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AUGUST 16, 1924.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
7
The Cathedral At Charleston
By J. Gilmore Smith, President of the Charleston Board
of Trade, Author of “The Life and Times of a South
ern Prelate, “The Fruit of the Loom,’’ etc.
Of the group of monumental
churches of South Carolina, the Ca
thedral of St, John the Baptist, if
not admittedly the most- beautiful
Gothic edifice in all the state, needs
but little qualifying comment. It has
a preeminence which has been gen
erally conceded, and even elaborate
ly endorsed by most observers
qualified to pass opinion thereon.
Lofty, and not closely hemmed in
by surrounding structures, it looms,
from any adjacent view-point, above
the general skyline round about.
While the Charleston Cathedral
cannot be compared with the Cathe
dral of Rlieims, which is the peer
of any existing Gothic fabric, it is
nevertheless a fine example of
Gothic art. As in the case of Rheims,
however, that vast symphony in
stone, which begun with the modest
church built in 401, the stately St.
John’s also had its . humble begin
ning in the frame chapel of St. Fin-
bar’s on Friend street.
St. John the Baptist Cathedral
follows the lines of the old St.
John’s and Finhar’s destroyed by
fire in 1861, being built upon the
same foundations and is identical
in all important particulars as the
former edifice.
It has a massive elegance and a
soberness of dignity and presents
an imposing and graceful exterior.
•■ But the eye unconsciously searches
somewhat restlessly over the huge
pile, for a finished tower, or for
some imposing turret, or spire,
whose spring and lightness will
float the mass and lilt it into the
sky. The tall and graceful spire,
which rose, in the sunset like a
prayer, has not yet been restored;
but the splendid lines of the edifice
all pleasing in themselves, and ar
ranged with strict regard to their
relative harmonies, and also to the
prevailing spirit of the whole struc
ture—the buttressed walls, the high
pointed arch windows, with their
exquisite pictures; the threefold en
trance, the portals of which are
reached by a bold and massive ar-
. rangement of steps and platforms
which offer a finish to the whole
frontfi and by easy gradations con
nect it with the pavement; the
sculptured crocheted pinnacles and
ornamentation—bring hack the
former structure to the old inhab
itants who pass or pause here; and
raise within the mind of the’ humb
lest believers and unbelievers as
sense of personal pride.
The material used in the construc
tion is a brownish free-stone, and
each and every stone has been chisl-
*ed in the design of stars. This stone
^has proven very enduring; the
church has therefore, suffered very
little from time, and the chiseled
and carved material, after so many
years of exposure to the elements,
retains the sharpness of outline it
had when the "walls were first
finished.
The architectural plan has been to
conform throughout to the pure
Gothic taking the trend of the four
teenth century as a general theme.
This close adherence to the most
beautiful of architectural schools is
the clef by which the whole har
mony of the edifice is sounded.
There is no mixture or con
fusion of style in design or decora
tion. There is no show, no glare,
no little paltry detail, to catch the
attention and take from the grand
eur of the whole—all is subservient
to the general effect. The pointed
arches of windows and doors are of
the accepted best manner, and the
heavy detail is placed low and rises
gracefully. Here each archway, each
string-course, and each cornice has
been made to bloom under the
builders inspired chisel into rhyth
mic waves of ornament. A good pic
ture is necessary to give even a
— faint impression of the richness and
harmonious proportions of this won
derful structure which commem
orates the gentle and and beloved
Northrop.
Religion and art have joined
hands in this masterpiece of Gothic
architecture. The view from Broad
street upwards, is the apogee of
Gothic ornament—at once the ad
miration and pride of all Charles
ton. The building of the Cathedral
is the consummation of a wish born
over a century ago in the heart of
the first Bishop of the See and
Apostolic Delegate to Haiti. John
England, a prelate of international
reputation, who sleeps’ today under
the cloistered arches of his Gothic
dream. Within the same sacred pre-
1 cinct sleeps his distinguished suc
cessor, Henry Pinckney Northrop,
i the fourth bishop of Charleston who
i made Bishop England’s dream a
reality. ,
It is noteworthy that each of the
last four bishops of Charleston,
built a cathedral, in keeping with
his time; England, the frame build
ing on Friend street; Reynolds, the
classic brown-stone edifice on the
corner of Broad and Friend streets;
Lynch, the spacious brick pile on
Queen street; and Northrop, the
Gothic masterpiece' on Broad street;
the St. John the Baptist cathedral.
