vie with each other in the beauty of their situation, and the variety
of their style. At last the whole city displays itself in the most
advantageous manner. It has the form of a parallelogram placed
upon the slope of a hill, which rises from a bay, the head of which
is more than nine miles to the northwest of the town. Six large
streets run parallel with the water ; these are intersected by ten
cross streets. Water street is half a mile in length, and is bordered
with houses from one end to the other. The remaining streets are
97
being rapidly built up. One could not believe it possible that such
noble houses as those in the upper part of the town, could be built
of wood. Among others may be mentioned the house of the Chief
Justice, of the Collector of Customs, and the one occupied by
Major General Gosselin, built by the Duke of Kent, and now the
property of the Government. To these we may add the Freemason
Hall, and the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches. The Catholic
Church is inferior to these, but in a few years it will surpass them
all, if the members of the congregation persevere in their project
of building a stone church upon a much larger plan." Needless to
say they did persevere, and old St. Mary's soon confirmed the pro-
phecy of the observant Bishop. The diary continues : " A great
number of houses are finished with a flat roof, others have flat
roofs on the wings, and a sloping one on the main building. One
must come to Halifax to find handsome porticos, superb entrance
doors and steps, broad stairways, and noble and well furnished
apartments."
" The only public building, up to the present, built of stone, is the
Governor's house. The stone is grey, and comes from Pictou.
It is easily cut, and is here held in great repute. Some private
individuals have used it to make columns, from eight to ten feet in
height, to finish off the railings in front of their houses. With this
same stone they are now building a hall, which will accomodate
both Houses of the Provincial Parliament, also another house above
the dock-yard, for the Admiral of this Station, and a third one for
some officers of the Marine Department. These three edifices,
now well advanced towards completion, cannot fail to greatly
embellish the town."
The position and general aspect of the dockyard, are described
with a lively appreciation of the order and cleanliness prevailing.
Of the streets, he writes : " Excepting the sidewalks, the streets are
not paved, but are covered with a kind of gravel or coarse sand,
which dries as soon as the rain ceases to fall. They are gener-
ally kept extremely clean, and in m.my places are ornamented on
both sides by willows, from which the tops are lopped off from time
98
to time, causing them to spread out, and thus affording as much
shade as the linden and limes of Canada."
"Halifax is not surrounded by walls, or parapets, but is guarded
by well entrenched batteries, placed in different parts of the town.
St. George's Island, in front of the town, is remarkably well forti-
fied. Towers and batteries are scattered around the harbour, at
short distances apart. Signal stations are also numerous, so as not
to leave the government in ignorance of any danger that may
threaten the place, even from a great distance out at sea." He
tells how Sambro, twenty miles off, could sustain a first attack, and
warn the city by signals of the danger, and adds : " Thus in the
late war no United States vessel dared to make the least attempt
upon this place."
In reading these extracts from the diary of Bishop Plessis, we
must bear in mind, that apart from his rank and position, he was
a most remarkable man, perhaps, the ablest of Quebec's long and
illustrious line of Bishops. As his jottings were not intended for
publication, we have an additional guarantee of their sincerity. He
tells us he was anxious to reach Halifax, in order to meet Father
Burke before his departure for Ireland, and only the happy chance
of adverse winds, which had detained the packet in port, enabled
him to do this. He praises the noble hospitality of Father Burke,
who had entertained at his own expense, for several weeks, some
Trappist Fathers, and three Ursiline Nuns from New York, on their
way to Ireland. His reference to the old historic Glebe House of
St. Mary's, will not be devoid of interest. He says : "The Bishop
and his companions went at once to the house where they were
expected, and there had the pleasure of finding Mr. Burke, who
did not sail until two days later. This house is not the presbytery,
but it stands on the same ground, and belongs to the Catholic
congregation who built it more than twelve years ago, with the idea
of establishing a college therein. This scheme they have not so
far been able to carry out * * the house is let at a low
rent to a catholic me chant named Laurence Doyle." This was
the father of the late well known Laurence O'Connor Doyle. The
Bishop continues : " It is, however, vdy large, so that without dis
99
turbing this family who occupy the lower part, Father Burke intends,
on his return, to live there, and to leave the old presbytery to his
assistant Father Mignault"
After this ordered and minute description, it requires no great
effort of the imagination to bring before our mind's eye the Halifax
of 1815. Then, as now, Halifax impressed visitors by the unsur-
passed beauty of its approaches and surroundings, and its undefined
air of quiet strength and repose.
