Life of James, cardinal Gibbons

Front matter

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

Preface

Few men who exert great influence are able to see in their own times the fruition of their most cherished undertakings; but such has been the privilege bestowed by a benign Providence on Cardinal Gibbons. It seems not inappropriate, therefore, to pause on the occasion of his fiftieth anniversary as priest and his twenty-fifth anniversary as Cardinal and survey, when he is "jy years old, the broad outlines of his career. Not only is it true that the principal labors to which he has hitherto devoted himself have been concluded, but some of them, indeed, were finished so long ago that their details have been almost forgotten by a generation intent chiefly on the things of the present.

No comprehensive attempt has been made up to this time to tell the story of the Cardinal's life, crowded, as it has been, with events not only of deep significance to the world, but of absorbing interest. True, there is much in print, but it is fragmentary, tinged with the impressions of a moment, controversial or wholly lacking in the perspective with which his career may now be fairly viewed. These considerations, and the peculiar appropriateness of the double jubilee, have emboldened me to embark on the rather hazardous task of trying to write a biography while the subject of it is yet living. At the beginning I resolved that if any compromise with the standards which should govern an impartial biography were encountered, I would not proceed with the work; and I have fully satisfied myself, at least, that this obstacle did not arise.

In the preparation of this book, I have been especially solicitous to obtain accuracy. Unverified statements have been rejected, and I have wholly discarded unconfirmed tradition and reminiscence. The opinions expressed, except where they are attributed to others, are mine.

Allen S. Will.

Baltimore, July 30, 1911.

Chapter I. Early Life And Studies

Baltimore at the time of Cardinal Gibbons' birth — His parents return to their former home in Ireland — Studies and Sports in Irish schools — Death of his father — His mother takes the family to New Orleans — Clerk in a grocery store — His mind turns to the priesthood— Classical and theological studies — Ordination 1- 12

CHAPTER n.

AT ST. PATRICK'S AND ST. BRIDGET'S.

Six weeks as assistant pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Baltimore — Pastor of St. Bridget's during tbe Civil War — Dangers and difficulties — Ministrations at Fort McHenry — Temporary decline of his health — Prophetic sermon on the night of Lincoln's assassination. .13- 21

CHAPTER HI.

SECRETARY TO ARCHBISHOP SPALDING.

Critical period for the Church at the time of his transfer to the Archbishop's household — Assistant Chancellor of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore — Nominated for Vicar Apostolic at the age of 32 years — Sunday-school work — Gifts as a preacher beginning to develop 22- 28

CHAPTER IV.

VICAR APOSTOLIC OF NORTH CAROLINA.

Consecrated Vicar Apostolic and Titular Bishop of Adramyttum — Reception in North Carolina — Experiences in the "reconstruction" era — Missionary journeys in the face of physical obstacles — Popular with Protestants as well as Catholics — Rapid growth of the Church in the vicariate 29- 45

CHAPTER V.

AT THE VATICAN COUNCIL OF 1870.

Sudden change of field from pioneer work in North Carolina to the atmosphere of the Vatican Council — Reasons for the convocation of the Council — Question of infallible teaching office of Roman Pontiff — Attitude of the American bishops — Bishop Gibbons votes for the declaration of infallibility, thought doubting its opportuneness — Impressions of famous churchmen 46- 61

X CONTENTS

CHAPTER VI.

BISHOP OF RICHMOND.

Bishop Gibbons succeeds Bishop McGill in Richmond, continuing his worlc in North Carolina at the same time — Friendship with Archbishop Bayley — Energetic and faithful labors in Virginia — His first book, "The Faith of Our Fathers" 02- 77

CHAPTER Vn.

ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE.

Recommended by Archbishop Bayley for succession to the primatial American See — Death of Bayley — Receives the pallium in the Baltimore Cathedral — A man of the people — Identification with varied interests of the community — Patriotism in word and deed — Visit to Rome in 1880 — Letter on the assassination of President Garfield — Death of the Archbishop's mother — His life in the archiepiscopal residence 78- 97

CHAPTER Vni.

