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NOTES.

NOTES ON THE FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ALBANY, N. Y.— "1798. Sept. 10. It is with the most heartfelt satisfaction," says a writer in the Albany Gazette, "that we can inform our brethren of the Roman Catholic faith, that their church in this City is so near completed as to be under roof, glazed and floored (fire proof). That it is a neat building, and will be an ornament to the city, and a lasting blessing to all who are members in communion of that church. To the citizens in general of this city and its vicinity, and several of the other cities of the United States and Canada, the sincere prayers of the members of this church are due for their liberality in aiding to erect it. Such of our Catholic brethren in this neighbourhood as have not already contributed, it is hoped will now come forward and offer their mite to discharge the last payment of the contract, there being but a small sum in hand for that purpose. To give to the church, is it not to lend to the Lord, who will richly repay the liberal giver with many blessings ? Should not all the members unitedly raise their voices in praise to God, who has cast their lot on this good land, where our church is equally protected with others, and where we all so bountifully partake of his goodness? What is man without religion, which teaches us the love of God and our neighbour, and to be in charity with all mankind? Surely without this he is nothing."

1800. Feb'y. In conformity with the recommendation of Congress, a funeral ceremony in memory of Washington was performed in the city. At nine o'clock in the morning an oration was delivered in the Catholic church by Rev. Matthew O'Brien.

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COPIES OF EARLY PRINTED NOTICES POSTED UP IN ST. PETER'S CHURCH, NEW YORK.-ST. PETER'S CHURCH-The Trustees of St. Peter's Church having determined to make Sale of the Pews of said Church, have appointed the 21st day of this Month (April) being EASTER MONDAY for that purpose: The Sale to begin at XI o'clock; and in order to avoid all cause of jealousy and distinction or complaint, for the time to come, have (in Vestry assembled) adopted the following Rules and Regulations, Viz :

I

I. No reference to be given to any person whatever, but each Pew to be disposed of to the highest Purchaser, as agreed upon on the day of sale, and an annual rent to be paid for each Pew. II. The rent of each Pew to be paid quarterly, that is to say, every three months.

III. That every Person put in possession of a Pew, in said Church, shall in future be deemed the right owner, and have his, or her name, entered in the Church-Book.

IV. That on all future occasions, the subscribers shall be equally entitled to the preference of any vacant Pews.

V. That no person, not being a subscriber, shall get a vacant Pew, whilst a subscriber, or his or her heir, wanting a Pew, shall apply for it.

VI. That the highest subscriber, at all times, wanting a Pew, or willing to exchange his Pew, shall have the preference of a vacant Pew.

VII. That no person shall be allowed to sell or give his, or her Pew, to any friend or stranger, but it shall descend in right only to such relation, as would be his or her heir at law, provided such heir belong to said Church.

VIII. That every Pew vacated for three years, without a lawful claimant, shall be the property of such person, who gets it by his subscription, but if the former owner should return, such person shall be entitled to the first vacant Pew.

IX. That any person that shall be known to let his Pew, or any part thereof for more than the just value, according to the yearly rent shall be dispossessed of it, or fined as a trafficker in the Church; the fine to be given to the Poor.

X. That every person who shall neglect to pay the rent of his Pew for six months after it becomes due, shall be dispossessed and the Pew given to another. April 16, 1794.

PUBLIC NOTICE.-To All whom it may Concern: Whereas the exigencies of this Church, require the absolute assistance of each

and every member belonging thereto, in order to support said Church, and defray the weighty expences which are daily incurred, and whereas with concern we see the supine neglect in many of the members thereof in subscribing to its relief. We the Trustees of said Church, with the advice and approbation of the Rev. Pastor thereof, do declare and make known to all whom it may concern, that no person after the date hereof shall be entitled to a place in our Burial Ground, who is not found to be, as the Law prescribes, registered in the Church Books as a stated member of said Church, and a yearly subscriber of Four Dollars, which subscription is to be paid each and every Quarter into the hands of the Collector of the Church.

Signed on Behalf of the Trustees,

NEW YORK, Jan. 6, 1796.

REV. WILLIAM O'BRIEN, Pastor.

ACADIAN MARRIAGES IN NEW ENGLAND.-The Abbé Cyprien Tanguay, the Canadian genealogist, in his work entitled A Travers les Registres, Montreal, 1886, publishes the following interesting note from the register of the parish of Deschambault, made on the occasion of the renewal of consent of marriage by Michel Robichau and Marguerite Landry, before the curé of the parish, Rev. Jean Menage, on October 27, 1766 :

".... Who (Michel Robichau and Marguerite Landry) presented a writing by which it is said that having been taken prisoners by the English and expelled from their country, for want of receiving the teachings and the doctrines of the English ministers, they married themselves in the presence of their assembled families and of the old Acadian people, in New England, in the hope of renewing their marriage if ever, after their captivity ended, they fell into the hands of French priests."

