguire and
Strong undertook the mission (January 5th-12th) And
this they did more willingly, as a short time previously,
Edith O'Gorman, or some one under that name, had given a
lecture in the town-hall against the Church.
The church in York, under the patronage of St. Patrick,
was built by the Society and for a long time was attached to
Cone\vago. York in those days was a small place ; now it
has a population of twenty thousand inhabitants, and on account of its factories and other industries is quite flourishing. There were six hundred Communions.
vVHITEMARSH, MD. (January I 8th- 25th)- Fr. Strong
gave this mission assisted by the Fathers at the residence.
The wintry weather, unusually severe, was a great hindrance
to a scattered congregation in a country place, but it did
not prevent the mission from being successful. Indeed, it
was thought to be a mistake to attempt to assemble the
people at this time of the year. Two-thirds of the congregation consists of negroes, and, as they are very poor, they
were obliged to walk long distances over difficult roads, to
be present for the sermons. Results: four hundred and
fifty Communions; first Communions of adults, forty five.
Some find fault with the way of giving the number of
�Cure of a Sclzolastic.
94
Communions as the chief fruit of a mission, insisting that
confessions form a better criterion; for the reason that many
approach the holy Table a second and a third time during
the exercises. It must not be forgotten that just as many
who have confessed to the Fathers receive Communion in
other churches.
Any one whu has experience in mission
work knows this to be true, and that not many communicate
a second time.
The order of the day during a mission is as follows :
Mass and ins-truCtion at 5 o'clock; 1\'lass and instruCtion at
8 o'clock; children's instruCtion at 4 o'clock in the afternoon; a short instruCtion and beads at 7 o'clock in the
evening, followed by a sermon on some subjeCt: of the Spiritual Exercises. After this, benediCtion of the Blessed Sacrament. Besides the public instruCtions, two instruCtions
are given in private, one for adults preparing for the Sacraments, the other to Protestants preparing for Baptism.
Confessions are heard all day.
Gen_eral results since September: Communions, 29,650;
first Communions of adults, 300; Confirmations of adults,
343; Baptisms,
so.
CURE OF A SCHOLASTIC.
Ever since I 873 I have been suffering from the effeB:s of
a sore throat, which made loud speaking very difficult to
me. I experienced this particularly during my two years
of teaching at St. Louis. Everything which called for an
effort of the throat was forbidden me by doCtors whom I
had consulted in St. Louis, Washington and Woodstock,
and whose prescriptions I had followed all the time, with,
howeve;, little or no relief. Sometime ago I began to feel
a desire of making a novena to Fr. de la Colombiere for
�Cure
of a Scholastic.
95
the cure of my throat; for Fr. Rami ere, in his Messenger,
had suggested to sick people to have recourse to Fr. de la
Colombiere, as there is serious question of his beatification.
To know, if possible, the will of God in this regard, I
opened my Imitatio!Z at random, and the first words that I
saw were : Ostende Domine magnalia, ut glorijicetur dextra
tua. "\Veil, Lord," I said, "here is a chance for you; 1
will make this novena in honor of Your servant, Fr. de la
Colombiere, to hasten his beatification, and not to be rid
of my trouble; for You know very well how to send me
something else to suffer. If You wish You might send me
to that end sorrie severe sickness; however, I will leave all
to You ; You know what is best for me."
That day I asked our Lord for a picture of His servant,
and to my great joy I obtained one from the last person to
whom I spoke that evening. On it I read that Fr. de Ia
Colombiere died at Paray le Monial on the 16th of Febr'y,
r682. On the 7th, therefore, I began my novena, so as to
finish it on the anniversary of his death, and to obtain my
cure on that day. The next day I began to feel unwell;
the day after I felt worse, lost all appetite and relish for
food. Unaccustomed to this, I at first thought that my
stomach was out of order, and took some remedy for it,
without, however, finding any relie( For several days I
lived on a piece of bread soaked in some tea. On the 12th
I had to leave the class-room, as I suffered greatly every
time that I tried to free my throat from the phlegm gathered
there. I was .then told to see the doctor, who was to come
to the house that day. I saw him soon after, and found out
that it was not my stomach that was troubling me, but my
throat, which was, as he said, in a frightful condition; so
much so that he thought it incurable. It was with me a
chronic disease, he added, which might perhaps be relieved to some extent by the end of a year1 if I would use
remedies which he then prescribed. After hearing this
opinion, which was anything but consoling, I returned to
�Cure of a Sclzolastic.
my room, opened my Imitation, and read: Ostmde Domine
magnalia, ut glonjicetur dextra tua-the same words as before. "Indeed, 0 my God! You will be glorified if You
cure me next Saturday." On Thursday, the I 3th, I heard
the Menology of Fr. de Ia Colombiere read for the qth.
As this date did not correspond with the one given on
my piCl:ure, I said: " Lord, You can, if You will, cure me
to-morrow as well as next Saturday. It is all the same to
You." The _next day, then, during the BenediCl:ion of the
Blessed Sac_rament, given in honor of the Sacred Heart,
immediately after the Community l\Iass, I said: " Lord, if
I but touch one hair of my beard with the relic of Your servant, Fr. de Ia Colombiere, I will be cured." Thanks be to
God, my prayer was heard. I went down to the refeCl:ory
afterwards, and was able to take a hearty breakfast, which
I had not been able to do for the preceding five days. I
then went to the infirmarian and showed him my throat.
He looked at it, and thought that, to be perfeCl:ly well, it
shoulq not look so red. Meanwhile I felt as I had never
felt before. I was able to take my meals as usual, and was
rid of all the inconveniences to which I had been subjeCl:.
On opening my Imitation again, as ~oon as I returned to
my room, I read: Ostende Domine m.agualia, ut glorijicetur
dextra tua - the same words that I had read twice before.
Some days after, when the doCl:or came to the house, I
showed him my throat. He acknowledged that it had improved very much, and was astonished at the sudden change.
"Am I then perfeCl:ly cured," I inquired. "Not exaCl:ly,"
he replied, "to be perfeCl:ly well, some little veins inside of
your throat should not look so red; they are too much
swollen with blood." On hearing this, full of confidence in
Fr. de Ia Colombiere's intercession with the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, I said : " Lord, if You wish, You can cure me perfeCl:ly."
then requested the doCl:or to look once more at
my throat and see whether there was any change. You
may judge of his astonishment, when, after looking at the
:I
�Father Plti!ip Rappag!iosi.
97
swollen veins, he was forced to exclaim: "\Vel!, sir, they
are already diminishing." As I had used no remedies, I
asked him how he explained this sudden change. He answered: "Really, I do not understand it at all; it is something miraculous; I cannot account for it otherwise."
On seeing me a week later, after inquiring about the
state of my throat, he said: "\Veil, I am going to give you
one piece of advice, and it is this: in future, keep away
from doB:ors, as much as possible, about your throat. You
are all right now, and do not stand in need of them any
longer." I left him and went to the chapel to thank the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, and ask that this cure might contribute to the beatification of His servant, Fr. de Ia Colombiere, and to the conversion of the doB:or, who is not a
Catholic.
OBITUARY.
FATHER PHILIP RAPPAGLIOSI.
Rev. Fr. Philip Rappagliosi S. J. passed to a better life
on the 7th of February 1878, dying like a true soldier of
the cross, on the field of his apostolic labors. His uncommon virtues deserve a special mention, which, I am
confident, will edify your readers.
He was born in Rome on the 14th of September 1841,
of parents remarkable for their piety. Nature endowed him
with an amiable charaCter and a bright intelleCt:. Successful
literary studies at the Roman College and the praB:ice of
solid virtue prepared him for the Society into which he was
admitted on the 28th of September 1856, in the Novitiate
of St. Andrea. After his noviceship he studied Rhetoric for
two years, when political troubles compelled his superiors to
send him to France for his philosophical studies. Being
VoL. vm-No. 2.
13
�Fatlzer Plzilip Rappagliosi.
recalled at the end of the second year, he completed his.
Philosophy in the Roman College, after which he was appointed to teach for several years in Rome and Ferentino.
He then studied Theology for one year in Rome, and for
three years more at Laval. During this time his talent for
preaching revealed itself, and when called upon to exercise
it, as frequently happened especially after his being ordained
a priest, he did it with much zeal and abundant fruit. During his stay in France he showed none of that inclination
through which some find fault with every thing that is not
in conformity ..with the praCtices of their own country; on
the contrary, he adapted himself so well to the customs peculiar to the Society in France that he rendered himself both
dear and edifying to all.
A journal of Fr. Rappagliosi, found after his death, shows
how earnestly and with what result, he made his third year
of Probation at Tronchiennes, "I heard," he says, "a voice in
my heart requiring the entire oblation of myself to the
divine service, although I was ignorant as yet by what path
our Lord wished to lead me to Himself.... At the beginning
of the tertianship, I experienced such joy and facility in the
observance of all the rules, that I do nut remember to have
failed in the least of them during a lo.ng period preceding
the thirty days retreat." He gained·~ signal vietory over
himself in surmounting a great difficulty he had to lay open
his whole conscience to his spiritual superior, and he received with generous resignation the news of his failure in
his last examination.
It was also during this time, that an ardent desire of the
missions of the Rocky Mountains made itself felt in his
heart. That his appointment to labor in this portion of
God's vineyard came from heaven is manifest from the faCt,
that, though destined by his Provincial for the chair of
Rhetoric, .this plan was changed by V. Rev. Fr. General
himself, fo whom Fr. Rappagliosi had opened his interior,
by the advice of Fr. Petit. We here subjoin the answer of
the Father General.
�Fatlzer Plu"fip Rappagliosi.
99
Legi libentissime litteras Reverentice Vestrce, 31 Julii
datas, et statim me inclinatum sensi ad secundanda pia desideria, quce de sursum tibi immissa videbantur. Onmes
quidem missiones, sed ilia prcesertim qua: est in montibus
Saxosis, mihi maxime cordi est; tum quia ibi avidissime expetimur, multique ex NN. Patribus senio et laboribus fraB:i,
propediem operi impares futuri sunt; tum quia lcetissimi
in ilia missione fruB:us ad majorem Dei gloriam colliguntur.
Nolui tamen rem illico definire; consului R. P. Provincialem qui quamvis ad alia R•m v•m designare cogitaverat,
tamen non renuebat tam sanB:o ministerio, et tot animarum
sal uti virum concedere. Precibus divinum lumen imploravi,
rationes in utramque partem diligenter expendi. In prima
sententia confirmor, et Rev. V. ad illas missioncs destino, in
quibus magna sui et aliorum utilitate, ut confido, versabitur.
Interim ego Deo gratias ago, R•• v•• et illi missioni gratulor. Optime spero. Tibi, mi bone Pater, ex animo benedico, et me commendo SS. SS.
Carissime in Christo Pater
PETRUS BECKX,
S. ].
In the autumn of 1873. Fr. Rappagliosi bade adieu to
Europe, and, aftet a long and fatiguing voyage arrived at the
Rocky Mountains on the 21st of December of the same
year. Having taken some necessary rest at our residence
of Helena, which is the first one meets on coming to our
mission, he proceeded to St. Mary's among the Flat-heads
about one hundred and seventy miles further west. This
was, for the present, the field appointed for his apostolic
labors. The objeCt: of his ardent desires was now attained.
He was in the midst of the poor Indians in whose service
he was willing to spend himself, and even to lay down his
life, that he might win their souls to God. He at once set
himself down to learn their language, with the docility of a
child and the earnestness of an apostle. When he had
mastered a few phrases he would go among the Indians to
repeat them. In this way, and by noting down the most
�100
Father Philip Rappagliosi.
common words which he afterwards committed to his faithful memory, he was soon able to make himself understood.
He noticed also, that the Indians make great use of gestures
in conversation; and of this faet he availed himself to
make them more readily comprehend what he said. These
poor people soon perceived the love of the good Father for
them and readily yielded to his affeCtionate exhortations.
\Vhenever a new lodge settled in the vicinity of the mission he set out to visit it, taking with him some pious images which he distributed among those whose influence was
more powerful for good. If the new-comers had for some
time negleCted their Christian duties, his zeal gave him no
rest till by exhortation and entreaty he had recalled them to
the observance of God's holy law. There lived among the
Flat-Heads some families of the Nez-perd:s who were yet
infidels. These he visited frequently, taught them their
prayers, gave them some rudimentary instruCtion, and
hoped soon to add them to the fold of Christ; but he was
called away by holy obedience and sent to the mission of
St. Ignatius, sixty-five miles to the north, among the Pend'
oreilles, who are allied to the Flat-Heads and have the same
language, customs and faith. He soon endeared himself to
his new flock so that they sought him· in all their troubles
and followed his instruCtions with docility. A Father who
was his companion at the mission of St. Ignatius, writes of
him as follows: "The good Fr. Rappagliosi is a source of
edification to us all. He has the charity of an apostle, and
labors unceasingly for the poor Indians."
Fr. Rappagliosi was not allowed to remain long here; and
yet he so won the hearts of all, that, when he was removed,
the chief of the tribe came to ask the superior of the mission to send back the black-gown who was so much beloved by his people. One day when he had returned from
a missionary excursion, his heart filled with sorrow for the
destitution and misery both temporal and spiritual, that he
had seen, he said to me with enthusiasm: "Oh ! that I had
�Fatlzer Philip Rappag!iosi.
101
the means to alleviate the distress I witness around me.
He did not spare himself in doing what he could for his Indians ; he spoke to them words of comfort, he instructed
them ; he exhorted them to peace and to the practice of
Christian virtue; he set them the example of bearing hardship without repining. Like a veteran missionary, he adapted himself to their mode of living; no self-denial was too
great, provided he could gain souls to Christ. The Lord
was pleased with his holy desires and labors, and called
him early to his reward.
Towards the summer of 1875, the mission of St. Peter
was opened among the Black-feet. These savages have
been hostile, and they are so corrupted by the wicked conduct of the whites who have come among them, that the
fatigue and labor of the missionary are repaid with but
little fruit. In fact, very few respond to our exhortations;
almost all being sunk in brutal polygamy. Still, in spite of
such general depravity, there is some good to be gleaned,
and the heart of the patient missionary is gbddened when
he is allowed to baptize the infants, which die in great numbers from want of proper care and nourishment. In the
hope of working a change for the better in this tribe, the
superior general of the mission sent Fr. Rappagliosi thither.
But here he was met by a new difficulty; the dialect spoken
by the Nez-peret':s and Pend'-oreilles, so that he had to
begin over again the arduous task of learning a new and
difficult language. God's greater glory and the salvation
of souls required it, and, however painful the work, he was
ready to undertake it at whatever cost. During some
months, he might be seen daily going to a family of halfbreeds, who lived about a mile from the mission, to praCtise
some phrases which he had learned and to pick up a few
words more to add to his vocabulary. Another difficulty
was, that the Black-feet lead a roving life, remaining no
more than two or three weeks in one place. Moreover, the
whites had encroached on their hunting grounds N. E. of
�102
Fatlter Pltilip Rappagfiosi.
the mission, and the bison having withdrawn farther to the
north, the Indians were obliged to follow them, so that the
principal camping grounds were thus removed about one
hundred miles from the mission. This is a great inconvenience and exposes the missionary to many hardships ; for
the route lies across a desert prairie exposed in summer
to the hot parching rays of the sun, and to the piercing
north winds in winter.
In December 1876, Fr. Rappagliosi took charge of his
new field of evangelical labor, and remained in the Indian
encampment during several moths. There is no describing
the privations he suffered during this time; for as yet his
knowledge of the language spoken by the Black-feet was
very imperfeCt:, and it was with difficulty he could convey
his meaning by the aid of gestures. Add to this, the monotony of savage life, the food, and the annoying inseCts
which swarm in the Indian lodges. He spent the time
chiefly in mastering the language and in teaching the children their prayers. On Sundays he said Mass in a neighboring "Store owned by an enterprising white. Here with
the aid of an interpreter, he gave instruCtions to the few
Indians who attended, and insisted on the necessity of having their children baptized. His efforts:in this respeCt were
fairly successful, and about one hundred received the Sacrament of Baptism during his stay among them. He departed
from the Indian camp late in the spring, and came to the
mission to enjoy a brief repose. Then the zealous missionary set out to visit the whites, sparsely scattered over the
Territory. His sweet and affable manners were sufficient
recommendations to gain the good will and attention of
those who, differing from him in faith, were inclined to show
little respeCt: for his sac;red ministry. He advanced rapidly
in their esteem ; but his heart was with the poor unfriended
Indians. ':It is, indeed, difficult to convert the old; but, with
care and attention, the young may be made good Christians.
If I had an orphanage under the management of the sisters
�Fatlter Plulip Rappag!iosi.
103
of Charity," he used to say; "I would soon have the Blackfeet completely changed. The children would be educated
in a pious, Christian manner of life, and they, by their prayers and influence, would then convert their parents. But
the mission is too poor to bear the expenses of such an undertaking, and the unfortunate Indians must go to destruction. Ah! that some generous benefaCtor would come to
my assistance."
:\Iany and beautiful were the virtues which he praCtised
to\vards his brethren in religion. Like every true son of
the Society of Jesus, he was all sweetness and charity. His
conversation was pleasant, mingled with Roman wit, but
without bitterness; a harsh word or GUtting remark never
passed his lips. He spoke and thought well of every one
of his brethern, and deemed himself most happy when he
could render them the least service. \Vhen they would
return from their missionary excursions, he used to unsaddle their horses and put them in the stable, and then he
would do all in his power to procure for the Father a speedy
rest. His esteem for obedience made him seek its sanCI:ion
in the smallest aCI:ions. He always asked his superiors for
advice, both before setting out on his excursions, and when
absent on the field of labor. "I will do what I can," he would
say, when speaking of this virtue, "but above all, I long to
have the blessing of obedience on my undertakings. May
God grant me the grace to die, rather than I should act
independently of our superiors."
It was thus Fr. Rappagliosi prepared himself for the heroic labors and sacrifices of the mission of the Black-feet
Indians, which was soon afterward assigned to him. \Vhile
on this mission, necessity often forced him to travel many
miles over vast and dreary prairies without a guide or companion, and with the few provisions one horse could carry.
Stores of provisions were established along the encampments
of the Indians, and money was furnished him by superiors
for necessary supplies; but it not seldom happened, that his
little stock of food gave out on account of the length of
�104
Fat/zer P/u"lip Rappagliosi.
the journey, or the rainy weather, which rendered travelling
almost impossible. On such occasions he had often to be
satisfied with buffalo-meat cooked after the manner of the
Indians.
The spring of the year 1877 was destined by Providence
to be a time of great toil and sacrifice for Fr. Rappagliosi.
He betook himself to the camp of the Indians, and found
that provisions had given out and that the Indians were devoid of all means of subsistence. The wretched Black-feet
in order to satisfy the cravings of hunger were forced to go
in search of a~ad buffaloes which had been killed during
the preceding winter. He told me confidently afterwards,
that during his sta:r- among- them, he often suffered from
extreme hunger. A few days after his return from the
camp of the Black-feet, a courier from the Milk River arrived at the mission, having travelled a distance of two hundred miles to announce that the presence of a Father was
desired by many Christian families of the Miticces, who had
settledjn the neighborhood of the Milk River for the purpose of buffalo-hunting. Two of the three Fathers were
then occupied in the ministry, and it fell to the lot of Fr.
Rappagliosi to visit the Miticces. He made use of this
opportunity to visit another camp of the Black-feet, situated
many miles farther north. In an accou~t of this excursion
which he gave to his superior, he says: "These good Miticces gave me a reception fit for a pope. They sent a covered
carriage to Fort Belknap for my conveyance. Ten miles
from the camp, forty horsemen met me, separated into two
columns and fired their guns. On the rising slope, above
which they had pitched their camp, the old men, women
and children stood in groups waiting for my approach, extending their hands towards me as I drew near. I hope
that these good dispositions towards the minister of God
wiil indl!ce them to take advantage of this opportunity."
Soon, however, matters underwent a change for the worse.
He thus writes to his superior: "My health is good, but our
�FatlterPhilip Rappag-liosi.
105
provisions are so reduced that meat alone, and often only
dry meat forms our scanty meal. The Indians cannot buy
me any thing, for there are no stores along the Milk River.
Mosquitoes and vermin are in abundance, and frequently
our wigwams are overturned by the storm. To be drenched
with rain for hours is not uncommon with me; yet blessed
be the good God, I feel no effects such as rheumatism, colds
etc., though, as you know, my constitution is not of the
strongest." From the camp of the Miticces he set out on
a long and wearisome jou'rney to visit some Black-feet encamped many miles beyond the boundary of the United
States, in the British Possessions. God rewarded his zeal
with the baptism of about one hundred infants.
On the 19th of August he returned to our mission station,
much emaciated and worn out with fatigue. At other times
when returning from his excursions he would recover his
lost strength after a few day's rest. But this time his recovery was slow. He often said, that he felt very weak and
fatigued; notwithstanding all this he kept up his courage,
and thought of nothing but of winning to God the poor,
abandoned Black-feet. I remember having often advised
him not to expose his health so much, but to take a little
care of it, especially, since the Black-feet did not show themselves as yet disposed for conversion, on account of polygamy, which, as has been already remarked, is prevalent
among them, and is, under existing circumstances, most
difficult to be abolished. But he would reply.: "Some one
must expose and even lose his life for the establishment of
the mission."
Towards the end of September, I was removed from the
Black-feet mission, on the score of ill health, and then only
two Fathers were left to cultivate that vast and thorny field.
It was a task beyond their strength; but the scarcity of priests
did not allow the superior-general to reinforce them. About
the middle of November Fr. Rappagliosi put himself in
readiness to visit the camps of the Black-feet along the
VoL. vm-No. 2.
14
�I06
Fat!zer Plzilip Rappagliosi.
river Marais, when, from the camp of the Miticces, which
he had visited last summer, a messenger arrived asking for
a priest to assist a dying woman. Fr. Rappagliosi had to
undertake the journey. Strange, as it seemed, he embraced
all before departing, and in taking leave of Fr. Negro spoke
these mysterious words: "Dear brother, should I return no
more, pray for the peace of my soul." On the 28th of Nov.
he arrived in the camp of the Miticces; but a sad speCtacle
presented itself to his eyes. The wily enemy of salvation
had walked through that hopeful field and sowed the cockle.
Many of thos~e·who had before shown such excellent dispositions, having been ill advised and wrongly informed of his
good intentions, now shunned him, and even went so far as
to insult him. This unexpeCted treatment inflieted a deep
wound on his tender heart. In a letter to one of the Fathers
he says that he suffered an eight days' martyrdom. He endeavored notwithstanding to work for the salvation of those
who remained faithful and to prevent dissensions between
the two parties. After Christmas, he went to Benton, a little
town about half way between Milk River and the missionhouse, and there met Fr. Imoda, his superior, from whom he
received orders to visit the Piegans up the Marais River.
