BIRTHPLACE OF ARCHBISHOP CARROLL, UPPER MARLBORO', MD.

[From a water-color by W. Seymour, executed in 1884.]

BOOK I.

LIFE OF THE REV. JOHN CARROLL TO HIS CONSECRATION AS BISHOP OF BALTIMORE.-THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE ENGLISH COLONIES AND THE UNITED STATES 1763-1790.

CHAPTER I.

HIS LIFE TO HIS RETURN TO MARYLAND IN 1774.

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