Columbia (Bntoergftp 
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THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
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 ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 by 
 
 JOSEPH W. RIORDAN, S. J. 
 
 San Francisco, Cal. 
 1905 
 

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 CONTENTS 
 
 C&<3 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction 5 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 The Coming of the Jesuits to San Francisco 1 1 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 The College at Mission Dolores 45 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 Beginnings, 1855 — 1862 69 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 Development, 1862 — 1878 in 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Completion, 1878— 1895 215 
 
 Conclusion 3^5 
 
 Appendices 3^7 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Although the first two chapters of the present volume cannot 
 be considered as strictly forming part of the history of St. 
 Ignatius College in the fifty years of its trials and successes, since 
 both chapters treat of matters that antedate this period, no doubt 
 is entertained that the indulgent reader will welcome their inser- 
 tion. For, apart from any interest that they may have for those 
 to whom any scrap of California's early doings is a source of 
 sincerest pleasure, they serve to light up the history of the Society 
 of Jesus in the years immediately preceding the establishment of 
 St. Ignatius ; the former of the chapters setting forth the manner 
 in which the Jesuits acquired a home in the Archdiocese; the 
 latter, giving an account of the first Jesuit College in our city, 
 the weak and short-lived predecessor of the present vigorous insti- 
 tution. 
 
 The proffered story, unfortunately, can borrow nothing from 
 the halo that surrounds the old Missions of our State, for St. 
 Ignatius can claim no lineal descent from them ; nor can it call on 
 romance to add here and there its touch of beauty to the narrative, 
 since whatever of romance lingered in the middle Fifties in San 
 Francisco, was of the rougher and ruder form that might serve 
 the purpose of the novelist but not that of the college historian. 
 It cannot even depend for assistance on the poetry of Californian 
 scenery and climate, for church and college had their birth 
 among sand hills which have long since disappeared ; and the sky 
 beneath which they were born, while comparing favorably, and 
 more than favorably with that of the great cities of our country, 
 partakes more of the useful and the healthful than of the tender 
 and the beautiful. 
 
 Curiosity, therefore, can find little to whet or to satisfy its 
 appetite in the following pages which deal mainly with the 
 humdrum routine of college life; love, and love alone for Alma 
 
 5 
 
6 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Mater, an interest in her well-being and well-doing, a reverent 
 regard for the lives of former professors long since at rest in 
 God's bosom, memories sanctified by the lapse of years, apprecia- 
 tion of the good wrought solidly though unostentatiously in the 
 heart of youth, will alone suggest the perusal of a volume which 
 was written for its friends. The kind indulgence of these will 
 overlook its many defects, and find an interest in details which, 
 trivial to others, are intended solely for their eyes. 
 
 For assistance in the work, sincerest thanks are due to the 
 Most Rev. George Montgomery, D. D., who kindly permitted 
 the use of the Archiepiscopal Archives; also to Rev. Robert E. 
 Kenna, S. J., lately President of Santa Clara College, who has 
 generously allowed the use of those committed to his care. For 
 various favors we are indebted to Rev. S. M. Brandi, S. J., 
 of Rome, Italy, and Rev. J. M. O'Sullivan, S. J., of Santa 
 Clara College. For the letter of Rev. Fathers Nobili and 
 Accolti to Very Rev. Father Gonzalez, the thoughtful kindness 
 of Rev. Father Zephyrin, O. F. M., Old Mission, Santa Barbara, 
 deserves the credit. Nor must Messrs. James R. Kelly, John 
 Egan, Robert Dorland and Professor W. J. G. Williams go 
 unmentioned; to all of whom the writer is indebted for various 
 details concerning the olden time. With due appreciation are 
 to be mentioned the editor of the Monitor, Mr. Thomas A. 
 Connolly, who has, with much courtesy, facilitated the use of 
 the files of his esteemed paper, and his assistant, Mr. William 
 R. Moore, who in many ways has given valuable aid. 
 
 We must also thank Mr. Charles O. Miller for faithful 
 assistance, and Mr. Charles B. Turrill, his partner, for an 
 interest in the work which we can never duly repay. Nor 
 must Mr. C. E. Watkins be forgotten, who has placed his 
 old-time views of our city at our disposal with a generosity 
 which causes us to regret the more that age has afflicted with 
 blindness, eyes to which we owe so much. 
 
 Lastly, for the finish of our volume, we are indebted to the 
 taste and personal interest of Mr. Alfred Mudge, on whose 
 experience and ability we have relied, and, as our readers will 
 gladly acknowledge, have not relied in vain. Others, too, 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 7 
 
 have contributed in various ways to lighten a work in which 
 little success has often been the result of much labor; and to 
 all and each most grateful thanks are rendered. 
 
 As suggestion has been made that it would be desirable to 
 indicate where the various documents quoted may be found, we 
 have adopted the following plan: one * will designate the 
 Archiepiscopal Archives; two **, those of St. Ignatius; three 
 ***, those of Santa Clara. 
 
 An appendix to the work will contain the original text of 
 some of the documents, as also some other matters that may be 
 of interest to our friends. 
 
 St. Ignatius College, 
 San Francisco, October 15th, 1905. 
 
The First Half Century 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 SJj? fflnmituj of X\p Jrswta in §>att 3Frattriar0. 
 
 On the 30th of April, 1846, the Rt. Rev. Francis Garcia 
 Diego y Moreno, the first Bishop of California, passed from the 
 sorrows of earth to the joys of Heaven. Ceaseless labors had 
 undermined his constitution and bitter woes had preyed upon his 
 heart; and, while ready at his Master's beck still to live and 
 labor, no one could blame him that he welcomed rest. The 
 missions, the pride of his Order, were little more than names; 
 their neophytes disbanded ; their homes and lands plundered ; the 
 glories of the olden days were shrouded in the darkness of the 
 present; and vainly had human eye sought to pierce the denser 
 gloom of the future. 
 
 Before he died, he appointed the Very Rev. Jose M. Gonzalez 
 Rubio administrator of the diocese during its vacancy, and the 
 appointment was ratified by the Chapter of the Cathedral of 
 Mexico, the Archiepiscopal See. The selection was in many 
 ways a happy one. Father Gonzalez was a man of broad mind 
 and brave heart, an honor to the Order of St. Francis, of which 
 for many years he had been and continued to be a distinguished 
 member. 
 
 Paint as fancy may in somber colors the sad state of the 
 religious decay in California in those days, and it will fall far 
 below the reality; but we need no touch of fancy's magic power 
 to sketch the picture for us, since we have the calm official state- 
 ment of Father Gonzalez himself. It is contained in a circular 
 letter directed to the faithful of the diocese and is dated May 
 30th, 1848. 
 
 * "We, Fr. Jose Maria de Jesus Gonzalez Rubio, Apos- 
 tolic Missionary Preacher of the Regular Observance of our Holy 
 Father, St. Francis, and Capitular Vicar, Administrator of this 
 diocese for the holy metropolitan church, 
 
 To all the Beloved of our flock, health and peace in Christ, 
 our Lord. 
 
 From the day on which, despite our unworthiness, we found 
 ourselves obliged to take upon our weak shoulders the heavy 
 
 11 
 
12 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 burden of the administration of this diocese, we have never 
 ceased in God's presence, to pour forth most humble supplications 
 for the welfare and prosperity of this dear flock entrusted to our 
 care ; nevertheless, the weight of our sins, doubtless, has pre- 
 vented the Lord from giving ear to us and laying aside His just 
 displeasure. Day by day we see that our circumstances grow 
 in difficulty ; that helps and resources have shrunk to almost noth- 
 ing ; that the hope of supplying the needed clergy is now almost 
 extinguished ; and, worst of all, that through lack of means and 
 priests, divine worship throughout the whole diocese stands upon 
 the brink of total ruin. 
 
 Alas ! is it perhaps that on the part of this people, the divine 
 praises, the exercises of piety, of sanctification and of religion, 
 the homage that should be paid God in his temples, are so 
 neglected or rendered so lukewarmly and imperfectly that they 
 are no longer acceptable to Him ? Alas ! have the malice, the 
 corruption, the sins of the people, already filled up their measure 
 and exasperated Divine Justice ? Ah ! may it not happen that 
 the tree of religion planted here by the sweat and fatigues of so 
 many zealous missionaries, may be transplanted elsewhere, where 
 it will yield more abundant fruit? Oh! how we should fear, 
 dearly Beloved, a chastisement so dread ! a chastisement the 
 greatest assuredly that could befall us from Heaven's anger, 
 which, it would seem, we already begin to experience, since God 
 in his inscrutable judgments has, for the past few years, allowed 
 that in this our country everything should be thrown into con- 
 fusion ; that the greater part of the missionaries should die or 
 abandon the country, while I have no hope of replacing them; 
 that religious education should day by day disappear; that, of 
 the pueblos, some should be destroyed and others totally aban- 
 doned, deprived of the administration of the sacraments, of 
 priests, of public worship ; all lacking in good morals and hedged 
 round with the most dangerous forms of seduction? What will 
 be their lot ? I indeed know not ; nevertheless we most assuredly 
 hold that if among the inhabitants of this State religious igno- 
 rance increases, if charity grows cold and faith weakens a little 
 more, such persons will, at the first attack, plunge into spiritual 
 blindness, either in the form of infidelity, or protestantism, or 
 religious indifference and complete forgetfulness of God." 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 13 
 
 The good pastor then goes on to indicate the means best suited 
 for appeasing God's righteous anger. He exhorts to repentance 
 and prayer; to a sincere change of heart; to devotion to Mary, 
 especially on the approaching feast of Our Lady of Refuge, chief 
 patroness of the diocese. In virtue of special faculties by which 
 thrice each year a plenary indulgence could be granted to the 
 sincerely contrite of heart who would confess and communicate, 
 he concedes one for the present occasion. His letter is dated at 
 Santa Barbara. 
 
 The prospect certainly was far from encouraging. Times 
 past had been bad, but what was to be expected from the future? 
 It is a strange coincidence that the date of Father Gonzalez' letter 
 is the very day on which at Queretaro, in Mexico, the ratification 
 of the treaty ceding California to the United States took place. 
 The old had gone, never to return; the new — here was the 
 problem for the good Vicar — was there a new? It was evident 
 that without a clergy, religion must perish. There is no life 
 without the means of living, and the means of Catholic life are 
 the sacraments instituted by Christ. These sacraments demand 
 the Catholic priesthood; whence was the priesthood to come? 
 This was the thought that Father Gonzalez turned over and over 
 in his active mind ; this was the subject on which with tears and 
 earnest prayer he besought light from on high; until, on June 
 13th, 1849, we have from him a circular letter as admirable for 
 the comprehensiveness of its views as for its clearness and simple 
 beauty : 
 
 * "We, Fr. Jose Maria de Jesus Gonzalez, 
 
 To all our dearly beloved flock at present residing in this 
 diocese, health and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 From the day on which Divine Providence, in its inscrutable 
 decrees, disposed that we should bear the heavy and delicate 
 burden of the administration of this diocese, we have ever kept 
 before our eyes our chief and most important duty of providing 
 you with evangelical laborers, who, by their sound doctrine, edi- 
 fying conduct and apostolic spirit, would bravely uphold in this 
 diocese of California the noble edifice of the religion of Jesus 
 Christ; nevertheless, the various misfortunes that have befallen 
 us, the immense distance that separates us from sources of sup- 
 
i 4 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 ply, the deplorable poverty in which we find ourselves, have been 
 so many obstacles rendering it impossible for us to carry out 
 fully our sacred purpose. 
 
 Of late we have beheld with sorrow these same causes reviv- 
 ing, attended by circumstances that bring in their train increased 
 difficulties. Could we remain cold spectators of evils that 
 threaten a flock so dear to us? Could we be true to the grave 
 obligations that bind us to the sacred Church of California, by 
 abandoning to the chance course of events our solicitude, until 
 some easy and suitable occasion should present itself of regulat- 
 ing our conduct in regard to the pastoral care that presses on 
 our shoulders ? No, dearly Beloved ; your salvation and spiritual 
 happiness imperatively demand that in proportion as your evils 
 multiply, we should redouble our weak efforts to supply a remedy. 
 
 It is our duty, therefore, to devise all possible expedients for 
 providing this diocese with the many priests it needs, that divine 
 worship may not fall into decay, and that your spiritual wants 
 may receive proper care. But how solve a problem so difficult? 
 How overcome the very serious obstacles that thwart us in the 
 obtaining of a good so much desired? Behold, dearly Beloved, 
 the most difficult problem that faces us in these unfortunate times. 
 You are all aware, for the fact is so well-known that none can 
 be ignorant of it, that in this diocese of California, the Clergy 
 has been made up of the Reverend Missionary Fathers of the 
 holy Order of Preachers, and of the Apostolic Colleges of San 
 Fernando and Zacatecas; but these have diminished so notably 
 in numbers that to-day but a very few remain, and these, bent 
 under the weight of years, and toils, and infirmities, and so utterly 
 heart-broken, that there is no prospect of relief. 
 
 Not long ago, it is true, some help reached us in the persons 
 of a few secular priests ; but their fewness is such that it cannot 
 supply one-eighth of the places urgently calling for the exercise 
 of their holy ministry. Whence, therefore, shall we furnish our- 
 selves with the needed clergy? Will it be from the Apostolic 
 Colleges that have founded and sustained religion in this coun- 
 try? Evidently not; for the circumstances of the times have so 
 lessened their numbers that they can scarcely attend to the needs 
 of their own seminaries. Will it be from the secular clergy of 
 the other dioceses that depend upon this same Metropolitan See? 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 15 
 
 Evidently not; for among us there is not even one ecclesiastical 
 benefice with which to supply them with a living, and even were 
 there such benefices and rich ones at that, the various bishops 
 have more than they can do to provide for the needs of their 
 own respective flocks; and though certainly most anxious, are 
 unable to assist us. Can the clergy required be formed here? 
 Surely not; for a new country like ours, without colleges, and 
 ill-furnished with even primary schools, cannot produce youths 
 or well-instructed persons who will aspire to the priestly state; 
 and even were there an abundance of such literary institutions, 
 the impossibility would still continue, of calling into existence a 
 clergy sufficient to meet the urgency which the destitute condi- 
 tion of so many parishes creates. 
 
 Whence, therefore, shall we provide ourselves with properly 
 instructed priests, zealous men, and in numbers proportioned to 
 the actual needs of the country ? From Europe alone. In Europe 
 there are plenty of priests who are ready to come. But where 
 are the funds, where the revenues to enable us to bring them? 
 Here, in California, the Church is entirely destitute of means; 
 for even the sources of revenue which it formerly possessed in 
 the Mission system that obtained here, and the aid derived from 
 the Pious Fund and such like sources, have all disappeared. 
 
 What, therefore, after trust in God, remains to us? One 
 resource alone — your charity. Ah ! dearly Beloved, if this human 
 resource fails us, if in it we do not find the support needed, 
 believe me, I say it with pain, your spiritual needs will remain 
 uncared for, divine worship will be destroyed, religion itself will 
 disappear, and with it all true happiness in this present life, and 
 all the happiness of life eternal. 
 
 But no; this will not be; for we are confident that the Lord 
 will regard us in His mercy. We trust, moreover, your pious 
 generosity, and are confident that in it we have a sure means 
 of realizing the noble and important project which, for so long 
 in the past, has been the object of our desire, the bringing hither, 
 namely, of a sufficient number of excellent priests who will edify 
 you by their lives, instruct you by their learning, and, inflamed 
 with zeal, help you in every way by their sacred ministry. 
 
 To attain this all-important end, dearly Beloved, and trusting 
 to your generosity, no sooner had we assumed the charge of 
 
1 6 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 this diocese than our first care was to call to our aid the noble 
 priests of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and 
 Mary. In fact, His Lordship, Bishop Maigret, has sent us 
 Fathers Lebret and Holbein, who are actually laboring in this 
 diocese, and through them we have begged of His Lordship, 
 Bishop Bonamie, some more Missionaries, who, I hope, will soon 
 arrive. 
 
 Yet what are a few evangelical laborers when there is ques- 
 tion of maintaining divine worship in so many churches? of 
 administering the sacraments in so many pueblos? of carrying 
 on the Christian and careful education of so many children ? and 
 of bringing into the bosom of Mother Church so many Gentiles ? 
 In so extensive a diocese we need at least forty Missionaries ; but 
 in order that we may get them, we must first of all collect a 
 fund sufficient to pay the necessary expenses of travel, mainte- 
 nance, etc. What will the diocese do bereft of all such aids ? I 
 have already told you, dearly Beloved; nothing else is left 
 us but to appeal to your generosity. Wherefore, dear Chris- 
 tians, all you that dwell in this diocese, if you truly love Jesus 
 Christ and his holy religion, if you desire it to strike deep root 
 and flourish among us, if you wish it to sanctify your souls and 
 help them on the road to heaven, you must with liberal hand 
 supply the needed helps. Let every one according to his piety 
 and generosity give spontaneously what he can. Divine Provi- 
 dence, perhaps, wishes only to put your generosity to the test in 
 order to bestow on us a complete remedy for all our spiritual 
 needs. 
 
 We doubt not for a moment, dear Brethren, that you will 
 take in good part this manifestation which we make of our feel- 
 ings and ardent desires, and that you will aid, in every manner 
 possible, the grand work which we have proposed to you. Well 
 do we know your piety and generous sentiments, and hence 
 abstain from advancing those reasons and indulging in those 
 touching exhortations which are wont to be employed in appeal- 
 ing to public charity. 
 
 What indeed could we say to you? Is it that there is ques- 
 tion of your own welfare? of the honor and worship of God? 
 of the glory and progress of your country ? All this you already 
 well know, and we are confident that you will obtain it. Truly 
 

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ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE iy 
 
 would you have just cause to be offended with us, were we to 
 attempt to convince you that the matter in hand is the most use- 
 ful, the most pressing, the most necessary, the most in harmony 
 with your desires, your Christian profession, your true happi- 
 ness eternal as well as temporal. It is enough that we have 
 shown you that the religion of Jesus Christ cannot, without your 
 co-operation and sacrifices, exist longer in this country; that 
 divine worship, without priests and a sufficient income, can no 
 longer continue; that the administration of the sacraments, the 
 education and training of youth, and, lastly, the conversion of 
 the Indians, cannot be brought about without evangelical laborers 
 who consecrate their talents, their labors, and even their very 
 lives to these noble purposes. 
 
 Consider, dear Brethren, all this, and act conformably to 
 your well-known piety and liberality." 
 
 The letter ends with the appointment of Fathers Ramirez 
 and Holbein as collectors, and makes a final appeal to the faith- 
 ful to give what they can towards "a work so important, so 
 sacred, and so pleasing to our Lord. 
 
 Given at Santa Barbara, properly signed and countersigned, 
 June 13th, 1849. 
 
 Fr. Jose Maria de Jesus Gonzalez." 
 
 Neither bias, nor ignorance of the true state of affairs, nor 
 fanciful exaggeration, nor narrow-mindedness can be urged 
 against the author of the preceding letters. He stated things as 
 they were, and as they were known to be; too public to be dis- 
 guised, and too urgent to permit of delay in putting the needed 
 remedy, if religion was to be saved. The old line of heroes 
 formed in the Apostolic Colleges of San Fernando and Zacatecas 
 had, by death and religious proscription, been reduced to a rem- 
 nant; most of the survivors were old and feeble, and disheart- 
 ened by the new condition of affairs consequent on American 
 annexation. No help was to be expected from the colleges; no 
 help from the dioceses of Mexico; the formation of a native 
 clergy was a chimera; the generous Congregation of the Sacred 
 Hearts of Jesus and Mary was ready to do its utmost, but the 
 work was vast, and exceeded its power of supply; priests could 
 be obtained in Europe, but the necessary expenses of travel and 
 
1 8 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 support must be assured, and there were no funds; in such cir- 
 cumstances can we wonder that when the hope of obtaining the 
 services of the Jesuits of Oregon was held out to the zealous 
 Vicar, he welcomed it as an unexpected means of at least par- 
 tially solving a problem which, humanly speaking, had seemed 
 insoluble? The priests were near at hand; experienced mission- 
 aries ; belonging to an Order to which the Order of St. Francis 
 has ever been dear; who would supply and educate their own 
 subjects without burdening the diocese; and who seemed but to 
 be entering into their own, for from them had the zealous Fran- 
 ciscans inherited the missionary field of Upper California. But 
 we must go back to the preceding autumn to trace the course of 
 events by which the attention of the Vicar was directed towards 
 the Jesuits. 
 
 In the autumn, therefore, of 1848, Rev. Father Brouillet, 
 Vicar-General of the diocese of Nesqually, Oregon, landed in 
 San Francisco. The fame of California's gold fields had spread 
 far and wide, and the thought naturally suggested itself to him 
 that there would be many Catholics among the miners, to whose 
 generosity an appeal might be made in favor of a diocese which 
 was heavily burdened with debt. Father Brouillet landed, but 
 did not proceed to the mines. True priest that he was, the spir- 
 itual destitution of the inhabitants of the town which he found 
 springing up as by magic, appealed more forcibly to him than 
 the material wants of his diocese, and he set himself to work to 
 do all that untiring charity could, for the motley and ever-chang- 
 ing population that poured in from every clime. 
 
 A few months later, Father Antoine Langlois joined him. 
 The new arrival was a Canadian priest on his way to Canada to 
 enter the Society of Jesus. He had labored zealously for some 
 six years as a secular priest in the missions of the Northwest, and 
 feeling himself drawn to a religious life, requested permission 
 to become a Jesuit. His petition was favorably considered ; but, 
 as there was no novitiate at hand, it was judged wise that he 
 should return to Canada, there to undergo the usual probation. 
 To Father Langlois, Father Brouillet appealed for assistance. 
 The field was ample, the need urgent, but the would-be-novice 
 did not consider himself free to interrupt his journey without the 
 permission of those whom he already considered his superiors. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 19 
 
 He therefore submitted the case to Father Michael Accolti, the 
 Superior of the Jesuit residence at Willamette, and received as 
 answer that, for the present, he should labor in San Francisco, 
 and leave the future in God's hands. Thus reinforced, Father 
 Brouillet devoted himself with increased zeal to the furtherance 
 of religion in what was to be the metropolis of the Pacific Coast ; 
 though he felt that, as soon as he could turn the work over to 
 others, justice to his own diocese would necessitate his return 
 thither. Both he and Father Langlois, therefore, turned their 
 eyes to the Jesuits in Oregon, and besought Father Accolti to 
 come in person and bring some of his brethren with him; 
 for the spiritual harvest of the Lord was great in California and 
 the laborers, especially for English-speaking residents, were them- 
 selves only. These early beginnings in our city and their dif- 
 ficulties, we have from the pen of Father Langlois in the manu- 
 script entitled "Ecclesiastical and Religious Journal for San 
 Francisco," a document preserved in Santa Clara College. 
 
 *** "The first mass said in the Mission established in the 
 city of St. Francis Xavier was on June 17th, 1849, tne third 
 Sunday after Pentacost. Father Brouillet, Vicar-General of the 
 Bishop of Walla Walla, in Oregon, came to California the pre- 
 ceding autumn, in the interests of the Mission of Oregon, and, 
 occupied after a time as the only priest who could speak the 
 language of so many strangers coming from the United States, 
 Ireland, etc., etc., he was specially charged to yield to the wishes 
 of the citizens, and labor towards the building of a church, and 
 hold divine service therein. A beginning was made by the pur- 
 chase of a piece of ground 25 by 50 varas, after he had called 
 the more zealous Catholics together and opened a subscription 
 of five thousand dollars to pay for the lot and the building to 
 be erected on it. 
 
 This building was constructed so as to contain as many per- 
 sons as possible, care being taken to avoid anything that might 
 narrow or divide it. Its walls and ceiling were covered with 
 white cotton cloth. Some ladies adorned its little altar. After- 
 wards we took up our abode in the attic, viz : Father Brouillet, 
 Father Langlois, who had come some months previously from 
 Oregon, and Capt. A. Raballon, a friend of the Fathers, who 
 
20 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 had resigned the command of a ship of which he had tired. He 
 had sought rest in the bosom of religion, which by the protect- 
 ing, and the bringing, and the aiding of missionaries, he had 
 propagated in the Islands of the Pacific Ocean ; and even here he 
 employed himself in arranging the house, etc. 
 
 During the week, Father Brouillet departed for Santa Bar- 
 bara to visit Rev. Father Gonzalez, Superior and Administrator 
 of the diocese of California, Sede vacante, that he might treat 
 of the interests, moral and temporal, of the whole country. He 
 was absent two months and a few days. During this time our 
 good Captain died, leaving a considerable sum as a legacy to 
 the church which had taken care of him and which was called 
 upon to arrange all his affairs. 
 
 Religion now began to be practiced a little in spite of the 
 natural obstacles thrown in its way by the thirst of gold; gold, 
 of which all had come in search from every part of the globe; 
 in spite, moreover, of the drawbacks of uncertain employment, 
 of various inconveniences, of the intermingling of people, 
 strangers to one another, and this in tents for a considerable 
 number; in spite of the temptations of bar-rooms and saloons on 
 every hand for the multitudes that frequented them, to amuse 
 themselves, drink and spend their time; in spite of the smallness 
 of what was at once church and residence, and the poorness of 
 its exterior; all taken in conjunction with the shortcomings of 
 its curate (Father Langlois himself was the curate), who was 
 called upon to speak English, Spanish and French in the same 
 sermon, that he might be understood by all; as well as the lack 
 of the time needed to go and invite Catholic households to 
 church, and let them know that it was possible for a person to 
 save his soul in San Francisco." 
 
 The italics of the last sentence are the good Father's, and 
 were doubtless inspired by the host of difficulties with which he 
 battled. The account calls for a momentary digression inas- 
 much as in it, Father Langlois speaks of the city of San Fran- 
 cisco as the city of St. Francis Xavier (San Francisco Xavier) 
 in place of St. Francis of Assisi, the Seraphic Founder of the 
 Franciscan Order. To explain the title by a slip of the pen 
 cannot be maintained, since Father Langlois elsewhere uses the 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 21 
 
 same expression; to suppose ignorance, is to suppose ignorance 
 of the grossest kind. Who could be unaware of the St. Francis 
 in whose honor the bay had been named? But how then 
 explain the title? A few words, we think, will suffice. Al- 
 though the children of St. Francis had named the bay after 
 their Holy Founder, they had named the Mission established on 
 its shores "Dolores" in memory of the Sorrows of the Virgin 
 Mother. This foundation had nothing to do directly with 
 the settlement from which the present city has sprung, and 
 which was called Yerba Buena until January, 1847, when 
 Alcalde Bartlett issued a decree changing the name to San 
 Francisco. 
 
 Neither was Yerba Buena an old city at the time of Father 
 Langlois' arrival, for its first house had been built on the south 
 side of Clay Street a few feet west of Dupont, in July 1836, by 
 Mr. Jacob P. Leese. The accompanying view from an early 
 lithograph will doubtless be of interest. 
 
 While, therefore, the title of the bay had long been conse- 
 crated by usage, the title of the town was of recent origin, and 
 imposed by the will of one man. The town was named after 
 the bay; the bay, after St. Francis of Assisi; as a natural con- 
 sequence, town and bay should have the same patron. But 
 he who by his office could give a new name to the town, could 
 not reach the private devotion of its inhabitants. The official 
 name must remain San Francisco (St. Francis) but the civil 
 government, under American rule, was not specially concerned 
 in discriminating between the various saints of that name; and 
 so Father Langlois considered himself free to designate the 
 spiritual protector of the city; the more so, as we shall see, as 
 Vicar for the northern part of the diocese the administration 
 of ecclesiastical affairs belonged to him. Now, as missionary, 
 his special patron had been St. Francis Xavier, the Apostle of 
 the Indies. As an accepted novice of the Society of Jesus, his 
 special devotion was naturally towards the Jesuit saints; San 
 Francisco was calling as earnestly as Goa or any other East 
 Indian city for the missionary zeal of a Xavier, and by putting 
 it under his protection Father Langlois at the same time sat- 
 isfied his devotion and hoped to obtain the graces of which he 
 stood so much in need. We are not defending his action; we 
 
22 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 are merely explaining it. The fervor of a novice is proverbial 
 for its warmth, not for the maturity of judgment which guides 
 it. The title, therefore, was neither unintentional, nor the 
 result of ignorance, but was the product of the novice devotion 
 of Father Langlois' heart. 
 
 But to take up the broken thread of our narrative. Father 
 Accolti would gladly have hastened to bring whatever spiritual 
 succor was in his power, had he been free to do so ; but he, too, 
 depended on higher authority, and various permissions had to 
 be sought and obtained, before he could prudently take definite 
 steps in the matter. He himself will tell us in a Memorial on 
 the subject, how he proceeded in the matter and brought it to 
 a happy conclusion. 
 
 ** "I wrote," he says, "to Very Rev. Father General 
 Roothaan, I wrote to the Provincial of Missouri, I wrote to 
 Father De la Pefia, the Superior of Chile. But, considering the 
 difficulty of communication, the affair could not be arranged in 
 a short time. In the meantime I did not lose heart; and while, 
 on the one hand, I urged Superiors to send me or others to 
 California, I ceased not to send words of hope for the future 
 to Fathers Brouillet and Langlois, lest they should grow dis- 
 heartened and think no more of our Order. Knowing, however, 
 that they were only subalterns and mere assistants in California, 
 and as such were dependent on the ecclesiastical Superior of 
 the diocese, Fr. Jose Maria Gonzalez, a Franciscan, a pious and 
 learned man who had been Vicar General under Bishop Garcia 
 Diego, I begged them to assure themselves of his good pleasure 
 in the matter, for I did not wish that I or others of Ours should 
 enter, as intruders or adventurers, a country into which, from 
 the time of its suppression, our Order had not been readmitted. 
 In answer, Father Brouillet sent me an extract from a letter 
 written him by Father Gonzalez. A year and more passed in 
 these fruitless negotiations and in all this letter-writing, until 
 the Mission of New Caledonia having been broken up, Father 
 Joset recalled Father Nobili, its founder, and sent him to 
 Willamette. At the same time he bade me make my month's 
 retreat and afterwards my solemn profession in the presence of 
 the Father, and commanded that when this was over, both of 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 23 
 
 us should start for California and leave the residence of Willa- 
 mette temporarily in the hands of Father Menetrey. . . . 
 
 We prepared ourselves for our voyage ; and although we em- 
 barked at the end of October, on the day sacred to the memory 
 of Blessed Alphonsus Rodriguez, we were unable, on account of 
 contrary winds, to set sail before December 3rd, 1849, on which 
 day, the winds veering in our favor, we reached with rapid course 
 the object of our journey, arriving on the night of December 
 8th, so that the next day we were able to set foot on the longed- 
 for shores of what goes under the name of San Francisco, but 
 which, whether it should be called madhouse or Babylon, I am 
 at a loss to determine; so great in those days was the disorder, 
 the brawling, the open immorality, the reign of crime which 
 brazen-faced triumphed on a soil not yet brought under the 
 sway of human laws. . . . 
 
 In San Francisco we found Father Langlois only, who, 
 single-handed, struggled in the midst of a storm of contradic- 
 tions and difficulties of every description; the Vicar General, 
 Father Gonzalez, who resided in Santa Barbara more than 300 
 miles distant, having made the good Father, Vicar for the whole 
 of the northern part of Upper California. Father Brouillet had 
 already set out for Oregon, and we passed each other at sea, 
 having scarcely time to salute each other from the quarter 
 deck." 
 
 The Jesuits had landed in San Francisco when their help 
 was most needed. Even three priests were few to attend to the 
 spiritual wants of such a community where human passion too 
 often ran riot unfettered by the laws of God or man. Not that 
 all was bad, for human nature never is so; but that vice was 
 open and drew the many along in its intoxicating whirl. In 
 the hearts of some, the sterner virtues rudely tried took deeper 
 root and spread abroad a rarer fragrance, like wild flowers that 
 thrive best in the forest and find nourishment and moisture in 
 the clefts of the stubborn rock. In the hearts of a number, a 
 code of justice primitive, and rude, and restricted to the more 
 necessary relations of human life, was still in force; but the 
 tenderer and more delicate virtues of religion and piety were 
 
24 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 necessarily doomed to suffer, where the restraints of life were 
 few and dissipation was commonly the watchword of the hour. 
 
 The Fathers had come under happy auspices. They had 
 arrived on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, under which 
 title California with the rest of the Union was one day to be 
 consecrated to Mary; and they had started for San Francisco 
 on the feast of St. Francis Xavier, whom Father Langlois had 
 chosen as the city's patron. In this Father's Journal, of which 
 I have already spoken, the arrival of Rev. Fathers Accolti and 
 Nobili is jotted down under date of December nth; but apart 
 from the fact that Father Accolti expressly mentions the 8th, 
 the discrepancy is easily accounted for by taking the nth as 
 the day on which the item was entered; for the writer tells us 
 that he was recovering from an attack of inflammation of the 
 face and eyes, a condition of affairs which naturally would have 
 prevented the use of the pen. 
 
 The statement that Father Langlois was alone, is also 
 borne out by the same document; for from it we learn that 
 Father Brouillet had left for Oregon on the night preceding 
 the coming of the Fathers. The other statement made, how- 
 ever, that Father Langlois was Vicar at the time, may be open 
 to some doubt. It is certain that the formal document consti- 
 tuting him such, did not reach him until March 28th, 1850, and 
 that its publication was made on the 31st, as his Journal clearly 
 states. 
 
 *** "On Sunday, March 31st, the festival of Easter, the 
 above appointment (that of Vicar) was read in Spanish, French 
 and English at the three different solemn masses celebrated 
 for the benefit of the three nations. 
 
 After it had been read in English at the last mass, the Rev. 
 Father Accolti, S. J., and Father Coyle, a secular priest, assist- 
 ing, the profession of faith and the oath of fidelity, such as are 
 prescribed by the document aforesaid and contained in the 
 Roman Pontifical, were pronounced on the steps of the altar by 
 me, the undersigned priest, the Rev. M. Accolti above men- 
 tioned acting as the ecclesiastical authority prescribed. 
 
 Antoine Langlois, Priest, 
 
 Vicar Forane." 
 
 It may have been, however, that Father Brouillet on his 
 return from Santa Barbara, had brought with him a verbal 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 25 
 
 appointment from Father Gonzalez, and that the official docu- 
 ment was forwarded later. This certainly is not improbable 
 as Father Brouillet must have informed Father Gonzalez of his 
 return to Oregon in the near future, and the need of some 
 ecclesiastical authority in San Francisco to settle on the spot, 
 cases that were sure to arise. 
 
 Copies of the appointment were soon made and sent to the 
 clergy over whom the new Vicar had jurisdiction, and the 
 smallness of the number in the large territory covered, painfully 
 emphasizes the need of priests. They were Rev. Prudencio 
 Santillan, Mission Dolores, San Francisco; Fra Jose Maria del 
 Refugio Suarez del Real, minister of Santa Clara and San Jose ; 
 Fra Antonio Ansar, President of the Northern Missions, and 
 pastor of Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista; Father Jose Maria 
 Pinyero, ministro interino of the Pueblo of San Jose de Guada- 
 lupe; Don Antonio Ambris, minister from Monterey to San 
 Antonio; Fra Ignacio Ramirez de Areyan, Monterey; Rev. 
 Abbe Dubet, San Rafael; Rev. Stanislas Lebret, pastor of 
 Sonoma. The last named was a member of the Congregation 
 of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. 
 
 We will not vouch for the correct spelling of every name, 
 for Father Langlois' writing is none of the best; we have done 
 what we could to decipher it and must rest content with the 
 effort. 
 
 Father Accolti, as we have seen, even before leaving Oregon 
 for California, had received through Father Brouillet the in- 
 vitation of Father Gonzalez; now, however, that the Fathers were 
 actually in the diocese, it was only proper that they should 
 inform the Administrator of their arrival, and obtain from him 
 a more formal and explicit approval of their presence. On the 
 15th of January, 1850, therefore, Father Accolti wrote Father 
 Gonzalez and received in answer the following most flattering 
 reply : 
 
 ** "Santa Barbara, Mar. 5th, 1850. 
 
 Rev. Father Michael Accolti, 
 
 Esteemed and Respected Father: 
 
 With unspeakable satisfaction have I received your most 
 welcome letter dated January 15th and written in San Jose. I 
 
26 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 answer it by saying that I give infinite thanks to God, our 
 Lord, for the singular favor that he has deigned to confer upon 
 this people in the arrival, so opportune, of your Reverence and 
 a worthy associate to help me, by the exercise of your holy 
 ministrations, in correcting the morals of my flock, in the educa- 
 tion of youth, and the preservation of the Catholic worship 
 throughout this vast diocese committed to my care. I give 
 thanks, after God, to your Reverences for the will no less ready 
 than good, which you show by employing your talents, your 
 zeal and worthy services in this diocese, which is as destitute of 
 every help as it is weakened in morals and beset with dangers. 
 
 Already through Rev. Father Brouillet, have I expressed my 
 earnest desires that two colleges of the Society of Jesus should 
 be established here; one in the north where you are, and another 
 here in the south. With this object in view your Reverences 
 were invited to come; some donations were solicited for the 
 founding of such colleges; but, as the offerings contributed up 
 to the present, are small for so great an enterprise, I insisted 
 with Father Brouillet that he should urge you to come, since 
 your presence and the influence that you would acquire by the 
 exercise of your ministry, would be the most efficacious means 
 for bringing about the foundation of the two colleges desired; 
 for, I repeat, the presence of your Reverences will dissipate 
 many prejudices, and move the hearts of those who are able to 
 aid, with their donations, so holy a work. 
 
 Your Reverence is well aware of this, and so I cannot under- 
 stand how in your very acceptable letter which I am answering, 
 you express a wish to know in explicit terms my will in regard 
 to the establishment of the Society of Jesus here. I desire it 
 and have yearningly desired it; I have begged it of God with 
 earnest pleadings; and as soon as I can assure myself that your 
 Reverences have collected from the people of the diocese, 
 sufficient money for the foundation of the first college, and 
 that you have permission from your Superiors to found it, I am 
 ready to send you in writing and in the prescribed form, the 
 corresponding permission of this diocesan authority. I know 
 that what I have said is sufficient for yourself and your worthy 
 companion to stir you up to labor assiduously in the under- 
 taking, certain, as you are, of the sincere and efficacious will 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 27 
 
 with which I not only approve it, but shall also co-operate 
 towards it, so far as my poverty will permit. 
 
 On the first of last month I sent your Reverences the neces- 
 sary faculties empowering you throughout the whole diocese, 
 and in all languages with which you are conversant, to preach 
 the holy gospel, hear the confessions of men and women, with 
 the other powers which you have already seen, and which I beg 
 of you to use for the public edification of this my flock, reaching 
 what pueblos and places you can, preaching everywhere salutary 
 repentance and the kingdom of God; in due accord, of course, 
 with the parish priests proper, or other priests to whom such 
 pueblos and places are entrusted, and with their permission. 
 
 Strangers have not been wanting, who, despising the priests 
 of the country, have desired to build a church apart, and have it 
 attended by priests of their own tongue. Such pretensions, 
 though based upon some specious reasons, have, to some of 
 the parish priests, savored of schism. I, who hate every division, 
 and whose most earnest desire is that all who live in any place 
 may acknowledge, respect, and honor the Pastor who is lawfully 
 placed over them, would indeed wish to have priests well versed 
 in all the tongues spoken in the country; but this I cannot have, 
 and hence I pray and charge your Reverences that wherever 
 you celebrate the holy mass, preach, hear confessions, etc., you 
 will do so in the parish churches only, announcing the language 
 in which the sermon will be that day in order that all who speak 
 that language may come to hear it; and so all, without distinc- 
 tion of tongues, will become accustomed to recognize one only 
 Church, one only Pastor, as is but proper and as they are in 
 duty bound. 
 
 Wherefore, in order to avoid any jealousy or distrust on the 
 part of the priest to whom the pueblo of San Jose is confided, 
 I beg of you not to exercise any of the functions of the ministry 
 except in the church of the place; and, in order to bring about 
 and strengthen the perfect union of all the faithful without 
 distinction of tongue or nationality, and in order to preserve 
 peace, harmony and good will with the parish priest, as is very 
 necessary, I pray you most affectionately that you will forego 
 the convenience that you would enjoy in the building of a public 
 chapel in which you could exercise your ministry. Let us 
 
28 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 wait for a more suitable time, namely, when you will build your 
 college with its proper church, and then these towns of Cali- 
 fornia already well instructed in the unity of one only Church, 
 will not look on it as strange that your Reverences have your 
 own; for they will already have been taught practically that all 
 the faithful without distinction of language have but one pastor, 
 but one church in which they gather, and that particular ora- 
 tories prejudice in nothing pastoral rights. 
 
 The prudence and wisdom of your Reverences will see that 
 this, for the moment, is most necessary in order that incon- 
 veniences and jealousy on the part of the pastors may be pre- 
 vented. 
 
 I should take it as a great favor if your Reverences would 
 ask of your Father General, two excellent priests who could 
 come to the city of Los Angeles situated in the southern part 
 of California, where the foundation of a college is of great 
 importance, and where the people have made an offering of the 
 land necessary, and have given some donations which, with 
 the presence of two Fathers, would quickly be increased by 
 subscriptions; and with God's help, the desired foundation 
 would be effected. 
 
 Kindly present my regards to Rev. Father John Nobili, and 
 rest assured that you hold at your service the affection of your 
 sincere servant, 
 
 Fr. Jose Maria de Jesus Gonzalez/'' 
 
 Father Accolti had desired an explicit approval of the en- 
 trance of the Society of Jesus into California, for he knew that 
 in the vicissitudes of time and the coming and going of genera- 
 tions, the day might come when such formal approval would 
 be of the greatest value; and while the affectionate soul of 
 Father Gonzalez seems to have felt a little that he should be 
 requested to state again an approval which was already so well 
 and publicly known, he takes the occasion to go far beyond 
 what was asked of him, and states "that he had insisted with 
 Father Brouillet" that the latter "should urge the Fathers to 
 come," and that "their coming had been the object of his 
 earnest prayers." Not only, therefore, does he expressly 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 29 
 
 approve of their presence, but he states what means, human and 
 divine, he himself had used to bring them. 
 
 On April 9th, Father Accolti and Father Nobili sent a joint 
 letter of thanks to Father Gonzalez. Their letter is evidently, in 
 part at least, an answer to the letter of Father Gonzalez just 
 cited, though a former letter of February 1st is alone explicitly 
 mentioned. Both letters were doubtless of the same tenor, so 
 that the one, in great measure, would be a copy of the other; 
 but this was to be expected from the circumstances of the time. 
 To ensure delivery, important letters were often sent by differ- 
 ent routes and sometimes different copies of a letter were sent 
 at different times; thus we shall easily reconcile the discrepan- 
 cies regarding dates which we find in Father Accolti's and 
 Father Gonzalez' letters. The original of the following is in 
 Latin and is preserved in Old Mission, Santa Barbara. The 
 translation is from a copy kindly forwarded by Rev. Father 
 Zephyrin, O. F. M. 
 
 "San Francisco, Apr. 9th, 1850. 
 Very Rev. and dear Father in Christ: 
 
 The letter which your Reverence penned on February 1st, 
 did not reach us until the middle of March, a little late indeed, 
 but nevertheless at a most opportune time, since in it we 
 received faculties enabling us to labor among the faithful by 
 preaching and exercising the other duties of the ministry, now 
 especially, when by the laws and customs of Holy Church, 
 Catholics are obliged to approach the sacraments of Penance 
 and Holy Eucharist. 
 
 In order that, with greater ease and fruit, we may afford 
 the needed help, we have determined to go for a few days, and 
 to go without delay, to the more distant towns that are destitute 
 of priests; and the more so, that already from various places 
 have the prayers and earnest requests of many persons reached 
 us, of those especially who are destitute of priests who speak 
 their language, and who have begged us to afford them the 
 desired opportunity. 
 
 As regards the letter of your Reverence, words cannot 
 express the joy with which it was received, nor the gratitude 
 of heart with which it has been read; for, in it, your Reverence 
 
3 o THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 has been pleased to bear solemn witness not only to your good 
 will regarding us personally, but to the feelings of affection 
 with which you embrace our whole Society which now, at 
 length, after so long an interval, once more sets foot upon this 
 soil committed to your care. 
 
 To your Reverence, therefore, as is proper, in the name 
 of our Society, we return thanks, conscious, as we are, of how 
 much more our hearts should return, as, in fact, from their inner- 
 most depths and with all their affection, they do hereby feel and 
 return. God grant that this least Society of Jesus under the 
 fostering care of lawful ecclesiastical authority, which it has 
 ever been accustomed to revere in all humility and serve with 
 ready obedience, may meet the pious desires of your Reverence 
 in this so extended a part of the Lord's vineyard, where the 
 harvest is indeed so great and the laborers so few ! 
 
 And, indeed, as whoever attentively considers the causes of 
 things and their effects, and weighs them with a little more than 
 ordinary care, cannot but perceive that the hopes of Catholicity 
 in these parts lie mainly in the training of youth in religion, 
 morals and letters, what pleases us most is that your desires 
 have spontaneously the same object as our own, in that your 
 Reverence urges and exhorts us to build a college, although 
 our letters written on January 28th and containing our humble 
 request for such permission, had not as yet reached you. 
 
 This, therefore, we interpret as a sign of the will of God 
 whose place we firmly believe your Reverence fills in our 
 regard ; as also as a sign of the abundant fruit which, with- 
 out arrogance, we may and should promise ourselves from such 
 instruction. By this, however, it is not intended that we are to 
 exclude or neglect the other forms of ministry proper of our 
 Society, namely, the preaching of the word of God, the hearing 
 of confessions, the giving of missions, etc., and especially the 
 giving of retreats, by means of which, through God's grace, our 
 least Society has ever reaped a rich harvest of souls, as, through 
 the same grace, the venerable Order of St. Francis, by the Way 
 of the Cross, has ever and throughout the world, wrought, as 
 it works to-day, the wonderful conversion of so many sinners. 
 
 However, as in San Jose, the chief city of Northern Cali- 
 fornia, if not all, some arrangements and preparations have been 
 
» ,1 
 
 m 
 
 |v~V. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 31 
 
 made by us for the commencing of a college ; as, moreover, some 
 property and some money for the putting up of a part of the 
 buildings have been freely offered by the faithful; as, finally, 
 there is a good prospect of obtaining everything else required for 
 the project in hand ; nothing now remains for us but to obtain the 
 approval of our Very Rev. Father General, whose kind permis- 
 sion for so good a work, relying on reasons which are almost 
 certain, we do not hesitate to promise ourselves. 
 
 For, over and above the confidence that we have that your 
 Reverence's good will, consent and desires, as well as those of 
 the faithful who have taken up the matter with their whole heart, 
 flow from the sweet providence of God ; over and above the fact 
 that it is meet to expect that God who began the good work will 
 also finish it; our Provincial who resides in the University of 
 St. Louis has told us in letters which we received last month, 
 that, so far as he is concerned, he approves this work which is 
 for the greater glory of God ; that he has, moreover, chosen suita- 
 ble priests and offered them to Very Rev. Father General ; and 
 lastly, that he only waits for the answer of the General, to 
 whom he has not ceased to recommend the matter, to send them 
 hither. Hence there is no doubt that we shall soon receive 
 letters from Europe and from the States, of whose arrival and 
 contents it will be our pleasant duty to inform your Reverence. 
 
 Your Reverence urges also that we found another college in 
 some southern city, e. g. Los Angeles; since, if this were done, 
 provision would be made for the southern part of the diocese, as, 
 by the college in San Jose, provision is made for the northern. 
 Undoubtedly the intention of your Reverence in this matter is 
 to be highly approved ; and the work itself, already begun in some 
 measure by Father Brouillet and so recommended by your Rev- 
 erence, ought not, it seems to us, be in any way refused. We 
 would, however, make an observation ; namely, that once that our 
 Society shall, like a vine, have been lawfully planted in California 
 and shall have taken root, it will be easy for it afterwards to 
 spread its branches; hence, when we shall have established one 
 college, it will be an easy matter to put our minds and our hands 
 to the starting of another. Thus will everything be more solid 
 than if we keep many things at the same time before our eyes. 
 Indeed we doubt not that many, nay, very many things for the 
 
32 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 greater glory of God will, throughout the length and breadth of 
 California, present themselves to be done. The charity of Christ 
 presseth us to embrace all things if possible ; nevertheless, Christ 
 himself, our Master, exhorts us to weigh beforehand the outlay, 
 lest, having begun to build, we should be unable to complete. 
 Lastly, Divine Providence itself teaches how we should act; for 
 while, from end to end, it reaches all things with strength, and in 
 its works could obtain its purposes with equal strength and 
 speed, it prefers nevertheless sweetness to haste. 
 
 What your Reverence has been pleased to tell us; namely, 
 that you would wish us to help you not only by our ministry, but 
 even in the administration of the diocese, by our advice, is indeed 
 thoroughly in keeping with Christian humility, which teaches us 
 that no one, however wise, should trust too much to his own 
 prudence. 
 
 Nor are these encomiums of ours inspired by any spirit of 
 worldly flattery, but by the simple love of truth; and were 
 proof needed, even if all else were lacking, this alone would 
 suffice ; that your Reverence, in private letters, as likewise in cir- 
 cular ones sent abroad on several occasions during these past 
 months, has imparted so many lessons to the clergy and with so 
 much sweetness, charity and prudence, to the great profit of 
 Catholicity in these parts. . . . 
 
 As to the Oratory that we wished to build in San Jose, we 
 most willingly acquiesce in the reason given by your Reverence ; 
 for it has ever been the practice of our Society, whenever possi- 
 ble without detriment to the substance of our Institute, to depend 
 not on the commands only of the Church's princes, but even on 
 the least indication of their will; to no parish priest would it 
 willingly give just cause of offense; no right would it knowingly 
 invade; nor would it even make use of its privileges unless they 
 contribute to the greater glory of God and the good of 
 souls. . . . 
 
 Commending earnestly to your prayers and Holy Sacrifices, 
 ourselves, our Society and the work marked out for us in 
 California, 
 
 We remain, 
 
 Your Reverence's least servants in Christ, 
 
 Michael Accolti, I o t » 
 John Nobili, i ' J ' 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 33 
 
 There are certainly discrepancies here in dates. Father 
 Gonzalez refers to Father Accolti's letter of January 15th; Father 
 Accolti speaks of his letter of the 28th. The letter which we 
 have given of Father Gonzalez is dated March 4th; the answer 
 of the Fathers is to one dated February 1st. But these discrep- 
 ancies, as we have said, are easily harmonized, if we do not form 
 our ideas on the regularity with which to-day, mail is transmitted 
 and received, but go back to times when, as the Fathers tell us 
 in their letter, faculties sent from Santa Barbara on February 
 1st, reached San Francisco in the middle of March. In such an 
 interval of wait, people would naturally write again, and cir- 
 cumstances would determine which of the various letters would 
 be adverted to in the answer. Letters might easily cross and 
 recross each other, and that which started later arrive much 
 sooner, when everything depended on the fidelity and convenience 
 of the messenger, and not on system or the length of time. 
 
 Until faculties were received directly from Father Gonzalez, 
 the Jesuit Fathers labored mainly in San Francisco, both on 
 account of the needs of the population and because their right to 
 labor elsewhere might properly have been questioned by the 
 respective parish priests. They labored also in San Jose, since 
 they tell us that people there had offered some ground for a col- 
 lege as well as some funds for the same purpose ; and as San Jose 
 was at this time the capital of the State, its prominence, apart 
 from climatic and other advantages, seemed to mark it out as the 
 natural location for such an institution. 
 
 The appointment of Father Nobili as assistant to Father 
 Pinyero in what is the present "Garden City" of California, seems 
 to have been made about the 13th of May, 1850, for on that 
 date we find the following entries in Father Langlois' Journal : 
 
 "Letters of appointment to Rev. Father Nobili, S. J., as 
 helper to the parish priest of Pueblo San Jose, especially for 
 those who speak English." 
 
 "Letters to the parish priest of the Pueblo acquainting him 
 officially and confidentially." In an account of himself which 
 Father Nobili gives us and which we shall insert elsewhere, he 
 tells us that he came to San Jose in April ; but this he may have 
 done in virtue of his general faculties, and have received his 
 
34 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 special appointment afterwards, as we have stated. Father 
 Accolti, meanwhile, had become Superior of the Oregon Mission, 
 and, in July, leaving Father Nobili alone in California, he started 
 northward. 
 
 At this time, nothing was known on the Pacific Coast of the 
 appointment by the Holy See of a bishop for the diocese; much 
 less of his actual consecration in Rome on June 30th. John 
 Gilmary Shea in his "History of the Church in the United 
 States," p. 704, gives the date as June 13th, but this is a mis- 
 take since Bishop Alemany himself in a letter to Father Ander- 
 son, O. P., mentions the 30th as the day of consecration. 
 
 *** "Paris, 24th Aug., 1850. 
 
 Rev. and dear Father Anderson: 
 
 Things have turned out so that I have been obliged to wear 
 the heavy mitre put off by Father Montgomery. The Pope told 
 me that God would help me. I trust He will. I had to be con- 
 secrated on the 30th of June last. Some slight sickness and also 
 some affairs made me remain in Rome a little longer than I 
 expected. I also remained a little in Lyons to obtain some assist- 
 ance for our Mission in California. Now that the good Provi- 
 dence of God has given me the means of going to my mission, 
 and of enabling others to go there, I am ready to leave for New 
 York and Monterey, after making some arrangements in or near 
 Dublin, by which I shall be able to obtain, now or afterwards, 
 some good missionaries, without whom I could not organize many 
 congregations. 
 
 Pray that God may give his blessing to our Church of Cali- 
 fornia, and to its Pastor that needs it so much. I hope to be 
 in New York before the end of September, but I shall probably 
 be obliged, before leaving for California, to make a hasty trip to 
 Ohio and leave there a few Sisters, of whom some will go after- 
 wards to help the Mission of California. The good people of 
 Paris are giving me several chalices, ciboriums, etc., etc. If I 
 could spare time, I could obtain much here, but I wish to hasten 
 to California, as this is the wish of Rome. 
 
 I am, your brother and ob't servant, 
 
 f Jos. S. Alemany, O. P., 
 
 Bishop of Monterey, Cal." 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 35 
 
 Quietly and to the surprise of everybody, Bishop Alemany 
 arrived in San Francisco; and Father Langlois closes his Jour- 
 nal with the item: 
 
 "December 6th, 1850, at 1 1 o'clock at night, the Steamship 
 Columbus brought us the Rev. Joseph Alemany, Bishop of 
 Monterey and California, with the Rev. Sadoc Villarasa, O. P." 
 
 His Lordship remained some eight days in the city, and on 
 the 14th set out for Monterey. He had come almost a year after 
 the Jesuits, and found one of them officially constituted assistant 
 pastor of San Jose. There was no question of their standing, 
 and the only anxiety of the zealous prelate was to enlarge the 
 sphere of their usefulness and increase their number. 
 
 Some days doubtless elapsed before the news of the Bishop's 
 arrival reached San Jose, and perhaps it was not at first believed ; 
 for already on several occasions, impostors claiming jurisdiction 
 had presented themselves; or it may be that Father Nobili was 
 so overcrowded with work that he could not spare the time for 
 a trip to San Francisco ; what is certain is that during the Bishop's 
 stay he had not the pleasure of a meeting. The interview took 
 place some time later when Bishop Alemany returned from Mon- 
 terey. A strong friendship sprang up between them, as their 
 correspondence amply attests, and was only interrupted by the 
 premature death of Father Nobili some six years afterwards. 
 Each admired the sterling virtues of the other, and each recog- 
 nized how important union and harmony among the clergy were, 
 if order was to be brought out of the chaos in which religious 
 matters were in California. 
 
 Not only, therefore, did Bishop Alemany approve of what 
 had been done in making Father Nobili the assistant of the parish 
 priest in San Jose, but on his own patronal feast, March 19th, 
 185 1, he turned over to the Father the parish of Santa Clara, 
 stipulating expressly that a Jesuit College should be established 
 there. Surely a more formal approval on his part could not 
 have been given. 
 
 It has been commonly believed that the Bishop gave the 
 parish of San Jose at the same time, but this, we think, is an 
 error. It is certain from letters existing in the archives of Santa 
 Clara, that at the end of May, Father Pinyero was in San Fran- 
 
36 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 cisco engaged in the purchase of an organ for his church; it is 
 certain that about November 20th he was in San Jose disposing 
 of what he possessed there ; he administered baptism on the 27th 
 of the month, so that Father Nobili's name does not appear in 
 the baptismal register until December 7th. The transfer of the 
 parish of San Jose was consequently made about this time. 
 
 While all this was taking place, the pens of Fathers Nobili 
 and Accolti were not idle. Both were men of broad minds and 
 fully appreciated the value of the field thrown open to the Society 
 of Jesus. They therefore applied to their brethren for assistance 
 wherever they thought that aid might be obtained ; and lived and 
 labored in hope which was often enkindled, only to be as often 
 extinguished. 
 
 We have a letter to Father Nobili which is dated August 
 12th, 185 1, and written from Kingston, Jamaica, by Father 
 George Avvaro, S. J. In it we read : 
 
 *** "Last Saturday, Very Reverend Father General sent 
 an express order to Rev. Father Superior, to send Father Bertolio 
 and myself to California. . . . Father Gil gave me the 
 letter to read, written last year by Father Accolti. . . . 
 To-day a letter starts for Rome and nothing will be done until 
 the end of October." 
 
 It was probably the manifestation of this encouraging news, 
 for it took a long time for mail from Jamaica to reach Santa 
 Clara, that drew from the Bishop the very kind letter from which 
 we take the following : 
 
 *** "San Francisco, Dec. nth, 1851. 
 
 Rev. dear Father Nobili: 
 
 I am glad that your General seconds our good views. In 
 my opinion, California at some future day will be a very great 
 country. I should be most happy to have contributed to the 
 establishment of the Jesuits and Dominicans in it, and to see the 
 sons of the two great Patriarchs harmoniously fighting the battles 
 of the Lord against Antichrist and his forerunners. When you 
 write to the General, I beg you to offer him my kind 
 regards. . . . 
 
