CHAPTER XXI.
AN EVENTFUL YEAR.
The year 1839, a year never to be forgotten in the history of the Carmelites of Baltimore, had arrived. On March 17th Miss Eleanora Williams was admitted as a choir religious, and assumed the name of Sister Clare of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She was born in Baltimore, Md., of Joseph L. Williams and Catherine Murver.
About this time a letter arrived from Father Herard, who, as we have seen, had been greatly interesting himself in favor of the Carmelites. He informed them that a friend of his, Mr. Hardy, had written at Paris a little notice concerning their monastery, which had procured for them the sum of sixty-six dollars, which he then forwarded to their address. Most of this sum was obtained in the city of Lyons, and was collected from the following persons: the Archbishop of Lyons gave 200 frs. ; the Countess de Harenc, 40 frs.; an unknown lady, 40 frs.; Mr. Trunelle, 20 frs.; the Mrs. Petit and Geoffroi, 8 frs. and 40 c.; sent from Paris by Rev. J. Hardy, 35 frs. In all 353 frs. and 40 centimes. The expenses being subtracted there remained f. 346.50 or sixty- six dollars. According to the ordinary exchange at that time the American dollar was worth five francs and 25 centimes. From this letter we learn that the Carmelites at this period had no Mass on week days. Father Herard tried hard to obtain a chaplain for them, but all in vain. “Many,” he writes, “are disposed to go to foreign missions; but no one is disposed to attend a single community.” He touchingly
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adds: “Be certain that I never forget you at the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, therefore I beg you will never forget your poor old friend, Matthieu Herard, who wishes your Monastery happiness and prosperity.”
From this period affairs at the convent went on regularly until the middle of August, when an event occurred that threatened the safety of the little community, and perhaps even the lives of its members. There lived at this time a Sister at the convent who had begun to show unmistakable signs of insanity. Her name was Sister Isabella, in the world Olivia Neale. She belonged to the old Maryland family of the Neales, and was from Georgetown, D. C. Her mother, after the death of her husband, had become a Carmelite, and was known in religion as Sister Barbara of St. Joseph. She died in 1825. Sister Isabella had entered the order at the age of sixteen and was now about thirty-five years of age. For several years she had been subject to fits of melancholy, and was on this account relieved from the duty of teaching and was appointed to assist in the household affairs. Insanity appears to have been in her family, for one of her brothers was then laboring under the disease.1 After her admission into the convent, the evidences of an alienation of reason became continually stronger, until, by the advice of the physician of the institution, she was allowed to indulge in the solitude she seemed to desire. One of her peculiarities was the dread of a certain window in the kitchen, and she often expressed the fear that she would attempt to leave the convent through it.2 She finally imagined that she was bound to abstain totally from all nourishment of the usual kind. When pressed to partake of some food she refused, and begged to be allowed to eat peach leaves, grass, and other similar articles.
On Sunday, the 18th of August, she appeared somewhat improved in mind, and was persuaded by the physician to eat
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1Baltimore Sun , Aug. 19th, 1839.
2Baltimore Mirror, Oct. 15th, 1882.
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a hearty meal. At dinner Sister Isabella seemed more than usually rational. Shortly before noon she obtained leave to go into the kitchen to assist, and she descended to the lower story. From here, she leaped through a basement window and rushed into the street. Having escaped from the convent, Sister Isabella ran to several houses in the neighborhood, endeavoring to gain admission. She was repulsed from some, but finally succeeded in obtaining an entrance into the house of Mr. Wilcox in Aisquith street, near the convent. This gentleman was one of the deputy wardens of the jail.
The novel sight of a religious in her monastic habit, running through the street, at once attracted the attention of the residents of the neighborhood, and the cry of “escaped nun” soon spread through the city. The excitement speedily became intense. At the house of Mr. Wilcox the Sister asked for protection, which was granted. The mayor of the city, Mr. S. C. Leakin, being sent for, promptly repaired to the spot, and despatched a message for the police and their chief, Mr. Jeffers, which summons was immediately obeyed. Word was also sent to Archbishop Eccleston, and it became known among the congregation of the Cathedral, where High Mass was going on, that a Carmelite had left the Convent, and rumors of a mob were rife. The Archbishop immediately left the church and proceeded to the convent. A number of the gentlemen present followed his example. Among them were Mr. Daniel Foley1 (who is still living in Baltimore), and his father. The streets were thronged with an angry mob clamoring for the destruction of the convent.
