USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historical collections: containing I. The Reformation in France; the rise, progress and destruction of the Huguenot Church. Vol II > Part 43
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then organized, included Southbridge, Charlton, and Stur- bridge, and numbered about 2,000 souls-half Irish and half Canadians, in 1867.
Since the residence of a pastor with them they have in- creased rapidly. They have very much the largest congrega- tion in town; some 400 children attend the Sunday-school, and their church, not accommodating more than 500 persons, is to be replaced by another of double its capacity.
In 1870 the society was divided, the French portion with- drawing and erecting a meeting-house of their own, which is at this time much the largest house for public religious wor- ship in this town, and has a French priest for preacher.
The Irish Catholics, in 1872, were preparing to erect a much larger meeting-house, to accommodate their increased numbers.
Their old meeting-house has been removed some distance west on Hamilton street, and is being fitted and put in order for a school.
The French priest, Michael F. Le Breton, the first pastor of the French church, began his duties over this new society the 8th of November, 1869, and in 1872 was still officiating here with the approval of his people and the respect of society generally.
The Rev. A. M. Barrett, D. D., who had discharged his duties with much ability and general satisfaction here, was dismissed from this service in the autumn of 1869, when fol- lowed the division of this first society, and the Rev. J. McDer- mott succeeded to the charge of the Irish division; he con- tinued the pastorship over this part in the meeting-house of the first church, but has since been created bishop and lo- cated at Springfield in this State. His successor is the Rev. John Kremmens.
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TIIE ROMISH CHURCH IN AMERICA.
This church was first established in the English colonies in America in Maryland .*
The first colonists, with the governor, embarked from the Isle of Wight, November 22, 1633, being principally Catho- lies, sailing by way of the Azores and West Indies, touch- ing at the islands of Barbadoes and St. Christopher's, and arrived at Point Comfort, at the entrance of the Chesapeake, in Virginia, February 24, 1634. They were about 200 souls, and in two ships, the Ark and the Dove.
They sailed from Point Comfort the 3d of March, for the Potomae river, and up the same fourteen leagnes, and landing on an island which they named " St. Clement's," set up a cross and took possession of the country in the name of our Saviour, and our lord the king of England. Finding this island not satisfactory for a town, they, in a few days, descended the river to the Indian town Youmaco, and by consent of these natives took possession, and gave it the name "St. Mary's."
The first mass said in this country was by Father Althane, who was a Jesuit, and explained the nature of the ceremony to the Indians present, which favorably impressed them. This mass was on the day of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.
* It is asserted by some that the name Maryland was given to this colony in honor of Henrietta Maria. queen of King Charles I, who granted this province; as she was a rigid Catholic; while others claim the name was given in honor of Queen Mary, as an offset to an honor that had been conferred upon her sister, Queen Elizabeth. in naming Virginia; and others aver that the name arose from Mary, the mother of Jesus; as the celebration of the first mass by these colonists was on the day of their arrival, and the day of the festi- val of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary; the name, as originally called, was " Mary's Land."
This grant to Lord Baltimore passed the seals, June 22. 1632; the same had been granted to Sir George Calvert, his father, who died before the patent was ready for delivery, April 15, 1632. He appointed his brother, Leonard Calvert, governor over the same.
Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert) was a Catholic, and as the Episcopalians who founded Virgima established that form of worship and order of religious faith in their colony, and the Puritan founders of the colonies of New England had done the same, by establishing the religion of their peculiar faith, it was not unreasonable that Lord Baltimore should adopt the same course in support of the religion of his belief.
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Although a Catholic, with former examples of the intoler- ance of his religions order, Lord Baltimore proclaimed, like Roger Williams, of Rhode Island, religious freedom in his colony ; but Virginia, settled by the adherents of the English church, and the Puritans of New England who had fled their country to avoid persecution for their religions opinions and form of worship, both established laws proscribing all other religious forms and faith within their jurisdiction. The oppressed Puritans in Virginia, the Nonconformists of Massa- chusetts, and the exiled Huguenots of France, sought and received equal protection for their faith under this Catholic lord.