The Bishop gives us an insight of the existing social relations,
from which we can see that once the dreary incubus of New Eng-
land bigotry had been shaken off, Halifax became the first city in
the English speaking world in which the most friendly feeling-
between Catholics and Protestants was engendered. No city in the
United States or in Canada, is to-day as far advanced in that
respect, as Halifax was in 1815. The diary informs us that " On
the day after his arrival, the Bishop of Quebec hastened to pay his
respects to the Lieutenant Governor, Sir John Sherbrooke, and to
Admira Griffiths. The Admiral upon hearing that we intended
visiting the missions of Chezzetcook and Prospect, obligingly offeied
to send us in one of the naval boats. * * The Governor, not
to be outdone in politeness by the Admiral, made the Bishop a
thousand offers of kindnesses, which were shown to be sincere by
the promptness with which he set about restoring to a certain
number of the Acadians of Chezzetcook a tract of five thousand
acres of land, of which they appeared to have been unjustly dis-
possessed" * * It appears, from the diary, that up to that
period no church bell was rung on Sunday's before ten o'clock, the
hour at which the bell of the Anglican Church rang out. A word
to the Governor on this point " freed," as the Bishop says, " the
Catholic Church from this servitude for the future." He also
praises the Governor for the readiness with which he entered into
the Bishop's views for the temporal and spiritual good of the Indians
in the vicinity of Halifax, and adds : " That is what one might call
a liberal and well intentioned man.' 3 Dr. Cochran and Dr. Inglis
son of the then Bishop, as well as the chief personages of Halifax,
called on the Bishop of Quebec, during his short stay in the town.
100
There is an entry in the diary which may interest our Anglican
friends. After noting that Bishop Inglis had " fallen into second
childhood," he says of his son : u Dr. Inglis, regardless of the
Canons of the Church, wishes to succeed to the Bishopric, to make
sure of it, even during his father's lifetime, and has taken steps to-
wards this end in England. Unfortunately His Majesty's ministers
before passing their word, consulted General Sherbrooke, who in
sounding public opinion has found the united suffrage to be in
favour of Dr. Stanser, Rector of St. Paul's, Halifax. This gentle-
man came hither with very favourable recommendations and
testimonials ; he has just gone over to England, whence it is sup-
posed he will bring back the Coadjutorship and right of succession. r
His Lordship was entertained at dinner by the Admiral, and also
by the Governor, where he met all the notabilities of Halifax. On
both occasions he appeared in his Episcopal robes, a fact worthy
of note in those days, and most creditable to the good sense both
of the Bishop and the distinguished society which greeted him.
He had expected merely a "long boat" to carry him to Chezzet-
cook, but the Admiral sent a "naval tender," or sloop of war called
the " Jane," carrying five guns. Incidentally we learn that the
dinner hour was much earlier than at present. Speaking of a
dinner given him by Major General Gosselin, cammander of the
garrison, on the day he was to return from Prospect, the Bishop
says : " five o'clock was the hour named, fearing that the voyage
from Prospect might take more than was at first expected." Hence
the ordinary dinner hour must have been considerable earlier than
five.
Wecan easily gather from this record of the various acts of courtesy
and hospitality extended to his lordship, as well as from the
number who called to pay their respects, that Father Burke had not
laboured in vain. His character and attainments had no small
share in producing the harmony and good will that existed in
Halifax.
On religious matters, the diary is not silent. " There are," it
says, in Nova Scotia, a great number of sects, Anglicans, Presbyte-
rians, Baptists, Arminians, Socinians, Methodists, New Lights, &c.
101
Each has its preachers and churches, great or small. The New-
Lights perhaps do not predominate over the others in Halifax, but
they are certainly the dominant sect of the province. The
Anglican clergy offer them all the opposition in their power.''