This unfortunate event was fuel thrown on the fire; for the state of the times was such that it needed only a slight breeze to fan into a flame the sparks of religious fanaticism
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1Mr. Daniel Foley prides himself greatly upon having served the first Mass said in the chapel of the Carmelites in Baltimore, and has always retained a warm affection for the Community. His son served the first Mass said in the present convent, corner Caroline and Biddle streets.
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that was kept alive by the harangues of zealous bigots. A certain Presbyterian minister, named Breckenridge, whose church was on Aisquith street, near the convent, had by his preaching excited the populace against convents and monastic institutions. The “No Popery” cry was raised, and the crowd became violent. The mayor, together with a number of influential citizens, soon arrived upon the scene. He appealed to the good sense of the crowd and urged upon them the duty they owed to society to preserve good order. He then asked whether Sister Isabella should be sent to the hospital. A few scattered voices cried: “No!” “Shall she be sent to the almshouse?” “No, no!” the crowd replied, “send her to the Washington College.” This was done, and after the excitement had somewhat abated, she was placed in a hack, and under the escort of the mayor carried to the last-named institution, where she was placed in comfortable quarters. The only reason she would assign for her conduct was that she wanted to get out, although she admitted that she had been well treated in the convent.
Meanwhile, public prejudice had been aroused, and the excitement grew worse as the hours advanced. Archbishop Eccleston, Father Deluol, the Vicar-General, Father Gildea, of St. Vincent's Church, and Father Butler, of the Cathedral, used their endeavors to assure the populace, that if justice were wanting it would be done. The crowd, however, were still clamorous to sack the convent and to liberate the nuns, who, they contended, were detained contrary to their wishes. Father Gildea, the chaplain of the convent, invited the mayor and Judge Worthington to make a thorough examination of the convent. This they did, and the Mother Prioress and the chaplain conducted them over the entire institution. The mayor, moreover, questioned each of the nuns privately, and asked her if she wished to remain of her own free will. In every case the answer was in the affirmative. The result of the investigation was made known to the crowd that by this time blocked the street. This statement was accepted as
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satisfactory by the more law-abiding citizens, but a number still remained, menacing the convent by their shouts of “Down with the Nunnery!”
Mr. Wm. Geo. Read, a South Carolinian by birth and a Catholic, who then resided in Baltimore and was a distinguished member of the bar, displayed on this occasion heroic courage in defending the convent against the attack of the mob. Placing himself at the head of a few brave followers, who volunteered to defend the convent, he repelled the attack of the rabble, although they were far superior in number to his handful of courageous men. He was afterwards summoned before the House of Delegates as a witness in the matter. When asked the question: “What did you intend doing if the mob had broken into the Convent?” he electrified all present by his firm reply: “To have died on the threshold!”
In the year 1882, there appeared in a copy of the Baltimore American an article giving the reminiscences of a gentleman who had helped to defend the convent. He writes: “At about six o'clock, on Sunday morning, a friend and I, both Protestants, heard of the mob and its intentions.” This is evidently a mistake, as Sister Isabella escaped from the convent only on Sunday about noon; but leaving aside this little inaccuracy, we will cite the words of the veteran. He thus continues: "We immediately repaired to the Exchange Place, joined the City Ward Guards, under the command of Brig. Gen. Columbus O'Donnell, Col. C. C. Jamison and Major William Pinckney, a son of the renowned Hon. Wm. Pinckney. The Major then gave the most remarkable military order I have ever heard. It was, ‘Float up into the ranks, men,’ and we ‘floated.’ Each man was served with an old rusty flint-lock musket, and the brigade floated for the scene of action with the ammunition chest in the rear. When opposite the Second Presbyterian Church, Baltimore and Lloyd Sts., we halted and each man was given one ball cartridge and loaded. We had no bayonets. We marched up Aisquith St. to the front of the nunnery, and the mob
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retired to the sidewalks. The military formed a hollow square, the east and left lines being posted right to the gutters with muskets at shoulder arms. I stood face to face as close as possible to a burly son of the Emerald Isle who might have easily wrenched the musket from me. Verily, I thought my time had come. I kept, however, cool, and shortly after was posted as a sentry to guard the alley south of the convent. Soon a man came in sight, going up the alley toward Aisquith St. ‘Halt or I'll shoot,’ shouted the sentry. The man halted and began to cry, saying that he lived across the street. ‘Can't let you pass without the countersign,’ I said. He attempted to go; I took aim and brought him down without a shot. I do not think that the old gun would have gone of at all, and if it had there wasn't much danger of my shooting him, but he did not know that and the sentry did not think it necessary to tell him the whole truth. The man was afterwards permitted to leave. Before I was placed in charge of the alley the mob had been cleared from the sidewalks, and the military formed in two lines stretching across Aisquith St. Alongside of me stood good old Mr. Peter Fenley with musket in hand. He was as staunch an old Presbyterian as ever lived. The Presbyterians are always on the side of law and order. 