tarrying in the Atlantic cities, where want, sickness, and crime,
beset their path, and he became deeply interested in giving to
this worth population the more healthful and vigorous direction
of the West. . . . Articles were prepared and published, setting
forth the attractions of the country. . . . An immense
correspondence, with persons in this country and in Europe,
resulted from the well-known interest Bishop Loras took in these
subjects. . . . He undertook the settlement of colonies. . . .
Germans in New Vienna, in 1846 . . . Irish on the Big-Maquokety.
. . . He organized them in congregations and commenced in person
the work of building for them churches. . . . establishing
schools and academies, laboring for the temporal and eternal
welfare of the people."
Thus did the tide of Catholic population begin to flow into Iowa
and Minnesota, to be brought under the influence of the Church
as soon as it arrived.
Meanwhile associations were being formed in the East, in New
York chiefly, for the purpose of inducing Irishmen to go west as
far as Illinois, and the Territories west of the Mississippi.
Several zealous clergymen placed themselves at the head of the
movement. Their main object was to rescue the Catholic
immigrants from the dangers surrounding them in large cities,
and to make farmers of them. We have seen why these plans,
though prompted by the best intentions, failed to succeed; their
immediate effect was to give a fresh impetus to the great
movement westward, and, by relieving the Atlantic coast of a
sudden excess of population, to extend the Church along the line
marked out by Providence toward the coast of the Pacific.
At the same time, on the very shores of that vast ocean,
California was receiving directly from Europe large detachments
of the voluntary exiles who were then leaving Ireland in a
compact body in the full tide of the "Exodus." The Catholic
Church was thus early taking up a commanding position at the
extreme point whither the main "army" was tending, and soon to
arrive with the completion of the great Pacific Railroad.
The following extract, taken from the "Life of Bishop Loras,"
will be sufficient to give an idea of the rapid increase of the
Catholic population in the West, in consequence of the workings
of so many agencies employed by God's providence for his own
holy ends:
"In 1855, the Catholic population of Iowa increased one hundred
and fifty per centum in a single year. It seems almost
incredible to relate, that the churches and stations, provided
for their accommodation, increased in the same time nearly one
hundred per centum. The Catholic population reported in 1855 was
twenty thousand, and the churches and stations fifty-two; the
Catholic population in 1856 was rated at forty-nine thousand,
and the churches and stations at ninety-seven.
"Bishop Loras commenced his episcopate (in 1837) with one church,
one priest, and the only Catholic population reported, that of
Dubuque, was three hundred. In 1851, Minnesota was taken from
his diocese, yet in 1858, the year of his death, the diocese of
Dubuque alone possessed one hundred and seven priests, one
hundred and two churches and stations, and a Catholic population
of fifty-five thousand."
There can be little doubt that, if similar statistics were drawn
up for all the Western States of the Union during a
corresponding period, they would give very similar results; and
it is only by reflecting and pondering over such astonishing
facts as these, that the mind can come to grasp the idea of the
magnitude of the work assigned by Providence to the Irish race.
This, we have no hesitation in saying, will form one of the most
remarkable features of the future ecclesiastical history of the
age, and will appear the more clearly when all the consequences
of this stupendous movement shall stand out fully developed, so
as to strike the eyes of all.
It may be well to reflect a moment upon the activity displayed
by that zealous hive of busy immigrants, who, soon after landing,
when the thoughts of other men would have been exclusively and,
as men would think, naturally, occupied by the thousand
necessities arising from a new establishment on a foreign soil--
while not neglecting those necessities--found time to enter
heart and soul into projects set on foot everywhere for buying
up landed property, making contracts with builders, supervising
the work already going on, attending above all to the collection
of money, forming lists of subscribers to that end, visiting
round about for the same purpose, and attending to the
fulfilment of promises sometimes made too hastily, or with too
sanguine an expectation of being able to accomplish what in the
future was never realized to the extent expected.
But, much sooner than might have been hoped, the desire, so
congenial to the Catholic heart, of beholding more suitable
dwellings erected to the honor of God and to the reception of
his Divine presence, was fulfilled, or aroused, rather, in a
quarter least expected, and consequently more in accordance with
the (to man) mysterious ways of Providence. The sudden increase
of the Church in England, in consequence of remarkable
conversions and principally of the little-remarked flow of
emigrants thither from the sister isle, induced some pious and
wealthy English Catholics, now that they found themselves free
to follow their inclinations unmolested, to devote their means
to the construction of churches worthy of the name. The splendid
structures, now the lifeless monuments of the old faith, which
their fathers had raised, rested in the hands of the spoiler,
and they could not worship, save privately and inwardly, at the
shrine of Thomas of Canterbury, or before the tomb of Edward the
Confessor. Yet were their eyes ever afflicted with the presence
of those noble edifices, that resembled the solemn tombs of a
buried faith, yet still cast their lofty spires heavenward,
while the structure beneath them covered acres of ground with
the most profuse and elaborate architecture. They looked around
them for a builder, who might raise them such again. But there
was none to be found capable of conceiving, much less building
such vast fabrics as the old churches, which owed their
existence not to the ingenuity of a designer, but to the
inspired enthusiasm of a living faith. Nevertheless, a man, full
of energy and reverence and love for the beauty of the house of
God, came forward at the very moment he was wanted. Welby Pugin
soon became known to the world, and was still in the full vigor
of his enterprising life, when all over the American Continent
the immigrants were engaged in satisfying the first cravings of
their hearts, and covering the country with unpretending
edifices crowned, at least, by the symbol of salvation. Among
them arrived pupils of Pugin, who speedily found Irish hearts to
respond to theirs, and Irish purses ready to carry their designs
into execution.