MOST REV. JOSEPH SADOC ALEMANY, D.D. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 37 
 
 With my best regards to Father Accolti and the other 
 Fathers, I remain, 
 
 Your sincere brother in Christ, 
 
 tjos. S. Alemany, O. P., 
 
 Bishop of Monterey, Cal." 
 
 Bishop Alemany expresses the pleasure that it would have 
 given him to have been able to establish the Dominican Order 
 and the Society of Jesus in California, for both had entered the 
 State and had been welcomed by Father Gonzalez before His 
 Lordship's arrival. The coming of the Jesuits we have seen; 
 the Dominicans had come in the person of Rev. Father Anderson, 
 who, on September 17th, 1850, received faculties from Rev. 
 Father Gonzalez; and having been appointed pastor at Sacra- 
 mento, was carried off by the cholera in the early months of 
 185 1, a victim of his devotion to duty. 
 
 The hopes that ran so high in the breast of Father Nobili on 
 the receipt of Father Avvaro's encouraging news, were destined 
 to die unrealized. Father Avvaro never came to California ; and 
 Father Bertolio, though he came, came only in May, 1865, and 
 was recalled to Jamaica in early January of the following year. 
 The letter that shattered Father Nobili's hopes is the following: 
 
 *** "Kingston, Jamaica, Jan. 22nd, 1852. 
 
 Rev. Father John Nobili: 
 P.C. 
 
 Already some time back your letters to Father Emmanuel Gil 
 reached us; the first copy via Panama; the second, via Havana; 
 lately, the third, with other letters written by your Reverence 
 on October 14th; and the fourth, a transcript of the one which 
 your Reverence sent to the Superiors in Chile and Quito. 
 
 Not knowing whether Father Gil has as yet sent any reply, 
 I have thought it better to lay before you the condition of affairs. 
 
 Before we received your Reverence's letters, our V. Rev. 
 Father General had expressed a desire that, if it were possible, 
 at least two of the Spanish Fathers should be sent to Santa 
 Clara. Rev. Father Emmanuel Gil, however, represented our 
 fewness, the calls that we had received from different countries 
 in South America, as well as other difficulties, which having 
 
38 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 been weighed, Very Rev. Father General entirely withdrew his 
 request for Spanish Fathers for California. 
 
 Lately, moreover, as in the English Colony of Belize 
 (Yucatan) nearly six thousand Catholics have been found 
 entirely destitute of spiritual help, I do not think that Father 
 Avvaro and Bertolio can be spared for California. 
 
 The Archbishop of Guatemala has, moreover, given the 
 entire direction of his Seminary to the Society, and as on that 
 account Father Gil has been obliged to make a journey thither, 
 he has charged me to write to you. 
 
 I most earnestly commend myself to your Holy Sacrifices 
 and prayers. Your most humble servant in Christ, 
 
 Francis Sauri." 
 
 While the letter of Father Sauri was disappointing to Father 
 Nobili, it was equally so to Bishop Alemany; not only because 
 the Bishop was interested in the establishment at Santa Clara, 
 but because he himself had made a personal appeal to Father 
 Gil to send Jesuits. 
 
 *** "Monterey, Aug. 8th, 185 1. 
 
 Rev. and dear Father Nobili: 
 
 If we could receive some considerable amount out of the 
 Pious Fund of California, I would have a fair sum to assist all 
 (and the Jesuits just as everybody else) with pecuniary helps. 
 However, my actual condition does not permit much. Before 
 I could promise myself help for other places, I had made arrange- 
 ments to establish something in Monterey, and I would have 
 to be false to those who then bound themselves to help me, if 
 I did not afford them some little help. Besides this, I have 
 helped others and shall help them; however, from the little or 
 nothing that I receive from tithes, as I do not wish to burden 
 my conscience with many dispensations, my revenue is small. 
 I notice that the Propagation of the Faith at Paris has given 
 more to the Picpus Fathers than to myself; the same has hap- 
 pened to the Jesuit Fathers in Oregon; the Jesuits have also 
 received something for Jamaica and other places in America. 
 Were your Reverence to make application to the aforesaid 
 Association of the Propagation of the Faith to establish a 
 college in this diocese, you would doubtless receive something. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 39 
 
 When your Reverence will commence to build, I shall do all in 
 my power to give also some aid. For the present, I feel that I 
 cannot offer you more than One Hundred Dollars which, if you 
 obtain them from Father Gonzalez or other, I shall pay imme- 
 diately after my return from San Diego. In the enclosed I ask 
 your Superior in Jamaica to send some Fathers. Salute in my 
 name Father Goetz and the other Fathers; meanwhile I remain, 
 Your servant and brother, 
 
 |Fr. Joseph S., 
 Bishop of Monterey, Cal." 
 
 The hundred dollars generously given by the Bishop out 
 of his poverty, has usually been ascribed to the 19th of March 
 when Father Nobili took charge of Santa Clara. The present 
 letter gives the true date. The beginnings of the great college 
 of the present, were even humbler than reported; so much the 
 more credit to the strong character of Father Nobili. The 
 source of the error is the Memorial of Father Accolti which, 
 reliable in the main, is at times inaccurate in details. It was 
 composed about twelve or thirteen years after the founding 
 of Santa Clara College; and memory, unaided by documents 
 is not always trustworthy, especially in unessentials. We nat- 
 urally ask ourselves what had become of the promise of land 
 and funds for a college in San Jose, concerning which the 
 Fathers had written Father Gonzalez on April 9th, 1850. We 
 can only surmise the answer: That, namely, the decision of 
 the legislature early in 185 1 to remove the capital from San 
 Jose to Vallejo, had, for the time being, destroyed the enterprise 
 of the former place, and transferred interest elsewhere. What- 
 ever the cause, the promises never materialized, and Father 
 Nobili had to cast about as best he could for help. What his 
 difficulties were, is admirably set forth in the following letter 
 directed to Rev. W. S. Murphy, S. J., St. Louis University, 
 Mo., in answer to one of Father Murphy's dated October 6th, 
 1 85 1. We quote the letter nearly in full as a tribute to the 
 memory of Father Nobili, though it takes us back to the earlier 
 years of his missionary life in America. 
 
40 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 "Santa Clara, Mar. 13th, 1852. 
 Dear Father Murphy: 
 
 I left Rome in September, 1843, and in August, '44, reached 
 Fort Vancouver in Oregon, where I spent nearly ten months in 
 quality of parish priest of the numerous Canadians in the service 
 of the Hudson Bay Company, and of missionary to the many 
 Indians in the neighborhood. The third part of them was car- 
 ried away by a dreadful mortality. I baptized and assisted a 
 good many of them. In August, 1845, Rev. Father De Smet 
 gave me the difficult task of exploring New Caledonia. 
 
 Accompanied by a half-breed, I visited and instructed the 
 various Indians as far as Fort Alexander, and in the May follow- 
 ing, I came down to Colville to give an account of my progress 
 to Father De Smet, who sent me back again. So I spent another 
 year. I went as far as Fort Stuart and Fort Babines, the bound- 
 ary line between the British and the Russian possessions. This 
 time I instructed, baptized and gave the other sacraments to one 
 thousand and three or four hundred Indians, many of whom 
 had the happiness of dying soon after, including about five hun- 
 dred children carried off by the measles. I was there alone 
 among eight or nine thousand Indians of different languages 
 and manners. In May, 1847, I founded the residence of San 
 Jose among the Okinagans, two days' journey from Thompson's 
 River, and resided there one year with Father Goetz as 
 companion. Then on account of my impaired health, I was 
 with sorrow snatched away from my dear Indians and called 
 south to the residence of the Flatheads. Here I passed the win- 
 ter in a very precarious state of health and should undoubtedly 
 have died, were it not the will of God that Father Mengarini 
 restored me with the powerful medicine of Le Roi. 
 
 In the spring following (1849), I passed through the resi- 
 dence of the Kalispels where I made the solemn Profession, and 
 descended to Willamette whence I was sent to California. In 
 company with Father Accolti I arrived in San Francisco in 
 December, 1849. The object of our visit was to see about estab- 
 lishing a college. I remained in San Francisco till April, 1850, 
 assisting the parish priest in visiting the sick, and ministering 
 more particularly to the Spanish portion of the population. 
 
FATHER MICHAEL ACCOLTI, S. J., IN EARLY YEARS 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 41 
 
 I then came to the Pueblo San Jose where I resided and 
 attended also to the wants of San Jose Mission twelve miles 
 distant. 
 
 When there nearly a year, the Bishop, last March, requested 
 me to take charge of the Mission of Santa Clara (three miles 
 from the Pueblo), and here I have since remained. I found the 
 state of affairs here anything but prosperous and encouraging. 
 The church and its ornaments were sadly out of repair. The 
 few buildings attached that were not either sold, bestowed or 
 niched away, were in a condition of dismal nakedness and ruin. 
 The gardens, vineyards and orchards were in the hands of swin- 
 dlers and squatters. In civilized St. Louis, Bardstown or New 
 York, you can have no idea of the cheerless aspect presented by 
 our residence for the first few months. It is now better. 
 
 But I could easily have borne with the discouraging condi- 
 tion of the temporalities of the church, if it had been my happy 
 lot to find her children edifying in their lives, and faithful and 
 fervent in the practice of our Holy Religion. Such, unfortu- 
 nately, was not generally the case. I found the faith and but 
 little more; nay, in some cases not even that in its purity. The 
 old had become lax and indifferent. The young were growing 
 up in almost utter ignorance of Christian doctrine. Virtually 
 without a shepherd, without instruction, and with nothing but 
 bad example set before them, what a lamentable prospect was 
 their's! You can readily imagine then, how much missionary 
 labor is to be done here. And it must be of that patient, arduous, 
 untiring kind that looks not for great results to flow immediately, 
 but perseveres in the face of difficulty and discouragement, trust- 
 ing that God in time will bless the work. . . . 
 
 If possible, I pray you, send me one or two Fathers acquainted 
 with the English language, and a lay Brother. I was in hopes 
 that some of our Fathers would come from Jamaica, but it seems 
 that they find plenty of employment there." 
 
 The letter as preserved in Santa Clara is unsigned, and is 
 evidently a copy retained by the writer and embodying the con- 
 tents of the missive sent. Unfortunately the desired assistance 
 could not be given by the Missouri Province, any more than it 
 could be afforded by Jamaica or by the Mission of Chile; for on 
 
42 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 June 2 1 st, 1 85 1, Father de la Pefia had answered that he had but 
 eight Fathers and four Brothers under him to carry on works far 
 beyond their strength : and hence, much as he desired to send 
 help, it was not in his power. Father Accolti, meanwhile, had 
 sent Fathers Peter De Vos, Anthony Goetz and Francis Veyret 
 from Oregon, so that Father Nobili was no longer shouldering 
 the burden alone. 
 
 Towards the end of May, 1852, Father James Ryder, S. J., 
 of the Maryland Province, visited San Francisco. What his 
 object was in coming to California was unknown to Father 
 Nobili, as is evident from the following letter : 
 
 *** "Santa Clara, June 3rd, 1852. 
 
 Reverend and dear Father: 
 
 Every since learning from the newspapers of the arrival of 
 your Reverence in San Francisco, I have been prevented from 
 going personally, as I desired, to meet you, on account of engage- 
 ments and duties that require my presence here. I even deferred 
 writing, because I was every day expecting to see your Rever- 
 ence here or at least to hear from you ; and not knowing in what 
 quality or for what purpose your Reverence comes, I dared not 
 hasten your arrival here or propose anything that might inter- 
 fere with the particular mission with which your Reverence is 
 invested. Still I deem it my duty to write now, at any rate, 
 and to say that here at Santa Clara, as well as at the Pueblo, 
 you have brothers and a home. Indeed we have not much to 
 promise, but such as it is, we can at least offer with a good heart 
 and accompany with a cordial welcome." 
 
 Father Ryder remained in California about four months, 
 spending a part of the time in Santa Clara. In a letter to Father 
 Nobili he announces on September 30th, 1852, that he is about 
 to start homeward by sea from San Francisco. What purpose 
 his visit had, our records do not tell. 
 
 On the 21st of April, 1853, the written transfer of the 
 parishes of Santa Clara and San Jose was given to the Fathers 
 of the Society of Jesus in the person of Father Nobili. 
 
 ** "We, Fr. Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O. P., by the grace 
 of God and favor of the Holy See, Bishop of Monterey in Upper 
 California, 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 43 
 
 To Rev. John Nobili, S. J., health: 
 
 As the Society of Jesus has for the Church, the bride of Jesus, 
 brought forth abundant fruit and especially in the Mission of 
 California, we, highly esteeming the Society of the Fathers, 
 congratulate them on their presence in the diocese, on their most 
 useful labors in the Missions, on their skill in the education of 
 youth, desiring that their number be increased the more, in order 
 that their works may also the more increase, and that they may 
 possess a full and perfect college. Wherefore we, by these pres- 
 ent letters, entrust to the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, the con- 
 gregations of Santa Clara and of the Pueblo of San Jose, and 
 the churches of Santa Clara and San Jose with the houses and 
 gardens attached thereto, and grant them permission to have 
 colleges in these places, without, however, in the aforesaid conces- 
 sions wishing to grant anything contrary to Canon Law or the 
 laws of the Church. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. 
 
 Given in San Francisco, Upper California, April 21st, 1853. 
 
 fFR. Joseph Sadoc, O. P., 
 Bp. of Monterey, Upper Cal. 
 H. P. Gallagher, pro Sec." 
 
 Matters having been thus placed on a solid footing in Cali- 
 fornia, Father Accolti set out to visit the Provincials of the Mis- 
 souri and Maryland Provinces and endeavor to obtain through 
 a personal interview what by letters he had vainly sought to 
 secure. He would, moreover, cross the ocean, and by word of 
 mouth explain the condition of affairs to the Very Rev. Father 
 General of the Society of Jesus, and obtain, if possible, the adop- 
 tion by some Province, of the infant Mission of California. 
 
 Providence blessed his efforts, and on May 16th, 1854, Father 
 Alexander Joseph Ponza, Provincial of the Turin Province, 
 writes, from Marseilles, France, to Father Nicholas Congiato, 
 Bardstown, Kentucky: 
 
 ** "Very Rev. Father General is about to assign to our 
 Province the Mission of California. After a few days I must 
 start for Rome, where I shall arrange the affair with Father 
 General and Father Accolti." 
 
44 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The dark and dreary winter of disappointment and longing 
 was, in Father Accolti's heart, changing into the brighter spring- 
 time of hope and success. The Mission for which he had so 
 zealously labored, had at length been accepted by the Society of 
 Jesus in the person of its General, and adopted by the Turin 
 Province. It had been begun at the instance of the Administrator 
 of the diocese of Monterey and the two Californias, manifested 
 through Fr. Brouillet. It had been welcomed most formally at 
 its coming, and urged to found its colleges. Its presence had 
 been recognized and in various ways confirmed by the new Bishop 
 whose kindness deserves ever a warm spot in every Jesuit heart. 
 
 Blessed therefore by its own Superiors, as well as by the 
 competent ecclesiastical authority of the diocese, the Mission of 
 California might well, with joyous heart, prepare for the years 
 of toil that were opening out before it. 
 
m 
 
 — 
 
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 : ■ -.i 
 
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 — : i^J*-! 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 3Uj? (Uoiiege at iltfifitnn Interns. 
 
 In the second of Father Gonzalez' circular letters which 
 we have quoted in the preceding chapter, the information 
 is given us that the zealous Vicar had petitioned for more Fathers 
 of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary 
 (called also Congregation of Picpus), and that he hoped soon 
 to be informed of their arrival. In the month of March, 1850, 
 his confidence was rewarded by the opportune arrival of several 
 of the good religious. . . . The following is the entry in 
 Father Langlois' Journal concerning the advent of the first party, 
 for the Picpus Fathers did not all come together or from the 
 same place. 
 
 *** "March 18th, 1850. Arrival of Rev. Fathers Theo- 
 dore, Felix, and a Brother, belonging to the Congregation of 
 the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary." 
 
 This item is supplemented by another which is undated, but 
 which must have been made about the end of the month since 
 it follows the account of the proclamation of Father Langlois' 
 appointment as Vicar for the northern portion of the diocese. 
 
 "The Rev. Fathers Theodore, Felix and Du Monteil, who 
 during the past days have arrived from Valparaiso, are still in 
 the city; since, as their destination has to come from Father 
 Gonzalez, they are awaiting his letter." 
 
 Another entry dated April 1st informs us of the arrival of 
 Rev. Fathers of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of 
 Jesus and Mary, and a Brother. In spite of the difference of 
 dates, March 18th and April 1st, the notices of the advent of 
 the Picpus Fathers are so similar, that one would be inclined 
 to look upon them as separate records of the same event, had 
 we not the clear statement in Father Accolti's Memorial that the 
 entries refer to parties entirely different. Here is Father 
 Accolti's account, in which we shall again meet some inexact- 
 ness in details. 
 
 45 
 
46 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 ** "While matters were thus proceeding, two Fathers of 
 the Congregation of Picpus arrived from the Sandwich Islands; 
 and shortly afterwards, four others of the same Order from 
 Valparaiso, and finally a Visitor of the Congregation from the 
 Marquesas." 
 
 In the order of arrival, Father Accolti seems to have erred, 
 for Father Langlois, whose entry was made at the time itself, 
 speaks of the first band as coming from Valparaiso. 
 
 Were there four Fathers? Were there only two and a lay 
 Brother, as we are told on March 18th? How does Father Du 
 Monteil come to be joined with Fathers Theodore and Felix? 
 Were there different parties from Valparaiso? These are 
 questions that have no direct bearing upon our subject- 
 matter, and hence we pass them by. The two Fathers that 
 arrived on April ist came from the Sandwich Islands, and one 
 of them was Father Flavian Fontaine, whose history is the 
 groundwork of our chapter. 
 
 Father Accolti had not yet come to California when Father 
 Gonzalez' circular letter was distributed, and was not aware 
 of the fact that the Picpus Fathers had come at the earnest 
 request of the Administrator. This is no surmise of our own, 
 but is contained in express words in his Memorial. "No one," 
 he says, "paid attention to their arrival, for no one had called 
 them. They come voluntarily to offer their services and to 
 endeavor to open a house here." This, as we have seen, was an 
 error; excusable, it is true, but no less an error. Father Lang- 
 lois knew nothing of the invitation extended to them, for the 
 circular that gave information concerning it was in Spanish 
 and published before his time; and he does not seem to have 
 had much intercourse with Father Santillan at Dolores, which 
 was several miles away over the sand hills. 
 
 Father Accolti, in his prudent foresight, saw that it would 
 be more to the benefit of religion in general and to the interest 
 of both Orders to have the missionary field divided between 
 them, than to have both endeavoring to establish institutions 
 in the same section of the State; but let us listen to his plan and 
 his reasons as given in the Memorial already cited : 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 47 
 
 "Then I wrote again," he tells us, "to Father Gonzalez, 
 begging him to assign the limits of the spheres of action of 
 these two religious Orders which found themselves side by side 
 in this new region, that they might avoid, both for the present 
 and for the future, any danger of misunderstandings so prejudi- 
 cial to the cause of our dear Lord, as well as to that charity which 
 should reign among those who seek to promote his glory by 
 the exercise of the functions proper of their respective voca- 
 tions. 
 
 I set before him that we had come hither because invited 
 by his Reverence, to do good and not to be an occasion of 
 scandal; . . . that California was sufficiently broad and 
 long to afford ample scope for the zeal not of one but of several 
 religious Orders; . . . that as the Picpus Fathers had 
 other establishments on the shores of the Pacific, in lands en- 
 tirely Spanish, they could employ themselves with eminent 
 success in the southern part of this vast territory, where the 
 population is almost entirely Spanish; and that to our Society, 
 as we have already some establishments in the English-speaking 
 American States, the northern part could be more conveniently 
 assigned, as this part is already settled almost entirely by people 
 of Celtic or Anglo-Saxon stock. . . . My letter produced 
 the desired effect, and the Picpus Fathers were immediately 
 invited to establish themselves at different points in the old 
 Missions situated in Southern California. One Father alone 
 remained in San Francisco, and from what I am soon to say, 
 it would have been better for him and for us, had he not 
 remained." 
 
 The Father referred to was Father Fontaine, but again 
 Father Accolti seems to be dealing with general impressions 
 rather than with exact data. As early as March 28th, a little 
 over a week, therefore, after the arrival of the first band and 
 before the arrival of the second, Father Langlois wrote to 
 Father Gonzalez that the Fathers of Picpus had serious inten- 
 tions of establishing themselves at Mission Dolores. In fact 
 the name of Father Du Monteil appears on April 5th, 1850, in 
 the baptismal register of the Mission. 
 
48 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Father Santillan was still parish priest, though evidently 
 meditating retirement; for, on April nth, he sold to James R. 
 Bolton for $200,000 in silver hard coined, the immense property 
 granted him by Pio Pico on February 10th, 1846. The original 
 grant is as follows : 
 
 *** "Pio Pico to Father Santillan. 
 
 Pio Pico, first Speaker of the Assembly of the Department 
 of California, and charged with the administration of the 
 law by the same government: 
 
 Whereas : the parish priest, Don Prudencio Santillan, has 
 asked for his personal benefit all the vacant lands which are 
 recognized as belonging to Mission Dolores, as well as all the 
 houses of the rancherias of said Mission which are now in an 
 abandoned state; in virtue of the power vested in me in the 
 name of the Mexican Nation, I have granted, as by these 
 presents I do hereby grant to the said Prudencio Santillan, the 
 ownership of all the houses of the rancherias which have been 
 recognized as the property of Mission Dolores, with all the 
 unoccupied lands which heretofore have been considered as 
 the property of said Mission, subject to the following condi- 
 tions : 
 
 1st. That the party favored will have the free and exclu- 
 sive right to the houses and lands which have been granted, 
 but that he shall pay in return for such grant all the debts out- 
 standing against the Mission up to the present date. 
 
 2nd. That he will request the proper Judge to put him in 
 lawful possession thereof in virtue of this order of possession; 
 namely, both of the lands and houses; meanwhile the party 
 interested can consider as lawfully his, the houses and lands 
 which he now occupies as Prelate of the College of the Mission 
 of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Zacatecas. 
 
 3rd. That the land that is granted consists of three ranches 
 for beef cattle (Sitios de ganada Mayor) more or less. 
 
 The Justice that makes over the possession thereof will 
 fix the boundaries with landmarks, as is customary, being 
 informed that the land is bounded on the north by Yerba 
 Buena; on the northwest by the Presidio of San Francisco; on 
 the west by the land of Francisco de Haro; on the south by 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 49 
 
 part of the Sanchez ranch; and on the east by the Bay of San 
 Francisco. 
 
 4th. That the party interested, his heirs and successors, 
 will respect the rights of property which some individuals have 
 acquired by means of first title, both in regard to the lands and 
 to the houses of the rancherias constituting the property be- 
 longing to the Mission. 
 
 5th. That by this grant are expressly excepted the house, 
 the corral and the church, as also whatever belongs properly 
 to the diocesan authority. 
 
 In virtue of which I desire that the party interested con- 
 sidering the title as firm and valid, such title shall be recorded 
 in the proper book and shall be delivered to the party interested 
 for his welfare and other purposes. 
 
 Given in the City of Los Angeles, capital of California, on 
 common paper, there being no official one, February 10th, 
 1846. 
 
 Pio Pico. 
 Jose Maria Covarrubias, 
 Secretary." 
 
 This vast property, therefore, containing about three square 
 miles, certain portions mentioned excepted, property on which 
 the greater part of San Francisco now stands, Father Santillan 
 turned over to Mr. James R. Bolton for $200,000 in silver and 
 prepared to depart. By the end of April he was ready, and 
 on the 30th, a letter from Father Langlois to Father Gonzalez 
 gives information of the sale of Father Santillan's property, 
 of the rent of the Father's house, and of his leaving. Father 
 Du Monteil entered into his place. The Picpus Fathers, 
 therefore, took up his spiritual cares, which was no easy 
 matter; and Mr. Bolton, his temporal cares, which was a 
 thing far less easy, owing to the vast extent of the land, 
 the activity and practical impunity of squatters, the unsettled 
 condition of the courts and of the land laws. 
 
 On May 6th, Father Du Monteil was already in possession 
 of the parish; for on that day, Father Langlois penned him a 
 letter which says : 
 
 *** "Father Lebrun will go to-morrow to visit your 
 parish, Dolores. He will propose to you, or he will simply 
 
SO THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 receive, what you think can be brought hither without prejudice 
 to the place, and without giving offense to the faithful: an 
 account, however, must be kept of what your goodness will 
 allow us." 
 
 Father Gonzalez was doubtless pleased with the suggestion 
 of Father Accolti and acted on it as far as circumstances per- 
 mitted; but he was perhaps more embarrassed than Father 
 Accolti imagined. He had invited the Picpus Fathers first and 
 the Jesuits afterwards. Los Angeles was an excellent place for 
 the band that came from Valparaiso, but what of the band that 
 came from the Sandwich Islands? The good Vicar did the 
 best that he could to satisfy everybody. He introduced Father 
 Nobili into San Jose; called the majority of the Fathers of 
 Picpus to Los Angeles; and established Father Du Monteil at 
 the Old Mission in San Francisco. 
 
 When Father Flavian came to Dolores we cannot say; for 
 the earliest entry which we have found of him in the parish 
 registers is October 23rd, 1850; just as the last of Father Du 
 Monteil is January 9th, 1851. 
 
 Father Fontaine was a tall man with black hair, of com- 
 manding figure and handsome face. He spoke English fluently 
 and with a good accent, as we have been told by Mr. Robert 
 Dorland who, as a child of ten, attended Father Flavian's first 
 school. This school was in an adobe building to the north of 
 the Mission Church, and separated from it by a line of houses. 
 
 There was Mrs. Liddell's saloon, or rather tavern, a place 
 well kept and quite respectable; there was Sharp and Moulton's 
 store of general merchandise; then an opening into the inner 
 court of the Mission; next Lynch and De Home, general mer- 
 chants; next a roadway about twelve feet wide; then Rurfino's 
 store, Charley Brown's residence, and northernmost of all, the 
 Boys' School of Father Flavian. This contained three rooms 
 with as many teachers, though the pupils do not seem to have 
 much exceeded twenty. 
 
 When classes were started, it is impossible to say; but we 
 know that they were in existence in the early months of 1852. 
 This we learn from a letter to Father Nobili : 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 51 
 
 *** "San Francisco, April 21st, 1853. 
 
 John Nobili, S. J., 
 
 President of Santa Clara College, 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Having lost my wife and been anxious to get my boy 
 at your good college, I send him in company with Judge 
 Hasting's son; they have been at the school of Father Flavian 
 Fontaine the last twelve months. . . . 
 
 G. Simpton." 
 
 We are inclined to think that in the following receipt, we 
 can trace the institution back to the very beginning of the year. 
 
 *** "I have received from Father Flaviano Fontana ninety 
 dollars ($90) for the rent of my house for three months, begin- 
 ning January 1st and ending April 1st of the same year. 
 
 Presentacion Miranda." 
 
 Of its earlier existence we have no records, and hence hasten 
 on to what concerns us more, its new home still to the north 
 among the sand hills, where it was hoped that many and pros- 
 perous years would be its portion. 
 
 In 1853, therefore, Father Fontaine decided to acquire land 
 and erect on it a brick building in which he could not only 
 accommodate day scholars but boarders as well. He had not far 
 to go to get into the wilderness, for sagebrush, and low chapar- 
 ral, and red-berry bushes with here and there scrub oaks 
 scattered through them, reached down the hillsides nearly to 
 the Mission buildings. Here was the home of the wild black- 
 berry; and, when the fruit was in season, the tarrying place of 
 the small boy, to whom the berries of the bramble with their 
 accompanying thorns were then, as now, if the truth must be 
 told, sweeter far than the thorns and fruit of the tree of 
 knowledge. The land is described in the following deed. 
 
 *** "J. V. Hollinshead 
 to 
 Flavian Fontaine 
 Deed. 
 
 May nth, 1853. 
 Consideration $750. 
 Revises, releases and quitclaims all that piece of land situ- 
 ated at the Mission Dolores. 
 
52 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Commencing at the northeast corner of Bolton and Barron's 
 field, the same being the west boundary of the Guerrero Claim, 
 running thence along the northern boundary of Bolton and 
 Barron's field, defined by a board fence 138 yards; north, 18^; 
 west, 282 yards along a board and brush fence to the south 
 boundary of the claim commonly known as the Bird's Nest; 
 thence easterly along a bush fence to a tree known and marked 
 as the northwest corner of Guerrero's Claim; thence along the 
 west boundary of Guerrero's Claim, marked by a board fence, 
 28 1/3 yards, to the place of beginning, the same containing 
 81/5 acres, more or less. 
 
 Witness, 
 
 A. C. Whitcomb. 
 
 Acknowledged May nth, 1853. 
 
 Before A. C. Whitcomb, Notary Public." 
 
 The land thus described was not a perfect quadrilateral, nor 
 were its sides exactly parallel with the present streets in its 
 vicinity; however, as the exact lines are not of special interest 
 to the ordinary reader, he will get a fair idea of the property by 
 taking it as containing about two blocks of land running along 
 Sanchez Street and nearly back to Noe, and extending from 
 about 13th to somewhat beyond 15th Street. 
 
 The property had been squatted on in 185 1 by Messrs. 
 J. V. Hollinshead and John Center, according to the approved 
 methods of the time; but as Mr. Center had never lived upon 
 the place, Father Fontaine seems to have thought that the title, 
 so far as there was any, belonged to Hollinshead; and so the 
 bargain was made with him and the property transferred by 
 him. With the land in his possession, it was time for Father 
 Fontaine to form plans for building. In those days Mr. Thomas 
 Dorland manufactured bricks at 18th and Guerrero Streets at 
 what was called the Mission Brick Yard. Building materials 
 were therefore close at hand. Mr. Michael Fennell was a 
 responsible builder and contractor; his services were called into 
 requisition and articles of agreement drawn up. 
 
 *** "Articles of Agreement between Michael Fennell of 
 the First Part, and Flavian Fontaine of the Second Part, both 
 of the City of San Francisco; viz: 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 53 
 
 Mr. Fennell of the first part agrees to erect a college 60 ft. by 
 30 ft., two stories high, to be done according to an agreement 
 made this day, penciled out on paper, to be finished in work- 
 manlike manner, for the sum of nine thousand dollars; and the 
 party of the second part agrees to pay the above sum of nine 
 thousand dollars, to be paid as follows: Twenty-five hundred 
 dollars whilst the building is in progress, and one thousand 
 immediately after the building is finished, and the remainder 
 on the first day of November next, at the rate of 2 per cent 
 per month; with the exception of the brick that Thomas Dor- 
 land is to furnish for the erection of the building; for which the 
 amount is to be taken out of the nine thousand dollars, and 
 Flavian Fontaine is to settle with the said Dorland for the 
 amount of brick, viz : eighteen dollars per thousand. 
 
 Mission Dolores, July 1st, 1853. 
 
 Witnesses, 
 
 Thomas Dorland, Michael Fennell, 
 
 J. B. Pretot, Flav. Fontaine." 
 
 This contract, written in a scrawling hand, gave birth to the 
 greater college, but at the same time, though this was unper- 
 ceived at the moment, doomed the institution to a speedy death. 
 
 The building, as will be seen from the drawing, was situated 
 north of the present 14th Street, which at that time had no 
 existence save on the city map, under the name of Tracy Street, 
 and was placed on rising ground about where Walter Street 
 now runs. A fine spring lower down on the hillside supplied 
 the institution with the best of water, and probably had much 
 to do with determining the choice of situation for the Catholic 
 College of Mission Dolores. This spring existed until a few 
 years ago, when, in the filling in of the property, it was covered 
 over and destroyed. 
 
 Thanks to the patient search of Mr. Charles B. Turrill 
 among the early photographs taken by Mr. C. E. Watkins, we 
 are able to present to our readers the college of Father Flavian. 
 In our view, we have merely eliminated from the photograph, 
 features of later introduction; for the photograph was taken 
 some years after the time of which we treat. The contract 
 for the building having been signed, the work soon com- 
 
54 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 menced, and with it Father Flavian's troubles. What ready- 
 money he had, seems to have been soon exhausted. On July 
 30th, he paid Fennell $400; on August 6th, he added $500 
 more. On August nth, he gave $220, and paid Dorland for 
 bricks $250. Then came the borrowing. On this same August 
 nth, to D. Jobson he gave his note for $2,000 at 4 per cent a 
 month until paid. 
 
 Mr. Jobson was a shrewd man in money matters, and doubt- 
 less knew the financial standing of his borrower: he, therefore, 
 required, as a condition of the loan, that the note should be 
 endorsed. Dona Ciprian, or Sibrian de Bernal, as we find the 
 name spelt, went security, and received in recompense her own 
 measure of woes. 
 
 Other payments followed until September 15th, when Father 
 Fontaine, hard pressed for money, gave his note for $2,350 to 
 Dona Carmen Ciprian, said note to run a year ; settled what debts 
 he could, for on that day he paid Fennell $400; abandoned a 
 project which had proved so disastrous, and left the city. There 
 was never any question of Father Fontaine's honesty nor sus- 
 picion that he did not intend to pay his debts. He was a good 
 man and a zealous priest ; but he erred in his business calculations. 
 He started to build a college, without having carefully reckoned 
 the cost, and unfortunately, as must inevitably happen, came to 
 grief. 
 
 On September 19th, Fennell filed in the office of the County 
 Recorder of the County of San Francisco, a mechanic's lien. It 
 was for the sum of $6,600, and purported to be for work, labor 
 and materials furnished the college near Mission Dolores, Flavian 
 Fontaine owner. Dorland followed next day with a similar lien 
 for $1,386. As these two liens amounted to $7,986 and Father 
 Fontaine had already paid Fennell and Dorland some $2,000, it 
 is evident that the building had already exceeded the $9,000 
 contracted for. 
 
 It was with much regret that Messrs. Fennell and Dorland 
 took the step just mentioned, for Michael Fennell was an excel- 
 lent Catholic, and Thomas Dorland, whose Catholic grandson 
 and namesake is at present a pupil of the college, was a fair- 
 minded Protestant and a friend of the Father ; but necessity com- 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 55 
 
 pelled the step, for it was the only means of shielding themselves 
 against loss. 
 
 At this stage of the proceedings Father Nobili entered into 
 the matter; and certainly, struggling as he was with the fearful 
 financial difficulties that beset him in Santa Clara, he must indeed 
 have had a heroic heart to take upon himself the burden of the 
 Mission College. On October 6th, he settled with Dorland and 
 Fennell, and so laid claim to the property. But these gentlemen 
 were only the first on Father Flavian's list of creditors, and natu- 
 rally each looked to the college for the payment of what was owed. 
 
 We subjoin a sample of the letters which Father Nobili 
 received, and the answer to it will reveal many details of the 
 transaction which we would otherwise never have known. 
 
 *** "San Francisco, Nov. 9th, 1853. 
 
 Rev. Father Nobili, 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 The bare signature of my letter would be an enigma 
 to you, did I not take the trouble to recall to your mind 
 the person indicated by the name signed to it. He who has the 
 honor of sending you this letter is the old proprietor of the French 
 and Spanish Bookstore on Washington Street. 
 
 I have been charged to solicit the payment of two notes 
 amounting to $270, signed by Father Flavian Fontaine and 
 made in favor of Mr. Charles Michael Trescartes, with inter- 
 est unpaid for seven months. 
 
 Rt. Rev. Bishop Alemany has suggested to me three ways of 
 obtaining payment: 
 
 To write to Father Flavian, rue Picpus, Paris ; 
 
 To enter suit against the property at Mission Dolores ; or 
 
 To come to an agreement with you. 
 
 As the precarious position of Mr. Trescartes does not permit 
 of the delays consequent on a demand on Paris; and as, on the 
 other hand, he would not like to sue for Father Flavian's debt; 
 Mr. Trescartes, before having recourse to other means, prefers 
 to write to you in a spirit of conciliation. 
 
 If it be not convenient for you to make immediate payment, 
 Mr. Trescartes would receive, as a most secure guarantee, a 
 promise from you. 
 
5 6 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 I shall feel highly honored by your answer, which you may 
 address either to Father Llebaria or to Messrs. Pronvalot and 
 Roux, Portsmouth House, Clay Street. 
 
 Believe, dear sir, the deep respect with which I am your most 
 humble and devoted servant, 
 
 Henry Ponier." 
 
 We have written the name Trescartes, for such seems evi- 
 dently the spelling of the writer of the letter. Father Nobili in 
 his answer gives the name as "Descartes" ; we waive the point, 
 for the particular name is of no interest to us. A prompt answer 
 was returned to the letter: 
 
 *** "Santa Clara, Nov. 14th, 1853. 
 
 Mr. Henry Ponier, 
 
 San Francisco, 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I have had the honor of receiving your letter of the 
 9th ult. I hasten to answer it. And, in the first place, I thank 
 you as well as Mr. Descartes for having preferred to address 
 me in a friendly spirit concerning the debt of $270 due your book- 
 store by Father Flavian. 
 
 In the second place, I would beg you to weigh carefully the 
 following considerations : 
 
 1 st. The title of Father Flavian to the land of the college, 
 so called, is of no value, seeing that it is that of a squatter; a 
 claim which the said Father Flavian had purchased half and 
 half with another American living at Mission Dolores. The other 
 titles better founded in law for the possession of the property, 
 have been ceded to me in person by the owners, in accordance with 
 an agreement which I have made with them. Among these titles 
 are those of Bolton and Barron, Palmer and Cook, and a sale 
 made by an Alcalde of San Francisco, declared legal by the late 
 decision of the Superior Court. In virtue of all these titles, I 
 have entered into possession of the land, which, consequently, 
 cannot be touched for the debts of Father Flavian. 
 
 2nd. Since I have taken possession of the land, I have had 
 a kitchen, on which I have spent considerable money, built on it ; 
 so that the kitchen, as well as the land, is my personal property. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 57 
 
 3rd. In the house built by Father Flavian, there is nothing 
 to attach, since it does not contain even a table or a chair. 
 
 4th. There remains, therefore, the brick building such as 
 Father Flavian has left it, and for which he agreed to pay the 
 architect about $10,000; of which sum, however, he has 
 paid but a comparatively small part. His debt with the 
 architect has, therefore, been the cause of his somewhat sudden 
 departure. 
 
 When this was known, several persons were on the point of 
 uniting to buy up the interests both of the architect of the build- 
 ing in question, and those of such as had furnished materials, and 
 of putting the house up at auction, that they might purchase it 
 for themselves, since architect and workmen had a lien upon it. 
 Had these speculators succeeded in carrying out their project, 
 you, dear sir, would, in all probability, have given up all hope 
 of ever getting back your $270, just as others who are in a like 
 fix would have done : since the amount realized at auction would 
 scarcely cover what was owed the workmen. 
 
 5th. If the house such as Father Flavian left it, namely, 
 without title to the land, were now to be put up at auction, you 
 would have, I think, less hope of recovering your money; for 
 since the time of which I have spoken, there has been presented 
 a note for some $4,500 in favor of Dona Carmen Ciprian, to 
 say nothing of other debts of Father Flavian which mount up to 
 more than $2,000. 
 
 6th. If you decide upon entering suit against the property 
 of Father Flavian, there is, according to the law which obtains 
 here, but one way of proceeding in order to obtain what you 
 desire, and that is to cite Father Flavian before the court. But, 
 as he is at present outside the State, you must wait six months to 
 give him time to appear in person or by his attorney, and you 
 must, meanwhile, bear the expense of the publication of the cita- 
 tion in the newspapers. If by the end of the six months he has 
 not put in an appearance, you are allowed to proceed against his 
 property, on which the workmen and the others who have already 
 taken steps to reimburse themselves have a prior claim. 
 
 Hence you see, dear sir, the uncertainty of your ever recover- 
 ing your money, even were you to wish to follow this method. 
 
58 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 7th. As to myself, I have no wish to proceed against Father 
 Flavian or the Congregation of Picpus, until I learn what they, 
 on their part, intend to do. I have merely purchased all the 
 rights of the workmen, in order, if possible, to save the house, 
 until I learn their good pleasure. You see, therefore, dear sir, 
 that by my purchase of the rights of the workmen, I have not 
 undertaken to settle all the legal debts contracted by Father 
 Flavian, nor have I taken his affairs into my hands. As his Lord- 
 ship, the Bishop, and others whom I begged to save the building 
 for the Church, were not in a condition to do so, I have exerted 
 myself to prevent the evil that would follow were the structure 
 to fall into other hands. 
 
 8th. However, I am not overinterested in the matter; and, 
 if the sum total of Father Flavian's debts runs up too high, I 
 shall certainly put up the house at auction. I, for my part, shall 
 get back what money I have spent, the others and yourselves, 
 dear sirs, must take your chances. Before, however, proceeding 
 to such extremity, the law allows me eight months. Meanwhile 
 (I pray you, dear sir, to consider well this determination of 
 mine) that, if the debts of Father Flavian do not exceed too much 
 the value of the house, I shall, out of regard for the justice of 
 your case, and because such is the desire of His Lordship, the 
 Bishop, and such has been my own from the beginning, when, 
 at the prayers of my friends I took control of matters, I shall, 1 
 say, settle one by one the debts contracted by Father Flavian, 
 when I shall have canceled my own debt contracted in purchas- 
 ing the rights of the workmen. To do this, however, will require 
 time and patience, for I cannot work miracles in order to get 
 together so much money all at once. 
 
 I would therefore beg you, as well as the others, not to press 
 the larger debts. Your risk will not be a whit greater than it is 
 now if the house be put up at auction. I must, moreover, exam- 
 ine the debts themselves. I shall be in San Francisco, if I mis- 
 take not, about Christmas, as my duties will not permit me to go 
 sooner. I shall then have the pleasure of seeing you and Mr. 
 Descartes, and of arranging matters in a friendly spirit and for 
 the best. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 59 
 
 Thanking you again for the sentiments of confidence 
 expressed in your letter, and begging the favor of a word in 
 answer to the present, I have the honor of being 
 
 Your devoted servant, 
 
 John Nobili, S. J." 
 
 While all this was taking place, Father Accolti was in Rome 
 on his visit to the General of the Society of Jesus. What he 
 himself would have done, had he been in California, we do not 
 know. Judgments formed at a distance and judgments formed 
 on the spot are frequently quite different. We learn, however, 
 from his Memorial that he did not entirely approve of Father 
 Nobili's action. He is giving the General an account of the 
 assets of Santa Clara College: 
 
 ** "To these," he says, "should be added a brick house 
 with twelve acres of land near Mission Dolores, and three miles 
 from San Francisco. This land had been taken up by a Father 
 who thought that it was land open to occupancy, and who built 
 upon it a commodious house in which he started a college. But, 
 as he could not meet his obligations, he left the city and went 
 to Panama, where he died. As his creditors were about to sell 
 the house and land, Father Nobili was persuaded by various 
 friends, and even by the Bishop, to purchase it, certain, as he was, 
 that in time this property would be of immense value, and a site 
 on which, in the future, a college might be built. 
 
 This happened precisely at the time that I was in Rome, and 
 your Paternity handed me the letter in which Father Nobili com- 
 municated to me the news; which news I, in turn, immediately 
 imparted to your Paternity. This property in the vicinity of the 
 Mission of Sorrows (Dolores) has been to us a source of many 
 sorrows ; for, from that time up to the present, various claimants 
 have presented themselves, with whom, in order to avoid law- 
 suits, we have had to make various onerous compromises, so that 
 at different times we have had to pay sums which, all told, would 
 amount to $10,000; this added to the $11,000 which Father 
 Nobili paid originally, would run the price of the property up to 
 $21,000." 
 
 The reader will again note some inaccuracies in Father 
 Accolti's statement, as, e. g., the 12 acres of land (there were 
 
60 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 only 8 1/5) ; the actual starting of the college; and the occupancy 
 of the land by the Father, whereas he had bought the place of 
 Hollinshead. Father Accolti is nearer the truth when he treats 
 of the amount that the property cost Father Nobili. How much 
 the latter actually paid before he was through with Father 
 Flavian's creditors we do not know; but we have a partial sum- 
 ming up in his own handwriting, and it runs beyond the $11,000 
 stated by Father Accolti. 
 
 Having settled with Fennell and Dorland on October 6th, 
 Father Nobili leased to Francois Robin, for three months, the 
 vegetable garden that occupied the southern part of the prop- 
 erty. Of this Robin and his amiable spouse we shall hear 
 more anon. 
 
 We have sought, but sought in vain, to learn under what 
 conditions Father Nobili opened his school, the day of open- 
 ing, the number of pupils, the teachers, etc.; records are com- 
 pletely lacking. The beginnings were certainly humble, for 
 the college was not a success; and we are inclined to think that 
 Father Francis Veyret, who was sent from Santa Clara to 
 be its president, was its only teacher. The time of opening 
 would naturally be about the beginning of 1854. In Father 
 Nobili's letter of November 14th, 1853, addressed to Mr. 
 Ponier, we are told that the building was finished and the 
 kitchen built; but the brick walls would require some time to 
 dry before being ready for occupancy; and money for furnish- 
 ing, considering the heavy drain on Father Nobili's purse, 
 would not be so easily forthcoming. We know that Father 
 Veyret was at Mission Dolores on January 25th, 1854, for on 
 that day we find him witnessing to the lease renewed by Robin; 
 earlier than this, in connection with our present subject, we can- 
 not trace him. 
 
 In placing Father Veyret at the head of the institution, 
 Father Nobili had done everything in his power to ensure 
 success, but this, alas ! is not always proportioned to effort. A 
 college building of two stories standing out prominently on a 
 hillside was certainly, for the time of which we write, imposing 
 enough; but it was difficult of access and had little level ground 
 around it for the games of boyhood. We must not think of 
 the Mission Dolores of to-day, an integral part of San Fran- 
 

 . 
 
 . 
 
 iW?^ 
 
 FATHER FRANCIS VEYRET, S. J. 
 
 ■MBBi 
 
 J 
 
 MISSION DOLORES 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 61 
 
 cisco, and easily reached by car from any portion of the city, 
 and vainly imagine that such was the Mission of half a century 
 ago. Market Street was stopped at Third and Kearny by bar- 
 riers of sand. The traveler to the Mission had to take the stage 
 down Third to Mission Street, then out over a road of planks 
 skirting sand hill after sand hill, until tired and sore with plunge, 
 and jolt, and bump, he reached his destination. The road to 
 the college began about four hundred feet north of the Mission 
 buildings, with many a turn winding its narrow way through 
 the sand and brush. 
 
 Father Francis Veyret was born at St. Pierre le Bceuf, 
 diocese of Lyons, March 6th, 1823. Ordained a secular priest, 
 he sought the humble ministry of the foreign missions, and was 
 sent to Oregon. The date of his entrance into the Society of 
 Jesus is uncertain; March 19th, 1851, being the most probable. 
 He was, therefore, either a novice or he had lately completed 
 his novitiate, when appointed to rule over the destinies of the 
 new college. We shall see that his stay here lasted about a 
 year. He was then recalled to Santa Clara, where he spent the 
 remainder of his life, with the exception of the scholastic year, 
 1 878- 1 879, during which he filled the chair of mental philosophy 
 in St. Ignatius College. His whole life as a Jesuit was mainly 
 spent in the classroom, and for years he was prefect in the 
 senior students' dormitory in Santa Clara. This unpleasant 
 duty was yearly the subject of his petition to Superiors when, 
 owing to his age, they should have relieved him of the burden. 
 He would sacrifice himself to spare others, and hide to the best 
 of his ability a rare spirit of self-denial. His piety was as 
 unobtrusive as sincere, the chief objects of his solicitude being 
 the poor of Christ. Day by day, when college duties were over, 
 he was at their bedside, soothing them with his words of com- 
 fort, and cheering them with his genial smile; and the basket 
 which he carried concealed beneath his cloak, brought solace 
 to the poor body of the sufferer, while his tender zeal omitted 
 nothing that could help an anxious soul. He died on Decem- 
 ber 10th, 1879, after many months of acute suffering borne with 
 saintly patience. 
 
 But let us return to our Mission College. On February 
 8th, 1854, Father Nobili entered suit against Father Fontaine 
 
62 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 to recover the money spent in satisfying the claims of Fennell 
 and Dorland. The object of the action was to obtain a legal 
 title to the property. We can easily imagine that his new 
 troubles and trials were little to his taste; and only the thought 
 that his sacrifices were for the best interests of the Church 
 could have reconciled him to his thankless task. How the 
 matter weighed on him is revealed by his letters to his lawyer. 
 
 *** "Santa Clara, June 2nd, 1854. 
 
 To W. Hart, Esq., 
 
 San Francisco, Cal. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I send you, as requested, the notes for Dona Carmen. 
 Please see how it should be with her. I hope now to see 
 the whole affair of the Mission College concluded in a short 
 time . . . unless some other claim should be raised against 
 my poor purchase. . . . 
 
 Your affectionate servant, 
 
 John Nobili, S. J." 
 
 *** "Santa Clara, June 28th, 1854. 
 
 To W. Hart, Esq., 
 
 San Francisco, Cal. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 . . . As to the purchase of the judgment against 
 Flavian Fontaine ... it comes at a bad time. The 
 parents of the boys who owe me money do not even answer my 
 letters. I have just now not even fifty dollars to dispose of. 
 . . . Please urge the matter of the Mission College with 
 as much speed as possible, or else, I fear, it will derange my 
 finances and ruin me. . . . Please tell me when it will 
 be concluded. 
 
 Your affectionate servant, 
 
 John Nobili, S. J." 
 
 The judgment of which the letter speaks was a decision of 
 the court against Father Fontaine in favor of George Scarpa 
 for $417.67. Father Nobili forwarded the money, paying in 
 part by an order on J. D. Carr, and in part by money borrowed 
 from Mr. Forbes. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 63 
 
 On September 21st, 1854, he won his suit against Father 
 Fontaine, who, naturally, did not contest it, and who, if he 
 knew of the transaction, must have rejoiced to know that his 
 debts were being paid. On October 16th, the sheriff, to satisfy 
 the judgment rendered, put the house up at auction and Father 
 Nobili, the highest bidder, bought it for $50. Thus the college 
 was at last legally his after a year of ceaseless worry and ex- 
 pense; but neither worry nor expense were yet to end for what 
 Father Accolti had rightly called "A College of Sorrows." 
 Only a week was to pass before Father Veyret would close the 
 establishment; and once closed, it was never to be reopened. 
 The following letter is self-explanatory, and was the bearer of 
 news which, while doubtless not unforeseen, was certainly not 
 palatable. 
 
 *** "Mission Dolores, Oct. 22nd, 1854. 
 
 Reverend and dear Father: 
 
 I send you Victor and the big Miranda. If your Reverence 
 wishes to know the reasons, they are the following: 
 
 1st. As I am alone here and it is necessary for me to be 
 frequently absent, I am forced to leave the boys all by them- 
 selves, a thing which surely cannot be much to your liking. 
 
 2nd. They did not wish to help me sufficiently in the 
 kitchen, and in keeping the house clean; and I am not in the 
 humor to do all the cleaning by myself, to bring them wood 
 and water, and wash the dishes, unless you order me to exer- 
 cise humility a little, a virtue which is not over strong in me. 
 
 3rd. We had six mouths to feed, and all ate like ogres; 
 and only two paid, rarely in cash and often in promises. Now 
 you do not wish me to run up expenses to the detriment of 
 your interests. 
 
 I send the others to their homes for the same reasons, and 
 remain alone like a hermit, ready to continue so for three years if 
 you wish it, without asking a cent of you, and only begging a 
 mass, from time to time, to buy a few roots. 
 
 If you do not know where to put these two fine fellows, put 
 them in the place that you would have given me had you kept 
 me with you. 
 
 Pray the good God, I beg you, to make me a holy solitary. 
 Your affectionate servant in the Sacred Heart, 
 
 F. Veyret, S. J." 
 
64 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Any one that has known the jovial, sunny nature of Father 
 Veyret and his droll humor, will appreciate the spirit in which 
 his letter was written, and his offer to turn hermit and live on 
 roots. His humility would easily have stood any demands made 
 upon it, had the continuance of the college been in any way 
 feasible. But disguise the fact as he might, the fact was never- 
 theless there, that six healthy, growing boys that ate like ogres, 
 could not be fed even on the fairest promises, and so the college 
 had to close its doors. Another letter equally interesting was, 
 on the same day, penned to Father Nobili by Father Veyret. 
 
 *** Mission Dolores, Oct. 22nd, 1854. 
 
 Dear Reverend Father: 
 
 I have tried to pump Mr. Robin in order to find out what 
 he thought on the subject of which you spoke to me. He 
 asked two or three days to think the matter over before answer- 
 ing how much we would have to give him before he would 
 relinquish the part of the property which he holds. I foresee 
 that this will be a considerable sum. 
 
 In conversing with his wife who is somewhat more sly and 
 glib of tongue, I have found out something. She told me that 
 they were more than once advised to make themselves inde- 
 pendent of us and of Mr. Santerre, the American in question; 
 that they had at least the right to the other side of the garden, 
 since they had been the sole possessors of it for three years. 
 
 I urged your contract with them. She answered that this 
 contract did not specify limits, and spoke only of the land known 
 as the property of the college; that this property of the college 
 could be understood as half of the whole, because Father 
 Flavian and Mr. Santerre had squatted on the land or bought 
 the title of another squatter. Mr. Santerre had one half and 
 the college, the other half. And as Mr. Santerre had never 
 lived on his half, they alone, if they so wished, had the right 
 to appropriate it. 
 
 So, dear Reverend Father, if they are rogues, I see no other 
 way for us to settle with them than by making a new lease with 
 Robin in which he will recognize you as owner of the entire 
 property. He would accept the lease for a specified time, pro- 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 6$ 
 
 vided it were sufficiently long, say a year and a half or two 
 years. But you cannot give him this assurance unless the 
 other claimants to the land would, in virtue of a preceding 
 lease which you would obtain from them, allow you the use of 
 the property for the same fixed period. But, then, this very 
 lease would involve the danger of recognizing these claimants 
 as owners of the land; so that if their title to the property were 
 rejected by the commission, we would, at the same time, forfeit 
 our own. This lease, it seems to me, ought to contain a clause 
 which would obviate the danger. If all this were done in due 
 and proper form, it might, I believe, guarantee you your rights. 
 But you can discuss this matter with some lawyer, for I know 
 nothing of law. 
 
 Yours most affectionately, 
 
 F. Veyretv, S. J. 
 
 P. S. — Four or five hours after writing my letter, I had to 
 break the seal, to let you know that Madame Robin, whom 
 her husband had consulted, came to tell me that he would not 
 sell you his vegetables, nor give the place up to you, since it 
 belonged neither to him nor to you, but to Mr. Santerre, who 
 had placed him there and who ordered him to improve the 
 land until further notice: that the agreement which he had 
 made with you, did not regard and could not regard anything 
 but the part belonging to the college. 
 
 So that this answer changes the whole aspect of affairs. It 
 is very probable that they will also refuse to recognize Mr. 
 Santerre. They have as much right as he has; and every one 
 for his own interests." 
 
 We doubt whether our readers have recognized in the Mr. 
 Santerre of Father Veyret and Madame Robin, the American 
 John Center, who in 1851, with Hollinshead, had squatted on 
 the land. Yet so it is. Santerre is the phonetic French of 
 Center. It seems, therefore, that though Mr. Center had 
 never personally lived upon the land, he had placed Robin and 
 wife there to safeguard his interests, for Robin in 1854 speaks 
 of three years' occupancy. How the affair of the lease was set- 
 tled with the latter we are left in ignorance, but, on November 
 
66 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 nth, the desired lease was an accomplished fact. It was made 
 between Robin and Father Veyret On January 3rd, 1855, the 
 brick building, for a nominal sum, was leased to William Smith. 
 
 Doubtless, Father Nobili would now have driven all 
 thoughts of Mission Dolores from his mind, and stopped a 
 drain on his purse which, he himself has told us, threatened to 
 bankrupt him, but things were to be otherwise. On March 
 7th the roof needed repairing, and this called for $130; other 
 incidental expenses ran the bill up to $184, which the good 
 Father paid as best he could, for as he tells lawyer Hart, the 
 parents of pupils who owed him money would not even answer 
 his letters. Thus did brave Father Nobili labor and suffer, 
 until a premature death by lockjaw on March 1st, 1856, ended a 
 life of piety and zeal. For him the vicissitudes of life were 
 over; not so for the purchase which had added so many jewels 
 to his crown. 
 
 On November 22nd, 1862, John Center sold to Wm. Scott 
 the portion leased by Robin, and containing about four and 
 one-half acres, claiming the property in virtue of joint owner- 
 ship with Hollinshead. The case was taken to court and 
 decided in Center's favor; so that in spite of Father Nobili's 
 prudent foresight, the more valuable part of the property passed 
 out of the hands of his successors. The partition of the prop- 
 erty took place November 28th, 1865. 
 
 The brick building, the original cause of all the trouble, 
 never came to any good. Neglected, it fell into decay, and, we 
 are told, was ultimately destroyed by fire. 
 
 What bricks remained disappeared little by little, according 
 as thrifty neighbors found use for them, and even the memory 
 of Father Flavian's college has become a thing of the forgotten 
 past. 
 
 After the partition of the property, the portion still remain- 
 ing to Santa Clara College, as successor to Father Nobili, was 
 by various agreements brought into conformity with adjacent 
 streets : Fourteenth Street was run through it, as was also Walter 
 Street from Fourteenth to Thirteenth. A portion of this prop- 
 erty was sold in the early Nineties, and the remainder was dis- 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 67 
 
 posed of by a recent sale, in order to enable Santa Clara College 
 to supply itself with a new home. As will be seen in the views 
 presented, neat residences have sprung up as if by magic on 
 the spot, the lives and fortunes of others are now linked around 
 it, and nothing remains to call up the memories of the past; 
 but we gladly give in our pages a place to the story of the 
 "College of Sorrows," for if less successful than the second 
 foundation, the present St. Ignatius, it was the fruit of similar 
 zeal and equal sacrifice. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 SegumuupB: IS55--ISB2. 
 