Fr. Imoda on bidding him farewell, n<;>_ticed that he looked
somewhat pale, and thinking he was sick, told him to stay
a short time to recruit his strength, or, if he felt really ill,
to return to the mission-house, as he himself would take his
place. But. Fr. Rappagliosi replied in these words: "I do
not feel any indisposition, dear Father, but it seems to
me, nevertheless, that I go to die; still I must go." On
the 3d of January Fr. Rappagliosi left Benton, and reached
the camp of the Miticces on the 7th, taking up his lodging
in an old hut of but one apartment, owned by a certain Mr.
Alexander \Veekly. Scarcely had he arrived at the camp,
when he began to feel indisposed. On the 20th of January,
which fell on Sunday, he said Mass and preached, though
he was not well. In the afternoon he rode to another camp
�Father Plzilip Rappagliosi.
107
some miles off, where he was taken ill again, and this time
rather seriously.. He sent at once for Mr. Weekly, who, on
receiving his message, made no delay in coming. Judging
from the symptoms that the illness would be of a serious
nature, he helped the Father into a carriage and brought
him back to his own house. \Vhile there, Fr. Rappagliosi
wrote two letters, one to his superior, who was at a distance
of two hundred miles; the other to Fr. de Courby, an Oblate residing twenty miles north of the. Milk River. The
letter to Fr. Imoda was entrusted to an American on his
way to Benton ; the other was sent by a special messenger.
The Miticces wished to call a doaor, but Fr. Rappagliosi
advised them not to do so, saying that a physician could be
of no assistance to him since his disease was situated principally in the heart. On January the 22d he had a violent
attack of fever which deprived him of the use of his senses.
On the 23d he was again well and talked freely. He asked
Mr. Weekly, who had a board in his hand, whether he was
going to make his coffin. On the same day a Mr. Brooks
visited the Father, and was requested by him to hasten to
Fort Belknap and get possession of the letter to Fr. Imoda,
which had been given to the American traveller. He set
out at once, succeeded in getting the letter and returned it
to Fr. Rappagliosi, who, thinking that he had exaggerated
the account of his sickness, tore it up. On the following
night he grew worse. His senses failed him, and his mind
began to wander. Towards midnight the fever became less
violent, and he recovered the use of his senses. Mrs. Weekly,
who had nursed him with the tenderness of a mother, offered
him some nourishment. He accepted it, thanking her for
her great kindness and solicitude. The Miticces also, it
must be said, endeavored by every poss.ible means to bring
relief to the Father; buying for him the best things in the
store at Fort Belknap.
"Tell the Fathers," said the sick man to Mrs. \Veekly,
"that the cause of my sickness is chiefly in the heart, and
�108
Fatlzer Plzilip Rappagliosi.
that in my opinion, my grief, rather than my malady will
bring about my death ; but I deem it a signal favor of God to
allow me to die here and in the midst of you." Next morning he requested her to call in all the childre~, because, he
said, he wished to recommend himself to their prayers.
Then he exclaimed: "My heart rejoices at the thought, that
I am to die among you. I love you all tenderly, because you
are my spiritual children; and I have made an offering to
God of my life for your welfare." ·when his hostess, Mrs.
Weekly, told him tliat his death would leave them deprived
of all spiritual..assistance, and that in those lonely regions
it was not, as in Europe, where the post left vacant by the
death of a priest, is quickly filled by another, he replied,
that he was glad to end his days among them, because it
was God's most holy will.
On the 24th of January Fr. de Courby arrived. Fr. Rappagliosi was then in full possession of his senses, made his
confession and received holy Communion. After Communion he again lost the use of his senses, and with the exception of a few lucid moments remained in this state until
death. During these short intervals of consciousness he
would call the children around his bed and make them
pray. As long as Fr. Rappagliosi was:ill, Mr. Weekly, in
order not to be a source of annoyance to the sick man, lived
in a tent hard by. When the Father heard of it, he thanked
Mr. Weekly very much for his great kindness. Meanwhile
Mr. Brooks attended the missionary with the utmost care,
as if he had been his own son. On the 4th of February
Fr. de Courby gave Fr. Rappagliosi Extreme UnCl:ion, and
then left him, having been called away by pressing duties.
After his departure Fr. Rappagliosi sank rapidly. Those
who attended him, lhinking his end was near, summoned
around his bed a great number of Miticces, who, falling on
their knees, prayed most fervently for his happy passage to
eternity. "Thus amidst the prayers and tears of these good
Christians, Fr. Rappagliosi gave up his soul to his Creator,
on the 7th of February at 7.30 o'clock P. M.
�Father P!ti!i'p Rappagliosi.
. 109
Fr. Rappagliosi's remains were placed in a metal coffin, and
brought to Benton. Fr. Imoda arrived the same day, and
on the following morning he said a Mass of Requiem, at
which many Catholics assisted. The corpse was then conveyed to the mission of St. Peter where another Mass was
said, and thence to· Helena. At Helena many Catholics of
the city went out with hearse and carriages to meet the
stage-coach thinking that it would bring the body. But it
came by wagon, and arrived much later. After High
Mass on Sunday, the 17th, it was carried in procession
through the church; and after the last rites had been performed over it, and an appropriate funeral address delivered,
it was laid to rest in the vault under the sacristy.
Fr. Rappagliosi sleeps in the peace of the Lord, and his
memory is held in benediction. Protestants as well as
Catholics speak of him as of an apostle and saint. The
poor Indians, who always found in him a true friend, a kind
benefactor and a tender father, especially grieved over his
death. On hearing of it, they were inconsolable and prayed
with many tears for his soul. At the missions of St. Mary
and St. Ignatius, solemn Mass was sung, at which many
went to Communion. The Coeur d'Ait~nes, who knew the
Father only by report, received the news of his death with
mourning, and the chief of their tribe offered the superior of
that mission money for celebrating a solemn Mass of Requiem. The superior refused the money, but celebrated the
Mass, at which the Indians sang and many communicated.
Some of the Flat- heads and Pend'oreilles, in passing
through Helena, asked to see the grave of the Father, and
when at the place, prayed on their knees most devoutly.
God seems to have required the life of th~ Father as a pledge
for the success of the mission. His end is worthy of a
true son of the Society, for he fell with honor on the field
of his labors.-R. I. P.
�FATHER JOSEPH LOUIS DUVERNEY.
Fr. Joseph Louis Duverney was born in Switzerland on
the 30th of December, 1806, and entered the Society on the
8th of OCl:ober, 1825. Twenty-two years later, towards the
end of 1847, he left Europe for America, just when the
revolution had commenced that work of ravage and persecution, of wni"Ch we do not yet see the beginning of the end.
The Swiss revolutionists, followed afterwards by those of
other countries, started by proscribing the Jesuits, robbed
them of their property and vexed them in other ways. Thus,
a few months after Fr. Durverney had arrived in America,
he was followed by several of his companions of the Swiss
province, who came to seek shelter in the States.
Little is known to me of Fr. Duverney's life in Europe
except_ that he taught rhetoric with applause, and that after he had finished his studies he was applied to the teaching of the sacred sciences, especially Holy Scripture. Mgr.
Mermillod, the present bishop of Geneva, was one of his
pupils. If we except the last few ye.'.lrs, which were spent
in retirement, and a sho.!t time employed in the ministry at
St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia, we may say, that his
professorship of theology, and sacred literature extended
from his ordination until the end of his life, to the great
satisfaCtion of all who had the good fortune to be his scholars. On account of the depth and clearness of his mind
he was much devoted to St. Thomas, and was also a great
admirer of Cardinal Bellarmine, whom he considered a
man chosen by Divine Providence for the calamitous times in
which he lived and for succeeding times, too. But his author
of predileCtion was St. Augustine, whose works he had read
over and. over again and transfused, so to say, into his own
blood. He was so fond of them that he could not bear to
(11o)
�Father Joseplz Louis Duvcrney.
III
hear of the least divergence from the teaching of the holy
doCtor, whom he was accustomed to call The Master.
In the year I847, the congregation of Procurators was
held in Rome, and Fr. Thomas Mulledy was the Procurator
for the Province of Maryland. Towards the second part of
the same year, Rev. Fr. John Roothaan had appointed Fr.
Ignatius Brocard, who was then in Italy, to govern the
Province of Maryland. Fr. Brocard, a fellow-countryman of
Fr. Duverney, had been Provincial of the Swiss Province,
and after the term of his administration he was called to
Italy, and appointed ReCtor in one of the colleges of the
Romagna, where he was much esteemed and beloved.
Soon after his new appointment for Maryland, he went to
Rome to confer with Fr. General, and, shortly after, started
for France. There he met Fr. Duverney and Fr. Bague,
who were to go with him to Georgetown. After a few days
they sailed for America. But they had not yet crossed one
third of the Atlantic, when they had to go back to France.
The vessel was found to be leaking so badly, as to render
perilous any attempt to reach the American shores. Having
returned to Havre, they were obliged to wait there for the
departure of another vessel. In this Fr. T. M ulledy, returning from the congregation, had secured a place for himself.
The company of Fr. Mulledy was of great service to them;
and this good Father, who was always very cheerful, made
their sea voyage very agreeable to them.
Immediately after his arrival at Georgetown, Fr. Duverney
was appointed to teach theology to eight or ten Scholastics,
among whom was our lamented Fr. Angelo Paresce.
Two or three years later he was sent to St. Joseph's, as
said above ; but soon afterwards he returned to his former
office. Later on he was sent to Fordham in the same capacity, and then returned once more to Georgetown, there
to remain until a common scholasticate was provisionally
opened in the building of the present Boston College, in the
year I86o. But on account of the civil war which was then
�112
Fat/zer Joseph Louis Duverney.
desolating the country, and for other reasons, the common
scholasticate had to be dissolved, waiting for a better time
to open it again in a locality permanently destined for this
purpose. Meanwhile Fr. Duverney returned to Georgetown
with the other professors and the scholastics of the Province
of Maryland. As soon as the war was over, Fr. A. Paresce,
then Provincial, took the first steps towards building a house
for a scholasticate, much encouraged by Rev. Fr. General
and by the desire of many others, especially our scholastics.
The efforts and labors of good Fr. Paresce were crowned
with success;-and on the 2 r st of Sept., 1 86g, the Woodstock
Scholasticate was opened and Fr. Duverney was one of the
professors. His class was that of Hebrew. But his constitution enfeebled by age and labor did not allow him to
continue much longer in his office. He returned to Georgetown and afterwards passed to the Novitiate at Frederick,
where he spent his last years. There he devoted a part of
his time to the literary instruCtion of the novices, an office
which pleased him exceedingly. He was much attached
to his young pupils in whose progress he took the greatest
interest. There is no need to add that his pupils were likewise very much attached to him. In an interview, which
Fr. Duverney had with the Father supe_rior of the Novitiate,
on his death bed, shortly before he dTed, he recommended
him in a particular manner to take care of his· young men,
of whom he spoke words full of kindness. He died in·full
possession of his mental faculties, after having received all
the Sacraments, with that disposition which was to be expeCted after a long religious and edifying life.
Fr. Duverney possessed an uncommon store of knowledge
both in literature and the sacred sciences. He was a great
reader, and because of his remarkable gift of memory, he
was never appiied to for information in vain. The same
excellent. memory assisted him in becoming acquainted
with varibus languages both ancient and modern. Besides
French, his native tongue, he could speak fluently and well
�Fatlter Joscp!t Louis Duverney.
I 13
German and English, and he knew enough of Spanish and
Italian to be able to hear confessions in these languages.
Having been professor for a number of years of the Hebrew
language, he was conversant with it, as well as with the
Latin and Greek tongues. For the latter of these languages
he had a particular attraCtion, and he was deservedly considered an excellent Hellenist. His modesty was equal to
his ability and his conversation was no less agreeable than
instruCtive.
The writer of this short memorandum remembers with
pleasure the many hours he has passed conversing with
dear Fr. Duverney during a long period of years, and professes himself indebted to him for much information which
this protraCted intercourse procured him. \Vould to God
that the many examples of his edifying soul had proved
equally beneficial to him, especially his modesty. He never
spoke of himself or made the least allusion to what he knew
or what he could do. In faa he considered what he could
do and did as of little value and not worth being preserved.
His modesty was the result of a maxim deeply rooted in
his heart i. e. the main and even the solr! obstacle to grace,
is pride.
He was very zealous for the exaCt: observance of the Institute, every violation of which he regarded as disastrous.
Let his good soul rest in peace, and God grant that we
may be reunited in a better life never to be separated
again.
VoL. vm-No.
2.
rs
�FATHER CAMILLUS VICINANZA.
Father Camillus Vicinanza, departed this life Dec. 30th,
1878. He was born in Naples, Italy, July 23d, 1814. After
a youth spent in pious preparation for the ecclesiastical
state, and a course of studies concluding with philosophy
and made with distinguished success, he entered the Society
of Jesus, July Z.sth, 1832; commenced his theological studies in 1841; came to America in 1845; was ordained priest
in 1846; and on account of his extraordinary virtue and
learning, was made a professed Father, Aug. 15th, 1851.
He was employed in teaching philosophy and in other
important dutie3 in Georgetown, D. C., Frederick Md.,
Alexandria Va. and Baltimore till 1853; when he was stationed at St. Thomas' l\Ianor, Charles Co., Md. ACtive,
energetic, untiring, he performed the various duties of the
sacred n~inistry till 1872; when he was transferred to Leonardtown, St. Mary's Co., Md., and here he continued his
apostolic labors till a few weeks before his death.
Fr. Vicinanza resided for nearly ninet!;en years in Charles
county, Md., and seven in St. Mary's county. He was
pastor of all the churches attached to St. Thomas' Residence at various times. After the death of Frs. Barber and
Woodly, and the removal of Fr. Barrister on account of ill
health, he became superior of the mission. During this
time, whilst the financial condition of the house, was very
much depressed, on account of the war and other causes,
he was compelled to make various improvements and repairs on the main and out-buildings, which had been hardly
completed, when a fire destroyed most of what he had done.
And then to this serious disaster, in the following year, the
29th of D'ec., 1866, was added the burning of the church
and residence. Nothing was saved except the vestments.
(I 14)
�Fat!ter Cami!!us Vici1lanza.
115
Fr. Vicinanza had incessantly importuned the Rev. Fr.
Provincial from the moment he had been burdened by the
care of the temporal aff<tirs, to be relieved. His great humility and his love of spiritual recolleCtion prompted him
alike to urge the petition, now that a new source of distraction was thus forced upon him. His wish was granted, and
he thenceforward attended the missions of Newport, Pomfret and Cornwallis Neck, until his removal to St. Mary's
county. This was caused by his increasing age and infirmities. He was greatly attached to the place, where he
had labored so long. It was then a severe trial of obedience
that took him away, and none felt it more keenly than the
fellow missioner, whom he left behind to struggle on, amidst
the privations of an impoverished people, and the expenses
of repairing the ruins of the fire. It was like taking away
the best, the most experienced officer in the very crisis of
the battle. He had become old on the missionary field of
Charles. Every one he met was his friend, every face was
familiar, every turn on the road was mapped out on his
mind. The other Father accompanied him to Leonardtown
as a slight token of the affeCtion which was due to one who
labored so long and so earnestly for the spiritual and tern·
poral welfare of St. Thomas' mission.
Fr. Vicinanza was an example of spirituality; wherever
he went-, he carried with him a copy of Baxter's meditations,
and he invariably made his hour of meditation before he
left the house where he had lodged for the night. At home
he was like a hermit of the desert, being most punCtual and
regular at all the duties of a regular community, having
his hours to visit our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and
other self-imposed devotions.
During the long years of his missionary life, he was necessitated to say the late Mass, preach, attend to the instruCtion of the children, hear confessions and administer
the other Sacraments every Sunday. He usually left St.
Thomas' residence on Friday afternoon, returning only on
�II6
Fat/zer Camillus Vicinmzza.
Monday or Tuesday. Obliged to live in the midst of seculars, eating at their table, becoming one of their family, no
one could ever repeat a hasty or thoughtless word as coming from his mouth. He was kind, but reserved with that
dignity which becomes a priest of God, and the pastor of his
people. He was an utter stranger to unmeaning compliments, and held in horror frivolous jokes as destruCtive of
all religious recolleCtion and sacerdotal edification. In the
Lenten season his whole time was employed in giving stations from house to house, affording no one a pretext for
negleCting the.paschal duty. He manifested a surprising
and untiring energy in colleCting funds for the Propagation
of the Faith and the Holy Childhood, and I venture to say,
that no priest in the United States, however favorably he
might be located, did more than he for these twofold objeCts.
Fr. Vicinanza was a model Je!Suit, a man of tender piety,
profound humility, burning zeal and life-long mortification.
In Charles and St. Mary's counties, his name will long be
held in oenediction by those who were the witnesses of the
heroic virtues, which he endeavored in vain to conceal. His
charity, gentleness, meekness, child-like simplicity, and,
above all, his seraphic ardor whenever h_e offered the Holy
Sacrifice, will continue in the future, as· they have been in
the past, subjeCts of admiration and praise for his devoted
flock. May they remember in prayer the soul of their father, friend and benefaCtor, especially when they meet in the
chapels and kneel at the altars, where he served them so
long and so well.-R. I. P.
�APPENDIX.
I-EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN LETTERS.
Some interesting information concerning the new mission
of Mangalore, will be found in the two letters, which we
take from the German "Catholic Missions," published by
our Fathers ,of the German Province; and in the extracts
from the first pastoral of Fr. Pagani, the pro-vicar apostolic,
which he very kindly sent to us.
"In order to bring down the blessing of heaven on this
important enterprise," writes Fr. q. Ehrle, to his brother,
"we visited the tomb of St. Fr. Xavier in Goa, at the time
when his precious body was exposed for the veneration ·of
the faithful. Leaving Bomb,ay on the steamer Alabama,
we arrived at New-Goa in twenty-four hours, from which
place it took us two hours to get to Old-Goa. My first
visit was to the professed house of Bom Jesus, to which I
found my way by following the crowd of pilgrims. The
relics were exposed in a glass case, in the middle of the
church, and were so placed that the whole body could be
seen and the feet kissed by the numerous pilgrims. After
our visit, His Grace the Archbishop of Goa showed us the
several churches of the city, and in the evening returned to
the professed house, to close the relics for the night. We
passed the night at St. Monica, a large Augustinian monastery, which serves as a hotel for pilgrims. The following
morning, I celebrated Mass at the tomb of the saint, and
spent the rest of the day in visiting the wonderful ruins of
the churches of the Carmelites, Dominicans etc. In the
evening we embarked on the mail boat for the south, and
after thirty-six hours reached Man galore. We were received
at landing with a salute of cannon by a great concourse of
(117)
�II8
Extrafls from Foreign Letters.
Christians under the direCtion of two Carmelites Frs. ViEtor
and Irena!us, who conduCted us to a richly prepared hall,
where an address of welcome was read, to which the new
pro-vicar replied. After the reception, we \Vent to the Cathedral, near Jepoo, the residence of the bishop and the seminarians; the latter formerly numbered twenty-five. For want
of priests and means the seminary had been closed for some
months, but we will open it again in a few days, as we have
received a promise of attendance from eight former seminarians. \Vhen more of the Fathers understand English, we
will open high school, to prepare young men for the English
University and for high stations. At present one hundred
Catholic scholars attend the government schools.
In this place the Swiss Protestant Missionaries from
Basle have a high school; they possess a bookstore with
printing press, but these advantages do not bring them any
converts. Our Christians rejoiced exceedingly, at the great
fear of the missionaries for the Jesuits; for, they warned
the people, to keep away from the Jesuits as they would
from tfie devil, and to avoid them, especially, in the streets.
This warning, however, had no other result, than to bring
new ridicule on the preachers."
To this letter of Father 0. Ehrle we add one from
Father Mutti, dated January 12th, I-879, and written to
a benefaCtress of the mission.-"On our arrival here, the
general aspeCt of poverty almost caused us to lose hope,
but your kind letter shows us that Divine Providencedoes not forget to send us help. The poor Carmelite
Fathers were sadly calumniated, because it was beyond
their power to meet all the expeCtations of the people.
Unable to support their seminarians, they were obliged to
close the seminary, and last month their necessities be·
came so urgent, that they were compelled to sell even the
sacred vessels. From this you may judge of our extreme
poverty;' for the mission does not possess any income, and
the donations of St. Xavier's Society and of the Holy
�Extrafls from Forei'gn Letters.
119
Childhood do not suffice, to pay half the expenses of our
various institutions. But the people expect us to do even
more, and hence on our arrival they welcomed us as angels from Heaven; more than fifteen thousand person~ were
present at the landing place. They expect us to build
schools and colleges; but for this we have not the means.
Hence we ask relief from all quarters; money, sacred vessels and vestments for the service, and such like things will
be gratefully accepted. Among the two millions of souls,
there are only fifty-four thousand Catholics.-What a glorious field for the zeal of missionaries! Ask of St. Francis
to grant us some of his apostolic spirit, that this part of the
vineyard of the Lord may flourish and bring forth spiritual
fruits in abundance."
From tlze Pastoral of Fr. Pagani'.
The wishes of the Holy See, which the Society of Jesus
always looks upon as commands, have prevailed upon the
General of that Society to undertake the spiritual charge of
this apostolic vicariate of Mangalore. \Ve know full well,
how very difficult in the execution and how embarrassing
those commands have proved to the superiors of the Society. A large number of its missionaries already work in
the different quarters of the globe, and the cry from the
wide realms of Asia, from America, from Africa; from Australia, even from the furthermost limits of Europe itself,
is constantly heard, that more missionaries are wanted,
both to supply the place of those that have fallen victims
to their zeal and to enlarge the field of their operations.
Again the superiors were loath to take upon themselves
the cultivation of a missionary field which the venerable
Order of Carmel for a long succession of years, in times of
troubles and difficulties, and when other laborers were wanting, had worked with noble self-sacrifice, zeal and prudence.
