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OBJECTIONS AND REMONSTRANCES

AGAIMBT THB

DISMEMBERMENT

OI" THE

ANCIENT PARISH OF MONTREAL,

AND THE PROPOSED ERECTION OV THB

PARISHES OF ST. JAMES AND ST. PATRICK'S,

MADE AT MEETINGS HELD IN SEPTEMBER AND NOTEMBER, 1866.

PRINTED BY JOHN LOVULL ST NICHOLAS STREET.

1867.

Montreal, September 20th, 1866.

Very REVERENry Vicar General,

In conformity with the desire you expressed in the assembly of
to-day, I hasten to send you in writing some special observations on
the dismemberment of the Parish of Montreal. In doing so, I shall
be 'guided solely by the interests of religion, and the spiritual wel-
fare of the people for whom I have for so many years labored.

The Catholics who speak English as their mother tongue, form a
little over the third of tho whole Catholic population of this Parish ^
and are scattered over its surface in different proportions. Within
the limits of the projected Parish of St. James, there is a consider-
able number of Irish Catholics, who are proprietors, and conse-
quently entitled to be present at the meeting of to-day. They were
not represented by even one of their number. The official notice
convening the meeting, was not read in any of the Churches in
which they are accustomed to hear mass on Sunday ; and that
notice was in a language which they do not understand.

Under these circumstances, I deem it my duty to use the perfect
knowledge I possess of their wishes and of their sentiments, to place
before you, for the serious consideration of His Lordship the Bishop
of Montreal, the following observations. I shall confine myself to
a single point which, I believe, to be of vital importance to the peo-
ple amongst whom I labor, and on which I am sure to express the
feelings and convictions of every one of them.

At present, and for several years past, the English speaking
Catholics have Charches, conveniently situated in different locali-
ties, in which they attend Divine worship and receive religious
instruction on Sundays. The happiest results have been obtained
of this system. The '"nglish speaking Catholics are happy and
content, obedient to their pastors, advancing in piety every year,
and every year more generous in their contributions towards works

of charity and religion. Another blessing flowing from this system
is, a marked diminution of the strifes and jealousies, -which before
separated the two great divisions of Catholics, speaking different
languages.

If the tree is best known by its fruit, we must admit that this
arrangement, which every day produces in greater abundance, the
blessed fruits of })eace, harmony, piety, and charity, is, indeed, a
good arrangement, and one which should.be fostered by every
means, and at every sacrifice. It appears to me that the interests
of the Church here, and the well-being of our Catholic population
without distinction, demand this. The Church cannot derive
strength from divisions amongst her children, and piety cannot be
nourished on heart-burnings and bitter jealousies.

You will not be surprised after this, that I am filled with painful
alarm by the projected change in the condition of our people ; and
that I am prepared to cast myself at the feet of His Lordship, and
implore him, with all the earnestness of my soul, to be pleased to
stop, and take into his most serious consideration, the natural, I
will even say, the certain consequences that will follow from the
change that is to be inaugurated in the new Parish of St. James.
Oblige the Irish and Canadians to attend in the same Church, for
religious worship and instruction, and immediately you bring into
collision all the susceptibilities and jealousies, and, I must add, dis-
likes of these two people. Time will but increase the evil, and open
scandal will soon be the result.

This forced amalgamation of two populations, differing in their
feelings and habits even more than in their language, will, I fear,
lead to another and still more fatal evil. I would wish to suppress
my apprehensions on this point through respect for my Bishop, and
lest I should be misunderstood ; but I deem it a sacred duty, not
to withhold anything that may aid His Lordship to examine thia
momentous question in all its bearings. When angry feeling is
once engendered, and bad passions brought into play, and the pre-
judices of nationality stirred up, where will they stop ? Is there not
the strongest reason to fear lest they should reach even that autho-
rity which, in the highest interests of religion, should ever be an
object of love and reverence to the faithful ? j\Iy fears may be un.
founded, though I am convinced they are not ; and having this

conviction, I know that His Lordship and you will deem me justi
fied in thus expressing them.

