THE LATE BISHOP OF NEW YORK.*

From a Discourse on the Right Rev. JOHN DUBOIS, D.D., Bishop of New York; Founder of Mt. St. Mary's, and Superior of St. Joseph's. Pronounced in Mt. St. Mary's Church, January 24, 1843, on the occasion of a solemn service for the repose of his soul. By Rev. JOHN M'CAFFREY, Superior of the Seminary, and President of the College of Mt. St. Mary's.

THE ways of God are indeed mysterious, and admirable are the designs of his mercy; and beautiful it is to trace, where light is given us to do so, their progress and development. A foreigner, flung by the tempest of an impious and bloody revolution on our hospitable shores, boldly undertakes, with none of the ordinary means and no human prospect of success, and happily achieves, the most important works of benevolence: a friendless stranger flying from the wrath of his brethren beyond the Atlantic, adopting customs and institutions quite new and strange, and lisping a language unknown to his youth, becomes the benefactor of the country which adopts him; as Joseph, sold into captivity, a sojourner in the land of Cham, received from Egypt's sons the glorious name of "Saviour." In studying the history of the good man, whose example it is my duty to unfold to you, I behold indeed a chosen instrument of divine Providence; but I also behold the noble portrait, which the royal psalmist has drawn with a skilful hand, of him who is truly pious and therefore truly blessed one who flies the company of sinners, who gives all his affections to the law of God, and meditates on it both day and night, that knowing his heavenly Father's will, he may more and more perfectly accomplish it one who, in reward for this fidelity of mind and heart, in the midst of "an unbelieving and perverse generation," is inspired with high resolves and great designs, is endowed with vigour, fortitude, and perseverance to execute them, and favoured with manifest signs of divine protection in the signal success of his undertakings.

Bishop Dubois was born in Paris on the 24th day of August, in the year 1764. His parents were respectable, and appear to have been in easy circumstances. They knew that "it is good for a man to have borne the yoke from his youth:" they knew, that if you train up a young man in the way in which he should walk, "even when he is old, he will not depart from it."‡ They were therefore, or rather his prudent mother (for he lost his father when very young) was, especially careful to implant in his tender breast the seeds of every virtue. From the character of the man we learn the principles instilled into the soul of the child. He was educated at the college of Louis Le Grand - a college which has given to France so many of her most illustrious sons, and which contributed to form the character of him, who longest remained among us, as a grand and beautiful specimen of that august assembly, which decreed our national independeuce. Among his preceptors were the famous poet, the Abbe Delille, and the Abbe Proyart, author of the life of Decalogne. The memory of that saintly youth, whose example, faithfully pictured in this little volume, has led so many students to give to God the flower of their days, was then so reverenced and cherished, that the greatest mark of

This tribute to the memory of a venerable prelate is equally creditable to the feelings and intellectual acquirements of his successor in the presidentship of Mount St. Mary's College. In transferring the greater part of it to our pages, we have taken the liberty of occasionally inserting the word " Bishop" for the word "Mr.," when this latter is applied to the late bishops of New York or Vincennes. We think, with an eastern contemporary, that the word "Mr." sounds rather awkwardly besides, it is not the appropriate appellation of a bishop. [ED. CATHOLIC CABINET.

↑ Lament. 3, 27.

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Prov. 22, 6.

confidence and affection which the directors of the college could bestow on a deserving pupil, was to give him, at the opening of studies, the place which Decalogne had occupied. This honour was conferred on the young Dubois, and so highly appreciated by him, that even in old age, when his silvery locks gave dignity to all his words, he could not mention it without tears of joy and gratitude. In the examples of his professors, and of many among his fellowstudents, he found encouragement to the practice of every virtue; yet in the same school, and on the same forms with this pious youth, were some who were soon to reach a bad preeminence and act a conspicuous part in the bloody tragedy which his country was preparing to exhibit to the astonished and affrighted world. There, side by side, you might have seen John Dubois and Camille Des Moulins, the frantic instigator of the savage and ferocious mobs of Paris! or stranger still, the meek, benevolent founder of Mt. St. Mary's and protector of St. Joseph's, in contact with the most execrable monster that France gave birth to, even in the wild throes of her guilty revolution — the blood-thirsty Robespierre! "I shall never forget," bishop Dubois was wont to say to his collegiate pupils, "I shall never forget the looks and manners of him, who afterwards proved such a monster of ferocity: he was unsocial, solitary, gloomy; his head was restless, his eyes wandering, and he was a great tyrant towards his younger and weaker companions. I could literally apply to him," added this good old president, "the account which St. Gregory Nazianzen gives of his fellow-student at Athens, Julian, the apostate. We might even then have exclaimed with this saint, What a monster our country is bringing up in this youth!" Between such fellow-students there could be no community of feeling. The one "walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and stood in the way of sinners, and sat in the chair of pestilence:" the other centred his will in the law of God, and made it his delight to learn and keep its precept, and imbibe its spirit. The one became the bloody scourge of his country; the other the benefactor of ours. The one spoke the language of philosophy and philanthropy, and then filled France with widows and orphans: the other preached the gospel of charity, and dried the widow's tears and mothers to the orphans. The instrument and emblem of the one was the guillotine of the other, the Cross of Christ.