It was then natural that they drew back, and for long months
again and again entreated the Sovereign Pontiff, Pope Pius
IX, of ever glorious memory, for the reasons specified, to
�120
Extra[ls from Forczf:n Letters.
allow the Society to decline the proffered mission. But
their petitions proved unavailing, and with that reverence
and submission to the Holy See, which the Society fosters
and cherishes even by special rule, they then submitted to
the declared wish of him, in whose will we cannot fail to
acknowledge the will of God Himsel( However \Veak we
are_. however difficult under present circumstances the task
may be, which we are bid to undertake, yet mindful of the
encouraging words of the Apostle: "I can do all things in
Him who strengtheneth me," we bow to that sacred will,
and come to- you as the messengers of God, sent to you by
that authority which alone has the right to send missionaries to preach the Gospel of God in the name of God. We
have not come among you of our own choice, we are not
those, of whom the Holy Spirit complains : "The Prophets
prophesy falsely in my name : I sent them not, neither have
I commanded them, nor have I spoken to them : they pro·
phesy unto you a lying vision and damnation and the seduClion of their own heart." \Ve come to you in the name
of the ~Lord, to preach to you and to foster among you the
faith of almost nineteen centuries, sealed by the blood that
flowed from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and preached to
your fathers by the glorious St. Franc;ls Xavier, whose unworthy brethren we are. It is inde~d·a great consolation
to us to be allowed to continue the work which he commenced in these parts, and, treading in his footsteps, to revisit the spots, the villages, hallowed by his presence; to
preach the faith to the spiritual children of St. Francis
Xavier by the instrumentality of children of that same Society, whose pillar and brilliant crown he was. * * * *
\Ne are glad to see schools already existing in different
localities of the vicariate, notably in Mangalore, Cananore
and Calicut, established and supported by several of the
Reverend members of the venerable Carmelite Order, and
by the zealous Christian Brothers, and some by the zeal of
the laity. These should be fostered, others established, and
all brought to that perfeClion, which our school-going age
�Extrafls from Foreign Letters.
121
seems to require. In the execution of these our endeavors,
we must of course look to you, beloved brethren, for help
and counsel. To realize all our hopes, it may take years
yet. You are aware, beloved brethren, that all great things
sprang from small beginnings, must be made to rest on a
solid basis; the more carefully, and let me add, the more
slowly the work of laying the foundation is carried on, the
safer and the more economical will the upper structure be
found at the end. This too is the principle we shall be
guided by, in taking in hand our educational work. Look
to Bombay with its magnificent schools and convents, deservedly the pride of the Catholics of that vicariate and the
admiration of Protestants and Pagans alike. Bombay, as
you may know is the great emporium of trade of Western
India, populous and wealthy. The Government of that
Presidency met the private efforts of the Catholics with unwonted liberality in granting sites for building, in furnishing
large pecuniary help to erect those admirable piles at the
capital of the Presidency, and the capitals of the provinces.
The Chaplains, doing duty with the troops, contributed
largely to the building funds, the laity too were not behindhand in generosity at the repeated calls of the ecclesiastical
superiors. And yet it took Bombay full twenty years to
raise its educational system to present perfection. We are
then not to lose courage, if our progress in this line gets
along at a slow pace, provided always that it does not stand
still, nor retrogress. Here too we must recall to mind the
words of Scripture : In your patience you will save your
souls. We certainly have not many of the advantages
which Bombay enjoyed ; but I think, we will commence
our onward course at a starting point higher than that at
which Bombay commenced. Our vicariate possesses already
several Catholic schools, which in their own way, do an
immense good; Bombay in 1858, had no English school
whatever save one, which the superiors had just then succeeded in rescuing from rum. We are happy to see the
VoL. vm-No.
2.
16
�122
Extracts from Foreig-1l Letters.
pious and zealous Christian Brothers in our vicariate, working hard and steadily and successfully in the field of divine
glory. Bombay had then nothing of the sort. The Catholic
population of the vicariate of Bombay is smaller than ours,
and they are not blessed with riches. Ours is by one-third,
almost one-half, more numerous. Beloved brethren, let us
but have that unity among ourselves, which sinks private
quarrels, and views, and wishes in the general impulse for
the good end ; let us but have that Christian faith by which
we see in our ecclesiastical superiors the natural guides set
over us by Gpd, and to whom we religiously must submit,
that same gen-~rosity for which some congregations of the
Bombay vicariate are renowned, and we shall have the
happiness in far less time than we at ·first thought, to see
our wishes realized. Let us all be animated with that faith,
of which we have spoken above, and though difficulties
should lie in our way mountains-high, faith will overcome
those mountains. May our Lord Jesus Christ grant you
always that lively faith which worketh by charity and grace
abundant to walk always with circumspeCtion and edification
in the way of truth, preserving inviolate from all stains the
virginity of your faith.
Tanzopol (Austria);· March 2d, I879·
Rev. Fr., P. C.-"For some years we have had but a
small number of students at our college in Tarnopol.
No doubt, your Reverence is fully aware of the reasons of
this fact. Before the year 1848, we had three colleges, all
in a flourishing condition in Galicia; and here, besides
the present college for the children of the nobility, the
State high school. When we returned in the year 1856, we
no longer direCted the course in this latter institution, nor
had we our two other colleges of Leopol and Sandec.
Besides, we have no houses in the portion of Poland subjeCt
to Prussia'and Russia, but only in Galicia, which is under
the dominion of Austria. Hence the difficulty of procuring
�Varia.
123
students from any other quarter than from Galicia. You
know full well how Russia tyrannizes over the Polish families, forbidding them to educate their children; outside of
the empire.
"But, though this state of affairs is very disheartening,
matters are beginning to brighten a little, and I am happy
to be able to tell your Reverence that the number of our
students has gone on increasing; perhaps, there will be an
additional increase after Easter. Alas! if the iron gates of
Russia would only open, we would have crowds of children
coming forth to us. If your Reverence only knew the difficulties which hinder the youth of that country from coming to us! One crossed the frontier, carried in a sack upon
the shoulders of a peasant. Another, a very little fellow,
was hidden by his mother under her cloak, and the good
lady, offering some pretext for not descending from the
carriage at the frontier, when stopped by the officials,
brought us her little treasure in safety."
VARIA.
Clzina - The Ministeria Spiritualia of the mission of
Kiang-nan, from July r877, to July 1878, were as follows:
839
Baptisms of adults
Baptisms of children of Christian parents
3.797
Baptisms of children of infidel parents
16,844
Children nursed
6,093
Confirmations
2,295
61,884
Confessions during missions
Communions during missions
54.320
Confessions of devotion
207.786
Communions of devotion
246,995
r,66o
Extreme Unctions
�124
Varia.
Marriages
Marriages made valid
Sermons
Catechisms
Colorado-To the three Residences which the Neapolitan
Province already has in Colorado, a fourth one is very
likely to be added next September at Denver, the capital
of the State and a very thriving town.
France-In·opposition toM. Ferry's Educational Bill, by
which Religious Orders would be excluded from teaching,
bishops, priests and laymen alike have raised their voice.
In their protestations and addresses, our Society is particularly alluded to, as it is also the main object of attack. We
are glad to be able to insert the following passage from an
address delivered by M. Chesnelong at a convention of
Catholic laymen held in Paris, April 15-19. We take it
from theN. Y. Freeman's Journal of May the 10th:"But ~why should I go to the past? Have we not seen,
rising up here among ourselves, during the last quarter of
a century, a new generation which is the living apologist of
the masters that created it? Y au have seen it whenever
the Christian activity of our age display~ itself, taking the
lead in devotion to every cause that the noblest hearts can
be inspired to. You have seen it upon the fields of Castelfidardo, and Mentana, of Patay and the plains of Avron,
showing that all kinds of courage are kindred, and that a
love of country is kindled at the same altar as love for God
and for His Church. (Applause.) Who formed this generation ? Who inspired these souls? Who fashioned these
hearts, so Christian and so patriotically Intrepid? To mention only one of the schools that have contributed to this
work: The school of St. Genevieve supplied down to 1870,
2,283 pupils to our military schools; 1,093 of these took
part in the late war; 86 fell upon the field of battle ; and
�Varia.
125
I84 were decorated. (Great applause.) All honor then,
gentlemen, to the Religious Communities which, under the
proteCtion of the law of I 8 50, have blessed France with institutions of secondary education which gave birth to this
believing and valiant generation, and which is a consolation
to the Church and a hope to our country."
Besides, graduates of several of our colleges have taken
in hand the defence of the rights of their former teachers :
sending their united petitions to the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies in their behalf. Moreover, the fathers of the
students of our college at Lille have addressed a petition of
like import to the French Legislature, claiming as their unquestionable right to have their sons taught by men, eminently competent, in their opinion, to give the desired instruCtion and education. The education of the child, they
wisely argue, belongs to the parents, not to the State; and
this would be a right in name only, were the State to exclude from the office of teaching, a large body of French
Citizens. They next speak of the entire satisfaCtion the
Fathers of the Society had given them, in making of the
young men entrusted to their care, true Frenchmen as well
as true Christians.
:Japan- Some newspapers spread the report that the
Holy Father had given the mission of Japan to one whom
they styled "The Provincial of Lombardy." This piece of
news was by many taken to be true. The faCt is what our
readers know already, namely, that the mission of Mangalore was entrusted by our V. Rev. Fr. General to the Province of Venice, of wl~ich Lombardy forms a part.
Kansas-On the 3d of Feb. 1879, St. Mary's College was
entirely destroyed by fire. At about I 2.15 P. M., while the
community were at dinner, the people on the streets, noticing considerable smoke issuing from the roof of the college,
raised the cry of fire, and rushed towards the building. The
�126
Varia.
fire had broken out just under the roof; and owing to the
dense smoke, it was impossible to reach the upper story.
The only thing to be done was to save as much of the furniture as possible. Accordingly, to this every effort was
direcred. Each story in succession was cleared of bedclothes, books, desks, etc., and then a line was formed and
buckets of water passed up to stop, or at least check, the
progress of the fire. The third floor was covered with blankets, sprinkled with plenty of salt and then well soaked
with water; this succeeded so well that the fire received a
sensible check:· A dispatch had been sent to Topeka for a
fire engine, and all hearts leaped for joy, when at 3· 15 o'clock
the train came in sight. In about half an hour more the
engine was at work and hopes of saving the remainder of the
building were raised, but were soon blasted by the giving
out of the supply of water. Nothing remains of our noble
institution but bare walls. The college was built eight years
ago at an expense of $70,000. It was five stories high,
thoroug_hly furnished, and, at the time of the fire, attended
by ninety-eight boarders. The Fathers and students are at
present domiciled in the building generously vacated by the
Ladies of the Sacred Heart., where classes were resumed
almost immediately, and things are already in their normal
condition.
On April I rth, a second fire occurred by which the stable
containing all the horses and mules, was destroyed. The
fire was discovered about a quarter past I I o'clock at night
by some students who noticed the glare on the dormitory
windows. The alarm was immediately given but the fire
had already made such headway that it was impossible to
enter the building; a few stalls were broken open, but only
one colt was saved. The remainder of the stock, consisting
of twenty-three horses and mules perished. All the valuable prope~ty of the college, except this barn, was insured.
Tlie entire loss therefore of the barn and its contents,
amounting to about $5,000, will fall upon the Fathers. The
fire seems to have been the work of an incendiary.
�Varia.
127
Missouri- The Golden Jubilee or fiftieth anniversary of
the foundation of the St. Louis University will be celebrated on the 24th of June of the present year. The Holy
Father, Pope Leo XIII, has sent his blessing to those connetted with the University.- Fr. Hill has prepared a history of the rise and progress of the Institution, which is
said to contain also an account of the foundation of the
:Missouri Province.
To add solemnity to the occasion, the graduates of the
University who have not yet taken out their degree of A.M.,
have been invited to apply for the same, and to be present
at the celebration, as also at the annual commencement on
the day following, June zsth, to receive their degrees.
SpaiJZ- Towards the end of February, a mission was
given at Barcelona by fourteen Fathers, from the Provinces
of Aragon and Castile. The mission was given simultaneously in seven large churches. Our Lord was pleased to bless
their labors abundantly. More than fifty thousand persons
received Holy Communion. These missions were immediately followed by seven others, in smaller churches of the
city, during which there were more than twenty-two thousand communicants.
D. 0. M.
��WOODSTOCK LETTERS.
VOL. VIII, No. 3·
A SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JAMES
OLIVER VAN DE VELDE, S. J.
· (Continued.)
These facts, though very imperfectly stated, suffice to show
that Fr. Van de Velde, both as president of the St. Louis
University, and as vice provincial of Missouri, did much to
advance our Society in the \Vest, to increase its useful
works, to educate its young members, and stimulate their
zeal for higher things. But his merit and success did not
lessen the glory of those who preceded him in the same
works. Indeed too much praise cannot be given the noble
band of pioneers who in 1 823 first began this mission, who
first cleared the land for it, built its first cabins, enduring,
meantime, the hardships of much toil and much poverty.
They did their work well, they opened a path through the
wilderness; they prepared a field for others to cultivate ;
they were resolute precursors who leveled the difficulties
which stood in the way of a good beginning. Fr. Van de
V elde, and his successors, using the material which had
been collected, built up the structure with its present dimensions; and both parties are honored in the work.
Father Van de Velde was an instance of what well directed and judicious education can accomplish for one who
is duly disposed to receive its formative influence. I shall
VoL. vm-No. 3·
17
(129)
�I
30 Biograpltical Sketclt ofJames 0. Van de Veldc, S.J.
not here speak, however, of that piety and religious observance of rules which are common to every genuine Jesuit ;
he possessed the· true spirit of St. Ignatius, in an eminent
degree; the present aim in view is to consider the manner
in which he employed the gifts received by him from nature
and his position, as means to promote the glory of God.
Besides being learned in theology, philosophy, and mathematics, all of which branches he taught at different times
in his life, Father Van de Velde was a good linguist; over
and above the ancient classic languages and his vernacular
tongue, he could speak and write with fluency the French,
Italian, and Spanish; preaching sermons in those languages,
when the occasion required it. He preached to the Spanish
in New Orleans, on one occasion, and his pronunciation
was so perfect that he was taken to be a Spaniard. He was
also able to hear confessions, and give simple instructions,
in the German and Polish languages. But after reaching
the United States, he made it a special objeEt to master
thorough]y the English language, the one which he was
henceforth principally to use; and few native scholars ever
so completely mastered its pronunciation, its grammar, and
the various beauties of its literature, as he did. He did not
seek to become a Trismegistus; yet, he lear_ned many things,
and he learned them well, aiming especially to perfect himself in those branches which would make him efficient and
useful to our Society in the United States. He said that
he expected little future usefulnsss from the young member
who evinced no desire to speak and write the language of
the country with propriety and elegance; whereas industry
and application in such pursuits, he regarded as a very
prom1smg sign in our young men. The few published
lectures and essays of Father Van de Velde, might be proposed as samples of correctness in the use of words, strict
grammatic~! propriety in the structure of sentences, and of
good taste and elegance in all that combines to make a
finished composition. A passage, selected almost at ran-
�Biog-rapltical Sketclt o.fJames 0. Van de Velde, S.J.
I 3I
dom, as a specimen of his style, is here transcribed from a
lecture given by him in the Cathedral of St. Louis, July
4th, I84I: after citing Socrates' rebuke to the Athenians
for their vices, which he translates into language of remarkable beauty, he says: "It is a truth supported by the strongest evidence of history, that the civil government derives
all its energy from the morality of the people, and that its
security and stability depend on the virtuous conduct of
the citizens. For, not to speak of that solemn aCt: of religion, by which the civil and judicial authorities of the state
bind themselves before God and the people, when, on entering upon the discharge of their respective functions, they
place their hands upon the holy Evangels, and call upon
the Almighty to witness the purity of their motives and
intentions,-! maintain that religion alone can efficiently
counteract the violence of human depravity, and restrain
the lawless passions of our corrupt nature.
"Laws may be enacted against the perpetration of crimes;
punishments may be decreed against the convicted culprit;
but unless man has learned in the school of religion to subdue his evil propensities, he will become the tool of his
ungovernable passions ; he will despise the laws, and scorn
the fear of punishment, when he has the least hope of
evading the enactments of the lawgiver, or of escaping the
terrors of human justice. ~he laws may frighten vice ip.to
submission, but they cannot reform the vicious. Justice
may be stern and inexorable ; its vengeful sword may leap
from its scabbard and crimson the earth with the blood of
its victims; but as it does not destroy the root of the evil,
it will scarcely thin the number of the guilty. In spite of
the penal laws that exist in our republic, the robber still
infests society ; human blood is still frequently shed by the
murderer; the degraded victim of beastly intoxication is
often found in our public streets; acts of fraud and violence
are almost daily occurrences; and the repose of society is
not unfrequently disturbed by the commission of crimes of
�132 Biograplzical Sketclt ofJames 0. Vall de Velde, S.J
almost every description. And whence proceeds all this?
Not certainly from a defeCt: in our civil and penal laws, but
from a deficiency of reCtitude in those who transgress them.
They are evils which the laws may check, but which they
cannot remove; they may occasionally deter man from the
perpetration of glaring crimes, but they cannot implant in
his heart the love of virtue and the hatred of vice; they
may compel the vietim of vice and passion to hide his
enormities behind the veil of hypocrisy, but they cannot
impress on his mind those solid and estimable principles
that prompt the·loyal citizen to comply with all his duties
from a sense of moral reCtitude, without fear of punishment
or hope.of reward. This religion alone can effeCt:. Hence
the truth of the conclusion, that she is the parent of genuine
patriotism. Wlzere tlze spirit of tlze Lord is, tlzere is liberty."
Father Van de Velde was convinced that industry and
perseverance constitute the talent which, in praCtice, leads
to success ; that they suffice to make the student of only
average ability excel in all the acquirements which adorn
the good -priest or the useful professor in college. \Vhereas,
indolence and lack of commendable ambition or desire to
succeed, leave the choicest mental gifts of nature hidden
and dormant in the idler ; the most hjgl1ly favored mind
will remain rude and uncultivated, even 'to the end of a
long, but misspent life.
On June 3rd 1848, Father Van de Velde was succeeded
in the office of vice provincial by Father John A. Elet:
Father Van de Velde was appointed socius of the vice provincial, and procurator of the vice province : he continued
to perform the duties of these offices till the beginning of
I 849.
At the beginning of December I 848 Archbishop
Eccleston received the bulls appointing Father Van de
Velde Bishop of Chicago. When the Archbishop of Baltimore conveyed these documents, which had reached him
on December 1st, to Father Van de Velde, the latter at
once resolved to decline the honor thus proffered him. But
�Biograpltical Skdclz ojJames 0. Van de Ve!de,
S.J.
133
after reading the papers as sent to him, he began to doubt
his liberty to rP.fuse the office ; the matter was referred to
the Archbishop of St. Louis, Most Rev. Peter Richard
Kenrick, who thought that a precept was imposed by the
bulls on Father Van de Velde; and in this opinion, three
theologians concurred, after a mature examination of the
case. Father Van de V elde thereupon determined that he
was no longer at liberty to doubt concerning what was his
duty, and accordingly he declared his consent to accept the
responsibility. There was some difference of opinion at
the time, and afterwards, among our Fathers, as to the meaning of the bulls, and as to the faCt of their imposing a precept
of obedience on Father Van de Velde. But both sides in
the discussion meant well. Though Father Van de Velde,
on being consecrated bishop, was released from his religious
vows, yet, when he visited Rome some three years later,
his Holiness Pius IX. reinstated him in our Spciety, without, however, taking from his shoulders the burden of the
episcopacy. His often repeated requests, afterwards, to be
relieved· of his burden, only served to manifest the high
esteem in which he was held by the Sovereign Pontiff; and
in an audience given him in June 1852, when he went to
Rome with the decrees of the Baltimore Council of that
year, although he earnestly petitioned to be released from
his episcopal office and duties, the Pontiff declined to grant
his petition, but instead, restored him to our Society, as
before stated, and thus Bishop Van de Velde gained the
principal objeCt intended by him.
He was consecrated by Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick in St. Louis on Sunday February I Ith 1849, Bishop
Miles and Bishop Loras assisting in the ceremony. Bishop
Spalding coadjutor of Bishop Flaget preached a sermon for
the occasion. Bishop Van de Velde reached Chicago, his
episcopal see, on the following Palm Sunday ; and he began
the first visitation of his diocese on July the zsth 1849·
Chicago was then but a frontier town ; and law and order
�134 Biograp!tical Sketc!t ofJames 0. Van de Velde,
S.J
do not usually become supreme at once, in a border settle~ent. All the northern and western parts of Illinois were
then rapidly filling up with a miscellaneous population from
the more crowded Eastern States, and the few Catholics
among them were mostly Irish and German emigrants who
had just arrived from Europe. Many of the priests then
serving the Catholic!? settled in those distriCts of Illinois,
had been ordained for other dioceses, and had subsequently
obtained "the exeat." Bishop Van de Velde discovered,
on making his visitation, that he had assumed a burden
\vhich was fa;··greater than he had anticipated, and encountered insubordination, and even scandals. Chicago could
scarcely be said then to have been really and completely
organised into a diocese, though it had been nominally such
for some years.
During his visitation of Prairie du Rocher and Kaskaskia
in 1849, he found, by the help of some old records there,
and the traditions of the neighborhood, the remains of Father ~ouis Sebastian Meurin, S. J. who had died there
Febr'y 23rd 1777. Father Meurin had been at Vincennes,
or, as it was long called, Fort St. Vincent, from 1749 to
1 753·
He spent the remaining part of his life attending
this place, and various other missions,)naking his home at
Prairie du Rocher or Kaskaskia. At th.e time of his death,
his companion on these missions was Father Gibault, who
for the important service rendered by him to General George
Rogers Clarke against the British in 1778, received the
public thanks of Virginia: Father Gibault induced the
French and Indians at Fort St. Vincent or Vincennes, to
take sides with the Americans against the English, after
General Clarke had taken Kaskaskia and Cahokia in 1778.
Father Gibault administered the last sacraments to Father
Meurin, it may be assumed. Bishop Van de Velde took
up the r~·mains of Father Meurin and removed them to our
beautiful little graveyard at St. Stanislaus' Novitiate, near
Florissant, Missouri, in 1849, where they are with those of
�Biograpltica! Sketclt ofJames 0. Vall de Ve!de, S.J. 135
Father Van Quickenborne, Father de Smet, Fathers Van
Assche, Verh<egen, etc., there forming, as he expressed it,
•·a link that joins the old Society with the restored Society."
Bishop Van de Velde in the diocese of Chicago, which
then included the entire State of Illinois, was as a fish out
of the water. The difficulties with which he had to contend,
especially in the city of Chicago, soon broke him down,
both in health and spirits. His suppliant petitions for permission to resign, were answered with letters of encouragement and consolation : but his wish to be relieved of his
burden was not yielded to. After the death of Bishop
Chance, in I 8 52, the diocese of Natchez became vacant;
and when it had become known at Rome that Bishop Van
de Velde's strength and energies were wasting away on the
cold and incongenial shores of lake Michigan, it was decided to transfer him to a milder climate. He was changed
to the See of Natchez, Mississippi, by a decree issued July
29th 1853. He reached Natchez on November 23rd, 1853;
but before taking formal possession of his new See, he proceeded to Spring Hill College, near Mobile, Alabama, there
going through the exercises of ;m eight days retreat. He
returned to Natchez and took final possession of the diocese
on December r8th 1853.