 Having in the foregoing chapters set forth the right of the 
 Society of Jesus to a home in the Archdiocese ; and having traced, 
 so far as documents would permit, the birth, infancy and prema- 
 ture death of the college at Mission Dolores, we are now pre- 
 pared to take up the story of the present institution, destined in 
 the designs of Providence for a happier fate. 
 
 The man marked out to begin the work was Father Anthony 
 Maraschi, S. J., and to him was granted the grace, given to so 
 few, of seeing the happy completion of his project, before, ripe 
 with the merits of long years of toil, he was to lay down the bur- 
 den he had so worthily helped to bear. The task of establishing 
 a church and college in San Francisco in the early Fifties called 
 for maturity of judgment, since the selection of site was of para- 
 mount importance. It required tireless energy, for difficulties 
 were manifold and great. It demanded a firm will and a heart 
 unshaken in its trust in Providence; and it found these to the 
 full in that patient soul that could work and wait in trustfulness 
 and prayer, doing to-day all that the present hour permitted, and 
 confidingly leaving to the morrow the accomplishment of all that 
 the present day denied. 
 
 He was a member of the staff of Loyola College, Baltimore, 
 where for two years he had professed mental philosophy, when 
 the order reached him to depart for California's distant shores. 
 The Turin Province, to which he belonged, had, as we have seen, 
 accepted charge of the Mission, and, naturally, despatched first 
 of all to the new field of labor, such of its members as were 
 already in America, seeing that these were the nearest and best 
 fitted to promote the work. Father Maraschi left Baltimore on 
 September 27th, 1854, and journeyed to New York. Here he 
 was joined by Father Charles Messea, who, the preceding schol- 
 astic year, had taught chemistry in the University of St. Louis, 
 and had zealously employed himself in the works of the ministry. 
 A third completed the band in the person of Father Aloysius 
 
 69 
 
yo THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Masnata, a finished classical scholar, who had taught rhetoric 
 with success to the Jesuit students at Frederick, Maryland. 
 
 On the 8th of October, after bidding farewell to their 
 Brethren, many of whom would gladly have joined them in 
 their pioneer expedition to the Golden West, they were soon 
 steaming out of the harbor of New York and ploughing the 
 stormy Atlantic on their way to Aspinwall. Over the Isthmus in 
 company with a throng of restless gold-seekers they traveled, 
 and soon were out on the bosom of the broad Pacific, with prow 
 pointing northward to their future home. The voyage was 
 uneventful, and on November ist the steamship, in all the pride 
 of steamships of these early days, entering at the Golden Gate, 
 swept on past the Presidio and the low-lying shore between it and 
 North Point, until, rounding Telegraph Hill, it anchored in front 
 of San Francisco. 
 
 Father Maraschi and his companions, therefore, were only 
 some ten days' journey by sea from their destination, when 
 Father Veyret, convinced that a diet of roots, paid for, was much 
 more to his taste than one more pretentious, but to purchase which 
 he received from his pupils nothing but empty promises, dis- 
 persed his six ogres and closed the classic halls of Mission 
 Dolores. Doubtless he knew nothing of the coming addition to 
 the number of Jesuits in California, or he would have at least 
 deferred action. As it was, the Fathers on their arrival, found 
 the Society of Jesus without a residence in San Francisco. 
 
 On landing, the band separated. Fathers Masnata and 
 Messea went to teach in Santa Clara ; Father Maraschi remained 
 in San Francisco. That Mission Dolores and its prospects 
 had no charm for him is evidenced by the fact that he never 
 attempted to reopen the abandoned establishment. He judged 
 with the other Fathers, and judged rightly, that in the educational 
 situation in 1854, and for many years afterwards, one boarding 
 college for boys would amply supply for the needs of the northern 
 part of the State ; that Santa Clara afforded better facilities than 
 did Mission Dolores ; that divided energies and increased expenses 
 would harm both institutions to the evident detriment of religion 
 and education; that the prime need of the future Queen City of 
 the Pacific would be first-class day colleges; and, consequently, 
 towards the establishment of one of these he toiled and waited 
 
FATHER ANTHONY MARASCHI, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE yi 
 
 in hopeful patience, until Providence, in its own sweet way and 
 time, would render the project feasible. 
 
 The first appointment of Father Maraschi in San Francisco, 
 was as assistant in St. Francis Church, Vallejo Street; and from 
 its marriage register we learn that on November 19th, 1854, he 
 was already engaged in the exercise of his sacred ministry. 
 From this date until January 1st, 1855, his name is of frequent 
 occurrence in both baptismal and marriage registers; for if 
 anything was repugnant to the character of Father Maraschi, 
 it was inactivity. 
 
 1855. 
 
 In the very first days of 1855 he was transferred to St. 
 Patrick's Church as assistant to Father Maginnis. St. Patrick's at 
 that time stood on Market Street near Third, and was on the west- 
 ern outskirts of the city. Here for seven months he labored zeal- 
 ously, as the records from January 9th to July 8th show, sparing 
 himself in nothing, and endearing himself to all with whom he 
 came in contact. 
 
 It is true that San Francisco had changed somewhat from 
 earlier days. "In 1849," says Hittell in his History of San 
 Francisco, page 146, "the town covered an area of about half a 
 mile square, the boundaries being California, Powell and Val- 
 lejo Streets, and the water line, which for nearly a quar- 
 ter of a mile south of Jackson Street was near Montgomery. 
 Many of the people lived in tents, and most of the remainder 
 in shanties or mere shells of houses. The tents and shanties 
 were in some places built along the sides of trails or roads over 
 the hills, without regard to the lines of the streets. The hill 
 from Vallejo to California Street, above Stockton, had much 
 chaparral. There was no grading, planking or paving in any 
 of the streets; nor was there any wharf extending out to deep 
 water. There were two small wharves, one about seventy feet 
 long between Sacramento and California, its outer end being 
 west of Sansome Street and having five feet of water at low 
 tide; the other perhaps thirty feet long, on Commercial Street, 
 with not more than two feet of water at low tide at its outer 
 end. This smaller wharf was used mainly for rowboats. The 
 chief landing place, besides the wharves, was at Clark's Point, 
 
72 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 near the intersection of Broadway and Battery Streets, where 
 the deep water came up close to the rocky shore. The beach 
 along the front of the town was sticky mud; south of Pine 
 Street it was sand." 
 
 What Hittell has described in words, our readers have 
 already had presented to them in the early views of our city. 
 The accompanying half-tone is from a photograph of later date 
 but will well illustrate some of the improvements of which I 
 am about to speak. 
 
 Chief of these had been the filling in of this shallow bay 
 which had left so little habitable land between its shores and 
 the rugged hillsides. First in 1850 came the wharf building 
 era in which Market, California, Sacramento, Clay, Washing- 
 ton, Jackson and Pacific Streets reached out into the water with 
 an aggregate length of 6,000 feet. Then came the era of 
 filling in. 
 
 "Soon after the wharf builders began their march out into 
 the bay," continued Hittell, page 165, "the graders started to 
 follow, crowding upon their heels. The first filling in of a 
 water lot was done by Captain Folsom, on California Street, 
 west of the site of the present Bank of California; and although 
 the work was extremely expensive, it was immediately recog- 
 nized as a good investment, and others imitated the example. 
 After the wharves were built out on Clay and the parallel streets 
 into the bay, it was found convenient to build cross streets on 
 piles, thus enclosing the blocks, and in more than a score of 
 instances shutting in old hulks that had long been dismantled 
 and had been used as store-houses. Of these the Niantic sub- 
 sequently became the most notable. She measured four hun- 
 dred and fifty tons and was hauled up at high water to the lot 
 on the northwest corner of Sansome and Clay Streets. Her 
 masts were taken out, her rigging and some of her ballast re- 
 moved, piles were driven on each side to keep her from listing, 
 and she was used for storing merchandise." 
 
 A good idea of the work accomplished may be gained from 
 a map of San Francisco copied from that of Josiah J. Le Count 
 and published in Wheeler's Report on Land Titles in San 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 73 
 
 Francisco, Cal., 1852; but great as the improvement was in 
 itself, and justly proud of it as the people were in those days, 
 to us, who at present see a mighty city creeping up and over 
 the distant hills, and reaching out toward the ocean, the exten- 
 sion of five or six blocks toward the water front, cannot seem 
 what it seemed to the early pioneers. The difference of shading 
 will indicate the water lots and those on the adjacent shore. 
 
 But while the city was thus extending toward the east, 
 moving rapidly on at the imperative command of commerce, 
 and while both northward and southward the residence portion 
 had somewhat spread, the buildings on Kearny and Third 
 Streets formed, in part, the western boundary to the city's 
 population, for where the two met, Market Street ended, and 
 beyond was the wilderness of sand. 
 
 St. Francis Church, Vallejo Street, ministered to the spir- 
 itual wants of the northern portion of the city; St. Mary's 
 Cathedral in 1855, to those of the central; St. Patrick's, to those 
 of the southern; any new church that sought to establish itself, 
 must seek a location amid the sand dunes to the west. 
 
 In a growing city, a start cannot be made too soon. A 
 congregation may not exist, but it can be built up. So thought 
 Father Maraschi. He therefore applied to His Grace, the Most 
 Rev. Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O. P., for the necessary permission 
 to build a church and college, and received a favorable answer. 
 It is said that when the Father asked the Archbishop to desig- 
 nate the spot, His Grace answered with a sweep of his hand 
 toward the unoccupied lands, "Any place over there." This 
 was in the spring of 1855. 
 
 The choice of location was soon made. Though Market 
 Street, as we have said, reached only to Third, and the ever 
 shifting barriers shut out, for the time being, its further progress, 
 the lie of the city said plainly to the careful eye of Father 
 Maraschi, "This street is certain to be the main artery of a fine 
 city. Time and energy are needed; but time will pass and the 
 needed energy will be awakened; here build and wait." 
 
 Outside San Francisco proper, as represented by its popu- 
 lation, a lot therefore was chosen. It was a hundred-vara lot, 
 i. e. one 275 feet square. It was situated on the south side of 
 
74 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Market Street, midway between Fourth and Fifth, as shown 
 upon the city map, for as yet these streets were not graded, 
 nor, in that vicinity, as yet open to traffic. The lot was num- 
 bered 127 and owned by Thomas O. Larkin. It was in a hollow 
 between sand hills, though the narrow depression had been 
 dignified with the name of St. Ann's Valley. The width of 
 this so-called valley was naturally very irregular, owing to the 
 constant drifting of the sand. Sometimes it narrowed greatly 
 as the piles of sand encroached upon it; sometimes it widened 
 out as on the Lick property which extended east from Father 
 Maraschi's purchase to Fourth Street. To conceive the place, 
 however, as a valley in the ordinary sense of the word, is to 
 misconceive it. It was for the most part a comparatively 
 narrow passage between the hills. 
 
 A deed was therefore drawn up on April 27th, 1855, in 
 which Thomas O. Larkin and Rachel Larkin, his wife, turned 
 over the property to Rev. Nicholas Congiato, Superior of the 
 Jesuit Missions of California and Oregon. The transfer of the 
 property, however, did not actually take place until May 1st, 
 when the price agreed upon was paid. The consideration stated 
 in the deed is $11,500. 
 
 Father Maraschi, who made the purchase, had no money of 
 his own, but Messrs. Marzion & Co. had; money that in needed 
 quantities and at the ordinary rate of i l / 2 per cent a month, 
 they were willing, on good security, to loan the Father. On this 
 1st of May, therefore, 1855, the accounts of St. Ignatius Church 
 and College were opened with $11,500 of debt. 
 
 On the day following, Father Congiato, who had arrived on 
 the 8th of December previously, by a new deed, turned the 
 property over to Father Maraschi ; and happy that a solid begin- 
 ning had been made, he soon after set out to pay an official visit 
 to the northern Missions. 
 
 What order or orders of architecture should be employed 
 in the construction of the new buildings was not a matter that, 
 in these early times, bothered Father Maraschi; a plain gable 
 roof on four plain walls, neat and decent in every particular, 
 formed the common type of all the buildings, and soon lumber 
 was on the ground, and the work on the church commenced. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 75 
 
 What ornamentation there was, was on the front of the church. 
 The 15th of July was selected for the dedication; the clergy 
 of the city and vicinity were invited ; His Grace, the Most Rev. 
 Archbishop, consented to deliver the sermon ; and crowds of the 
 faithful trudged over the sand hills, beneath the warm summer 
 sun, to show their appreciation of energy which was undaunted 
 by difficulties. A newspaper of the day contains the following 
 account of the ceremony: 
 
 *** "DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF ST. IGNATIUS. 
 
 The impressive ceremony of the blessing of the church of 
 St. Ignatius, on Market Street between Fourth and Fifth 
 Streets, took place last Sunday. An impressive sermon was 
 delivered by Right Rev. Bishop Alemany, who referred to the 
 services of the Jesuits 157 years ago. It will be remembered 
 that the first occupation of California by the Spanish Govern- 
 ment was in 1683; and that afterwards in 1697, Father J. M. de 
 Salvatierra, Francis M. Piccolo and Father Kino became the 
 pioneers of the cross upon these shores, and succeeded in estab- 
 lishing several missions." 
 
 The name of the paper from which the above is taken does 
 not accompany the clipping which we have transcribed; hence 
 we are unable to refer the information to its source. Another 
 paper contains the following more complete and elaborate 
 account : 
 
 *** "dedication of a new catholic church. 
 
 On Sunday last, the new Catholic Church of St. Ignatius, 
 near the junction of Stockton and Market Streets, was solemnly 
 opened for divine service. It is a frame building about seventy- 
 five feet long by thirty-five feet wide, and presents a neat and 
 tasteful appearance. It is plastered on the inside and fitted up 
 with pews which can accommodate nearly four hundred persons. 
 There is also a small gallery. 
 
 The ceremony of dedication was performed by the Most 
 Rev. Archbishop Alemany, D. D., assisted by Revs. John Nobili, 
 S. J., D. Salari, S. J., U. Grassi, S. J., J. Caredda, S. J., and the 
 pastor of the church, A. Maraschi, S. J. 
 
 After the dedication, High Mass was celebrated, accom- 
 panied by very fine music, and the Most Rev. Archbishop 
 
?6 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 delivered an impressive discourse in which he spoke in the 
 most eulogistic terms of the zeal and labors of the Jesuits in 
 propagating the gospel throughout every part of the world, 
 but more especially in California. He expatiated on their 
 labors, and took occasion to animadvert on the ingratitude 
 that they received, and the myriad calumnies with which they 
 were assailed by the pulpit and the press, while engaged in 
 extending the Kingdom of Christ. But in this respect, said 
 the Archbishop, they do not fare worse than their Crucified 
 Lord whose example they follow 'in going about doing good.' 
 There was a large attendance on the occasion, a consider- 
 able portion of whom were ladies. Mass will be celebrated in 
 the church every morning except Sunday, at 6 and half past 7 
 o'clock; and on Sundays at the usual hours. Vespers will be 
 sung every Sunday at half past 5 in the afternoon. The pastor, 
 Rev. A. Maraschi, speaks the English, French, Spanish, Italian 
 and German languages." 
 
 The first assistant of Father Maraschi was Father Joseph 
 Bixio, though we have been unable to ascertain the exact date 
 when the appointment was made. We think that it was shortly 
 after the blessing of the church. Father Bixio had arrived in 
 California in the early part of July in company with Fathers 
 Joseph Caredda, Urban Grassi and Alphonsus Biglione. The 
 last three were attached to the faculty of Santa Clara; Father 
 Bixio was assigned to St. Ignatius. 
 
 Three months have quickly sped by and residence and 
 college are completed, or perhaps we should say, residence 
 and academy, for it is under this name that we first find the 
 latter advertised. It was a plain but decent frame building 
 situated behind the church and about twenty feet from it. In 
 length, the academy was about forty feet; and in width, about 
 twenty-five or thirty feet; and consisted of one large room. 
 Mr. John Haley, a young Irishman, constituted its first staff 
 of professors. The institution opened its doors for the recep- 
 tion of pupils on Monday, October 15th, 1855, anc * on that day 
 we find Richard McCabe enrolled as the first pupil. Other 
 pupils doubtless there were, but record of them has perished. 
 With the multiplicity of duties that pressed upon Father 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE yy 
 
 Maraschi, we can only be astonished that he has left us any 
 record at all of the happenings of those busy days; but it may 
 be, too, that in the change and rechange of residence and 
 church, and in the various cleaning-up processes in which what 
 seems to be old rubbish finds its way into the fire, much that 
 Father Maraschi had set down, may have been unwittingly 
 destroyed or lost. 
 
 The residence consisted of two rooms and a kitchen, with 
 a low garret running the whole length of the house. It was 
 somewhat back from the line of Market Street, and westward 
 of church and academy. In it lived Fathers Maraschi, Bixio 
 and Brother Isabella; Mr. Haley had more palatial quarters in 
 the schoolroom. 
 
 The catalogue of the Turin Province of the Society of 
 Jesus puts down both Father Bixio and Father Accolti as 
 assistants to Father Maraschi. It is doubtful, however, whether 
 both were ever helpers at the same time. Father Bixio con- 
 tinued to assist in St. Ignatius until January 23rd, 1856, at 
 which date he was transferred to Santa Clara. Before this, we 
 have no record of Father Accolti as assistant pastor at the little 
 church on Market Street, but soon after, mention of him is 
 frequent. 
 
 On March 2nd, he went from the city to Santa Clara to attend 
 the funeral of his old friend and companion, Father Nobili, and 
 returned to his field of labor on the 5th. On the 17th of the 
 month, he and Brother Albert Weyringer were witnesses at a 
 marriage performed by Father Maraschi; and so on, date after 
 date could be given, proving his residence in San Francisco. 
 
 While Father Bixio was assistant to Father Maraschi, he 
 attended the Mission station at Redwood City ; and probably the 
 greater nearness of this place to Santa Clara was one of the deter- 
 mining motives for his removal to Santa Clara early in 1856. 
 
 1856. 
 On the 9th of January of this year, Brother Albert Weyringer, 
 who, thank God, is still with us to give us an account of the 
 infancy of church and college, became a member of the little 
 community on Market Street, leaving it again for Santa Clara on 
 May 23rd, following. 
 
78 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 "We lived," he says, "in a hole surrounded by sand hills. 
 Towards the city, which was some distance to the east, and from 
 which we were cut off by barriers of sand, there was but one 
 house, and that the shanty of a milkman on the adjoining lot. 
 Westward there was the Lincoln School standing out consider- 
 ably into what is now Market Street, but during my residence in 
 St. Ignatius the buildings were unoccupied. 
 
 Behind us rose a sand hill which sloped again towards Mis- 
 sion Street, and served as neutral territory between our college 
 and a public school which had been built there. This neutral 
 ground, however, was often invaded from the school mentioned, 
 for a Jesuit in cap and cassock was a rare object of curiosity to 
 the children of those days in San Francisco ; and, perched on the 
 hilltop, they surveyed the scene below, making Father Maraschi 
 the butt of many a remark, much to the mortification of their 
 teacher who could not repress their rudeness. 
 
 The residence was small and poor, and the accommodations 
 so scant that, for a time, Fathers Accolti and Maraschi shared 
 the same room. But as, for sleeping, Father Maraschi used only 
 a mattress which he rolled up by day and spread on the floor 
 by night, his part of the furniture was easily housed. Brother 
 Isabella, myself and a Frenchman named Pierre, an old soldier 
 of Napoleon's army, a good old man whom Father Maraschi 
 had taken in out of charity, occupied rude bunks in the attic. 
 
 The church was of wood, but plain and neat. At its south- 
 west corner and near the door of the sacristy was a rude frame- 
 work about ten feet high, which supported the church bell. In 
 the church was a single altar, simple and plain as befitted its 
 surroundings, but always neat and beautiful, bright with the 
 wealth of wild flowers that outside the building grew on every 
 hand. 
 
 One day, in rambling over the hills, I came upon a pretty 
 plant whose species was unknown to me. It was of a glossy 
 green and seemed by nature a climber. How much it will add 
 to the beauty of the church, I thought, if I train it along the wall, 
 and arch it over door and windows. Carefully, then, not to 
 injure its tender roots, I dug it out of the soft sand ; and bore it 
 home in all the pride of original discovery. I planted it by the 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 79 
 
 sacristy door. I knew that Father Maraschi would see it. I 
 knew, at least I thought I knew, that he would commend my 
 diligence. I waited for his approbation. Waited? Well, yes, I 
 am still waiting for that. He saw the plant ? Surely. Its beauty? 
 He did. Had he no taste for pretty plants? Well, not exactly 
 for such as the present object of my care; for that plant of the 
 glossy leaves was the common poison oak, and it was soon at 
 a safe distance withering in the sun. Appearances even in Cali- 
 fornia are at times deceitful. 
 
 On Sundays, Father Accolti was accustomed to say the first 
 mass, and Father Maraschi the last, and preach. The ordinary 
 Sunday attendance was rather poor; attendance, however, dur- 
 ing Holy Week was striking, and I wondered where all the people 
 came from. 
 
 The college was not a success in those early days, and few 
 pupils attended the classes; so that about February, classes were 
 interrupted, and Brother Isabella and I enjoyed more spacious 
 quarters in the schoolroom. He was cook and attended to 
 domestic duties; I was for out-door work. My chief occupation 
 consisted in cutting a road through the sand behind the house, 
 the intention being to establish communication with Mission 
 Street. My labor was quite successful for a time, and even the 
 strong winds which at that season prevailed, kindly gave me 
 valuable assistance ; for all that was required was to lift the sand 
 with my shovel and toss it into the air, and presently it was 
 scattered far and wide to my intense pleasure. 
 
 I had gotten indeed to like the wind and even to look on it, 
 in a manner, as a partner in my toil, when all of a sudden the 
 rude awakening came. One night this very wind which had 
 dealt with me so kindly, came in great gusts from the ocean. 
 How it howled and shrieked around our little buildings, which 
 rocked under its rude touch, as it hurried by! And my road? 
 The wind came, and went — and my road with it. Morning 
 showed an unbroken hillside beneath which my planks were 
 buried, and I was out of a job, since it was evident that so long as 
 the hill remained, no matter what labor might be expended, the 
 permanency of the road could never be assured. 
 
 But I was not the only sufferer. The church touched the 
 south line of Market Street, and so protruded somewhat further 
 
80 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 than the residence. To the west, therefore, of the church and in 
 front of the residence, extended for a short distance a narrow 
 strip of level land which Father Maraschi and Brother Isabella 
 divided between them, the former cultivating a few flowers; the 
 latter, some kitchen vegetables. The wind treated us all alike. 
 What plants it failed to uproot, it covered with heaps of sand; 
 and Father Maraschi and Brother Isabella, like myself, had to 
 turn their energies into other channels. 
 
 Living thus, as in a desert, an almost unbroken stillness 
 reigned around us, so that even the stir and excitement attending 
 the days of the Vigilance Committee did not reach us. There 
 was only the hurried departure of the Fathers as some call came 
 for their spiritual ministrations, and again the same quiet settled 
 down, as if it expected here to rule forever. 
 
 Though I have tried to recall houses to the west of us, mem- 
 ory presents but the Lincoln School, of which I have already 
 spoken; but to the northwest, in a little valley shut in by pre- 
 cipitous hills, I remember three. Beyond these again was the 
 wilderness and the waste of sand." 
 
 Such were the buildings and such the surroundings and hap- 
 penings in these early days as related by an eye witness. 
 
 We present the scene to our readers. The church is an exact 
 copy of an early photograph, the rest is drawn from Brother 
 Weyringer's description. That the reproduction is true to the 
 original, we have the testimony of Mr. James R. Kelly, who 
 attended St. Ignatius in its earliest days. In this, as in the pres- 
 entation of Father Flavian's college, we have availed ourselves 
 of the art of Mr. Michael O'Sullivan. We shall also, in present- 
 ing the college at a later date, have recourse to the same assist- 
 ance. But let us retrace our steps to 1856. Though church and 
 school and residence had been built, they were not entirely paid 
 for, seeing that Marzion & Co., on December 1st, 1855, were 
 called upon to lend an additional sum of $3,100 at the usual 
 rate of iy 2 per cent a month — money more easily borrowed 
 than repaid. 
 
 The congregation, as has been stated, was rather meager; 
 and Mr. James R. Kelly, the present Prefect of the Gentlemen's 
 Sodality, recalls occasions on which an omnibus could have 
 accommodated the worshipers at mass. At vespers the attend- 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 81 
 
 ance was even smaller, and once it appears that he made up the 
 whole congregation. Father Maraschi, however, was not dis- 
 heartened. He knew that, with patience, time would reverse 
 all this. He had not planned for the present but for the future, 
 and, calmly gazing into it, he said over and over again : "Here, 
 in time, will be the heart of a great city." 
 
 What Brother Weyringer has told us of the smallness of the 
 number of pupils, is borne out by Father Maraschi's accounts, 
 for from the opening of the college in October up to the end of 
 the year, he received only $106 in tuition fees. The average, 
 therefore, for these two months and a half was $42.40 a month. 
 This would probably mean an attendance of from twenty to 
 twenty-five pupils ; since, though some students would pay in full, 
 and some would pay in part, others would be received free, the 
 rule of admission in St. Ignatius having ever been the rule of 
 the Society of Jesus in day colleges, that those who are unable 
 to pay tuition fees, are received and cared for, just as those who 
 are able. 
 
 In the church the choir was early established, if one singer 
 can properly be said to constitute a choir. He was a French- 
 man and dispensed plain chant, whether pure Gregorian or a modi- 
 fied species of his own, we are not informed. The choir loft was 
 over the main entrance and soon had a harmonium. The first 
 organist was Mr. Anthony Schmidt, whose name we find con- 
 nected with the choir as early as July, 1856. 
 
 With a clearness of mind deserving of all commendation, the 
 Fathers understood that the great need of a population such as 
 that which was bound to come together on these distant shores, 
 men of all religions and of no religion, would be books in which 
 the doctrines of the Catholic Church would be defended and 
 explained. In May, 1856, therefore, a Library Association was 
 started under favorable auspices. 
 
 The interruption of studies in the college did not last long, 
 for again, in May, we have an account of new students admitted, 
 and thenceforward the increase in numbers was steady and rapid. 
 There was, as yet, but one teacher, probably the same Mr. Haley, 
 to whom, as revealed by Father Maraschi's accounts, $200 were 
 paid at the end of July. 
 
82 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The coming and going of worshipers attending the church, 
 the visits of parents who had sons to place at school, the constant 
 journeyings of the children themselves, soon called for easier 
 means of access. We are, therefore, not surprised to learn that, 
 in June, a sidewalk was talked of, and Father Maraschi was 
 requested to contribute towards it. Where the sidewalk was to 
 be we are left to conjecture. It was not, as might be supposed, a 
 sidewalk to be built in front of the church and residence of the 
 Fathers, for, as yet, the street was not graded. Besides, as such 
 sidewalk would be for the benefit of the Fathers and their insti- 
 tution alone, since there was no one else to benefit by it, it would 
 scarcely be a matter for subscription. The sidewalk in question, 
 therefore, was a matter of general utility, in the construction 
 of which others concurred. 
 
 Conjecture under the circumstances, however, becomes closely 
 allied to certainty, when we identify the sidewalk in question 
 as that which ran up Stockton Street to O'Farrell, and along 
 O'Farrell to Dupont; on Dupont to Sutter, and thence east to 
 Montgomery; a very primitive affair, but quite in keeping with 
 surroundings which were all primitive. When we speak of Stock- 
 ton Street, we are aware that we are dignifying a mere depres- 
 sion between hills of sand with the name of street. But it was 
 so designated on the maps of San Francisco, and was the only 
 opening through which vehicles could make their way into the 
 quaint little valley. We have spoken of sidewalk and called it 
 primitive. It could scarcely have been more so, for it consisted 
 of some planks laid one after another along the shifting sand. 
 Yet it was a great convenience, more so, indeed, than can per- 
 haps be at present imagined. 
 
 To one who has never trudged through sand, and who to-day, 
 over modern sidewalks, would retrace the course marked out by 
 the line of planks in 1856, the journey must needs seem insignifi- 
 cant; then, it was far otherwise, especially in winter, when the 
 sudden tipping up of the plank gave tardy warning to the way- 
 farer that the recent downpour had robbed it of needed support, 
 and that due caution must be taken to prevent a recurrence of 
 the mishap. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 83 
 
 The work of the church and college broadened day by day, 
 but resources were scant and imperatively demanded the strictest 
 economy. 
 
 The debt of July, 1855, which amounted to $15,084.08 was 
 nearly $20,000 in December. As stipends for masses during this 
 time, Father Maraschi had received $134.50. His revenue from 
 pew rent was $62.50. Collections in the church amounted to 
 $410.13, but this sum included the more than ordinary collections 
 taken up at the blessing of the edifice and on Christmas Day. A 
 fair estimate of the ordinary Sunday collection would be about 
 $10 or $12. In tuition fees he had received $106, but had paid out 
 in incidental expenses about $46, the transaction thus seeming to 
 net him about $60. But this amount was far from being profit, 
 since it did not cover by half the wages of the hired teacher. The 
 college, therefore, if we may so name this early beginning, was 
 managed at a loss. Moreover, the building of the school and its 
 furnishing were the fruit of borrowed money which called for 
 a high rate of interest ; so that we may easily appreciate the diffi- 
 culties of those days of trial when we are informed that Father 
 Maraschi paid in interest alone between July, 1855, and January, 
 1856, $1,489, or about double the gross receipts of that period. 
 He who pays out two dollars to take in one, and who has only 
 what he takes in as means of support for himself, his fellow- 
 workers, and the institution under his care, has a delicate finan- 
 cial problem to wrestle with, even if the solution be so plain and 
 easy — borrow more. 
 
 The programme of studies in the academy was, from the 
 very beginning, as broad as the age and capacity of the pupils 
 would permit. French and Spanish were taught, and even as 
 early as 1856 a class of drawing was established. The professor 
 of this latter branch was a certain Mr. McLaughlin, who, more- 
 over, taught a regular class up to February 2nd, 1857. On that 
 date his class duties were assumed by Mr. William McGill Barry. 
 
 1857. 
 
 The increase in pupils in 1856 and the opening days of 1857, 
 had already necessitated the employment of another teacher, Mr. 
 Peter J. Molloy. 
 
84 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Mr. Molloy began his connection with the college on Janu- 
 ary 23rd of this latter year, and taught with much success up to 
 the end of August. On September 1st, he entered the Society of 
 Jesus in Santa Clara, the first candidate for the Jesuit priesthood 
 in the Californian Mission. Almighty God, however, had not 
 destined him for length of days upon earth. Three months 
 passed, and failing health obliged him to return to San Fran- 
 cisco. Here on December 20th he peacefuly passed away. 
 
 With the advent of 1857, had come the urgent need of room 
 for Fathers and pupils, and about the middle of April, the dwell- 
 ing-house was raised. On the 29th of the same month, an adver- 
 tisement in the daily papers gave notice that an additional teacher 
 was required in the academy, an excellent index of life and 
 progress. On the same day, Father Congiato departed on his 
 annual visit to the northern Missions in Oregon and the Rocky 
 Mountains. He knew that his brethren toiling in the then dis- 
 tant wilds would inquire about matters and prospects in Cali- 
 fornia; and he was happy to be the bearer of the information 
 that St. Ignatius was steadily increasing in the number of its 
 classes, and promised much for the Catholic future of San 
 Francisco. 
 
 During vacation this year, Father Benedict Piccardo, who 
 had been Father Maraschi's zealous co-laborer since May 31st, 
 1856, was transferred to Santa Clara as professor of classics, and 
 Father Emmanuel Nattini was appointed his successor. This 
 appointment offered the energy and zeal of Father Nattini a wider 
 field than the office of Minister in Santa Clara College, which 
 office he had successfully filled the preceding year; for, besides 
 the spiritual ministry of the church, in which he was indefatiga- 
 ble, he was singing teacher in the academy and professor of 
 French. Idleness surely had no place in St. Ignatius, and busy 
 as others were, Father Maraschi was busiest of all. Superior, 
 treasurer, parish priest, with duties sufficient to afford occupation 
 to several men, he yet found time to teach Latin and Spanish. 
 On August 9th, Father Congiato again found himself on 
 Californian soil, having returned from Oregon in company with 
 Brother Natalis Savio. A week's rest in San Francisco allowed 
 him to recover somewhat from the fatigues of his journey, and, 
 on the 17th, he and the Brother departed for Santa Clara. On 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 85 
 
 the preceding day, Father Felix Cicaterri had assumed charge 
 of Santa Clara College, and Father Congiato rightly judged that 
 the best interests of the Order would be served by the changing 
 of his own residence to San Francisco. 
 
 The city was more central ; influence would be more widely 
 diffused; communication with Oregon would be facilitated; and 
 perhaps by the change of climate, health and strength might be 
 restored to a frame never robust, but now more than ever shat- 
 tered by constant journeyings and labors. The change was made 
 about the 24th of the month, and Father Congiato took charge 
 of the affairs of St. Ignatius. 
 
 The severe strain imposed upon his system by the many and 
 harassing duties of his various offices had, however, told too 
 severely upon him to admit of a bettering of his physical condi- 
 tion until his burden should be lightened. Exhausted nature 
 longed for and demanded more complete relief. He represented 
 his case to his higher Superiors and not in vain. They were loth, 
 indeed, to deprive the Mission of his guidance, but they recognized 
 the reasonableness of his representations and the urgency of the 
 matter. On November 16th, Father Congiato left San Francisco 
 on a visit to Santa Clara. He would be absent, he said, for a 
 few days. People thought it was one of the ordinary trips which, 
 in the fulfillment of his office, he was accustomed to make. They 
 were soon undeceived. On the 19th, he made public a letter of 
 Father Alexander Joseph Ponza, Provincial of Turin, by which 
 he was relieved of the cares of superiorship, and Father Cicaterri 
 was substituted temporarily in his place. A week later, having 
 given his successor all needed information concerning the con- 
 dition of affairs in the Mission, with light heart he returned to 
 San Francisco, journeying in the company of the Most Rev. 
 Francis Norbert Blanchet, D. D., Archbishop of Oregon City, 
 who had visited him in Santa Clara. 
 
 Thus, freed from the graver cares of General Superior, 
 Father Congiato was able to devote himself mainly to the inter- 
 ests and solid development of St. Ignatius; for, though he still 
 remained in charge of the Oregon Mission, winter had now, in 
 great measure, interrupted communication with it, so that duties 
 regarding it were not for the moment pressing. 
 
86 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The number of secular teachers employed in the classes had, 
 as we have stated, become three: Mr. William Barry, already 
 mentioned; Mr. John Grace; and Mr. John Egan, a gentleman 
 for many years identified with the college, and to whose faithful 
 memory we are indebted for many of the details relating to the 
 years of which we are about to treat. He had been engaged on 
 the 15th of August, and proved himself an earnest, conscientious 
 worker and excellent disciplinarian ; and many an old-time student 
 of St. Ignatius owes his earliest advance along the path of knowl- 
 edge to the guidance of this devoted teacher. 
 
 On the 1 st of November, an attempt was made to, start a night 
 school in connection with the academy, and we find the names 
 of Mr. Mogan and Guthrie Maguire, pupils. We would be 
 much surprised if Father Nattini were not the moving spirit of 
 the project, the more so as both students are credited with a 
 French Ollendorf and nothing else, so that evidently they belonged 
 to his department. On the 14th and 23rd of the month an adver- 
 tisement appeared in the Herald, giving notice of the Fathers' 
 intention to conduct evening classes : the idea does not seem to 
 have been a success, and, while not abandoned, as we shall see, 
 its execution was deferred. It is pleasant and instructive, how- 
 ever, to chronicle attempts like these as indicative of the spirit of 
 progressiveness which inspired early St. Ignatius. It was not 
 its fault that a too limited number availed themselves of educa- 
 tional opportunities. 
 
 About the middle of October, the choir had undergone a 
 transformation. The Frenchman and his plain song no longer 
 satisfied the musical tastes of the congregation, and Father 
 Nattini and Mr. Egan took up the singer's burden. Soon, 
 however, help was kindly afforded them; and while they con- 
 tinued to supply the music during mass, a choir of girls, under 
 the direction of Mr. Egan, chanted the psalms at vespers. The 
 young musicians were from an excellently conducted school of 
 the Sisters of Charity on Market Street near Old St. Patrick's, 
 a view of which we have already given, and they willingly 
 crossed the sand wastes to add the charm of their young voices 
 to the beauty of the vesper service. 
 
 December came and Father Maraschi cast a retrospective 
 glance over the financial status of the two preceding years. We 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 87 
 
 doubt whether, in considering things from such a standpoint, 
 he had much cause for feeling elated. Hard work had been 
 done, and plenty of it. Eternity indeed was the richer for it all, 
 but earth, poor earth, had lagged behind in the reckoning. 
 Every year had added to the college's deficit. The debt of 1855 
 had become $21,869 in 1856, only to have some five hundred 
 dollars added to it in 1857. The church collections averaged 
 about $16 a Sunday; the pew rent was remarkably small. Even 
 in the latter of the two years, January gave only $9; September, 
 $6; November and December only $6.75 apiece; four other 
 months averaged about $13; and if March gave the compara- 
 tively remarkable sum of $32, it was only because a prominent 
 lady had contributed twenty of that amount. 
 
 The income from tuition had increased considerably, but 
 so had academic expenses; and what a hasty and superficial 
 glance might, at times, have considered a surplus on the right 
 side of the college ledger, was often in reality none at all, for it 
 was more than counterbalanced by back pay due the secular 
 professors. 
 
 Without doubt Father Maraschi was often commended for 
 not bothering his congregation about money; without doubt 
 many of those who made use of his ministry admired him for 
 never even speaking of money. But if he spared their feelings 
 it was at the expense of his own. He had to worry on as best 
 he could, and pay in interest $2,421 in 1856, and an additional 
 sum of $1,176 in 1857, for being allowed to labor with his 
 associates for the spiritual welfare of the people of the parish 
 and the Catholic education of their children. 
 
 Yet in the face of difficulties that would have disheartened 
 another man, Father Maraschi never faltered nor lost heart. 
 He was looking beyond the horizon of many another man, and 
 it is to the credit of his Superiors that they trusted him. 
 
 1858. 
 
 On March 1st, the Oregon Mission was detached from 
 the Californian, and Father Congiato was constituted the 
 Superior of what was thenceforth a separate jurisdiction. The 
 division of the two Missions was an arrangement mutually 
 advantageous. Father Cicaterri became Superior of California; 
 
88 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 and the central authority of this latter Mission was once more 
 established at Santa Clara. 
 
 The success of the choir under Father Nattini encouraged 
 it to more pretentious efforts, and, in early January, the old 
 harmonium was repaired and one of Mozart's masses purchased. 
 In March, new benches were needed in the church, the best of 
 evidence that the little congregation was growing. This month 
 also may be said to have given birth to the present college 
 library, seeing that the first considerable purchase of books for 
 it, was made on the 17th. The academy, too, was not neglected. 
 The Monitor of April 3rd contains the following advertisement : 
 
 ""day school. 
 The third annual session of the Day School at St. Ignatius 
 Church, Market Street, between Fourth and Fifth, directed by 
 the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, commenced on the 1st of 
 September. The hours of attendance are from 9 o'clock a. m. 
 to — o'clock p. m. Pupils of all denominations admitted. 
 
 TERMS. 
 
 English, Spanish, French, Italian, Latin, Greek, Elocution, 
 Arithmetic, Bookkeeping, Mathematics, History, Geography, 
 per month, $8. 
 
 Preparatory Department, $5. Three lessons weekly will be 
 given in drawing for $2 per month. No extra charge for vocal 
 music and stationery. Payments to be made monthly in 
 advance. 
 
 For further information apply in the forenoon to A. Maras- 
 chi, S. J." 
 
 By a strange omission which runs through succeeding issues 
 of the paper, the hour of the closing of school is omitted; the 
 hour, however, was 3 p. m. as we learn from an advertisement 
 published in the National soon after. As it is fuller than the 
 notice in the Monitor we publish it in facsimile. The night 
 school is still spoken of but only as contemplated. 
 
 In the Monitor of April 10th, we find a Catholic Directory 
 for the archdiocese. It was a reprint of an Eastern Directory, 
 and although the editor of the Monitor assures us that he had 
 
THE NATIONAL. 
 
 » o » 
 
 CiEO. PE\ JOBltf»>T©IV, Editor. 
 
 MONDAY MORMXG, August 16 h, 1858, 
 DAY SCHOOL AT ST. IGNATIUS 
 
 llarlitt Street, bet, Four ill A: Fifth, 
 
 SAN FH A NCISCO . 
 
 Directed by Fathers of the Society of Jesus. 
 
 THE FOURTH ANNUAL, SESSION OP 
 this Institution will commence on the 1st day of Sep- 
 tember, 1558, with accommodations much better than here- 
 
 to fore. 
 
 TERMS: 
 
 Rhetoric, Grammar, Composition, Elocution, 
 Mathematics, Buok-Keeping, Arithmetic, An- 
 cient and Modern Languages, History, Geo- 
 graphy, Penmanship, Vocal Music — per 
 month, including Stationery $8 00 
 
 Preparatory Department, per month, including 
 
 Stationery 5 00 
 
 Three lessons in Drawing, per week, of one hour each will 
 be given for an extra charge of $2 00 per month. 
 
 Schooli hours from 9 a. m. to 3 p. M. No school on Thurs- 
 days and holidays. On <*very Monday tickets are given for 
 punctual attendance, good conduct, and excellence in reci- 
 tation, to such as deserved them in the previous week. 
 Average at|*ndance last session, sixty-five pupils, under 
 the care of six Professors. 
 
 A. MARA8CHI, S. J., Principal. 
 
 A NIGHT SCHOOL for Book-Keeping, Arithmetic, 
 and Modern Languages, will be formed as soon as sufficient 
 attendance is secure a . aulGtf 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 89 
 
 purged it of several inaccuracies, he had unfortunately not 
 succeeded in purging it of all. 
 
 Father Piccardo is still put down as connected with St. 
 Ignatius Academy and Father Nattini is credited with biloca- 
 tion, for he is at one and the same time assistant to Father 
 Congiato in San Francisco, and a member of the faculty of 
 Santa Clara College, Santa Clara. 
 
 The issue of May 1st, however, corrects these errors, and 
 tells us that, "The following is the authorized list of the Mis- 
 sions, clergy and institutions of the archdiocese of San Fran- 
 cisco. . . . 
 
 St. Ignatius Academy, San Francisco, Rev. A. Maraschi, 
 S. J.; Rev. E. Nattini, S. J. Number of pupils, 75." 
 
 On April 17th, the same esteemed paper among its "Eccle- 
 siastical Announcements" informed its readers of Father Con- 
 giato's approaching departure. 
 
 "We announce with deepest regret," it says, "the depart- 
 ure from among us, of the Very Rev. N. Congiato, now 
 Superior of the Order of Jesuits in Oregon and Washington 
 Territories. By the last mail, letters arrived ordaining that 
 the Pacific Province which had hitherto consisted of California 
 and the Territories named, should henceforth be divided into 
 two, and Father Congiato is appointed Superior of the Missions 
 in the northern division. His loss to this State is sincerely 
 deplored not only by his own Order, but by the Archbishop and 
 clergy of this archdiocese, and by all to whom the unassuming 
 virtues and eminent zeal of Father Congiato are known." 
 
 The day following this announcement, the second Sunday 
 after Easter, a little of the sensational was thrown into the 
 quiet life of St. Ignatius. At the time when the church was 
 without worshipers, an insane man entered, and forestalling 
 modern methods in which a formal declaration of war is not 
 necessary, started in to destroy whatever came to hand. 
 Father Congiato heard the noise and hastened to seek the 
 cause. He was not long in finding it. Unable alone to cope 
 with the maniac, he gave the alarm. Fortunately some men 
 happened to be within calling distance, and having hastened 
 to the Father's assistance, quickly overpowered the fellow, 
 
90 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 though not until he had succeeded in smashing everything 
 breakable about the altar. The news immediately spread 
 through the city; generosity was aroused; and under the word 
 "Smashing," Father Maraschi opened a new account in his 
 ledger. Thanks to the zeal of Miss Marie L. Roach, who 
 specially exerted herself in obtaining contributions, and to the 
 open hands of many of the church's friends, the loss was not 
 only covered, but a comfortable sum over and above was netted 
 for improvements; so that candlesticks bought, and candelabra, 
 and a carpet for the altar, and cloth for church curtains, and 
 the painting of pews, altar and baptistry, dot the account page 
 with a frequency unknown before. 
 
 On the 28th of May, Father Congiato left San Francisco to 
 devote his entire energy to the furtherance of the interests of 
 the Oregon Mission, and Father Maraschi had again to 
 shoulder the burden and responsibilities of St. Ignatius. On 
 the same day, the museum of the academy was started by the 
 purchase of a collection of shells. In July, the physical cabinet, 
 which for years has ranked among the best in the colleges of 
 the world, received its first installment of instruments, the 
 nucleus of a development of which our city may be justly proud. 
 We do not deny that the museum and cabinet of 1858 were 
 very small affairs; we merely wonder that there were any at 
 all; and wonder the more when we reflect that their inception 
 coincides with a period of great financial depression in San 
 Francisco, when the city was in great part depopulated by the 
 mad rush to the gold fields of Frazer River ; so much so, that the 
 Monitor on July 3rd gives notice to its readers, that, owing to 
 the exodus, it would be obliged to suspend publication for the 
 period of three months. Its next issue was on October 16th. 
 
 On August 31st, Fathers Alphonsus Biglione and Urban 
 Grassi came from Santa Clara to teach in the academy; and 
 the next day, Father Nattini left St. Ignatius, having been 
 appointed to teach in Santa Clara. About this time we have the 
 first records of Sunday-schools in connection with the church, 
 though probably they existed earlier. Both Father Grassi and 
 Father Biglione taught catechism publicly. Good Father 
 Maraschi filled so many offices that he had hardly time to 
 breathe. He was president; prefect of schools; he taught 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 91 
 
 Greek and Spanish; he preached; heard confessions, and visited 
 the sick; and, besides keeping domestic accounts, had to attend 
 to the general accounts of the Californian and Oregon Missions. 
 There were, besides, some building and repairing always going 
 on, some addition to what already existed, and the superin- 
 tendence of such work naturally fell to him. 
 
 At the end of July, Mr. Barry had severed his connections 
 with the academy, and soon after, Mr. Fallon replaced him. 
 A Mr. Lovis also taught for some months toward the end of 
 the year. Changes in teachers seem to have been frequent 
 about this time, due probably to the restlessness that existed 
 on account of the gold excitement already mentioned. A sing- 
 ing teacher was hired to take Father Nattini's place in culti- 
 vating the pupils' voices; so that, with the various changes, 
 matters were soon running as before. 
 
 About the middle of October, Father De Smet arrived in 
 San Francisco. A notice of the event is contained in the 
 Monitor of October 23rd: "General Harney arrived on last 
 Saturday," it says, "on the steamer John L. Stephens, en route 
 for Oregon to take command of the army stationed there. 
 Father De Smet, a Catholic missionary, accompanies him as 
 chaplain to the army. The Reverend Father has had a long 
 experience with the Indians in the Northwest and much good 
 may be expected from his labors." 
 
 In his "New Indian Sketches," pages 86 and 87, the Father 
 himself gives an account of his journey, and his arrival at St. 
 Ignatius. The letter is written a year after the event. 
 
 "St. Louis, Nov. 10th, 1859. 
 Reverend and dear Father: 
 
 In accordance with my promise, I resume the little story 
 of my long voyage. On my return to St. Louis, I tendered 
 to the Minister of War, my resignation of the post of chaplain. 
 It was not accepted, because a new war had just broken out 
 against the Government, among the tribes of the Rocky 
 Mountains. I was notified by telegraph to proceed to New 
 York, and to embark there with General Harney and his staff. 
 On the 20th of September, 1858, we left for Aspinwall; it was 
 the season of the equinox, so that we experienced some rough 
 
92 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 weather in the voyage, and a heavy wind among the Bahamas. 
 . . . On the evening of the 16th of October, I arrived 
 at San Francisco, happy to find myself in a house of the Society, 
 and in the company of many of my brethren in Jesus Christ, 
 who loaded me with kindness, and all the attention of the 
 most cordial charity." 
 
 It was in October, 1858, that the Students' Sodality of 
 the Blessed Virgin Mary was established by Father Biglione, 
 for on the 26th of the month, a dozen Sodality manuals were 
 supplied it, and on November 29th, two dozen more. It is true 
 that the college catalogues give its establishment at a later 
 date; but in this they are only following the lead of that of 
 1870, which was the first to mention it, giving the date of its 
 organization as February, 1859. The latter date we cannot 
 consider more than a guess made some eleven years after the 
 event. It is, moreover, irreconcilable with the fact that Father 
 Biglione is put down in the catalogue of the Turin Province 
 of 1859, as Director of the Sodality; for, as all acquainted with 
 such matters know, the Provincial catalogues are printed in 
 the early months of the year designated, and have their matter 
 sent them at least by the end of the preceding year. This, 
 especially, must have been the case in communications sent 
 from California in the later Fifties; so that insertion in 
 the catalogue of 1859 implies information sent at least in 
 the closing months of 1858. The purchase of Sodality manuals 
 in October and of a double number in November, is sufficient 
 indication of an actually increasing Sodality, and not of a 
 mere possible creation that was to be some months later. 
 
 In December, a new building was put up in the rear of the 
 others. It contained two classrooms. Plain and unpretentious, 
 it still marked progress— progress in the number of pupils and 
 progress in debt. The year went out, as its predecessors had 
 done, and left a deficit of about $1,600. Father Maraschi was 
 now nearly $24,000 in debt. 
 
 Three masses in the church in those days, at 6, 8 and 11 
 a. m. on Sundays, afforded the congregation every facility for 
 attending divine service. Vespers were sung in the afternoon 
 at 3:30. Fathers Maraschi and Biglione heard confessions 
 
FATHER JOSEPH BIXIO, S. J. BROTHER ALBERT WEYRINGER, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 93 
 
 in the church and preached; Father Grassi devoted his time 
 mainly to the welfare of the students in the academy. 
 
 1859. 
 
 So the year 1859 opened, a year ever memorable in the 
 annals of St. Ignatius, for it was early in that year that 
 the General of the Society of Jesus officially recognized the 
 institution as a ''Collegium inchoatum" or "College commenced." 
 
 On the strength of this recognition, it was now deemed 
 proper by the Fathers to incorporate under the State laws, 
 and apply to the legislature for a charter. The application 
 was readily granted, and on the 30th of April, "under the style 
 and title of St. Ignatius College," the former academy "was 
 empowered to confer degrees with such literary honors as 
 are granted by any University in the United States." On 
 June 23rd, Father Maraschi placed the charter on public record. 
 The zeal of the Fathers of St. Ignatius in the cause of Catholic 
 education drew strength and encouragement from the zeal 
 of His Grace, the Most Reverend Archbishop, who, ever keep- 
 ing in view the paramount need of his flock, labored strenu- 
 ously, with the weak means at his disposal, to supply proper 
 training for Catholic youth. On the 24th of May, therefore, 
 he presided over a meeting of the Catholic laity of San Fran- 
 cisco held in the basement of the Cathedral, and the following 
 resolution was proposed and unanimously adopted: 
 
 "Resolved : That we, the Catholic parents of San Francisco, 
 in our solicitude for the temporal and eternal welfare of our 
 children, are persuaded that the most effectual means for the 
 promotion of both is the establishment of good Catholic 
 schools; and that we hereby pledge ourselves to establish and 
 maintain such schools to the best of our ability. 
 
 The terms of payment were discussed and agreed upon, 
 leaving the school, however, completely free to those whose 
 circumstances may not permit them to contribute." 
 
 The plan, therefore, adopted was practically the plan of 
 St. Ignatius, the only plan, in fact, that could meet the exigen- 
 cies of the case. 
 
94 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 In the church, the Sunday congregations were increasing, 
 and fears began to be felt for the safety of the little building. 
 When, therefore, in June, Father Maraschi rendered the 
 edifice firm and strong by means of iron braces, his mind was 
 more at ease. No change took place this year among the 
 Fathers attached to church and college, and their duties 
 remained practically the same, only we do not find Greek among 
 the branches taught by Father Maraschi. 
 
 It was quite different, however, with the secular teachers. 
 Mr. Egan indeed remained, but a new teacher, Mr. Charton, 
 was employed from September to the end of the school year. 
 Messrs. Finn and John Farrelly taught for some months only. 
 But, in spite of drawbacks, the year 1859 went out, leaving 
 everything thriving in St. Ignatius, the congregation, the 
 number of pupils, the staff of professors; and Father Maraschi 
 must have felt happy that, for the first time, the institution 
 confided to his care had been able to support itself and even 
 diminish the debt by some $1,200. 
 
 i860. 
 
 The first week of February, i860, welcomed Father Con- 
 giato back to San Francisco, whither he had come partly on 
 business, partly to escape the rigors of more northern climes. 
 A few weeks were spent in Santa Clara, but during the rest 
 of his stay he was the guest of St. Ignatius. In the middle 
 of May, he again departed for the field of his labors, much 
 improved in health and anxious to devote his increased 
 strength to the furtherance of Christ's kingdom among the 
 savage tribes. Toward the end of the same month, Father 
 Paul Raffo replaced Father Biglione in San Francisco, and 
 Father Biglione in turn, relieved Father Bixio in San Jose. 
 
 In July, the physical cabinet received several important 
 additions, and, according to Father Maraschi's brief enumera- 
 tion, could boast of>"a steam engine; an electric machine and 
 appendices; an air pump and appendices; articles bought at 
 San Francisco College; a theodolite; a compression fountain." 
 
 The college of which mention is made, was an institution 
 which evidently aimed at imparting a higher education, but 
 which, from lack of patronage, had been obliged to close its 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 95 
 
 doors. If St. Ignatius outlived it, it is not that finances were 
 better, but that a religious college is built upon foundations 
 more firm and enduring. A secular institution must pay its 
 teachers a good salary or lose them; a religious institution 
 pays no salary to its own members, giving in return for valuable 
 services, mere frugal support. Its own members are bound 
 to it by a contract which has no dependence on financial con- 
 ditions, and hence it can withstand attacks that infallibly work 
 havoc and ruin in others. A Catholic college is built on long- 
 suffering and self-sacrifice. It perpetuates its own existence, 
 so that the obligations of one administration are in no danger 
 of repudiation by another. Were matters otherwise, St. 
 Ignatius and other Catholic colleges and schools would long 
 since, like the College of San Francisco, have been memories 
 of the past. They live on life sacrifices; they thrive on a self 
 devotion that money cannot purchase. On the funds at their 
 disposal, a secular institution would starve. It is a pity that 
 even Catholics do not appreciate this; and that the wealthiest 
 among them have so little to devote to the advance of educa- 
 tion in the hands of those with whom every dollar produces 
 in results, double and treble what it does in the hands of others. 
 But to return to the cabinet. It was on this occasion, we 
 think, that the telescope, a very fine instrument, and for many 
 years the best in California, was purchased. 
 
 Now that the college was formally recognized as such, 
 even by the State, the scholastic year, for the first time, was 
 closed with an exhibition and the bestowal of premiums. The 
 exercises were well attended, and the proficiency shown by 
 the pupils went far towards spreading the good name of the 
 rising Jesuit college. Parents made many sacrifices to send 
 their children to it, and more than one boy in those days 
 trudged over and around many a sand hill to receive a Catholic 
 education in St. Ann's Valley. 
 
 Two Jesuit Fathers were added to the college staff this 
 year: Father Angelo Affranchino and Father Placidus Dema- 
 estri. The former had lately completed his theological studies 
 in England and had been ordained priest : the latter had arrived 
 a month or two before with Father William Moylan of the 
 
96 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Maryland Province. Father Affranchino taught English, and 
 Father Demaestri, French. Father Maraschi, as usual, seems 
 to have had the lion's share of labor, for, with his other duties, 
 he managed to find time to teach Latin, Spanish, Italian, 
 Mathematics and Bookkeeping. 
 
 The secular teachers were Messrs. Seregni, Egan and Doyle. 
 Mr. Andrew McGlynn taught for some time, as did also a 
 certain Mr. McLane. And so this year also glided away with 
 little of note to break the smoothness of its current. In 
 November, Father Congiato was once more the guest of St. 
 Ignatius, and with him had come Father Adrian Hoecken, 
 whose health had been undermined by the trials and privations 
 of forest life. Father Hoecken soon departed for Santa Clara, 
 there to build up his strength for further years of fruitful toil. 
 
 The big sand hill which Brother Weyringer had attacked 
 in a small way, and, in attacking, had been worsted, had been 
 yielding, little by little, to carts and shovels, and a widening 
 playground added new attractions to the college. Nor were 
 athletics entirely overlooked in these early days of St. Ignatius, 
 though we doubt whether the football that Father Maraschi 
 presented to his pupils on December 19th, would have been 
 given as readily, had the game not lacked many of its modern 
 features. 
 
 We have said that little disturbed the quiet of i860, for 
 even though again the financial balance was on the wrong side, 
 and marked a deficit of over $1,000, this constant falling behind 
 made little impression, for it had come to be considered as almost 
 a settled thing. The present was the seed time, the harvest was 
 confided to the future. Provided that God's work was furthered 
 in peace and harmony, the Fathers were content to struggle on 
 in hope. Such, however, was not to be the case. Eighteen hun- 
 dred and sixty-one and its immediate successors were to be 
 broken by many a rock and rapid, before church and college 
 would return to the even tenor of their former course. But we 
 must not anticipate. 
 
