of the city, and above all the now vacant and unsightly spot where so short a time before he had looked with pride; as he went out through the Narrows, and saw the noble convent, the darling object of so many years of anxiety and labour, his heart sank within him. When he saw the place where the nuns' beds were laid on the floor of the barn he shed copious tears. He never wholly revived the shock which he then received; from that moment, worn out by fatigue and anxiety, his health began to decline. His pen, erst so prolific and so swift, begins to show signs of wavering. He likens himself to the dove cast upon the waters and not able to find rest for his weary wings. He felt that his course was nearly run. Writing in the following year (18th November, 1847), to the Archbishop of Quebec, he says: "After labouring in this portion of the great vineyard for nearly thirty years I find my health so weakened, and my constitution so broken, that it is impossible I could ever hope, during the remnant of my earthly career, to enjoy the happiness of meeting your Grace."

Early in the year 1847 he applied for a coadjutor, and his choice was fixed upon Father John T. Mullock, the brilliant priest of his own Seraphic Order, whom he had known for the past fourteen years, since the very year of his ordination. And never did the mantle of a noble bishop fall upon the shoulders of a more worthy successor.

From this period we enter upon a new era in our church history, and that bright luminary of the American hierarchy, Right Rev. Dr. Mullock, appears above the ecclesiastical horizon. He had already become, in some degree, celebrated by his energetic works in various parts of Ireland: Limerick, Ennis, Cork, and Dublin, and also at St. Isidore's, Rome, by his literary works. He was consecrated on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist (December 27th, 1817), and arrived in St. John's the May following, 1848.

66

At the time of the arrival of Dr. Mullock the great work of the cathedral was drawing near completion. In a letter to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, written about this time (June, 1848), he thus speaks of it: It is by no means a circumstance unworthy of remark that a building of its extent (248 feet long, towers 150 feet high, transept 203 feet, &c.), and its magnificence should have been commenced in an impoverished colony like this at a moment when not one shilling was available towards its construction, and yet that it should be now, in the seventh year after the laying of the foundation-stone (20th May, 1841), advanced so far that the oldest man who looked upon its commencement may reasonably hope to be spared to see its completion." In a letter to Earl Gray, Secretary of State for the colonies (22nd February, 1847), he details the sums he had expended in connection with the convent and other ecclesiastical buildings, amounting to upwards of £10,000. He states how by the fire he lost all his furniture, library, and plate, together with vestments and church

requisites, &c. to the value of upwards of £2,000, as also all the means he had reserved for the prosecution of the works of the cathedral, amounting to scarcely less than £4,000. Under these distressing circumstances he asks for some assistance. "I am aware, my Lord," he says, "that through the charitable feeling of her Majesty the Queen a sum of money (£31,516) has been collected, of which one-half (over £15,000 sterling) has been placed in the hands of the Right Rev. Dr. Field for the re-erection of the Church of England Cathedral. Surely then, my Lord, it is not unreasonable if I, with the deepest respect and in all the humility of sad suffering, pray your lordship to extend here a kind and helping hand, to enable me to once more open a school, to which no fewer than 3,000 are in vain looking for instruction." This touching appeal proved unsuccessful; not one penny of the money ever having been granted for Catholic purposes. And yet while to-day our noble cathedral stands out in its beauty above the town and rears aloft its massive towers from out the magnificent group of buildings, schools, convents, college and palace, the Anglican Church, which received £15,000, remains to this day unfinished.

Soon after the arrival of Dr. Mullock, Dr. Fleming retired to the monastery of Belvidere, which he had erected not far from the town (and which, with the elegant mortuary chapel in the cemetery, is another monument of his architectural taste). The completion of all these great works, therefore, devolved upon Dr. Mullock, and nobly were the designs fulfilled and new works inaugurated. In a few years the cathedral was completed, and embellished with its splendid marble altars and statuary, and Dr. Fleming had the happiness of celebrating the first Mass in it on the Feast of the Epiphany, 1850, thus crowning the labours of a long and glorious episcopate.

Dr. Mullock at once set about the construction of the new schools and convent on a still grander scale than before. The foundations of the convent were laid on the 23rd of August, 1850. The following account of this event is abridged from the Morning Courier of August 31st, 1850:

"On the 23rd inst. the Right Rev. Dr. Fleming, assisted by the clergymen of the surrounding districts. . . laid the foundation of the new Presentation Convent in this city. . . The present erection is to be of cut stone, and will, with the school-house attached, cost the sum of £7,000. The site selected is at the eastward side of the cathedral, commanding a magnificent ocean view, and overlooking for many miles the surrounding, now highly improved and well-cultivated, country. The style is to correspond with that of the cathedral, with which it will be connected by a passage leading to the chancel, and the spacious grounds in the rere will afford ample space for gardens and ornamental grounds. . . With the foundation-stone was deposited, in a block of granite, a vase containing several medals, current coins, the

seal of Dr. Fleming, the names of the clergy of the colony, of the bishops of Ireland, of His Holiness the Pope, the journals of the day, and some wheat, the produce of the island of 1848, &c., together with a scroll bearing the following inscription:

"The foundation-stone of this Convent of the Nuns of the Presentation Order (first established in this city of St. John's, in MDCCCXXXIII, by the Right Rev. M. A. FLEMING, O.S.F., Bishop of Newfoundland), was laid by the Right Rev. JOHN THOMAS MULLOCK, O.S.F., Bishop of Newfoundland, on the XXIII day of August, MDCCCD. in the fifth year of the Pontificate of His Holiness Pius IX., and the fifteenth year of the reign of her most gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir John Gaspard le Marchant being Governor of Newfoundland.'

