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USA > Florida > A Catholic history of Alabama and the Floridas Volume 1 > Part 6
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" Journal of the American Irish Historical Society," Vol. 3, 1900.
Dean Berkley, the famous " Kilkenny Scholar," was a friend of Parson McSparron, and often visited the Episcopal ministers of that place, when he settled near Newport, 1729. Berkley was subsequently recalled to England and made Bishop of Cloyne, an ancient see in Co. Cork.
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CHAPTER IX.
MOST visitors enter Florida when its glories are somewhat veiled by the gentle frosts that silver its palmetto and pine-barrens. But I had my first glimpse of the Land of flowers through the soft haze of a June sunrise. Thirty years ago, traveling from New Orleans to Florida was mostly by water ; June 27, we steamed from New Orleans through an artificial outlet called the New Basin, and through lakes bearing the historic names of Maurepas and Ponchartrain, which give a pleasant water way to Western Florida. Till evening, we were in sight of land. The magnifi- cent oaks and magnolias of Bay St. Louis, the white villas of Pass Christian, Deer Island half concealing Biloxi beach, were faintly visible in the luminous at- mosphere.
When opposite the sandy wastes of Pascagoula, we bent over the side of the vessel to catch the tender cadence, of the mermaid's song, and we looked into the waters for the towers and caverns of the gentle Indian whom her seductive music is said to have lured beneath the wave:
"He sees the round towers of other days In the waves beneath him shining."
We thought of the priest who is yet to sail on these mystic waters at twelve of the clock some Christmas night. And well doth the legend say that neither he
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nor his frail canoe will ever again be seen by human eye, for no frail barque could long drift on these treacherous waves. We were now really at sea, no land being visible. About daybreak we had our first glimpse of Florida. The red round sun was coming slowly out of the water, and a raw breeze attended the unfolding of the morning. A broad ribbon of silver sand separated the green woods from the dark sea. We passed Florida light-house, the finest on the Gulf, and the ruins of Fort McRae, whose ramparts, battle- ments, and posterns, are gradually yielding to the de- stroying element.
Leaving behind the enormous Fort Barrancas, we were soon opposite Florida Navy Yard. The snow white sand was blinding in the summer sun, but the heat, tempered by the brisk sea breezes, was not un- pleasant. A granite wall rises from the water along the front of the yard, and immense magazine and machine shops are scattered under the trees. Central Avenue bounded by giant oaks, with pyramids of shot between, leads to the beautiful home of the Commo- dore. Here and there are the handsome residences of the other officers, each with its garden made of rich, imported soil, laid on the sand. The fine brick and stone dwellings of the Yard, and the enormous piles of the U. S. Barracks and Hospital, are in sharp con- trast with the shingle-roofed cottages of the outlying villages of Warrington and Wolsey.
Having heard mass in the neat, pretty church at Warrington, we were soon underway for Pensacola. The harbor looked its brightest, as the vessels had their colors flying, in honor, we were told, of the Feast of St. Peter and Paul. We stepped ashore to the music of the noon-day Angelus.
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During the civil war, Pensacola and its adjacent Navy Yard were almost entirely destroyed, still, many of the original features survived. Previously, the town had been regarded as a mere appanage of " the Yard " and the Gulf Squadron. But it has since been, with no little success, carving out a destiny for itself. Its antiquated look has almost disappeared.
The Pensacola I saw for the first time in 1877, a quaint old town, slumbering beside its beautiful Bay, Santa Maria, will never more be seen by mortal eyes. Two terrible fires have swept away the last vestiges of its early Spanish days. The long flights of steps lead- ing to old houses, the deep sand of the roadways which muffled the sound of every vehicle, the plank walks enlivened by gophers and lizards-nothing of this is now seen. Pensacola has brick stores, and flagged sidewalks, and electric light like its Northern Sisters. One must ascend the Hill to find the broad verandahs, flower-bedecked windows, and embowering shrubbery that gave the old city its festive appearance in its slumbrous days, when its gay, sweet-voiced people en- joyed life as it glided by, before progress had well- nigh swept all poetry from its borders.
