LIBRARY
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 NOTRE DAME DU LAC 
 
 INDIANA 
 
 FROM 1842 TO 189* 
 
 PREPARED FOR THE 
 
 GOLDEN JUBILEE 
 
 TO BE CELEBRATED JUNE 11, 12 AND 13, 1895 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 THE WERNER COMPANY
 
 N.
 
 TO 
 THE STUDENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 NOTRE DAME 
 
 Past, Present and Future 
 
 This 
 
 STOK y OF HER HISTOR Y 
 Is 
 
 Affectionately Dedicated 
 
 By 
 ALMA MATER.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 i. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. PAGE. 
 
 L The Golden Jubilee 9 
 
 II. The Congregation of the Holy Cross 10 
 
 III. The Missionaries 11 
 
 IV. The Voyage 12 
 
 V. Arrival in New York 13 
 
 VI. An American Catholic Priest 14 
 
 VII. From New York to Vincennes 15 
 
 VIII. At St. Peter's 16 
 
 II. 
 AT NOTRE DAME. 
 
 I. A Winter Journey 20 
 
 II. Arrival at Notre Dame 21 
 
 III. Consecration to the Mother of God 36 
 
 IV. It is Holy Ground 28 
 
 V. The Christian Indians 30 
 
 VI. Early Days at Notre Dame 44 
 
 m. 
 BEGINNINGS. 
 
 I. New Buildings SI 
 
 II. The First Brick Structure 53 
 
 III. The Second Colony 55 
 
 IV. The College Begun 56 
 
 V. The Chapel of the Novitiate 60 
 
 rv. 
 
 EARLY COLLEGE YEARS. 
 
 I. The First Year 63 
 
 II. The First Commencement 64 
 
 III. Another Picture of the Early Days 68 
 
 IV. Increase of Students 73 
 
 V. Other Improvements 75 
 
 VI. An Era of Prosperity 78 
 
 VII. A Season of Trouble 79 
 
 VIII. Brighter Days 82 
 
 IX. Chimes at Midnight Poem 85 
 
 V. 
 
 THB WAR PERIOD. 
 
 I. Notre Dame in the War for the Union 87 
 
 II. A Third College Building 94 
 
 III. The Ave Maria 98 
 
 IV. A Retrospect 99 
 
 V. Notre Dame Poem 100 
 
 5
 
 6 CONTENTS. 
 
 VI. 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY. PAGE. 
 
 I. The Third Presidency 105- 
 
 II. The Silver Jubilee, and the Alumni Association ....... 107 
 
 III. The Notre Dame Scholastic Ill 
 
 IV. The Scholastic Annual 116 
 
 V. Professor Joseph A. Lyons Poem 117 
 
 VI. The Scientific Department 11? 
 
 VII. The Law Department 122 
 
 VIII. A General Chapter at Notre Dame 127 
 
 IX. Father Lemonnier's Presidency 12g 
 
 X. The Fifth Presidency 13l 
 
 XI. Amusements at Notre Dame ,... 13-2 
 
 VII. 
 THB FIRE. 
 
 I. April 23, 1879 138 
 
 II. Sympathy 147 
 
 III. Professor Daily's Poem 148 
 
 VITJL 
 THB OLD AND THE NEW. 
 
 I. Notre Dame Before the Fire ......'... 151 
 
 II. Notre Dame After the Fire 155 
 
 III. Another Picture Poem 173 
 
 IV. Art at Notre Dame 173 
 
 V. To Signer Gregori Sonnet 176 
 
 IX. 
 
 A BRILLIANT PERIOD. 
 
 I. The Presidency of Father Walsh 177 
 
 IL The Gilding of the Dome Poem 186. 
 
 III. Impressions Made Upon a Stranger 185 
 
 IV. Temperance at Notre Dame ............... 188 
 
 V. Disinguished Guests , . . 189 
 
 VI. The Laetare Medal 198 
 
 VII. The Transfer of the Body of Orestes A. Brownson to Notre Dame . 194 
 
 VIII. Bishops' Memorial Hall 195 
 
 IX. Catholic Archives of America 198 
 
 X. The Lemonnier Library 199 
 
 XI. Literary Studies 802 
 
 X. 
 
 FIFTY YEARS A PRIEST. 
 
 I. The Sacerdotal Golden Jubilee of Father Sorin 207 
 
 IL The Public Celebration 211 
 
 III. Archbishop Ireland's Discourse 818 
 
 IV. Closing Years of the Founder of Notre Dame . ....... 236 
 
 V. In Memory of the Very Rev. Edward Sorin Poem 842- 
 
 XI. 
 
 PRESENT AND FUTURE. 
 
 I. The Seventh Presidency . . 245 
 
 n. Notre Dame at the Columbian Exposition 249 
 
 III. The Church of the Sacred Heart 250 
 
 IV. The Old Church Poem 254 
 
 V. Pilgrimages 255 
 
 VI. The Golden Jubilee of Notre Dame 256
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 University of Notre Dame Frontispiece. 
 
 Brother Francis Xavier, C. S. C 12 
 
 Views on the St. Joseph River \ * 18 
 
 Father Serin's Arrival 22 
 
 Founding of Notre Dame 30 
 
 A Favorite Walk 40 
 
 St. Edward's Park 40 
 
 First College Building, 1842 54 
 
 Rev. E. Sorin, C. S. C., Founder and First President 64 
 
 Rev. Alexis Granger, C. S. C., First Vice-President 78 
 
 Second College Building, 1844-65 78 
 
 'Varsity Foot Ball Team 86 
 
 Military Companies 86 
 
 Father Corby at Gettysburg 92 
 
 Rev. Patrick Dillon, C. S. C., Second President 96 
 
 Third College Building, 1865 100 
 
 Rev. Wm. Corby, C. S. C., Third President . . . 106 
 
 Ave Maria and Scholastic * 112 
 
 The Lilacs 118 
 
 Astronomical Observatory 116 
 
 Post Office 116 
 
 Physical Cabinet (Optical Section) 120 
 
 Museum (West View) 180 
 
 Rev. Augustine Lemonnier, C. S. C., Fourth President 128 
 
 Rev. Patrick J. Colovin, C. S. C., Fifth President .132 
 
 The Boat Club 134 
 
 Notre Dame Avenue Looking North 136 
 
 Notre Dame Avenue (Looking South) 136 
 
 Entrance to the University Grounds 150 
 
 East View of College Building 154 
 
 West View of College Building 154 
 
 Study Room in Brownson Hall 158 
 
 Dining Room in Brownson Hall 158 
 
 Interior of Dome, Gregori's Allegorical Painting 162
 
 8 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Corridor, Bishops' Memorial Hall 162 
 
 Students at Work in the Bacteriological Laboratory 188 
 
 Biological Laboratory 168 
 
 The Art Studio 174 
 
 A Lecture Room in Main Building 174 
 
 Rev. Thomas E. Walsh, C. S. C., Sixth President 178 
 
 Main Building 180 
 
 Science Hall 182 
 
 Academy of Music and Washington Hall 184 
 
 St Edward's Hall 188 
 
 Institute of Technology 190 
 
 Study Room in St. Edward's Hall 196 
 
 Reading Room in St. Edward's Hall 196 
 
 Library (West End) ' 200 
 
 Sorin Hall 206 
 
 View From Brownson Hall Campus 210 
 
 View From St. Mary's Lake ' 214 
 
 Reading Room in Brownson Hall 218 
 
 Lecture Room in Science Hall 218 
 
 Statue of the Sacred Heart 220 
 
 Holy Cross Seminary 224 
 
 St Joseph's Novitiate 224 
 
 Calvary 230 
 
 A Favorite Shrine 230 
 
 Cross Marking Location of First Chapel erected by Father Badin, 1830 . 230 
 
 View From St. Joseph Lake , 236 
 
 View From St. Joseph Lake 236 
 
 St. Joseph's Lake 240 
 
 Boat House 240 
 
 Rev. Andrew Morrissey, C. S. C., Seventh President 246 
 
 Church of the Sacred Heart 250 
 
 The Stile 254 
 
 A Favorite Walk 254 
 
 'Varsity Base Ball Team 256 
 
 Carroll Hall Foot Ball Team .256
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME 
 DU LAC. 
 
 I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 I. THE GOLDEN JUBILEE. 
 
 NOTRE DAMS has attained her golden jubilee. It is 
 now over fifty years, since, on the 26th day of Novem- 
 ber, 1842, the founder of the university, the Very Rev. 
 Edward Sorin, C.S.C, first stood on the little clear- 
 ing on the banks of St. Mary's L/ake, and looked out 
 over the snow-covered landscape, where now rise the 
 many walls and towers of Notre Dame. Save the spot 
 of clearing, about ten acres, and the surface of St. 
 Mary's and St. Joseph's lakes, the scene that spread 
 before the eyes ot the young priest consisted of pri- 
 meval forest. To these ice-bound lakes and to this 
 snow-covered forest, the zealous priest of the Holy 
 Cross, attended by seven Brothers of the Society of St. 
 Joseph, had come to found a seat of learning. Such is 
 religious enthusiasm. Such is inspired faith in the 
 direct protection of Almighty God. With God, all 
 things are possible; without Him, nothing. This 
 truth we all profess. Father Sorin and his little band 
 felt it; it was the inspiration of their lives.
 
 10 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 II. THE CONGREGATION OP THE HOLY CROisS. 
 
 A few years before the founding of the University, 
 there had been formed at the City of Mans, in France, 
 a religious society, or order, named The Congregation 
 of the Holy Cross. The congregation consisted, at 
 first, of three societies. The Abbe Moreau, a canon 
 and distinguished preacher attached to the Cathedral 
 in Mans, had formed a society of priests to aid him 
 in preaching retreats to the people. A little earlier, 
 a good priest, the Rev. Mr. Dujarier, one of the 
 survivors of the French Revolution, had formed 
 a band of young men who engaged in the work of 
 teaching. These last were united in a community, 
 under the name of The Brothers of St. Joseph. Father 
 Dujarier, growing old, requested the young and zealous 
 Abbe Moreau, to take charge also of this religious 
 band. Thus the two societies came to be under the 
 direction of the one head. In time the two communities 
 were united under the name of The Congregation ot 
 the Holy Cross, retaining the original features of both 
 Communities, as preachers of the gospel and teachers 
 of youth, and so they continue to this day. The Col- 
 lege of the Holy Cross, founded by the Abbe Moreau 
 at Mans, the original Mother-house of the Congrega- 
 tion, suggested the holy name by which the new order 
 became known and by which it was recognized in the 
 Rules and Constitutions approved by the Holy See. 
 
 A little later, Father Moreau organized the Sisters 
 of the Holy Cross. This society, however, although 
 continuing under the direction of Father Moreau, and 
 in this country afterwards under that of Father Sorin, 
 was never united to the Congregation of the Holy 
 Cross. Yet the Sisters are engaged in the same great
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. ' 11 
 
 work, the teaching of the young, to which labor they 
 have added the care of the sick and distressed, by serv- 
 ing in hospitals and otherwise. 
 
 III. THE MISSIONARIES. 
 
 Father Sorin became one of the earliest members of 
 the new congregation. But, even while he was yet a 
 student in college, he had larger mission fields in mind 
 than those originally contemplated by the founders of 
 the new order. He had listened as a young student to 
 the sainted Brut6, first Bishop of Vincennes, when that 
 holy man, while on a visit to France, made a strong 
 appeal for helping hands to come to his aid in the 
 laborious and scattered missions of Indiana. The 
 burning words of the aged Brute kindled the fervor of 
 the youthful Sorin. The distant missions of Indiana 
 were never afterwards wholly absent from the mind of 
 the ardent student, or the more recollected thoughts of 
 the priest of the Holy Cross. 
 
 Accordingly, when Bishop Hailandiere, the successor 
 of Bishop Brute, made special application to Father 
 Moreau for volunteers to the Indiana missions, Father 
 Sorin at once offered himself for the work. With him 
 volunteered four professed Brothers and two novices. 
 Amongst the professed Brothers was Brother Vincent, 
 the first who had joined the Brothers of St. Joseph 
 when that society was originally formed. He lived 
 long, an exemplary religious, and the patriarch of the 
 order at Notre Dame. Years after, when bent and 
 gray-bearded, he was taken on a pilgrimage by Father 
 Sorin to the Eternal City, and there had the supreme 
 happiness of an interview with Pius IX. On being 
 introduced to the Pope as the Patriarch of the Congre-
 
 12 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 tion of the Holy Cross, the venerable Pontiff would 
 not suffer the equally aged but humble Brother to fall 
 at his feet, but took him into his arms and embraced 
 him most tenderly. 
 
 Another of those zealous volunteers was Brother 
 Lawrence, who, for over thirty years, was destined to 
 be the efficient head of the farm establishment and busi- 
 ness affairs at Notre Dame. He was a most excellent 
 business man, as well as a faithful religious. His 
 death, in 1873, was regretted by the public at large, 
 and was mourned by Father Sorin in one of the most 
 touching circular letters ever issued by him to the com- 
 munity. 
 
 A third of those heroic Brothers was Brother Fran- 
 cis Xavier, whom Divine Providence still kindly suffers 
 to remain with us. He is the only one of the zealous 
 band that crossed the Atlantic with the original colony, 
 the only one of those who stood together on St. Mary's 
 lake on that cold November evening and took formal 
 possession of Notre Dame Du I,ac. His is the only life 
 that runs back even to the first day of the history ot 
 Notre Dame and of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. 
 May he long be with us to link our lives and our souls 
 to the days of saints and of heroes. 
 
 IV. THE VOYAGE- 
 
 The little band of seven left the Mother House at 
 Mans, Augusts, 1841; and on the 8th of August they 
 set sail from Havre, on the packet ship Iowa, " a large 
 vessel and a good sailer, "as Father Sorin describes her. 
 
 That the voyageurs were poor in this world's goods, 
 we may well know from the circumstance that they 
 came as steerage, not as cabin, passengers. In writing
 
 HROTHKR KRAXCIS XAVIKR, C. S. C.
 
 UNI VERSITY OF NO TRE DAME DU LAC. 13 
 
 of this afterwards, Father Sorin said: " I came in 1841, 
 with my six beloved Brothers in the steerage. We 
 expended very little money. In 1846, when I returned 
 with seventeen devoted members, in the steerage as 
 before, and in the emigrant cars from New York, we 
 again spent but little, and felt happy. Blesssed are 
 those who are imbued with the spirit of poverty!" 
 
 V. ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK. 
 
 On the 1 3th day of September, the good ship, with 
 its precious freight, entered the bay of New York. In 
 "The Chronicles of Notre Dame du I*ac," we read the 
 following account of this entry into the New World of 
 the voyageurs from their long sea journey : 
 
 " It would be hardly possible to describe the senti- 
 ments of joy of the pious band at sight of this strange 
 land which they had come so far in search of, through 
 so many dangers and fatigues. It was a little after 
 sunset when Father Sorin set foot on land with a few 
 of the passengers, the general landing being deferred 
 till the next day. One of his first acts on this soil so 
 much desired was to fall prostrate and embrace it, as a 
 sign of adoption, and at the same time of profound 
 gratitude to God for the blessings of the prosperous 
 voyage. The arrival of the new missionaries could 
 not have taken place at a more striking and propitious 
 time. It was the eve of the exaltation of the Holy 
 Cross, so that Father Sorin was able to celebrate his 
 first mass in America on the day of the feast. This 
 happy co-incidence was of a kind to make a deep im- 
 pression on the heart of the young religious of the 
 Holy Cross, who himself had placed all his confidence 
 in the virtue of the Holy Cross, and who desired
 
 14 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 rather than feared to suffer for the love of Christ. He 
 therefore accepted the presage of the circumstance 
 gladly, by which heaven seemed to tell him, as for- 
 merly it told the Apostle, that in this land he would have 
 to suffer. Long afterwards will he remember that it 
 was in the name of the Cross that he took possession, 
 for himself and for his, of this soil of America." 
 
 On the next day, September 14, 1841, he wrote to 
 Father Moreau : 
 
 "Beloved Father: Let us bless God, let us bless 
 his Holy Mother ; we have arrived in New York full of 
 life, health and joy ! Our good Brothers have not yet 
 entered the city ; they were obliged to pass last night 
 in quarantine. But our good God permitted me to 
 land yesterday evening, i3th of September, the eve of 
 the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. With what hap- 
 piness, my Father, did I salute and embrace this dear 
 land of America, after which we have so ardently 
 sighed. And what an increase of consolation to land 
 on the eve of so beautiful a day ! It is then in the 
 name of the Holy Cross, of the Blessed Virgin, and 
 St. Joseph, that we have taken possession of it. My 
 God, what a happy coincidence! What joy for a poor 
 priest of the Holy Cross, who must love nothing more 
 in the world than the cross, to be able to say his first 
 mass in America on the feast of the Exaltation of that 
 sacred symbol ! What a delicious day it is here ; how 
 beautiful is the American sky ! Ah, yes, my Father, 
 here is the portion of my inheritance ; here will I dwell 
 all the days of my life ! " 
 
 AN AMERICAN CATHOUC PRIEST. 
 
 Here we perceive the double source of Father Sorin's
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 15 
 
 success. Here was united the zeal of the saint with 
 the fervor of the patriot, the devotion of Columbus 
 with the unselfishness of Washington. From the 
 moment that Father Sorin touched American soil, we 
 behold in his soul the union, thoroughly and com- 
 pletely, of the most uncompromising Catholicity with 
 the most sturdy Americanism. To him America 
 became his country; and next to his love of his God and 
 his faith, was his unaffected love of the American people, 
 the American character and American institutions. 
 
 As well said on the day of Father Sorin' s Golden 
 Jubilee of the priesthood, in 1888, by his well-beloved 
 friend, the great Archbishop of St. Paul : "From the 
 moment he landed on our shores he ceased to be a 
 foreigner. At once he was an American, heart and 
 soul, as one to the manor born. The republic of the 
 United States never protected a more loyal and more 
 devoted citizen. He understood and appreciated our 
 liberal institutions ; there was in his heart no lingering 
 fondness for old regimes, or worn-out legitimism. For 
 him the government chosen by the people, as lyeo XIII. 
 repeatedly teaches, was the legitimate government ; 
 and to his mind the people had well chosen, when they 
 resolved to govern themselves. He understood and 
 appreciated the qualities of mind and heart of the 
 American people, and, becoming one of them, spoke 
 to them and labored for them from their plane of 
 thought and feeling ; and he was understood and ap- 
 preciated by them." 
 
 VH. FROM NEW YORK TO VINCEWNES. 
 
 The venerable Bishop Dubois, the first Bishop of 
 New York, who had himself, thirty-three years pre-
 
 16 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 viously, founded Mt. St. Mary's College, near Emmets- 
 burg, in Catholic Maryland, was still living; and 
 received with all affection the missionary band, destined 
 by Providence to become the founders of a great 
 university in the west. 
 
 After a rest of three days, they proceeded on their 
 journey to the still distant Vincennes. To save ex- 
 pense, as on shipboard, they chose the more econom- 
 ical, though slower route, being twenty-five days on 
 the road. From Albany to Buffalo they proceeded by 
 the Erie canal ; thence across Lake Erie to Toledo; 
 thence by wagon and canal to Fort Wayne, Logans- 
 port and Lafayette. Thence they took final passage 
 to their destination upon the Wabash; that noble 
 river upon whose bosom, thirty years before, Tecumseh 
 and his companions had moved in their fleet of canoes, 
 when that great Indian made his famous visit to 
 Governor Harrison at Vincennes. 
 
 " At length," continue the Chronicles, from which 
 we have already quoted, " about sunrise on the second 
 Sunday of October, they beheld the tower of the new 
 Cathedral of Vincennes. They were so filled with joy 
 that they seemed to forget all their previous fatigue 
 and pains, and they blessed God, who had at length 
 granted them to see with their own eyes that city of 
 which they had so often spoken during the last few 
 months." 
 
 vin. ST. PETER'S. 
 
 Bishop Hailandiere had several places in view for 
 the location of the society. One of these was at 
 Francisville on the Wabash, a few miles from Vin- 
 cennes. This did not seem suitable; and the next day 
 after their arrival, Father Sorin, at the suggestion of
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 17 
 
 the Bishop, started with a priest of the diocese, Father 
 Delaune, to visit St. Peter's, a missionary station in 
 Daviess county, about twenty-seven miles east of Vin- 
 cennes. ' ' It was a place difficult of access, ' ' say the 
 Chronicles, "but in the midst of several Catholic 
 parishes. It was one of the oldest missions of the 
 diocese. Father Sorin arrived there Tuesday morn- 
 ing about nine o'clock, St. Peter's had a little frame 
 church in good repair; two little rooms had been added 
 to it, one for the sacristy and one for the priest. ' ' 
 Other small buildings were for a kitchen and for a 
 school. It was evident that this was the place best 
 fitted for the purposes of the priest and his Brothers, 
 and that here they could at least pass the winter; and 
 so the location was selected, and the Brothers came on 
 from Vincennes. 
 
 There were one hundred and sixty acres of good 
 land at St. Peter's, and the little community set to 
 work improve it and to establish themselves firmly as 
 a religious house. The teacher of the school, a Mr. 
 Rother, who had apparently been expecting them, was 
 the first to join the new order. Others followed, and 
 within a year eight members were added; and, in all, 
 twelve received the habit of the Order at St. Peter's. 
 
 Notwithstanding the difficulty experienced by them 
 in learning the English language and their general 
 ignorance of the ways of the country in which they 
 found themselves, the newcomers set to work in ear- 
 nest, winning the good will of their neighbors and pros- 
 pering even more than they had anticipated, so that 
 before the end of their first year they had become 
 quite attached to St. Peter's. Then they began to 
 make preparations for the building of a college, which
 
 18 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 they looked upon as necessary for the progress of the 
 great work they had in view. To the surprise of the 
 Community, however, they found that the good bishop 
 was unwilling that they should erect a college. His 
 idea, apparently, was that a missionary station and 
 primary schools should be the only establishments con- 
 ducted by Father Sorin and his Brothers. In great 
 trouble of mind Father Sorin went to Vincennes to 
 try to win the consent of the Bishop to the cherished 
 enterprise. But the Bishop was unyielding. There 
 was already a Catholic College at Vincennes, and he 
 considered this quite as,many as could be supported in 
 the vicinity. Undoubtedly the Bishop was right, con- 
 sidering the sparsely settled country, and particularly 
 the small number and the little wealth of the Catholic 
 population. Apparently Father Sorin himself was 
 convinced; for when the Bishop intimated that he held 
 a section of land on the St. Joseph river, near Lake 
 Michigan, which he was willing the Community should 
 have and on which he agreed that they might build a 
 college, provided they would accomplish that task 
 within two years, it appears that Father Sorin at once 
 took to the idea. He returned therefore, to St. Peter's, 
 and laid the proposition before his brethren. For 
 days the Community wrestled with the grave question 
 thus presented. They had become attached to St. 
 Peter's; and the idea of now breaking up after they 
 had spent over a year in preparing this habitation in 
 the wilderness seemed at first very distressful. But 
 the longer they considered the matter the more desir- 
 able seemed the project. The name of St. Joseph was 
 a powerful attraction. That they should receive a 
 section of land to themselves on the banks of that
 
 VIEW OX ST. JOSEPH RIVER. 
 
 VIEW OX THE ST. JOSEPH RIVER.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 19 
 
 blessed river, even though it was an uncleared forest; 
 that they should be free, in that northern wilderness, 
 to establish their beloved order in the valley of the 
 St. Joseph, already blessed by the labors of sainted 
 missionaries, seemed an indication of the will of 
 heaven. The resolution was, therefore, taken that the 
 offer of the Bishop should be accepted, and that a part 
 of the colony should depart at once and take posses- 
 sion of their new home. 
 
 On November 15, 1842, just before their departure, 
 Father Sorin received a letter from Bishop Hailandiere, 
 the following extract from which will show how scanty 
 were the means at the disposal of the good prelate and 
 how tender was his solicitude for the success of the 
 new mission : 
 
 "Dear Confrere: Enclosed find the $310 you asked 
 of me; also a letter of credit on Mr. Coquillard for the 
 sum of $231.12^3. I believe it is what he still owes 
 me. ... Do not forget that the tax for this 
 year on the land du Lac (Notre Dame du Lac) has not 
 been paid. 
 
 I offer you my wishes for your success. May the 
 Angels of God accompany you on your way; and may 
 Notre Dame du Lac smile at your arrival and bless 
 you! Oh! may the work you are going to begin make 
 saints! May the merit of the Fathers who, now nearly 
 two ages ago, planted the cross which you will find 
 there may those of Badin, De Seille, Petit (our dear 
 Benjamin) serve as a corner stone for the edifice that 
 your piety and zeal prompt you to build. . . . My 
 hopes are as great as my desires."
 
 II. 
 
 AT NOTRE DAME. 
 
 i. A WINTER'S JOURNEY. 
 
 ON November 16, 1842, at the beginning of winter, 
 seven of the Brothers set out with their Superior for the 
 St. Joseph. For many days they struggled on, over 
 ice and snow through the interminable forest, some on 
 horseback and some with the ox team, which hauled 
 their modest store of supplies. ' ' The air was piercing, 
 but the little band moved forward straight towards the 
 north." At length, on the 26th of November, they had 
 the happiness of standing on the ice-bound shore of St. 
 Mary's lake, and of looking out upon the scene of 
 their new labors. 
 
 The good Bishop's solicitude still followed them, and 
 he writes to Father Sorin: 
 
 "My dear Confrere: At last you are in South 
 Bend. I think of you as very lonely, very busy and, 
 perhaps, also a little frightened at your undertaking. 
 But the I,ord, I doubt not, will help you; and, indeed, 
 the past ought to be for you a guarantee for the future. 
 . . . Your Brothers at St. Peter's are well." 
 
 In February, towards the end of winter, Brother 
 Vincent came on with the remainder of the colony at 
 St. Peter's, arriving on the Monday preceding Ash
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 21 
 
 Wednesday. Severe as was the weather, it was easier 
 to come then, while they could yet travel over the 
 frozen swamps and streams, than if they should wait 
 until the breaking up of spring, when the morasses 
 would be nearly impassable. 
 
 H. ARRIVAL AT NOTRE DAMB- 
 
 A few days after his arrival, Father Sorin wrote to 
 Father Moreau and other friends in France an account 
 of the changed situation of the little colony. From 
 these letters we make some extracts, which will dis- 
 cover at once the privations and the aspirations of this 
 heroic band of missionaries: 
 
 " ' Man proposes, but God disposes,' says the pious 
 old adage; and I never realized its truth so much as at 
 the present moment. On arriving at St. Peter's, 
 and especially on beholding the warm reception ex- 
 tended to us so many marks of kindness and affection 
 shown us by everyone, not only Catholics, but all, 
 without distinction I believed that it was there God 
 willed that we should fix our abode, that that spot 
 marked the portion of the vineyard in which we were 
 to labor and die. With this conviction, which daily 
 became more and more fixed and firm, we set actively 
 to work, and soon we had everything ready to build at 
 the approach of spring. In a word, we were, as they 
 say, settled, as it seemed, at St. Peter's. Then, when 
 we least dreamed of it, Providence permitted that an 
 offer should be made to us of a section of excellent 
 land in the county of St. Joseph, on the banks of the 
 river St. Joseph, and not far from the City of St. 
 Joseph, forming a delightful solitude about twenty 
 minutes' ride from South Bend which solitude, from
 
 22 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the lake which it encloses, bears the beautiful name of 
 Our L,ady of the Lake. Besides, it is the center of the 
 Indian Mission, the Mission of the Badins, the De 
 Seilles and the Petits. 
 
 "Tell me, Father, could priests of Our Lady of the 
 Holy Cross and Brothers of St. Joseph refuse such an 
 offer? However, I did not wish to precipitate matters. 
 I took time to pray and to reflect. Finally, a council 
 was held, and it was decided that we should accept, 
 gratefully, the generous offer of our worthy and be- 
 loved Bishop, and that we should beg St. Peter to 
 permit us to go to Our Lady to the land of her 
 holy spouse, our august patron. A few days after- 
 wards I set out, with seven of our intrepid religious, 
 those who could be most useful in arranging things 
 for the reception, a few months later, of the rest of our 
 household and of the desired colony from France. 
 
 "We started on the i6th of November, and, indeed, 
 it required no little courage to undertake the journey 
 at such a season. I cannot but admire the sentiments 
 with which it pleased God to animate our little band, 
 who had more than one hundred miles to travel through 
 the snow. The first day the cold was so intense that 
 we could advance only about five miles. The weather 
 did not moderate for a moment; each morning the wind 
 seemed to us more piercing as we pushed forward on 
 our journey due north. But God was with us. None 
 of us suffered severely, and, at length, on the eleventh 
 day after our departure, five of us arrived at South 
 Bend, the three others being obliged to travel more 
 slowly with the ox team transporting our effects. 
 
 "Our arrival had been expected and much desired. 
 At South Bend we met the same cordial reception,
 
 IT 
 
 Q 
 
 o 
 
 yo 
 
 E-
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 23 
 
 which greeted us, fifteen months before, at New York. 
 A few hours afterwards we came to Notre Dame du 
 Lac, where I write you these lines. Everything was 
 frozen, and yet it all appeared so beautiful. The lake, 
 particularly, with its mantle of snow, resplendent in its 
 whiteness, was to us a symbol of the stainless purity of 
 our august Lady, whose name it bears, and also of the 
 purity of soul which should characterize the new in- 
 habitants of these beautiful shores. Our lodgings 
 appeared to us as indeed they are but little different 
 from those at St. Peter's. We made haste to inspect 
 all the various sites on the banks of the lake which 
 had been so highly praised. Yes, like little children, 
 in spite of the cold, we went from one extremity to the 
 other, perfectly enchanted with the marvelous beauties 
 of our new abode. Oh! may this new Eden be ever the 
 home of innocence and virtue! There, I could willingly 
 exclaim with the prophet: Dominus regit me 
 super aquam refectiones educavit me! Once again in 
 our life we felt then that Providence had been good to 
 us, and we blessed God with all our hearts. 
 
 ' ' We found the house too small to accommodate us 
 for the night; and as the weather was becoming colder, 
 we made all haste back to the first lodgings that had 
 been prepared for us in the village. Next day it did 
 not take us long to establish ourselves better at Notre 
 Dame du Lac, for we had but little to arrange. The 
 following day the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle 
 I said my first mass at Notre Dame where Father Petit 
 so often before me had offered the Holy Sacrifice over 
 the tomb of the saintly Father De Seille, whose 
 memory is still fresh and revered throughout the land, 
 and who, visiting for the last time his various mis-
 
 24 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 sions, announced to his congregation that they would 
 see him no more in this world, though he was then 
 still young, full of health and vigor, and who, a few 
 days after his return, realizing that he was dying, and 
 having no priest to assist him, dragged himself to the 
 altar, administered the viaticum to himself, then 
 descended the steps and died. His body, in accord- 
 ance with his own wish, was interred at the foot of the 
 altar. I have already met here men of widely differ- 
 ent views on religion, but with all, without exception, 
 the memory of this just man is held in benediction. I 
 cannot express how happy we are to possess the 
 remains of this saintly missionary! The death ot 
 Father De Seille was a great loss to the mission, 
 especially on account of the Indians, among whom he 
 had done so much good. His place could be supplied 
 only by Father .Petit. I knew Father Petit, the 
 worthy apostle of the Indians, only through chance 
 meetings when traveling. But now, as I possess all 
 the books and writings which he left to the mission 
 now, that every one around me is continually speak- 
 ing of the good Father Petit, and that everything 
 here, from the altar on which I offer the Holy Sacrifice 
 to the very table on which I write these lines, reminds 
 me of dear Father Petit, I intend to make him my 
 model, and if I cannot imitate him, I shall, at least, at 
 a later date, tell you of what he has done. 
 
 "While on this subject you will permit me, dear 
 Father, to express a feeling which leaves me no rest. 
 It is simply this: Notre Dame du Lac has been 
 given to us by the Bishop only on condition that we 
 build here a college. As there is no other within five 
 hundred miles, this undertaking cannot fail of success,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 25 
 
 provided it receive assistance from our good friends in 
 France. Soon it will be greatly developed, being 
 evidently the most favorably located in the United 
 States. This college will be one of the most powerful 
 means of doing good in this country. And who knows 
 but God has prepared for us here, as at St. Peter's, 
 some good and devoted novices? Finally, dear Father, 
 you may well believe that this branch of your family 
 is destined to grow and extend itself under the protec- 
 tion of Our Lady of the Lake and St. Joseph. At 
 least such is my firm conviction; time will tell whether 
 I am mistaken or not. ' ' 
 
 To another he writes about the same time: " May 
 God be blessed for the many consolations He has 
 given me, in the midst of my new flock, at Notre Dame 
 du Lac, where, before I came, there had been no 
 pastor except the missionary from Chicago, 86 miles 
 from here. I have not yet seen my poor Indians; they 
 have gone hunting, not being aware of our arrival. 
 .... Their return is fixed for the 6th of January, 
 and then I shall undertake to give them a retreat with 
 
 the aid of an interpreter I am tempted 
 
 to complain, dear friend, that Our Lord sends me no 
 other suffering except to see my dear children suffer 
 around me, without usually the power to assist them. 
 Lately, one of our good brothers had his foot frozen, 
 and another one of his toes; and I had just fifty cents, 
 sufficient, perhaps, to permit me to show that I was 
 not altogether insensible to their sufferings. But, as 
 each one understands his mission, all are happy and 
 contented. See herein what grace can do! We have 
 at present but one bed, and they insist that I should 
 take it. They themselves sleep on the floor, just as
 
 26 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 they did for three weeks at St. Peter's. To-morrow I 
 shall give up my room to Brother Marie, to be used 
 for his shop. Assuredly, we are far from complaining 
 of the poverty of our lodgings. God knows that we 
 think little of it, and if we have desired as we do in- 
 deed desire to build a large and more convenient house, 
 it is solely that we may be able to accomplish some of 
 the immense good that we are called upon to do. 
 Sometimes, when I think of the good that can be done 
 throughout this country had we a college conducted 
 according to Catholic principles, my desire to erect 
 such a building torments me and disturbs my rest; 
 but, at other times, when I consider that we have 
 hardly the third part of the funds necessary for such 
 an undertaking, I try to convince myself that God 
 does not will it, or else that He has reserved for Him- 
 self to supply, in His own good time, the means of 
 building the college. ' ' 
 
 This was surely the faith and resignation of the 
 saints; the faith that would move mountains, and 
 the resignation that could say, Thy will, not mine, be 
 done! 
 
 III. CONSECRATION TO THE MOTHER OF GOD. 
 
 A few years later, in writing of those first impres- 
 sions, Father Sorin said: "Nevertheless, this first 
 arrival on the spot, now called by the blessed name ot 
 Notre Dame du Lac, however severe upon human 
 delicacy, made upon the newcomers an impression 
 which time will never obliterate. Wearied though 
 they were, and intensely cold as was the atmosphere, 
 they would not retire before contemplating again and 
 again, and from every point around the lakes, the new
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 27 
 
 scenery now before them. A deep and unspotted 
 covering of snow was then spread over land and water, 
 and forcibly brought to their minds the spotless 
 Virgin, who seemed already to have taken possession 
 of these premises, and to claim the homage, not alone 
 of the site itself, but also of every human soul that 
 should ever breathe upon it. How readily and thank- 
 fully this auspicious thought was to be received by 
 these poor missionaries, whose chief hope was in the 
 protection of Mary, and whose paramount object was 
 to procure, after God's glory, that of his Divine 
 Mother, will be easily understood. I shall tell you 
 now what I have never said before. At that moment, 
 one most memorable to me, a special consecration was 
 made to the blessed Mother of Jesus, not only of the 
 land that was to be called by her very name, but also 
 of the institution that was to be founded there; a 
 humble offering was presented to her of its modest 
 origin and its destiny, of its future trials and labors, 
 its successes and its joys. With my Brothers and 
 myself, I presented to the blessed Virgin all those 
 generous souls whom Heaven should be pleased to 
 call around me on this spot, or who should come after 
 me. 
 
 From that moment I remember not a single in- 
 stance of a serious doubt in my mind as to the final 
 result of our exertions, unless, by our unfaithfulness, 
 we should change the mercy from above into anger; 
 and upon this consecration, which I thought accepted, 
 I have rested ever since, firm and unshaken, as one 
 surrounded on all sides by the furious waves of a 
 stormy sea, but who feels himself planted immovably 
 upon the moveless rock."
 
 28 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 IV. IT IS HOI,Y GROUND. 
 
 This ground thus consecrated by the man of God 
 had indeed, as he himself joyously announced, been, 
 even long ere his advent, marked as holy ground. 
 Many years afterwards, when a great calamity seemed 
 to have fallen upon Notre Dame, and strong men were 
 seeking for help in the recollection of the holiness that 
 had so often marked the St. Joseph Valley, the follow- 
 ing words were written: 
 
 "We are living on historic, nay, on holy ground. 
 Not more than a mile from Notre Dame, now over two 
 hundred years ago, the apostolic Marquette crossed 
 Portage Prairie from the Kaukakee, and embarked on 
 the St. Joseph on that last sad voyage a little before 
 his death. Perhaps on this very spot La Salle wan- 
 dered about the woods seeking to return to his com- 
 panions on the St. Joseph river, on that night of which 
 Parkman makes mention, when the intrepid discoverer 
 lost his way in the forest. 
 
 ' ' After a time we have indications, more or less ob- 
 scure, of the presence of the indefatigable French mis- 
 sionaries. It is known that the venerable Allouez 
 labored in this region, and even on the shores of these 
 very lakes; and many missionaries of whom no record 
 remains undoubtedly spent a part of their time on these 
 grounds, by the winding St. Joseph and the crystal 
 twin lakes, reclaiming the rude barbarians. Down the 
 river a few miles, near the site of the old battle-ground, 
 on a bluff overlooking the valley and the river, stands 
 a huge wooden cross marking the resting-place of one 
 of those saintly men who gave up his life for the red 
 man. The labor was not unblessed, and ' 'St. Mary of 
 the l,akes M (Ste. Marie des Lacs), the title given Notre
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 29 
 
 Dame by the early missionaries, became the center of 
 a Christian wilderness, extending over a large part of 
 Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan. The bap- 
 tismal registers of those early churches are still pre- 
 served at Notre Dame; and a mile southwest of here a 
 memorial cross has been erected to commemorate the 
 ancient burial ground of the Christian Indians. The 
 bodies of two of the latest -of those early evangelists, 
 Father De Seille and Father Petit, now rest in the 
 Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Father De 
 Seille died here alone at the altar of his log church, 
 where he had dragged himself to partake of the divine 
 banquet ere his departure. The venerable Father 
 Neyron, still living here (1879), but then pastor at New 
 Albany, on the Ohio river, was sent for to prepare 
 Father De Seille for death, and started immediately, 
 on horseback; but before he had traversed the length 
 of the state, Father De Seille lay already three weeks 
 dead. Father Petit died beyond the Mississippi, 
 where he had followed his 'dear Indians,' on their 
 removal from here by the government. His body was 
 afterwards brought back by Father Sorin and now rests 
 beside that of Father De Seille, his predecessor, and 
 also that of his successor, Father Cointet, who, except 
 Father Sorin himself, was the last of those Indian mis- 
 sionaries. 
 
 "It is little wonder, therefore, that when Father 
 Badin, 'the proto-priest of America, ' first came amongst 
 these Christian Indians and found himself upon the 
 banks of a river named after St. Joseph, and by the twin 
 lakes of St. Mary and St. Joseph, he should have felt 
 inspired to secure the beautiful and sacred spot ' as the 
 site of a future Catholic College,' as he expressed it.
 
 30 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 " It would seem, indeed, when we strive to gather 
 up the scattered threads of our local history, that 
 Notre Dame was pointed out from the beginning by the 
 hand of God for great things, and it behooves us to 
 guard well and foster the sacred inheritance which has 
 been left to us. It has descended to us from the saints. 
 From the November day, now nearly forty years ago, 
 when Father Sorin first stood upon these grounds and 
 looked upon the snow-covered landscape an emblem 
 of virginal purity, as it seemed to him even to the 
 present hour, there have never wanted earnest souls 
 who have looked upon the ground as the consecrated 
 abode of religion and learning." 
 
 V. THE CHRISTIAN INDIANS. 
 
 That the unheralded labors of those simple and self- 
 forgetting missionaries were rewarded by a blessed har- 
 vest, we may know from the fact that almost all the 
 Indians of Northern Indiana became devoted believers 
 in Christ, loving as their teachers and fathers, the faith- 
 ful priests who spent their lives in the obscurity of the 
 wilderness that they might bring Christianity and civ- 
 ilization to the children of the forests. 
 
 In Nevin's "Black Robes, or sketches of Missions 
 and Ministers in the Wilderness and on the Border," 
 it is said that, "The first attempt &t the erection of a 
 mission in Southern Michigan, according to the testi- 
 mony of the few of the tribe of the Pottawattomies 
 still to be found on the spot was made, perhaps, as 
 early as 1675. The successful achievement of the 
 project was accomplished in 1680. Father Allouez, 
 in that year, attended by Dablon, after having coasted 
 L,ake Michigan from Green Bay, entered the St.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 31 
 
 Joseph river, so called in honor of the patron, saint of 
 Canada, and making advance against its tide, pro- 
 ceeded, until some twenty-five miles (fifty by the 
 river) from its mouth, he reached the locality now the 
 seat of the inviting town of Niles. About half a mile 
 up stream from the heart of the town a narrow belt 
 of lowland lying between it and the river rises a 
 semi-circular bluff, at the base of which, and through 
 the soil of the marshy level, runs a brook which emp- 
 ties its slender contribution of supply into the St. 
 Joseph. On this bluff, up till within twenty-five 
 years since, if not now, the traces were plainly distin- 
 guishable of a fortification, the cross planted at the 
 time of its construction, and still to be seen, in the 
 rear of it, indicating by whom, and for what use it was 
 built. Here, conveniently established between an en- 
 campment of Miamis on one side of the river, and three 
 several settlements one at Pokagan, a second on the 
 shores of what are now known as the Notre Dame 
 Lakes, and the third and principal one, close by the 
 fort of the Pottawattomies on the other, Allouez built 
 a chapel (a brewery occupies the site now), and near 
 by a log cabin for his own accommodation. His labors 
 were carried on successfully, and without the occur- 
 rence of any extraordinary event to invest them with 
 special interest. After a faithful service of several 
 years, he died in the summer of 1 690. His ashes repose 
 in the graveyard of the mission at Niles. The estab- 
 lishment was kept up, part of the time under the min- 
 istry of Chardon, ' a man wonderful in the gift of 
 tongues, speaking fluently nearly all of the Indian 
 languages of the Northwest, ' until 1759. In that year 
 the French garrison at Fort St. Joseph was attacked
 
 32 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 by a party of English soldiers, the engagement result- 
 ing, after a fierce contest, in the defeat of the French. 
 The survivors of the garrison, including the priests, 
 were carried away prisoners to Quebec. The mission, 
 thus violently dissolved, was not reorganized for nearly 
 a hundred years. In 1830, Father Stephen T. Badin 
 pitched his tent in the vicinity, revived the faith 
 among the Pottawattomies, built a chapel on the little 
 St. Mary's lake, near South Bend, bought a section of 
 land, which, conveyed to the Bishop of Vincennes, 
 through him was dedicated in the interests of educa- 
 tion to the church, and is now the seat of that notable 
 institution of learning, the university of Notre 
 Dame." 
 
 During the sad period from the destruction of the 
 missions, in 1759, until the arrival of Father Badin, in 
 1830, although but an occasional missionary visited 
 them, nevertheless the poor Indians preserved the 
 memory of their faithful Black Robes and their belief 
 in the Christian religion. The poor chapels of logs 
 and the various articles of the sacred service of the 
 church were, in numerous places, guarded by the 
 bereaved Christains, and often and often they made 
 touching appeals for priests to instruct their children 
 in the faith of their fathers. 
 
 One of those earnest supplications has been pre- 
 served to us in the words of the great Pottawattomie 
 chief, Pokagan, ancestor of the present chief of the 
 same name, whose eloquent speech at the World's 
 Fair in Chicago in 1893 i n vindication of his people 
 attracted so wide attention. 
 
 In 1830 Pokagan, at the head of a deputation of 
 Pottawattomies, visited Detroit, then the residence of
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 33 
 
 the distinguished Father Gabriel Richard, Vicar-Gen- 
 eral of the Bishop of Cincinnati. Father Richard had 
 then been for thirty -five years a missionary at this 
 point, having charge of the missions throughout Mich- 
 igan and west to the Mississippi river. This remark- 
 able man, who may be considered the Apostle of 
 Michigan, had won the love and respect not only ot 
 the Indian and French Catholics of this vast region, 
 but was looked upon by all the people as a wise and 
 patriotic citizen, the mainstay of civilization in the new 
 territory, then recently acquired by the Union from 
 Great Britain. Father Richard had been elected to 
 Congress in 1823, being perhaps the only Catholic 
 priest who was ever thus honored by the American 
 people. There he won the respect and esteem of all 
 his fellow-members and of the other officials of the 
 government. Henry Clay WPS his particular friend. 
 After his service in Congress he returned to his mis- 
 sion at Detroit, where he continued his labors until 
 his death in 1832. 
 
 The speech of Pokagan to Father Richard asking 
 for the re-establishment of the missions among the 
 Pottawattomies is given to us as follows : ' ' My 
 Father, I come again to implore you to send us a 
 Black Robe to instruct us in the Word of God. If 
 you have no care for us old men, at least have pity on 
 our poor children, who are growing up as we have 
 lived, in ignorance and vice. . . . We still pre- 
 serve the manner of prayer as taught to our ancestors 
 by the Black Robe who formerly resided at St. Joseph. 
 Morning and evening, with my wife and children, we 
 pray together before the crucifix. Sunday we pray 
 together oftener. On Fridays we fast until evening,
 
 34 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 men, women and children, according to the traditions 
 handed down by our fathers and mothers, for we our- 
 selves have never seen a Black Robe at St. Joseph. 
 Listen to the prayers which he taught to them and see 
 if I have not learned them correctly." And thereupon 
 the chief fell upon his knees, made the sign of the 
 cross and recited in his own language the Lord's 
 Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles' Creed and the 
 Ten Commandments. 
 
 The result of these appeals was that Father Richard 
 secured the coming of Father Badin from the missions 
 of Kentucky to look after the abandoned Christians of 
 the St. Joseph, extending his labors over Northern 
 Indiana and Southern Michigan. 
 
 It seems fitting that these missions, destined to pre- 
 pare the way for this great Catholic university, should 
 have been revived by the renowned Stephen Theodore 
 Badin. Father Badin was ordained at Baltimore May 
 23, 1793, by Archbishop Carroll, being the first priest 
 ordained within the United States. Notre Dame thus 
 traces her spiritual lineage through the proto-priest of 
 America to the first of American bishops, to the seat 
 of the American primacy at Baltimore and the original 
 Catholic colony of Maryland. Father Badin re-estab- 
 lished the mission at St. Mary of the Lakes, Ste. Marie 
 des Lacs, as it -was called, building the little log 
 chapel which Father Sorin found still on the spot on 
 his arrival. 
 
 So pleased was Father Badin with the beauty of the 
 location, undoubtedly also influenced by a divine in- 
 spiration, that he purchased from the United States 
 Government the section of land containing the two little 
 lakes of St. Mary and St. Joseph, intending, as he said,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 35 
 
 that this should be the site of a great university. The 
 hand of Providence was in this. The work of the holy 
 missionaries, from the days when Marquette and La 
 Salle moved upon the waters of the St. Joseph and 
 over the portage from the Kankakee, was to be con- 
 tinued. Their labors were to be blessed, not only in 
 the multitude of Indian souls which they had led to 
 God, but even more, in the untold multitudes who 
 have since and shall yet go hence to bless the world 
 and to be themselves blessed forever with those 
 saintly confessors in the presence of him who is him- 
 self the reward of those who toil single-hearted and 
 unknown, but for his glory and the welfare of their 
 fellow- men. 
 