The faithful of this Parish are now at peace, and piety prospers
amongst them. His Lordship, in the projected change, can propose
to himself only the greater good of leligion, and some more solid
and certain spiritual advantages for the people. Now, very lleve-
renc'^ Sir, if the facts I have stated are not mere suppositions, and
the fears I have expressed mere fancies of my own mind, the pro-
jected change will not only not confer any new benefit on religion
or the faithful, but will seriously hazard the solid and certain
advantages of the present state of things. This amalgamation is
not a new experiment amongst us. It has been twice tried within
our own recollection, and twice signally failed. In the case of St.
Ann's ChPirch, the Seminary very earnestly attempted to have
services for the two populations, and instruction in their respective
tongues. The attempt had to be abandoned after much bad feeling
had been created, acts of violence committed at the very doors of
the Church, and even open scandal given within its sacred walls.
As regards St. Bridget's, His Lordship knows to what extent angry
feelings and excited passions were carried. Surely, his Lordship
in his zeal for the honor of religion, and the welfare of his flock,
will not repeat aa experiment that has thus failed, after exciting
animosities which are not yet quite forgotten.

If religion, and the best interests of the Catholic people of this
Parish, were suffering from divisions and mutual animosities, would
not the enlightened charity of His Lordship move him to try every
means to bring back harmony and union ; and Avould he not make
any concession within his power to effect that important object ?
Now, that harmony and union do exist, is it not wi e to preserve
them Avith caution, and not to peril them by changes which His
Lordship is at perfect liberty not to undertake ?

It is not in the city of Montreal alone, that the difficulty of amal-
gamating people of different languages, and different habits, has been
felt and admitted. In Quebec, and in every large city of America,
where there is a mixture of language, and where the means exist,
provision has been made for the religious wants of the people in
separate churches. In the United States, as well as in Canada,
Bishops and Pastors are convinced that there is no other practical

means of promoting that union and good will, which should bind
together all the members of the Church of God. These facts speak
for themselves, and need not the help of reasoning.

I shall now, very Reverend Sir, conclude my remarks, by profess-
mg my entire obedience and submission to the authority of the
Church of God in our Holy Father ; and also my entire obedience
to, and reverence for, my Bishop. I declare on the testimony of
my conscience, that my only motive in what I have writ-'^u, is the
honor of our holy religion, and the true welfare of our Catholic
people.

I have expressed myself fully, because I have felt that a grave
danger threatens both ; and, feeling thus, I thought I could not
give to my venerated Bishop a more earnest proof of my love and
confidence, than to place at His Lordship's service, all the knowledge
which over eighteen years, spent in the most intimate relations with
our people, may have given me.
I have the honor to be,
Very Reverend Sir,

Your most obedient humble servant,

P. DOWD,
Priest, Director of St. Patrick's Church, Montreal..

Objections to, and a Protest against the project of dismember-
inf the ancient Parish of Montreal, in order to erect the new
Parish of St. Patrick, read in the meeting held in the Sacristy
of St. Patrick's Church, on the 8th of November, 1866, to
inquire " de commodo et incommode." The meeting was pre-
sided over by the Vex-y Rev. A. F. Truteau, V. G., as Co7n-
mmioner of the Bishop of Montreal.

■

St. Patrick's, Montreal,

November 8, 1866.

Very Rev. Vicar-General, — In obedience to your public
invitation, I beg respectfully to expose through you, to His Lord-
ship the Bishop of Montreal, the following objections to the dismem-
berment of the ancient parish of Notre Dame de Montreal, and the
erection of a new canonical parish attached to St. Patrick's Church.
The objections, I make are adopted, and urged on the serious atten-
tion of His Lordship, by all the priests who exercise the sacred
ministry specially amongst the English speaking Catholics of this city,
as their signatures attest.

You will permit me, before proceeding farther, to make one or
twc observations of some importance. I regret, very Rev. Sir, that
for the holding of this meeting, on a subject in which so many
thousands are deeply interested, this small sacristy should have been
selected, Avhere but few of those desirous of taking part in the pro-
ceedings can be present.