THIRD PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE.

Causes for decision to summon another Plenary Council — ^Archbishop Gibbons presides as Apostolic Delegate — Lasting constructive worli for the Church In America — Decrees of the Council — A model for others — Origin of the Catholic University 98-124

CHAPTER IX.

CREATED A CARDINAL.

Work of Archbishop Gibbons in presiding over the Third Plenary Council leads to his elevation to the Cardinalate by Leo XIII — Receives the red zuchetta— Red biretta conferred June 30, 1886, the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination as priest — Great jubilee demonstration in Baltimore 125-139

CHAPTER X.

SPEECH IN ROME ON THE RELATIONS BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE IN THE UNITED STATES.

Departure for Rome to receive the red hat— Installed in his titular church of Santa Maria in Trastevere — He contrasts the growth of the Catholic faith in America with its decline in monarchical countries of Europe— Attributes this to civil liberty— "Our country has liberty without license and authority without despotism"— Causes European nations to understand America 140-145

CONTENTS XI

CHAPTER XI.

KNIGHTS OF LABOR QUESTION.

Rise of the Knights of Labor in America — Forbidden by the Church in Canada — Cardinal Gibbons confers with Powderly — His "Knights of Labor letter'' to the Prefect of the Propaganda and his vigorous attitude in Rome cause the Congregation of the Holy Office to withhold an interdict from the Knights in the United States and to reverse the action regarding Canada — His views of the labor question sustained by Leo XIII 146-165 .

CHAPTER Xn.

EARLY YEARS OF CARDINALATE.

Homeward journey from Rome — Guest of Cardinal Manning in London — Friendship and sympathy of Cardinals Gibbons and Manning— Feted on his return to Baltimore — Prayer at the Constitutional Centennial Celebratioa — Western trip — Transmits President Cleveland's gift to Leo XIII in honor of the Pontiff's golden jubilee in the priesthood — His second book, "Our Christian Heritage".. .166-189

CHAPTER Xni.

CENTENNIAL OF THE AMERICAN HIERARCHY.

Cardinal Gibbons organizes an imposing celebration in Baltimore in honor of the centennial of the Hierarchy — Letter of Leo XIII on the growth of the Church in America — The "Catholic Congress" of 1889 — Dedication of the School of Sacred Sciences of the Catholic University — Great interest of the Cardinal in the University — Hig views on the temperance question 190-210

CHAPTER XIV.

APOSTOLIC DELEGATE; THE SCHOOL QUESTION.

Decline of religious Intolerance in American public sentiment — Cardinal Gibbons advises against direct relations between the Vatican and the government at Washington — Transmission of Vatican relics to the World's Fair at Chicago in Archbishop Satolli's custody leads to his temporary appointment as Apostolic Delegate, later made permanent — Archbishops consider the school question — Attitude of Cardinal Gibbons regarding education — Leo XIII sustains the "Faribault plan" — Appeal of the Cardinal to Congress for a continuance of government appropriations to Catholic Indian Schools 211-233 xa CONTENTS

CHAPTER XV.

AMERICANISM ; THE CAHENSLY QUESTION.

Origin of the controversy concerning "Americanism" — The Cahensly program — Cardinal Gibbons throws his whole weight against foreign nationalism in the American Church — President Harrison thanks him for his attitude — Sustained by the Pope — The "American Protective Association" — Bishop Keane resigns as rector of the University— Misunderstanding abroad of "The Life of Father Hecker" — Letter of Leo XIII on "Americanism" — Reply of Cardinal Gibbons 234-263

CHAPTER XVI.

THE WORLD'S FAIR; PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS.

Catholic Interest in the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America — The Cardinal inspires a celebration in Baltimore — His prayer at the dedication of the great fair in Chicago — Address before the Parliament of Religions — Attitude on the reunion of Christendom — Visit to Rome in 1894 — Public welcome on his return to Baltimore 264-277

CHAPTER XVH.

SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.

Cardinal Gibbons an advocate of international arbitration — His appeal for a permanent tribunal of arbitration — Sermon at requiem mass for the "Maine" dead — Efforts to prevent war between the United States and Spain — After the outbreak of war he advocates love of country next to love of God and readiness to die for country If necessary — Directs thanksgiving in churches for American victories— Meetings with Cervera — Doubts wisdom of annexing Spanish islands — Efforts to Americanize the church organization in the Islands — Visit to Rome in 1901 — Another popular welcome in Baltimore 278-292

CHAPTER XVni.

THE STRENUOUS LIFE; LABORS AND REFORMS.

Influence in bringing about the suppression of the Louisiana lottery— Articles in reviews and magazines advocating political and social reforms — Silver .iubilee of his episcopate — Gift from the Pope — Archbishop Ireland's eloquent sermon on "The Church and the Age" — Elevation of Satolli to the cardinalate in the Ratimore Cathedral — Cardinal Gibbons' third book, "The Ambassador of Christ" — Opposition to woman suffrage — Views on other questions 293-811

CONTENTS XIU

CHAPTER XIX.

PAPAL CONCLAVE OF 1903.

Last illness of Leo XIII — Cardinal Gibbons the first American to take part in the election of a Pontiff — Personal experiences during the Conclave — His influence in bringing about the election of Pius X — Murks of friendship from the new Pontiff — Another Baltimore welcome — Trip to Rome in 1908 — Preaches at Eucharistic Congress in London 312-327

CHAPTER XX.

CENTENARY OF THE BALTIMORE CATHEDRAL.

Remarkable growth of the Catholic Church in the United States coincident with the history of the Cathedral — The Cardinal organizes a celebration — Declarations of himself and other American prelates against socialism — Letter from Pius X — Archbishop Ryan on evils of the times 328-334

CHAPTER XXI.

SYMPATHY WITH FRENCH CATHOLICS.

Influence of France in the early development of the Church in America — The "Law of Associations" and subsequent agitation — Cardinal Gibbons addresses a letter of sympathy to the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris in behalf of the American Archbishops — Personal utterances on the same subject — Gratitude of the Pope 335-338

CHAPTER XXII.

EVENTS OF LATER YEARS.

Experiences in the great Baltimore fire of 1904 — His life endangered in a driving accident — Extensive travels — Methods of recreation— Embarrassments of his high ofiBce — Held in affection by non- Catholics — Opposition to divorce, "race suicide" and other evils — His New Year receptions — Health and habits — Misfortunes — His fourth book, "Discourses and Sermons" 339-381

CHAPTER XXIII.

GREAT CIVIC CELEBRATION IN HIS HONOR.

Civic celebration in Baltimore, June 6, 1911, in honor of the Cardinal's golden jubilee as priest and silver jubilee as a member of the Sacred College — Addresses by President Taft, Vice-President Sherman, ex-President Roosevelt, Governor Crothers, Mayor Preston and others 382-393

CHAPTER XXIV.

A SUMMARY OF HIS LABORS.

Conspicuous accomplishments in the service ot Church and State — Great progress in the development of good feeling between Catholics and non-Catholics 394-398

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE.

CARDINAL GIBBONS Frontispiece

ST. CHARLES COLLEGE, EUicott City, Md 10

(Where Cardinal Gibbons began his classical studies for the Priesthood)

ST. BRIDGET'S CHURCH, Baltimore, in 1S65 .... 14

CARDINAL GIBBONS, as priest, in 1866 .... 26

ST. THOMAS' CHURCH, Wilmington, N. C 34

CARDINAL GIBBONS as Bishop of Riclimond ... 64

OLD ST. PETER'S CATHEDRAL AND BISHOP'S RESIDENCE,

Richmond, Va., in 1876 76

BALTIMORE CATHEDRAL 106

CARDINAL GIBBONS in his robes 130

(As a member of the Sacred College)

INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA IN TRAS-

TEVERE, Rome 142

FAC SIMILE OF CARDINAL GIBBONS' HANDWRITING . 188 (Extract from ''Our Christian Heritage")

CARDINAL GIBBONS' RESIDENCE, Baltimore ... 218

McMAHON HALL, CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY, Washington, D. C. 276

CARDINAL GIBBONS, PRESIDENT McKINLEY and ADMIRAL

DEWEY at the presentation of a sword to the Admiral . 308

PRESENTATION OF GIFT BY THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

TO THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY .... 356

CARDINAL GIBBONS, PRESIDENT TAFT and ARCHBISHOP

FALCONIO 364

(At the Oolden Jubilee of St. Aloysius' Church, Washington, November 13, 1909)

SCENE ON THE STAGE AT THE CIVIC CELEBRATION, Baltimore, June 6, 1911 384

CHAPTER L Early Life and Studies.

Although the active life of Cardinal Gibbons has stretched well into the twentieth century, the twilight of the eighteenth still seemed to linger around his early home when he was born in Baltimore, July 23, 1834. The city of which he was to become the foremost citizen, identified with it throughout a long career, was then overgrown from the straggling outlines of a colonial town. On the east the peaked roofs and tall, thin chimneys of its residential streets extended barely to Fell's Point, a full mile inside of where the Lazaretto Light, now half hidden by the smoke of clamorous factories, blinked at the smart clipper ships which raced up the Patapsco with the trade of the world. To the westward the swinging sign of the General Wayne Inn, on Paca street, bearing a portrait of "Mad Anthony" in brilliant blue and buff, marked the dividing line between urban life and a peaceful vista of rural estates, soon to be devoured by the hungry giant whose spreading bulk was already beginning to crowd them.

Uptown one might see, in the stately parade of late Georgian fashion which passed on bright afternoons, the women who were giving the city a repute as the home of the loveliest of their sex in America ; and here and there might be observed the raven hair and olive cheeks of the daughters of rich Santo Domingan planters, driven in a swarm by the revolution of L'Ouverture to find in Baltimore the home of exiles. Downtown, around the waterfront, the heart of the city throbbed. Grave merchants in sober dress, their throats wrapped in stiff black stocks, sat in counting-rooms fronting on narrow streets and traded ambitiously with Europe, South America and the Indies. Privateers, which twenty years before had scattered British commerce in a hundred ports, now anchored around the wharves to load the products of the West and South in peaceful commerce. Swift schooners, manned not infrequently by sailors who had proved that they could use a cutlass as well as trim a sail, were freighting the rich crops of the Chesapeake region to the metropolis of Maryland. Planters and merchants from half a dozen States drank the old wines of the Fountain Inn, or Barnum's, crowding to the gay and busy city to buy their supplies a year ahead.*

The name of Johns Hopkins might be seen on the sign of a wholesale grocery store on Lombard street, near Light street.f A few hundred yards distant, on German street, near Charles, was the dry-goods establishment of George Peabody. The alert young man who opened Mr. Peabody's store in the morning and wrote his laconic business letters was William Pinkney Whyte. On Charles street, near German, was the modest office of Enoch Pratt, iron merchant. Chief Justice Taney's handsome residence was on Lexington street, the second house from St. Paul street. The courts of law felt the inspiration of William Pinkney, Luther Martin, William Wirt and Reverdy Johnson. Edgar Allan Poe, recently dismissed from West Point, was walking the streets seeking employment as a writer or teacher. At the Adelphi Theatre Junius Brutus Booth, then in the noonday of his genius, was playing nightly. Two years before, a tottering old man had been an object of respectful interest as he used to enter his residence at Front and Lombard streets after attending mass. He was Charles Carroll, and the hand that turned the heavy brass door knob had signed the immortal Declaration.