 Under Father Badin, and under his successor, Father 
 Louis De Seille, the saintly Belgian missionary, who 
 succeeded him, about 1832, and whose heroic death at 
 the altar we have related, the missions flourished won- 
 derfully; or, rather, they revived; for, as we have seen, 
 this had been a Christian wilderness a hundred and 
 fifty years previous to this time, even from the days of 
 Allouez. 
 
 On the southern shores of Lake Michigan, and to 
 the east and west, as late as 1835, multitudes of red 
 men, many of them savages only in name, who had 
 accepted Christianity, and the civilization which grows 
 out of it, continued to dwell. But the government 
 had determined that all the Indians, civilized and sav- 
 age, should be gathered on a territory of their own, to 
 the west of the Mississippi. By the end of 1836, some 
 by treaty and others by force, had abandoned the hunt- 
 ing grounds so dear to them, and taken up their abode 
 in the Indian territory.
 
 36 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 The Pottawattomies, however, still lingered in their 
 ancient habitations. Many of them, as we have seen, 
 were Christians; they were attached to the soil where 
 they and their fathers had heard the glad tidings of 
 salvation; and they trembled at the prospects of a 
 removal to a distant and strange land. But their hopes 
 were vain. In the spring of 1838 came the order 
 which to them was as a decree of banishment from al} 
 they held dearest in life their home and their religion. 
 This last misery, however, was to be spared them. 
 They had for their priest then Father Benjamin Mary 
 Petit, the youthful Successor of Father De Seille; and 
 he determined to accompany "his dear Indians" to the 
 far west. 
 
 Father Petit was a young lawyer of Rennes, France, 
 when, in 1835, at the age of twenty-four years, he felt 
 himself called to a religious life, and sailed for America, 
 where he placed himself under the charge of the Rt. 
 Rev. Gabriel Brute", the saintly bishop of Vincennes. 
 On the day of his ordination, October 14, 1837, ne 
 wrote to his mother: "I am now a priest . . . 
 My- hand is now consecrated to God. . . . How 
 my lips trembled this morning at my first mass. . . 
 Within two days I start hence all alone on a journey 
 of three hundred miles and yet not alone, for I shall 
 journey in company with my God, whom I shall carry 
 on my bosom day and night, and shall convey with me 
 the instruments of the great sacrifice, halting from time 
 to time in the depths of the forest, and converting the 
 hut of some poor Catholic into the palace of the King oi 
 Glory. My heart is so light, so happy, so contented, 
 that I am a wonder to myself. From mass to mass, to 
 go forward even to heaven! You recollect that I often
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC, 37 
 
 said that I was born happy. I can say the same still. 
 I had always desired a mission amongst the savages; 
 there is but one such in Indiana, and it is I whom the 
 Pottawattomies will call their ' Father Black Robe'. " 
 
 And well did this young priest deserve the appella- 
 tion! It is thus he describes his first visit to his 
 beloved Indians: "I remained three weeks among 
 them, and our time was spent as follows: At sunrise 
 the first peal was rung; then might you see the savages 
 moving along the paths of the forest and the borders 
 of the lakes. When they were assembled the second 
 peal was rung. The catechist then, in an animated 
 manner, gave the substance of the sermon preached 
 the evening before; a chapter of the catechism was 
 read and morning prayers were recited. I then said 
 mass, the congregation singing hymns the while; after 
 which I preached, my sermon being translated as I pro- 
 ceeded by a respectable French lady, seventy-two years 
 old, who has devoted herself to the missions in the 
 capacity of interpreter. The sermon was followed by 
 an Our Father and a Hail Mary; after which the con- 
 gregation sang a hymn to Our I,ady and quietly dis- 
 persed. The next thing was confessions, which lasted 
 till evening, and sometimes were resumed after supper. 
 At sunset the natives again assembled for catechism, 
 followed by an exhortation and evening prayers, which 
 finished with a hymn to Our Lady. I then gave them 
 my benediction the benediction of poor Benjamin! 
 Many practice frequent communion. I baptized eigh- 
 teen adults,and blessed nine marriages. ... I can- 
 not tell you how attached they became to me during 
 my short stay amongst them. ' We were orphans,' they 
 said to me; 'and, as it were, in darkness; but you
 
 38 A BRIEF HISTORY OP THE 
 
 came amongst us, and we live. You are to us in the 
 place of our father who is dead; we will do nothing 
 without your advice.' 'To whom shall we go when 
 you have left us?' exclaimed an old man. ' While you 
 are with us, if we are in sorrow, we come to you and 
 are comforted.' . . . Could you have witnessed 
 how, with swelling hearts, they knelt down in silence 
 around me to receive my benediction when I was depart- 
 ing, you would understand why, as I bade them fare- 
 well, I experienced the same feelings as when I left 
 Rennes; it seemed as though I were once more leaving 
 my family." 
 
 At the beginning of the year 1838, he again writes: 
 ' ' Here I am in the midst of my Indians. How I do 
 love these children of mine, and what pleasure it is to 
 me to find myself amongst them! There are now from 
 a thousand to twelve hundred Christians. I was asleep 
 on my mat the last day of the year, when toward mid- 
 night I was suddenly awakened by a discharge of fire- 
 arms. It does not take much time to get up when one 
 sleeps in ones clothes on a mat. I threw open my door, 
 and in an instant my room was filled with Indians, 
 men, women and children, who had come to wish me 
 a. happy new year. They knelt down around me to 
 ask my blessing; and then, with countenance beaming 
 with smiles, they every one shook hands with me. It 
 was a real family fete. I said a few words to them on 
 the year which was past, and on that which had just 
 commenced; and then led them to the chapel, where 
 we spent a short time in prayer. ... I love them 
 dearly. Could you see the little children, when I enter 
 a cabin, crowding around me and climbing on my 
 knees the father and mother making the sign of the
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 39 
 
 cross in pious recollection, and then coming, with a 
 confiding smile on their faces, to shake hands with me 
 you could not but love them as I do. In the even- 
 ing you might see them stooping over the fire and 
 singing hymns or repeating the catechism. I begin 
 to speak their language a little, and to understand 
 what they say to me. I am really too happy; do not 
 wish me anything better." 
 
 In the spring he was able to take up his residence 
 among his people. "I have a vast dwelling, ' ' he says, 
 "built of entire trees laid one upon another; in more 
 than one place the light may be seen through the 
 walls; my fire place is large enough to hold half a ton 
 of coal; the floor is of planks, which, not being fastened 
 together, shake under the feet like the keys of a piano 
 under the fingers of the musician. At night I have a 
 mat laid upon it; and with two blankets, one under, 
 the other over me, I sleep as well as if I lay on the most 
 luxurious bed in the world." But his journeys were 
 still long and fatiguing; sometimes he had forty or 
 sixty miles to go to visit the sick. "Perhaps," says 
 he, on one such occasion, with that simplicity so char- 
 acteristic of his order, ' 'you look upon missionaries as 
 saints; but I must confess that during all that time I 
 could scarcely say one prayer. When I had done hear- 
 ing confessions, and had said my office, I fell asleep on 
 my mat. However," he adds, "the Master to whom I 
 have wholly devoted myself is pleased to accept the 
 labor of each day as a continued sacrifice; and, when 
 offered with proper motives, such labor is an unceasing 
 prayer. ' ' 
 
 But all this while a great grief lay heavy at his 
 heart. His Indians were to be taken from him, as he
 
 40 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 thought, and the mission extirpated. From "Pictures 
 of Missionary L,ife," collected chiefly from the Annals 
 of the Propagation of the Faith, and published at 
 London, in 1858, by Barnes and I/ambert, we condense 
 the following account of this eviction; a narrative that 
 reminds one of the story of Ramona by Mrs. Helen 
 Hunt Jackson. 
 
 The government had given orders for the removal of 
 the Pottawattomies, and seemed deaf to all entreaties, 
 ' 'I shall have to level the altar and the church to the 
 ground," writes the fervent apostle, "and bury the cross 
 which overshadows their tombs, to save it from profan- 
 ation. And these Christian souls will pine away, de- 
 prived of those sacraments which they approached with 
 so much fervor, and languishing under an unknown 
 sky, where I, their father, shall be unable to follow 
 them. ' ' Fain would he have comforted himself with 
 the hope of accompanying them on their way; but the 
 Bishop, fearful of even .appearing to countenance the 
 cruel measures adopted by the civil power, withheld his 
 consent. 
 
 At last his worst fears were realized. Early in the 
 autumn the government took possession of the house in 
 which he lodged, and of the church in which the 
 natives were assembled for prayer. Some would have 
 resisted, but Father Petit exhorted them to submit. 
 He said his last mass, and then the church was 
 stripped and left desolate. Many fled to the woods, 
 others crossed over into the Canadian territory; one 
 band, the first that had embraced the faith, bought 
 lands and accepted the law of the conqueror rather than 
 be forced into exile. Once more the good priest 
 gathered his flock together; it was on the morning of
 
 ST. EDWARD S PARK. 
 
 A FAVORITE \VALK
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 41 
 
 their departure; he wept as he addressed them, and his 
 hearers wept too; they sang together for the last time, 
 that hymn to the Virgin Mother which they loved so 
 well; but their voices faltered, and few were able to 
 sing it to the end. So they parted, and, as all thought, 
 forever in this world. 
 
 A few days afterwards, the Indians, notwithstanding 
 their peaceable dispositions, were made prisoners of 
 war; they were assembled under pretence of holding a 
 conference, and, amidst a discharge of musketry, eight 
 hundred of them were put under arrest. They now 
 unanimously declared that they would not go without 
 their priest. The government invited Father Petit to 
 accompany them, but he could do nothing without his 
 Bishop's consent; and the order was given to march 
 without further delay. The Indians were driven on at 
 the point of the bayonet; many were sick; huddled 
 together in transport wagons, numbers died of heat and 
 thirst. It happened, however, that Bishop Brute" was 
 to consecrate a church in a neighboring mission on the 
 9th of September; and on the yth the Indians would be 
 encamped within a mile of the place. Two days before, 
 the Bishop entered Father Petit's room. "He lavished 
 on me," says the latter, "all the consolation which a 
 father could bestow upon a son; for myself I was as a 
 man who stirs not under a weight that threatens to 
 crush him." Together they set out for Ix>gansport, and 
 on their way learned of the sufferings of the poor 
 Indians. The news was like a dagger in the heart of 
 the young priest; but to his delight, the sainted Brute 
 gave him permission to follow the emigrants, on con' 
 dition of returning as soon as he was summoned; and 
 he hastened immediately to his post. No sooner did
 
 42 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 it get abroad that the priest was come than the whole 
 camp was in motion; the natives flocked out to meet 
 him; the whites, drawn up in file, formed a lane for 
 him to pass; they were astonished at the enthusiasm 
 of affection with which he was received, and the influ- 
 ence he exercised over these unmanageable savages. 
 1 'This man, ' ' exclaimed the officer in command, ' 'has 
 more power here than I have." On Sunday Father 
 Petit said mass in the middle of the camp under an 
 awning suspended from a lofty tree; in the afternoon 
 came the Bishop; the Indians knelt to receive his 
 blessing as he passed to the .tent; they then arranged 
 themselves in order, and, some by heart, others from 
 books, sang vespers in their native tongue. It was a 
 sight never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. 
 On the 1 6th the faithful pastor rejoined his flock. 
 He found them moving onwards, enveloped in clouds 
 of dust, and surrounded by the soldiers who hurried 
 on their march. Behind came the wagons, in which 
 were crowded together the sick, the women, and the 
 children. The scene, as described by Father Petit, 
 was one of the most mournful description; the children, 
 overcome by heat, were reduced to a wretched state of 
 languor and exhaustion. Some new-born infants he 
 baptized. "Happy Christmas," he exclaims, "who 
 pass in peace from this land of exile to the mansions 
 of bliss!" By this time the General had begun to 
 understand something of Father Petit' s worth, and 
 treated him with marked respect. The chiefs, who 
 had hitherto been treated as prisoners of war, were 
 released at the priest's request, and took their place 
 with the rest of the tribe. First went the flag of the 
 United States, borne by a dragoon; after which came
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 43 
 
 the baggage; then the vehicle occupied by the native 
 chiefs. Next followed the main body, of the emigrants, 
 men, women and children, mounted on horses, march- 
 ing in file after Indian fashion, while all along the 
 flanks of the multitude might be seen dragoons and 
 volunteers urging on unwilling stragglers, often with 
 the most violent words and gestures. The sick were 
 in their wagons, under an awning of canvas, which, 
 however, far from protecting them from the stiffling 
 heat and dust, only deprived them of air; the interior 
 was like an oven and many consequently died. Six 
 miles from Danville there was a halt for two days; and 
 each morning Father Petit said mass in the midst of 
 his people; he gave the viaticum to the dying and bap- 
 tized some. "When we quitted the spot," he says, 
 "we left six graves under the shadow of the cross. " 
 Order had been so thoroughly restored through the 
 presence of the priest, that the troops now retired, and 
 Father Petit was left with the civil authorities to con- 
 duct the emigrants to their destination. 
 
 We will not pursue the pathetic narrative over the 
 vast prairies of Illinois and Iowa. Suffice it to say 
 that the march of the Indians was henceforth as a 
 Christian pilgrimage, except when they stopped for an 
 hour to bury their dead. A day's journey from the 
 Osages river, the place allotted for their settlement, 
 sixty miles beyond the western line of Missouri, they 
 met Father Hoeken, of the Society of Jesus, who had 
 been appointed to take charge of the Pottawattomies 
 in their new home. Into his hands Father Petit re- 
 signed his charge, and turned back to retrace his way 
 to his Bishop. But nature was exhausted and his 
 task being accomplished the reaction set in from which
 
 44 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 he was not to recover. He had fever on the way out, 
 but recovered sufficiently to proceed with his charge. 
 Now, however, he grew worse rapidly and could come 
 no further than St. Louis. There, notwithstanding all 
 that could be done for him, he departed to receive his 
 reward. On the loth day of February, 1839, "with a 
 smile on his lips and his eyes on the crucifix," he went 
 to "the Master to whom," as he himself had said, "I 
 have wholly devoted myself;" to that Master who has 
 said: "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man 
 lay down his life for his friends. ' ' He had died for his 
 dear Christian Indians. 
 
 We need not wonder, therefore, that Father Sorin, 
 burning as he was with admiration for the heroic 
 martyr missionary who was his immediate predecessor, 
 should desire that the body of that young priest should 
 be placed at rest beneath the noble church built on the 
 spot made holy by his labors; or that Father Sorin 
 should himself, in 1856, have gone to St. Louis and 
 brought the sacred remains to Notre Dame and laid 
 them beside those of Father De Seille. Surely those 
 two guardian spirits, with the numberless white souls 
 led by them to Christ, will forever ask the same blessed 
 Lord to continue his blessing upon the spot made by 
 them and their predecessors, holy ground. 
 
 VI. EARLY DAYS AT NOTRE DAME- 
 
 The winter of 1842-43 was one of the severest in 
 our history. On his arrival, November 26, 1842, as 
 we have seen, Father Sorin and his little band found 
 the lakes already frozen over, while a mantle of snow 
 covered the whole region, land and lake alike. It was 
 beautiful, but of that severe beauty which chastens
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 45 
 
 the heart and exalts the imagination, rather than that 
 which pleases the fancy and intoxicates the senses. 
 In an old record of cold winters in this country, which 
 dates back to 1607, that winter when Notre Dame was 
 founded is named as one of the coldest. Snow was 
 fifteen inches deep as far south as Georgia. 
 
 But there was work to be done. Since the death of 
 Father Petit there had been no missionary stationed 
 here and the remnant of the Indians, about two hun- 
 dred in number, with the scattered white Catholics, 
 needed and received the first attention. On the return 
 of the Indians from their annual hunt, they were over- 
 joyed to find another Black Robe ready to receive 
 them and to give again to them and to their children 
 the consolations of religion, to re -kindle in their hearts 
 the faith of Marquette, of Allouez, of Badin, of De 
 Seille, and of Petit. The distinguished Italian artist, 
 LrUigi Gregori, who long resided at Notre Dame, and 
 of whose work here we shall have more to say farther 
 on, has perpetuated in a beautiful painting the first 
 meeting of the young priest with his forest children 
 near the little log chapel beside St. Mary's lake. 
 
 Even to the present day, in this part of Indiana and 
 in southern Michigan, descendants of those dusky 
 Indians remain with us. Their parish here has been 
 the neighboring one of St. Joseph's in what was for- 
 merly Lowell, but now a part of the city of South 
 Bend. In this little church, persons whose heads are 
 not yet silvered have often seen a living exemplifica- 
 tion of that Universal Church, which knows neither 
 race nor color, neither rich nor poor, neither lofty nor 
 lowly, but only our common humanity as brethren in 
 Christ. Even as it is related of Chief Justice Taney,
 
 46 A BRIEF HISTOR Y OF THE 
 
 who was often seen at the communion table, kneeling, 
 as it might chance, beside some poor colored Catholic 
 of the congregation; so here, at the altar rail of St. 
 Joseph's knelt as equals, as Christians, to receive the 
 Bread of L,ife, whites, and Indians, and negroes; child- 
 ren of New and Old England; of Virginia and France; 
 of Ireland and Germany; of Italy and Belgium. There, 
 at least, the poor Pottawattomie, Chippewa, or Miami, 
 the meek Ethiopian, and the ruling Caucasian, found 
 themselves as brothers in the one Mother Church. 
 
 Next to the spiritual care of the community and 
 that of the surrounding region, it became necessary to 
 prepare for the clearing up of the land and the erec- 
 tion of necessary buildings. Ten acres beside the 
 lake had been cultivated for many years, but succes- 
 sive crops had exhausted the light soil. The remain- 
 der of the land was virgin forest, with the exception 
 or eighty or ninety acres of prairie or marsh ground, 
 the center of which was occupied by the two charming 
 sheets of water. The beds of these lakes were about 
 twenty -five feet deep. The banks contained an inex- 
 haustible supply of marl, from which lime and cement of 
 the best quality are made. The soil of the upland, with- 
 out being rich, is suitable for the successful cultivation 
 of all grains, vegetables and fruits. It is a sand loam. 
 
 The buildings already on the ground were the log 
 cabin erected by Father Badin, 24x40 feet, the ground 
 floor of which answered as a room for the priest, and 
 the story above for a chapel. In addition to this there 
 had been added a few years previously a little frame 
 building of two stories, somewhat more habitable, in 
 which resided a half breed Indian with his family, 
 who acted as interpreter when necessary.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 47 
 
 There were at that time around this poor little sanc- 
 tuary, the only one in Northern Indiana, as we learn 
 from the " Chronicles of Notre Dame," about twenty 
 Catholic families, scattered within a radius of six 
 miles. A mile and a half to the south was South 
 Bend, then a village of about one thousand inhabitants. 
 
 This town was so named from its situation at the 
 south bend of the St. Joseph river, a stream which 
 rises in Michigan, flows to the southwest, and then 
 returning to the north, again enters the state of Michi- 
 gan and empties into 'Lake Michigan at the old fort, 
 now the beautiful city of St. Joseph. Lake Michigan 
 lies northwest of Notre Dame, and about thirty miles 
 distant. 
 
 The former boundary line between Indiana and 
 Michigan, as originally indicated in the ordinance ot 
 1787, was " an east and west line drawn through the 
 southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan." This 
 line runs several miles south of Notre Dame and con- 
 sequently this territory, including the whole of the 
 St. Joseph river, together with the city of South Bend 
 and the other flourishing towns and cities upon the 
 St. Joseph, was formerly within the limits of the state 
 of Michigan. Following the same line to the west and 
 to the east, Chicago would be within the state of Wis- 
 consin and Toledo within that of Michigan. After 
 many disputes, amounting at one time to almost open 
 war between Ohio and Michigan, the rich Upper Pen- 
 insula was given to Michigan, and the southern boun- 
 daries were fixed as we have them now, leaving Notre 
 Dame about four miles south of the Michigan line. 
 
 Above South Bend, on the river, were the St. Joseph 
 Iron Works, a village of about one thousand inhabi-
 
 48 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 tants since known as the flourishing town of Misha- 
 waka. The name of Iron Works was given to the place 
 on account of the industry based upon the manufacture 
 of iron from the bog or surface iron ore found near the 
 town; and it was called Mishawaka from the great 
 rapids in the river, which gave to the place its excel- 
 lent water power. Six miles below Notre Dame, also 
 upon the river, and within the state of Michigan, was 
 the village of Bertrand, named from a noted French 
 trader. It was formerly a flourishing place, being at 
 the junction of the stage line to Chicago and the St. 
 Joseph river, over both of which the commerce of this 
 region was to a large extent carried before the Michi- 
 gan Central railroad was extended through Niles, and 
 the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern through South 
 Bend. But Bertrand, located half way between those 
 two towns, soon languished after their growth began, 
 until now the town has about disappeared. 
 
 The only Catholic church in any of these towns was 
 the little brick one still standing on the site of Ber- 
 trand ; but even on the arrival of Father Sorin the 
 Catholics of all the surrounding country had become 
 accustomed to look upon St. Mary of the Lakes, or the 
 Lake as it was generally called, as the center of 
 Catholicity. Here accordingly they came, much to 
 the edification of the new community, to make the 
 retreat of the jubilee during that first winter. The 
 cold was intense, yet the exercises were regularly 
 attended. 
 
 For two years there had been only rare visits by a 
 priest from Chicago- The Catholic religion was con- 
 sequently very little known in all this part of the dio- 
 cese. The few ceremonies that could be carried out,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 49 
 
 being necessarily devoid of all solemnity, could have 
 hardly any other effect in the eyes of the public than 
 to give rise to injurious and sarcastic remarks against 
 Catholicity. At Mishawaka, as well as at South Bend 
 and Niles, as soon as it was known that Father Sorin 
 and his Brothers intended to built a college and novi- 
 tiate, there was much objection and even alarm mani- 
 fested. The number of priests was exaggerated from 
 one to twelve, and the seven Brothers became ' ' twenty 
 monks out at the Lake." Moreover, it was added that 
 the Pope of Rome had already sent Father Sorin 
 $90,000, and would soon send an additional $10,000 to 
 make the even number. If there were not a possible 
 element of danger in this wild talk, it must have 
 seemed rather amusing to the poor priest and his shiv- 
 ering Brothers who made their hard beds on the bare 
 floor where the bitter snows sifted in upon them through 
 the chinks in the walls. There was indeed nothing very 
 encouraging in this reception. From a human stand- 
 point, it might have appeared wise to retreat; but even 
 though anticipating yet greater opposition in the times 
 to come, our pious champions, who had already learned 
 how to hope even against hope, cheered one another with 
 the expectation of a future more meritorious and more 
 glorious for their holy cause. They placed all their 
 confidence in Heaven and let their neighbors talk, 
 believing that even in this life the time would come 
 when their works would vindicate them, that too in the 
 eyes of those who now looked upon them with suspi- 
 cion and distrust. 
 
 Besides Niles, Bertrand, South Bend and Misha- 
 waka, already mentioned, the priest from Notre Dame 
 attended many missions or scattered families for a great
 
 50 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 distance around, including Goshen to the east, then 
 containing two hundred inhabitants, I/eesburg, still 
 further east, Plymouth to the South, Berrien to the 
 north, and, still further, old St. Joseph at the mouth of 
 the river; also Constantine, Pawpaw, and other localities 
 east and north, including Kalamazoo, then a place of 
 twelve or fifteen hundred inhabitants. These were the 
 missions which Father Sorin, and afterwards Father 
 Cointet, Father Granger and other priests from Notre 
 Dame attended for many years.
 
 III. 
 
 BEGINNINGS. 
 
 I. NEW BUILDINGS. 
 
 The total amount of money to the credit of the 
 young community on their arrival at Notre Dame, in- 
 cluding money collected by the Bishop and still in his 
 hands, and a small amount sent from Europe, was less 
 than $1,500. With this, aided by their own labors 
 and what help they might obtain from the people of 
 the neighborhood, they made their plans for the col- 
 lege, church and novitiate, all of which seemed abso- 
 lutely necessary, even for the purpose of making a 
 beginning. 
 
 The college must be done, in order to hold the land; 
 and accordingly that was first considered. The plan 
 of this edifice had been prepared at St. Peter's before 
 leaving their mission. It called for a brick building 
 in the shape of a double hammer, or letter H, 4ox 160 ft. , 
 and four-and-a-half stories high. The Bishop's archi- 
 tect, who had made the plans, also made and sent in 
 his bid for the work. As all had been done under 
 direction of the Bishop the bid was accepted without 
 long deliberation. Sixty thousand feet of lumber, and 
 two hundred and fifty thousand brick and the necessary 
 
 lime, were engaged for the following spring. 
 
 51
 
 52 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 While preparations were thus made to carry out the 
 contract with the Bishop, it was felt that the most 
 urgent present need was the building of a church large 
 enough to receive the people and the community itself. 
 Accordingly an appeal was made early in December, 
 1842, to assist in putting up a log church of larger 
 dimensions than the little one heretofore used. The 
 people could not give money, but they gave their 
 labor. Trees were cut down, and logs cut and hauled 
 to a convenient place, higher up than the old chapel; 
 and there a log church 20x46 was erected. It took 
 two hundred dollars out of the little treasury to finish 
 this woodland temple which was opened for divine 
 service on St. Joseph's day, March 19, 1843. The re- 
 maining members of the community at St. Peter's, 
 under the lead of Brother Vincent, had arrived before 
 this, and materially aided in the completion of the 
 new church. 
 
 Small as was this building, it was found necessary 
 to devote it to still another use. A second story was 
 carried through its entire length in order to provide a 
 residence for the sisters who were expected from 
 France during the following summer. The upper 
 room in the old log cabin that had been used as a 
 chapel by Father Badin and the other early missiona- 
 ries, was now assigned as a dormitory for the Brothers; 
 while next to the new church was erected an addition 
 for the priests. Thus before the end of the first winter 
 sufficient room was made not only for the present 
 colony, but also for the new colony that was expected 
 during the next summer; and there was also provided 
 a rude but sufficient church for the people who would 
 attend from the surrounding country. The upper
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 53 
 
 story of the new building, the church proper, was 
 indeed modest enough; a moderately tall man would 
 touch the rafters above with his head. The sacred 
 edifice served its purpose, however, and became as dear 
 to the little community as if it were built of polished 
 marble. It was to them as that blessed upper cham- 
 ber in Jerusalem. It was used as a church until 1848; 
 and was accidentally burned to the ground in 1856, 
 notwithstanding the efforts of students, professors, 
 Brothers and priests, who wished to preserve it as a 
 monument of the past. A substantial iron cross now 
 marks the location of this primitive log church. 
 
 II. THE FIRST BRICK STRUCTURE. 
 
 The end of the winter was ardently desired that work 
 might begin. Unfortunately, that year, as we have 
 said, the winter was of a length and severity almost 
 hitherto unheard of in the United States. For five 
 continuous months the snow covered the ground; 
 during which time there was not an intermission of 
 even one week in the intense cold. The consequence 
 of this was greatly to interfere with the success of the 
 enterprise, the whole country being greatly impover- 
 ished. 
 
 In addition, when the expense for brick, lumber and 
 lime, together with the daily outlay for the support of 
 the community, had been met, it was found that the 
 treasury was exhausted. Besides this, the architect, 
 unmindful of his promises or unable to fulfill them, 
 allowed the season for building the college to pass by. 
 In this state of affairs, the fear of not being able to do 
 anything towards the college this year, and the con- 
 sciousness of many other urgent needs, caused it to be
 
 54 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 determined to put up a brick building of some kind 
 that might serve in part for the uses of a college, and 
 also for a bakery. This building so erected is the 
 present square brick building at the edge of St. Mary's 
 lake, known as the Farm House. It served its colle- 
 giate purposes for nearly a year, for here the first 
 students were received and the first classes organized. 
 It may, therefore, although at first built to serve a 
 temporary purpose, be called the original college 
 building of Notre Dame. The first student was the 
 same boy who led Father Sorin through the woods 
 from South Bend to the lake, November 26, 1842. He 
 afterwards became the wealthy wagon maker of South 
 Bend, Alexis Coquillard. He was a distinguished and 
 influential man in his day; but perhaps his greatest 
 distinction is that he was the first student of the uni- 
 versity of Notre Dame. It need hardly be said that he 
 always continued a fast friend of Father Sorin, and of 
 his Alma Mater. 
 
 The first public mention we find of the institution is 
 in the Metropolitan Catholic Almanac for this year, 
 1843, where we read that a school for young men had 
 lately been opened at " Southbend, near Washington, 
 Ind., under direction of Rev. E. Sorin." South Bend 
 had not then, it seems, attained to the dignity of two 
 capiatal letters to its name; and the location of Notre 
 Dame was so little known that it was placed ' ' near 
 Washington, Ind." This last error undoubtedly came 
 from confounding Notre Dame with St. Peter's, the first 
 home of the congregation of the Holy Cross; St. 
 Peter's having been located not far from Washington, 
 the county seat of Da vies county. ' ' Mishiwakie " is 
 mentioned in the same almanac as one of the missions
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 55 
 
 attended by Father Sorin. The terms per quarter for 
 students in the college, for tuition, board, washing 
 and mending, are stated to be eighteen dollars. 
 
 III. THE SECOND COLONY. 
 
 The expected colony sailed from France on June 6, 
 1843. ^ was un ^er charge of the Rev. Father Francis 
 Cointet (Quinty), destined to be known as one of the 
 most illustrious members of the Congregation of the 
 Holy Cross. With Father Cointet were Father Man- 
 vault, Father Gouesse, one Brother and four Sisters. 
 They were a most welcome addition to the young com- 
 munity. 
 
 It is related that Father Cointet' s attention was first 
 directed to the Indian mission by accidentally hearing 
 read the first letter written by Father Sorin from Notre 
 Dame to his superiors in France. He and Father 
 Sorin had been intimate friends at the seminary where 
 they both studied, and now on hearing this apostolic 
 letter his heart was fired with religious enthusiasm. 
 He was a most valuable acquisition to the new estab- 
 lishment, being at the same time a most accomplished 
 scholar and a devoted priest; and his time was almost 
 equally divided between his classes and the missions 
 of the surrounding country. Whether unfolding the 
 beauties of Greek and Latin literature in the college, 
 or enlightening the poor Indian in his wigwam or the 
 railroad laborer in his cabin, Father Cointet was ever 
 the ardent, active priest, devoting heart, and soul, and 
 body to the best service of his fellow men. It is said, 
 as an indication of the poverty and simplicity of those 
 days, that Father Sorin and Father Cointet for a long 
 time had but one hat and one pair of boots between
 
 56 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 them; so that when Father Sorin was seen with the 
 hat it was known that Father Cointet was in the col- 
 lege; and when Father Cointet had the hat, starting 
 for the missions, it was certain that Father Sorin was 
 in his room. This good priest died of the cholera vis- 
 itation at Notre Dame, in 1854; an< ^ hj. s body rests 
 beside those of his sainted predecessors, Father De 
 Seille and Father Petit, under the Church of the Sacred 
 Heart. 
 
 IV. THE COLLEGE BEGUN. 
 
 Even before the arrival of Father Cointet with the 
 new colony, the idea of beginning the college building 
 proper had been abandoned for that year. Neither the 
 time nor the resources seemed sufficient. But, quite 
 unexpectedly, on August 24, the architect arrived from 
 Vincennes with two workmen. The question of expe- 
 diency was then earnestly debated. Everyone seemed 
 anxious that the work should begin. Father Mari- 
 vault offered to draw on his family in France for twelve 
 hundred dollars due him. Mr. Samuel Byerley, then 
 a merchant in South Bend, offered a credit for two 
 thousand dollars on his store, besides a loan of five 
 hundred dollars in money. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Byerley deserve more than a casual 
 mention in this history. Mr. Byerley had been a 
 wealthy English ship merchant. His sailing vessels 
 had traversed all the seas; and he himself had pur- 
 sued his calling in all the commercial nations of the 
 globe, and was familiar with most of the languages of 
 Europe. Mrs. Byerley was an Italian lady, a native of 
 Trieste, and a most superior woman in all the walks of 
 life. On Father Sorin's arrival in New York, in 1841, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Byerley resided in that city, and there
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 57 
 
 they made the acquaintance of the adventurous mis" 
 sionaries, receiving and entertaining them with the 
 utmost joy. Mr. Byerley at that time had recently 
 become a convert to the Catholic church, while Mrs. 
 Byerley had always been a Catholic. By a happy coin- 
 cidence Mr. and Mrs. Byerley now found themselves in 
 the infant town of South Bend, and consequently close 
 neighbors of the priest and Brothers that two years be- 
 fore they had welcomed to the new world. Chiefly in 
 consequence of the change, about this time, of the 
 commerce of the seas from sailing vessels to steam- 
 boats, Mr. Byerley had disposed of his business in the 
 east, and brought the remains of his fortune to invest 
 in this new country. They became the continued and 
 life-long friends and assistants of the community of 
 Notre Dame, and no names are treasured with more 
 affection than theirs. 
 
 Encouraged by such friends, the resolution was taken 
 to go on with the college building; and on August 28, 
 1843, th e feast of St. Augustine, the corner stone was 
 laid. From that until December 2Oth, the work was 
 pushed with vigor until the wa*lls were up and the 
 building under cover. The season favored them, No- 
 vember and December being, as they often are, in this 
 region, as balmy May, a striking contrast with the pre- 
 vious year. 
 
 The next season the inside work was completed, 
 some of the rooms being occupied early in June, 1844. 
 The building thus erected was the central part of the 
 old college edifice; and was four stories high, eighty 
 feet long and thirty-six feet in width. It was the middle 
 part, or handle, of the "double hammer," that being 
 as much of the architect's plan as they could then
 
 58 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 undertake, and even more than, strictly speaking, the 
 poverty of the community could afford. The few 
 students were then removed from the building at the 
 lake; and in August following the closing exercises of 
 the first year's school took place. 
 
 During the same year, January 15, 1844, a charter 
 was granted to the university by the legislature 
 of the state, empowering the institution to confer 
 all the degrees in literature, science and the arts, as 
 well as in the learned professions. This favor was due 
 to the spontaneous kindness of the Hon. John D. 
 Defrees, then member of the legislature for St. Joseph 
 county. Even before the walls of the college were up 
 he had come to Father Sorin and suggested the charter 
 by which the trustees of the new institution might be 
 regularly and legally incorporated. It was a great 
 and important privilege, and indeed necessary for the 
 legal existence of the university. Thus the legal and 
 actual existence of the university dates from the same 
 year, 1844. Notre Dame was fairly on her feet. 
 
 The joy of the young community at the success ot 
 their undertaking may well be imagined. They had 
 good reason to believe that their work was under the 
 direct protection of heaven. The surrounding inhabi- 
 tants, many of whom had at first looked upon them 
 with unkindly eyes, had now begun to turn towards 
 them with favor. Their heroic lives had won the 
 sympathy and help of all good men. It was looked 
 upon as a special providence that no accident had 
 occurred to any one during all their building opera- 
 tions; while several times they seemed to have escaped 
 miraculously from accidental fires. The college was 
 built to be heated by a furnace, but this proving un-
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 59 
 
 satisfactory, resort was had to wood stoves which 
 continued in use for many years until the introduction 
 of heating by steam pipes in 1863. 
 
 The utter dependence of those saintly founders upon 
 the protection of heaven, and their simple and unques- 
 tioning faith, are illustrated by the circumstance that 
 for years they were unwilling to place a lightning rod 
 upon their buildings; and, for the same cause, it was 
 not until 1848 that they consented to take out any fire 
 insurance, and then only for three thousand dollars. 
 God would protect them, they said; and God and his 
 Blessed Mother did protect them. 
 
 It is, of course, clear that the building erected left 
 the little community heavily in debt. Indeed, this 
 remained the chronic condition of the institution for 
 years. "On several occasions," as said by Prof. 
 Edwards in his interesting article on Father Sorin, 
 written for the "Catholic Family Annual " for 1895, 
 ' ' Notre Dame was on the point of being sold for debt. 
 One day the farm horses were taken out of the stables 
 and sold by a creditor. Another time there was not a 
 morsel of food in the house. The unexpected arrival 
 of a gift of money from a stranger prevented the 
 students from going to bed supperless. " 
 
 But friends seemed to arise as often as troubles 
 appeared. The trials of the feeble community were 
 often great, but they were never greater than could be 
 borne. Father Sorin was a multitude in himself, and 
 seemed as if inspired to meet every emergency. He 
 was then thirty years of age, having been born at 
 Ahulle", near I<aval, France, February 6, 1814. Those 
 who knew him then, and for many years afterwards, 
 have difficulty in considering him the same man as
 
 60 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the venerable gray haired and gray bearded patriarch 
 whom we have all known during the latter years of 
 his life, and since he has been weighed down with the 
 burdens and dignity of his high office of Superior 
 General. In 1844, Father Sorin was not only youth- 
 ful, but exceedingly quick, supple and animated in 
 appearance. He was then a well-knit, tall, spare, 
 young man, straight as one of his own Indian 
 warriors; with long black hair, trimmed with his own 
 scissors, his face thin, dark and clean shaven, and 
 with the dark piercing eyes which remained un- 
 changed to the last. Gregori, in the picture of Father 
 Sorin and his Indians, to which we have already re- 
 ferred, has fairly well preserved the appearance of the 
 young priest as he was at this time. 
 
 V- THE CHAPEL OF THE NOVITIATE. 
 
 In the same year, 1844, was completed and blessed 
 the well-beloved chapel of the Novitiate, erected upon 
 the pretty high wooded ground between the two 
 lakes, known then and even yet as "The Island." 
 The two lakes were originally surveyed as one, and 
 this spot of ground was at first a veritable island; but 
 in course of time the lake was lowered, and the waters 
 receding from the central parts left us the two crystal 
 lakes as we have them at this day. It is a question 
 whether this island or the wooded heights to the right 
 and left, bordering each of the lakes, constitute the 
 most picturesque locality about Nortre Dame. But it 
 is to the island that the preference is usually given, 
 due in part no doubt to the holy memories that cluster 
 around this sacred spot. 
 
 In the month of November, 1843, while Father
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 61 
 
 Sorin was making his retreat upon the island, he 
 found the place admirably suited for a novitiate for 
 the Brothers of the Holy Cross, and as there remained 
 but one year more, according to the contract of dona- 
 tion, to build the novitiate as well as the college, he 
 did not think he was losing his time by spending his 
 leisure hours in drawing up the plan of the novitiate 
 as it was afterwards carried out. The corner stone of 
 the chapel embraced in this plan was blessed in May, 
 1844. The work on the university, however, did not 
 permit the continuance of that on the chapel before 
 the month of November, but such was then the activity 
 of the workmen that in seven and a half days the 
 walls of the chapel were up, and eight days more 
 sufficed to build those of the novitiate. 
 
 Both chapel and novitiate were blessed on the feast 
 of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1844. On 
 the same day, the Arch Confraternity, the most 
 ancient religious society at Notre Dame, was there 
 solemnly established. 
 
 From this time until 1848, when the new church 
 was dedicated, this little sanctuary became the favor- 
 ite spot of the whole community. There they assem- 
 bled in times of distress or of rejoicing; there were pub- 
 lished the general prescriptions or regulations in 
 regard to the common welfare; there, each year, the 
 retreat of the Brothers was made, and even that of the 
 priests. It was there, too, that the pious visitors to 
 Notre Dame were in preference taken, and there the 
 Bishops of Detroit, Milwaukee and Cincinnati cele- 
 brated holy mass to the great edification of the com- 
 munity and also to their own great joy. During all this 
 time it was the best thing there was in every respect
 
 62 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 in and about the institution. Mrs. Byerley had fur- 
 nished the chapel with a magnificent carpet, and 
 Brother Mary had ornamented it with all the resources 
 of his art. It was indeed the constant object of the 
 religious attention, or, let us say, of the entire affec- 
 tions of the community.
 
 IY. 
 EARLY COLLEGE YEARS. 
 
 I. THE FIRST YEAR. 
 
 Beginning with September, 1844, the long course of 
 annual classes which have continued to this day, may 
 be said to have commenced. Father Sorin was not 
 only local superior of the community, but also presi- 
 dent of the university, positions which he held without 
 interruption until May, 1865. The first vice president 
 was the saintly and most venerated Father Alexis 
 Granger, who had arrived from France during tflat 
 year, and who had charge of the classes of philosophy 
 and theology. Other members of this early faculty 
 were Father Cointet, instructor in the ancient lan- 
 guages and literature; Father Gouesse, under whom 
 the musical department took form; Brother Gatien, 
 professor of mathematics, who also had charge of the 
 commercial department. Soon came the eloquent and 
 polished Father St. Michael, E. E. Shawe, the promo- 
 ter of rhetoric and English literature and the founder 
 of the literary societies at Notre Dame; Gardner Jones, 
 also a master of English composition and an orator ot 
 rare power; Denis O'Leary, an all around scholar, 
 whose abilities were highly appreciated and of great 
 
 value to the rising institution; Brother Basil, Father 
 
 63
 
 64 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Shortis, Professor Girac, Professor Burns and many 
 other earnest and self-sacrificing scholars, who here 
 devoted themselves with slight, or, in the case of the 
 members of the community, with no compensation, 
 but with the hope of aiding in building up here in the 
 wilderness a home of science, art and religion. 
 
 II. THE FIRST COMMENCEMENT. 
 
 It is with much gratification that we are able to give 
 here what is undoubtedly the first extended notice of 
 commencement exercises at Notre Dame. It is from 
 the pen of Mr. M. R. Keegan, who was for many 
 years a prolific and earnest correspondent of eastern 
 Catholic papers; particularly of the New York Free- 
 man's Journal, for which he wrote many valuable 
 articles over the signature of "Columbus." This re- 
 port, simple as the exercises which it commemorates, 
 was written at Bertrand, Michigan, where Mr. Keegan 
 then resided. It is dated August 7, 1845; and was 
 published in the Philadelphia Catholic Herald of Au- 
 gust 28, 1845: 
 
 "I attended the public distribution of premiums to 
 the students of the University of Notre Dame du L,ac, 
 which took place on the first of this month, and, being 
 the first thing of the kind that ever took place in this 
 section of the country, the numbers who attended the 
 novel scene were large and respectable. About 9 
 o'clock in the morning, the entire vicinity of the Uni- 
 versity was crowded with all kinds of traveling vehicles; 
 while the different departments of the University and 
 its vicinity were scrutinized and examined according 
 to each one's taste. The different apartments of the 
 University were closely examined by many strangers
 
 REV. E. SORIX, C. S. C. 
 FOUNDER AND FIRST PRESIDENT.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 65 
 
 who had never before visited the institution; all express- 
 ing themselves highly pleased with everything they 
 saw, especially the clean, airy, and spacious dormi- 
 tories of the pupils. Others ranged along the shores 
 of the adjacent lakes; while the Catholic portion, 
 especially the ladies, might be seen clustering around 
 the chapel on the island dedicated to our Lady of the 
 Lake, and entering, as it were, by stealth (for its 
 doors are not open to the public), to offer a hasty but 
 earnest prayer for the conversion of sinners, of which 
 the good Father Marivault was sure to remind them. 
 But the greatest rush was to the hall occupied by the 
 splendid museum lately purchased by the institution 
 from Dr. Cavalli, of Detroit, who had been collecting 
 it at great expense for many years. It is a splendid 
 collection of beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, antiquities, 
 etc., from the various parts of the globe. The rapid 
 changes undergone by the features of many an unso- 
 phisticated child of the west, while scanning the big 
 black bear, the gaudy and magnificent birds of para- 
 dise, the austere and imperative tribe of eagles, until 
 he arrived at the inexplicable Chinese curiosities, ex- 
 hibited the admiration and interest they felt in review- 
 ing the valuable collection. 
 
 All were deeply engaged, and apparently forgetting 
 what had brought them to the Lake, when the warlike 
 sounds of the big drum of the South Bend band was 
 heard booming through the woods. Shortly afterwards 
 the band came into view, drawn by four horses, and 
 accompanied by a number of ladies and gentlemen. 
 On their arrival the music hall was thrown open, and 
 was soon crowded to a complete jam. How many re- 
 mained outside I cannot tell, as I made sure to be
 
 66 A BR7EF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 among the "ins." As soon as all that the apartment 
 could contain were admitted, the students commenced 
 a play, which for the space of an hour kept the audi- 
 ence in a roar of laughter. After this the great work 
 of the day, the distribution of premiums, commenced. 
 This pleasing task was performed by the Rev. Father 
 Shawe, of Vincennes, who appeared several times to be 
 much interested while bestowing the coveted prize, 
 and placing the crown of distinction on the brow of the 
 delighted and victorious student. During the distrib- 
 ution many incidents occurred which drew forth the 
 warm applause of the entire audience. Out of many I 
 will relate one: Among those who received the 
 greatest number of crowns and premiums, was a little 
 fellow named Haquin, about twelve years of age, from 
 your good city of Philadelphia. His great success en- 
 listed the entire audience in his behalf; even Father 
 Shawe himself could not conceal his admiration of the 
 young and promising pupil. The boy's dress, though 
 comfortable, still denoted that he was not amongst the 
 favored children of fortune. Feeling a more than 
 ordinary interest in the little fellow, I ascertained after 
 all was over, that he is an orphan boy, and was brought 
 to the University of Notre Dame du L/ac from St. John's 
 Orphan Asylum, Philadelphia. But here he stood, 
 equal, aye, superior to the cherished sons of the rich 
 and well to do, carrying away the marks of honor and 
 distinction, which, if acquired by his wealthy competi- 
 tors, would occupy such conspicuous places; but he, 
 poor fellow, has no place for them but a small wooden 
 box, where they will be unseen and uncared for by all 
 save himself. But they will not be unless; far from it! 
 They will cheer and encourage him to greater efforts,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 67 
 
 and remind him of the unceasing care and more than 
 parental kindness which God has here provided for 
 him in the place of his natural parents. I select this 
 from many similar examples at this institution, as being 
 calculated to give a better idea than the most general 
 description, of the things being noiselessly and silently 
 done at the University of Notre Dame du I,ac." 
 
 The coming of the band from South Bend sounds 
 somewhat strangely to those who have for forty years, 
 at all commencements and on all public occasions, 
 heard the well practiced bands and orchestras by the 
 trained students of the university. But this was the 
 first commencement, and there was not yet time to 
 organize that musical department which has always 
 been so notable a feature of the educational facilities of 
 Xotre Dame. 
 
 Another circumstance related by Mr. Keegan seems 
 even still more incongruous with what we have known 
 the crowns of honor given to the successful students. 
 Crowns seem most appropriate honors when bestowed 
 upon young ladies in white on their commencement 
 day; but boys have not since, as we believe, received 
 such honors. Even the premiums, as years have gone 
 on and the university has developed, have by degrees 
 been discontinued, except for the younger students. 
 Medals and diplomas are the honors which young men 
 are taught to strive for; even as soldiers who have dis- 
 distinguished themselves for valor receive commissions 
 of promotion and medals from their approving country. 
 
 One matter, however, the writer does refer to, which 
 has been a characteristic of Notre Dame from that first 
 commencement, even to the commencement, fifty years 
 later in this year of grace, 1895. She makes no dis-
 
 68 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 tinction amongst her students, save only to honor the 
 deserving. The poor and the rich are here on a 
 perfect equality; and are distinguished only by their 
 intellect and their virtue. Indeed their Alma Mater 
 takes special delight in honoring the students of modest 
 means who make use of their golden opportunity to 
 cultivate their minds and their hearts, and thus lift 
 themselves to the plane of a noble manhood. Here is a 
 true republic of letters, where no one finds any royal 
 road to learning; but where, oftener than otherwise, the 
 poor boy passes his wealthier fellows, receives the 
 smiles of his Alma Mater, and goes forth equipped to 
 lead in the battles of life. 
 