There were then, and there are now, but few Catholics in
the State of Mississippi; they are widely scattered and are
in general very poor. There was a pretty good congregation at Vicksburg, which was then somewhat divided with
dissensions; and there was a less numerous one at Natchez;
but in no other place were there at that time more than a
few families, as at Jackson, Canton, Yazoo City, Holly
Springs, etc. The number of Catholics is now greater, especially in all those places through which railroads have been
since built. The last report, given in the Catholic Directory,
and these reports of our Catholic population are, perhaps,
never put at too low a number, states the Catholic population of Mississippi to be 12,500, with three missions not
�136 Biograplzical Sketclt of james 0. Va11 de Ve!de, S.j.
returned; and they, doubtless, would add but a few hundred to the total. The entire population of the State now
numbers about one million of souls. The bishop made a
visitation of his diocese, with its scattered missions, in I 8 54·
He was well received both by priests and laity, all of them
becoming attached to him at once. The diocese of Natchez was, under all respeas, better suited to Bishop Van
de Velde's gentle nature, and the state of his health, than
was the hars~er latitude of Chicago. Besides, his priests
and people, though not numerous, were docile and cordially
united with hiin; he could, therefore, enjoy that peace and
quiet which are so grateful to those who are infirm, and
already far down the decline of life.
On Oaober 23rd 1855, the bishop, now grown unsteady
in his step from weakness, fell down stairs, in his dwelling
at Natchez, and broke his leg in two places. vVhile under
surgical treatment for his wounds, that fearful scourge of
the South, the yellow fever, then raging as an epidemic in the
towns ~long the lower Mississippi river, attacked him with
great violence, and he died of it on November 13th 1855·
Having been a good and faithful servant, it was meet that
he should then depart in peace, and go to the reward of his
labors and sufferings. He was buried~· under the Sanauary
of St. Mary's Cathedral, Natchez.
·
In 1874, the remains of Bishop Van de Velde were removed to our little cemetery at the Novitiate near Florissant,
Missouri, where they were reinterred, on November 20th
1874. The provincial of Missouri, Rev. Thomas O'Neil,
deputed Father Converse to execute that work of fraternal
love towards one who had done so much for the good of
this province, in order that his body might sleep in death
at the same last resting place with those whom he had
most loved in life and with whom he· had spent so many
years in .\vorking for the glory of God and the salvation of
souls.
The writer of this, who had the honor of being received
�J-.;xpulsimz of }t'suits.from Mexico.
137
into the Society by Father V ;m de Vel de when vice provincial, felt that he owed to his memory and his virtues the
tribute of this little sketch prompted by love and gratitude.
Of those sterling men who origin:11ly began the mission
of our Society in Missouri, there now survives but one;
namely, Father Felix Verreydt. Father Verreydt was
born February 18th I 798; he entered the Society on October 6th 1821; he is. therefore. in the 82d year of his age,
and he is going on fifty-eight years in the Society.
I append to this brief biographical notice of Father Van de
Velde some letters* written by him, in which he describes
his journey from Georgetown College to St. Louis in 1831,
when he had as companions of the trip, Father Kenny, Visitor; and Father McSherry. A young friend has kindly
translated Father Van de Velde's letters from French, the
language in which they were written. They will serve to
bring back vividly, and picture as now present, much of
what was to be seen on a journey of one thousand two
hundred and ninety-two miles, by land and water, in the
year 1831.
EXPULSION OF JESUITS FROM MEXICO.
SEc;mN, TExAs, GuADALUPE CoLLEGE,
June 13th, 1879·
Before giving your Reverence the notice which you request of this our nascent college of Guadalupe, I deem it
right to recount the circumstances which sent the fathers
of the Mexican Province "to seek fresh fields and pastures
new." I do this the more willingly as the following facts
have never, as far as I know, appeared in print, and yet they
have a certain importance, as a part, and a glorious part of
the modern history of the Society.
The Mexican Province, once so flourishing, and so re------·--------··-------
'''They will appear in our next number.
VoL. vm-No.
3·
18
�Expulsion of Jesuits from llfexico.
nowned for the sanctity, science and successful labors of its
members, has in our times been sadly diminished in numbers. Like a battalion isolated amongst its enemies, its
reserves exhausted, it has seen its ranks thinning until a
dauntless remnant alone remained, though with unbroken
front, where once a gallant legion held the field.
In 187 3, besides others variously engaged in the sacred
ministry, Fr. Soler with seven fathers, aided by some secular clergy, conduCted the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Mexico. The success of the institution, in the number and
choice of its sfadents, and in their manifest improvement,
was, no doubt, the indireCt cause of persecution. An unfortunate spirit of envy at the seleCtion of a Jesuit ReCtor
by the Archbishop disposed several of the clergy to favor
an opposition which, let us hope, they did not anticipate
would be pushed to the last extremity. The President of
the Republic, Lerdo, the successor of Juarez, himself supreme direCtor of a State Institution, saw with pleasure a
spirit, w~ich, unwittingly would assist him in injuring a too
successful rival.
For some time previous, there had been a clamor of the
press against the members of the Society, but there was a
difficulty in choosing a plan of attack:_: There was, to be
sure, ;i law forbidding community life, as· an infraCtion of
civil liberty, inasmuch as it exaCted a conscientious obedience to a superior. Under "liberal" rule in Mexico, as elsewhere, a disorderly life spent in sin is liberty, but a voluntary, regulated life of virtue is servitude. But this law
could not avail them, as the Jesuits avoided all community
exercises, some of them lived apart from the others, and
there was nothing that seemed to distinguish them from
other professors of the Seminary. A projeCt of law was
therefore introduced on the 5th of April, 1873, in the Federal Congress, by which all the members of the Society
of Jesus should be banished. The government, acknowledging that its policy was in no ways impeded by the So-
�Expulsi01z of Jesuits from Mexico.
139
ciety, still declared itself willing to carry out any decree of
the Congress that should call for the expulsion of the Order. The projeCt: of law passed the first reading, but the
deputies, seeing that a trapwas laid for them in which they
would find themselves oppressed by the odium of such a
measure, by various expedients postponed the farther dis·
cussion of the bill. It was then determined to make use
of the 33rd article of the Constitution which confers on the
President of the Republic the power of banishing foreigners
who are a danger to the state. Here, too, arose a difficulty
for on the one hand some of the Society were Mexicans,
and on the other hand if only Jesuits were expelled it would
be plain that it was not their charaCter as religious which
was their crime, since other foreign religious lived in Mextco. It was resolved then to arrest all the Jesuits, and
others also, who were not of the Society, but who belonged
to religious orders. They would parody in the 19th century the measures of an Aranda, and a Pombal. At a certain hour, on a certain day, the arrests were to be made, a
train was to be in readiness, they were to be transported to
Vera Cruz, in time to embark at once on the steamer that
shoula convey them into exile. This was the plan of the
Governor of the city and distriCt: of Mexico, Don Tiburtio
Montiel but "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang
aft agley."
It was intended that similar measures should be adopted
at Puebla and Tacubaya. The governor of Puebla refused
his cooperation.
On the 20th of May then, at 8 o'clock in the evening,
when all were at supper, a battalion of infantry and a squadron of cavalry surrounded the Seminary, and Col. Rangel
with a guard, entering, summoned the professors to accompany him to the Governor who, he said, wished to confer
with them. After announcing the objeCt: of his visit, he
asked that the professors should of their own accord comply with his request, assuring them that in such a case he
�Expulsion
tif Jesuits from J1exico.
would show them every respeCt, but that if they forced
him to aCt independently, he would feel obliged to arrest
every one in the house, and that he would prosecute the
search to the end even though he had to break into every
room. Fr. Barragan, the minister, accepted the condition,
and fulfilled it so closely as even to call back Fr. Mas, who,
being in civilian clothes, was coaly making his escape, as
though he was not one of the party concerned. Some such
proceedings had been expeCted for some time, and it had
been understood by the others that no one should acknowledge that he ~lls a Jesuit, thus casting on the enemy the
trouble of proving a point, which in the very nature of
things, could scarcely be established save by the confession
of the individual arrested. Father Barragan does not seem
to have known of this determination, but Father Manci
did, and therefore remained in his room untill called down
by messengers whom the too scrupulous minister sent to
summon him. In consequence Father Manci had the
honour of being dragged along through the streets between
two soldiers as one who 'could not be trusted. To the
same circumstance of being arrested in his own room, he
owed the favour of taking his breviary which he had in his
hand, the others taking nothing but what they had with
them, deceived indeed by the intimation···thaf the Governor
desired merely the opportunity of conversing with them.
The officer executed his orders with all courtesy, but
with strictness, so that a guard was posted in the chambers
of Father Soler, the ReCtor, and of Father Velasco, both
of whom were confined to their beds by illness, nor was
any one allowed to speak, or in any way communicate with
them, except in the presence of a soldier. The other Fathers and brothers, with the secular clergy residing there,
were obliged to set out at once. The names of the Jesuits
were Fathers Mas, Manci, Monaco, Bordas, Anticoli, Barragan, Teran, (soon released because a Mexican) Brothers
Amorena and Toelen. The officer conduCted them under
�Expulsion
if Jesuits from Mexico.
armed escort to the Governor's palace, where they were
kept waiting so long that the train finally departed, and
they were invited to go to prison. The reason was that
the plan of arresting all the Jesuits and the foreign religious
in the city at the same time, was very imperfectly executed.
Father Artola the Provincial was warned not to return
·home, and taking the train that night, he went to Orizaba,
and thence, on the next steamer, to Havana. Father Morandi was captured a few days after, as he was about to say
Mass; he was obliged to lay aside his vestments, and obey the
summons, nor was he even allowed to take some breakfast,
nor "to stand upon the order of his going." ~~ather Sarria,
an eloquent preacher, whose sermons were the disgust and
abhorrence of the so-called liberals, escaped until Sunday,
and then bravely ascended the pulpit for the last time, literally as we shall see. Perceiving two police in his audience,
he suspected that he was their prey, and took leave of the
people in words that drew tears from all, saying that it was
a farewell sermon that he was preaching, as he was to be
arrested that day if so God permitted it. On leaving the
pulpit, however, instead of turning towards the sacristy,
where his visitors awaited him, he took the corridor which
led to the adjoining convent, and, boarding the train, departed for Havana in company with Father Artola. He
died three days after reaching New York of yellow fever,
the germs of which he caught in Havana.
When it was manifest that the "coup de Pombal" had
failed, all the prisoners, including some Passionists caught
in the same swoop, were marched off to the Calabozo (municipal prison) where they were confined, nineteen in number, in a room that measured ten by fifteen feet. They
found it impossible to stretch themselves out at length,
and so crouched two and two together upon ruv,s four feet
square, which were provided for them. A political prisoner
in an adjoining cell which opened into theirs, insisted on
yielding his blanket couch to his friend Father Barragan,
�142
Expulsion
of Jesuits from Mexico.
who was thus enabled to procure some rest, though already
reproaching himself for having innocently surrendered a
point of vantage for himself and companions in acknowledging themselves Jesuits before proof advanced. The night
passed merrily enough with laugh and jest, in that spiritual
joy which our sweet Lord is wont to impart to those who
suffer for His sake. Father Monaco, especially, was the
life of the company, once lighting a match and exclaiming
"see, a procession of congratulation on the part of our fellow-prisoners; mice, scorpions, tarantulas, insects of every
kind." Father Manci being of a delicate constitution was
taken ill, an~ when finally released from an eight days'
captivity was so far gone as to be obliged to receive the
last Sacraments. He recovered, however, to be the fir:;t
Rector of our new College of Guadalupe.
With the morning dawn the news of the arrests had
spread, and from that time until their release the confessors
of the faith were the objects of a Christian ovation. Not
only food, but every thing else they needed, or their jailers
would -allow them to accept, was forced upon them by
Mexicans who deemed it a point of honour thus to protest
against a despotic act, executed under the name of liberty,
by the antichristian rulers of a Catl)olic people. More
than twenty lawyers offered their se;~iCes gratuitously in
their defence, some of them even defraying all the expen·
ses.
The Archbishop Don Antonio Pelagio Labastida at once
waited on the President and was told that the Governor
had gone too far, that the fathers were guiltless of any
crime, and that they should not pass another night in prison. This he said as promising himself that by that time
they should be on their way to Vera Cruz. The same
delusive promise was held out to a deputation of forty of
the noblest ladies of Mexico who called on him wrapped
in their rhantillas, worn only at great religious ceremonies.
The United States Minister Nelson having heard that a
�Expulsion of Jesuits from lVIexico.
143
naturalised citizen of that government Don Angel Lilla, a
Passionist, was of the number, called and offered his mediation, protesting against any one being exiled without
conviCtion of offence. This doubtless was a principal reason of the long delay in carrying the decree into final exe~
cution. Other ministers of foreign powers were solicited
by the lawyers to join in this protest, but they refused, not
being afraid of such a precedent, rightly deeming that such
high-handed measures would be employed only in the case
of religious ~en, in whom of course they were not called
upon to take any interest.
On the evening of the third day, the Governor Montiel
came to the prison, the decree of banishment was read by
his secre.tary, and the reasons of this arbitrary procedure at
last made known. One had been too imprudent of speech,
another of aetion, and again another was accused of
preaching political sermons, each and all had failed no doubt
in "liberalism," but the Jesuits had been guilty of living in
community contrary to the Riforma, and proofs were alleged
to exist of their being engaged in a conspiracy. One of
the secular priests, Don Kiliano Coli, remarked that he
was not a Jesuit, and as, according to public accounts, the
whole proceeding was direCted against the Society, he claimed
his release. "You,'' said Montiel, "are the worst kind of
Jesuit, as I understand the term." Don Co!l was an eloquent and fearless preacher. "At least," said the brave
priest, "do not be so cruel as to exile this old man, (Br.
Amorena) and these sickly priests (McCree! and Toelen).
You will surely draw down a punishment on yourselves-"
and he hinted that foreign governments might take up the
case. The infuriated governor ordered up two of the attendants, exclaming in the most frantic manner, "he dares
to threaten us, put him in fetters and away with him to the
small cell." So Don Kiliano Coli's humane feelings towards
others procured him a night of suffering, the small cell being filled with vessels of most fetid odor. But, worse than
�144
Expulsion
of jesuits from Mexico.
the suffocation which he experienced, was the fear of his
being separated from his companions, a misfortune which
he humbly bewailed as a punishment for his sins. The
Mexicans were then released, ·while the others were transferred to the Carcel de Belen.
On arriving at this prison, they were at first placed under
the striCtest rule, and the closest seclusion, but the Superintendent, Del Rio, learning the faCl:, and being a personal
enemy of Montiel (he. had only a few days before, kicked
him down a whole flight of stairs") ordered them every
liberty consistent with their safe confinement. He gave
them a court-yard in which they could say Mass, and receive
their friends during the day. Here their holy sacrifices
continued in close succession from 2 till 8 A. M. They at
once commenced the thirty Masses of St. Gregory, the last
one being said by Father Manci, who at the end of his
thanksgiving received the glad news of their liberation under
security. For in the mean time the lawyers had not been
idle. They applied, in spite of the presidential edict, for a
writ of "'ampara ot lzabeas corpus as it is termed in English
jurisprudence, and a fearless Judge, Buchelli, entertained
the application, and ordered the cause up for trial in the
Court of the 1st DistriCt, to determiO:~· whether the aCl:ion
of the executive was according to the constitution. Shortly
after, a bond of 50,000 dollars was drawn up, and offered
by Don Mannuel Bustos, on hypothecation of his whole
estate, for the appearance of all and each at the approach·
ing trial. This having been accepted, after eight days' captivity the Fathers, priests and brothers were released, and
allowed to resume their several avocations whilst awaiting
the result of their trial.
It might have been thought that this could have been
scarcely doubtful. For several months before the issuance
of the ediCl:, and since, more than ever, the clamor of the
press had been furious and unceasing, and every one knows
the wonderful effeCl: of this irresponsible agent to paralyze
�Expulsion
of jesuits from Mexico.
145
the judgment of juries, to blunt the just sense of judges,
and to make a whole people accept the bitterest wrong as
a necessary, and therefore rightful measure. But in this
case a judge was found in Buchelli, who was not to be
swerved by popular clamor, nor by the fear of a reckless
Executive, in the :1dministration of justice according to the
law and the faCl:s. He declared the enforcement of the
decree of expulsion to be contrary to the 20th and 21st
Articles of the political Constitution of the United States
of Mexico. This was on the 26th of July, 1873. The case
was then carried up to the Supreme Court of the first,
second and third instance to use the terms of Spanish law.
In the first, the judgment of the lower court was sustained,
in the second there was no decision, and in the third the
result seemed so certain that Don Mariano Moreda, an intimate friend of Juarez, and a distinguished lawyer, came
to announce the successful issue to the Fathers, and to
congratulate them on the event. He was mistaken. The
Jesuits must go, the clamor of the wicked did not shake
them, the laws properly administered could not disturb them,
but progress and modern liberalism are above all law, and,
for the sake of liberty, dare to be despotic. Vice President
Jose Maria Iglesias, doing violence to his name, called the
members of the court in private council, and urged them
to back the aCl:ion of the Executive. He prevailed, and
with one honorable exception, Don Arriega, they succumbed to the extra legal pressure; so at least was it believed in the City of Mexico. Don Mariano Moreda had
already taken away any hope that might have been founded
on the protest of Mr. Nelson, by saying that the Mexican
Minister had assured his government of the indifference of
the federal authorities at Washington. Indeed Nelson was
known to be indignant at his want of support by his government, a support which certainly would not have failed had
the subjeCt: of his protest been a Protestant missionary who
had gone to insult the religion, and outrage the feelings of
VoL. vm-No. 3·
19
�JJ1issio1lary Labors.
its people. \Vas it to teach him this lessson, first to see
wlzose ox was gored, that he was soon after superseded by
Mr. Foster?
The final judgment was rendered on the rgth of August
1873. and shortly after, the Fathers went forth from a country which they had loved and served, to seek othP.r lands
where liberty is not as yet a cloak for tyranny, and where,
amongst Protestants, they might continue labors which
were too fruitful and to well appreciated in Catholic Mexico
for the "religious tolerance" of its antichristian government.
In similar cases history has often completed the story of
an injustice by recording the condign punishment of its
authors. In this instance the rule did not find an exception.
Don Tiburtio Montiel was soon ati:er an incarcerated prisoner in Belen. President Lerdo and Vice President Iglesias
were not long in joining their viCtims in their exile in the
United States of America.
F. P. G.
MISSIONARY LABORS OF FATHER MAGUIRE
AND COMPANIDNS.
FRmi THE IIIIDDLE OF JANUARY 1879 TO JULY 6th.
HYDE PARK, MAss. (January 26th-Feb. 2)-At the earnest request of the pastor, the Rev. James Conlan, the
Fathers gave a renewal of the mission of last June, and this
they did the more willingly, as the opportunity was offered
of introducing the devotion of the Forty Hours at the end
of the spiritual exercises. The weather was extremely cold,
but the attendance was always greater than the capacity of
the church. At the early instruCtion (5 o'clock), the crowd
was very large, and when one thinks of the long distance
many had to come, he cannot but be edified at the faith
�JJ1issionary Labors.
147
and piety of these people. Seve~al grown persons, including some Indians were prepared for the sacraments. Some
hardened sinners, who had battled through the previous
mission without doing penance, were reconciled this time.
There where two thousand two hundred Communions.
SACRED HEART CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA, (Feb. 9-23)~
Frs. Maguire, Strong and Morgan began the exercises here
on the second Sunday of February and labored for two
weeks amid most consoling results. This is a new parish,
situated in what, at one time, was the very stronghold of
Native Americanism in the city. Here the Shiffler Hose
Company had their headquarters and made the locality a
dreaded one for Catholics.
Thirty years ago the building of a Catholic church within
a few yards of the Shiffler Engine house was an impossibility. The times have changed. The Protestants came in
large numbers to hear the sermons, and twenty-eight were
received into the true fold. Many marriages were put to
rights; twelve children, the off.;;pring of careless parents,
were baptized. It is a sad fact that a great many children
of mixed marriages are lost to the Church ; those we meet
with in a mission are, perhaps, a small percentage regained."
The Fathers were obliged to leave several persons under
the charge of the pastor, Rev. James Fitzmaurice, for in·
struCl:ion in order to be received into the Church. Results:
Com~ unions, 4000 ; Baptisms, 40; First Communions of
adults, 65.
S. MARY's CHARLESTOWN.-\Vhilst the Fathers were engaged in Philadelphia, Frs. Me A tee and Hamilton gave a
very successful retreat to the Men's Sodality in Charlestown.
The exercises, thqugh intended for the Sodality, were given
to all the men of the congregation that chose to come.
The attendance was very good. The Communions were
1300. Fr. Me Atee after this interesting work gave the
exercises to eighty pupils of the Academy of Notre Dame,
Lowell.
�ilfissiollary Labors.
ST. IGNATIUS, BALTIMORE, Mn. (March 2-16)-Many were
the forebodings of failure, when the Fathers insisted upon
having a division of the congregation. "It is impossible to
fill the church with women; they wunt come alone, etc."
At the first sermon Sunday evening, the crowd of women
was so great that it was deemed advisable to begin another
mission next evening in the basement chapel ; and this was
filled also for the rest of the week. Father Maguire
preached the evening sermons in the church, whilst Frs.
Strong, O'Connor and Morgan took charge of the basement congregation. Besides this extra work, there were
the ordinary instruCtions twice a day in public with an
afternoon catechism for a thousand children. This programme would seem to be ample enough, yet the Fathers
after hearing confessions at all hours, were forced to rob
themselves of their evening recreation, in order to carry on
two other classes of instruCtion, one for converts, the other
for grown persons preparing for First Communion.
The attendance was what is called a "rush," for the upstairs exercises; rich and poor, old and young, came from
all the surrounding parishes. At the beginning of the
second week, the same prophecies were made about the
success of the work. The men attend~tl just as well as
the women ; the results were about the ~-arne. The Fathers
were again obliged to have in missionary language a "double-decker." The Fathers of the College made the labor
much less for the missionaries by their untiring attendance
in the confessional. Results: Communions, 6500; First
Communion of adults, 65; Baptisms, 24; left under instruction, 9·
llii!IIACULATE CoNcEPTION, BosTON, MAss. (March 26-Ap.
6)-Taught by the experience in Baltimore, the Fathers
suggested a double mission, and the suggestion was well
received, though with some misgivings as to its success.
From the start it was evident that if the large crowds that
were excluded from even standing room in the upper church
�Missionary Labors.
149
every evening had not been received into the basement,
many hundreds could not have made the mission at all.