• Scharf, Chronirlps of Baltimore, pp. 405-408.

t Mr. Henry C. Wapxier, antiquarian, of Baltimore, I5 authority for the locations of old buildings as given here.

HOUSE IN WHICH HE WAS BORN. 3

The stately Cathedral, then lately erected on a bold hill in the newer part of the city, was the seat of Catholic influence in America. It had been the pride of John Carroll, first American archbishop, who had died before it was opened for worship; but he had lived to see the organization of the Church planted on a foundation that would stand the shock of the "Knownothing"' times, soon to come, and prove firm and lasting in the marvelous career of development that was opening before the new republic. Carroll had been succeeded by Neale, and then Marechal and Whitfield; and in the year of the future Cardinal's birth, Eccleston was elevated to the episcopal chair, and sat beneath the canopy at mass. Besides the Cathedral, the churches of St. Peter, St. John, St. Patrick, St. Mary and St. James had been erected; and the aggressive spirit of the clergy was fast winning converts. The Catholic population of Maryland was estimated at 75,000 out of 500,000, a greater proportion than in any other American State.*

The house in which the Cardinal was born survived the changes of time until 1892, when it was torn down to make way for the widening of Lexington street into a plaza for public parades and outdoor meetings. It stood on the west side of Gay street, a short distance north of Fayette street, and was a substantial home of two stories, capped by a high-pitched roof, the type of many others to be seen in Baltimore in the first half of the nineteenth century. That part of the city, since given over almost wholly to trade, was then near the core of the residential district. In front of the Gibbons home streamed a picturesque tide of life — fashionable idlers, who maintained many of the traditions of the English aristocracy; folk of many sorts coming in from the northeastern outskirts of the town to the maze of rope and mast that covered the inner harbor; coaches of the rich, with liveried servants on the boxes; white-arched Conestoga wagons, rumbling in from

* Letter of Archbishop Eccleston to the Congregation of the Propaganda, quoted by Shea, History of the Catholic Churclj jn the United States, Vol. 3, p. 447.

Pennsylvania with the crops of rich counties to barter for the city's wares. In later years, when the pallium and the red hat, and other honors had been heaped upon him, the primate of the American Church used sometimes to point out this quaint building to favored friends, who accompanied him in his long walks about the city.

Here, in 1834, lived Thomas Gibbons, father of the Cardinal, who was employed by Howell & Sons, a firm which for many years carried on an importing business on Gay street. He was one of thousands of young Irish farmers who had lately been swarming to America to seek their fortunes. The bloody days of 1798 were not long gone by ; and Daniel O'Connell was even then spreading the propaganda which he hoped would free his prostrate country from her wretchedness, but which, like others, was to end in disaster. Thomas Gibbons was born in 1800, and grew up near Westport, County Mayo. There he married Bridget Walsh, a deeply religious young woman, of strong character, the daughter of a neighboring farmer. Shortly after their marriage the couple emigrated in a sailing vessel to Canada, and after a short stay there, settled in Baltimore, in search of a milder climate and fuller opportunities in life. Six children were born to them, the first three being daughters and the last three sons.

James was the eldest son. He was baptized in the Cathedral by Rev. Dr. Charles I. White. When Father White, after a long life spent in works of piety, died pastor of St. Matthew's Church, Washington, in 1878, it was Archbishop Gibbons who preached the sermon at his funeral.

Thomas Gibbons became a citizen of the United States, and, like many of his fellow-countrymen, was an intense admirer of Andrew Jackson, whose crushing defeat of the English at New Orleans had made him a hero in their eyes. His infant son, the Cardinal-to-be, was proudly held up in arms to see "Old Hickory" on one of the latter's triumphal visits to Baltimore. Though the young immigrant's affairs prospered fairly

SCHOOL DAYS IN IRELAND. 5

well in America, his health failed, and his physician advised a long trip. He took his family back to Ireland in 1837, when James was three years old, and there he decided to remain, buying land near Westport and settling down again to the life of a farmer.