Yet it must be said, that although his rule was humane and liberal in matters of toleration for religious sentiment, it did not embrace the same liberality and enlightened policy in political affairs. The greatest good of the greatest number, and the equality of all before the law in personal rights and property, did not pertain to his scheme of government.
Romanisin had its origin in the English colonies in America in this colony, in 1634, and to the present time, 1870, has been in progress 236 years. This order of religious forms and faith was introduced by the French into the first colony they established in America; that at Port Royal (now Anna- polis, Nova Scotia), in 1605, and into the colony upon the St. Lawrence, established by Champlain, in 1608. It was also the first to penetrate the great West along the chain of the great lakes, the prairies, and the valley of the Mississippi, from St. Anthony's falls to the gulf of Mexico.
As early as 1668, the Jesuit priests, Marquette, Joliet, and Hennepin, and M. de la Salle, were known among these interior natives, extending from Lake Superior and St. Anthony's falls, down to the delta regions of the gulf, as before related. Their names were given to towns which were afterwards planted by the English, who, carrying the arts and progress
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of civilization to where the hamlets of a barbarous race then stood, not only perpetuate the names of this enthusiastic and devoted band, but give equal religious and political liberty, as the common birthright of all-a liberty commending itself to an enlightened intellect, instead of a despotic rule that knew no law but brute force, and a mystic type of religion, not the bond of love and peace, but the result of fear and a morbid conception.
The first bishop of this church, in these colonies, was John Carroll, of Maryland ; constituted in 1790 ; he died in 1815. The numbers of this denomination in these colonies at the time of the Revolution were 16,000 in Maryland, 7,000 in Pennsylvania, and in all the other colonies, 15,000; total, 38,000 ; in Louisiana and other territory since included, then French territory, about 7,000 more ; in all, 45,000, in a popu- lation of about 2,500,000, in 1775 ; or one Catholic in about sixty of the whole number of the white inhabitants, at the commencement of the war that caused the separation of these colonies from England.
It is yet a missionary field of this church.
For convenience in the management of this church, the United States is divided into seven provinces, these into dio- ceses, and the latter division into parishes.
The provinces are named and divided as follows :
Province of Baltimore, 11 Dioceses and 2 Vicariates : formed in 1789.
..
" Cincinnati, 9
66
' 1833.
06 " New Orleans, 6
1793.
" New York, 10 66
" 1808.
St. Louis, 11 64
66
4
1826.
66
Oregon, 3
3
1846.
San Francisco, 3 ..
יו 6. ..
6. ..
" 1853.
These dioceses are each under the control of either an arch- bishop or bishop; if by an archbishop, then they are called an archdiocese ; and the several parishes into which these are
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divided have a priest supplied for the care of each, who takes the name of " Father."
There are fifteen archbishops, forty bishops, and about 3,000 priests in the United States. The number of commu- nicants is reported at about 700,000 ; and the population in sympathy with them, called Catholies, is stated at about 5,000,000.
They have thirty colleges, twenty-six theological seminaries, about 200 academies for males and females, and about 650 parochial schools, making the aggregate number of educational institutions, 906.
Besides these, they have about 200 convents, which are usually institutions of the higher order of learning-literary and ecclesiastical.
It has also done much in charities; there are about 150 hospitals for various classes ; the sick, indigent, aged, and des- titute youth.
The Christian brothers and sisters of charity labor in these institutions, with no other reward than food and clothing, and the satisfaction of doing good.
The Episcopal denomination are beginning to pattern after this example ; they now have incorporated the order of St. Mary, and are engaged in the formation of the order of the Christian brotherhood.
The Roman Catholic church in America excels all other denominations in system, efficiency, and activity in promoting their extension.
In point of numbers of church members and population connected with their societies, they stand the third in the United States ; the Methodists and the Baptists only out- number them.
That which advances their numbers most is the vast Euro- pean emigration to this country, particularly the Irish, who are chiefly Catholics.
