Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1855-04-14
Waslingtun gentinel.
The CATHOLIC school Question a. Roston.

VisH Of the Legislative Committee to a Come,
| -Nembe,s Charged wiM Disorderly Co,
duct-Commsttee Of Investigation Appoi,atc
Ttco Sides fhe Story.
The Legislature of Massachusetts some day
since appointed committee to visit and inves
| tigate the Catholic schools and converts Of th,
Commonwealth, for the purpose of enlightenint
the public. upon the internal arrangements O
those institutions. Accordingly, on the 26tl
ult., the members of the committee, accom-
panied by some other individuals, repaired t,
the convent at Roxbury, which is kept by sever
Sisters OF Charity of the order of Notre Dame
Of their proceedings while there the Bostor
Adre'tiser, of the 3lst ult., tells the followin,
story:
On the Dedham turnpike, in Roxbury, JUS
beyond Oak street. there is an ordinary house
in which school is kept by seven ladies, Cath
Ollie Sisters Of Charity" members of the order
of Notre Dame. They have twelve pupils,
young ladies between the ages Of ten and fiE
teen, all Americans by BIRTH These nineteen
ladies form the whole household, with the ex-
ceptlon of an Irishman, who is employed about
the premises as a servant. The house is located
upon thoroughfare much travelled it is not
secluded in any way from public gaze; the
grounds are not surrounded by any barriers,
nor does it have any Of the characteristics of a
monastic institution. The ladies who reside
there as teachers are highly cultivated and ac-
complished, and as much entitled to respect
and courtesy as any in the State. Their pupils
are likewise respectable, and there is not the
least evidence that their attendance at school
Is forced, that they are subjected to any rigor
Gus discipline, or obliged to undergo any sort
of ill-treatment.
Such being the character of this establish
ment, the nineteen ladies residing therein were
surprised on last Monday afternoon to see two
omnibuses drive up to the doors, crowded with
passengers, who light and inquire for the
Lady Superior" and being met by the head
OF the establishment, the spokesman of the
party informs her that the crowd is committee
appointed by the Legislature to examine the
house. No notification of the visit to be ex
pected has been served upon the ladies, and
they are Obliged to take the statement of the
members of the party on their own authority.
We have already seen that the committee ac.
tually appointed by the Legislature consists OF
but seven members. We are unable to state
the number of the party protesting to act as
this committee on this occasion, but from the
fact that two twelve seat omnibuses, which ap,
peared TO be full, were required for their trans
port, we can only estimate their number at
twenty-four. There may have been a few more
or less.
Nineteen ladies, twelve of them less than
fifteen years fage, could not Of course oppose
any effectual obstacle to the entrance of twenty.
four full grown men into common house. even
had the ladies known the rights guaranteed
them by the constitution and laws of Massa-
chusetts, and had they been disposed to main
tain those rights by force. The gentlemen
we presume we must call members of the
Legislature by this title-roamed over the
whole house, from attic to cellar No chamber.
no passage, no closet no cupboard, escaped
their vigilant search. No part of the house
was enough sacred or enough protected by re-
spect tor the common courtesies of civilized
life, to be spared in the examination. The
ladies dresses hanging in their wardrobes were
tossed over. The party invaded the chapel.
and showed their respect-as Protestants. we
presume-for the One God whom all Christians
worship, by talking loudly with their hats on.
while the ladies shrank in terror at the desc.
Grafton of spot which they believed hallowed.
While in the chapel the ladies declined hold
ing any conversation with their prosecutors;
but IN another part of the house the principal
expressed her perfect willingness to answer apy
One OF "the gentlemen" accordingly pats her
on the back with one hand. turns
over the rosary suspended round her neck with
the other, and asks her if she is content with
her situation, whether she can leave when she
pleases? The young ladies were of course
subjected. to questions even more rude
whether there are boys boarding in the estab
lishment-what punishments they suffer for
misdemeanors, &c. 1t is scarcely necessary to
describe such conversations in detail the
reader can readily imagine what the scene
must have been.
The examining party, Of course, had every.
thing their own way, and when their searches
and their insults had been protracted to the ex.
tent OF their pleasure, they took their leave. II
IS scarcely necessary to say that "they found
no matter what-it was not that they sought
unless the object of the visit was simply a
lark at the expense Of the State in which
case the object was doubtless attained. There
were no nuns immured alive in contracted cells.
nor any evidences of abuse of any sort calling
Tor legislative interference or even inquiry.
Now, we ask the rejecting men and women
Of fMassachusetts--we even appeal to the candor
of the eighty thousand voters who put the pres
ent administration in power--is such a record
as the above fit to form page in the history OF
the free and enlightened Commonwealth Of
Massachusetts, in the nineteenth century 2
Make any allowance you please for exaggera.
tions in the story which may have been caused
by the natural fears Of the terrified witnesses.
and does the record stand fair and clear2 Is
such the treatment that defenceless women
ought to receiver Is such the behavior of
gentlemen in the Legislature2 Ii only par
alleled by the stories that have come down Of
the insults and excesses of unlicensed soldiers
in time Of war.
Our legislators ought to have more init
mate practical acquaintance with the funda-
mental principles Of our government. The bill
of rights, which Is the first part of the Consti
tuition Of Massachusetts, contains this article:
Every subject has right to be secure from
all unreasonable seizures of his person. his
houses, his papers, and all his possessions. All
warrants, therefore, are contrary to this right
If the cause or foundation of them be not pre.
viously supported by oath or affirmation: and
If the order, in the warrant to civil officer. to
make search in suspected places or to seize
their property, be not accompanied with a
special designation of the persons or objects of