There is no need of going into details. Puritan New England even
has seen its chief cities one by one adorned with true temples
of God, and its small towns embellished by stone edifices
devoted to Catholic worship, their form pleasing to the eye, and
their interior spacious enough, at least temporarily, for the
constantly-increasing congregations. But perhaps the most
remarkable result of all has been the sudden zeal which sprang
up among the sectarians themselves, who had hitherto expressed
such contempt for any thing of the kind, of outstripping the
Catholics in Christian architecture. They have even gone so far
as to discover that the cross, the emblem of man's salvation, is
not such a very inappropriate ornament, after all, to the summit
of a Christian temple, and that the statues of angels and of
saints are possessed of a certain beauty. So that what in their
eyes hitherto had borne the semblance of idolatry--such,
according to themselves, was their way of looking at it--
suddenly became an aesthetic feeling, if not an act of true
devotion.
And, singularly enough, it was just at the time when the
erection of so many episcopal sees necessitated the building of
cathedrals, that the thought, natural to the Catholic heart, of
making the house of God a place of beauty and magnificence,
could begin to be realized by the arrival of true artists and
the increasing wealth of the Catholic body.
It is in the true Church only that the meaning of a cathedral
can be fully grasped. Those sects which acknowledge no bishops
and deride the title certainly can form no conception of it, and
even those who imagine that they have a bishop at their head,
have so little idea of what are true episcopal functions, of the
greatness of the position which a see occupies, of the
importance of the place where it is established, that in their
eyes the pretended dignitary can scarcely rank much higher,
either in position or degree, than a wealthy parish minister,
and the church wherein "his lordship" officiates is very much
the same as an ordinary parish church. If in England a show of
dignitaries is attached to each of those establishments, it is
merely a form well calculated to impress the solemn Anglo-Saxon
character; but even that very form would scarcely have existed
were it not one of those few semblances of the Catholic reality
which the wily founders of the Protestant religion found it
convenient to retain for the purpose hinted at. The Catholic
Church alone can understand what a cathedral ought to be.
This is not the occasion to enter upon an explanation of all the
meanings and uses of a cathedral, least of all to penetrate the
sublime mystical significance embodied in its conception. Here
it is enough to insist upon the least important, yet most
sensible and more easily-recognized object of the building,
which is, not simply the seat of honor of the first pastor of
the diocese, who is a successor of the apostles, but likewise
the place of adoration and sacrifice common to all the faithful
of the diocese. Strictly speaking, no special congregation is
attached to it; but it is the spiritual home of all the faithful;
its doors are open to all the congregations of that part. There
the common father resides and officiates; there his voice is
generally to be heard; there he is to be found surrounded by all
those whose duty it is to assist him in his sublime functions.
When he appears in any parish church, the clergy of that special
temple are his only attendants, unless others flock thither to
do him honor. But the cathedral is his fixed seat and permanent
abode; there the appointed dignitaries of the diocese find their
allotted places, and there alone are his officers permanently
attached to him by their functions.
Hence it is the cardinal church upon which the whole spiritual
edifice called the diocese is hinged. Therefore is it the
natural resort of the whole flock, as well as of the pastor
himself. This will explain the vastness of those edifices which
strike us with wonder in old established Catholic countries. In
accordance with their primitive intention and purpose, there
should be in them standing and kneeling room for all who have a
right to enter there; and it is purely on account of the
impossibility of exactly fulfilling this intent that the edifice
is allowed to be built smaller. We are thus enabled to
understand why the great temple which is the centre-spot of
Catholic worship can contain only fifty thousand worshippers at
a time, and why many other sacred edifices consecrated to
episcopal functions can find room for no more than twenty or
thirty thousand.
But even those structures, which strike with wonder the puny
minds of this "advanced" age, have consumed centuries in their
construction, and the number and the faith of those who raised
them were, we may say, exceptional in the life of the Church.
There were no dissenters in those days; and, as all were
possessed of a firm faith, all labored with a common will and
contributed with a common pleasure to their construction.
Times having changed for the worse, the same ardor and
generosity could not be looked for; but something at least was
required which should give some idea of the old, splendor and
vastness. So, throughout all the new dioceses projects were set
on foot for raising real cathedrals, which should quite
overshadow the buildings hitherto known by that name.
Thus, a cathedral was promised to New York City, three hundred
and thirty feet in length, and one hundred and seventy-two in
breadth across the transept; while that of Philadelphia was soon
completed, and all might gaze on the massive and majestic
edifice, by the side of which every other public building in a
city containing eight hundred thousand souls appeared dwarfish
and unsubstantial. Boston was soon to behold within its walls a
Catholic cathedral, three hundred and sixty-four feet long, and
one hundred and forty broad in the transept, though the same
diocese was already filled with large stone churches, built
solely by the resources of the immigrants.
The Archbishop of New York, when preaching the sermon at the
laying of the foundation-stone of this edifice in 1867, was able
to say in the presence of many who might have borne personal
testimony to the truth of his words: "There are those most
probably within the sound of my voice who can remember when
there was but one Catholic church in Boston, and when that
sufficed, or had to suffice, not alone for this city, but for
all New England; and how is it now? Churches and institutions
multiplied, and daily continuing to multiply on every side, in
this city, throughout this State, in all or nearly all the
cities and States of New England; so that at this day no portion
of our country is enriched with them in greater proportionate
number, none where they have grown up to a more flourishing
condition, none where finished with more artistic skill, or
presenting monuments of more architectural taste and beauty."
Had any one predicted this to the good and gifted Bishop
Cheverus, when leaving America for France, he might perhaps have
not refused altogether to believe or hope for it, but he would
certainly have pronounced it a real and undoubted miracle of God,
to happen within a century.
But the Archbishop of New York, in that same sermon, pointed out
the true cause, when he attributed it to "God's blessing," and
to "the never-ceasing tide of immigration that has been and
still continues to be setting toward the American shores."
The history of the Church certainly contains many a page where
the traces of the finger of God are clearly marked; nay, we may
say that such traces are apparent throughout, as we know that
God alone could have originated, spread out, supported,
multiplied, and perpetuated the Church through all the centuries
of her existence; but it is doubtful if in all her annals a
single page shows where the action of Providence is more clearly
visible, as it was least expected, than in the few facts just
cursorily and briefly enumerated.
Yet have we mentioned only a part of the work to which the poor
immigrants were called to contribute immediately after their
arrival, and at the vastness of which they never murmured nor
lost heart, as though a greater burden had been laid upon them
than human shoulders could endure.