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Of Bishop Dubois' success in his collegiate studies, I know little more than that he took the prize in Latin poetry, and among many useful acquisitions, made himself thorougly acquainted with the noble Roman language, which he afterwards wrote with ease and elegance. His parents had destined him for the army; but his Father in Heaven called him to a more honorable service and a better warfare. Listening to the voice which bade him "deny himself, and take up his cross and follow his Redeemer,"* he resolved to consecrate himself entirely to God and entered on his ecclesiastical studies in the seminary of St. Magloire, under the direction of the Oratorians. Here his time was altogether devoted to the acquisition of that knowledge, and the formation of those habits, which, like the columns of a majestic temple, are at once the supports and ornaments of the priestly character. From this time forth, his delight was wholly in the law of God, and on it he meditated day and night. In this calm retreat he laid the solid foundations of that beautiful edifice of christian perfection, which all his life long it was his care to complete and adorn. Here he learned to regard himself as a miserable sinner" the title by which he loved to characterize himself in his confidential communications with his pious friends. Here he acquired that ardent zeal and patient self

Matth. 16, 24.

denial, which made him ever afterwards willing "to spend and be spent for souls, that he might gain them to Christ."* Here he learned to live entirely by faith that firm, unwavering faith, which does not deign to watch the flitting shadows of this life, but steadily contemplates those things which, though invisible to the eye of flesh, are alone substantial and eternal.† Here piety grew up and flourished in his soul, and his heart was turned entirely to God and received all the sweet influences of divine grace, as the flower opens its bosom to the morning sun and catches the nurturing dews of heaven. He found kindred spirits among his brother seminarians, and with several of them contracted an intimate and lasting friendship with two particularly, whom he esteemed and loved until they were called away before him to receive the crown of their labors: the Abbe McCarthy, who after the revolution became the first pulpit orator of France, whose eloquence in recommending virtue was surpassed only by his fidelity in practising it, whose fame is a bright gem even in the diadem of the illustrious society of Jesus; and Cardinal Cheverus, the most beloved of pastors, the most amiable of men — who in Boston wrung the highest praise from bigotry itself.

Ordained priest before the canonical age, by a dispensation on the 22d of September in the year 1787, he first exercised the holy ministry in the parish of St. Sulpice, in his native city; and was one of the chaplains of a vast establishment in the rue de Seve, in which the sisters of charity had the care of a large number of insane patients and destitute orphans. But the revolution had begun, and the clergy were among its first victims. The archbishop of Paris, whose esteem and confidence were justly given to the young priest, had fled to Germany for shelter from the storm. The constitutional oaths, which could not be taken in conscience, were tendered and refused'; and the firm independence of Bishop Dubois had rendered him especially obnoxious to the impious miscreants who were grasping with bloody hands the powers of government. Like the great body of his clerical brethren, he preferred exile or death itself to any criminal compliance. Acquainted with the family of Lafayette, he obtained from him not only a passport, but also letters of introduction to some of the leading men of the United States; and quitting Paris in disguise, in May 1791, he made his escape to Havre, accompanied by a trusty servant, and landed at Norfolk, in Virginia, in the following July. Bishop Carroll welcomed the faithful exile, and authorized him to exercise the functions of his holy ministry, first at Norfolk, and afterwards at Richmond. Recommended by general Lafayette to the Randolphs, Lees, and Beverleys to James Monroe and Patrick Henry - he received the kindest and most respectful attentions from these distinguished statesmen and their numerous friends; and, for want of a Catholic chapel, said mass in the capitol, and there administered the sacraments to the few scattered Catholics who could avail themselves of his ministry. This liberality, which even at the present day will appear astonishing, is still more surprising when it is remembered that his immediate predecessor in the pastorship of Frederick father Frambach—was obliged to disguise himself when he visited the Catholics of Virginia—was in imminent danger the whole time commonly, on such occasions, slept in the stable beside the beast that he rode; and once, at least, was so hotly pursued, that, had it not been for the fleetness of his horse, he would have been overtaken and killed before he reached the Potomac and found safety on the Maryland' shore. Bishop Dubois supported himself by teaching French, while he was studying and making himself familiar with English; and he used to acknowl

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edge himself indebted to the eloquent Patrick Henry for many friendly lessons in our language. Fully prepared for taking an active part in all the duties of an American missionary, he was in 1794 called by Bishop Carroll to Frederick in this State, from which Father Frambach had retired on account of his great age and infirmities. In this town he found but few Catholics: there were some scattered through Montgomery country; a few on the Maryland tract, including the family of Governor Lee, a recent convert to our holy faith; a handful in this neighbourhood, consisting of the families of its original settlers, and a few more in the village of Emmittsburg. Hagerstown required occasional attendance; and both Martinsburg and Winchester, in Virginia, were included in his regular misstonary visits. In a word, he was pastor of all western Maryland and Virginia, and for some time the only Catholic priest between the city of Baltimore and the city of St. Louis. Some among my present hearers can yet remember, how the scattered members of his widespread flock, from distances of twenty, forty, even sixty miles, came into Frederick, on foot, on horseback, or in rustic wagons, on the eve of the Christmas or Easter solemnities, to have the happiness of assisting at the holy sacrifice and participating in the divine mysteries, celebrated with so much primitive simplicity and fervent piety, in an upper room of their pastor's humble residence.

