USA > Indiana > History of the Catholic church in Indiana, Volume I > Part 7
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This good man, to those who knew him well, presented a pic- ture in which the colors were happily blended, with here and there the shading rather pronounced. The contour was grand, the detail worked to a nicety, while certain features were not only beautiful but very prominent. The man thus painted will never be forgot- ten in Indiana as the second bishop of the diocese of Vincinnes.
BISHOP JOHN S. BAZIN'S ADMINISTRATION.
Right Rev. John Stephen Bazin was consecrated bishop of Vincennes, in the cathedral of St. Francis Xavier, at Vincennes, October 24, 1847, and he died April 23, 1848, after a reign of just six months, less one day. He was in his fifty-second year at the time of his appointment, and when he received the papal bulls announcing to him his selection for the see of Vincennes he was vicar-general of the diocese of Mobile, Ala., in which diocese he had labored for seventeen years.
His own beloved bishop, the Right Rev. Michael Portier, of Mobile, performed the ceremony of consecration, assisted by Bishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, and the retiring bishop of Vincennes. Bishop Purcell preached the sermon on the occasion, and he voiced, in his own eloquent and happy way, many of the sentiments expressed (70)
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RT. REV. JOHN STEPHEN BAZIN, THIRD BISHOP OF VINCENNES.
IN THE STATE OF INDIANA.
by the newly consecrated bishop in his first and only pastoral let- ter. These sentiments were kindness, devotedness and a holy zeal for imparting to the youth of our country a knowledge of the truths of the Catholic religion.
Bishop Bazin was'a native of the arch-diocese of Lyons, France, having been born in 1796. He emigrated to this country in 1830, and was in his fifty-third year at the time of his death. He was the possessor of many excellent qualities of both head and heart, which, had he lived, would undoubtedly have been exercised to good advantage in Indiana. He would have been loved by both priests and people for his gentleness of disposition, and for the true missionary spirit which was his by both nature and cultivation. An index to the esteem in which he would have been held in Indi- ana, had he lived, may be found in the high regard which the people of Mobile entertained for him from the day when he began his ministry among them. The knowledge of what he was to the people of the south, coupled with the little that was known of him personally during his short administration as bishop of Vincennes, has already endeared his memory to those who read the history of the early days of the church in Indiana.
On his death-bed he appointed as his vicar-general Father Maurice de St. Palais, who was later chosen to succeed him in the see of Vincennes. His remains lie next to those of Bishop Bruté, in the old cathedral of St. Francis Xavier at Vincennes, where neither priest nor layman ever enter without breathing a prayer or voicing a kindly sentiment for "poor Bishop Bazin."
The early days of Catholicity in Indiana, so fraught with vicissitudes and trials, and during which both priests and bishops were called upon to make so many sacrifices, wear for us of to-day a tinge of the melancholy blended with the heroic.
What emotions are stirred by the picture of a lonely priest treading his way through the unbroken forest, fording swollen streams, sleeping in the open air, going for days without even the scantiest nourishment-and all that isolated Catholic families in the wilderness, or roving bands of savage Indians might have the graces and consolations of the religion of Christ brought to them! And then to see the bearers of the glad tidings set upon by the
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A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
savages, and in many instances brutally murdered while heroically and lovingly spending themselves for the good of others-the con- templation of such heroism and devotedness stirs the soul so deeply and completely that, in our day of ease and convenience and rosy surroundings, Catholic men and women ought to be inclined to leap from cushioned pews and frescoed walls and from an atmosphere heavy with soul-soothing music, but to exclaim before all the . world: "Oh, Lord, we are not worthy of such ease and delights! "
And how true and fitting would be such an exclamation in these last years of the nineteenth century! In this day of the supremacy of the dollar, and of the prevalence of much worldli- ness, how deaf have the people become to the voices of the past, and how blind to the scenes of the struggles and privations of the early missionaries and of the Catholic pioneers in Indiana and the west! The fact is that Catholics have so much to be thankful for that the notion of their great indebtedness ought to overwhelm them.
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IN THE STATE OF INDIANA.
CHAPTER V.
RIGHT REV. MAURICE DE ST. PALAIS, THE FOURTH BISHOP OF VIN- CENNES- STATE OF THE DIOCESE IN 1849 - THE BISHOP'S LABORS AND THEIR RICH REWARDS - HIS DEATH AND CHARAC- TERISTICS.