It is, however, when he treats of the state of catholicity in Hali-
fax, that we can realize, and appreciate, the apostolic labours of
Father Burke during the fourteen years of his ministry. Bearing in
mind the dissensions that existed before, and at his arrival ; and,,
also, that he had been busily engaged in numerous sharp contro-
versies during these years, our admiration of his many good
qualities of head and heart will be amply justified. Until a few-
months before the Bishop's arrival he had no assistant. The con-
dition of the flock is a good index of the pastor's spirit. In this-
case there was no one to share the praise or blame. Such as it
was, it was his alone. The diary says :
u In the midst of this crowd of sects the Catholic religion is
conspicuous by its unity, and by the general esteem in which its
adherents are held. In consequence of some old government pre-
judice Catholics are excluded from all prominent places in the-
Council, at the Bar, and in the House of Representatives. Is this
a misfortune for them ? No, for the fewer the pretentions men have-
to earthly honours, the more as it is universally admitted, do they
raise themselves towards the only solid hope, the heritage of heaven.
Merchants, many of whom have pretty compact fortunes, workmen,,
farmers and domestics, compose the Catholic Church of Halifax
If it is not conspicuous by the rank which its children hold in the
world, it is so by their fervour and the docility of their faith. The
idea has never occurred to these Catholics that their religion is;
restricted to attendance at Mass and a liking for good sermons.
When one reflects that out of about six hundred communicants
there were not ten who had neglected the sacraments in Lent ; when*
one sees them as diligent in attending Mass on week days as they
were during the Bishop's stay amongst them ; when one is witness
to the eagerness with which they besieged the confessional, to the
extent of keeping two or three priests busy during entire mornings;;
when one finds the sacristy full of children who come every day
102
to catechism, the girls in the morning, the boys in the evening,
when one hears of the ambition of the parents to procure for their
children a place among those who serve in the Sanctuary, nothing
more is needed to convince one that the spirit of religion is as
fervent here as in any other Christian community of the Diocese of
Quebec.
" Take in addition the great respect shown by the faithful to
the pastors who lead them, the docility of their Church wardens,
a class of persons who are sometimes torments to the parish
priests of Canada, the zeal with which they come forward to con-
tribute towards the repairing, or rebuilding of their too small church
in a collection which already amounts to more than two thousand
pounds sterling. None but fervent Catholics can unite so many
-excellent qualities.
u Besides those who are Irish, either by birth or origin, and these
form the great majority ot the parish, there are persons of different
nationalities, some domiciled, others migratory, such as the Aca-
dian boatmen, soldiers, sailors and negroes. The result of this is
that in a parish of six hundred communicants, there is more work
than in many a one of two thousand.
" It was to this congregation, assembled on the Sunday after
his arrival, that the Bishop preached in English, badly enough pro-
nounced, but nevertheless sufficiently well understood by those to
whom he spoke, as well as by the Protestants to whom he did not
speak, but whom curiosity had drawn in great numbers to the
church. Thirty-four persons were confirmed that day, the remainder
were reserved for the following Sunday. A much larger number
communicated. Nothing could be more edifying than the deport-
ment of these people in the Church, and the modesty with which
they presented themselves for Communion. The organ, played
by a young Catholic, accompanied the Roman chant."
We doubt if ever a Bishop gave more magnificent testimony to
the work of a pastor as seen in its results, than we here find set
down by Bishop Plessis in his private diary, presumably intended
for no eyes but his own. No words of ours can add weight to the
splendid eulogium; it proves beyond the slightest preadventure that
103
he who had given proof of a great missionary spirit in the wild west,
here in the most polished town on this continent, gave equal proof
of high mental and moral qualities, and a capacity for leading
cultivated souls in the higher paths of the spiritual life. How busy
the days, aye, and the nights of Father Burke must have been, we
can judge from the amount of literary work performed, whilst
thus faithfully attending to the spiritual wants of a congregation,
which as the Bishop remarks, demanded more labour than many
another of two thousand communicants. Whilst nothing is lacking
to the completeness of this testimony to the worth of Father Burke
and his congregation, one who has more ample sources of
knowledge than had Bishop Plessis, can repeat of the flock of to-
day the words written in 1815.