In death each prelate, was laid in
state in the cathedral which he
built.-
Enshrined in the cathedral are the
tombs of the four deceased bishops
of the see: John England, who died
in J842; Ignatius Aloysius Reynolds,
in 1855; Patrick Niesen Lynch in
1882; and Harry Pinckney Northrop,
in 1916. Their bodies rest beneath
the high altar of the classic sanct
uary above. These illustrious pre
lates loved Charleston throughout
their lives, and it is fitting that
they should be sleeping within the
sound of the street cars.
The cathedral presents in its in
terior arrangements a most sym
metrical and harmonious ensemble.
The beautifying of the interior was
a matter of careful consideration on
the part of the architects Keeley
and Barbot, who designed the edi
fice to Monsignor Quigley who ably
managed the work of reconstruc
tion, to Henry Oliver, who supervis
ed and directed the work on the
inside after the death of the faith
ful builder, Henry L. Cade; and to
Bishop Northrop, Father Budds,
Father Lanigan and Monsignor Duf
fy, and the lay gentlemen associat
ed with the bishop, and the result
can be seen in the perfect harmony,
not only in the magnificent stain
ed glass windows, displaying doc
trine and life, and_ pouring a glor
ious flood of light more subdued
and richer than the common light of
day, making the 1 walls seem like ra
diant picture books of sacred story;
but also that of the altars pontifi
cal throne pulpit, confessionals and
other furnishings throughout the
entire building. The main idea con
stantly in view by Bishop Northrop
was to have all the ornaments and
furniture in perfect taste and keep
ing with the Gothic archftecture of
the edifice. That Bishop Northrop
admirably succeeded in carrying out
this idea an inspection of the cathe
dral will show.
Entrance to the edifice is through
either of the three portals. Passing
tlirougtj swinging double doors, en
trance is made through the marble
tiled vestibule. Once within the
cathedral one is only conscious of
an overwhelming delight and ad
miration. No one who has ever
stood within the twilight of a great
cathedral, at once hushing and up
lifting will need to have his feelings
described, and no one who has not
done so can ever be told in words
what those feelings are. The same
perfection of finish that character
izes the exterior is found in the in
terior. The halls of a palace could
not be more consummately radiant
in their perfection.
Right and left of the main en
trance are the confessionals ex
quisitely, carved in Flemish Oak.
Looking upward and towards the
north end we find the interior com
prising a wide central aisle, the
great nave being flanked on either
side by two slender, graceful, Cotliic
aisles which terminate in a lofty
chancel connected by lower chapels
on either side. The high altar is of
marble selected from the Vermont
hills and is carved into Gothic pin
nacles which make it appear a parj
of the edifica itself. Within the
sanctuary at the left of the bishop s
throne is a superb marble statue of
the Saviour, a copy of “The Inviting
Christ,’’ by Thorwaldsen, the first
sculptor of modern times. The
statue is larger than life and is in
the heroic style. The Everlasting
Arms outstretched speaks the di
vine invitation: At appropriate in
tervals on the walls along the side
aisles are the “Station of the Cross”
of Roman mosaic work, dedicated
to Father Joseph Dalton Budds late
rector of the cathedral, as a fitting
memorial to him who walked in the
footsteps of the Master.
Time would fail us to describe
minutely this imposing edifice, or
refer ;n detail to the numerous and
yet harmonizing points and features
which go to make up its effect as
expressed and embodied in the de
light and approbation of the specta
tor, we might mention however, that
over tlie three entrance doors in an
■exquisite mosaic of stained glass,
are the Armorial Courts of Arms'
of the pope; the Bishop of the See;
and the State of South Carolina.
The visitor on first looking at the
cathedral will be impressed with the
idea that no two stones in the walls
are of the same dimensions. A care
ful inspection will however, show
that each stone in each buttress, and
in each arch, and in each panel of
the walls, has its exact counterpart
in very other buttress, arch and
panel, and is laid in exactly the
same position. It is altogether a
most artistic and wonderfully sym
metrical piece of work.
The cathedral has charms and
beauties which are simply winning.
You will come again and again and
it is the glory of the cathedral as
a whole—its expressive, noble char-
St. Stanislaus’ College
The editorial in the Macon
Telegraph urging the Jefsuit
Fathers to rebuild St. Stanislaus’
College, the Jesuit novitiate, in
Macon where it stood for de
cades before the firq which de
stroyed it three years ago,
brought the following letter
from a subscriber of The Tele
graph, a letter which was pub
lished in the July 19, issue.