It was thought that on several occasions there were six
thousand men present. The first week, as usual, was for the
women ; the second, for the men. The Masses, especially
at 5 o'clock and at 9 o'clock, were largely attended. The
Communions were above 10,000. There were no special
services for the children of the Sunday School in number
1400, as they are scattered throughout the city. Their
attendance at the exercises would, no doubt, have added
largely to the roll of communicants. Result: Communions,
10,000; adults to First Communion, 66; Baptisms, 6; left
under instruCtion, 5· The Fathers of the College took a
large part of the work from the shoulders of the missionaries by hearing confessions from early morning until late
at night. Fr. Plante of the N. Y. and C. Mission also assisted during the exercises and did good work, especially
in preparing the adults for the sacraments.
After the mission a grand rally in the cause of temperance
was held in the basement, and speeches were made by the
ReCtor of the College, Father Fulton, and by several of the
missionaries.
During the interval between the mission in Baltimore
and the one in Boston, Fr. Strong g<;lve a retr"eat to the
Children of Mary, whose meetings are held in the Chapel
of the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Philadelphia.
ST. PATRICK's, PHILADELPHIA, (Apr. zo-May 4)-This is
an old parish and has had its missions every three or four
years for the last quarter of a century. The Fathers were
well known, as none but members of the Society had ever
given a mission in this church. .
The labors of two weeks were extremely fruitful, as may
be seen from the large number of Communions., The usual
marriage cases occurred and were put in order. Confirmation was administered on the day of the opening of the
mission, still the Fathers were obliged to call upon the
Archbishop again for his services for the Monday after the
�ISO
llfissionary Labors.
exercises were ended. One hundred and fifty persons,
mostly middle-aged, were confirmed. How is it that so
many are found in the great cities who have not been confirmed? Many explanations are given. In Ireland, until
quite recently, the bishops made their visitations not oftener
than once in seven or eight years. In the meantime there
would be an exodus to foreign countries. Coming to us,
and being scattered throughout the land, and at great distances from the church, they had no opportunity to receive
the sacrament. Reaching the age of men and women, they
were ashamed to-confess their needs. It is only in the time
of a mission that they can be prevailed upon to acknowledge their neglect. Again, no doubt, many of them had
been rejected by the bishop at home, as not having shown
sufficient progress in the Christian doctrine. Finally, some
account for the high figures of the confirmation list by saying that many pious old persons wanted to take part in
everything going on, and would be confirmed two or three
times a year, if possible. This explanation is not satisfactory as the applicants are sufficiently instructed upon this
point by the Father under whom they are placed.
There were I I, I 52 Communions, a gain of three thousand
on the last mission, though the parish is npw smaller. Fifty
grown persons were prepared for first Co'~munion. Fourteen Protestants were. received into the Church; five others
were left under instruction. Six children of various ages
were baptized. Frs. Stonestreet and Noonan were added
to the band for this mission.
ST. PATRICK's, BALTIMORE, (May I I-25)-Baltimore and
Philadelphia always yield a rich harvest of converts.
Though the missionary is saddened by the apostasies he
hears. of on account of mixed marriages, he sees also that
a great many people are brought into the true fold through
them. Twe~ty-seven persons were under instruction for
baptism, and seventeen were found to be well enough prepared to be received into the Church before the end of the
�J1fissionary Labors.
mission.- The Communions were 5000. Confirmed, I95;
of whom fifty made their first Communion. A few children
were baptized. During the second week, the Fathers, on
account of the sickness of one of their number, and the departure of another for Philadelphia, had more than they
could do, and but for the fortunate arrival of Fr. Smith of
the New York and Canada Mission could not have accomplished so much good.
vVAKEFIELD, MASS. (June I-8)-There was nothing unusual in this mission, except a lecture in the town-hall on
temperance by Fr. Maguire during the exercises. Here, as
in Hyde Park, where a similar lecture was given by the
Superior last winter, the acme of perfetlion is, not· to get
drunk in public, and keep a sabbath look at the proper time
and place. Other things in the line of goodness are in an
humble station. Crowds of Protestants attended the lecture,
and it was hoped they would come to the church also, but
it was not so. The preachers, as report has it, warned their
people to avoid the designing Jesuits. Results: Communions, I 200; Baptisms, 4; adults confirmed, 40.
MISSION IN NEw BRUNSWICK, (June I6-July 6)-Frs. Maguire and Morgan spent nearly three weeks in missionary
work in this part of Her Majesty's dominions with very
pleasing results. Small missions were given at St. Andrew's,
St. George, and at the Rolling Dam. Though the Protestants, against the will of their preachers, attended tlie exercises in large numbers, only four became candidates for
baptism. The·weather in this Province in June and July is
far different from what is experienced in the Middle States.
vVhilst the Fathers read in the papers of the great heat in
some of the large cities, they found that a fire in the evening
was sometimes not out of place. There were 1200 Communions as the result of the work.
JuBILEE AND OTHER MISSIONs-The Fathers of the Province gave other missions during the spring, notably at St.
Joseph's, Philadelphia, during Passion week, and for the
�JIIa1trcsa, N. Y.
Jubilee at St. Charles', at the Cathedral, at St. James' in the
same city, and at Kellyville, and other places. The mission
at St. Joseph's was given by Frs. Haugh and O'Connor; at
the Cathedral, by Frs. Jamison and Morgan ; at St. Charles'
St. James' and Kellyville by Frs. Stonestreet and Noonan.
Fr. Calzia helped the Fathers at St. Charles', and conduCted
the exercises of the children. At the Cathedral and St.
Charles' the children went in procession to visit the churches, and in the former place many grown people took part
·in the pilgrimage. The venerable Archbishop read the
prayers at the-!;Iifferent churches. Results, 17 ,8oo Communicants.
Fruits of the missions since September, 1878 to July 1879:
Communions, 90,762; First Communion of adults, 6o81;
Baptisms, 146; left under instruCtion, 52; Baptisms of
children of mixed marriages, 49; adults confirmed, 728.
MANRESA, NEW YORK.
Manresa at West Park on the Hudson .is the second and
more recent House of Novices and Junio'r Scholastics of the
Mission of New York and Canada. The other, and for some
twenty-years sole, Novitiate of this division of the Society
of Jesus still flourishes at Sault-au-Recollet, near Montreal,
with a fair number of novices. Its distance, however, from
a large and ever increasing part of the Mission, together
with differences of nation and language, naturally led to the
foundation of the new house·of Probation. Something of
the kind had already existed for a short time during the
civil vVar, in conneCtion with St. John's College, Fordham.
Twelve vears later the need was still more pressing and
chances ~f -~uccess more favourable; and so it happened
that the spring of I 876 found two Fathers and several Bro-
�Manresa, N. Y.
153
thers preparing for the opening of the new Novitiate in a
place, shortly before secured at a very reasonable price
through the good offices of a friend, on a foreclosure of
mortgage sale. This was an estate of about one hundred
and twenty acres, on the west bank of the Hudson, some
six miles above the city of Poughkeepsie and nearly opposite the railway station of Hyde Park, at about seventy-five
miles distance from New York. It had originally formed
a part of one of the colonial grants under the English govvernment, probably to the Pell family, still extensive landowners in this distriCt. Afterwards coming into the possession of one of the petty Huguenot farmers who were established here some time in the last century among their Dutch
coreligionists, it was finally bought and beautified into a
country seat by one of the Black Friday, or from some similar vVall Street operation, millionaires. The quickly
gotten wealth was quickly spent, tradition saith 'in ways that
were dark and tricks that were vain'; but leaving behind,
at any rate, a goodsized, well appointed, comfortable if not
luxurious, modern house, complete stables and outhouses,
neat cottage for farmer, conservatory and hot-house, large
bowling alley, a high horse-shoe terrace in front of the
house, overlooking the river, wide gravelled walks running
through the grounds, a profusion of ornamental trees and
shrubbery, and around all a tall cedar hedge that would hold
its own among the hedgerows of old England.
Hither then for the feast of our holy Father, July 31st,
18;6, came a colony of novices, who had already passed a
year in Canada, and to them was at once added a number
of new aspirants to the religious life, making something like
two dozen scholastic novices and a community of about
forty. In the late summer a new building, to contain in
successive storeys, refeCI:ory and kitchen, chapel, common
rooms, dormitories, was begun at a little distance from the
original residence. Meanwhile, from the crowding together
of the community in a house destined only for a private
VoL. vm-No. 3·
20
�154
Jfanresa, 1V. Y.
family, arose a mild Heroic Age, supposed to be common
to all undertakings of this kind. By Christmas the chapel
and refeB:ory of the new house were ready, and soon after
the scholastic novices were transferred to their new and
more commodious quarters. The following year in August;
eleven of those who were already at the end of their two
years' probation, were formed into a class of Juniors, and
in 1878 yet another year was added, thus furnishing the
new institution, with its full complement of novices and
scholastics, for. the first four years of the religious life.
During the Pest year the community has regularly num~
bered over seventy-five members. The Fathers occupy the
Residence, as also the Juniors during time of study; the
brothers are for the present stowed in the cottage. An addition of another building is needed, and, in faB:, looked for,
as soon as the sinews of war develop sufficiently.
In the meantime the place has become known, while from
its commanding position the house is one of the most conspicuous along the river. The name-Manresa-figures on
the tourist's map and has even crept into the time-table of
the railway, as one of the many conneB:ions. From the
cars running along the opposite bank a mile away or from
the boats on the river, the house is seen ~o the best advantage. From the broad river a steep slopet l;>roken by natural
terraces and covered with a trim vineyard and orchard beyond, rises some hundreds of feet to a tableland, lying for
many miles along the hills that skirt the Hudson. Here,
with its brick pilasters rising up from the hillside, stands
Manresa, a long, high, white, many-windowed frame building, with a double balcony encircling it in mid-air, altogether
not unlike some mountain resort for summer, were it not
for the great cn?SS high above, that signs the whole valley
with the sign of love and self denial. Behind and beyond,
forming a background of green relief, rise new hills from
the tablela~d. nowhere very wide. These hills are cultivated high up, with only a woody fringe where they jut out
�llfanresa, N Y
155
against the sky. To the north they sweep in irregular
windings along the tableland to where twenty miles away
they join at the horizon the blue summits of the Catskills.
Here and there at their feet, situated like our own Manresa,
pleasant country seats appear, half-hidden among the trees,
but none so prominent as this. Even the novices at spiritual
reading, walking silently with sober step and in regular line
along the balcony, lend impressiveness to this new sign of
the Church's growth and vigour, overlooking and looked
up to, as must needs be, from the world's great thoroughfare. From the house itself the view is entirely different,
too vast to be piCturesque, but very beautiful and giving a
sympathetic expansion to breast and spirit. The whole
landscape stoops down to the immense river, stretching from
north to south in plain sight for twelve or fifteen miles;
while from the eastern bank the hills rise up, not so high·
as to the west nor with such varied outline, but gently receding in long perspeCtive with graceful alternation of wood
and open field and the ever recurring villas with their signs
of wealth and culture, for this is the region favoured of all
others by the denizens of our greatest city. Livingstons of
Declaration of Independence, and Roosevelts of local historic, fame, and Astors of more recent note, have their manor houses or seats of their now numerous branches here;
and some of them in this 'second spring' of the Church
among English peoples, have become, as in the case of our
Archbishop Bayley (Roosevelt) and others, loyal children
of the mighty mother. Thus it is a Livingston that built the
little Gothic church in the village of Hyde Park. And since
the Livingston manor has been spoken of, why not bring
back the memory of the famed adventurer and pirate captain
who had his haunt there and, at last, on this very part of
the river, scuttled his schooner and lost his fabulous gold
forever, at least, for those who so often and in vain have
sought for it.
'0 his name was Robert Kidd,
As he sailed, as he sailed.'
�illauresa, N. Y.
vVestward across the table-land and farther back from
the river, before the house, is a small park of large trees.
The walks, skilfully laid out to give an appearance of breadth
to the grounds, which they do not really possess, are bordered by tall Norway spruces. Beyond, all along the highway is the tall cedar hedge, giving complete privacy to
those walking within. Across the northern corner of the
grounds a little stream comes down from the hills and running under the highway, breaks out again at the foot of the
hedge inside. ~ Here an arch has been built over it with
large, rough sto'nes, a work worthy of the Etruscan, first of
all arches, as is said. Rising up from the arch to the side
along the stream is a high cairn of boulders, having a rude
wall-like face in front, with soft, green moss growing over
chinks and crevices and tall, dark spruces behind; and on
either side, in the narrow space between stream and hedge,
which is here twelve feet high, there is a little parterre with
narrow path leading along the bank, where just opposite
the cairn.and looking towards it across the stream a kneeling bench is found ; for half way up the wall in a little niche
smiles enshrined Our lovely Lady of Lourdes. When His
Eminence, Cardinal Me Closkey, visited .Manresa in 1878,
the long avenue and rustic bridge leading hither were lit
up with coloured lanterns, hung from the dark branches of
the evergreens, while the Grotto was ablaze with tapers,
refleeted in the water below. His Eminence graciously
conceded an indulgence of forty days for every Hail Mary
said here, and the same for a shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat, which the novices had made under the beetling rocks
in one of the wildest ravines, far up in the hills. This was
not the first illumination. Several times, especially on the
feast of Our Holy Father, the whole river front of Manresa
has been lighted up with lanterns hanging from eaves and
balconies arid pillars, and high above, standing out in bright
relief, a cross of light against the sky, banishing all spirits
of evil from the valley and bringing in the reign of Christ.
�Jvlaurcsa, N. Y.
157
'Stepping westward,' again, across the highway and past
the cottage, farm buildings, peach orchard, up the hill, where
there is a reservoir of \Vater, supplying the house below and
in winter serving as skating pond to Juniors, who give impossible Latin names to that exhilarating exercise, a stiff
walk through the underbrush and over rocks leads at length
to the lookout on the peak. To the east, the view is the
same as from the house, only that now the house itself and
tableland for many miles are taken in. But to the west, the
scene is well nigh as wild as when Rip-van-\Vinkle was
having his nap out in the Kaaterskills, or Helderbergs, or, as
they are called here, Shawangunk hills. The valley, clothed
everywhere with a dense growth of forest-trees, sinks down,
interseaed by ravines and rugged chasms, to a lake far below, beyond which the hills rise up again, leaving it here in
the silence and isolation of its mountain setting. Beyond
these hills again, two other ranges appear against the sky,
telling of valleys between. Here and there are cultivated
traas and at long intervals houses, bu( the scene is indescribably wild.
It only remains to speak of the work done at Manresa
for the spiritual improvement of the surrounding country;
of the 'fire that goes before the Lord.' To the few Catholics, living far from church and priest, the opening of our
chapel and the coming of the fathers among them has been
a great good. They are, for the most part, smal~ farmers
in the mountains1 or gardeners at the country seats, and in
summer, servants accompanying families from the city.
Catechism is taught throughout the year, by the novices at
a station-church four miles distant and in another direaion
in a private house seven miles away; by the Juniors in the
parish church of Regina Ca:!i at Hyde Park across the
river. Many have been reclaimed, children baptized, and
other work done, such as is needed where Catholics of little
instruaion have been left alone for so long a time. Even
a course of instruaion on the Creed was given, at their own
�Indian 1lfissions.
request, to a considerable number of Protestants living
among the hills. In general, since the foundation of the
house, there has been a notable softening and wearing away
of prejudices among all who have come in contact with the
community. This is the silent apostleship of religious
houses throughout the country.
As far as concerns the real aim of such a foundation, God,
Searcher of hearts, alone knows how far it has been reached.
Vocations are 1l1ore plentiful than ever before, and the voice
of God certainly' calls to no light things. \Vhy should not
the great fire b~"kindled now that burnt of old in the breasts
of Ignatius and Francis and Aloysius and Stanislas? The
ocean of God's perfections is not less boundless, and His
Glory as deserving of life work and sacrifice. And the 'fields
are white unto the harvest.'
Yea, Lord of the harvest, send Thy labourers and bless
them forevermore.
INDIAN l\IISSIONS.
RESIDENCE OF ST. FRA:xcrs DE HrERONYli!O,
OsAGE MrssroN, KANSAS, July 17th, 1879·
RE\'. AND DEAR FATHER,
P. C.
For the whole of six long and tedious weeks our beautiful
country last winter was covered with hard frost and deep
snow, a very remarkable thing for this southern part of
Kansas, where it is not unfrequent to pass the winter without seeing a particle of snow, In consequence of this it has
been a severe task for us to attend our missionary stations,
and we m?-y thank God that we were allowed to do so
without any damage either to toes or ears.No one can tell how many times in a minute our good
�Indian J11issious.
159
Fr. William Van-der-Hagen gnashed his teeth, and clapped
his hands to keep them warm, when, with hair stiff with
frost, he was trotting along the endless prairies of Crawford
county to visit his missions. No better story can be told
of Fr. John Driessen when on his way to his missionary
stations in Labette county. Had you seen him in his solitary cell of Parson, trying to kindle a fire that seemed as
if it would not burn; had you noticed him reading his breviary to the sound of a whistling wind drifting snow into
his room from under the door; had you taken a glance at
the windows enameled, as it were, with silver arabessy, and
looked at the walls of his little room sparkling with small
icicles, you would have been forced to acknowledge that
really Kansas is a great country, where during winter a
poor missionary has a good chance of remaining crystallized,
not only on the high prairie but even in his room.
However if the winter was extremely cold, praise be to
the Lord, the heart of our good Catholics kept warm. Yes,
full of kindness and sympathy towards us, they always did
their best to make us feel comfortable when we came to
their poor cottages, and above all they proved a great consolation to us by approaching the holy Sacraments with an
increased fervor of devotion.
Spring coming on, I took the Indian trail to visit the
Delawares as well as the Osages. Not much could be done
with the first, but with the second I have every reason to be
satisfied, for they answered my call and came in good
numbers to the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist. I visited the whole reservation. The condition of
the Osages during this last winter has been terrible, and
several of them. died for want of necessary comfort, and
through exposure.
Having v·isited the Osages, my next trip was to the Cherochee and Creek reservations These two nations, who have
from time immemorial been near neighbors, inhabit one
of the most beautiful spots of the Indian Territory. Their
�160
Illdian llfissions.
lands are rich and fertile, and are irrigated by magnificent
rivers such as the Arkansas, the Canedians, the Cimaron
and others. Very few Catholics are now to be found
amongst these Indians, but the seed of our holy faith sowed
among the Cherochees and Creeks of old by the fervent
missionaries sent them by St. Francis Borgia has not yet
perished ; no indeed! on the contrary, in spite of all the
efforts made by Protestant preachers to choke it, it is yet
living, and will bring forth fruit, if only attended to.
Not much is known of the progress these two nations
had made in o.ur holy faith when the suppression came to
snatch our Fathers from them. All we know is that when
they were living in the States of Tennessee, Alabama and
Florida, they faithfully followed the faith brought them by
our Fathers. But since the U. S. government moved them
to the Indian Territory, some fifty years ago, they have
had no priest residing with them, but were left to themselves. Protestant ministers, seeing this, very eagerly took
the opportunity that was offered to them ; they came in,
established themselves among these poor Indians, began
to pervert them, and still persevere in so doing. To-day
some of these Indians call themselves Methodists, others
Baptists, etc., but in reality they are no!hing of the kind,
and in their heart they still cling to the-faith of their greatgrandfathers, in a rude way indeed, but perhaps not altogether wrong, for they mean to do right and know no
better.
I visited the two principal towns of the Creek nation,
Muscolgee, or as to-day they call it, Muskogee, and Euphala. I came to this town on Thursday morning the first
of May. I was quite a stranger, and was looking for a place ·
to get my dinner. It happened that on that day the school
children were having a great picnic just in town, and I was
told that, as every one was invited, I might as well go and
eat with the people. The idea was not bad, and I direeted
my course to the place where all were going. I tried to
�161
Indian llfissio ns.
play the incognito, but to no purpose, for no sooner had I
got to the crowd, than I met some one who knew me. He
pointed me out to others, and several soon came to compliment me for honoring them (as they were pleased to say,
for a joke I suppose) with my presence. By and by a
big Creek Indian, as black as an African came in, and
was introduced to me as a Methodist preacher. I shook
hands with him, and he next bowed to me very low. I told
him that I was a Roman Catholic priest, and he again bowed
most respeCtfully, and said: "I too am a Minister of the
Gospel, and I preached in Texas for twenty years," then
approaching his lips to my ear, and making a shell of his
hand, added in a quite confidential mood: "to the white fox,"
and having said this, he broke into a very hearty and jolly
laugh.
But now the dinner was ready and the room was full of
guests. As the old Indian preacher had been purposely
sent for to say grace, so he was requested to bless the tables.
Then he ordered silence, and \Vhen all was still he turned
to-me with great reverence, and patting me on my shoulder
said: "Ladies and Gentlemen here is the old Church, it belongs to him to say grace, and not to me." I complied with
pleasure with the kind request, and told them: "I feel very
happy to meet here so many of you, and I take this opportunity to inform you all that on next Sunday I shall celebrate Mass in this town, and I invite you all to come to be
present at it." They answered with one voice: "Yes, sir,
we will all come." And here turning themselves to the
tables, which were laden with all kinds of viands, they all
set to, as if they were attacking a fortress, and in a very
short time made a general 'clear-out.'
On the next Sunday, which was the 4th day of May, I
said Mass in the public schoolhouse before a large crowd
of Indians and several white people. They all behaved
wonderfully well, and when all was over most kindly thanked
me, and requested me to return to visit them as soon as
VoL. vm-No. 3·
21
�Indian 11iissions.
possible. This was the first Mass ever celebrated in Euphala, and it was done under the auspices of the Mother of
God. Oh! indeed I could not help praising her on that
day, and praying to her to obtain from God that the faith
which the great St. Francis Borgia sent to the ancient
Creeks, may revive in the present generation, and may induce these poor Indians to return to the Church of their
forefathers.
The Creeks as well as the Cherochees are almost all
farmers ; they ~~re good natured and well disposed. They
seem to have no prejudices of any kind against our holy
religion. They are willing to have their children baptized,
and wish to have them brought up by Catholic teachers in
preference to any other. \Vhen I ask: "do you wish me
to baptize your children?" "Oh! yes," they say, "you may
do so ; \Ve know you belong to the old mission/' by which
expression they signify the Roman Catholic Church.
Indians in general have a great respeCt for the dead, and
the Cree}_{s in this still show some vestige of Christianity.
The wild Indians bury their dead either on the top of high
trees, or above the ground under mounds of sod, or rocks.
Not so with the Creeks: for they bury their dead in regular
graves like all civilized people. Over the grave they raise
a small struCture from three to four feet- high with a well
shingled roof, and on the top of several of these· you might
notice a cross, so that in going through these burying
grounds you think you are passing through some old Catholic settlement.
If a couple of fervent missionaries could be spared, and
allowed now and then to pass one month or so with these
two nations, I do not doubt that a great many of these poor
Indians would return to our holy Church. And as the influence of these two nations is great, it is most probable
that through their instrumentality adjacent nations, especially the Caddos, would soon come and range themselves
under the standard of the cross.
