The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-01-28
CATHOLICISM AMERICA
BY FREDERIC j. HASKIN.
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

Some one has said that if America
had a monument to religious enIighten-
ment it should be the figure of a lone
Catholic priest with barred head, cassock
faded by wind and rain. and sandaled
feet torn and bruised from contact with
briers and stones. From the worn wan
face the eyes should look out. determined
and unafraid, as when they gazed into
the dangers Of untried forests and I'M
explored plains. At the base Of such
statue might be set a tablet containing
the names Of the early evangels OF
Christ, who came this way when wilder
ness was king; who entered eagerly and
fearlessly upon the long marches through
pr.meval land where only too often the
way ed on to death. On such list the
names would be legion. II would include
the jealous but misguided seekers for
the Seven Cities of Cibola and the won
derful Fountain Of Youth; 1t would in
clude scores Of princely Adventures and
hundreds of ardent crusaders who met
their fate while carrying the emblem of
the cross into the New World.
What a story it is, At first it is al
most as dim and incredulous as mythol-
ogy. In the old Sagas there is the story
of pious St. Brendan, who sailed with
his followers from the west coast of
ireland across unknown seas to find and
Christianize other races. Their boats
were fashioned of wooden frames and
OK hides. They met wonderful floating
palaces in which all the rooms were
crystal, but in which no one lived. They
landed on a small fiat island, which re-
scented the lighting of a FIRE and imme-
diately sank, hardly allowing them time
20 re-embark. At length they landed on
another island, which hurled fire at them
and emitted streams Of hot water from
assures in the soil Later, they returned
TO Ireland and astounded and delighted
the credulous people with these stories Of
their wonderful voyage. In the light of
to-day we can see nothing in these fan
tastic accounts but the meeting of ice
bergs. the possible landing on the back
of a resting whale, and the seeing Of
volcanoes. geysers. and hot springs in
Iceland
It is claimed that Catholic priest came
over TO the New World in John Cabots
feet in 1898. but the first record Of the
recital of the Catholic liturgy in America
was when the priests of Ponce de Icons
party said service amid the Everglades
of Florida in 1871 A colony was estab-
lished there. bat the Indians attacked it
SO fierceiy that it had TO be abandoned.
The very year the Pilgrim Fathers landed
at Plymouth Rock a Franciscan priest
crossed the Niagara River from Canada
and preached to the Indians Of Western
New York. Two years later there We're
Jesuits as far West as Sault Ste. Marie,
and the Capuchin Fathers in the early
seventeenth century had preached from
the kennebec 10 the Gaspe.
In the far West there were ViscaynO
and his Carmelito monks, the Jesuits.
and then Father Junipero Sierra travelling
overland from Mexico 10 found the mis-
sion of san Diego. Soon there was
string of missions. set "A days journey
apart. reaching from the Mexican Dor
der TO san Francisco The enterprise OF
Father Junipero is shown by the story
that he once captured a red man from
the forest and forcibly baptized him into
the new faith The bell that rang out
the tidings was suspended from the
branches of a tree, and the only church
was the open air.
The first English Catholic settlement in
America was in 1894. when George Cal
vert, the first Lord Baltimore, estab-
lished a colony in Maryland. He not
only guaranteed religious freedom TO all,
but built chapels for whatever denomi-
nation asked for them. The first Catho-
lie church was in charge of Father An
drew White, a Jesuit It is claimed that
this was the first American colony that
offered religious freedom TO all and kept
its word, although the same has been
claimed for Roger Williams Baptists
Previous to this settlement there had
been English Catholic services among the
settlers on St. Clements Isle, and in 1905
the German Catholics celebrated mass
I'm Philadelphia. In 1913 the remnants Of
the exiled Acadian colony, driven from
Nova Scotia by the British King, found
refuge in Baltimore, some going on
further to Louisiana to be the progeni-
tors of the 'Cajans there to-day At
this time the Catholics in Baltimore We're
still under the jurisdiction Of the Vicar
Apostle of the London district.
In the Revolution the Catholics took the
part Of the colonies. Among the members
of the Continental Congress and the sign
ers Of the Declaration OF Independence
were Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Daniel
Carroll, Thomas FitzsimmOns, and Thomas
Sim Lee. Rev. John Carroll, of Balti-
more, afterward d bishop, was sent as
delegate TO Canada to urge the colonies
there to join the Revolution. Although
he failed in this, there were two Canadian
regiments Of Catholics who served on the
American side. The Catholic Indians of
Maine, under Chief OronO, and the ST.
Regis Indians of New York took a prom
inent part in the war, while French Cath
Ollie settlers and the Indians of Illinois
won the West for the cause of independ-
ence.
Among foreign Catholics who were
noted as defenders of the colonies were
Lafayette, RochGmbeau. Kosciusko, and
Pulaski. Gen. Stephen Moylan a patriot
member Of that church, was the first
quartermaster in the Revolution, and
most Of the men in Mad Anthony Wayne's
command were stanch adherents of that
faith. When money was badly needed by
the Continental Congress. twenty-seven
members Of the Friendly Sons OF St. Pat
rick came forward with a loan of $4,000
and Thomas FitzsimmOns individually
lent S25.000. Jack Barry, the Catholic
commander of the colonial navy, was ap-
preached by Lord Howe. and offered
bride of 1890 guineas and the command
of the best frigate in the British navy if
he would desert. Barry sCOrued the offer
by saying: L have devoted myself to
the cause Of America. and not the value
and command Of the whole British feet
could seduce me" The city of Washing
ton vas planned by two Catholics. and