'Twas curious to see Mr. Fenley, who was a man of muscle, capture the obstreperous fellows of the mob and hand them over to the guards. I think I held his musket a dozen times at least for him, and each time good old Brother Peter brought in his man. Gen. S. C. Leakin was Mayor at the time. He displayed great energy and courage and was just the man for the hour. I stood near him and saw him capture a number of noisy fellows and pass them into the line to the guards. Every one thought, the salvation of the nunnery was due to the decision, bravery and good judgment of Mayor Leakin, and that he would certainly be elected for another term, but he was not. Why I know not. On Monday, the 53rd Regiment M. V. was on duty. The mob was very noisy and demonstrative. When ordered to retire they answered the
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order with a volley of stones, wounding several of the men. Isaac Burnstone a member of the Maryland Cadets was caught by the mob outside the line, and only saved himself by falling upon the ground and rolling over and over till some one pulled him in the lines. The order was given to load and fire. This would have been very disastrous, inasmuch as Pitt St., now E. Fayette St., crosses Aisquith St. in such a way as to cause a number of houses to face up Aisquith St. Upon the steps and in the windows of these houses many ladies and children and other persons were standing and doubtless many of them would have been hurt, if not killed, had the order to fire been carried out. Capt. Jno. O. Law of the Independent Grays, afterward Mayor of the City, suggested to the officers in command, what might have been the sad effect of opening fire and asked to be allowed to take his corps, the Independent Grays, and form them in a line across Aisquith St. and at the bayonet's point press the mob back. This was done. The mob did not fancy cold steel, and retired and thus much bloodshed was saved, and doubtless many innocent persons unharmed. On Tuesday evening matters became quieted and peace and good order were restored.”
In anticipation of an attack, the City Guard, under command of Col. O'Donnell and other volunteer military companies, guarded the convent all Sunday night. On Monday the excitement had not abated, but was further agitated by the distribution of inflammatory handbills, purporting to be the prospectus of an anti-Catholic paper. It is more probable, however, it was a ruse of the bigots to keep the torch of fanaticism ablaze, as no such paper subsequently made its appearance.1 Meanwhile the poor Sisters were in constant dread. They remained all night in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, imploring God to avert the threatened evil. On Monday, the day following the outbreak, the Mayor issued
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1Catholic Mirror, Oct. 15th, 1882.
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the following proclamation, which was posted in conspicuous places about the city :
“PROCLAMATION.
“MAYOR'S OFFICE, Aug. 19th, 1839.
“Whereas, a disposition was manifested by a number of ill-disposed persons, assembled in Aisquith St., in front of the Carmelite Convent, in this city, in the afternoon and evening of Sunday, the eighteenth day of August, instant, to make a riotous attack on said convent for the purpose of destroying the same, the effecting of which purpose, although then prevented by the exertions of the police, aided by a number of peaceably disposed citizens and volunteer military companies, there assembled, it is believed, as well from the threats then expressed by those ill-disposed persons, as from other information by me received, will be again attempted this afternoon or evening.
“I have, therefore, deemed it proper to issue this proclamation, warning all peaceable, well-disposed citizens, other than those who shall be officially required to attend for the preservation of the peace and the protection of said convent and other property from injury, not to approach the said convent or vicinity; and, also, that to prevent risk of injury to their children, apprentices, and other minors under their care and control, they require them to remain at their respective houses after sunset.
“Given under my hand this nineteenth day of August, 1839.
“S. C. LEAKIN, Mayor.
After three days the military succeeded in completely dispersing the mob. The convent was, however, guarded for three weeks, during which time the fatigue, anxiety and labor of the nuns were immense.
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Every night, while the militia guarded the premises, a password was given. It happened that one evening an old Sister, forgetting the injunction to remain in the house after a certain hour, went after dark to the pump in the yard to fetch water. The sentry on guard challenged, but she knew nothing of the countersign, and in her terror at the sight of the musket pointed at her, cried out: “Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I am a nun.” It happened that these sacred names had been taken as the countersign that evening, and thus the good Sister's pious custom of calling on them in every danger, was of great advantage to her.
During this reign of terror, the good Sisters of Charity, particularly Sisters Olympia and Ambrosia, were great sources of consolation to the Carmelites; they passed through the mob day and night to bring aid and comfort to the poor sufferers.