The future Cardinal's education was begun at the age of seven years, when he was sent to a private classical school at Ballinrobe, near Westport, taught at first by a Mr. Jennings, and later by John J. Rooney. He was a slender lad, with clear blue eyes and brown hair, and, though his health was not the strongest, his ardent love of outdoor life helped to develop a vitality which in future years enabled him to sustain the greatest fatigues of mind and body. An eager intellect and the power of intense application made him an apt pupil. When the elements had been mastered, he began with avidity the study of history, languages and mathematics, unraveling, by the laborious methods of Irish schools in those days, the polished sentences of Virgil, Ovid, Cicero and Livy, and delving hard into Xenophon and Homer. The English classics particularly fascinated him. Addison, Goldsmith, Johnson and Moore were his favorites, and to his pronounced fondness for the study of such models was due, in large measure, that limpid clearness of expression which became a striking characteristic of his literary style in later years. A remarkable memory enabled him to quote off-hand many poems he had read. He received much help from his maternal grandfather, James Walsh, for whom he had been named — a scholarly man who taught him the principles of mathematics.

Among those strenuous Irish lads, bubbling with vitality, sports were rough when the stern discipline of long school hours was lifted. They wrestled and boxed, ran and jumped, played cricket, football, handball and prisoner's base, which later developed into the American game of baseball. Young Gibbons, though not so sturdy of frame as some of his companions, loved the rigor of their contests as much as any. He played as hard as he studied, and a mark which he carried on one of his fingers through Hfe was left by an injury received in a game of cricket.

Among the fifty boys at the school were not a few w^ho rose to distinction. One of them, Thomas Tighe, became a member of Parliament, and held other important offices. His two brothers, Robert and James Tighe, adopted the career of officers in the English army, as did another schoolmate of the Cardinal, General Sillery. The future Bishop MacCormack, of Galway, was also a pupil at Ballinrobe. Thomas Tighe lived to a ripe old age. He used to recall James as an amiable lad, very studious and talented, and a marked favorite in the school.*

James was confirmed by Archbishop McHale at such an early age that he was rejected on account of his youth when he sought the privilege in company with other children; but, mingling in the stream of the favored ones, he received the rite notwithstanding this obstacle, and was praised for his precocity. The deep piety of his mother exerted a marked influence on him in the impressionable period of his early Hfe.

The Gibbons family might have remained in Ireland and the Cardinal's lot might not have been cast in his native country, had not the death of his father in 1847, "^^'hen the lad was 13 years old, changed the whole outlook. The energetic mother, thus suddenly left with the responsibility of a young family, decided to return to America with her children, and they embarked on a sailing ship at Liverpool for New Orleans. It was a long trip, .destined to be marked by shipwreck and a providential escape for all on board. They sailed from Liverpool in January, 1853, and it was the middle of March before the islands skirting the American coast were sighted. Near midnight on March 17, in calm weather, the vessel went fast aground on a sand bar close to the Island of Great Bahama, and, had the wind proved treacherous, none might have escaped

• Extract from a letter written by Thomae Tighe, May 27, 1909.

A VENTURE IN BUSINESS LIFE. 7

the sea. But fate was favorable, and, after waiting in great anxiety for the dawn, they were transferred in small boats to the island, whence they were carried to Nassau and kindly treated until they could continue their journey.

Arriving in New Orleans, James obtained employment as clerk in a grocery store on Camp street, kept by William C.Raymond. It was one of the business establishments characteristic of New Orleans in those days, supplying the needs of Mississippi river steamers and plantations, as well as families of the city. Little did the rough river men, or the elegant country gentlemen who came in from their broad acres of cotton or sugar to buy for themselves and their slaves, think that the obliging youth who waited on them would some day rise to eminence attained by few Americans.

