xt7t1g0htx13 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7t1g0htx13/data/mets.xml Howlett, W. J. (William J.) 1906  books b92-72-27213806 English B. Herder, : St. Louis, Mo. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. St. Thomas' Seminary (Nelson County, Ky.) Historical tribute to St. Thomas' Seminary at Poplar Neck  : near Bardstown, Kentucky / by Rev. Wm. J. Howlett. text Historical tribute to St. Thomas' Seminary at Poplar Neck  : near Bardstown, Kentucky / by Rev. Wm. J. Howlett. 1906 2002 true xt7t1g0htx13 section xt7t1g0htx13 












































RFv. WV. J. HOwNVBrTT.


 



Historical Tribute



             TO


ST. THOMAS' SEMINARY

             AT

      POPLAR NECK

            NEAR



B A R D S T O W N



K E N T 1 C K Y



or



    REV. WM. J. HOWLETT.

"Fas est et decet meminisse fratrum."


  B. HERDER, ST. LOUIS, MO,
      17 South Broadway,
          1 906.


 























Copyright, 1906; by.W. J. Howlett.
          All Rights Reserved.


 






/906.



lMY DUAR FATHER HOWLTYM -

                         I have read eSery word of your book, from
 Preface to Finia, and let me assure you in all sincerity that It has

 been many a day sInce I read a book with such genuine pleasure. I oon-

 gratulate you most cordially on the completion of this delightful tri-

 bute to the Mother Seminary of the West, the cradle of the Church in

 Kentucky. Those of the alumni who still live should be grateful for the

 work you have done to preserve in such excellent form the story of an

 institution which has given many self-sacrificing, heroic, saintly

 miouionaries to the Church. Old St. Thoman' has a remarkable story, a

 unique history.

     I reaLize the mount of work and patience required in collecting,

Selecting and arranging the material. This was not an . , task, but

you have done the work remarkas- well. It can easily be seen that you

did not consider it an irksome task, but a labor of love.

     I cannot write a fraction of what I desire to say In praise of

this 'Historical Tribute', but I will say that I consider your des-

criptions most Tivid. The second Chapter Is good and spicy; the last

two Chapters are materpieces. I an particularly pleaseA with certain

paragraphs wherein you strike the right key, but r have not found an

uninteresting paragraph or one dull line in the entire work.

    Wishing your book a wide ciboulation, and hoping it may prove

beneficial to many readers who never befdre heard of St. Thomas' Sem-
inary, I remain

                                        Yours faithfully,


                                            .o 27. C4,


 













            DE DI CAT ION.

   To the Memory of the Dear, Homely, Old In-
stitution-Kentucky's First Well-Spring of Piety and
Learning; To the Students, Who, Within Its Walls,
Learned to Love God and to Love One Another, And
To the Teachers Who Taught Them These Lessons,
These Pages Are Lovingly Inscribed By
                            THE AUTHOR.


 



PREFACE.



   Viewed in certain lights, time and space are small
matters. Nearly forty years have gone by since the
last student passed out from Old St. Thomas' Semin-
ary, and yet its form, shape, spirit and life have not
dimmed perceptibly in the recollection of those who
were its inmates, and the home-like grasp that it took
upon their nature has not loosened in the jar of the
rolling wheels of time. Far and near, the oldstudents
share the same more than kindly feelings for the old
place, and each one of them could voice his tribute
from his distance with the same force as if he were pre-
sent at the gates. So, at this distant day and place,
it is mine to say what all have felt at every moment
since Old St. Thomas' bade them adieu and blessed
them for higher labors.
   I first saw St. Thomas' Seminary in its active, busy
days, while its glory was still around it like a halo,
and its hope for a long and vigorous life was strong
and bright. I last saw it less than a ruin, but its
honor was unstained, and its memory was held in
benediction. Desolation reigned around it, and si-
lence and sadness brooded over it, yet the echo of the
old-time free and happy life came from it, and the per-
fume of a thousand loves was wafted back to it from
as many hearts that beat with pleasant and grateful
remembrance. In that moment came the thought and
inspiration to write something, and this tribute is the
fruit of that visit.


 


PREVACV.