�Indian iJfissious.
From Euphala I returned to Muskogee on my way to fort
Gibson. The devil did not like me to go to the fort and
put difficulties in my way. No sooner did I reach Muskogee than one of my friends told me that it would be useless for me to go thither, and handed me a letter from a
very influential man of that garrison. In this I was told
that I had better give up the idea of visiting that post altogether, for the soldiers were a set of good-for nothing
drunkards, that they did not believe in any thing, and did
not care about me, etc. I felt very much surprised at such
a letter,,and after refleEl:ing on it for a while, I concluded
that the best I could do was just to go there direEl:ly. So
I did, and the faEl: proved that I was right in so doing, for
I was, as usual, received most kindly by the officers as well
as by the soldiers. The major invited me to his house, and
had his office neatly arranged, that I might celebrate Mass
in it. So I did on the next morning, and he himself and
his staff, though not Catholics, came to assist with almost
all the soldiers. I took this opportunity to announce to
them the Juhilee lately granted by our holy Father Leo
XIII, and invited them all to try to gain this great indulgence at my return, which I hope will be before the end of
next August. This Jubilee has been as usual a great spiritual favor by which many of our people have been improved. Having· negleEl:ed their religious duties for a long
time, at last on this occasion they returned to the right
way. Praise be to the Lord for it.
PAUL MARY PoNZIGLIONE,
S.
J.
�CALUl\lNY, OLD AND NEW, AND ST. JOHN
FRANCIS REGIS.
It is nothing new that the saints of God, or the Society
of Jesus should be calumniated; but there are calumnies
that, creeping stealthily among the sober faCl:s of history,
when their serpent's tail discloses them, should be at once
crushed to death. This is especially the case when in any
way there is question of God's faithfulness in His dealings
with the saints..and those to whom He has given rule in
His Church. Now for some years back, an old calumny
in a new shape has been brought into circulation, either
direB:ly attacking, in the particular case of St. John Francis
Regis, the ordinary Providence of God, in giving the grace
of perseverance in their vocation to all who offer a holocaust
of themselves to Him in a state of life approved by His
Church, or else indireCtly, and this is doubtless the cauda
serpentina, denying any such ordinary providence in relation
to the religious state. Moreover, and here the snake's rattle
gives its true warning, God's Providence in the government
of that 'Society which He has wished to be known by the
name of His divine Son and to be one in all things with the
Spouse of Christ, is openly impugned. We are now enabled,
through the kindness of the Reverend .Fathers Assistants
of France and Italy and with the gracious help of Rev. Fr.
de Guilhermy, compiler of the great menology of the Society, to deal with the calumny as it deserves.
First of all then, we find the original version in an addition to what is still the most authentic life of the Saint, by
Fr. d'Aubenton, S. J. (p. 478, edition of Lyons, Fr. Bntyset,
I74z.) "The public has been astonished of late at seeing
in the Gazette d 'Holla11de, that Blessed John Francis Regis
did not die a Jesuit, but vicaire of a village of Provence ....
To put an end to so unjustifiable a charge, I have placed
at the end of the volume the two following documents, for
the sake of those whose good faith has been praB:ised upon."
Here follows a letter of Fr. Ignatius Amoux, ReB:or ofthe
College of Le Puy, to which the Saint was attached at the
time ofhis death, to Fr. John Roulion, ReB:or of the College
of Aubenas, dated Le Puy, January 7th, 1641. "I write
this to inform Your Reverence how God has been pleased
to call to Himself Fr. John Francis Regis, who died at La
(164)
�Calumny, Old and New, & St. John Francis Regis. 165
Louvesc the last day and the last hour of the year just
past." After a detailed and touching account of the labours
of zeal, of the illness and death of the saint, the letter concludes: "Such an end makes me believe he is in heaven;
still, I entreat Your Reverence to have the usual suffrages
offered up for him. After a few days I will write you at
greater length on the wonders of his missions, and the regret he has left behind him." This is little enough consonant with the alleged charge, as is also the second document, an extract from the Register of deaths of La Louvesc,
signed Bayle, cure, in whose house and bed, according to
the entry, "had died Rev. Fr. John Francis Regis, Jesuit of
Le Puy."
In fact, the calumny under its first form seems to have
stopped here, to spring up again in new guise after nearly
two centuries, in minds that, perhaps, were already prepared
for the evil reasonings and conclusions in practice, to which
it naturally leads. Thence it has found access to the unsuspecting, even we are told, in a well-known Italian life of the
Saint, of which we have been unable to learn the name of
the author, but which should certainly be made to stand an
auto da fe, whenever it may be found. As revamped, the
story runs : St. John Francis Regis did not die out of, dismissed from the Society in which he had sanctified himself
and given his life-work to God's glory; but his superiors
knew not how to prize the pearl entrusted to them, and, as
far as they were concerned, had already cast him off, the
letters of dismissal were on the way, and, by no ordinary
providence surely, death came just in time to save both the
Saint's perseverance in his vocation and the credit of those
who held the place of God towards him. Now, will it be
believed that in the life by Fr. d'Aubenton, a book everywhere found, there are original documents amply sufficient
for the refutation of the calumny and that should have
prevented its existence? They are, first (p. 320), a letter,
dated January sth, I64I, in which the Rector of the College
of Le Puy announces to Very Reverend Fr. General, that
Fr. John Francis Regis is dead, worn: out with fatigue, wept
for and regretted by every one, most of all by the country
people to whose salvation he had altogether given himself
up." Second, Very Rev. Fr. General replies February 5th,
of the same year : "I have been greatly moved by the sudden death of Fr. Francis Regis. What consoles me in the
great loss we have undergone, is that his death was as
apostolic as his life and that lze has slzown himself to tlze very
end a worthy clzild of tlte Society; since he has died in the
�166 llfissions by t!te Fat/zers of tlzc Proviuce of 11lissouri.
aa of winning souls, fighting for God's glory against satan
and against sin."
Finally, for fear the calumny should find a last hidingplace in the assumption that, at least, there had been question of a dismissal, Rev. Fr. Boero, who for more than thirty
years has had the care of the archives of the Society, and
knows, none more thoroughly, its inner history, assures
us through Rev. Fr. Rubillon: There is uot a trace of the
dismissal of St. Francis Regis. Some Fathers may have
complained of his manner of preaching, still more of his
ardent zeal: and, indeed, there are instances of holy daring,
to be imitated only by men of like authority and holiness.
But llC"lJer was tftere any question of dismissing !tim from tlze
Society.
··
MISSIONS BY THE FATHERS
OF THE PROVINCE OF MISSOURI.
FR. DAME:'-~ AND CoMPANIO:'-IS,
AuG. 1878-]mm 1879.
Father Damen attended by Frs. Masselis and Zealand
started for St. l\Iary's, Kansas, an old reservation of the
Pottowattomie Indians, where we have a college and parish.
The college was formerly a school for Indians and Half
breeds. The parish numbers two hundred and eighteen
families, and a score or so of Indians. The_thurch is a stone
struCture but recently finished.-Owing 'ta the remarkable
coolness of the weather and moonlight nights, the mission
was well attended by the farmers living in the neighborhood. There were about eight hundred Communions, three
converts, and four adults prepared for first Communion.
On the zd Sunday of the mission a new church bell was
blessed, named after Fr. Gailland, S. ]., the great Indian
m1sswnary. This ceremony was particularly attraCtive to
a number of Indians who had pitched their camp in the
neighborhood of the church during the mission, and who
assisted in this celebration by singing Indian canticles. On
Tuesday after the mission the missionaries paid a visit to
the chief, Ehi, a most edifying Catholic, who resides about
sixty miles from the church, but had come with his whole
family and remained near the church during the mission.
He was the first boy received in our Indian school. He is
called chief by courtesy, is well informed, and aCts as interpreter whenever occasion requires. At present he is a
�11fissions by t!ze Fathers of tlze Province
of Missouri. 167
substantial farmer, most hospitable and charitable: his
home is the asylum of the aged, the poor, and the orphans
of his tribe.
SEPT. 8th, LEAVENWORTH CATHEDRAL, KANSAs.-This
large and beautiful cathedral was built by Fr. Miege, S. J.,
when Leavenworth was a flourishing and growing city; but
now it is too large for the congregation. Leavenworth
numbers seventeen thousand inhabitants of whom three
thousand are English speaking Catholics; six hundred are
Germans, forming a separate congregation. Right Rev.
Bishop Fink, 0. S. B., was absent, during the mission, on a
confirmation tour. The pastor of the congregation is Rev.
James H. Defoury, V. G. Communions seventeen hundred,
fourteen prepared for first Communion, and three converts.
At the close of the mission in the city, the fathers proceeded to fort Leavenworth, a distance of five miles. It is
a military station and prison. There are about four hundred Catholic civilians living on the reserve, employed in
various ways at the fort. Few soldiers were remaining
at the fort, two companies having left for the Northwest
during the preceding week on account of Indian troubles.
The civilians attended well; but of the soldiers comparatively few were present at the sermon~. A lieutenant and
a corporal were received into the Church. The mission
lasted four days. Communions r6o. Monday and Tuesday,
Fr. Zealand was allowed to preach to the prisoners, conducted under guard to a room for that purpose. On Wednesday and Thursday, about seventy listened to Fr. Venneman. He went up to the dormitory and heard their confessions, a task which was not accomplished without some
difficulty. Fifty-two presented themselves. They had to
wait for Communion till Sunday.
SEPT. 22d, MisSION AT ToPEKA, CAPITAL oF KANSAS.This city has about eleven thousand inhabitants, of whom
only the small number of eight hundred are Catholics. Fr.
Cunningham pastor. The missionaries also visited Lawrence, where they had thirty-one Communions, and one
convert.
OcT. 6th, HYDE PARK,-a suburb of Chicago, Fr. Tighe
pastor. Communions three hundred, and one convert.
OcT. 20th, SACRED HEART CHURCH, CmcAGo.-Mission
lasted two weeks, four thousand Communions.
NovEMBER 17th-DECEMBER 4th 1878.-Fr. Damen, assisted by Frs. Niederkorn, Zealand, Hillman, Condon and
Bronsgeest, gave a mission in Hoboken, New Jersey, Fr.
Corrigan pastor, Frs. Burke and Ceci assistants. The
�168 flfissions by tlze Fatltcrs of tlte Provi1Zce of flfi'.ssozm·.
church which had been dedicated to divine service the
Sunday previous, is a fine brick building with stone trimming. In size and architeaure it closely resembles the
Chicago Cathedral. During both weeks the church was
well filled at night. The results of the mission were: Communions fully five thousand; converts four; adults prepared
for first Communion forty-nine. On Monday of the third
week, Rt. Rev. Bishop Corrigan gave Confirmation to three
hundred and fifty-seven persons, one hundred and sixty-one
of whom were adults.-There is in the neighborhood of this
church, a chapel for Ritualists of very advanced tendency.
It is mainly supported by a Mrs. Stephens, who purchased
for it, at a cost ~of $70,000, the beautiful mosaic altar exhibited at the centennial. The preacher or "Father," as he
calls himself, advocates and praaices celibacy, hears confessions, and follows the Roman Ritual very closely. He
seems to be a very honest kind of man. Fr. Ceci who is
\veil acquainted with the leading members of the Ritualist
church, expeas that a great many of them will embrace
the true faith. Recently two prominent young men and a
young lady of that congregation became Catholics in Europe. One of the young men is a novice in Roehampton,
the other~ studies at St. Sulpice, Paris, for the archdiocese
of New York.
DECE:IlBER 8th.-The same Fathers opened a mission in
St. Patrick's Cathedral, N. York. The church was thronged
at every service. Even at 5 A. M. hundreds were standing in the aisles. His Eminence the Gardinal assisted at
the High Mass on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the mission.
Assisted by the V. Rev. V. G. Fr. Quinn, by the curates,
Frs. Kearney, Keane, Moci, and Hogan, and by other
priests, we heard about seven thousand confessions. Twenty
persons were converted and one hundred and thirty-seven
adults prepared for first Communion.
Immediately after renewing their own spirit by an annual
retreat, which the missionaries are accustomed to make
about New Year, Fr. Damen's band went to the State of
Missouri.
CHURCH OF THE ANNUNC1ATIOX, ST. Lours.- Mission
opened Jan. 12th, 1879, lasted until Jan. 21st, Fr. Damen
was assisted by Frs. Niederkorn and Hillman. The attendance was excellent. One thousand five hundred Communions, nine adults, and three children of converts baptized;
thirty Adults prepared for first Communion. At the end
of the mission a leaure was delivered for the benefit of the
�Missions by t!te Fat!ters of tlze Province of Missouri. 169
parochial school. Fr. Brady has charge of the congregation.
ST. JosEPH's CATHEDRAf.:. ST. Jos. Mo.-The mission was
opened on Jan. z6th, by Fr. Damen, accompanied by Frs.
Niederkorn and Hillman. The attendance was large. One
thousand and three hundred Communions, fourteen adults
prepared for first Com 11union, nine converts baptized, three
or four others left under instrud:ion.
Meanwhile, Frs. Zealand and Bronsgeest preached the
Spiritual Exercises to the congregation of Bridgeton, a town
about four miles from the Florissant Novitiate. The church,
a neat brick building, was ered:ed by Fr. Gleisal, S. J. It
wa<> the pastoral residence of Fr. B. Masselis, S. J. Since
our Fathers gave up the charge of the congregation, the
flocks have been very unfortunate in their pastors. They
have had about a dozen priests in that number of years.
The present pa'>tor Fr. Schroder takes up his charge in
good earnest. The weather being inclement and the congregation lukewarm, there was not much of a stir during
the mission. Towards the end however, there was a decided improvement; and many reconciliations with God were
effed:ed. Communions two hun .ired and forty-four. Two
adults prepared for first Communion.
GALESBURG.-Passing by the Novitiate, the same Fathers
went to Galesburg, Ill., Diocese of Peoria, Jan. ·z6-Feb. 4·
Galesburg is a bigoted town. But a few years ago. its municipality excluded Catholics from holding office. No Protestants attended the mission. We thought that this was
owing to the bad location of the church, situated at one end
of the town; but the pastor assured us that it was caused
by anti-Catholic prejudice. Shortly before the mission he
had invited the Bishop of Peoria to give a led:ure. He had
hired the best public hall and advertised well; yet the great
eloquence of the orator did not draw a single Protestant.
For the rest, the mission was a perfe8: success. Its principal feature was the reorganization of a T. A. Society, which
includes almost the whole male population of the parish.
Communions nine hundred and eighty, twenty-one adults
prepared for first Communion. The 7th of February found
the whole band in New York.
CHURCH OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, FEB. 9th-28th.This is one of the largest congregations in New York. It
is dired:ed by Fr. Edwards, pastor, assisted by Frs. Malone,
Mahony, Slattery and Byrne. All these priests, with the
VoL. vm-No. 3·
22
�170
.1.Wissions by tlze Fatlzers of tlzc Province of 11-fi:Ssouri.
exception of the last, are pupils of the New York Jesuit
Fathers. Great attention is paid to the parochial school,
which numbers about two thousand three hundred pupils.
Either the pastor or one of the assistants is constantly about
the school, to catechise, teach or superintend. The mission
was a complete success. The large church could not accommodate .all the men. Rather than disappoint them, the
confessors vacated the chapel on the ground floor of the
schoolhouse, where an audience of about seven hundred assembled to hear Fr. Niederkorn. In the beginning of the
third week we were overcrowded with work. It was deemed
advisable that a_special mission should be preached to the
working boys and girls. Not having room to accommodate
both, Fr. Bronsgeest took the boys to one place, and Fr.
Hillman the girls to another. During the same days Fr.
Zealand gave the Spiritual Exercises to the school children.
We received much assistance in the confessional from the
pastor and his assistants, from Fr. Flynn, a former curate,
now pastor of Langherty, from several Jesuit Fathers, and
secular priests, especially Fr. Hockspril. Communions
twelve thousand two hundred, adults prepared for first
Communion thirty-seven, converts thirteen.
\Ve found reasons to prefer our system of giving the
little mission to the children from the commencement.
The same Fathers gave the mission in the church ofOuR LADY OF MERCY, BROOKLYN.-Fr. Me Namara, pastor, Frs. Gallagher and Donohoe assistants. It commenced
Dom. I. Quadr. and lasted two weeks arid a half, was well
attended, and everything went off orderfy and pleasantly.
We received assistance in the confessional from some of the
secular clergy. Communions seven thousand, converts
twelve, adults etc. forty-two.
HoLY F A!IULY CHURCH, CHICAGO, DoM. IV. Q.-The mission was well attended. Fr. Niederkorn preached at 5 A. M.
Fr. Damen at night, Fr. Bronsgeest at 8.30 A.M. Fr. Zealand
instructed his class of adults. Communions (including
Easter Sunday) twenty thousand, converts six, adults prepared etc., twenty-seven.
During Easter week, the missionaries went east again,
Frs. Damen, Hillman and Bronsgeest to give a mission in
St. Peterst' Jersey City, Frs. Niederkorn and Zealand in
Sangerties, Ulster Co., New York.
SANGERTIES, DoM. I. P. PAscHA.-Fr. O'Flynn, pastor,
Fr. Me Corry assistant. Communions one thousand four
�Missions by t/ze Fatlzers
of the Province of Missouri. I 7 I
hundred and fifty-four, converts seven, adults prepared for
first Communion thirteen.
During the second week the missionaries visited two little
missions atttached to Saugerties : in Clove they had two
hundred Communions, Quarryville, one hundred and eighty.
ST. PETER's, JERSEY CITY, APR. 2oth-MAY 6th, DaM. I.
P. PASCHA.-The mission in St. Peter's was well attended.
Every facility was afforded to the penitents to make their
confession, the Fathers of the College assisting us whenever
their services were needed. Owing to the hospitality and
kindness of Frs. Me Quaid and Kenny, and the charity of
all the members of the community, our stay at St. Peter's
was most agreeable. Communions five thousand nine hundred, converts nine, adults prepared for first Communion
fourteen.
ENGLEWOOD, MAY I rth, DaM. IV. P. PASCHA.-Fr. Damen
was assisted during this mission by Fr. Zealand. Englewood is pleasantly situated on the Hudson River. The
congregation is in charge of the Carmelite Fathers, Father
Smith superior. Communions nearly one thousand.
MAY I Ith-2oth. CHuRCHES OF ST. JAMES AND ST. THoMAs,
NEWARK, DaM. IV. P. PASCHA.-From May I rth-2oth, Frs.
Niederkorn, Hillman and Bronsgeest labored in Newark.
The two latter gave the mission in the church of St. Thomas,
a frame building fitted up some years ago, for the convenience of that portion of St. James' congregation, east of the
Jersey Central R. R. track. The mission was a very fatiguing one, owing to the great distance of the pastoral residence. We were however encouraged by the zeal of the
people who came to Mass, even at 4.30 o'clock, in such
numbers that they filled every seat in the church. Communions nine hundred and sixty, adults prepared for first Communion five, converts two.
f\Ieanwhile Fr. Niederkorn preached the Jubilee to the
female portion of St. James' congregation, reaping a good
harvest of souls. St. James' church is certainly one of the
finest in the country. It is an imposing brown-stone building in Gothic style, and is very massive in all its details.
The altars, the window-frames, and the floor are of marble
and stone. When the spire is completed, it will be, after
the Cathedral of New York, perhaps the finest and best
finished church in the United States. Behind the church
a grand brown-stone building is in course of ereCtion. It
is intended for a hospital. The church was completed and
the hospital built up to the roof by a French priest, who,
�I
72 llfz"ssions by t!te Fatlzers of tlte Proviuce of Mz"ssouri.
besides these grand structures contemplated ereCting a convent of vast dimensions for the Sisters of Charity. He laid
the foundations; but death surprised him before his plans
were carried out, and it is not probable that this building·
will ever be completed.
IMMACULATE CoNCEPTION CHuRcH, N.Y., MAY 2oth-JuNE
I st.-The pastor of this church, Fr. Edwards, for whom we
had given a very successful mission in the Spring, now
wished to avail himself of the services of Fr. Damen and
companions to prepare his people for the Indulgence of the
Jubilee. They commenced on the Feast of the Ascension
and gave two exercises a day till Pentecost. The pastor
and his assistants were assiduous in the confessional. Communions six thousand.
OsAGE MissiON, KANSAS, JuNE 8th.-To conclude the
season, Frs. Damen, Zealand and Niederkorn gave the
Spiritual Exercises to the congregation of St. Francis de
Hieronymo under the charge of our Fathers. They had over
nine hundred Communions. They went also to Parsons, a
growing town and the great railroad centre of Kansas.
Most of the Catholics are laborers in the railroad shops.
Fr. Driessen, S. J., attends to their spiritual wants, every
Sunday. Communions three hundred a·nd eighty.
MISSIONS ON LAKE HURON SHORE, MAY 25th-JUNE lOth.
- Frs. Bouige and Bronsgeest went to revive the religious
spirit in a number of little missions in charge of Fr. Roche
on the Michigan side of Lake Huron .. In Ansable, the
residence of the pastor, they had four hu_ndred and ninety
Communions and about the same number in three little
out-missions, Tawas, Harrisville and Alabaster. Fifteen
adults were prepared for first Communion and two were
received into the Church. One thing remarkable about the
Ansable congregation is that about three fourths of the
English speaking part of it are Scotch Catholics. It is the·
largest settlement of Scotch Catholics in this part of the
world. They came from the Highlands; lived for a while
in Glengarry, Canada, and then moved to Michigan. Their
mother tongue is Gaelic, but all, however, speak English. They are very staunch in the faith, very religiously
inclined, moral, industrious, and contribute liberally to the
support of the church and the priest.
Sum total of Communions 86,600; converts I66; adults
prepared for first Communion 654.
�1
...
OBITUARY.
FATHER JOSEPH B. O'HAGAN.
"Father O'Hagan di'ed of Apoplexy at sea, Dec. I5th, and
was buried at Acapulco, Dec. I9tlz. He received Extreme
Unflion."
Since the memorable day ten years before when word
came across the ocean that a beloved member of the Province, Fr. Joseph O'Callaghan, had perished at sea, no shock
so great had fallen on the homes of the Maryland Province
as struck them when the above telegram was received on
the 28th of December last. But a month had passed from
the day on which, in company with a dear friend, Fr. O'Hagan had sailed from the port of New York, for a journey
by sea to California; and only the day previous to the receipt of the telegram, letters had come to friends giving
encouragement to hopes entertained by them of his restoration to perfeCt health.