The worship of God and the care of souls were the first things
to be attended to, and, with these, other necessary objects were
not to be neglected. There was the care of the poor, whom the
Church of Christ was the first public body to think of relieving;
the tending of the sick in hospitals, where their own clergy
might not only have access, but where it should be made sure
that the management be one of true Christian charity and
tenderness; the orphan children, always so numerous under
circumstances like those of the present, were to be saved from
falling into the hands of sectarians, and being educated by them,
as were formerly the Catholic wards, in hatred of their own
faith, and of the customs, habits, and modes of thought of their
ancestors. This last great and incalculable source of loss to
the Church was to be put a stop to at once, if not completely--
for that was then impossible--at least as perfectly as zeal,
generosity, and true love of souls, could effect. All these
works required money, an incalculable amount; as it was not in a
single city, not in a small particular State, but throughout the
whole Union, through as many cities as it contains, that the
undertaking was to be straightway set on foot and simultaneously
acted upon.
Nor was the question one of the erection of buildings merely,
but also of the support of an immense number of inmates, and of
their constant support without a single day's intermission. Who
can calculate the sums required for such immediate and most
pressing needs?
In a nation where Christianity has been long established, taxes
imposed upon all for the constructing, repairing, maintaining,
and carrying on so many and such large establishments are easily
collected. For all are bound by law to contribute to such
purposes, and the question generally reduces itself merely to a
continuance of the support of institutions long standing, and
which can be no longer in need of the large disbursements
necessary at the first period of their existence. But here it
was a question of providing, without any other law than that of
love, without the help of any other tax-gatherer than the
voluntary collector, for all those necessities at once,
including the vast outlays requisite for the first establishment
of those institutions, and imposing, by that very act, the
necessity and duty of supporting forever all the inmates
gathered together at the cost of so much care and expense,
within those walls consecrated to religion and charity. The
government had no share whatever in it; too happy were they at
the government interposing no obstacle to its carrying out! That
was all they asked for on its part--non-interference.
On this subject, Mr. Maguire remarks justly, without, however,
bringing the matter of expenditure into sufficient prominence:
"For the glorious Church of America many nations have done their
part. The sacred seed first planted by the hand of the
chivalrous Spaniard has been watered by the blood of the
generous Gaul; to the infant mission the Englishman brought his
steadfastness and resolution, the Scotchman, in the northeast,
his quiet firmness, . . . the Irishman his faith, the ardor of
his faith. And, as time rolled on, and wave after wave of
immigration brought with it more and more of the precious life-
blood of Europe, from no country was there a richer contribution
of piety and zeal, of devotion and self-sacrifice, than from
that advanced outpost of the Old World, whose western shores
first break the fury of the Atlantic; to whose people Providence
appears to have assigned a destiny grand and heroic--of carrying
the civilization of the Cross to remote lands and distant
nations. What Ireland has done for the American Church, every
bishop, every priest, can tell. Throughout the vast extent of
the Union there is scarcely a church, an academy, a hospital, or
a refuge, in which the piety, the learning, the zeal, the self-
sacrifice, of the Irish--of the priest or the professor, of the
Sisters of every order or denomination--are not to be traced;
there is scarcely an ecclesiastical seminary for English-
speaking students in which the great majority of those now
preparing for the service of the sanctuary do not belong, if not
by birth, at least by blood, to that historic land to which the
grateful Church of past ages accorded the proud title, Insula
Sanctorum."
To this may be added the remark that it is still further beyond
doubt that all the establishments mentioned, almost without one
exception, owe their existence, at least partially, and very
often entirely, to the generous and never-failing contributions
of the Irish.
The Rev. C. G. White, in his "Sketch of the Origin and Progress
of the Catholic Church in the United States of America," which
is appended to the translation of Darras's "History of the
Catholic Church," says still more positively:
"In recording this consoling advancement of Catholicity
throughout the United States, especially in the North and West,
justice requires us to state that it is owing in a great measure
to the faith, zeal, and generosity of the Irish people who have
immigrated to these shores, and their descendants. We are far
from wishing to detract from the merit of other nationalities;
but the vast influence which the Irish population has exerted in
extending the domain of the Church is well deserving of notice,
because it conveys a very instructive lesson. The wonderful
history of the Irish nation has always forced upon us the
conviction that, like the chosen generation of Abraham (previous
to their rejection of the Messiah, of course), they were
destined, in the designs of Providence, to a special mission for
the preservation and propagation of the true faith. This faith,
so pure, so lovely, so generous, displays itself in every region
of the globe. To its vitality and energy must we attribute, to a
very great extent, the rapid increase in the number of churches
and other institutions which have sprung up and are still
springing up in the United States, and to the same source are
the clergy mainly indebted for their support in the exercise of
their pastoral ministry. It cannot be denied, and we bear a
cheerful testimony to the fact, that hundreds of clergymen, who
are laboring for the salvation of souls, would starve, and their
efforts for the cause of religion would be in vain, but for the
generous aid they receive from the children of Erin, who know,
for the most part, how to appreciate the benefits of religion,
and who therefore joyfully contribute of their worldly means to
purchase the spiritual blessings which the Church dispenses."
To this we may add that what Mr. White so expressly states of
the generous support given by the Irish people to the clergy is
equally true when extended to the thousand inmates of orphan
asylums, reformatories, schools, convents, and of all the
charitable institutions generally which are specially fostered
by the Church for the common good of humanity. To quote only one
fact recorded in a note to Mr. Maguire's book, a Sister of Mercy
tells us what the Irish working-class has done for the order in
Cincinnati: "The convent, schools, and House of Mercy, in which
the good works of our Institute are progressing, were purchased
in 1861 at a considerable outlay. This, together with the
repairs, alterations, furnishing, etc., was defrayed by the
working-class of Irish people, who have been and are to us most
devoted, and by their generosity have enabled us up to the
present time to carry out successfully our works of mercy and
charity."
It may be stated, without fear of contradiction, that the same
thing might be asserted by the superior of almost every Catholic
establishment in the country, were an opportunity afforded them
of coming forward in like manner.