On the Hill, a hill by courtesy, are the ruins of the old Spanish Fort, a building of much interest, near which, tradition says, the first mass was celebrated over two hundred years ago. From the Fort is a magnifi- cent view of the Bay. Looking towards Cuba, about five hundred miles off, one sees the broad shining waters studded with vessels near the land, mostly coming for lumber, though trade is done in other commodities, as grain, cotton, fish. The Pensacolians boast that their bay is spacious enough to hold the
1
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navies of the world. The largest vessels load and unload alongside her railroad wharves.
Behind you, as you stand by the Fort, San Miguel, is a wilderness of sand and pine, with a knee high growth of heather and several most unpoetic looking groves of scrub oak, varied by clumps of fan-shaped palmetto, and scraggy cypress, some of the poorest specimens Florida counts of her luxuriant sylva. Be- fore you, is the limitless sweep of water beyond the bay, the blue sea, and the blue sky, divided by the sandy slopes of Santa Rosa, the breakwater of the harbor-a sand key of the gulf, about forty miles long, varying in breadth from a quarter of a mile to a mile, seven miles from the city-the whole shimmering in the noonday sun. The town seemed a strange mosaic of Spanish, American and Indian peculiarities, an irregu- lar mass of lights and shadows. But when the moon effaced the stars, it seemed an enchanted city, seated by an ocean of molten silver.
Though many Spanish names still appear in the directory, as Moreno, Castillo, Gonzales, Sierra, Yniestra, Sanchez, the old city has grown cosmo- politan. Few countries in Europe and few States in the Union are now unrepresented in Pensacola. The colored population equals the white in number.
The pretty, antique church of ancient days, dedicated, like the Fort, to St. Michael, was burned during the yellow fever epidemic in October, 1882. Our visit to these regions awakened a laudable curiosity to learn somewhat of the history, particularly, religious, of this pleasant land so redolent of poetry and romance. Our first visit ended on a bright Sunday morning, in July, 1877. The obliging Captain kindly waited until we had heard mass. The bay was clear as crystal, and 6
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swarmed with fishes which we could see disporting themselves in its pellucid depths.
Towards the shore, in several places, were acres of the wonderful green waters which looked so picturesque among the aisles of the Carribean Sea. Farther out were sharks, gars, and porpoises, with big dorsal fins, blowing and spouting like whales -gulls and frigate birds enlivened the air, and when- ever we neared land we could hear the clear whistling of the cardinal birds, which looked like sparks of fire among the trees, and the melody that pours from the throat of the gray mocking-bird. Now and then the strains of the banjo or guitar, accompanying sweet songs, fell pleasantly on our ears. The moon was rising gently before we lost sight of the silvery coast of Florida with its crown of dark green trees. The natives of Florida cling to the land that bore them. Yea, even the stranger within their gates must come again, for the saying in these parts is: "Those who get Florida sand in their shoes will surely come back to the flowery land." Pensacola may boast, like Ronsard's friend : " When I was young a poet sang of me." We thought of the poet's song :
" Now Santa Rosa's snow white sands Are fading from my sight ; Farewell, awhile, to thee and thine, Sweet Florida, good-night !"
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CHAPTER X.
KING PHILIP II. named Pamphilo de Narvaez Governor or regidor of the first pueblo he should es- tablish in Florida, but the mission of this great man was a failure. The lands he discovered were not the " Fortunate Island " to him. From Willard's History of America (Barnes & Co. New York, 1859,) we learn that three hundred Spanish families went from Vera Cruz to Pensacola to found the capital of Western Florida. Civilizing influences were at work, and the priests never lessened their labors. One whole tribe, the Apalachees, became fervent Christians, having long enjoyed the ministrations of devoted Spanish priests.
They have given their name to a bay, a town, a river, and the Apalachian range. At Fernandina, a church was built in honor of Father Michael de Auñon, a martyr.
Spain claimed in Florida all land north of Mexico. The Spanish Governor came from Pensacola to Mobile to protest against the new settlement. Bienville re- ceived him, Señor Guzman, courteously. Iberville wanted to take Pensacola, but the Spanish Junta would not give it up. Bienville continued on good terms with his Spanish neighbor. Jan. 7, 1706, Señor Guz- man came to spend four days in Mobile. He was God- father at a Christening ,and gave largesse bountifully to all.
