USA > Alabama > A Catholic history of Alabama and the Floridas Volume 1 > Part 12
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These words concerning Trinity College prove that it was founded to be a powerful engine of proselytism for the Catholic youth of Ireland.
To meet the requirements of a region in which the Spanish and English languages are used, the king of Spain continued to send Irish priests to Florida, Louis- iana, and other parts of his dominions. The regiment of Hibernia, belonging originally to the Irish Brigade, in the French service, was stationed at St. Augustine, late in the 18th century. Irish names appear through rank and file, as Curtis, Delany, Barrow, O'Reilly, O'Connell.
There are few princes more disliked than Philip II. Many, so called, historians have expatiated on his cruelties, though they have little to say of those of his contemporaries, as the terrible Henry VIII., and his
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more terrible daughter, Elizabeth. But King Philip did much good as king. And the writer cannot forget that he supported and educated hundreds of bright Irish youths, who fled like " wild geese " from their native land, on account of persecution, and became Apostles1 and evangelists in many parts of America and other countries.
This king continued to the end of his days to take the greatest interest in the young Irish Levites, for whom " a refuge from famine and danger " was pro- vided in his hospitable dominions. His pious Queen wrote, herself, to the Pope to beseech His Holiness to open a college at Rome for young Irish students, which was done later.
This was his saintly Queen, Isabella of Valois, whose death, in her 24th year, says Gayarre, caused " the simultaneous weeping of a whole people; " " the sobbing of a universal sorrow, from the Pillars of Hercules to the Pyrenees; she was hailed as a rainbow after the storm, and was passionately beloved by her husband's subjects throughout his vast dominions."
Philip II. was married four times. He married Isa- bella of Valois, by proxy, in 1560, when she was only fourteen. Her sweetness, piety, and charity, made her universally beloved. Born at the conclusion of a treaty of peace between France and Spain, the French styled her "the Olive Branch," "La Branche 'd 'Olivier, and the Spaniards, " La Princessa de la Paz " " the Princess of Peace." Like his other Queens, Anna of Austria, mother of Philip III., he was most generous to the Irish students as was the king, her son.
Far into the nineteenth century, the Spanish-Hiber-
1 Apostles preaching Christ to men, evangelists bringing men to Christ.
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ian clergy were still found toiling throughout the American States, in the interest of the church to which they had consecrated their lives. In 1841 Bishop England was asked by two Bishops to take charge of East Florida : The Bishop of St. Christopher, Havana, and Bishop Dubourg, of New Orleans.
Louisiana and Florida were part of the diocese of Santiago de Cuba, whose Bishop was Monseñor Eche- rerria. In O'Reilly's time, this Bishop sent Fray Cyrillo, de Barcelona, as his Vicar General with six Capuchines, Spaniards, to New Orleans. Cyrillo was made Bishop of Tricali, and Auxiliar of Santiago, his actual diocese being New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola and St. Augustine.
In 1785, Bishop Cyrillo appointed Father Antonio de Sedilla parish priest of New Orleans, after six years' residence in the colony. The Bishop issued a pastoral calling for a better observance of Sunday. To his other difficulties, was added race-antagonism, for the French did not soon become reconciled to Spanish Rule.
Father Antonio's appointment was unfortunate. He is known chiefly for his insubordination, and was not so easily managed as his namesake, Father Anthony, the first pastor of New Orleans, 1722. The history of Louisiana about the period of its cession to Spain, presents some painful chapters. The Capuchine Fathers who had hitherto done so well and given much edification in the neighboring town of Mobile, seem to have fallen into laxity. Their Spanish brethren soon thought they had discovered how grievously they had fallen away. The decay of religion was loudly complained of by officials of church and State. The methods or want of method, in the monks was
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sharply censured. Something, perhaps, may be said on the other side. It is possible that for want of over- seeing, men who had worked so long on one spot, and with careless, easy going people, may have lost some- what of their first fervor, and even become neglect- ful of duty. But the weightier charges against them are not credible. There was, too, the question of national prejudice. Another point was the strictness of Religious Orders in Spain at that epoch; and how easily men could become disedified, if not scandalized, at mere breaches of discipline that could scarcely be classed as sins. In the eyes of the Spanish Friars, their French brethren were assuredly not of the strict observance. Spain was the land of reform. There were reforms of St. Teresa for Carmelite nuns and Carmelite Friars. There were the Alcantarines, whose venerable founder, St. Peter, ate only twice a week, slept but an hour and a half every night, knew his brothers only by the sound of their voices, having never seen their faces. Awful austerity! Even in the royal families and among the highest nobles, many led life of strictness and holiness. Continued carelessness and easy going ways were enough to disedify men ac- customed to a different standard. The forced depart- ure of the Jesuits, at one fell stroke, deprived the people of many excellent clergy. Account, too, must be made of the influx of wild, unstable men, and the lawless of many lands; the emigrés who came to seek a home, and transplant to it the blasphemies of the evil days of the French Revolution. The vile books of the so-called philosophers were found in every home.