Early in the Spring of 1878 there began to spread rumors
that Fr. O'Hagan was breaking down, and some anxiety
on this account was aroused ; but as the year grew apace
and no development of serious disease took place, all fears
in his regard were allayed. During the summer, he submitted to medical examination both at home and in the
Provinces, whither he had gone to recruit, and the verdiCt
of the physicians removed every vestige of uneasiness, for .
they declared his organic condition to be sound, and himself in need of rest only to build up anew his strength. To
further this objeCt, a sea-trip and a sojourn for the winter
months in the milder climate of California were ordered;
and in obedience to direCtions given by superiors, in pursuance of this recommendation, Fr. O'Hagan sailed from New
York on the last day~ of November. What followed, up to
the moment of his sudden death and to his temporary interment at Acapulco, cannot be better told then by inserting
here the account of the sad issue transmitted to the Provincial by Fr. Healy, the companion of the deceased's last
hours."When I mailed my last from Aspinwall, I little thought
( 173)
�174
Fatlzer Joseplz B. 0 'Haga11.
of what was preparing for us. If I mistake not, my letter
was dated the 9th Dec. Father O'H. moved about with difficulty, yet was able to hold his own. His stomach had
been very delicate and we taxed our brains to know how to
please it. \Ve had to trust to instinCt:, because medical advice was of little avail. That evening a fearful storm arose,
and about ten o'clock, it became evident that we should
have to slip our moorings and run out to sea. Father
O'H. and I were discussing the question of going ashore
and roughing it. There is no decent hotel in the place, and
the rain was pouring down in torrents. He could not walk
any distance, and in case we went ashore would have to be
carried. I determined to remain aboard rather than risk
the drenching and the inconveniences of a leaky room.
Providence soon made my decision inevitable. The gangway went plunging into the boiling sea. Our ropes were
cut, and by good luck we escaped from the imminent danger
of being dashed to pieces against the bow of a steamer lying
near us. For two days we were obliged to sail up and
down the coast, outside the harbor, and there were few who
did not succumb to the influence of the ship's motion. On
Thursday night we again entered the roadstead and cast
anchor. fr. O'Hagan's strength was much reduced by this
strain, and that night I noticed that he could not walk
without being supported. No wonder, for he could retain
nothing in his stomach.
"Friday morning, the I 3th, we had him carried to the
cars and we began the rough transit acrpss the isthmus.
He bore up very well, and seemed to take an interest in the
scenes through which we were passing, although his dimmed
eye-sight robbed him of the pleasure of seeing things at a
distance. \Ve left Aspinwall at I 2 111. and reached Panama
at three o'clock. I had him carried to the lighter and his
exhausted condition gave me my first serious uneasiness.
"The doCtor of the vessel reassured me, and said that I
was unnecessarily alarmed: that if he could retain his food,
he could be easily brought out again. I spent most of the
night with him and the next morning his appetite was found
reviving. He took his food with relish and drank some
madeira wine at regular intervals. On Saturday noon we
found his chest somewhat congested on one side, the effeCt:
of a cold caught in the transit of the isthmus. This was
remedied and I asked to have an opiate given to ensure
sleep. He passed a quiet night, though he did not sleep
much. His appetite continued good throughout the day
�..
Father Joseplz B. 0 'Hagan.
175
as well as on the morrow. Another opiate was administered
on Sunday afternoon, and after givin~him his broth I went
down to dinner towards six o'clock. Returning, I found
him asleep. A little restlessness recalled me, and at first he
spoke of his back, then said that he was not suffering at all.
He composed himself to sleep and I went on deck to get
a little fresh air, as we were yet on the hot belt.
"I had been away about twenty minutes and Col. F. and
I were speaking of the improvement in his condition, when
the watch came to tell me that his breathing had undergone
a notable change. vVe ran ·down. The blow had been
struck during his sleep. The doctor said that he was sinking, and his face showed that apolexy had come unexpeCledly. I gave him Extreme UnClion and the absolution and
had hardly finished when he was no more.
"Neither he nor I, nor in fact any one, had dreamed of so
sudden a.n end. \Ve had never spoken of the eventuality,
and it was only when feeling depressed that he would sometimes express a doubt about his reaching San Francisco.
On the way over the isthmus, he had told me of the seat he
wanted at table, and had previously spoken of going to some
springs in California in case Dr. B. and others approved of
it. He died about 8.30 P. M. on Sunday, Dec. I 5th, off the
coast of Nicaragua, Lat. 10° 29', Long. 86° 46'.
"The suddenness of his death sent a chill through the
vessel. Nearly every one knew him, and, as usual, loved
him, and were anxious to show their sympathy for him.
All music and revelry stopped at once, and many and heartfelt were the words of comfort and praise spoken by all.
The officers of the ship were extremely kind from the time
we embarked, and after his death were very prompt in offering every aid that they could extend.
"I had his body embalmed and, as Acapulco was three
days off, resolved to bury him there in the Catholic cemetery. Captain C. was willing to take the remains to San
Francisco, and thither I should have preferred to transport
them, but I thought it asking too much to keep the gloom
of his death over the passengers for two weeks more. After
embalming the body, the coffin was draped in the American
flag, under which he had so long and so faithfully served,
and so remained until we reached Acapulco."
Thus was ended a life which had been spent in the service
of God, and though the summons came unexpectedly they
did not find the priest of God unprepared.
Fr. Joseph B. O'Hagan was born in the pat:ish of Clogher,
�Father Joseph B. 0 'Hagan.
County Tyrone, Ireland, on the feast of Our Lady's Assumption, 1826. In' early youth he emigrated to Nova
Scotia where his brother resided, and there he prosecuted
his classical studies until the call to embrace the ecclesiastical state became too pronounced for him longer to doubt
the designs that God had over his life. He was readily admitted into the Seminary by Abp. \Valsh of Halifax, whose
personal friendship as well as fatherly solicitude it was his
privilege to enjoy. Before completing the course of studies
preparatory to ordination, Fr. O'Hagan, in the summer of
1847, met in Boston the venerable Fr. Me Elroy, who was
then beginning in that city the great work, that is now represented by the..flourishing condition of our Society within
its limits. To the young Seminarian the result of this meeting was his reception into the Society and his entrance into
the Novitiate in December 1847··
It is scarcely necessary in so imperfeCt: a sketch as this
must by force of circumstances prove to be, to enter with
detail into the occupation of the deceased during his religious life of thirty-one years. Having passed through the
noviceship, in which his unfailing cheerfulness, bright wit
and affeCtionate disposition made him a favorite with his
young companions and endeared him to superiors as a subjeCt: of much promise, he took up the usual studies of Rhetoric and Philosophy, and in 1852 began his work as teacher
in the old Seminary in 'Washington. For two years, from
1855 to 57 his labors were transferred to Georgetown College. In the fall of the latter year he was' direB:ed to begin
his studies of Theology ; and after two years was ordered
to Belgium, whither superiors were glad to send him, because of the greater facilities there enjoyed at the time for
the prosecution of all higher studies.
There he was ordained; and he returned to the United
States just in time to witness the outbreak of the civil war,
that was to deluge in blood, for four long years, one half
the country, and to entail on the entire nation a legacy of
moral evils more deplorable than the slaughter of men or
the destruCtion of cities; By the wise choice of our lamented
Fr. Paresce, who was then Provincial, Fr. O'Hagan was
appointed a chaplain in the Northern army, and he served
at this post until Sept. '63. when he was ordered to Frederick
for the thiro year of Probation. While stationed at Georgetown in the Scholastic year of 64-65, he was again direB:ed
to join the army before Richmond, and he accompanied it
in its viCtorious march to Richmond and up to the closing
�Fatlzer joseplt B. O'Hagan.
I77
s::ene at Appomattox C. H. where Lee gave up his sword.
From the close of the war up to I 872, his labors where
chiefly at St. i\'lary's anj the Immaculate Conception in
Boston. In July of t!1at year he succeeded Fr. Ciampi as
President of Holy Cross College, and was at the head of
this institution when summoned away to his death.
This skeleton of dates is the framework of a life that gave
full years of loyal s<.:rvice to God as a devout religious and
a zealous priest. During that period of his career in the
Society, which w,ts d~voted to the work of the school-room,
Fr. O'Hagan gained no mean repute as a teacher. An ever
ready, flowing wit, a lively imagination, and a clearly defined
poetic vein in his nature. supplemented an easy familiarity
with the classics and a keen appreciation of their beauties.
l\Ioreover his impulsive, energetic disposition was quick to
excite inl;t!rest in the minds of his pupils, who followed his
instruCtions easily, and, in conquering difficulties, caught
something of their master's enthusiasm. His influence in
developing not only the mental but the moral faculties of
his scholars should not be underrated, and of his force in
this direCtion those are the best witnesses, who benefited most
largely by it. In the study of Philosophy and Theology,
prosecuted for a measure in the greater schools of Belgium,
where iarger numbers made competition more aCtive and
rendered distinCtion less easily attainable, Fr. O'Hagan's
talents met with full recognition; and .in due time he was
admitted to the solemn profession of the four vows.
But it was eminently in the labors of the ministry that
the true charaCter of the man took shape and manifested
its strength. Long years before the desire of his youth
was realized by the reception of Holy Orders, the writer
remembers to have been impressed by the deep sensitive
and enthusiastic appreciation, displayed by this aspirant to
priesthood, for the sacred charaCter that clothes him, who
like Aaron, takes not this honor on himself, but is called of
God. His warm, loving nature admirably fitted him to
carry out the mission of the Great Priest, who went about
doing good to all; and it was only necessary to accompany
Fr. 0' Hagan on his visits to the poor of the large city parish
in which he served, to recognize that his heart was great
enough to compass the sufferings and the sorrows that fall
so largely to the portion.of God's poor, and that the balm
he so kindly poured into their wounds had in it the efficacy
that bespoke the supernatural source whence it flowed.
I
..
VoL. vur-No. 3·
23
�Fatlzer joseplz B. O'Hagan.
His presence fell like a light across the threshold of every
door that he entered; and the gladness that brightened the
faces of his hearers when fell from him words of comfort
and counsel, intermingled with the playful jest and the
flashes of wit which they knew so well how to appreciate,
showed that he was welcomed as Father and Friend.
For evidence of his zeal for souls, it is not necessary to
go beyond the first mission assigned him as a priest, his
appointment to the chaplaincy of the Excelsior Brigade of
New York, constituting in 1861, a portion of the Army of
the Potomac. under Genl. Me Clellan. How trying an experience this was for any priest, but especially for one who
had just emerged from the seclusion of the leB:ure-hall,
and how successfully Fr. O'Hagan stood the crucial test to
which h~ was exposed therein, may be deduced from letters
written at the time by himself to friends in the Society.
After his presentation to his regiment, he writes : "Such
a col!eB:ion of men, I think, was never before united in one
body since the flood. Most of them were the scum of New
York society, reeking with vice and spreading a moral malaria around them. Some had been serving terms of penal
servitude on Blackwell's Island at the outbreak of the war,
but were released on condition of enlisting in the army of
the Union, and had gladly accepted the alternative. About
half the regiment, perhaps two thirds, called themselves
Catholics, but all the Catholicity they had was the faith infused into their souls by baptism. The majority of these
so-called Catholics were the children of Irish parents, whom
the misfortunes and vicious habits of the'se same parents
had cast upon the streets of New York, and who, abandoned
by their natural proteCtors, had grown up pests to society.
Fighting was their normal condition, and when they could
not meet the common enemy, they 'kept their hand in' by
daily skirmishes among themselves. A few weeks before
I joined them, they had held an eleB:ion for chaplain : over
four hundred voted for a Catholic priest; one hundred and
fifty-four, for any kind of a Protestant minister; eleven, for
a Mormon elder; and the rest said that they could go to
hell without the assistance of the clergy. The officers, with
some noble exceptions, were worthy of their men .... I returned to the tent assigned me, and never in my whole life ..
in sickness 'or in health, have I suffered so much as I did
on that day in half an hour. What an apostolic priest I
was, ready to cry like a home-sick girl, because I had not
�Fatlter Joseplz B. 0 'Hagan.
179
found every rough soldier a cultivated gentleman and a
perfect Christian ! "
But time and Fr. O'Hagan's untiring labors wrought a
~ratifying change. L<lter in the same year he writes : "The
men, being removed from the city and not having the facilities for dissipation at hand, settled down into comparatively
decent fellows. I had a neat chapel built and I prepared
quite a large number of young men for their first Confession
and Communion. They became attentive to their religious
duties and I had as much to do in the ten regiments of the
division as I could well look to. My work, though hard,
became a labor of love."
Such were the duties and the rewards of missionary life
in the camp. On the battle-field the dangers were not greater than the urgency of demand for the aid that the Catholic
priest alone may give, and Fr. O'Hagan did not fear the
one in extending the other. One of the most sanguinary
of the earlier engagements of the war was the battle of vVilliamsburg, Va., and on that field Fr. O'Hagan mingled in
the thickest of the fight to aid the dying and wounded. The
miraculous escapes from death on that occasion he dwells
on gratefully though lightly in his correspondence, and the
instances of manifest dispensations of God's mercy to many
a soldier who then fell, light up the pages of his letters with
very fervid thanks. He thus describes the entrance of his
own regiment into action: "May 5th, 1862, my men were
drawn up in line of battle, just ready to go to the front, to
relieve the regiments that had been engaged since day-light,
and had suffered severely. The roaring of hundreds of
pieces of artillery, and the sharp, crackling sound of musketry were deafening. The rain was pouring down in unbroken streams. The mangled remains of soldiers of ·the
other regiments were carried past in quick succession. The
groans of the wounded were heart-rending. Now a shell
burst in our immediate vicinity, killing a few men and
horses ; again a shower of grape-shot rattled in the trees
above us. In obedience to my orders all the Catholic soldiers in the regiment, not one excepted, advanced two paces,
knelt down in the mud, repeated aloud an act of contrition,
and I pronounced the formula of absolution. All those who
were not Catholics uncovered their heads and seemed awestruck at the solemnity of the scene. I heard, about a year
afterwards, a Protestant officer telling another, that of all
the religious ceremonies he had ever witnessed, no one had
�180
Fatlzer Joseplt B. 0 'Hagan.
made so lasting an impression on his mind as that aCt: of
absolution. A religion that could produce such effect must
be divine, he said; and yet he did not become a Catholic.
\Vithin half an hour many of the men who thus knelt for
absolution were in eternity. In killed and wounded our
loss on that day was about five hundred."
Such was the life of Fr. O'Hagan during his service in
the army; and through all the fights of the seven days
around Richmond, during which he was taken prisoner and
carried to the Confederate capital, at Fredericksburg and on
the terrible field of Gettysburg, his devotion as a priest and
his heroism as a soldier were taxed to their utmost limit.
On the field an{ in the hospital, in camp and on the march,
he was energetic, earnest and untiring in bearing comfort
to the wounded and the sick and the dying: and with that
instinct, which in moments of supreme danger transcends
the slower process of reason and is often a surer guide for
action, men committed to his ear not merely the secrets of
their souls, but those sacred confidences, which, thus entrusted, made less terrio\e. the approach of death, and which,
when surrendered hy him in some instance after journeyings
of many hundreds of miles for the purpose, to those for
whom they were meant, gave the one Sl)\ace to the sorrowing hearfs which they were to know through what remained
to them of life. Of the good odor of Christ left amongst
the soldiers of the army by our dear Father in those years
of hard service, no fitter testimony can close our remarks on
this subject than the following letter Ql the Rev. Joseph
H. Twichell, a Congregationalist minister of Hartford
Conn:"Fr. O'Hagan had been for seventeen years one of my
dearest friends, and this sudden intelligence of his untimely
decease-for he was in the prime of life-has touched me
with profound sorrow. Our friendship was formed under
circumstances in the highest degree favorable to its intimacy
and our mutual enjoyment in it. \Ve were chaplains in the
same brigade of the army of the Potomac, and for the space
of two years worked together side by side, and to some
considerable extent hand in hand. For whole months we
were daily companions. and we often slept under the same
blanket. As Christian ministers we were continually thrown
together in scenes that had the effect to make us forgetful
of our differences in religion and mindful only of our sympathies.
�Fatlzer 7osep!t B. O'Hagan.
"He was one of the best and kindliest of men, and one of
the most delightful of comrades. He had a bright, happy
wit; no discomforts could overcome his cheerful temper,
and his generosity was boundless. His society was ever
an unfailing antidote alike to the tedium of the camp and
the hardship of the field.
His devotion to duty was unflagging, and bore him
through great fatigues, not infrequently into great perils.
He was as brave as he was tender-he:1rted and faithful. I
never saw any reason to doubt, on the contrary, I saw every
reason to believe, that the motive of his earnestness was his
desire to serve God.
Fr. O'Hagan exercised a strong, good influence among
the soldiers, especially those of his own faith, and he was
widely known and much respeCted throughout the army.
His abilities and acquirements were of a high order. He
was an accomplished scholar. Before the war he had been
a member of the faculty of Georgetown College. There
are many who will recall his eloquent address before the
Irish Brigade on St. Patrick's day, r 863.
"But, now that he is gone, it is most pleasing to dwell
upon those private virtues which endeared him in personal
relations, and which won from me an affeCtion which the
flight of years has had no power to alter or abate.
"He has occasionally been at my fireside here in Hartford,
always bringing with him the same genial spirit of good
fellowship and gooJ will that beguiled so many hours,
otherwise uncheered, in the old never to-be-forgotten days,
now left so (·u behind. \Vhat days they were! The sad
news of his death brings them all back, in a flood of memories with the most imperishable of which he is associated.
He was a good man and worthy to be lamented. It gives
me a mournful pleasure to speak of him thus, and to testify
to the admiration and esteem in which I held him-to the
love I bore him and bear him still. The grave in which he
lies buried at Acapulco, Mexico, is the grave of a patriot, a
gentleman and true friend and a sincere Christian."
Of Fr. O'Hagan's power in the pulpit it may be said, that
fervor of thought and utterance, earnestness of manner and
sincerity of motive gave to his words ..an efficacy which
great originality of ideas, higher efforts of eloquence and
more elaborate language might have lacked. His enthusiastic, generous nature was manifest in all that he said,
and there was a personal magnetism about him that always
�182
Fatlzer Yoseplt B. 0 'Hagau.
carries with it men's assent. For proof of his administrative ability, sufficient are the years of his Presidency of Holy
Cross College: and the work there accomplished by him
in the betterment of the course of studies and in the magnificent material improvements that adorn the institution
fully justifies the choice of superiors when they assigned
him to the post.
~o one could be for any time in Fr. O'Hagan's company
without coming under the influence of the open-hearted,
loving nature that swayed him. Impulsive he was, but his
impulses were generous. He was keen-sighted to detect
what was good in every one and prompt to acknowledge
and commend the same. \Vords of praise for those even
who but little merited them were ever in his mouth; and
although his quick wit would occasionally have play upon
the foibles of men and the ludicrous phases of their character, it was never exercised in an unkindly spirit, and was
invariably softened by words of commendation for what
was of worth in them. No man ever had more numerous
or more devoted friends than Fr. O'Hagan, and, in knitting
them to him, he had a guiding motive in the injunction of
St. Paul to make himself all things to all men, in order to
gain all to Christ. In the rugged heart of the common
soldier with whom he bore privation and faced danger, Fr.
O'Hagan won love and esteem that outlived the trying
times that gave the sentiment birth: very dear did his
sympathy and almost womanly kindness render him to the
widows and orphans of those whose dying jnoments he had
soothed on field and in hospital; and 'in· many a home
throughout the North when news of his death reached it,
memories were stirred and, as one newspaper remarked,
"many there were to express deep sorrow when they realized that so brave a man and so good a friend had passed
away." Such was the feeling wherever he had for any
time resided or had found any occasion to make acquaintances. During his administration, Holy Cross College
was hospitably open to friend and to stranger, to priest and
to layman; particularly for the former students of the institution who had entered the ministry, was the door kept
ajar and within a hearty welcome prepared. As one of them
remarked, when many had gathered for the funeral services,
"in Fr. O'Hagan we found whenever we returned to Alma
Mater a father to welcome and a wise counsellor to advise
us. "
�Fat!ter Tlzomas ilk Donouglz.
The friendships that had brightened his life followed him
to his far off resting-place on the Mexican coast; and by
permission of Rev. Fr. Provincial, his mortal remains were
disinterred and, after many vexatious delays and puerile
objections on the part of the government of Mexico, transferred to San Francisco, where, in the church of the Society,
his devoted friend and the companio•1 of that last voyage
that was cut short by death offered the Holy Sacrifice for
his soul's eternal repose. Thence the body was transported
overland to \Vorcester, where it was finally laid to rest
beneath the shadow of the beautiful chapel which he had
left to be his monument. Thither the regrets and the prayers of many devoted hearts have followed him; and, we
may hope, have won for him, in consideration of the many
worthy deeds done in the flesh, which this huried sketch
has failed to record with merited praise, the judgment from
divine lips that all must pray to have"\Vell done thou good and faithful servant. .. enter thou
into the joys of Thy Lord."
FATHER THOl\IAS Me DONOUGH.
To another member of the Marvland Province, did the
Lord extend His invitation, "Ent~r thou into My rest."
Nor was there murmur or delay; Fr. Thomas McDonough
was ready for the" happy summons. The days of his youth
spent in innocence and piety, the years of his manhood
passed in the practice of religious perfection, his last morning on earth hallowed by the Sacraments-these were his
sufficient preparation. He was called to his rest in the midst
of his work, and quietly and hopefully exchanged the burden of office laid upon him by obedience, for its sure reward
in heaven.
A relative of the deceased has furnished us with thes~
details of his early life, which his modesty had kept in reticence. He was born on the I rth of March, 1830, in the
town of Dingle, Kerry Co., Ireland. After finishing his
studies in a private boarding-school at Banaher, he returned
to his native place where he made a course of medicine
under a surgeon and apothecary-branches of the profession
then taught together. He obtained his degree in Dublin.
�Father Thomas life Donouglz.
In 1848, he came to this country, entered a pharmacy in
Brookline, and later on, in Boston, and was fairly started
on the road that would have brought him, like many another clever young immigrant, to wealth, and prosperity.
A visit to \Vorcester gave him his right vocation. There
he met his uncle, the lamented Fr. Patrick Forhan, a man
of fine scholarship, who had been received into the Society
and was then employed as a secular teacher at Holy Cross
College.
The example of his senior relative was too strong to be
resisted by an heroic soul like his, and carried him along as
a companion to the novitiate in rSso. Under the favorable
influences of Frederick, he planted the seeds of a virtue
which uninjured by the different atmospheres by which he
was surrounded in his after life, attained a rich and stately
growth. He was preeminently humble; he was modest to
self-effacement. His noviceship over, he entered with alacrity upon the Jesuit routine of duties as teacher and prefeCt.