To the editor of The Telegraph:
It was my exceeding great pleasure
to read in the columns of The Tele
graph of Wednesday last a most
excellent editorial under the cap
tion, St. Stanislaus. Well conceived,
most happily expressed, it cannot
fail to find welcome in the minds
and hearts of all true Maconites. of
loyal Georgians of genuine Ameri
cans of good old Anglo-Saxon stock,
from Maine to Florida, from Cali-
ornia to Massachusetts.
Of course we want St. Stanislaus
here, and we want it in exactly the
same locality, on the identical spot,
as of old, if it suits those noble
men. tlie Jesuit Fathers, to build
there.
And out from the classic hails of
this grand institution will go as
have gone in the past, men of the
most profound learning, of the most
consecrated lives, lives of selfdenial
and of heroism, to serve the altars
of their ancient and beautiful faith
—a faith “ever ancient, ever new”—
to teach the young to carry the Gos
pel to heathen lands, perchance
there to suffer martyrdom, and to
point all, sinners and saints alike,
to a loving Savior who has said:
“Thou shalt lovo thy neighbor as
thyself.”
Yes, of course we want St. Stan
islaus here. As long as we love
learning, as long as we emulate vir
tues at once gentle and heroic, so
long will Macon’s cultured people,
Jews, Catholics. Protestants, join
hands and hearts in saying: “Macon
for St. Stanislaus! St Stanislaus
for Macon 1”
Long may The Telegraph wave!
And may the spirit that reigns in
the soul of the knightly champion
who gave us the fine editorial on
“St. Stanislaus,” take possession,
likewise, of every he»rt in Macon.
Then when the gentle Jesus comes
how gladly He will sav: “Co’™s ye
blessed of my Father!”
Yours for St. Stanislaus.
EMMA L. ROSS.
Macon Ga.. July 17, 1924.
A Soldier Bishop
By Rev. J. F. Gallagher,
North Carolina.
When a noble soul, freed from
the cares of liTe takes the trail
leading to the sunset, the twilight
shadows fall sadly upon many
hearts. 'This was especially 1-
of the late Rt. Rev. Leo Haid. jf^
S. B„ whose death caused a wa.
of sorrow to spread throughout the
entire South where he was widely
known among all classes.
There was. one characteristic of
the late prelate which caused him
to be known as the Soidier-Bishon
—he never acknowledged defeat. It
is the mark of the true soldier
never to say die, hut to keep on
fighting till the last blow is struck
in the cause of right and justice.
Such was the late Bishop Haid
Though in failing health for years
he stood by his post and valiantly
fought back the powers of evil as
he found them in the Old North
State. He died as he planned to die
—fighting to the end.
Now it is all over. The warfare
ended, the victory won, and, with
the sword still clasped in his nerve
less fingers, the fallen Chieftan lies
—dead upon {he battlefield!
His epitaph might be written in
a line:
“Those who knew him loved him
most. God rest his soul! Amen.”
JAMES F. GALLAGHER.
Florida’s Martyr Priests
Rev. John T. Goldt; Former Brunswick, Georgia Marist
Father, Narrates in the Ecclesiastical Review Heroic
Deeds of Pioneer Missionaries—Article No. HI.
Drake destroyed all the Spanish
settlements along the cost, dealing
out the same treatment to all, and
thus the Mission of Santo Domingo
on St. Simon’s disappeared. After
that there is no record of any Do
minicans coming to Florida.
Franciscans Evangelize Indians
Meanwhile the sons of St. Francis
had come into the Held, probably
in 1577. During the first years they
restricted their work to the Indians
in the northern part of Florida.
These were called the Timuquanans.
Father Francis Pareja, one of the
twelye who arrived in 1593, in 1612
published a catechism in their lan
guage, the first book ever printed in
an Indian dialect.
In 1592 five Franciscans are found
along the coast of the present State
of Florida, Father Francis Marro,
Peter de Corpa. Antony Bajadoz,
Diego Perdomo, and Bias Rodriguez,
the following year the “Council of
the Indians granted permission to
twelve Franciscans to enter Florida.”
