generosity of others, and as I cannot be certain of them, I will not suffer any one to be exposed to loss." The work in consequence remained for a while suspended; and until the completion of the edifice, he inflexibly adhered to this rule of permitting no greater progress in its construction than was authorised by the money he had in hand.

Whilst this church was building in Boston, the old cathedrals of France were again opening their portals to the Catholic faith, and religion, triumphing over the impotent efforts of the enemies who had sworn its destruction, was rising from its ruins. Pius VII. had concluded with Bonaparte the concordat of 1801; and in virtue of this treaty, the French bishops and priests who had been so long in exile, were returning to their homes, re-establishing the abolished worship, and tasting the double happiness of seeing their country once more, and exercising their ministry unmolested. The family and friends of M. de Cheverus, afflicted at not finding him hasten back with the other exiles, wrote to him to urge his return. The letter was of the most pressing kind, and the arguments employed were of almost irresistible force. Why did he delay to come? the doors of his country were opened, Mayenne was expecting its pastor, its widowed church was sighing for his arrival. Appeals were made to his heart, to his love for his family, who were inconsolable at his absence, for his friends who were impatient to behold him again, for France to whom he owed himself before all. This letter threw M. de Cheverus into a state of anxiety impossible to describe. His heart was torn, as it were, asunder. On one side, the love of his country was powerfully persuasive-he would

have so much delight in revisiting his beautiful France, in seeing his relatives, his friends! He seemed to behold all his brethren in exile returning with ecstacy to their native land, embracing with delicious tears those most dear to their affections, and why should not he partake their joy? He might render himself useful to religion there; the success which he had experienced in troublous times was an earnest of still greater success in the halcyon days of tranquillity. On the other side, how could he leave his beloved congregation who were so devoted to him, the rising church which had so much need of him, and even so many good and sincere friends of other faiths, to whom perhaps he might be useful? How abandon, above all, the Abbé Matignon, his father, his friend, the half of his soul? how desolate his breast-how overwhelm him, how destroy him, perhaps, by the grief with which he would be stricken at his departure.

Whilst M. de Cheverus was thus agitated by conflicting feelings, he received, on the 9th of April, 1803, a letter from Bishop Carroll, who having learnt how much danger there was of losing so efficient a coadjutor, wrote to beseech him not to abandon his post. The prelate, a man of superior intellect, as well as of virtue worthy of the first ages of the church, spread before him with great force all the reasons fitted to detain him, and finished by declaring his conviction that it was the will of God he should remain. M. de Cheverus, whose humility prompted him to follow the opinion of others instead of his own, to decide from obedience rather than from his own inclinations, no sooner read this letter than his uncertainty ceased. He thought he saw in it the

command of Providence, and that was sufficient for his faith. Instantaneously he offered up to God the sacrifice of his country, and of all the gushing reflections which beckoned him towards it; and on the Sunday after Easter, he announced to his flock that his resolution was taken, that he would remain among them, sharing their good and their evil fortune, and that they should fill the place of those relatives and friends whom he gave up for their sakes. The joy of the Catholics, and indeed of all the inhabitants of Boston at this intelligence, may be more easily imagined than described. The fear of losing him had thrown them into consternation; the assurance of keeping him filled them with happiness, and to give him a striking proof of their gratitude, they made new and great exertions to finish the church which had so long before been commenced. The building, in consequence, proceeded with great rapidity; and in four months M. de Cheverus had the satisfaction of seeing the edifice completed, and planting the cross upon its roof. He immediately communicated the fact to Bishop Carroll through the medium of M. Matignon, and invited him to consecrate the new temple on the 29th of September, the feast of Saint Michael. The Bishop at once promised to perform the ceremony. The consecration of the first Catholic church in a city like Boston, was too interesting a circumstance for the faith, to permit him to hesitate; and, besides, the temptation to pass some days with two ecclesiastics like M. Matignon and M. de Cheverus, was irresistible. He repaired, therefore, to Boston on the day appointed, and on the 29th of September, 1803, consecrated the edifice under the name of the Church of the Holy Cross. The cere

mony was magnificent, the temple was decorated with draperies and garlands, the altar covered with rich ornaments, and surrounded by a clergy whose edifying deportment was still more attractive; the crowd was prodigious; Protestants and Catholics, were alike eager to see the ceremony; and M. de Cheverus put the crowning glory to the festival by the discourse which he pronounced. Inspired by the occasion, by the presence of the first pastor of the church in America, by the numerous concourse of people, he spoke with a warmth, an energy of expression and sentiment which carried the audience away. The Bishop could not restrain his emotion, and when the preacher descended from the pulpit, he threw himself upon his neck, shedding tears of joy, and blessing God for having bestowed upon the church so admirable a servant. On the evening of the ceremony, M. de Cheverus caused the exterior of the edifice to be illuminated with all possible splendour, but with all that taste which he possessed in so exquisite a degree. The inhabitants, without distinction, were all delighted with the beauty of the spectacle, congratulated M. de Cheverus, and seemed to share in his happiness. On beholding this scene, Bishop Carroll could not help contrasting what he saw with the state of the Catholic religion in Boston at the period of M. de Cheverus's arrival, and wanted words to express his astonishment and delight.

Once consecrated, this church became the theatre of the most ardent and indefatigable zeal on the part of M.,de Cheverus. He had it ornamented in every part, and furnished with every thing requisite for the full performance of divine service. The manner in which this was celebrated constantly attracted crowds

as great as the building could contain, amongst them numbers of Protestants, to whom he had the consolation of addressing the words of eternal life. To these instructions he attached the utmost importance, regarding them as the most essential means of enlightening his separated brethren, and confirming the faith of his flock. Accordingly, in order that the latter might never fail to attend them, he allowed no mass to be public on Sundays and festivals of obligation, except the solemn one during which a sermon was preached. The low masses were said privately with closed doors, no one being suffered to hear them without a special permission, which could only be obtained when it was impossible for the applicant to be present at the solemn mass, or by a promise to attend at the latter also.

Whilst M. de Cheverus was engaged in these important labours, he received a letter from the prison at Northampton, which called him to the exercise of the most painful of his ecclesiastical duties. Two young Irish Catholics had just been condemned, although innocent, to death-victims of human liability to error of judgment, but chiefly of the unskilfulness of their advocate, and an unfortunate concurrence of circumstances which seemed to demonstrate their guilt. Resigned to the decree which had been pronounced against them, and thinking only of the preparation of their souls for the great voyage of eternity, they wrote to M. de Cheverus to request his presence. Their letter, which we have found among the papers of the Cardinal, although indicative of little education, is the production of Christians full of faith. "We adore," they say, "in the fallible decrees of men, the will of God; if we are not guilty of