 This feature of college life, Father Sorin always 
 encouraged. He was instinctively a believer in re- 
 publican institutions, and was perfectly at home in 
 these tendencies of the American character. Another 
 cause led to the same result: Father Sorin had a great 
 admiration for talent. He sought it everywhere, and 
 had a quick power to discern it wherever it was to be 
 found. Hence, the bright student was always a favorite 
 with him. To the clear minded, active and studious 
 young man, he always found himself closely drawn, 
 and such a one knew that in Father Sorin he had an 
 appreciative friend, without regard to the question of 
 wealth or social standing. Intellectual young men 
 have therefore always devotedly loved Notre Dame. 
 They knew that here, at least, they were appreciated 
 at their true worth. 
 
 HI. ANOTHER PICTURE OF THE EARLY DAYS. 
 
 We cannot resist giving in this place a glance at 
 scenes and persons at Notre Dame du I<ac, as they ap-
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 69 
 
 peared to another ej r e witness, a little later, in the 
 year 1845-46. This gentleman describes himself as at 
 that time ' ' a wild urchin of fifteen, ' ' who then put in 
 his first appearance as a student at Notre Dame. 
 
 Early in November, 1845, he left Detroit, then a 
 city of thirteen thousand inhabitants, for South Bend, 
 Indiana; and after a weary day's ride over the miser- 
 able strap rail that covered the Michigan Central rail- 
 road tracks, reached its then terminus, at Marshall. A 
 hundred and odd miles still remained to be traveled 
 through the backwoods of Southern Michigan and 
 Northern Indiana, which was accomplished within 
 twenty-four hours, by hard driving over primitive 
 roads. With others, driven in a rude conveyance, he 
 reached the college just as the bell rang out a merry 
 peal, and the few students gave three cheers for the 
 eclipse of the moon, which had just taken place, 
 Wednesday night, November n, 1845. A moment 
 later, all were in the college parlor, greeting the arrival 
 of the Rt. Rev. Bishop Henni, then newly appointed, 
 and since the venerable Archbishop of Milwaukee, 
 who, unknown to the lad, had been one of his fellow 
 travelers. At that meeting, also, was present the ven- 
 erable Father Badin, founder of the Indian mission at 
 Notre Dame, and former owner of the grounds, who 
 was then for a time stationed at the college. 
 
 Our youthful student found the college consisting of 
 a four-story building, 36x80, without any pretentious 
 to architectural beauty. It was surmounted by a 
 tower, upon which stood an iron cross 18 feet high. 
 In the tower was a fine clock, on the dial of which he 
 read the words, tempus fugit. The refectory was in 
 care of Brother Patrick; it contained a reading stand
 
 70 
 
 and tables, with benches for the accommodation of 
 thirty or forty boys. Next to it was the kitchen in 
 charge, very appropriately, of a Mr. Coffee. The study 
 room was furnished in the most primitive manner. 
 with desks about twelve feet long, to which were 
 attached seats without backs. Monks could not wish 
 for more penitential stools. They were evidently mod- 
 eled after those in use when comfort was a secondary 
 consideration to those in quest of knowledge. 
 
 The yard in front of the college contained about 
 half an acre, with here and there a fine oak, while 
 thence on to South Bend was a dense forest. The old 
 stage roads ran, one to the east of the college one- 
 fourth of a mile, and another, the most traveled (the 
 present Niles road), to the west, at the foot of St. 
 Mary's lake. The front yard fence was flanked by 
 two small one-story cottages, one occupied by Mr. 
 Steber as a little furnishing store; the other by the 
 good old porter, Brother Cyprian, who was the shoe- 
 maker of the community. At the rear of the college, 
 to the east, stood the Manual Labor establishment, 
 having a tailor shop under care of Brother Augustus, 
 and a printing office, under Brother Joseph. I re- 
 member well the good Brother and his two apprentices, 
 who were working hard, printing, in a most wretched 
 manner, "Mrs. Herbert and the Villagers." Still 
 a little further back, stood the carpenter shop, a log 
 building, under Brother William. To the east of it 
 stood the blacksmith shop and the gardener's house. 
 
 To the right of you, to the left of you, in front of 
 you, and behind you, reigned the primeval forest. 
 There were not thirty acres of clearance in the whole 
 section of land belonging to the college. L,akes St.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 71 
 
 Joseph and St. Mary were there, beautiful as now, but 
 with direct water communication between them. On 
 the island was being completed the Brothers' Novitiate, 
 a plain, tastefully designed, but wretchedly constructed 
 brick building. Father Weinzopflen, a worthy Ger- 
 man priest, lived on the island, acting as master of 
 novices and as confesser to the Brothers and the stu- 
 dents. I recollect him as a good, holy and zealous 
 priest, one who was truly a martyr for his faith. Down 
 by St. Mary's lake, near the present old barn, the first 
 part of which was then building, stood the old log 
 church, half of which was occupied by the Sisters of 
 the Holy Cross, who were daily watching the comple- 
 tion of a small brick building near by, which early the 
 next year became their mother-house at Notre Dame. 
 
 The professors were Fathers Sorin, Granger, Cointet, 
 and Brother Gatien, assisted by Messrs. Dooner and 
 Moses Letourneau, with old Brothers Francis and 
 Stephen as prefects. 
 
 Father Sorin, as I recollect him, was then a spare, 
 dark-complexioned man, active as a deer, with an eye 
 that searched you from top to bottom at a glance. He 
 was an excellent singer, and occasionally would play a 
 bar or two on the clarionet, whilst, to my positive 
 knowledge and experience, he was a first-class shot at 
 marbles. His faith knew no bounds; he fully believed 
 that he could convert all the surrounding people, and 
 really worked in season and out of season for that 
 great end. 
 
 Father Cointet was Father Serin's chief assistant. I 
 remember him as a rosy-faced, energetic, humble 
 priest, a ripe scholar, and a devoted religious. I have 
 seldom, if ever, met his equal in those qualities which
 
 72 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 should be the prominent characteristics of a missionary 
 priest. Father Granger had arrived the May before I 
 came, and all that I now remember of him is his sweet 
 smile, and also that his stock of English comprised 
 little more than "yes! yes," accompanied by a gentle 
 nod. God bless him! He has gained many to God by 
 that meek "yes," and that sweet smile. Brother 
 Gatien was a genius, an incomprehensible Frenchman! 
 He was capable of doing anything and everything. He 
 was at that early day the intellectual soul of the insti- 
 tution. Peace to his ashes! Mr. Gouesse, soon after 
 a worthy priest, was the musician of the house, and 
 did his best to form, from very poor material, a band of 
 music. Moses 1,'Btourneau, brother of Father I/Etour- 
 neau, was our prefect, a most diligent disciplinarian; 
 and, had his life been spared, would have been, beyond 
 doubt, foremost in the ranks of his order today. Mr. 
 Dooner taught English. 
 
 The preaching was done for us by the first priest 
 ordained in the United States, the venerable Father 
 Stephen Theodore Badin, who also taught the Catholic 
 students catechism twice a week. Father Badin never 
 kept any rule save his own, and, hence, was not a little 
 troublesome to the community. But he was venerated, 
 as he always must be, as the first priest ordained by 
 Archbishop Carroll, the primal Bishop of Baltimore, and 
 organizer of the church in the United States; venerated 
 as the apostle whose field of labors extended over Ken- 
 tucky and a great part of the northwestern territory; 
 and specially here revered as one who had revived the 
 missions of Allouez, and whose singular prescience had 
 led him to select this beautiful* spot in the wilderness 
 as the seat of a great Catholic university. This univer-
 
 RKV. ALKXIS GRAXGKR, C. S. C. 
 FIRST VICR-PRKSIDKXT.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 73 
 
 sity it was his privilege to see founded; and he was 
 even permitted to aid in advancing its early growth. 
 Though very old when I knew him, Father Badin 
 never missed his daily meditations and spiritual read- 
 ings; and well has his name gone down to posterity as 
 a model missionary. He was born at Orleans, France, 
 in 1768, the year before Napoleon, and died at Cincin- 
 nati, April 19, 1853. His life thus covered the greatest 
 period in modern history; and he was himself one of 
 the historical characters of that period. 
 
 TV. INCREASE OF STUDENTS. 
 
 As might well be understood, the list of students for 
 several years continued to be a small one. In so new 
 a country the wonder is that a college could be sup- 
 ported at all. In fact, for a time, the students came 
 from the east rather than from the west, from the older 
 states rather than from the new ones, of which latter 
 Indiana itself was one. 
 
 The first catalogue, as near as can be determined, 
 was issued in 1848. This was printed in Detroit. From 
 it we learn -that in that year the commencement exer- 
 cises took place on the fourth day of July. Among 
 the premiums awarded on that occasion was one to 
 Thomas L,afontaine, of Huntington, Indiana, son of the 
 chief of the Miamis. Students are named as from the 
 states of Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio 
 and Pennsylvania. 
 
 At the commencement, in 1849, five years after re- 
 ceiving her charter, Notre Dame graduated her first 
 student, as Bachelor of Arts, in the person of Neal H. 
 Gillespie. Mr. Gillespie, afterwards the accomplished 
 Father Gillespie, continued his studies in Rome where
 
 74 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 he was ordained a priest in 1856, after which he en- 
 tered the community of Notre Dame where he was 
 appointed the fourth vice president, succeeding Father 
 Shortis, who had received an honorary degree with 
 him in 1849. Father Gillespie became an ornatnant to 
 the faculty of Notre Dame; his fine literary tastes 
 made him the worthy successor of Father Shawe in fos- 
 tering the studies of belles lettres, rhetoric and the 
 English language and literature, Father Gillespie 
 was closely connected with many of the most distin- 
 guished families of the republic, being a first cousin of 
 James Gillespie Elaine, and also nearly related to the 
 Ewings and Shermans of Ohio. When Father Sorin 
 came to inaugurate the work of printing and publish- 
 ing at Notre Dame, he leaned with great confidence on 
 the talents of Father Gillespie. Notre Dame owes 
 very much to her first graduate. 
 
 In 1850, another catalogue, the second one, as it 
 would seem, was printed in South Bend by "S. Col- 
 fax," as appears from the title page. Mr. Colfax after- 
 wards became a distinguished man of the nation, Con- 
 gressman, Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
 and Vice- President of the United States. Both before 
 and after his great career, he was the fast friend of 
 Father Sorin and of Notre Dame, counseling, encour- 
 aging and sympathizing with the struggling enter- 
 prise. Often and often, his clear cut, bright and crisp 
 little speeches to the students, left an impression for 
 good and fired with a noble ambition the generous 
 young men that listened to him. In the prospectus 
 printed in this catalogue by Mr. Colfax, dated Janu- 
 ary i, 1850, we find mention made of the Philharmonic 
 Society and the St. Aloysius Debating Society, associ-
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 75 
 
 ations that long continued to gather into their folds 
 the musical, literary and dramatic genius of the stud- 
 ents of Notre Dame. Fifty-six students are shown in 
 this catalogue, besides thirteen students in theology. 
 Notre Dame was advancing. 
 
 V. OTHER IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 In 1844, at the same time that the college charter 
 was obtained from the Legislature through the friendly 
 offices of Mr. Defrees, that gentleman also obtained a 
 charter for the Manual Labor School, in which boys 
 are taught useful trades and at the same time receive a 
 good English education. In connection with this 
 school, and indeed as parts of it were erected the vari- 
 ous shops needed in the work of the community, car- 
 penter, cabinet, blacksmith, shoemaker, tailor, etc. 
 Boys were also taught bricklaying, gardening and 
 farming, until the hum of industry was heard on 
 every side. 
 
 We have seen in Mr. Keegan's notice of the first 
 commencement exercises that the visitors came 
 through the woods from South Bend, and that the 
 music band approaching from the town on that day was 
 heard long before it could be seen coming through the 
 forest. This condition was rapidly changed from year 
 to year by the strong arms of the industrious Brothers 
 of St. Joseph, until the trees, even to the roots, were 
 removed, and the beautiful farm as we have it now was 
 lifted to the sunlight. Only on the island and on the 
 margin of the lakes were the native groves preserved, 
 while, as if to make up in some measure for the des- 
 poiling of nature, lines of maples, evergreens and 
 other ornamental trees, were planted along the high-
 
 76 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ways and through the beautiful parks and grounds 
 about the university. The result is that nowhere per- 
 haps in all the county is there a more lovely approach 
 to noble buildings than through the finely shaded 
 avenues and parks of Notre Dame. 
 
 Indeed, as has been well said, the sense of the beau- 
 tiful, inspired by the fair surroundings, has had no 
 little to do with the success of Notre Dame as an educa- 
 tional institution. Milton complains that Cambridge 
 has no pleasant walks or soft shades, suited for the 
 haunts of the muses, but the future poet who calls 
 Notre Dame his Alma Mater will have no such com- 
 plaint to make. A lovely landscape stretches away on 
 every side as far as the eye can reach, save where it is 
 limited by the distant hills or forests. To the south, 
 not two miles off, lies the now pleasant and prosperous 
 city of South Bend, one of the chief manufacturing 
 centers of the country. The high-wooded banks of 
 the St. Joseph, one mile to the west, are crowned with 
 the picturesque buildings of St. Mary's Academy. 
 
 Between the academy and the college is St. Mary's 
 lake, while to the north, connected with it, is St. Jo- 
 seph's. In the meadow between the lakes rises the 
 island, wooded to the north, and with a sunny vine- 
 yard and shade trees on the south. On this island is 
 now situated the professed house of the community, 
 on the site of the former novitiate, and, in front, the 
 venerated chapel of our Lady of the Angels, or the 
 Portiuncula, modeled after the original of St. Francis 
 in Italy. A continuous native grove embraces both 
 lakes, with the meadow and island between. Nestled 
 within this grove, on the banks of St. Mary's lake, is 
 St. Aloysius' novitiate, now the seminary, well-
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 77 
 
 beloved of many a zealous priest who here became 
 learned in the science of the saints. In the rear of this 
 grove, but still on the banks of St. Mary's lake, is the 
 sylvan cemetery of the community, where rest from 
 their labors those who have toiled even to the close of 
 day in the Master's vineyard. On the high northern 
 shore of St. Joseph's lake rises the present stately 
 novitiate, the old missionary's home. 
 
 Perhaps no more glorious spectacle could be wit- 
 nessed than the solemn annual procession through these 
 grounds on the feast of Corpus Christi. As the rever- 
 end line of priests and people wind around St. 
 Joseph's lake, chanting the sacred office of the church, 
 it is a sight to give joy to the soul of the Christian, 
 and delight to the eye and the ear of the artist. Quite 
 another scene is presented on Commencement Day, as 
 hundreds gather on the banks of the same charming 
 lake to view the spirited contests of the boat clubs over 
 the waters. The regattas at Notre Dame attract 
 multitudes of visitors. No college in the land has a 
 finer sheet of water for boating and swimming in the 
 summer, or for skating in the winter. 
 
 But it is not only on the great days of the year, but 
 at all times, that these scenes attract the willing steps 
 of the art-loving and the religious. Softer shades or 
 more inviting walks, especially than those bordering 
 on St. Joseph's lake, neither poet nor hermit could 
 desire. Nor is it only these retired groves and lakelets 
 that minister to the love of the fair and the good; even 
 the daily recreation grounds, the college parks, the 
 gardens and the outlying farm itself, are arranged and 
 cultivated with an eye to the beautiful, as well as to 
 the useful; and it has become a current observation on
 
 78 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the part of strangers that there are no finer grounds 
 anywhere in the country than those of Notre Dame. 
 
 VI. AN ERA OF PROSPERITY. 
 
 The period of success which set in with the year 
 1845, continued uninterrupted for many years. The 
 ground was cleared and beautified. Needed buildings 
 were erected. The members of the community grew 
 in numbers and efficiency. The students increased and 
 improved from year to year. The county around was 
 prospering. South Bend, our near neighbor, passed 
 from a village to a town. Across Lake Michigan 
 Chicago was developing into a great city. 
 
 In 1851, the Lake Shore, or, as it was then called, 
 the Northern Indiana & Southern Michigan, railroad 
 was completed to and through South Bend, and soon 
 reached Chicago. This was a matter of immense 
 interest to the growing university. Formerly all 
 traffic was by the river from Lake Michigan, or by 
 stage and wagon road. Now, however, passenger 
 travel and the sending and bringing of produce was 
 greatly eased and accelerated. Students, too, were 
 enabled to come in more readily. One result of this 
 improvement in our communications with the outside 
 world was a large increase in students from the west, 
 particularly from Chicago, from which place there had 
 for a time been no students. 
 
 Since that time other steam railroads have added to 
 our facilities of communication with the outside world, 
 until to-day there enter and depart from South Bend no 
 less than five trunk lines the Lake Shore, the Michigan 
 Central, the Grand Trunk, the Vandalia, and the Indi- 
 ana, Illinois & Iowa, otherwise known as the Three I's.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 79 
 
 In 1851 also, Notre Dame was given a post office of 
 her own, a favor due to the kind interposition of 
 Henry Clay, the former friend of Father Richard, then 
 a member of the United States senate, and who had 
 become one of the greatest of American statesmen. 
 Notre Dame loves to cherish the memory of those who 
 were friends to her in the hour of need. 
 
 In 1853, so prosperous had become the university, 
 and so great the need of more room, that the two 
 wings originally designed, each forty by sixty feet, 
 were added to the original central building. The 
 "double hammer," as Father Sorin had called the 
 Vincennes' architects plan, the plan first designed at 
 old St. Peter's, was now completed; and it was felt 
 that the buildings were now sufficiently large and 
 commodious to last for a generation. 
 
 VII. A SEASON OF TROUBLE. 
 
 As if to check too exultant a feeling of success on 
 the part of the industrious and indomitable community 
 the clouds were suffered to lower over their horizon, 
 and a fearful inroad was made upon the health and 
 even the lives of the inmates. The cholera, as stated 
 by Father Gillespie, in the book of the "silver jubilee" 
 had ravaged parts of the United States, but the danger 
 seemed already passed, when, in the summer of 1854, 
 many of the community were attacked. Among the first 
 taken away was Father Cointet. His health had been 
 shaken by a residence in New Orleans, where obedi- 
 ence had placed him at the head of an orphan asylum 
 conducted by the Congregation of the Holy Cross. He 
 had returned in the spring of 1854, and his attendance 
 on the extensive missions around Notre Dame had im-
 
 80 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 proved his general health. Still he was not strong 
 enough to resist the attack of the disease, and in the 
 month of August he passed from his labors, regretted 
 by all, but by none so much as by his close friend and 
 old companion, the founder of Notre Dame. His loss, 
 humanly speaking, seemed irreparable; and, when 
 added to the loss of Father Curley, a zealous young 
 priest ordained the year before, and of some twenty 
 other members of the community, seemed to threaten 
 Notre Dame with utter destruction. 
 
 The clouds were lowering truly. In September 
 when the students returned the professors were not yet 
 recovered from the attack; for though over twenty 
 members of the community died, yet more, we might 
 say all, had been taken down by the disease, and were 
 still suffering from its effects. The college had been 
 a hospital for the sick it had to be renovated from top 
 to bottom; the work usually done in vacation time was 
 all in the hands of the few who could manage to crawl 
 around. It was indeed a severe trial to this heroic 
 little band, even more trying than had been the poverty, 
 cold, and exposure of their first winter at Notre Dame 
 du Lac. 
 
 Another source of anxiety remained, though for 
 years efforts had been made to remove it. We refer to 
 the marshy ground between the two lakelets, which, 
 in the opinion of all, was the cause of much of the 
 sickness. The property of the University did not then 
 extend to the river; and owing to a misunderstanding 
 with the owner of the land between the lakes and the 
 river, through which ran the outlet of the lakes, the 
 low ground could not be drained. To these troubles 
 we must add embarrassments in money matters, the
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 81 
 
 erection of new buildiugs having entailed a debt which 
 might have been easily met in ordinary circumstances, 
 but which now weighed heavily on the weakened com- 
 munity. But Father Sorin never lost his confidence 
 in God, never for a moment doubted the protection of 
 the Mother of the Redeemer, to whom he had on that 
 first day of his arrival dedicated these grounds, the 
 institution and the community of the Holy Cross. His 
 confidence was repaid. The summer of 1854 was the 
 dark hour before the dawn of a new and more flourish- 
 ing era for Notre Dame. The man who had so long 
 refused to sell the land between the lakes and the river, 
 or to allow the water of the lakes to be lowered through 
 the ravine entering the river, now come forward and 
 offered to sell the land on even better terms than had 
 been proposed to him. The land was bought and the 
 lakes lowered, much to the improvement of the health 
 and beauty of the establishment. Through that same 
 ravine, and all the way from the university grounds 
 to the river has been since constructed a trunk sewer; 
 and since that time Notre Dame has been one of the 
 healthiest, as it is one of the most beautiful places in 
 the world. 
 
 Another advantage obtained from this purchase, but 
 not appreciated at the time, was the procurement of 
 the beautiful high grounds on the banks of the St. 
 Joseph where St. Mary's Academy has since been 
 erected. Kind and liberal friends also came to the as- 
 sistance of the chastened congregation, amongst them 
 Mr. and Mrs. Phelan, of Lancaster, Ohio, whose names 
 will always be held in grateful recollection as two of 
 the most generous benefactors of Notre Dame. The 
 dawn of a brighter day was indeed breaking.
 
 82 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 VIII. BRIGHTER DAYS. 
 
 It was according to the original design of Father 
 Sorin that a house for the Sisters of the Holy Cross 
 should be established in connection with the university, 
 and we have seen that such an establishment was 
 actually begun. When, however, Father Sorin, in 
 compliance with the requests of many parents, pro- 
 posed to begin at Notre Dame an academy for the edu- 
 cation of young ladies, the Bishop of Vincennes made 
 strenuous objections; principally for the reason that 
 the Sisters of Providence had an academy at Terre 
 Haute, and that there would not be room for another 
 in the diocese. Time has shown that this apprehension 
 was unfounded, however it might appear at that day. 
 There has been ample room for the development of both 
 of the beautiful St. Mary's, that of the Woods and that 
 at Notre Dame. 
 
 However, yielding to the wish of his Bishop, and 
 having procured permission from the Bishop of De- 
 troit, Father Sorin concluded to fix the new school at 
 Bertrand in Michigan, six miles north of Notre Dame, 
 where an academy building was completed in 1846. A 
 little later Providence sent to Father Sorin a pious and 
 talented young lady, who was destined to be to the 
 Sisters of the Holy Cross almost what he was himself 
 to the congregation of priests and brothers. Miss Kliza 
 Maria Gillespie, sister of Father Gillespie, had left the 
 gay life of Washington City, where she had reigned as 
 a queen, in the family of her relative, Thomas Ewing, 
 then Secretary of State under the elder President Har- 
 rison, and, determining to lead a religious life, was on 
 her way to enter the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy 
 at Chicago; when she called to pay her farewell to her
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 82 
 
 reverend brother at Notre Dame. Father Sorin became 
 at once convinced that Miss Gillespie was designed by 
 Providence to take charge of his young community at 
 Bertrand ; and she was also herself finally convinced 
 that this was the will of heaven. She was accordingly 
 sent to France to make her novitiate, and in due time re- 
 ceived the veil from the hands of Father Moreau, then 
 Superior General of the Order of the Holy Cross. 
 After which she returned, and under the name of 
 Mother Angela, became Superior of the infant com- 
 munity, which at once began to prosper under her 
 direction. 
 
 In 1855 the objections of the ordinary of the diocese 
 having been removed, the academy and mother house 
 of the order was transferred to its present beautiful loca- 
 tion on the high banks of the St. Joseph, one mile 
 from Notre Dame. St. Mary's Academy has greatly 
 prospered since then, many parents finding it conve- 
 nient to send their sons to Notre Dame, and, at the same 
 time, their daughters to St. Mary's Academy. From 
 St. Mary's, as well as from Notre Dame, other schools 
 have gone out and been established in various towns 
 and cities throughout the land, from Baltimore and 
 Washington, even to the extreme west at Ogden and 
 San Francisco. 
 
 From the first there have been bells at Notre Dame, 
 but it was not until 1856 that the famous chime of 
 twenty-three bells arrived from France and were put 
 up in the belfry of the church and attached to the 
 musical cylinder, where they have since given forth 
 the sweetest melodies of Christian music. In Novem- 
 ber of that year the bells were solemnly blessed in the 
 presence of a large concourse of people. Eloquent ser-
 
 84 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 mons were delivered on the occasion by Achbishop 
 Purcell of Cincinnati and Bishop Henni of Milwaukee. 
 
 From 1856 until the erection of the grand chimes in 
 St. Joseph's Cathedral, Buffalo, New York, these 
 chimes at Notre Dame, ranging in weight from 14 to 
 1,400 Ibs., and rung by clock work, were the finest in 
 America. The ornamentation on the bells is very 
 elaborate, and finely executed. No music in the world, 
 as we believe, is more pleasing than on a sweet summer 
 evening, after all the world is hushed to rest, to 
 listen to the melody of some holy song, as the Ave 
 Maria's Stella, borne from these bells and floating over 
 the surface of the two beautiful lakes that rest almost 
 beneath the walls of the church, the sound thence 
 taken up in echoes by the forests fringing their borders, 
 and carried for miles in waves of harmony. 
 
 The position of the the chimes in the new Church of 
 the Sacret Heart is now over a hundred feet above the 
 surface of the earth. Beneath it, in the same tower, 
 swings the greatest, as it is the deepest, strongest and 
 sweetest church bell in the United States, tuned to 
 sound in harmony with, and as a part of the sweet 
 chimes above. This glorious bell weighs 1 5 , 400 pounds, 
 and its sonorous voice has been heard at a distance of 
 twenty-five miles; yet its sound, even under the church, 
 tower, is most musical to the ear, sublime though it be 
 as the artillery of heaven. 
 
 In 1857 a great joy was afforded the zealous chil- 
 dren of the congregation of the Holy Cross, whose 
 constitution and rules then received the highest sanc- 
 tion of the church, being approved by His Holiness 
 Pope Pius the IX., on the i3th of May in that year. 
 
 In 1858, a distinct mark of the great advance of the
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 85 
 
 church in the state was shown by the erection in that 
 year of the northern part of Indiana into a separate 
 diocese; when the Rt. Rev. John Henry Luers was 
 made first bishop of Fort Wayne. Soon after his 
 ordination, the new bishop, to the great delight of 
 Notre Dame and all its inmates, paid his first visit to 
 the University. 
 
 Thus was the cup of joy full again to overflowing. 
 Yet Father Sorin and his co-workers looked forward to 
 still greater things. The promise of a glorious future 
 seemed to be present in everything that was under- 
 taken. 
 
 IX. CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT. 
 
 Beauty's spirit lingers 
 
 O'er the spot I love; 
 Well I know that angel fingers 
 
 Paint the blue above; 
 Well I know they listen 
 
 To the vesper song, 
 Where the silent planets glisten, 
 
 As they float along: 
 Listen to the chiming 
 
 Praises of the Lamb, 
 As they tremble from the rhyming 
 
 Bells of Notre Dame. 
 
 Swell ye sounds, caressing, 
 
 On the midnight air; 
 All this silence, bathed in blessing, 
 
 Wake to God and prayer. 
 Wearied man is sleeping 
 
 From the toilsome day, 
 Tune the soft dreams o'er him creeping, 
 
 Music, watch and pray.
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Lo, the forest, looming 
 
 On the distant calm, 
 Echoes back your silvery booming, 
 
 Bells of Notre Dame ! 
 
 When the morning lightens 
 
 On the eastern sky, 
 And the spire-top glows and brightens, 
 
 As the sun rolls nigh, 
 Shed your peals to duty 
 
 O'er the earth impearled, 
 Give to sparkling morning beauty, 
 
 Tongue to rouse the world: 
 As your songs of gladness, 
 
 Matin hymn and psalm, 
 Wake our souls and cheer their sadness, 
 
 Bells of Notre Dame !
 
 MILITARY COMPAXIKS. 
 
 'VARSITY FOOT BALL TKAM.
 
 V. 
 THE WAR PERIOD. 
 
 I. NOTRE DAME IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 On the coming on of the war for the Union, the char- 
 acter of the growing community was put to a new test. 
 With true religion and a correct system of education, 
 goes also love of country. But the sons and daughters 
 of the Holy Cross were equal to the test. 
 
 Even on his first arrival in America, as we have 
 already seen, Father Sorin was penetrated with an 
 admiration for American institutions and an ardent 
 love for the American people. It became a part of his 
 daily life. An American by adoption, he became one 
 in mind and heart, insomuch that on his several visits 
 to Europe, such was his known predilection for the 
 American character and for American ideas, that in 
 Paris and in Rome, even by the pope himself, he was 
 distinctively styled THB AMERICAN. 
 
 Father Sorin not only gave his best affections to his 
 adopted country, but instilled the same into the hearts 
 of his associates. Hence we may say that Notre Dame 
 never was a foreign institution, but one in which every 
 American felt himself perfectly at home. In illustra- 
 tion of this, it may be noted that of his two reverend 
 nephews who here joined the order, one, the elder, 
 
 seeming to remain too much a Frenchmen to suit the 
 
 87
 
 88 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 taste of his uncle, was, though otherwise an excellent 
 priest, sent back to France. " My dear son," said he, 
 " France is for the French, America is for Americans. 
 I have engaged your passage for Europe." He would 
 not keep around him any one who did not share his 
 predilection for the American people; that was a heresy 
 which he could not forgive. 
 
 To the mind of Father Sorin the American character 
 was best represented in Washington, for whom he 
 always manifested a great veneration. Washington's 
 birthday has always been a gala day at Notre Dame, 
 even at a time when it was neglected in other places; 
 and the name of Washington Hall will always remind 
 us of that pleasant evening in February, now many 
 years ago, when this festive room was so named and 
 appropriately dedicated by Father Sorin, and when it 
 was adorned with the benevolent portrait of the Father 
 of his Country. 
 
 It is therefore no cause of surprise that Notre Dame 
 and St. Mary's took so active a part in the war. There 
 was perhaps not a battle field during the four years of 
 that noble strife on which the blood of students of 
 Notre Dame was not shed for the Union cause, which 
 they felt to be also the cause of liberty, equal rights, 
 and good government. 
 
 Numberless sisters, with Father Sorin' s blessing, 
 and led by Mother Angela herself, left the quiet shades 
 of St. Mary's, and gave themselves to toilsome nights 
 and days in the hospitals of the south and the west; 
 and to this day many a veteran recalls with moistened 
 eyes the presence of those angels of mercy who were to 
 him in place of mother, wife or sister, and to whose 
 gentle care he owes his life.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 89 
 
 From Notre Dame no less than seven priests went 
 as chaplains in the army; Fathers William Corby, 
 Peter P. Cooney, Joseph C. Carrier, Paul Gillen, James 
 Dillon, Joseph Leveque, and Father Bourget. Of 
 these patriotic chaplains of the Holy Cross the last 
 three, from exposure contracted diseases which ended 
 in death. 
 
 Father Cooney, now venerable in years and enfeebled 
 from his arduous service, has in course of preparation a 
 work upon the history of the Catholic church in relation 
 to the war for the Union, dealing in particular, as we 
 understand, with his personal experience in the armies 
 of Rosecrans, the commander whom he loves and 
 reveres above all others. 
 
 Father Carrier, since known as a distinguished scien- 
 tist, and now for some time resident at St. I/aurent 
 College, near Montreal, also delights, both in writing 
 and in conversation, to recall his experience in the 
 armies of Grant and Sherman. That Father Carrier's 
 Americanism is of the intenser quality may be inferred 
 from the following incident which he relates of a visit 
 made by him, soon after the war, to Napoleon III., then 
 in the splendor of his power. 
 
 1 ' On my arrival at the entrance to the palace, ' ' says 
 Father Carrier, " I was met by one of the guards who 
 demanded to know my business. ' I wish to see the 
 Emperor, ' said I. ' Are you a soldier ? ' asked the guard. 
 ' Greater than that, ' I responded. ' Perhaps you are 
 a lieutenant ? ' ' Greater than that, ' said I. ' Can it 
 be that you are a general ? ' ' Greater than that ! ' 
 said I, drawing myself up to my full height. ' Are 
 you a prince ? ' questioned the guard. ' Greater than 
 that, ' I again replied. ' Surely you are not a king, '
 
 90 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 said the mystified guardian of the palace. ' Ah ! far 
 greater than that/ I replied. ' Pray, then, who are 
 you ? ' asked the much puzzled man. Looking him in 
 the face, I answered with all the dignity at my com- 
 mand, ' I am an American citizen ! ' It is needless to 
 say that I was soon piloted into the private apartments 
 of his majesty ; and that later on, when I related the 
 joke I had played on the guard, the Emperor enjoyed 
 it quite as much as I did myself." 
 
 Father Corby has already brought out his graphic 
 " Memoirs of Chaplain Life," in which we may trace 
 his own, and also Father Gillen's and Father James 
 Dillon's heroic work of charity in ' the armies of the 
 Potomac, under McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade, 
 and Grant. 
 
 One scene, at least, in Father Corby's chaplain life, 
 is historical, and will endure in the memory of men so 
 long as the history of the Army of the Potomac is 
 read. It is his sublime act of giving absolution to the 
 soldiers going into battle on the field of Gettysburg. 
 The circumstances are told to us as follows by General 
 St. Clair Mulholland, then a colonel in the famous 
 Irish Brigade : ' ' Now (as the Third Corps is being 
 pressed back) help is called for and Hancock tells 
 Caldwell to have his men ready. ' Fall in ! ' and the 
 men run to their places. ' Take arms ! ' and the four 
 brigades of Zook, Cross, Brook and Kelly are ready 
 for the fray. There are yet a few minutes to spare 
 before starting and the time is occupied by one of the 
 most impressive religious ceremonies I have ever wit- 
 nessed. The Irish Brigade, which had been formerly 
 commanded by General Thomas Francis Meagher and 
 whose green flag was unfurled in every battle in which
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 91 
 
 the Army of the Potomac was engaged, from the first 
 Bull Run to Appomattox and which was now com- 
 manded by Colonel Patrick Kelly of the Eighty- 
 eighth New York, formed a part of this division. The 
 brigade stood in column of regiments, closed in mass. 
 As a large majority of its members were Catholics, the 
 Chaplain of the Brigade, the Rev. William Corby, 
 proposed to give a general absolution to all the men 
 before going into the fight. While this is customary 
 in the armies of Catholic countries in Europe, it was 
 perhaps the first time it was ever witnessed on this 
 continent, unless, indeed, the grim old warrior, Ponce 
 de Leon, as he tramped through the everglades of 
 Florida, in search of the Fountain of Youth, or De 
 Soto, on his march to the Missiissippi, indulged this 
 act of devotion. Father Corby stood on a large rock 
 in front of the brigade. Addressing the men, he ex- 
 plained what he was about to do, saying that each 
 one could receive the benefit of the absolution by mak- 
 ing a sincere act of contrition and firmly resolving to 
 embrace the first opportunity of confessing his sins, 
 urging them to do their duty and reminding them of 
 the high and sacred nature of their trust as soldiers, 
 and the noble object for which they fought. 
 The brigade was standing at ' order, arms ! ' As he 
 closed his address, every man, Catholic and non- 
 Catholic, fell on his knees with his head bowed down. 
 Then, stretching his right hand towards the brigade, 
 Father Corby pronounced the words of the absolution. 
 The scene was more than impressive ; it was awe- 
 inspiring. Near by stood a brilliant throng of officers 
 who had gathered to witness this very unusual occur- 
 rence and while there was profound silence in the ranks
 
 92 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 of the Second Corps, yet over to the left, out by the 
 peach orchard and L,ittle Round Top, where Weed and 
 Vincent and Hazlitt were dying, the roar of the battle 
 rose and swelled and re-echoed through the woods, 
 making music more sublime than ever sounded through 
 Cathedral aisle. The act seemed to be in harmony 
 with the surroundings. I do not think that there was 
 a man in the brigade who did not offer up a heart-felt 
 prayer. For some it was their last; they knelt therein 
 their grave clothes. In less than half an hour many 
 of them were numbered with the dead of July 2. 
 Who can doubt that their prayers were good ? What 
 was wanting in the eloquence of the priest to move 
 them to repentance was supplied in the incidents of 
 the fight. That heart would be incorrigible, indeed, 
 which the scream of a Whitworth bolt, added to 
 Father Corby's touching appeal, would not move to 
 contrition. ' ' 
 
 That great scene, Father Corby on the rock, with his 
 hand raised above the kneeling brigade, and in presence 
 of General Hancock and the officers of the second corps, 
 with uncovered heads, on the field of Gettysburg, has 
 already attracted the attention of the artist. There is 
 perhaps no battle scene of the war better fitted for a 
 painting in which the moral sublime of the soul is 
 united with the heroic granduer of the battle field. In 
 1893, Father Corby was decorated by the State of New 
 York with a medal of honor, as a "Gettysburg Vet- 
 eran. ' ' 
 
 Besides these chaplains who went directly from Notre 
 Dame, many others who knew the university as their 
 Alma Mater, found their way to the tented fields of 
 the South to alleviate the spiritual and physical wants
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 93 
 
 of the soldiers of the Republic. Among them none was 
 more worthy, none more respected by Notre Dame 
 than the Rev. E. B. Kilroy. It was, indeed, an age of 
 heroes. 
 
 Military exercises had always been encouraged by 
 Father Sorin, in part for the excellent physical training 
 and gentlemanly bearing and manner which they were 
 calculated to impart to the young men. In the spring 
 of 1859, William F. Lynch was a student at Notre 
 Dame. He was a skillful tactician who had been 
 trained to an enthusiastic love of military affairs under 
 Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, of Zouave fame in Chicago, 
 afterwards a marytr hero of the war. 
 
 Captain Lynch, as he soon came to be called, learn- 
 ing of Father Sorin' s partiality to military companies, 
 soon had one formed among the students of the senior 
 department. From their captain's memory of the pic- 
 turesque zouave uniform, or perhaps from Father 
 Sorin' s admiration of Washington and the soldiers of 
 the Revolution, or from both causes combined, the new 
 company adopted the buff and blue uniform of the 
 Revolutionary soldiers, and took the name of the Con- 
 tinental Cadets. A company was also formed from 
 the junior students, and these were called the Washing- 
 ton Cadets. The Continental Cadets excited a genuine 
 interest in military affairs, not only at Notre Dame, 
 but also in South Bend and the surrounding country. 
 The military was an unaccustomed sight in those days, 
 many persons never having seen a company drill or 
 march in serried ranks before. Alas, the sight became 
 common enough very soon. Almost every member of 
 the Continental Cadets became a real soldier in the 
 army, and none were braver men or truer patriots.
 
 94 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Many of them became distinguished; many more took 
 their place in the private ranks, content so that they 
 did their duty well. They were of the unknown, un- 
 heralded heroes; whether sick, or wounded, or dead, 
 they were of the mighty majority who finally restored the 
 union. Captain Lynch himself became Colonel of the 
 58th Illinois infantry, and afterwards a Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral, commanding a division in the southwest, where 
 he was fataliy wounded, though he survived a few 
 years. Robert W. Healy, a noble young man, also 
 attained the rank of General, and was highly appre- 
 ciated by General Grant for his great services. 
 
 Notre Dame is honored in her loyal soldier students, 
 who showed, even by the shedding of their blood, 
 how deeply inculcated were the lessons of patriotism 
 which they had received from their Alma Mater. 
 
 II. A THIRD COIJ^GE BUILDING. 
 
 One result of the war was the great influx of stu- 
 dents from the border states. The number had here- 
 tofore slowly but steadily increased, from one to one 
 hundred or over. Father Sorin had often said that if 
 he had two hundred students, he would feel that the 
 future of the institution was assured. But with the 
 coming on of the war the two hundred limit was 
 soon reached and passed. 
 
 On November 3, 1863, there was rejoicing at Notre 
 Dame. In the evening every window light in the old 
 college was lit with its separate candle; there being 
 neither gas nor electric light in those days. The en- 
 thusiastic youth, John R. Dinnen, and his numerous 
 assistants placed, lit and guarded the candles. He is 
 now the grave and Rev. Father Dinnen of Lafayette,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 95 
 
 Indiana. In Brother Peter's garden, in front, the 
 whole community gathered, and, with Father Sorin in 
 the lead, broke forth into the triumphant magnificat. 
 It was indeed a great day, for two hundred and thirty 
 students had registered at Notre Dame. 
 
 After that came three, four, and even five hundred 
 students who pressed for admittance, until every inch 
 of room was crowded and the halls were overflowing. 
 Even Washington Hall was appropriated to college 
 uses. It soon became apparent that the enlarged 
 college edifice of 1853, ample as it then seemed, was 
 altogether inadequate for the present needs. Accord- 
 ingly, in 1865, preparations were made to take down 
 that building, and erect a larger and more modern 
 structure. 
 
 Much of the prosperity of the time was also undoubt- 
 edly due to the presence then at Notre Dame of a man 
 of uncommon ability and force of character. Father 
 Patrick Dillon, a young man of twenty-six, became vice- 
 president of the university in 1858, and retained that 
 office, with some intervals, until 1865. During the 
 period while Father Patrick (as he was called, to dis- 
 tinguish him from his brother, Father James Dillon, 
 afterwards a chaplain in the army) was vice-president; 
 and during the year or more thereafter, when he was 
 himself president, great work was done at Notre Dame. 
 Father Patrick was a man of the greatest executive 
 ability and of most excellent judgment; and Father 
 Sorin was well content to leave the charge of affairs in 
 the hands of so capable a lieutenant. It was the period 
 when Notre Dame passed from the time of inexperi- 
 ence, and trial, and youthful hope, to the time of full 
 maturity and vigor. Not only were students increased
 
 96 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 in number, and financial matters placed on a surer 
 footing; but views for the conduct of the affairs of the 
 institution were, in proportion, liberalized and en- 
 larged, and the university better adapted to the needs 
 of the country. 
 
 Father Patrick, greatly aided by Professor Lucius 
 G. Toug, his able assistant, and who continued the 
 work after his untimely death, enlarged and completed 
 the development of the commercial course of the uni- 
 versity. There was then an urgent demand manifested 
 for educated young men in commercial pursuits, and 
 Notre Dame, in complying with this demand, soon 
 began to send out these graduates in large numbers. 
 This development of the commercial course was of 
 the utmost value to the university at that time; and 
 the superior character of the young men graduated did 
 very much to make the institution known, and to 
 bring in a high class of students also for the other 
 collegiate courses. 
 
 Under Father Patrick, and for similar reasons, was 
 first established and developed the scientific course of 
 studies, as distinguished from the classical course. 
 Before this time the sciences were taught in connection 
 with the learned languages, and degrees were awarded 
 only in the classical course. In addition to the degrees 
 of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, were now, 
 therefore, given the degrees of Bachelor of Science 
 and Master of Science. The first graduate to receive 
 the degree of B. S. was Dr. John Cassidy, now the 
 accomplished physician, of South Bend, who took his 
 degree in 1865. 
 
 In this connection also a beginning was made in the 
 study of Medicine under the Rev. Father Neyron, then
 
 REV. PATRICK DH.LOX, C. S. C. 
 SECOND PRESIDENT.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 97 
 
 a resident clergyman, formerly pastor at New Albany, 
 Indiana. Father Neyron had been a skillful and 
 learned physician before he became a priest. He was 
 a surgeon in Napoleon's army, and participated in the 
 Russian campaign, and also at Waterloo where he was 
 captured by the British. 
 
 But the greatest work done under the administration 
 of Father Dillon, considering the wonderful executive 
 ability and admirable business talent shown by him, 
 was the erection of the new college building in 1865. 
 In June the old building was taken down and by 
 September the new one was ready for the students. 
 There was a multitude of workmen during the sum- 
 mer, and the work done was a marvel, in excellence 
 no less than in quantity; yet everything moved like 
 clock-work under direction of the master mind in 
 charge. 
 
 The building thus erected was 160 feet in length, 
 80 feet in width, and six stories high, surmounted by 
 a colossal statue of NOTRE DAME. On the 3ist. of 
 May, 1866, the new edifice was dedicated and the 
 statue blessed by Archbishop Spalding, of Baltimore, 
 assisted by five bishops and a great number of priests, 
 and in the presence of the largest concourse of people 
 ever gathered at Notre Dame. 
 
 Soon after the dedication of the new Notre Dame, 
 Father Dillon, as if his life work were done, retired 
 from the presidency of the University which he had so 
 greatly honored, and going to France to attend a 
 general Chapter of the Congregation, was afterwards 
 promoted to the position of Assistant General. He 
 remained in France for two years, after which he 
 returned to America, filling for a short time the posi-
 
 98 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 tion of pastor of St. Patrick's Church in "Chicago, 
 where he died after a short illness, November 15, 1868. 
 He was one of the great men of Notre Dame. 
 
 III. THE AVJE MARIA. 
 
 In May, 1865, Father Sorin carried into effect a 
 design which he had long meditated, in beginning the 
 publication of a periodical in honor of the Blessed 
 Virgin, Mother of God. As with many of his other 
 enterprises, so in this; numerous persons, even friends 
 and sympathizers, shook their heads when he com- 
 menced the undertaking. The newspaper, or the mag- 
 azine, they said, whichever it might be, would most 
 surely be a failure. But Father Sorin' s faith was 
 boundless. It was of that kind which removes moun- 
 tains. Boundless also was his devotion to the Blessed 
 Mother of God. To her special protection he implic- 
 ity believed were due all the great things that had 
 hitherto been done in this place for the honor of God 
 and the good of our fellow men. 
 
 He therefore went ahead without a particle of mis- 
 giving as to the result of his venture. Yet his own 
 labor, care and vigilance in the work were indefatigable. 
 He was a firm believer in the maxim that God helps 
 those that help themselves. It had never been his habit 
 to fold his hands and leave his work to heaven. He 
 worked himself, and God with him. It was a favorite 
 saying of his that when God had great things to do 
 he raised up men capable of doing the work. 
 
 The new journal was named the Ave Maria. The 
 first two numbers were published in Chicago, Father 
 Sorin sending Professor Paul Broder, a distinguished 
 scholar then at the university, to superintend the
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 99 
 
 work. At the end of that time a printing press with 
 material was set up here and Mr. Alfred M. Talley, an 
 old Chicago printer, put in charge. Father Sorin was 
 himself at first, and for a long time, editor, aided by 
 Mother Angela, of St. Mary's. 
 
 The event has justified Father Sorin' s faith, devo- 
 tion and indomitable toil. The "Ave Maria" has 
 become one of the great religious journals of the 
 world, circulating not only in this country, but in every 
 corner of the globe wherever the English language is 
 spoken by devout Catholics. The weekly circulation 
 has long passed twenty thousand. 
 
 In 1866, Father Gillespie returned from France 
 where he had been for three years, and soon after 
 became editor of the "Ave Maria," which place he 
 continued to ocupy until his lamented and untimely 
 death in 1874. Soon after Father Gillespie's death the 
 conduct of the ' ' Ave Maria' ' fell solely into the charge 
 of the present efficient editor, the Rev. Daniel K. 
 Hudson, under whom Our Toady's journal has become 
 as highly literary and beautiful as it has always been 
 devotional and religious. Father Hudson came to 
 Notre Dame a New England youth, bathed in the cul- 
 ture and fine literary taste of Boston; and he has given 
 to the "Ave Maria" the elegance and purity of diction 
 of the old Atlantic Monthly. The "Ave Maria" has 
 been in some respects, as great a work for the advance- 
 ment of the interests of religion and literature, as has 
 been the university itself. 
 