   While securing historical permanency to the course
of the oldest Seminary in the West, my intention has
been rather to give definite form to the many expres-
sions of affection and reverence for the old Alma Maaer
and those connected with it, to embody the general
feelings of all old St. Thomas' students and to indicate
the reasons for the universal good will.
   To do this, I have taken the more important inci-
dents connected with the establishment of the Sem-
inary, its internal working, and the special and lasting
results that trace their causes to it. Minor matters of
detail I have used to show the connection between' the
greater events and the unity of spirit and action that
ran through the whole course of its existence.
   He who stands upon the top of the highest peak in
the early morning and sees beneath him a sea of white
mist, through which only the summits of the surround-
ing mountains penetrate, gets no real or adequate idea
of actual mountain scenery unless he waits until the
sun has dispersed the cloud that fills every valley and.
hides it from his view. Then he will see the abutting
bases of the mountains, the ridges that connect them,
the valleys that give them greater prominence and the
gorges that are avenues of escape for what, if pent up,
might become destroying floods. The beauty, the
perfection and the unity of the rugged scene is then
recognized, and even the distant plain comes in as a
harmonious part, for towards it the dashing, roaring
torrents leap, there to lose their fierceness and calmly
expend their energy in giving fertility and fruit.
   Just so, the little things in the history of Old St.
Thomas', and the incidents in individual lives belong
to the general picture, to give it unity and harmony,


 
PREFACE



even to the borders distant by time and space, where
the energy, begotten, born and nourished in Seminary
days expended itself in magnificent work that must
ever remain as a monument to the fruitful Mother
Seminary of the West.
   I send forth this book with no misgiving, for I
know the spirit in which it will be received by the old
students of St. Thomas', and for them I write. Others,
from their own experience, may judge it differently,
but we must remember that no other seminary has
ever worked under similar conditions, or stood in the
same relations towards its students and their definite
work, as Old St. Thomas' with its students and the
particular work for which it must, and did, give them
a special training. To feel this fully one must have
been at St. Thomas'.
   The reader will understand this better after reading
the book,-the story is not without interest; until then
I ask a suspension of judgment.
                         WM. J. HOWLETT.
PUEBLO, CoLo., June 1, 1906.




 






           LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

 THF AUTHOR .........F ............  . .......... Frontispiece-
 ST. THOMAS' SFMINARY ................... . Facing page 13
 BISHOP FL.AGET, ET ALII ....................    23
 FATHER BADIN     .       .                  " 30
 FIRST CHAPEL AT ST. THOMAS' ...............     33
 FIRST NAZARETH           .     .       "        37
 BISHOP DAVID         .. .                       5(
 BISHOP CHABRAT AND EARTLY PRIVSTS. ......."  "    57
 BISHOP FLAGET...... ......I....... 'I.          t(
 BISHOP RYNOLDS        ..." 62
 FATHER HUTCHINS ..............  .............    103
 FATFRHE a CHAMBIGE        .     .         .. " 11Z
 EARLY PROFESSORS    .     ...............       116
 EARLV STUDENTS             ...   ..             119
 FATHER O'DRISCOLL, ET ALII ....     .           122
 FATHER CRANE, ET ALIT  .     ."                1t.........  
 SOME WAR STUDENTS .....    ...........         130
 MORE WAR STUDENTS     .    .' " 139
 FATHER ABELL      .       ..............        142
 LATER  GROUP  ... ...... ....................   149
 ST. THOMAS' IN 1905                     iv  i   157
 STUDENTS OF 1869                        i'  "   1tb
 SOME ST. THOMAS' BISHOPS ..            "    " 183
 REPRESENTATIVE GROUP .     .........           195

   This picture was taken on the occasion of the Silver
Jubilee of Fathers Bachmann and Disney in 1887, and repre-
sents priests of all years under Father Chambige.

   Read from left to right:-Top row; Larmer, Disney,
Bachmann, Murray, Hogarty, Harnist. Middlerow; Kennedy,
Reed, Lawler, Mackey, Moore, Siebenfoercher, Curran.
Bcttom row; Bolte, Pulcher, Russell, Tierney, Stick, Camp-
bell, McConnell, Plaggenborg, O'Connor.




 






                 CO NT E NT1S'.