They are Fathers John de Silva,
Michel de Aunon, Peter Fernandez
de Chozos. Peter de Aunon, Bias de
Montes, Peter Ruiz, Peter Bermejo,
Francis Pareja, Peter de San Gre
gorio, Francis d Velascola, F’rancis
de Avila, and a lay brother, Peter
Viniegra. At once the islands along
the coast of the present State of
Georgia were added to the territory
Peter de Avila established the mis
sion of San Bueventura at Ospo, at
present Jekyl Island; Velascola re
built that of Sanio Domingo at As-
soa or St. Simon’s; Fathers Aunon
and Bajadoz, began Santa Satalina
de Guale; Rodriguez went to Torpi-
qui, and Corpa to Tolomato, prob
ably on the mainland north of the
Altamaha river, among the Yamas-
sees.
Some of the missionaries pene
trated 150 miles inland, among them
Father Peter Fernandez de Chozas
who in 1595 founded a mission at
Ocute, the present city of Pensacola
beginning the evangelization of the
interesting tribe of the Apalaschees,
who set their teepees from the banks
of the Suwanee River to the terri
tory west of the Apalacricola.
Fray Lopez registered the baptism
of eighty Indians in 1595.
On the islands along the coast the
missionaries found tribes of Indians
who worshipped sun and fire and
practised polygamy freely. The mis
sions had not been entirely aban
doned after Drake’s destructive pas
sage; the forts had increased in
number and in each a resident priest
belonging to the secular clergy had
charge of the soldiery. They made
some conversions amtfng the Indi
ans too. Thus the Friars found the
ground prepared and the evangeliz
ation of entire tribes could at pres
ent be attempted successfully.
Yamassee Uprising
A few years pass and around
! every mission we have a nucleus of
converts when a distas'rons cloud
appears on the horizon breaking in
to a storm that might have engulfed
the Spanish domination on the con
tinent. It^ was the Yamassee upris
ing of 1597 when five Franciscans
on the islands were slain and one
made prisoner. Father Corpa, one
of the first Franciscans, when the
work of evangelization was taken up
along the coast of Georgia, he and
Fathers Rodriguez and Bajadoz had
been changed to northern posts. The
experience gained bv their missio#
work, their knowledge of Indian
dialects and Indian character were
assets that could not be overlooked
in a task as difficult as the conver
sion of the wild Yamassecs. Father
Corpa was stationed at Tolonmato,
not very distant from Santa Cata
lina, as we see from the punitive
expedition organized by Adelantado
Canco after the massacre.
acter, its breadth and grandeur, the
poetry of its dusky aisles, and the
play of the rich shadows about its
massive buttresses, topped with the
sculptured crocketed pinnacles—that
charms and enchants you. It is one
of the few American cathedrals that
possess the old-world continental
charm, the charm of perpetual en
tertainment, and whose beauty has
just the right quality of richness
and completness. It was Stevenson,
was it not who wrote of the satis
faction with which one always looks
upon a cathedral. He says, of no ca
thedral in particular, “where else
is to be found so many elegant pro
portions growing one out of the
other, and all together in one?”
And continuing he says: “Though
I have heard a considerable variety
of sermons. I have never yet heard
one that was so expressive as a
cathedral.” And Stevenson was
right! ‘Tis the best Preacher itself,
.preaches day and night, not only
telling you of man's art and aspira
tions in the past, but convicting
your own soul of ardent sym
pathies; or rather, like all good
preaches, it sets you preaching to
yourself—and every man is his own
doctor of divinity in the last re
sort.
We follow here, as far as it seems
to us accurate, John Gilmary Shea’s
touching narrative;
“In September, 1597, Father Cor
pa found it necessary to reprove
publicly the cacique’s son. whose
unbridled licentiousness had long
grived the missionary’s heart. One
of the earliest converts, he had
after a short period of fervor
plunged into every vicious excess.
Vain bad been all entreaties and
remonstrances which de Corpa ad
dressed him in private. A public re
buke was the only means of arrest
ing a scandal which had already ex
cited the taunts of unbelievers. En
raged at the disgrace, the young
chief left the town; and repairing
to a neighboring village, soon
gathered a body of braves as eager
as himself, for a work of blood. In
tbe night he returned with his fol
lowers to Tolomato. They crept si
lently up to the chapel; its feeble
doors presented too slight an ob
stacle to arrest their progress. The
missionary was kneeling before the
altar in prayer, and there they slew
him; a single blow of a tomahawk
stretched him lifeless on the
ground. When day broke, the Indian
village was filled with grief and
terror; but the young chief well
knew the men with whom he had to
deal. ,-pealing to their national
feeling, he hade them take heart.