 IV. A RETROSPECT. 
 
 Success had thus crowned in a wonderful degree the 
 work of the humble but earnest toilers. The seed
 
 100 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 sown in 1842 had ripened into a most bountiful harvest 
 in 1866. 
 
 Such had Notre Dame become, with its attractive 
 scenery, its cultivated acres, its pleasant grounds, its 
 commodious buildings, its well-ordered course of stud- 
 ies and its conscientious and kindly care for the morals, 
 the health and the intellectual advancement of its 
 numerous body of students. When and how had this 
 been done ? We have tried to tell. Not in one year, 
 or from one cause, or by one man, but, under God, 
 chiefly by one. It was under Providence, the quiet, 
 steady growth of nearly one fourth a century, based at 
 once upon the experience of the Christian ages, and 
 upon the ready tact which could adapt that experience 
 to the needs of a new and rapidly developing country. 
 To its accomplishment many minds of the first order, 
 many self-sacrificing spirits, had devoted their best 
 energies, from the time of small but hopeful begin- 
 nings, in 1842, to that of comparative vigor and 
 maturity, in 1866. 
 
 Soon after this time, in a poetical address to Father 
 Sorin, congratulating him and his associates upon the 
 assured success of their labors, the following thoughts, 
 in illustration of the origin, growth and prospects of 
 the university, were indulged in. The lines were 
 much admired by the late Prof. Joseph A. I^yons, and 
 chiefly for that reason, and on account of their histor- 
 ical suggestions, they are here appended : 
 
 V. NOTRE DAME. 
 
 As our Union sprang to life 
 From riven Europe's flying bands, 
 
 Strong with the strife 
 Of those old lands,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 101 
 
 And rich with culture of their years, 
 
 In one short century 
 
 A nation great and free, 
 The best alone her peers: 
 
 So this fair pile 
 
 Which here the while 
 
 Beneath religious smile 
 
 Pale learning rears, 
 By exile hands from many lands, 
 In this sweet valley on the virgin earth, 
 Her total time, from feeble birth 
 
 And hopes and fears, 
 To full-grown vigor, beautiful and grand, 
 Her children's pride, the blessing of the land, 
 
 Counts scarce one fourth a hundred years. 
 
 Old England points, with noble pride, 
 To fanes where science, art, reside , 
 As well doth Spain and Germany, 
 And lovely France and Italy, 
 And many a land beside : 
 These are the fruits of centuries, 
 Of thought and toil and power's decrees ; 
 Nor ever ill their glorious fame betide. 
 
 And in our favored clime, 
 
 The sister states 
 Of many a classic hall may boast, 
 
 Whose open gates 
 Receive the earnest youthful host, 
 
 Aglow for learning's festivals : 
 Free classic halls, 
 As rich in fruit and promise, if less known to time. 
 
 But generous bequests 
 
 And state endowments nurtured these, 
 As those by kings' bequests 
 
 Were formed, and by the rolling centuries.
 
 102 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 What shall be said 
 If learning's fount is fed 
 By neither grateful dew of years, 
 
 Spring floods of wealth, nor aught power's channel bears ; 
 But in the desert rise, 
 Fed by the friendly skies, 
 The meed of prayer and toil 
 To cheer the arid soil, 
 The gift of faith, the pledge of love 
 The sign of blessing from above, 
 
 Kind heaven's approving prize ! 
 O happy task, beloved of heaven, 
 To thee and thy companions given, 
 From that auspicious evening bright, 
 When, clothed in robes of snow, baptismal white, 
 This virgin forest burst upon thy raptured sight ! 
 Then rose thy vow to heaven's Queen 
 That she would bless the lovely scene 
 And make its shades her dear retreat, 
 Religous home and learning's seat. 
 
 And since that hour 
 
 The special power 
 
 Of Mary, Queen, 
 
 Is felt and seen, 
 
 In every shield from harm, 
 
 In every added charm, 
 
 That marks the pleasing progress made 
 
 From forest glade to culture's classic shade. 
 
 From her sweet name, the land and lake, 
 
 Well pleased, their lovely title take 
 
 Hers was the cot beside the pool, 
 
 Where one small scholar came to school 
 
 And hers the present structure grand, 
 
 Where hundreds crowd from all the land; 
 Her praise so long the soft melodeon sung, 
 And hers is from the mighty organ rung; 
 
 Hers is the magic rhyme 
 
 Of sweetly flowing chime; 
 And hers the monster bell's sonorous sound sublime.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 103 
 
 Where once the warrior cry 
 Made horrid discord on the midnight sky, 
 There songs of praise 
 Meek voices raise, 
 And Christian love is borne on high. 
 
 Around thee stand 
 
 A levite band 
 
 Who issue forth to save the land. 
 
 While 'neath thy care 
 
 Blest maidens rear, 
 
 In all sweet grace, 
 
 The future matrons of the land, 
 
 And from these halls 
 
 Their country calls, 
 
 Each rolling year, 
 
 Her sons, to cheer 
 
 Her heart again, 
 
 And give the nation better men. 
 
 And where all this appears 
 Scarce more than one-score years 
 Saw but primeval wilderness, 
 The home of beasts, and men in savage dress. 
 What means were thine, 
 This gracious change divine, 
 To bring o'er nature's rugged shrine, 
 Blest Founder, venerable, wise, benign ? 
 Those, only those, 
 The good man knows; 
 Those, only those, 
 That God bestows. 
 His blessings rest upon thy toil, 
 His saints and angels guard the soil; 
 And thy best cheer is Mary's smile, 
 As borne on breezes tree, 
 By hills and plains, by land and sea, 
 Her angel AvE floats the while, 
 And beareth thine and her sweet praise o'er many a mile.
 
 104 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Long here shall science dwell, 
 
 Long here shall heaven's praises swell, 
 
 Still honored thou; for holy writings tell, 
 
 God giveth" more to those that use their talents well. 
 
 When little time and less of gold 
 Have wrought so much through faith and love, 
 
 What may we trust when years have rolled, 
 With added blessings from above ? 
 
 What hope the ardent toiler cheers, 
 
 What mighty hopes the future bears ! 
 
 That future dawns, all lily, rose, and balm; 
 Arise, fair Mother, radiant and calm, 
 Tis thine, to intone the grand, triumphal psalm, 
 'Tis thine, 'tis thine, to bear the glorious palm, 
 And call the nation to adore the Lamb, 
 Thine, only thine, beloved Notre Dame !
 
 VI. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 I. THE THIRD PRESIDENCY. 
 
 In August, 1866, Father William Corby became 
 president of the university and Father Augustus Le- 
 monnier vice-president. Both of the new officers had 
 been companions and assistants of Father Dillon. 
 Father I,emonnier was a nephew of Father Sorin and 
 was first made prefect of discipline at Father Dillon's 
 special request; while Father Corby, formerly also 
 prefect of discipline, was vice-president and director of 
 studies during the presidency of Father Dillon. 
 
 If the presidency of Father Sorin was a period of 
 faith, of struggle, and finally of triumph; and that of 
 Father Dillon one of great business activity and mate- 
 rial prosperity, the administration of Father Corby 
 was a time of earnest devotion to learning, during 
 which the standard of education at Notre Dame was 
 substantially elevated. 
 
 During this period, also, the societies of the univer- 
 sity, in which so much of its life centers, showed a 
 marked increase of activity. To Father Granger the 
 religious societies owe everything. He was their 
 founder, and not only at the time of which we speak, 
 but even to the end of his blessed course, continued to 
 
 infuse into them the spirit of his own holy life. The 
 
 105
 
 106 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 literary and dramatic societies were during the same 
 period almost equally indebted to Father Gillespie, 
 Father Lemonnier, and Prof. Joseph A. Lyons. The 
 latter was one of the noblest characters ever associated 
 with Notre Dame. Though he continued to be a sim- 
 ple layman to the end of his life, no religious was ever 
 more unselfishly devoted or more useful to his Alma 
 Mater. 
 
 Others who aided Father Corby in the building up 
 of the university during his first presidency, and who 
 greatly widened the influence of Notre Dame through- 
 out the country, were Father Joseph C. Carrier, Father 
 Thomas L. Vagnier, Father Michael B. Brown, Father 
 Timothy Maher, Father Daniel J. Spillard, Father 
 John A. O'Connell, Father Edward Lilly, Father Will- 
 iam Ruthman, Father Peter Lauth, Father Patrick Con- 
 don, Father John M. Toohey, Father John O'Keeffe, 
 Brother Phillip, Brother Francis De Sales, Brother Basil, 
 Brother Benjamin, Brother Edward, Brother Leopold, 
 Brother Benoit, Brother Florentius, Brother Charles, 
 Brother Alban, Brother Celestine, Brother Marcellinus, 
 Brother Emmanuel, Brother Albert, Brother Paul, 
 Professors William Ivers, Arthur J. Stace, Lucius G. 
 Tong, Timothy E. Howard, Michael A. J. Baasen, 
 Michael T. Corby, Edward A. McNally, Charles J. 
 Lundy, William T. Johnson, and others whose names 
 will recur to those familiar with college life during 
 the later sixties and earlier seventies. Silently and 
 steadily those earnest and learned Fathers, Brothers 
 and laymen built up the courses of study, and enlarged 
 the departments of learning at Notre Dame, until from 
 an obscure college it began to be recognized as a 
 promising university.
 
 REV. \VM. CORBY, C S. C. 
 THIRD PRESIDENT.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 107 
 
 II. THE SILVER JUBILEE AND THE ALUMNI 
 ASSOCIATION. 
 
 As the foundations of Notre Dame were laid in 1842, 
 the Silver Jubilee should properly have been celebrated 
 in 1867. The truth is, however, that the institution 
 then scarcely felt itself sufficiently upon its feet to be- 
 gin the celebration of its past career; and it was not 
 until two years later that this jubilee was resolved 
 upon. Accordingly the date of the charter, 1844, and 
 not the date of the founding, was fixed upon as the 
 point from which the silver period was reckoned. 
 
 Francis C. Bigelow, a graduate of 1862, and at the 
 time a rising lawyer of Dayton, Ohio, but afterwards 
 a valued member of the order of the Holy Cross, and 
 so known to us as Father Bigelow, was the first to 
 suggest the formation of a society of the Alumni of 
 Notre Dame. This association was finally perfected 
 at Notre Dame, on the 2yth day of June, 1868; when 
 a constitution and by-laws were drawn up, and the fol- 
 lowing officers selected: 
 
 President, Rev. Neil H. Gillespie; ist Vice-Presi- 
 dent, Francis C. Bigelow, Dayton, Ohio; 2d Vice- 
 President, James B. Runnion, Chicago; Treasurer, 
 Prof. Joseph A. Lyons; Secretary, Prof Michael T. 
 Corby; Orator, Rev. Edmund B, Kilroy, Port Sarnia, 
 Ontario; Alternate Orator, James O'Brien, Galena, 
 111. ; Poet, Prof. Timothy E. Howard; Alternate Poet, 
 Prof. Arthur J. Stace. 
 
 In April, 1869, the local Alumni Committee resolved 
 that a MEMORIAL of the Silver Jubilee, to be cele- 
 brated in June following, should be prepared. To 
 Father Gillespie was assigned the task of preparing a 
 History of Notre Dame for this Memorial. Father Brown
 
 108 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 was appointed to write brief biographies of the members 
 of the Alumni or graduates of the classical and scientific 
 courses, to be printed in the same volume. Prof. Stace 
 was selected to prepare for the book sketches of the 
 societies, classes and amusements of the institution. 
 Finally, to Prof. Lyons was assigned the task of pub- 
 lishing the ambitious little venture. The result of 
 these labors was the book of the Silver Jubilee, to 
 which we have been no little indebted in the prepara- 
 tion of the present undertaking. 
 
 Alas, not one of those genial literary lights who 
 brought out the Silver Jubilee is left to aid in celebrat- 
 ing this golden jubilee. May they look down with 
 kindly sympathy and aid upon the labor of love in 
 which their long-time friends and associates are en- 
 gaged in preparing for that golden jubilee which they 
 all hoped to see. 
 
 It need hardly be said that the jubilee was observed 
 in a fitting manner. There were three preliminary 
 celebrations. These were in part in recognition of the 
 honor bestowed on Father Sorin at the general chapter 
 of the congregation, held under the presidency of 
 Cardinal Barnabo, at Rome, during the summer of 
 1868, when the venerable founder of Notre Dame was 
 elevated to the office of Superior General of the Congre- 
 gation of the Holy Cross, the first American to attain 
 to such a dignity in a religious order of the church. 
 
 The first of the preliminary celebrations was that of 
 the patronal feast of Father Sorin, thereafter usually 
 called Father General. This was on October 13, 1868, 
 St. Edward's Day, known during late years as Found- 
 er's Day. This was under the auspices of the Thespian 
 and Philharmonic societies. It was ushered in by the
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 109 
 
 ringing of bells, and the stirring music of the university 
 cornet band; and consisted of a drama, orchestral 
 music, addresses in prose and verse in many languages 
 and in songs prepared for the occasion. 
 
 The second was by the Silver Jubilee club on the 
 2yth of April, 1869, in the absence of Father Sorin 
 who was at the time^on a visit to France. It was a 
 musical, allegorical and humorous entertainment, pre- 
 pared chiefly by Prof. Stace, who was gifted with rare 
 talent in this line. The Rev. Father Granger, suc- 
 cessor to Father Sorin, as provincial of the congregation 
 in the United States, presided on this occasion with 
 that modest self-abnegation which was one of his 
 characteristics. 
 
 The third preliminary jubilee celebration was on the 
 return of Father Sorin from France, May 22, 1869. 
 The cornet band, then in charge of the enthusiastic 
 Prof. John O'Neill, leading a large concourse of the 
 equally enthusiastic inmates of Notre Dame, met 
 Father Sorin at the railway station in South Bend. 
 It was a triumphal procession to the university. 
 How "different from the occasion twenty-seven years 
 before, when Father Sorin with his five brothers were 
 piloted through the woods from the village to the lake, 
 by that little boy who was afterwards the first student 
 of Notre Dame! Mid the ringing of the great bell and 
 the sweet chiming of the small ones, the procession 
 entered the church, where a solemn Te Deum was 
 sung. In the evening Washington Hall was again 
 the scene of congratulations and pleasant entertain- 
 ment. On account of the peculiar splendor of the 
 occasion, the staid faculty were represented on the 
 platform, in an address by Prof. Tong, supported on
 
 110 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 either hand by Prof. Lyons and Prof. Ivers. Father 
 Sorin's acknowledgements, in response to all these 
 demonstrations, were most felicitous. 
 
 Two other celebrations of that jubilee year, that by 
 Prof. Lyons' St. Cecilians in December and that of 
 Washington's Birthday, under direction of Prof. 
 Corby, while given at the times usual every year, were 
 yet characterized by the spirit of the jubilee, and were 
 of unusual excellence. 
 
 As if the students' delight could not find vent other- 
 wise, the jubilee was not made alone in honor of 
 Father Sorin, but special addresses and other honors 
 were provided for the local officers. The address to 
 Rev. Father Granger, provincial, was by Mr. James 
 Cunnea, since a banker of Cleveland; that to Father 
 Corby, president and local superior, was by Dennis A. 
 Clarke, now Father Clarke, of Columbus, Ohio; that 
 to Father Lemonnier, vice-president and director of 
 studies, by James A. O'Reilly, of Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania; and that to Father Spillard, Prefect of Disci- 
 pline, by William A. Walker. 
 
 On June 22, solemn High Mass was celebrated by 
 Father Sorin, assisted by Father Kilroy as deacon and 
 Father Cooney as sub-deacon, and by Father Spillard 
 as master of ceremonies. Reception to the alumni, ban- 
 quet, songs composed for the occasion by Father 
 Brown, with music by the veteran Prof. Girac, and 
 sung by Prof. Corby, with speeches, addresses and 
 dramas, followed in profusion. 
 
 The sweet voice of Vincent Hack man, of St. Louis, 
 then at its perfection, is remembered to this day. 
 There was also a song by another youth, James F. 
 Edwards, now the erudite scholar, Prof. Edwards, the
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. Ill 
 
 librarian of the university, the creator of Bishops' 
 Memorial Hall, and collector of the Catholic Archives 
 of the United States. David J. Wile, now a distin- 
 guished attorney-at-law, is also remembered for his 
 brilliant addresses and his fine rendition of dramatic 
 characters on those jubilee days, the preludes to the 
 eminent place since assumed by him at the bar. 
 
 The attendance was very large, especially of the old 
 students, and the old-time friends of Notre Dame. 
 Those jubilee days showed how warm a place their 
 Alma Mater had won in the hearts of those who knew 
 her best, and how widespread was the influence which 
 she already exerted. 
 
 III. THE NOTRE DAME SCHOLASTIC. 
 
 The literary instinct, as we have already intimated, 
 was developed early at Notre Dame. This, too, was in 
 great measure due to Father Sorin. Although he came to 
 Indiana with but slight knowledge of the language of 
 the country, yet his education was a superior one, and 
 nature had endowed him with a fine taste in literature, 
 and the arts. This taste he had highly cultivated, 
 and he was always quick to appreciate and ready to 
 praise excellence in speech and composition. Indeed 
 he became himself the master of a forcible, exact, and 
 even elegant English style. He was, therefore, fitted 
 to distinguish the mastery of English composition at 
 the beginning manifested by Father Shawe and Gardner 
 Jones, and afterwards by Father Gillespie, and by his 
 brilliant sister, Mother Angela. In addition, Father 
 Sorin's sympathies with American institutions natur- 
 ally led him to desire that the graduates of the uni- 
 versity should be proficient in the use of the language
 
 112 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 of the country, thus at once making them proud of 
 their country and enabling them to become leaders in 
 its service. 
 
 Literature and oratory were accordingly cultivated 
 at Notre Dame from the beginning. The dramatic 
 societies and the debating clubs at first gave rent to 
 this taste. The noble lines of Shakspeare, of Sheri- 
 dan and of Goldsmith, resounded from the mimic 
 stage; while the eloquence of Edmund Burke, Patrick 
 Henry, Daniel O'Connell and Daniel Webster fur- 
 nished models for the youthful orators. 
 
 In time, original efforts were made, and speeches, 
 addresses and poems were heard in public at Notre 
 Dame, which gave to the visitors but a slight indica- 
 tion of the laborious literary toils of the young aspi- 
 rants for fame. Finally, in the literary and debating 
 societies fuller and freer means of expression were 
 demanded. The weekly essays in the classes of 
 grammar, rhetoric and English literature but whetted 
 the appetite for a wider and more varied audience than 
 that afforded by the class-room. The St. Aloysius 
 Philodemic Society, the St. Edward Literary Society 
 and the St. Cecilia Philomathean Society were the 
 chief nurseries of these embryo authors and orators. 
 
 The earliest formal publication containing selections 
 from the writings of the students was the ' ' Progress, ' ' 
 a manuscript paper. Its origin was due to John 
 Collins, Francis C. Bigelow, Ben. B. Barren and John 
 H. Fleming, and it was at first circulated amongst the 
 more appreciative literary denizens of the university. 
 An earlier manuscript paper called the " Notre Dame 
 Literary Gazette," through a prefect's misunderstand- 
 ing, had been summarily destroyed; and through this
 
 AYK MARIA AND SCHOLASTIC. 
 
 THE III,ACS.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 113 
 
 reason chiefly John Collins was inspired to bring out 
 the paper permanently, and hence the bold name of 
 "Progress." So well was the "Progress" received, 
 however, that the faculty appointed an evening every 
 two weeks when the little paper was read in public in 
 the senior study hall, where Brother Benoit presided 
 with so much decorum. This was a great step in 
 advance, and the reading was looked forward to as the 
 finest treat imaginable. The manuscript was written 
 out in the elegant penmanship of John H Fleming, 
 Horatio Colvin, George F. B. Collins, Lucius G. Tong, 
 Orville T. Chamberlain and others, and was read as 
 easily as print. One copy only was printed, that was 
 for the Commencement of 1860, when it was read by 
 James B. Runnion, one of its chief contributors, and 
 who himself became afterwards noted as an editor and 
 dramatic author. 
 
 When Father Gillespie was sent to France in 1863, 
 the "Progress" soon languished, its place being 
 fitfully taken by what Prof. Stace called " such 
 surreptitious publications as the 'Olympic Gazette,' 
 the 'Weekly Bee' and others." 
 
 In 1866 Father Gillespie returned, and there is no 
 doubt that his return awakened a distinct revival in 
 literary studies. The "Ave Maria" had already been 
 established, and a printing press was in operation at 
 Notre Dame. The war, too, was over, and college 
 life had settled down to thoughts of literature, arts 
 and science. A great intellectual era had set in. The 
 time was therefore ripe for a college paper. Father 
 Corby, the president, gave the project his hearty en- 
 couragement, and Father I^emonnier, the vice-presi- 
 dent and director of studies, took an active part in its
 
 114 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 establishment. After some discussion the ' ' Scholastic 
 Year ' ' was fixed upon as the name of the new venture 
 the idea being that the paper should be published 
 only during the scholastic year, or from September till 
 June each year. 
 
 The plan of organization was that a select corps of 
 students, under supervision of Father Gillespie, should 
 prepare the matter. Father Gillespie being also the 
 editor of the "Ave Maria," the plan worked as well, 
 perhaps, as any that could be devised. The first 
 number was issued September 7, 1867. It was in the 
 beginning little more than a fly leaf of the ' 'Ave Maria, ' ' 
 to which it was attached. As stated in the salutatory, 
 printed in the first number, it was intended chiefly, in 
 addition to being a literary medium for the writings 
 of students, "to give to parents frequent accounts 
 of the institution in which they had placed their 
 children." 
 
 In March, 1868, the editorial supervision fell into 
 the hands of Father I^emonnier, as director of studies, 
 and for many years the director of studies continued to 
 be the nominal editor, selecting and classifying the 
 matter furnished him by the students. The original 
 idea, though, of an editorial corps of students, has 
 always remained a constituent part of the plan of or- 
 ganization. Very early, however, contributions were 
 offered and received from the whole body of the stu- 
 dents, each one being encouraged and urged to write for 
 the pages of the college paper. 
 
 Beginning with August, 1868, the "Scholastic Year" 
 w^s published entirely separate from the ' 'Ave Maria." 
 The venture had proved a success, and henceforth the 
 little paper was felt to be an essential part and parcel
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 115 
 
 of the university. In 1869, the name was changed by 
 Father Gillespie to the "Notre Dame Scholastic." 
 This name, in September, 1872, was modified by 
 Father Brown, then in charge, into the "Scholastic," 
 simply. But three years later, in September, 1875, 
 the want of a local flavor in the name was perceived 
 amongst the exchanges, and the former appellation of 
 "Notre Dame Scholastic," was restored. This has 
 continued to be the name ever since. 
 
 From the beginning the editorial supervision has 
 been, successively, in the hands of Fathers N. H- 
 Oillespie, A. Lemonnier, M. B. Brown, F. C. Bigelow, 
 Bro. Stanislaus, James Rogers, Thomas McNamara, 
 John A. O'Connell, \V. A. Maloney and James French, 
 and to the guiding genius of those gentle spirits the 
 very high rank which the paper has attained is in 
 great measure due. While, however, the work was 
 thus supervised, the noble material which has for so 
 many years filled the columns of this journal, has 
 been almost exclusively furnished by the literary and 
 scientific students of the university. It has been to 
 them a great educator, drawing out the modest talent 
 that might not otherwise have manifested itself. 
 
 As indicating the rank assigned to the "Scholastic" 
 by its contemporaries, we take the following from the 
 "Portfolio," Wesleyan College, Hamilton, Ontario, for 
 May, 1882, which, though foreign in nationality 
 and opposed in religion, could thus judge fairly of 
 true merit: 
 
 "Of the 'Notre Dame Scholastic,' what shall we say? 
 If there be one paper devoted to college literature that 
 pursues the even tenor of its way, heedless alike of 
 the smiles or frowns of its contemporaries, it surely
 
 116 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 must be the 'Scholastic. ' Published under a govern- 
 ment differing in many particulars from our own, and 
 the organ of a church college opposed to us in many 
 points, it cannot but give us great pleasure to find 
 such patriotism and loyalty to principles, with such 
 complete absence of bigotry as mark each issue of the 
 'Scholastic. ' . . . Would it not be well to inform 
 ourselves better as to what the Roman Catholic Church 
 has done and is still doing for civilization, taking 
 notice of papers evincing so high a degree of culture 
 as the 'Scholastic,' before we condemn the whole 
 church as the supporters of ignorance and supersti- 
 tion ? May the future of our friend be even brighter 
 than the past, and its visits to us always afford as 
 much satisfaction as at present!" 
 
 IV. THE SCHOLASTIC ANNUAI,. 
 
 So excellent had become the literary quality of the 
 "Scholastic" that a desire was manifested to select and 
 publish in more permanent form the best articles ap- 
 pearing in prose and verse, together with calendars 
 and other matters usually going with year books. 
 
 The task of compilation was undertaken by Professor 
 Lyons; and the first of the " Scholastic Annuals" was 
 issued for the year 1876. And for every year thereafter, 
 until his lamented death, in 1888, Professor Lyons 
 issued the priceless annual. It forms a treasure of good 
 things, and is beyond all value to those who knew 
 Notre Dame during the thirteen years of its publica- 
 tion. 
 
 This was but one of the many works published dur- 
 ing his too-short life by Professor Lyons. He had a 
 genius for young men, knew their needs and their as-
 
 POST OFFICE. 
 
 ASTROXOMICAI, OBSERVATORY.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 117 
 
 pirations, and had an uncommon knowledge of the 
 means necessary to make them noble men. How many, 
 many a young man learned from him to live uprightly, 
 purely and grandly! How attached were they to him 
 in life, and how they mourned him in death! 
 
 On the day that his body was borne from the halls 
 and laid away mid the scenes that he loved, the fol- 
 lowing beautiful tribute was paid to his memory: 
 
 V. PROFESSOR JOSEPH AI,OYSIUS LYONS. 
 Ay mourn, fair Notre Dame, for him, thy son, 
 
 Whose form today lies silent in thy halls. 
 One from the Knighthood of the Cross, hath gone 
 Past the dim shadow of these earthly walls. 
 
 Thy peace, oh Christ, be with the noble dead, 
 Thy white gates open at thy servant's need! 
 
 But sad the groves where he no more shall tread, 
 The drooping hearts that miss the generous deed. 
 
 Yet thou shalt not stand grieving overmuch, 
 Wise Mother, by his tomb; for such as he 
 
 Bring God's great kingdom near enough to touch 
 
 Tlie living proof of immortality. 
 August 24, 1888. Marion Muir Richardson. 
 
 VI. THE SCIENTIFIC DEPARTMENT. 
 
 During the presidency of Father Dillon, as we have 
 seen, a scientific course of studies was established, and 
 students began to be graduated in this course as well 
 as in the classical. But it was not until the adminis- 
 tration of Father Corby and that of Father Lemonnier 
 that this course was firmly established. 
 
 During the first quarter of a century of its existence, 
 the curriculum of studies of the University of Notre 
 Dame was that of an ordinary college, with a single 
 faculty that of arts. During this period the progress
 
 118 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 of Notre Dame, as an educational institution, while 
 necessarily slow, was yet healthful. Year by year, her 
 sole faculty increased in numbers and efficiency, so that 
 in 1867, and at the celebration of her silver jubilee, 
 she could rightfully claim a high and most honorable 
 rank among American colleges, but nothing more. 
 That year witnessed a great awakening and a generous 
 effort towards higher destinies. The work of a real 
 university was about to take form, not at once, but 
 gradually; the elements of success for the new depart- 
 ure were very diligently gathered together. 
 
 Able professors, both lay and cleric, were secured; the 
 curriculum of studies was thoroughly revised and 
 greatly enlarged and improved ; the cabinet of physics 
 was overhauled, rearranged and much increased by the 
 purchase of new instruments; the library and the mu- 
 seum were considerably augmented, and were cata 
 logued and moved to better quarters. 
 
 These important departments had heretofore, of 
 necessity, remained almost stationary, rather through 
 want of funds, however, than from inattention or indif- 
 ference. In 1860 the library had barely contained 
 two thousand volumes, and these chiefly in French 
 and I^atin, and of little use to students or professors. 
 The museum then consisted of a number of stuffed ani- 
 mals and birds, with a small collection of eggs, chiefly 
 purchased in 1856. Unfortunately, for want of space, 
 these objects of natural history were placed in an ill- 
 lighted upper hall. One part of the collection was of 
 great value, both from a pecuniary and a scientific 
 point of view; that was the great herbarium presented 
 to the University in 1855, by the eminent French bot- 
 anist, De Cauvin.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 119 
 
 Yet, when we consider her humble beginnings, bor- 
 dering on absolute destitution of almost everything 
 needful for success, Notre Dame had made strenuous 
 efforts, and not in vain, to reach the higher plane to 
 which she was evidently destined under Divine Provi- 
 dence. With the new buildings of 1865, much better 
 accommodations were provided; and with these mate- 
 rial improvements a strong impulse for a higher educa- 
 tional life was felt, and a well directed determination 
 was manifested on the part of the college authorities to 
 raise the standard and to expand the circle of studies. 
 These impulses and efforts soon led the way to a new 
 era of university life and action. 
 
 Of the army chaplains that went to the front during 
 the war, for the Union, three, as we have seen, Father 
 James Dillon, Father Leveque and Father Bourget,died 
 as the result of their toils and exposure during the ser- 
 vice; two others, Father Coouey and Father Gillen, 
 entered on the labors of the mission. The remaining 
 two, Father Corby and Father Carrier, drawn by the 
 original bent of their minds and hearts, returned to the 
 congenial pursuits of literature, science and the arts. 
 
 Father Corby was now president of the university, 
 and Father Carrier was a member of the faculty and 
 of the Council of Administration. Both, with their 
 ardent natures, cultured minds and wide experience, 
 were enthusiastic for the future of education at Notre 
 Dame. As preliminary to the improvements contem- 
 plated, Father Carrier was, in the spring of 1866, sent 
 to France on business for the university and for the 
 congregation of the Holy Cross. He was commis- 
 sioned to procure, amongst other things, books for the 
 library, instruments for the cabinet of physics, chemi-
 
 120 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 cals for the laboratory, and objects of natural history 
 for the museum. During the seven months of his 
 stay in Paris, Father Carrier was not a day idle in the 
 gay capital, but was constantly engaged in the fur- 
 therance of the interests entrusted to his care. That his 
 mission was successful may be known from the fact 
 that more than twenty large boxes were forwarded 
 from Paris to Notre Dame, containing a multitude of 
 objects, mainly for use in the university and in the 
 Church of the Sacred Heart. Among the objects so 
 sent may be mentioned the fine six-inch telescope, a 
 gift from Napoleon III. , a collection of two hundred 
 volumes presented by the French government, and 
 numerous church ornaments and sacred vessels, pre- 
 sented by the Emperor, the Empress and the Prince 
 Imperial. 
 
 On his return to Notre Dame, Father Carrier was en- 
 trusted with the task of putting the scientific course of 
 studies upon a satisfactory basis. This was an im- 
 portant step towards realizing the idea of a university, 
 and henceforth that idea was never lost sight of, until 
 finally it has attained its present grand development. 
 Father Carrier was at first librarian, curator of the 
 museum and professor of physics and chemistry. He 
 devoted the autumn of 1866 and the early part of the 
 next year to re-arranging, systematizing and classify- 
 ing the now greatly enlarged library, museum and 
 laboratory. A little observatory was erected, and the 
 large telescope found a place under its revolving dome. 
 At the beginning of the second session of 1866-7, a 
 class of botany was organized, the starting of the 
 class being attended with much enthusiasm. A corps 
 of four or five competent professors was secured, and
 
 MUSEUM (WEST VIEW). 
 
 PHYSICAL CABINET (OPTICAI, SECTION*).
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 121 
 
 the course was fully under way in September, 1867, 
 the general direction of the classes being for several 
 years under Father Carrier. The several branches of 
 the physical and natural sciences, physics, chemistry, 
 zoology, botany, mineralogy, geology, physiology, and 
 comparative anatomy, were taught with success. 
 
 After a year or two Father John A. Zahm, since the 
 distinguished scientist and author, whose ' 'Sound and 
 Music" and other works have attracted world-wide 
 attention, was assistant director and able professor in 
 the course. Other professors were Fathers Thomas I/. 
 Vagnier, Alexander M. Kirsch, I/)uis Neyron, Pro- 
 fessors Stace, Baasen, Ivers, Howard and others. 
 
 In order to enhance the efficiency of the scientific 
 course of studies, and to foster a more intimate bond of 
 fellowship amongst its professors and students, there 
 was established, in the spring of 1868, the United 
 Scientific Association, at whose meetings valuable 
 papers were read by both teachers and pupils. 
 
 The little botanical garden, to the west of the old 
 church, laid out by Father Carrier in the spring of 
 1867, will be remembered by many. The larger gar- 
 den laid out by him with great labor and success, at a 
 later date, in 1872, at the east end at St. Joseph's 
 lake, was at the time perhaps the most complete botan- 
 ical garden in the country. Here, indeed, the student 
 of plants aud flowers read nature more perfectly than 
 in any book, especially when the genial and devoted 
 master, Father Carrier, was present to translate for 
 his pupils dame nature's obscurer language. 
 
 In the early seventies, a thorough course of civil 
 engineering was established, and also a partial course 
 in medicine. The departments thus organized, together
 
 122 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 with the older departments of literature and the arts, 
 and the later ones of applied electricity, of biology and 
 mechanical engineering, have continued to prosper to 
 this day, and the scholars there formed have every- 
 where reflected the highest credit on their Alma 
 Mater. 
 
 Father Carrier, after presiding for some time over 
 educational institutions in Texas and at Cincinnati, 
 has now for many years found himself at St. Laurent 
 College, near Montreal, where he retired in part on 
 account of ill health resulting from his military ser- 
 vice, and where he continues as at Notre Dame, the 
 devotee of scientific pursuits. For Notre Dame, he 
 did indeed a great work, the fruits of which we have 
 long been reaping. 
 
 VII. THE LAW DEPARTMENT. 
 
 In 1868, under the presidency of Father Corby also, 
 the Board of Trustees took the first steps towards or- 
 ganizing a law school at Notre Dame. In January, 
 1869, the law department was formally established, 
 and on February i, of that year, classes were opened. 
 The classes in law were at first under direction of Pro- 
 fessor Colovin, a progressive and active young lawyer, 
 brother of Father Colovin, afterwards president of the 
 university. Other teachers, either solely or in part in 
 charge of the law classes for several years thereafter, 
 were Professor Peter Foote, an attorney-at-law from 
 Chicago; Francis C. Bigelow, from Dayton, Ohio, 
 afterwards Father Bigelow; the Hon. Lucius G. Tong, 
 already named as connected with Father Patrick 
 Dillon in establishing the Commercial Department of 
 the university, and others.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 123 
 
 It was not, however, until 1883, when the present 
 dean, Prof. William Hoynes, was appointed, that the 
 law department became altogether successful. Prof. 
 Hoynes was not only a learned and accomplished 
 lawyer, in extensive practice in Chicago before he was 
 selected for this important work, but he was and is a 
 thorough organizer, and a man indefatigable in his 
 labors. The result was that the number of law stu- 
 dents at once began to increase rapidly, soon reaching 
 an average of thirty-five to forty. An excellent 
 library comprising the standard text books and re- 
 ports was purchased, and was placed in the moot 
 court, so as to be accessible to students at all reasona- 
 ble hours. The course of studies was extended to 
 three years, for those attending classes two hours a 
 day, and to two years, for those taking three hours 
 and participating regularly in the moot court work. 
 
 The method of instruction adopted may be called, 
 for the sake of brevity, the eclectic system. It aims 
 to combine the best features of the distinctive courses 
 of other law schools, together with such additional and 
 original means of imparting legal knowledge as to the 
 Dean may seem proper. Two lectures are delivered 
 daily, copious notes of which are taken by the stu- 
 dents. They are also advised to read during the day 
 the most important cases cited in the lectures. In- 
 structive illustrations, or actual cases briefly stated, 
 are given in explanation and support of such principles 
 as seem at all obscure to the learners. Text-books on 
 the subjects treated by the lectures are read collater- 
 ally by the students. The notes and text-books are 
 thus found to be reciprocally aidful, and the principles 
 stated in them are thus fixed as firmly in the mind as
 
 124 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 can be expected. Written examinations, comprising 
 on an average about five questions for each day, are 
 given to the students at the "quiz" class, which meets 
 every afternoon. After an expressien by the students 
 generally, the professor briefly analyzes the facts em- 
 bodied in the statement, points out the application of 
 the law to them, and finally states the correct and de- 
 cisive rule as to the whole case. 
 
 In the moot court of the university, cases are tried 
 once a week, the professor presiding as judge. This 
 Court is regularly organized, having its clerk, prose- 
 cuting attorney, sheriff, etc. Pleadings are prepared 
 and filed, issue is joined, juries are impanneled, and 
 cases tried, in as close conformity as possible with the 
 order of procedure in the regular courts of law and 
 equity. 
 
 Furthermore, it is the privilege of all the law 
 students to attend the other classes in the University 
 course, such as history, philosophy, logic, mathema- 
 tics, the sciences, languages, etc. , and to do so involves 
 no extra charge or expense. 
 
 Of the standing of the law school at Notre Dame, 
 the " Chicago I,aw Journal' ' lor October, 1886, had 
 this to say: 
 
 ' ' Within the past three or four years, the I<aw 
 Department of the University of Notre Dame, situated 
 at Notre Dame, just north of the city of South Bend, 
 Indiana, has taken rank among the very best law 
 schools in the country. Not one of its graduates, 
 during that time, has failed to pass a creditable 
 examination for the Bar in any of the States; while its 
 diploma admits the holder, without examination, to 
 the Bar of Indiana, yet in other states prevails the
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 125 
 
 general rule applying to all law schools outside of their 
 respective jurisdictions, and an examination is neces- 
 sary. But it is worthy of note that the graduates of 
 Notre Dame have not only successfully passed the test 
 in every case, but also have, on several occasions, been 
 highly complimented by the examiners. ' ' 
 
 A writer in the Columbia " Law Times " for March, 
 1889, says of Professor Hoynes' work at Notre Dame: 
 
 ' ' He introduced a system of instruction somewhat 
 eclectic in its general features, in that it combined the 
 most approved methods of teaching followed in other 
 law schools. Since then the number of students has 
 steadily increased. The average ratio of increase has 
 been from eight to ten a year. Prof. Hoynes has 
 labored so assiduously and effectively to promote the 
 interests of the school that it now ranks favorably with 
 the best law schools of the country. Since he assumed 
 charge, the studies have been raised to the most ap- 
 proved plane, and an excellent library comprising 
 about twenty-five hundred volumes has been procured. 
 
 "Within the past year the old quarters of the law 
 class in the main building became too small to accom- 
 modate the steadily growing number of students, and 
 no alternative remained but to erect a new law build- 
 ing. This magnificent structure, the corner-stone of 
 which was laid last spring, is now completed. 
 
 "The mootcourt library and lecture rooms are 
 spacious, well lighted, well ventilated, and exception- 
 ally comfortable rooms, and afford pleasant quarters 
 for the students of the law course. 
 
 "The almost undivided attention of Prof. Hoynes is 
 given to the Law Department and to the enhancement 
 of the general and individual welfare of the students of
 
 126 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the law course. Living with them at the university, 
 he is accessible to them at any hour, and this seems 
 greatly to facilitate their work and progress. Between 
 the students and their professors there seems always to 
 exist a feeling of genuine friendship, if not of real 
 attachment, and much of the success of the past may 
 undoubtedly be attributed to this harmony." 
 
 The following, from a graduate of the Law Depart- 
 ment, is some indication of the proficiency attained by 
 the law students of Notre Dame: 
 
 "Last Thursday the examination of applicants for 
 admission to the Ohio bar took place at Columbus be- 
 fore the Supreme Court. In the morning a class of 
 forty -two assembled in the chamber of justice, and 
 forty-two hearts beat anxiously with mingled emo- 
 tions of fear and hope. The examination began at 10 
 o'clock A. M. and lasted until 5:30 o'clock p. M. Each 
 applicant was presented with a printed list of eighty- 
 five questions and a number of hypothetical cases. 
 These covered the principles of common law and 
 equity, pleadings under the code, etc. As a whole, 
 the examination was a pretty fair test of the legal 
 knowledge and standing of the applicants, though a 
 little severe. 
 
 ' ' Out of the forty-two only seventeen passed. Twen- 
 ty-five were rejected. Your humble servant was one of 
 the fortunate and happy seventeen. My professor of 
 law was, through me, paid a pretty compliment by the 
 examiners. They said I had a great advantage over 
 many of the other applicants, inasmuch as my mind 
 had received a thorough legal training. In other words, 
 I had a good and experienced preceptor. They said 
 also that the university of Notre Dame has acquired an
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 127 
 
 enviable reputation in Ohio as a law school. In pre- 
 paring for examination, I read nothing but the law 
 lectures taken by me at Notre Dame, and the state 
 statutes." 
 
 In addition to the dean of the school, Prof. William 
 Hoynes, the professors now consist of John G. Ewing, 
 Professor of Political Bconomy ; George E. Clarke, Pro- 
 fessor of Advocacy, and Father Alexander M. Kirsch, 
 Professor of Toxicology and Medical Jurisprudence. 
 Stated and occasional lectures are also' delivered by 
 eminent lawyers of South Bend, Chicago and Fort 
 Wayne. 
 
 VIII. A GENERAL CHAPTER AT NOTRE DAME. 
 
 At the close of the first presidency of Father Corby, 
 in the summer of 1872, there convened at Notre Dame 
 an assembly which, from its unique character, merits 
 special remark. Then and there, for the first time 
 siuce the discovery of Columbus, a general chapter of 
 a religious order was held in the New World. At this 
 chapter, by virtue of his office as Superior General of 
 the congregation of the Holy Cross, Father Sorin pre- 
 sided. The venerable religious had now become patri- 
 archal in appearance, and quite unlike the black-haired, 
 dark-faced, lithe-bodied young priest who stood upon 
 the banks of the frozen lake and looked out over the 
 snowy landscape in 1842. The snows were now trans- 
 ferred to his noble brow and to his flowing beard, both 
 worthy to adorn a prophet's head. Only the dark eye 
 of genius, only the strong mental grasp, the immortal 
 youthful hope, and the childlike faith, marked him as 
 the same courageous and far-seeing priest that had 
 planted the cross in the wilderness, and beside the cross
 
 128 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 built up this dwelling place of religion, art and sci- 
 ence. On returning from the^third plenary council of 
 Baltimore, Father Sorin had said of Archbishop Spald- 
 ing, who presided there: " He is not only the head of 
 the chnrch in America by virtue of his office, but also 
 by virtue of his intellect and his noble presence. " So 
 on this occasion it might be said of Father Sorin him- 
 self: He presided not only by reason of his office, but 
 also by right of intellectual supremacy and patriarchal 
 bearing. 
 
 At this chapter were present delegates, not only from 
 the United States and the Dominion of Canada, but 
 also from France, Algiers, the East Indies, and even 
 from Rome itself, where these meetings are usually 
 held. In this instance Rome had given special permis- 
 sion to hold the chapter at Notre Dame, as a peculiar 
 mark of favor to the United States, and as a compli- 
 ment to Father Sorin, the only American general of a 
 religious order. 
 
 ix. FATHER LEMONNIER'S PRESIDENCY. 
 
 It was at the general chapter of 1872 that the gifted 
 and well-beloved Father I^emonnier was selected as 
 president and local superior of Notre Dame. It would 
 seem that the presidency of Father Lemonnier came to 
 add grace and beauty to what was already so labo- 
 riously and substantially constructed. There is hardly 
 a science or an art in which he was not well versed; 
 and, as Johnson said of Goldsmith, there was nothing 
 which he touched that he did not beautify. Under 
 him all the sciences and the arts flourished as 
 never before; and Notre Dame became indeed a uni- 
 versity.
 
 REV. AUGUSTINE LEMONNIER, C. S. C. 
 FOURTH PRESIDENT.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 129 
 
 One of the most signal benefits which Father Lemon- 
 nier conferred upon the university was the establish- 
 ment of a students' circulating library, known after 
 his death as the Lemonnier Library, and now, under 
 the efficient charge of his beloved friend, Professor Ed- 
 wards, grown into the fine college library which is so 
 great a credit to the university. 
 
 The period of Father Lemonnier 's presidency was 
 but two years, and yet to many of us that short span 
 seems like a golden age, all was so beautiful, so har- 
 monious. What a pleasant picture arises in the mind 
 at the sound of his name! Even the word was musi- 
 cal, and thus emblematic of the beautiful character 
 which it represented. What a gracious presence, what 
 kindness, what ease, what exquisite taste, what good- 
 ness ! In him met most perfectly the priest, the 
 scholar, and the gentleman. But he was -even more 
 than this: he was an artist in the broadest sense of the 
 term, having a true appreciation of music, poetry, 
 landscape gardening, and general scenic effect. Mold- 
 ing nature with the hand of art, he would have 
 made Notre Dame as charming as the Pincian gar- 
 dens. He was, besides, a most genial companion, 
 possessed of a delicate and ready wit and a never- 
 failing fund of good humor. 
 
 His active life, from his ordination to his death, was 
 completely identified with Notre Dame. First ap- 
 pointed prefect of discipline at the special instance of 
 Father Dillon, and then vice-president by Father Corby, 
 he had filled every position up to that of president and 
 superior, in which he died. 
 
 His many-sided sympathies not only explain his 
 popularity with all classes of people, but may also
 
 130 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 account for his dramatic taste, especially his admira- 
 tion for Shakspeare; for, like Cardinal Wiseman, he 
 loved and appreciated the great bard, and himself pos- 
 sessed no little share of dramatic genius. It was, 
 however, towards the pastoral drama that his taste 
 was drawn, and Twelfth Night, or As You Like It, 
 gave him far more pleasure than Lear or Macbeth. In- 
 nocence, gentleness, and purity, had a wonderful at- 
 traction for his soul. 
 
 To this wide sympathy with others we may also 
 ascribe his marvellous success as president. For 
 him the term university was a word of marked signifi- 
 cance. He would have all departments of study in a 
 prosperous condition, the sciences, the arts, the lan- 
 guages, the professions. He would have the various 
 societies active and harmonious. He would have offi- 
 cers and professors working together with one mind. 
 He would have the students contented and rapidly ad- 
 vancing in all knowledge. He would have the sur- 
 roundings as comfortable and beautiful as they were 
 good and useful. Finally, he would have all sanctified 
 by a pervading spirit of Christian piety and virtue. 
 To say that, at least in a large measure, he succeeded 
 in all this, is to name him what he was indeed, a 
 model president. 
 
 Father Lemonnier and Father Gillespie, each of 
 whom had done so much for literature and art at Notre 
 Dame, died within a few days of one another, the first 
 October 29, and the last November 12, 1874. A like 
 coincidence had marked the deaths of the two Father 
 Dillons, Father Patrick dying November 15, and 
 Father James December 17, 1868. All four bright 
 men, and dying in the bloom of early manhood.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 131 
 X. THE FIFTH PRESIDENCY. 
 
 During the last sickness and at the death of Father 
 Lemonnier, Father Patrick J. Colovin was vice-presi- 
 dent and director of studies ; and after Father Lemon- 
 nier's death remained as acting president until his 
 selection as president, which office he held until 
 1877. 
 
 Father Colovin was a ripe scholar, and a man of fine 
 presence. Under his presidency the work so well 
 commenced under Father Corby and Father I^emonnier 
 was carried on with success. Father Colovin was 
 devoted to solid learning, and there is no doubt that 
 the standard of the higher studies was sensibly raised 
 during his administration. Notre Dame moved ahead 
 steadily on the road of permanent prosperity. Father 
 Colovin's occasional addresses were models of finished 
 oratory. 
 