                                                PAGE:
IVEDm CATION  ..........................................  4
PREFACF.5 .
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........... ...................  8

                    CHAPTER I.
    The  Sulpicians.-Their Work.-Bishop   Flaget
and Father David.-Providence and the Seminary.-
Historical Effects.-Difficulties of Writing.-Regrets.
--A.n Explanation .............. ......................... 13

                    CHAPTER II.
   Early Religious Conditions.-The Sects.-The
Preachers.-Discords and Divisions.- Growth of In-
fidelity.-Wane of Morality.-The Great Revival.-
Orgies at the Camp Meetings.-United Opposition to
Catholics.-The First Priests.-Their Field of Labor.
-Their Hardships.-Their Unselfish Devotion.      17

                   CHAPTER III.
   Better Conditions.-Bishop Flaget's Confidence.-
The Seminary.-Its Moves.-Its Place in History.-
First Inmates.-On the Ohio.-St. Stephen's.-The
Buildings.-Early Log Cabins.-Taking Possession.-
Sojourn at St. Stephen's.-First Steps .25

                   CHAPTER IV.
   Company in Books.-Poplar Neck.-The Howards.
-Their Property.-Willed to the Church.-Named St.
Thomas'.-Removal of the Seminary.-The Buildings.
Sisters of Nazareth.-Robert A. Abell.-Some Events
of His History.-Other Students.               .... 33

                   CHAPTER V.
   Student Life.-Manual Labor and Study.-Work,
not a New Condition.-The Necessaries of Life.-
Clothing of the Early Settlers-Their Furniture.-
Homes.-Food.-Father Nerinckx's Nays.-His Mis-
takes.-His Surprise.-His Philosophy.-Age of Tin
and Homespun.-Scarcity of Money.-Thankfulness
for Necessaries.-Pioneer Longevity .4Z


 




                    CHAPTER VI.
    Father David's Work as Teacher.-His Experi-
 tnce.-Writings.-Missions.-His Health.-His Work
 as Spiritual Director.-Bishop Flaget's Presence.- His
 Estimate of his Priests.-Intimate Knowledge of Good
 Material.-Father David's Sanctity.-Recreations.-
 Music.-Father Elliott.-The Ceremonies.-First Or-
 dinations ...................................... ........ 50

                   CHAPTER VII.
    Temporary Shelters.--Love for the Simple.-New
Church of St. Thomas'.-First Brick Semiiiary.-Bishop
Dubourg and His Students.- Students Lodge with the
Neighbors.-Fathers De Andreis and Rosati.-Famous
Group -Old and New Vestments.-First Stoves in
Kentucky.-The New Cathedral.-Dedication.-A Co-
a(djutor.-Father David Appointed.-Leaves St. Thomas'... 59

                   CIIAPTER VIII.
    Thoughts of New Seminary.-Circumstances of Its
Realization.-Death of Hottenroth.-His Nuncupative
Will.-Theologians Go to Bardstown.-St. Thomas', a
Preparatory Seminary.-Boys' School.-List of Priests.-
St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Colleges ....................... 68

                   CHAPTER IX.
   Wider Possibilities for Learning.-Narrower Pros-
pects for St. Thomas'.-Some Early Students of the
Colleges.-Boys' School Floutishes.-Brothers of the
Mission.-Manual Training.-New Building.-Death of
Father Derigaud.-Father De Rohan.-Rohan's Knob.-
Priests Buried at St. Thomas'.-Peculiar Titles.-
Partial Closing of St. Thomas'.-Dispersion of the
Brothers.-Their Prospective Work .............. ......... 75

                   CHAPTER X.
   The Theologians at Bardstown.-Bishop Flaget
Asks for Help -The Rev. Dr. Kenrick Comes.-Car-
dinal Litta's Complaint.-The Rector's Answer.-Dr.
Kenrick's Work in Kentucky.-Appointed Bishop.-
Some of His Students.-St. Thomas' Seminary Un-que
in History.-Its Work.-Vocations.-Good Missiona-
ries.-Native Clergy.-English Without the Idiom ......... 83


 





                    CHAPTER XI.
    Less Interest in St. Thomas'.-Defection of Father
Coomes.-St. Thomas' as a College.-Again a Sem-
inary.-Its Possible Closing.-Peter J. Lavialle.-Death
of Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds.-Death of Bishop David.-
Teachers at St. Joseph's.-Classics at the Colleges.-
Vocations Growing Scarce,-Priests of the Period.-
Series of Vocations in Families.-Eloquence of the
Clergy.-Quartet of Kentucky's Distinguished Sons ....... 90