When Spain declared war against England, Don
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Bernardo Galvez, Governor of Louisiana, surprised Fort Manchac, Sept. 7, 1779. He invested Mobile in March, 1780; it surrendered March 12. Baton Rouge surrendered, March 21. After a vigorous siege, he reduced Pensacola, in May, 1780. Through its young hero, Western Florida once more became thoroughly Catholic, and the services of the Church resumed their former pomp and solemnity.
A new Register was begun by the Capuchin, Father de Velez, a beneficed priest of St. Michaels, Pensacola, and chaplain of the garrison. He belonged to the Capuchin Province of Andalusia. His first funeral was that of Anthony Soler, July 4, 1781. His first baptism was that of Diego John Michael, son of Francis Florin and his wife, Catherine Alois. In 1791, Bishop Cyrillo made an official visit, as is entered in the Register of " San Miguel de Panzacola." May 7, 1798, Right Rev. Bishop Peñalvert officially visited the same. All was probably found in good order, as no particulars are noted.
In 1793, ended the administration of Bishop Cyrillo in Louisiana and the Floridas. The King directed him to return to his Province, Catalonia. In Havana, he awaited means of transportation, leading meanwhile a most edifying life. He was still there in 1799. The King expressed surprise and displeasure that his orders had been disregarded by those who should have sup- plied the funds for the journey to Catalonia.
Bishop Cyrillo, was a man of saintly life, austere and mortified. In a vicious age and amid evil sur- roundings, he kept himself pure before God, and en- deavored by word and example to correct the prevailing laxity of morals and discipline. By some writers of his day he is represented in an odious light, but not a
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single fact has been adduced to support such allega- tions. His duties were of a disagreeable nature, and he, possibly, lacked the ability essential in a great re- former, to do unpleasant things in a not unkindly manner. He may even have been embittered by the slanders of his enemies, mostly, those of his own household, and lacked the mildness and benignity St. Paul recommends to Apostolic men. But he led an irreproachable life, and strove, according to his lights, to make the great God known, loved, and served. For his undeniable virtues and his perpetual labors in an unpromising field, he had no reward in this world. Bitter persecution fell to his lot : even the King, in his high office of " Protector of the Council of Trent," had no protection to accord to this faithful laborer in his master's vineyard. But though his virtues are unsung, and his grave unknown, we may well believe that he now rejoices with exceeding joy in the bosom of his Father, and prays for the lands his feet trod in the search for sinners. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin and in whose spirit there is no guile.
When the English took possession of Florida, Lord Thurlow declared: "The free exercise of their re- ligion by the laity, and of their functions by the clergy, are also reserved." But after Galvez' victories in West Florida, and in Louisiana up to Natchez, the Church recovered her former splendor. Many of the Natchez people were Protestants. The historian of Mississippi says :
" No attempt was made to proselytize or proscribe them-nor was there ever any official interference, un- less parties in their zeal, or indiscreet advisers, became offensively demonstrative. There was, in fact, more
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religious freedom and toleration for Protestants in the Natchez district, than Catholics and dissenters from the ruling denomination enjoyed, in either Old or New England." 1
The English-speaking people whom the Catholic King was anxious to convert were chiefly those who had settled, or might settle, in Southern regions. Little hope was indulged of converting the English in the North. Some, indeed, returned in 1607, to their island home, England, giving the land of the Pilgrims a bad name: "a cold, barren, mountainous desert, where they found nothing but extreme extremities."
But the inhabitants of the Florida which Juan Ponce de Leon had seen rising, a faint white streak between the blue, flashing waters of the Gulf " a sea of glass mingled with fire," and the tender green of, the young trees-these had made the country their home. Eng- lish settlers had cast their lot among the sweet-voiced señoras and Señoritas, and there were marrying and giving in marriage; and when children came to bless the homes by the old Fort, or in the forest, the be- lieving wife saved the child, often with the concurrence of the unbelieving husband. The King appointed Irish .. priests who spoke Spanish and other languages, for the convenience of the little mixed settlements. In St. Augustine, some of these zealous Irish priests had been selected by the Bishop of Salamanca to keep religion alive among the Spaniards and attract strangers to the One Fold. The Register shows many baptisms of white and colored. Governor Zepedes urged the King to establish a parish on each river- St. John's and St. Mary's,-which he did. Much power was given the King as " Protector of the Council