 During this time the Centennial Exposition and 
 World's Fair was held in Philadelphia; and the uni- 
 versity became widely known from the beautiful altar 
 and other objects of religious art then seen at the 
 exposition, and which now adorn the Church of the 
 Sacred Heart. 
 
 The month of December, 1875, was noted for the 
 thrilling uncertainty that for weeks hung over the 
 Atlantic steamer Amerique, upon which Father Sorin 
 had taken passage for France. He left Notre Dame on 
 the evening of November 7th, and did not arrive at 
 Queenstown until December i8th of that year. The 
 long silence caused alarm for his safety, and there was 
 good reason for the fear, as the great vessel was dis- 
 abled at sea. It was the most perilous of the nearly 
 fifty passages made across the ocean by Father Sorin
 
 132 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 during his life. On his safe return to Notre Dame, 
 May 21, 1876, all was welcome and thanksgiving. 
 
 February 26, 1876, a patriotic number of the "Scho- 
 lastic' ' was issued containing quite a historical account 
 of matters and things connected with Notre Dame. 
 From this very interesting number we have freely 
 drawn in preparing the preceding pages. The edition 
 was prepared in accordance with a request from the 
 Indiana State Board of Education, made to all publi- 
 cations in the State, with a view to furnish statistical 
 and historical information, in connection with the cele- 
 bration of the one hundredth anniversary of the 
 Declaration of Independence. 
 
 XI. AMUSEMENTS AT NOTRE DAME. 
 
 From the very beginning great attention has been 
 given at Notre Dame to manly sports and to outdoor 
 and indoor amusements. Father Sorin himself in the 
 early days joined in the recreations of his young friends, 
 never so happy as when throwing aside his cares he 
 mingled in their merry sports. In the good old game 
 of marbles he was, as we have seen, an especial expert, 
 as in the early spring days many a boy learned to his 
 cost. 
 
 One day of the week, usually Wednesday, though 
 of late years Thursday, was devoted exclusively to 
 physical exercises. In the early years, students took 
 prodigious delight in long excursions on foot, scouring 
 the fields and woods far and wide. Over sandy roads 
 and through swampy prairies they went in merry 
 troops, with a good brother, priest or professor in 
 attendance. A favorite mode of passing the day was 
 to start out immediately after breakfast, carrying the
 
 REV. PATRICK J. COLOVIN, C. S. C. 
 FIFTH PRESIDENT.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 133 
 
 main part of the dinner in baskets and trusting to the 
 neighboring farmers for butter, eggs and milk. At 
 other times they would give notice a week in advance, 
 and then swoop kown on some quiet farmhouse, and 
 there demolish chickens, hot pies and other dainty 
 edibles, which, besides being somewhat more toothsome 
 than the college commons, tasted fifty per cent better 
 from the fact that they had to be paid for. 
 
 Again, still longer excursions were taken, in "car- 
 ry-alls' ' and other hired vehicles. This was particu- 
 larly true in winter, when many famous sleighrides 
 were taken. 
 
 At a still earlier day, when several of the students 
 were the sons of civilized Indian chiefs or other dis- 
 tinguished braves among the remnants of the tribes 
 still left in Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan, 
 still finer sport was found in the weekly excursions. 
 Bears, wolves, deer, turkey, 'coons, opossums, cata- 
 mounts and prairie-hens were found in the pathless 
 woods and prairies; while the lakes and streams were 
 covered with wild geese and other aquatic game. 
 
 On one of these occasions it is related that the boys 
 found a bear in a bee tree, trying to rob the honey. 
 The Indian boys soon smoked out the bear, and then 
 made short work of him, much to the amazement of 
 their white companions. They managed also to get 
 the honey which the unfortunate bear had been after. 
 
 With the Indians and the bears, such exciting excur- 
 sions came to an end; but the charms of weekly tramps 
 continue even to this day. They are, however, of 
 necessity, now confined to the grounds of the Univer- 
 sity, and chiefly by the margins of the charming lakes. 
 In winter time, also, these lakes furnish exhilarating
 
 134 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 skating; while, in summer, St. Joseph's lake, evening 
 after evening, is alive with the merry swimmers. In 
 summer, too, the same St. Joseph's sparkles with the 
 merry boatmen's practice over the silvery waves. 
 
 Back in the sixties regularly organized boating clubs 
 were first established; and, year by year, the exercises 
 and rivalries of the different crews became of greater 
 and greater interest, both to inmates of the University 
 and to visitors. No commencement exercises are now 
 considered complete without the regattas; to witness 
 which, hundreds of people gather along the shores of 
 the lake, all intent upon the success of their respective 
 friends and eager to wear the colors of the champions. 
 
 The earliest record we have of a race is of that 
 which took place in 1870, when the "Santa Maria" 
 won the cup. In after years, we read of victories for 
 the "Pinta,"the "Minnehaha," the "Hiawatha," and 
 many others. The boats used upon the lakes are 
 equal to the best in the county. 
 
 In 1877, Father Colovin and Father Corby changed 
 places, Father Colovin taking charge of the Watertown, 
 Wisconsin, parish, which Father Corby had conducted 
 with signal ability for five years, and Father Corby 
 again becoming president of Notre Dame, with Father 
 Thomas K- Walsh as vice-president and director of 
 studies. 
 
 One of the first cares of the new administration was 
 to extend and improve the facilities for manly exercises 
 for the students. Improved walks were laid out for 
 use in wet weather. The noble avenue leading 
 from the college, lined with wide-spreading maples, 
 was brought to an even grade for a mile and a half 
 south, into the city limits, and then finely graveled,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 135 
 
 making the approach to the buildings one of the finest 
 to be found anywhere. 
 
 From the first, the students of Notre Dame had been 
 separated into divisions, according to age. Those over 
 sixteen were called seniors; those between twelve and 
 sixteen, juniors; and those under twelve, minims. The 
 seniors have since been called also Brownsons, in 
 honor of the great philosopher; and the juniors, Car- 
 rolls, in honor of the first archbishop of Baltimore. A 
 further division has recently been made, according to 
 which those pursuing the higher courses of study are 
 called Sorins, in honor of the founder of the university. 
 
 Each of the original three divisions has a separate 
 study room, a separate dining room, a separate dormi- 
 tory, and a separate recreation hall and play-ground. 
 The Sorins, however, use the refectory and the recrea- 
 tion halls and yards of the seniors, or Brownsons. 
 
 After the introduction of the noble game of base ball 
 the grounds were found too confined, and a large 
 campus was set aside for each division, some twenty- 
 five or thirty acres being now devoted to this purpose, 
 giving ample room for extended walks and for all the 
 manly sports, including, alas, the redoubtable game of 
 foot-ball. It must be said, hovrever, that this last 
 game has not been played at Notre Dame with the 
 barbarous accompaniments found in too many schools 
 and colleges. As in everything else, so in her games, 
 Notre Dame seeks to present the best. The strong 
 limbs, ruddy complexions and general good health of 
 her students give evidence that her efforts in this mat- 
 ter have not been without success. 
 
 For cold, wet and stormy weather, all rational indoor 
 amusements are provided. In addition to these are
 
 136 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the libraries, reading rooms, societies, musical and 
 dramatic entertainments, with frequent lectures, read- 
 ings, concerts, etc. A feature of all these amusements 
 and entertainments, and even of the manly sports, is 
 that care is taken that they serve the purposes of a 
 higher education, whether physical, mental or moral. 
 Man's three-fold nature is everywhere and in every- 
 thing recognized, and in the education given, body, 
 mind and soul are always kept in view. That the 
 physical man should grow in strength, grace and 
 beauty; his intellect, in knowledge and wisdom; and 
 his heart, in virtue, are deemed essential towards at- 
 taining a complete education. 
 
 That the facilities for entertainments of a high order 
 have greatly improved at Notre Dame is very clear to 
 those who can remember back even to the war period. 
 Then even the dining rooms were insufficient to ac- 
 commodate guests at commencement, or at society re- 
 unions. Many a time in the olden day, the annual 
 banquets were taken under the shades of the forest 
 trees where the rustic tables were set up in long lines, 
 and fortunate was he whose chair did not stand in the 
 fierce glare of the sun in June. But, with all their 
 drawbacks, it must be confessed that these woodland 
 feasts had something of the charm which the banished 
 duke found in the forest of Arden. 
 
 On one or two occasions, if not oftener, a more con- 
 venient location was found, and the long line of tables 
 was laid beneath the grape arbor, thick with the rich 
 leaves of early summer. 
 
 With Father Sorin and the other devoted priests and 
 brothers thus watching over and ministering to their 
 friends feasting under the blue vault and with the
 
 NOTRE DA MK AVKNTK LOOKING NORTH. 
 
 N'OTRK DAMK AVKNL'K .LOOKING SOUTH
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 137 
 
 winds of heaven playing about them, one would some- 
 times think of those other feasts, taken also in the 
 open air, where the people were seated upon the 
 ground, "for there was much grass in the place," and 
 where the blessed Master broke the five barley loaves 
 and divided the two fishes among the multitude. 
 
 So, too, in those days, for want of room under any 
 roof, the commencement exercises were often held in 
 the open air. Well is it remembered when that noble 
 man, Father Patrick Dillon, in 1859, had the fine play 
 of Addison's Cato, and in 1860 Cardinal Wiseman's 
 Hidden Gem, enacted under the locust trees, which 
 then grew in long lines of thick shade, just east of the 
 present Church of the Sacred Heart, and between that 
 and Brother Peter's garden. With canvas awnings 
 and plank platform set up several feet from the ground, 
 the plays were enacted with perhaps as great success 
 and with as much hearty applause as ever greeted the 
 most accomplished experts on the boards of Washing- 
 ton Hall. 
 
 But all this is changed, as by the magic of Alladin's 
 lamp. Magnificent dining rooms may accommodate 
 the largest gathering of guests; and Washington Hall 
 has as ample a stage platform and as spacious and 
 well seated an auditorium, and gallery, as any audi- 
 ence could desire. From much privation and suffering, 
 by great zeal, labor and devotion, have these things 
 been brought about. Let those who enjoy the present 
 blessings not forget through how much self-denial, and 
 for what a great price they have been purchased.
 
 VI. 
 
 THE FIRE. 
 
 I. APRII, 23, 1879. 
 
 The new life inagurated with the building of the 
 college of 1865, and which grew broader and stronger 
 as the years advanced, received an added impetus 
 under the second administration of Father Corby, 
 aided as he was now by the scholarly Father Walsh as 
 Director of Studies. Father Zahm had taken charge 
 of the scientific department on the retirement of Father 
 Carrier; and well did he bear out the brilliant promise 
 made by his early career. The scientific department 
 became an honor to the university. The other de- 
 partments continued to flourish in like manner, and 
 Notre Dame appeared to have taken her place per- 
 manently as one of the great seats of learning. 
 
 Suddenly, without a single note of warning, the 
 labors of many gifted and holy lives seemed about to 
 be reduced to nothingness. On Wednesday, the 23rd 
 day of April, 1879, the university, with priceless treas- 
 ures, was burned to the ground. With it, so intense and 
 destructive was the fire, nearly every other building in 
 immediate connection with the institution, perished. 
 The most notable exceptions were the beautiful but 
 unfinished church of the Sacred Heart, and the old 
 frame printing office in which the ' ' Ave Maria ' ' and 
 
 the "Scholastic " were published. 
 
 138
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 139 
 
 In the next issue of the latter paper, April 26, 1879, 
 the sad event was described as follows: 
 
 " On fire, in flames, in ashes! Such is the history 
 of Our Lady's College for a few short hours, beginning 
 at about eleven o'clock on Wednesday morning, April 
 2 3> l8 79- The tale f alarm, of hurried help, of almost 
 superhuman but vain labor in extinguishing the rag- 
 ing flames, and finally of saving whatever of value that 
 could be snatched from the fire, has all been graphi- 
 cally told by the daily press for the past few days, and 
 we have hardly the heart to go over the dreadful 
 story. But our friends have a right to hear from us 
 through our own little paper, and so they shall, for, 
 thank God, our printing office is one of the precious 
 things spared by the devouring element. 
 
 ' ' The origin of the fire is simply impossible to ascer- 
 tain. Workmen had been engaged on the roof until 
 ten o'clock, and on coming down had locked the door 
 opening from the dome. Whether some smouldering 
 ember was left behind them by the workmen, whether 
 the hot sun inflamed the dry timber dust on the roof, 
 or a spark from the chimney of the steam-house set 
 fire to it, remains a matter of conjecture. The one 
 thing certain is, that the accident could neither have 
 been forseen nor prevented. 
 
 ' 'The fire was first seen from the Minims' yard. The 
 flames were on the roof, near the east side of the dome; 
 and the Minims' shrill cry of ' College on fire! ' was 
 soon echoed on every side by brother, priest, student 
 and professor. A very little water at first would have 
 been sufficient to save the building; but before water 
 could be carried to the top of the sixth story, the pitch 
 roof was already blazing, and nothing less than a
 
 140 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 deluge from the city stand-pipe could have subdued 
 those fierce flames. 
 
 ' 'Still, with a hope that was almost without founda- 
 tion, an unthinking confidence that the beloved edifice 
 could not thus perish before their eyes, long lines of 
 men and boys were formed all the way up the stair, 
 ways, from story to story, up to the roof, and water 
 was thus sent up from hand to hand. At the same 
 time, water was forced up the pipes by steam, and the 
 great tanks on the upper stories were rapidly emptied 
 by crowds of workers. But they contended with an 
 enemy that could not be subdued. Those in the long 
 water lines, too, became over-anxious to rush, each 
 with his own little water supply, to the fire. Mr. 
 Bonney, the photographer from the city, Professor 
 Ivers, and numerous others, tried in vain to preserve 
 the lines. As soon as the supports of the dome were 
 burned away, and the massive statue fell upon the 
 roof, carrying the flames into the dry mansard wood 
 work, even the most hopeful gave way, and water was 
 brought only to protect those who were saving the 
 libraries, museums, and furniture of the various de- 
 partments. 
 
 ' 'Most heroically was this labor of saving performed. 
 A stripling student seemed to be endowed with the 
 courage of a hero and the strength of a giant. Es- 
 pecially did the generous and kindly-hearted students 
 rush into their old class-rooms and the private rooms 
 of Very Rev. Father Corby, Father Walsh, Father 
 Kelly, and their prefects and professors, breaking open 
 the doors when necessary, and carrying away to places 
 of safety whatever had become dear to them by the 
 ties of association and fond recollection. Many a priest
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 141 
 
 and professor who forgot all about his own private 
 affairs in laboring for the general safety, can now 
 hardly refrain from tears when he finds that all his 
 little articles of value, books, pictures, costly instru- 
 ments, private papers of priceless value, and even 
 heavy desks and book cases, have been securely, and 
 it would even seem, lovingly, carried to places of 
 safety by the warm hearted students. They loved 
 Notre Dame as their second home, but never loved her 
 as when the cruel flames were snatching her from their 
 eyes forever. 
 
 ' 'But while all this was going on, help was pouring 
 in from all sides. All the neighbors, for miles 
 around, were bringing water or trying to save some 
 articles. As soon as the fire was discovered, telegram 
 after telegram was sent to the city, imploring help, and 
 asking for the fire-engine. As soon as the firemen 
 could gather from their shops, and put the engine in 
 working order, it was carried out. Mayor Tong, 
 Councilman Nevius, Superintendent Abbott, Chief 
 Brusie, Assistant Hull, and numerous firemen and 
 citizens, receive our warmest expressions of gratitude. 
 South Bend displayed a most grateful sympathy in our 
 affliction, which will be remembered so long as Notre 
 Dame and her sister city flourish side by side, in 
 mutual help and good will towards one another. The 
 engine had not been used before for two years, had but 
 recently been repaired, and it was not known at first 
 whether it would work. But it performed admirable 
 service; and could it have been here in the beginning, 
 or even an hour sooner, it would have saved the 
 college. Had it been here half-an-hour earlier, it 
 would have saved the infirmary building, the St.
 
 142 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Francis Home and the Music Hall. But it did great 
 good as it was; for, by checking the flames and dash- 
 ing water on the adjacent buildings, it saved the 
 kitchen, the steam house, the printing office, and also, 
 perhaps, the presbytery, the church, and other build- 
 ings in the rear. Had the flames once entered the 
 kitchen, and so extended to the western buildings, it 
 is hardly probable that anything would now be stand- 
 ing at Notre Dame. 
 
 ' 'It seems a special providence that there was so little 
 wind stirring to carry the flames, and that what air 
 there was, was from the southwest, and so took the 
 fire from the precious church of the Sacred Heart. It 
 was also a blessed thing that the fire came not in the 
 night, or in the winter. Early as it was in the year, 
 the day was as warm as in June, so that even the 
 feeble and the sick did not suffer from exposure. The 
 hand of God was, besides, present in saving everyone 
 from death, or even severe accident. Two of the 
 students, P. J. Dougherty and Florian Devoto, staying 
 too long on the roof, were intercepted by the flames, 
 and had to jump from one floor to another, resulting in 
 slight injury to the former. Mr. Klingel, a merchant 
 of the city, carrying out furniture, barely escaped a 
 falling wall, and was for some time prostrated by the 
 heat. Senator Leeper, gathering an armful of valuable 
 books from a flaming pile, barely escaped a burning 
 cornice falling from above. A Sister, hastening out a 
 rear door of the college, passed under the porch just 
 as it fell in. These were perhaps the narrowest 
 escapes. The coolness displayed by the Sisters, in 
 entering the buildings and carrying away valuables, is 
 beyond all praise. Had they been permitted to enter
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 143 
 
 the college at first, they would have saved every 
 movable article uninjured, as they did in the infirmary, 
 carrying everything out carefully and putting it in at 
 place of safety. Pity such coolness and good judg- 
 ment was not shown by all. Unfortunately, numbers 
 of over-zealous persons, instead of taking what they 
 could and carry ing it out of the building, tossed every- 
 thing out of the windows, breaking whatever could be 
 broken, and only piling other things up below, for the 
 fire to fall upon the heap and destroy it. The most 
 valuable books, some of them precious tomes, hundreds 
 of years old, were thus burned on the ground outside. 
 
 ' 'On looking about after the fires were brought under 
 subjection, we find the great college utterly destroyed, 
 a burned fragment of wall standing here and there. 
 The infirmary building, containing, besides, the general 
 office and the students' office, is burned entirely out, 
 though the blackened walls are still standing. The 
 music hall, with the juniors' play room, is entirely 
 consumed the south wall fallen in. All the students' 
 trunks, which were kept in this building, were saved; 
 the pianos, however, except one, were lost. The 
 Minims' Hall is, of course, utterly gone. The church, 
 the presbytery, science hall (the rear of the old church, 
 then used by Father Zahm for that purpose), the 
 kitchen, the steam-house, and the printing office are 
 left, as is also Washington Hall. 
 
 ' 'This destruction was accomplished in about three 
 hours. Soon after, at three o'clock, Father Corby 
 called a meeting of his wisest assistants and advisers 
 about him, and it was here determined that nothing 
 could be done but bring the college year to an abrupt 
 close. It was not without a pang of sorrow that this
 
 144 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 conclusion was arrived at, but, on looking around 
 them, the council saw that this course was inevitable. 
 An hour later the students were assembled in the 
 church, the only building where they could be received, 
 and the decision was communicated to them by Very 
 Rev. President Corby. To all, it was a sorrowful 
 intelligence. Almost to a man, they protested their 
 willingness to remain and endure all the inconveniences 
 to which they knew they must be subjected. It was 
 only when the Very Reverend President had shown the 
 utter impossibility of any accommodations, and when he 
 promised them that a new college, more excellent than 
 the one burned down that day, would be ready to re- 
 ceive them on the first Tuesday of September, that 
 they could bring themselves to bid adieu to Notre 
 Dame. Another meeting was held at two o'clock 
 Thursday afternoon, at which degrees were conferred 
 in the collegiate, law and medical classes. On Friday 
 morning, at eight o'clock, the commercial faculty met 
 for a like purpose. On Monday, at eight o'clock, a 
 general council will be held to shape the future action 
 of the university. 
 
 "Visitors are flocking to the ruins from every side; 
 all, without exception, bearing words of condolence, 
 which are most sincerely appreciated. Mr. Bonney 
 has taken several photographic views of the scene of 
 destruction. Even the greatest calamity has its humor- 
 ous features. Mr. Bonney has tried for years to get 
 a photograph of the aged Father Neyron, who was a 
 surgeon with Napoleon at Waterloo; but Father Ney- 
 ron always laughingly refused. Yesterday Mr. Bonney 
 got his eye upon the good-natured veteran when tak- 
 ing a view of the ruins, and soon shouted his success,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 145 
 
 which was the first intimation Father Neyron had of 
 what had been done. Prof. Stace being asked if he 
 had saved anything, pointed in silence, with a comical 
 smile, to the shirt he had on him. 
 
 "Wednesday night was a time of toil and trouble. 
 The secretary, by order of Very Rev. President Corby, 
 telegraphed to the parents of all the students, while 
 the latter were gathered into Washington Hall, where 
 they slept upon the ticks and bed clothes that had 
 been saved. The fire engine had been taken back to 
 the city in the evening, but the wind veering towards 
 the south in the night, threatened a new fire in the 
 kitchen, and the engine was hastily sent for. No 
 further damage was done, however. 
 
 "The fire as might be anticipated, created intense 
 interest among the thousands of friends of Notre Dame 
 in Chicago and throughout the country. An account of 
 the disastar appeared at three o'clock in the ' 'Evening 
 Journal" of Wednesday. An associated press dispatch 
 was sent to all the papers in the United States entitled 
 to receive it. Thursday morning's Chicago "Times" 
 gave over a column of specials, the "Tribune" and 
 "Inter Ocean" nearly as many. Long specials were 
 also sent by request to the New York "Herald," 
 Cincinnati "Enquirer," Indianapolis "Journal" and 
 other papers, showing how widespread is the interest 
 taken in Notre Dame's disaster. 
 
 "The Chicago 'Tribune' says editorially: 'General 
 regret and sympathy will be felt for the destruction 
 by fire of the University of Notre Dame, at South 
 Bend, Ind. The institution has held a high position 
 among the educational institutions of America, and its 
 loss is a genuine catastrophe, but one, we are glad to
 
 146 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 say, which will be promptly repaired. The loss sus- 
 tained is estimated at $200,000, and the insurance 
 about $45,000; but there will be no lack of funds to 
 make up the difference, and enable the prompt rebuild- 
 ing of the university. Notre Dame will be herself 
 again within a few months.' Such sentiments of 
 sympathy, and those which we here received from the 
 press and citizens of our own city, are most grateful 
 at an hour like this. 
 
 ' 'Yes, Notre Dame will be herself again in a few 
 months, with God's help; and with the untiring toil of 
 her children, and the aid of her generous friends who 
 have never failed her in her hour of need. If there 
 ever was a time when assistance was needed, it is now. 
 Notre Dame has so grown into the life of the country 
 that it cannot but live and nourish, notwithstanding 
 the fire. Like a vigorous tree which has been burned 
 to the ground, the life is yet strong in the heart beneath, 
 and a new growth will spring from the ashes more 
 beautiful and more glorious than ever. A new building 
 better suited to its purposes, and equally substantial, 
 elegant and commodious, will be immediately erected, 
 well out front of the old site, giving more room and 
 separation from surrounding structures. This building 
 will be ready before the first of September. 
 
 "Now, will our friends help us? Will those who have 
 drawn from the fountains of Notre Dame for the past 
 twenty-five, thirty, thirty -five years, now show how 
 well they love the mother who has done so much for 
 them? Will those who love the young, and who desire 
 to see them brought up in the fear and love of God, 
 help us in the great work we have to do this summer? 
 Will those who seize every opportunity to do that
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 147 
 
 which is most pleasing to Almighty God, see in this 
 disaster a call to them for help? Will the friends of 
 Very Rev. Father Sorin, who has not even yet, perhaps, 
 at the hour at which we write, heard of the destruction 
 of this labor of his life for he left last Monday morn- 
 ing, in the brightest spirits, for Europe will those 
 who have seen him build up this institution in the 
 wilderness, now come to aid him and his children in its 
 restoration? We have the utmost confidence in the 
 goodness of God, and believe that with His help, our 
 own hard work, and the aid of our friends, we shall have 
 as fine a college building, full of students, next Sep- 
 tember, as that which we lost on this terrible 23rd of 
 April." 
 
 II. SYMPATHY. 
 
 Words of sympathy and offers of assistance poured 
 in on every side. The people of Notre Dame did not 
 know before that the institution had so endeared itself 
 to the immediate community, and indeed to multitudes 
 in the country at large. 
 
 On the very evening when the article above was 
 printed in the ' 'Scholastic, ' ' a public meeting was held 
 in the city of South Bend, in which the people, with- 
 out regard to creed, gave warmest expression of sorrow 
 for the loss sustained by Notre Dame. 
 
 At this meeting Judge T. G. Turner read with much 
 feeling the following beautiful lines, written by Thomas 
 A. Daily, a former graduate and professor of the univer- 
 sity, but then editor of the "Daily Herald" of South 
 Bend. The poem has been much admired. It is said to 
 have been written only on the day of its delivery, a burst 
 of poetic fervor by the young poet, who felt his genius 
 stirred by his warm sympathy with his Alma Mater:
 
 143 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 m. POEM. 
 
 A cloudless sky, a sultry day; 
 
 A wealth of sunshine in the air. 
 
 Young spring was blooming soft and fair, 
 And o'er the Earth held sovereign sway. 
 
 A morning bathed in dewy tears, 
 Upon the gently swelling liills 
 Where nature once again fulfills 
 
 The promise of consistent years. 
 
 A cry, a brief electric flash, 
 
 A burst of awful fear leaped out; 
 A moment of suspense and doubt 
 
 Ere thousands from the city dash, 
 
 And to the college force their way; 
 For "fire ! fire ! " was the cry, 
 Fair Notre Dame was doomed to lie 
 
 Prone in the dust, for naught can stay 
 
 The fiendish progress of the flames, 
 That roll above her stately dome 
 O' er sacred relic, ancient tome 
 
 The treasured love of deathless names. 
 
 O God, it was a thrilling sight, 
 
 Where rolled the fierce flames to the sky, 
 And great, brave men stood helpless by; 
 
 Crushed 'neath the monster's withering blight. 
 
 The sculptured Virgin mutely blessed 
 
 The lurid tongues that scorched her brow, 
 As holy, martyrs erst did bow 
 
 Beneath the torture's final test 
 
 The crash of walls, the hissing stream. 
 
 Commingled flames and blistering heat, 
 Wrought out a picture all replete 
 
 With mad destruction's lurid gleam.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 149 
 
 Can nothing quell this demon's power? 
 
 Can naught appease his fiery wrath ? 
 
 Can strength of man impede his path, 
 Or stay the flames that madly lower? 
 
 No arm was potent there to save; 
 
 From tower and dome the flames rolled down, 
 While noble firemen from the town 
 
 Fought bravely as becomes the brave. 
 
 Sorin, thy life work lies a glow 
 
 Of crumbled clay and shapeless dross, 
 Thy brethern of the Holy Cross 
 
 Behold their labor worthless grow. 
 
 Doomed, doomed, O beauteous Notre Dame ! 
 
 Thy massive walls are crushed and low; 
 
 Thy stricken children here bestow 
 Their tears to consecrate thy fame. 
 
 The stranger turns heartsick to see 
 
 That holocaust's destructive might; 
 Thy friends are gathered here tonight 
 
 In sympathy and love for thee. 
 
 Lo ! crushed to thy foundation stone; 
 From out those ruins comes a voice 
 That bids thee rise, in grief rejoice, 
 
 In woe thou weepest not alone. 
 
 We feel thy loss, we saw thy birth: 
 
 Thy classic halls once more shall rise; 
 Thy dome again shall pierce the skies, 
 
 The grandest monument of earth. 
 
 O hospitable Notre Dame ! 
 
 Thy walls that never turned away 
 
 Unfed the poor appeal to-day 
 To Christian hearts of every name.
 
 150 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Gold cannot buy all thou hast lost ! 
 
 It can do much we promise more; 
 
 We pledge thee freely of our store 
 And sympathy of priceless cost. 
 
 Thy children who are filling now 
 In every laud the ranks of trade, 
 Will reach to thee their proffered aid 
 
 And laurels weave around thy brow. 
 
 Thy deeds of love have made thee great; 
 Have won thee friends in distant lands, 
 Who'll reach, to thy distress, full hands, 
 
 And bounteous gifts from every state. 
 
 Arise ! O peerless Notre Dame ! 
 
 Forth from the gloom of thy despond, 
 To meet the coming years beyond, 
 
 And dedicate anew thy aim. 
 
 Thy fame is ours; our strength we give: 
 Sorin, thy Patriarch, shall not 
 Go to his grave and be forgot; 
 
 His name through ages yet shall live.
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE OLD AND THE NEW. 
 
 I. NOTRE DAME BEFORE THE FIRE. 
 
 To realize what Notre Dame had become, and how 
 great was the loss suffered by the fire, we reproduce, 
 with a few minor modifications, from the "Catholic 
 Review'' of May 3, 1879, the following picture of what 
 he saw two days before the catastrophe, by the accom- 
 plished and lamented editor of that journal, Patrick V. 
 Hickey: 
 
 " 'Under God, it is alfthework of one man, with no 
 help but a sublime and unbounded confidence in the 
 Mother of God, who in every trial, and under every 
 affliction, has sustained him. Sometimes human aid 
 would seem promised to him; he would receive the assist- 
 ance, or the hope of the assistance, of some brilliant and 
 strong man, and almost at once death or some other 
 cause would withdraw this support, and leave him noth- 
 ing but his mainstay, faith in our Blessed Mother. 
 Her work in the success of this institution is of 
 marvelous record. 
 
 ' ' 'Forty years ago, when Father General and his com- 
 panions succeeded the saintly old missionaries who on 
 these camping grounds of the red men had evangelized 
 the poor Indians, Father Sorin and his assistant priests 
 were so poor as to have but one hat between them, so
 
 152 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 that when one was seen abroad it was known that the 
 other must be at home.' 
 
 ' ' The speaker was the editor of the ' Ave Maria, ' 
 who on last Monday afternoon was of three that kindly 
 undertook to make the visit of a passing traveler from 
 New York full of pleasant memories of Notre Dame. 
 We were standing on the roof of the University build- 
 ing, under the statue of Our I,ady. We had reached 
 it by noble corridors and spacious staircases, through 
 magnificent halls, which contained, in books, in manu- 
 scripts, in pictures, in scientific and artistic collections, 
 treasures which no money could replace. We were 
 looking out over the beautiful plains of Indiana, that 
 American I/>mbardy which recalls the lines of Shelley: 
 
 Beneath is spread, like a green sea, 
 The waveless plains of Lombardy, 
 
 Bounded by the vaporous air, 
 Islanded by cities fair. 
 
 Far as the eye could reach, the work of Christian 
 civilization could be traced; flourishing cities and 
 villages, the iron roads which knit together east and 
 west, factories and farms, everything that denotes a 
 prosperous and happy people; but, in all, nothing 
 more striking, nothing more beautiful, nothing more 
 suggestive, than this Catholic City of Notre Dame; for 
 it is not less than a city from whose center we surveyed 
 this marvelous growth, the source of whose prosperity 
 and strength Father Hudson summed up in the sen- 
 tences we have quoted. 
 
 '* Notre Datne, St. Joseph county, Indiana, brought 
 to our own time and to our very doors, a chapter of the 
 history of the church in its most glorious age. If any 
 reader had never heard it before, the lecture of Arch-
 
 I 'NIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 153 
 
 bishop Vaughan which we published a week or two 
 since must have familiarized all the readers of the 
 'Catholic Review' with the growth of great cities of 
 Europe around the monastery of the Catholic monk 
 and the cathedral of the Catholic bishop. Spending 
 the first night of their foundation under the trees of a 
 pathless and unknown forest, the middle-age founder 
 often saw before his death, and his children surely saw, 
 the mustard-seed developed, as the gospel promised, 
 into a mighty tree which filled all the earth. 
 
 ' ' On the prairies of Indiana, this American age has 
 seen repeated the work of mediaeval Europe, by a 
 congregation of priests almost the most modern in the 
 church whose growth, however, has been such in 
 America that we retain here their chief, the only case, 
 we believe, where the superior general of a great 
 religious order resides at this side of the Atlantic. 
 From a few poor French priests, there has sprung an 
 order, whose dead on the field of honor are already 
 not few, and who besides have been able to enrich 
 Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Wisconsin, Canada, and 
 remoter regions, with learned teachers, zealous mis- 
 sionaries, and practical business men, whose work in 
 making good citizens and devoted lovers of our Amer- 
 ica institutions, Catholics and Protestants, the highest 
 no less than the humblest in the United States, thor- 
 oughly appreciate. In this single establishment, the 
 original two (Father Sorin and Father Cointet),ofwhom 
 one survives, have been multiplied to thirty fathers, 
 twelve scholastics, one hundred and forty -one professed 
 lay brothers, sixty novices, and twelve postulants. 
 
 "We cannot, in the space at our command, picture 
 for our readers even the material beauties which can
 
 154 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 be seen from this vantage point on the roof of Notre 
 Dame. Here is the Church of Our Lady, enriched 
 with pictures, with costly frescoes, with shrines and 
 relics of the saints, with an altar whose privileges are 
 greater, we are told, than that of any other altar, save 
 one, in the entire world. A volume would be required 
 to tell the beauties of this shrine. Its chime of bells 
 waft music over prairies; and for miles its great bell, 
 the largest in America, is heard distinct and beautiful. 
 
 There is the school of manual art, where the young 
 gentlemen who are to be the legislators of young com- 
 munities can learn useful blacksmithing and carpentry. 
 There are music and science halls, homes for the aged, 
 an infirmary, the printing office of the "Ave Maria," 
 with its devoted brothers and its mild, studious editor. 
 Then a great boiler-house, kitchens and all the other 
 buildings called for by nearly four hundred students 
 and professors. 
 
 "Two lakes, surrounded by shady walks, afford 
 opportunity of recreation and exercise, and divide the 
 novitiate and scholasticate from the university. A 
 week to see them, and a volume to describe them, would 
 be needed to tell all the material glories of Notre 
 Dame. What it has accomplished in the spiritual 
 world, if told before the judgment day, must be 
 recounted by other hands. Enough it is to know that 
 in the atmosphere of Notre Dame there we're peace, 
 fervor, discipline, and piety, so that even the transient 
 visitor could not fail to see its happiness. There was 
 hope, too, for on this Monday morning, when Father 
 Sorin bade farewell to his boys, on his thirty-sixth 
 transatlantic journey, he engaged them all in a canvas 
 to double their number next year.
 
 WEST VIEW OK COLLEGE BUILDING. 
 
 EAST VIEW OF COLLEGE BUILDING.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 155 
 
 "Whoever leaves Notre Dame hopes to see it again. 
 Was it any wonder that we should promise to see it 
 again when June added to it the only glory it wanted 
 on this day, anticipating summer in its favor ? Was 
 it any wonder that, hurrying along the noisy highways 
 of commerce, we looked back with affectionate interest 
 to this pleasant lakeside ? What then was our sorrow 
 barely two days later, to read in the railroad cars this 
 appalling record of ruin, blotting out and darkening 
 one of the brightest spots in all America ! 
 
 "The telegram must have arrested at the steamer's 
 side the venerable Father-General Sorin and brought 
 him back unexpectedly to the scene of the disaster. 
 His hair is whiter today than it was forty years ago, 
 when he undertook to build up for the first time Notre 
 Dame, and his beard is that of the patriarch ; but his 
 bright eye is as bright today as it was then, and though 
 he might have prayed that this great affliction should 
 be spared him, he will take up his cross once more, 
 ' with a sublime and unlimited confidence in Our Lady,' 
 and long before another May comes around, there will 
 rise from the ashes buildings stronger, fairer, nobler, 
 than even those #hich last week passed away in a 
 breath of flame. ' ' 
 
 II. NOTRE DAME AFTER THE FIRE. 
 
 Mr. Hickey's prophecy was literally fulfilled. Before 
 another May came around there rose from the ashes 
 even a stronger, fairer, nobler Notre Dame than that 
 which had passed away in the flames of that April day. 
 Nay, more, Father Corby's inspired promise to the 
 students that the new building would be ready for 
 them on the opening of classes in September was veri-
 
 156 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 fied as the September days appeared. It was indeed 
 fortunate that Father Corby was then at the head ot 
 the university. He had with him the experience of 
 1865, when,- as Father Patrick's assistant, he aided in 
 erecting, inside of the summer vacation, the superb 
 edifice which had just fallen a victim to the flames. He 
 felt that the feat could be repeated; and under direction 
 of Father Sorin, and with the heroic and unselfish aid 
 of the devoted fathers and brothers of the Holy Cross, 
 and the noble generosity of all the friends of Notre 
 Dame, the great work was done. 
 
 So well indeed was it done, and so magnificent was 
 the response from the friends of the university all over 
 the country, that it even appeared to some that the 
 fire came as a blessing to prove how loyal to one 
 another, and how brave in great deeds, were the com- 
 munity of the Holy Cross, and also to prove how warm 
 was the place which the old institution had secured in 
 the hearts of the people. It is worth very much suffer- 
 ing to learn how well one is loved by God and by his 
 fellow-men. 
 
 It was at first feared that the disaster might cause a 
 fatal shock to the venerable Father Sorin, now in his 
 sixty-sixth year. Accordingly a telegram was sent to 
 friends near Montreal, where he was visiting on his 
 way to Europe, asking that the news should be kept 
 from him until a messenger might reach him. This 
 was done, and he first learned the sad news from the 
 messenger, with whom he at once returned to Notre 
 Dame. Those who listened to him on his return, when 
 he spoke to the assembled community from the altar of 
 the Church of the Sacred Heart, will never forget the 
 holy heroism of his words and appearance. Far from
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NO TRE DAME DU LAC. 157 
 
 yielding to the pressure of the calamity, his soul seemed 
 to rise superior to all the affliction that had fallen upon 
 him and upon the community. It was as if an inspired 
 prophet of old stood before us; and every priest and 
 brother went out of the sacred edifice strengthened as 
 if with the absolute assurance of help from heaven. In 
 God and his Blessed Mother he had trusted from the 
 beginning, and they would not fail him and his stricken 
 community in their hour of need. 
 
 Father Sorin for the time seemed to have recovered 
 his youth again. Uninterrupted activity, and a 
 vigilance that seized upon every source of aid, returned 
 to him as they had been with him when he laid the 
 old foundations in the days of his youth. But the 
 long years of his labors were not in vain. He had, 
 chief of all, gathered about him that brave community 
 of priests and brothers who now took upon their willing 
 shoulders every task. He had, besides, so conducted 
 the university as to win the love and good-will of the 
 American people, regardless of religious belief. The 
 community were therefore united, active and enthused 
 in their great work; and the public offered all sympathy, 
 accommodation and substantial assistance. The con- 
 sequence was that much nobler plans were prepared 
 for the new buildings. Here, too, the experience of 
 the past was of great value; the new structures were 
 much better adapted to the needs and conveniences of 
 a university. The new Notre Dame was indeed in 
 every respect superior to the old; and although the 
 institution was exceedingly prosperous, as we have seen 
 from 1865 to 1879, yet so much has the superiority 
 been since the latter date that the friends of Notre 
 Dame begin to look upon the past fifteen years as the
 
 158 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 only period during which she has taken rank as a true 
 university. 
 
 In 1884, Professor Stace, the genial, accomplished 
 poet and essayist, afterwards, by appointment of the 
 President, a scientific expert at the Paris Exposition of 
 1889, and who himself, from 1860 until his untimely 
 death, in 1890, did so much for literature, science and 
 art at Notre Dame, wrote for " Donahoe's Magazine" 
 a graphic description of the New Notre Dame. The 
 University had then fully recovered from the destruc- 
 tive fire of 1879; Father Sorin, Father Granger, and 
 Father Walsh were still with us. It was, indeed , a 
 golden age in the history of Alma Mater. So perfect 
 a picture is Professor Stace' s article of what the Uni- 
 versity had become that, at the risk of some repetition, 
 we give it entire; setting it over against the picture of 
 the former Notre Dame, before given from the brilliant 
 pen of Mr. Hickey: 
 
 ' ' On the northern verge of Indiana, within five miles 
 of the Michigan line, and just on the edge of that 
 narrow water-shed which slopes towards the Great 
 Lakes, is situated an institution of learning which is, 
 year by year, becoming better known, not only through- 
 out the states called distinctively ' western, ' but also 
 in the cultured east and chivalrous south, and in the 
 adjacent lands of Mexico and Canada; young men 
 from all quarters thronging here for instruction. This 
 is the University of Notre Dame. 
 
 "Three successive edifices have already borne this 
 title. The first, small but picturesque, was thought 
 to be unsound in its foundations, and when a great 
 influx of students came, instead of receiving additions, 
 was pulled down to make room for a larger building.
 
 STUDY ROOM IN BROWNSON HAI,!,. 
 
 DINING ROOM IN BROWNSON HALL.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 159 
 
 After the work of destruction had been effected, it was 
 discovered when too late, that the maligned founda- 
 tion had been perfectly reliable. The second college 
 was a roomy, square-built, factory-like structure, with 
 a mansard roof, and it took fire one warm day in April, 
 during the prevalence of a southwest gale, here the 
 most violent of all the sons of ^olus, coldest of all in 
 winter, hottest of all in summer, and a dry, healthy 
 wind at every season. Urged by the gale, a column 
 of flame and smoke rose in the air to the height of a 
 thousand feet, where it formed a complete arch, bend- 
 ing over with its freight of light combustibles, and set 
 fire to a forest a mile distant on the northeast, which 
 continued to burn for several days after. Not only the 
 main building -was destroyed on this occasion, but also 
 the infirmary, the music hall and several minor struct- 
 ures to the leeward. 
 
 ' 'A calamity such as this, only partially covered by 
 insurance, would have dismayed hearts less stout than 
 those at Notre Dame, into which it rather seemed to 
 infuse a new life. The venerable founder of the insti- 
 tution, Edward Sorin, whose years might have fitly 
 invited him to. that repose which a life of energy and 
 usefulness had earned, sprang at once into renewed 
 vigor, and surprised his friends by his activity and 
 self-devotion. The work of rebuilding was at once 
 begun. The disaster only served to show how wide- 
 spread throughout America was the veneration in 
 which this young Alma Mater was already held. Sub- 
 stantial sympathy was expressed in the most effective 
 shape, and friendship appeared in unexpected forms 
 and localities. A plan furnished by Edbrooke (since 
 architect of the United State Treasury) was selected
 
 160 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 from among thirty others, and the present structure 
 arose rapidly from the ashes. By September enough 
 of it was completed to accommodate satisfactorily the 
 returning throng of students, whose increased numbers 
 showed a generous confidence in Notre Dame, in her 
 hour of adversity. 
 
 ' 'The present edifice is in the neogothic style, and 
 consists of a center with two ample wings, the center 
 being crowned with a dome, and having a front ex- 
 tension, giving the plan the general figure of the letter 
 T, which is the shape taken by the halls, forming the 
 avenues of internal communication through the various 
 stories of the building, except that where the stem of 
 the T joins the cross-bar, there is an open rotunda 
 extending through all the stories, with galleries at 
 each, up to the dome itself. On entering the main 
 doors, the visitor finds himself surrounded by frescoes 
 Illustrating the life of Columbus, the work of I^uigi 
 Gregori, an Italian artist, who has been occupied for 
 many years past in decorating the interiors of various 
 buildings here. In the vestibule the life-size, full- 
 length figures of Columbus and Queen Isabella, from 
 authentic portraits, appear on the right and left a 
 fitting introduction to the grand historic series which 
 is to follow, and which begins in the hall itself, with 
 Columbus begging his bread at the door of the mon- 
 astery, whose truly noble inmates first recognize his 
 worth, and brought his project before the notice of the 
 queen. Opposite we see the departure of the caravels 
 on their adventurous journey, with Columbus kneeling 
 to receive the blessing of the friendly monk to whom 
 he owed so much. Next to this is, perhaps, the most 
 striking picture of the series, though one of the smallest,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 161 
 
 representing the mutiny at sea, in which the crew are 
 threatening the life of the great discoverer. The vio- 
 lence of the mutineers is made to contrast admirably 
 with the calm confidence of Columbus. Opposite, 
 land has been discovered, and the ring leaders of the 
 mob are on their knees suing for pardon. Next a 
 broad space is devoted to the scene at the landing, 
 where the hero is planting the cross on the shore, sur- 
 rounded by enthusiastic comrades and awe-stricken 
 Indians. On the other side of the hall is the largest 
 picture of all, showing Columbus on his triumphant 
 return, presenting the aborigines and productions of 
 the new world to Ferdinand and Isabella, enthroned 
 under a canopy erected in the open air, and surrounded 
 by numerous court officials, and an apparently un- 
 limited throng of spectators. After this transitory 
 scene of splendor we see another proof of fortune's in- 
 constancy : Columbus in chains, the victim of success- 
 ful treachery, while two Indians, amazed at the perfidy 
 of the white man, appear to be his only friends. Last 
 scene of all we have his death, receiving the blessings 
 of religion, his chains hanging by his bedside above 
 the chart of his discoveries. With these last two 
 paintings 'on either hand, we find ourselves at the 
 rotunda, on whose pavement of tiles we may stand and 
 gaze upwards two hundred feet into the concavity of 
 the dome, soon to be decorated with appropriate de- 
 signs by the same talented artist. [Since Professor 
 Stace wrote this article the inner surface of the dome 
 has been so decorated by the hand of Gregori. The 
 paintings were completed and the dome opened with 
 appropriate services May 29, 1890. Bishop Keane was 
 present, and a masterly oration was delivered by the
 
 162 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Hon. William J. Onahan, of Chicago. The figures 
 are allegorical Religion, Philosophy, Poetry, Law, 
 Science.] 
 
 'On the right-hand side, on entering the hall through 
 which we have passed, is the suite of apartments occu- 
 pied by President Walsh. In his reception room are 
 to be found several gems of art, among others, a cruci- 
 fixion, undoubtedly the work of Vandyke, and a Titian, 
 the subject being the daughter of Herodias, with the 
 head of John the Baptist. On the left-hand side of 
 the hall is the public parlor, often literally crowded, 
 spacious as it is, with visitors on exhibition nights and 
 during commencement week. The room is decorated 
 with portraits, chiefly those of former presidents of the 
 university. Opposite to the end of the hall, across the 
 rotunda, is the students' office, where they procure 
 their stationery and books, and may communicate by 
 telephone or telegraph with distant friends- During 
 business hours, this room is seldom without its throng. 
 From the rotunda to the east and west extend the halls 
 to the study-rooms, with recitation rooms on either 
 side, airy and spacious, well-lighted and warmed, as 
 are all the buildings, by steam-heating apparatus. In 
 the story above are more recitation rooms, private 
 rooms occupied by teachers and others, two large dom- 
 itories over the study-rooms, and two finely decorated 
 apartments in which the Columbian and Cecilian socie- 
 ties respectively hold their meetings. The Columbian 
 room is painted in fresco, with full-length portraits of 
 the benefactors of the university, a category which in- 
 cludes characters as incongruous as those of Henry 
 Clay and the late Emperor of the French, making a 
 picturesque ensemble. On this floor there is also a
 
 INTERIOR OF DOME, GREGORl'S ALLEGORICAL PAINTING. 
 