 1861. 
 On New Year's Day, the Altar Society was established. 
 Father Paul Raffo was its Director. From the very beginning 
 
ST. IGNATIUS IN i860, DRAWN FROM LATER PHOTOGRAPH 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 97 
 
 of the church in July, 1855, there had always been those who, 
 loving the beauty of God's house, had, each by himself or her- 
 self, contributed something toward the adornment of the altar, 
 and the improvement and support of the choir. Under the active 
 zeal of Miss Marie L. Roach, we know that such efforts had 
 been greatly stimulated and wisely directed ; but there were lack- 
 ing still the strength and encouragement which organization 
 alone can supply, and these were afforded by the new society. 
 The old was passing away; new circumstances were rapidly 
 developing; the demand was making itself felt for greater 
 splendor in church worship. The ordinary revenues, however, 
 were far from supplying the need. The Altar Society was, 
 therefore, what was most required at the time, and met with a 
 ready response from the congregation. What Father Congiato 
 thought of Miss Roach's kindness is best expressed by the fol- 
 lowing letter : 
 
 "Miss Roach: 
 
 Please accept this small token of the gratitude we owe you, 
 not only for your last successful efforts in behalf of our church, 
 but for the many other instances of more than common kindness 
 you have been showing us. We are very thankful to you for 
 all this, and we shall never cease to offer up our prayers for your 
 temporal and eternal welfare. Wishing you, in my name and 
 in the name of my brethren, every kind of happiness, I remain, 
 Miss Roach, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 N. Congiato, S. J." 
 
 If bequests there were to St. Ignatius previous to this time, 
 they have succeeded in escaping record. We surmise, how- 
 ever, that they did not exist. The first mentioned was one of 
 a hundred dollars from John Logue, and was received on Feb- 
 ruary 28th. Doubtless the donor and those who knew of the 
 gift, considered the amount small. They did not know how big 
 it was to Father Maraschi. Neither do we find alms of any 
 considerable amount bestowed upon the Fathers. What they 
 received were mainly the offerings of the poor or of people of 
 moderate means. And when, in November of this year, the 
 present Father Florence Sullivan, having taken the vows of the 
 
98 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Society of Jesus, bestowed, in winding up his worldly affairs, 
 an alms of one hundred dollars, Father Maraschi, as if to express 
 the feelings of his heart, abandoned the small, cramped hand 
 which he ordinarily used in making his entries, and put this down 
 in a full, round hand and with an extra flourish. A hundred 
 dollars less in a deficit is no small consolation. 
 
 On March 25th, the feast of the Annunciation, a distin- 
 guished guest arrived at St. Ignatius. He was the Rev. Felix 
 Sopranis who had been appointed Visitor General of the Jesuit 
 houses in America, and had come to make an official inspection 
 of matters in California. Brother Ledore accompanied him. 
 His stay in California covered about the space of two months, 
 most of his time being spent in San Francisco. He examined 
 the prospects of St. Ignatius, learned of its needs, looked into 
 its resources, and agreed with the Fathers, that, while an increase 
 of debt was undesirable, the cold logic of the city's development 
 imperatively demanded corresponding progress in church and 
 college. However, as a new Superior for the Californian Mis- 
 sion was on his way, it was judged prudent to await his com- 
 ing before entering upon plans. 
 
 The man chosen for the position was Father Burchard Vil- 
 liger of the Maryland Province, a Jesuit of deep piety and rare 
 ability, who reached San Francisco on May 18th. Two days 
 later, Rev. Father Sopranis, taking with him as companions 
 Fathers Felix Cicaterri and Adrian Hoecken, as also Brother 
 Ledore, was once more out upon the broad Pacific, on his way, 
 via Panama, to New York. On the 21st, Father Villiger took 
 boat for Alviso, and thence traveled by stage to Santa Clara, 
 where he was to reside as Superior of the Mission of California 
 and President of Santa Clara College. Father Congiato still 
 remained at St. Ignatius, expecting, it would seem, relief from 
 the burden of the superiorship of the Oregon Mission, a burden 
 ill-proportioned to his ever delicate health. 
 
 Already had church and college changed considerably in 
 appearance from the buildings that first arose among the sand 
 hills shutting in St. Ann's humble valley, but we will not say that 
 the new appearance was a great improvement on the old. The 
 buildings remained plain and unassuming, though now the orig- 
 inal three — church, school and residence — had been united into 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 99 
 
 one. The spaces that had separated them had been roofed in, 
 adding room and convenience, if not pretentiousness. Besides, 
 various additions had been made in the rear. A chapel and a 
 study hall had been built, as also some classrooms; but, as there 
 had been no oneness of plan, but now this had been built and 
 now that, to provide for the necessities of the moment and yet 
 not drain completely a purse that was always slender, the result, 
 as was to have been expected, was an unsatisfactory patchwork. 
 
 In Father Villiger's mind there never was, for a moment* a 
 doubt as to what was to be done. St. Ignatius must be rebuilt 
 on broader lines, and as soon as possible. Hence Father 
 Maraschi bravely girded himself for the task. Though his debt 
 in June, 1861, was about $24,000, he opened, on June 8th, a 
 church fund and solicited the co-operation of friends and parish- 
 ioners, that buildings truly worthy of divine worship and the 
 cause of religion might bear the name of St. Ignatius. He had 
 good reason to believe that his appeal would be successful. The 
 Fathers were popular. They had labored for six years among 
 the people of San Francisco. Church and college were a suc- 
 cess and not an untried experiment. The congregation had 
 never been pestered for money, nor had the Fathers, in their 
 ministrations, made distinction of persons. They had given gen- 
 erously of what they had — learning, health, experience, life ; why 
 should they not reasonably expect generosity on the people's part 
 in the supplying of temporal means, which, after all, were really 
 for the people's benefit. 
 
 On the 17th of the month, Mr. D. J. Oliver, so well and 
 favorably known in our city in days gone by, opened the sub- 
 scription list with a hundred dollars. To this a few more dollars 
 in small amounts, by four or five different contributors, were 
 added up to August 17th, and then the subscription stopped. 
 Miss Roach, with her usual zeal, had gathered $400 for a new 
 tabernacle, but this was credited to the Altar Society, and the 
 church fund languished. So matters will remain until the fol- 
 lowing March, when, on the 2nd of the month, Mr. James R. 
 Kelly will again head the list with $100, and this time matters 
 will go ahead, for the time of building will have come. But we 
 are again anticipating. 
 
ioo THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 In the spring and summer of 1861, great improvements were 
 taking place around the college. Market Street had been cut 
 through and graded, and the road-bed macadamized. All this 
 entailed great expense, but it was repaid many times over in 
 the increased value of the property, and in the easier com- 
 munication thus established between St. Ignatius and all the parts 
 of the rapidly growing city. The duck ponds, of which there 
 had been several in the vicinity, were now things of the past, and 
 even the old sidewalk in front of the church, which must have 
 been very elaborate, seeing that on June 14th two dollars had 
 been expended in removing it, ceased to figure in the city's 
 history. The accompanying view taken in another part of the 
 city, will interest our readers as showing how the sand hills of 
 San Francisco became things of the past. 
 
 Towards the end of July, the college catalogue made its 
 first appearance, the school year having ended on the 27th of 
 the month with an exhibition at 10 a. m. Four hundred and 
 eighty copies were distributed. It is a small pamphlet of six- 
 teen pages. It informs us of the opening of the college on 
 October 15th, 1855, and of its incorporation on April 30th, 
 four years later. "The college is conducted," it says, "by the 
 Fathers of the Society of Jesus, and is intended for day scholars 
 only. The collegiate year begins on the last Monday of August 
 and closes about the end of June with a distribution of premiums. 
 
 The plan of instruction is essentially the same as that now 
 followed in Santa Clara College, California, embracing the Latin, 
 Greek, English, French and Spanish languages; poetry, rhetoric, 
 elocution, history, geography, arithmetic, bookkeeping, mathe- 
 matics, moral and natural philosophy, and chemistry. There 
 is also a Preparatory Department, in which spelling, read- 
 ing, writing, and the elements of arithmetic, history and 
 geography are taught, in order to qualify the pupils for the 
 higher studies. Other languages than those mentioned above, 
 as well as drawing and vocal music, will be taught, if 
 required, but will form extra charges. . . . 
 
 The hours of class are from 9 o'clock in the morning to 
 3 p. m. There will be a recess from 12 to 12 130 p. M., but none 
 will be allowed to leave the premises during that time unless 
 residing in the immediate neighborhood." 
 

ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 101 
 
 A list of the faculty and other officers is then given, and 
 next come the pupils, together with the classes to which they 
 belong. After these, we have the honors and distinctions gained 
 in the various classes. A modest programme completes the whole. 
 The number of pupils was 144, distributed into eight classes, as 
 follows: Rhetoric, 3; Poetry, 7; 1st Grammar, 3; 2d Grammar, 
 13; 3d Grammar, 49; 1st Rudiments, 11; 2d Rudiments, 18; 
 3d Rudiments, 40. 
 
 In the classical department we find three classes of Latin, 
 but only one of Greek. French, Italian and Spanish are culti- 
 vated by the pupils, as are also figure and landscape drawing; 
 not that the Fathers intended, by these latter branches, to form 
 artists or linguists, but that they recognized the refining influences 
 of such accomplishments. On the 29th of July, two days 
 after the commencement exercises, Father Urban Grassi bade 
 farewell to St. Ignatius. True, he did not part without a 
 pang, for he had labored zealously and successfully in assisting 
 his brethren in their endeavors to upbuild the institution, but 
 duty called him to long years of fruitful toil among the wild 
 tribes of the Rocky Mountains, and, child as he was of obedience, 
 he must obey. Father Raffo, too, a little later was transferred 
 to San Jose to replace Father Alphonsus Biglione, who had 
 been called to Santa Clara as professor of mental and moral 
 philosophy. 
 
 The place left vacant by Father Raffo, as chaplain of 
 the students, was destined to be filled by a man who was to 
 become the most famous Jesuit on the Pacific Slope. We speak 
 of Father James Buchard or Bouchard, the name seeming to 
 admit of different spellings. In company with Fathers Edmund 
 Young of the Maryland Province, Florence Boudreaux of the 
 Missouri, and Brother Anthony Ciotti of the Roman, Father 
 Buchard had arrived in San Francisco on August 9th. He 
 alone, it would seem, had, in the first arrangement, been destined 
 for St. Ignatius; for though, after a few days' rest, he accom- 
 panied the others to Santa Clara, they remained there while he 
 returned to the city. 
 
 Father Boudreaux was stationed at Santa Clara until the 
 middle of October, laboring in the college and preaching 
 frequently both to the congregation in the church and to 
 
102 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 the students in their chapel. He was then attached to the 
 faculty of St. Ignatius, and the impress left on the institution 
 by his experience and ability, long outlived him. Three other 
 Fathers were added to the college staff this year. They were 
 Father Sanctes Traverso, who taught rhetoric, poetry, ancient 
 and modern languages, history and geography; Father Joseph 
 Tadini, who taught ancient languages; and Father James 
 Vanzina, who received from Superiors the task of mastering 
 the difficulties of the character of the American boy, as prefect 
 of discipline, while he, at the same time, sought to master those, 
 even greater, of the English idiom. Fathers Traverso and Tadini 
 came from Santa Clara, where they had taught the preceding 
 year. Father Vanzina came from Dole in the Province of 
 Lyons, France, where he had been employed in the labors of 
 the ministry. 
 
 But, while these matters were developing inside the college, 
 and every nerve was being strained to give it all the efficiency 
 compatible with circumstances, difficulties arose from without, 
 which must, for some time, claim our attention. But, before 
 entering upon the matter, the delicacy of which must be obvious 
 to all, we protest, in the sincerity of our hearts, that we have only 
 the highest and noblest motives to attribute to the action of one 
 who considered himself in conscience bound to act as he did ; and 
 that we consider the case as merely one of those occurrences 
 that are apt to happen in life, in which rights and duties are 
 liable to be differently understood and interpreted; each party 
 bearing the sincerest respect for the other, each regretting that 
 differences should exist, yet unable to see how differences can 
 be avoided ; each ready to submit to competent authority when- 
 ever a decision will be rendered. But the state of the case and 
 the source of the difficulty will best appear from the following 
 letter of His Grace, Archbishop Alemany to Father Villiger, 
 Superior of the Jesuits in California : 
 
 ** "San Francisco, August 7th, 1861. 
 
 Very Reverend dear Father: 
 
 I received your esteemed favor of the 1st inst, and I have 
 no doubt that the destination made will suit the interests of 
 religion. I also must thank you in the name of the Sisters for 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 103 
 
 your charity in giving them Fathers to give them spiritual 
 retreats; and, in fact, I am grateful to all the Fathers for the 
 much work done and to be done for the spiritual advantage of 
 souls and the glory of God. It was because I considered that 
 they would do good, that I gave to Father Nobili the congrega- 
 tions of Santa Clara and San Jose. 
 
 I wished to afford the opportunity of some permanent estab- 
 lishment to the good children of St. Ignatius and of St. Dominic, 
 while they would also work for the good of religion and fight 
 for the holy cause to the Day of Judgment. In connection with 
 this, it would appear that it is not exactly the intention of the 
 Church to place parishes much under the care of Religious, nor 
 the object of Religious to administer them. And it was in order 
 to show my good will to the Jesuit and the Dominican Fathers, 
 that I obtained for both, some considerable time since, what I 
 considered favors. Now I have a kind of presentiment that I 
 may meet with some displeasure from both in not succeeding in 
 obtaining more. And this is the main object of this — namely, 
 to see if the materia prima for such an unpleasant future, dif- 
 ferent views or disagreeableness, might be avoided. 
 
 The matter is this : Religious Orders naturally desire to 
 have the church property which they_ administer vested in them- 
 selves. The decrees of Baltimore governing all the dioceses in 
 the States, require the property of parishes and such like to be 
 vested in the Bishops. If so, how can Religious have charge of 
 parishes? This is the grave question. I desired to obviate this 
 difficulty by obtaining from Rome a moderation, or such an 
 entrusting of the parish as that it should become impossible for 
 the Bishop to change the administration without the previous 
 determination or decision of the Propaganda. But, it seems 
 that the S. Congregation will not likely accede. It appears 
 to wish, as is natural, that the emoluments due the pastors 
 should belong to the Religious serving the parish; but 
 it contemplates the Bishop owner and unrestricted in the 
 government. 
 
 I may have presumed too much, or undertaken more than 
 I was allowed, when allowing all the offices of a parish to be 
 performed in St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco. But now, 
 
104 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 when more explicit instructions are received, and when it is 
 desired to build another church, what should I do not to dis- 
 please and yet do my duty? 
 
 Ever yours, etc., 
 
 fJosEPH S., A. S. Fro. 
 Very Rev. B. Villiger, S. J., Supr., etc." 
 
 Another letter of His Grace will throw additional light on 
 his view of the case : 
 
 ** "San Francisco, Aug. 22nd, 1861. 
 
 Very Reverend dear Father: 
 
 I received in Placerville your esteemed favor of the 12th 
 inst. in answer to my proposal of the 7th. That seems to ease 
 the main difficulties. For, although the Council's approval is 
 required for collecting through the city, I think there will be 
 no difficulty about it, if due times and ways be attended to, 
 as no doubt will be the case. And, as for allowing you to give 
 the last Sacraments to your penitents ad tetnpus, I see no diffi- 
 culty; and I feel all inclination to allow it, unless any canon 
 would be found preventing me from it. And this was now my 
 only difficulty in your building a new church, supposing that 
 you desired that it should be a parish church ; for then, it appeared 
 to me, that I could not allow it unless you would make over to 
 me the deeds of the church (which looked, at least, curious), or 
 unless I could have obtained permission from Rome that you 
 and the Dominican Fathers might have retained the deed of 
 the parochial or pro-parochial church, which, after the departure 
 of Father Sopranis, I learned from Rome the Holy See was 
 not inclined to grant. But, as you do not desire to retain the 
 parish, then all the main embarrassment seems to be removed. 
 
 Now, while I need very badly the prayers of St. Ignatius 
 and of St. Dominic, and their children's services almost as badly, 
 yet, put in the position in which I am placed, I don't see that I 
 can act differently from what I am doing in these things. And 
 I remain always, 
 
 Your Reverence's servant and brother, etc., 
 
 tjos. S., Abp. of S. Fro. 
 Very Rev. B. Villiger, S. J., Supr., etc." 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 105 
 
 The foregoing letters clearly express the divided sentiments 
 of the Archbishop's heart, love of the religious Orders, of which 
 he himself was a distinguished ornament, and concern for what 
 he considered to be his duty as Ordinary of the diocese. Canon- 
 ists might differ, and did differ with him in the interpretation 
 of Church law; no one, however, impugned the motives which 
 inspired his action. Still the action, pure as were its motives, 
 bore heavily on St. Ignatius. All activity, therefore, looking to 
 the erection of the new church, was, for the moment, set aside, 
 and Superiors were to be pardoned for entertaining some appre- 
 hensions as to the outcome. 
 
 But, whether the parish would or would not be retained, for 
 the question at the time seems to have hinged on this, the insti- 
 tution for its development evidently needed more land. On 
 the 22nd of August, therefore, the very day on which the second 
 letter of the Archbishop was penned, though naturally before 
 its receipt, Father Maraschi, through a friend, bought of E. F. 
 Northam and others eleven lots, having a depth of 75 feet and 
 a frontage on Jessie Street of 245 feet. The price paid was 
 $8,456. 
 
 This purchase gave the Fathers a continuous stretch of prop- 
 erty from Market to Jessie Street. There remained, however, 
 one lot, the holding of Redmond McCarthy and wife, which 
 was still required to equalize the frontage on the two streets and 
 square the property. Negotiations looking to its purchase were 
 commenced, and, on September 4th, brought to a conclusion; 
 though, as happens in such cases, the price paid was double what 
 had been given for each of the other eleven. The lot measured 
 30 feet on Jessie, but, strange to say, had only a depth of 74 
 feet. The other lots were 75. This left a small strip of land 30 
 feet long and one foot wide which was necessary to complete the 
 whole. A deed for this was obtained two days later, and Father 
 Maraschi might well congratulate himself that, with an expendi- 
 ture of about $22,000, he had acquired for St. Ignatius this 
 splendid piece of property. 
 
 Father Buchard had already begun to preach in the church, 
 and presently the little edifice was taxed to its utmost, so 
 that crowds stood without, unable to gain admission. Still 
 his voice, which was remarkably powerful, reached even to 
 
io6 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 these; and they stood in rapt admiration, for never before 
 had they heard a man speak like this man. 
 
 Father Maraschi, as we have seen, had already, on a former 
 occasion, strengthened with iron braces the fragile little church, 
 but now he feared lest the floor itself might sink beneath the 
 weight, and so an iron pillar was placed under it as an addi- 
 tional precaution against accident. 
 
 Among the chief spiritual works of the Society of Jesus, 
 and one specially blessed and privileged by the Supreme Pon- 
 tiffs, is the establishment of Sodalities in honor of the Blessed 
 Virgin. A Sodality of the students had been flourishing for 
 several years, and the Fathers now thought that the time was 
 ripe for instituting one among the men. The church was well 
 attended, the sacraments were frequented, there were many 
 gentlemen anxious to form a society whose prime object was 
 devotion to the Mother of God, and Providence had supplied 
 in Father Buchard just the man to begin it. On November 
 3rd the following announcement was made in the church: "Next 
 Wednesday evening, at 7 130 o'clock, there will be in this church, 
 a meeting of the gentlemen of the congregation for the pur- 
 pose of organizing a Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Both 
 married and unmarried gentlemen are invited to attend the 
 meeting." On the 6th, therefore, all things were ready and the 
 Sodality was established. The following is found on the title 
 page of its records : 
 
 "A. M. D. G. 
 
 On the 6th of November, 1861, Rev. Father Buchard, S. J., 
 organized the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the 
 title of the Immaculate Conception and the patronage of St. 
 Ignatius, at the Church of St. Ignatius, San Francisco, Cal." 
 On the following Sunday, another notice informs the congre- 
 gation that "next Wednesday evening, at 7 130 o'clock, the mem- 
 bers of the Sodality, with others who may wish to become mem- 
 bers, are respectfully invited to meet in this church. It is hoped 
 that all will be present, as we wish to appoint officers and 
 practice the Office of the Blessed Virgin together." 
 
 The members of the Sodality included the most prominent 
 Catholic laymen of the city ; and there was every reason to hope 
 
FATHER PATRICK KELLY, S. J. 
 
 FATHER JAMES BUCHARD, S. J. 
 
 FATHER FLORENTINE BOUDREAUX, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 107 
 
 much both for the private spiritual welfare of those who com- 
 posed it and the general good of Catholicity in San Francisco, 
 from an organized body of men not ashamed to profess publicly 
 the piety of their hearts. In a noble existence of forty-four years, 
 the Sodality has not belied its promises. 
 
 In December, Father Buchard gave a mission in St. 
 Ignatius. It was his first in California. Every one was speak- 
 ing of the eloquent preacher and the church was the center 
 of attraction. Many consciences that had long been dor- 
 mant were roused into the activity of a new awakening; 
 and many that had long been dead, arose in the newness of 
 spiritual life. Conversions, too, from Protestantism and Indif- 
 ferentism soon became more marked and frequent, for the 
 charm of Father Buchard's manner gave him easy access to 
 hearts outside the fold. No wonder, then, that Father Maraschi 
 is soon called upon to add new confessionals in the church; 
 no wonder that in them the Fathers are occupied far into the 
 night. 
 
 So ended 1861, and with it what we have termed the period 
 of commencement. In it the church and college had labored 
 hard and struggled much, had been buffeted by wind and 
 tide, but still had much to be proud of in that they had never 
 ceased to make steady advance. Their progress, however, 
 had been in the broadening of their sphere of usefulness for 
 the spiritual and educational welfare of the Catholics of San 
 Francisco; not in the amount of money that they were sup- 
 posed to have gathered into the Fathers' coffers. In six years 
 the college debt had almost doubled. The $19,309 of Decem- 
 ber, 1855, had grown to $36,084 in December, 1861. It 
 is true, indeed, that some ten or eleven thousand of this debt 
 represented the purchase of the new land on Jessie Street. It 
 is likewise true that eleven thousand more had been spent in 
 the purchase of the original property. But even making these 
 deductions we have still to face the no inconsiderable sum of 
 $14,000. 
 
 How much of this the buildings represented we cannot 
 say, but we think that one half would be a very fair estimate. 
 The other half, or some $7,000, represents approximately, there- 
 
108 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 fore, the deficit in current expenses, a deficit in no way due to mis- 
 management or extravagance, but to lack of needed support. 
 
 In six and a half years, Father Maraschi had paid in interest 
 $9,834. During the same period the sum total of collections 
 in the church and the pew rent had amounted to $9,378, 
 or $456 less than the interest. Are we to wonder, there- 
 fore, that finances were not flourishing? Bequests, as we have 
 seen, there were practically none; alms came rarely and in 
 small amounts; the expenses of the college, on account of 
 secular help employed, exceeded tuition fees paid; the offerings 
 for baptisms and marriages and the masses of the Fathers, 
 were inadequate to meet deficits in other lines and give the 
 required support, hence year by year, the debt increased. On 
 what, therefore, were the Fathers to carry on a free school, for 
 some people would have wished them to do so? If even in 
 a college in which tuition was paid by such as could, there 
 was a yearly falling behind sometimes of some thousands of 
 dollars, how were expenses to be met, if even tuition fees were 
 cut off? It is easy to see what is better. It is not so easy to 
 acquire the practical means of achieving it. "The Fathers 
 ought to." Could they? "But people were poor." So were 
 the Fathers. "Ah! but the Fathers had valuable property." 
 True; but there was a heavy debt upon the property; and, 
 moreover, one does not live on the value of a property but on 
 the income derived from it. The income, as we have seen, 
 did not meet expenses. People did not stop to reason, much 
 less did some cease to criticise. They had persuaded them- 
 selves that the Fathers were rich, and that settled the matter. 
 The Fathers ought to carry on a free school. 
 
 Anxious to still the tongue of even unfair criticism, Father 
 Maraschi conceived the idea of establishing a free parochial 
 school distinct from the college, and would have done so had 
 the parish not been taken away. We are content for the present 
 to show the difficulties of the Fathers' position, difficulties 
 unimagined even by somewhat intimate friends. How many, 
 for instance, stopped to consider how these devoted men, many 
 of them eminent in scientific and theologic attainments, had 
 arrived at the dignity of the priesthood and found themselves 
 administering the blessings of religion on these distant shores? 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 109 
 
 They had gathered wisdom, but they had to be supported 
 while acquiring it. They had come from Europe and the 
 Eastern States. Passage-money came high. If health or 
 other cause necessitated the removal of a Father from St. 
 Ignatius, another equally, and perhaps, more competent was 
 put in his place. If the spiritual needs of the congregation 
 called for more assistance, the number of Fathers was increased. 
 And all this was done without a cent of expense to the diocese 
 as such. Whence had the money come? 
 
 In the earliest days, the expenses were borne mainly by 
 Santa Clara College, but as other houses were organized, they, 
 too, were called upon to share proportionally in the burden, 
 and hence from 1855 St. Ignatius had been obliged to contribute 
 its part. The mother Province would doubtless willingly have 
 helped, but revolution had ruined and dispersed it ; and unable to 
 supply for the needs of those who immediately appealed to its 
 care at home, it could spare but little from its poverty for its 
 subjects abroad. 
 
 Although the Propagation of the Faith gave according 
 to its means, the Jesuit Mission of California was only one 
 of its numerous beneficiaries, many of whom, among savage 
 and pagan tribes, appealed more loudly for help than a Mission 
 among civilized people in the land of gold. Some donations 
 were received from friends in Europe to help defray the 
 expenses of travel and of the education of members of the 
 Jesuit Order, but these amounted in all to only $580. Chief 
 among these benefactors was a certain Canon Ortalda who, 
 unable himself to devote his labors to the conversion of the 
 New World, did what he could to assist the efforts of others. 
 
 Poor Father Maraschi, how he must have toiled, and 
 planned, and stinted himself to make ends meet, which, alas! 
 never met! The common Mission expenses of which he had 
 to bear his portion, were during this first period $15,110. 
 Of these the Propagation of the Faith contributed $5,600; 
 benefactors, $580; leaving the remaining $8,930 to be por- 
 tioned between Santa Clara, San Jose and St. Ignatius; and 
 though on generous Santa Clara the burden mainly rested, 
 it did not cease to be a severe strain upon the life and strength 
 of St. Ignatius. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Imliijroumt ISB2--ISZS. 
 
 1862. 
 
 From what has been hitherto said, our readers can easily 
 imagine the perplexity in which Father Maraschi and his 
 associates were in the opening days of 1862. Build they must; 
 but how and what? Put up a larger church and give the deed 
 of the property into the hands of the Ordinary? This they 
 could not do unauthorized, for the land belonged to the Jesuit 
 Order at large and they were only administrators. They would 
 have to refer the matter to the proper authorities and await 
 directions. Moreover, was it, after all, wise to build a perma- 
 nent church, in view of the rapid growth of San Francisco, a 
 growth which in time might necessitate, for the institution, 
 a change of location? Was it possible to build a church of 
 the dimensions that would be needed in the course of time ? And 
 whence was the money to come for this magnificent structure? 
 
 Nor were these the only sides to the problem. The college, 
 too, was clamoring for a home better suited to the respectability 
 and growing numbers of its pupils. Which should have the 
 preference, church or college? The problem, therefore, that 
 confronted the Fathers, was the one that is ever paramount 
 in new parishes in America, and which is solved variously 
 according to the degree of stress laid upon the Christian 
 education of youth. The pastor whose vision is bounded by 
 the immediate needs of the present, will select church in prefer- 
 ence to school; the pastor who looks carefully into the future, 
 will strive in the present to put up his school, certain that in 
 the days to come, his permanent church will follow. 
 
 In the inability, therefore, to meet the outlay required to 
 put up the church of the future; in the uncertainties that sur- 
 rounded the site; in the disquietude consequent on the letters 
 of His Grace, the Archbishop; on the principle that Christian 
 education demanded precedence, the Fathers determined to 
 erect the college. A college and college residence were there- 
 fore determined upon, the college building to consist of three 
 
H2 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 stories, of which the lowest should contain the classrooms, 
 and the two higher, the college hall which might be used for 
 divine worship until such time as the church proper should 
 be built. 
 
 The plan was neither new nor uncommon. Congregations 
 before 1862 and since, have used the halls of their school- 
 houses as places of worship, when, either on account of lack 
 of funds or other cause, a more decent place could not be 
 had. If the plan be meritorious in others, it certainly was not 
 blameworthy in St. Ignatius. Had the Fathers wished, they 
 could have built a church. His Grace had not forbidden them 
 to build one. He had expressly said, in his letter, that if the 
 church were not a parish church the main difficulties were 
 removed. The whole question had arisen about the Council 
 of Baltimore and parish churches. He had even said that 
 he did not see any difficulty about collecting for a collegiate 
 church provided that due prudence were used as to the time 
 and ways. Father Villiger, the Superior of the Jesuits in Cali- 
 fornia, had told him that so far as he (Father Villiger) was 
 concerned, he would prefer to give up the parish rather than 
 resign the deeds. But here again, as the matter was beyond 
 his jurisdiction, he would have to refer the whole subject to 
 higher Superiors. A college, therefore, was to be built, and 
 until the matter in dispute regarding the parish should be 
 settled, the college hall was to be used as a church. When 
 everything would be clear, and funds would be forthcoming, 
 the church proper would be attended to. 
 
 In view of the delicate condition of affairs and to smooth 
 over difficulties, it was thought well by the Jesuit Superiors to 
 confide St. Ignatius to the care of Father Nicholas Congiato, an 
 old friend of His Grace, the Archbishop. Father Maraschi, 
 moreover, the man of business, could not be expected to attend 
 to his duties in connection with the proposed building, and at 
 the same time preside over the college in its domestic and 
 other relations. Father Congiato was announced as Presi- 
 dent on January 21st. 
 
 To him, doubtless, is due the perfection of college organiza- 
 tion which we find in St. Ignatius this year, for his earlier 
 
FATHER NICHOLAS CONGIATO, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 113 
 
 experience had well fitted him for the work. Father 
 Boudreaux is prefect of studies; Father Vanzina, prefect of 
 discipline; Father Buchard, chaplain. The appointment of 
 Father Congiato was contemporaneous with the great flood 
 that swept over the San Joaquin and lower Sacramento val- 
 leys, and drove thousands of people for refuge to San Fran- 
 cisco. "For several days," says Hittell, "the Statehouse in 
 Sacramento was not accessible without the aid of boats" 
 (History of San Francisco, p. 334) ; and the suggestive item 
 in Father Maraschi's accounts — "January 28th — Workmen 
 pumping water for seven days" — would seem to indicate that 
 a similar condition of affairs existed at St. Ignatius. To say 
 that the rain fell in torrents, but feebly expresses the deluge of 
 that downpour. It rained with ceaseless fury until the very 
 sand itself refused to drink it in, and then in floods it swept 
 down through Stockton Street and formed a lake several feet 
 in depth, in and around church and college. Years afterwards, 
 a line traced by the water could be plainly seen around the 
 walls of the basement. The city had never expected such a 
 visitation. On the 19th of the month, a collection "for the suf- 
 ferers from the flood" had been taken up in the church. 
 During the following week, it was almost in order for the 
 Fathers to apply the proceeds to themselves. 
 
 This passing mishap, however, was not allowed to derange 
 the plans for building which had been matured, and so, on Feb- 
 ruary 3rd, Father Villiger came up to San Francisco in com- 
 pany with Mr. Hugh McKeadney to start the work. Mr. 
 McKeadney was a skillful architect and builder, and was, at 
 the time, a novice of the Society of Jesus, having entered 
 the Order on November 26th of the preceding year. Having 
 formed the plans, he was to supervise the construction. Father 
 Villiger was also to aid the work with his counsel and direc- 
 tion, and that he might be the freer to do so, he had, on the 
 same day that Father Congiato assumed charge of St. Ignatius, 
 resigned the immediate care of Santa Clara to Father Joseph 
 Caredda. 
 
 The scene was soon a busy one, for Father Villiger was a 
 man of earnest, energetic action; and passers-by were pres- 
 
ii 4 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 ently marveling at the broad lines on which the structure was 
 to rise. On the 20th of the month, he returned to Santa Clara 
 for a brief stay; and about March 8th, took up his permanent 
 residence in St. Ignatius. He did not, however, so resign the 
 affairs of Santa Clara into Father Caredda's hands, as totally 
 to abdicate his powers as President of the college; but he 
 retained a sort of supreme direction, which he exercised by 
 fairly frequent visits to the institution, leaving ordinary details 
 and management in the hands of his able substitute. 
 
 Permanent and substantial improvements such as the 
 Fathers were engaged in, could not but react powerfully on 
 their surroundings. We are, therefore, not surprised to learn 
 that in the early months of this year, Jessie Street was graded 
 and planked, and furnished with a sidewalk, or that the cross- 
 ing at Fourth and Market Streets was for the first time planked. 
 
 As May opened, the foundations of residence and college had 
 so far progressed that arrangements were in order for the laying 
 of the cornerstone. The nth of the month was selected for the 
 ceremony. It was the Feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph, and 
 the Fathers desired thus to join the Holy Patriarch, to whom 
 Father Villiger and Father Congiato were very specially devoted, 
 with his chaste Spouse, as heavenly protectors of the new enter- 
 prise. His Grace, the Archbishop, was unavoidably absent from 
 the city, and so he delegated the Rt. Rev. Peter Losa, the exiled 
 Bishop of Sonora, Mexico, to replace him. The orator on the 
 occasion was Rev. Father James Croke, the Vicar General. We 
 subjoin a testimonial of the good Bishop in reference to the 
 event. It was given by him to the Fathers some nine months 
 later, when it was deemed desirable to have it : 
 
 ** 
 "Petrus Losa, Dei et Apostolicae Sedis gratia, in Republica Mexi- 
 cana, Senorensis Episcopus: 
 
 Omnibus et singulis has litteras inspecturis notum sit, quod 
 Anno a Nativitate Domini Millesimo octingentesimo sexagesimo 
 secundo, die vero undecima Mensis Maii, quae fuit Dominica 
 tertia post Pascha, et festum Patrocinii Sancti Joseph Sponsi 
 B. V. M., hora tertia post meridiem, de speciali delegatione Ill'mi 
 ac Rev'mi D. D. Fr. Joseph Sadoc Alemany hujus dioecesis dig- 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 115 
 
 nissimi Archiepiscopi, ad majorem Dei gloriam, fundamenta 
 hujus Collegii Sancti Ignatii, in civitate Sancti Francisci in 
 California, solemniter benedixi et angularem lapidem rite imposui. 
 In quorum fidem presentes litteras manu propria conscriptas ac 
 signatas expedii, in eadem civitate Sancti Francisci, die 27 Feb- 
 ruarii, Anni Domini 1863. 
 
 f Petrus, 
 Episcopus Senorensis." 
 
 "Peter Losa, by the grace of God and of the 'Apostolic See, 
 Bishop of Sonora, Mexico: 
 Be it known to each and every one to whose notice these 
 letters may come, that in the year of our Lord 1862, at 3 p. m., 
 on the nth of May, the third Sunday after Easter and the Feast 
 of the Patronage of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin 
 Mary, in virtue of special delegation made by the Most Illustrious 
 and Reverend Joseph Sadoc Alemany, most worthy Archbishop 
 of this diocese, I, to the greater glory of God, solemnly blessed 
 the foundations of the College of St. Ignatius in the City of San 
 Francisco and duly laid the cornerstone. In testimony whereof, 
 I have written these letters with my own hand, and sent them 
 properly signed in this same City of San Francisco, February 
 27th, 1863. 
 
 t Peter, 
 Bishop of Sonora." 
 
 The throng that gathered on the occasion was very large; 
 the function the most splendid that San Francisco had ever wit- 
 nessed. The Gentlemen's Sodality was there in force and made a 
 deep impression ; and the heart of the exiled prelate throbbed with 
 joy that, amid the indifference to religion which he could not 
 but see on every side, there was still so much real faith and 
 sincere piety in the Catholics of the city. 
 
 We have seen that the Gentlemen's Sodality had been estab- 
 lished in the preceding November, and had flourished from the 
 start. The ladies of the congregation soon began to look with 
 envious eyes upon the organization, and to ask why they, too, 
 might not have a like Sodality. Surely they were as devoted to 
 the Virgin Mother as the men; if any doubt existed, well, just 
 give them a chance to disprove it. The month of May was 
 
n6 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 here, and it was judged the most fitting time to yield to their 
 request. On the nth of the month consecrated to the Blessed 
 Virgin, therefore, this notice was read in the church: "The 
 Catholic ladies of San Francisco, and of this congregation in 
 particular, are respectfully invited to assemble in this church at 
 3 o'clock p. m. next Wednesday, for the purpose of organizing 
 a Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A punctual attendance 
 is earnestly requested." So generous was the response to this 
 invitation, and so rapid the growth of the Sodality, that, by the 
 end of the month it far outnumbered that of the men. On the 
 28th it could boast, and doubtless did, with laudable pride, of 
 a regular membership of two hundred and ninety. It had, 
 besides, some fifteen postulants. Its director was Father 
 Buchard; its prefect, Mrs. Tidball. 
 
 Two marble altars had already been ordered from Italy, and 
 they reached St. Ignatius on the 30th of May. One was the 
 altar of the Sacred Heart, and is at present the chief altar in 
 the chapel of the Gentlemen's Sodality. The other, the altar of 
 the Blessed Virgin, afterwards improved and beautified by the 
 generosity of Mrs. Bertha Welch, adorns the domestic chapel 
 of the Fathers. 
 
 Day by day the walls of the college became more imposing 
 in their plain simplicity ; and by the end of July $60,000 had been 
 spent upon them. Of this sum, $55,000 had been borrowed from 
 the Hibernia Bank at the rate of one per cent a month interest; 
 the remaining $5,000 had been made up, partly by the ordinary 
 revenues of church and college, partly by voluntary gifts. 
 Pending the settlement of the question regarding the parish, the 
 Fathers were not allowed to collect through the city. They had, 
 therefore, to content themselves with what was freely offered, 
 and, to tell the truth, the offerings were generally small. Two 
 hundred and fifty dollars was certainly not a large amount, 
 yet it was the largest individual gift that the Fathers received, 
 and the number of donors could be counted on the fingers of 
 one hand. Most of the offerings were of five and ten dollars and 
 smaller sums; but, while they did not go far towards settling 
 the claims of creditors, they brought with them God's bless- 
 ing, for they represented the sacrifices of the poor. It is pleasant 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 117 
 
 to note the names of members of the secular clergy among the 
 contributors, notably those of Fathers Michael King, Hugh 
 Gallagher and M. Cassin, sincere friends, who many times and 
 in most varied ways, had shown an affection which the Jesuits 
 of California should ever hold in fond remembrance. 
 
 Meanwhile, Father Buchard had received an invitation to 
 Grass Valley to give a mission. Though his fame had gone 
 before him, he surpassed what had been said of him. Deep 
 and heartfelt were the encomiums passed upon his eloquence 
 and zeal; and his manifest disinterestedness charmed both 
 pastor and people. He made many friends for himself and for 
 his Order, and the friends that he made were sincere and 
 lifelong. 
 
 On July 2 1 st, Father Vanzina departed for the Missions 
 of the Rocky Mountains, there to labor zealously for some 
 eighteen years, until, on June 19th, 1880, the Angel of Death 
 should summon him to the reward of a well spent life. 
 
 The new scholastic year found Father Benedict Piccardo 
 back in St. Ignatius, this time in the role of professor of ancient 
 and modern languages. Good, simple Father Piccardo! who 
 does not remember him of the facile pen, from which Latin 
 hexameters flowed with astonishing ease and elegance? Who 
 that ever came in contact with him has not seen him glow 
 with enthusiasm at the mere mention of the name of Virgil, 
 the "Aeneid" of whom he almost knew by heart? Start a line 
 at random, and Father Piccardo, even in his declining years, 
 when age might have been thought to have impaired a mem- 
 ory that had passed the limit of seventy, would immediately 
 continue the text, the length of continuance being measured 
 alone by some chance interruption or the indulgence of his lis- 
 tener. His devotion to Virgil, for it would be hard to speak 
 of it by any other name, may indeed at times have amused 
 by the very intensity of its earnestness; but it never failed to 
 produce its effect upon the minds of his pupils, and stir up a spirit 
 of loving regard for the classics. 
 
 Toward the end of August, the big bell, whose tongue in 
 those many, many years has called so many thousands to prayer, 
 was purchased from the firm of Conroy and O'Connor. It had 
 been destined for the Fire Department of the city, and had been 
 
n8 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 cast in England. Its name was the "San Francisco." Weighing 
 a ton and a half, its advent was noised abroad, the more so that 
 the department was out of funds and could not ratify the pur- 
 chase. The importing firm, therefore, offered the bell for sale. 
 In a short Memorial written by Father Villiger in 1900, when 
 he was Rector in the Jesuit Scholasticate at Woodstock, Md., 
 we find the following account of how the Fathers came to acquire 
 the bell. 
 
 ** "Father Maraschi and myself going one day to take 
 a walk, we came to the iron foundry of Donohue or O'Donohue, 
 and saw a whole row of cast steel bells ranged on the side- 
 walk, all from England; one bell was very large, with the 
 inscription 'San Francisco' on it. I believe it measured 6 feet at 
 the mouth and had a fine sonorous sound. 'Father,' said I, 'that 
 would be a fine college bell, but we have no money to buy it. 
 Well, let us go and see the gentlemen.' We were informed that 
 England expected San Francisco to buy the big bell as a fire bell 
 for the city. 'Mr. Donohue,' I said, 'it would be a fine college 
 bell, but we are too poor.' After about three weeks, the big cast 
 steel bell was marched up Market Street to the college of the 
 Jesuits and deposited inside about the middle of the garden; it 
 was accompanied by a letter from Mr. Donohue (if I remember 
 the right name), in which he said, 'I send this cast steel bell, 
 marked "San Francisco," as a present to the Jesuit Fathers of 
 San Francisco; such a day, month and year, Donohue.' Father 
 Congiato kept the letter. . . . And so we put up a skele- 
 ton of a tower of big beams, 30 feet high, in the garden, and 
 placed the bell on its top. We rang it regularly for the college 
 exercises and the Angelus, and its peal resounded for miles 
 around." 
 
 Father Villiger was right in distrusting his memory as to 
 the firm from which he had obtained the bell. It was the hard- 
 ware firm of Conroy and O'Connor, not the foundry of Mr. 
 Donohue. But we think that he has erred upon the other point 
 of its being a present. The books of Father Maraschi show 
 that $1,350 were paid for the bell. The account opens on Sep- 
 tember 2nd, 1862, under the heading, "Big Bell; Dr. $1,350; con- 
 tribution to-day $149.50." By March 1st, 1863, $700 of the debt 
 
FATHER BURCHARI) VILLIGER, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE ug 
 
 had been paid; some more of the money was given later; but 
 it was only on April ist, 1866, through a contribution of $330 
 from the Altar Society, that the whole debt was paid. "Altar 
 Society, April ist, 1866: $300 balance for the bell," is the entry. 
 It may be, for we are in no position to form a judgment in 
 the matter, that the bell was sold at such a price that it had 
 much the nature of a gift. It is certain that through the kind- 
 ness of the sellers, the Fathers were given their own time for 
 payment. We have no desire to minimize, much less to deny, 
 the goodness of the benefactors of St. Ignatius; but we must, 
 for all that, state facts as we find them. It was thought, at the 
 time, and the report even reached the ears of the Archbishop, 
 that the Sodalities had made a present of the bell. It was even 
 said more definitely that the Gentlemen's Sodality was the donor. 
 It is certain that the Sodality's members contributed, as did 
 others ; but the Sodality, as a Sodality, did not present the bell. 
 Had such presentation been made, the accounts of the organiza- 
 tion would contain a record of the gift ; finances would have been 
 in a condition to justify it; members prominent at the time, and 
 still living, would remember the donation. The concurrent testi- 
 mony of all is that no such gift was made. 
 
 As September drew near, the building was so well advanced 
 that the visits of Father Villiger to Santa Clara became more 
 frequent and protracted. On the ist of the month, he addressed 
 the pupils shortly after the reopening of classes ; on the 9th, he 
 returned to San Francisco, but only for the day; hence, the fol- 
 lowing letter of His Grace, the Archbishop, reached him in 
 Santa Clara: 
 
 "San Francisco, Sept. 10th, 1862. 
 Very Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 I think it is time that I should comply with the wishes of 
 the Church, which directs the Bishops in the United States to 
 have parochial or pro-parochial churches in their name. This 
 I should doubtless have done long ago; but, desiring always to 
 avoid anything which might have the appearance of unfriendly 
 feeling, I have put it off. Not to fail, however, any longer in 
 this duty, I feel obliged to state to you that I believe the deed of 
 your church in this city should be m my name; and that, unless 
 
120 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 it be conveyed to me within twelve months, I will consider that 
 you are not much interested in keeping the parish in the same 
 church, and myself bound to let said parish cease in said church. 
 Of course, this is not intended to give trouble to anybody: had 
 we marked out more clearly the boundaries of the respective 
 rights of regulars and seculars, perhaps we might have avoided 
 the little troubles which now seem unavoidable. I think, there- 
 fore, that the defining now of these boundaries in a way clear 
 to both parties, is the only means of dissipating such troubles 
 now and hereafter. 
 
 Respectfully yours in Christ, 
 
 f Joseph S., Abp. of S. Francisco. 
 Very Rev. B. Villiger, S. J., Supr." 
 
 The reader will have noticed in the preceding letter, that 
 His Grace makes no complaint either of the building of the 
 college or of the future use of the college hall as a provisional 
 church, for on these heads there neither had been nor was any 
 controversy; the whole question at issue was the retaining of 
 the rights of a parish without the surrender of the deeds to land 
 and buildings. 
 
 There seems to be no doubt that the Fathers, at this time, 
 desired to keep the parish, for they did not see clearly how other- 
 wise they could maintain their institution. If, even with parish 
 revenues, they were constantly sinking deeper into debt, what 
 would they do when even these would be cut off? The parish 
 had, moreover, been freely given them, and might not be with- 
 drawn without a sufficient reason; the reason adduced, as we 
 shall see later, they could not consider sufficient, and hence they 
 felt reluctant to give up the parish. 
 
 No answer seems to have been returned to the notification 
 of His Grace, for the document contained merely a statement of 
 his position in the matter, and a time limit within which the 
 Fathers should decide what they intended to do. A year's grace 
 was given for the adjusting of difficulties; meanwhile, they 
 referred, as in duty bound, the whole affair to higher Superiors 
 in Rome. While sympathizing with his Californian subjects in 
 their difficulties, and hoping for a solution satisfactory to all 
 concerned, the prudent General strongly insisted with the 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 121 
 
 Fathers that, no matter what the merits of their cause might be, 
 they must in nothing give His Grace, the Archbishop, just cause 
 of offense. 
 
 ** "Meanwhile," he wrote to Father Congiato on Decem- 
 ber 20th, "I recommend to all, prudence and charity, in order 
 that the cause of religion may not suffer through fault on our 
 part. In all these matters, we must show ourselves solicitous in 
 regard to apostolic authority, which must be upheld and rever- 
 enced much more than any private advantage of ours resulting 
 to us from our privileges. What is now happening with you 
 is not new in the Society of Jesus even since its re-establishment. 
 On many other occasions have we come forth from similar, and 
 even graver difficulties, by placing all our trust in the Lord. Be, 
 therefore, brave of heart and keep me informed of the course 
 that matters will take. 
 
 I am, in union of the Sacred Hearts, 
 
 Your Reverence's servant in Christ, 
 
 Peter Beckx, S. J." 
 
 And again, in another letter written a little later, the same 
 due consideration for ecclesiastical authority is enjoined. 
 
 "I beseech you again," says the General, "that you proceed 
 with all modesty and patience, giving offense to no one; mean- 
 while, let us not despair ; those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. 
 I hope that all will end well. Let us pray and hope." 
 
 So the year wore on and December came, and with it the 
 practical completion of the building. One hundred and two 
 thousand and some five hundred dollars had been spent on it, 
 of which only about five thousand three hundred had been 
 contributed. The rest had been borrowed, chiefly, as we have 
 stated, at the rate of one per cent a month. The college debt 
 had assumed the formidable proportions of $139,714. 
 
 By the 22nd of the month, the marble altars mentioned above 
 were in place, and on Christmas Day the edifice was thrown 
 open for worship. It was of brick, severely plain in style but 
 substantial and commodious. The church ran north and south, 
 parallel to the western boundary of the lot, but leaving a 
 passage-way between itself and the adjoining property. This 
 
122 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 vacant space served many useful purposes. It permitted the 
 proper lighting of the classrooms which, as we have said, were 
 in the lowest story. It ensured proper ventilation, should build- 
 ings rise on the adjacent land. It served as an outlet from the 
 church in case of an emergency. 
 
 The classrooms were large and airy, and extended the whole 
 length of the building. They were in two rows, a fair-sized 
 corridor separating them. Two rooms on the ground floor of 
 the Fathers' residence, and fronting on Market Street, were 
 devoted to science. Between these last, there was a permanent 
 partition; not so, however, between the others. With these, 
 everything save the outer walls, was movable. 
 
 The residence ran east and west, a little back from Market 
 Street and facing it; and reached from the college hall or 
 church, whichever one is pleased to call it, nearly to the old 
 transformed buildings of 1855. The parlors were in the second 
 story, one to the east of the entrance and three to the west. 
 These latter reached from the entrance to the church, so that, by 
 a door in the wall, easy access was had from residence to church 
 or vice versa. The college entrance was on Jessie Street, a board 
 sidewalk connecting the gate with the building. 
 
 It is hard to realize the almost thrilling effect that the 
 change from old conditions to new, had both upon pupils and 
 congregation. Church and college were now the best in the 
 city, and for most people the best is ever attractive. Hence, in 
 both, steady and rapid growth was the immediate result, 
 so that by the end of the year, the pupils in the college 
 numbered 457. 
 
 1863. 
 The 4th of February, 1863, called into existence the first 
 debating society in St. Ignatius. Like that of many another 
 first-born, its name must have been a matter of long and deep 
 consideration. It had to be learned, uncommon, drawn from 
 the parent Greek, and with enough roll to it to give due distinc- 
 tion to such as fortune favored sufficiently to admit as members. 
 The word Philodianosian answered the requirements and Philo- 
 dianosian became the name of the society. The object "was the 
 improvement of the members in debate, social advancement and 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 123 
 
 general literature." Its officers were Prof. W. J. G. Williams, 
 president; A. J. Bowie, vice-president; H. P. Bowie, secretary; 
 G. K. Pardow, treasurer; A. A. Pardow, librarian; A. A. O'Neil, 
 censor. 
 
 The only record extant of the society is a set of resolutions 
 presented by it to Professor Williams; but this record is highly 
 creditable to its members, for it evidently proceeds from grateful 
 hearts, and grateful hearts are always manly. 
 
 "At a meeting of the members of the Philo-Dianosian 
 Society, held in their hall on Thursday morning, June 4th, 
 1863, tn e following resolutions were unanimously adopted: 
 
 Whereas, cognizant of the approaching close of the schol- 
 astic year, and of the adjournment of the Society 'sine die,' and 
 
 Whereas, Prof. J. G. Williams, having presided over the 
 Society since its formation, and having at heart the encourage- 
 ment and advancement of its members, has kindly extended to 
 us the benefit of his knowledge and experience by the gentle- 
 manly manner in which he has fulfilled the duties of his office 
 and conducted the transactions of the Society, and 
 
 Whereas, in return for the care and interest shown by him 
 in enabling the members of the said Society to overcome the 
 many obstacles that they have encountered, it is only meet that 
 we make return, 
 
 Resolved, that the sincere and grateful thanks of the mem- 
 bers of this Society be and hereby are tendered to that gentle- 
 man, 
 
 Resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be presented to 
 President W. J. G. Williams at the final meeting of the Society, 
 and a copy of the same be inscribed in the records of the Society 
 to be read at the opening of the Society next term. 
 
 Aug. J. Bowie, V. P., 
 H. Bowie, Secretary. President pro tern." 
 
 In the following session, for some reason or other, the mem- 
 bers did not reassemble and the society passed out of existence. 
 It was for the more advanced pupils of the college, of whom it 
 had enrolled some fourteen. 
 
 Towards the end of May, Father Felix Sopranis paid a 
 second visit to the shores of the Pacific. This time he came 
 
124 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 from Kingston, Jamaica, in company with Father Joseph 
 Cataldo. Vested as he was with more than ordinary powers as 
 Visitor of the Jesuit houses in America, and personally ac- 
 quainted with His Grace, the Archbishop, it was hoped that he 
 might bring about a better understanding in the matter of the 
 parish, and soothe irritation, had any been engendered. 
 
 Reaching San Francisco on the 28th of the month, he 
 marveled much at the immense strides that our city was 
 making, and highly complimented the Fathers on the advance 
 made during his two years of absence. His wishes expressed 
 on the former visit that a new building should replace the old, 
 had been more than realized. 
 
 The scholastic year ended with the 30th of June, and the 
 parents and friends of the pupils flocked to the exhibition. The 
 partitions that divided the basement into classrooms had all 
 been removed, thus throwing the whole space into one large 
 hall. Desks had been taken out; chairs had been supplied and 
 arranged in tiers rising one above the other; a stage had been 
 built ; and the young participants, in all the flutter of excitement, 
 waited anxiously for the hour of commencement. 
 
 The morning exercises were literary, musical and scientific, 
 the music being supplied by the Santa Clara College Band 
 under the directorship of Father Joseph Caredda, and the 
 encomiums showered upon it were another proof of how well 
 it merited the name it bore, of ranking, at the time, among the 
 foremost musical organizations in the State. Chemistry in all 
 the novelty of experiment was presented by the students 
 devoted to that branch; and a familiar style of declamation 
 joined to skilful manipulation, left nothing to be desired in 
 the young lecturers. 
 
 The evening entertainment was dramatic. The subject was 
 a sacred one, "Joseph and his Brethren," and was presented 
 in two acts. Joseph was impersonated by James M. O'Sullivan, 
 at present a Jesuit Father in Santa Clara College. The parts 
 of Issachar and Nepthali, brethren of Joseph, were taken 
 respectively by Hon. Jeremiah F. Sullivan, and Hon. Frank 
 Sullivan, at that time students of grammar in the college. 
 William Kelly, son of James R. Kelly, appeared as Gad; Alfred 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 125 
 
 Pardow as Dan; George Pardow and Henry P. Bowie as 
 friends and confidants of Joseph. The naturalness of tone and 
 gesture, and the depth and sincerity of feeling displayed by 
 the young actors, made a marked impression on the audience, 
 which, while hoping much, was not prepared for what it wit- 
 nessed. With the conferring of the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
 on Augustus J. Bowie, Jr., and the distribution of honors and 
 prizes, the exercises of the day fittingly closed. 
 
 Chief among those who were loudest in their praise of 
 the students, was Father Sopranis himself who saw springing up 
 upon our western shores, institutions that closely resembled 
 those with which he was familiar in more favored climes; and 
 he felt himself urged more and more to labor strenuously to 
 dissipate the clouds that were darkening St. Ignatius' future, 
 that its growth might not be dwarfed by the opposition of 
 those whom it revered as friends. 
 
 The success of the college under the vigilant eye and firm 
 hand of Father Boudreaux, only made his loss the more keenly 
 felt when, on July 13th, accompanied by Fathers Alphonsus 
 Biglione and Aloysius Guerrieri, he departed by steamer for 
 New York; he, to return to the Missouri Province; they, to 
 continue their journey to Italy. Still the pain of losing him 
 was softened by a feeling of gratitude towards himself and 
 towards the Province which had so kindly lent him, and which 
 could supply even broader fields for his talents and virtues 
 than could St. Ignatius in 1863. The parting was simple and 
 affectionate on both sides; and the work of Father Boudreaux 
 had to be taken up by others. Father Caesar A. Barchi, then in 
 the prime of life, replaced him as prefect of studies; Father 
 Anthony Cichi, already well known among his Jesuit brethren 
 as a deep scientist, was appointed to the chair of the natural 
 sciences. 
 
 Ten classes had comprised the curriculum in the scholastic 
 year just ended: logic and metaphysics, rhetoric, prosody, 
 three grammar, two preparatory and three elementary classes. 
 The addition of ethics this year completed the course. Father 
 Paul Raffo was appointed professor. The catalogue of the 
 Turin Province assigns this duty to Father Joseph Tadini, 
 who had been the Minister of the college from the beginning 
 
126 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 of Father Congiato's presidency. The college catalogue, 
 however, assigns it to Father Raffo, and is evidently more 
 reliable in a matter of this kind. Still, one who would wish 
 to reconcile the discrepancy could, we think, easily do so by 
 supposing, as is not at all improbable, that Father Tadini 
 began the year by teaching the class of logic and metaphysics 
 as also that of ethics ; but that finding that so much college work 
 interfered with the domestic duties incumbent on the Minister, 
 he, after a time, resigned the class of ethics to Father Raffo. 
 The catalogue of this same year contains for the first time a 
 name still lovingly remembered by many an old student of 
 St. Ignatius, not to speak of Sodalists and members of the 
 congregation, that of Mr. Patrick J. Kelly, S. J. He was 
 the special friend of childhood, owing to his own simple, kindly 
 disposition ; and one of his first works of zeal was the establish- 
 ment of the Holy Angels Sodality for the junior students. 
 The college catalogues assign the date of its institution to 
 the year 1864, and give the month as October. The month 
 seems to be correct; the year, however, should be 1863. 
 
 Another work of zeal, the visiting of the sick in the hospitals, 
 is catalogued this year. Not that we are to suppose that 
 now, for the first time, this work of mercy was practiced; but 
 that what had been done up to the present by all the Fathers, 
 as circumstances permitted, was henceforth committed to one 
 as a strict duty, the other Fathers, as before, doing what time 
 and opportunity allowed. 
 