                   CHAPTER XII.
    Reasons for the Decline of St. Thomas'.- Debt.-
Loss of Dr. Kenrick.-Absence of Bishop Flaget.-
Lack of Harmony.-Affliction of Bishop Cliabrat.-
Plans of Bishop Spalding.-Father Hutchins in
Charge.-Debt Cleared Off.-Father Lavialle,-Appoint-
ment of Father Chambige.-Noble Band of Priests
from Europe.--Last Call for Outside Help,-Pastors of
St. Thomas' Church ................. .................... 101

                   CHAPTER XIII.
   French Missionaries.-Incident in the Life of
Ilishop Flaget.-Sketch of Father Chambige.-St.
Thomas' Opened, Domestic Arrangexnents.-Its First
Years.-Growing Prosperity.-Increase of Stud ents.-
Stronger Faculty.-Students from Other Dioceses.-
Prospectus of 1854.-New Building,-The Early Stu-
(lents.-The Survivors.-E. M.Bachmann.--First Pre-
paratorian .......... ............1.1. .......0........... 110
                   CHAPTER XIV.
   First Provincial Council of Cincinnati,-Provincial
Seminaries.-Theological Seminary at Cincinnati.-
Preparatory at St. Thomas'.-A Vanishing Genera-
tion.-Personnel of the Faculty.-Changes.-Father
O'Driscoll.-Withdrawal of the Cincinnati Students.-
War Times--Dangers,-Morgan's Men;-Execution of
a Soldier.-The  Sick  Confederate.-Sister  Mary
Louis.-Father Cooney.-Other Incidents and Incon-
veniences.    .          .......... .. ..... ..... 120

                   CHAPTER XV.
   Search for Contraband,-A Sick Boy's Imagitia-
tion.-Strenuous Life.-Unity and Diversity.-The
Debating  Society.-Characteristic  Names.-Chatty
O'Brien.-Saxon and "The Bully Times".-Soldier


 




Priests.-Literary Golden Days.-"The Meddler".-
Previous Journals.-Strenuous Sports.-Earnest Study.-
The Professors.-Religious Life.-Veterans of the War
Period ......... .130

                   CHAPTER XVI.
    Looking Forward and Backward.-Father Abell's
 Golden Jubilee.-Visits of Bishops.-Examinations
 and Commencements.-Fast Trains.-Removal to
 Bardstown.-Father   Russell.-Last Class  at  St.
 Thomas'.-Deaths.-Dismissals and Lapses.-"A Hole
 in the Fence ...........   .............   ......... 141

                  CHAPTER XVII.
    Changed Conditions.-The New Life.-Contrasts.-
Vain Longings.-Father Abell and Dr. Pise.-Sylvan
Studies.-Surroundings of Old St. Thomas'.-Diverse
Impressions.-The Angelus".-An Orphan Asylum . -
Buildings Unsafe and Abandoned.-Decay and Dis-
appearance of the Buildings.-St. Thomas' in 1905.   151

                 CHAPTER XVIII.
    Going to St. Thomas'.- First Impressions.-The
South.-The Seminary.-Father Chambige.-The Pre-
fect.-The Students.-The Professors.-Some Human
Traits.-Death and Grave of Father Chambige.-The
Debating   Society.-Recreations -Food.-Spiritual-
ities.-Pranks.-Excursions.-The Servants.-The Sis-
ters.-St. Thomas' not Preternatural .......... . ........ 163

                  CHAPTER XIX.
   A Retrospect.-Changes.-Their Cause .-Pioneer
Priests and Pioneer People.-Heroic Times and
Heroes.-Learning Among the Clergy.-St. Thomas'
to the Front.-Growth of the Church.-Giants and
Their Successors.-Roll of Honor.-Special Claim for
Remembrance.-Dignity of the King.-Judge Not .     176

                  CHAPTER XX.
   Provincial Seminaries and Diocesan Seminaries.-
Revival of St. Thomas'.-Fatal Deficiencies.-Some
Good Points.-A Modern St. Thomas'.-A Religious
Advertisement.-Sacred Ground.-A Vocation.-A Long
Road.-Successfully Traveled.-Humble Beginnings -
Signs of a Vocation.-The Poor Boy.-Prayers for the
Priesthood.-The Court of the Temple.-A Word'of
Thanks.-Finis  ...................................  186


 
This page in the original text is blank.




 


 




CIIAPTER I.



     The Sulpicians.-Their Work.-Bishop Flaget and
   Father David.-Providence and the Seminarv.-His-
   torical Effects.-Difficulties of Writing.-Regrets.-An
   explanation.

