The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-12-03
Centenary of John
 Carroll, First, Catholic
 Bishop of United States

One hundred years ago today, on Dec. 3, 1915, the first Roman Cath olie bishop of the United States, John Carroll, passed into the Great Beyond Protestants as well as Catholics preIate, whose tolerance and liberal spirit, as well as his patriotic sdevo- tion to the republic, had made him universally popular. Thanks to the example set by John Carroll and other Catholic leaders of the revolu- tionary era, the United States has for the most part remained happily free from that religious strife and hatred which characterizes the relations of Catholics and Protestants in so many other lands.
 John Carroll, the founder of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States, was born at Upper Marlbor- ough, Md, in 1735, and was eighty years old when he died. As bay he was sent to Belgium to be educat- ed for the priesthood, and studied at St. Omer's, Jesuit college in French Flanders, and at the college at 1iege, where he was ordained a priest After surrendering his patFim onial estate to his brother, he became a member of the society of Jesus. Upon the dissolution of that society in France he went to England. where he was engaged as tutor for the son of Lord Stourton, a, Catholic nobleman, and travelled with the young man oyer Eu- rope. Afterward he was engaged as chaplain in the castle of Lord Arun- del, but when the American colonies began their revolt he determined to return to his native land. During this period he also held, for a short time, professorsfips at Bruges and at Liege.
 The young, Mary1ander had many influential friends in England, and they held forth hopes of a brilliant future if he would cast in his lot with the mother country, but his de- votio1l1 to his native land was too deep to permit him to be sWayed from his purp
 shortly after reaching America the Continental Congress passed a special resolution asking tsMr. John Carroll to accompany the committee to Cam ada, to assist them in such matters as they shall think useful Accordingly he accompanied Benjamin Franklin. Samuel Chase, and Charles Carroll of CarroIlton-4who was his cousin-to Montreal, in the hope of inducing the French Canadians to join the revolu- of the members of the committee, they failed utterly to arouse the French Canadians to rebellion. For this lack of success there were sew eral reasons. In an earlier address to the English people the same Con- gress which now sought to enlist the Catholics of Quebec had denounced Roman Catholicism as a religion which had dispersed impiety, bigotry, persecution, murder, and rebellion through every part of the world. 7 The Quebec Act had given the Cana dian Catholics a degree of religious freedom in happy contrast to the posi- ton of the Cath olics in several or the colonies to the South Moreover, in Sir Guy Carleton, the British had a leader of genius.
 Father Carroll, through the influ- ence of his friend, Benjamin Frank lin, was appointed the superior of the clergy in the United States in 1784, and five years later he was appointed first bishop of the United States by the Vatican, and fixed his abode Tn Baltimore, which ever since has been the Catholic center of the republic. Later he was elevated to the rank of archbishop. His eu1ogy on George Washington is consi dered one of the finest examples of American oratory