IN the previous chapter we have seen that Bishop Bazin, on his - death-bed, appointed his vicar-general, Very Rev. M. de St. Palais, administrator of the affairs of the diocese of Vincennes, until such time as a bishop would be chosen. Father de St. Palais acted in that capacity from April 23, 1848, until October 3, of the same year, when, he was himself precognized bishop by Pope Pius IX, who had been elected Pope, June 16, 1846. His conse- cration took place in the cathedral, at Vincennes, January 14, 1849. Bishop Miles, of Nashville, was the consecrating bishop, assisted by Bishop Spalding, of Louisville. On the occasion there was a vast audience, and a large number of priests were present.
The Catholic population of the diocese of Vincennes was about 30,000 in 1849, and there were then just thirty-five priests to attend to their spiritual wants. The names of the several par- ishes and missions, or stations, to the number of fifty, and the priests in charge of the same were taken from the records by Father Alerding, and are here given, to' show the state of the diocese when Bishop de St. Palais took charge:
1-2. Rev. Ernest Audran and Rev. John B. Chassé at Vincennes, cathe- dral of St. Francis Xavier. St. Rose of Lima at Faux-Chenel, and St. Thomas in Tueret's Prairie, both in Knox county, and Carlisle, in Sullivan county, were attended from Vincennes.
3. Rev. Conrad Schniederjans, at Vincennes, in charge of the German congregation.
.4. Rev. John McDermott, at Washington, Daviess county, St. Simon's church.
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A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
5. Rev. Bartholomew Piers, at St. Peter's, Daviess county, attending also to St. Patrick's, same county.
6. Rev. Patrick Murphy, at St. Mary's, Daviess county, attending also to Mount Pleasant, in Martin county.
7. Rev. Joseph Kundeck, at Jasper, Dubois county, having charge also of St. Celestine's, same county.
8. Rev. William Doyle, at Ferdinand, Dubois county, attending also to Troy, in Perry county.
9. Rev. Augustine Bessonies, at Leopold, Perry county. He attended also to several stations in Spencer, Warrick and Crawford counties, besides Rome, Fredonia, Leavenworth and Rockport.
10. Rev. Anthony Deydier, at Evansville, Vanderburg county, church of the Immaculate Conception.
11. Rev. Roman Weinzoepfel, at St. Joseph's, in Vanderburg county, who attended also to St. Wendel, in Posey county, and two other stations. (Vernon, in Posey county, was visited by Rev. E. Durbin, from Kentucky.)
12. Rev. Hippolyte du Pontavice, at Madison, Jefferson county, St. Mi- chael's church.
13. Rev. Daniel Maloney, at Columbus, Bartholomew county. He attended also to Scipio and St. Catherine's, in Jennings county, and to Mar- tinsville, in Morgan county.
14. Rev. Adolph Munshina, at St. Magdalen's, in Ripley county, attending also to Rockford and Vernon, in the same county, to St. Ann's, in Jennings county, and to Muehlhausen, in Decatur county.
15. Rev. Louis Neyron, at New Albany, Floyd county, who attended, besides, to the Knobs, church of the Assumption, and to Jeffersonville and Charlestown.
16. Rev. John Dion, Lanesville, Harrison county, who visited, also, Miller's settlement in the same county, and two other stations.
17. Rev. Martin Stahl, at New Alsace, Dearborn county, St. John's church.
18. Rev. Andrew Benet, at St. Joseph's, Dearborn county, attending also to St. Paul's and Lawrenceburg, same county.
19. Rev. William Engeln, at Brookville, Franklin county, having charge also of St. Peter's; and St. Mary's of the Rocks, same county.
20. Rev. Joseph Rudolph, at Oldenburg, Franklin county, attending, besides, to Enochsburg, same county, and to Pipe Creek, St. Nicholas church, in Ripley county.
21. Rev. Anthony Carius, at Richmond, Wayne county, St. Andrew's church, visiting, besides, Cambridge, Hagerstown and Abbington, same county, and Laurel, Franklin county.
22. Rev. John Gueguen, at Indianapolis, Marion county, visiting, also, St. Vincent's, Shelby county; Strawtown, Hamilton county; Cumberland, Hancock county, and Pendleton, Madison county.
23. Rev. Michael Clarke, at LaFayette, Tippecanoe county, St. Mary's church, attending, also, to Covington, Delphi and other stations.
24. Rev. John Ryan, at La Gro, Wabash county, having charge, also, of Huntington, in Huntington county.
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IN THE STATE OF INDIANA.