All this is well known to those who are in the least acquainted
with the history and workings of those institutions; but very
little noise is made about it, according to the rule of the
Gospel which recommends us to do good in such a manner that "the
left hand may not know what the right hand doeth." Nothing is
more Christian than such silent approval, and the eternal reward,
which must follow, is so overwhelmingly great that the applause
of the world may well be disregarded. But as constant good
offices are apt to beget indifference in those who benefit most
by them, there are not wanting some good people who seem to
labor under the impression that really the Irish deserve
scarcely any thanks; that every thing which they do comes so
naturally from them, it is only what one could expect as a
matter of course, and that, it being nothing more, after all,
than their simple duty, it becomes a very ordinary thing.
It may be superfluous to say that if all this was expected from
them, and if it be, as it really is, after all only a very
ordinary thing on _their_ part, this fact is precisely what
makes them a most extraordinary people, as expectations of this
nature which may be most natural are of that peculiar kind of
"great expectations" magnificent in prospect, but very delusive
in fact; and certainly they would not be looked for as a matter
of course in any other nation. Let any one reflect on the few
details here furnished, let him add others from his own
information, and the whole thing will appear, as it truly is,
most wonderful, and only to be explained by the great and
merciful designs of God, as Dr. White has just indicated--
designs intrusted on this occasion to faithful servants whose
generous hearts and pure souls opened up to the mission
intrusted to them, to its glorious fulfilment so far, and to a
greater unfolding still in time to come.
In order to understand, as ought to be understood, more fully
the weight of the burden they so cheerfully undertook to bear, a
few reflections on the subject of religious and charitable
institutions will not be considered out of place.
The Romans--those master-organizers, who reduced to a perfect
system every branch of government, legislation, war, and
religion--never abandoned, never intrusted to the initiative of
the people, the care of providing the means for any thing which
the state ought to supply. The public religious establishments
were all endowed, the colleges of the priests enjoyed large
revenues, and the expenses of worship were supplied from the
same source. To the fisc in general belonged the duty of
supporting the armories, the courts of law, and the large
establishments provided for the comfort and instruction of the
people, the baths, libraries, and regular amusements. The
private munificence of emperors, great patricians, and
conquerors, undertook to supply occasional shows of an
extraordinary character in the theatres, amphitheatre, and the
circus.
There was no room left for charity in the whole plan. Indeed,
the meaning of that word was unknown to them; for it cannot be
properly applied to the regular distribution of money or cereals
to the plebs; as this was one of those generosities which are
necessary, and was only practised in order to keep the lower
orders of citizens in idle content and out of mischief, as you
would a wild animal which you dare not chain: you must feed
him. The really poor, the saves, the maimed, the helpless, were
left to their hard fate, they being apparently unworthy of pity
because they excited no fear.
Yet the system was fruitful in its results. As soon as
Christianity was seated on the throne, nothing was easier than
to transfer the immense sums contributed by regular funds, or
which were the product of taxes, from one object to another; and
thus the Christian clergy and churches were supported as had
been the colleges and temples of the pagan priests, by the
revenues derived from large estates attached to the various
corporations. Thus did Constantine and his successors become the
munificent benefactors of the Church in Rome and through-out the
whole empire.
Meanwhile, the 11 collections of money" among the faithful,
which were first organized, as we read in the epistles of the
apostles, and afterward systematized still better in Rome under
the first popes, soon grew into disuse, at least to the extent
to which they once prevailed; the new charitable institutions,
such as the care of the poor, of widows and orphans, being under-
taken by the Church at large, while the expenses of the whole
were defrayed by the revenues accruing from the donations of
princes, or the bequests of wealthy Christians.
The consequence was that, throughout the whole Christian world,
all religious, literary, and charitable institutions enjoyed
large revenues, and there was no need of applying to the
generosity of the common people for contributions.
After the successful invasion of the barbarians, the same system
held good; and history records how richly endowed were the
churches built, the monasteries founded, the universities and
colleges opened, by the once ferocious Franks, Germans, or
Northmen even, tamed and subdued by the precepts and practices
of Christianity.
We know how the immense wealth, which had been devoted to such
holy purposes by the wise generosity of rulers or rich nobles,
became in course of time an eyesore and object of envy to the
worldly, and that the chief incentive to the `~ Reformers" for
doing their work of 11 reformation" thoroughly was the prospect
of the golden harvest to be reaped by the destruction of the
Catholic Church.
But the very large amounts required to satisfy the aspirations
introduced into the heart of humanity, by the religion of Christ,
may give us an adequate idea of what Christian civilization
really costs. It is foolish to imagine a sane man really
believing that those generous founders of pious institutions,
who devote by gift or bequest, such large estates and revenues
to the various
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We cannot afford to transfer any more of his experiences among
the Irish. From all his accounts, they are the same in London as
everywhere else, most firmly attached to Catholicity, and, as a
general rule, most exemplary in the performance of their
religious obligations.
It is fitting, however, to give the conclusion of a long
description of what he saw among them while visiting them in the
company of a clergyman: "The religious fervor of the people whom
I saw was intense. At one house that I entered, the woman set me
marvelling at the strength of her zeal, by showing me how she
continued to have in her sitting-room a sanctuary to pray every
night and morning, and even during the day when she felt weary
and lonesome."
II. Passing from religion to morality, let us look at this
writer again: "Only one-tenth, at the outside, of the couples
living together and carrying on the costermongering trade (among
the English) are married. . . . Of the rights of legitimate or
illegitimate children, the English costermongers understand
nothing, and account it a mere waste of money to go through the
ceremony of wedlock, when a pair can live together, and be quite
as well regarded by their fellows without it. The married women
associate with the unmarried mothers of families without scruple.
There is no honor attached to the married state and no shame to
concubinage.
"As regards the fidelity of these women, I was assured that in
any thing like good times they were rigidly faithful to their
paramours; but that, in the worst pinch of poverty, a departure
from this fidelity--if it provided a few meals or a fire--was
not considered at all heinous."