 The office was entrusted to the charity of Father Raffo, 
 and none better could have, been chosen for the work. A 
 secular priest, the Rev. M. O'Reilly, was employed this and 
 the following year as teacher in the college. He seems to 
 have been popular with the pupils and to have taught with 
 success. Messrs. J. P. Grace, H. Maginn and J. D. Boyle, 
 instructor in calisthenics, completed the faculty. 
 
 On the 10th of September, the year allowed the Fathers 
 in which to give over the deeds of their property, if they wished 
 to retain the parish, expired. Out of courtesy and to avoid 
 any appearance of undue haste, His Grace, the Archbishop, 
 allowed two weeks to pass before calling attention to the 
 
RICHARD McCABE, FIRST PUPIL AUGUSTUS J. BOWIE, FIRST GRADUATE 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 127 
 
 matter. The deeds had not been forthcoming and so he con- 
 sidered it his duty to act. On the 24th of the month, therefore, 
 he sent the following communication to Father Congiato, 
 president of the college: 
 
 ** "San Francisco, Sept. 24th, 1863. 
 
 Very Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 It is now over twelve months since I notified the Very Rev. 
 B. Villiger, Supr., S. J., that to comply with the wishes of the 
 Church, the title of your church here should be vested in me, 
 and that, if this was not done within twelve months from that 
 date, the 10th of September, '62, I should declare your church 
 here to be no longer a parish church. Thus, to comply with my 
 duty, I feel sorry to notify you that within a few days I will 
 make the declaration, as said title has not been conveyed to me. 
 
 With due regard, I remain, 
 
 Yours in Christ, 
 
 f Joseph S., 
 Archbp. of San Francisco. 
 Very Rev. Nicholas Congiato, S. J." 
 
 Owing to the illness of Father Congiato, an answer was 
 returned on the next day by Father Sopranis : 
 
 ** "St. Ignatius, Sept. 25th, 1863. 
 
 Most Reverend and dear Sir: 
 
 I acknowledge the receipt of the communication Your Grace 
 was pleased to make yesterday to Father Congiato, who is pre- 
 vented by sickness from answering it himself. 
 
 As through the kindness of Your Grace, our St. Ignatius 
 had been declared a parish church, we cannot have any objec- 
 tion that Your Grace should declare the same church to be no 
 longer a parish church. 
 
 This, be sure, Most Reverend Archbishop, will neither dimin- 
 ish the esteem and the affection which we entertain for Your 
 Grace, nor relax our zeal in co-operating toward the spiritual wel- 
 fare of your flock by the ministrations of our own Institute. 
 
 I remain respectfully and affectionately, of Your Grace the 
 most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 Felix Sopranis, S. J., Visit. 
 Most Rev. J. S. Alemany, D. D., 
 
 Archbp. of San Francisco.'' 
 
128 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 On the 2nd of October, therefore, the matter was brought to 
 a conclusion by a letter of His Grace to Father Maraschi. It was 
 the following: 
 
 ** "San Francisco, Oct. 2nd, 1863. 
 
 Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 As the decrees of Baltimore, confirmed by the Holy See, 
 require that the parochial churches be vested in the Ordinary, 
 and as, after my long requesting your regular Superiors to com- 
 ply with that regulation of the Church in the case of St. Ignatius, 
 they seem to feel that they should not do so, I believe that duty 
 leaves me no alternative but to discontinue the character of your 
 church as a parish, which I do hereby. 
 
 To provide for the faithful, I have extended the limits of St. 
 Patrick's from Fourth Street to Sixth; those of St. Joseph's 
 from Seventh to Sixth ; and those of the Cathedral from O'Far- 
 rell to Turk. 
 
 Your humble servant in Christ, 
 
 f Joseph S., 
 Archbp. of San Francisco. 
 Rev. Anthony Maraschi, S. J." 
 
 Two days later, Father Sopranis returned answer : 
 ** "St. Ignatius College, Oct. 4th, 1863. 
 
 Most Reverend and dear Sir: 
 
 Your Grace's communication of the 2nd inst. to Father 
 Maraschi, and the declaration therein contained that St. Ignatius 
 is no longer a parish church, have been received by our Fathers 
 here with that humble submission and reverence which are due 
 to ecclesiastical authority ; and, in accordance with this, at every 
 mass to-day, we have announced to the people that from this 
 day we have no more the power of administering baptism, of 
 performing the ceremony of marriage, or of giving the Viati- 
 cum and Extreme Unction, as our St. Ignatius is no longer a 
 parish church; notifying them, at the same time, of the exten- 
 sion of limits made by Your Grace to the parishes of St. Patrick, 
 St. Joseph and the Cathedral. All this is right, and neither 
 myself nor any one of the other Fathers has any objection to 
 make as to Your Grace's action. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 129 
 
 As, however, I remarked in your communication some expres- 
 sions from which one might infer that the Superiors of the 
 Society of Jesus could be guilty of a lack of obedience to the 
 regulations of the Church, Your Grace must allow me to free 
 them from even the shadow of such offense. 
 
 And what I do here with Your Grace, I shall equally do both 
 with His Eminence, Cardinal Barnabo (to whom I am in duty 
 bound to give some account of a visit which I have undertaken 
 by commission of our Father General, with the knowledge of the 
 same Cardinal, and after a strong recommendation of His Emi- 
 nence to all the Bishops of the United States), and with some 
 people here who might misunderstand Your Grace's declaration 
 to the detriment of the good name of our Society. 
 
 This is, therefore, my statement: 
 
 Our Reverend Father General, in not permitting us to trans- 
 fer to Your Grace the title of our church, has only made use 
 of the common right which is granted by the Holy See to all 
 religious Orders to possess property of their own. As our 
 churches are an essential part of our colleges, which the Holy 
 See has authorized us to possess as our own, Rev. Father Gen- 
 eral, I believe, wisely thought that the Holy See would contra- 
 dict itself if, while allowing us, on the one hand, to possess col- 
 leges, it would, on the other, oblige us to dispossess ourselves of 
 the same by investing the Bishops with the title to our property. 
 He concluded, therefore, that it was not according to the will of 
 the Holy See that the title which Your Grace required of us 
 should be given. 
 
 And that Rev. Father General has been right in thinking 
 so, is, it seems to me, evidently proved by this, that the Holy 
 See allows those religious Orders, who, according to their Insti- 
 tute, are empowered to have parishes, to possess the churches as 
 their own; and, therefore, though the Ordinary has the right 
 to visit them, his visit, however, is limited by ecclesiastical law 
 to what concerns the sacraments and parochial duties, but he 
 cannot interfere with what concerns the property. 
 
 And this is the reason, I think, why the Holy See, approv- 
 ing of the decrees of the Council of Baltimore, made, in refer- 
 ence to the 5th decree, the observation, 'In order that it may 
 appear that by this decree the Bishops do not wish to injure in 
 
130 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 any way the Regular Orders, it might be added: "Preserving 
 intact the privileges of the Regular Orders, according to what- 
 soever has been decreed in Canon Law and the Constitutions 
 of the Roman Pontiffs." ' And, in accordance with such observa- 
 tion, the words, 'The privileges of Regulars,' etc., have been 
 added to the 5th decree. 
 
 Our Reverend Father General, therefore, considering all 
 these things, and regarding the 5th decree of the Council of 
 Baltimore as not affecting us, has deemed it not only to be his 
 right, but also to be in accordance with the mind of the Holy 
 See, not to permit us to place in the hands of Your Grace the 
 title to our church. And although, on these principles, he could 
 perhaps have insisted with Your Grace that you should not 
 withdraw the parish, especially in view of the fact that the 
 Holy See has, for the time being, allowed us to have parishes, 
 a thing which we could not do merely in virtue of our Institute, 
 but which is required to supply the lack of a due foundation 
 for the support of Ours, he, nevertheless, would not. He has 
 preferred that we should confide ourselves to the care of Divine 
 Providence for support, rather than make any opposition to 
 Your Grace, to whom our Society is so much indebted for the 
 true liberality with which you have endowed Santa Clara 
 College. 
 
 I humbly beg Your Grace to accept these few words in a 
 friendly spirit, for so I have written them, not intending to con- 
 demn in any way what, in your wisdom, you have thought 
 to be your duty ; but only to show forth the truth of things as it 
 is in itself on our side. 
 
 I remain respectfully and affectionately yours, 
 
 Felix Sopranis, S. J." 
 
 His Grace, the Most Reverend Archbishop, had seemed to 
 imply that it was the desire of the Holy Father that all parish 
 property should be in the name of the Ordinary of the diocese, 
 especially in view of the decrees of the Council of Baltimore 
 approved by the Holy See. The conclusion, therefore, seemed 
 to be, "The Fathers of the Society of Jesus, in declining to give 
 up the deed of the property, are not sufficiently submissive to 
 that will." This inference the Fathers emphatically denied, for 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 131 
 
 loyalty to the Supreme Pontiff and his wishes, has ever been the 
 great glory of their Order. Hence the answer of Father 
 Sopranis. He sets forth: 1st. The rights of religious Orders, 
 according to the will of the Holy See, as expressed in Church 
 law, to hold the deeds to their property; 2nd. The rights of 
 religious Orders who by their Institute can administer parishes, 
 to hold the deeds to the same ; 3rd. The privileges of the Society 
 of Jesus, which, owing to the lack of other means of support, has 
 been empowered to do, by privilege, what other Orders do in 
 virtue of their Institute; 4th. The fact that in the very decree 
 on which His Grace rested his opinion, the Holy See itself had 
 suggested an amendment safeguarding, in this matter, the rights 
 and privileges of the Orders in question. His Grace might, there- 
 fore, if he saw fit, take away the parish; from the reasons 
 adduced for its taking away, the Fathers were at liberty to 
 dissent. As our work is purely historical, and not controversial, 
 we have given both points of view in the letters mutually 
 addressed on the subject. Years have passed since it has been 
 of any practical interest, and all those who have participated in 
 it, are united to-day in the peace and happiness of eternal bliss. 
 If, moved by the feelings of the moment, for we are all human, 
 a word less calmly weighed escaped from lip or pen, it was soon 
 forgiven and forgotten, as ever happens when the parties differ- 
 ing, as in the present case, have the sincerest esteem for each 
 other. On November 3rd, pained at the failure of his mission, 
 Father Sopranis set sail for New York on his way to Rome. As 
 companion of his voyage to the Eastern metropolis, he had the 
 famous Indian missionary, Father de Smet. This Father had 
 arrived at St. Ignatius two weeks previously, having left St. 
 Louis, in May, on a visit to the Missions in the Rocky Mountains 
 and Oregon. 
 
 As the founder of these Missions, Father de Smet had, in 
 God's providence, been instrumental in founding that of 
 California, for it was from Willamette that Fathers Accolti 
 and Nobili had come to San Francisco. Moreover, he was 
 the leader of the little band of Jesuits who left Antwerp, 
 Belgium, on January 9th, 1844, of which band Fathers Accolti 
 and Nobili were members. Doubtless, as with Father Sopranis 
 
132 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 he skirted the coast of California, he went over the details of 
 that memorable voyage which had meant so much for the 
 Pacific Slope; the weary wait of twenty-eight days at the mouth 
 of the Scheldt while expecting a favorable wind; the fearful 
 tempest off the Patagonian coast when the ship, drifting on 
 the rocks, threatened certain and speedy death; the calm 
 heroism of the Sisters of Notre Dame when told of the danger; 
 the long weary voyage from Callao to Fort Vancouver, when, 
 instead of arriving in forty days as expected, the missionaries 
 were obliged to suffer the inconveniences of eighty-one; the 
 missing of the mouth of the Columbia with attendant perils, 
 as if the powers of darkness had left nothing untried to ruin 
 the expedition, foreseeing in it the fruitful seed of much good 
 to religion in Oregon and California. 
 
 But we must go back a little. The 8th of October had 
 called into being, a successor to the Philodianosian Society; 
 for successor we may call it, even though it drew its members 
 from the junior instead of from the senior students. Rev. 
 Father Barchi, the new prefect of studies, was its moving 
 spirit, and his enthusiasm met a ready response in the hearts 
 of his young disciples. The society was called the Philhistorian 
 Debating Society, since history was to supply the main themes 
 for discussion. From the minute-book we take the following 
 entry. 
 
 "October 8th, 1863. 
 
 John Heany, Alb. Le Breton, Ed. Le Breton, Jas. O'Sullivan 
 and Jer. Sullivan, students in grammar in St. Ignatius 
 College, held to-day the first meeting of the Philhistorian 
 Debating Society. The constitution and by-laws were read 
 and approved. A. Le Breton was elected vice-president; 
 George Harrison, secretary; J. Heany, treasurer." "The object 
 of this association," says the college catalogue of 1864, "is to 
 promote in its members the knowledge of history and literature, 
 and to accustom them to speak with ease and fluency." Owing, 
 no doubt, to the smallness of the society's membership and 
 the amount of reading called for in the study of historical 
 subjects, on November 5th the resolution was passed to have 
 historical debates bi-monthly. The meetings of the organiza- 
 
FATHER SANCTES TRAVERSO, S. J. 
 
 FATHER CAESAR A. BARCHI, S. J. 
 FATHER ANTHONY CICHI, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 133 
 
 tion were regularly held and faithfully attended, and marked 
 advance in easy, fluent speaking was soon noted in its members. 
 
 Although the college buildings had been occupied since 
 the first days of the year, much fitting up had remained to 
 be done and many details to be attended to; and though, to 
 the onlookers, matters might have seemed much the same at 
 the beginning as at the end of the year, the college accounts 
 showed an outlay of some seventeen thousand dollars. 
 
 The chemical department, too, began to assume more 
 definite shape and importance under the able direction of 
 Father Anthony Cichi, who, already eminent as a chemist, 
 was not easily satisfied with an ill-equipped department. 
 What was worth doing at all was worth doing well, was 
 his motto; and he lived up to it, to the great profit of his 
 pupils and the advantage of those who succeeded him in his 
 chair. The magnificent photographic apparatus purchased at 
 this time was the fruit of his zeal. 
 
 And so the year 1863 was numbered with its predecessors, 
 its last days signalized by the purchase of "houses, shepherds 
 and even St. Joseph" for the crib; just as its successor opened 
 its accounts with the interesting item, "Camel and horses for 
 the wise kings." The debt had increased nearly $18,000 during 
 the year. 
 
 1864. 
 
 This year was especially honorable to St. Ignatius, for it 
 was during it that the Society of Jesus formally recognized 
 the institution as a complete college. It had already conferred 
 its first classical degree; its numbers were swelling to remark- 
 able proportions; why deny it its true standing? Each depart- 
 ment strove to outdo the other in excellence, and when, in 
 January, the library enriched itself with a complete edition 
 of the works of the Fathers of the Church, it felt that it had 
 no need to hang its head in the presence of its fellows. 
 
 About the same time, inspired no doubt by Father Barchi, 
 its president, a remarkable lover of books, the Philhistorian 
 Debating Society, on the 14th of the month, passed a resolution 
 in favor of acquiring a library. Funds were naturally not 
 abundant in the nascent state of a boys' organization, and 
 
134 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 hence the members were invited to present what books they 
 could. Father Barchi started the collection, on February nth, 
 with the presentation of "Rollin's Ancient History," in two 
 volumes. Master Cornelius Delahanty, on March ioth, opened 
 the department of American history with the "Life of George 
 Washington"; and Master E. Le Breton, the future founder 
 of the Home for the Aged Poor, even at this early period 
 showed the promptings of a generous heart by offering, on 
 March 31st, "The History of England," by Markham, and the 
 "History of the Crusades." On September 22nd, the society 
 elected its first honorary members, and, on October 27th, in 
 the enthusiasm of its prosperity and importance, it resolved 
 to edit a paper. The resolution, however, never came to any- 
 thing, nor do we find the matter again adverted to in the 
 minutes. The project was, in all probability, considered pre- 
 mature by the college authorities, who knew how easily boys 
 rush into such ventures and how easily they rush out; and 
 it was consequently discouraged, until time should render it 
 clear that permanence and solid profit would be the result. 
 In early April, Father Buchard gave a mission at Folsom, 
 an account of which appears in the Monitor of the 23rd of 
 that month; and giving, as it does, an insight into the disin- 
 terestedness of the Father's character, our readers will, we 
 know, welcome its insertion. 
 
 "father buchard in folsom. 
 
 Folsom, April 18th, 1864. 
 
 Rev. Father Buchard, S. J., of your city has just termin- 
 ated a most successful mission of eleven days' duration, in 
 St. John's church in this town. Instructions were given both 
 night and morning, and on each occasion (particularly at 
 night), the church was crowded by persons of all denomina- 
 tions. 
 
 Before his departure, a small purse of two hundred and fifty 
 odd dollars was made up by the friends of the Reverend gentle- 
 man, which, however, he declined receiving, but requested that 
 $200 of it be given to Father N. Gallagher, our pastor (which 
 was done), to aid in the building of a schoolhouse for the 
 Catholic children of Folsom and vicinity. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 135 
 
 By request of Father Buchard, the children belonging to 
 the congregation, numbering upwards of one hundred, assem- 
 bled in the church on Tuesday last, and were entertained by 
 addresses suitable to their age, by Rev. Father Buchard and Rev. 
 Father Beekey of Sacramento. 
 
 Rev. Father Buchard returns to San Francisco, carrying with 
 him the blessings and regrets of all who had the pleasure of mak- 
 ing his acquaintance." 
 
 We have seen that in the October of 1863, the church had 
 been deprived of all parochial rights and privileges; imagine, 
 therefore, Father Congiato's surprise when in May, 1864, he 
 received the subjoined note : 
 
 ** "San Francisco, May 20th, 1864. 
 
 Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 I think it would be well to have the holy Sacrament of 
 Confirmation administered in your church. I am engaged until 
 the first Sunday of next month, inclusive. Almost any of the 
 four Sundays after that would suit me. Please let me know, and 
 pray for 
 
 Yours in Christ, 
 
 f Joseph S., Abp. of San Francisco. 
 Very Rev. Nicholas Congiato, S. J." 
 
 On the 26th of the month, Father Congiato wrote His Grace 
 and accepted the proposal, desiring, however, that the ceremony 
 be delayed as much as possible, in order to give time for prepara- 
 tion. This we learn from a note of His Grace, the Archbishop, 
 dated May 28th, in which he says : "According to your favor of 
 the 26th inst, let us have Confirmation in your church after the 
 last mass on the 19th of June next." Confirmation was accord- 
 ingly administered on that date, much to the edification of the 
 people and the pleasure of His Grace. 
 
 On the 25th of May, the day before he had sent his letter 
 to the Archbishop, Father Congiato had written to Very Rev. 
 Father Beckx, reporting what he had done, and received in 
 return the following reply : 
 
136 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 ** 
 
 « 
 
 "Reverend Father in Christ: 
 P. C. 
 
 I have received Your Reverence's last letter, dated May 25th, 
 and am greatly consoled that the advices you send me from your 
 college are better. I hope that, by some means, peace and tran- 
 quility may return, but it will be necessary ever to use the 
 greatest prudence and to avoid whatever may directly hurt cer- 
 tain susceptibilities. I think that Your Reverence has done well 
 in accepting the request of His Grace, the Archbishop, in refer- 
 ence to the conferring of the Sacrament of Confirmation in our 
 church. The manner of request is plain, nor do I think that 
 by it he lays claim to any right. On the other hand, it is always 
 better, on these occasions, to show ourselves disposed to do all 
 that we can to please. Surely it would have been a matter of 
 little edification to the faithful, to have refused the request under 
 pretext of safeguarding certain rights which do not seem to have 
 been violated. Any such action would be viewed here with dis- 
 approbation. Right, strictly enforced in every detail, is always, 
 both on the one side and on the other, odious, and does not help 
 to conciliate hearts. 
 
 Recommending myself to the Holy Sacrifices of Your Rever- 
 ence, I remain, 
 
 Your Reverence's servant in Christ, 
 
 Peter Beckx, S. J. 
 
 Rome, July 16th, 1864. 
 
 To Rev. Nicholas Congiato, S. J., 
 San Francisco, Cal." 
 
 The exhibitions this year were much more elaborate than 
 they had been hitherto. They occupied the morning and evening 
 of Tuesday, June 28th, and the evening of Friday, July 1st. 
 Tuesday morning's entertainment was literary and scientific. It 
 opened with an introductory by Frank Sullivan; then followed 
 several members of the grammar classes with very creditable 
 original compositions. Next, Masters Henry Bowie, Francis 
 Leonard and Daniel Callahan presented themselves to be exam- 
 ined in the translation and analysis of Cicero's orations, "Pro 
 Archia," "Pro Marcello," "In Catalinam" ; Horace's Odes, Book 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 137 
 
 II; Homer's Iliad, Books VI and VII. Masters Alexander 
 O'Neil and Alfred Pardow, while not prepared on quite such 
 an amount of matter, were ready to be tested on "Pro Marcello," 
 Book II of Horace's Odes, and Book II of the Iliad. As 
 all of these young gentlemen were only in the second class of 
 Latin and Greek, and were, at the same time, students of mental 
 philosophy and the natural sciences, such public test was a most 
 complimentary tribute, as well to their talent and diligence as 
 to the thoroughness of the teaching of their Alma Mater. A 
 dialogue on "Dean Swift Outwitted" and a lecture on "Copper 
 Ore with Assaying," completed the entertainment. 
 
 The evening exercises consisted of a prologue by Richard 
 Barrett; a debate on the "Freedom of the Human Soul," par- 
 ticipated in by Masters Francis Leonard, Henry Bowie and 
 Alexander O'Neil; impromptu compositions by several students; 
 "The Lawyer Cheated," a dialogue, by Masters John Heany, 
 Henry Massey, Henry Harrison, Charles McFadden; "The 
 Properties of Oxygen," a lecture illustrated with experiments, 
 by Francis Leonard. 
 
 On Friday, "Saul," a sacred tragedy in five acts, was admira- 
 bly rendered; the distribution of premiums followed; then a 
 valedictory by Thomas Egan ; and students and professors might 
 indeed welcome vacation and the enjoyment of hard-earned 
 laurels. Classes were announced to reopen for the preparatory 
 department, on July 12th; and for the grammar and higher 
 departments, on August 22nd. 
 
 The changes in the college faculty this year were compara- 
 tively few. Father Angelo Affranchino replaced Father Joseph 
 Tadini as Minister, and Father Tadini in turn replaced Father 
 Paul Raffo as professor of ethics, leaving the latter Father free 
 to devote himself untrammeled to the works of the sacred min- 
 istry. Father Lawrence Palladino taught French and prefected. 
 He had arrived in California on November 8th of the preced- 
 ing year, with Father Aloysius Bosco who was returning from 
 a trip to Mexico and the Central American States. During the 
 past scholastic year, the highest class of Latin and Greek 
 had been vacant in the college, for it had proved difficult to retain 
 pupils long enough in the classical course to enable them to 
 finish it. This year, however, the vacancy was filled; and, com- 
 
1 38 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 plete in all its classes, the college was an honor to the zeal and 
 capacity of its prefect of studies, Father Csesar A. Barchi. 
 
 During July, Father Laufhuber of the Mission of New York, 
 arrived in San Francisco to give German missions on the Coast. 
 On the 24th of the month, he opened a mission of two weeks in 
 the little German Church of St. Boniface on Sutter Street, near 
 Montgomery. Here the morning exercises were held, but accom- 
 modations were too cramped for the numbers that gathered in 
 the evening. The charity of the French pastor and his congre- 
 gation, therefore, placed at the Father's disposal the Church of 
 Notre Dame des Victoires, and here nightly the sermon was 
 given. Here, too, the closing of the mission was held, with an 
 attendance far beyond expectations, and with an expression of 
 sincere piety most consoling to behold. On November 14th, 
 the Father returned to his Eastern home, after having given 
 missions in Colusa, Virginia City and other places. The Moni- 
 tor of November 19th thus adverts to his departure: "Rev. 
 Father Laufhuber, S. J., left this city last Monday for New 
 York. His visit has been productive of much benefit to Ger- 
 man Catholics in California, among whom he has labored 
 as a missionary priest for several months past with the 
 most satisfactory results." 
 
 1865. 
 
 On the 5th of January, Father Michael O'Ferrall of the 
 Irish Province, reached San Francisco. His acquisition was a 
 great gain to St. Ignatius, for his nationality was a passport 
 to many a heart in which memories of an isle across the waters 
 could never be extinguished ; and his sincere, earnest zeal, which 
 made him a friend and helper to all alike, rendered him a gen- 
 eral favorite. From the very first days of his coming, he made 
 himself felt in the religious life of San Francisco. 
 
 Two months later, on March 5th, Rev. Father Congiato 
 was again obliged to take upon his shoulders the general superior- 
 ship of the Californian Mission, remaining, however, president 
 of St. Ignatius. Father Burchard Villiger who had been his 
 predecessor in office as well as president of Santa Clara 
 College, was now free to aid, with his advice and experi- 
 ence, the Fathers of San Francisco; for, on the same day, 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 139 
 
 he had turned over the presidency of Santa Clara College 
 to Father Aloysius Masnata and had come to St. Ignatius as 
 prefect of the church. To a man of the deep piety of Father 
 Villiger, nothing would have been more acceptable than to have 
 spent the remainder of his days in retirement, having for his 
 one purpose in life the beautifying of the house of God; but his 
 talent for administration was too marked to permit of this, and, 
 shortly after, we find him vice-president of the college. 
 
 This promotion was but the prelude to another, and on 
 July 2nd he became president of St. Ignatius. The elevation 
 of Father Masnata had necessitated the removal of Father 
 Paul Raffo to Santa Clara; for while Father Joseph Cataldo 
 assumed charge of the class of philosophy which Father 
 Masnata had taught, his health would not permit him to take 
 upon himself, in addition, the teaching of the classics in which 
 Father Masnata excelled. To Father Raffo, therefore, was 
 assigned this duty. 
 
 But events such as the change of presidents in a college 
 or the succession of Superiors in the general administration 
 of the Mission, events which caused a ripple of excitement on 
 the comparatively calm surface of college life, were lost sight 
 of in the fearful calamity that befell the nation, in April, when 
 President Lincoln was slain by the bullet of an assassin. 
 
 Ready as bigots ever are to take advantage of whatever 
 may be distorted to the prejudice of the Catholic Church, 
 they were prompt in San Francisco, as elsewhere, to seek to 
 invest the dastardly deed with a religious significance which 
 it did not bear. On April 15th, the day of the President's 
 death, a mob attacked and destroyed the Monitor office, 
 and ugly mutterings were heard in reference to Catholic churches 
 and institutions. Fortunately wiser counsels prevailed and no 
 attempt was made at molestation, but the Superiors of St. 
 Ignatius were to be pardoned if they spent many an anxious 
 hour, having, in other lands and days, experienced the fickle 
 temper of the mob. In harmony with the sad event of the 
 President's death, the church and residence were suitably 
 draped in mourning, and faculty and students marched in the 
 public funeral procession which was held on April 19th. 
 
i 4 o THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The exhibition at the end of the year was even more elab- 
 orate than that which had crowned the labors of its prede- 
 cessor. Like the former, it occupied two days, taking up the 
 morning and evening of June 28th, and the evening of June 
 30th. Six of Cicero's orations; the Germania of Tacitus; 
 four books of the Odes of Horace; the 1st, 5th and 9th Satires 
 and the Ars Poetica of the same author, were offered by two 
 of the graduates as subject matter for public examination. 
 In Greek, the specimen included twelve books of the Iliad; 
 and the 1st Philippic and three Olynthiacs of Demosthenes. 
 Essays and poems, a farce and a tragedy, did ample justice to 
 the training imparted by the Fathers. The Santa Clara College 
 Band kindly furnished the music. Three graduates this year 
 received the degree of Bachelor of Arts — Francis Leonard, 
 Alexander O'Neil and Henry Bowie, the last named having 
 entered the college as early as September 1st, 1856. 
 
 Early in July, Father Palladino was sent to Santa Clara 
 to replace Father Aloysius Vercruysse as Minister; and, on 
 August 17th, Father Joseph Bertolio became Minister in St. 
 Ignatius in place of Father Angelo Affranchino. Good Father 
 Bertolio had long sighed for California for which, in its pioneer 
 days, as we have seen, he had been destined. He had arrived 
 in San Francisco in the preceding May from Jamaica, but 
 had spent the greater part of the intervening time in Santa 
 Clara. He was not, however, the only new addition to the 
 community. There were Messrs. Joseph Neri, Joseph Isola- 
 bella, and Brother John Mahoney, S. J., and later Father 
 Paul Raffo. Mr. Patrick Kelly, S. J., who for three years 
 had labored most earnestly and successfully, especially for the 
 spiritual welfare of the junior students, was transferred to 
 equally important work in Santa Clara College. 
 
 The beautiful devotion of the Bona Mors or Happy Death, 
 appears in the domestic journal of the college for the first 
 time on August 27th. Father Buchard is named as its director, 
 and, when at home, gave it what care and attention he could; 
 but he was often away on his missionary excursions, and on 
 these occasions somebody else had to replace him. A substitute 
 was easily found in Reverend Father Villiger, who delighted 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 141 
 
 to preside at the devotion, and whose clear, practical instruc- 
 tions were always listened to with eagerness and profit. His 
 style was simple and direct, replete with good sense and flowing 
 from a heart warmed with divine love, so that his hearers could 
 not but perceive the spirit with which he spoke. 
 
 On Sunday, October 8th, and Monday, October 9th, severe 
 earthquakes shook the city; in fact, a series of similar disturb- 
 ances lasted up to the 15th. Father Bertolio's impressions 
 of them were far from agreeable as we may gather from the 
 expression in his diary, "Dei misericordia quod non sumus 
 consumpti," "It is due to God's mercy that we are not all 
 swallowed up." These earthquakes had, at least, the practical 
 effect of laying stress upon the need that existed of an easier 
 and freer egress from the church in case of danger; so 
 a door was broken in the eastern wall of the edifice, and a 
 stairway built into the Father's garden from the little veranda 
 which skirted the church on the outside, and connected resi- 
 dence and sacristy. "Salus populi," quaintly remarks Father 
 Bertolio, "suprema lex." "The safety of the people is the 
 supreme law." Like the rest of us, assuredly, he felt that he 
 belonged to the people when earthquakes were in question. 
 
 On the 1 2th of November, a notable band of Jesuits sought 
 hospitality of St. Ignatius. It was made up of Fathers Charles 
 Pollano, Jerome D'Aste, Pascal Tosi, Mr. Bartholomew Calzia, 
 Brothers John Jordan Ristori, Paschal Megazzini, Charles Rey, 
 James Botalla and Anthony Anesini, all of whom had just 
 arrived from Europe. Unfortunately only Brother Megazzini 
 could, for the moment, be spared for St. Ignatius; the others, 
 on the 14th, departed for Santa Clara. But not only to members 
 of the Jesuit Order was St. Ignatius happy to open its doors; 
 its hospitality was equally shared by its friends in the epis- 
 copacy and by members of other religious Orders; hence 
 Bishops O'Connell, Amat and Demers were not unfrequent 
 visitors; hence also the habit of the Passionist, the Oblate 
 and the Franciscan seen within its walls, told of the cordial 
 relations existing between St. Ignatius and them. 
 
 A city Catholic directory published in the Monitor, Decem- 
 ber 2nd, 1865, gives us the order of divine services in the church : 
 
1 42 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 "ST. IGNATIUS COLLEGIATE CHURCH. 
 
 On Sundays, masses every three-quarters of an hour from 
 5 to II a. m., vespers at 7 p. m. in winter, and at 7:30 p. m. 
 in summer. On week days, masses as on Sundays, from 
 5 to 8 a. u" 
 
 On the 3rd, the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Apostle of the 
 Indies, His Grace, the Most Reverend Archbishop, administered 
 the Sacrament of Confirmation in the church after the last mass. 
 We have a letter of his of an earlier date relating to the sub- 
 ject. His pious mother had lately gone to her eternal rest, and 
 Father Congiato had expressed to him the sympathy of the mem- 
 bers of the community and had promised their prayers. His 
 Grace sent in return the following reply : 
 
 ** "San Francisco, Oct. 18th, 1865. 
 
 Very Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 I am very thankful to you and to all your Fathers and 
 Brothers for the charity extended to my good mother's soul. 
 I feel her death very much, but God's will be done. 
 
 I am almost certain that I did not receive any letter from 
 you on the subject of Confirmation till I got yours of the 13th 
 inst, and, as it will not be possible to give Confirmation at 
 St. Ignatius till the end of next month, I will say let us fix the 
 first Sunday of Advent. So, unless that Sunday be inconvenient, 
 
 I shall call at that time. 
 
 Yours in Christ, 
 
 t Joseph S., Abp. S. F. 
 Very Rev. N. Congiato, S. J., Supr." 
 
 One hundred and one persons, nearly half of them adults and 
 many of them converts, presented themselves for the reception 
 of the Sacrament. His Grace was visibly impressed, as were all 
 who had the pleasure of assisting at the function. 
 
 The number of pupils in the college this year suffered a nota- 
 ble diminution, owing principally to two causes. The first was 
 the suppression of the elementary classes; the second, the intro- 
 duction of a purely classical course. At the end of August, 
 there were but 188 pupils. In Rhetoric there were none; in 
 Humanities, 9; in 1st Grammar, none; in 2nd Grammar, 15; in 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 143 
 
 3rd Grammar, Div. A, 29; in 3rd Grammar, Div. B, 34; in 1st 
 Preparatory, 28; in 2nd Preparatory, 75. The San Francisco 
 of that day was certainly not prepared for classical standards. 
 The numbers indeed increased during the course of the year, 
 and the annual catalogue contains 236 names; but this attend- 
 ance was only half of that of the preceding year, and was, for 
 the time being, a serious setback to the college. It was during 
 this year that the Sanctuary Society, which had already existed 
 for some time, received a definite organization and was placed 
 under the protection of St. Tharsicius. The college catalogues 
 mention the society as existing in 1855, but such assertion is 
 inexact. This year, 1865, is also memorable for having given 
 to the Society of Jesus the first vocation of a pupil of St. Igna- 
 tius. It was on the 8th of December, the Feast of our Immacu- 
 late Mother, that Master James M. O' Sullivan consecrated his 
 life to God, thus worthily leading in a long line of vocations 
 reaching to the present. Master O'Sullivan, transformed by 
 years and study into the present Father James O'Sullivan of 
 Santa Clara College, has been, for many years, a useful member 
 of the Jesuit Order in California. 
 
 1866. 
 
 On January 10th, Father Joseph Bertolio having been recalled 
 to Jamaica, left the earthquakes of San Francisco behind and 
 set his face seaward. Father Paul Raffb came up from Santa 
 Clara to take his place as Minister. 
 
 As early as 1861, Father Congiato had applied for a diploma 
 empowering him to erect in St. Ignatius the Confraternity of 
 the Sacred Heart of Mary, and, in accordance with his request, 
 the desired document signed on September 3rd of that year, had 
 been sent him. It was thought well, however, in 1863, to replace 
 this organization by the Sodality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; 
 and the change was accordingly made. Suitable devotions were 
 practiced, members were enrolled, and much spiritual fruit 
 was the result; but, so far as records go, we do not find the 
 public devotion to the Sacred Heart on the First Friday before 
 the 6th of April of this present year, 1866. 
 
 We wish that we were able to note equal progress in every- 
 thing else that regarded church and college, but we regret that 
 
144 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 we cannot. The Philhistorian Society had fallen from its first 
 fervor, and carelessness had usurped the place of former dili- 
 gence. No doubt the scarcity of students eligible to member- 
 ship told hard upon it, and such scarcity was inseparable from 
 smallness of numbers in the advanced classes of the college. 
 Father Barchi was not the man to trifle. Either the society was 
 capable of attaining its end in the furtherance of the literary 
 welfare of its members, or it was not. If it was, then let it 
 do so; if not, then let it cease to be. On April 12th, he laid 
 the matter clearly before the members, and as clearly gave them 
 the option of taking more interest in the debates or of adjourning 
 sine die. The motion to adjourn indefinitely was lost, and the 
 penitent backsliders promised that there would be no reason 
 for complaint in the future. 
 
 In March, Father Affranchino rejoined the faculty, and in 
 the following vacation came Fathers Florence Sullivan and 
 Ignatius Prelate Fathers Anthony Cichi, Joseph Neri and 
 Joseph Tadini were, in the early autumn, transferred to Santa 
 Clara. 
 
 The exhibition this year was restricted to one night, Wednes- 
 day, June 27th; and, while creditable and entertaining, lacked 
 the brilliancy of its two predecessors. Father Villiger, who had 
 gone to attend the commencement exercises at Santa Clara, was 
 not present at it, and Father Congiato presided in his place. 
 Only one-half of the basement of the church was utilized as 
 a hall, and about 500 people were present. Occupied at home, 
 the Santa Clara College Band was unable to attend, and on the 
 programme printed in the catalogue, no music is mentioned. 
 That there was music, however, we learn from the diary of 
 Father Prelato, in which the cost of the music is expressly noted. 
 
 A year had now passed since the introduction of the purely 
 classical course, and experience had shown that, no matter how 
 excellent and desirable in itself such a course might be, San Fran- 
 cisco was not yet prepared for it. A change was consequently 
 determined on and a commercial course was added. 
 
 With the close of September, the beautiful marble statue 
 of the Blessed Virgin representing the Mother with the Child 
 Jesus in her arms, arrived from Rome; and, on the 14th of 
 October, was placed with fitting ceremonies in the niche pre- 
 
P.LESSED VIRGIN'S ALTAR 
 MAIN ALTAR 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 145 
 
 pared for it over the Virgin's altar. Father Villiger preached 
 on the occasion in his usual happy strain, and the crowded 
 church that listened with rapt attention to his words had no 
 premonition that San Francisco was soon to lose him. A 
 solemn act of consecration to Mary was read; and benediction 
 with the Blessed Sacrament was given. 
 
 But though the fact was not known, the Superiors of the 
 Maryland Province, to which Father Villiger belonged, had 
 determined on his recall; for they had lent his services for a 
 time only, and could not spare him longer. On the 13th of 
 November, he paid a last visit to Santa Clara where he had 
 spent so many useful and happy days. He looked for the last 
 time on the stately buildings which under his hand had replaced 
 the long tumble-down line of adobe rooms that had shocked 
 his eye at his first coming, and pressing each of the community 
 tenderly to his heart, with a fervent prayer for the college's 
 continued prosperity, he returned to San Francisco. On the 
 following Saturday, he gave a final instruction to the students 
 in their chapel, mingling words of fatherly advice with praise 
 and encouragement, and every heart was responsive to his 
 words and treasured them up, for all loved him. This last 
 instruction over, a delegation consisting of two pupils from 
 each class waited upon him, to express the gratitude that they 
 felt for the deep interest which he had shown in them, and 
 to wish him a safe and happy voyage. They asked his Fatherly 
 blessing once more, and left him with memories not easily 
 effaced. On Monday, November 19th, Father Villiger took 
 steamship for Panama, many of the students accompanying 
 him to the wharf to say a last good-bye. Of the earlier 
 Jesuit Superiors in California, Father Villiger was undoubtedly 
 the most progressive; not that the others were lacking in pro- 
 gressiveness, but that he stood forth prominently even in com- 
 parison with them. His mind and heart were essentially large. 
 He could not plan anything small, for we doubt whether he 
 knew the meaning of the word. He was bold but not rash; 
 quiet and gentle in manner; but beneath that calmness was 
 the firmness of adamant. His mind was clear and his judg- 
 ment sound. He measured by the possibilities and probabilities 
 
146 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 of the future, not by the limitations of the present; hence what 
 he did, was admittedly well done. In his presence one felt 
 the superior man, the man of mind and the man of God. 
 Excellent gifts of nature had been refined by rarer gifts of 
 grace, contributing harmoniously to make Father Villiger a 
 man among men. Superiorship did not spoil him, for he was 
 above the petty pride of power, and the cares and worries of 
 government never robbed him of a Father's heart. Father 
 Congiato took upon himself the management of the college 
 until such time as a new president should be appointed. 
 
 Carried away, as we have been, by the departure of Father 
 Villiger, we have forgotten to note that it was the generosity 
 of the Altar Society that enabled the Fathers to purchase the 
 Blessed Virgin's statue of which we have spoken. Nor must 
 we fail to record a similar act of generosity on the part of 
 the Ladies' Sodality which, about the same time, voted five 
 hundred dollars of its funds towards the purchase of an organ 
 for the church. 
 
 In December, Father Michael Accolti once more became 
 a member of the community of St. Ignatius to labor zealously 
 in it until called away by death. In autumn, while pastor 
 of the church at Santa Clara, he had been selected by Bishop 
 Amat of Monterey and Los Angeles to accompany him to 
 the second Council of Baltimore as theologian. Courtesy 
 forbade refusal. On the 18th of August, therefore, in company 
 with Archbishop Alemany, Bishops Amat and O'Connell, and 
 Fathers Villarasa and Hodges, their theologians, Father 
 Accolti had set sail from San Francisco. An uneventful 
 voyage brought them to New York towards the end of 
 September, for we know that on the 28th of the month, His 
 Grace, the Archbishop, arrived in Washington. The return 
 trip to California was begun on November 1st, Father Accolti 
 sailing from New York with Archbishop Alemany and Bishop 
 O'Connell, Fathers Aloysius Brunengo and Joseph Bixio, 
 Brother Ferdinand Gianfranceschi, S. J., and the friend of 
 olden days, Father Anthony Langlois. November 24th found 
 the party safe in San Francisco, and after a few weeks spent 
 in Santa Clara, arranging his affairs and those of the parish that 
 he had governed, the good Father was ready for the wider 
 field of usefulness that awaited him in St. Ignatius. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 147 
 
 1867. 
 
 Several years had now intervened since the close of the 
 Civil War, and the question of the conversion of the negroes 
 occupied more and more the attention of people throughout 
 the Union. Probably, too, the numbers of the colored race 
 had begun to increase in San Francisco, so that the Fathers 
 thought the time opportune to offer their services to His Grace, 
 Archbishop Alemany, in order that, should he think well to 
 accept such assistance, they might endeavor to do something for 
 the spiritual welfare of the colored people among us. His Grace 
 seems, at the time, to have had other plans, for in reply to Father 
 Congiato's offer he sent the following note: 
 
 ** "San Francisco, Jan. 10th, 1867. 
 
 Very Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 After much reflection, I prefer to wait before availing myself 
 of your charitable offer to take charge of the colored people 
 of the city. I would be thankful if you would call my attention 
 to it after a few months. Of course it is understood that their 
 church, no matter where it might be, would be vested in the 
 Ordinary. 
 
 Still with the delay or after it, something may be deemed 
 necessary. 
 
 With sincere thanks, I remain, 
 
 Yours in Christ, 
 f Joseph S., Abp. of San Francisco. 
 Very Rev. Nicholas Congiato, S. J., Supr." 
 
 We find no more correspondence on the subject and the 
 matter evidently was dropped. 
 
 In February, the elementary classes were again opened, 
 and, by the 25th of the month, Mr. Egan had thirty pupils in 
 his class. From this time the number of students showed a 
 steady increase, the growth of the present year being 
 seventy-five. 
 
 On March 6th, Father John Baptist Ponte arrived in San 
 Francisco as Visitor of the Californian Mission. He was no 
 stranger to the condition of affairs that obtained here, for, as 
 Provincial of the Turin Province, he had guided and consoled 
 the Fathers in their difficulties from 1859 to 1865. With him 
 
148 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 came Father Joseph Bandini and Brother Francis Galanti des- 
 tined for California; and Father Henry Imoda and Brothers 
 Aloysius Casiraga and Roch Terragno, S. J., destined for the 
 Missions of the Rocky Mountains. "Man proposes," says the 
 old proverb, "God disposes." It was indeed so in the present 
 case. Father Bandini and Brother Terragno were sent to the 
 mountains; the others were assigned to duty in California. 
 
 On St. Joseph's Day, the 19th of the month, Father Richard 
 Whyte came up from Santa Clara to take charge of a class in 
 St. Ignatius. He was an earnest, efficient teacher and a good 
 English scholar, qualities that made him an able helper where- 
 ever duty placed him. Another change in the personnel of the 
 community took place on the 22nd of April, when Father Paul 
 Raffo yielded his place as Minister to Father Henry Imoda. 
 The removal was a promotion for Father Raffo, whose prudence 
 and correctness of judgment had commended him as confidential 
 assistant to Father Ponte. 
 
 Though, as we have seen, the Jesuits of St. Ignatius and 
 their brethren in California had failed to obtain the care of the 
 colored people in San Francisco, they were fortunate in obtain- 
 ing another work of zeal which, without their aid, could not, 
 for many years, have been conveniently attended to by others. 
 This work was the spiritual care of the prisoners in San Quentin. 
 We know, indeed, that as early as August, i860, Rev. Father 
 Joseph Gallagher, a zealous secular priest, paid visits to the 
 institution; but the secular clergy were taxed to the utmost by 
 the increasing needs of growing parishes, and, with the best of 
 will, were forced to restrict their labors to them. There was no 
 salary or other emolument connected with the charge during the 
 many years that the Fathers bore it, but there was a field for 
 sincere zeal, and this was enough. 
 
 There was no public exhibition at the end of the scholastic 
 year, premiums, however, were given as usual. The Monitor 
 of June 29th makes mention of the matter : 
 
 "COLLEGE OF ST. IGNATIUS, SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 The school year of this institution ended on Tuesday, the 
 25th inst., with the distribution of prizes awarded after the usual 
 examinations, which latter were held during the last week. As 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 149 
 
 the great hall of the college is now used as a church, and as it 
 is found injurious to make so often the temporary alterations 
 necessary for providing an apartment sufficiently large to accom- 
 modate their friends, the Fathers were reluctantly obliged to 
 forego the usual public conclusion, and to bestow the rewards of 
 literary merits on the recipients in the presence of their com- 
 panions and teachers only. 
 
 We subjoin the questions proposed to the class of Humanities 
 (there being no Rhetoric this year) at the examination, which 
 will show that idleness is not the order of the day at St. Ignatius, 
 as we are glad to learn that a very large percentage of them was 
 answered correctly and fully." 
 
 These questions covered geometry; algebra; astronomy; 
 Greek, the 1st Philippic of Demosthenes and the 6th Book 
 of the Iliad; Latin, the 6th Book of the Aeneid, the four ora- 
 tions against Cataline, and the 1st chapter of Tacitus. 
 
 There is no doubt that the removal of college furniture and 
 partitions for the purpose of creating a hall suitable for the 
 closing exercises, was a source of much annoyance and expense 
 which would gladly be avoided, if possible. But the question 
 was, Could the college avoid the trouble without detriment to 
 itself? The authorities of the institution this year seemed to 
 think that it could, or that, at least, it would be well to make 
 the trial. From the fact, however, that the experiment was never 
 repeated, and that yearly thereafter, as long as necessary, the 
 required alterations were made despite trouble and expense, we 
 may reasonably conclude that the authors of the change did not 
 consider it a success. The exercises had been of the most 
 informal character. They were held in the old wooden church 
 which had been converted into a Sodality Chapel. Into this 
 the students were gathered on the morning of June 25th and 
 ranged standing around the room. The premiums were then 
 distributed and the assemblage was dismissed. Short were the 
 proceedings, indeed; sweet, we would not dare to say. 
 
 In the faculty changes, we note Father Joseph Tadini back 
 in his chair of philosophy. In August, Father Prelato is sta- 
 tioned at Santa Clara; and in October, Fathers Piccardo and 
 Messea exchange places, the former going to San Jose and the 
 
150 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 latter coming to San Francisco. On the 15th of the month, 
 Father Messea became Minister of St. Ignatius. 
 
 On September 8th, the first degree of Master of Arts was 
 conferred by the college. Its recipient was Alexander A. 
 O'Neil. The conditions required for the degree are clearly con- 
 tained in the catalogue. "The degree of A. M. is given to 
 the alumni who have devoted two years to some literary 
 pursuit after having received the degree of A. B." The orig- 
 inal idea, therefore, of the A. M. was not the idea of a degree 
 belonging directly to the college curriculum, but of a degree con- 
 ferred on students who, having graduated as Bachelors of Arts, 
 took up some line of literary or scientific work during the period 
 of two years. Mr. O'Neil had taken his A. B. in 1865; he had 
 since devoted himself successfully to the study of medicine, and 
 hence was entitled to this mark of consideration on the part of 
 Alma Mater. 
 
 As winter drew near, Father Congiato's health, ever so frail 
 and changeful, again began to give way, and, on November 
 21st, he was obliged to fly from the cares of office and seek the 
 needed rest in Santa Clara. On December 9th, he was back in 
 San Francisco, but was again obliged to depart on the follow- 
 ing day, the improvement begun needing yet more time to make 
 it solid. By the 19th of the month, his condition was consid- 
 ered satisfactory and he returned to St. Ignatius. Perhaps the 
 knowledge that he would soon be relieved of the Superiorship 
 of the Calif ornian Mission hastened his recovery, for, on the 6th 
 of January, 1868, Father Ponte, as Visitor, took upon himself 
 the duties connected with the office, retaining, however, Father 
 Congiato as president of St. Ignatius. His burden thus lightened, 
 it was hoped that, with time and due care, Father Congiato's 
 physical condition would show improvement. 
 
 In the college catalogue for the scholastic year 1867-' '68, we 
 find for the first time the name of one who was destined 
 to be, in after years, California's brightest ornament, Stephen 
 M. White. With his brother Edward he entered the second 
 class of grammar during the year, and achieved distinction in 
 it, being among the foremost in conduct and application. 
 
 On April 15th, 1868, both brothers were elected members of 
 the Philhistorian Debating Society, though, for some reason or 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 151 
 
 other, they did not take their seat among the members until Octo- 
 ber 8th. Perhaps the near approach of the end of the session, 
 and the consequent suspension of the society's meetings caused 
 them to await the opening of the succeeding term. Here then, 
 it was, that Stephen M. White began to cultivate and develop 
 those powers of debate which, in after years, made him such a 
 power in the politics of State and nation; here, too, it was, that 
 he received his instruction in the laws of parliamentary usage, 
 of which he became so perfect a master. He completed his lit- 
 erary course in St. Ignatius, finishing the class of Rhetoric in 
 1870, and enjoying the distinction of being elected vice-president 
 of the Debating Society. His parents thought well to send him 
 to Santa Clara College for a year, during which he devoted him- 
 self to the study of mental and moral philosophy, mathematics 
 and the natural sciences, receiving at its completion the degree 
 of Bachelor of Science. 
 
 On November 26th, the Monitor kindly printed the follow- 
 ing item: 
 
 "a NEW ORGAN FOR ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH. 
 
 Those members of the congregation of St. Ignatius Church, 
 who were not there on last Sunday, will be pleased to learn 
 that the Fathers are about to go to work to substitute a new 
 and good organ for the worn-out harmonium that at present does 
 duty so badly in the choir. All the collections on the second 
 Sunday of December next, will be devoted to this purpose, and 
 we trust that the amount contributed will be worthy of the 
 congregation." 
 
 1868. 
 
 On the 6th of January, as we have said, Father John Ponte 
 assumed Superiorship of the Calif ornian Mission, retaining 
 Father Congiato, however, as president of the college. 
 
 If we except the change in government, there were few events 
 to mark the first half of the year. An act of pious generosity, 
 however, must not go unrecorded. Pope Pius IX, assailed by 
 revolution, needed the assistance of the faithful to defend the 
 patrimony of the Church. On May nth, the pupils of the col- 
 lege were assembled and the deplorable condition of the Holy 
 Father was set before them. They were invited to contribute to 
 the relief of his distress, not so much for the amount of money 
 
152 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 that would be realized, as for the implanting in their young 
 hearts of devotion to the Church, and of a spirit of sacrifice, 
 without which religion is barren. 
 
 Their response was prompt. A purse of three hundred dol- 
 lars was soon raised and sent to Pope Pius, as a mark of filial 
 love from his children in St. Ignatius; and, though the amount 
 was small compared with larger donations received from others, 
 it was duly appreciated by the Vicar of Him who so valued and 
 extolled the widow's mite. The Ladies' Sodality, on June 26th, 
 not to be outdone in openness of heart and devotion to Mother 
 Church, by mere children, voted five hundred dollars of its 
 funds for the relief and support of the papal Zouaves. 
 
 This deed of true Catholic generosity seems to have been 
 the ladies' answer to the question debated at the college 
 exhibition on the preceding evening: "Should we erect a 
 monument to our Fallen on the Field of Mentana?" — a delicate 
 tribute, truly, to the ability with which the subject had been 
 handled. They thought, and rightly so, that the best tribute 
 to the hero dead, was the preservation and perpetuation of 
 that for which these noble souls had given their lives, and so 
 the donation took the form of a contribution towards the 
 necessary expenses of a war in defense of the Church's right. 
 Father Barchi, during vacation, having been transferred to 
 Santa Clara, turned over the vice-presidency of the college 
 to Father O'Ferrall, who, nevertheless, continued to teach 
 English rhetoric, as well as mathematics. From Santa Clara 
 came Father Prelato to become chaplain of the students. The 
 appointment was a happy one. Requests for missions were 
 pouring in upon Father Buchard, and frequent absences were 
 undesirable in a college chaplain. Father Prelato could give 
 an undivided attention to a work which he loved. Moreover, 
 his sympathies were ever with the young in their trials and 
 sorrows, and youth is Argus-eyed in distinguishing its friends. 
 He spared the feelings of the students but not their faults; 
 though, perhaps, his affectionate heart sometimes made excuses 
 where a mind less tenderly biased in favor of the culprit would 
 have judged matters more severely. But "a drop of honey 
 catches more flies than a barrel of vinegar," says the sweet- 
 souled St. Francis of Sales, and perhaps for the spiritual welfare 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 153 
 
 of the boys of St. Ignatius, it was well that kindness predom- 
 inated in another Francis. The boys of Santa Clara College, 
 who had known him so well, had dubbed him Mother Prelato, 
 and the acuteness of boyhood in touching off the salient 
 features of a character, needs no comment. 
 
 Catechism was taught on Wednesday at 10 a. m. By this, 
 however, we are not to understand catechism proper, but the 
 catechetical instruction which was given to the pupils in com- 
 mon once a week. The other form of catechism, by question and 
 answer, was given in the respective classes. The hours of school 
 for the preceding year had been from 9 a. m. to 3 130 p. m. 
 
 There had been originally but one entrance to the church 
 from Market Street, a broad stairway running up to it from 
 the sidewalk. About the month of August, however, two new 
 doors were opened, which, with their corresponding stairways, 
 afforded the congregation increased facilities for entrance and 
 exit. A jam at the door, with crowds leaving divine service 
 especially on the mornings of Sundays and feast days, and 
 other crowds seeking to enter, had become entirely too fre- 
 quent, and had given rise to many a murmur and complaint. 
 Providence, indeed, seems specially to have inspired the 
 thought of bettering matters at this time, for the work of 
 improvement was completed only in September, and, on 
 October 21st, occurred the earthquake so famous in the annals 
 of the city. 
 
 From the pen of Father Telesphorus Demasini, who has left 
 us in Latin an account of the occurrence, we translate the 
 following: 
 
 'Til-omened for San Francisco was the 21st of this month, 
 for about 8 a. m. an unexpected earthquake, lasting for forty- 
 two seconds, shook the whole city and the State of California 
 far and wide, with a force so terrible that the inhabitants re- 
 member nothing like it in former years. Still, for all that, the 
 damage done either in loss of life or in the destruction of 
 property, was not in proportion to its violence. As regards 
 ourselves, the chief injury was done to the church ; on the out- 
 side, by the fall of two chimneys which overtopped the roof; 
 and on the inside, by that of some of the plaster ornaments of 
 
154 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 the ceiling, which were shattered on the floor, without, however, 
 doing injury to any of the worshipers. It seemed, therefore, 
 more prudent to the Superiors of the college, that, both on 
 the house and church, the chimneys which at that time rose 
 to a considerable height, should be so cut down that even if 
 other shocks should follow, no harm could come from them. 
 And since no slight danger was to be feared, if the ceiling 
 of the church were left as it was, what remained of the plaster 
 was soon torn down, and a tastefully constructed wooden 
 ceiling was put in its place. This work was not completed 
 without considerable time and money, especially as it was the 
 idea of Father President that henceforth the interior of the church 
 should be more beautiful than it had been before the late 
 earthquake. The walls of the church, therefore, and the front 
 of the gallery were neatly tinted, and the whole ceiling adorned 
 with paintings which, while not of sublime art, gave pleasure 
 to many and excited the admiration of not a few." 
 
 In briefer words in the domestic journal of the college, we 
 have from the same hand, a notice of the earthquake. 
 
 "To-day about 8 o'clock the whole city was shaken by a 
 horrid earthquake lasting for the space of forty-two seconds. 
 No one of Ours suffered any harm. Two chimneys on the 
 church fell, one upon the roof and the other into the Fathers' 
 garden. In the church itself, not a little of the plaster of the 
 ceiling fell within the railing of the sanctuary and on the pews, 
 but without injury to any one. Other shocks, but less violent, 
 followed during the day, concerning which, should any desire 
 a more detailed account, let him consult the newspapers." 
 
 We present three views taken after the earthquake by Mr. 
 C. E. Watkins; and they certainly justify the wonder of Father 
 Demasini that the loss of life was not appalling. At the time of 
 writing, Father Demasini was Minister of the college, having 
 succeeded Father Charles Messea in that office. He had arrived 
 from Canada on the 9th of the month and replaced Father 
 Messea on the 19th. 
 