 CORRIDOR, BISHOPS' MEMORIAL HALL.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 163 
 
 museum of Indian relics and other curiosities. In the 
 third story, the greater part of the front extension is 
 occupied by a spacious hall, devoted to the purpose of 
 a college library. Here, besides the usual formidable 
 array of classics and works of reference, may be found 
 some curious old volumes, dated from the century in 
 which printing was invented, illuminated with initial 
 letters painted by hand after the printing was finished. 
 Quaint modern reproductions of mediaeval work will 
 also interest the aesthete. On this floor and the next 
 above are also numerous private rooms and dormitories, 
 a distinguishing feature of the upper floor being the 
 school of drawing; for the art of drawing makes a prom- 
 inent figure in the curriculum of the scientific course. 
 We may now ascend to the roof, if you have any desire 
 to obtain an extensive view. If your nerves are 
 steady, we may even scale the dome itself, and the 
 prospect is worth the climb. Northward lie the green 
 hills of Michigan, with the St. Joseph river winding in 
 a deep valley among them. The position of the city 
 of Niles may be made out by the white houses of its 
 suburbs gleaming through the surrounding shade 
 trees. The greater part of the town lies hid in the 
 valley of the river. Eastward, stretch extensive 
 woods, above which the smoke of the foundries of Elk- 
 hart may be seen rising. Southward, the view is more 
 limited, a high range of bluffs beyond the river cut- 
 ting it off, and causing the river itself to make that 
 remarkable deflection from which South Bend takes its 
 name. The tips of the spires of Mishawaka may be 
 discovered, by one who knows just where to look for 
 them, rising above the woods a little east of south. On 
 the bluffs above; is a station erected by the lake coast
 
 164 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 survey. West of south lies South Bend, mapped out 
 beneath the eye of the spectator, and still further west 
 stretch the Kankakee marshes, for so many years the 
 paradise of the fowler. But the prairie chickens and 
 ducks, that used to abound there, have been thinned 
 out by the ruthlessness of hunters; and the process of 
 drainage and fencing has robbed the region of its orig- 
 inal charm. Northwest, the eye roves over the rolls 
 of Portage Prairie the old -'portage" of the Potta- 
 watomie Indians, over which, by conveying their 
 canoes from the waters of the St. Joseph to those of the 
 Kankakee, they connected the navigation of the great 
 lakes with that of the Mississippi. 
 
 ' ' From these views of the distant horizon let us turn 
 our eyes to what is going on more immediately beneath 
 us. On the lake to the north we may witness the 
 boat crews training for the coming regatta. The lake 
 itself is a beautiful blue sheet of water, surrounded by 
 groves, and forms a most attractive feature in the col- 
 lege grounds. There is another lake to the westward, 
 not so large, and surrounded by beds of marl, which 
 make it, perhaps, more interesting to the geologist, 
 though less attractive to the lover of scenery. South- 
 west, on the broad campus, a game of base ball, if it 
 is " rec " day, may be in progress, and from your ele- 
 vated position you may command a view of all the 
 details of that attractive pastime. To the south, an 
 avenue of maples shades the thoroughfare to South 
 Bend, two miles distant; and Notre Dame postoffice is 
 visible on the skirts of a pine grove. Southwest are 
 the manual labor schools, conducted by the same 
 religious community which directs the exercises of the 
 college itself. Here are tailor shops, shoemaker shops,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 165 
 
 carpenter and blacksmith shops, and an extensive 
 farm with its well-appointed barns and stables. Still 
 nearer to the southwest we see the church, and this is 
 worthy of inspection from within. In the west, a 
 mile away, on the banks of the river, is St. Mary's 
 Academy, an institution for the education of young 
 ladies, which the tourist will find well deserving of a 
 separate visit. 
 
 But it is the intellectual aspect, rather than the 
 material the mental landscape, so to speak which 
 will interest the visitor to the University as a univer- 
 sity ; and here he will find classic taste and scientific 
 research not the mere memorizing of the contents of 
 learned tomes, but an active participation in the pur- 
 suits and aims of true study. The production of the 
 plays of Sophocles, with all their appropriate acces- 
 sories on the stage, by the Greek students of this 
 University, and still more the intelligent interest, 
 which large audiences have unmistakably manifested 
 in the representation, sufficiently attest the proficiency 
 attained here in a living language, which, however, 
 its claims to notice may have been lately questioned 
 by the superficial and soulless utilitarian, is not only 
 among the most perfect and beautiful that the world 
 has ever known, but is especially dear to Christians, 
 as being the language of the gospel. Moreover, the 
 fact of Greek being a living language is vividly pre- 
 sented to the mind of the student by the exchange of 
 the productions of the ' Ave Maria ' press with those of 
 modern Greece, which arrive by every mail from the 
 Orient. It is needless to speak of the perfection 
 attained in the Latin language in an institution con- 
 ducted by Fathers of the Catholic Church, among
 
 166 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 whom that classic tongue has never been allowed to- 
 die. The poetry in hexameter and the difficult Hora- 
 tian measure which from time to time appear in the 
 periodicals here published, bear witness that Notre 
 Dame forms no exception to the rule in this respect. 
 Of the periodicals alluded to, the ' Ave Maria ' is the 
 most extensively circulated Catholic religious paper in 
 the United States. It has been now established for 
 nearly a quarter of a century, and shows no signs of 
 ' a decline and fall. ' On the contrary, each year finds 
 it still more widely disseminated, so that it reaches 
 many thousands of hearths and homes, where its pages 
 are the delight of the family circle, and the antidote 
 to, the pernicious literature with which our land is rife. 
 The 'Notre Dame Scholastic,' issued from the same 
 printing house, takes a high rank among college 
 papers, as contemporaries acknowledge and enables the 
 youth destined for the vocation of the journalist an 
 occupation whose standing in the social sphere is daily 
 receiving a higher recognition to fit himself for the 
 exercise of his chosen profession. Other volumes, 
 from time to time, emanate from the same source ; 
 the Antigone of Sophocles, in Greek and English, has 
 here been published ; the ' Household Library of 
 Catholic poets' 'Life of Joseph Haydn,' 'Crowned 
 with Stars,' and other works, have found their circle 
 of readers. The dramas suitable for performance of 
 schools and colleges are of merit practically recognized 
 by their frequent representation in the institutions for 
 which they have been designed ; and their number is 
 daily increasing. 
 
 " Nor is science neglected. The flora and fauna of 
 the fertile St. Joseph valley give increasing occupation
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 167 
 
 to the naturalist, the fruits of whose labors are pre- 
 served in the herbarium and museum. The geology 
 of the Great Lake basin and the multifarious mineral 
 specimens to be found in the neighborhood, open other 
 interesting fields of science, which have been duly 
 tilled, and the philosophical apparatus appears to have 
 gathered no rust or dust from neglect. The courses of 
 law and civil engineering are in active operation, and 
 that of medicine might be equally flourishing, were it 
 not that the invincible repugnance, which a dissecting 
 room excites in the minds of those who have no voca- 
 tion to the healing art, has hitherto militated against 
 its establishment at Notre Dame. A preparatory 
 course, in which human and comparative anatomy are 
 taught by the aid of carefully prepared skeletons, has 
 long been conducted under the care of an eminent and 
 experienced practitioner. A commercial school here 
 has always borne a good reputation among business 
 men, so that its graduates find no difficulty in obtain- 
 ing employment, which is probably the best test of its 
 worth. 
 
 ' ' The Catholic religion is professed by the teachers 
 and officers of the establishment, but non- Catholics 
 have always availed themselves, in large numbers, of 
 the educational advantages here offered. The Blessed 
 Mother, who gives her name to the university, smiles 
 a welcome to all from her exalted position on the dome, 
 and although no undue efforts are made to proselytize, 
 yet the truths of the most ancient form of Christianity 
 sink deep into many an ingenuous heart. The sense 
 of honor is sedulously cultivated by the officers of the 
 institution, as a ground of moral restraint and self- 
 command on which all may meet on a common footing.
 
 168 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 The venerable founder of the house, himself a model 
 of the punctilious courtesy which characterized the 
 ancien regime, has always deemed it his duty to culti- 
 vate the manners, no less then the morals, of those to 
 whom he stands in loco parentis; and although he has 
 long ago resigned the presidency into younger hands, 
 his gentle influence is still felt, refining and elevating 
 wherever it extends; his presence inspires an affection- 
 ate reverence, and the memory of his teachings will 
 long survive his earthly career. Hence the absence of 
 rudeness has always been a marked feature at Notre 
 Dame. The disgraceful practice of ' hazing' is abso- 
 lutely unknown. The newcomer finds himself sur- 
 rounded at once by kindly faces and hearts, disposed 
 to believe everything good of him, unless his own 
 deeds force them reluctantly into the opposite convic- 
 tion. The students are divided into departments, not 
 according to the course of study each pursues, but 
 according to the more natural distinction of age, each 
 department having its own campus and gymnasium, 
 its own stndy-halls, recreation rooms, and dormitories. 
 In the recitation rooms, however, distinctions of age 
 are leveled, and merit alone gives the pupil his stand- 
 ing. The practice of going to and from recitations 
 and other college exercises in silence and ranks, has 
 always prevailed, and contributes much to the reign of 
 order. In the classical and scientific courses, the high- 
 est proficiency is required to obtain the academic de- 
 grees; the mere fact of a student having attended class 
 regularly does not entitle him to a diploma; the exam- 
 ination to be passed is something more than a mere 
 formality, and the unpleasant process, known to col- 
 lege men as ' plucking', takes place quite often
 
 BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY. 
 
 STUDENTS AT WORK IN THE BACTERIOLOGICAL LABORATORY.
 
 UNIVERSITY OP NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 169 
 
 enough to inspire a salutary awe. The removal of 
 distracting influences, has also been found to have 
 most beneficial results in promoting attention to solid 
 work. 
 
 But now let us descend from the roof of the college, 
 and view the interior of the church, as already sug- 
 gested. Exteriorly, at least in its present state, the 
 building is not specially attractive. [Since Professor 
 Stace wrote, the towers and spires of the church of the 
 Sacred Heart have been completed; and much of the 
 exterior want of attraction here alluded to has been 
 removed.] Within, however, it is a gem. We enter 
 the front porch beneath the massive tower, containing 
 a fine chime of twenty- three bells, the largest of which, 
 weighing seven tons and a half and measuring seven 
 feet, holds a distinguished place among the bells of the 
 United States. Stained glass admits all the light that 
 enters the sacred edifice; gorgeous dyes of crimson, 
 scarlet, blue, and amber, revealing the figures of those 
 apostles, martyrs, and virgins, whom Christianity rev- 
 erences as its heroes. One large window displays the 
 descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles in the 
 form of fiery tongues. The figures are mediaeval, such 
 as we expect in stained glass, but without that restraint 
 of artistic freedom which the mediaeval style in feeble 
 hands imposes. Scarcely dimmed by the the bright 
 colors in the windows,, are the frescoes and other paint- 
 ings which cover the walls of the interior represent- 
 ing four years' work, of the same talented artist [Gre- 
 gori], who is now painting the interior of the college; 
 for the church happily escaped thegreat conflagration 
 of 1879. These paintings represent the pathetic and 
 inspiring scenes attending the birth and passion of our
 
 170 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ. Here, we see the ' 'Blessed among 
 women" receiving the angelic message; there she 
 greets her cousin Elizabeth; anon the cave of Bethle- 
 hem with the adoring shepherds is opened to our view; 
 farther on, the three wise men of the East present 
 their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; and again 
 the Holy Family fly into Egypt from the wrath ot 
 Herod the series coming to a conclusion with that 
 memorable scene in the temple, when the child was 
 found among the doctors of the law, hearing them and 
 asking them questions. 
 
 "The scenes of the Passion are detailed even more 
 minutely. First we see Pilate washing his hands, 
 having impiously pronounced the condemnation; then 
 the cross is laid upon the shoulders of the victim, and 
 the occasions upon which He is said to have fallen 
 beneath its weight, furnished three other subjects. 
 His meeting with His Blessed Mother is the most af- 
 fecting of the series. She comes, attended by Mary 
 Magdalen and the beloved disciple John, and even the 
 brutal soldiers make way for her approach, as, with 
 blanched face and bloodless lips, she imprints the last 
 kiss on the divine features. In another painting 
 Simon of Cyrene is compelled to share the burden, and 
 in yet another the women of Jerusalem offer their un- 
 availing tears. The driving of the nails is depicted 
 in colors that appall, although we cannot but feel how 
 much more terrible was the real scene. The death on 
 the cross, the descent therefrom, and the entombment, 
 close the series, and in these subjects Gregori has had 
 to emulate the greatest masters of the art. By the 
 contemplation of paintings such as these the gospel 
 truths are brought home to the humblest intelligence,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 171 
 
 and impress the hardest heart, where written page or 
 spoken homily would fail. 
 
 "To descant upon the other ornaments of the church 
 the costly altar, bedecked and surmounted with of- 
 ferings of the richest and rarest, the painted ceiling 
 whence angels smile amid the stars of a serene sky, 
 the moldings and pillars, the tones of the mighty 
 organ would exceed the limits assigned to this sketch. 
 Suffice it to say that Notre Dame is one of the few 
 places in the United States where the majestic cere- 
 monial of the Catholic church, interesting from its 
 historic associations, even to those whose devotion is 
 not thereby attracted, can be completely performed in 
 all its splendor. Those who have witnessed the pro- 
 cession of Corpus Christi, as it winds around the lake, 
 with all the rich colors doubled by reflection in the 
 placid waters, with the song of birds mingling with 
 melody of hymns, will bear us out in this assertion. 
 
 "Building is still in progress, and the number of 
 students attending seems to keep pace with the in- 
 crease of accommodations. An edifice, now nearly 
 finished, to the south of the Music Hall, will be 
 devoted especially to the use of the scientific depart- 
 ment. The laboratory, now in a temporary building, 
 will here be the principal feature. Museums of miner- 
 alogy and natural history will occupy other galleries, 
 and a large hall will be devoted to lectures not only 
 the special lectures of the scientific course, but popular 
 lectures on science, such as the commercial students 
 may attend with advantage. 
 
 [Science Hall has been since completed and supplied 
 with instruments, appliances and specimens, which 
 make it one of the finest schools in the country for the
 
 172 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 teaching of the physical and natural sciences. The 
 building itself is a beautiful specimen of Greek archi- 
 tecture. To the south of Science Hall is Mechanics' 
 Hall, where the mechanic arts are practically applied 
 under the direction of competent instructors. Still 
 further south is a neat astronomical observatory. This 
 series of buildings has been erected chiefly under 
 supervision of Father John A. Zahm, so well known 
 for his achievements in science and his various learned 
 writings, and who but this year (1895) was honored 
 by the propaganda at Rome with the degree of Doctor 
 of Philosophy. Father Zahm is ably assisted by the 
 Rev. Alexander M. Kirsch, Professor McCue, Profes- 
 sor O'Dea, Rev. James Burns, Rev. Joseph Kirsh and 
 others.] 
 
 ' 'The description of the various buildings to be found 
 here, devoted to special objects, would fatigue the 
 reader, though of interest to the observer. A visit to 
 the institution will develop matters for thought upon 
 which we have not even touched, and the visitor may 
 be sure of a warm welcome from the good fathers who 
 direct the establishment, and whose hospitality has 
 become proverbial. During the summer vacation, 
 especially, many resort hither to enjoy the pure air, 
 limpid spring water, and the rural scenery. It is 
 accessible by three [now five] railways the Lake 
 Shore, the Grand Trunk, the Michigan Central [since 
 also the Vandalia and the Three I's]. The best time 
 to see the place in all its beauty is in the spring or 
 early summer. At the Commencement exercises in 
 June, there is always a large crowd of visitors; but we 
 would advise such of our readers as have an eye for 
 the picturesque to choose a time when there is less to
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 173 
 
 distract the mind from the contemplation of nature, 
 say at that brief but blissful season characterized by 
 the flowering of the lilac; when the cooing of the wild 
 dove is heard at the dawn of day, and the plaintive 
 note of the whip-poor-will at its decline, ere yet the 
 song birds have lapsed into their summer silence. 
 Then is the time to see Notre Dame in perfection." 
 
 III. ANOTHER PICTURE. 
 
 The fine descriptions of the landscape as seen from 
 the roofs of the old and the new Notre Dame, given in 
 the preceding pages from the pens of Mr. Hickey and 
 Professor Stace, make it pleasant to add a third and 
 reverse picture a poet's view of Notre Dame, as seen 
 from the heights above the banks of the St. Joseph 
 river, a mile to the west: 
 
 NOTRE DAME AS SEEN FROM ST. MARY'S. 
 
 BY EWZA AI,LEN STARR. 
 
 The purple air, the misty hills; 
 The meadows, green with hidden rills; 
 The grove, that screens from curious gaze 
 Its sacred, meditative ways; 
 The lake beyond, its placid eye 
 Blue as the arch of vernal sky; 
 The dome, and chapel spires, that claim 
 Our Lady's favor, with her name; 
 How, like a thought of peace, the whole 
 Takes calm possession of the soul! 
 May 7th, 1874. 
 
 IV. ART AT NOTRE DAME. 
 
 In Professor Stace' s article are described the many 
 fine paintirigs of Luigi Oregon, both in the halls and 
 dome of the university and in the Church of the 
 Sacred Heart. The daily contemplation of these fine
 
 174 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 paintings, of the beautiful stained glass windows, the 
 choice works of art in and around church and college, 
 with the glorious music of the organ and the bells, and 
 not forgetting that beauteous landscape of which Pro- 
 fessor Stace also speaks, constitutes in itself an 
 ennobling education. No one can view and listen to 
 those beautiful things day after day without having 
 his mind and his soul lifted to the contemplation of the 
 beautiful and the good. 
 
 Previous to the coming of Gregori the most eminent 
 artist at Notre Dame had been the elder Professor 
 Ackerman, who was especially skilled as a draughts- 
 man, as those know full well who remember the 
 classic architectural drawing that adorned the refec- 
 tory of the old college building of 1853-65, particularly 
 the noble front of St. Peter's at Rome. His work is 
 also to be seen on the walls of the present refectories. 
 Another of the old artists was Professor Lewis, who was 
 possessed of a delicate taste, as he was of a congenial 
 and kindly nature. Prof. F. X. Ackerman is their 
 worthy successor. 
 
 Art suffered a loss in the early and tragic death of 
 Mr. Wood, a young student and the most promising of 
 Gregori's pupils. Many of his portraits and landscapes 
 are treasured at Notre Dame, and show what he might 
 have become had his life been spared. May we not 
 hope that the daily presence before the eyes of the 
 bright youths of Notre Dame of so many fine works of 
 art will inspire some choice spirits to produce paintings 
 that may not suffer by comparison even with those of 
 Gregori. 
 
 In the kindred art of music Notre Dame has always 
 excelled. Indeed, the musical department has ever
 
 A UvCTURE ROOM IN MAIN BUILDING. 
 
 K ART STUDIO.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 175 
 
 been one of the most distinguished of the university. 
 The veterans of this department were Professor Girac 
 and Brother Basil, the former gone to take part in the 
 melodies of heaven, the latter still with us to make 
 more holy and beautiful the world in which he yet 
 lives. Father Lilly, himself a child of a family of 
 musicians, was most precocious, playing upon the 
 piano when his little arms could scarcely reach over 
 the keys. In more recent times Professor Paul con- 
 tinued the harmonious line. Brother Leopold has long 
 been one of the choice musical spirits. Professor Ijs- 
 combe for many years instructed his pupils and de- 
 lighted his audiences. At present the accomplished 
 Prof. Newton A. Preston has charge of vocal music, and 
 also of the band and the mandolin orchestra; and beau- 
 tiful as has been the long line of music at Notre Dame, 
 from the early days of Brother Basil and Professor 
 Girac, it may well be said that never before has the 
 musical department been more excellently guided, and 
 never has it been conducted with more profit to the 
 students or more delight to the inmates and visitors of 
 Notre Dame than under Professor Preston, Brother 
 Basil, Professor Paul, Brother Leopold and the others 
 now in charge.
 
 176 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 V. TO SIGNOR GREGORI. 
 
 [On contemplating a portrait of Father Corby, painted by the artist.] 
 
 Gregori, 'tis, in truth, an art divine, 
 Thus on the blank and silent wall to wake 
 These speaking human features ; yea, to take 
 The semblance of the spirit's inner shine, 
 And touch with daring hand the very line 
 That parts unseen and seen : it is to make 
 A work most like the dread Creator's ! Ache 
 Of eye, nor brain, nor hand, in thy design 
 Appears ; but artless ease, and life, and grace, 
 As if it were the unconscious growth of warm 
 Reality ; yet ever lurks some charm 
 Of art, half-hidden touch, where still we trace 
 The seeming presence of the absent face 
 So canst thou nature's double deftly form !
 
 IX. 
 A BRILLIANT PERIOD. 
 
 I. THE PRESIDENCY OP FATHER WALSH- 
 
 To preserve some unity of subject in this history, 
 we have anticipated part of the events that occurred 
 during the presidency of the Rev. Thomas E. Walsh, 
 whose term of office began in 1881. Father Walsh 
 had been Vice-President and Director of Studies dur- 
 ing the last presidency of Father Corby, from 1877 to 
 1 88 1. He was barely past the age of twenty-eight 
 when he became president, but he was even then a 
 ripe scholar and a man of mature mind. He took 
 charge of the university when its material wants had 
 been fairly well supplied. The disaster of 1879, had 
 been, in large measure, repaired, and looking upon 
 the new Notre Dame, we might even then well believe 
 that the apparent calamity was a blessing in disguise. 
 Father Walsh seemed to believe that his special mis- 
 sion was to lift the courses of studies to a higher 
 plane and extend them to a wider scope, than any 
 to which they had hitherto attained. Himself a fin- 
 ished scholar and a man of superior natural endow- 
 ments, he felt within him the promptings to make 
 Notre Dame equal to the greatest universities of the 
 
 land. Father Walsh's own character was one of great 
 
 177
 
 178 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 evenness, roundness and fullness, and accordingly he 
 strove to advance all the interests of the university, 
 without sacrificing any one interest to another. While 
 it may be that his own tastes in literature and oratory 
 were predominant, yet his mind was so broad, his 
 sympathies so wide, and his judgment so correct, that 
 every department seemed to receive his equal attention 
 and care. 
 
 During Father Walsh's presidency, the extreme 
 wings or additions, originally designed for the new 
 college building were built, and the refectories and 
 study halls were accordingly enlarged, greatly adding 
 to the facilities of the university. 
 
 In the year 1882, St. Edward's Hall, for the use of 
 the Minim Department, was erected. The Minims con- 
 sist of young students, under twelve years of age. 
 These youths have always been tenderly cared for at 
 Notre Dame. They are under the special charge of 
 the Sisters of the Holy Cross, and have a course of 
 studies, and a daily life suited especially to their ten- 
 der years. Ever since the erection of St. Edward's 
 Hall, they have had all the facilities that could be de- 
 sired for their training and instruction. St. Edward's 
 Park, in front of the hall, is perhaps the most beauti- 
 fal little garden and pleasure ground anywhere to be 
 seen about Notre Dame. It is a gem of pleasant 
 walks and beds of plants and flowers, and always 
 attracts the admiration of visitors at Notre Dame. 
 The Minims were always favorites of Father Sorin. 
 He styled them his ' ' Princes, ' ' and whether at Notre 
 Dame, upon the sea, at Paris or at Rome, he never 
 ceased to remember them. From their ranks has come 
 many a bright student of the university.
 
 RKV. THOMAS K. WALSH, C. S. C. 
 SIXTH PRKSIOKNT.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 179 
 
 Oa June 20, 1883, the corner stone of Science Hall 
 was laid by the Right Rev. John A. Watterson, 
 Bishop of Columbus. This building was constructed 
 as a necessary part of the plan in developing the scien- 
 tific course of the university. It is considered by 
 many, in the severe simplicity of its Greek architect- 
 ure, to be the most beautiful of all the college build- 
 ings. The corner-stone itself was an object of particu- 
 lar interest from the circumstance that it was a min- 
 eral curiosity, being a beautiful conglomerate, con- 
 taining lucid and colored quartz pebbles and pro- 
 cured in northern Michigan. It was donated for 
 the purpose by Dr. John Cassidy, the first gaduate of 
 the scientific course. 
 
 Under Father Walsh's presidency were also erected 
 Mechanics Hall, or Institute of Technology, and the 
 Astronomical Observatory. 
 
 From Bishop Watterson's address at the laying ot 
 the corner-stone of Science Hall, we take the follow- 
 ing, which indicates the relations of the sciences to 
 t>ther studies as understood at Notre Dame: 
 
 "We lay it (the corner-stone) in the shadow of 
 yonder church, and here the students of Notre Dame 
 can have the opportunities and means of perfecting 
 themselves in those physical studies, which, instead of 
 being opposed to religion, are auxiliaries to it, because 
 they introduce us to the studies by which we attain 
 our destiny. The course of an education in a Catholic 
 University is intended to make intellectual and moral 
 men, all the branches conspiring to this noble aim. 
 The ancient classics of Greece and Rome tell the stu- 
 dent of the necessity of a revelation, and history 
 teaches of the doings of Almighty God with man, pro-
 
 180 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 claims God's goodness and mercy and the necessity of 
 his church. Natural philosophy places us in the very 
 vestibule of theology; moral philosophy tells us of our 
 relations with our fellow men and our duties in the 
 various walks of life. Heretofore the natural sciences 
 have been taught in this university, but now they are 
 to be taught with greater application than ever. 
 Here they are to receive diligent attention, for 
 they tell us of the goodness' and greatness of God, 
 and teach us that everything should lead us to God. 
 Some men do not recognize God in science, because 
 they do not see the natural sciences as God intended. 
 He wishes nature to lead us to him, .and if sciences 
 are properly studied they will do their own towards 
 bringing us to our future happiness." 
 
 The dimensions of the principal buildings of the 
 university, thus completed under direction of Father 
 Walsh, may well be given here, with some details of 
 their uses, and purposes. 
 
 The main building is three hundred and twenty feet 
 front by one hundred and fifty-five feet in depth. The 
 material of which this, as well as all the other build- 
 ings, is constructed, is cream-colored, sometimes called 
 Milwaukee, brick. The dome of the main building is 
 gilt, with pure gold leaf, and is surmounted by a mas- 
 sive statue of the Blessed Virgin, which is "crowned 
 with stars' ' of electric light, a most beautiful sight of 
 a summer's evening. Father Sorin had resolved that 
 this crown should circle the brow of his Blessed Lady, 
 even before modern science had yet succeeded in divid- 
 ing the electric fluid for this purpose. It is not the 
 only time when the ardent founder's genius seemed, as 
 it were, to leap over present difficulties and to anticipate
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 181 
 
 success where others could see only disappointment. 
 The star-crowned statue on the dome rises two hundred 
 and seven feet above the earth. 
 
 The Music Hall, or Academy of Music, as it is also 
 called, which contains besides music rooms and recrea- 
 tion halls, also the fine exhibition room, known erst- 
 while as Washington Hall, is one hundred feet front 
 by one hundred and seventy feet deep, and a little 
 over one hundred feet in height. 
 
 On the evening of June 20, 1882, the exhibition 
 hall, as rebuilt after the fire, was formally opened to 
 the public. It was described on that occasion as one 
 of the most attractive rooms to give a public entertain- 
 ment to be seen anywhere. It is octagonal in form, 
 and the acoustic properties are unusually good. Three 
 electric lamps make a noonday radiance in every part 
 of the auditorium, stage and gallery. The gallery, 
 which is reserved for the students of the university, 
 has a seating capacity of 500, and the body of the hall, 
 the tiers of seats in which are arranged in horse-shoe 
 shape, and slope down from the rear to the stage, will 
 accommodate about 700 people. The stage is ample 
 and commodious in its appointments. 
 
 It was mentioned as something of an anachronism 
 that the hall should have been "opened with a play 
 of Sophocles by electric light." The play was the 
 Oedipus Tyrannus, and was produced by the Hellen- 
 ists in the original Greek, under direction of Father 
 Stoffel, the Professor of the Greek language and litera- 
 ture in the university, in the presence of a large and in- 
 tellectual audience. The "South Bend Times' ' had this 
 to say of the occasion: "Distinguished people from all 
 sections of the country, both clergy and laity, greeted
 
 182 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the Hellenists, and the applause that was given testi- 
 fied the appreciation of the audience. This is the first 
 time that a Greek play ever was produced west of the 
 Alleghanies. The costumes were designed by Signer 
 Gregori, the renowned artist. The music was com- 
 posed expressely for the occasion by Mr. Nobles, one 
 of the professors of music. The entertainment com- 
 menced at eight o'clock, and occupied an hour and a 
 half in its presentation. During this time, not one 
 word of English was spoken (the play being in Greek), 
 but the audience was so interested that not the least 
 impatience was shown. The singing was the finest 
 ever heard at Notre Dame, particularly the duets and 
 the grand chorus." The production of this Greek 
 play at Notre Dame attracted wide attention. 
 
 The dimensions of Sorin Hall are one hundred and 
 forty-four feet front by one hundred and twelve feet in 
 depth. This is the residence of such students of the 
 advanced classes as have previously given entire satis- 
 faction as to industry and deportment. They are 
 accorded the privilege of having private rooms, and 
 this without additional cost. This innovation in the 
 traditionary system of government in Catholic colleges, 
 although at first viewed somewhat unfavorably by the 
 ultra-conservative, has stood the test of experience, 
 and the resulting benefits have more than justified the 
 hopes formed when the experiment was hazarded. In 
 Sorin Hall, too, are the law lecture room, court rooms, 
 law library, etc. 
 
 On the first floor of the Music Hall are the recrea- 
 tion and reading rooms of the students of Brownson 
 Hall and Carroll Hall. These rooms are supplied 
 with newspapers, periodicals, games of all kinds, in-
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 183 
 
 eluding billiard tables. The dressing rooms of the 
 bicycle club and of the athletic association are also on 
 this floor. 
 
 Science Hall is divided into two departments, and is 
 supplied with all the agencies requisite to facilitate the 
 acquisition of a complete knowledge of the sciences. 
 The laboratories, lecture rooms, museums, biological 
 department, engine rooms, etc. , are admirably arranged 
 for the convenience of students. This hall is fully 
 equipped with all the necessary chemicals, preparations, 
 specimens, charts, tools, instruments, and the innum- 
 erable accessories of a great school of science. 
 
 Mechanic's Hall, the Institute of Technology, is a 
 large and commodious building, devoted to the use of 
 the students of civil, mechanical and electrical engi- 
 neering. It is fully equipped with all the appliances for 
 wood and metal working, and is supplied with the 
 most approved forms of forges and cupolas for black- 
 smithing and foundry work. The rooms for mechan- 
 ical drawings, and the laboratories for special experi- 
 mental work in mechanical engineering were especially 
 designed for the purpose for which they are used, and 
 are complete in all their appointments. 
 
 The Astronomical Observatory consists of a main 
 part, with a revolving dome, an east wing or transit 
 room, in which is mounted the transit instrument, and 
 a north wing or computing room, which contains the 
 smaller instruments and the works of reference for the 
 use of observers. 
 
 East of Music Hall, for the accommodation of 
 students desiring to take physical exercise when the 
 weather is unfavorable for out-door sports, stands the 
 students' play -hall, one hundred and sixty feet in
 
 184 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 length by forty -five feet in width and two stories high. 
 In addition, there is fitted up, on the second floor of 
 the Institute of Technology, a thoroughly equipped 
 gymnasium. 
 
 The Infirmary, for the comfort and care of those who 
 may become sick, is a building two hundred feet long 
 by forty-five feet wide and three stories high, situated 
 to the east and rear of the main building. A regular 
 physician is in daily attendance, while the Sisters of 
 the Holy Cross minister also to the wants of the sick. 
 
 It would take too much space, nor is it necessary, to 
 notice in detail the various other buildings which form 
 a part of the University. So numerous and extensive 
 are they, that if brought together they would cover 
 eight or ten acres of ground. As they stand, they 
 give to the visitor the idea of a pretty rural town. 
 
 The buildings more immediately connected with the 
 University are arranged so as to form a harmonious 
 front. The main building, with its noble dome, occu- 
 pies the central space; to the right front is the 
 Church of the Sacred Heart, and to the right front of 
 the church is Sorin Hall; to the left front of the main 
 building stands Music Hall, to the left front of Music 
 Hall is Science Hall, and to the left front of that is the 
 Institute of Technology, and the front of that the As- 
 tronomical Observatory. All these buildings, there- 
 fore, present a united grand front to the south, extend- 
 ing to the east and west with a combined width of nearly 
 one thousand feet. Within this space, in the embrace 
 as it were of these noble edifices, is enclosed a beauti- 
 ful courtyard, a garden of green and shade and pleasant 
 walks. It is all most beautiful; fully justifying the 
 oft repeated exclamation, "Beauteous Notre Dame."
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 185 
 II. THE GIUDING OF THE DOME. 
 
 These verses were written by the lamented L Prof. 
 Arthur J. Stace, soon after the completion of the gild- 
 ing of the dome of the University. The dome, as is 
 well known, is surmounted by a colossal statute of the 
 Blessed Virgin, illuminated by an electric crown and 
 crescent. The gold for the gilding of the dome was con- 
 tributed by a devout client of Our Lady; not, however, 
 a more devout client of Our Blessed Mother than the 
 gentle spirit who wrote this sonnet: 
 
 The gleam of earthly gold how pale! 
 Our brightest light how fain'- the shine 
 To eyes that, blessed with light divine, 
 
 Are turned in pity toward the vale, 
 
 Where Eve's sad children bid thee hail! 
 To cheer them with a glance benign, 
 Their sorrows with thine own to twine, 
 
 And thus the throne of God assail. 
 
 And yet, though potfr the gift, 'tis meet 
 Humbly and gratefully to bring 
 
 All earthly treasures to thy feet, 
 O Mother of the heavenly King! 
 
 For earthly treasures by thine aid 
 
 May turn to joys that never fade. 
 
 III. IMPRESSIONS MADE UPON A STRANGER. 
 
 As indicating the impressions made by Notre Dame 
 during the administration of Father Walsh upon a 
 wide-traveled and cultivated gentleman, but one who 
 had no sympathy with the blessed religion through the 
 fervent practice of which all these things came, we 
 give the following from the New York " Christian 
 Advocate," of March 5, 1891, an organ of the Meth- 
 odist church, by its editor, the Rev. J. M. Buckley, 
 D.D.:
 
 186 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 1 ' The ride from Chicago to South Bend took three 
 or four hours. Here Schuyler Colfax lived for many 
 years; here hi& widow and family reside, and his 
 memory is honored by men of all parties and creeds. 
 That evening, through the kindness of my host, I met 
 at dinner many of the most distinguished citizens, 
 including the gentlemen of the press, clergy of differ- 
 ent denominations, merchants and manufacturers, and 
 Rev. Father Walsh, president of the University of 
 Notre Dame, the famous Catholic institution of the 
 west, established by the order of the Holy Cross an 
 order of priests and brothers devoted primarily to 
 teaching. Receiving a courteous invitation from the 
 President to visit the institution the next day, and 
 finding that Mr. Studebaker would be able to accom- 
 pany me, I accepted it, and Father Walsh expressed 
 a hope that we would come to dinner and sit with the 
 boys, as he expressed it, at ' Commons. ' 
 
 "The approach to the university is grand; the golden 
 dome being visible for many miles) glistening in the 
 sunlight like the dome of the Greek churches in Mos- 
 cow. The buildings are numerous and imposing. 
 The walls of the reception room are covered by por- 
 traits of the former presidents of the institution and 
 other dignitaries. 
 
 "It was an interesting spectacle to see the boys at 
 dinner. There are five hundred students, a very 
 vigorous class physically and in excellent discipline. 
 I was interested in Father Walsh, before knowing that 
 I should meet him, by a standing advertisement in the 
 South Bend papers, running thus: 
 
 ' I hereby give notice that I will prosecute to the 
 utmost extent of the law, regardless of cost, all persons
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 187 
 
 guilty of selling or giving liquor to the students of this 
 institution, or furnishing it to them in any way.' 
 
 'THOMAS E. WAI<SH, President.' 
 
 "The institution was founded in 1842 by Father 
 Sorin. The founder is still living, seventy-eight years 
 of age, and is general of the order of the Holy Cross 
 throughout the world. He is patriarchal in appearance, 
 wearing a long white beard and mustache, having a 
 dispensation from the pope allowing it. To him I was 
 introduced; he blended with the dignity of his office 
 the fine manner of a cultivated Frenchman. The order 
 of the Holy Cross consists of priests and lay brothers, 
 generally, though not exclusively, devoted to teaching. 
 The church is one of the most magnificent in this 
 country, being capable of seating one thousand two 
 hundred. The stained glass is beautiful, of a high 
 order, brought from Europe. The altar, which stood 
 for three hundred years in Rome, was purchased and 
 imported in a complete state for this church. I do not 
 think there is anything superior to it, excepting the 
 cathedral in New York. All the buildings are large, 
 light and airy. . . . 
 
 "In the university is a manual training school, where 
 machinery and many other manufactured articles are 
 made. This institution does not possess one dollar of 
 endowment, but it is supported by the amount paid in 
 by tuition and board, which is about $300 per year. 
 Everything about it is very pleasant and wholesome. 
 The infirmary is the best and neatest I have seen. 
 
 ' 'Perhaps some one may say: Here is another example 
 of the ingratiating effect upon the most decided 
 Protestants of the skillful courtesies of Roman Cath- 
 olics. Not at all; they were simply gentlemen; they
 
 188 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 recognized my protestantism; I report simply what I 
 saw. If there had been anything to criticise it would 
 have been criticised, as anyone knows by my letters 
 from abroad. Protestants are admitted to the institu- 
 tion, but in all cases are required to remain at the 
 services, of which rule they make no secret. It is a 
 Catholic institution to train Catholic young men, and 
 the spirit of the institution cannot be relaxed. Their 
 consistency in this matter I admire. ' ' 
 
 IV. TEMPERANCE AT NOTRE DAMB. 
 
 The allusion in the Rev. Mr. Buckley's letter to 
 Father Walsh's care for the preservation of the students 
 from the evils of intoxication, brings to mind the con- 
 stant care of Father Walsh for the moral welfare of the 
 young men of Notre Dame. It can hardly be said that 
 his solicitude in this regard was less than his care for 
 their intellectual well being. Indeed, as said before, 
 the aim of the educators of this institution has always 
 been to secure the harmonious development of the 
 physical, moral and intellectual nature of those com- 
 mitted to their training. Only by such harmonious 
 development of the whole nature of man, can the best 
 educational results be attained. The total abstinence 
 societies at Notre Dame have always been most sedu- 
 lously cherished; and this was particularly the case 
 under Father Walsh, who was himself a strict abstainer 
 from all intoxicating beverages. 
 
 So well known and admired were his labors in this 
 field, that Archbishop Ireland, President Cleary, and 
 other leading men of the Catholic Total Abstinence 
 Union of America determined to recognize the excel- 
 lent work done in this line by convening the sixteenth
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 189 
 
 annual convention of the Union at Notre Dame. Ac- 
 cordingly the convention was held at the university on 
 August 4 and 5, 1886, at which were present delegates 
 representing a membership of 50,000 in ail parts of the 
 land. The meeting was one of the most successful 
 ever held by the organization. One pleasant result of 
 this convention was that numerous leading men, lay 
 and cleric, especially from the extreme eastern states, 
 came to see and to know Notre Dame for the first 
 time; and praises of what they saw were echoed in 
 hundreds of places where theretofore the great univer- 
 sity of the west had been but a name. 
 
 V. DISTINGUISHED GUESTS- 
 
 Here it may not be inappropriate to note that Notre 
 Dame has during her history been visited by a multi- 
 tude of distinguished persons, who came to see the 
 beauty of the place, and to honor those who had in so 
 remarkable a manner built up an institution of learning 
 and religion in what, within a single lifetime, had 
 been an unbroken wilderness. 
 
 Besides priests innumerable, and reverend bishops 
 and archbishops from all parts of the Union, from 
 Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia, including the 
 beloved Cardinal Gibbons; besides governors, United 
 States senators and congressmen from our own state; 
 many eminent persons have been pleased to turn aside 
 on their journeys through the land, or even to come on 
 purpose from distant points to see what has been done 
 in this chosen spot. 
 
 During the war the family of General William T. 
 Sherman for a long time resided with us; and here the 
 distinguished soldier delighted to come to visit his be-
 
 190 
 
 loved and to pass pleasant days with them in the quiet 
 of these classic shades. Here was interred the body of 
 the general's eldest son, Willy Sherman; and here long 
 lived his second son Thomas, now the eloquent Jesuit 
 priest. 
 
 To Notre Dame, in 1875, came the Papal Ablegate, 
 Mgr. Roncetti, and in 1886, the Ablegate, Mgr. 
 Straniero. In 1893, the Apostolic Delegate, Archbish- 
 op Satolli, came to see Notre Dame and its venerable 
 founder. 
 
 Others that have taken pleasure in viewing these 
 grounds and halls of learning, were Chief Justice Chase, 
 in 1871; James G. Elaine, and Thomas A. Hendricks, 
 in 1884; Carl Schurz, in 1859; ^ e historian John 
 Gilmary Shea; the delegates to the Pan-American 
 Congress, in 1889; the orator Daniel Dougherty, in 
 1891; and many others whose names might be given. 
 
 How close in touch with public affairs and public 
 men, and how warm in sympathy with the best inter- 
 ests of the nation, has always been the spirit of Notre 
 Dame, may be illustrated by a letter written in the 
 name of the university, as far back almost as the found- 
 ing of the institution, by the eloquent professor, Gardner 
 Jones, whose literary services to Notre Dame have 
 many times been referred to in these pages. The let- 
 ter was addressed to Henry Clay, to whose kindly and 
 active interest the university was more than once 
 indebted. The letter is as follows: 
 
 " UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME r>u LAC, 
 (Near South Bend, Ind.,) 
 
 MARCH 14, 1850. 
 
 " Honorable Sir; The president and faculty of this 
 Catholic institution, all unknown to you as they are,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 191 
 
 cannot resist the impulse created by the recent reading 
 of your compromise speech in the college refectory, to 
 address you a brief letter of thanks for their share in 
 that rich treat. Professing a creed widely different 
 from your own, and which is generally, though falsely, 
 supposed to be anti- American, and hostile to civil lib- 
 erty, they yet partake with you in those just, wise and 
 moderate views which you advance in the noble docu- 
 ment referred to, and in all that patriotic and trem- 
 bling solicitude for the continuance and perpetuity of 
 this glorious Union, which you so laudably manifest. 
 It would be dissimulation in those who address you to 
 affirm aught else than that they seek the edification 
 and glory of the kingdom of their Master Christ, be- 
 fore all other earthly considerations; but besides this 
 reigning aim and desire, they know no greater love 
 and affection than that they bear towards the constitu- 
 tion and federal government of these states. With the 
 integrity, stability and unchecked progress of this land 
 of religious liberty, they see identified the highest in- 
 terests of the church of Jesus Christ, and the highest 
 hopes of humanhy; and, greatly as they venerate your 
 exalted patriotism, evinced not only now in this pain- 
 ful crisis, but also through a long and illustrious life of 
 unselfish and unrequited devotion to your country, 
 they will not yield to you in the alarm they feel in 
 view of the dangers now threatening the Union, or in 
 earnest and continual supplication to the God of Na- 
 tions, that he will be pleased, for his church's sake, 
 to avert from us those imminent perils which now 
 menace us. 
 
 "While you are assailed by the violent and insane 
 of both sections of the Union, we thought it might be
 
 192 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 agreeable to you to know that in a secluded religious 
 house, whose inmates have their citizenship and con- 
 versation in heaven, who commune more with the 
 mighty past than the present, and whose invisible com- 
 panions are the noble army of saints, your kindling 
 oratory has warmed and cheered many a heart inflexi- 
 ble and altogether AMERICAN. 
 
 ' ' In behalf of the president and faculty, I have the 
 honor to be, with great consideration, your obedient 
 servant, GARDNER JONES. 
 
 "Hon. Henry Clay, Washington, D. C." 
 
 VI. THE LAETARE MEDAL. 
 
 As a further indication of the wide sympathy of 
 Notre Dame for intellectual and moral excellence wher- 
 ever found, it is pleasant here to note the establish- 
 ment during Father Walsh's presidency of the unique 
 custom of conferring, on each recurring I^aetare Sunday, 
 a medal upon some American Catholic distinguished 
 in literature, science, or art. It is needless to say that 
 this is an adaptation to the domain of secular knowl- 
 edge of what papal custom has from time immemorial 
 made famous in the sphere of religion. The golden 
 rose of Laetare Sunday bestowed by the pope upon 
 some Catholic renowned for services in the cause of 
 religion has always been esteemed by the recipient as 
 one of the highest of earthly favors, and has gained 
 from the world at large the most marked applause. 
 The universi.y of Notre Dame has in like manner 
 won great honor by the selection as the recipients of 
 this medal of Americans, men and women, who by 
 their talents and virtues, have added lustre to the 
 American Catholic name. Such recognition, too, has
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 193 
 
 in many cases been peculiarly fitting from the circum- 
 stances that the recipients, from their modesty and 
 retirement of life, have been content to labor on in 
 doing good, thinking little of any honor or apprecia- 
 tion that might be bestowed upon their labors, pro- 
 vided only they were conscious to themselves of 
 performing the duty that God set before them. While 
 such persons never look for honors, it is nevertheless 
 pleasant to all who appreciate talent and devotion to 
 duty, to see these single hearted men and women of 
 genius selected for deserved if unexpected recognition. 
 The good done by the giving of the Notre Dame Lae- 
 tare medal is not simply in the honor done to the 
 worthy, but in the emulution aroused in youthful 
 genius, and in the respect inspired in the minds of all 
 good people for unobtrusive merit. Honors thus 
 worthily bestowed upon talent and virtue tend to make 
 us all better by inspiring in us a love and respect for 
 what is good and great. 
 
 The bestowal of the medal is usually intrusted to 
 some distinquished representative of the university, 
 and it is given with such appropriate ceremony, and 
 in the presence of such dignitaries as may add em- 
 phasis to the honor intended. 
 
 The custom was inaugurated in 1883, the medal for 
 that year being given to the accomplished historian, 
 John Gilmary Shea, after Orestes A. Brownson, un- 
 doubtedly the most distinguished American Catholic 
 layman who has given his genius to the services of the 
 church. That the Laetare medal was first given to so 
 eminent a man has added lustre to the gift, upon 
 whomsoever it may at any time be hereafter bestowed. 
 In 1884 the medal was given to Mr. Patrick C. Keely,
 
 194 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the eminent church architect ; in 1885, to Miss 
 Allen Starr, the sweet poet and writer on religious 
 art ; in 1886, to General John Newton, the soldier, 
 scientist and engineer; in 1887, to one whose modesty 
 would not suffer him to accept, and whose name cannot 
 therefore be given ; in 1888, to Patrick V. Hickey, the 
 great Catholic editor ; in 1889, to Anna Hanson Dorsey, 
 the author ; in 1890, to William J. Onahan, the publi- 
 cist and organizer of great public Catholic movements ; 
 in 1891, to Daniel Dougherty, the orator; in 1892, to 
 Henry F. Brownson, the editor and biographer of his 
 distinguished father, Orestes A. Brownson ; in 1893, to 
 Patrick Donahoe, the veteran publisher; in 1894, to 
 Augustin Daly, the theatrical manager ; and in 1895, to 
 Mary Anne Sadlier, the writer of Catholic fiction. 
 
 This is a noble list of names, taken from almost 
 every walk of life ; and does equal honor to the donors 
 and to the recipients. May the list continue from year 
 to year, the honor still accumulating with the past line 
 of glory in those who receive, and the increasing glory 
 of the University that bestows, the golden medal of 
 Laetare Sunday. 
 
 vn. THE TRANSFER OF THE BODY OF ORESTES A. 
 
 BROWNSON TO NOTRE DAME. 
 