You will permit me to make another remark, intended to prevent
any misconceptiou of the nature and object of the present inquiry.
In deputing you, very Rev. Sir, to hold this assembly for the purpose
of ascertaining, from the parties concerned, the advantages and dis-
advantages — " de '^ommodr et incommode" — of the projected dis-
memberment, and the erection of a new parish. His Lordship but
complies with the requirements of the law, and the dictates of jus-

tice and equity. All the persons concerned in this important
measure arc convened here to-day to give such advice to His Lord-
ship as they may beheve to be conducive to the general good ; and
in this view they are required, by law and justice, to expose, for the
information of His Lordship, respectfully, but frankly and fully, the
reasons for, or against the measure proposed. To neglect doing so
would be to expose themselves, and those who may succeed them, to
a serious and permanent injury. And to suppose that the proper
use of this right could give offence to His Lordship, would be to
offer him an indignity.

To-day our Bishop asks us, as the parties immediately concerned,
what we think of the project His Lordship places before us ? —
whether we think that the execution of that project would promote
our spiritual interests, or whether, on the contrary, we are convinced
that it Avould inflict serious injuries on those interests ? It is the
more necessary to give an earnest reply to this demand, as the pre-
sent is the only opportunity afforded ub, whether pastors or faithful,
to communicate our views to His Lordship on a question, which, to
us, is one of spiritual life or death.

It should also be borne in mind that the dismemberment in ques-
tion, and the erection of a new parish, are, as yet, only projects
submitted to the examination of all persons concerned ; and that
they are not facts, already decided by competent authority. It fol-
lows that the most decided opposition to this dismemberment, and to
this new erection, cannot in any way be censured as a resistance to
the authority of our Bishop — much less can it be put down as an
act of opposition to the Decree of our Holy Father. That Decree
gives authority to our Bishop to dismember the ancient parish of
Montreal, and to erect as many new parishes as he shall judge
necessary — " necessarias" — for the spiritual wants of the faithful —
" christi-fidelium indigentiis." The Decree itself supposes that the
power it confers for Mc erection of new parishes, shall be used to
meet the spiritual necessities of the faithful^ and for no other pur-
pose. His Lordship the Bishop of Montreal, is perfectly free in
his action. He is under no command to execute the project in
question : he has received an authority, which, in proper circum-
stances, }i> is at liberty to exercise — that is simply all.

You, very rev. sir, by the order of His Lordship, have convened

this assembly, composed of those most interested in the dismember-
ment of the old parish of Montreal, and the erection of the new
parish of St. Patrick. His Lordship judged rightly, that the
faiiufiil, who should be the first to suffer from any deficiency of
spiritual care, and their pastors, who have to render an account of
the flock entrusted to them, on the peril of their souls, are the most
competent to give aim correct information. The question is pro-
posed to them — is there a necessity for the erection of the new
parish His Lordship proposes to erect ? All answer — No. Is
there at least any utility in the proposed erection ? Again they
answer — No. Do your spiritual interests suffer in your present
condition ? They answer — No ; quite the contrary. Do you require
greater facilities for aesisting at Mass on Sundays, hearing reli^ous
instruction, approaching the sacraments of the Church, receiving
the helps of religion in sickness — do you suffer in all, or, at least, in
some one of these respects ? All answer — No. Priests and people
are satisfied. The sufficiency of the present state of things is
declared alike in French and in English. AU say they want no
change. Now, is there any disr'^spect in all this ? Will this em-
phatic answer "^f a whole people, replying to their Bishop, according
to the deep c mvictionof their conscience, be put down as an act of
rebellion against authority, as a wicked resistance against the
Decree of our Holy Father ? It would be a sad error, a blind con-
fusion of principles, to say that it should. On the contrary, this
united testimony of ail interested, the sincerity of which cannot be
doubted, should bring a welcome consolation to His Lordship, con-
vincing him, even to evidence, that the necessity conte'^plated by
the " Decree" as the only reason for the projected chan^ e, did not
exist, and consequently, that his conscience was discharged from
engaging in a difficult and hazardous undertaking.