1 Quoted by J. G. Shea in the Life of Archbishop Carroll.
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of Trent," and history shows that he used it for the benefit of the true Church. Father Velez was suc- ceeded by Father Valoria, in Pensacola, in 1785. The Register continues to show the mixed character of the congregation. Father Troconis became chaplain of the Hospital, in 1784. From 1794, Pensacola was at- tended by Rev. James Coleman, who was appointed Parish Priest, and Chaplain of the garrison. Spanish, French, Irish and Scotch names continue to appear in the Register. March 19, 1790, died at St. Augustine at the age of sixty, Rev. Dr. Peter Camps, so long the devoted Pastor of the Minorcans, fortified by the sacraments of the Church. He was buried in the Campo Santo, (cemetery), his bereaved disciples, weep- ing over his grave. Father Font came from Catalonia to succeed Dr. Camps in the care of the Minorcans, whom he attended faithfully till his pious death, 1793. He had tenderly loved his lamented predecessor, and in death they were not divided. In 1800, the bodies of these holy men were removed to the Parish Church, by Rev. Michael O'Reilly, who styles himself "the unworthy successor of Dr. Camps." It is said that, " to equal a predecessor one must have twice his worth." But the people of his day found Father O'Reilly fully equal to any who had preceded him. The last resting places of these holy men are pointed out to visitors to St. Augustine, as sacred spots.
In 1785, Dr. Camps was sixteen years in Florida In 1789, he was nominated to a canonry in Minorca. In his petition to the King, he asked leave to return to his native island, Majorca, October 28, 1786. It is said that St. Ignatius and St. Teresa always ex- pected great success when they met serious obstacles in the beginning of a good work. But Dr. Camps had
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genuine success, in the beginning and the end, for he taught the Faith to his flock and kept it among them. And it is fitting that his remains should repose among them, as they do.
If the ancient Ponce de Leon sought in vain for the fabled fountain of perennial youth; if other navigators sailed into the bright harbors of Florida to slake their thirst for gems and gold which vanished before their gaze, like the fata morgana that often appeared to dazzle their vision in the luminous atmosphere, one thing is certain, wherever the Catholic navigators turned the prow of a vessel, on what shores soever they landed, their priests and brothers were always on the alert to carry the glad tidings of salvation to all the tribes of these Southern regions.
But the English Colonies carried war into the peace- ful villages of Florida : Ciudad, Puebla, Presidio, and simple settlements were destroyed. The missionaries and their forest children were sometimes slaughtered; many were reduced to servitude, and others were sold in the slave-markets of the West Indies.
When Spain ceded Florida to England, 1763, the poor savages became as sheep without a shepherd. Deprived of their Fathers in the Faith, many fell back into the barbarism from which Christianity has rescued them. Others fled to the pathless Everglades, and, under the name of Seminoles, or wanderers, became the most powerful foes the whites had yet encountered, till they were conquered under General Jackson (1830), and the remnant forced to migrate to the Indian Territory.
What was done when Spanish valor restored the Country to Spain, was done for the white more than the Red men. Or rather, it is the whites, chiefly, who
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were benefited, because the poor Indians had been, in most cases, massacred, or outlawed, or sold into slavery.
Spanish domination is a thing of the past. French political influences are no longer at work in these regions. But in the story of early days are facts stranger than fiction which, while they give the charm and fascination of romance to the narrative, grieve the Christian soul that reflects on what has been, and what might have been, indeed, had the dreams of the Apostolic men who labored for souls on this fair Con- tinent, and gave their life-blood for the Faith-been realized.
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CHAPTER XI.
LE MOYNE D' IBERVILLE, the pioneer of French colo- nization on the Gulf of Mexico, and the founder of the Province of Louisiana, cast anchor at Ship Island, Feb. 10, 1699. He selected a bluff, petite montagne, as the early chroniclers say. He had passed through Mau- repas and Ponchartrain to Bay St. Louis. On the small Bay of Biloxi he erected a fort, and planted around it forty immigrants.
He had sought a site at Pensacola but found it occupied. He explored Mobile Point, Massacre Island, and the West Shore of Mobile Bay. Experience soon showed him the necessity of a better position than barren Biloxi.1 Missionaries visited the French settle- ments, and the first Mass was celebrated at Biloxi; Easter Sunday, April 19, 1700.
