Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

F. THOMAS DIGGES.

537

remained at Georgetown, and Bishop Carroll, on the elevation of Pope Pius VII. to the Chair of Peter, urged Mgr. Brocadero, the Prefect of the Propaganda, to take measures to have other episcopal sees erected in the United States.' He wrote also to Cardinal Borgia, who, in reply, expressed the opinion that one additional episcopal see would not suffice for the interests of religion in the United States, as the country was very extensive, and the Indians had been driven beyond the Mississippi and the Lakes. He asked Bishop Carroll to forward to Rome information as to the places where episcopal sees could be judiciously erected, and the limits to be assigned to each diocese. He requested also to know how the new bishops could be supported, whence they could obtain priests to aid the bishops, perform parochial functions, and labor among the Indians, "whose conversion," he adds, "should be an object of solicitude."

Bishop Carroll was furthermore requested to name clergymen who were worthy to be invested with the episcopal character. It was not, however, till nearly five years later that steps were actually taken to put this project in execution.

In the summer of 1804 Bishop Carroll went to spend a month near the city of Washington, and on the way called to see the venerable Dean of the English province of the Society of Jesus, Father Thomas Digges. This American priest was born in Maryland, January 5, 1711, and was consequently at this time more than ninety-three years of age. He entered the Society in 1729, and took the four vows of a professed Father, February 2, 1747. When Bishop Carroll visited him, his health was good, but he was almost blind, and his memory was far gone, yet tolerably accurate as to past transactions.

1

1 Bishop Carroll to Mgr. Brocadero, February 10, 1802.

He was

'Cardinal Borgia to Bishop Carroll, June 26, 1802, in reply to the Bishop's letter of February 10.

cheerful and loved to sit in company, and delighted to converse of the eminent Fathers of former days whom he had known. He died on the 18th of February, in the following year, 1804.'

The Church in New York progressed under the care of the zealous and able Father William O'Brien, O.P., who signalized his zeal during the yellow fever which desolated the city in 1795 and 1798. The free school established at St. Peter's in 1800 was soon well filled and did much good.

Meanwhile God was preparing one there who was to exercise a great influence in the Church in the United States. Mrs. Eliza A. Seton, wife of one of the leading merchants in New York, and daughter of the famous physician, Richard Bayley, accompanied her husband to Italy, which he visited to restore his shattered health, but found there only a grave. Mrs. Seton, whose mind had been far from satisfied with the doctrines and system of the Episcopal Church, in which she had been nurtured, was deeply impressed by the Catholic faith. On her return she consulted Bishop Hobart, but he could not reassure her. After long examination, prayer, and counsel, she was received into the true fold at St. Peter's Church, New York, on the 25th of March, 1805, by Rev. Dr. Matthew O'Brien. She found herself at once isolated and shunned by her relatives and friends. A widow with a dependent family, she bravely undertook a school, but encountered many difficulties.'

The next year, the holy season of Christmas showed the old prevailing distrust of Catholics. On the eve of the festival a mob endeavored to force an entrance into the church.

'Bishop Carroll to F. William Strickland, August 4, 1804; Foley, "Records of the English Province," London, 1882, vii., p. 203; Rochefoucauld Liancourt, "Voyage dans les Etats Unis," vi., p. 112.

White, "Life of Mrs. Seton," New York, 1853.

LOUISIANA.

Blood was shed before the riot was appeased.

539

The church

was gaining, however; the Rev. Mr. Sibourd and other priests aided Father O'Brien in his labors.

In the meantime the United States had acquired by purchase the province of Louisiana, which had been ceded to Spain by France in 1763, and had recently been transferred once more to France, but not actually restored to the French flag. The Directory sent over Mr. Laussat, who received the territory from Spain, on the 30th day of November, 1803, and who twenty days afterward placed the American commissioner in possession of the country.

Bishop Carroll intuitively saw in that disturbed province a terrible burthen menacing him. He felt that as Louisiana had become part of the United States, the Holy See would, at least, while political affairs were still warmly discussed, place Louisiana and the Floridas under his care.

Although Bishop Carroll wrote to implore earnestly that this additional burthen should not be imposed on his declining years, a rescript was issued by the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VII., on the first day of September, 1805, constituting Bishop Carroll Administrator-Apostolic of the diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas, with power to delegate his authority to a Vicar-General."

Some notice of the condition of religion in that province, from the time of its cession to Spain, is necessary to understand its actual religious condition.

1 Bayley, "A Brief Sketch of the Early History of the Catholic Church on the Island of New York," New York, 1853, pp. 50–2; New York "Evening Post," Dec. 26, 1806; Otter, "History of My Own Times," Emmittsburg, 1835, p. 82.

'Rev. R. Luke Concanen to Bishop Carroll, January 30, 1806, mentions that he had forwarded the packet extending his jurisdiction over Louisiana and Florida on the 28th of September.

CHAPTER III.

- RT. REV.

THE CHURCH IN LOUISIANA 1763-1793.—THE BISHOP OF SAN-
TIAGO DE CUBA.—RT. REV. CYRIL DE BARCELONA, AUXILIAR.
-DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA AND THE FLORIDAS.
LUIS PEÑALVER Y CARDENAS 1793-1803.--V. REVS. THOM-
AS HASSETT AND PATRICK WALSH, ADMINISTRATORS 1803-
1806.-RT. REV. JOHN CARROLL APPOINTED ADMINISTRA-
TOR-APOSTOLIC.

WHEN France ceded to England Canada and the Northwest territory, she felt that she could not long hold Louisiana, and accordingly by a secret treaty conveyed that province to Spain. Announcing the cession to Governor d'Abadie, Louis XV. wrote: "In consequence of the friendship and affection of his Catholic Majesty I trust that he will give orders to his Governor and all other officers employed in his service, in said colony and city of New-Orleans, to continue in their functions the ecclesiastics and religious houses in charge of the parishes and missions, as well as in the enjoyment of the rights, privileges, and exemptions granted to them by their original titles.”

The Capuchin Fathers accordingly continued their usual functions awaiting the arrival of the Spanish authorities. The Catholic monarch seemed, however, in no haste to take possession of a province thus thrust upon him; it was not till the 5th of March, 1766, that Don Antonio de Ulloa arrived at New Orleans with eighty soldiers and three Capuchin Fathers. No transfer of the province was made, however, nor did Ulloa take possession or proclaim his commis

« ZurückWeiter »