The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-09-19
MISS DREXEL'S, ROMANCE.
Her Sister Was Her Successful Rival
in a Love Affair.


Bankers Daughter Now Comes Out
of Retirement to Marry Her Former
Lover.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Washington, Sept, IA matter of
sensational interest is the reported de-
lection of Miss Catherine Drexel, a
| daughter of the Philadelphia branch OF
| the wealthy Drexel family, from the
ranks of the Catholic sisterhood. The
story is the more interesting, as it is
coupled with the rumor that the lady is
shortly to enter into the holy bonds of
matrimony. This has created consider
! able of stir in the highest social circles
of New York and Philadelphia.
Miss Catherine Drexeps story is very
romantic one. She is the second of three
| daughters of the late Francis Drexel. In
very early youth she placed her affections
on Walter George Smith. the son of an
| intimate friend and near neigh Dor of the
! Drexel family, at their country home at
| Torresdale, near Philadelphia. Her sue
cessful rival was her Oldest sister, Eliza
beth, though the latter had no suspicion
| that she was such When all arrange
| Drexel and Walter George Smith were
completed Catherine Drexel announced
| her intention of retiring from the world
| and Of devoting her great fortune to the
| church In missionary work among the
Indians. She took her VOW at a convent in
| Plttsburg, and was thereafter known in
| religion as Sister Catherine In a short
time Sister Catherine became superioress
| OF new convent that owed its existence
to her wealth. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
passed the first year of their married life
in Europe. Mrs. Smiths failing health
induced the pair to return to the Torres
| dale homestead, where she died. And it
| is the brother-in-law to whom Sister
Catherine had so long ago given her heart
| that she is to marry, according to the
| story as it comes from Philadelphia. Now
arises the question: Are nuns vows
| irrevoca blel" The popular notion is that
| a woman once vowed to the cloister is I'M
| der sort of life sentence. And yet
/ nothing is further from the truth.
The pope has the power of fully dis
| pensing from what are called solemn
| VOWS" The bishops have the right to
release from simple vows" Both the
| holy father and the bishops are called
upon to exercise their rights in this mat
Ter much oftener than people think, for,
as matter of church policy, the pro
moters of a monastic life do not furnish
such data to the public
To look at this subject historically, we
find from the very early days of the
| church down to the tenth century many
| DEGREES of councils and orders of popes
| relating to the breaking of monastic
VOWS, III all of which it is ordained that
the unhappy nun be treated with tender
ness. Persuasion and change of con-
| vent are recommendation one word to
justify the popular belief that the terrible
punishment suffered by Constance, the
| faithless nun of Scott's "Msrmion," was
the usual penalty decreed by the church
upon her daughters who broke their vows.
Yet the authority of Scott is cited as
| sufficient proof that in the dark ages re-
creant nuns were buried alive.
The Nestal Virgin Of antiquity was the
prototype, so to speak, of the Christian
nun. And there seems to be no doubt
that burial alive was the punishment of
the faithless vestal. Yet even the Vestal
Virgins were not vowed for life. They
were dedicated at very tender age-be-
| tween and 10 years. The period for
which they were vowed was thirty years
The first decade was spent by the vestal
| in being trained for her duties, the second
| in praCticing them, and the third in in
structing the young vestals. After that
she was free to return to the world, aud
even to marry.
In these latter times there does not
seem TO be much encouragement given to
the practice of perpetual VOWS. BY the
| laws of France life vows are invalid, but
such disapplova by the civil power has
! no weight with the canon law. ST. Vim
| cent de Paul, who established the order
of the Sisters of Charity in 1884, ordained
that their vows should be taken for one
| year only He was the first founder of a
religious order who took the ground that
/ : ~ E., ~,
! gious community to boldly use their talent
and labor with it in the world instead of
| burying it in the seclusion of the cloister.
| He said: Your converts must be the
houses of the sick your cell, the chamber
J of suffering; your chapel, the parish
| church your cloister, the wards of the
| hospital your rule, the VOW of obedience ;
| your grille, the fear of God your veil to
! shut out the world, holy modesty."
| In the many political upheavals of
| France, during which various religious
| orders have suffered adjustment, the
! Sisters of Charity have been always al
! lowed to exist, even in the days of the
| terror and of the directory. The Little
Sisters of the Poor is the only other or
der looked upon with government favor
! in France.
In looking about US now, with nine
| teenth century eyes, one wonders at the
power of a tradition, that, in the popular
| mind dooms nun, who repents of her
vows, to penances and penalties of the
| most severe nature, and cuts her of from
good standing in the church. This belief
| exists in spite of notable examples of
women forsakiug the cloister and subse-
+ quently leading exemplary lives in the
world.
There is the case of Miss Rosecrans.
daughter of Gen. RosecraLs Of Ohio, who
for some years was an Ursuline nun in an
Ohio convent. She secured a release
from her vows. And is now the compan-
ion of her father in his declining days.
Then one Of the daughters of the late
| Gen. Phil Kearny, after spending several
| years IS a nun, first in the Sacred Heart
convent, and subsequently with the Car
meliteS, in Paris, found that she was I'M
! fitted for the life of the cloister. A dis
| pensation from the VOWS was granted by
! the holy father, and she now makes her
/ home with her mother in Washington.
In this country, as ip Europe, the nun
neries have had many distinguished in
mates, with the great difference that
while here the clustered life is an en-
tirely voluntary one, in the old world
girl is frequently, from her very birth,
destined for a convent. One of the
| daughters of Gen Winfield Scott was
nun of the Visitation convent of George
town, d. c., WHARF she died some years
! before her distinguished father. IL is not
generally known that Fannie Allen, the
beautiful daughter of rugged old Ethan
A H.. . H.