Loyola College, then in her infancy, witnessed his first fervor
in the class-room; Georgetown counted him in her staff
and saw him manage her small boys; Holy Cross had the
benefit of his mature experience in upholding discipline in
yard and dormitory. Then followed the studies of preparation for Holy Orders, which he was fortunate enough to
make in the Boston Scholasticate. His previous success
in letters and his excelient natural talent for the sciences
would have left him no laggard in the unfLbridged course,
had not his head refused the strain of the.s~ven long years.
After his ordination he was installed as Minister at Fred·
erick, and in 1865 adn;itted to his last vows. Such was
the trust reposed in him by his superiors, that when illhealth compelled the Ret1or, Fr. O'Callaghan-whose untimely fate still casts a gloom over the anniversary of St.
Agnes-to remain away from his charge for the space of
several years, the Minister was considered fully competent
to aCt: as head of the house. A brief respite from the trials
and troubles of this funCtion, was affi)rded him in the more
congenial labors of a parish. Here would his post have
been, had his natural inclination left him in control of the
helm; but of this he had made unconditional surrender to
his superior.: Accordingly, when Rev. Fr. Provincial was
in search of the ability, the taCt, and above all, the spirit of
self-sacrifice that make up the Minister of an important establishment, he discovered these qualifications in him, and
�Father Thomas Me Do11ouglt.
turned his course back into the breakers-into Woodstock
College.-For eight years he discharged the duties of his
arduous office with a devotion that will long remain unrivalled in our annals. He held his position with a watchful
eye for the maintenance of religious discipline, and yet with
a considerate attention to the peculiarities of charaCter, formation or nationality ; he saw through men and things with
a clear, praCtical penetration, yet was not hardened by the
view, but ever wore a gentle heart for those in trouble real
or imaginary; he disposed of all with foresight and pru-dence and wisdom. A true servant of his community, he
kept no office hours, but was always ready to supply each
want, no matter how trivial ; a careful procurator, he enhanced by the generosity of his disposition what poverty
forced him to give with economical hand. His patience
only took a brighter polish under the attrition that is inevitable in the ministership; his charity was not limited to
Ours but went forth into the neighborhood, and the many
tears of gratitude for assistance in sickness and sorrow that
were shed over his grave, attest his thoughtful sympathy.
The amount of business which his office entailed, had for
several years back made more formidable inroads on his
already shattered constitution. Violent headaches recurring
at short intervals, called for relief from his labors. Who
was sadder than Fr. Provincial when he found that death
had outstripped him in sending the longed-for boon? On
the morning of the I 2th of March, Fr. Me Donough had
just finished his Mass, and was moving through the gate of
the sanCtuary, when he suddenly reeled and would have
fallen but for the prompt support of some scholastics. This
was his first stroke of paralysis. He, however, mistook the
symptoms and was inclined to attribute the attack of weakness to a slight derangement of his stomach. On Saturday,
the fourth day after the stroke, his physicians advised his
removal to a more secluded room, and continued to watch
him with anxiety. He now began to suspeCt that his condition was critical; made inquiries to that effeCt, but, of
course, received an evasive and palliative answer. That
night he sent away his attendant, and on Sunday morning
at three o'clock got up to take his medicine, and reported
himself much better at six. This was so like him; he was
ever careful to give no trouble. Shortly after came the
second stroke. When Fr. ReCtor accompanied by the hastily summoned community, arrived at his bedside at a quarVoL. VIII-No. 3·
24
�186
Fatlzer Angelo JJJ. Paresce.
ter past seven, to administer the last Sacraments, he was
conscious, indeed, but deprived of the use of his entire right
side. For about an hour longer, he continued to recognize.
those that stood around him with looks of sympathy, or.
knelt by him for a charitable prayer; then dropped off into
a wmatose state and so passed beyond the hopeful borders
of recovery.
He who had assisted with ministration of comfort at
many a last hour, was not doomed to spend his in utter
desolation. At half-past eight of that Sunday night the
16th of March, a hurried word came from the sick chamber
that all was over, and the tolling bell immediately hushed
recreation and~~tarted the De profimdis. The signal was
premature; but, fortunate accident! it assembled the whole
community around the bed of the dying Father, and brought
it to pass that amidst the sacred sounds of the last prayers
and the solemn scene of the kneeling brethren, he should
go over to his eternal rest. His death followed closely
upon his forty-ninth birth day. A longer career might
have been desired for him, but not a nobler. For, Fr. Me
Dono ugh lived and died a viCtim of that hearty and heroic
devotion to duty which gives a flush of the sublime to brave
spirits in the world, and in religion sheds upon them the
radiance ~of martyrdom.
- -·
FATHER ANGELO M. PARESCE.
Angelo M. Paresce was born in Naples, on the 3d of
June, 18 I 7· As a child he was remarkable for the sweetness of his disposition, and the generous affeCtion which he
evinced towards the members of his little household. To
them, in turn, he was very dear; and indeed, not only to
them, but to all with whom he came in contact: so that
his playfellows were wont to say that he was by nature as
well as by name, an angel. At the age of five, he began to
go to school, and in his eight year, he made, with sentiments of tender piety, his first Communion. Two years
later he entered on the classical course in the college of the
Society in Naples. His application would have ensured
distinCtion to students far less gifted than himself; and
while, among the thousand scholars who attended the col-
�Fatlzer Auge!o 111. Paresce.
lege, he was preeminent in good qualities of mind and heart,
he gained, by his rare modesty, the good-will of those whom
his superiority might otherwise have rendered unfriendly.
After spending five years at the college, the young Paresce
sought admittance into the Society of Jesus. The Provincial, Fr. Ferrari, readily consented to receive him, but at
home the desired permission was not so easily obtained;
Angelo's father had recognized the ability of his son, for
whom, with a father's pride, he had marked out a brilliant
career in the world. These hopes, he thought, could not
be reali1.ed. were his son to become a religious. Moreover
his own advanced age, and failing strength, made him unwilling to part with one whose presence was a support and
consolation ; but the mother helped her child, and a mother's prayers are strong. The father yielded.
The young student entered the Novitiate in Naples, on
the 16th of Sept., 1833; he was at this time in his seventeenth year. The Master of Novices was Fr. Tessandori, a
man of consummate virtue, who for many years filled this
responsible post, and sent forth able workmen into the vineyard. Under the guidance of so skilful a direCtor, the
young novice advanced rapidly in the acquisition of solid
virtue. In this early stage of his religious life, he began to
show that singular charity towards the sick which was so
remarkable a trait of his riper years. On learning of the
illness of a companion, he would hasten to beg of the Superior permission to attend the sufferer; and this labor of
love he would fulfil with admirable prudence and humility.
A fellow-novice still gratefully remembers how, during a
dangerous sickness, Br. Paresce remained for thirty long
hours by his bedside; anticipating with loving solicitude
every need, and taking no rest until his brother's life was
out of danger.
After taking his first vows, Br. Paresce began, in the Juniorate, the study of Rhetoric. About this time appeared
the first symptoms of that heart-disease, which, for many
years, occasioned him much suffering, and which was, in
the end, the cause of his death. Two years of Rhetoric
were followed by three of Philosophy, in Naples. The fervor and piety which had marked his life as a novice, the
young scholastic preserved and increased. In spite of almost
constant ill-health, he was very successful in his studies,
especially in the natural sciences, for which he showed peculiar aptitude. On the completion of his course of Phil-
I
�188
Fat/ur Auge!o .M. Parcscc.
osophy, Br. Paresce, now in his 24th year, was appointed
professor of Mathematics and Physics at the college of Benevento. Four years were passed by him in this college.
His scholars made rapid progress under his zealous and
prudent care, while the community was edified by his exactness, tempered and made lovable by the charity which
was its source. Deterred from much theoretical study by
ill-health, he spent some hours daily in the cabinet of Physics, either adding to it by his own work, or skilfully directing the work of others. \Vith a small outlay he doubled,
in the space of four years, the number of machines and instruments in the cabinet. His influence was not confined to
the College : Jie was highly esteemed by the citizens· of
Benevento, who, many years after his departure for America,
spoke of him in terms of affectionate regret. In 1845, Fr.
Ryder visited Italy to gather volunteers for the Province
of Maryland. Br. Paresce offered himself. His Superiors
were loath to part with so useful a subject; but the health
of the young scholastic still continuing poor, and the physicians judging that a sea·voyage would prove beneficial,
he at length obtained permission to 1\ccompany Fr. Ryder
to the United States. The voyage had the desired effect;
the health of Br. Paresce was greatly improved.
At Georgetown, his first home in this country, he applied
himself to the study of Theology, and in 1848 he was ordained priest. For about two years after this time he held
the office of Minister, at Georgetown ; then, in I 8 50-5 I. he
made his Tertianship at the Novitiate i!!-·Frederick. Of this
house he was appointed Rector, on the 2'3d of l\1ay, 185 I;
the duties of Master of Novices were at the same time combined with those of Rector. Fr. Paresce had now almost
completed his 34th year. In this country, as in Italy, the
sick were to him an object of special solicitude. By young
persons he was regarded with peculiar affection, and, from
the first, he exerted over them a powerful influence. Those
whose happiness it was to pass their noviceship under his
direction, know, in part, how admirably he fulfilled the duties of his double charge. Fathers, now growing gray in
service, cannot speak of their old Master without tears; it
is the heart's tribute, more eloquent than words.
In 1853, Fr. Roothan died; and Fr. Paresce, with Fr.
Ryder, went to Rome to take part in the election of a new
General. On his return, Fr. Paresce resumed his work at
the Novitiate, where he remained until, on the 19th of Apr.,
�J
Fatlzer Angelo M Paresce.
189
186 I, he was made Provincial of the Province of Maryland.
It was a critical period: the country was just entering on a
great war; a part of the Province was occupied by the hostile armies. There were difficulties from within and from
without; but Fr. Paresce was equal to the task assigned to
him. No obstacle daunted him. He never undertook
anything hastily; but, once his resolution was formed, once
a work begun, he carried it through with a constancy which
nothing could shake. He was a man of prayer; and, while
straining every nerve in manly endeavor, he looked to God
for the increase. · He put his hand to no work that was not
for God, and to Him he left results; success or failure found
him always the sJ.me. The respect which his virtues and
talents inspired was not confined to the Society which called
him her son : the secular clergy were won by his amiable
manners, and reposed confidence in his wisdom. At the
Baltimore Council, in I 866, the soundness of his judgment,
and the prudence and humility which marked his conduct,
gained for him the esteem of the prelates there assembled,
and the lasting gratitude of Religious Orders and Congregations.
To Fr. Paresce we owe our noble Scholasticate of Woodstock. He saw the need of a suitable edifice, and from the
fir~t days of his Provincialship, he entertained the idea of
supplying this need. At the end of the war, in 1865, the
College of the Sacred Heart at Woodstock was begun.
The work was carried on with energy, and in I86g was
completed. The College was opened on the 21st of Sept.,
I86g, and Fr. Paresce, now freed from the duties of Provincial, was appointed first Rector of the house which owed to
him its existence. It was no easy task to set so extensive
a scholasticate in running order; but it prospered under
the gentle yet firm rule of Fr. Paresce. As Superior, he
evinced a marvellous tact in dealing with those under him;
and this same tact characterized his intercourse with seculars. His government, while broad and comprehensive in
its scope, did not neglect details; we have an instance of
his foresight in the library of Woodstock, for which Fr.
Paresce with careful discrimination gathered together a large
number of precious works. He was eminently thorough
in what he did ; and the additional exertion which · this
thoroughness called forth helped much to break down a
constitution delicate at the best.
At last his weak frame was no longer able to bear the
�190 Decretum Divisionis Neo-Eboracensis & Cauadensis.
pressure which his untiring energy put upon it: in the early
autumn of I 87 5 he was prostrated by a stroke of paralysis.
Relieved now of the cares of the ReB:orship, he took that
rest, and change of air, so long needed; but he had' already
spent himself in the service of his Master. He partially
recovered indeed, but the old strc1:gth never came back.
Three years before his death he went to Europe; the trip
did him good, but there was no lasting improvement. In
sickness no less than in health, Fr. Paresce showed himself
a man of exalted virtue. No complaint_ ever passed his
lips; he bore with unchanging patience an inaB:ivity which,
to one of his temperament, must have been irksome in the
extreme. He made daily preparation for a death which,
from the nature of his sickness, he had reason to believe
would be a sudden one; and when he felt that his last hour
was nigh, he awaited its approach with the calmness of a
man at peace with his God. On the evening of Tuesday
in Holy \Veek, Apr. 8th, 1879, Fr. Paresce was found unconscious in his room at vVoodstock. After some hours
he rallied, slept during the night, and the next morning
seemed better; but about noon, without warning, the final
stroke came,-in a few moments he was dead.
Thus, in the 62nd year of his age, died Angelo Maria
Paresce, a-man whose every aspiration was noble, whose
sanB:ity gave new lustre to his preeminent ability, whose
heart ever beat responsive to that Sacred Heart to whose
interests he was so tenderly devoted. His was the true
spirit of the Society of Jesus. The gratefu.J)ears and prayers
of thousands have followed him to the grave. He has deserved well of the Province of Maryland, which for generations to come will hold his memory in benediCtion.
\Ve give here in full the decree recently issued by our V. Rev. Father
General, in consequence of which the condition of our Society on this
continent bas unde1;gone an important change.
DECRETUM*
DIVISIONIS MISSIONIS NEo-EBORACE.....,SIS ET CANADENSIS.
lam diu ac Salpius actum est de ordinanda et ad consuetam Societatis
nostrre normam redigenda Missione N eo-Eboracensi et Canadensi. Quum
enim hrec missio partim in Frederatis Americal Statibus, partim in Domi*The article, "Manresa, New York," pRge 152, was in print before the union of the
Mission of New York with the former Province of ll!aryland.
�Decretum
Divisiom~~
Nco-Eboracensis & Canadensis.
191
nio Anglico sita sit, inde non levia oriebantur incommoda, qure in dies
magis succresccre videbantur tum ex longinquitate locorum, tum ex varietate linguarum, tum denique ex ipsa, qure in utraque regione intercedit, diversitate ingeniorum, morum, et consuetudinum. Quare ad ineundam rationem, qure his aliisque incommodis opportune occurreretur, non
semel et iterum, sed pluries rogati sunt Patres graviores qui in utraque
J\Iissione diutius versati sunt; quique datis ad nos litteris suam sententiam exposuerunt. Verum ut in re tam gravi maturiori consilio procederetur, et difficultates quredam, qure obstare videbantur, facilius evitarentur, per aliquod tempus, superscdendum a definitiva deliberatione
duximus. N ovissime autem exquisitis iternm aliquorum Patrum sententiis, iisque attcnte ac diligcnter perpensis, tandem de consilio PP. Assistentium visum est in Domino decernendum et statuendum, prout prresenti
Decreto decernimus et statuimus, ut l\lissio Neo-Eboracensis cum omnibus suis collegiis, domibus ac rcsidentiis qure nunc habet et in posterum
habitura est, aggregetur et uniatur prresenti Provincire l\Iarylandire; et
Missio Canadensis cum omnibus pariter domibus ac residentiis suis aggregetur et uniatur Provincire Anglicre, atque ita una ab altera segregata,
partem constituat diversarum Provinciarnm ad maiorem Dei gloriam et
animarum utilitatem: facta duolms Prrepositis Provincialibus potestate
constituendi ea omnia in particulari, qure prredictam divisionem respiciunt, ad normam nostri Instituti et iuxta instructionem a nobis traditam.
Interea Deum et S. Patrem Ignatium enixe precor, ut bane deliberationem e crelo ratam habeant, et dilectissimis Patribus et Fratribus nostris
auxilium et gratiam adaugeant, qua uberiores in dies in charitate et
unione fraterna, in regularum et domesticre disciplinre observantia, et in
animarum zelo progressus faciant ad maiorem Dei gloriam et honorem.
Datum Fesulis die 16• Junii an. 1879.
PETRUS BECKX Prmp. Gen1"· Soc. Jesu.
L. S.
The Province of Maryland has been by this change, much enlarged,
both as to the number of its members, and the extent of its territory, and
has acquired the city of New York the largest in the United States.
On this account, our V. R. Fr. General has decided that the Residence
of the Provincial should be henceforth in that city, and that the Province
should be called by the name of PROVINCE oF NEw YoRK.
The address of Rev. Robert W. Brady, Provincial, is now: St. Francis
Xavier's College, 49, West 15th Street, New York city, N.Y.
l
�OUR COLLEGES IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA FOR 1878-79·
:::==o-=-=----c==-~=====-=---===--=-
PLACE
~-
~~
--
~~--~-~~--~~-~-- -~~ -~~~~~~
NAME
--------~~~-~--~~-
STUDENTS
PROVINCE
~------~--------
Baltimore, Maryland ..•..... Loyola College, d.* .....•.... 1\laryl:md ...........•......
Boston, Massachusetts ....•.. Boston College, d •.••••••••• Maryland ...............•..
Buffalo, New York .......... Canisius College, d ........... Germany .................. .
Chicago, Illinois ............ St. Ignatius College, d ....... Missouri. ...•...............
Cincinnati, Ohio ..•..•.•..•• St. Frnncis Xav. College, d .. •·J'r~issouri. ...••..............
Detroit, Michigan .......... Detroit College, d ..•••••.•.• Missouri.. ................. .
Fordham, New York ........ St. John's College, b. • ••.... New York and Canada ..... .
................ .
Georgetown, District of Col .. Georgetown College, b..•••.• Mnryhmd . ·
Jersey City, New Jersey ..... St. Peter's College, d ......... New Ynrk and Canada ..... .
Las Vegas, New Mexico ..... Las Vegas College, b ..••.•.• Naple~ .................... .
Montreal, ~ower Canada ..... St. Mary's College, b......... New York and Camtda ... ~ ..
New York, New York ...... St. Francis Xav. College, d ... New Yorknnd Canada ..... .
1
New Orleans, Louisiana ..... Immaculate Cone. College, d. Lyons ..................•...
Omaha, Nebraska.! .••.•.... Creighton College, d ......... Missouri. .........••........
Santa Clara, Calif6rnla ...... Santa Clara College, b.••.••• Turin ..................... .
San Francisco, California .... St. Ignatius College, d .•••••• Turin ..................... .
St. Louis, l'rlis~ouri. ......... St. Louis University, b....... Missouri. ................. .
St. Mary's, Kansas .......... St. Mary's College, b.••••.•.. Missouri.. ................. .
Rcguin, Texas .............. Guadalupe College, d ..••..•. Mexico .................... .
Spring Hill, Alabama ....... St. Joseph's Colleg<•, b ....... Lyons ...................... I
Washington, District of Col. . Gonzaga College, d ..•.....• ·jMarylaiHl ..•...............
Worcester, Massachusetts.... Holy Cross College, b..•••••• Maryland ...........•...•..
I
101
238
142
213
240
98
179
156
108
301
520
213
200
209
608-.
362
177
71
112
87
141
�CONTENTS OF VOL. VIII.
Page
Georgetown College.. .. .. .. • . .. .. . • .. .. . . .. .. . . .. .. . . .. .. • • .. .. . . . 3
The Old College of Quebec ....................................... 13
Vacation Work of Scholastic Priests .............................. 19
Eclipse Expedition ............................................... 25
Indian }fissions .......................................... 32, 80, 158
Extraordinary Cure of a Novice................................... 41
Fr. Mazzella's Departure from "\Voodstock College .....•••.•.•..••. 42
Brief Addressed to Frs. Mazzella and de Augustinis ..••••..•....... 44
Laying of the Corner Stone of St. Ignatius' Church and College,
San Francisco. • • .. . . .. .. . . .. .. . . .. .. • . .. • . .. . • .. . .. . .. • .. . • .. • 46
Description of the New Building at Georgetown College ............ 52
J. 0. Van de Velde, S. J ...................................... G5, 129
Journal of Missions in Kentucky ......... "~ ....................... 74
:Missionary Labors ....................................... 89, 14G, 1GG
Cure of a Scholastic ..•..............•.....•..........•........... 94
Expulsion of Jesuits from liexico ................................ 137
Manresa, N.Y ........•.....•................................... 152
Calumny, Old and New, nnd St. John Fnmcis Regis ............... 1G4
OBITUARY-
Father Philip Rappagliosi. ................................... 97
"
Joseph Louis Duverney............................... 110
Camillus Vicinanza.........................•......... 114
Joseph B. O'Hagan ................................... 173
Thomas McDonough ................................. 183
Angelo M. Paresce ...................•............... 18G
APPENDIX-
Extracts from Foreign Letters ............................ 57, 117
Varia ................... ·...........................•.... GO, 123
Decretum Divisionis Missionis Neo-Eboruceusis ct Canadensis. 190
Our Colleges in the United States and Canada for 1878-79 ..... Hl2
~
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Woodstock Letters
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<a href="https://lccn.loc.gov/n79046634" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits</a>
<a href="https://lccn.loc.gov/n81134877" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Woodstock College (Woodstock, Md.)</a>
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BX3701 .W66
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Jesuit Archives & Research Center
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Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus
Jesuit Archives & Research Center
Saint Louis University
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eng
lat
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JA-Woodstock
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Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus
Abstract
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The Woodstock Letters were a publication of the Society of Jesus from 1872 until 1969. They were named after Woodstock College, the Jesuit seminary in Maryland where they were published. Written almost entirely by Jesuits, and originally intended to be read only by Jesuits, the Letters were "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus in North and South America." They include historical articles, updates on work being done by the Jesuits, eyewitness accounts of historic events, book reviews, obituaries, enrollment statistics for Jesuit schools, and various other items of interest to the Society. The writings of many renowned Jesuit scholars and missionaries appeared in the Woodstock Letters, including Pedro Arrupe, Pierre-Jean de Smet, Avery Dulles, Daniel Lord, Walter Hill, John Courtney Murray, Walter Ong, and Gustave Weigel. They provide an invaluable record of the work done by American Jesuits throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries.
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2017-2
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99 items
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1872-1969
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021157.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Catholic Church--Periodicals</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004995.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jesuits--History--20th century</a>
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Periodical
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Woodstock Letters - Volume 8 (1879)
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<a href="https://lccn.loc.gov/n81134877" target="_blank">Woodstock College (Woodstock, Md.)</a>
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<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021157.html" target="_blank">Catholic Church--Periodicals</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004994.html" target="_blank">Jesuits--History--19th century</a>
<a href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh87004995.html" target="_blank">Jesuits--History--20th century</a>
Description
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1879 edition of the Woodstock Letters, "a record of current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus."
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Jesuit Archives: Central United States
Contributor
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Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus
Jesuit Archives Central United States
Saint Louis University
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Text
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PDF
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JA-Woodstock-008
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BX3701 .W66
Language
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eng
lat
Relation
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JA-Woodstock
Rights
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Reproduced with permission of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus. Permission to copy or publish must be obtained from the Jesuit Archives: Central United States
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Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus
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2017-2
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195 pages
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1879