In another place in his work, the Abbé Tanguay shows that Acadian laymen were appointed and authorized to marry their compatriots in captivity, under certain conditions, rather than have recourse to the ministrations of the English, i. e., Protestant, ministers :

"Louis Robichaud, husband of Jeanne Bourgeois, Acadian refugee in Quebec, was at Salem, New England, in 1774. He was then aged 71 years. This respectable old man had received the extraordinary power of dispensing the publication of the bans and the impediments to marriage, etc. [meaning those purely ecclesiastical], for Catholics who could not have recourse to the ministry of priests in New England.

"The form of acts of marriage given by Louis Robichaud, was as follows:

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"By virtue of the powers given me, Louis Robichaud, by Mr. Charles François Bailly, priest, vicar-general of the diocese of Quebec, at present at Halifax, missionary to the Indians and the French, to receive the mutual consent of Catholics desiring to unite themselves in marriage, in this Province, as also to grant dispensations to those who would be married within certain degrees of affinity or of consanguinity, and who are in need of such, I confess to having received the mutual consent of marriage of ..of the 3d to the 4th degree of consanguinity the said parties have promised and do promise, on the first occasion that they shall find a priest approved by the holy Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, to receive the nuptial benediction.

“The said act made in the presence..

CANADIAN MARRIAGES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.-" On the 11th day of October, 1789, the good M. Gibault finally left Vincennes, having been, probably, recalled to Canada by the Bishop of Quebec. A layman, Pierre Mallet, appointed for this purpose by M. Gibault, now acted as 'guardian of the church,' until the arrival of M. Flaget, in 1792. The people assembled on Sundays in the church, and the 'guardian' read the Mass prayers, after which the gospel of the day was read or chanted, and the bans of matrimony were published. Those who wished to contract marriage did so in the church, in presence of witnesses, of whom Mallet was

always one. . . . ."-Spalding, Sketches of the Life, Times, and Character of Bishop Flaget, pp. 44, 45.

TONNAGE OF VESSELS IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.-Referring to the tonnage of the vessels of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's expedition, Dr. J. C. Taché, the Canadian archæologist, observes: “In regard to the tonnage of these vessels, it is necessary to remark that the tons of that time were not the tons of to-day, the system of gauging being very different. Ten tons, frigate capacity (capacité de la Frégate), as it was called, was equivalent to about thirty tons of to-day."-Article, "Les Sablons," in Nouvelles Soirées Canadiennes, i., 476.

TWO-BARRED SILVER CROSSES FROM INDIAN GRAVES, ETC.-In an old field near Tupelo, Miss., known in local history and Indian

tradition as the battle-ground of the French and Chickasaw Indians, a silver cross was ploughed up, with a silver ring at the top to suspend it. The cross measured 5% inches in height, and had two cross-bars, each 3 inches long. Where the top bar crossed the upright, AP was stamped. A rude ornamental line, apparently scratched with a sharp stone, was traced along the edge. In the defeat of Dartaguiette, the Jesuit Father Senat was taken at this place and burned. Could it have belonged to him, or is it likely to date back to De Soto's expedition? C. P. C.

AN EARLY INDIANA PRIEST.-Indiana was an early home of Catholicity, and can boast that one of her sons, Anthony Foucher, born at Fort Ouiatenor, on the Wabash, not far from our present Lafayette, on the 22d of July, 1741, was ordained priest at Quebec, Oct. 30, 1774, and died in Canada in 1812.

J. G. S. FORM OF MARRIAGE LICENSE IN CATHOLIC MARYLAND.-November 2d, 1638. This day came William Lewis, planter, and made oath that he is not precontracted to any other woman than Ursula Gifford, and that there is no impediment of consanguinity, affinity, or any other lawful impediment to his knowledge, why he should not be married to the said Ursula Gifford; and further, he acknowledgeth himself to owe unto the Lord Proprietary 1,000 pounds of tobacco in case there be any precontract or other lawful impediment whatsoever as aforesaid, either on the part of the said William Lewis or the said Ursula Gifford.-WILLIAM LEWIS. Whereupon a license was granted him to marry with the said

Ursula.

QUERIES.

VERY REV. PIERRE GIBAULT, THE PATRIOT PRIEST OF THE WEST.-Judge Law, in his Address delivered before the Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian Society, Louisville, 1839, p. 26, says of Father Gibault:

"This patriotic individual, who subsequently received the public thanks of Virginia for his services. . . ." etc.

Can any of our Virginia or Western students of history give a reference to the authority upon which the statement that the public thanks of Virginia were extended to Very Rev. Mr Gibault

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