Sister Isabella, as we have seen, had been brought to the Washington Medical College. Her brother-in-law, Col. William Brent, of Georgetown, D. C., ordered an investigation to be made of her mental condition. This was done, and the result made known in the following certificate, signed on the Wednesday following the excitement, by gentlemen who were Protestants and of undoubted medical ability:
“We the undersigned members of the Faculty of Medicine of the Washington University of Baltimore, having been applied to by Col. Wm. Brent, for our opinion in reference to the case of Sister Isabella, who was placed in this institution by the Mayor of the city, on Sunday last, state as follows:
‘That we visited her several times, and from the general tenor of her conversation, we are clearly of opinion that she is not of sane mind; there is a general feebleness of intellect, and we are unanimous in the belief that she is a monomaniac.
‘We also feel it an act of justice to state that she made no complaint of her treatment while in the convent, other than having been compelled to take food and medicine.’
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“SAMUEL K. JENNINGS, M.D.,
WM. W. HANDY, M.D.,
JOHN C. S. MONKUR, M. D.,
EDWARD FOREMAN, M.D.,
JOHN R. W. DUNBAR, M. D.”
On August 19th an article appeared in the Baltimore Sun, headed: Great Excitement.—Attempt of a Carmelite nun to escape. In this article mob-spirit is totally condemned in the following forcible words:
“The arrangements made by the mayor are such as we have every reason to believe will preserve the peace, should there be any ruffians found in this community dastard enough to imitate the Boston mob and attack a household of weak females. In the morning there were some seen busy sowing the seeds of riot, but the black-guard and the villain were so indellibly stamped upon their countenances, that they were treated with the contempt they deserve. If there is anything wrong in that convent, there is a tribunal to which the conductors of it are as amenable as is the humblest individual in the land, and a proper investigation will elicit the truth of the matter. But what judgment can a mob have which is goaded on by designing ruffians, their passions excited, and their reasons blinded by prejudice? Such a scene we hope will never again disgrace Baltimore. Her true yeomanry have too great a regard for their own firesides and the honor of their fair city, to wage war against a dozen or two of women, and destroy the house that gives them shelter and a home, and the means of earning an honest subsistence. Shame on the creature who would suggest one act of violence in such a case. He is no man—he is a beast, who, like his kind, when grown up forgets he has a mother and sister who may be the victims of the same ruthless violence.”
Another article in the same paper, dated August 21st, speaks as follows: "It is hoped that by this time, reason has regained her dominion over passion, in the mind of that
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mistaken portion of our citizens, who have manifested a disposition to commit outrage, by destroying the property of a society existing under the protection of the law, and possibly doing violence to the persons of its members or officers. A little reflection must convince every thinking person of the impropriety of such excitements as well as of their general dangerous tendency. Such outbreaks of passion are extremely injurious to public morals, and the wise and judicious will never be found to encourage them; for in proportion to the disrespect of the law which they evince and engender, will be the insecurity of property and the rights of persons. Even fanaticism if it be reflected at all, instead of fanning the flames, would take counsel of its own selfishness, and throw upon it the cold water of its opposition. Popular indignation is not difficult to be aroused in dense communities; and when lawless violence is abroad, it is not easy for any, except lawfully constituted and efficient physical force, to arrest its progress, moderate its rage, or turn it aside from unhallowed purposes: and the narrow and selfish principle, which would direct the force of such an incendiary instrument against one sect, or set of opinions to-day, might find it turned against itself to-morrow. It is therefore clearly the interest of all—sects, societies, classes and individuals—to discountenance such a spirit of insubordination and violence, and to use all their efforts and influence for its suppression,—to preach charity, harmony and good will, instead of jealousy, discord and hatred—to curb the headstrong, counsel the thoughtless, moderate the violent, and, by all means, assert the supremacy of the laws. It ill becomes us as freemen to refuse to others that freedom of opinion and action in things civil and religious, which Christian charity dictates, which we claim for ourselves, and which we have guaranteed to all, by the constitution and the laws. But it is as notorious as deplorable, that there are many individuals, and sects, and parties, who have the Bible and the Constitution frequent on their lips, while their actions prove that their hearts are far from them. And in cases like that
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more immediately under consideration, upon whom falls the eventful vengeance of violated laws—upon them or the deluded actors into whom they have infused the poison of their own prejudices? It is not to be supposed that that portion of those who congregated at the Carmelite nunnery with evil intent, did not converse freely on the subject of the excitement in the social circle, or were ignorant of the wishes entertained elsewhere for their success. Excited by the little they knew and the much they had heard, they departed for the scene of intended violence, relying on the force of opinion which they had left behind them at their homes. Among some twenty five or thirty of those unfortunates who were arrested, we saw several who, we are confident, knew no more about the real merits of the case, whose forcible decision they would feign undertake, than about the constituent elements of the Georgium Sidus, and yet they must suffer, while those more truly guilty, who never came upon the scene of action, are safely shrouded in the impunity of absence.