Further details may be read in the book quoted from, which would
scarcely come well in these pages, though quite appropriate to
the most interesting work in which they appear. From the whole,
it is only too clear that the class of people referred to is
profoundly immoral and corrupt, their very poverty only
hindering them from indulging in an excess of libertinism.
On the other hand, when Mr. Mayhew speaks of the street Irish in
London, he is most emphatic in his praise of the purity of the
women in particular, and the care of the parents in general to
preserve the virtue of their daughters, in the midst of the
frightful corruption ever under their eyes. The only remark he
passes of a disparaging character is the following:
"I may here observe"--referring to the statement that Irish
parents will not expose their daughters to the risk of what they
consider corrupt influences--"that, when a young Irish woman
_does_ break through the pale of chastity, she often becomes, as
I was assured, one of the most violent and depraved of, perhaps,
the most depraved class."
It is evident, from the mere form in which this phrase is put,
that such a thing is of very rare occurrence, and that the
violence and depravity spoken of offer all the stronger contrast
to the general purity of the whole class, and are merely the
result of the open and unreserved character of the race.
But the whole world knows that chastity is the rule, and perhaps
the most special virtue of the Irish, a fact which their worst
enemies have been compelled to confess. In this same work of Mr.
Mayhew's a still more surprising fact than the last--for that is
acknowledged by all--is brought into astonishing prominence; a
fact opposed to the general opinion of their friends even, and
yet supported by incontrovertible evidence. It relates to
another contrast between the English and Irish costermongers on
the score of temperance.
III. The result arrived at by his inquiries among liquor-dealers
in that part of London inhabited by about equal numbers of both
nationalities, Mr. Mayhew gives us as twenty to one in favor of
the Irish with respect to the consumption of liquor. In most
"independent," that is to say, "not impoverished" Irish families,
water is the only beverage at dinner, with punch afterward; and
estimating the number of teetotallers, among the English at
three hundred, there are six hundred among the Irish, who
constitute, it may be remembered, only one-third of the whole
costermonger class, and those Irish teetotallers, having taken
the pledge under the sanction of their priests, look upon it as
a religious observance and keep it rigidly. The number of Irish
teetotallers has been considerably increased since Mr. Mayhew
made his returns, in consequence of the energetic crusade
entered upon against drink by the zealous London clergy, under
the powerful lead of Archbishop Manning.
It is true that an innkeeper told Mr. Mayhew that "he would
rather have twenty poor Englishmen drunk in his tap-room than a
couple of poor Irishmen, who will quarrel with anybody, and
sometimes clear the room." But this remark, if it shows any
thing, shows only how and why the Irish have obtained that
reputation of being a nation of drunkards, which is slanderous
and false.
IV. Yet another, and perhaps as surprising a result as any, is
the contrast between both classes of people with respect to
economy and foresight: The English street-sellers are found
everywhere spending all their income in the satisfaction often
of brutish appetites; the Irish, on the contrary, save their
money, either for the purpose of transmitting it to their poor
relatives in Ireland, or bringing up their children properly, or-
-if they are young--to provide for their marriage-expenses and
home. Such cares as these never seem to afflict the English
costermonger. So strongly did Mr. Mayhew find these
characteristics marked among the Irish, that he is at times
inclined to accuse them of carrying them too far, even to the
display of a sordid and parsimonious spirit. According to him,
they apply to the various "unions," or to the parish, even when
they have money, or sometimes go with wretched food, dwelling,
or clothing, in order to have a small fund laid by, in case of
any emergency arising.
But the general result of his observations is clear: that the
Irish are most provident and far-seeing; a surprising statement,
doubtless, to the generality of Mr. Mayhew's readers, but one
which, after all, only accords with the testimony of many
unexceptionable witnesses of their life in other countries. And,
if in England, in London especially, they at times appear sordid
in their economy, is not this the very natural result of the
misery they had previously endured in their own impoverished
land, and therefore a proof that, at least, they have profited
by the terrible ordeals through which they were compelled to
pass?
We have spoken only of the Irish in London; the same facts are
most probably true of them in all the large cities of Great
Britain. Unfortunately, Mr. Mayhew's most interesting work has
found no imitators in other parts of the kingdom. F. Perraud's
remarks, however, in his "Ireland under English Rule," extend
almost over the whole country.
After giving his own experience, and that of many others whom he
had consulted, or whose works he had read; after having set
forth the dangers which beset the Irish in that (to them) "most
foreign country"--England--and also the success which had
attended the labors of many proselytizing agents among them, and
even in some cases the progress of immorality in their midst
resulting from the innumerable seductions to which they were
exposed, a success and a progress which Mr. Mayhew's personal
observation would lead us to think the good father has
exaggerated, he concludes as follows:
"We must not overlook the fact that the Irish emigration to
England and Scotland produces in many individual cases results
which cannot be too deeply deplored.
"But there, also, as well as in America and Australia, through
the economy of an admirable providence, God makes use of those
Irish immigrants for the propagation and extension of the
Catholic faith in the midst of English and Scotch Protestantism.
What progress has not the Catholic religion made within the last
thirty years in England? And might not the Catholics say to
their separated brethren what Tertullian said to the Caesars of
the third century: 'Our religion is but of yesterday; and behold,
we fill your towns, your councils, your camps, your tribes,
your decuriae, the palace, the senate, the forum . . . . You
have persecuted us during centuries, and behold, we spring up
afresh from the blood of martyrs!'
"At the beginning of the reign of George III., England and
Scotland scarcely contained sixty thousand Catholics who had
remained true to the faith of their fathers. Their number in
1821 was, according to the official census, five hundred
thousand. In 1842, they were estimated at from two million to
two million five hundred thousand. At present (1864) they number
nearly four million, and of this total amount the single city of
London figures for more than two hundred and fifty thousand."
In a note he adds the following figures, furnished him by Dr.
Grant, the late Bishop of Southwark:
Total No. of Catholics. No. of Irish.