Now, very Rev. Sir, let us come to the facts of the case. Not
one individual of our whole Catholic popnlation, either French or
Irish, petitioned for this dismemberment and erection, spontaneously
offered by His Lordship. This singular agreement between people
who so seldom agree, is an unanswerable proof that the projected
change is universally feared and disliked, and that, too, after the
repeated efforts of His Lordship to point out its advantages. But
this is not all. No sooner was the official notice of His Lordship's

intention read from the pulpit, than a universal cry of surpns.^ and
grief was raised ; words of complaint passed from mouth to mouth ;
and, when time was givon to "eflect, the moderate and the wise
began to ask — What does His Lordship mean ? Surely, he does not
wish to destroy religion amongst us, and to bring to ruin the Insti-
tutions of Charity, which, at so many sacrifices, we have brought to a
state of prosperity for the protection of our destitute orphans and of
our virtuous young females ? It is with sincere sorrow I record
these things. I Suppress much which is too painful to repeat, but
which would convince His Lordship still more of the depth of feeling
evoked by the announcement of a project as unnecessary, as it is
repugnant to the feelings and to the judgment of all concerned.

Now, very Rev. Sir, you can understand the feelings of a priest
who sees his people, who a few days ago, loved and venerated their
Bishop, as a tender father, thus driven to desperation by having
forced upon them a system of things whose necessity no one can
understand, an'' whose expediency every one denies. It would be
my choice to remain entirely silent, and to commit the result to
God. But would that be my duty ? When the flock is in confusion
and danger, that is not the time for the pastor to stand aloof. He
should seek a remedy at any risk. It is on this account that I
appeal to my Bishop, that, in his charity and wisdom he may again
bring back peace and confidence into our midst.

To spare time, I shall not repeat here the observations I thought
it my duty to make on the occasion of the erection of St. James'
Parish, pointing out some of the evils resulting from the mixture of
tho two divisions of our Catholic population speaking different lan-
guages. I shall, however, request you, very Rev. Sir, to permit
me to send, with this pap^ijr, a French transLcion of what I then
wrote, for the greater convenience of Ilis Lordship. The observa-
tions I then made have lost nothing of their force. Some of the
evils I then exposed have already come to pass ; tne others will
quickly follow.

Some particular facts, confirmatory of my views, have bluce c^uie
to my knowledge. I shall mention one. In Toledo, a populous
city of the United States, there is as here a mixture of races and
languages. There are German, and Canadian^ and Irish Catholics.
The Bishop of the Diocese thought, as our Bishop now thinks, that

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it Tfould be better to assemble them altogether in the same
churches for religious piirposes. For a time he persisted in this
determination. The result was that a number of the Germans
became Protestants, and the greatest portion of them ceased to
attend any place of religious worship. At length the Bishop,
alarmed at the view of this spiritual desolation, yielded, and
permitted the Germans to build a chui'ch for themselves. What ig
now the result ? The new German Church is filled with an edifying
congregation : and the pastor finds it necessary to build another
German Church to accommodate the numbers returning to the
practice of religion fi:om indifference or heresy. All this I have
learned within the last few days from the hps of the actual pastor of
those good Germans.'

I may add that it is notorious that thousands of French Cana-
dians, good and pious Catholics at home, fall off from the practice
of religious duties, and not unfrequently from the Church, in the
United States, because they will not mix with the congregations of
the majority, in which a different language is spoken, and different
manners prevail. This deplorabla fact has been complained of to
me repeatedly, by very zealous and enlightened priests. Here are
domestic examples of the baneful working of the mixed system, to
which, I piesume, His Lordship cannot be mdifferent. Human
nature is the same in all. What has happened in Toledo, and in
other parts of the States, to Germans and Canadians, will happen
to a greater or lesser extent here to Irish Catholics.

Do violence to their feelings, religious, or national ; — take from
them what they deem their legitimate rights ; — strip them of the
accumulated fruits of their piety and generosity, by casting them
ouf. uf a possession that has been their peaceable right during the
last twenty years ; — do all this by executing this new project. I
will yet guarantee that the children of St. Patrick will not become
Protestants ; but I will not guarantee that they may not become
bad Catholics, indifferent to the practices of religion. Indeed I am
convinced that very many would. In acting thus they commit sin ;
but are they blameless who, without cause, troubled them y^aen they
were at peace ?