“With the actors in such scenes, there is an effectual way of dealing, and our mayor has found it out and acted upon it. He has by his promptitude and the timely efficiency in the discharge of his duty, done himself much honor, and saved this community from the disgrace of impending riot, and the city from expense of the contemplated depredations. He stood firmly on the ramparts of duty, between the law and the lawless, and held up the shield of his protection before a feeble body, whose sex alone ought to have been sufficient to that end. He has earned for himself all the credit which duty, faithfully performed, can claim; and there are none who acted under his orders, but can challenge a participation in the meed of praise.
“For those prudent participators in outrage, who are never present on such occasions, but who are always influential, either by the propagation of opinions, by the direct counsel, or by connivance, no language of condemnation can be too strong. But they ought rather to be exhorted to the cultivation of
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charitable and tolerant feelings—of feelings more consonant with the benign principles of Christianity, and the liberal spirit of our civil institutions. They should be called to reflect upon the common danger, and made to see that they are instrumental in taking away the healthy restraints from a power which can uproot the foundations of civil society and might involve themselves in common ruin. It is to be hoped they will seriously lay these considerations to heart.
“The merits, or demerits of nunneries, either in general or particular, are not now the question; if it were, we would freely and fearlessly declare ourselves on that, as on the question now really at issue in the present case—shall the supremacy of the laws be maintained? This is the true question, and there appears to us to be but one answer to it. That answer we have given in our approval of the course pursued by the chief executive of the city government. Our views of duty as public journalists do not counsel us to wait for the issue of the battle, before we declare our preference for one or other of the contending parties. Such worldly wise policy is not to be found in our editorial code, and between the law and its violators we have no hesitation in making a choice.
“When the excited passions cool and subside, it will be acknowledged that we have chosen aright, that we adopted the best policy for both ourselves and the public; and that those who were restrained from the commission of violence and outrage, were so held in check for their own good.”
Thus ended the disgraceful scenes of August, 1839. Let them serve as a lesson for the future. They teach us, that no matter how civilized a nation may be or how enlightened the times in which we live, human nature and human passion remain the same. In this nineteenth century of ours, human passion has enacted tragedies that would almost make savages blush; witness: the burning of the Charlestown convent, the tarring and feathering of priests, the incendiarism of furious fanatics and the horrors of the Commune in Paris in 1870. What has occurred once, may happen again. But let the
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actors in these sad scenes remember that history, that inexorable judge of human actions, will one day stigmatise them with a brand of infamy that ages will not efface.
During the mob, the Carmelites, fearing that the bones of their deceased Sisters would be desecrated, Sisters Ambrosia, Maurice and Olympia of the Sisters of Charity, carried the box in which they were enclosed to the vault of the Cathedral. However, the Cathedral itself was afterwards threatened, and it was not considered safe to keep them there any longer. Mr. Crey then had them put into his own vault in the Cathedral cemetery, where they remained until after the removal of the Community to their present convent, when they were transferred to Bonnie Brae cemetery.
By order of Col. Wm. Brent, Sister Isabella was placed in charge of Sister Olympia, a Sister of Charity, and removed to the Maryland Hospital. She afterwards went with the Sisters of Charity to Mount Hope, where she died about the year 1867. Her insanity was of a mild nature, nor was she ever violent. She visited the convent on Aisquith street several times, and on more than one occasion requested to be taken back into the Community, and wept piteously when her request was denied. Of course she always remained a member of the Carmelite Order; for at that period the vows of the Carmelite nuns in this country were still considered solemn.1
Towards the close of the year 1839, Rev. Mathew Herard, the devoted friend of the Carmelites, who had so recently returned to his native land, died the death of the just. He beheld his end approaching with that calm resignation which religion alone inspires. To those around him, says a French periodical, L’ami de la religion, he gave an example of the fortitude that strengthens the truly Christian soul, and raises it above itself. Animated with a faith as lively as it was generous, replenished with that blessed hope that perishes
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1 See Chapter XXVIII.
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not, he consoled his relations and friends, who pressed eagerly around his bed, and received the last Sacraments with a pious and holy joy. Having his eyes fixed upon a crucifix, his countenance beamed with the peace and happiness that reigned within him, and he calmly yielded his soul into the arms of his God, on the 17th of October, 1839.
He left the Carmelites $5000, the interest of which was to enable them to support a chaplain, leaving them at liberty to apply all or a part of the amount to that end. The Carmelites of Baltimore will ever gratefully cherish the memory of Rev. Mathew Herard.