and your dear brother is thus still employed in your service, and still recommending you to the throne of mercy.' See Bishop Heber's Journal, as quoted in the Edinburgh Review, No. 96, December, 1828. Although this passage does not insinuate the propriety of invoking the Saints, it most clearly expresses the persuasion of this enlightened Prelate, that they really intercede for us at the throne of mercy; and consequently that such intercession is nowise derogatory from the great and unique mediation of redemption which the divine scriptures attribute to JESUS CHRIST. It is pleasing to find the mellifluous Doctor, St. Bernard, consoling himself on the death of his brother Girand, by the same reflection which Bishop Heber offers in the above passage. He that clings to God is one Spirit with him, and is entirely transformed into a certain divine affection: nor can he any longer know or relish but God, and what God knows and relishes; being himself full of God. God is charity, and the more united one is to God, the more replenished is his heart with charity. God indeed is incapable of suffering, but not of compassion, since it is his characteristic to have mercy always and to spare. You must, therefore, (says the saint, apostrophizing the Spirit of his departed brother,) be merciful, since you are united to him who is merciful; though you are no longer in the least degree unhappy; and so without suffering, you sympathize. Your affection consequently is not lessened, but changed: nor have you divested yourself of all regard for us, in clothing yourself with God, since even he has care of us. You have cast away the weakness of mortality, not the tenderness of piety. Charity, in fine, never faileth: you will not forget me unto the end.' Serm. 26, on the Canticle. In this passage we have, in addition to the reflection that the departed Brother is an earnest advocate at the throne of mercy for his surviving Relative, a beautiful example of the intercourse of Spirits which death itself is unable to dissolve. They indeed no longer communicate in the sensible manner wherein they were wont, whilst both were in their earthly habitations; but the Spirit, liberated from the prison of the flesh, mingles with the heavenly choirs, and with aspirations pure and sublime like theirs, supplicates the Deity in behalf of friends, still in this scene of danger:

whilst they are taught by faith to direct their addresses to these departed saints, who in the light of the Godhead view the wants and hear the entreaties of their earthly friends and supplicants. There is surely something in this intercourse, peculiarly calculated to soothe the feelings of afflicted friends, and encourage them amidst the difficulties of virtue. There is something so sublime in the doctrine, that we cannot but acknowledge it worthy of God, and consequently we must, from its very nature, be disposed to receive it, even before we have examined the proofs which directly establish it."

NOTICE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES.

(Continued from page 93.)

TOWARDS the year 1730, Father Grayton, a Jesuit, (all the clergymen, it should be remarked, who laboured in the colonies, were Jesuits), went from Maryland to Philadelphia, and laid the foundation of the Catholic religion in that city. He resided there until the year 1750. Long before his death, he built the chapel near the presbytery (St. Joseph's) and formed a numerous congregation, which has continued to increase to the present day. "I remember," said Archbishop Carroll, whose language I here use, "to have seen, in 1748, that venerable man, at the head of his flock."

He was succeeded by Father Harding, whose memory is still in benediction in that city: and under whose auspices, and the untiring energies of whose zeal, the beautiful Church of St. Mary's was erected.

In the year 1741, two German Jesuits were sent to Pennsylvania, for the purpose of instructing the German Emigrants who had settled in that province. These were Father Schnéider, a Bavarian, and Father Wapeler, a Hollander, men full of zeal and prudence. The former was particularly gifted with a talent for business, and possessed, says the MS. before me, "consummate prudence and intrepid courage." The latter, after having laboured eight years in America, during which he converted many, was, in consequence of his bad health, constrained to return to Europe. He was the founder of the establishment now called

Conewago. Father Schnéider formed several congregations in Pennsylvania, built the Church at Cosenhopen, and propagated the Catholic religion around that country. Every month, he visited the Germans who lived in Philadelphia, until the time when he judged it expedient to establish a resident German Priest in that city. The gentleman chosen to fill that post, was the Reverend Father Farmer, a distinguished and highly respected personage, who, some years before, had arrived in America, and been stationed at Lancaster, where his life was truly apostolical. It was about the year 1760, that he took possession of his new appointment. "No one can be ignorant," remarks my MS. "of the labours which were undergone by this servant of God." His memory is in veneration among all who knew him, or have heard of his merit. He continued to be a model for all succeeding Pastors, until his death, which occurred in 1786.