£he Archbishop of Quebec wished to amalgamate the two
peoples, speaking different languages, together iii the same

Churches ; but seeing the evils that resulted, he, like a wise pastor
who sought only the true welfare of his flock, separated them, and
gave to the chaplain of St. Patrick's Church parochial jurisdiction
over all the English speaking CathoUcs of the City.

The Bishops of the United States, men so learned, so wise and
zealous, provide for the wants and desires of their mixed popula-
tions, by giving them separate Churches. On every side we see
comparatively small numbers of German, Canadian, and Irish
Catholics allowed to have separate Churches where they can meet
in peace to worship God, without being renunded each time, that
they are a minority, and that by right the second place is theirs.
The English speaking CathoUcs of Montreal number about thirty
thousand souls. Can His Lordship think it right to force upon
them alone this humiliation?

In this mixed country, both systems^separation and amalgama.
tion— have been tried. The latter has always failed, the former
has generally succeeded. Man must be governed not by theories
that suppose him to have neither feelings nor weaknesses ; but by
practical wisdom that will allow and provide for both. A theory
that would do well in heaven, would work very badly amongst men
on earth, who still carry about them the frailties of poor human
nature.

Two examples have been quoted with a good deal of stress in
favor of the mixed system. His Lordship has mentioned the mixed
congregations in the Townships and the mixed congregation of the
Cathedral in Ottawa City, as satisfactory proofs of the excellence
of the mixed system. Now, very Rev. Sir, is it reasonable to com-
pare the few scattered families of the Townships, and the, at most,
two thousand English speaking Catholics attending the Ottawa
Cathedral, to the thirty thousand English speaking CathoUcs of
Montreal ? But apart from this, I would respectfully ask His
Lordship whether the position of even these scattered famiUes is
such, in many parishes, as he himself would wish it to be ? No
doubt they contribute their full share towaru» ail paroobial expen-
ses ; but no one knows better than His Lordship the extent of their
spiritual privations.

As to Ottawa, there is at least one Church for the , English
speaking CathoUcs in that City already — the Church near the

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College ; and another is being erected, to be named St. Patrick's
— I believe. This is rather a fair commencement of the separate
system even in Ottawa, which is a new place, and in no respect a
fit nodel for Montreal. But His Lordship says that the English
speaking Catholics of the Ottawa Cathedral are content with their
position, — and here is the proof. The Bishop of Ottawa proposed
to them to leave the Cathedral if they desired to do so, and to build
another Church for themselves ; and they declined the proposal.
Does not this refusal prove conclusively that they are satisfied with
the mixed system ? Well for my part I think it does not. But I
think it proves quite another thing — viz., that they acted like
sensible men who, having contributed their full share towards the
building of the Cathedral, thought it would be a little too generous
on their part to give up all their rights in it to be enjoyed solely by
their French speaking neighbors ; and then politely put their hands
into their pockets again to build another Church for themselves.
Here is tlie testimony nf a distinguished man just arrived from
Ottawa. Instruction is given in French and English on alterna^,e
Sundays in the Cathedral. When the Sunday for the French
sermon comes, the English Catholics say — " ! this is French
Sunday, we will stay at hotrje to-day. If these good English
speaking Catholicij love their religion, they .cannot love a system
that thus exposes them to violate habitually an important precept
of the Church. Be that as it may, I am convinced that the Bishop
of Montreal would not desire to see the English speaking Catholics
of his Episcopal City give a similar proof of their love for the
mixed system, which His Lordship now proposes as a means of
improving their spiritual condition.

But, very Rev. Sir, I put it to you, is it fair to compare the
mixed system as it exists in Ottawa, with the same system as a
thing to be c niimeuced here ? In Ottawa, until lately, the mixed
system was a real necessity ; nothing better could have been done.
It grew up natvirally with the small and poor population of that
new place. Wliereas in Montreal, to establish the mixed system,
branded as a failure in every place where it has been tried, and
tolerable only when poverty renders it a necessity ; we have to
destroy the separate system, which for long years has been

engrafted on our habits, cherished by our love, and has manifested
its own excellence in our midst, by the abundance of its heavenly
fruits — peace, harmony, fervent and generous piety.