The Cabildo was made up of Regidores, who held honorary offices, Alcaldes, and a syndic, or mayor. The Colony was under the supervision of a Captain
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General in Cuba. Appeals might be made from him to the Royal Audencia in Santo Domingo, and, ulti- mately, to the Council of the Indies in Spain. We hear no more of the tyranny of the Superior Council. O'Reilly left the Colony in perfect order and peace.
There had been difficulties between the French and Spanish Capuchins. The people had been prejudiced against their old favorite, Father Dagobert. Gayarre says he had come to the Colony very young. He was a native of Longuy, and a Capuchin of the Province of Champagne.
Very serious is the blame attached to the latest generation of the New Orleans Capuchins. But the charges against them were, at least, grossly exagger- ated; especially in case of Père Dagobert. We are credibly informed that "he obtained the esteem of Count O'Reilly and the good will of the Spaniards by the prudence of his deportment." As their homes were contiguous, they must have met almost every day, and, were but a tithe of these accusations true, the Count would have laid them before authority, and insisted on their correction or even the expulsion of the guilty parties. O'Reilly's able successor, Governor Unzaga, expressly exonerates them from the heavier charges. " How comes it?" he asks, "that the prelate, (Cy- rillo,) is acquainted with the existence of crimes which I am unable to detect, though on the spot?" " Finally the conciliatory action of the Spanish govern- ment soon established peace.
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CHAPTER XXVI.
As has been already said, priests appointed to ad- minister the affairs of convents, and preside at their ceremonies, are usually men of learning and piety. Père Dagobert was frequently so employed in the cele- brated Ursuline Convent. In a certificate written by the Ursulines, which still exists, he is commended for his zeal and piety. Previous to the expulsion of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, it was customary to choose two Jesuits whose names were,-according to the Rules of the Congregation of Paris, to which our Community belonged, until after the retrocession, when sixteen members left for Havana,-sent to the Bishop that he might approve one as Ecclesiastical Superior. This election was preceded by the Forty. Fours' Devotion. Father Dagobert's earthly pilgrim- age was now drawing to a close.
Father Prosper's first signature as chaplain occurs Feb. 24, 1767. F. Dagobert's first signature occurs in the examination of a novice, April 28, 1768. "Fr. Dagobert, V. G. Sup. des missions de cette Colonie, Sup. des Dames Ursulines."
The father of the Sister Vezin, the novice exam- ined by F. Dagobert, was well known throughout the Colony, as a model Christian. He was a member of the Cabildo, and the devotion with which he took the oath of office was often spoken of as a matter of great
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edification; it bound him to defend the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and, as a lawyer, never to take any fee from the poor. My informant says that O'Reilly who imposed this oath kept it himself most faithfully; and adds what is important, when we con- sider how closely the Ursulines were connected with the city families, and the widows and children of the members of the defunct Superior Council, who were tried and found guilty of high treason and suffered the penalty of the same. " None of these ever complained of O'Reilly for having, according to the King's order, suffered the law to take its course on their relatives. There was then no daughter of Erin or of Spain among the Religious. The people of the Convent were mostly French or of French descent, but no word or act of O'Reilly's was ever found fault with within the Con- vent walls. The nuns were satisfied to do all in their power for the suffering.
We may say here that no religious persecution of any kind was ever practised in Louisiana. All were free to come and go and worship God according to the dictates of conscience.