Manchester . . . . . . . . . . . 80,000 . . . . . . 60,000
Liverpool . . . . . . . . . . 130,000 . . . . . . 85,000
Birmingham . . . . . . . . . . . 30,000 . . . . . . 20,000
Preston . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,000 . . . . . . 4,300
Wigan . . . . . . . . . . . 18,000 . . . . . . 6,000
Bolton . . . . . . . . . . . 12,000 . . . . . . 4,000
St. Helen's (Lancashire) . . . . 10,000 . . . . . . 6,000
Edinburgh . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000 . . . . . . 35,000
Glasgow . . . . . . . . . . 127,000 . . . . . . 90,000
"Finally, we must not forget that about one-half the army and
navy is composed of Irish Catholics.
"In 1792 England and Wales counted no more than thirty-five
chapels; in 1840 the number amounted to five hundred, among
which were vast and splendid churches, such as St. George's,
Southwark, and the Birmingham Cathedral. At present (1864) the
number is nearly one thousand.
"In connection with the movement of individual conversions,
which yearly brings within our ranks from those of Protestantism
the most upright, the sincerest, the best-disposed souls, the
Irish immigration in England is then destined to play an
important part in the so desirable return of that great island
to the faith which she received in the sixth century from St.
Gregory the Great and St. Austin of Canterbury," and, let us add,
from Aidan and his Irish monks of Lindisfarne and Iona, as
Montalembert has shown.
If we examine closely the figures just furnished by F. Perraud,
and consider that the number of Catholics in Great Britain was
only five hundred thousand in 1821, which, following his
calculation, mounted to four million in 1864, if we look closely
into the gradations of the increase marked in the various
censuses taken between those dates, we shall find that the Irish
immigration has indeed played a most important part in the
return of England toward Catholicity. We are surprised to find
that he seems to estimate the number of Irish in England at only
one million; there can be no doubt that they and their offspring
compose the majority of Catholics there, and that many of the
Englishmen who come back to the true faith are induced by their
example and influence, particularly among the lower orders, and
that the real work of the conversion of the English nation rests
in the hands of the Irish immigrants. Mr. Mayhew has informed us
of the disposition of the English costermongers on religious matters.
We have now examined the three great waves which bore the Irish
to foreign countries; the lesser streamlets, which wandered away
into other English colonies, may be dismissed, as to trace and
follow up their course would involve more time and trouble than
they really call for. We now see the Irish race disseminated in
large groups over many and vast territories; and, although the
home population has been considerably diminished by that great
exodus, and is now reduced to about five millions, nevertheless,
to count them as they are dispersed throughout the world, their
number is far higher than it has ever been before; and we now
proceed to offer some considerations tending to show the effects
of that vast emigration on the resurrection of the race, and on
the future progress of the country from which the race comes.
First, then, emigration has given Ireland and Irishmen an
importance in the eyes of the world which they and it would
never have acquired unless that emigration had taken place; so
that England, on whom in a great measure their future fate
depends, is now compelled to respect and render them justice;
and justice is all that is wanting to bring about their complete
resurrection.
In order to form a true idea on this point, it is necessary to
consider them in their twofold aspect, as emigrants to the
United States, residing under and citizens of a government
distinct from that of England; and, secondly, in countries which
are under the control of Great Britain, one of these being
England itself.
In the Union they become for the greater part citizens of the
country which they have made their home, and the first condition
necessary for the obtaining of this right of citizenship is the
renunciation of all allegiance to their former English rulers.
The readiness and joy even with which they perform this task
need no mention. But, as Christians, the new obligations under
which they bind themselves involve something more than the mere
oath of allegiance; the spirit no less than the letter of the
oath prescribes that they acknowledge no other country as theirs
than that which offered them a refuge, and consequently, by the
very fact of becoming American citizens, they cease to be
Irishmen.
But their oath does not bind them to forget their former country,
as little as it forbids them to benefit it as far as lawfully
lies in their power. Far otherwise. Their new allegiance would
indeed be a poor thing if, in its very conception, it could only
bind hearts so cold as to renounce at once all affection for the
land of their birth, and banish in a day memories that the day
before were sacred. This is not required of them; and, were it,
they could never so understand their allegiance. They remain,
and justly, firmly attached to Ireland, and look anxiously for
any lawful occasion on which they may manifest their affection
by their acts.
Meanwhile, in their new country, position, influence, wealth,
consideration, often fall to their lot; their numbers swell, and
they become an important factor in the republic. Something of
the power wielded by the great nation of which they are now
citizens attaches to them, and shows them to the astonished gaze
of England under a totally new and unexpected aspect. In war,
the effect is most telling, and, even so far back as 1812, the
part played by "saucy Jack" Barry, for instance, already gave
rise to very grave considerations and forebodings on the part of
British statesmen. But, even in time of peace, the high position
held by many Irishmen in the United States, and the aggregate
voice of a powerful party, where every tongue has a vote, cannot
fail to tell advantageously on questions referring to their
former country.
Can it be imagined that this exercises no influence on the
treatment of Ireland by the ruling power? To afford a true
conception of the alteration brought about by Irish emigration,
suppose for an instant the ruling power using again its old
recklessness in abusing Ireland--not that we imagine the English
statesmen of to-day capable of such a thing and anxious to
restore what, happily, has passed away forever--but merely to
show the utter impossibility of such a contingency again arising,
suppose one of the old penal laws to be again enacted and
sanctioned by a British sovereign, what would the effect be on
the multitude of Irishmen now living in America? What,
independently of the Irish, would be the effect on all the
organs, worthy of the name, of public opinion in America? How
would the great majority of the members, not of Congress only,
but of the Legislature of each State, speak? Public opanion is
now the ruler of the world, and when public opinion declares
against a flagrant and crying injustice, its voice must be heard,
its mandate obeyed, and lawlessness cease. This extreme and, as
we believe, impossible example, is merely adduced as a proof of
the advantage which Ireland has reaped from the dispersion of
her scattered children--an advantage falling back on her own
head, in return, perhaps, for the mission they are working.
But, over and above the supposition of such an extreme case,
there is surely a silent power in the mere standing of millions
of free men who would resent, as done to themselves, a
recurrence of an attack on their old country. And there are,
beyond question, three millions of former Irishmen, citizens to-
day of the United States, on whom the glance of many an English
statesman, with any just pretension to the name, must fall.