Mr. Doyle who had rented the Glebe House, gave a dinner
to which a number of the principal Catholics were invited to meet
the Bishop. His Lordship slyly remarks : " The conversation
turned generally on religious topics ; but while speaking of edifying
matters, these good Irishmen were most unsparing of the wine."
His Lordship left Halifax for Digby County. A Mr. Conroy
supplied horses and a carriage for the Bishop and his Secretary,
and a huge van for the luggage. From the accounts of the Church
we learn that forty-seven pounds were paid for conveying the party
to Annapolis. Possibly the taxes are higher now than then, but
we can travel much more cheaply, and immeasurably more com-
fortably. The Bishop has a good word for the roads ; he tells us,
also, that dinner at the first inn * cost twenty-seven shillings, u a
presage," he mournfully exclaims, " of what we would have to pay
before reaching our journey's end." Yet this dark cloud had its
silver lining, for he gleefully adds : " This first amount was not
expended by us, but by Dr. Keegan, a Catholic physician who had
wished to accompany us this far."
Before taking final leave of this chatty and interesting diary, we
will give one more extract :
' We were to stay that evening at a superb country house, belonging
* At or near Bedford.
104
to Mr.Uniacke, (the elder), a member of Council, Attorney General,.
Judge of the Admiralty, &c., who had urgently entreated the Bishop
to rest there in passing. It is nine leagues from the town. * * We
arrived very late. Madam Uniacke and Lady Mitchel, her step-
daughter, received us with as much courtesy as these English ladies,
stiff and starched as the) usually are can show. * After tea to each
of us was apportioned an immense room perfectly furnished with
chairs, tables, chests of drawers, stoves (mounted all the year
round it appeared), and excellent beds, each large enough to accom-
modate a whole family. The following morning we had time to
look at this immense and costly house with its innumerable depend-
encies, bath rooms, billiard rooms, balconies, servants' quarters, well
kept groves on the borders of a large and rather deep lake, the
waters of which are carried to the sea by several small streams ;
nothing that could render this place charming has been neglected.'*
With an eye to the practical side of life, he remarks that scarcely
any grain is grown on this fine property, and hence it returns
nothing for the lavish outlay ; then he mildly moralizes on the taste
of men, some hoard through avarice, others spend through vanity,
or for pleasure, and adds : " Life passes in various occupations,
and they do not think of eternity." After breakfast, which was served
with the u same elegance and ceremony" of the night before, the party
" re-entered their carriage ; the cart received its load, and we left
for Windsor."
Our readers will join in wishing a hearty ban voyage to the
amiable and observant Bishop, for having given us such pleasant
glimpses of Halifax in one thousand eight hundred and fifteen.
* Mrs. Uniacke was not however an English woman.
CHAPTER XVI.
TRAVELLING.
|HILST Bishop Plessis was wending his way, by easy
stages, to St. Mary's Bay, Father Burke was being
tossed drearily along on the broad Atlantic. For two
or three years he had been suffering from an internal
complaint, which only the knife of a skilled surgeon could relieve.
As he had expressed it in a letter to the Bishop, " although it did
not prevent him from working, it was silently undermining his
health." But he could not, and would not leave his post at Halifax
until there was some one to take his place. At length the Bishop
sent him an assistant in the person of Rev. Mr. Mignault, who
came in October, 1814, and exercised his ministry in Halifax until
the summer of 1817. The last act in the register bearing his signa-
ture is dated 2ist August of that year.
Whilst Father Burke was contemplating a trip to Europe in the
spring of 1815, an event transpired which enabled him to make
better provision for the spiritual wants of his flock than he had
dared hope. It was also the beginning of the realization of his
dream of founding a Trappist Monastery in Eastern Nova Scotia,
In the year 1812, Father* Vincent was sent from France with some
of his brother Monks to found a Trappist Monastery in the United
States. An attempt was made in Maryland, but soon abandoned.
A site was next chosen near New York, but in 1814, the Superior
with the greater part of the community returned to France, and
Father Vincent was ordered to follow with the remainder, so soon
as he should have arranged his affairs. During the winter two of
the community died, and in the spring Father Vincent and four
others sailed for Halifax. Here they found a ship for Europe.
Whilst waiting for a favourable wind Father Vincent came ashore
one morning. A breeze sprang up suddenly ; the captain weighed
106
anchor and sailed swiftly out to sea, leaving Father Vincent behind.