 Not only did the shocks recur during the day, but light 
 ones were frequent visitors to San Francisco up to November 
 4th. Vacations were granted from Wednesday, the 21st, to 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1868 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 155 
 
 Monday, the 26th, for the Fathers were afraid of a panic should 
 a severe shock take place during the hours of class. Besides, 
 after the severe shaking received, who could tell whether even 
 buildings were safe? Although, as Father Demasini states, 
 no one was injured in the church, those that were there at 
 the time were badly scared. We do not blame them for they 
 had ample reason. Among them were Father Michael O'Fer- 
 rall, who had just reached the last gospel in the mass, and his 
 server, Jeremiah F. Collins, at present a Jesuit Father in San Jose. 
 When the ceiling came down with a crash, both thought that 
 prudence was the better part of valor, and beat a hasty retreat 
 to the sacristy, while those who had assisted at the mass sought 
 safety in the street. Some accounts have erroneously stated 
 that Father O'Ferrall had just finished the consecration. The 
 account we give is from the lips of Father Collins himself who 
 has asked us to correct the misstatement. 
 
 On November 13th, permission was given to the congre- 
 gation of the German Church to use, for the time being, the 
 old wooden church built by Father Maraschi and later con- 
 verted into the Sodality chapel. St. Boniface's could no longer 
 be used, and the Germans were without a place of worship. It 
 was with much pleasure that the Fathers were able to do them 
 this act of kindness, for the most cordial relations had always 
 existed between St. Ignatius and the German pastor and his 
 flock. Arrangements were accordingly made by which the 
 services of the various bodies interested could be held without 
 mutual interference, and, although certain inconveniences could 
 not be avoided, they were gladly put up with on both sides, 
 owing to the great good that resulted from the accommodation. 
 
 On December 1st, the repairs on the church and the im- 
 provements of which Father Demasini has told us in speaking 
 of the earthquake in October, were actively begun. 
 
 1869. 
 The work took up the early months of the year, and Father 
 Congiato was much complimented on its completion. The 
 renovated church, therefore, presented even a prettier sight 
 than usual, when His Grace, the Archbishop, on the feast of 
 St. Joseph, March 19th, administered Confirmation in it. 
 
156 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Arriving at the college at about 10 a. m v he spent some time in 
 the parlors in friendly and familiar conversation with the 
 Fathers. At 10:30, solemn high mass began in his presence, 
 Reverend Father Congiato, celebrant; Father Demasini, 
 deacon; Father Florence Sullivan, subdeacon. Assisting the 
 Archbishop on his throne were Reverend Fathers Ponte, Mes- 
 sea and Tadini. Fathers Imoda and Prelato were masters of 
 ceremonies. The panegyric of St. Joseph was preached by 
 His Grace, and when mass was over, Confirmation was admin- 
 istered to two hundred and ninety persons, many of whom 
 were adults. After dining with the Fathers and spending an 
 hour in pleasant intercourse with them, His Grace departed, 
 bearing with him most pleasant recollections of the scenes that 
 he had witnessed. 
 
 Five days later, the new organ arrived. It had a triple 
 keyboard and had been manufactured in Boston. Its cost was 
 $3,500, and it is said to have been, at the time, the best instru- 
 ment in San Francisco. The Ladies' Sodality had, as we have 
 seen, three years previously, contributed $500 as the nucleus 
 of the purchase. Other contributions had amounted to some- 
 thing like $190; but the remaining $2,810 had ultimately to 
 be defrayed by the generous offerings of the Altar Society. 
 A month was spent in putting up the organ, and, during mass 
 on April 25th, its notes for the first time resounded through 
 the church. 
 
 The closing exercises of the college were held on the even- 
 ings of June 24th and 25th. The introductory of the first 
 evening was written by James Campbell and delivered by 
 Alfred Kelly. "The Isle of the West," an original English 
 poem, was delivered by its author, Robert Tobin. Jeremiah 
 F. Sullivan followed with an essay on Astronomy. John A. 
 Hicks showed his ability in a Greek Anacreontic "To the Lily 
 of St. Aloysius." The debate which succeeded was partici- 
 pated in by A. J. Kelly, Stephen M. White, Charles Skidmore 
 and James Campbell, under the chairmanship of James Ryan. 
 A farce, followed by the distribution of premiums to the junior 
 classes, completed the programme of the evening. "The Fall 
 of Jerusalem," condensed from Milman, was the chief feature 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 157 
 
 of the second night, on which the senior classes received their 
 medals and premiums. 
 
 July the 2 1 st restored to us Father Buchard from Virginia 
 City, where a severe attack of sickness would doubtless have 
 ended his career, had not the pastor, Father, afterward Bishop 
 Manogue, tended him with a care more than a brother's. The 
 same day brought from the Eastern States the celebrated Ger- 
 man missionary, Father F. X. Weninger, who came to give a 
 mission to his countrymen. The exercises commenced on the 
 25th of the month, in the old church of 1855, in which, as we 
 have said, the German congregation had been worshiping. The 
 mission answered fully every anticipation. New fervor was 
 stirred up in every heart, the difficulties which had hampered 
 the erection of a new German church were removed, and solid 
 foundations laid of a thriving parish, which the zealous sons 
 of St. Francis have, in our days, brought to such perfection. 
 
 Nearly two weeks previously, on the 13th of the month, 
 Father Richard Whyte departed for Ireland, and on August 3rd 
 Father O'Ferrall followed him. The departure of these Fathers, 
 especially of the latter, who had been identified with the work of 
 St. Ignatius for four fruitful years, was much regretted by the 
 congregation. Many hearts went with Father O'Ferrall in his 
 long trip across the continent and over the ocean, and many a 
 prayer went up to heaven that Providence might deign to send 
 him back again. His Irish Superiors had indeed wished to 
 recall him a year previously, and had signified such intention to 
 the Jesuit Superiors in California ; but these latter had so repre- 
 sented the needs of St. Ignatius, and so earnestly begged to be 
 allowed to retain the Father longer, that the charity of the 
 Irish Provincial would not permit him to carry out his plan. 
 Father Emmanuel Nattini replaced Father O'Ferrall as vice- 
 president. 
 
 In July, Father Joseph Bixio, the first assistant of Father 
 Maraschi in the pioneer days of church and college, returned to 
 St. Ignatius to help in the ministry. Father Charles Messea 
 resigned the chair of natural science to become parish priest 
 of Santa Clara in place of Father Bixio; and, on August 19th, 
 Father Joseph Neri entered into the position left vacant by 
 Father Messea. 
 
158 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Late at night on the same day on which Father Neri had 
 come from Santa Clara, Father Joseph Bayma arrived. He had 
 come from Europe with Father Francis Bertonelli and Messrs. 
 Gregory Leggio, Joseph Dossola and Joseph Sasia, S. J. On 
 the 22nd he was announced as successor to Father Congiato in 
 the presidency of the college, and he immediately entered upon 
 his duties. A residence of several years in England had made 
 him conversant with the English language, in which, in fact, 
 somewhat later, he wrote with fluency and elegance. Father Con- 
 giato, broken in health, was transferred to Santa Clara, though, 
 now, hope was almost abandoned, that, even with needed rest, 
 a shattered constitution that seemed on the verge of collapse, 
 would ever again be able to stand the strain of wearying labor. 
 
 The college classes opened with some five hundred pupils, 
 and the crowded classrooms called for better accommoda- 
 tions. Father Bayma immediately set about the formation of 
 plans; and the result, if not specially beautiful, was at least use- 
 ful. The building was of wood, entirely devoid of ornament 
 and in the form of an L. 
 
 The play ground was to the east of the building, and con- 
 sisted of a large sandlot. There was, also, a small interior yard 
 to the north of the main building and south of the church, in 
 which were located the necessary outbuildings. A passage- 
 way connected this with the main play ground. An account 
 published in the Monitor, January 8th, 1870, describes the build- 
 ing more fully: 
 
 "THE NEW JESUIT COLLEGE. 
 
 The indefatigable Fathers of the Society of Jesus, ever 
 mindful of the wants of the community in which they reside, 
 finding the schoolrooms of their college on Market Street inade- 
 quate to accommodate the large numbers of pupils applying to 
 them for admission, have had a commodious and handsome 
 building erected on Jessie Street directly back of and adjoining 
 the old college. The new building is three stories high. The 
 first and second stories (each 16 feet high) contain sixteen 
 schoolrooms, besides the office of the secretary and prefect of 
 studies, a chemical laboratory and a physical museum. The edi- 
 fice is formed of two distinct parts : The first, which is a square 
 
FATHER JOSEPH BAYMA, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 159 
 
 of 85x85 feet, is destined for the students of the lower classes; 
 the second, which is a rectangular prolongation of the first, meas- 
 ures 72x27 feet, and is intended for the students of mental, 
 moral and natural philosophy, chemistry, physics and higher 
 mathematics. In the square portion, there are the following 
 rooms: On the first floor, there are five classrooms, three of 
 which are 36x27 feet, one 36x28, and one 30x28 ; on the second 
 floor, there are nine classrooms. The third story forms a large 
 hall, which is intended for exhibitions and other literary 
 exercises. 
 
 In the rectangular portion of the building there are, on 
 the first floor, a laboratory, a classroom for chemistry, another 
 for philosophy. In the second story are the physical museum 
 and a classroom for physics. The third story will be used as a 
 chapel for the Boys' Sodality. The new building will accommo- 
 date about seven hundred pupils. The exhibition hall is suffi- 
 cient to contain nearly fifteen hundred persons. The style of 
 architecture is regular classical; simple, yet imposing. All the 
 ceilings are made of lumber. . . . The cost of the structure, 
 when completed, will be over $28,000. There is a tower in 
 course of erection in the rear of St. Ignatius, octagonal in shape 
 and 95 feet high. The tower can be entered by doors from 
 any story of the new structure, and doors will be cut in the 
 old church directly back of the altar and galleries for the same 
 purpose. The bell (of cast steel, weight nearly 6,000 pounds), 
 the largest in California, was raised on the 31st of December 
 last, to the great satisfaction of many devout persons who hitherto 
 could not hear its call to church service. At the top of the 
 tower, room is left for a clock showing the hours on the four 
 sides, for the accommodation of the public. We hear, however, 
 that the Reverend Fathers are not going just now to provide 
 the clock, as they have been under heavy expenses on account 
 of their new building. It is expected that the college will be 
 ready for the pupils this week, or early next. The woodwork 
 is completed and the painters have nearly finished. Very Rev. 
 Father Bayma, S. J., president of St. Ignatius College, is the 
 architect, and Frank Buckley, Esq., builder, and both gentle- 
 men have cause to feel proud of their work. A common impres- 
 sion prevails that all pupils attending St. Ignatius College 
 
160 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 pay for their tuition. Such is not the case. The rules of the 
 college require pay, but there are many attending whose parents 
 cannot afford the pension, small as it is, so the good Fathers 
 teach their children gratis. But all that can afford are required 
 to pay regularly. There are about five hundred boys attending 
 the college; nearly one-half of them, we are informed, do not 
 pay a cent." 
 
 The building was begun in October, and, by December, had 
 cost some $21,000; before completion in 1870, it had cost about 
 $16,000 more. At the same time, as we have been told, a tower 
 for the big bell was planned by Father Bayma, and the Sodali- 
 ties were asked to give financial assistance. The minutes of 
 the Ladies' Sodality contain the following interesting details : 
 
 "In the month of October, A. D. 1869, the Rev. Father 
 Bayma, S. J., president of St. Ignatius College, through the 
 Rev. Father Accolti, director of the Sodality, presented a request 
 to it in order to obtain from its members some contribu- 
 tion out of their treasury toward the erection of a tower for 
 the bell of the church. This being a matter to be decided by 
 the consultors, and only four consultors out of the twelve being 
 present, eight consultors pro tern were elected by the whole 
 Sodality, in order that they might meet together in the parlor 
 of the college immediately after the ordinary devotions were over. 
 
 The estimate of the expenses for the erection of said tower 
 amounting to $1,500 — on motion of Mrs. Adams, seconded by 
 Mrs. Rice, it was decided that if the money existing in the treas- 
 ury amounted to $1,000, $750 should be given to the college 
 for the object proposed. But should the sum existing in the 
 treasury be less than that amount, then only what remained over 
 $250 should be given, which latter sum, in all cases, should be 
 kept in the treasury for the use of the Sodality. The consultors 
 voted for the motion, which was carried unanimously. 
 
 The real sum existing in the treasury being ascertained, it 
 was found not to exceed $800. Therefore, only $550 were given 
 for the erection of the aforesaid tower. At the next meeting 
 of the Sodality the whole transaction was put before the Sodal- 
 ists, and all, none excepted, approved and confirmed the action 
 of the consultors. 
 
 M. L. Accolti, S. J., 
 
 Director." 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 161 
 
 The sum actually contributed by the Sodality was $634.42, 
 for such was the amount remaining at the time of contribution, 
 November 2nd, after deducting the $250 that were to be retained 
 in the treasury. To this the Gentlemen's Sodality added $250 
 on November 5th, and the bell was soon supplied with a 
 home. 
 
 The clock for the tower never materialized, owing to the 
 fact that the Fathers, ever struggling with debt, were never able 
 to put aside the money required for its purchase; but the hours 
 were marked upon the dials, the types of hopes unverified ; vainly 
 waiting, as they were, to be indicated by a hand that never came. 
 
 On the 24th of November, Father Weninger returned from 
 Oregon. In the first days of September he had gone thither 
 with Brother Achilles Carfagno, and now he had come back to 
 give a mission in English in St. Ignatius. Of the good Father's 
 English we cannot say much in commendation, for we think 
 that but few of his hearers grasped any great part of what he 
 said ; but his zeal, his earnestness, his piety spoke to the eye and 
 were understood by every heart, and numerous and striking 
 were the conversions that the Holy Spirit wrought by his means. 
 The mission began on the 28th of the month and ended on the 
 Feast of the Immaculate Conception. On the 28th of Decem- 
 ber, not the 31st, as stated in the Monitor, the big bell was raised 
 to its place in the tower "to ring out the old and ring in the 
 new" ; though, to our thinking, the new that it rang in for St. 
 Ignatius was only an increase of the old that it rang out — debt — 
 debt — debt — the new building like the old, had to be erected on 
 borrowed money. 
 
 1870. 
 Classes were resumed on January 7th, 1870, and, on the 14th, 
 they moved into the new college. In the happiness of expec- 
 tancy, Father Prelato, in his valuable diary, notes on the 13th: 
 "To-morrow we shall occupy the new schoolrooms." The base- 
 ment of the church was now, for the most part, vacant ; partitions 
 were removed, and the large space thus created was turned over 
 to the Sodalities for the purposes of chapel, meeting-rooms, 
 libraries, etc., and, as the domestic chapel of the Fathers was 
 
1 62 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 small and inconvenient, it was decided, a little later in the year, 
 to use the Sodality chapel as the domestic chapel as well. 
 
 My readers will, I doubt not, be astonished to learn that at 
 this very time, and in spite of the improvements made and the 
 expenses incurred, the Fathers were mooting the question of 
 removal. They were indeed obliged to attend to the urgency 
 of present needs, which had necessitated and was necessitating 
 the outlay of considerable money, but, for all that, they were 
 not blind to the trend of events and the evident difficulties of 
 the future. A quieter location for the church was desired, that 
 the bustle of daily life should not obtrude itself so constantly on 
 the silence of the house of God. Taxation, too, was becoming 
 a very heavy burden, and those that scanned the future knew 
 that, on the present site, permanence could never be. Later in 
 the year, the matter was laid before His Grace, the Archbishop, 
 with what result we shall see in its proper place. 
 
 A summarized description of the new buildings appears in 
 this year's catalogue. "A substantial three-story building," it 
 says, "has been erected this year. It is entered from Jessie 
 Street and contains sixteen schoolrooms, besides a chapel, 
 audience hall, reception-rooms, chemical laboratory, assaying 
 office, and museum of mineralogy and natural philosophy. The 
 scientific department is furnished with a very extensive and 
 choice collection of apparatus manufactured to order in Paris, 
 and with all that is necessary for the most complicated manipu- 
 lation and analysis." 
 
 We offer our readers a view of the college built by Father 
 Bayma, as seen from the playground on Jessie Street. We had 
 sought, and sought in vain for a photograph of the building, 
 until Mr. Charles B. Turrill discovered an incomplete one in 
 the collection of Mr. C. E. Watkins. From this and other 
 photographs, and the faithful memories of old students, Mr. 
 Michael O' Sullivan has drawn a picture of the college and its 
 surroundings in the early Seventies, and, while completeness of 
 detail is more than we can hope for, we feel confident that old 
 students will recognize the various familiar features of former 
 St. Ignatius. 
 
S N 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 163 
 
 The hours of class are from 9 a. m. to 3 p. m. The require- 
 ments of Catholic pupils are: 
 
 1 st. That they shall approach the Sacrament of Penance at 
 least once a month; 
 
 2nd. That every Sunday they shall be present at 2 130 p. m. 
 for Christian doctrine. 
 
 The Sodalities among the students find, for the first time, 
 their place in the college catalogue. In the Sodality of the 
 Immaculate Conception there are one hundred and twenty-four 
 active members ; in that of the Holy Angels, there are forty-nine. 
 Father Prelato, the students' friend and confessor, has the direc- 
 tion of both. 
 
 The exhibition covered two nights, and the programme 
 informs us that "every speech, poem or lecture is the pupil's 
 composition." 
 
 The changes in the faculty are fewer than usual. Father 
 Raffo teaches mathematics and Messrs. Joseph Sasia and Aloysius 
 Raggio, S. J., assist in the college. 
 
 Since what was used as a church was not properly such, 
 but the college hall devoted temporarily to the purposes of divine 
 worship, in its building no proper provision had been made 
 for sacristies. The need had been felt long and acutely, but 
 it was easier to preceive it than to provide its remedy. With 
 the erection of the bell-tower, however, the needed space was 
 supplied; for this tower adjoined the church. A new sacristy 
 was accordingly fitted up in it and occupied, for the first time, 
 about the end of July. 
 
 In the beginning of December, Father Bayma addressed 
 a letter to His Grace, the Most Reverend Archbishop, on the 
 subject of the removal of the church and college of St. Ignatius. 
 On the 5th of the month, an answer was returned in which 
 His Grace demurred from the choice of site proposed. 
 
 (**) "After the same (serious reflection)," he says to 
 Father Bayma, "I would propose that your new place follow 
 the rule found necessary to avoid trouble between churches, 
 namely, to have them fourteen or thirteen blocks from each 
 other. Should this rule be unacceptable, I believe that I might 
 offer the church of St. Francis, or that of St. Bridget, or that 
 of St. Peter, or any place east of Third and Harrison Streets. 
 
164 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Of course, whatever I would propose, should finally meet with 
 the approval of the Holy See. I beg that you will charitably 
 join me in offering the Holy Sacrifice and many Rosaries that 
 through the powerful intercession of the holy patriarchs, St. 
 Ignatius and St. Dominic, all may be settled well and turn to 
 
 God's honor and glory. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 iJosEPH S. Alemany, O. P., A. S. F. 
 Rev. Joseph Bayma, S. J." 
 
 On receipt of this answer, the matter was practically dropped 
 until some years later, when circumstances over which the 
 Fathers had no control, necessitated action, and established 
 church and college where they now stand. The debt at this 
 time had grown to $171,524. 
 
 The Feast of the Immaculate Conception was the occasion 
 of a very pretty celebration in our church, when fifty-six of our 
 pupils received their First Communion from the hands of Bishop 
 Gould of Melbourne, Australia. The students' Sodalities at- 
 tended in a body, and afterwards marched to the chapel of the 
 Gentlemen's Sodality, where they renewed their baptismal 
 vows. The secretary of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin 
 then read a protest against the invasion of the rights of the 
 Church by the King of Sardinia, and the students dispersed 
 to their homes. 
 
 About mid-December, Father Weninger was again in Cali- 
 fornia, having come hither from Oregon. At the same time 
 the Sodality chapel was being painted and beautified, and the 
 ladies were intent on the bazaar that they had planned for the 
 benefit of their library. The labor and strain seem to have 
 overtaxed the strength of Father Accolti, for on Christmas 
 Eve he was attacked by a serious illness which confined him 
 to a sickroom for several months. Thus we read in the minutes 
 of the Ladies' Sodality, April 15th, 1871 : 
 
 "Owing to the protracted illness of our worthy director, 
 we have not been able to hold our regular monthly meetings; 
 but, through our Lord's mercy and goodness, our beloved and 
 esteemed director, Rev. Father Accolti, has been spared, and 
 now presides, for the first time in several months, at our first 
 meeting since the bazaar was held." 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 165 
 
 1871. 
 
 In the beginning of 1871, partly owing to the generous 
 devotion of Father Bayma to science, and partly, though even 
 more so, to the energetic efforts of Father Joseph Neri, pro- 
 fessor of the natural sciences, the physical cabinet of the college 
 began to grow rapidly in practical utility and scientific im- 
 portance. Only the very best that Mr. Dubosque, the famous 
 manufacturer of scientific apparatus in Paris, could supply, was 
 ordered or accepted. Somewhat later, the art of Mr. Ritchie of 
 Boston was called into requisition to supply some superb induc- 
 tion coils and other instruments, in the manufacture of which 
 his firm excelled. 
 
 As the outlay was very great and the college finances were 
 correspondingly slim, a course of public lectures was deter- 
 mined upon to help defray expenses. These lectures were 
 given in January and February, and though, from the financial 
 standpoint, they did not prove as satisfactory as could have 
 been desired, compensation was ample in the prestige acquired. 
 The public awoke to the fact that there was such a thing as a 
 well-equipped college in their midst, and appreciated it accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 During these same months, the money realized by the 
 Christmas bazaar was spent by the ladies in fitting up their 
 library, and soon its shelves began to be stocked with standard 
 works of literature and piety. The enterprise so zealously 
 begun, has never been interrupted even up to our own days, 
 and the present library of the Ladies' Sodality is a credit to 
 the taste, and judgment, and generous support afforded it by 
 successive generations of Sodalists. 
 
 On the Feast of St. Joseph, Father Weninger began, to 
 attentive audiences, a week's mission in the church; but though 
 the fruits were indeed consoling, and many careless hearts were 
 brought back to the fervor of a Christian life, the phenomenal 
 results of the first mission were not repeated. 
 
 In April, His Grace, the Archbishop, anxious to do some- 
 thing for the thousands of Chinese already in our city, and the 
 hordes that, month after month, were pouring into it, sent the 
 following letter to Father Ponte: 
 
1 66 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 ** "San Francisco, April 27th, 1871. 
 
 Very Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 We have so many Chinese in the diocese (dovrei meglio 
 scrivere in Italiano) — Abbiamo tanti Cinesi in questa diocesi 
 e specialmente in questa citta, che dobbiamo provvedere alle 
 loro anime. Io parecchie volte ho procurato di fare qualche 
 cosa, ma pare che per questa difficilissima missione vi sia 
 necessaria la pazienza di qualche corpo religiose Dunque la 
 pregarei di volere accettare la cura di questa povera gente le 
 di cui anime hanno un gran diritto al nostro ministero e carita. 
 
 Umo e Dmo Servo, 
 f Giuseppe S. Alemany, A. S. F. 
 Mto Rndo G. B. Ponte, S. J. Supr." 
 
 "San Francisco, April 27th, 1871. 
 Very Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 We have so many Chinese in the diocese (I had better 
 write in Italian) — We have so many Chinese in this diocese, 
 that we should make some provision for their souls. On 
 several occasions I have done something, but it seems that, for 
 this most difficult mission, the patience of some body of Religious 
 is needed. I therefore beg you to accept the care of this poor 
 people, whose souls have a great claim on our ministry and 
 charity. 
 
 Your most humble and devoted servant, 
 
 f Joseph S. Alemany, A. S. F. 
 Very Rev. J. B. Ponte, S. J. Supr." 
 
 What answer Father Ponte returned His Grace is not pre- 
 served, and hence we cannot say with certainty why this work, 
 so acceptable to the Society of Jesus, was not undertaken. 
 The mission offered, presented, indeed, many and grave diffi- 
 culties. The Fathers had already more work pressing upon 
 them than they could well attend to and were deeply in debt. 
 The new mission would require several men, since not only 
 those that would be actually employed in evangelical work 
 would be engaged in it, but several others also who would have 
 to labor constantly that they might be ready to replace such 
 as sickness would disable or death call away. A new language, 
 new ideas and customs, the fact that the greater part of the 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 167 
 
 Chinese were practically not their own masters, the class of 
 Chinese which offered so little field for the nobler virtues of 
 the gospel, added to lack of resources, supplied an array of rea- 
 sons which must make any prudent Superior hesitate. 
 
 It was not desirable to begin the work and then be forced 
 to abandon it. It was consequently not to be thought of 
 until permanency could be reasonably assured. In the face 
 of these difficulties and uncertainties, it was judged more pru- 
 dent to decline the mission. 
 
 Nearly two years had now sped since the coming of Father 
 Weninger to the Pacific Coast, years spent in the arduous toil 
 of missionary life, and his Eastern Superiors began to feel the 
 need of his return. The Middle West was the home of the 
 German immigrant and offered a tempting field for talents 
 like his. The necessary orders were sent, and, on May nth, 
 he started homeward, loving California and loved by her in 
 return. 
 
 About this time a piece of property was acquired which, 
 in God's providence, was destined, over a quarter of a century 
 later, to be a prime factor in the welfare of St. Ignatius. It 
 was a portion of the San Pablo ranch, famous in the legal 
 annals of California. The land, indeed, was barren and gave 
 back little to the cultivator in return for his toil, but bordering, 
 as it did, on deep water, it enjoyed a distinct commercial value 
 which did not escape the keen eye of Father Maraschi. He 
 submitted to all the expenses and worries of a long and weary 
 litigation, but he clung to the barren hills, and it is well that 
 he did so. 
 
 The catalogue of 1870-71 notes an increase in the college 
 classrooms from sixteen to eighteen, thus indicating the growth 
 in the number of the students. It also defines more clearly the 
 requirements for college degrees. 
 
 "The degree of A. B. is conferred on all who have given 
 satisfactory evidence of their acquirements in classics, mathe- 
 matics, logic, metaphysics, physics and chemistry. 
 
 The degree of A. M. is conferred on those who, after receiv- 
 ing the degree of A. B., are found sufficiently qualified in higher 
 mathematics, ethics and natural law, embracing the fundamental 
 principles of civil, political and international law." 
 
1 68 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The changes in the faculty of the college, save among the 
 secular teachers, were exceptionally few. Messrs. Joseph Sasia 
 and Aloysius Raggio, S. J., went to Santa Clara; Father Joseph 
 Bixio to San Jose ; Fathers Caesar A. Barchi and Charles Messea 
 come from Santa Clara to take part in the ministry; Father 
 Clement Vigna resided here for some time on his way to Brazil. 
 
 On July 2nd, the Catholics of San Francisco celebrated the 
 Silver Jubilee of the Pontificate of Pope Pius IX. Besides the 
 religious services proper to the occasion, a grand public proces- 
 sion was determined upon, with the approval of His Grace, the 
 Most Reverend Archbishop, who, by letter, invited the Fathers 
 with their congregation to take part in it. "Our congregation, 
 walking two by two," says the college historian, "proceeded along 
 Market Street to Fourth and thence to Harrison. First came a 
 band of music, then the McMahon Grenadiers. Following these 
 were two carriages containing seven of our Fathers, and next the 
 Gentlemen's Sodality, preceded on foot by Father Adolph 
 Vasseur, a missionary from China, and Father Emmanuel 
 Nattini, prefect of schools. Then came the Boys' Sodality, some 
 of whom bore a symbol of the Church instituted by Christ, and 
 after them came the Sanctuary Society, some of whose members 
 bore a chapel of elegant workmanship. The whole procession 
 was said to contain some twenty thousand men; men, I say, for 
 the female sex was excluded, if we except a small band of girls 
 from the Sisters' Academy at Mission Dolores, all of whom 
 were accommodated in one wagon. 
 
 The whole procession was divided into twelve sections ; ours 
 was the seventh, and marched on foot between the congregation 
 of St. Patrick's and that of the French Church. Meanwhile, the 
 windows both of the residence and of the church were festooned 
 with bunting of yellow and white, the Papal colors. A picture 
 of the Supreme Pontiff stood out over the large window over- 
 looking the entrance to the house. The parlors, halls and rooms 
 facing Market Street were bright with gas jets, while from the 
 largest of the windows the electric light sent forth its beams, 
 lighting up Market Street and the adjacent buildings." Our 
 historian omits to mention the presence in the St. Ignatius divi- 
 sion of Marcello, the Indian Chief and last of his tribe, who 
 for many years was a remarkable figure around Santa Clara. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 169 
 
 Philip, the Kanaka, was also present to express as fully as possi- 
 ble the catholicity of the Church over which Pope Pius ruled. 
 
 The Monitor of July 8th, contains the following flattering 
 notice of the St. Ignatius division. It will complete in some 
 details the account just given : 
 
 "the seventh division 
 was a handsome one. The marshal of it was Jeremiah F. Sulli- 
 van ; aids, John A. Coffey, Robert Tobin and Charles McFadden. 
 That fine company, the MacMahon Guard, preceded by 
 Walcott's Band, led. The guard was seventy-seven strong. 
 Two carriages and pair followed, containing Fathers Buchard, 
 Sullivan, Demasini and Ponte in one, and Fathers Bixio, Young 
 and Affranchino in the other. Upon the box of one of the 
 carriages was a magnificent cross. 
 
 Then came the Gentlemen's Sodality of the Blessed Virgin 
 Mary. They numbered about two hundred and thirty, and 
 looked remarkably well, being all well dressed and wearing the 
 blue ribbon and silver medal of their Sodality around their necks. 
 The officers were distinguished by red ribbons. 
 
 Following them came the Boys' Sodality of B. V. M. 
 Marshal, R. E. McGill; aids, Masters Willie Bamber, B. P. 
 Oliver, Peter McGlynn and James M. McGlynn. They wore 
 green scarfs, or rather collars, and numbered one hundred, and 
 carried with them a platform representing water flowing amid 
 rocks. Upon a rock in the center, representing, of course, St. 
 Peter, was a towered church (the Church of Christ), on one of 
 the walls of which was the inscription, To Pius IX, Sodality of 
 St. Ignatius College.' We must not forget to mention a hand- 
 some banner having on one side the Papal arms and on the other 
 the inscription, 'Thou art Peter.' 
 
 Next, one of the most picturesque features of the proces- 
 sion, came the boys of the Sanctuary Society of St. Ignatius. 
 They were dressed as they are when they 'serve' at the altar, viz : 
 in scarlet soutan and cape, lace surplice over the scarlet, and 
 scarlet cap. There were, we believe, twenty-four. 
 
 The congregation of St. Ignatius Church then followed on 
 foot." 
 
lyo THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The gaining of the Jubilee indulgence was, by His Grace, 
 assigned to the 15th of August, and numberless were the com- 
 munions distributed in the church on that day. It was a stirring- 
 up of the faithful long to be remembered, and proved that the 
 roots of faith were deep in the hearts of many in whom, unfor- 
 tunately, the fruits of practical religious life were entirely too 
 scant. Two days later, Father Congiato, in company with 
 Messrs. Gregory Leggio and Anthony Tardella, S. J., departed 
 for the East; he, on business to some of the Eastern cities; 
 they, to study theology at Woodstock. The day previous, Father 
 Ponte had gone to San Jose to replace Father Congiato as 
 parish priest and Superior of the residence during the latter's 
 absence. This lasted until the 12th of the following month, and, 
 on the 14th, Father Ponte returned to St. Ignatius to be pres- 
 ent at the inauguration of the new Debating Hall. It was about 
 this time that the Ignatian Literary Society was instituted under 
 the presidency of Father Nattini. 
 
 "This society," we learn from its constitution and by-laws, 
 "shall be known as the Ignatian Literary Society of St. Ignatius 
 College. 
 
 The objects of this society shall be the improvement of all 
 connected with it, in debate, social advancement and general 
 literature. 
 
 All questions bordering on immorality, sectarianism and 
 direct politics shall be excluded. 
 
 None under the age of sixteen years shall be eligible for 
 membership." 
 
 The number of active members had reached twenty-nine by 
 the end of the scholastic year, an excellent indication of its life 
 and activity, a reflex of the untiring energy of Father Nattini. 
 
 Strive, however, as the Fathers would to do their best, they 
 could not avoid the tongue of censure. While it wagged only 
 in private, even though its comments were unjust, they bore with 
 it in silence; but, when emboldened, it made itself heard in 
 public, they thought it their duty to state the truth plainly. 
 Hence the following to the Monitor: 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 171 
 
 "St. Ignatius College, Sept. 28th, 1871. 
 Editor Monitor: 
 
 As we have heard on unquestionable authority that, in a 
 certain public place in this city, in discussing the merits of Catho- 
 lic schools, it has lately been asserted that, at St. Ignatius Col- 
 lege, the Jesuits make their scholars pay very well, and that 
 very few receive the privilege of a gratuitous education, we think 
 it proper to bring before the public the following facts : For 
 the last five years the average number of pupils has been 474 
 per year. From the last report of the Superintendent of 
 Public Schools, it appears that the cost per pupil is $40 per 
 year. Should we, therefore, take the same as a standard, it 
 would follow that our yearly receipts pay for an average of 
 184 pupils at most, leaving a balance of 201 pupils per 
 year, of whom we receive no compensation. When this is 
 taken in connection with the nature of our institution, 
 which is not a common school, but an incorporated college 
 having all the rights and prerogatives of the best univer- 
 sities, imparting to her pupils every branch of knowledge 
 and fitting them for the highest positions in society, it will 
 be evident to any unbiased mind that the assertions we criticise, 
 are illiberal and uncharitable. Those who made them could do 
 something more useful to the community than dissuade Catholic 
 parents from sending their children to a Catholic college. Their 
 zeal would show to better advantage, if they spoke of helping 
 Catholic schools to teach the thousands of Catholic children in 
 this city, whom Catholic schools are unable to accommodate. As 
 it is, we do not require payment as a necessary condition of 
 admission; but we do require quiet behavior, close application 
 and gentlemanly manners. A deficiency in these requirements, 
 especially the last, and not that of money, justifies a refusal 
 either to admit or to keep a pupil. Time and again have we 
 admitted deserving pupils who had been refused admission 
 into other schools, for the reason, we were informed, that they 
 could not pay. Were it our primary object to make our college 
 a paying institution, we would certainly adopt a different policy. 
 But we can inform our patrons and the public that our expenses 
 are considerably greater than our receipts, and this is the best 
 apology we can offer for inviting our friends to the College 
 
172 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Hall sometime next month, that we may dispose of some gifts 
 at the 'Ladies' Enterprise' for the benefit of the school. 
 
 J. Bayma, S. J., 
 
 President." 
 
 Our readers must pardon us for calling their attention to a 
 point which otherwise they might overlook. Father Bayma is 
 speaking of the gross receipts of the college, not of the net 
 profits. He is speaking of what was received for tuition, with- 
 out reference to expenses. Had he spoken from the standpoint 
 of net gain, the case would have been even stronger in his favor. 
 In fact, during this very year, though the receipts were $7,760, 
 the expenses were $8,590, a net loss from a business stand- 
 point of some $830. Instead of the Fathers receiving a cent 
 for their own labors, they had been obliged to contribute from 
 other sources over $800 to keep the college in existence. No 
 wonder that silent forbearance had ceased to be a virtue. 
 
 The 2 1 st of October brought us a welcome guest in the per- 
 son of Bishop J. B. Miege, the Ordinary of what was afterward 
 the diocese of Leavenworth, Kansas. He was on his way to 
 Mexico and kindred Latin Republics to raise funds to liquidate 
 the debt under which his diocese labored, in order that, this 
 accomplished, he might lay aside the mitre and return once more 
 to the ranks of the Society of Jesus, from which, much to his 
 sorrow, he had been raised to the episcopacy. On November 3rd, 
 he departed for Panama, having, as companion, Father Aloysius 
 Bosco of Santa Clara, a fluent speaker of Spanish, a Father who 
 had some years previously made a similar journey in the inter- 
 ests of Santa Clara College. 
 
 The fair mentioned in Father Bayma's letter took place in 
 December. It began on the nth and was to have lasted for two 
 weeks. Continued and heavy rain, however, caused its inter- 
 ruption, so that it was again resumed on the 26th of the month 
 and finished about the end of the year. Its success, owing to the 
 inclement weather, was not remarkable, and it was the last under- 
 taken under the auspices of the Fathers. 
 
 1872. 
 During the Lent of 1872, the practical zeal of Father Messea 
 gave birth to a work humble indeed in appearance, but productive 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 173 
 
 of abundant and solid fruit : the evening catechetical instruc- 
 tion given in our church. He had noticed that numbers of peo- 
 ple nightly frequented the church to offer up their prayers before 
 the Blessed Sacrament and the altar of our Blessed Mother, and 
 the thought came to him that it could not but be pleasing to 
 the Divine Master, if all, in common, should gather around the 
 altar of the Blessed Virgin, recite her rosary, and listen to a plain 
 and simple exposition of the duties of a Christian life. He pro- 
 posed the matter to Superiors, received their approval, and 
 inaugurated the pious custom which has come down in uninter- 
 rupted succession to our own times, destined, we are confident, 
 to perpetuity. He had soon several hundred people in attendance, 
 every night, and when he suggested that it would be well to 
 hang a lamp before our Lady's statue and keep it ever burning, 
 his suggestion was readily taken up, and, in a night or two, he 
 was able to announce that willing contributions had supplied him 
 with the needed funds. 
 
 On the 10th of April, Father Ponte having been recalled 
 to Italy, left California. Father Congiato accompanied him to 
 the Eastern States and Father Masnata temporarily replaced 
 him as Superior of the Mission. 
 
 The pupils of the college, this year, reached a total of six 
 hundred, and in a literary exhibition on June 3rd, and a scien- 
 tific one, two evenings later, showed that the encomiums passed 
 upon the faculty by A. H. Loughborough, Esq., in his address, 
 were amply merited. Piety, moreover, flourished no less than 
 zeal for study, as the one hundred and sixty members of the 
 Students' Sodality of the Immaculate Conception, and the one 
 hundred and fifty members of the Holy Angels' Sodality were 
 eloquent witnesses. Father Prelato, the director of both, might 
 well feel assured that Almighty God had blessed his patient 
 labor. The Jesuit portion of the faculty this year remained 
 almost unchanged, the only addition being that of Mr. Joseph 
 Sasia, who returned as professor of classics and English. By 
 a strange error, the catalogue of the Turin Province, assigns 
 him to Santa Clara this year, just as it assigned him to 
 St. Ignatius last year. Probably in seeking to correct the old 
 mistake, the compiler of the catalogue fell into the new. 
 
174 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 On June 30th, before a large congregation of friends, in 
 a church in which for many years he had taken up the collec- 
 tion at late mass and at vespers, and at whose altar rails, as a 
 devout Sodalist, he had constantly knelt, Father Thomas 
 Leonard celebrated his first mass. He had been ordained priest 
 on the 24th of the month, the Feast of St. John the Baptist, 
 by His Grace, Archbishop Alemany. He was at this time 
 over fifty-one years of age, and had, as server at his mass, his 
 son Francis, a young man of twenty-six, a Jesuit professor 
 at Santa Clara College. But half a century sat lightly on the 
 shoulders of Father Thomas, who afterwards, for over a quarter 
 of a century, did a yeoman's work in the spiritual fields of 
 California, dying at the age of eighty-three, on the 26th day of 
 June, 1904, at Santa Clara. 
 
 The first of July sprang a surprise on the Fathers of St. 
 Ignatius and the inhabitants of San Francisco. A steamer 
 from Central American ports landed on our shores a band of 
 thirty-nine Capuchins and eight Dominicans. They had come 
 from Guatemala, whence the revolutionary Government had 
 expelled them without warning, without means of subsistence, 
 without giving them an opportunity to plan a place of refuge, 
 violating the most sacred rights of humanity in the name of 
 humanity. The Dominican Fathers of our city, immediately 
 with the utmost charity, received the members of their own 
 Order, seeking by the warmth of welcome to make them forget 
 the privations and sufferings through which they had passed. 
 The Capuchins were gladly received by St. Ignatius, which 
 did all that was possible, under the circumstances, to afford the 
 necessary comforts to the exiles and assuage their bitter sor- 
 rows. Comforts, perhaps, we should not have said, for these 
 saintly men with bearded faces and coarse brown habits, with 
 sandaled feet and shaven heads, were men emaciated by the 
 constant mortifications imposed by their holy rule, rather than 
 by those of a tedious sea voyage; and nature in them accus- 
 tomed to subjection, viewed as luxuries, what others would 
 have considered scarcely the necessaries of life. They were 
 strangers in a city which had been named after their holy 
 founder, St. Francis, and which, at Dolores, had been estab- 
 lished by a branch of their own illustrious Order. For one of 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 175 
 
 them, however, the exile of life was nearly over. Sufferings of 
 mind and body had made serious inroads on his health, and 
 he was removed to St. Mary's Hospital. Could loving care 
 have fanned into flame the spark of life, that bestowed upon 
 him by the Sisters of Mercy would assuredly have been re- 
 warded with success; but the Lord had chosen him for a better 
 life, and on July 4th, his spirit passed away. His name in 
 religion was Father Francis of Bassost. On Saturday, July 
 6th, the body was brought to our church and placed upon the 
 bier prepared for it. Around were gathered the Fathers and 
 Brothers who had loved the departed in life, and whose 
 moistened eyes told without concealment, of the pain of separa- 
 tion. The Office for the Dead was recited in the presence of 
 His Grace, Archbishop Alemany, who had come to preside at 
 the obsequies and chant a Solemn Mass for the repose of Father 
 Francis' soul. Such of the Dominican exiles as had remained 
 in the city, with others of their Order, came to pay the last 
 tokens of respect and affection; the secular clergy sent its rep- 
 resentatives; the Fathers of the college whom duty did not 
 call elsewhere, assisted in the sanctuary; and the church could 
 not contain the crowds of the faithful who came to show honor 
 to the memory of one whom they rightly considered to have 
 given his life for the faith. After the mass, the people filed past, 
 to touch the body with their rosaries and prayer-books; and 
 noon had already arrived before their devotion was satisfied. 
 The burial took place at Calvary Cemetery, Lone Mountain, 
 one of the exiled Dominicans reciting the prayers at the grave 
 for him who had so happily ended the sufferings of time. 
 
 But, we are certain that our readers would prefer the account 
 of these occurrences from the pen of one of the exiles, Rev. 
 Father Ignatius of Cambrils, in his "Chronicle of the Mission 
 of the Capuchin Fathers in Central America." 
 
 "We arrived safely," he says, "in the harbor of San Fran- 
 cisco and landed on July 1st. But before disembarking, Father 
 Guardian Fra Sigismund de Mataro, accompanied by another 
 Father, entered this populous city, and after a brief visit to the 
 Archiepiscopal residence (the Most Reverend Archbishop was 
 absent) hastened to the college of the Reverend Jesuit Fathers, 
 
176 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 who no sooner heard our sad story than, pitying us, they 
 answered that 'not only for some of us, but that for all would 
 there be willing hospitality ; that all of us should make our home 
 with them, for we were all brothers in Christ, our Lord.' Father 
 Guardian returned highly edified, and presently all of us, thirty- 
 nine Capuchins, seeing the care that Divine Providence had for 
 its servants, started straight for this charitable college, the 
 Fathers of which received us with the greatest sympathy for 
 our misfortunes, and with equal love and cordiality, just as 
 if we had been so many other Jesuits; offering their services 
 to us generously as long as we needed them — I should rather 
 say as long as we wished to use them." "Soon after," remarks 
 his commentator, "thirty-six out of the thirty-nine of us fell 
 sick. And in these sad circumstances the brotherly affection 
 of the Jesuit Fathers was much to be admired. The Fathers 
 and Brothers served us with the care of skilled nurses." But 
 to return to the chronicle of Father Ignatius — "And in order 
 that we might enjoy greater comfort and convenience, after 
 a few days of rest, they divided our numbers between the two 
 large colleges of San Francisco and Santa Clara, which latter 
 place is distant from the former about four hours by rail. In 
 Santa Clara, several of the Brothers took the Solemn Profession, 
 and on this occasion the Jesuit Fathers made for us a most 
 solemn feast. Thus, in the company of these good Fathers, we 
 remained up to the middle of September, always treated, re- 
 spected, and looked upon as so many members of the Society 
 of Jesus. Seeing that we, by ourselves, could never worthily 
 repay this veneration and love, our Father Guardian wrote, after 
 a time, to our Most Reverend Father General, that he in person 
 might return thanks to the Reverend Father General of the 
 Society of Jesus in Rome. This our Most Reverend Father 
 did with much pleasure, both in our name and in that of the 
 whole Capuchin Order, not indeed in person, for he was un- 
 able to do so, but by means of a Most Reverend Father Defini- 
 tor General in his name. To whom, to cap the climax, or as a 
 finishing touch to so charitable a work and adding to it new 
 luster, the General of the Society of Jesus answered, 'That to 
 God belonged these thanks, since his subjects, the Jesuits of 
 California, had only done what they ought to have done for the 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 177 
 
 exiled Capuchins of Guatemala.' Ah! Truly enchanting is 
 the sight of the many beautiful and varied splendors with which 
 the sweet charity of the School of Jesus Christ presents itself 
 to our eyes!" 
 
 "And here it is apropos to add," he says, in another place, 
 "that the founder of our Order in those lands (Central America), 
 Father Francis of Bassost by name, had scarcely reached the 
 place whither our expulsion from Old Guatemala, where he had 
 laid the foundation stones of our establishment, was to bear us, 
 than he passed presently from this world to the arms of our 
 Heavenly Father. Four days after our arrival in San Francisco, 
 California, he departed from this land of exile, this valley of 
 tears, peacefully dying in the Lord. With much solemnity, and 
 the attendance of a great concourse of people, the body present, 
 his funeral was held in the church of our benefactors, the Jesuit 
 Fathers of that city. After the chanting of the office for the 
 dead, canticles of sorrow and mournful voices, which were very 
 appropriately accompanied by the religious and touching strains 
 of the deep-toned organ, began to resound within these sacred 
 walls. 
 
 At the holy altar, surrounded by his assistants, officiated the 
 Most Reverend Joseph Alemany, Archbishop of the city, who 
 wished to offer to the Eternal Father, for the soul of our departed 
 Brother, the acceptable sacrifice of our redemption. From the 
 sacred pulpit came the clear voice of Rev. Father Barchi, S. J., a 
 member of the college, who preached the funeral oration in praise 
 of the deceased, while the Fathers of the Jesuit community sat 
 ranged around the sanctuary, and some six Dominican Fathers 
 and we Capuchins sat in the church, just outside the altar rails, 
 as mourners gathered around the body of the dead. Funeral 
 truly solemn, truly tender and devout ! Funeral whose solemnity, 
 with an increase of new tenderness and admirable devotedness, 
 received its fitting complement when, unasked by us, a multitude 
 of carriages of kind-hearted persons, pitying the departed septua- 
 genarian recently arrived, victim of an impious expulsion, 
 wished to accompany to the cemetery of San Francisco the body 
 of our Brother Capuchin, the founder of our Order in Guatemala, 
 a man full of zeal for the strict observance of our holy rule, 
 to whose soul may God grant rest! Amen." 
 
178 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 On their arrival in the city, the Capuchin exiles published 
 the following statement: 
 
 "the exiled capuchins. 
 On the 30th of June, 1871, the present provisional Govern- 
 ment took possession of the capital of Guatemala. From that 
 day it became well known that their purpose was to make away 
 with everything that would give religious support to the Catho- 
 lic population. 
 
 THE FIRST BLOW 
 
 was to banish from the country the Jesuit Fathers, who had 
 there a flourishing college. More than 20,000 citizens signed a 
 protest against such an arbitrary and despotic robbery perpe- 
 trated in the name of liberty, and petitioned to have the insti- 
 tution left undisturbed as a paramount necessity for the people. 
 But they found no hearing, and that self-styled Government, 
 trampling on the will of the people and on every law of justice, 
 kept its oath of destruction, and on the 3rd of October, 187 1, 
 exiled from the Republic the learned and pious Society of Jesus, 
 which for twenty years had been laboring in the pulpit and in 
 the school for the cause of public morality and education. But 
 that was not enough; 
 
 ANOTHER STEP IN THE NAME OF LIBERTY 
 
 was to send into exile two venerable prelates, the Archbishop 
 and a Bishop of Guatemala, repeating the old exploded calumny 
 that they were opposed to the liberty of the country. In every 
 case, church and private property were confiscated. On the 28th 
 of August, it was rumored at Antigua that the Chief of Police 
 had received orders to drive away, on that very night, the 
 Capuchin friars, whose convent had been established in the city 
 twenty years ago; but forthwith more than 5,000 people came 
 forward and declared that, at the risk of their lives, they would 
 never allow the good friars to be taken away. At this time the 
 Government dared not go further. But, although this very Gov- 
 ernment asserted in its proclamation that it had never been 
 intended to touch the Capuchins, yet the citizens were always in 
 an alarming expectancy. Almost every night they patroled the 
 surrounding streets, and kept watch in the rear of the convent 
 until they heard the usual midnight prayer bell, by which they 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 179 
 
 understood that nothing new had happened. But as, in the name 
 of liberty and progress, men of this communistic kind never desist 
 from the pursuit of their fiendish object, at last the time arrived 
 when the rights of the people were outraged and trampled upon 
 in the sacred name of liberty. So, on the 7th of last June, the 
 Government issued an order of the following tenor : 'For reasons 
 of a high political nature, the Supreme Provisional Government 
 has resolved upon 
 
 THE EXPULSION OF THE CAPUCHIN FATHERS 
 
 of Antigua. To-day (Friday) a military force has been sent 
 from this capital, with orders to take them away from that city 
 and drive them to the frontier of Mexico.' It was about half- 
 past eight o'clock in the evening of the day appointed, when 
 Colonel V. Trungaray appeared at the convent with the soldiers, 
 and presented, by verbal message, the order of expulsion, leaving 
 no more than one hour's time for the Fathers to take their 
 departure from the convent. They begged him to tell, at least, 
 in what direction they were to be taken, but he would give no 
 answer. 
 
 Having learned from some among the soldiers that the march 
 was ordered to the Mexican frontier, they protested against such 
 inhuman violence, and asked to be taken to the seaport of San 
 Jose de Guatemala, in order that they might pass thence to their 
 convents in Europe. But the petition was not heeded. At 
 9 :30 p. m. the Capuchin Fathers were 
 
 FORCED FROM THEIR OWN CONVENT, 
 
 and between two rows of bayonets were taken to the old Munici- 
 pal Palace, followed by the people, who rilled the streets with 
 cries and lamentations at seeing their venerable and beloved 
 Fathers thus dragged from them. At 10 o'clock the thirty-nine 
 exiles entered the old palace, where all the accommodation they 
 were allowed for passing the night was an unfurnished hall, with 
 nothing to lie upon save its bare tile floor. The citizens, however, 
 showed now more than ever, the affection they had for their bene- 
 factors, and brought them various articles of food and raiment, 
 and alms for the journey. On the 8th of June, at 8 o'clock in 
 the morning, the order to march was given. It would be impos- 
 sible to describe the tears and wailings of the populace when it 
 
180 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 saw itself so brutally robbed of its friends and consolers, 
 who had exposed their very lives for it during the epi- 
 demic of 1857, and given the example of every Christian virtue. 
 About 1 o'clock, the Capuchins arrived at Chemaltenango, 
 accompanied by two hundred men, the rest having gone back to 
 Antigua to maintain order. Seeing that the march was through 
 a deserted region to the frontier of Mexico, the Spanish Consul 
 and other gentlemen remonstrated with the Government, and 
 obtained that the exiles should be taken to the seaport of 
 Champerico, but only on condition that they should embark for 
 San Francisco, California, so that they might not stop at any 
 port of Central America. This is why the thirty-nine Capuchins 
 are now in this city. By such an expulsion the revolutionary 
 Government has lost much credit in the opinion even of those 
 that were favorable of it. It is evident to all, that it was a piece 
 of meanness and despotism against a few peaceable men, who 
 had never meddled in anything political. In a journey of a day 
 and a half, they could have been taken to the port of San Jose 
 de Guatemala; but no, they were made to march for eight days 
 to Champerico, by bad roads, wretchedly mounted, several of 
 them very sick and infirm, and led through the largest towns, at 
 Solata, Totonicatan, Solcaja, Tueraltenango and Retalulen. 
 Three nights only had they some rest at the parochial residences. 
 Up to the last moment, Colonel Trungaray assured us that the 
 Government would pay our passage on the steamer ; but the fact 
 proved the contrary. It was the charity of the good people that 
 took pity on the poor Capuchins. We offer thanks to all those 
 who voluntarily contributed to our relief, both in Antigua and 
 in other cities, and who showed us such great and heartfelt affec- 
 tion. And, lastly, we thank very much the Jesuit Fathers of 
 this city, who, with so great charity, have received us into their 
 college." 
 
 It was indeed a new, but edifying sight to see these brown 
 forms prostrate in the sanctuary, or with arms extended in the 
 form of a cross, assisting at the holy sacrifice of the mass. It 
 was a novel sight to see religious habits and cowled heads pass- 
 ing along the thoroughfares of San Francisco, but the city 
 treated the Religious with the utmost respect, and though many a 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 181 
 
 curious glance was cast, no word of disrespect was ever uttered. 
 Humor, however, is seldom totally absent even from what is 
 most grave and serious, and it was hard sometimes to repress a 
 smile when some tender-hearted daughter of Erin, ignorant of 
 the strict Capuchin rule, and considering that the bare feet pro- 
 tected only by sandals, was the result of the extremity of pov- 
 erty which prevented the Religious from buying shoes, offered an 
 alms to enable the holy men to obtain what she considered indis- 
 pensable articles. 
 
 On the nth of July, some twenty of the Religious accepted 
 the hospitality of Santa Clara College, whose retirement was bet- 
 ter suited to the younger members of the community; for there 
 were several students and even a novice priest among the exiles. 
 Here, in the old Franciscan walls and in the Mission Church, they 
 could well observe their monastic rule, and bring back to life, 
 scenes that had lain buried for many decades of years. 
 
 As there was no opening for the community in the archdio- 
 cese, and as its members were utterly destitute of the means of 
 going elsewhere, the charitable of the city began to devise ways 
 and means of raising money to assist them. It was decided to 
 hold a fair at the City Gardens on August 8th, 9th and iotfi. 
 The project was a grand success, some $12,000, it is said, being 
 the result. 
 
 The Daily Evening Post, edited by Henry George, gave on 
 Wednesday, August 7th, a brief synopsis of the programme. 
 
 "the exiled friars. 
 The grand picnic, to be given in aid of the exiled friars, 
 will be gotten up on a scale to exceed anything else of the kind 
 that has been given in this city for a long time. At 10 a. m. 
 Thursday, Rev. Brother Justin of St. Mary's College will deliver 
 an address to the exiled clergy. During the course of the festi- 
 val, addresses will be delivered by the Hon. J. M. Burnett, 
 Hon. Tyler Curtis, Judge Hastings and John Hamill, Esq. 
 Thursday evening a grand vocal and instrumental concert will 
 be given. Friday evening will be devoted to short addresses. 
 Saturday evening the poem of the occasion will be read by its 
 author, R. C. Hopkins, Esq., and will be followed by the draw- 
 ing of prizes. After the literary exercises of each evening, a 
 
1 82 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 grand ball will be given." Everything was carried out success- 
 fully as planned. 
 
 Thus supplied with means of travel, the Capuchin Superiors 
 set about arranging for the journey eastward. On August 22nd, 
 three members of the Community departed with Mr. Vincent 
 Testa, S. J., who was on his way to Woodstock, Maryland, to 
 take up the study of theology. Their destination was the 
 Capuchin Monastery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On September 
 13th, a large portion of the exiled Religious came from Santa 
 Clara to take part in the Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving to be 
 offered on the following day. The mass was celebrated by 
 Father Sigismund of Mataro, Guardian and Commissary Gen- 
 eral; Father Augustine of Llusanes, Com. of the Third Order 
 of St. Francis, was deacon; one of the Dominican exiles was 
 subdeacon. The church was packed to the very doors with 
 people sorry to part with those who had been a source of so much 
 edification during their stay among us. On the evening of the 
 15th, the last of those who had remained in Santa Clara joined 
 their brethren, and at dawn on the 16th all departed, as much 
 to their own regret, as to that of the Fathers and of the city, 
 for affection had grown deep and mutual. To journey to the 
 East they had been supplied with secular clothes, though many 
 of the good Religious felt in them like David in Saul's armor. 
 The older members, too, who, from youth, had never laid aside 
 their sacred habit, required much persuasion to induce them to 
 put it off. Obedience, however, sweetened the pangs of sacri- 
 fice, though many wept as they laid that aside for love of which 
 they had abandoned home and country, and borne the sorrows 
 of exile. 
 
 On the 14th of the month, the day on which the Mass of 
 Thanksgiving was celebrated, the Father Guardian published in 
 the daily papers the following : 
 
 "card of thanks. 
 
 the exiled friars to the catholics of san francisco. 
 
 St. Ignatius College, Sept. 14th, 1872. 
 
 On the eve of our departure from the hospitable shores of 
 
 California, I feel in duty bound to address in my name, as well 
 
 as in that of the religious Community of the Capuchin Friars, 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 183 
 
 exiled by the present revolutionary Government of Guatemala, 
 as likewise in the name of the Dominican Fathers, a parting fare- 
 well to all the good citizens of San Francisco, who, during our 
 sojourn in their midst, have never ceased to give us the most 
 splendid testimonies of Christian sympathy. Words fall short 
 of expressing our admiration for the religious spirit by which 
 the Catholics of California are animated, and our gratitude for 
 all the many favors bestowed on us by them. Indeed, our hearts 
 were far from anticipating the kind and generous reception we 
 have met with in this land of true freedom. Poor and strangers, 
 and with no other title to your sympathies than the fact of being 
 the sufferers in the cause of God and religion, we were, beyond 
 our merits and expectations, greeted by you with friendly love. 
 We heard, from your lips, words of consolation and hope, and 
 saw the hands of the rich and the poor, open to aid us in our des- 
 titution. Yes, in your midst, Catholics of San Francisco, we 
 forgot for awhile the sadness of exile, the hardships of a long 
 journey, and the uncertainties of a gloomy future. We saw many 
 eyes moistened with tears of pity and compassion for us, and 
 we, too, raised to Heaven our eyes moistened with tears of joy 
 to bless the Father above, whose loving providence never ceases 
 to watch over his children. 
 