The appointment of O'Reilly was but temporary. He was sent out to try the accused of the Supreme Council, acquit them, if innocent, and punish them if guilty. He fulfilled his commission, and made his king and his adopted country respected and beloved through out the Colony. And though he was not charged with the religious administration, it was well known that no abuse would be tolerated in O'Reilly's atmosphere.
Dagobert is described as an easy, ignorant man, and less complimentary things are said of him. Easy, he probably was, but he was beloved in the Colony. His
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exquisite voice often led the congregation in singing God's praise. "The Père will always be very glad to officiate," said one of the governors, " for singing is with him a passion. "And he sometimes recreated his friends at the entertainments which celebrated the marriages and christenings at which he officiated. Ignorant he was not, and none of his contemporaries seem to have charged him with ignorance. He wrote and spoke French and Spanish fluently, and had a good knowledge of Latin. He was known as a friend of O'Reilly's and that is surely in his favor.
Count O'Reilly1 had fine social qualities and was distinguished as a letter-writer. Jean Bouligny who wrote a genealogy of the family, referring to their escutcheon, says : " The principal nobility is to be a good man, hombre de bien, of deeds, without reproach, to live in the fear of God, in obeying his command- ments." By his sons, he sent a letter of introduction to O'Reilly, and he goes on to say, "to whom I recommend you, El conde offered me to do for you all that would depend on him." "Apply yourself to do your duty well, for God is the true patron of honest people."
Francisco Bouligny to whom the above is addressed, came to Louisiana as aide-de-camp to O'Reilly, in 1769. A very affectionately-worded letter is extant from O'Reilly to the wife of Francisco Bouligny. Many other letters from El Conde O'Reilly to his an- cestor are in possession of Mrs. Albert Baldwin, of New Orleans, née Bouligny, her descendant. Mrs.
' The youths of the Bouligny family often spoke of the many ad- vantages they derived from their conversations and correspondence with Count O'Reilly. There were several letters from the Kings of Spain, bearing the autograph, Yo el Rey, in the Bouligny collection.
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Baldwin also possesses autograph certificates signed by Frère Dagobert, and Antonio de Sedilla. The late Charles Gayarre1 possessed many letters of the first Spanish Governor. They are bright and pleasing, and show a kind and pleasant disposition on part of the writer, who is always ready to oblige, and do favors, even for an enemy. No trace whatever, of an unkind, much less cruel, character. They are written chiefly in Spanish or French, and there is great intimacy be- tween the correspondents though seas often divide them. Mrs. Baldwin's collection is quite large. It is most carefully kept and in excellent condition.
The Gayarres, Boulignys Navarros, Loyolas, O'Farrells, were, with the Governors' household, the leading members of Père Dagobert's congregation. There were surely many good practical Catholics among these families. Sebastian O'Farrell, a brilliant youth of eighteen, came to the Colony with O'Reilly, whose heir had married one of the O'Farrells. Sebas- tian O'Farrell was later well known as the Marquis of Casacalvo whose exquisite politeness embarrassed Claiborne.
The last ceremony presided over by the Jesuits at the Convent was that of Sister Ste Antoine, Lay Sis- ter, Marthe Delâtre, March 25, 1759. She lived till 1820. Father Morand who presided, signs himself " Grand Vicaire en absence du Père Bandouin, Grande Vicaire Général." The act bears the following sig- natures : "Carette Jesuite missionaire, LeRoy, Jesuite missionaire." It has been said that division of author- ity was the curse of French America.
1 Mr. Gayarre showed the writer many of these letters. Several of them were from Kings of Spain. Being financially embarrassed, Mr. Gayarre sold some of these letters to wealthy friends.
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The Creoles, descendants of French and Spaniards were all Catholics. Under French and Spanish rule, the city officials were appointed by the crown. The original settlers mostly came from Normandy, Brittany, and Canada. In the Spanish régime there was some immigration from Spain and some from the Canary Islands. Towards the close of the 18th century, many . refugees came from San Domingo. The insurrection of the slaves in the French portion of San Domingo took place on the night of Aug. 23, 1791. Hundreds of families were butchered by the infuriated negroes. Many ultimately came to Louisiana.
The native tribes first known to the early French colonies preserved their friendship in a remarkable manner, excepting only the Natchez and Chickasaw nations. Sad accidents sometimes happened the mis- sioners. The aged Rene Mesnard was lost in the forest and never seen again. Long after, his cassock and breviary were kept as amulets among the Indians.