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To some Protestant Christians, their rapid increase is a source of alarm for the success of the free institutions of these States ; but when it is considered that within the last fifty years the old idea of intolerance and persecution for the sake of religion has in every shape ceased to exist in all the States of this Union, and that even in Europe, as well as in this conn- try, freedom of thought and worship is everywhere being claimed as an inherent right in the individual, it is certainly a serious drawback upon sensibilities of this character, if, in- deed, it is not sufficient to allay all such apprehensions.
In the present total population of the United States of 40,000,000, the 5,000,000, the present number of those in this church, and those in sympathy, is one in eight of the whole mimber.
C. I Marcy
BIOGRAPHICAL.
CHAPTER VII.
HON. WILLIAM L. MARCY.
W ILLIAM LEARNED MARCY, son of Captain Jede- diah Marcy, of Southbridge, Worcester county, Massa- chusetts (of that part formerly Sturbridge), was born the 12th of December, 1786, died at Balston Spa, New York, July 4, 1857. He received his education by beginning at the com- mon town school, where, for a time, he was regarded as a dull scholar, but with a little kindness and encouragement by one of his teachers, advanced at once to a new life and spirit in his studies, which, through the recommendation of this teacher, induced his parents to place him in the academy at Leicester. His proficiency here was favorable, and during his stay he manifested that tendency for political affairs which largely characterized his future life. When here he wrote and de- livered a Fourth of July oration among the students of this institution ; for the strong democratic tendency of this effort, and his discussions 'with the students upon political questions, sustaining the same principles, he was admonished by the head of that institution, which had the effect to induce him to close his course of studies at this place, and enter the academy at Woodstock, Connecticut. Soon after, his proficiency enabled him to enter as a student at Brown university, where he main- tained the rank of a good scholar, and graduated with distinc- tion in 1808. He soon established himself at Troy, New
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York, where he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and en- tered upon the practice of his profession.
When the war with England broke out in 1812, he was a lieutenant in a military company in Troy, and with his com- pany volunteered to serve the government for the defense of his country. They were stationed at French Mills, now Fort
Covington. On the night of October 22, 1812, he was sent with a detachment, under command of Major Young, to cap- ture a party of Canadian militia posted at St. Regis. Lieu- tenant Marcy led the attack, broke open, himself, the door of the block-house occupied by the Canadians, and when they surrendered received their arms, together with their flag. These prisoners and the flag, it is reported, were the first cap- tured during that war.
Mr. Marcy remained in the service of the country until the close of hostilities. In 1816 he began his public official life as recorder of the city of Troy, from which office he was re- moved for political reasons in 1818. He was a Republican, which was the political name of the Democratic party at that time, while their opponents were called Federalists. He had voted as a Republican for Governor De Witt Clinton, but, becoming dissatisfied with his administration, openly opposed him, and for this was removed from this office. He now became editor of The Troy Budget, a daily newspaper, and, with his signal ability as a political writer, made it one of the most prominent organs of the Democratic party. In January, 1821, he was appointed by Governor Yates adjutant-general of the State militia. In February, 1823, he was elected, by the Legislature, comptroller of the State. Mr. Marcy now re- moved from Troy, and made his chief residence in Albany.
Governor Joseph C. Yates and the Hon. Martin Van Buren were among his most intimate and firm political friends. The office of comptroller in New York is the same as that of treasurer in other States. This was at a time when
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this State was making very large disbursements for the con- struction and completion of the Erie and Champlain canals, and the great increase of the State debt. The business capa- city of Mr. Marcy was now put to a severe test, but so faith- fully and skillfully were his duties performed, that no opposi- tion was offered to his re-election in the winter of 1826. He introduced and perfected the system of collecting tolls upon the canals, and accountability for the interest as well as prin- cipal of the State funds deposited in banks. He prepared the basis and general plan for a sinking fund, for the ultimate re- demption of the State debt, created for internal improvements.
He was a member of the celebrated combination of politi- cians known in New York as the " Albany Regency," which controlled for many years, through the Republican party, the political affairs of the State.