In those days the French Government still held with Plutarch that a city could more easily grow without grounds, than without altars. And through its patron- age, churches were usually erected in its newly founded colonies. Thus it was neither commercial enterprise nor royal ambition, that carried the power of France into the heart of our Continent.2 The motive was
1 The old fort was burned at what is now Ocean Springs, 1717, New Biloxi, was on the point of land west of the bay, fronting Chip island. 2 Monette. Hist. Valley Miss.
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religion. The unwearied Jesuits were always in ad- vance of civilization.
The soil of Biloxi was sandy as the deserts of Lybia. Frogs, mosquitoes and alligators abounded as they do to-day, although Biloxi has become a modern city. The settlers cared little for agricultural pursuits, but devoted their time to a fruitless search for mines and pearls. Iberville sent the veteran, Tonti, to summon the Chickasaws to a conference at the picturesque little settlement. Behind the missioners, followed the fur- traders.
The poverty of Biloxi was apparent. The treasure- galleons of Spain came to the Isthmus of Panama for their golden freight of precious bars and ingots, brought by mule-trains overland, to be collected by the fleet from Peru, but no part of such treasures ever found its way to the sandy gulf coast. The roads were mere trails which mostly followed the water-sheds.
Speaking of these Southern regions,1 Father du Poisson, S. J., wrote : " The greatest torment, in comparison with which all the rest would be but sport, which passes all belief and has never been even im- agined in France, still less actually experienced, is that of the mosquitoes. The plagues of Egypt I think were not more cruel. This little insect has caused more swearing since the French have been in Mississippi than had previously taken place in all the rest of the world."
The daring Jesuits were striving to make a new Paraguay among the Iroquois, as they did later among the Californians. And these zealous missioners, ex-
1 The great body of the Jesuits led most pious lives, and suffered the greatest privations to redeem the savages from heathenism.
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celling among the excellent, seldom knew failure. The Aborigines were often brutal and indolent, but the priests, by preaching better things and practising what they preached, brought about a wonderful change.
Marquette and Joliet explored the northern rivers far enough to know that the Mississippi emptied into the Gulf of Mexico. They must have noticed the discoloration of the Mississippi by the fierce muddy Missouri, which Charlevoix pronounced the finest con- fluence in the world. Certainly, as we know from ex- perience, a grand spectacle.
The great navigator, La Salle, determined to reach the mouths of the Mississippi. He was born in Rouen and educated by the Jesuits of that city. Unlike the pupils of that illustrious body, in general, he conceived a foolish, unreasoning dislike for them, which followed him through life, and was a blot on a noble character.
From the Italian wars, Prince Conti had brought to Paris Henri de Tonty, whom he recommended to La Salle. Tonty showed himself the Bayard of naviga- tors, "without fear and without reproach." He is known in history as "the faithful Tonty." His un- wavering allegiance and loving friendship were among the few consolations of La Salle's sorrowful life. In- dians La Salle could conciliate and manage; but with his own countrymen, owing to his overbearing, exact- ing temper, he was rarely successful.
La Salle thought he could make a western passage to China by the Missouri. The estate which the Sul- pitians gave him near Montreal he called La Chine, China.
Tonty had lost an arm by the explosion of a grenade in Sicily. The deficiency he concealed by a copper or iron hand, which he usually covered with a glove, and
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which he is said to have used sometimes on refractory Indians.
Another associate of La Salle was the celebrated Recollect Friar, Hennepin, to whom he gave special instructions for the exploration of the Upper Missis- sippi. This intrepid missioner was the first to dis- cover coal in America; the primitive mine is near Ottawa, Ills. He explored the river with much suc- cess; and he named a beautiful waterfall he met, " The Falls of St. Anthony," after the beloved Portuguese Franciscan, St. Anthony of Padua. Strange things have been told of him, about his claiming the honor of discoveries due to others,1 for it is certain he never navigated the Mississippi below the Ohio. If he ever made such a claim, it was a blunder, and might even be called by a harsher name. For Hennepin's 2 brilliant activity did enough to secure a respectable share of glory for himself. Many a mariner enjoys high honors who did no more. He has been called the picturesque Hennepin, and the Recollect, who never recollects anything correctly. But this is too severe.
Filled with great projects of exploration and colo- nization, La Salle underwent many hardships and dis- appointments in carrying out his plans. True, he had one wonderful triumph. But he had endless dis- couragements, and more than once tasted the bitter-
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