The churches were served by Jesuits and Capuchins and occasionally by secular clergy. The state never claimed the churches. They belonged to the parish and to the eccleciastical authorities, though often claimed by the marguilliers or church-wardens. Early in the nineteenth century, there was but one Catholic Arch- bishop under the American flag, Most Rev. John Carroll, of Baltimore. But long before, Father Dago- bert's troubled career had ended in peace. He had sung himself, let us hope, into the heavenly choirs whose music makes the gladness of us poor pilgrims, while we long to sit at the feet of the Queen of Angels, and listen. This we learn from an extract of the Register of deaths, in the Parochial church of New Orleans, in which the holy Bishop, Cyril of Barcelona,
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says that " he gave ecclesiastic sepulture to the body of Rev. Father Dagobert," missionary Apostolic of Louisiana for sixty-three years and one month. He was eighty-three years old, and it is certain that the holy Bishop who attended him, left nothing undone for the salvation of his immortal soul.
But tradition long affirmed that the people had not heard the last of their favorite. It was rumored that he and his old friends arose every night from their graves, and walked about the ancient cemetery, singing and praying. Many will remember the beautiful de- scription of the music of Tintin Calandro given by that ancient Creole, Charles Gayarre. People listened outside the walls for the wonderful strains of music from the voice of the Père, and the instrument of Tintin :
" When the weather is warm and sweet, And hushed is the sound of passing feet, He lingers still in his snug retreat By the open wall !"
On All Saints' Day, all are laden with flowers, wending their way to the city of the dead.
On account of the marshy nature of the soil the dead in New Orleans are usually buried above ground, in receiving vaults. It is said that at midnight the dead arise, and shaking off the cerements of the grave, com- mune with each other till dawn. Then, in their narrow homes they await their loved ones who will soon come laden with flowers: "Our bed is covered with flowers."
When the shadows of evening fall, the dead will be left covered with beautiful blossoms. In the crowds you will not see one Indian. The dull, swarthy In-
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dians of the French market ignore all this, for the Indians never speak of their dead after burial.
All Saints' Day, the feast of the dead, or its eve, is one of the curiosities of New Orleans. It reminds one of the Feast of Our Lady of the Snow,1 a pretty way the Romans have of perpetuating the story of the miraculous snow-fall in August. A shower of blos- soms of white Jessamine is made to fall from the roof of the basilica at mass and vespers! By this means pious traditions live among the Roman poor. The graves in the old cemetery of Father Dagobert, Basin St., used to be strewn with flowers on the Feast of the dead, so that it was said to appear as if covered with snow. The flowers used on these occasions were mostly white. But these weird times may be said to have passed away, and, though multitudes assemble in the churches and cemeteries, and flowers are scat- tered over tombs, the friends of those " who are gone before us with the sign of Faith," are satisfied to join in the Liberas and Dies Irae, and repeat the touching Requiem, æternum, and, above all to offer mass for their precious dead. The dead no longer greet the dead. They rest in the sleep of peace, until the angelic trumpet will announce: " Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment.
It will be remembered that a Queen of Philip II wrote to the Pope to entreat him to open a special College for the education of Irish youths who had to fly from Ireland or be forced to accept a Protestant education. Her request was granted after some delay. In 1627, Urban VIII. built a College at Rome, to which students from all quarters of the globe could come to be trained for a missionary career, and imbued
1 St. Mary Major.
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with the spirit of the church, at the very centre of Catholic Unity.
Even in our own day, in the city of Mexico, in the street of the Sacred Heart, (Calle del Corazon) a great pontificial College, on the site of an old seminary dating from the Spanish Domination, is building. It will cost half a million dollars. French and English are to be taught by native professors. The new build- ing is so conducted as not to interfere with studies still carried on in the ancient edifice.
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CHAPTER XXVII.
SPAIN claimed as Florida all land north of Mexico. The Spanish Governor came from Pensacola to Mobile to protest against the new settlement. Bienville re- ceived the Governor, Señor Guzman, courteously but declined to acknowledge any right on part of Spain to interfere. Indeed Iberville wanted to take Pensa- cola, but the Spanish Junta declined to give it up. Bienville remained on good terms with his Spanish neighbor.