   Foremost among the great educators of the clergy
in modern times have been the Sulpicians. With the
opening of their seminaries a change came over the
clergy of France, and a Catholic, Roman and Apos-
tolic clergy began soon to succeed to a cler-gy some-
what imbued with Jansenistic, Gallican ard aristocratic
ideas. The old clergy wei e thorougn royal:sts, jealous
of their national privileges, and siightly suspicious of
the encroachments of Reaiict. In niatl-tzs of faith they
upheld the defined 6ocir;nes of the Church, but in
practice there was yet much of the old rigorism of the
Jansenists and not enough of encouragement to piety for
the love of God. Belonging, at least indirectly, to the
governing class, they had a tendency to look and labor
upwards, rather than for and among the poor and
lowly. The spirit of the Sulpicians was the spirit of
St. Paul that made him all things to all men that he
might save all, and to spend most gladly and be spent
for the salvation of souls.
   To educate and form priests in this spirit was the
object of the formation of the Society oi the Priests of
St. Sulpice, and it has faithfully adhered to the origi-
nal object of its call into existence. A Sulpician may
be deflected for a time from this special line of action,
but he will go back to it, or order his life so as to keep
in touch with his original calling.
                        (13)


 
ST. THOMAS' SEMINARY.



    It would seem natural, then, that Bishop Flaget and
Father David, both of whom were Sulpicians, would
plan a seminary soon after going to Kentucky. The
necessities of their situation did but hasten the work.
Kentucky must have priests, and it needed only just
such priests as were formed after the Apostles; it could
get but few from the outside; then it must supply them
itself: hence, a seminary was imperative. They were
Sulpicians, trained for the work, and Providence had
sent them where the near future, and the far future as
well, promised an abundant harvest, if reapers could be
supplied. If they could establish a seminary and im-
bue iL with the spirit of St. Sulpice, the ripening har-
vest would be siayed, and, if they could endow it per-
manently with tho same spirit, future and more
abundant harvests would also be gathered in.
   They came and established their seminary; they
supplied the reapers as they were needed, and little, if
any, of the good grain was lost to God in the rich
harvest of those early days of the Church of Kentucky,
nor were the hopes and prospects of those earlier years
disappointed in the fruits of later times. No Catholic,
who is familiar with the history of the Church in Ken-
tucky, doubts that Bishop Flaget and Father David
were men directly designed by Providence for the
Kentucky missighs, and the same history shows us
clearly that Old St. Thomas' Seminary was an institu-
tion coming very closely under the special designs of
God. It was founded in the spirit of the Sulpicians,
and, with the blessing of God, their spirit never left it.
   Without St. Thomas' Seminary the history of the
Church in Kentucky would probably remain unwrit-
ten, for there would be very little to write, and other
denominations might be pointing with-pride to many



14


 


ST. THOMAS' SEMINARY.



of the dead and the living in whose names we glory to-
day. Hadotherlocalities been favored by Providence
with Flagets, and Davids, and St. Thomases, we
would not so often find men bearing the names of the
Joyces, the McCabes, the Coyles, the Byrnes, and
others of Catholic ancestry railing against the Catholic
Churca from Protestant pulpits. When Father Badin
came to Kentucky there were only thirty-five priests
ill the whole of the United States; when Father Badin
died St. Thomas' Seminary had given more than
louble that number of priests to his original mission.
If this was not the work of a special Providence, to
what shall we attribute it
   A hundred sketches of Old St. Thomas' Seminary
and of those connected with it, are easy to write, but
a single complete history is impossible. The men
who made that history were too humble to imagine that
they were making history, and too busy to record it,
even if they had any thought that their works were
worthy of record. Their humility, in later life, made
them loth to speak of their works when approached by
those who wished to preserve in writing the memory
of their early deeds. If all could be known, what a
niine of wealth we would now havc of deeds, dates,
persons and things for writing the history of every one
of the early institutions connected with the Catholic
Church in Kentucky! As it is, there is a great deal
of obscurity surrounding the origin and early struggles
of many of those institutions, and a competent knowl-
edge of them dates only from the time of their greater
prosperity. The history of St. Thomas' is gleaned
from a few early chronicles where it is found in scat-
tered fragments, from allusions in the correspondence



15


 


ST. THOMAS' SEMINARY.



