American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1856-02-02
From the Messenger and Recorder.
LECTURE aa

.755tuW SIX LECTURE
,aOF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES,
Before the Young Catholics Friend Society.
Su6ect-Paesent condition and pros
poets Of the Catholic Church IN the
United ,States--Delioered at Baht-
more, January II, 1856.
ThiS Lecture has excited, and will
continue for time to excite considera-
bic interest in the public mind, both on
account of the subject and the autAor
The Bishop states that the Catholics
now in this country aro.derived from
three sources: the original stock of the
Maryland colony, immigration, and
conversion from other systems of 'reli-
gion. He then proceeds to say, with
u craftiness peculiarly Jesuitical:
!" / consider for the present, and for
my purpose, these two religions as SIM
ply rival demonstrations in anoblc
competition as to which shall renderto
God the most glory, and to man the
greatest benefits. If, therefore, one
syllable escapes me calculated to of
fcnd any one of this audience, / beg it
to be understood, that L retract such
an expression by anticipation, even be-
fore it is uttered. 1t would be unbe-
coming in me to avail myself of an oc-
casion like the present, when / am hon
ored by the presence of many who are
not of the Catholic religion, to say one
word, which could give offence to any
one in the least. | s' -
In 1775, there were in this country,
"only Father Carroll and "a priests,
three of whom were incapacitatcd by
age from doing duty" The acccssions
of territory, such as Louisiana, Flori-
da, Texas, New Mexico, and Califor-
mia, g have been of countries of i'm
mense territory, but comprising within
their limits in point of numbers an in
significant original Catholic popula-
ton, ,[What would Che Bishop think
of~a Protestant who wonld speak Of
the Catholic population of these acquir-
cd territories as "insignifcant," in any
sense of the word y 'sr..s.ar a
The Bishop seems to think that the
increase of the Catholics by immigra-
ton has been greatly overrated; sup
to the year 1925 the immigration" of
Catholics " from the British Empire
counts but little over 800, 0,000." 7#' ."'
He adds: .g ..y
I" / may mention further, that during
this period the greater portion ofimmi-
grants from Ireland were not Catholics
but Protestants; that is to say, they
were Presbyterians from the North of
Ireland, who settled some in New Jer
sey, and in greater numbers in West
ern Pennsylvania. Many of their dcs-
cendants are now found in Western
Virginia, in Tennessee, and in Ohio.
From that class of people, therefore,
the great majority ofimmigrants came
at that period, nor does the tide of
Catholic immigration appear to have
set in toward this country with any
great force until after the close of the
Revolutionary war. 1t would be tedious
and tiresone to go through the dry de-
tails of statistics, and repeat how many
came in this or that year. However,
it is enough for me to say that the i'm
migration from Great Britain and Ire,
land, which up to 1926 was little over
100000, reached in the following 25
years 1,453, 1926, and since that period
from 1850 to 1856 there have arrived
at the city of New York alone 1,319,-
296 immigrants. During this period
nine-tenths Of the immigrants to this
country landed in New York, and there
is no account of those landing else
where. The statistics we have then
upon this subject would authorize this
conclusion, that the immigration from
Great Britain and Ireland since 1880
until the present year has amounted to
about $3.50, ,000.
Now, if we are called upon to de-
termine to which religious party these
immigrants belongcd-this matter en-
ters not into the account OF The stats
tics of immigration although for the
last fifteen years perhaps four-iifths of
the Irish immigrants were Catholics,
still taking the whole period of time,
the proportion would be much greater
upon the other side. From the conti-
ncnt of Europe, from Sweden, Norway,
and most of the German principalities
and states, nearly all the immigrants
were ProteStants. There we're very
few Spanish and French immigrants.
I" The objectof these remarks is first
to impress upon you just conception
OF the amount of immigration, and how