25. Rev. Patrick McDermott, at Logansport, Cass county, attending, besides, to Peru, in Miami county.
26-27. Rev. Julian Benoit and Rev. Edward Faller, at Fort Wayne, in Allen county. They attended, also, to Hesse Cassel and St. Vincent's, same. county, and to several stations in LaGrange, Steuben, Noble, Whitley, DeKalb. and Wells counties.
28. Rev. Edward Sorin, South Bend, St. Joseph county.
29. Rev. E. Delisle, South Bend, St. Joseph county.
30. Rev. Francis Cointet, South Bend, St. Joseph county.
31. Rev. Francis Gouesse, South Bend, St. Joseph county.
32. Rev. Theophilus Mainault, South Bend, St. Joseph county, Our Lady of the Lake. These fathers visited, also, from their institution, Mishawaka, St. Joseph county; Michigan City, Laporte county; St. John's, Lake county; also, Goshen, Leesburg, Plymouth and other stations.
33. Rev. Simon P. Lalumiere, at Terre Haute, Vigo county, attending, besides, to Montezuma, Clinton and Merom.
34. Rev. John Corbe, at St. Mary's of the Woods, near Terre Haute, Vigo. county.
35. Rev. A. Granger, at Indianapolis, master of novices for the novitiate of the Brothers of St. Joseph.
At the time when the above records were copied (1849) the. educational affairs of the diocese were not only promising, but pretty well established. It was then that the university of Notre- Dame, founded by the society of the Holy Cross, was in its. infancy and began to show the first indications of what it is to-day. The same was the case with St. Mary's of the Woods, established by the Sisters of Providence, who were also in charge of parochial schools at Vincennes, Jasper, Madison and Fort Wayne. The Brothers of St. Joseph, an educational order, had their novitiate at Indianapolis, and conducted schools both there and at Wash- ington, Daviess county, Fort Wayne, Madison and Vincennes. The Theological seminary, located at Vincennes, was at that time conducted by the priests stationed at the cathedral, and seven stu- dents were being prepared in it for the priesthood.
With this promising and comparatively prosperous state of affairs obtaining, Bishop de St. Palais was not obliged, nor was it according to his nature, to rush things. He proceeded in the even tenor of his dignified way, not only to conserve what had been established, but also to direct and develop whatever appeared of promise to further the interests of religion, education and active charity in his diocese.
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A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
The foreign assistance, heretofore relied upon, received, and used for seminary purposes, not then being available or likely to be again, he established, in 1850, the Easter and Christmas collections, yet in force, the one for the benefit of the seminary and the other in aid of the orphans. The good bishop was about equally devoted to both, with the claims of the orphans and widows appealing more directly to his very kind and generous heart. Hence the orphanage and the seminary, both at Vincennes, received his closest attention, and, indeed, called forth his very best efforts, the former particularly, for, later, it became one of his dearest charges.
So well had it gone with the religious educational institutions established in the diocese, and so considerate of them was the bishop at all times that, on these things becoming known in France, Bishop de St. Palais had but to invite, and almost any of the prominent orders, male or female, were ready to come to him. Hence the presence in his day in Indiana of the Benedictines, Franciscans, an increased number of the Society of the Holy Cross, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart and others. The Ben- edictine order had established, in 1852, a branch of its great mon- astic institution at what is now known as St. Meinrad's, but more properly described as Harrison township, in Spencer county, Ind. The site of the abbey comprises 160 acres. It is now the ecclesi- astical seminary for the diocese of Vincennes, and in Bishop de :St. Palais' day received his warmest encouragement. At this writ- ing it is one of the great ecclesiastical educational institutions of the west. The same was the case respecting the presence in the diocese of the Sisters of St. Francis, the Sisters of the Good Shep- herd, the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Ursuline Sisters, the Nuns of the Order of St. Benedict, and the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Touching the work performed by the priests in those days, it can be said that they labored faithfully and well, with the best results following. The priest has his obligations as well as the bishop has his, and, independent of the presence of the bishop, the good priest always walks in the way of duty. But while priests are spiritual directors and leaders of the people, they are yet only men, with their own share of human nature about them. (78)
IN THE STATE OF INDIANA.
From this it can be inferred that a bishop, who possesses to a great degree those natural virtues that are expected to shine forth in the character of the real gentleman, will have a more potent. influence among his prietss than will a bishop who is deficient in this respect, no matter how well equipped he may be in others.