In 1776, the American Independence was declared, and a revolution effected, not only in political affairs, but also in those relating to Religion. For while the thirteen provinces of North America rejected the yoke of England, they proclaimed, at the same time, freedom of conscience, and the right of worshipping the Almighty, according to the spirit of the religion to which each one should belong. Before this great event, the Catholic faith had penetrated into two provinces only, viz. Maryland and Pennsylvania. In all the others the laws against the Catholics were in force. Any Priest coming from foreign parts, was subject to the penalty of death; all who professed the Catholic faith, were not merely excluded from offices of government, but could hardly be tolerated in a private capacity. While this state of things continued, it is not surprising that but very few of them settled in those provinces: and they, for the most part, forsook their religion. Even in Maryland and Pennsylvania, as was before mentioned, the Catholics were oppressed: the missionaries were insufficient for the wants of those two provinces, and it was next to impossible to disseminate the faith beyond their boundaries.

By the declaration of Independence, every difficulty was removed: the Catholics were placed on a level with their fellowchristians, and every political disqualification was done away. Several reasons are assigned in the MS. for the immediate

adoption of the article, extending to all the members of the States, an unqualified freedom of conscience.

I. The leading characters of the first assembly, or Congress, were, through principle, opposed to every thing like vexation on the score of Religion: and, as they were perfectly acquainted with the maxims of the Catholics, they saw the injustice of persecuting them for adhering to their doctrines.

II. The Catholics evinced a desire, not less ardent than that of the Protestants, to render the provinces independent of the mother country: and, it was manifest, that, if they joined the common cause, and exposed themselves to the common danger, they should be entitled to a participation in the common blessings which crowned their efforts.

III. France was negotiating an alliance with the United Provinces: and nothing could have retarded the progress of that alliance more effectually, than the demonstration of any ill-will against the religion which France professed.

IV. The aid, or at least the neutrality of Canada was judged necessary for the success of the enterprise of the Provinces: and by placing the Catholics on a level with all other christians, the Canadians, it was believed, could not but be favourably disposed towards the revolution.

It was not till after the war, that the good effects of freedom of conscience began to develop themselves. The Priests were few in number, and, almost all superannuated. There was but little communication between the Catholics of America, and their Bishop, the Vicar apostolic of the district of London, on whose spiritual jurisdiction they were dependent. But, whether he did not wish to have any relation to a people whom he regarded in the light of rebels; or whether it was owing, says my old MS., to the natural apathy of his disposition, it is certain, that he had hardly any communication either with the Priests, or the laity, on this side the Atlantic. Anteriourly to the declaration of Independence, he had appointed the Rev. Mr. Lewis, his vicar; and it was this gentleman who governed the mission of America, during the time that the Bishop remained inactive.

Shortly after the war, the Clergy of Maryland and of Pennsylvania, convinced of the necessity of having a superior on the

spot, and knowing, too, that the United States were opposed to any jurisdiction in England, applied to the Holy See, to grant them the privilege of choosing a superior from their own body. The request was acceded to: and their unanimous suffrages centred in the Rev. John Carroll, whose election was approved by the Holy See, and on whom ample power, even that of administering Confirmation, was immediately conferred.

The number of Catholics, at this period, in Maryland, amounted to about sixteen thousand: the greater part of whom were dispersed through the country, and employed in agriculture. In Pennsylvania, there were about seven thousand, and in the other States, as far as it was possible to ascertain, there were about fifteen hundred. In this number, however, were not comprised the Canadians, or French, or their descendants, who inhabited the country to the west of Ohio, and the banks of the Mississippi.

In Maryland the Priests were nineteen in number: in Pennsylvania but five. Of these, five were worn out with infirmities and age, and the rest were advanced in years. None, except those in Baltimore and Philadelphia, subsisted on the contributions of their flocks.

The MS. here ends: other documents, however, may be had, which will afford a continuation of this interesting subject.

Y. Y.

TO THE "PROTESTANT."

THE spirit which has actuated you in the institution of your Journal, is the most rancorous and anti-christian that can be conceived. Without a solitary sentiment of that charity which is the characteristic of a follower of Christ; without a particle of that sincerity which is the noblest attribute of a man of honour; without an iota of that decorum, which is the ornament of the human character, you have arisen in fierce and unprovoked resentment against us, and, with the desperation of an assassin, attempt to plunge your reeking dagger into the heart of Catholicism. What then is there so irremissible in the deeds of our religion, what is there so uncongenial in her nature, as to summon all your terror, and arouse all your implacability? But, Sir, we only view you