The chronicler records the young
chief’s entire harangue, in which we
can clearly read the religious mo
tive for which the five missionaries
were slain:
“Now the father is dead, but he
would not have been if he had al
lowed us to live as we did before
We became Christiants. Let us re
turn to our former customs, and
prepare to defend ourselves against
the punishment which the governor
of Florida will try to inflict upon
us, for if he succeeds in it, he will
be as rigorous for this one father
as though we had made an end of
them all, for he will surely perse
cute us for the father we Lave kill
ed the same as for all.”
They decided to do away with the
remaining Franciscans along the
coast and the chief continued:
“They take away our women, leav
ing us only one in perpetuity, and
prevent us from trading her; they
interfere with our dances, banquets,
foods ceremonies, fires and wars, in
order that, for lack of practice, we
shall lose our ancient valor and
skill inherited from our ancestors;
they persecute our old men, calling
them magicians; even our work
troubles them, for they try to order
us to lay it aside on some days;
and even when we do everything
they say, they are not satisfied;
all they do is reprimand us, op
press us, preach to ns, insult us,
call us bad Christians and take
away from us all the happiness that
our forefathers enjoyed, in the hope
that they will give us beaven.”
“Enough joined,” Shea tells us, “to
overawe those who remained faith
ful. The missionary’s head was cut
off and set on a spear over the
gate, while his body was flung out
to fowls of the air.
“The camp of Torpiqui was the
next point to which they hurried
. . . Bursting unheralded in the
chapel of Our Lady, the insurgents
informed Father Rodriguez of the
fate of Corpa, and bade nim prepare
to die. Struck with amazement at
their blindness and infatuation, the
missionary used every argument to
divert them from a scheme which
would end in their ruin; he offer
ed to obtain their garden for the
past if they would abandon their
wild project.” They told him not to'
weary himself preaching to them
hut to call on God to help him.
Finding all his eloquence useless,
he asked leave to say Mass before
dying. Strange to say, this request
was granted. He recommended to
them the burial of his body, dis
tributed his few belongings to some
faithful and began Mass. His execu
tioners lay grouped on the chapel
floor awaiting anxiously, but quiet
ly, the end of the sacrifice which
was to prelude his own. The august
mysteries proceeded without inter
ruption and when all was ended the
missionary came down and knelt at
the foot of the altar. The next mo
ment it was bespattered with his
brains.
They drew the dead body in the
open for the vultures to devour it.
But strange to say, of the
scavengers of the coast, so numer
ous in these marshy regions, not
one hovered over the slain mis
sionary; but a dog, according to the
chronicler “ventured to touch it and
fell dead.”
They then sent word to the chief
of tbe Island of Guale to join them
in their insurrection and kill the
two missionaries stationed at Asso-
po. Instead,, the chief sent a mes
senger to tbe Fathers to warn them
of their imminent danger and ad
vise them to seek safety in flight.
The messenger, frightened, never
saw the two missionaries but re
turned with a fictitious reply. The
chief sent word to the priests three
days in succession; but they never
left the island.
The insurgents, seeing that the
chief remained faithful to the
priests, became so incensed that
they would have killed him had he
not found plausible excuses. This
time he sent no messenger, but
went to see the missionaries him
self. He said to Father Aunon: “It
would have been better if you had
believed me, and had put yourself
in safety, but you did not wish to
take my advice and it will not be
possible to defend you from these
people who have come to kill yon.”
The missionaries replied that they
had been ignorant of all that; and
that he should be troubled, as they
were willing to die. Tlie chief then
bade them' farewell, saying that he
was going away to weep for them
and that he would return to bury
their bodies.
Father Aunon “then said Mass
'and gave Holy Communion of his
companion, Antonio de Bajadoz,
After a few moments devoted to si
lent prayer, the tramp and the wild
yell of an angry crowd announced
the coming of the insurgents. Calm
ly had the FTanciscans lived; calm
ly they died. Kneeling, Bapadoz reW
ceived one. Aunon two blows of x
club and both sank in death. The * 1
chapel now seemed to be filled with
awe, for the murderers retired as
if in flight, leaving the bodies to
be interred by the friendly cacique,