The barracks built upon confiscated ground, belonged to the government, but through Mrs. Wittenmeyer's intimate acquaintance and influence with government officials at Washington, the property was secured and finally turned over to her by Secretary Stanton, together with an immense quantity of hospital supplies, subject however to the approval of Congress. By the time Congress convened, 500 soldiers' orphans were in possession of the property, with a warm friend of the cause from Davenport, as member of the House to plead for them. The next important step was to secure the adoption of the Home by the state. With this mission accomplished, Mrs. Wittenmeyer severed her connection with it to pursue her philanthropic labors in other fields.

If caring for the aged, the homeless, and the destitute, the sick and the unfortunate is applied as a test of civilization, Davenport, for all these humanitarian works, will take high rank. In addition to the many public and private institutions devoted to these purposes, the largest, best appointed and conducted hospital west of Chicago, has been in successful operation for many years.

The history of Mercy Hospital, conducted, as its name would imply, by the Sisters of Mercy, from those bitter mid-winter days of 1868, when a small band of intrepid, hopeful, black-habited women first occupied the lone, ill-adapted building, on what seemed at that time the bleakest prairie, for the purpose of founding a hospital, up to its present magnificent building proportions,

and ideally beautiful grounds, is replete with historic interest. Never was the courage born of conviction put to a severer test than in those early hospital days. A less stout heart, a less active brain, a less warm faith than were possessed by Rev. Mother Boromeo, who was at the head of the institution, would have succumbed under the disadvantages and discouragements that beset the enterprise. Mother Boromeo lived only long enough to see the hospital pass the crucial experimental period, but the work so successfully inaugurated by her has since been carried on by scarcely less able. hands.

Another large hospital, which will be to some extent a charity hospital, is to be opened in the very heart of the city in the near future.

Bishop Perry has recently purchased a fine property for the purpose, and a hospital which will be conducted upon the most approved principles, will be reconstructed out of the commodious. building that now occupies the grounds. Among the private institutions of this nature in the city, the Woman's Hospital, conducted by Dr. Jennie McCowen, is worthy of especial mention.

M. PECK.

THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF DAVENPORT.

RIGHT REV. BISHOP MCMULLEN. RIGHT REV. BISHOP COSGROVE.

Says Rev. James McGovern, D.D., in his life of Bishop McMullen. "Long before the diocese of Chicago was created by the sovereign pontiff, Dubuque had been erected into an Episcopal See, embracing the territories of Iowa and Minnesota. On December 10, 1837, the Right Reverend Mathias Loras, D.D., a native of Lyons, France, was consecrated at Mobile, Alabama, the first bishop of this diocese. At the time there was but one church in the whole territory of Iowa, and Rev. Samuel Mazzuchelli was the only resident priest. Bishop Loras, after his consecration, returned to France for the purpose of securing missionaries for his new diocese. Leaving France in October of 1838, he arrived in New York, after a long and tempestuous passage, bringing with him Rev. Joseph Cretin, afterward bishop of St. Paul, Rev. A. Pelamorgues and four seminarians. Bishop Loras

took possession of his new diocese, and was installed in the church of St. Raphael, April 29, 1839, commencing his Episcopal duties with three priests and four theological students. Father Pelamorgues was assigned to the extensive mission of Davenport, which comprised all the southern part of the territory. He did so well

in laying the corner stone of the church, in this vast field of labor, that neither time nor human events have changed his foresight and he had the consolation of seeing large and prosperous Catholic communities grow up around him." It was therefore Father Pelamorgues -as he became familiarly known to every body in Davenportwho laid the foundation of the Davenport diocese. A man of splendid organizing ability, deep piety and earnest devotion to the cause to which he had consecrated his life, he greatly advanced the upbuilding of the church, remaining at Davenport until he had reached a venerable age, when he sought retirement at his home in France, preferring this to the prospective reward of a bishopric.

During the administration of Bishop Loras, the diocese of St. Paul had been seggregated from the original diocese of Dubuque, and during the administration of his immediate successor, Right Rev. Clement Smyth, D.D., the rapid growth of the church caused another division of the diocese to be considered. Under the administration however of Right Rev. John Hennessy, D.D., who became Bishop of Dubuque after the death of Bishop Smyth-division was postponed until 1881, when the new diocese of Davenport was created. The Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda announced that the city of Davenport had been decided on as the See City of the new diocese, which would take in all that part of the State of Iowa bounded on the east by the Mississippi River, on the west by the Missouri River, on the south by the State of Missouri, and on the north by the northern boundaries of the counties of Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Guthrie, Dallas, Polk, Jasper, Poweshiek, Iowa, Johnson, Cedar and Scott. A special cable, dated at Rome, May 9, 1881, conveyed this further intelligence: "On Sunday, May 8, 1881, the feast of the patronage of St. Joseph, it pleased our Holy Father Pope Leo XIII., first to ratify the creation of the diocese of Davenport, Iowa, cut from the diocese of Dubuque, which comprised the whole State of Iowa; second, to name the Very Rev. John McMullen, D.D., V.G. of Chicago, to be the first bishop of Davenport. This See will be a Suffragan of the Metropolitan See of St. Louis."

To briefly sketch the further development of the diocese, and the lives of the able and zealous clergymen who have controlled its destinies since its organization, is the further purpose of this chapter of church history. The newly appointed Bishop McMullen was at the time of his elevation to the Episcopacy Vicar-general of the diocese of Chicago, had long held a pastorate in that city, and was greatly beloved by all classes of people.

He was a native of Ireland, having been born in Ballanyhinch, County Down, January 8, 1832. His father, James McMullen, and Alice, his wife, sailed for America when he was little more than a year old, and after a long and stormy voyage they landed at Quebec. For three years the family lived on a farm near Quebec, and later the elder McMullen established his home on another farm near Prescott, in the province of Ontario. Here a fire destroyed the homestead and they removed to the neighborhood of Ogdensburg, New York, where they resided until 1843, when they removed to Illinois. The boy who was afterward to become Bishop McMullen, was twelve years old when his parents settled in Chicago. Prior to this time he had attended only a country school, but he had given evidence of strong intellectuality, and when afforded the advantages of educational training in the schools of Chicago he made rapid advancement. When Bishop Quarter founded the University of St. Mary of the Lake, John McMullen entered the new college and therein received his academic training. "In his academic course," says Dr. McGovern, in the biography from which I have before quoted, "he gave undoubted proof of his future career. His triumphs of eloquence in debate, his caustic pen, his sound judgment and his mastery of the most intricate problems in mathematical science, caused him to come under the approving eye of his professors. In a little college paper, issued by him and another class-mate, his intellectual weapons flashed with unwonted brilliancy, and the seeds of literature sowed in his powerful mind blossomed with a vigor which made itself remarkable in its fruits."

A deep piety and a remarkable capacity for influencing the character and conduct of his associates, were distinguishing features. of his early life and his fitness for the priesthood as well as his evident desire to enter that holy calling were noted by his teachers and friends. At the close of his college course in 1850, he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and soon afterwards entered upon a course of theological study.