When Spain declared war against England, Don Bernardo Galvez, Governor of Louisiana, surprised Fort Manchac, Sep. 7. 1779, and compelled Baton Rouge to surrender, Sep. 21. He invested Mobile early in March, 1780, and.it surrendered March 12. After a vigorous siege he reduced Pensacola in May. Through this young hero, Western Florida became once more thoroughly Catholic, and the services of the Church resumed their former pomp and solemnity.
A new Register was begun by the Capuchin Father de Veley, a beneficed priest of St. Michael's, Pensa- cola, and chaplain of the garrison. He belonged to the Capuchin province of Andalusia. His first fun- eral was that of Anthony Soler, July 4, 1781. The first baptism was that of Diego John Michael, son of Francis Florin and his wife, Catherine Alois, July 31. Count Arthur O'Neil was the first Spanish Governor
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of Pensacola. In 1791, Bishop Cyrillo made an official visit to Pensacola, as entered in the Register of " San Miguel de Panzacola." May 7, 1798, Right Rev. Bishop Peñalvert made an official visit to the same. All appears to have been found in good order, though no particulars are noted.
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
IN several places remote from the smaller centres ' of population, the missionaries almost lived in their canoes, putting into places where some Red men might be found, to instruct them and administer the sacra- ments, as we have seen done in our own day in Central America. Even in these secluded spots, they some- times found the unfortunate Indians, with passions excited and intellects dulled by diabolical fire-water,1 and to savages in this condition they mostly preached in vain. For this deadly fluid was always injurious to the poor children of the forest, and often maddening. This is why the men of God who came into their native wilds so eloquently denounced the sale of fire- water to the barbarians. Almost from the first the friends of the Indian had to struggle against this dangerous abuse.
Ere long the Indian problem was partly solved by banishing the hereditary owners of the soil to distant territories where, it was promised them, their wants would be supplied and their lives unmolested. How the promises were kept, history records. It is certain that many Indians remained behind, and some may be found to this day in their ancient haunts. The missioners never neglected them even when they had to perform their sacred ministrations by stealth.
1 Tafia, a cheap alcoholic drink was a favorite beverage among the Indians.
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CHAPTER XXIX.
IN 1840 Bishop Blanc gave a retreat to his clergy followed by a mission to the faithful. In Jan. 1, 1843, the Trustees submitted, and received the regularly ap- pointed pastor, an auspicious event which conduced much to the peace and order of the diocese. No doubt it pleased the good Bishop, when, about this time, King Louis Philippe offered eight free places in the Seminary of Bordeaux for North American youths, born subjects of the United States.
From the advent of Bishop Portier things went well in Mobile. Almost all the settlers from early days seem to have been able to make a living, however humble, in the little capital. A well-known Coureur de bois,1 Le Sueur, took his family there, and for a long time the name was prominent in its simple annals. The people seem to have been pious. They repaired regularly to the church, Notre Dame de Mobile, for the services and ceremonies of their religion. The climate was mild and healthy.
In the early days of his Episcopate, Bishop Portier wrote to a friend: "I have a Vicariate as large as all France, and three churches and two priests." Such
1 Le Sueur if not a Coureur (wood-ranger) was certainly a remarkable traveler. Mr. Pierre Le Sueur before his death in 1751, was Major, and Chevalier of the Order of St. Louis. Several French families disappeared with the French Flag.
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was the condition of the church in this remote corner of the Divine Vineyard when Michael Portier, then a deacon, came to America to devote his life and talents to the struggling Church of the South, 1817.
Teaching, an occupation well adapted to his deep knowledge and energetic zeal, was undertaken soon after his ordination by Father Portier, and, from the Seminary he founded in the old Ursuline Convent, he was taken to become Bishop.
Prior to Bishop Portier, and as far back as 1538, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as we have related, had been offered in Alabama. In De Soto's expedition were twelve priests and four Friars. But, carefully organized as this expedition was, it proved a failure, owing to sickness, losses in battle, and other mis- fortunes. Again, in 1559, Jesuits and Franciscans passed through this place, and finding neither vest- ments nor altar, they offered the divine sacrifice under the shady magnolias, using the skins of beasts for vest- ments. For a long time the Indians kept the faith brought them by these devoted men.
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