of men long passed away, and from the personal ex-
perience of those still living, and their recollections of
former traditions.
   It has been a source of regret to the old students
of St. Thomas' that no systematic attempt was ever
made to trace out the life and work of their old Alma
Maier. They know better than it can be told to theni
and far better than others cah realize, the pleasure, and
the renewal of strength that come to them, when, ill
their occasional meetings, they forget the intervening
years, and, laying aside the burdens of the present,
they enter again into dear old St. Thomas' and live,
for the time, the old life of innocence, of boyish hopes
and labors, and even of boyish pranks and peccadilloes.
The laughter of their youth is heard again, and not in
echo only, and they actually enjoy the hardships that
they thought were once theirs, and treasure them as a
part of a pleasant past. The bond of brotherly love is
strengthened, and their spirits begin to glow again with
the zeal of the young and anxious levite.
   To record many of these things may seem trivial,
but they were a part of lives that were earnest, and
are like little breathing spells between seasons of hard
labor. To collect these has been my care; to collate
them in presentable form will be for me a labor of love
in my leisure hours. I choose to write this in my own
style and person, not with the desire of obtruding my-
self upon the reader, but, because by so doing, I can
get closer to my subject and speak more from the heart.
This also will do away with all foot-notes and allow
me to incorporate into the text matters that would
otherwise find a place only in the margin. If, in do-
ing this, I am violating the rules of the historian, let
it be remembered that this is not intended as a history
along technical lines, but as a Historical Tribute.



16




 





CHAPTER II.



     Early Religious Conditions.-T h e Sects .-The
   Preachers, Discords and Divisions.-Growth of Infi-
   lelity.-Wane of Morality.-The Great Revival .-Orgies
   at the Camp Meetings.-United Opposition to Catholics.
   -The First Priests.-Their Field of Labor.-Their
   Hardships.-Their Unselfish Devotion.

   A glance at the sort of religion that prevailed in
Kentucky in the early days shows it to have been a
compound wonderfully and fearfully made up. Some
idea of it is necessary in order to understand the na-
ture of the work of our early priests, and the conditions
that confronted them and their flocks everywhere.
No amount of mere ignorance can explain the bitter,
unreasoning and persistent opposition they met, with-
out supposing also a state of degradation and hypoc-
risy incredible in our days.
   When Father Badin came to Kentucky he found
about 300 Catholic families among the 100,000 popu-
lation of the state. These had settled mostly in groups,
and to this fact is due, in great measure, the preser-
vation of the Catholic religion among them and their
descendants. Among the others, there were not many
professed infidels. There were many who believed in
Christianity but did not belong to any church, but
those who belonged to the sects were religious with a
vengeance.  The Baptists, the Methodists and the
Presbyterians were the strongest of the sects, in the
order named.  These denominations bitterly opposed
each other on what they called their principles, until,
as their own historian said, they were in a fair way to
                       (17)


 


8ST. THOMAS' SEMINARY.



destroy both the spirit and practice of religion, and
sink it into contempt. The ministers boasted of the
soundness of their principles, but lived ungodly lives.
The money making and speculating spirit of the Pres-
byterians was lamented by many of their own people.
hut they consoled themselves that the Baptists were
no better. The churches did little for the preachers,
so they had to resort to other means to live, and they
did this so successfully that there were not many
among them who were poor. They were generally
better off than the common people, and some of themn
became very wealthy. Their principles never stood
in the way of a good bargain, and whole congregations
were sometimes split up and torn to pieces on account
of the questionable honesty of the preachers. When
a good situation became vacant, the rivalry among the
ministers for it was often so great that the most bitter
animosity was engendered, and many a new sect owed
its origin to this cause.
   Personal opinions and local practices separated the
Presbyterians into two great camps and several smaller
outposts. The regulars wanted ministers with some
education, while the Cumberlands licensed any good
talker who desired to preach, with no regard to edu-
cational acquirements or doctrinal soundness, and
many such exhorters were developed in the numerous
revivals then held. The former held to the Profession
of Faith, the latter held this to be of human coniposi-
tion, and accepted it only so far as they found it to
agree with their own interpretation of Scripture, and
every man interpreted Scripture for himself or accep-
ted the interpretation of his favorite preacher. Fac-



18


 


ST. THOMAS' SEMINARY.