With Mr. Van Buren and other distinguished men of the Democratic party, he effected the revolution of the political parties, and in 1828 carried the State for General Andrew Jackson for president, and placed his friend Martin Van Buren at the head of the State government, January 1, 1829. It was through the efforts of Mr. Van Buren, Silas Wright, Mr. Marcy, and others of the Regency, that changed the old way of nominating candidates for office by members of the State Legislatures and the Congress of the United States to mem- bers of political conventions, who were selected by each great party for that object alone, and thus taking this business from members of the assemblies throughout the country, elected for purposes of legislation. By this move in the State of New York, the friends of President John Quincy Adams were defeated, and the State triumphantly carried for General Jackson, which secured his election. On the 15th day of January, 1829, the Democratie party, in recognition of Mr. Marey's great ability and political services, gave him the office of associate-justice of the Supreme court of the State, to fill the vacancy oc-
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casioned by the resignation of Judge Woodworth. This office he filled with great impartiality and acknowledged ability.
In the exciting trial of the abductors of William Morgan, at Lockport, in 1830, his urbanity, firmness, and impartial decisions were highly commended by all parties. The dis- charge of his duties as a judge gave great satisfaction to his friends and the members of the bar, and his resignation oc- casioned much general regret by all who did not understand the object to be gained thereby. His resignation was for political considerations, and a plan of Mr. Van Buren's.
The latter, at this time, was looking for the office of Presi- dent of the United States, as successor to General Jackson. He was then secretary of state, but had determined to re- sign, which he did, April 11, 1831, and was appointed soon after minister to the English court. Knowing well the tact and great ability of Mr. Marcy as a political manager, he de- sired to have him in a favorable position in Washington ; and as it was known that the term of office of Nathaniel Sanford, as senator, was to expire on the 4th of March, 1831, Judge Marcy was regarded as the most prominent man in many respects the party could put forward for his successor ; he was nominated at the cancus of the Republicans on the evening of January 31, 1831 ; being informed of this action he immediately resigned his judgeship, and on the following day was elected a senator for six years from the 4th of March following. His reputation for legal ability was known in Congress, and he re- ceived the important position of chairman of the committee on the judiciary, and a member of the committee on finance.
Soon after Mr. Marcy took his seat in Congress as senator for New York, the question of confirmation of the appoint- ment of Mr. Van Buren, as minister to England, came up for consideration ; it was conducted wholly upon party principles, and on that ground he lost the confirmation, which ultimately proved much to the detriment of his opponents, and made
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Van Buren the president of the United States, as the succes- sor of General Jackson.
Mr. Marcy's speech in defense of his friend, Mr. Van Buren, on that occasion, has often been quoted in part, as contrary to sound principles of statesmanship ; that phrase, viz .. " That to the victor belongs the spoils of the enemy." It is believed of suf- ficient importance to introduce here a part of that speech, to show the connection in which it was applied.
The principal points of this speech, which were in vindica- tion of Mr. Van Buren and of parties in the State of New York, both having been harshly assailed by Mr. Clay, were as follows :
" The occasion which renders it proper that I should say something, has arisen in consequence of what has fallen from the honorable senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay). His attack was not confined to the nominee (Mr. Van Buren) ; it reaches the State which I represent in this body.
" One of the grounds of opposition to the minister to London, taken by the senator from Kentucky, is the pernicious system of party politics, adopted by the present administration, by which the honors and offices are put up to be scrambled for by partisans, etc., a system which the minister to London, as the senator from Kentucky alleges, has brought . here from the State in which he formerly lived, and had for so long a time acted a conspicuous part in its political transactions. I know, sir, that it is the habit of some gentlemen to speak with censure or reproach of the politics of New York. Like other States, we have contests, and, as a necessary consequence, triumphs and defeats. The State is large, with great and diversified interests ; in some parts of it, commerce is the object of general pursuit ; in others, manufactures and agriculture are the chief concerns of the citizens.
" We have men of enterprise and talents, who aspire to public distinc- tion. It is natural to expect from these circumstances, and others that might be alluded to, that her politics should excite more interest at home, and attract more attention abroad, than those of many other States in the confederacy.