Later on he received permission from his Superior to remain in
Nova Scotia. Father Burke appointed him to assist Rev. Mr.
Mignault in Halifax, and to attend occasionally the Acadians at
Chezzetcook. Having made this provision for the spiritual wants of
his people, Father Burke was free to depart.
In the vessel by which Father Vincent and his brother Monks
had come from New York to Halifax, there came also three Nuns
of the Order of Ursilines. These ladies had gone from Cork some
three years previously, to found a house in New York. Various
circumstances combined to discourage them, and the Superioress
in Ireland had written them to return. For several weeks Father
Burke supported both the Trappists and Nuns at his own expense,
a fact which Bishop Plessis reveals to us in his diary. Two
daughters of Mr. Doyle, and two of Mr. James Tobin, desirous of
being educated in an Irish convent, embarked with the Nuns and
Father Burke, for Cork. They sailed on the i6th July, 1815, and
must have had a favourable passage, for Father Burke writes from
Cork on i6th August, saying : " Here I am at Cork after a most
prosperous voyage, without accident of any sort. * * The
Bishop is absent, but is expected home from day to day. The
question of the ' Veto '* is renewed, and is warmly discussed. I
find a very strong opposition to it amongst the clergy, and also
amongst the people who do not wish to hear it even mentioned."
The forests of Western Canada, and the magnificent surroundings
of Halifax were forgotten when the eyes of the veteran missionary
viewed again the quiet beauties of Erin. He exclaims : "Ireland
appears more beautiful to me than ever. It is assuredly the most
charming country of the world. You must see it with your own
eyes in order to realize all its beauties."
*The Government was prepared to give a stipend to the Clergy provided
it were granted the right of Veto in the appointment of Bishops. Some
Catholics were in favour of this compromise, but O'Connell and the Irish
Bishops almost to a man opposed it. Father Burke in various letters
shows his hostility to it.
107
He writes from London 2ist September, and relates with joy
that the Bishops of Ireland had refused to submit to the Veto, al-
though the Pope appeared inclined to favour it, and adds that
should one be appointed by the government, the people would not
recognize him. It will be seen from this that although Father
Burke was always a staunch and loyal supporter of the government,
and on close terms of intimacy with its leading representatives
both at Quebec and Halifax, he would never consent to barter the
freedom of the Church, in the appointment of its chief pastors, for
a mess of potage in the shape of some civil rights for the laity and
a stipend for the clergy.
He had a fair collection of books in his library at Halifax, but
he bought in London the " Fathers of the Church which I have
not already," and he was on the look out for the " Annals of
Baronius, and a collection of the Councils." The student was
not swallowed up in the traveller.
Whilst in London, he wrote and forwarded to Rome a lengthy
document, in which he gives a graphic account of British North
America, from an ecclesiastical standpoint.
With his characteristic outspokenness he tells the Cardinal Pre-
fect of Propaganda of the commotion excited in Ireland by reason
of his letter on the question of the Veto, lately sent to the Bishops.
How the people were crying out that whilst their fathers for genera-
lions had borne persecution, but had kept the faith, now a great
danger menaced it, the Pope having been deceived by his and their
enemies-
Speaking of the state of religion in British North America he
points outag;ain the necessity of erecting one or two more Dioceses
in Lower Canada, suggesting Montreal and Three Rivers as the
new Sees, For Upper Canada, in which he says there were only
about three priests, adding " can there be found in the whole
world a country inhabited by civilized beings in such an abandon-
ed state." He suggests that it be divided into two or three Pre-
fectures. The Prefect Apostolic of the Kingston district should be
"Scotch or English, or Irish; preferably a Scotchman, as the greater
108
number of the inhabitants are of Scottish descent." Similarly in
the Maritime Provinces Prefectures should be erected.
It must be borne in mind that Father Burke was now intimately
acquainted with the whole country, more so perhaps than any
living man. He had worked eight years in the Province of Quebec,
seven in Western Canada, and fourteen in the Maritime Provinces.
Keenly realizing the inadequacy of the existing Ecclesiastical organ-
ization to meet the requirements of the faithful, or to cope with the