tions arose, meetings were held, and the deposing of
ministers was gone through in form, and excomunica--
tions were hurled as fercely as ever reputed done by
a medieval Pope.  Personal accusations 'were com-
mion, and charges of slander preferred. The deposed
and excommunicated ministers were not much troubled,
but set up for themselves and continued preaching
their opinions to all who would listen.  From
Stuch causes camne the Camberland Presbyterians,
the New Lights, the Stoneites, the D sciples, the
Christians, the Reformers, the Campbellites, and still
other minor sects and factions.
   The Baptists were not more united than the Pres-
byterians, and became Open and Close Comiliunion
and Ironside Baptists, and United, Separated and
Regular Baptists. They also joined other sects and
were especially strong among the Campbellites.
   Dissensions were not so marked among tie Me-
thodists, for they were but a loose organization which
allowed almost every liberty of belief, providing one
was a professing Christian. Then there were the dis-
v:ples of Ann Lee, who believed that the millenium
had come, who condemned marriage, lived in common
anid taught that the Word was communicated to the
maln Jesus, and the Holy Ghost was incarnate in Anit
Lee.
   The consequence of such divisions, with the hatred
they caused, and the prevalent lack of sincerity, lion-
lesty and morality among the preachers, was, that
many doubted all religion and looked upon it as no-
thing but a delusion, and a disorder of the passions;
that it arose from the temperament of the body, or was
excited by passionate addresses, physical exertion and



19


 


ST. THOMAS' SEMINARY.



the like. Too many concluded that there was nothing
in it, and the only way was to make the most of life,
so vice ran rampant. This was the condition among
the older people, and it is said that the young freed
themselves from every religious restraint and rejoiced
in their liberty.
   Every line of this picture is drawn from Protestant
authority, and much more might be added from the
same source, but this is sufficient to explain the antics,
the immodest and blasphemous gymnastics and the
animalism of an insane fanaticism that defiled not only
Kentucky, but other states where similar conditions
prevailed.
   The Great Revival began, when thousands "got
religion" during, what was called, this "astonishing
and precious work." The fiery campaign of the camp
meeting began, when "thousands of people might be
seen and heard at one and the same time engaged in
singing and praying, in exhorting and preaching, in
leaping and shouting and in conversing and dis-
puting."  Some laughed, some cried and some
crawled on the ground like the old serpent, while others
stamped oil them to crush their head. Others played
marbles in the churches or rode up and down on
broomsticks to become like little children. Many got
a jerking religion, or a falling religion, or a jumping re-
ligion, or a running religion, or a climbing religion or
a barking religion. Some "treed their Saviour" and
barked like dogs at the foot of the tree, or climbed the
branches to catch him, while others did the same
thing for the devil. They groaned and prayed and
confessed that they had been sinners, but gave glory
to God that they were now saved. Men and women



20


 


ST. THOMAS' SEMINARY.



embraced and rolled together oin the ground in open
(lay, and the nights were made hideous by orgies too
shocking to be described. The preachers were united,
soul and body, in promoting these assemblies, and
took part in every form of this so-called manifestation
of religion, encouraging by word and example the
crowds in their exhibitions of camp-meeting holiness.
   This religious fever lasted for years, and a mild
form of it breaks out yet here and there where com-
monl-sense civilization has not leavened certain com-
munities.
   Some actually believed that this was religion, but
thousands attended those gatherings through curiosity
and worse motives. The results were just what might
be expected, and in 1820, Kentucky had only 40,000
church members, apart from the Catholics, in a popu-
lation of 564,000. There were two hundred preachers
in the state, preaching almost as many forms of doc-
trine, but united in two things, namely:-that revivals
were the highest expressions of experimental religion,
and that the Catholic Church was the center of ignor-
ance and idolatry, the harlot of Babylon, the crucifier
of Christ and the kingdom of Satan on earth. They
iiever failed to unite in a love-feast when the Catholic
Church was to be served up, and they carved and dis-
membered it and stripped every particle of meat from
its skeleton, and, with sanctimonious horror, they held
it up for one last public execration before they buried
it fathoms deep beyond the hope of all resurrection.
   If the preachers were men of any standing in their
own communities, and commanded the following that
belongs to leaders, they would have inaugurated a
public persecution of the Catholics in Kentucky long



21


 


ST. THOMAS SEMINARY.



before their bigotry and hatred broke out into opeln
violence and bloodshed behind the cloak of politics.
As it was, there was a continual opposition, and al
effort made to draw the Catholics away from their faith,
and there can be no doubt that many of the isolated
families, and the younger members of other families,
yielded to the ridicule and misrepresentation, or were
led away by passion and the ease of its gratification
outside of the Church. The fewness of the shepherds
in those early ye