Therefore do we say that now England must respect Ireland.
That respect is daily heightened by the greater comfort and
easier circumstances, though still far too wretched on the whole,
of the Irish at home, which have been mainly brought about by
the help received from their exiled countrymen. As was seen, the
old policy of their oppressors had for chief object the
pauperization of the country, and, as was also seen, that policy
was eminently successful. We know how deeply the effects of that
former policy are still felt, and how far from completion still
is justice in that regard; how they still complain, and with
only too much reason, of many laws which are as so many gyves
still binding them down in their old degradation; but, of this,
the following chapter will speak.
Yet, it is undeniable that their situation is considerably
improved, and that the excessive sufferings which formerly
seemed their privilege, are scarcely possible in our days. This
change in their circumstances for the better may be ascribed to
a variety of causes, one of which, we acknowledge, has been the
repairing of many previous injustices. But we must acknowledge
also that the main lever in a nation's resurrection, once the
ground is cleared round about--her treasury--has, as far as
Ireland is concerned, been chiefly replenished from abroad.
Absentee landlords still drain the country; but the money which
has gone into it has been certainly owing greatly to the immense
sums transmitted yearly from America by the exiles, all of which
has certainly not returned to the place from which it went out.
It is impossible to estimate the amount which was kept in
Ireland and that which floated back, but the balance must be
considerably on the side of what remained, as the distress at
home was so great, and in millions of instances immediate relief
came from the distant friends who had acquired a competency in
their new country, and, knowing the dire distress of their
relatives at home, sent generally what they could spare, by the
speediest means at their command.
There is no doubt that thousands of families have thus been
benefited by that first sad emigration of their friends, and
that the visible improvement in the condition of the Irish at
home is in a great measure due to it. We hear, moreover, that
the working of the new "Encumbered Estates Court " has already
placed in the hands of native Irishmen many parcels of the lands
of their fathers, and probably many of the ample estates
belonging to what was the Irish Church Establishment, which are
to be sold, will find their way back in the same manner.
The Irish are thus being slowly reinstated in possession of
their own soil, and, that once accomplished, the respect of
England is secured--respectability in England being in its
essence equivalent to real estate.
Thus is the uprising of the nation being gradually, silently,
but surely brought about by the emigration to the United States;
and this effect is considerably heightened when the emigration
to countries under English control is taken into consideration--
Canada, Australia, England itself.
In those places the same results followed which we have just
witnessed in the United States, but another and far greater
result remains for them. Not only did they slowly aid in
awakening the respect for their countrymen at home in the
English breast by their own rising importance and improved
condition, but in Canada and Australia they possess a privilege
which, in the British Isles, is theirs only in theory, but
abroad becomes a very powerful fact.
Ever since the Union of 1800, the Irish are supposed to form a
part and parcel of the empire at home, and to have fair
representation of their native country in the members they
return to the Imperial Parliament. But it is well known that the
Irish influence in that Parliament is almost null, and that
their presence there frequently is productive of no other result
than to countenance laws injurious to their own country. Does,
can Ireland hope to derive any political or social benefit from
her representatives in London beyond whatever may accrue to her
from their vain remonstrances and ineffective speeches? But in
the colonial Parliaments the case is very different.
It is not our desire to be understood as saying that Irishmen,
by meddling with politics, can effect a certain improvement in
their condition and that of their country, beyond giving tokens
of the life which is in them. We believe, on the contrary, that
too great an eagerness in such pursuits has injured them on many
occasions; and they ought to beware of flattering themselves
that they are rising because their votes are clamored for, and
they themselves exhorted to enter into the contest as fierce
partisans. This, too often, leads them into making themselves
the mere tools of shrewd men.
But, in the colonies, they muster in considerable force, and,
with prudence and sagacity, may have their desires and measures
fairly considered and conceded; for, unfortunately, the style of
measures fair and favorable to them as Irishmen and Catholics,
is completely at variance with that of those opposed to them,
whom, go where they will, they encounter, and always in the same
form. In Ireland, they are at liberty, apparently, to do the
same by reason of their superiority in point of numbers; the
result of the late Galway elections proves what a farce is this
show of liberty, and even the members whom they would and do
sometimes elect possess a very feeble influence, or none, in
what is called the Imperial Parliament. But, in the colonies, if
they, as electors, outnumber their political opponents, they can
and must return the majority to the House of Representatives and
of officers to the various departments of the colonial
administration. Such is the law of election in really
representative governments which are truly free; the majority of
electors returns the majority to the government; and rightly so.
Of course, there is room here, particularly where the majority
happens to be Irish, for a vast quantity of frothy bluster about
drilled and intimidated voters, and all that sort of thing. With
that we have no concern at present, and merely remark en passant
that it is a pity a little more of it was not wasted on the
recent Galway elections, already alluded to, on both sides; and
for the rest, that the world has not yet been apprised of Irish
majorities in the Australian Parliament abusing their power by
either accidental or systematic misrule; and it may, therefore,
be safely conceded that, on the whole, the government has rested
in safe hands. However, what concerns us at present is the state
of Canada and Australia, where, among the highest public
dignitaries, are found men who are Irish, not simply by birth,
but in feeling and in truth. And the conclusion which we wish to
draw from that fact is, that Ireland is greatly benefited by the
high positions which her sons assume in those distant colonies;
and probably no one will be rash enough to deny or controvert in
any way this point.