 In harmony with the honor which Notre Dame has 
 endeavored to confer on Catholic laymen by the be- 
 stowal of the Laetare medal, may be here noted the 
 transfer to her sacred precincts of the body of the great 
 Dr. Brownson, without question the most eminent 
 man, outside the reverend clergy, that has yet been 
 produced by the American church.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC, 195 
 
 On June 17, 1886, the body of Dr. Brownson was 
 brought from Mt. Elliott cemetery in Detroit, in charge 
 of his son, Major Henry A. Brownson, and was 
 solemnly interred beneath the Church of the Sacred 
 Heart at Notre Dame. At the conclusion of the solemn 
 mass of requiem, the venerable Father Sorin ascended 
 the altar and spoke for a short time, alluding to his 
 long and intimate friendship with the distinguished 
 dead, telling how, during life the lamented Christian 
 hero had often expressed his desire to end his days at 
 Notre Dame, and how it was now their melancholy 
 pleasure to receive his precious remains, to be placed 
 beside other Christian heroes who had labored like him, 
 though in other spheres of activity. 
 
 The body of the great philosopher rests beside those 
 of the sainted missionaries, Fathers De Seille, Petit 
 and Cointet; a tablet with a suitable inscription mark- 
 ing the place of his honored rest. May we indulge in 
 the hope that some day the remains of the venerable 
 Allouez and the proto-priest, Father Badin, may also 
 rest beneath the Church of the Sacred Heart at Notre 
 Dame ? Not more worthy of honor are those who sleep 
 in Westminister Abbey, than are those Christian 
 heroes, the founders and supporters of the early 
 American church. 
 
 vni. BISHOP'S MEMORIAI, HAU,. 
 
 The tendency to honor the distinguished dead, to 
 mark with monuments their resting places, and to 
 gather relics which may remind us of their noble lives, 
 is natural to superior minds, and serves to give to the 
 living something of the greatness that attaches to the 
 dead themselves. By honoring them, we partake in
 
 196 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the honor which is given them. These memorials are 
 an especial incentive to generous minded youths, who 
 are by the presence of these memorials stirred to emu- 
 lation of the great dead. 
 
 The following extracts from the facile pen of P. V. 
 Hickey, the late accomplished editor of the "Catholic 
 Review," gives us a graphic picture of such a memorial 
 collection at Notre Dame: 
 
 ' 'A national Pantheon has been the dream of many 
 visionary Americans. A much more practical, praise- 
 worthy, and Christian idea is that of the university of 
 Notre Dame, Indiana, which has established a truly 
 historic and suggestive monument to our illustrious 
 dead in its 'Memorial Hall of our Bishops.' Not many 
 are aware that there exists at Notre Dame, a unique 
 collection that commends itself to the interest of all 
 who love and venerate the good men who have ruled 
 over American dioceses. While a boy at college, Pro- 
 fessor James F. Edwards conceived the happy idea of 
 erecting a national monument to our prelates in the 
 form of a Bishop Memorial Hall. He immediately 
 went to work, and after years of persistent search, he 
 has brought together a large and valuable collection 
 of life-size paintings, crayons, engravings, photographs, 
 rare old daguerrotypes, miniatures on ivory, busts and 
 casts of all the bishops and archbishops who have' held 
 dioceses within the present limits of the United States. 
 These have been placed in a large cruciform gallery, 
 one hundred and fifty-five feet in length, one hundred 
 aud twenty at the arms, and a uniform width of six- 
 teen feet. 
 
 ' 'Besides the portraits, there is also an extensive 
 collection of autograph letters and original documents
 
 STUDY ROOM IX ST. EDWARD'S HALL. 
 
 READIXG ROOM IX ST. EDWARD'S HALL.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 197 
 
 written by the prelates; bound books, pamphlets and 
 pastorals published by them; manuscripts relating to 
 their histories, and printed volumes containing their 
 biographies. In large, glass-covered cabinets are dis- 
 played wonderful collections of mitres, croziers, episco- 
 pal rings, gold chains, pectoral crosses, and other 
 articles used by our bishops, archbishops and cardi- 
 nals. 
 
 ' 'This is the first attempt ever made in any country 
 to illustrate a nation's whole episcopacy by a monu- 
 ment of this description. Many persons gave willingly 
 of their treasures to assist in building this monument 
 to our loved bishops. They deprived themselves of 
 the pleasure of having relics at home in order to 
 secure their greater safety in this collection, and at the 
 same time to increase their value by making them 
 parts of a systematic series. The hundreds of tourists 
 and others who visit Notre Dame yearly have their 
 attention drawn by this Memorial Hall to the great 
 work done by the American hierarchy, and a desire is 
 excited to know more of the life and work of the truly 
 apostolic men who planted and fostered the faith in 
 our midst. 
 
 " It is the great desire of the originator of the Bishops' 
 Memorial Hall to make it as complete and as national 
 as possible. Anyone who may have in his possession 
 souvenirs of our deceased prelates in the form of 
 articles illustrating their pontifical dignity, works pub- 
 lished by them, and documents or old letters in their 
 handwriting, can render a valuable service to the his- 
 tory of the church by depositing them in the Bishops' 
 Memorial Hall, where they will be religiously guarded 
 for posterity. Attached to the Bishops' Memorial Hall
 
 198 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 is a large ecclesiastical museum containing souvenirs 
 of missionary priests, Catholic laymen and articles 
 illustrating the different religious orders. ' ' 
 
 IX. CATHOLIC ARCHIVES OF AMERICA. 
 
 Of even greater importance, from a historical point 
 of view at least, is the collection of precious manu- 
 scripts made and yearly added to by Professor Edwards 
 in connection with the Bishops' Memorial Hall. 
 
 The hierarchy in general realize the vastness of the col- 
 lector's labor and its importance to history. Among the 
 documents in this collection may be seen the names of 
 popes, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, gen- 
 erals, lawyers, doctors, nuns and others ; documents 
 from the Propaganda, American College at Rome, and 
 from the most eminent of the clergy of the United 
 States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba. Some of the documents 
 date back two or three centuries, but the greater number 
 have reference to the early history of the United States, 
 and the missions in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Texas, 
 Kentucky, Oregon, Colorado and other Western States 
 during the past fifty or sixty years. 
 
 The collection has as yet not been fully classified 
 and is consequently not accessible for historical studies, 
 except for inquiry in certain specialties. Of the 
 historical value of even what has been already col- 
 lected we may judge by the following letter addressed 
 to the collector by the late eminent historian, John - 
 Gilmary Shea: 
 
 1 ' My Dear Professor : Your wonderfully kind loan 
 has arrived safety and is a deluge'of historical material, 
 a perfect mine of facts, estimates and judgment. Many 
 of these letters have been in several hands, and how
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 199 
 
 little they have made of them ! There are some where 
 every line is a volume to one who understands. De 
 Courcy had some of them, Bishop Bailey had them for 
 years, Archbishop Hughes also had them. I recognize 
 by Bishop Bailey's endorsements some of the Brute 
 papers so long in his hands, and part of which perished 
 by fire. 
 
 "You possess in what you have gathered more 
 material for a real history of the church in this country 
 during the present century than was ever dreamt of. 
 Your own zeal and labor as a collector, guided by in- 
 telligent love of church and country, has been re- 
 warded by great results. Yet I hope that it is only a 
 beginning. I recognize more thoroughly now what 
 you have done, and properly supported, may still do. 
 You have created a new line, and your zeal has saved 
 much from decay and destruction." 
 
 X. THE LEMONNIER LIBRARY. 
 
 The old college library, then consisting of about 
 twenty thousand books, was, of course, almost com- 
 pletely destroyed by the fire of 1879. These books 
 had been, to a great extent, works of reference, and 
 many of them in the French and L,atin languages. In 
 1873, Father I^emonnier, then president of the univer- 
 sity, conceived the plan of forming a circulating library 
 for the special use of the students, and containing 
 works of more general interest and use in the daily 
 work of the university. This was in reality the foun- 
 dation of the present great library. In 1874, Professor 
 Edwards, at the request of Father Lemonnier, took 
 charge of this library, and has ever since been its zeal- 
 ous and efficient director. On the death of Father
 
 200 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Lemonnier his name, at the request of the students, 
 was given to the library, and this it has since retained. 
 In its earlier days a specialty was made of the English 
 classics, and before the fire an unusually complete col- 
 lection of these had been made. By 1879 the library 
 had increased to ten thousand volumes, which, with 
 the old library, were nearly all consumed by the great 
 fire. In some respects, the loss was irreparable; for, 
 besides many rare books, a number of autograph letters 
 and ancient manuscripts were lost. But with the same 
 energy and zeal that made possible the erection of the 
 new Notre Dame over the ashes of the old within three 
 months, the librarian, aided by the faculty and 
 friends of the university, at once set about repairing 
 the loss; and the Lemonnier Library of today stands a 
 splendid evidence of their success. 
 
 In 1882, all the books in the old college library that 
 had been saved from the fire were incorporated in the 
 Lemonnier Library; and, a few years later, through 
 the efforts of Father Walsh, a permanent annuity was 
 secured from the board of trustees and placed at the 
 disposal oi the librarian for the purchase of books. 
 With the impetus thus given, the library has devel- 
 oped with gratifying rapidity. 
 
 The library at present occupies the whole of the third 
 floor of the front projection of the main building. 
 The room is a magnificent gothic apartment, one 
 hundred and thirty by fifty feet, and exceedingly well 
 lighted. The arrangement of the shelving is such that 
 every book is in reach of the visitor without the use of 
 a ladder. The cases are built against the wall, and the 
 upper tiers are made accessible by a gallery around the 
 entire hall. At present the library contains about
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 201 
 
 fifty thousand volumes. The Latin classics number over 
 six hundred. The department of philosophy contains 
 the complete works of St. Thomas Aquinas and many of 
 writings of the Fathers of the Church in the original 
 Latin. In this department there are about five thou- 
 sand volumes. The department of biography contains 
 six hundred volumes; English and American poetry, 
 seven hundred volumes; essays and treatises, including 
 the complete works of St. Augustine, five hundred 
 volumes; historical works, between three thousand 
 and four thousand volumes, embracing all the standard 
 histories and also a number of supplemental works on 
 historical subjects. There are upwards of three thou- 
 sand bound magazines and one thousand volumes of 
 bound newspapers, with thousands of pamphlets and 
 magazines yet unbound; one thousand volumes on 
 general and American literature; two thousand books 
 of a religious character; large collections of scientific 
 works, English classics, selected modern novels; all 
 the standard cyclopedias and reference books. In the 
 French language are about ten thousand volumes, and 
 large numbers in German, Italian and Spanish. Nu- 
 merous curiosities interest the visitor and scholar, 
 among them many old books, including a translation 
 of the bible into German, of which there were twenty 
 editions, the one here having been printed seven 
 months before the birth of Martin Luther. In the 
 care and growth of this great library generous praise 
 is due to the librarian, who has well executed the trust 
 confided to him by Father Lemonnier; as well as to 
 Father Walsh and the governing council of the uni- 
 versity who have shown their enlightened appreciation 
 of the value of a great library to the university.
 
 202 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 xi. LITERARY STUDIES. 
 
 We have noted several times in these papers the 
 active interest taken at Notre Dame from che begin- 
 ning in the study of the English language and litera- 
 ture. The university was fortunate in its early days 
 in having as its professor of English literature the elo- 
 quent and erudite Father St. Michael E. E. Shawe, an 
 Alumnus of St. Mary's, Oscott, England. He was of 
 an old English Catholic family, had been a brilliant 
 soldier under Wellington, and then becoming a heroic 
 priest, came to Indiana at the call of the saintly 
 Bishop Brute", where he built St. Michael's church at 
 Madison, and afterwards engaged in the Indian 
 missions, before he became connected with the Uni- 
 versity of Notre Dame. Here his memory is preserved 
 with enthusiasm as one who gave to the university its 
 first tendency towards that high literary excellence to 
 which it has attained. 
 
 Succeeding Father Shawe came Professor Gardner 
 Jones, a journalist and an orator of much power. In 
 his hands the ponderous lectures of Blair became to 
 his students fascinating as fairy tales to children. His 
 influence upon the students as a patriot was scarcely 
 less than that exerted by him as a master of the 
 English language and literature. The glory of the 
 American Union and the excellence of our free institu- 
 tions were themes upon which Professor Jones never 
 tired. He was a man after Father Sorin's heart, a 
 fine type of the American literary enthusiast, an in- 
 spirer of those who love the English language and lit- 
 erature. 
 
 These men were the founders. After them, and per- 
 haps more practical than either, though not more
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 203 
 
 earnest and devoted, came Father Gillespie, Professor 
 Stace and others, of whom we have already written. 
 Later came Charles Warren Stoddard, the master of 
 pure, unaffected, fascinating English prose. Father 
 Walsh was himself the master of a beautiful and forci- 
 ble English style. These men, with Father Bigelow, 
 Father Brown, and especially Father O'Connell and 
 Father Hudson, gave to Notre Dame the daily habit 
 of a pure, noble literary style, the perfection of which 
 was seen in each successive number of the "Scholastic" 
 and the "Ave Maria." 
 
 In 1887, the faculty of Notre Dame recognizing the 
 fact that the exclusive study of the ancient languages 
 and of pure science is not in itself sufficient for a liberal 
 education, determined to institute a course which 
 should provide for a more than ordinarily thorough 
 acquaintance with the English language and with 
 English and American literature. The course, like 
 those in science and the classics, extends over a period 
 of four years ; and those who have completed the 
 required studies receive the degree of Bachelor of 
 Letters. A high standard is kept up throughout the 
 course in all the English branches; and the degree 
 will be conferred on no one who, besides giving evi- 
 dence of proficiency in the classics and in science, does 
 not also show his ability to apply the principles of 
 composition, and also give evidence of an acquaintance 
 with the writings of the best authors in English and 
 American literature. 
 
 The preparatory studies for this course are the same 
 as those introductory to the classical course, except 
 that Latin or Greek may be replaced by one of the 
 modern languages. From the beginning of the course
 
 204 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 special attention is given to essay writing, each essay 
 being read and criticized in its author's presence. 
 Facilities for a training in journalism are afforded in 
 the columns of the "Scholastic," every student being 
 required, after the first year, to contribute to the college 
 paper at least two articles each session. Besides re- 
 quiring a familiarity with the masterpieces of English 
 and American authors, the students are encouraged to 
 take special courses of reading, having access at all 
 times to the English and American classics in the 
 Lemonnier library. The graduation thesis, finally, 
 must show, besides the graces of style, a scholarly 
 treatment of the theme selected. 
 
 The crown to the good work of the University in 
 this regard, and one of the chief of the great services 
 rendered by Father Walsh, was the engagement, in 
 1888, of the distinguished poet and brilliant writer of 
 prose, Maurice Francis Egan, as professor of English 
 Literature. In connection with this happy selection it 
 was said at the time by the ' ' Baltimore Catholic 
 Mirror." 
 
 ' 'The university of Notre Dame is one of the most, 
 if not indeed the most, progressive Catholic educa- 
 tional institution in America. Its growth within the 
 last decade has been marvelous. Not only in respect 
 to the number of scholars upon its rolls is this true, 
 but chiefly in the means adopted to meet the require- 
 ments arising from this increase. The high standard 
 of studies in each department of the university has 
 been steadfastly maintained, and the tendency is to 
 raise it still higher by the introduction of the newest 
 features of the best educational systems of the world. 
 Thoroughness in each course is aimed at, and to achieve
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 205 
 
 this, approved methods are tried and new names added 
 to its already brilliant galaxy of educators. 
 
 "The latest acquisition which the faculty has had is 
 Mr. Maurice Francis Egan of the New York ' Free- 
 man's Journal,' who becomes professor of English 
 literature and belles-lettres a position which has been 
 specially created for him. Too much cannot be said 
 in praise of the honest effort which this move on the 
 part of the Notre Dame managers indicates, to secure 
 careful teaching in this branch of polite learning. It 
 is needless here to enlarge upon the many qualifica- 
 tions which Mr. Egan brings to the position. To 
 those who are familiar with the best Catholic literature 
 of today, Mr. Egan's name is a household word. His 
 productions in prose and verse rank with the highest; 
 and some of his poems have elicited the highest en- 
 comiums from the best minds of the English- speaking 
 world. In addition to his character as a well-read and 
 accomplished worker in this field, Mr. Egan has 
 acquired a wide reputation in the world of letters for 
 the intelligence, discrimination, and rare analytic 
 power evinced in his critical writings. 
 
 "His careful work in this department, which has 
 found its way to the reading public through the leading 
 magazines and in a volume recently issued, has 
 attracted the most favorable attention. Of Mr. Egan's 
 work on the ' Freeman's Journal ' it is scarcely 
 necessary to speak. The prestige which James A. 
 McMaster's honest and fearless course won for the 
 paper, and the distinctive character which his strong 
 individuality impressed upon it, have been admirably 
 sustained by Mr. Egan, who was for many years 
 associated with the brave old champion of Catholic
 
 206 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 faith and Catholic thought. The university's gain is 
 Catholic journalism's loss. Notre Dame is to be con- 
 gratulated upon its efforts to provide for the careful 
 teaching of so important a branch as English literature, 
 and is to be especially felicitated upon securing the 
 services of one so admirably equipped for the position 
 upon which Mr. Egan will enter at the beginning of 
 the scholastic year." 
 
 The promise indulged in when Professor Egan was 
 appointed has been more than fulfilled. The literary 
 character of Notre Dame has been wonderfully elevated. 
 Some of the brightest young writers in the land have 
 added luster to the student rolls of the university. 
 This is shown not only in the pages of the ' ' Scholastic, " 
 which has taken the first place amongst the college 
 journals of America, but also in various journals and 
 magazines in the country to which our students have 
 become contributors. With Professor Egan, the 
 literary course has become a complete success; and not 
 only are the young men who go forth from these halls 
 learned in the arts and sciences, but they are so trained 
 in the easy, graceful and forceful expression of thought 
 that they are able to communicate their learning to 
 others.
 
 , i m\ 
 
 fcfilt UU
 
 X. 
 
 FIFTY YEARS A PRIEST. 
 
 I. THB SACERDOTAL GOLDEN JUBILEE OP FATHER 
 SORIN. 
 
 The year 1888 is memorable in the history of Notre 
 Dame, by reason of the celebration of the fiftieth anni- 
 versary of ordination to the holy priesthood of her 
 venerable founder. Father Sorin was born, as we have 
 already noted, on February 6, 1814; his first mass was 
 said on June 9, 1838; his founding of Notre Dame dates 
 from November 26, 1842; he became Provincial of the 
 Congregation of the Holy Cross in America on August 
 15, 1865; and was elected Superior-General of the 
 Congregation July 22, 1868. Now, after holding his 
 last high office for twenty years, he attained that 
 honor so seldom reached by the hard-working priest, 
 the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of his priesthood. 
 
 An added, saddening recollection is preserved of this 
 honor, as it was destined to be the last public mani- 
 festation in his veneration during his life. It was 
 fondly hoped that he should live until 1894, when he 
 might unite in the Golden Jubilee of the charter date of 
 the university. Some, however, of the wiser ones were 
 anxious that the Golden Jubilee of the university should 
 be reckoned from the date of its founding, and be there-
 
 208 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 fore celebrated in 1892, fearing that the glorious life of 
 the founder might not be prolonged beyond that date. 
 Their presentiments were well founded; he died, as we 
 shall see, in 1893, and this Golden Jubilee of his priest- 
 hood was the last for him. Perhaps it was better so. 
 Great as was the founder, the priest was greater; and 
 it was as a priest that he shone for the last time upon 
 the vision of the world where he had served his God 
 and his fellow men so well. 
 
 The first celebration was private, in the presence 
 only of his beloved children of the Holy Cross and of 
 the Faculty and students of the university, on the 26th 
 and 27th days of May, 1888. On the evening of the 
 26th there was an appropriate entertainment in Wash- 
 ington Hall, consisting of music, poems and addresses, 
 prepared expressly for the occasion. At the close of 
 this entertainment, Father Sorin did what was unusual 
 with him ascended the stage to address the assembled 
 priests, brothers and students, instead of returning his 
 thanks from his place in the audience, as he had been 
 accustomed. His happy response was taken down at 
 the time; and, both on account of its sweet, religious 
 felicity, and also by reason of the pathetic circumstance 
 that it proved to be his last extended public utterance, 
 we give it here entire. The aged patriarch, venerable 
 in aspect as in years, spoke to his children as follows: 
 
 "In the light of divine faith a Golden Sacerdotal 
 Jubilee, or the fiftieth anniversary of the ordination of 
 a priest to the sacred office of minister of the Most 
 High, to which nothing on earth can compare in real 
 elevation, is assurdly worthy of due commemoration, 
 not alone on the part of one who was raised to such an 
 unparalleled dignity, but also and likewise among
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 209 
 
 those of his friends who can properly appreciate the 
 signal blessing commemorated in this telling anniver- 
 sary. Were it only to remind him of the eighteen 
 thousand holy masses offered for the living and the 
 dead, since the day he was first allowed to stand before 
 the altar of the living God, what an inspiring cause 
 of unbounded joy and gratitude to heaven this fact 
 alone would reveal to faithful souls ! 
 
 "In the sacred ministry, few, comparatively, are 
 spared full fifty years to discharge the sublime function 
 for which every priest is ordained. Far from being 
 the rule, it is, I may say, a rare exception. Indeed 
 I consider it for myself a most special blessing, for 
 which I feel the more grateful, as it is evidently gra- 
 tuitous and unmerited. 
 
 "But my joy is increased beyond expression, when 
 I see how heartily you share in it yourselves. Your 
 filial congratulations never penetrated my inmost soul as 
 they do this evening. Were it any way possible, they 
 would undoubtedly and sensibly increase my esteem 
 and my love for such a noble family, whose every feel- 
 ing seems so deeply permeated with a perfect apprecia- 
 tion of the heavenly blessing we now contemplate. 
 
 "It is true, you are not the first to manifest the 
 delight of your hearts on the occasion of a Sacerdotal 
 Golden Jubilee. This very year, 1 888, has witnessed, all 
 over the globe, on the occasion of the great Jubilee of 
 our Holy Father, Leo XIII., a universal acclamation 
 of loving accents, never known or heard of before. 
 But, eclipsing, as it does, all the manifestations of the 
 past, this marvelous event does not, in the least, 
 weaken or impair the merit of your own exhibition of 
 happiness and delight on this commemoration how-
 
 210 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ever insignificant, comparatively, may be the poor in- 
 dividual just now the object of your attention. You 
 join with me in thanking God for the uncommon and 
 gratuitous gift of fifty years he has mercifully deigned 
 to keep me, unworthy as I am, in his sacred ministry. 
 Indeed I am glad to see my ever increasing debt of 
 gratitude divided among so many generous souls. 
 What a relief to my heart! I was not ordained a priest 
 for my personal benefit alone, but also for the good of 
 many others. I really delight in seeing the same so 
 beautifully acknowledged here by so many intelligent 
 and happy countenances, beaming with the best aspira- 
 tions for future usefulness. 
 
 ' 'But what intensifies still more my gratitude to God 
 for my elevation to the sacred priesthood is the selec- 
 tion by God himself of the rich field where I was to 
 labor; oh, how often it has filled my soul with joy! It 
 is not for me to state here the unspeakable consolations 
 which awaited me in this new world, which I loved so 
 dearly long before I landed upon it's happy shores; and, 
 above all, on this glorious domain of the Queen of 
 Heaven. You have yourselves expressed them in 
 terms, for which I would try to thank you from my 
 heart, were it not for the delicacy one feels naturally 
 when he sees himself the direct object, or target, of 
 undeserved praises. Allow me then to declare here 
 honestly that I claim but a very small fraction of the 
 merits you assign me, but justly return it all to the 
 Blessed Virgin herself, and to the devotedness of my 
 modest and faithful co-laborers in the field already 
 promising such an abundant harvest for the advance 
 of science and the salvation of immortal souls." 
 
 In the evening, after supper, a gift of horses and
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 211 
 
 carriage was made to Father Sorin in the name of the 
 students, past and present, and of the Faculty of the 
 university. The speech of presentation, a most felicit- 
 ous one, was made by Professor John G. Ewing. A 
 grand electric illumination of the buildings and 
 grounds followed. 
 
 The next day, the 27th of May, was Sunday, and 
 Father Sorin himself celebrated solemn high mass, 
 an eloquent sermon being preached by Very Rev. 
 Father Corby. The day was farther commemorated 
 by the laying of the corner stone of Sorin Hall, since 
 become one of the most interesting and useful of the 
 collegiate edifices. (This fine hall was completed dur- 
 ing that season, and was thrown open for use on New 
 Year's day, 1889.) A public banquet at which Father 
 Sorin presided, followed in the senior refectory, at 
 which appropriate responses to toasts were made by 
 Father Zahm (acting president of the university, in 
 the absence of Father Walsh, then in Europe), pro- 
 fessor Hoynes and Mr. Brownson, of the class of 1888. 
 In the afternoon the rival boat crews contended for 
 honors upon the beautiful St. Joseph's lake. After- 
 wards there was a competitive drill between companies 
 A and B, Hoynes' lyight Guards, the excellent mili- 
 tary organizations formed in the junior and senior 
 departments by Colonel Hoynes. Thus closed the 
 first festival of the Sacerdotal Golden Jubilee of Father 
 Sorin. 
 
 II. THE PUBLIC CELEBRATION OF FATHER SORIN'S 
 
 JUBILEE. 
 
 Far surpressing all celebrations hitherto at Notre 
 Dame, was the public celebration of the Golden Jubilee
 
 212 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 of Father Sorin's priesthood on August 15, 1888. The 
 weather was perfect; the attendance of cardinal, arch- 
 bishops, bishops, clergy and other friends of the ven- 
 erable founder was unprecedented; the religious ser- 
 vices were the most august ever witnessed in the 
 Church of the Sacred Heart; and the sermon of Arch- 
 bishop Ireland was a glorious epitome of Father 
 Sorin's life work, the building of the university and 
 the establishment of the church in this part of the west, 
 with the consequent wide influence for good all over 
 the land. 
 
 The most striking souvenir of the day was a photo- 
 graph of Father Sorin and Cardinal Gibbons with the 
 archbishops and bishops in attendance, taken out in 
 front of the college, the main college building and the 
 Church of the Sacred Heart forming a framework or 
 back ground for the picture. Those appearing in the 
 picture are: Father Sorin; Cardinal Gibbons; Arch- 
 bishops Ireland, of St. Paul, and Elder, of Cincinnati; 
 Bishops Dwenger, of Fort Wayne; Gilmour, of Cleve- 
 land; Watterson, of Columbus; Keane, of Richmond; 
 Spalding, of Peoria; Ryan, of Alton; Ryan, of Buffalo; 
 Burke, of Cheyenne; Richter, of Grand Rapids; Jansen, 
 of Belleville; and Phelan, of Pittsburg. 
 
 Speaking of the gifts received by Father Sorin on 
 this solemn Jubilee feast, the Catholic "Telegraph" of 
 Cincinnati beautifully said: "But richest of all the 
 gifts is that which Father Sorin has himself given to 
 religion his own life. And this gift, like the grain 
 of mustard, has grown, flourished, and sent forth leaf, 
 bud, blossom, and fruit, until Notre Dame today is 
 among the fairest of all the beautiful gardens planted 
 in the wilderness of America. It is to men like Father
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 213 
 
 Sorin that the United States owes her prosperity men 
 who have toiled, suffered, sacrificed all for religion and 
 the education of youth; silently but surely they do 
 their work, asking no reward but the salvation of 
 souls, and the approval of their Divine Master. Self 
 is left out entirely, and in its place Jesus, and He 
 crucified, reigns. To plant the cross, to instruct the 
 ignorant, to preach the gospel to the poor, these have 
 been the objects of such men as Father Sorin, in this 
 country ; and it is due to them that the forests have 
 been cut down to make place for the grains and fruits; 
 for city, town, and village; for the church and schools; 
 for the arts and manufactures. Everywhere the cross 
 was planted, and from it were reflected rich blessings 
 on those who settled under its shadow, and looked up 
 to it morning, noon and evening. We wish Father 
 Sorin many years of usefulness in the beautiful temple 
 he has built. The priests who have labored with him 
 and the students who have had the benefit of his coun- 
 sel and example will speak of him in tones of love and 
 veneration to those who shall come after them. Thus 
 the good he has done will live after him, and serve to 
 fructify other wildernesses. May God reward him and 
 all of the pioneers of the west those who sleep, and 
 those who still work and weep." 
 
 A picturesque description of what was seen at Notre 
 Dame the evening of the I4th and the day of the i5th 
 of August, was written by Miss Mary J. Onahan, of 
 Chicago, and is here given: 
 
 "There have been many red-letter days in the his- 
 tory of Notre Dame, but none more memorable than 
 the Golden Jubilee of the priest who founded and still 
 directs it. A great day, truly! South Bend, as well
 
 214 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 as Notre Dame, was in its gala dress; no cottage so 
 small that it might not let fly its flag, and words of 
 welcome in more than one language greeted the guests 
 who came from all parts to congratulate the hero of 
 the day. 
 
 ' ' The stately avenue lined with trees that leads to the 
 college had become a sort of Appian way; triumphal 
 arches in the papal and national colors stretched 
 over the roadway; lanterns and streamers swayed in 
 the breeze, while above all shone the gilded dome of 
 the university like a miniature St. Peter's, crowned by 
 the figure of the Madonna, radiant in the sunshine. 
 
 "The train bearing Cardinal Gibbons was several 
 hours late, so that he did not arrive until eight o'clock 
 in the evening; but the delay was in one respect an 
 advantage. The night was beautiful, the great electric 
 lights encircling the figure of Our I^ady on the dome 
 seemed like a rosary of stars in the sky; the myriad 
 lanterns swinging among the trees, the expectant 
 throng on the porches and the grounds, the sound of 
 distant music, all formed a picture which had about it, 
 to the imaginative, something of the gleen of fairy- 
 lond. There were false alarms, of course first it 
 was Archbishop Ireland, of St. Paul again it was the 
 genial Bishop Gilmour, of Cleveland, who seemed to 
 enjoy the mistake of being taken for the Cardinal, but 
 who was evidently welcome for his own sake, too, 
 judging from the round of applause given him. But 
 at last it was he. The lights came nearer; it was the 
 escort of his Eminence. 
 
 " Along the great avenue of trees they came; now 
 they had passed under the last arch, the air was soft 
 with the dear old Irish melodies. First was the band,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME &U LAC. 215 
 
 then the Ancient Order of Hibernians, then the Polish 
 Lancers, reminding one of the knights of old return- 
 ing from the Crusades. All this we saw as the pro- 
 cession wound out from the avenue, around the green 
 lawn up to the broad steps of the college. Every- 
 body was watching for the Cardinal. A delicate, 
 gentle-faced prelate came up the steps, of medium 
 height, but seeming smaller, clad all in black, 
 save for the odd, flat, little scarlet cap, which 
 we saw as he bowed to the people. It was 
 Cardinal Gibbons. He looked very kind and humble, 
 pleased at the affection shown him, but evidently 
 fatigued from his journey. His face lighted up as he 
 saw the many bishops awaiting him; he embraced 
 Archbishop Ireland warmly and the others who were 
 near him. Then came a I/atin address of welcome, 
 read by Father Walsh, the President of the University. 
 The Cardinal listened attentively, and at its conclusion 
 bowed his thanks and disappeared to his room. 
 Everything was over for the night. 
 
 ' ' In the morning of the feast day bright and early, 
 Bishop Dwenger began the long ceremony of conse- 
 crating the church. From five until eight the con- 
 secration went on with closed doors. At nine o'clock 
 the church was opened, and the people thronged to 
 assist at the Mass said by the Very Rev. Father Sorin, 
 to the hearing of which the Holy Father had attached 
 a special indulgence. The venerable priest seemed 
 all unconscious of the signs of festivity and rejoicing. 
 At ten o'clock every one went back for the solemn 
 celebration of the day. The beautiful gothic church 
 was a blaze of color and light, streaming out from the 
 high bronze altar and the rich stained glass of the
 
 216 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 windows, from the faces of the angels and the prophets 
 and the saints that thronged the walls. Flowers 
 everywhere, their many hues scarce richer than the 
 tints of Gregori's palette ; votive lamps swinging 
 before the Tabernacle, one of solid gold studded with 
 gems, the great gold crown, the gift of the Empress 
 Eugenie, the cross presented by Napoleon III. It 
 was almost too distracting, this church with its twelve 
 altars ; architecture vying with sculpture, the painter 
 scarce outdoing the goldsmith. Meanwhile the cere- 
 mony was beginning. 
 
 " In the sanctuary were the Cardinal, clad in all his 
 princely robes, Archbishops Elder and Ireland, Bish- 
 ops Gilmour, Keane, Watterson, Spalding, Dwenger, 
 Jansen, Burke, Ryan of Buffalo, Phelan, Richter, and 
 Ryan of Alton. Opposite the Cardinal sat Father 
 Sorin. In the chapel back of the main altar were 600 
 sisters, on the sides the brothers and guests, and in 
 the body of the church the societies and congregation. 
 Outside the altar rail were ranged the Polish Lancers 
 with drawn swords, as a sort of military guard, their 
 scarlet uniform and nodding shakos giving a dash of 
 color to the whole which enraptures the painter, but 
 passes beyond the penman. 
 
 " The music was Haydn's Third Mass, Mr. Rohner 
 at the organ, assisted by the choir from the Jesuit 
 Church of Chicago, and the sweet-voiced soprano, 
 Mrs. Maguire. The Cardinal pontificated, and after 
 the gospel, Archbishop Ireland ascended the pulpit to 
 deliver the sermon. 
 
 "At the conclusion of the sermon the Cardinal 
 descended from his throne, and the organ sounded the 
 solemn tones of the Credo. At the elevation the
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 217 
 
 Polish Lancers presented arms. The High Mass over, 
 there was a great banquet which was served without 
 wine. The toasts were: ' Our Holy Father, ' responded 
 to by Bishop Dwenger ; ' The Hierarchy of the United 
 States,' by Archbishop Elder; and 'The Founder of 
 Notre Dame, ' by Bishop Gilmour. In the afternoon 
 the entire University building was solemnly blessed 
 by Bishop Watterson. At five o'clock Bishop Spald- 
 ing delivered a speech from the porch of the college, 
 in his usual eloquent manner. He spoke of the 
 beauties of Notre Dame ; it was a place where poets 
 could dream, where philosophers could hold high dis- 
 course. He spoke of its work, which lay not in brick 
 and mortar; in colleges, however stately; in churches, 
 however beautiful ; but in the young souls that had 
 been nurtured within its walls. This was the work 
 the highest work of man to educate to perfection. 
 To make the perfect man, perfect physically, intel- 
 lectually and morally, this was the dream of the 
 greatest in the world from the days of Attica, when 
 Christianity was but a promise, to the present, when 
 it had become so great a power for the elevation and 
 enlightenment of man. ' God was beauty as well as 
 truth ; man was like him by his intellect as well as 
 by his conscience. Add the influence of Christianity 
 to the old love of knowledge of the Greeks, then we 
 shall have perfect education.' The Bishop was atten- 
 tively listened to, and often applauded, as the posi- 
 tion afforded more freedom than could be taken in a 
 church. The reverend clergy evidently enjoyed his 
 sallies of wit, especially when alluding to the dispo- 
 sition to hero worship among the young, he said that 
 to a boy even a tinsel hero was to be revered ; ' put a
 
 218 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 bit of purple on a man, he is a hero,' said he, this 
 with a gleam of saturnine humor. The theology and 
 the wit were especially appreciated. 
 
 " At the conclusion of Bishop Spalding's remarks, 
 the Cardinal said a few words relative to the subject 
 of the day. His manners were simple and dignified, 
 his voice clear, though not loud. Father Sorin had 
 been compared to Moses, he said; but God had favored 
 him more than the prophet of old, for to Moses it had 
 been given only to look over into the promised land, 
 but the modern Moses had passed within its bounds. 
 The respect and love shown the Cardinal by the peo- 
 ple was very touching. The Cardinal then gave the 
 people his blessing, after which was solemn benedic- 
 tion in the church. 
 
 " In the evening the college and all the buildings of 
 the University were illuminated by electricity, the 
 Chinese lanterns were lighted in the trees, and a grand 
 display of fireworks took place. With this Father 
 Serin's jubilee was over." 
 
 in. ARCHBISHOP IRELAND'S DISCOURSE AT FATHER 
 
 SORIN 'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 
 
 " And he that had received the five talents coming, brought 
 other five talents, saying : Lord, thou didst deliver to me five 
 talents ; behold, I have gained other five over and above. His 
 Lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant, be- 
 cause thou hast been faithful over a few things I will place 
 thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 Matt, xxv : 20-21. 
 
 The supreme perfection of God, theologians tell us, 
 consist in this, that there is in Him the plentitude of 
 act actus purissiimis. He is all that He might be; 
 He owns no latent, undeveloped power; no mere po-
 
 -"" % 
 
 RKA1HXU ROOM IX BKO\VXSOX 
 
 I.ECTl'RK ROOM IX SCIKXCK HALL.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 219 
 
 tentiality. " Be you perfect, as also your Heavenly 
 Father is perfect." The distance removing from us 
 the infinite is immense, immeasurable, and yet the 
 Master gives us for our feeble efforts the Infinite as 
 the ideal, and bids us see, in the outlines of His being 
 mirrored through our intellect, the tracings we need 
 follow in journeying toward our own finite perfection. 
 The perfect man is he who, in his strugglings towards 
 the good and the noble, brings into act all his powers, 
 whose life is full, who is all that he might have been 
 and does all that he might have done. The good serv- 
 ant of the Gospel is the one who has doubled the tal- 
 ents entrusted to him, whether it was two he had 
 received or five. Perfection is relative ; it is limited 
 by each one's resources and opportunities. Each one 
 does what he can, and the Master's welcome awaits 
 him: "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter 
 into the joy of thy Lord." The bad, the useless serv- 
 ant, for whom the Master has but words of severest 
 rebuke, is he who gained nothing, although losing 
 nothing ; who, most foolish in his prudence, hid in 
 the earth the talent, lest it be lost. God hates the 
 idle, the unprofitable, the do-nothing man. Material 
 nature reads us a lesson. The tree putting forth 
 abundant leaves in springtime, failing in autumn to 
 redeem its promises, is accursed. The tree whose 
 every branch whitens with blossom and in due season 
 bends beneath the weight of luscious fruit, is fair to 
 earth and heaven, the pride of the field that shelters 
 its roots. 
 
 Venerable priest, whom to honor, the princes of 
 your people, your brethren, your spiritual children to 
 the third and fourth generation are assembled, cele-
 
 220 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 brating with you a solemn anniversary, be it mine to 
 salute you on this auspicious day, and in words 
 which, we are confident, the Master Himself is sweetly 
 whispering to your soul, say to you: "Well done, 
 good and faithful servant." Your days have been 
 full. No talent was left by you unused. The autumn 
 is come for you, and the rich fruits of your life per- 
 fume the land. 
 
 You will permit that I draw from your priesthood 
 thoughts for my discourse. I do not mean to flatter 
 or to praise you. This were unworthy of your life, 
 and of my ministry. I mean with you to give glory 
 .to whom glory belongs, to thank with you the Lord 
 God for all that in His goodness He has wrought 
 through you. I mean, for the honor of the Catholic 
 Church in America, to tell of a grand priestly life 
 which has been wholly given in love to her, and 
 which I fain would have reproduced for her greater 
 exaltation, and for the salvation of souls in ten thou- 
 sand sanctuaries of the country. Your priesthood 
 brings before us a long and important period in the 
 history of the Church in America, and, to my mind, 
 yours is the typical priesthood, which responds to her 
 needs, and ensures her victory. 
 
 Five talents were given to you ; what use have you 
 made of them ? 
 
 Your allotment of graces was such as is awarded 
 only to the children of predilection. Fifty years ago 
 in fair France ! How vividly present is now to your 
 memory the great day ! All its holy inspirations 
 crowd upon your soul. Again you rejoice in all its 
 unspeakable happiness. It was the day of your ordi- 
 nation. God had spoken to your youthful heart, and

 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 221 
 
 its every fibre had been responsive. You knelt before 
 a bishop of the Church, whose hand was uplifted over 
 you. You were made a priest forever, according to 
 the order of Melchisedech. O, the grandeur, the 
 divinity of the priesthood ! The immensity of its 
 powers for good ! Bow your heads before it, states- 
 men, warriors, kings. At their best, your dignities, 
 your gifts are human, born of this world, confined in 
 their reach to this world. The priesthood is the im- 
 mediate creation of the breathings of the incarnate 
 God ; the priesthood is divine in its origin, in its 
 power, in its term. The priest is another Christ. I 
 say to you, priests of God : dii estis ' ' ye are as 
 gods." Your mission is Christ's own "As the 
 Father sent me, so also I send you." Omnipotence 
 alone was capable of begetting the priesthood. " All 
 power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Going, 
 therefore, teach ye all nations. ' ' 
 
 What graces for the sanctification of self and others 1 
 Each day there is the right to call down upon the 
 altar the Lamb immaculate and offer Him in sacrifice. 
 The priest bears the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. 
 He is the guardian of sacramental springs, from 
 which in ceaseless flow issue the waters of life. 
 
 What forces for the doing of good ! Divine truth 
 sparkles upon the lips of the priest. The mantle of 
 divine authority waves from his shoulders. His 
 hands distil grace and blessings. The priesthood it 
 is that shattered the false gods of imperial Rome, and 
 made the pagan world Christian. To tell the deeds 
 of the priesthood I should narrate the story of Chris- 
 tian civilization, of Christian charity, of Christian 
 holiness. The priesthood is the church in action.
 
 222 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 She works through it primarily and chiefly. Other 
 forces in her service receive from the priesthood their 
 inspiration and their direction. The greatest feats of 
 the church, accomplished through her greatest sol- 
 diers, a Benedict, a Patrick, a Boniface in older times, 
 a Xavier, a De Sales, a Vincent, in modern ages, 
 were simply the works she stands ready to perform 
 through every priest who lives up to the full stature 
 of his priesthood, circumstances permitting the same 
 feats. 
 
 The duration of your priesthood was a signal favor. 
 Fifty years in the priesthood amid all its graces, in 
 the possession of all its powers ! The pure spirits 
 surrounding the throne of the Infinite envy you. To 
 few of those called to the priesthood is length of years 
 granted as to you. Veteran of many battle-fields, 
 your companions in arms have nearly all, if not all, 
 one by one, fallen out of the ranks, and laid down 
 their arms. You remain, vigorous and undaunted, 
 the hand still clasping the strong sword, to tell of 
 victories won, and by the undimmed brightness of 
 your shield to light on to the fresh triumphs the new 
 battalions that have come to occupy the field. 
 
 Will I tell of another favor? I know you have 
 often returned thanks for it. I speak of the noble 
 field which a gracious Providence had marked out for 
 your labors. 
 
 Fifty years ago the Republic of the "West was but 
 emerging from her age of infancy, though her feat- 
 ures plainly bore the lineaments of greatness and 
 majesty. The vast regions encircling the I<akes and 
 lying westward toward the Mississippi, gloried in 
 their primeval forests and wild, uncultured plains.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 223 
 
 Traders, hunters, venturesome pioneers, in small 
 knots, hundreds of miles apart, divided the boundless 
 territory with the aboriginal Indian. Cleveland, 
 Detroit, Chicago, giant cities of to-day, were villages, 
 mere outposts of civilization. The Church was at 
 work. Brute, Badin, Mazzuchelli, were sowing the 
 seed in the Master's vineyard amid privations and long 
 journeyings. To others at a later day, they felt, was 
 it reserved to put the sickle into the rich harvest. 
 Theirs was the beginning ; but even then, it was clear 
 to see, a grand future was in store. With soil most 
 fertile under foot, a benign sky above, the air made 
 genial and health-giving by the breezes of truest 
 liberty, hither, surely, would come the hungering 
 millions from transatlantic shores, who, joining hands 
 with the sturdy and pushing American colonists of 
 earlier emigration, would build up in the new world 
 a nation unparalleled in the story of ancient ages. 
 
 Providence was preparing to the church a glorious 
 opportunity for work. I am not quite sure that we 
 always value as we should this opportunity. The 
 newness of their conditions of life, the energy needed 
 to subdue nature, their freedom from beaten paths 
 and narrow groovings, impart to our populations 
 freshness, vigor, buoyancy, predisposing them to 
 hearken to the message of truth, and to be, when 
 made her disciples, the most daring and loyal soldiers 
 of the Church. In America the Church is free as the 
 bird is free in the air to spread out its pinions and 
 fly whithersoever it wills ; free to put forth all her 
 powers and tempt the realization of her most ambi- 
 tious projects for the welfare, natural and supernat- 
 ural, of men. She fears neither the sword of an
 
 224 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 avowed foe, nor the gilded throne to which a seeming 
 protector would seek to fasten her for her more facile 
 enslavement. Bound to no enervating conservatism, 
 no old-time traditions repressing her movements, she 
 can encounter with the liberty of action which en- 
 sures success, the multitudinous problems, social and 
 philosophic, which have sprung up from the com- 
 plications of modern times. Westward, it has been 
 said, the star of empire moves. Westward, methinks, 
 moves, too, the apocalyptic candlestick. The future 
 arena for the Church's grandest battles and most 
 glorious triumphs, verily, I believe in my heart, is 
 America. L,et her soldiers but do their duty and all 
 will be well. 
 
 Towards America the young levite of fifty years 
 ago, soon after his ordination, turned longing eyes. 
 He came to us from France. I thank thee, fair 
 France ! We owe to thee our political freedom. La- 
 fayette and Rochambeau were partners with Wash- 
 ington in liberating us from the yoke of foreign op- 
 pression. We owe to thee most saintly and bravest 
 missionaries, heralds of the faith to our forefathers, 
 when few others dared to penetrate the wilderness, 
 founders and fathers of the Church in America. I 
 need not go back to the heroic wanderings among 
 Indian tribes of a Jogues, an Allouez, a Marquette. 
 I have but to recall names, which in tender love and 
 gratitude living generations yet murmur, Cheverus, 
 Flaget, Dubois, Brute, Loras, Cretin, names made 
 to be immortal in the annals of America. France is 
 the mother of missionaries. Asia and Africa, and 
 Oceanica, no less than our own continent, have been 
 watered by the sweat of their brow and their labors
 
 HOLY CROSS SEMINARY. 
 
 ST. JOSEPH'S NOVITIATE.
 
 UNIVERSITY OP NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 225 
 
 for God's glory are in His eyes a perpetual prayer 
 that France be saved and be forever Catholic among 
 Catholic nations. 
 
 In August, 1841, Father Sorin, accompanied by six 
 brothers of the order of the Holy Cross, of which he 
 himself had become a member shortly after his ordi- 
 nation, departed for the New World. The year fol- 
 lowing he was on the banks of the St. Joseph river, 
 famed in annals of early missionary labors in Amer- 
 ica. Here he resolved to remain and to spend himself 
 in the Master's services. 
 
 The work at Notre Dame was begun. A limitless 
 expanse of wilderness, a log hut, built by unskilled 
 Indians, through the gaping crevices of which the 
 wintry snows swept inward, rising in unwelcome 
 heaps on the humble cots of the occupants, a young 
 priest with a few brothers, literally without staff, scrip, 
 or money this was Notre Dame in 1842. There was, 
 however, in that young priest a grand soul, and above 
 him there was a propitious God. 
 
 It is the year of grace, 1888. What has been done 
 by this priest ? Has he doubled his talents ? How 
 changed are all things ! God, surely, has wrought in 
 wondrous ways for America and for the Church in 
 America. We have this morning many reasons for 
 thankfulness. How lofty the station to which the 
 Republic has grown, the envied of the nations of the 
 earth I It is of her, that in the earlier years of this 
 century, a French publicist, learned and religious, but 
 unwilling to put faith in liberty-loving and liberty- 
 giving institutions, had written in derisive incredulity : 
 ' ' She is yet in her swathing clothes I Let her grow ; 
 let her live a hundred years, and men will see."
 