Have the English speaking Catholics of Montreal abused the
separate system in existence amongst them now so many years ?
Have the faithful — have their pastors been wanting in their duty
to the Church — wanting in respect and obedience to their Bishop ?
How often, on the contrary, have we not been encouraged to go on
from good to better, by the fatherly approbation of His Lordship.
Surely then our Bishop will not now destroy what has produced so
much good, in order to replace it with an order of things which has
everywhere been a failure for good, and a fruitful occasion of mul-
tiplied evils.

I feel, very Reverend Sir, that I am occupying much of your
time. My pain and anxiety at the catastrophe I see menacing the
St. Patrick's Congregation must be my claim to your indulgence.
I cannot look upon the labor of years about to be destroyed — the
monuments of charity raised and sustained by the union of our
whole people, about to lose their support^-and the people them-
selves, so long happily collected together under the shadow of their
beloved St. Patrick's, about to be driven from his sanctuary, as not
belonging to them ; — thus bringing back to their memory that they
were once before driven from their native land, as if it were not their
home ; — I cannot see all this, without cL.ining permission to com-
municate to my venerated Bishop, in whose hand the easy remedy
lies, not only my words, but the very sorrows and fears that oppress
my heart. His Lordship, to whom ihe faithful children of St.
Patrick always looked as to a father, will not inflict upon them the
cruel blow of a second dispersion. His heart and his religion will
forbid it. His heart, for they have suflFered enough before finding a
happy repose under the shade of St. Patrick's Church ; his reli-
gion, for in renewing our sufferings, both religion and charity will
suffer.

The St. Patrick's Orphan Aaylum contains about two hundred
and fifty (250) inmates. They are mostly the children of Ireland's
exiles. They are the favoiite charge of the St. Patrick's Congre-
gation which contributes on an average eight thousand dollars

($8000) a year for their support. The Institution is prosperous,
and is never allowed to be burdened with debt. This creditable
state of things is owing to the present condition of the St. Patrick's
Congrcgution. x\ll have a common spirit, under a common direc-
tion. They work together as one man, animated by this unity of
spirit, and guided by this unity of direction. Thus though compara-
tively poor, they have been enabled to give to charity sums of money
which have earned for them the reputation th^y so justly possess.
Divide the St. Patrick's Congregation, and you destroy all this.
Some two thousand Irish Catholics, children and all counted (I
believe this is the highest figure) , may be found within the limits of
the projected parish ; the balance of say thirty thousand, will be
located in otl\er parishes, and will consequently be strangers to St.
Patrick's Church. They will have no common direction, no com-
mon spirit — no common action. They will have wants to attend to,
and obligations to meet in their respective parishes. In this state
of things, where will our poor orphans find eight thousand dollars
a year for their support ? The decree of erection, that will scatter
the St. Patrick's Congregation, will be the death-warrant of
the ^:t. Patrick's Orphan Asylum. Yes, its first victims will be
the little ones, whom Ood left fatherless, but whom that decree
will leave houseless and friendless in a strange land.

The next victims will be our female servants, and infirm old
women ; — the one receiving protection for their virtue, the other
support in their old age in the St. Patrick's House.

Then, as regards St. Bridget's Refuge, we are now digging out
its foundations, and had hoped to complete it next year. — But now
I see not how that can be done ; and if completed, I see not how it
could be supported. The decree will not have to destroy the
rel'age, for it will effectually stop it at its foundations.

Charitable institutions have always enlisted the cordial encourage-
ment of llis Lordship. It is not then possible that we can appeal
to him in vain in favor of institutions which we, strangers here,
have built out of the sweat of our brow to save the orphan children
of our own race from vice and heresy, our young females from temp-
tation, and our aged and infirm from neglect and misery.