"The local legislature has voted the sum of £2,000 sterling towards the erection of those buildings. Dr. Fleming left money (£300) in his will, and the congregation present on the above occasion contributed £300. In one year from the present time the whole will be completed, and by the end of this season the schools will be in operation."

In the course of three years this splendid suite of buildings was completed, bidding defiance to the elements, for they are no longer constructed of frail wood but of imperishable granite. And here at last, after so many vicissitudes, the good nuns found themselves in a peaceful and permanent home. They had not been, however, idle during the interval between the fire of '46 and the taking possession of the new convent. "Wherever we went," says Mother Magdalen, "and amidst all our trials, we had one consolation-the children never left us. If we had not the poor little ones to work for we could never have lived through it."

In the month of November following the fire, Dr. Fleming brought them to the Mercy Convent, a portion of which was partitioned off for them, and "where (says the Annals of the Convent) they received all possible kindness and attention from the Superioress, Mrs. Creedon." They remained there five years. A temporary school (the fifth) was erected in the year of the convent. On the 21st of October, 1851, (the anniversary of the first opening of their school eighteen years previously), not wishing to encumber the Mercy Nuns any farther, they took up their abode in a portion of their new stone schools, which were not yet completed, and for some time their only roof at night was a sail, kindly lent by one of the merchants. Finally, however, on the 2nd of July, 1853, "they took possession of the splendid convent built for them by the Right Rev. Dr. Mullock. No expense has been spared by him to make it both convenient and conventual. The sisters now enjoy everything requisite for their happiness, and have the consolation of seeing their institute firmly established in the

island. This is the eighth house they occupied since they left their convent in Galway, during which time they had many trials and privations, but had at all times their schools well attended, which amply recompensed them for all inconveniences."-Annals.

From this time we begin to see the Order flourish and put forth offshoots into every part of the country. In July, 1851, the first branch-house was established in Harbour Grace; in 1852 at Carbineers; 1853 at Harbour Maine; and also in 1853 at Fermeuse, &c., &c. At present there are thirteen branch-houses in the island, and about 120 religious, who teach an average of 2,000 children annually. After half a century of labour and zealous teaching how much more truth and force are in these words of Dr. Fleming than when he wrote them: "And so the good work goes on. Hundreds of children, nay thousands, are annually sent forth from their schools, trained in the highest principles of virtue and honesty, conferring on our country a blessing incomparably rich, and producing a race of mothers of families such as Newfoundland may be proud of, as having no superior in any part of the world."

TO THE PHILADELPHIA SPARROW.*

"A

BY ETHEL TANE.

H! gray little biped, my English friend,
As hungry as ever, I find,

For all miscellaneous dainty fare
From hemp-seed to bacon-rind.

"In the olden days, in the olden land,
I scattered you many a crumb;
But had to patiently lurk in the porch
If I wished to see you come.

"With a cautious hop and a frequent stop,
You pecked up my bounty at last,
Then fled like a shot to the pear-tree top,
Ere venturing to break your fast.

The confidence of the Philadelphia sparrow is almost startling to an English visitor. They will hardly take the trouble to move until you are close to them. They were imported to clear away the caterpillars infesting the many trees of this wellnamed "sylvan city."

VOL. Xil., No. 136.

"But now you are just as composed and bold
As you were distrustful then;

And who can have raised you those houses snug
All through the city of Penn?

"You've none of a pensioner's manner left :
You're quite a Republican bird:"
The sparrow winked with his saucy black eye:
"Dear ma'am, have you never heard?

"The grandest singer America boasts
Once welcomed me here with a rhyme,*
And houses were cheerfully built for me
'Gainst the bitter winter time.

Ar the end of a long day's tramp, the little party returned to the shabby old house, and climbed wearily up the stairs. The children were sick at heart and utterly miserable. They had seen no one they knew, and had not even gone to a part of the town that was familiar to Snowdrop. People had pitied them, they looked soapoor and unhappy, and pennies were thrown to them wherever they went. This put Sam in very good spirits, and he shouted and sang more lustily than ever as he put his piano away for the night.

"These kids wos a goodish spec," he said, with a laugh, as he poured the coppers into Sally's lap. "Treat them well, for if the perlice doesn't nab 'em they'll make yer fortune."

Bryant.