 Were it in our power, we would gladly consecrate our lives 
 and labors to the spiritual welfare of the Catholic community of 
 this city. But circumstances beyond our control compel us to 
 leave this land, where we have been witnesses of such tender 
 piety and such generous charity. Whithersoever it shall please 
 Divine Providence to call us, we shall never forget the numerous 
 demonstrations of your kind sympathy. Wherever we shall find 
 a home, there shall we tell of your Christian fervor and your 
 generous hospitality; and we shall add that, while in the name 
 of religion you came to the aid of the poor exiled friars of 
 Guatemala, in the name of liberty you have protested against 
 the despotism of those who usurp its sacred name to mask their 
 wicked deeds of tyranny. 
 
 Catholics of San Francisco and California, you have our 
 deep admiration, our heartfelt thanks and our fervent prayers. 
 Gladly would we know the names of all our benefactors and 
 hand them down to the gratitude of posterity. But this is 
 
1 84 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 not in our power. We shall limit ourselves to mentioning the 
 Jesuit Fathers whose guests we have been for two months and 
 a half, and who have lavished on us their tenderest care. To 
 the others we shall confidently say that their names are written 
 in the hands and in the heart of that God who receives as 
 done to himself what is done in behalf of his suffering servants. 
 
 Father Sigismund of Mataro, 
 Guardian of the Convent of Guatemala." 
 
 That the gratitude and affection of these noble hearts did 
 not pass with the hour of sorrow and affliction, the following 
 letter sent from Europe by Brother Joseph Calasanctius to 
 Father Charles Pollano and his Jesuit pupils, will bear most 
 affectionate testimony. 
 
 "Toulouse, Tan. 20th, 1873. 
 Rev. Father C. Pollano and Messrs. O' Sullivan, Driscoll and 
 Crowley, S. J.: 
 
 Since, dearest Fathers and Brothers in Christ, I can never 
 forget you, I write to you that you may clearly see that 
 although separated from you in body, I am nevertheless united 
 with you in soul, as you have indeed earnestly requested me 
 that I should be. Moved by this thought, I realize that I am 
 in duty bound to let you know where Divine Providence has 
 destined that I should remain. 
 
 You must know, therefore, that when we reached Milwau- 
 kee, the choice was left to each of us, either of remaining in the 
 United States or of proceeding to France. As I found that 
 the climate did not better my health but rather proved detri- 
 mental to it, I preferred (after having taken counsel with some 
 of the Fathers) to go to the monasteries of France. Hence, 
 after a most pleasant journey, we reached that of Toulouse, 
 where Holy Obedience has arranged that I remain to continue 
 my studies. I hope, with the grace of God, soon to recover 
 my health perfectly, for even now I am able to study with my 
 fellow students, with whom, under the guidance of Father Igna- 
 tius, I am striving to finish philosophy. 
 
 Dear friends in Christ, I sincerely confess that I can never 
 think or speak of you without tears coming unbidden to my 
 eyes. I would that to you and to all your Brothers, I could 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 185 
 
 express my gratitude and that of all my Brothers; but this is 
 for me an impossibility. Accept, therefore, these flowers of 
 our Lady of La Salette, and recognize that in them my heart 
 and those of my brethren are enclosed. 
 
 Remember me, I beseech you, in your prayers, as these 
 my Brothers and yours who dwell with me, remember you; 
 I, also, neither forget nor ever shall forget you in my prayers, 
 humble though they be. 
 
 Permit me to inform you that, on December 21st, we 
 received the tonsure and the four Minor Orders from our 
 Archbishop. 
 
 Fra Joachim, my Brother, who is in the monastery at Cereti, 
 most affectionately salutes you, as do Rev. Father Sigismund, 
 and Father Lector, with Brothers Balthasar, Xavier, Desiderius, 
 Alexis, Isidore and Firminus. 
 
 In conclusion, salute all your Brothers, and, more especially, 
 Reverend Father Superior and Father Rector; Father Brunengo 
 and the Master of Novices; Brother Thomas and the Infirm- 
 arian; as your most affectionate servant and brother in Christ 
 salutes you. 
 
 Fra Joseph Calasanctius a Llevaneras, O. M. C." 
 
 God had His own designs in permitting that the impiety 
 of the revolutionists of Guatemala should seem to triumph for 
 the moment; religion's loss in their country was the universal 
 Church's gain. To say nothing of the eminent services of 
 others, we shall speak of those rendered their Order by three — 
 Brothers Balthasar, Joachim and the writer of the letter. Soon 
 after his ordination Father Balthasar was, in 1876, sent as Su- 
 perior with nine companions to establish his Order in Equador. 
 This he successfully accomplished, was named Commissary 
 General of those parts, founded many convents and governed 
 holily for over nine years, dying later a victim of charity in 
 Panama. Father Joachim was one of the nine that accom- 
 panied Father Balthasar on his Equadorean expedition. 
 Recalled to Europe, he was, by the Holy See, created Commis- 
 sary Apostolic of his Order in Spain. He found matters ruined 
 by revolution and persecution, but his powerful mind and 
 energetic character brought order out of chaos, and his 
 
1 86 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 brethren so flourished under his government, that he not only 
 organized and built up one Province, but so numerous had its 
 establishments become, that he was obliged out of the one Prov- 
 ince to form three. He founded the great Seraphic School of 
 Montehano, the convents of Olot, Olleria, and Bilbao; the resi- 
 dences of Madrid and Barcelona; the Missions of the Carolinas, 
 Columbia and Equador; and the residence in Manila. 
 
 But most illustrious of all, has become the humble Toulouse 
 correspondent of the Jesuits of Santa Clara. Even before 
 ordination he begged and was granted the Mission of Equador, 
 but weak health compelled him to return to France. Ordained 
 a priest, on May 26th, 1877, he soon became Father Guardian 
 of the Convent of Perpignan. Expelled from France in 1880, 
 he went to Spain, his native land. Here, in 1882, he was selected 
 by Father Joachim, his brother, as special assistant; and, in 1884, 
 went with him to Rome on important affairs of the Order. 
 So marked was his success in the matters confided to his pru- 
 dence that he was retained in the Holy City. His talents soon 
 became known to Pope Leo XIII, who added honor to honor, 
 until, bestowing upon him the Roman purple, the Holy Father 
 made him Cardinal Vives y Tuto, Joseph Calasanctius of St. 
 Adrian. Asked for his portrait for this volume, His Eminence 
 not only graciously granted the request but sent the "Chronicle 
 of Father Ignatius," which he himself had annotated and edited, 
 as also a copy of the "Analecta Ordinis Minorum Capuccinorum," 
 containing a sketch of his life. And, as even all this kindness 
 did not satisfy his generous heart, with his own hand he wrote 
 at the bottom of his photograph the gracious message: 
 
 "A los RR. PP. Jesuitas de California, hermanos carisimos 
 y bienhechores insignes de los Capuchinos. 
 
 Fr. J. C, Card. Vives." 
 
 "To the Reverend Jesuit Fathers of California, most dear 
 brothers and worthy benefactors of the Capuchins. 
 
 Fr. Joseph Calasanctius, 
 
 Cardinal Vives." 
 
 Sweet, indeed, are the memories that will ever cluster 
 around the names of the barefooted exiles who, in 1872, blessed 
 St. Ignatius and Santa Clara with their presence, but sweetest 
 

 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 187 
 
 of all, the memory of him in whose heart, neither length of years, 
 nor weighty occupations, nor merited honors can obliterate 
 gratitude for a kindness, in which the whole merit of the 
 Fathers of California consisted, according to the testimony of 
 their General, in having done their duty towards the exiled 
 Capuchins of Guatemala. 
 
 On the very evening preceding the departure of the exiles, 
 Father James Razzini arrived in San Francisco, bringing with 
 him from Italy, Messrs. Dominic Giacobbi, Jerome Ricard, 
 Vincent Chiappa and Angelo Coltelli, S. J. On the 19th, the 
 announcement of his appointment as Visitor of the Californian 
 Mission was made, and at the same time the Fathers were 
 informed of the confirmation of Father Masnata as General 
 Superior. From that time to the end of the year, there was 
 little to break the even monotony of college life, if we except 
 the subjoined letter which gave occasion to the scientific lec- 
 tures of Father Joseph Neri. 
 
 "Rev. Jos. Neri, S. J., Prof. Natural Philosophy, St. Ignatius 
 College: 
 You are respectfully invited to deliver a lecture on some 
 subject of the physical science, at such time hereafter as may 
 be designated, to form one of the Thursday evening polytechnic 
 course, and thereafter to enter into such details as may be 
 called for, connected with the same subject, before a class, 
 should the same be formed from those in the community de- 
 veloping an interest in that specialty. 
 
 Yours, 
 John W. Dwinelle, 
 Chairman of Joint Committee. 
 San Francisco, December 30th, 1872." 
 
 The joint committee, as we learn from the tickets issued 
 at the time, was the joint committee of the Mechanics Institute 
 and the University of California. The fact, moreover, that 
 Father Neri's lecture was the second of the polytechnic course, 
 speaks highly of the esteem in which he was held. Father 
 Neri's answer was as follows: 
 
1 88 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 "Hon. J. W. Dwinelle, 
 
 Chairman of Joint Committee: 
 
 To contribute to the promotion of your laudable object of 
 spreading sound and useful knowledge, I willingly accept your 
 invitation, and propose to deliver a lecture with experiments, 
 illustrating The Physical Constitution and General Properties 
 of Bodies,' at the hall of St. Ignatius College, on Thursday, 
 January 23rd, at 8 o'clock p. m. 
 
 After this, in accordance with your plan, I propose to con- 
 tinue a course of lectures on Physics and Chemistry, on the 
 first and third Wednesdays of every month, during February, 
 March and April, to afford to such students as cannot follow a 
 complete course of science, and to the public at large, an oppor- 
 tunity of becoming acquainted with the principles of physics and 
 their most interesting applications. The particular subjects 
 will be announced from time to time. . . . 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 Jos. M. Neri, S. J." 
 
 1873. 
 
 The lecture promised by Father Neri was delivered on the 
 evening appointed, and received flattering comments from those 
 who listened to it. "A large audience attended," says one of 
 the daily papers of the time, "and enjoyed one of the most 
 delightful and beneficial entertainments afforded in this city for 
 many a day." Father Neri was an enthusiast in his love of 
 the natural sciences, and though always in delicate health, and 
 able to take such a small quantity of food that even living seemed 
 almost marvelous, was, nevertheless, able to work long and 
 laboriously day by day, ever keeping pace with the newest dis- 
 coveries of the hour, and seeming to tire only when exhausted 
 nature could bear no more. 
 
 His one thought was to popularize and spread as much as 
 possible the discoveries of science, freed from the errors with 
 which infidel scientists ever sought to yoke them; and he 
 thought, and thought well, that this was an excellent form of 
 missionary work, since it removed prejudices from the minds 
 of non-Catholics, helped to strengthen the faith of ill-instructed 
 Catholics, and made good Catholics prouder of the old Church 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 189 
 
 of the Ages, by demonstrating- practically that there was no true 
 advance of science that she could not bless; that there was not, 
 and could not, be any conflict between true science and true 
 religion. At a period when the greatest scientists of the world 
 had entered into a conspiracy to break down the bulwarks of 
 religion by assailing her in the name of scientific progress, it is 
 to the honor of Father Neri that he stood forth fearlessly as 
 the champion of scientific truth in San Francisco, with due 
 credit to himself and to the society and church which he 
 represented. 
 
 As early as September, 1871, he had planned an evening 
 school of science to be held at the college. Classes were to 
 have been given on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday and Fri- 
 days, from 7 130 to 8 130 p. m., and to have embraced a complete 
 course of physics and chemistry. The terms were to have been 
 $6.00 a month. Sufficient pupils, however, to warrant the 
 carrying out of the plan, did not present themselves, and the 
 project had to be abandoned. The invitation to participate in 
 the polytechnic course opened up a new field to Father Neri's 
 zeal, and he gladly took advantage of it. It would necessitate 
 sacrifice and labor, but true and solid fruit on earth has never 
 sprung from other parentage. 
 
 This preliminary lecture was followed by a course of five 
 on the "Spectroscope," a clear and beautiful synopsis of which 
 is found in the Guardian of May 3rd, 1873. 
 
 The daily papers of the time published extensive and, in 
 general, laudatory accounts of the lectures, the third of the series 
 winning high encomiums. "This," says one of the papers, "was 
 decidedly the most interesting of the series thus far, and was 
 illustrated by a great number of experiments. The best evi- 
 dence of the estimation in which it was held is the fact that so 
 many people could be kept together under the most intense and 
 absorbing interest until past 1 1 o'clock." 
 
 But, we must go back some months in our history. About 
 the middle of January, the Gentlemen's Sodality fitted up their 
 library in a room near the entrance to their chapel. It was 
 well suited to its purpose and convenient for the members, and 
 gave much satisfaction. 
 
190 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Just a month later, February 12th, Father Raffo left St. 
 Ignatius to replace Father Masnata. The term of Father 
 Bayma's presidency was drawing to a close, and Father Masnata 
 had been chosen to succeed him in office. The change of presi- 
 dents took place on Monday, the 17th, and two days later Father 
 Masnata, who still remained General Superior of the Jesuits in 
 California, was tendered a reception by the college students. 
 The welcome was brief and simple, for it was a family affair in 
 which the heart counts more than the tongue, and no one 
 doubted, that, when Father Masnata promised to do all in his 
 power to render the college life of the students happy and suc- 
 cessful, and to give them no cause to regret the enthusiastic 
 reception with which they were pleased to receive him, he not 
 only meant what he said, but that he would succeed in accom- 
 plishing all that he promised. 
 
 "Father Masnata," says the account of the occurrence, "is a 
 gentleman well known throughout California, as he was, for 
 a number of years, president of Santa Clara College, and during 
 his time there, acquired an experience in administering collegiate 
 affairs that will aid him very materially in consummating the 
 desire of every friend of St. Ignatius, which is to make it one 
 of the first educational institutions in San Francisco. Experi- 
 ence teaches, and Father Masnata has that requisite qualification. 
 
 The retiring president, Rev. Father Joseph Bayma, who has 
 watched over the destinies of the college for the past three years, 
 takes with him the gratitude and kind well-wishes of all who 
 have ever been under his paternal direction, as well as of all 
 others who have ever known him. During his years of manage- 
 ment, many improvements have taken place, and the large build- 
 ings that form the main college were not only erected under 
 his immediate supervision, but the design and architectural plans 
 are his, as it is a fact well known that he is a superior and 
 accomplished architect. 
 
 Father Bayma will not leave the college at present, but will 
 continue to occupy the chair of the higher mathematics, a posi- 
 tion not easily filled when vacated by so eminent a professor. 
 St. Ignatius College is now in a flourishing condition, as is 
 evinced by the large number of scholars in attendance. That it 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 191 
 
 will continue to prosper cannot be otherwise with such a man 
 as Father Masnata to direct its affairs." 
 
 In order to perpetuate and increase the fruit of his lectures, 
 Father Neri, in May, instituted the Loyola Scientific Academy, 
 whose object was "the cultivation and promotion of the study 
 of the natural sciences, principally in the various branches of 
 general physics, chemistry, geology and mineralogy. Young 
 gentlemen of good standing, graduates of this or other insti- 
 tutions, who had devoted some time to any of the above-men- 
 tioned branches" were "eligible to membership." Essays on 
 scientific subjects were read, scientific problems discussed, ques- 
 tions proposed and answered, to the great benefit of the members, 
 whose scientific horizon was thus broadened, and whose zeal for 
 study was quickened into vigorous life by the presentation, in 
 their meetings, of what was newest in the world of scientific 
 research. 
 
 The closing exercises, which were held on May 30th, were 
 honored by the presence of Hon. Zach. Montgomery, whose 
 devotion to Christian education and the rights of parents, had 
 merited him the bitter antagonism of narrow minds and the 
 sincere esteem of every lover of sound principles. His address 
 to the graduates was a masterly one, worthy indeed of his acute 
 mind and honest heart. A new degree, that of Bachelor of 
 Science, is found in the catalogue of this year. "For the degree 
 of Bachelor of Science the same conditions are required as for 
 the degree of A. B., with the exception of Latin and Greek." 
 
 With the coming of June, Father Razzini considered that 
 his work in California had been accomplished, and he decided 
 to return to Europe. He would, however, on his way, visit the 
 Missions of the Rocky Mountains, that he might report their 
 progress and their needs to the higher Superiors of the Jesuit 
 Order. In company, therefore, with Father Joseph Giorda, who 
 had arrived in California from the North in the beginning of 
 May, Father Razzini left San Francisco on the 9th of June, to 
 return to California no more. 
 
 July added Father Celestine Galliano to the community; and 
 September, Father Gregory Leggio, who, after his ordination at 
 Woodstock, Maryland, had for some time exercised the sacred 
 
1 92 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 ministry in Boston. On September 24th, Father Demasini was 
 again Minister, replacing Father Emmanuel Nattini, who had 
 filled that office since the appointment, in February, of Father 
 Masnata as president. Father Nattini remained, however, vice- 
 president. On December 17th, the college faculty received a 
 worthy addition in the person of Father Peter O'Flynn of the 
 Irish Province, who came to take the chair of poetry. But if 
 it rejoiced in its increase, it had also to mourn its loss. The 
 health of Father Angelo Affranchino, precarious for some time, 
 unfortunately broke down during the session, and he was obliged 
 to seek elsewhere, health which was never to be restored to him. 
 An affection of the throat deprived him of a voice which was 
 far above the ordinary, and which had made him such a useful 
 choir director for several years. 
 
 Intent as we have been upon other things, we find that we 
 have failed to record two very pretty ceremonies, which, during 
 the year, had thrown into bold relief the spirit of piety animat- 
 ing the students. The first was the Sunday-school celebration 
 on May 25th, when the pupils and others who attended the 
 classes, between five and six hundred strong, formed a proces- 
 sion in honor of the Blessed Virgin, as a public profession of 
 their devotion to her. 
 
 Eight classes, with an average attendance of four hundred 
 and fifty, had been the record of the Sunday-school for the 
 year. Of the pupils of the college, three hundred were Sodalists, 
 the members being about evenly divided between the Seniors' 
 Sodality of the Blessed Virgin and the Juniors' Sodality of 
 the Holy Angels. 
 
 The second function took place on October 12th. It was 
 the consecration of the Sodalities to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 
 Knowing well the love of young hearts for ceremony, and the 
 deep, even life-long impression for good that results in them 
 from the beautiful ceremonies of the Church, Father Prelato 
 never lost an opportunity of giving his Sodalists the benefit of 
 a celebration. Rev. Father Masnata presided at the ceremony, 
 and great was his consolation at the number of young hearts 
 present, and the earnest piety with which they offered themselves 
 to the heart of the Redeemer. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 193 
 
 1874. 
 The solemn consecration of our congregation to the same 
 Adorable Heart, took place on January 18th, 1874. On the nth 
 of the month, a circular from His Grace, the Archbishop, was 
 read in all the churches, appointing the following Sunday as 
 the day of consecration for the whole archdiocese. "A wonder- 
 ful number of confessions at night," is the comment of the col- 
 lege chronicler on the 17th, and the number must have been 
 large indeed, to excite admiration when the confessions of ordi- 
 nary Saturdays kept the Fathers in their confessionals well 
 up to 11 o'clock. Next day, the Feast of the Holy Name of 
 Jesus, the number of communions was extraordinary. The 
 church was decorated as for the greatest of feasts. A solemn 
 high mass was sung, and immediately after it, all the Fathers, in 
 surplice and with lighted candles in their hands, filed into the 
 sanctuary. Mounting to the side of the altar, Father Buchard 
 read impressively the solemn Act of Consecration, and the 
 Te Deum was immediately intoned, the choir and clergy alter- 
 nating in the singing. All present were deeply moved. From 
 five o'clock up to half-past ten, boys were stationed at the 
 entrance of the church to distribute to the worshipers, leaflets 
 containing the Act of Consecration. From the fact that twelve 
 thousand were given out, an idea may easily be formed both of 
 the attendance of the faithful and the magnificence of the 
 celebration. 
 
 A little later, the physical cabinet received from Tiburcio 
 Parrott, Esq., a memorable addition to its already remarkable 
 collection. It was a large electro-magnetic machine, one of those 
 that had been used in the siege of Paris by the defenders, and 
 the first of its kind in America. Father Neri was engaged in 
 a course of public lectures on "Electricity" ; but poor health did 
 not allow him to continue the course without interruption. The 
 public was naturally disappointed, and, to make some compensa- 
 tion, he determined to exhibit, in April, the powers of the new 
 machine. The following notice is taken from an account pub- 
 lished at the time : 
 
 "a popular scientific exhibition. 
 
 The condition of Father Neri's health not being, as yet, such 
 as to permit him to resume his public lectures on 'Electricity,' 
 
i 9 4 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 the time cannot now be definitely announced for the next lecture, 
 which, however, it is expected, will take place at an early day. 
 Meanwhile, not to disappoint the public altogether, he will com- 
 mence to give one of his experiments, on a large scale, on top 
 of the tower of St. Ignatius, to-morrow evening, April 9th, 
 from 8 to 10 o'clock. The experiment will be an exhibition of 
 the electric light, with the new mammoth magneto-electric 
 machine lately received from Paris, from the Compagnie 
 1' Alliance, with a new electric light regulator for first-class light- 
 houses, spherical mirror and large Fresnel lens a echelons, 
 mounted on a rotating table to project the light to the most dis- 
 tant points around San Francisco and the bay within the range 
 of the tower. The light is such as to be seen at a distance of 
 two hundred miles. . . . The apparatus used on the occa- 
 sion alone, and for the purpose indicated, represents over $5,000, 
 a large portion of which has been generously contributed by 
 some liberal and kind patrons of science and education in our 
 city, who, joining modesty to generosity, do not wish to be men- 
 tioned and known. The thanks of all to such souls." 
 
 But while mindful of the demands of science, and interested 
 in all that nature might reveal of the wonders concealed in her 
 bosom by God, her Author, the Superiors of St. Ignatius never 
 lost sight of the fact that all this was but a means toward the 
 saving of souls, and that it was but one, even though an impor- 
 tant one, of the many to be employed; and that, if more bril- 
 liant, it was to be employed side by side with others less striking 
 to the eye, but equally fruitful in good. This, too, His Grace, 
 the Archbishop, well knew ; hence the following letter : 
 
 ** "San Francisco, April 7th, 1874. 
 
 Very Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 I have a very important matter to lay before you, and I will, 
 of course, expect a favorable answer. 
 
 The case is this. There is a number of Catholic children 
 at the Industrial School who ought to be attended in their 
 religion. We have had fair play there for a long time, and the 
 officers kindly grant all facilities for having mass celebrated 
 there every Sunday. I send Father Coyle to say mass every 
 Sunday at 10 o'clock, but the old gentleman, though willing, is 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 195 
 
 getting sickly and unable to continue that service. In the other 
 churches the clergy are so few that they can scarcely have a few 
 masses for the accommodation of the people. So I must direct 
 my attention to you, who may, perhaps, find it somewhat incon- 
 venient ; but I think that the affair is too important, and that its 
 importance will induce you to make some holy arrangements to 
 meet the necessity. 
 
 In a day or two, I shall, please God, send you the regular invi- 
 tation to our humble Provincial Council cum voto consultative). 
 
 Yours truly in Christ, 
 
 f J. S. Alemany, A. S. F. 
 Very Rev. A. Masnata, S. J., Supr." 
 
 The charge was gladly accepted by the Fathers. Father 
 Masnata immediately waited upon His Grace to signify accept- 
 ance, and Father Gregory Leggio was appointed to the work with 
 Father Galliano as substitute, should any cause whatsoever inter- 
 fere with the performance of Father Leggio's duty. More- 
 over, it was determined that four or five times a year, some four 
 of the Fathers should be in attendance, not only to give the 
 children better opportunities for confession, but to allow them, 
 besides, a choice of confessors. On the 12th of April, the octave 
 of Easter and the first Sunday following His Grace's request, 
 Father Leggio entered upon his duties. These were continued 
 by his successors until, many years later, the boys were removed 
 to Whittier in the southern part of the State. 
 
 Was it the ease with which this matter had been arranged 
 that caused His Grace to return to the Chinese question? The 
 Fathers again and again had shown their willingness to under- 
 take works in which zeal alone had part — might not Father 
 Masnata be able to effect what Father Ponte had been unable to 
 do ? In any case, there could be no harm in asking. Hence His 
 Grace's letter on a subject so near his heart : 
 
 ** "San Francisco, Aug. 5th, 1874. 
 
 Very Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 I am obliged to write to you on a very peculiar subject, in 
 which I think you can and ought to help me. It is on the Chinese 
 question. 
 
196 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 I have made many efforts to have our Chinese attended to 
 in their spiritual affairs. I wrote to Cardinal Fransoni. I got 
 a Franciscan missionary, who, after building a little chapel for 
 them, left in bad health. Then I obtained Father Thomas 
 Cian, who could not do much for them, and he finally had to 
 go. Then I visited the Chinese College at Naples, but saw that 
 I could scarcely entertain any hope of succeeding there. Then 
 Father Valentini came, but he needed a catechist, whom I 
 obtained from Hongkong, and he also needed a school and 
 chapel, which, when established, were not over successful. I also 
 wrote to our missionaries in China, who could not help. 
 I spoke to our old friend, Father Ponte, who was very 
 anxious to undertake it, but he desired first to communicate 
 with the General, but the General did not encourage immediate 
 action. Then I wrote to the General, and he recommended me 
 to write to Bishop Languillat of China, but, naturally enough, 
 this good Bishop thinks he needs what missionaries he has. 
 Therefore, what is to be done ? Must I abandon all hope ? Must 
 I leave the large number of Chinese here and through the dio- 
 cese without any efficient provision for them, and without any 
 missionaries to work for them? The question is a serious one 
 and should be faced. 
 
 And I do believe that you might make plans by which you 
 could devote one or two missionaries to this noble work. Such 
 mission cannot be well given to secular priests; it is not easy to 
 expect any other religious community to be able to attend to it; 
 I believe that St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius would say 
 that such a mission must be attended to by the Jesuit Fathers, 
 and I believe that in charity you ought to take the matter in 
 hand in real earnest. I cannot give up the affair; for I suppose 
 that you yourself, in my place, would press the matter to the last 
 point. Of course I write this in a good spirit; and yet I mean 
 that you must have charity enough to give me an answer differ- 
 ent from all those I got these last twenty years. 
 Yours truly in Christ, 
 
 f J. S. Alemany, A. S. F. 
 Very Rev. Aloysius Masnata, S. J., Supr." 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 197 
 
 If the zeal of the pious Archbishop needed eulogy, the 
 foregoing letter would abundantly supply it. He had done 
 what was in his power though success had not crowned his 
 efforts. Not for one year alone nor for ten had he struggled, 
 but, as he himself tells us, for two decades of years, ever rising 
 superior to ill-success, and turning from one quarter to another, 
 according as here or there he saw a gleam of hope. Five years 
 previously, in the latter part of September, he had even turned 
 over his old archiepiscopal residence on Dupont Street, near 
 California, to be a chapel for the Chinese, and had built for 
 himself a new residence which the Paulist Fathers now occupy. 
 As the matter was of the utmost importance, Father 
 Masnata was obliged, as Father Ponte had been before him, to 
 refer the matter to Higher Superiors, and the same answer seems 
 to have been returned that, all things considered, it was not 
 expedient for the Fathers, burdened as they were with work of 
 church and college, attending San Quentin, the city prisons, 
 the hospitals, the industrial school, acting as confessors to 
 most of the various sisterhoods, to undertake a work so ex- 
 cellent and desirable, but which must necessarily interfere with 
 other good works already accepted and established. So the 
 matter ended. 
 
 Music this year among the pupils of the college came into 
 greater prominence than ever before. On February 12th, the 
 St. Ignatius Band was organized "to cultivate music for inno- 
 cent social enjoyment and to add solemnity to civil and religious 
 festivals." Father Nattini was president, and Mr. L. Von der 
 Mehden, director. Vocal music was also cultivated, as we 
 learn from the programme of the exhibition, which tells us 
 of "songs by the Pupils' Musical Society, under the leadership 
 of Mr. L. Von der Mehden." This latter society does not seem, 
 however, to have had a complete organization distinct from 
 that of the band, for until the following year it has no place 
 in the catalogue among college societies. When, however, it 
 does appear, it replaces the band. 
 
 The faculty this year lost Fathers Leggio and Galliano, 
 who went to Santa Clara; but received in return from Santa 
 Clara, Messrs. James O'Sullivan, Daniel Crowley and Dominic 
 Giacobbi, S. J. 
 
198 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 1875. 
 
 The year 1875 affords little to the recording pen in com- 
 parison with other years, but what it offers is indicative of the 
 flourishing state of the college. The number of the pupils 
 reached 748, and presented eight candidates for degrees — 
 James I. Boland, John T. Fogarty, Alfred T. Kelly, Joseph 
 Pescia, Florence McAuliffe and Michael F. O'Connor for that 
 of Bachelor of Arts; Jerome Hughes and Thomas Tully for 
 that of Bachelor of Science. On August 13th, Father Angelo 
 Affranchino and Mr. Jeremiah Collins, S. J., came from Santa 
 Clara to form part of the faculty; and three days later Mr. 
 Joseph Sasia left to complete his theological course in Wood- 
 stock, Maryland. 
 
 It has been our pleasant duty in the early part of the 
 preceding year, to record the generosity of Mr. Tiburcio Parrott 
 towards the physical cabinet of the college. It is an equally 
 pleasant one to chronicle, in the October of this, the even 
 more costly gift of Mr. Joseph Donohoe to the museum. Of 
 him and his gift the college historian writes: 
 
 "Sometime later, Mr. Joseph Donohoe, a most excellent 
 man and wonderfully devoted to the Society of Jesus, enriched 
 by his generosity the Museum of Natural History. His dona- 
 tion consisted of a rich collection of minerals and other 
 substances, together with a no small collection of objects 
 sculptured by the art of various Indian tribes. But, generous 
 as was this gift, it was outdone by the richness of the cases 
 that contained it. In these, the rareness and solidity of the 
 wood vies with the grace and elegance of artistic construction, 
 so that the cases themselves are works of great price." 
 
 The Monitor of October 9th treats of the same generous 
 deed under the heading, 
 
 "a true friend of science." 
 . "Our distinguished citizen, Joseph A. Donohoe, Esq.," it 
 says, "lately secured the magnificent collection of minerals and 
 curiosities which has so long been admired at the Occidental 
 Hotel, and with rare generosity has donated it to St. Ignatius 
 College on Market Street. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 199 
 
 The cabinet contains very many specimens, large and small, 
 of valuable and rich ores and minerals, Indian remains, shells, 
 coins, rarities, curiosities and historical records of various 
 kinds, collected in the course of many years, and contributed 
 by donors from different parts of the world. The collection 
 made up three or four wagon loads in transportation. 
 
 The superb mahogany cases, lined with velvet and mirrors, 
 and of beautiful workmanship, ten feet in height and thirty-six 
 feet in length, form no inconsiderable part of the donation. 
 They are now being put up in an additional room, which will be, 
 in the college, the ninth devoted to the scientific department, 
 where they will remain as a permanent monument to the kind 
 thoughtfulness and generosity of the donor and to the active 
 interest that he takes in the cause of Catholic education. 
 
 Much credit is certainly due the generous donor, for such 
 deeds as this are, as yet, rare among us ; and while Protestant 
 institutions and universities, largely endowed by city and State, 
 so often receive large gifts and legacies, and are otherwise 
 greatly helped by individuals, our Catholic colleges and insti- 
 tutions, destitute of revenues and means, though equally and 
 even more deserving, are too easily forgotten by those who 
 could well aid them in their noble work, and are left to struggle 
 on against great difficulties unaided by all except their own 
 individual efforts. 
 
 Let us hope that the praiseworthy act of Mr. Donohoe, 
 just chronicled, will be often and largely imitated by our men 
 of means, of whom there is no lack in our Catholic community." 
 
 But amid the general prosperity of the year, there was one 
 loss to the college which we regret to mention, but history is 
 a statement of facts in which pleasant and unpleasant events 
 hold equal rank and demand equal recognition. The loss was 
 the disbandment of the Ignatian Literary Society, which, during 
 its existence, had so often reflected great honor on the insti- 
 tution as well as on its own members. The minutes of the 
 society tell the tale. 
 
 "October 26th, 1875. 
 A special meeting of the Ignatian Literary Society was 
 convened this evening by the president. Messrs. R. Tobin, 
 
200 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Jas. H. Clark, T. D. Riordan, Thos. H. Griffin, R. E. McGill 
 and A. Campbell, Jr., were present, Rev. E. M. Nattini occupy- 
 ing the chair, and Jas. H. Clark acting as secretary pro tern. 
 The president stated that owing to the impossibility of the 
 members' attending the regular meetings of the society, any 
 motion was now in order for the dissolution of the society. 
 Mr. A. Campbell moved that the Ignatian Literary Society be 
 considered not existing any longer after the adjournment of 
 the present meeting. Seconded by Mr. J. H. Clark, the motion 
 was carried unanimously. It was also moved and seconded 
 that the president be requested to give certificates of member- 
 ship, with discretionary powers to act in reference to this matter, 
 after the adjournment of the society. Mr. A. Campbell moved 
 that a vote of thanks be offered the president for his constant 
 efforts and labors in behalf of the society. The president 
 responded in a feeling manner. After which the final adjourn- 
 ment of the society was moved and carried. 
 
 E. M. Nattini, S. J., Pres." 
 
 The society was, however, reorganized on a different basis 
 before the following June, for in the catalogue of that date 
 the society appears with its full complement of officers. 
 
 While the Ignatian Society was thus, in October, closing 
 a useful existence, Father Neri was about reopening the course 
 of public lectures which ill health, about March of the previous 
 year, had obliged him to discontinue. In the first lecture of the 
 resumed course, Thursday, November 4th, he says pleasantly: 
 
 "As resumption seems now to be the cry of the day, I 
 reappear before you this evening to resume the course of the 
 scientific lectures suspended about twenty months ago. As 
 long as influential firms and banks either forced to suspend or 
 designedly suspended, and inflation schemes held sway in the 
 country with an apparent chance of success, I could venture 
 to hold out after their example, and keep both myself and my 
 ticket-holders in suspension; but when the Bank of California 
 bravely resumed, and Democracy was defeated in the Ohio 
 elections by the resumption party, I clearly saw that I had to 
 change my policy and that it was high time for resumption." 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 201 
 
 In this last lecture on December 9th, he pays the following 
 delicate tribute to Mr. Parrott: 
 
 "And especially do I return thanks to a few friends of our 
 institution, patrons of science and education, who very gen- 
 erously donated considerable sums to enable us to procure 
 valuable pieces of apparatus. Indeed, without the spirit of 
 one whose name I regret not to be at liberty to divulge, his 
 modesty being equal to his generosity, my aspirations, though 
 so high in these matters, would never have arisen to a twelve- 
 thousand-franc magneto-electric machine, or, if they had 
 mounted so high, they would have remained castles in the 
 air, as they would have been without the solid foundation of 
 hard cash, had he not undertaken to pay the bill. I take this 
 occasion to thank him cordially again, as also another very 
 estimable person not far removed from him, who contributed 
 nearly one half of the sum without which we could not easily 
 have procured a seven-hundred-dollar induction coil." 
 
 1876. 
 
 The spiritual fruits produced in the church were ever on 
 the increase, as had been demonstrated again and again as 
 the various feast days gave the people a chance of manifesting 
 their devotion; but the Holy Saturday of 1876 was remark- 
 able even among remarkable days, for the confessionals were 
 crowded from afternoon until midnight, even though extra 
 confessionals were placed in the church and two of the Fathers 
 heard confessions in the parlors. 
 
 The Sodalities, also, were flourishing, and, on June nth, the 
 Ladies' Sodality passed a resolution that girls under fifteen 
 years of age, were not eligible for membership. Thus we read 
 in the minutes: "Sunday, June nth, the Reverend Director, 
 Father Accolti, passed a resolution that no one should be 
 admitted as a member of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin 
 Mary, until past the age of fifteen; those that had already been 
 admitted as members under that age could remain as members." 
 It is probable that the admission of children too young, had 
 proved detrimental to the organization, in as much as childhood 
 lacked the maturity and gravity which older persons naturally 
 desired in organizations of this kind. 
 
202 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 On July 1 8th, Father John Pinasco came from Santa Clara 
 to assume the duties of vice-president of the college, and about 
 two weeks later, Father Nattini was transferred to Santa Clara. 
 Father Maraschi, after being treasurer of the pupils for twenty- 
 one years, was relieved by Father Prelate Mr. Robert Smith, 
 S. J., on October 9th, took the place of Mr. M. Hanrahan. 
 
 On August 8th, the Mechanics Institute opened its eleventh 
 industrial exhibition in its pavilion, which at that time stood 
 at Mission and Eighth Streets, and invited the college to 
 display its physical cabinet. Though the project was one 
 involving extreme care, since the apparatus was so delicate; 
 and of no slight risk, since in great part fragile; the college 
 authorities thought that this would be an excellent opportunity 
 for submitting to the public gaze, what Catholics in the city 
 were doing for science. How highly their courtesy was valued, 
 we may judge from the "Report on Exhibits" : 
 
 "One of the most prominent and attractive features of the 
 exhibition," it says, "was, by universal consent, this display 
 of a large portion of the scientific apparatus of St. Ignatius 
 College, and the exhibitions of electric light and other physical 
 experiments by the Rev. J. M. Neri, S. J., professor of natural 
 philosophy of that institution of learning. The more delicate 
 portion of the scientific instruments, neatly arranged, labelled, 
 and classified under their proper departments, was exhibited 
 upon shelves entirely encased within a glass enclosure thirty- 
 two feet long, twelve feet wide, and twelve feet high. The 
 larger and heavier portion of the apparatus occupied an open 
 space contiguous to the glass enclosure. . . . 
 
 The appearance presented by the display of such an elaborate 
 and costly apparatus was imposing in the extreme. Having 
 been, for the most part, manufactured to order for St. Ignatius 
 College during the last six years, it is quite new and of modern 
 construction, and not only highly finished, but well adapted to 
 the work required of it, both for class and lecture demonstra- 
 tions, and for research and investigation. . . . 
 
 These scientific exhibitions, both of magnificent philosophical 
 apparatus and of the illustrations and experiments ably con- 
 ducted by Rev. Father Neri and his assisting pupils on such a 
 
FATHER JOHN PINASCO, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 203 
 
 large scale, proved eminently interesting to all classes of people. 
 Thousands of visitors, who were unaware even of the existence 
 of such means of knowledge and scientific information, could 
 not but derive much profit and advantage from this display. No 
 doubt the exhibit contributed much toward the success of the 
 eleventh Industrial Fair. 
 
 We may well congratulate ourselves on possessing in our 
 midst, in this young city and State, such facilities for scientific 
 education as St. Ignatius College affords to our rising genera- 
 tion, and such a cabinet of philosophical apparatus, second to 
 none in the United States." 
 
 We have said that the humbler works of spiritual charity 
 have ever, in St. Ignatius, gone hand in hand with the more 
 striking works of science and education, and the truth received 
 new illustration this year when, at His Grace's request, Father 
 Peter O'Flynn accepted the chaplaincy of the English-speaking 
 prisoners of San Quentin. Two Jesuits thenceforward, instead 
 of one, for a considerable time, paid regular visits to the insti- 
 tution, Father O'Flynn attending those to whom English was 
 the mother tongue, and Father Piccardo attending those to whom 
 it was not. 
 
 On November 25th, a new member was added to the faculty, 
 Father Amandus Wenzel, a brilliant scientist. He had arrived 
 in California a year before from Guayaquil, Equador, having 
 been exiled by the revolutionists after the murder of Garcia 
 Moreno. After a three weeks' stay in California, he had 
 departed for St. Louis, but now had returned, having been given 
 to the Mission of California by Very Rev. Father Beckx and 
 assigned to St. Ignatius College by Father Masnata. Various 
 changes in administration were in contemplation — changes that 
 made Father Wenzel's services both most useful and acceptable. 
 
 On December 8th, Father John Pinasco was announced as 
 president of St. Ignatius. He immediately took up the duties 
 of the new office without relinquishing those of the vice- 
 presidency. In fact, during the three years and a half that he 
 ruled the destinies of the institution, he fulfilled the duties of 
 both positions to the great satisfaction of all concerned, though 
 
204 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 with how much labor to himself and self-sacrifice, those only 
 who have experienced such cares can fully realize. 
 
 1877. 
 
 On January 5th, Father Neri went to teach physics in Santa 
 Clara. Father Brunengo, professor of that branch of science, 
 had replaced Father Varsi as president of Santa Clara College 
 on December 26th, 1876, and Fathers Varsi and Wenzel were 
 to divide Father Neri's work between them, the latter taking 
 chemistry; the former, physics. On the Feast of the Epiphany, 
 Father Varsi came to St. Ignatius, bringing with him the broad 
 mind and the generous heart that were to plan so much and 
 execute so much for its future welfare. With his coming, the 
 period of development was drawing to a close, and that of com- 
 pletion was about to dawn. But some months of rest were to 
 be given him, in which, after nine years of arduous toil and 
 ceaseless worry in college management, he would be allowed to 
 revel in the delights of physics, of which branch of natural 
 science he was an accomplished master. 
 
 On the 26th of the month, the beautiful marble statue of St. 
 Joseph arrived from Rome. It was the gift of James R. Kelly, 
 Esq. It was placed on the side altar which stood to the right 
 of the main altar, the picture of the Sacred Heart which had 
 been there, having been removed to give it place. Here it 
 remained until later the church was abandoned. It was then 
 placed in the present church, where it now stands on its own 
 altar, an object of devotion to the faithful and a memorial to 
 the piety of the donor. 
 
 In the beginning of May, to the great pleasure of his many 
 friends, Father Affranchino arrived from New Mexico, whither 
 he had gone the preceding year to seek restoration to health. His 
 journey had not been successful, though doubtless it helped to 
 prolong his life. He was soon appointed to labor in San Jose, 
 where he remained until shortly before his death. He died 
 piously at Santa Clara, July 13th, 1879. 
 
 On the 10th of June, Father Varsi departed for Italy. The 
 motives for the removal of church and college had become so 
 pressing that delay meant serious, if not irreparable loss. In a 
 city rapidly developing, desirable locations for a large church 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 205 
 
 and college are not always obtainable; and if, when obtainable, 
 the opportunity of purchasing them is neglected, they are liable 
 to be subdivided and built upon, thus either taking the prop- 
 erty entirely out of the market, or uselessly doubling or trebling 
 the original price to a purchaser who desires the land only and 
 not the buildings. 
 
 If church and college were to continue to exist, they must 
 move, and move as soon as possible. Taxation to the amount 
 of $12,000 a year was already away and beyond what the 
 resources of the Fathers could bear; and this sum, far from 
 diminishing, would inevitably increase as the land grew in com- 
 mercial value and better buildings were erected on it. The 
 Fathers had no choice; they must leave the property on Market 
 Street. 
 
 The matter was thoroughly discussed with Very Rev. Father 
 Beckx, the General of the Society of Jesus, and, having received 
 his approval, was submitted to the Propaganda for decision. 
 Father Varsi had an interview with His Eminence, Cardinal 
 Franchi, Prefect of the Propaganda, submitted maps of San 
 Francisco, and indicated two lots somewhat nearer Market Street 
 than the one at present occupied, as possible locations for the 
 new buildings. 
 
 On being asked whether the Fathers might go on with the 
 project, "Facciano pure," answered the Cardinal; "Let them by 
 all means." The matter, therefore, was definitely settled. A 
 site a little more removed from Market Street than those first 
 thought of was ultimately chosen, but of this a little later. 
 
 In June of the present year, Father Joseph Bixio once more 
 joined the community, and, in July, Father Patrick Kelly and 
 Mr. Michael Shallo, S. J. Messrs. James O'Sullivan and Robert 
 Smith, S. J., went to Santa Clara; and Father O'Flynn was 
 transferred from college work to that of the ministry. Father 
 Barchi, as librarian, appears in the college catalogue, a distinc- 
 tion justly merited by a zeal equally admirable in the obtaining 
 of books and in the care of those committed to his charge. Had 
 Father Florence Sullivan been given his choice of employments, 
 he could not have selected one more to his taste than that which 
 fell to his lot in the appointment of offices — the directorship, 
 namely, of the devotion to the Sacred Heart. The development 
 
206 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 and extension of this devotion became his earnest endeavor, 
 and love made labor light when directed to this worthy end. 
 
 In the absence of Father Varsi, Father Wenzel was 
 appointed to take full charge of the department of natural 
 sciences. An accomplished scholar, it was easy for him to assume 
 its manifold duties. An accident, however, soon came to mar 
 the happy condition of affairs, and, while less serious than it 
 might have been under the circumstances, it was a source of 
 much physical pain and mental anxiety to him, for there was 
 question of the probable loss of an eye. 
 
 On August 2 1 st, while experimenting in class with hydro- 
 gen, the jar containing the gas exploded, and fragments of glass 
 penetrated his left eye. Fears were naturally entertained that 
 sight was destroyed. 
 
 Doctors O'Toole and Martinache, the best oculists in the 
 city, whose professional services were ever at the Fathers' dis- 
 posal without pecuniary compensation, were immediately sum- 
 moned, and hastened to do everything that friendship and 
 science could do. Thanks to their devotion and skill, the eye- 
 sight was saved. It remained, however, somewhat impaired, 
 until, some years later, by a special favor of Heaven, as is 
 reported, it was restored to him in all its fullness. 
 
 During the weeks of Father Wenzel's enforced seclusion, 
 the scientific classes of the college were carried on by Father 
 Neri, who, in the first days of August, had come to St. Ignatius 
 from Santa Clara for the benefit of his health. On September 
 19th, Father Wenzel was again in harness, and a week later 
 Father Neri departed. 
 
 On the 28th of the same month, Father Varsi arrived in San 
 Francisco, bringing with him fourteen young men who had 
 come to increase the number of Jesuits in California. Among 
 them were several who have since attained prominence among 
 their brethren. There was in the number a young student, 
 Joseph Hickey; there were novices, Edward Allen and John 
 Nestor; candidates, Richard Gleeson and William Melchers; all, 
 at present, Fathers who have contributed much to the spiritual 
 growth and prosperity of the Californian Mission. 
 
 On October 1st, Father Varsi accompanied the band to Santa 
 Clara, and was there, on the following day, announced as the 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 207 
 
 successor of Father Masnata, General Superior of the Jesuits 
 in California. Santa Clara had been the residence of Father 
 Masnata since the 30th of July; for, informed as he had been 
 of the coming appointment of Father Varsi, he had transferred 
 his abode thither in anticipation of the change. The announce- 
 ment of Father Varsi's Superiorship was not made in St. 
 Ignatius, however, until the following day. On the 5th, Father 
 Varsi returned to the city, to reside permanently and gird him- 
 self to meet the almost superhuman cares and labors that 
 awaited him. 
 
 With the departure of Father Neri at the beginning of the 
 year, the Loyola Academy seems to have passed out of existence. 
 A new debating society, however, came to light in October, 
 under the directorship of Mr. Shallo. It was the Junior Phil- 
 historian Debating Society, and, as its name indicates, was 
 intended for the younger pupils. A new departure is also found 
 in the college catalogue, in which the list of graduates 
 is printed for the first time. 
 
 With Father Varsi at the head of affairs; with the urgency 
 of removal of church and college daily growing; with the 
 knowledge that His Eminence, Cardinal Franchi, the prefect 
 of the Propaganda, favored a change of location; it was but 
 natural that as little time as possible should be lost in making 
 the selection. The site definitely chosen was the present 
 one, called Block 74 of the Western Addition, and owned by 
 Mr. D. J. Oliver. It was sufficiently large, was bounded by four 
 streets, Van Ness Avenue, Hayes, Franklin and Grove; was 
 sufficiently central, especially in view of the city's growth ; and 
 was in a desirable residence locality. The deeds were signed 
 on October 29th, and the price paid was $200,000; a rather 
 high figure at the time of purchase; but, as the property was 
 about to be sold in subdivisions, it was either pay the price or 
 lose the opportunity, so the price was paid, as prices before had 
 been paid, with borrowed money. 
 
 In connection with the lot, a deed of kindness calls for men- 
 tion. When the news was noised abroad that the Fathers had 
 made the purchase, bigotry soon began to make itself felt. Ivy 
 Avenue ran east and west on either side of the property, and 
 if this were opened up, Block 74 would be ruined as a site for 
 
208 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 the Jesuit church and college. The Fathers' enemies were soon 
 at work, but so also were the Fathers' friends, and foremost Mr. 
 John A. Hicks, who placed his time and talents at the disposal of 
 Alma Mater. In the State Legislature he ably defended the 
 Fathers' interests, so that the block was left undisturbed, much 
 to his credit and Alma Mater's happiness. 
 
 1878. 
 
 On the 7th of February, 1878, Pope Pius IX ended his long 
 and dolorous pontificate by a saintly death. A solemn funeral 
 service was celebrated for him in the Cathedral on the 12th, at 
 which several of our Fathers assisted; and on the 20th, in our 
 church. The edifice was draped in black and a magnificent cata- 
 falque was erected near the altar rails. The altar itself was 
 one mass of lights, and the solemn tones of the organ reflected 
 the sincere sorrow of the immense throng that gathered to offer 
 the holy sacrifice of the mass for the repose of the soul of the 
 Supreme Father of the faithful. 
 
 From the Monitor oi February 28th we glean both the fol- 
 lowing complimentary notice and the more complimentary 
 description : 
 
 "The solemn requiem mass for Pius IX," it says, "was cele- 
 brated at this church (St. Ignatius) on Wednesday, 20th inst. 
 The Jesuit Fathers and the Sodality members had made great 
 preparations for the service, and in elaborate and artistic decora- 
 tion it outrivaled that of all the other churches in the city." 
 
 But let us view the solemn scenes through the eyes of one 
 who was present : 
 
 "On Sunday, the 17th instant, it was announced at all the 
 masses in the church of the Jesuits, 841 Market Street, that a 
 requiem mass would be celebrated on Wednesday for the soul of 
 the deceased Pontiff, and the faithful of the congregation were 
 recommended to approach the Holy Communion on that day 
 for the above intention, and, also, for the Conclave then in ses- 
 sion. In accordance with this suggestion, multitudes received 
 Holy Communion, and each received from the Fathers, at the 
 hands of an acolyte, as a precious memento of the occasion, a 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 209 
 
 medal blessed by Pius IX at the time of the visit of Very Rev. 
 A. Varsi, the present Superior of the Society of Jesus in 
 this city. 
 
 The decorations of the church, by their magnificence, mani- 
 fested the ardor of affection and reverence in which the Holy 
 Pontiff is held by the Fathers, many of whom are Italians and 
 were personal acquaintances of His Holiness during his lifetime. 
 
 Thousands of yards of soft black and white material encir- 
 cled the walls around the ceiling and gallery fronts, looped in 
 graceful festoons and fastened with rosettes in that studied 
 negligence or severity of plainness which, without sacrificing 
 the beauty of the drapings, speaks eloquently of the real 
 mourner. The hangings in the vestibule were arranged in 
 exquisite taste, falling in heavy plaitings and edged with white 
 fringe. The eighteen pillars which support the galleries were 
 covered closely with black, as were also the entire walls of the 
 chancel and arched ceiling of the sanctuary, the altar-piece of 
 which, covered also in black, was rendered very effective by a 
 massive white cross of stately proportions which appeared as 
 if planted in front of it, and was brought into bold relief by 
 the black background. 
 
 Twelve pews had been removed from the body of the 
 church, directly in front of the high altar, to give space for the 
 dais that was to serve as the foundation supporting the 
 catafalque and memorial monument. This dais arose in a suc- 
 cession of five stages, or steps, painted in close imitation of 
 black-veined marble; and on these were arranged innumerable 
 bouquets of flowers in costly vases of Bohemian and other 
 rare and exquisite wares; delicate wreaths of pure white 
 camellias, interwoven with religious designs — the anchor of 
 hope, the cross of faith, the heart of charity, the coat of arms 
 of the dead Pontiff — all with the most cunning skill of the 
 florist's art. On the floor stood six tall candlesticks surround- 
 ing the catafalque; on the upper steps at the four corners a 
 large gilt candelabrum, bearing nine lights and a very large 
 bouquet; and in every available spot were small but costly 
 candelabra bearing wax candles. 
 
 On this black-veined marble dais rested what seemed, to 
 the mind's eye, the coffin and the earthly remains of him who 
 
210 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 a few days since swayed over loving hearts the mightiest scepter 
 that earth can know — a spiritual scepter that commands hearts 
 and souls. Draped in a very rich gold-fringed silk pall, and at 
 the head resting on a black velvet cushion fringed also with 
 gold, was the triple crown — a silver and gold tiara, — a wonder- 
 ful triumph of the decorator's art. It seemed, indeed, the lying 
 in state of a right royal monarch, one not disowned by an 
 envious brotherhood. 
 
 A space of about seven feet by five occupied by the cata- 
 falque was marked by four short columns, formed in clusters 
 of three, and painted in imitation of red porphyry, which sup- 
 ported the base of the finely-proportioned monumental obelisk 
 in white marble rising grandly thirty-two feet, and terminated 
 by an elegant cross that almost reached to the frescoes of the 
 roof. 
 
 The face of the pedestal of the obelisk, looking towards the 
 entrance, presented a fine portrait of the benignant Pius, by 
 Tojetti, the Italian Catholic artist, who boasts of numbering 
 among his patrons the illustrious Pope. It is said that in a 
 little over a day he completed this, from an original brought 
 by the Superior from Rome. The portrait is a bust robed 
 in red vestments and surrounded by a crown composed, the 
 lower portion, of oak leaves with the young acorns, significant 
 of stability and fortitude, so characteristic of Pius IX; and 
 the upper portion, of the Victoria laurel also putting forth 
 its fruit. 
 
 The shaft of the obelisk surmounting this portrait bore 
 in fine lettering the following inscription: 
 
 'Pius IX, died February 7th, 1878. Hail, Victorious Spirit! 
 "Our soul hath been delivered out of the snares of the Fowlers." 
 Ps. cxxiii : 7. 
 
 "As to the rest there is laid up for me a Crown of Justice." 
 II Tim. iv : 8.' 
 
 The opposite face of the shaft looking towards the altar: 
 
 'Pius IX, created Archbishop, June 3rd, 1827. Hail, anointed 
 of the Lord ! "In all things show thyself an example of good 
 works, in doctrine, in integrity, in gravity, instructing us." Tit. 
 ii: 7, 12.' 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 211 
 
 We are told that seven of these decorators worked night 
 and day while the ladies of the congregation were making the 
 festoons, rosettes, etc., etc., for their use, in order to procure 
 the effects we have essayed to describe; and those spectators 
 will readily believe it who were fortunate enough to catch sight 
 of the dazzling view at the moment when the congregation 
 of over three thousand souls bowed in adoration during the 
 elevation of the King of Kings — the Pontiff of Pontiffs — whose 
 faithful Vicar was commanding such marks of veneration. 
 
 The hundreds of wax tapers had previously been lighted, 
 and illuminated the white marble obelisk rising with such a 
 surprising beauty from the triply columned pillars of red 
 porphyry; and all the floral offerings and rich candelabra, and 
 the smiling face of the Pontiff, encircled in the emblematic oak 
 and laurel crown, and the magnificent pall and shining tiara, 
 all were aglow, and photographed a picture within the eye of 
 the beholder, long to be remembered. At two other moments 
 the scene was exceedingly picturesque; once at the absolution, 
 when the priests and boys of the Sanctuary Society, in rich 
 lace surplices, surrounded the catafalque, bearing in their hands 
 tall candles; and again during the sermon when as Rev. Father 
 Buchard pronounced the words, 'We do not mourn as those 
 without hope,' a sudden gleam of sunshine broke through the 
 clouds that had darkened the sky, with a startling radiance as 
 if in response to the sentiment. 
 
 The Office of the Dead was chanted at half-past nine, 
 previous to the Mass, by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, and 
 it might have been noticed that numbers of the congregation 
 were silently accompanying them reading the same in their 
 books. The sanctuary was completely filled by the Fathers 
 and acolytes. 
 
 The following-named gentlemen were honored with a place 
 as pall-bearers : Messrs. F. H. Wensinger, H. D. Dance, D. T. 
 Murphy, J. J. O'Brien, James R. Kelly and Richard Heney. 
 
 Members of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin, wearing 
 the crimson badges of their marshals, acted as ushers, and, 
 considering the dense crowd, succeeded in keeping the aisles 
 comparatively clear. 
 
212 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The Celebrant of the Mass was Very Rev. A. Varsi, the 
 Superior. He was assisted by Rev. Father Messea as deacon, 
 and by Mr. Collins, S. J., as subdeacon. Mr. Crowley, S. J., 
 the director of the Sanctuary Society, was master of cere- 
 monies." 
 
 Some two weeks later, the Philhistorian Debating Society 
 which had again and again covered itself with glory, received 
 from the same paper the following commendatory notice: 
 
 "We attended the literary entertainment given by this 
 society on last Monday evening. The College Hall, where it 
 took place, was well crowded, and a highly appreciative audience 
 manifested great interest in the proceedings. The principal 
 feature of the entertainment consisted in a debate on the ques- 
 tion, 'Has every male adult a right to vote?' and the arguments 
 advanced by the young debaters were very ably and forcibly put. 
 Where all were so excellent, it may be invidious to single out 
 any individual, but the natural, self-possessed and eloquent 
 delivery of Master James D. Phelan elicited general commenda- 
 tion. The music furnished by the college orchestra was of a 
 very high order of excellence. 
 