It may not be history to branch 'off as we have in the para- graph just written, but the application and the fact run together in affirming that few bishops were ever better loved by their priests than was Bishop de St. Palais by his. This was so not only regard- ing those who accompanied him from France, and those who were in the field when he arrived, but it was especially so in case of the ninety priests who received ordination at his hands. They all respected, revered and loved him, and the instances were few where strained relations ever obtained between them.
In no case was this more practically demonstrated than in 1857, when the diocese was divided a second time and the north- ern half of Indiana was set apart as the territory of the diocese of Fort Wayne, of which Rt. Rev. John H. Luers was appointed the first bishop. The priests of the northern half of the diocese of Vin- cennes, while obedient, were yet loath to part from Bishop de St. Palais. Many were the expressions of tender regard exchanged between them and their old bishop, and at his death those of them yet alive mourned him with a filial tenderness that was most affecting *.
Bishop de St. Palais visited Rome three times according to the obligation of his office-in 1849, 1859 and 1869. During the last visit he assisted at the Vatican council, in which he showed himself a firm, logical believer in and advocate of the decree of the council touching papal infallibility. He returned to his diocese shortly after the close of the Vatican council, impressed more than ever with his obligations to his flock and with seemingly an increased love for both priests and people. While in France both his love
* One of the few exceptions to the general rule of kindness obtaining between the priests of the diocese of Vincennes and Bishop de St. Palais was a . petition sent to Rome by a large number of the German priests complaining that in the appointment to the more important and lucrative parishes the bishop favored the French and Irish priests. This charge had a bad effect upon the health of the bishop, and at his funeral Bishop Dwenger more than intimated that it had hastened the death of Bishop de St. Palais.
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A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
and his sense of duty in these respects were put to the test by more than an intimation that one of the most prominent arch-episco- pal sees of that country could be his were he willing to accept the the charge. He refused to consider the proposition, as to do so would not comport with his love for his " dear church in Indiana."
June 28, 1877, Bishop de St. Palais was stricken with paraly- sis at St. Mary of the Woods, Ind., where he was in attendance at the commencement exercises of that favorite institution. He lived but nine hours after he was taken ill, and for the fourth time the diocese of Vincennes was widowed. He was buried July 3, in the cathedral at Vincennes, the solemn services having been performed by Archbishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, assisted by Bishops Foley, of Chicago; Baltes, of Alton; Spalding, of Louisville, and Dwenger, of Fort Wayne, which latter preached the funeral discourse. Over 100 priests were in attendance and the funeral cortege was the largest and most imposing ever witnessed in Indiana.
Bishop Purcell, after the funeral, appointed Very Rev. Aug. Bessonies administrator until the appointment of a bishop. This action by Bishop Purcell was rendered necessary, since Bishop de St. Palais had left no will and was unable to speak after he was stricken with paralysis. Bishop Chatard, after his appointment, continued Father Bessonies in the administratorship until his arrival in the diocese.
After a ministry of forty-one years in his diocese, twenty- eight of them as bishop, he died conscious that his labors and those of his priests were rewarded with good results. Of this fact the proof is that the diocese of Vincennes in that year (1877) had a Catholic population of over 90,000, with 127 priests and 151 churches, the educational and charitable institutions being well in keeping.
If greater or more minute details were required to show how successful Bishop de St. Palais' administration had been they might be forthcoming, but they would scarcely comport with the scope of this work. To tell the story of conversions, of which there were many; to recite the number of contributions and bequests, which were by no means few; or to recount the difficul- ties or merely local happenings connected immediately or remotely
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RT. REV. MAURICE DE ST. PALAIS, D. D. FOURTH BISHOP OF VINCENNES.
IN THE STATE OF INDIANA.
with the organization of this or that parish or mission, would be to cumber these pages too much with matter of no general interest, and therefore scarcely worthy of being preserved. But as a mod- erate amount of matter of this character has been happily woven into a sketch of the good bishop's life by the Hon. Henry S. Cau- thorn, of Vincennes, Ind., we will here reproduce it, and for the additional reason that it is a very clever recital of the life and labors of that great and good man.
SKETCH OF BISHOP DE ST. PALAIS.
James M. Maurice De Long D'Aussac De St. Palais, the fourth bishop of Vincennes, was born at La Salvetat, in the dio- cese of Montpelier, in France, on the 15th day of November, 18II. He descended from a very ancient and noble family, and could trace his ancestral line of descent back through centuries. His family was very wealthy, and always took an active and prominent part in public affairs, and many of its members acquired fame and distinction in the military service of the country. Members of his family, centuries before his time, were known to have taken a prominent and active part in the crusades, and also in the long and bloody wars against the Moors.