 226 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ThanK God, she has lived a hundred years, and men 
 see and men believe in the Republic, and the Church 
 in America ! Never was there in history like growth 
 and like prosperity. She has lately held her Third 
 Plenary Council, in which a larger number of bishops 
 sat than in any assembly of Christendom, save that of 
 the Vatican, since the days of Trent, and" her laws 
 and her workings are by the Chieftain of the univer- 
 sal Church, proposed to the hierarchies of other na- 
 tions to be copied by them as worthiest models. The 
 Church kept pace with the Republic. 
 
 It is much that in a generation of men, witnessing 
 this wondrous growth, and putting forth such extra- 
 ordinary energies toward developing the interests 
 under their control, an individual may be marked out 
 by the public voice for signal honors because of work 
 done and merit acquired. This is what happens to 
 Father Sorin. 
 
 The festivities of this morning are singular in their 
 representative character and their impressive grand- 
 eur. A prince of the Church, the incumbent of 
 America's primatial see, is enthroned in the sanc- 
 tuary, and around him are grouped archbishops and 
 bishops and priests, from all parts of the United 
 States and of Canada. Here, too, are laymen, dis- 
 tinguished in all the walks of life, non-Catholics as 
 eager as Catholics to give evidence of extreme ven- 
 eration. From distant lands come messages as warm 
 and as sincere as devoted hearts can make them. 
 The Eternal City is not silent. Congratulatory let- 
 ters have come from the Cardinal Prefect of the Prop- 
 aganda ; and he who rules the universal Church, 
 the vicegerent of the Master Himself, pours, for this
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 227 
 
 occasion, upon Notre Dame, special and unusual bless- 
 ings. These facts have a significance, and it is this : 
 That Father Sorin has fulfilled the mission confided 
 to him by Providence, and that he stands before us 
 to-day, the great priest, who in his day pleased God, 
 and was found just, full and complete in his 
 works. 
 
 Fifty years of stainless, irreproachable life in the 
 priesthood ! Faithful for fifty years to all the duties 
 the priesthood imposes, all the sacrifices it demands, 
 ail the virtues that are its proper environments. 
 There is in this, surety, a reason for our admiration and 
 our veneration. What is there more beautiful, more 
 heaven-like than a true priestly life ! It is the beau- 
 ideal of the moral order, in which, far more than in 
 all else besides, lies man's grandeur and nobleness, 
 and through which man approaches the divine life, as 
 made manifest in the incarnation. We rejoice, Father 
 vSorin, in your holy and edifying life. The American 
 priesthood is honored by it ; the Church is honored 
 by it. Your life has been for those many years a grand 
 example to thousands, who in the sweet odor of your 
 virtues have themselves been led forward to lives of 
 piety and holinesss. 
 
 Fifty years of ceaseless, brave work in God's king- 
 dom for God, and, through love of Him, for men. 
 You never tired, though the burden was heavy. You 
 never faltered though trials crowded upon you and 
 the shadow of defeat often darkened the sky above 
 you. We might in some measure tell what you have 
 accomplished. What you have endured to bring 
 your labors to completion we could not tell. God 
 knows all and He will repay.
 
 228 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 We need but look around us si monumentum vis, 
 tircumspice. In 1842 we had the log hut and the 
 wilderness. In 1888 there are the stately buildings 
 of Notre Dame and St. Mary's, admired for their 
 proportions and shapeliness, and, far more, for the 
 wondrous works done within their halls, and loved 
 by tens of thousands throughout the country for the 
 sweet influences that have gone forth from them. 
 The one priest and the few brothers are multiplied 
 more than a hundred-fold. There is a whole legion 
 of laborers gathered together by the patient hand 
 and inspired by the generous spirit of the venerable 
 founder. Instead of the rude chapel, the first dedi- 
 cated on these grounds to the service of religion, 
 there is the imposing basilica which was this very 
 morning solemnly consecrated Father Sorin's fitting 
 offering to the Master, for the fiftieth anniversary of 
 his priesthood, as a token that his whole life was for 
 God, and that the sole ambition of his years was to 
 rear up in the land monuments to God's glory. 
 
 Under your guidance, Father Sorin, the Congrega- 
 tion of the Holy Cross, which was, indeed, in the be- 
 ginning of your ministry the little mustard seed, has 
 grown and spread out far and wide its branches. Its 
 members are in several states of the Union working 
 zealously for the education of youth and the ministry 
 of souls. The members of the Congregation in the 
 United States one and all, extol you as their father 
 and leader, and gratefully lay at your feet their tro- 
 phies. You have been for them their inspiration and 
 their counsel. They are truly your children, having 
 caught up from you your own zeal, your own energy, 
 your own determination to keep abreast of the times
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 229 
 
 and not permit the works of the Church to fall behind 
 the advance of material and secular interests in this 
 vigorous and aggressive age. The members of the 
 Congregation outside of the United States, in Canada 
 and in Europe, recognized the value of your personal 
 leadership, and claimed a part in the wisdom and love 
 which had heretofore been given undivided to your 
 brethren in the States. You were made the chieftain 
 of the entire family. For the first time in the history 
 of the Church in America, a religious order founded in 
 Europe finds its chief executive in America, and in 
 this capacity you sat with the hierarchy of the Church 
 in the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. Ameri- 
 can Catholics do not forget that when chosen by your 
 brethren to be their Superior-General, you accepted 
 the high office on the condition that you should re- 
 main in America, and from America rule the Congre- 
 gation in other countries. 
 
 The sisters of the Holy Cross take rank among the 
 most devoted, the most earnest, the most distin- 
 guished among the daughters of the Church in Amer- 
 ica. I am sure they will approve me, when out of their 
 parterres I weave a chaplet of flowers to be wound 
 around Father Sorin's brow. He brought to America 
 the early members, conscious as he at once was of the 
 great work to be done in this country by religious or- 
 ders of women ; from the day when he led the pioneer 
 sisters into their modest cottage at Bertrand to the 
 present day of wondrous prosperity for St. Mary's and 
 its numerous offshoots, he has been the friend, the 
 guide, the counselor, of the community. Their rules 
 and constitutions are the fruit of his wise thought and 
 careful observation of the needs of this country.
 
 230 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 From him comes to them their special fitness for work 
 in America ; and to this fitness must they in great 
 part attribute their marked success in their schools- 
 and their institutions of charity. It is for us all a 
 cause of deep regret that she was not spared to cele- 
 brate this Golden Jubilee who for many years presided 
 with rare intelligence and ability over the destinies of 
 St. Mary's, ever ready to lend willing co-operation to 
 Father Sorin's plans for the raising up of her commu- 
 nity to the high standard of excellence now belonging 
 to it. I speak of the venerated Mother Angela, one 
 of the worthiest daughters of the Church in this nine- 
 teenth century. 
 
 The prime purpose to which Father Sorin directed 
 those who placed themselves under his guidance was 
 the education of youth. He understood the power be- 
 longing to the intellect, and he resolved he would do 
 his utmost to wield that power for the triumph of vir- 
 tue and religion. Notre Dame and St. Mary's are the 
 monuments of his zeal. These monuments will en- 
 dure and will make his memory immortal. What 
 numbers of Christian men and women have gone forth 
 from the halls of those schools ! How far reaching 
 their influences ! and for generations to come this 
 work will continue. The apostleship of the Church 
 in these present times I consider to be principally in 
 the hands of Christian teachers. The attacks against 
 religion come from superficial knowledge, in the name, 
 however, of knowledge. We must show that the at- 
 tacks are without foundation, that science leads to and 
 confirms faith. Knowledge is the idol of the world ; 
 let us prove that the home, the origin and the term of 
 knowledge, is the sanctuary of faith, and that the un- 
 known God which fashion worships is faith.
 
 >' 
 
 A FAVORITE SHRINK. 
 CALVARY. 
 
 CROSS MAKKING LOCATION OF FIRST 
 
 CHAPEL ERECTED BY FATHER 
 
 BADIN, 1830.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 231 
 
 Our teachers must understand the age, its tenden- 
 cies, good and bad, its truths and its errors, and form 
 their pupils for their battlings with it. This is the 
 merit of the schools of Father Sorin. Read their 
 programmes ; they are complete. Converse with the 
 teachers ; they are masters of their subjects. Visit the 
 halls ; the best and newest appliances are there ; the 
 evidences of the attainments of the teachers and 
 pupils abound. You realize that Notre Dame and 
 St. Mary's are not schools of past ages, but, beyond 
 a doubt, schools for the present time ; schools for 
 America ; schools that reflect signal honor upon the 
 Church in America, and are destined to perform a 
 great work for religion. The progressive spirit is all- 
 embracing. The moral movements of the day find a 
 quick echo in Notre Dame. I will instance one which 
 I especially value the Catholic Total Abstinence 
 movement. Notre Dame is loyally committed to it. 
 It was the first Catholic college to form among its 
 pupils a Total Abstinence society. 
 
 The success that has attended Father Sorin' s labors 
 reads to us an important lesson. It did not come to 
 him unsought, or by accident. It is no mere luck 
 that built up his order and his schools. The two fac- 
 tors of success in Christian work existed in large 
 degrees, the human and the divine. The human ele- 
 ment was hard work and enterprise. Where material 
 interests are concerned we rely on work and enter- 
 prise. Where spiritual interests are in play, we are 
 tempted to forego them, to make room, as it were, for 
 divine help. This, certainly, is not according to God's 
 designs. He has endowed us with natural faculties 
 and energies which He desires us to use. Neglect of
 
 232 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 them is a sin against the Author of nature; and the 
 Author of grace will not by miracles make up for our 
 neglect. The gospel of human effort in the work of 
 God needs to be preached to the world to-day. Were 
 it understood and carried out, we should soon tell of 
 marvelous victories. Father Sorin planned and worked, 
 and worked hard. He was watchful and enterprising 
 in seeking out opportunities for doing good and for 
 promoting the interests under his charge. He de- 
 serves success and he has received it. Nor, while I 
 rejoice in his success, would I less cordially congratu- 
 late him upon his labors, if success had not followed 
 them. I despise the many who worship success and 
 who are ever ready to censure failure. Failure, when 
 not the result of culpable imprudence, obtains my sym- 
 pathy, and the effort that preceded it, my approval. 
 The safe conservatism which never moves lest it fail, 
 I abhor ; it is the dry-rot in the Church and my heart 
 goes out to the man who never tolerated it in his cal- 
 culations. Safe conservatism would have left the 
 Apostles in Palestine. 
 
 Do all you can, and then your prayer for divine 
 blessing will be heard. The divine is needed ; and 
 the priest or the Christian who will succeed, must 
 love God and seek His aid. I will mention but one 
 fact a striking one in Father Serin's life, with re- 
 gard to its supernatural element. It is his tender 
 devotion to the Mother of God. He loved her with 
 child-like simplicity and ardor ; all his projects were 
 brought by him to her altar to be blessed by her, be- 
 fore he sought to put them into execution. His 
 efforts were unceasing to obtain that others love her, 
 and commend themselves to her intercession. Need
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 233 
 
 we wonder at the success of his labors with this power- 
 ful protectress praying for him ! How much he has 
 done to extend through the country this sweet devo- 
 tion to Mary, I need not lose time in telling. Mary's 
 journal, " The Ave Maria," weekly goes from Notre 
 Dame to scores of thousands of Christian homes in 
 America, and hundreds of practices of piety are made 
 common, that otherwise would not be known, and ten 
 thousand acts of love are uttered, that Heaven other- 
 wise would not have heard. Of course, in the hurry 
 of our American life, in the manifold labors which we 
 are called to undertake in the service of souls, the 
 danger is lurking nigh that the interior life be forgot- 
 ten and we become as sounding brass. A most effec- 
 tive remedy is devotion to Mary, with all its supernal 
 fragrance, and all its sweet inspirations to piety and 
 holiness. 
 
 I will be permitted, before I conclude, to note in 
 Father Sorin's life a characteristic, that proves his 
 high-mindedness and contributed in no small degree 
 to his success. It is his sincere and thorough Ameri- 
 canism. From the moment he landed on our shores 
 he ceased to be a foreigner. At once he was an 
 American, heart and soul, as one to the manor born. 
 The Republic of the United States never protected a 
 more loyal and more devoted citizen. He understood 
 and appreciated our liberal institutions ; there was in 
 his heart no lingering fondness for old regimes, or 
 worn-out legitimism. For him the government chosen 
 by the people, as Leo XIII repeatedly teaches, was 
 the legitimate government ; and to his mind the peo- 
 ple had well chosen, when they resolved to govern 
 themselves. He understood and appreciated the
 
 234 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 qualities of mind and heart of the Americen people, 
 and becoming one of them, spoke to them and labored 
 for them from their plane of thought and fashion > 
 and he was understood and appreciated by them. 
 No one has the right to live as a citizen of America 
 and remain in his soul a foreigner; and especially 
 should no one remain un-American in America who 
 represents the Church, for he may give to believe that 
 the Church is un-American. We have often lost 
 ground because we were Irish, or German, or French, 
 rather than American. May there be among us no 
 danger of the kind in the 'future ! 
 
 Father Sorin, I thank you for your American patri- 
 otism, your love of American institutions. 
 
 And here I will recall one act of your life for which 
 American Catholics must needs be grateful to you ; it 
 was the act of the priest as well as of the American. 
 Civil war was upon the land ; defenders of the Union 
 were hurrying from the North and West to the battle- 
 field, and among them in goodly proportion brave 
 Catholics. I will not discuss the cause. But it is a 
 lamentable fact that few priests were sent to the front 
 to minister to the soldiers. The fact must be ever 
 regretted. Father Serin's community was weak in 
 number ; the absence of one stopped important work 
 at home. He sent forward seven to serve as chap- 
 lains, two of whom, Fathers Corby and Cooney, are 
 with us this morning to tell of the need there was of 
 priests among our soldiers, and of the great things 
 done for religion by themselves and their fellow-chap- 
 lains. Father Sorin appealed to the sisters of the 
 Holy Cross ; and they, brave as they were tender 
 of heart, rushed southward to care for the wounded
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 235 
 
 and sooth the pillow of the dying. Few things were 
 done in the past half century to break down more 
 effectually anti-Catholic prejudice than the sending 
 of our generous sisters to the battle-field and the mili- 
 tary hospitals. The soldiers venerated the sisters, 
 and never since have they ceased repeating their 
 praise. There were other priests and other sisters in 
 the war ; those of the Holy Cross made up the greater 
 part of the roster ; none excelled them in daring feat 
 and religious fervor ; no other order, no diocese, made, 
 for the purpose, sacrifices as did that of the Holy 
 Cross. Father Sorin, you saved the honor of the 
 Church. I speak from a special knowledge of the 
 facts, and I speak from my heart ; and could the coun- 
 try's martyrs speak from the silent earth at Gettys- 
 burg and a hundred other gory fields, their voices 
 would re-echo with our own in your praise on this 
 glorious anniversary. 
 
 I have done. I know I am giving you pain while 
 I am telling of your deeds. Yours was ever to work; 
 never to appear in person before the public. Your 
 humility was not the least noticeable of your vir- 
 tues. You will pardon my intrusion upon it. The 
 Church in America in justice to herself must speak of 
 you to-day. For the sake of others, who have to 
 learn from you, I must for once put you before the 
 public gaze, that they may see and strive to be as 
 you. We do not try to give you reward or compensa- 
 tion. You do not wish it from us. We could not 
 give it to you. There is One, whom you loved, for 
 whom you labored. Into His hands we remit you. 
 
 Sweet Master, crown this anniversary by Thine own 
 blessing. Leave to us for our edification for many
 
 236 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 years our patriarch ; and when time is over for him, 
 say to him : ' ' Well done, good and faithful servant ; 
 enter into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 Brethren, permit a glance into the future. Fifty 
 years hence what will the Church in America be ? 
 With the forces to-day at work the opportunities 
 spreading out before her, what ought she not be? 
 Upon whom does it devolve to decide her destinies ? 
 Upon our own selves, upon the bishops, the priests, 
 the lay Catholics of America. God works if we work 
 with Him. What a responsibility ! But what encour- 
 agement in the grandeur of our mission and the near- 
 ness of triumph. Let us live and work as Father 
 Sorin has lived and worked, and all will be well. 
 
 IV. CLOSING YEARS OF THE FOUNDER OP NOTRE 
 DAME. 
 
 After the celebration of his golden jubilee, Father 
 Sorin continued quietly to attend to his great cares as 
 General of the order. In May, 1891, he went again 
 to Europe, accompanied by Father Zahm. This 
 proved to be his last journey over the wide Atlantic 
 whose waves had borne him for so many times upon 
 their bosom. He had visited on those occasions chiefly 
 Paris and Rome, in the work for the community. 
 But he had also visited Belgium and other places 
 where business called, going even more than once a 
 year when occasion called. On his later journeys he 
 had been accompanied, as on his last, by Father Zahm, 
 for whom he had a particular affection. The most 
 notable of these journeys was that made by him to the 
 Holy Land, where he reverently followed the steps of 
 Our Lord in His passion. He had also visited Lourdes
 
 \TK\V FROM ST. JOSEPH LAKE. 
 
 VIK\V FROM ST. JOSF.I'K I.AKK.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 237 
 
 and other shrines of Our Lady, towards whom his de- 
 votion was so tender. 
 
 In 1892, he took a short trip to the Atlantic sea- 
 coast, his health having failed sensibly. He was how- 
 ever, able to return in time to preside at the General 
 Chapter of the Congregation of the Holy Cross which 
 opened at Notre Dame on August 15, 1892. Fatigue 
 from attendance at the meetings of the Chapter again 
 brought him down, and he was seriously unwell for 
 some days, after which he rallied and enjoyed com- 
 paratively good health. 
 
 On the 2yth of November, 1892, there was another 
 jubilee celebration at Notre Dame, at which Father 
 Sorin was able to be present. It was the fiftieth an- 
 niversary of the founding of Notre Dame, fifty years 
 from the day when Father Sorin and his Brothers first 
 looked upon snow-covered St. Mary's L,ake, Novem- 
 ber 26th, 1842. An eloquent and feeling address was 
 made to the venerable founder on the part of the stu- 
 dents by Mr.M. A. Quinlan, after which Father Sorin's 
 long-time friend, Mr. William J. Onahan, of Chicago, 
 offered his felicitations on the memorable day. 
 
 Father Sorin, though feeble, was able to reply in a 
 most interesting manner, recalling vividly the first 
 days and the marvelous growth of Notre Dame ; and 
 closed, as ever was his wont, by returning all the 
 honor to God, to His most holy Mother and to his co- 
 laborers. It was indeed an affecting occasion. We 
 are sorry that the most feeling and pathetic address 
 has not been preserved. 
 
 Solemn High Mass was celebrated by the Most 
 Rev. Archbishop Riordan, of San Francisco, a former 
 and well beloved student of Notre Dame. The ser- 
 mon on the occasion was delivered by that eloquent
 
 238 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 priest, the Rev. Timothy O'Sullivan, of Cummings, 
 Illinois, a former student and professor at Notre 
 Dame. No one knows better the history of the early 
 days of Notre Dame than Father Sullivan, and his 
 discourse on this occasion was not only an eloquent 
 sermon, but a mine of historical value, and also a brill- 
 iant defense of a true Christian education, as illus- 
 trated in the history of the University and its founder. 
 On February 6, 1893, Father Sorin entered upon his 
 eightieth year, but without having fully regained his 
 health. On the 6th day of June he was able to re- 
 ceive the Apostolic delegate, Archbishop Satolli, who 
 on that day honored Notre Dame with his presence, 
 on his way from the Columbian Fair, at Chicago. 
 
 It was indeed a touching sight to witness the meet- 
 ing of these two men, each eminent, each crowned 
 with well-won honors, each of originally keen mind ; 
 but one old in years and feeble in health, the other in 
 the full rich bloom of his manty vigor. One standing 
 high in the immediate favor of a power older and 
 mightier than any dynasty ; the other working in a 
 land remote from the common Master has been the 
 spirit and guiding genius in the founding of an insti- 
 tution which is an honor to himself and to the age in 
 which he lives. 
 
 But the shades of evening were gathering fast about 
 the venerable patriarch, darker, alas, for his beloved 
 Notre Dame than even for him. For two or three years 
 the health of Father Thomas E. Walsh, the brilliant and 
 successful president of the University, had been giv- 
 ing alarm to the friends of the institution. A visit to 
 France seemed to restore him to his old-time vigor for 
 a time ; but it was but for a time. In the spring of 
 1893 he took a trip to Texas, partly on business for
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC, 239 
 
 the order, of which he was also Assistant General, and 
 partly for his health. He returned no better ; and 
 those who saw Father Walsh at the commencement in 
 June knew that the days of the beloved president were 
 numbered. Patient as a sage and pleasant as a child, 
 he himself remarked quietly to his friends that it was 
 his last Commencement. After the close of the ses- 
 sion he went to Wisconsin for change, and possible 
 relief. Both came to him ; but they were brought by 
 the blessed Angel of Death. 
 
 Father Walsh died on July lyth. On the 26th of 
 the same month died Father Alexis Granger, the life- 
 long companion of Father Sorin, vice-president of the 
 University at its founding, when Father Sorin was 
 first president, and for all his life here the saintly pre- 
 fect of religion, the guide of souls to thousands. 
 
 The shades were indeed darkening about the 
 Founder of Notre Dame. The brilliant young presi- 
 dent, in whom so many hopes were centered ; the 
 aged saint, his life-long companion, passed away to- 
 gether, in the good providence of God. 
 
 Of Father Granger's death, Miss Eliza Starr wrote 
 most beautifully. 
 
 A hidden life, whose virtues shed 
 Immortal perfumes round the dead, 
 Was his, whose wise and gentle sway 
 Has passed from Notre Dame to-day. 
 
 Like Rome's Alexis holds he fast 
 Within his hand the blameless past : 
 And those who knew him and the shrine 
 That crowns the noble Aventine, 
 
 Will often say : " With us has dwelt 
 One whose exalted worth we felt, 
 But never measured ; as of old 
 Alessio's life in death was told."
 
 240 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Quietly, submissive to Almighty God, as had been 
 his habit all his life, Father Sorin bore the great 
 losses to Notre Dame suffered in the deaths of Father 
 Granger and Father Walsh. Father Granger's death 
 was to be expected. But the saintly founder was 
 likewise resigned to Heaven's will in taking also the 
 noble young life of Father Walsh. He might well, 
 indeed, feel that even the young priest had filled out 
 a glorious life. Though but forty years of age at his 
 death, Father Walsh in his thirteen years' presidency, 
 had made Notre Dame a grand institution of learning; 
 and Father Sorin doubtless believed that though 
 young in years Father Walsh had rounded out a great 
 full life's work in that brief period. 
 
 Father Sorin grew feeble as the weeks went on, 
 until the last day of that October in which St. Ed- 
 ward's feast had been so often celebrated in his honor, 
 when he gently passed to that blessed world for which 
 his whole life had been a preparation, and where so 
 many of his children had passed before him. It was 
 a blessed death. 
 
 The funeral of Father Sorin was conducted with all 
 the solemnity and reverence due to him. Notre Dame 
 spared nothing that love could suggest to do honor to 
 her founder. Mass was celebrated by Bishop Rade- 
 macher, of Fort Wayne, and the funeral sermon was 
 preached by the Most Rev. Archbishop Elder, of Cin- 
 cinnati. The interest manifested in his death, as 
 might well be expected, was widespread. Telegrams 
 and letters of condolence came to Father Provincial 
 Corby, and other members of the Congregation, from 
 France and Rome; while kindly notices from the 
 Catholic and secular press were numberless.
 
 ST. JOSEPH'S I,AKK. 
 
 BOAT HOUSE.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 241 
 
 We give one of these taken from the Chicago "Her- 
 ald": 
 
 ' ' A wonderful and romantic career was that of 
 Father Sorin, founder of Notre Dame University, who 
 died Tuesday last, almost under the shadow of the 
 University, and on the scene of noble and successful 
 endeavor for humanity. He was nearly eighty years 
 of age. In 1841, when only twenty-seven years old, 
 he came from France to this country, filled with a 
 young man'suncalculating zeal, and established a mis- 
 sion among the Indians of Indiana. . . . Having 
 been admonished to establish schools wherever oppor- 
 tunity offered, he set out upon his mission and arrived 
 in November, 1842, on the borders of the sheet of 
 water known as St. Mary's Lake, near the site of the 
 present city of South Bend. i. 
 
 The spot at which he halted was absolute waste, 
 the only building in sight being a small log hut. His 
 earthly belonging at the time consisted of only five 
 dollars in money ; but his trust in the beneficence of 
 God was unbounded, and he had absolute confidence 
 in his own energy and resolution. He took possession 
 of the hut, setting apart one-half of it to be used as a 
 chapel, and reserving the other part as a dwelling 
 place for himself and his companions. On these mea- 
 gre foundations he began to build a college, and two 
 years later he secured a charter for a University from 
 the State of Indiana. From that moment the Uni- 
 versity of Notre Dame grew and flourished under his 
 intelligent guidance and watchful care until it became 
 what it is to-day, the largest and most important 
 Roman Catholic educational institution in the United 
 States
 
 242 A BRIEF HISTOR Y OF THE 
 
 Thus more than fifty years of his life were devoted 
 by Father Sorin to the upbuilding of this institution. 
 Its success is due to his faith, labor, enthusiasm and 
 perseverance. The thousands of men whom it has 
 sent into the world equipped for the battle of life drew 
 their inspiration from him and from the influences 
 with which he surrounded them. He saw his work 
 and knew that it was good. His great undertaking 
 having been successfully accomplished, death came to 
 him like a welcome, refreshing sleep. He needs no 
 tablet of marble to commemorate his virtues and 
 achievements. The University of Notre Dame is his 
 monument, and, while its influence survives, his name 
 will not be forgotten among men." 
 
 Father Sorin' s body is at rest between those of 
 Father Granger and Father Walsh, in the little com- 
 munity cemetery. A simple iron cross, with his name 
 and date of death, marks his grave. 
 
 v. 
 
 IN MEMORY 
 
 OP 
 THE VERY REV. EDWARD SORIN. 
 
 MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN. 
 
 Let others praise in him the saint 
 
 The champion of our Christ and God; 
 
 I/et others all his virtues paint 
 
 Above the head, beneath the sod. 
 
 For me, I love the poet best, 
 
 Idealist ! Idealist ! 
 Who sees beyond the clouds at rest 
 
 The clearer space with sunrise kist
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC, 243 
 
 Swift as the eagle cuts the air, 
 
 His glance went to the heart of things; 
 
 Idealist ! and he found there 
 
 What the true poet sees and sings. 
 
 Idealist ! And yet our earth 
 
 He often touched, to bound again 
 
 Still higher, where high deeds have birth 
 And God talks with the souls of men. 
 
 Like Michael moulding Peter's dome, 
 
 A gem against the mighty blue 
 Of the great roof, he built God's home 
 
 Did he build better than he knew? 
 
 He knew God willed; he knew God's love; 
 
 He knew his strength from day to night; 
 He saw the golden hope above, 
 
 And he would build where there was light. 
 
 In all the clouds, he knew the grace 
 
 Of Christ incarnate through Her word; 
 
 In grief and gloom he saw the place 
 
 Where She the angel'a message heard. 
 
 A poet's eye foresaw the work; 
 
 A statesman's eye o'erlooked the plan; 
 A soldier's eye saw dangers lurk. 
 
 O poet, soldier, priest and man ! 
 
 Ideas live when all earth fails 
 
 Beyond to-day, beyond to-day ! 
 This poet saw beyond the veils, 
 
 And cleared the path and led the way. 
 
 Not only with the pen and scroll 
 
 Are poems made; the poet's life 
 Is lived within the poet's soul; 
 
 With all sweet hope alight and rife. 
 
 It shines on every heart that gains 
 
 A glimpse of faith beneath the dome 
 
 This poet built amid the plains, 
 
 Reflecting here the light of Rome.
 
 244 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 It lives in knowledge, firm and true, 
 That turns to awe the bigot's sneer; 
 
 Did he build better than he knew ? 
 
 Who knows? And dare we name him seer ? 
 
 He was a dreamer of fair dreams; 
 
 A doer of great deeds was he, 
 And hence Our Lady, golden, gleams 
 
 Above the oak and maple tree. 
 
 And hence She speaks to all the land 
 
 That Christ took flesh this flesh of ours 
 
 And ever stretches forth Her hand 
 Against the doubt of evil powers. 
 
 Poet, whose work can never die 
 
 Because his Faith was never dim. 
 
 His songs he sings near the Most High 
 The songs of poets seraphim. 
 
 His song on earth still lives for us 
 
 A chant of the Most Holy One; 
 "Be men, know, love," it singeth thus; 
 
 " Mind, climb to God ! " its burdens run. 
 
 Saint, hero, founder, leader, priest, 
 And pioneer, let others praise, 
 
 But I, who come among the least, 
 
 Must bring a simple wreath of bays. 
 
 For I do best the poet love 
 
 In him we know, Idealist; 
 Compound of eagle and of dove, 
 
 Whose eyes saw light beyond the mist 
 October 31, 1894.
 
 XL 
 
 PRESENT AND FUTURE. 
 
 I. THE SEVENTH PRESIDENCY. 
 
 On the death of Father Sorin, the Very Rev. Will- 
 iam Corby continued as Provincial of the congre- 
 gation of the Hol}^ Cross in the United States, a posi- 
 tion which he still holds to the great joy of all his 
 children in this year of the Golden Jubilee. The 
 poor Detroit boy, struggling for an education, the 
 young priest himself zealous for the education of 
 youth, the brave chaplain of the armies of the 
 Potomac, the veteran priest of the Holy Cross, who 
 with Father L,ouis I/Etourneau, Father Timothy 
 Maher, Brother Francis Xavier and Brother Augustus, 
 connects the present generation with those heroic men 
 who founded this university in the wilderness; may he 
 long live to guide, by word, and still move by his up- 
 right life, his brethren of the Holy Cross. 
 
 In accordance with the expressed wish of Father 
 Walsh, the Rev. Father Andrew Morrissey was named 
 to succeed him in the presidency of the university. No 
 appointment could have been a greater pleasure to the 
 inmates and friends of Notre Dame. Father Morrissey 
 has been at Notre Dame since the twelfth year of his 
 
 age, and is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of its 
 
 245
 
 246 A BRIEb HISTORY OF THE 
 
 venerable founder, no less than with that of Father 
 Walsh, his enlightened and most able predecessor; and 
 he brought to the discharge of the duties of his high 
 office the resources of a rarety gifted mind, combined 
 with an intense devotedness and zeal in the cause of 
 education. For a number of j'ears during the presi- 
 dency of Father Walsh, Father Morrissey was director 
 of studies in the university; and so became thoroughly 
 familiar with the spirit and needs of the institution. 
 To his natural endowments and excellent training as a 
 scholar and teacher, Father Morrissey adds what are 
 so essential to the president of a university, those 
 social and sympathetic qualities, and that urbane pres- 
 ence, which draw to him the love and good will of all 
 persons with whom he comes in contact. His powers 
 as an orator have long distinguished him in the pulpit 
 and on the platform. Father Walsh indeed completed 
 his own noble presidency by naming so fit a successor. 
 Father Morrisse}' is the seventh president of Notre 
 Dame. This list of noble educators is as follows: 
 
 PRESIDENTS OF NOTRE DAME. 
 
 FATHER EDWARD SORIX, Founder, from 1842 to 1865. 
 FATHER PATRICK DILLON*, from 1865 to 1866. 
 FATHER WrLLiAM CORBY, from 1866 to 1872. 
 FATHER AUGUSTUS LEMOXXIER, from 1872 to 1874. 
 FATHER PATRICK J. COLOVTN, from 1874 to 1877 
 FATHER WILLIAM CORBY, again, from 1877 to 1881. 
 FATHER THOMAS E. WAJ.SH, from 1881 to 1893. 
 FATHER ANDREW MORRISSEY, from 1893 to . 
 
 During the same time, the Vice-Presidents and 
 Directors of Study have been as follows: 
 
 FATHER ALEXIS GRANGER, from 1844 to 1851. 
 FATHER FRANCIS COINTET, from 1851 to 1852.
 
 REV. ANDREW MORRISEV, C. S. C. 
 SEVENTH PRESIDENT.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 247 
 
 FATHER RICHARD SHORTIS, from 1852 to 1866. 
 
 FATHER NEAL H. GILLESPIE, from 1856 to 1858. 
 
 FATHER PATRICK DILLON, from 1858 to 1859. 
 
 FATHER JAMES M. DILLON, from 1859 to 1860. 
 
 FATHER NEAL H. GILLESPIE, again, from 1860 to 1863. 
 
 FATHER PATRICK DILLON, again, from 1863 to 1865. 
 
 FATHER WILLIAM CORBY, from 1865 to 1866. 
 
 FATHER AUGUSTUS LEMONNIER, from 1866 to 1872. 
 
 FATHER MICHAEL B. BROWN, from 1872 to 1874. 
 
 FATHERS J. M. TOOHEY and P. J. COLOVIN, from 1874 to 1875. 
 
 FATHER JOHN A. O'CONNELL, from 1875 to 1876. 
 
 FATHER JOHN A. ZAHM, from 1876 to 1877. 
 
 FATHER THOMAS E. WALSH, from 1877 to 1881. 
 
 FATHERS CHAS. KELLY and J. M. TOOHEY, from 1881 to 1882. 
 
 FATHER J. M. TOOHEY, again, from 1882 to 1885. 
 
 FATHER JOHN A. ZAHM, again, from 1885 to 1886. 
 
 FATHER ANDREW MORRISSEY, from 1886 to 1887. 
 
 FATHER JOHN A. ZAHM, again, from 1887 to 1891. 
 
 FATHER ANDREW MORRISSEY, again, from 1891 to 1893. 
 
 FATHER JAMES FRENCH, from 1893 to . 
 
 Many times has Notre Dame been called upon to 
 mourn for the loss of her gifted priests and brothers ; 
 in 1854, when Father Cointet and nearly twenty other 
 members of the order died ; in 1868, when Father 
 Patrick and Father James M. Dillon died ; in 1874, 
 when Father lyemonnier and Father Gillespie died ; 
 and finally, in 1893, when Father Walsh, Father 
 Granger and the venerable founder himself, Father 
 Sorin, died. Thanks, however to the gracious protec- 
 tion of Heaven, the Congregation and the University, 
 so well planned, so wisely guarded and guided, con- 
 tinued to nourish as before. The works of man 
 perish ; those of God endure. So is it with Notre 
 Dame in this Jubilee year under the guardian care of 
 Father Corby, Provincial of the Holy Cross, and 
 Father Morrissy, president of the University ; and so
 
 248 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 will it ever be so long as the spirit of the holy founder 
 continues to guide the counsels of Notre Dame. 
 
 Under Father Morrissey's administration the com- 
 pletion of the work laid out by his predecessors goes 
 on. Washington Hall has been beautifully frescoed, 
 according to the original design. Measures have been 
 taken to revise and still further improve the course of 
 studies. The corps of teachers is kept up to the high 
 standard that prevailed during Father Walsh's admin- 
 istration. The friends of Notre Dame, everywhere, 
 are gratified to find that the noble work here inaugur- 
 ated shows no sign of weakening ; but, on the con- 
 trary, in everything are shown signs ot advancement 
 towards the highest goal of excellence. The determi- 
 nation was never stronger to keep our Lady's 
 College in the place to which she has attained, in 
 the van of the higher educational institutions of the 
 land. 
 
 In the autumn of 1894 the Very Rev. Gilbert Fran- 
 cais, chosen Superior-General of the Congregation of 
 the Holy Cross to succeed Father Sorin, came to visit 
 this most noted establishment under his charge ; and 
 here he has been pleased to reside with us even to this 
 jubilee time, to the great satisfaction of all the children 
 of the Holy Cross and of the students of this university. 
 The Very Reverend Father Superior- General was for 
 a long time before his elevation to his present dignity 
 Superior of the College at Neully, near Paris, and un- 
 der his care that institution has become one of the 
 most noted seats of learning in France. It is a happi- 
 ness beyond expression to all at Notre Dame that so 
 learned and accomplished an educator has been placed 
 at the head of the congregation where he will be able
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 249 
 
 to do so much to still further advance the good of this 
 our beloved Alma Mater. 
 
 In the summer of 1894 Notre Dame was honored by 
 the presence of the First American Eucharistic Con- 
 gress within our halls. This great sacerdotal con- 
 fraternity numbering so many devoted members of 
 the bishops and priests of Europe and America, is 
 undoubtedly destined to do much good in increasing 
 devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. The first congress 
 as held here was most successful and satisfactory to 
 the numerous clergy present ; and Notre Dame was 
 greatly honored and edified by its presence. To be 
 selected as the place where so great a work as that of 
 the Eucharistic Congress was inaugurated is indeed a 
 mark of God's blessing. Not since the assembling of 
 the Third Plenary Council at Baltimore has there any- 
 where assembled so numerous and distinguished a 
 body of Catholic priests and prelates. 
 
 II. NOTRE DAME AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 
 
 It is needless to say that, notwithstanding the year 
 1893 was a y ear f sorrow with us, yet Notre Dame 
 could not fail to take the keenest interest in an exhibi- 
 tion so dear to the Catholic heart as the four hundredth 
 anniversary of the discovery of our country by the 
 great Catholic navigator. The fine Columbian paint- 
 ings on the walls of the main entrance to the univer- 
 sity, which have been already described, sufficiently 
 attest this interest. 
 
 The Notre Dame exhibit at the Fair was enclosed in 
 four departments centrally located in the Manufactures 
 and liberal Arts building. The first booth was 
 twenty feet square and contained Gregori's life-size,
 
 2-50 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 full length portrait of the founder of the university, 
 together with specimens of the work of the pupils of 
 Gregori and of Prof. Ackerman. Here also were 
 shown a map of the grounds and buildings of the uni- 
 versity, made by the pupils of Professor McCue's sur- 
 veying classes; several specimens of mechanical engi- 
 neering work in wood and iron ; blue tints from the 
 Institute of Technology; one hundred and twenty 
 views of Notre Dame taken by Father Kirsch's class 
 in photography; a complete set, twenty-five volumes, 
 of the ' 'Scholastic, ' ' illustrating the literary work of the 
 students; copies of various books written and pub- 
 lished at Notre Dame; objects of historical interest; 
 photographs and paintings, including an excellent por 
 trait of the lamented Father Walsh. 
 
 In the second both, also twenty feet square, was a 
 small but rich selection from the precious historical 
 treasury of Bishops' Memorial Hall. Among there 
 treasures were many rare old Bibles published in the 
 German language long before the birth of Luther 
 
 In the third booth were several autograph letters and 
 other precious manuscripts from the Catholic American 
 Archives collected by Professor Edwards. 
 
 In the fourth booth were numerous precious articles, 
 mementos of early bishops and other distinguished his- 
 torical characters, and various other articles of interest, 
 shown in glass cases, including precious books, in- 
 tended to represent the libraries and museums at Notre 
 Dame. 
 
 m. THE CKDRCH OP THE SACRED HEART. 
 
 A history almost as full as that of the university 
 itself might be written of the various churces erected
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 251 
 
 at Notre Dame, culminating in the present beautiful 
 edifice. As we have seen, Father Sorin found here the 
 small ' 'upper room' ' of the little log house built on the 
 banks of St. Mary's I^ake by the poor Indians for the 
 use of their revered Black Robe, the proto-priest, Father 
 Stephen T. Badin, in 1830. In 1843, Father Sorin 
 erected that other log structure, a little higher up from 
 the lake, in whose upper chamber the inmates and the 
 Catholics of the mission long continued to worship. The 
 precious relic, alas, perished by fire in 1852. Before 
 this, in 1848, the first brick church was erected, east of 
 the lake, and just in the rear of the present church, or 
 rather upon ground now occupied by the rear of the 
 present church. This church of 1848 was at first a 
 little oblong building. In time additions were made to 
 it, including wooden towers, in which was placed the 
 exquisite chime of bells that still make music for Notre 
 Dame. When the first great organ was obtained, an ex- 
 tension was made to the rear of the old church to receive 
 it. The church so completed served until the erection 
 of the present edifice. 
 
 The foundations of the Church of the Sacred Heart 
 were begun by Father Sorin on the 8th day of Decem- 
 ber, 1868, the very day on which the Vatican Council 
 was opened by Pius IX. It was also the twenty- 
 fourth anniversary of the blessing of the well beloved 
 " Chapel of the Novitiate," erected upon the " Island" 
 in 1844, and so long the center of the religious 
 devotion of the poor little community. It was on 
 the same day, December 8, 1844, that the Arch 
 Confraternity was solemnly established in the same 
 chapel, the most blessed society ever established at 
 Notre Dame.
 
 252 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Slowly, from 1868 until Father Sorin's Jubilee, in 
 1888, the Church of the Sacred Heart went on to com- 
 pletion, year by year, until its solemn consecration, 
 when it appeared to the world as perhaps the most 
 beautiful church in America. We need not here again 
 describe it. That has been already done in these pages, 
 in the article, by Professor Stace, and in others. 
 
 We must, however, make room here for a touching 
 contrast made by Father Sorin between the former 
 times and the present, written by him at a time when 
 he was considering the question as to when the new 
 church should be dedicated: 
 
 ' ' What a consolation will it not be to see the dedi- 
 cation of a temple in honor of our Blessed Mother on a 
 spot where we well remember having seen with our 
 own eyes the wigwams and the fires of the Pottawato- 
 mies! 
 
 " Truly a change has taken place; we confess it the 
 more readily, as we claim no praise but return all glory 
 to God, to whose hand this transformation is due. 
 Neither should we be surprised ii we only reflected on 
 the saintly memories whose extraordinary virtues em- 
 balmed the very air of Notre Dame when the congre- 
 gation of the Holy Cross took possession of her 
 lovely domain. Here is a little galaxy of names not 
 often met with in any place not celebrated: The ven- 
 erable proto-priest of America, Father Badin, the 
 saintly De Seille, the heroic Benjamin Petit, succeeded 
 one another here. Here they were visited from Bards - 
 town and Vincennes by the immortal bishops Flaget 
 and Brute"; here they prayed together, as they now 
 continue to do in heaven, for blessings on a spot they 
 so dearly loved. Scarcely, then, we say, is it a wonder
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 253 
 
 to find it blessed. Saintly souls, men of God, have 
 passed and lived here, and the precious remains of two 
 of them speak yet in our midst the eloquent language 
 of the purest zeal and most unbounded charity that 
 ever prompted and adorned the heart of the Apostles 
 of Christ." 
 
 The rear end of the old church, that part formerly 
 containing the first great organ, was suffered to stand 
 for several years, and was enclosed and used by Father 
 Zahm as the first science hall, characteristic of the 
 reverend scientist himself, who has shown us how 
 closely related are science and relgion, both the work 
 of God himself. 
 
 In time, however, the whole of the blessed old 
 church, the scene of so many sacred rites of religion, 
 so many pious recollections, so many prayers for better 
 life, was all taken down, to make larger room for the 
 new church. It was with some sadness that the older 
 inmates of Notre Dame saw this ancient landmark, this 
 place of sacred memories, removed. To them, at least, 
 the old had something which the new could not supply. 
 Memory of the rugged past was to them even more 
 sweet than the joy of the splendid present.
 
 254 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 rv. THE OLD CHRUCH. 
 
 But . . . the chief of the fathers and the 'ancients, who 
 had seen the former temple . . . wept with a loud voice. 
 Esdras, iii, 12. 
 
 Stick by stick, and brick by brick, 
 With rope and saw, with hammer and pick, 
 They have taken the old church down. 
 
 Ah, rude was the work, though gently done, 
 
 And sad was the triumph the workman won, 
 
 When the dear old walls were down! 
 
 And many a string of the soul and the heart 
 In sorrow and pain was forced apart, 
 When the loved and old came down. 
 
 No more the altar, chaste and bright, 
 Shall lift to heaven its blessed light: 
 Altar and lights are down. 
 
 The tabernacle, home of love, 
 Sweet seraph rest of the heavenly Dove 
 Alas, that, too, is down! 
 
 No more the eye is fastened there, 
 The spirit rapt in silent prayer 
 Alas, alas, 'tis down! 
 
 Around the walls no more shall we 
 
 The sad procession sorrowing see; 
 
 The stations all are down. 
 
 The CHRIST no more upon the cross, 
 Winning us from our fearful loss, 
 Shall hang in suffering down. 
 
 HER speechless grief no more alarms, 
 Dead to all but the dead in her arms, 
 As she looks in agony down. 
 
 Where Spalding, Purcell, Smarms preached, 
 Whence grace so oft our poor hearts reached, 
 The pulpit too is down.
 
 A KAVORITK WALK. 
 
 THE STILK
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 255 
 
 The rich-toned organ now no more 
 
 Shall swell and echo, o'er and o'er: 
 
 The golden pipes are down. 
 
 Soft purple light, in wave on wave, 
 No more, through transept and through nave, 
 Shall come in glory down. 
 
 The godlike EYE that gazed on high, 
 As if our inmost soul 'twould spy, 
 Shall look no longer down. 
 
 And many an eye of blessed priest, 
 Like that kind eye, its look has ceased, 
 And the voice no more comes down. 
 
 Gone, too, the font, and the stool, and the rail, 
 Where bishop and priest to the sinner pale 
 Brought heaven lovingly down. 
 
 Aye, gone are our hearts with the blissful days 
 When we knelt in those aisles for prayer and praise: 
 Gone with their memory down! 
 
 The temple rising, stately, grand, 
 Will shine, more glorious o'er the land 
 Than that which now is down. 
 
 But we, remembering, still shall thirst 
 For the beauty and glory of the first, 
 The church they have taken down. 
 
 V. PILGRIMAGES. 
 
 That there should be sacred shrines at Notre Dame 
 might be expected. No churches or chapels in Amer- 
 ica, and few in any part of the world are more blessed 
 with special blessings. All the indulgences of the 
 portiuncula of St. Francis are attached to the church 
 of the Sacred Heart; and there on the 2d of August 
 each year pious people come in great numbers. To 
 the same church, on the isth of August comes a yearly
 
 256 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 pilgrimage from St. Augustine's parish in Kalamazoo, 
 and from other towns in Michigan. On rosary Sunday 
 in October a pious throng come reverently from St. 
 Joseph's parish in Mishawaka, and from the churches 
 of South Bend and elsewhere. The blessings of Mar- 
 quette, of Allouez, of Badin. of De Seille, of Petit, 
 and, may we not now say, of Sorin, are upon the land. 
 IT IS HOLY GROUND. 
 
 IV. THB GOLDEN JUBILEE OF NOTRE DAME. 
 
 While it would have seemed fitting that the Golden 
 Jubilee of Notre Dame should have been celebrated in 
 1892, fifty years from the date of her founding, yet 
 our readers will perhaps now see why this was not 
 done. Sorrow was brooding over Alma Mater, and 
 she could not then, nor even in the succeeding years, 
 until now, lay aside the habiliments of mourning. But 
 she has remembered that although Father Sorin, as 
 well as Father Granger and Father Walsh, would have 
 been delighted to be with us, yet that they would be 
 grieved if we were to remain in sorrow. Their wish 
 is that we should go forward and rejoice in the work 
 which they and their co-laborers have accomplished, 
 and which they charge us to maintain and extend as 
 they would have done if they had remained with us. 
 We go forward in joy, then, and in thanksgiving to 
 celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Notre Dame: trusting 
 that those who come after us, in 1942, will find that 
 we, too, have done our work well; that we have not 
 buried the five talents given us, but have carried on 
 with still increasing success the work of Christian edu- 
 cation begun a hundred years before by FATHER SORIN 
 and his brethren of THE HOLY CROSS.
 
 ^Iv FOOT HAM., TKAM. 
 
 'VARSITY BASE BAI.IV TEAM.
 
 DATE DUE 
 
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 PRINTED INU.S. A.
 
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