His labours for the salvation of souls were at this period immense. He had an iron constitution of body; and no man was ever more remarkable for energetic, persevering, indomitable resolution. He allowed himself no idle moments no respite from toil, or relaxation after fatigue: and it seemed to be his constant determination to compensate, by his own personal exertions, for all the disadvantages under which the faithful depending on his spiritual ministration then laboured. He was incessantly engaged in passing from station to station, hearing confessions, preaching the word of God, celebrating the divine mysteries, visiting the sick, comforting the afflicted, helping the distressed, edifying all by his own good example, and infusing into the hearts of all a sincere love of "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are modest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are holy, whatsoever things are amiable, whatsoever things are of good repute. Not content with his ser

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mons and other instructions on Sundays and festivals, during the week he visited the retired farm-house, immediately summoned the children and servants to his presence, heard them repeat their catechism and recite their prayers, explained the mysteries of faith and their christian duties in such simple and familiar manner as suited their capacity, gave some mark of approbation to those who answered best, some gentle reproof most sweetly administered and mixed with much encouragement to the negligent, and a kind word and amiable look to all. By his extraordinary attention to the children, he was sure to win the hearts of the parents. He thought the catechising of the young a more important matter than preaching to the grown, and he was afterwards most careful to impress this maxim on the ecclesiastics whom he trained up to the duties of the holy ministry, so many of whom have since proved its correctness and experienced its blessed results. Highly systematic in his labours, he regarded punctuality to his engagements as a duty paramount to every personal consideration. "The shepherd," he used to say, "must never disappoint his flock it would cause their dispersion and ruin, if he did." Hence, when he had once made an appointment- no matter what difficulties intervened, no matter how inclement the weather, how long the journey, or how

bad the roads when the appointed hour came, Bishop Dubois was there. On one occasion, he had just arrived at Emmittsburg, much fatigued, on a Saturday afternoon, and was going to the confessional, when a distant sick-call came. Before leaving Emmittsburg, he directed the usual preparations to be made for the celebration of mass on Sunday, saying that he would be back in time. He returned to Frederick, and thence proceeded to Montgomery county; administered the consolations of religion to the dying person; and after a journey of nearly fifty miles, after twice swimming his horse across the Monocacy -the last time at the risk of his life, for wearied nature caught a snatch of sleep while the noble animal was breasting the angry stream-he was again in the confessional at nine o'clock on Sunday, without having broken his fast, and sung mass and preached as usual at a late hour in the forenoon, and with so little appearance of fatigue, that the majority of the congregation never even suspected that he had stirred abroad in the interval. Efforts nearly as great as this were by no means uncommon with him. There was no species of hardship - no inconvenience or discomfort - which he did not cheerfully endure for he knew how to turn all sufferings to good account. He was inflamed with zeal for the honour of God and salvation of souls; and choosing to be poor in this world, he was covetous of those riches which men too often neglect and despise - he was determined to lay up riches in Heaven, where the thief cannot enter nor the moth consume. "Filled with the knowledge of God's holy will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding," he strove to"walk worthy of God, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to the power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with joy; giving thanks to God the Father, who made him worthy to be partaker of the lot of the saints."* Habituated to the elegant refinements of the most polished society in the world, he was, in the discharge of his pastoral duties, as much at home with the rude and illiterate, as if he had been brought up among them, and that without ever forgetting for a moment the sacred dignity of his character, or the true politeness of a christian gentleman. He was affable, familiar, kind, but paternal: "He made himself all to all, that he might win all to Christ."+ All the members of his flock looked up to him with filial affection and with filial respect. His iufluence, as the pastor, the friend, the father of all, was very great: among you, my brethren, in this rural parish, it was almost unbounded. You can bear witness, that it was exerted only to promote virtue and piety, and domestic happiness and universal good will. Even in matters of a mixed nature, or which seemed to relate more to your temporal than to your spiritual welfare, how beneficial to you was that authority which his virtues conferred upon him. You can remember how strenuously and effectually he laboured to preserve among you a proper simplicity of manners; how firmly he set his face against the frivolous fashions, the follies, and dissipations of the world; how vigorously he crushed the many-headed monster of extravagance. Which of you dared, while he was your pastor, to bring the trappings of worldly vanity into the house of God? Mild and amiable as he was, yet how severe was his rebuke of the silly affectation of wealth the show without the substance of prosperity! He was not a lecturer on political economy, and he moved in a sphere far above the low and selfish strife of party politics; but in recommending always economy, frugality, and industry, as virtues required in the christian, and in denouncing, as I have heard him do most unsparingly, the cancerous system of contracting debt without a clear foresight of the means of payment, he was inculcating the true policy, both for your temporal and eternal interest. Nor was his influence confined to those who acknowledged