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Young de St. Palais very early gave evidence of more than ordinary abilities, and as he was destined to inherit great wealth and titles of nobility, his parents determined to give him an educa- tion fit for the exalted position he was sure to occupy in course of time. For this purpose they sent him away from their home in the south of France to Paris, then the grand center, both political and intellectual, of European civilization, where he received a clas- sical education in the celebrated educational institutions of the French metropolis. Having completed his secular studies, and when thoroughly prepared to enter upon the brilliant career in any sphere of civil life which his native talents and acquired attain- ments, in connection with his birth and wealth, assured, to the surprise of his family and friends he announced his determination to renounce all the glories and honors the world could give him, and devote himself to the service of the church as a priest. He accordingly at once entered as a student in the celebrated semi-
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nary of St. Sulpice in Paris, where Bishops Bruté, de la Hailandiere and so many other distinguished prelates of the Catholic church were educated. In this justly celebrated seminary he prosecuted his philosophical and theological studies, and in the year 1836, when he was twenty-five years old, he was ordained priest, about the same time the sainted Bishop Bruté was, in France, seeking missionaries for his diocese, and it has been said that he was ordained priest by this good man. However that may be, it is certain that on this visit to France of Bishop Bruté he became acquainted with him, and his fervent soul was aroused by his recital of the pressing want of priests in his diocese, and that he determined to leave his native country, with all its charms and fascinations, his noble and wealthy kindred and the friends of his youth, to go to a strange and wild country, and literally bury him- self from the presence of all refined and civilized life in the forests of the west. He therefore accompanied Bishop Bruté on his return to his diocese, and arrived at Vincennes in 1836. He was then a young priest, it being the same year of his ordination. His first work in the diocese was at a station about thirty-five miles east of Vincennes, in the very heart of a wilderness country. Here this man, an heir of wealth and to lordly titles born, settled down to his work with apostolical zeal, destitute of the comforts and many of the necessaries of life. From what I know of the locality in which he commenced his ministerial career in this diocese, and that knowledge applying to it at a much later period, I am warranted in saying that, on many occasions, he was compelled to prepare his own dinner, if, indeed, he was so fortunate as to have anything to prepare. From this station in the woods he also administered to the spiritual wants of the few scattered Catholics in the neighbor- ing counties around him.
The Catholics within the range of his administrations were all very poor, as is the case generally with the early pioneer settlers of any country. But Father de St. Palais, notwithstanding their poverty, devised many novel and unheard-of ways and means to obtain funds to build churches and advance Catholicity through- out the wide region he visited in the discharge of his priestly func- tions. He here patiently and quietly labored literally in the back (84)
IN THE STATE OF INDIANA.
woods until 1839, when he was sent by Bishop de la Hailandiere. to Chicago. At that time Chicago was a very small place of only a few thousand population, but already gave evidence of the wonder- ful results which have since been realized and materialized by its. phenomenal growth. Unfortunately a schism in the church had been productive of much harm, and it had baffled the skill and ability of many able prelates in the efforts made to heal it. But Father de St. Palais, by his affable and genial disposition, uniform evenness of temper which it was almost impossible to disturb, at length succeeded in procuring perfect unity by reconciling all dif- ferences that had previously existed. He remained in Chicago for five years, and was then sent by Bishop de la Hailandiere to. Logansport, Indiana. At the time Father de St. Palais was min- istering to the wants of the Catholics at Chicago and Logansport, there were no facilities for travel as now, and in fact very poor roads of any kind, anywhere, and in places none at all, so that in visiting his flock, scattered here and there for miles around and far apart, from the place where he was stationed, he was compelled to make the transit of his pastoral visitations on horseback, and to- travel such long distances through a sparsely settled country that he was 'frequently compelled to pass the night in the woods without any shelter, and on account of the scarcity of inns for the accommo- dation of travelers, he was compelled to carry his scanty supply of provisions in his saddle-bags. But his amiability and kindness endeared him to the people so that they loved him and the surviv- ors yet hold him in kind remembrance. Father Campion, the present pastor of St. Vincent de Paul's church in Logansport, in the diocese of Fort Wayne, delivered a lecture in St. Francis Xavier's cathedral in the year 1891 to the Catholic Knights, in the course of which he aullded to Father de St. Palais and his min- isterial labors at Logansport, and said his memory was still fresh in the minds of his former parishioners, who loved to speak in praise of him.
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