I have already alluded to the humiliation and heartburning, to

which the English speaking Catholics will be subjected in the new
order of things proposed by His Lordship. ]Jeing a minority, they
must naturally content themselves to take the second place in the
house of God in each of the new parishes. 1 would appeal to His
Lordship, and ask, is this a suitable position for some thirty thousand
Catholics, who yield to no other portion of His Lordship's flock ia
piety, in generous charity, and in respect for, and obedience to
their Bishop? The beauty of the churches they frequent, the
Institutions of charity they so liberally support, and His Lordship's
own memory will attest all this. His Lordship may be convinced,
that if the accident of their being loss numerous than their brethren
who speak French, will be held as li valid reason to give them only
a second place in the house of God — a second place in their pastor's
care, these thirty thousand English speaking Catholics will never be
able to understand that the change in question is for their good,
or that it ever could have been intended to aftbrd them by that
change greater facilities, than they now enjoy, to approach the
sacraments, and to receive religious instruction.

We have one example of the mixed system near us in the Church
of the Jesuit Fathers. There, all is done that can be done to
remove from the mixed system whatever it has objectionable ; and
to recommend it as far as })ossible to public favor. No person will
question this. Yet what is the position of the English speaking
Catholics who go there ? It is this — they receive a short instruction
?t an early mass on Sunday morning ; in the evening they get a
sermon at an hour so late that it is neither safe nor becoming for
unprotected females to pass home through the streets, after service
is over. I say this advisedly, not to blame, or to give pain ; that is
far from my intention. But I say it, because the dangers I hint at
have actually occurred, and in the worst form ; and again because
it exhibits the disadvantages of the mixed system, even under the
most favorable circumstances. Tbe most convenient hours must be
reserved for the majority ; when they have been well aioended to then
all that can be done is done for the unfortunate minority. There
is no one to blame for this. If a mixture of two populations speak-
ing difterent languages must take place, the minority has to stand
by, and give place to the majority. This is the natural ord

things ; it cannot fairly be otherwise. It is the system that is bad
— incurably bad. Religion may struggle for life under it ; but in
the mixed system religion can never flourish, from want of its pro-
per nutriment, peace, union of hearts, and union of minds.

Then again, what will become of our religious societies which
meet in St. Patrit-i's on Sunday evenings after Vespers ? Will
the gift of tongues come with the projected amalgamation ? and if
not, how find separate places, or separate hours, for the exercises of
these numerous societies ? It cannot be done in St. Patrick's
Church. Would it be for the good of our people to have some of
those Societies, from which so many graces flow, suppressed?
Would this expedient, the only one I see practicable, advance the
spiritual interests of the faithful ?

INext comes the difficulty of teaching the catechism to the little
ones, and of preparing them for first communion. How are these
most indispensable parochial duties to be performed, in St. Patrick's
church, in both languages ? Perhaps His Lordship might meet the
difficulty by sending the French catechism, and preparation for first
commvmion to the Catliedral, or the church of the Jesuit Fathers
— both situated Avithin the limits of the projected parish of St.
Patrick. The French religious societies might be disposed of in the
same way. But if the difficulty be met in this manner, what then
becomes of the fundamental motive assigned by His . Lordship for
the erection of the new parish — viz : that the pastor m^^ht have a
more immediate supervision over his flock ; and the taitnful have
an easier access to their pastor ? This expedient would annul that
fundamental motive ; for in consequence of it the little ones, whom
the sacred canons of the Church give to the pastor as his most tender
charge, would be entrusted to strangers, and would grow up without
even knowing the voice of their pastors. A sad condition indeed,
for a pastor to be obliged to abandon to the care of strangers, a
largo portion of the children of his parish, and a large portion of
the most edifying members of his flock.

I object, very Rev. Sir, to the limits assigned to the projected
parish of St. Patrick. More than one half of the territory inclosed
within those limits, is occupied almost exclusively by Protestant
families. In the remaining portion there is also a large mixture of

Protestants. I believe I am near the truth when I state that the
whole Catholic population of the projected parish, French and
English speaking — children and all counted, if assembled together
vrould not fill the St. Patrick's Church, as it is filled every Sunday
morning at the 8 o'clock Mass. Besides I may fairly suppose that
some of even that small number will go to the Cathedral, on the
one side, and others will go to the Jesuits' Church, on the other
side of St. Patrick's, — what will then remain for St. Patrick's, the
parish church, and the second largest in the city ? Has His Lorship
made this calculation ? Surely our Bishop does not wish to reduce
St. Patrick's to the solitude of a Protestant cathedral, and to give
to our English speaking Catholics, the too painful spectacle of their
dear old church deserted, and weeping over the forced dispersion
of its pious children.