Young Gibbons' intelligence, industry and fidelity attracted the notice of Mr. Raymond, and he was soon offered promotion. He was seriously thinking at this time of the choice of a career; and a mission held at St. Joseph's Church in the spring of 1854 served to fix his aspirations in the channel from which they were never to swerve. This mission was conducted by three remarkable young Redemptorist priests from New York — Revs. Isaac Thomas Hecker, Clarence Walworth and Augustine Hewit. All were converts from Protestantism. Idealists by nature and gifted with brilliant talents, they had run the gamut of religious aspiration and had at last taken refuge within the fold of the Catholic Church as the haven where the eager inquiries of their restless natures might find satisfaction. Of the three, Hecker was easily the leader.* In earlier years he had been a member of the socialistic community at Brook Farm and a companion of Ralph Waldo Emerson and George William Curtis. A venture in business life had failed to satisfy him. Converted to the Catholic faith in 1844, he had been ordained a priest but five years before he began his mission in New Orleans. His magnetic preaching kindled a fire within

• Elliott, Life of Father Hecker.

the soul of young Gibbons, who joined in the devotions with a new fervor and spirit. The priesthood became his goal, in which determination he was also greatly influenced by his confessor. Father Dufoe, a Jesuit, and by Father Duffy, a Redemptorist.

Four years after this mission closed, Hecker, Walworth and Hewit, with two companions, obtained the papal permission to found the Congregation of Missionary Priests of St. Paul, in which they realized their zealous hope of devoting their lives to preaching for the conversion of Protestants. The great work of the "Paulist Fathers" since that time has been their monument; but not the least of the fruits of Hecker's ardent labors for the development of the Church in America was the accession of the young New Orleans clerk to the roll of **Ambassadors of Christ."*

Mr. Raymond was loath to see his youthful friend forsake a business career, in which the prospects of success seemed so bright. A warm friendship had sprung up between these two which was to end only with the death of Raymond, many years afterward. Mrs. Gibbons, too, was reluctant to part from her eldest son, on whom she had grown to lean more as his talents and character ripened with years and in whom the widowed mother hoped to find the prop of her old age. James' decision remained fixed, and at last all acquiesced in the step he was resolved to take.

In the summer of 1855, when he was 21 years old, he started for Baltimore, having decided to make his native city and state the scene of the labors upon which he was about to enter. His mother, his eldest sister, Mary, and his younger brother, John, who had already begun to climb the ladder of riches in the grain trade, remained in New Orleans, his sister Catherine having died in Ireland at the age of 17. His journey was beset with delays and difficulties in those days, before

• Hewit had been a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Walworth was a son of Reuben H. Walworth, a distinguished Chancellor of the State of New York.

STUDIES AT ST. CHARLES COLLEGE. 9

the conveniences of the railroad had been generally extended. He went by steamer up the Mississippi and the Ohio to Cincinnati, and thence by rail most of the way to Baltimore, though it was necessary to cross part of the Alleghenies by stage. Sixteen days after he left New Orleans he arrived in Baltimore, and soon entered St. Charles College, Ellicott City, Md., then recently erected on land given by Charles Carroll, where he began his classical studies in preparation for the priesthood.

The next two years were spent at St. Charles, where the keenness of his mind and the thoroughness of his earlier education at once made him a pupil of note. He took up again the study of the ancient and modern classics, and so zealous was he to pursue these, that he wanted to remain another year, but Rev. Oliver L. Jenkins, president of the college, refused permission on the ground that he was already thoroughly equipped to enter St. Mary's Seminary, in Baltimore, and begin the second stage of his course. His character in those early days of his manhood seems to have made an impression on his fellowstudents at St. Charles ; but it was too early to predict for him, among so many other bright young men, that he would rise to any extraordinary height. His modesty and amiability tended to keep him in the background. One of his comrades was John S. Foley, later Bishop of Detroit, a member of a noted Catholic family of Baltimore, who, after the lapse of many years, wrote thus of his recollections of the future Cardinal :