" It may be, sir, that the politicians of New York are not so fastidious as some gentlemen are, as to disclosing the principles on which they act. They boldly preach what they practice. When they are contending for victory, they avow their intention of enjoying the fruits of it. If they are defeated, they expect to retire from office; if they are successful, they claim, as a matter of right, the advantages of success. They see
36.A
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nothing wrong in the rule that 'to the victor belongs the spoils of' the enemy.'
" But if there be anything wrong in the policy which the senator from Kentucky has so strongly reprobated, he should know that this policy is not confined to the minister to London and his friends in New York, but is practiced by his (Mr. Clay's) own political friends in that State; he should know that to Ambrose Spencer, if to one man more than any other now living, the existence of that policy is to be ascribed. The practice of making extensive changes in the offices, on the change of parties in that State, was begun, I believe, before the nominee was upon the political stage ; certainly, while he was quite a young man, and before he had acquired great consideration in political affairs. I must be permitted, sir, to say, that of all the party men with whom I have acted, or been particularly acquainted (and the number of such is not small), I know of no one who lias acted with, or advised to more moder- ation than the person whose nomination we are now considering.
"When the Senator from Kentucky condemns the present adminis- tration for making removals from office, and then ascribes the act to the pernicious system of politics imported from New York, I fear he does not sufficiently consider the peculiar circumstances under which the present administration came into power. General Jackson did not come in under the same circumstances that Mr. Adams did, or Mr. Munroe, or Mr. Madison. His accession was like that of Mr. Jefferson. He came in, sir, upon a political revolution. The contest was without a parallel. Much political bitterness was engendered. Criminations and recrimina- tions were made. Slanders of a most extraordinary character flooded the land. When the chief magistrate took upon himself the administra- tion of the government, he found almost all the offices, from the highest to the lowest, filled by political enemies.
" I have very good reasons for believing that it is the gentleman's rule of conduct to take care of his friends when he is in power. It requires not the foresight of a prophet to predict that, if he shall come into power, he will take care of his friends ; and if he does, I can assure him I shall not complain ; nor shall I be in the least surprised if he imitates the example which he so emphatically denounces.
"I must again allude to the grounds of the removal of some subordinate officers of the present administration, in order that it may be under- stood upon what principle the act is vindicated, and to repel the charges of wanton proscription. The necessities of the late administration were such that it compelled these officers to become partisans in the struggle. Many of them mingled in the hottest of the fight ; they were paragraph-writers for the newspapers, and the distributers of political hand-bills, and thereby exposed themselves to the vicissitudes to which those are always exposed for whom the political contests in free govern-
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ments are waged. If among this class of officers there was more mor- tality attendant upon the late conflict, it was because there was more disease.
" The senator from Kentucky has denounced removals from office as the violation of the freedom of opinions and the liberty of speech and action. He advocates a course of conduct towards political opponents characterized by great moderation and forbearance, and, what is much more, he professes to have conformed his actions to his precepts. We, all of us, I believe, admire these liberal sentiments, and feel disposed, in our abstract speculations, to adopt them as the rule of our conduet.
" The theory is, indeed, beautiful; but, sir, do we put them in prac- tice when brought to the experiment? I would ask the honorable senator if he has himself practiced them? I will not say he has not, because he assures us he has; but I will say, that some part of his pub- lie conduct has exposed him to strong suspicions of having departed from the path which he now points out as the true one, and of having wandered into that which he now thinks it is so censurable in others to have pursued.
" It will be recollected, sir, that there is considerable patronage at- tached to the department of state. To it appertains the selection of newspapers in which the laws of the United States are published. I well remember that while that honorable senator was at the head of that department, and when the fortunes of the late administration began to wane, the patronage of publishing the laws was withdrawn from certain public journals that had long enjoyed it. What was the cause of this change-this removal from office, I believe I may call it? It was not a violent and vindictive opposition to the existing administration. Some of these journals had scarcely spoken in whispers against it. No, sir; it was for lukewarmness-for neutrality. A want of zeal in the cause of the administration was alleged to be the offense; proscription was the punishment. Where was then that sacred regard for freedom of opinion and liberty of speech and action which we now hear so highly extolled ? Was not this an attempt to control public opinion through the medium of the press, and to bring that press into subserviency to the views of the men in power ?"
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