But will not the Irish Catholics, though living in other parishes,
continue to come to St. Patrick's ? Yes, they may ; but it will be
their duty not to desert their own parish churches. The Church de-
sires that parishioners attend at their own parish Churches. And if
they wil come, they can be received only as strangers. The voice
they will hear there, no matter how long they may have been accus-
tomed to listen to it, and to obey it in past years — in tho days of
peace and happiness — that voice will no longer be the voice of their
pastor ; he will be a stranger to them, and they will be strangers
to him. Very Rev. Sir, are these to be the consoling fruits of
the new system, intended for our spiritual advancement ?

In the last place I have to object to the erection of the projected
parish, that it excludes the immense majority of the present con-
gregation of St. Patrick's Church, and thereby deprives them of
their strict rights in justice. They have a strict right to the use
of the St. Patrick's Church, because the Fabrique, the proprietor
of the Church, built it for them ; — because after declaring that this
was the destination of the Church, the Fabrique niikQd for, and recei-
ved contributions from the St. Patrick's congregation generally to
aid in its erection ; — because the Seminary, with the same intention,
advanced forty thousand dollars towards the building : and this in-
tention has not been recalled ; — because the St. Patrick's congrega-
tion in those late years, has expended a further sum of more than

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thirty thousand dollars for the completing and ornamenting of their
Church ; this is in addition to the amount first subscribed for the
building ; — because, with the sanction of the present Bishop of Mont-
real, St. Patrick's was blessed and dedicated for the English speaking
Catholics of the City ; — and finally because the same English
speaking Catholics, with the consent of His Lordship, the Fabrique,
the Seminary, and of all concerned, have been in peaceable posses-
sion of St. Patrick's Church, without interruption, from the day it
was opened to Divine Service down to the present day — a space of
nearly twenty (20) years. These are th gro kIs on which I
claim, as a just right, the use and possession of the St Patrick's
Church for the English speaking Catholics of this city ; and object
to the erection of the proposed parish, as a violation of justice,
because, by cutting off the immense majority of the said English
speaking Catholics from that use f nd possession, it clearly violates
their just rights.

Very Rev. Sir, for all the foregoing reasons I object to, and
protest against, the dismemberment of the parish of Notre Dame,
for the purpose of erecting the proposed canonical parish of St,
Patrick, as defined in your oflGcial notice. I am joined in this act
by all the undersigned priests. We are moved to " take this step,
by a most deliberate conviction that the measure proposed by Hia
Lordship would, if executed, injure to a fatal extent the spiritual
interests of the devoted people amongst whom we labor. We are not
indifferent to the interests of the majority of our Catholic population
who speak a language that is not our own. We believe that they
too would suffer from the proposed change. We believe that the
condition generally of the Catholic people of this city, would not be
improved, but on the contrary, made much worse by the execution
of that project. We love peace and cordial union amongst all our
Catholic people. We have labored long to establish them. We
possess that heavenly blessing now. Li its name, we reverently
implore our Bishop not to proceed with a measure, which no one
thinks necessary, which no one has asked for, and which all, or
nearly all interested, fear as the harbinger of trouble, of heartburn-
ings, and of scandals. Assure His Lordship of our entire obedience,
and of our sincere reverence. Assure him that whatever His Lord-

h I

■ '

ship's decision may be, these our dispositions shall not alter ; and
that as our Bishop we shall love him to the end, though it should
be with broken hearts.

I remain, Very Reverend Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

P. DOWD,
Director of St. Patrick's Church.
J. TOUPIN, Priest S. S.
M. O'BRIEN, Priest S. S.
J. HOGAN, Priest S. S.
M. O'FARRELL, Priest S. S.
JAMES BROWN, Priest S. S.
F. BAKEWELL, Priest S. S.
WM. LECLAIR, Priest S. S.

ir ; and
b should

urch.

S.S.

s.s.

3. S.
5. S.