The truth is, that by emigration Ireland has suddenly expanded
into vast regions formerly ignorant of her name; regions which
swell the power and wealth of England, and which are destined to
play a very important part in her future history. In these
districts Irishmen have found a new country; something of the
ubiquity of the English belongs to them, and the influence,
power, and weight, thus thrown into their hands, need no further
comment. To show this in extenso would be only to travel over
ground already trodden in previous pages, enumerating the
various countries they have touched upon in their Exodus. Thus
have our seemingly long digressions had a very direct object in
view, and served powerfully to solve our original question. We
may now see that the resurrection of Ireland was intimately
involved in the emigration of her children; that much of what
has already taken place to aid in that resurrection may be
ascribed to this emigration, and that much brighter days are yet
in store for the nation, resulting mainly from this constant and
powerful cause. Let no one, then, lament the perseverance of
those hardy wanderers who, though their country has already been
depleted by millions, still leave her to the figure of seventy
thousand annually. It seems that in Ireland much surprise is
expressed at the movement never ceasing. Providence will end it
in its own good time; if God still allows it, it is surely for
the accomplishment of his own mighty and benevolent designs.
To conclude, then, this long chapter, there is only one question
to be put, which demands a few words, but words, in our opinion
at least, of vast importance, and which we would give all that
is ours to give, to see promptly and energetically attended to:
Has Ireland profited by this so-often mentioned emigration to
the extent she should have profited? And what ought Irishmen to
do in order to increase the advantages derived from it?
We must confess that, up to the present, the benefit is far from
what it ought to have been, and the cause of this lies in want
of organization and association. They have seemed to let God
work for them without any cooperation on their part; for God's,
as we saw, was the plan, and he forced them, as it were, to
carry out his design. They went at the work blindly, merely
following the impulse of circumstances, with no preparatory
organization, and less still of association. And even now, when
they are spread out over such vast territories in such mighty
multitudes, as yet they have given no sign of the least desire
of attempting even something like a combined effort to
accelerate the work of Providence. The only signs of life so far
given have been violent and spasmodic, directly opposed to the
genius of the race, which, as we have endeavored to prove, has
nothing revolutionary in its character, and is not given to dark
plots and godless conspiracies.
Unfortunately, also, they do not seem naturally adapted to a
spirit of steady and long-continued or systematic association.
In this, chiefly, does their race differ from the Scandinavian
stock, which is grafted on system, combination, and steadiness,
in pursuit of the object in hand.
But why not begin, at least, to make an effort in that
direction? The Latin races, in which runs so much Celtic blood,
are powerful to organize, as the Romans of old, and the French
and Spaniards of to-day, have so often proved. The Irish have
been infused with plenty of foreign blood, after their many
national catastrophes, although we believe that their primitive
characteristics have always overcome all foreign elements
introduced among them; and, what the race could scarcely attempt
ages ado, is possible now. Moreover, there is nothing in the
leanings of race which may not be overcome, and sure without any
radical change a nation can adapt itself to the necessities of
the time, and to altered circumstances. Let the Irish see what
they might effect toward the resurrection of their native
country, if they only seriously began at last to organize and
associate for that purpose. They would thus turn the immense
forces of their nation, now scattered over the world, to the
real advantage of their birthplace. In union is strength; but
union can only be promoted by association, particularly when the
elements to be united are so far apart.
For such an object do we believe that God gave man in these late
days the destroyers of space--the steam-engine and the electric
telegraph. Those powerful agents of unification were unknown to
mankind until God decreed that his children dispersed through
the earth should be more compactly united. To the Catholic they
were given, in the first place, to serve God's first purpose by
making the Church firmer in her unity and more effective in the
propagation of truth; but, after all, the mission of the Irish
to-day is only a branch of the mission of the Church, and, if
only on that account, are the missionaries deserving of all
honor and respect.
If in the designs of Providence the time has at last arrived for
the dwelling of the children of Japhet in the tents of Sem, and
for putting an end to the terrible evils dating from the
dispersion at Babel and the confusion of tongues, the object of
these great scientific discoveries is still more apparent. At
all events, organization and association are clearly needed for
the resurrection of Ireland, and the sooner a step is taken in
that direction the better.
But, what association would we propose? What should be its
immediate and most practicable objects? These questions we do
not feel competent to answer. Let Irishmen be once convinced
that organization is the great lever to work for the raising up
of their down-trodden nation, and they will know best how to use
this powerful instrument. The leaders of the nation in that holy
enterprise should, in our own opinion, be its spiritual leaders.
They know their country, and they love it; they undoubtedly
possess the confidence of their countrymen: they, then, should
be the natural originators of those great schemes. And what
other leaders does Ireland possess, what body like them,
acceptable to the nation, and neither to be bought by money nor
office?
This first remark naturally presupposes another: that the object
of those associations, being approved of by the religious guides
of the people, cannot be other than holy, and consequently
require no secrecy of any kind. They must be patent to the world,
as not being antagonistic to any established law or authority.
Every man desirous of becoming a member of the association
should know beforehand what is proposed to be done, and how far
his consent is to be given.
One other important point strikes us: the centre of organization
should be in Ireland. Ireland is to be benefited by it, and
there the effort should naturally begin, where its results will
fall. As for the particular direction which those efforts should
take, the detail of the whole enterprise, the plan of the
campaign--all this lies beyond us, and a sketch of it would most
probably be a mere chimera.
One concluding word may be said, however, on a subject which has
often been present to the writer's mind: The fearful oppression
of the nation began by robbing the people of their lands and
making them paupers: one of the first aims of association, then,
should evidently be the raising of the people up by the
restoration, in great part at least, of the soil to the native
race.
It is not our purpose to propose a new confiscation now, by way
of remedying the old ones; but England has allowed them to buy
back the land of their fathers in the "Encumbered Estates Courts,
"and by the law recently passed which disestablished the Irish
Protestant Church? Is there no room for a plan whereby Irishmen,
who have grown rich in foreign countries, may become purchasers
of the land thus offered for sale? And, in reply to the natural
and powerful objection to such a plan on the score of distance
from their native land, and the natural repugnance to return and
live there, and break up new ties, which are now old, and have
made them what they are, could not the fathers spare one son at
least, whom they might devote to the noble purpose of becoming
Irish again, and settling on an Irish estate, and marrying
there? This would seem an easy and simple manner of recreating a
Catholic gentry in the island.
This is merely a hint thrown out to exemplify what we mean by
associations for the purpose of raising Ireland up again; the
many possible objects of national organization will occur to any
mind giving a moment's reflection to it. This subject will
occupy our attention at greater length in the next chapter.