 It is well that the Catholic community should encourage, by 
 their presence at such exhibitions, not only the pupils, but also 
 the members of those religious communities who are working 
 so laboriously for the well-being of the entire Church and State 
 of California. It is a great source of pride and pleasure to Catho- 
 lics to look around them and see what has been done in a young 
 city like San Francisco by members of their faith. These three 
 splendid institutions, St. Ignatius College, St. Mary's and the 
 Sacred Heart, educating about two thousand of our Catholic 
 youth, give bright and cheery prospects for the future." 
 
 On Saturday evening, March 23rd, His Excellency, Most 
 Rev. Dr. George Conroy, Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, 
 Ireland, and, under Pope Pius IX, Apostolic Delegate to Canada, 
 arrived somewhat unexpectedly in the city. It had been thought 
 that he would spend a few days with the Right Reverend Bishop 
 O'Connell in Marysville, several of whose priests had been, of 
 old, pupils of Bishop Conroy. He was accompanied by Right 
 Reverend Dr. O'Connor of Omaha, who returned to his diocese 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 213 
 
 in a few days, and his secretary, Rev. Dr. O'Connor. About the 
 end of March, he had a reception in Santa Clara; on the 8th of 
 April, at St. Mary's College; and on the 12th, at St. Ignatius. 
 A literary entertainment was followed by some scientific experi- 
 ments performed in the cabinet by Father Wenzel; and these, 
 in turn, gave place to a dinner at which His Grace, the Arch- 
 bishop, was present, with many priests and prominent laymen. 
 
 In the faculty this year there were several changes. Fathers 
 Amandus Wenzel, Caesar A. Barchi and Mr. Jeremiah F. Collins, 
 S. J., were transferred to Santa Clara, and Fathers Joseph M. 
 Neri, Francis Veyret, Celestine Galliano and Joseph Sasia 
 replaced them. Father Joseph Bixio departed for Australia in 
 company with Father Kelly of the Irish Province. 
 
 On St. Aloysius Day, his patronal feast, Father Varsi 
 addressed the following communication to His Grace, the Most 
 Rev. Archbishop: 
 
 ** "San Francisco, June 21st, 1878. 
 
 Most Reverend Archbishop : 
 
 I have received information from Very Rev. Father General 
 Beckx that it has been decided in Rome by the proper authority, 
 that we are at liberty to remove St. Ignatius Church and College 
 to lot 74 of the Western Addition ; and Father General says that 
 we should commence the building at once. 
 
 This decision relieves me of a very great anxiety; but yet I 
 should feel very much grieved if I were to proceed without first 
 obtaining Your Grace's blessing on it. I therefore most hum- 
 bly beg Your Grace, for the love of Jesus' Sacred Heart and of 
 St. Aloysius, whose feast we celebrate to-day, to grant us this 
 favor ; for which we shall ever feel most grateful. 
 
 Hoping to receive a favorable answer soon, I remain, with 
 
 the most sincere respect, 
 
 Your Grace's very humble servant in Christ, 
 
 ,, A. Varsi, S. J. 
 
 Most Rev. Jos. S. Alemany, O. P., 
 
 Archbishop of San Francisco." 
 
 His Grace's answer came on August 5th, for naturally he 
 had to await official information from Rome on the subject, and, 
 
214 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 until this had been received, he was not in a position to reply. 
 On that day he penned the following answer: 
 
 ** "San Francisco, Aug. 5th, 1878. 
 
 Very Reverend and dear Sir: 
 
 The Cardinal Prefect informed me that considering what has 
 been done — the immense injury that would accrue to you if your 
 new building were not built on your new lot, purchased with a 
 most heavy sum, etc. — you may be allowed to proceed : conse- 
 quently, I can have no objection." 
 
 He then goes on to state what he judges would be fair if 
 the erection of the church on the new site should cause injury to 
 churches planned or already existing, and signs himself : 
 "Yours truly in Christ, 
 
 ij. S. Alemany, A. S. F. 
 Very Rev. A. Varsi, S. J., Superior." 
 
 As Father Varsi knew that the matter had been definitely 
 settled, and as he had advised His Grace, the Archbishop, of 
 the fact; and as, moreover, every day added to the interest on 
 the $200,000 spent upon the lot which for eight months had lain 
 idle; and as, lastly, plans, and specifications, and an estimate of 
 expenses had been referred to Very Rev. Father Beckx and 
 had been approved, he considered that no time was to be lost 
 in putting his hand to the work. The first plan was to have 
 the church face on Van Ness Avenue, with the college on one 
 side of it and the residence on the other ; but this idea was aban- 
 doned, among other reasons, on account of the clouds of dust 
 which, at certain periods of the year, sweep down that thorough- 
 fare, and which would render neatness and cleanness in the 
 church a serious problem. The present plan was therefore 
 formed, in which the church fronts on Hayes Street, residence 
 and college springing out from it in the form of an imperfect 
 E, a series of rooms and corridors running along the side of the 
 church giving direct and easy communication between church 
 and house and college. 
 
 The plans were made by Father Varsi and Mr. Hugh 
 McKeadney. Mr. McKeadney was selected to supervise the 
 work. What we have called the "Period of Development" was 
 over; "Completion" was beginning. 
 
 
FATHER ALOYSIUS VARSI, S. J. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Bids for six or seven million bricks were immediately solic- 
 ited, and, as the Patent Brick Company gave the lowest figure, 
 the contract was awarded to it. Presently there was no end of 
 trouble. The Patent Brick Company, it seems, employed Chinese 
 to put the bricks for baking into the heated ovens, labor 
 which, owing to its hardships, it was said white men refused to 
 do. Immediately the Brick Makers' Protective Association 
 was up in arms ; delegations waited upon Father Varsi ; the daily 
 papers were full of the subject; and the sandlot at times dis- 
 cussed the matter in rather heated terms. These were the days 
 of Anti-Chinese agitation in San Francisco, and what in nor- 
 mal times would not have attracted a glance, was magnified 
 into huge proportions by the heated imagination of passion, or 
 the lust of power of designing men. 
 
 Hard times, too, had their part to play in the troubles of 
 the hour. Crops, owing to a dearth of rain, had been scant in 
 1877; and the closing months of the year, and the early days 
 of 1878 had threatened the State with a repetition of the calam- 
 ity. A pastoral letter, calling for prayers for rain, was circulated 
 on January 12th, 1878, in all the churches of the Archdiocese. 
 Rain, indeed, soon came in abundance, but the parched earth 
 could not drink it all in, and serious floods in many places were 
 the result. Labor meetings in which inflammatory speeches were 
 made and violence threatened, were of constant occurrence; and 
 so threatening did matters appear that His Grace, the Arch- 
 bishop, deemed it advisable to issue a pastoral on April 5m, 
 warning the faithful against evil plotters, and counseling the 
 putting away of enmities, emulations, contentions, wraths and 
 quarrels. 
 
 Thousands and thousands of men were idle, while steam- 
 ship after steamship was unloading its hordes of coolies at our 
 wharves. With the minds of the laboring classes thus excited, 
 it is not hard to imagine what an immense conflagration might 
 follow from the merest spark. 
 
 215 
 
216 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The tone of the press was not, in general, friendly to us 
 at the outset ; for, while highly commendatory of the farsighted- 
 ness and energy of the Fathers who planned in those troubled 
 times this new and substantial ornament for the city, the papers 
 carefully avoided anything that might bring themselves into 
 conflict with organized labor. 
 
 "A meeting of the Brick Makers' Protective Association," 
 says the Call of July 2nd, "was held yesterday afternoon at Room 
 85, Montgomery Block. After disposing of routine business, the 
 members fell to discussing the contemplated erection of a Roman 
 Catholic Church on Van Ness Avenue and Hayes Street, and 
 the action of Rev. Father Maraschi thereto. It was stated by 
 the members that the Reverend Clergyman had contracted, or 
 is about contracting, for over four million bricks of Chinese 
 manufacture. He had been waited upon by members of brick- 
 making firms where white labor is employed, and these made 
 offer to supply the bricks at the same cost as the Chinamen; 
 but they had received no encouragement from the Reverend 
 Father. In fact he declined to treat with them. Some very 
 bitter comments were made by the members at their meeting 
 yesterday over the proceeding. White labor, it was said, was 
 employed in response to a general demand; but unless the 
 firms employing it receive more encouragement than here- 
 tofore, the men will have to be discharged. The subject of 
 supplying bricks to the city government by Chinese firms was 
 also debated." 
 
 Under the title, "A Question for those Concerned," one 
 of the dailies on the 3rd published a bitter attack upon the 
 Fathers. "The Jesuit Fathers of this city purpose," it says, 
 "to build a very large church on Van Ness Avenue. It is 
 estimated that a total of about fifteen million bricks will be 
 used in the building. In the bidding for the contract for the 
 number required this year (four millions), the lowest bidder 
 was the Chinese company. Sooner, however, than have the 
 contract go to the Chinese, the Brick Makers' Protective Union 
 agreed to furnish the bricks at the price that company stated 
 in the bid. The contract is not yet awarded. The Union com- 
 prises seventeen firms, and employment is given to white men 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 217 
 
 only. A force of fifteen hundred is now employed. The 
 Chinese company employ only coolies, as a matter of course. 
 There ought not, in the first place, have been any opportunity 
 given to the Chinese company to put in a bid; there ought 
 not be a brick made by coolie labor in the edifice. The 
 money raised for the building, unless we greatly err, has been 
 contributed mainly, if not entirely, by white men and women. 
 Much of it, probably the larger share, has been received from 
 the working classes — mostly from those of Irish birth and 
 blood. These same classes will be depended upon to contribute 
 to finish the work. Among them are hundreds who make brick 
 in the Union yards. Against them in sharpest, exhausting com- 
 petition, come the coolies, who can live cheaper and work at 
 lower wages, because they have no families to support, no 
 homes to maintain. They are not citizens. They do not come 
 here to found homes; but solely as slaves, to make money 
 enough to return to China and live as freemen in their own 
 cheap mode. Yet is it against these miserable serfs that free 
 white men are forced into competition in the matter of work 
 and wages. This is bad enough at best, but it is much worse, 
 almost intolerable, that the money, the aggregate of the little 
 by little contributions they give toward building a church 
 edifice — sums which compel them to pinch themselves in food 
 and clothing — should be paid to maintain these coolies in the 
 employment from which they are themselves thereby driven. 
 In other words their own voluntary contributions to the church 
 are used to support their coolie competitors, and to drive them- 
 selves to penury and starvation; and this, too, by those who, 
 it is reasonable to suppose, would be the last of any in the 
 community to so apply the money they get from these poor 
 persons of their own faith, as to give it to the heathens who 
 crowd the white laborer into idleness and suffering. The con- 
 tract ought not to be given to the Chinese company, nor to 
 any company that employs coolies to make bricks. It ought 
 to be given to the company that employs white men." 
 
 The promptness with which this bitter and unmerited attack 
 bore fruit, was doubtless a serious warning to the writer to 
 be more just and prudent in the use of his pen. On the 
 
218 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 following day, July 4th, about 12:15 p. m., just as the end of 
 the great procession was riling past the Fathers' residence on 
 Market Street, smoke was seen issuing from the west side of 
 the wooden college on Jessie Street. The fire was evidently 
 of incendiary origin, for it had been started behind the statue of 
 the Blessed Virgin, close by the door at the end of the lowest 
 corridor. An alarm was immediately given, and the flames 
 were extinguished by the firemen after damage to the extent 
 of about one or two hundred dollars had been done. The 
 attempt had failed, but fear filled every breast that it might be 
 repeated. It was evident, therefore, that no time should be 
 lost in getting a true statement of facts before the public. On 
 the 5th, the Chronicle in a short paragraph publishes a refuta- 
 tion of the calumny of the Brick Makers' Association. 
 
 "M. H. O'Connor, president of the Ninth Ward Workin- 
 man's Club," it says, "reports that yesterday he had an inter- 
 view with the Rev. Father Maraschi in reference to the letting 
 of the brick work for the new Jesuit College on the corner 
 of Van Ness Avenue and Hayes Street to Chinese, and was 
 informed by the clergyman (who denied the truth of the state- 
 ments made concerning himself at a recent meeting of the Brick 
 Makers' Protective Association) that he was treasurer of the 
 college but had nothing to do with the letting of the contract 
 in question. If it was known, however, that the Patent Brick 
 Company employed Chinese, their bid would not be accepted 
 by the college, as the Fathers were opposed to the employing 
 of Chinese in preference to white men." 
 
 On the same day, Father Varsi wrote a refutation of the 
 accusations made against the Fathers, and on the 6th sent it 
 for insertion to the paper which had printed the attack. On 
 being told that his communication had arrived too late, fearing 
 delays when so much depended on promptness, he had the letter 
 inserted in the Call of the 7th. 
 
 "The following letter was sent in at too late an hour yester- 
 day for insertion in one of our contemporaries, and as it is 
 desirable that publicity should be given it without unnecessary 
 delay, it is inserted in to-day's Call: 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 219 
 
 My dear Editor: 
 
 Allow me in fairness to contradict some statements you 
 have been pleased to make in an editorial under the caption, 
 'A Question for those Concerned,' contained in the issue of 
 the 3rd inst., which, owing to my absence from the city, has 
 not come to my notice ere this. 
 
 I am sorry that you have been utterly misinformed con- 
 cerning our transactions with a certain brick-making company. 
 Had you been more discreet in accepting such information, 
 you would have been more cautious in writing remarks and 
 insinuations calculated to mislead your readers and prejudice 
 them in our disfavor. Therefore, I deem myself, in duty bound, 
 to give a categorical denial to each one of them. 
 
 First of all, it is not true that we are going to build only 
 a large church on Van Ness Avenue. We intend to occupy 
 the lot with the whole establishment, viz: church, college and 
 Fathers' residence. 
 
 Second. We have not entered upon any contract with any 
 Chinese brick manufacturing company, a company which has 
 no existence, but we have dealt with a company of white men 
 which employs Chinese but not to the exclusion of white men; 
 a circumstance which we were ignorant of, since the transac- 
 tion passed through a third party who was equally ignorant 
 of the fact. 
 
 Third. It is not true that we need fifteen million of bricks 
 to carry out our enterprise. Seven million, perhaps, will be 
 more than we shall need for all purposes. 
 
 Fourth. It is not true that any of the seventeen companies 
 of the Protective Union has offered a bid as low as that of 
 the Patent Brick Company, and we are ready, if challenged, 
 to give an affidavit to prove our disclaimer. 
 
 Lastly, it is not true that the money raised for the building 
 'has been contributed mainly, if not entirely, by white men 
 and women.' We have commenced to borrow money from 
 the Hibernia Bank, and, in the progress of time, we shall borrow 
 from the same or others, according to circumstances. We 
 have entered upon this enterprise in the hope of selling to 
 a proper advantage the premises which we now occupy; 
 
220 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 which premises have not been procured with the money of the 
 people, as other diocesan ecclesiastical properties have been, but 
 with our own money, and by taking upon ourselves heavy respon- 
 sibilities. We have never done any begging, neither by sub- 
 scription nor otherwise, and we never shall. 
 
 Submitting ourselves jointly to personal sacrifices, we 
 trust in Divine Providence to be able to carry out our enter- 
 prise for the good of our community at large, but more espe- 
 cially for our Catholic population. I repeat, we shall not beg; 
 but should any kind benefactor offer us some donation, we 
 will not be sorry to receive it with sincere thankfulness. The 
 simple collection we take up in the church as usual on Sundays 
 and other feasts, scarcely suffices to cover our regular expenses, 
 and much less to allow us to accumulate treasures. If the 
 members of the congregation put their mite into the plate, be 
 sure that they get back more than the full value, by our spiritual 
 ministrations. Should your paper be incredulous, we would 
 invite it to compare its account book with ours, and after 
 deducting all regular expenses for keeping up the respective 
 establishments, we would be willing to exchange all ours for 
 its honest profits. 
 
 Before closing this communication I beg to remark here 
 that one of the main considerations which has urged us to 
 hurry this work just at the present time, has been that of giving 
 some lucrative occupation to workingmen. And should we, in 
 self respect, be compelled by the undue dictations of your pub- 
 lication to adjourn the work to another indefinite season, the 
 workingmen would be the losers. I remain, dear sir, 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 A. Varsi, S. J. 
 St. Ignatius College, July 5th, 1878." 
 
 Father Varsi's direct and pungent letter produced the desired 
 effect. The paper in question threw the blame of misin- 
 formation on the Call; disclaimed any intention of doing 
 aught else than obtain that the contract "should be so awarded 
 as that white men, and not coolies, should receive the benefit 
 of it" ; protested that "nothing was further from its purpose 
 than to misrepresent, wrong or harm the Society of Jesus, or 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 221 
 
 the faithful and devoted Fathers who grace and strengthen the 
 Society." "Our paper," it goes on to say, "has a clear, unbroken 
 record in this respect. We too well remember the sagacious 
 prediction, and also the timely and salutary warnings and 
 invincible arguments of the brilliant and eloquent Father 
 Buchard, pronounced in this city many years ago, in regard to 
 the Chinese pest so firmly and alarmingly fastened upon this 
 Coast, to fail in admiration of the efforts of the Society to 
 abate the now almost ineradicable evil. And it was because of 
 this remembrance and this admiration that we wondered how, 
 on this occasion, the Fathers could consent to give contract or 
 employment to coolies in brick-making for their new college 
 and church building, which we hope to see completed and 
 bounteously endowed, to be at once an ornament to the city and 
 a blessing to all." 
 
 In the Alta of the same date, an account is given of one of 
 the sandlot meetings. "Soon after opening his remarks," it 
 says, "Kearney took up the brick question, and said that he 
 was credibly informed that the Patent Brick Company had 
 twenty millions, and would contract to furnish the Jesuit Fathers 
 with six or seven million brick, all made by white labor only. 
 (Cheers.) He knew it was a somewhat delicate question for 
 him to handle, but he was going to take the bull by the horns, 
 and twist the horns off. The man who made a fuss about bricks 
 didn't go to the right parties. The president of the college had 
 guaranteed to him that no brick should go into the build- 
 ing that was manufactured by Chinese labor. 'He further 
 stated,' said Kearney, 'that in order to see that what he was 
 telling was true, we, that is the sandlot (laughter), might select 
 a man to watch these people, and see that they didn't put in a 
 single brick that was made by Chinese labor.' Is that satisfac- 
 tory? (Yes.) We insist upon it that no building shall be 
 erected in this city by Chinese labor or material. How's that? 
 (Good! That's way up!) I told the Reverend Gentleman that 
 many of my friends insisted on me calling an indignation 
 meeting in the lot where their building is to go up, but, on his 
 assuring me that no Chinese brick should be used, the matter 
 is settled. But we must watch." 
 
222 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 About the same time, Mr. McKeadney, the architect, pub- 
 lished a statement that he alone, and not the Fathers, was respon- 
 sible for the contract, and that, at the time of its making, he was 
 utterly ignorant of the fact that Chinese had any hand in the 
 manufacture of the bricks. "Having attended for the last twenty 
 years to the business of the Fathers in the building line," he 
 says, "and having been retained by them in the same capacity 
 for the erection of the new building, I was entrusted with pur- 
 chasing the necessary materials, etc., for the same. . . . 
 Neither the Fathers nor I knew what particular sort of labor 
 or mechanism any of the competing parties had employed in 
 the past, or proposed to employ in the future. We simply wanted 
 first-class hard brick, for which we were to pay hard dollars. It 
 did not occur to us to demand a stipulation that the brick should 
 be made exclusively by white men, any more than it did to 
 the sellers to demand that the gold of the coin should be 
 mined by such." 
 
 The matter was thus, to all appearances, amicably settled, 
 though these early days of July were days of anxious worry 
 for Fathers Varsi and Pinasco. Even on August 6th, the 
 Evening Post published an article on the same subject, indicat- 
 ing that, in spite of the best of will, the course of events had 
 proceeded less smoothly than could have been desired. After 
 stating the facts that the Fathers had invited bids on bricks, 
 and that the Patent Brick Company had promised for $9.50 per 
 thousand what others had asked $13.00, it goes on to say: 
 
 "The point was then made by the workingmen, that the 
 cheaper brick was the production of Chinese labor. The 
 authorities of the church, whose sympathies are naturally with 
 the white laborer, at once set to work to see if this feature of 
 servile employment could not be obviated. The result was that 
 Father Varsi agreed with the Patent Brick Company to give 
 half a dollar more — that is $10.00 — per thousand, if made by 
 white men. In order that no bricks might be delivered other 
 than as agreed, a mold was stipulated to be used that should 
 identify the manufactured articles. Thus far all went smoothly. 
 The Patent Brick Company discharged one hundred and fifty 
 Chinamen, and now have two hundred white men engaged in 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 223 
 
 making these bricks. Just here, however, an unexpected trouble 
 arises. It is found, on trial, that there is one portion of the 
 work where white labor is unwilling or unable to compete. 
 This is in taking the heated bricks from the ovens. About 
 twenty men are so employed, and the ovens reach 240 degrees 
 of heat. The Chinamen who have been engaged for some time 
 at this work are said to be bleached white with the intense fires 
 to which they are subjected. . . . Just here comes in 
 the necessity of a little common sense in the matter. . . . 
 It is impossible to correct all the evils of this Chinese plague in 
 a moment or a month, and it is the part of wisdom to always 
 do the best we can under the circumstances, never throwing 
 away an advantage because it is not greater." 
 
 The undertaking was a big one for God's greater glory, 
 perhaps we should not be astonished at the throes of its birth. 
 On July 3rd, Mr. McKeadney took up his residence on the new 
 site to direct operations; on the 8th, the workmen began to 
 fence the place in; and three days later the foundations were 
 begun. On the 20th of the following month this gracious cable- 
 gram was received from the Holy Father : 
 
 "San Francisco, Aug. 20th, 1878. 5:12 P.M. 
 Rev. A. Varsi, 
 
 841 Market St., San Francisco, Calif.: 
 II S. Padre benedice con effusione di cuore nuova fabrica 
 di chiesa e collegio. 
 
 S. Card. Nina." 
 
 "San Francisco, Aug. 20th, 1878. 5:12 P.M. 
 Rev. A. Varsi, 
 
 841 Market St., San Francisco, Cal.: 
 The Holy Father with all his heart blesses the new building 
 containing church and college. 
 
 S. Card. Nina." 
 A short time before the arrival of this blessing from the 
 fatherly heart of Leo XIII, Father Varsi had left the college 
 with Father Manogue for a trip to Reno, Nevada, and did not 
 receive the consoling message until his return on the 24th. 
 With the blessing of the Vicar of Christ on the project, his 
 generous heart might well feel encouraged to go forward with 
 
224 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 confidence. On the 20th of October, the foundations were 
 ready for the cornerstone, and, in the absence of His Grace, 
 Archbishop Alemany, Rt. Rev. Eugene O'Connell, Bishop of the 
 Diocese of Grass Valley, was selected to perform the ceremony. 
 That His Grace intended to officiate, we know from his 
 letter stating his inability to make an address on the day first 
 appointed, viz : the first Sunday of November : 
 
 ** "San Francisco, Sept. 26th, 1878. 
 
 Very Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 I am sorry to state that I shall not be able to make an address 
 on the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone of your new 
 St. Ignatius, the first Sunday in November, when I expect, with 
 God's blessing, to perform the ceremony. . . . 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 f J. S. Alemany, A. S. F. 
 Very Rev. A. Varsi, S. J., Supr." 
 
 His Lordship, Rt. Rev. Eugene O'Connell, had as deacon, 
 Father Charles Messea, and as subdeacon, Father Joseph Neri. 
 Father Henry Imoda was master of ceremonies and Father 
 James A. Rooney, O. P., orator. Very Rev. Father Villarasa, 
 O. P., Superior of the Dominican Fathers on the Coast, with 
 several members of his Order; Very Rev. John J. Prendergast, 
 Vicar General of the Archdiocese, with many of the secular 
 clergy ; Rev. Brother Justin with some other Christian Brothers ; 
 Rev. A. Varsi, S. J., Superior of the Californian Mission; Rev. 
 J. Pinasco, president of the college, with the Jesuit Fathers 
 and scholastics of St. Ignatius and Santa Clara, represented 
 the secular clergy and religious bodies of the Archdiocese. Mr. 
 James R. Kelly, grand marshal, with his aids, F. H. Swett, 
 T. J. Verdon, John Powers, E. J. Le Breton, Judge J. Cooney, 
 J. O'Brien, J. M. Sullivan, J. H. Adams, James Hanley, H. K. 
 Hobson, J. O'Kane, Pat Lynch, Daniel McDonald, represented 
 the Catholic laity and the Gentlemen's Sodality. The day was 
 an ideal one, and the attendance was estimated at six or 
 seven thousand. 
 
 "Shortly after 2 o'clock," says an account of the time, "a 
 procession was formed upon the grounds in the following 
 order: Marshal and aids; First Regiment Band; MacMahon 
 
FATHER JAMES ROONEY, O. P. 
 
 RT. REV. EUGENE O'CONNELL, D. D. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 225 
 
 Grenadier Guard; students of the College Sodality; members of 
 the Gentlemen's Sodality; Ancient Order of Hibernians in uni- 
 form ; representatives of Catholic societies ; boys of the Sanctuary 
 Sodality; faculty and clergy; Bishop O'Connell, supported by 
 Fathers Neri and Messea. Commencing at the northwest corner 
 of the lot, the procession walked east to the center of the church 
 building. Mounting the steps there, they proceeded to a plat- 
 form at the Grove Street end. 
 
 When the several dignitaries and bodies had taken their 
 appointed places, the exercises were opened by singing; after 
 which the Bishop blessed the water which was to be sprinkled 
 upon the walls and cornerstone. He then blessed the stone, and 
 Father Buchard read the following English translation of the 
 Latin document to be placed therein : 
 
 A. M. D. G. 
 
 On the twentieth day of October, sacred to the Purity of 
 
 the Immaculate Virgin Mary, in the year of our Lord one 
 
 thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, 
 
 In the Pontificate of 
 
 Leo XIII. 
 
 Joseph S. Alemany 
 Being Archbishop and Metropolitan of the City of San Francisco ; 
 
 Peter Beckx, 
 Prepositus-General of the Society of Jesus; 
 
 Aloysius Varsi, 
 Superior of the Mission of the Society of Jesus in California; 
 
 John Pinasco, 
 Rector of the College of St. Ignatius in the City of San Francisco ; 
 
 Rutherford B. Hayes, 
 President of the whole United States of North America; 
 
 William Irwin, 
 Governor of California; 
 
 Andrew J. Bryant, 
 Mayor of the City of San Francisco; 
 
 In presence of the pupils and Sodalists of the College, 
 And a great number of the Faithful, 
 
226 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Eugene O'Connell, Bishop of Grass Valley, 
 
 Surrounded by an illustrious company of Priests, 
 
 Secular and Regular, 
 
 Set and laid 
 
 With solemn rites, according to the Canons of the Holy 
 
 Roman Church, 
 
 This Cornerstone 
 
 Of the Church and College of St. Ignatius. 
 
 James A. Rooney, O. P., 
 Addressed, in pious and fitting terms, the assembled 
 
 Faithful : with much care and labor, 
 
 Hugh McKeadney prepared the plans of the Church 
 
 and College; Robert Mitchell directed the brick-laying; 
 
 Augustus Saph, the work of the carpenters. 
 
 O Christ, our Savior, who, together with the Father and 
 the Holy Ghost, hast, from the beginning, created all things, 
 be Thou, we pray Thee, the beginning, progress and consum- 
 mation of this work! Set the seal of Salvation on this place, 
 and suffer not the destroying angel to enter it! 
 
 Immaculate Virgin Mary, Holy Patroness, be nigh at hand 
 with thy Blessed Spouse, Joseph, that this place may be ever 
 destined to prayer and to the invocation and praise of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ! 
 
 Holy Father Ignatius, accept this offering of thy sons, and 
 let thy two-fold spirit remain always with them! 
 
 The roll being delivered by Bishop O'Connell to Rev. 
 Father Varsi, it was enclosed by him in a glass tube. Other 
 documents were handed to the Father for enclosure in the 
 same tube. The grand marshal, Mr. James R. Kelly, handed, 
 on a piece of parchment, the names of the officers of the Ladies' 
 Sodality of St. Ignatius Church, with their seal. Similar papers 
 were handed by the prefect of the Gentlemen's Sodality, the 
 Sanctuary Society, and a list of benefactors' names. All these 
 documents were placed in the glass tube and sealed. In a 
 silver box were placed sixty-four silver and gold coins, repre- 
 senting nearly all nationalities. The box, together with the 
 glass tube, were enclosed by Father Varsi in the marble case 
 that was to be placed in the large granite block forming the 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 227 
 
 cornerstone of the whole structure. When the Bishop and 
 Clergy reached this place, which was the northwest corner of 
 the building, Father Varsi took the marble case which had been 
 carried there by two acolytes, and placed it in the cavity prepared 
 for it. The Bishop put some mortar in the wall with a solid 
 silver trowel having an ivory handle, and the granite stone 
 was lowered to its proper place. The silver trowel was after- 
 wards presented by the Fathers to Mr. Mitchell." 
 
 Father Rooney's address was an eloquent exposition of 
 Psalm cxxviii: 1, 2. "Often have they fought against me from 
 my youth, let Israel now say: often have they fought against 
 me from my youth, but could not prevail over me." The main 
 thought of his sermon, the harmony that should exist between 
 religion and education, was suggested by the idea of blessing 
 the cornerstone of church and college at the same time. 
 "How grand," he exclaimed, "the idea of blessing the corner- 
 stone of the church and college together! Religion and edu- 
 cation are united in the church; they beautifully harmonize 
 and help each other. Religion blesses and consecrates edu- 
 cation." 
 
 With the successful laying of the cornerstone, the building 
 was fairly on its way, and work was pushed with the utmost 
 energy. 
 
 "Since the Sunday afternoon less than a month ago," says 
 the Call of November 16th, "when Bishop O'Connell, assisted 
 by Father Varsi, laid the cornerstone of St. Ignatius Church 
 and College, with solemn and impressive ceremonies, in the 
 presence of six thousand people, the building has rapidly de- 
 veloped: another story with its numerous parlors, chambers, 
 corridors, niches, chapels, etc., has been added." 
 
 But let us turn from the building and the brightness of 
 anticipations connected with it, to another scene which cast a 
 gloom over the faculty and its many friends. Father Michael 
 Accolti, who had laid the foundation stone of the Californian 
 Mission, and whose heart had throbbed exultingly as he wit- 
 nessed, in the magnificent ceremony of October 20th, the 
 crowning of his labors, was, on November 7th, struck down 
 
228 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 by the hand of death. He had left the college towards evening, 
 called to the deathbed of Mrs. John Sullivan, a penitent of 
 his and a devoted friend of St. Ignatius, and had scarcely gone 
 a few blocks when he felt himself unable to proceed. With 
 much difficulty he retraced his steps, and on entering the house, 
 he and those around him recognized that the case was serious. 
 He was immediately borne to his room, a confessor was sum- 
 moned, and at 9 p. m. he peacefully closed a useful and spot- 
 less life. 
 
 Father Accolti was born of a noble family at Copertino, 
 Lecce, in the Kingdom of Naples, on January 29th, 1807. 
 After completing with success his preparatory studies, he 
 entered the College of Nobles at Rome, and selected for his 
 career the ministry of God's Word. Ordained a priest, he was 
 made a prelate in the pontifical household. With his noble 
 character and excellent talents, the honors of the Church were 
 open to him; but even from these, when but twenty-five years 
 old, he turned aside, and, becoming a member of the Society 
 of Jesus in the Roman Province, on June nth, 1832, he sought 
 in the obscurity of religious life, wider fields of self-abnegation. 
 
 After he had made a journey around the Horn, with Father 
 De Smet, we find him in 1844 a missionary in Oregon. It 
 was in 1848, while he was Superior of the residence at Willam- 
 ette, that he received the invitation to bring help to the desolate 
 Church of San Francisco, an invitation so happily answered. 
 His life from that to the present time has been sufficiently 
 sketched in the preceding pages, so that a brief summary will 
 suffice. In 1850, he became Superior of the Oregon Mission; 
 in 1853, he left for Rome, and in the following year obtained 
 that the Californian Mission should be adopted by the Province 
 of Turin. In 1856, he was the assistant of Father Maraschi 
 in St. Ignatius for somewhat over half a year; then he was 
 transferred to Santa Clara where he remained until 1867. For 
 the first four years of this period he was prefect of studies and 
 professor of ethics; then he became parish priest of Santa Clara, 
 retaining, however, for one year, the direction of studies in the 
 college. From 1867 to his death, he labored in the ministry 
 in San Francisco. Well might he die content, seeing the com- 
 plete fulfillment of what he had predicted, viz: that California 
 
FATHER MICHAEL ACCOLTI, S. J., IN LATER YEARS 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 229 
 
 was destined to thrive and prosper, and that it would have 
 been a serious mistake to have neglected to embrace the oppor- 
 tunity presented by Providence of giving the Society which he 
 loved, a home within its borders. For twenty-five years a mem- 
 ber of the Council of the Superior of the Mission, he aided 
 the Mission's development by his wise advice, and left it 
 on earth, to take no less interest in it, we are certain, in the 
 halls of heaven. 
 
 His kind, forceful character made a deep impression on all 
 who dealt with him, and, combined with solid piety, brought 
 many a wayward soul to repentance and many a convert into 
 the Church. He was all to all that he might win all to Christ; 
 and that noble, generous soul which was the admiration of mature 
 manhood, was the idol, also, of humble childhood. To know him 
 was to love him. His funeral took place on Saturday morning, 
 November 9th, in the presence of an immense throng, and 
 after the mass his body was conveyed by train to Santa Clara, 
 where, in the midst of his brethren, it peacefully rests. On the 
 10th, the Ladies' Sodality passed resolutions expressive of their 
 sincere sorrow for his loss and of respect for his memory. It 
 was resolved that on November 28th, the Sodality in a body 
 attend mass for the repose of his soul; a resolution, needless 
 to say, faithfully carried out. 
 
 The year finished with the return of Father Joseph Caredda 
 to Santa Clara. A painful surgical operation which, thanks to 
 Dr. Chismore, a true friend of the Fathers, had been eminently 
 successful, had detained him as guest of St. Ignatius from the 
 31st of the preceding October. 
 
 1879. 
 
 January 29th of this year brought the following request 
 from his Grace : 
 
 ** "San Francisco, January 29th, 1879. 
 
 Very Reverend dear Sir: 
 
 Your Fathers are attending so many places that I dislike 
 very much to make the following request, to which, whether 
 you can accede or not, you will be able to judge. 
 
230 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Adjoining the Industrial School, there is a House of Correc- 
 tion. A number of the inmates are Catholics, and I understand 
 that Protestant ministers go there to preach quite frequently. 
 At present, I suppose, we could not be allowed to have mass 
 and sermon but every other Sunday, and yet, if we could, it 
 would be well to have them every Sunday so as to save the 
 Catholics from receiving wrong doctrine. Please let me know 
 whether you could send a Father to attend there. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 tj. S. Alemany, A. S. F." 
 
 The request was willingly complied with, and even at present 
 the institution is attended by Father John Forhan. 
 
 On the death of Father Accolti, Father Maraschi became 
 director of the Ladies' Sodality, and, in early February, that 
 body reversed its action taken nearly three years previously 
 with reference to the age at which girls might be received 
 as members, and admission was permitted after First Com- 
 munion. 
 
 On the 24th of the month, a Solemn Requiem Mass over 
 the body of Rev. Joseph O'Hagan, S. J., president of Holy 
 Cross College, Worcester, Mass., was sung in the church. 
 Father Patrick Healy, S. J., president of Georgetown College, 
 Washington, D. C, was the celebrant. Both Father O'Hagan 
 and Father Healy, with health seriously impaired by the cares 
 of office and long-continued labor, had, on November 30th, left 
 New York on a trip to the Pacific Coast, hoping that the rest 
 of a sea voyage and a stay in our milder climate might restore 
 them to former health and vigor. 
 
 For one, however, the journey of life was nearly over. 
 Father Healy reached San Francisco safely on December 27th, 
 1878; but, on the 15th, Father O'Hagan, the victim of a stroke 
 of apoplexy, had died on shipboard. The body was not buried 
 at sea, but was taken to Acapulco and temporarily interred there, 
 until Father Healy could communicate with the Superior of 
 his Province. Word was received that the remains of Father 
 O'Hagan were to be sent East for burial. They were therefore 
 exhumed and reached San Francisco on February 20th. The 
 pupils of the college in a body, the faculty, and a large con- 
 
MR. DANIEL CROWLEY, S. J. 
 FATHER MICHAEL SHALLO, S. J. 
 
 FATHER JOSEPH ISOLABELLA, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 231 
 
 gregation paid a last fitting tribute to the memory of one whose 
 life had carried so much sunshine into the lives of others. 
 
 On April 26th, the brickwork having reached completion, 
 a dinner was served in the building to commemorate the event. 
 A large number of invited guests were present. Just six 
 months and a week had passed since the laying of the corner- 
 stone by Bishop O'Connell, and some 7,000,000 bricks had been 
 used to raise the structure. A pleasant feature of the cele- 
 bration was the fact recorded, that up to that time not a single 
 accident had occurred. In the absence of Rev. Father Varsi, 
 Father Neri did the honors of the occasion. Father Varsi was 
 in the city, but he had returned only the preceding morning 
 from a trip to Reno, whither he had gone on the 22nd. Fatigue 
 and press of business, doubtless, explained his absence from 
 a gathering which must have been so gratifying to him. 
 
 July came, but made few changes in the professorial staff. 
 Father Joseph Sasia was called to Santa Clara. Father Francis 
 Veyret, already a martyr from severe sufferings of cancer of the 
 stomach, took up his residence in the same place, calmly await- 
 ing death which he knew could not be far distant. He passed 
 holily to a better life on December 10th. Father Joseph 
 Isolabella became Minister on August 3rd in place of Father 
 Demasini, and Mr. John Moore, S. J., joined the college staff. 
 
 On the 16th of July, the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 
 Father Robert E. Kenna, the future president of the college, 
 celebrated in the church his first mass. On the 6th of the 
 month, he had been ordained priest by His Grace, Archbishop 
 Alemany, together with Aloysius Raggio and George Zanino- 
 vich, S. J., and had selected this feast of Our Blessed Mother 
 as the most appropriate day to offer at the altar, the unbloody 
 sacrifice of her Divine Son. 
 
 The 23rd of August caused more than a flutter of excitement 
 in the hearts of the members of the college, when the report 
 was spread that our new buildings were on fire. The word 
 passed rapidly from mouth to mouth, and smoke sure enough 
 was issuing from the building. It was 7 o'clock in the evening 
 of a day memorable in the annals of the city, when Mayor 
 Kallock, shot by Charles DeYoung, was hovering between 
 life and death. The excitement consequent on this event had 
 
232 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 prepared imaginations for all sorts of fancies, and rumor was 
 rife until word was brought that the fire was nothing more 
 than a blaze in the kitchen chimney. A month later, the big 
 bell was lowered from its tower, and, on October 24th, took up 
 its abode in the belfry of the new church. 
 
 On the same day, Father Paul Raffo and Brother Natalis 
 Savio arrived in the college, having given up the attempt to 
 establish a residence in Reno, Nevada. The Father had gone 
 thither from Santa Clara some thirteen months before; the 
 Brother, in August, had been sent from St. Ignatius to join 
 him. The venture had not proved a success, and both were 
 glad to be once again among their brethren. Some weeks 
 earlier, the community had received an addition in the person 
 of Father John De Blieck of the Missouri Province, whom ill 
 health had caused to seek relief on the Pacific Coast. 
 
 But loss and gain are ever tilting the scales of life, and the 
 gain of Father De Blieck was nullified by the loss of Father 
 Peter O'Flynn, who, on November 24th, took steamer for 
 Australia. Numerous friends accompanied the Father to the 
 wharf, and sincere were the expressions of sorrow at parting, 
 for Father O'Flynn had endeared himself to many during his 
 stay in San Francisco. 
 
 These were, indeed, days of change; the passing from the 
 old to the new. In the beginning of November, the altar of 
 the Blessed Virgin was moved from the old church to the 
 domestic chapel in the new residence ; and on the 22nd of the 
 month, the organ was removed to the choir loft of the new church. 
 No vacations were given at Christmas, except on the vigil and 
 the feast itself, owing to the unavoidable interruption of classes 
 incident to total removal now near at hand. The severe storm 
 of wind and rain that raged on the 19th of December, had done 
 some injury to the building; but this was soon repaired, and 
 the edifice daily grew in beauty, as each successive touch brought 
 it nearer to completion; the old, on the contrary, showed daily, 
 more and more, the signs of abandonment, and caused many a 
 pang of sorrow to hearts that had so often within its walls, found 
 rest and contentment in weary and troubled hours. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 233 
 
 1880. 
 
 On January 21st, 1880, vacation commenced, and, on the 
 next day, the transference of school furniture began. The pupils 
 of the college helped materially, supplying by numbers and 
 good will whatever else was in any way lacking. On Sunday, 
 the 25th, Father Buchard preached his last sermon in the old 
 church, the walls of which had so often rung to his eloquent 
 voice; and on the same day, His Lordship, Rt. Rev. James 
 Augustine Healy, D. D., Bishop of Portland, Maine, arrived 
 with Rev. John Flatley, to take part in the dedication of the 
 church on Hayes Street. On Saturday, the 31st, the Fathers 
 went to their confessionals for the last time, and left them late 
 at night with the feeling of those who part with old friends, for 
 the memories of many years were inseparably connected with 
 them, and the consolations experienced in bringing sinners back 
 to God. On the following day, masses were celebrated until 
 8 45 a. m. Then, church and residence were closed to become 
 things of the past, remembrances to live in loving hearts, and 
 nothing more; and the new church and residence replaced them, 
 depriving them even of the name that they had so long borne of 
 Church and College of St. Ignatius. 
 
 The new residence, indeed, had already, for some time, had 
 several occupants. Besides the Brothers who had, for some 
 months, kept watch, Messrs. Shallo and Giacobbi, S. J., had taken 
 up their abode there on January 24th; and four days later, 
 Bishop Healy and his secretary with Rev. Father Varsi, joined 
 them. Others, too, followed soon after, and all were again 
 reunited by the 3rd of February ; the last four who had been left 
 in the old house, abandoning it on that date. 
 
 The dedication of the church on the 1st of the month was 
 a scene of splendor, in which nothing had been spared or over- 
 looked that could contribute to success. His Grace, the Most 
 Reverend Archbishop, celebrant; Rt. Rev. Bishop Healy, orator; 
 ceremonies carefully rehearsed under the watchful eye of one 
 who saw that their beauty was not marred even in the least 
 detail ; the clergy, secular and regular ; the Christian Brothers ; 
 the altar boys ; the Sodalists ; the choir and the music ; the thou- 
 sands of enthusiastic spectators; and, as a fit setting to all, ideal 
 
234 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Californian weather, as if nature rejoiced to crown God's work; 
 all contributed to an effect realized only when seen. 
 
 "By far the most imposing Catholic ecclesiastical gathering 
 ever seen on this Coast," says an account of the time, "was 
 that of yesterday at St. Ignatius Church, on the occasion of its 
 dedication to the service of the Most High, followed by a most 
 solemn and impressive pontifical mass. For several days past, 
 clergy have been arriving in this city from every quarter, with 
 a view to seeing and participating in the services. The Rt. 
 Rev. Bishop Healy of Portland, Maine, was engaged to preach 
 the sermon, and His Grace, the Most Rev. Archbishop Alemany, 
 as pontifical celebrant. The day was simply perfect, hardly a 
 breath of wind was perceptible, and the warm sun beamed from 
 a serene and cloudless sky. Before 9 o'clock, the vicinity of 
 the church was swarming with devout worshipers, who crowded 
 up the broad entrance steps and spread across the street for the 
 entire block. Every moment augmented the throng, which, it 
 was evident, could never find entrance into the already densely 
 packed house of God. They appeared willing, however, to bide 
 their time, and their patience was ultimately rewarded, for at 
 10 o'clock the pontifical celebrant, conducted by a procession of 
 acolytes and clergy, left the private chapel of the Fathers' resi- 
 dence, and, appearing at the entrance, descended from the resi- 
 dence to the sidewalk, and mounted the broad steps of the main 
 entrance to the church. Upon the broad granite platform the 
 procession halted, while the Archbishop invoked the assistance 
 and benediction of God upon the ceremonies to be performed, 
 and also upon the church to be dedicated. . . . Descend- 
 ing the steps, the procession marched slowly eastward to the 
 basement entrance of the Fathers' residence, where it entered 
 the corridor extending along the outer wall of the church. 
 . The procession was marshaled by the gentlemen of the 
 Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who also acted as ushers 
 and escorts. They were subdivided into ten divisions, each under 
 a marshal and all under charge of the prefect, James R. Kelly, 
 Esq. . . . Following the wall to its northern extremity, 
 the procession sang canticles and psalms while the celebrant 
 sprinkled the wall with holy water, a ceremony which was 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 235 
 
 continued along the north, west and south walls to the place 
 of beginning. Remounting to the sidewalk, the procession 
 re-ascended the main entrance steps to the spacious vestibule, the 
 center doors of which were thrown open to admit it. The gor- 
 geous spectacle here presented by the procession as it advanced 
 with slow and measured tread to the sanctuary, will remain 
 forever fixed in the memory of all who witnessed the event." 
 
 Following the blessing of the outer walls came the blessing 
 of the inner, and then the pontifical mass in all its grandeur. 
 The altar in its magnificence, bright with myriads of lights and 
 adorned with costly flowers ; the organ ; the voices blending with 
 an orchestral accompaniment seldom equaled; the long line of 
 well-trained acolytes in lace and purple, moving with grace 
 and precision; the beautiful vestments of the participating 
 clergy; the miter and crozier, and the modest, pious man that 
 bore them, he as much an honor to them as they to him; all 
 tended to elevate minds above the sordidness of earth and fix 
 them on realms beyond the skies. 
 
 After the gospel, Right Rev. Bishop Healy mounted the 
 pulpit and delivered a masterly sermon on the text, "My 
 house shall be called the house of prayer for all nations." 
 Isaiah lvi : 7. During the mass, there were between three and 
 four thousand persons within the church walls, and nearly as 
 many more outside them. It is, moreover, estimated that during 
 the day over fifteen thousand persons entered its sacred portals. 
 
 "The interior of the church," continues the account, "is most 
 magnificent. Marble pilaster clusters projecting from the side 
 walls support the outer spring of the aisle arches; another clus- 
 ter forms a column, with humette base, and corresponding with 
 these, support the inner spring of the arches and divide the aisle 
 from the nave. The inner pilaster of the cluster is fluted, the 
 others are ornamented with moulded panels, and are not so lofty 
 as the inner, which extends to an entablature, above which the 
 nave wall rises to a flat ceiling with square moulded panels on 
 each side of large circular and highly ornamented ventilators. 
 Corinthian being the prevailing order of architecture in the 
 building, the pilaster capitals are of this style. 
 
236 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 In the evening, the church contained an assemblage almost 
 as vast as that which crowded its pews and thronged its aisles 
 in the morning. The gaslight flowing from scores of chande- 
 liers presented the noble architecture of the interior of the edi- 
 fice in a new and beautiful aspect. Fretted roof, graceful col- 
 umns and painting-covered walls, looked brighter in the warm 
 glow of the gaslight than in the rays of the morning. The 
 evening services commenced at 7 130 o'clock with the beautiful 
 and impressive ceremony of vespers, the Rt. Rev. Bishop 
 Healy officiating. The sermon was delivered by Very Rev. 
 Father Prendergast." He spoke beautifully on the redemption 
 of man, and on the house of God which was built and dedicated 
 to light the way to such redemption. "Come to this temple," 
 said he, in conclusion, "early in the morning and late in the 
 evening, you whose hearts are fresh and pure, and you who are 
 weary and laden with cares. Come to the house of God with 
 faith, and reverence, and love, and you will find here your God 
 and Savior, and this temple shall be to you the threshold and 
 vestibule of the eternal temple of God." Solemn benediction 
 followed, concluding the day's festivities, and the Fathers were 
 at length enabled to snatch some needed rest. 
 
 On the following morning, the Feast of the Purification 
 of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Rt. Rev. Bishop Healy blessed the 
 college. The Call of the following morning contains quite an 
 interesting account of the ceremony. 
 
 "The solemn and impressive pontifical services," it says, 
 "of the dedication and high mass, which took place on Sunday 
 morning in the new St. Ignatius Church, were renewed yester- 
 day with but little diminution of imposing effect. The crowd 
 of attendant worshipers was nearly as great, and the dedication 
 service and subsequent celebration of the Feast of the Purifica- 
 tion of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or Candlemas, were, if any- 
 thing, more aesthetically beautiful. Low masses commenced at 
 5 o'clock and continued until after 9. At half-past nine, the 
 procession started from the sanctuary in the same order as that 
 of Sunday, the officiating pontiff being the Rt. Rev. Bishop 
 Healy of Maine. The Very Rev. Father Varsi, Superior of 
 the Jesuits of California, again officiated as assistant priest, 
 
RT. REV. JAMES AUGUSTINE HEALY, D. D. 
 
 VERY REV. JOHN PRENDERGAST, V. G. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 237 
 
 accompanied by Father Neri. Descending from the main 
 entrance to the sidewalk, the procession marched along Hayes 
 Street to Van Ness Avenue, thence northward to the main 
 entrance of the college, where it halted while the celebrant 
 sprinkled the east wall with holy water from a silver asper- 
 gillum. Entering the college, the procession passed through 
 all the classrooms, museum, college hall, library, and the 
 corridors of the vast establishment, all of which were blessed 
 by the Bishop amid the continued chant of canticles and 
 psalms by a large chorus of voices. Returning to Van Ness 
 Avenue, the procession awaited the formation of the students 
 into line, four deep. They had previously stood upon the curb- 
 stone and formed an unbroken line all the way down Hayes 
 Street and along Van Ness Avenue. They now preceded the 
 acolytes to the church." Here a pontifical mass was sung, and 
 after it the students dispersed for the day. 
 
 Another interesting ceremony was reserved for the morrow, 
 the solemn consecration of the marble altars of the Blessed Vir- 
 gin and St. Joseph. Bishop Healy was once more the celebrant. 
 
 "These side altars," says the Post of January 31st, "are 
 worthy of special mention. They are of rich and antique designs, 
 each being built at a cost of $3,500, the chief expense being the 
 cost of the marbles used. From malachite and lapis lazuli used 
 down to the soft and wonderfully white Carrara, all the slabs were 
 imported from Italy, with the exception of the brown California 
 alabaster. In the Blessed Virgin's altar, forty-five different 
 varieties of marble were used, and in the building of its fellow, 
 thirty-four varieties, the plan being simpler than that of the 
 other. The shelf of the Blessed Virgin's altar is of white marble 
 in a single slab, inlaid in the center with a small door of brown 
 Porto Santo marble, and the center section consists of a slab 
 of brown Flor di Perseca, on which is a wreath of gilt roses 
 surrounding a monogram of the letters typifying the Virgin, 
 above which is a jeweled crown in gilt. The tabernacle is 
 roofed with white marble, the front being inlaid with malachite 
 and a panel of landscape marble. Set into the wall behind, and 
 running up along the sides of the niche, are panels of white mar- 
 ble, with light orange and red alabaster panels at the side imme- 
 diately above the altar. 
 
238 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The altar of St. Joseph is paneled in front with Flor di 
 Perseca in the center, and brown California alabaster of very 
 rich tinting on either side. In the construction of the altars, 
 the architect gave his most careful attention and brought into 
 exercise his highest artistic ability, and the result must be 
 decidedly gratifying to his feelings." 
 
 The altar of the Blessed Virgin was the gift of Mrs. Maria 
 Coleman; and that of St. Joseph, the gift of Mr. Joseph 
 Donohoe, whose benefactions to the cabinet we have elsewhere 
 noted. Both have passed to their eternal reward, but their 
 good works live after them. 
 
 On Tuesday evening, February 10th, "The exhibition hall 
 of the new St. Ignatius was inaugurated with a musical and 
 literary entertainment of a high order, given in the presence of 
 nearly 4,000 spectators," says the Call of Sunday, the 15th. 
 "The vast auditorium was thronged even to the aisles and 
 foyer, where many stood throughout the entire programme which 
 lasted about three and a half hours. A more commodious, 
 elegant and attractive hall is not to be found in the city. In 
 general plan and outline, the hall resembles the church, being 
 a parallelogram having a lofty nave, with flat paneled ceiling 
 and aisles of the same style, but lower. The hall is 145 by 100 
 feet, with orchestra, parquet and gallery, all containing seats 
 arranged in segments of circles whose diameters increase as 
 they recede from the stage which is the center. A gradual ele- 
 vation of the floor affords, in like manner, an unobstructed view 
 from every quarter of the hall. Upon each side of the nave, 
 dividing it from the aisles, is a row of octagonal fluted Corin- 
 thian columns each encircled, about midway to the ceiling, with 
 a massive and resplendent gilded crown bearing a wreath of 
 gas-jets. The illuminating facilities are good, as are also the 
 acoustic properties of the hall. Both ear and eye are gratified 
 — the eye with the delicate display of light and shade upon the 
 pure and subdued white of the walls, ceiling and columns; 
 the ear with the perfection with which every vibration of even 
 most delicate sound is distinctly heard. The stage is 70 by 40 
 feet and furnished with scenery, curtains, etc. Upon each side 
 of the stage are two massive circular fluted columns with two 
 
THE BLESSED VIRGIN'S ALTAR 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 239 
 
 pilasters of the same order, which aid in supporting the arch, 
 behind which hangs a rich crimson lambrequin. Two grand 
 prismatic crystal chandeliers are suspended from the ceiling 
 over the stage front, and are the brilliantly colored fountain- 
 head of a flood of light which is thrown to every part of the 
 hall. 
 
 Upon Tuesday night the rear of the stage was ornamented 
 with the scene of a Corinthian colonnade. In front of the 
 radiant work of art, with its smooth marbled columns bathed 
 in a roseate glow of oriental splendor, sat the clergy, college 
 professors, and participants in the programme. In the center 
 was the chairman, F. J. Sullivan, A. M.; Right Rev. Bishop 
 Healy, D. D., of Maine; and the Rev. Fathers Varsi and 
 Pinasco. Upon the front seats were Rev. Father Prendergast, 
 the Vicar General, and others of the secular and regular clergy, 
 with Brother Cianan and other Christian Brothers, friends of 
 the college. The programme was admirably rendered and 
 elicited hearty and prolonged applause with which the partici- 
 pants were frequently interrupted. . . . After the overture, 
 the chairman read a letter from Governor George C. Perkins 
 who was unable to attend, and therein expressed his regrets. 
 He said : 
 
 T greatly desired to add my humble voice in public praise 
 of the glorious work which you have so nobly accomplished, 
 work which is the result of life's devotion in a holy and a noble 
 cause. In thought and spirit I am with you, and my earnest 
 prayers are for the success of your noble institution. The 
 edifice which you have raised must redound to the advantage 
 of Christianity, and future years will consecrate the devotion 
 you have so unfalteringly and unsparingly bestowed on this 
 great work dedicated to science, learning and morality.' The 
 introductory address by Mr. Sullivan was an eloquent, grateful 
 and glowing tribute paid by a son to his Alma Mater. 
 
 Bishop Healy, on being introduced, was received with round 
 upon round of deafening applause, and some time elapsed 
 before he could be heard. Silence having been at length 
 restored, His Lordship said : 
 
24 o THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 'I agree with the previous speaker; yours is a great State 
 and a great city. You have great mountains, great trees, and 
 I might say a great college. The manner in which the pupils 
 have acquitted themselves to-night is highly creditable both 
 to themselves and the faculty having their instruction in 
 charge. ... I would like to impress upon the minds of 
 these young gentlemen that labor is necessary in every walk of 
 life. What you acquire easily is of little value. . . . Above 
 all it is essential to possess an experimental knowledge of Chris- 
 tianity, not that which is culled from the catechism, but that 
 which is felt in the heart. This is the great jewel of education.' 
 
 The Reverend speaker closed with an eloquent eulogy of 
 Rev. Father Varsi, who has presided over the erection and 
 ornamentation of the vast structure which contains one of 
 the largest churches in the State, one of the largest colleges, 
 and one of the largest halls, besides a magnificent residence. 
 In the hereafter, should any one ask to see the monument erected 
 to his memory, he may be told in the words of an inscription 
 upon a tablet in Rome referring to the patron saint of this 
 institution, Tf you ask for his monument, look about, for his 
 monument is here.' " 
 
 Among the old students who participated in the exercises 
 were Robert Tobin, A. M., and James I. Boland, A. M. John 
 J. Montgomery, S. B., and James D. Phelan were among those 
 who represented the actual students. 
 
 On the following day, the pupils had mass for the first time 
 in their new chapel. It was Ash Wednesday, and the ceremony 
 of the blessing and distribution of the ashes was performed, 
 and a short, practical instruction given by Father Prelato, the 
 chaplain. 
 
 On the 24th, Father Joseph Bixio arrived from Australia, 
 bringing with him a magnificent collection of ferns for the 
 museum. He remained attached to St. Ignatius until May 
 1 2th, when he was transferred to Santa Clara. The greater part 
 of this time, however, he spent in giving missions in the 
 northern part of the State. 
 
 Easter Sunday, April 4th, had brought with it a pleasant 
 surprise. The new altar of the Sacred Heart, the gift of the 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 241 
 
 piety and generosity of Miss Julia Gately, was exposed to the 
 admiration of the worshipers in St. Ignatius. 
 
 "For some time past," says the Chronicle of April 12th, 
 "while the devout worshipers at St. Ignatius were telling their 
 beads and performing their devotions, the busy artists were 
 noiselessly working behind the heavy screen which concealed 
 from sight one of the grandest pieces of ecclesiastical art which 
 has been presented to the view of the people of San Francisco. 
 On Easter Sunday the veil was withdrawn, and the new altar 
 of the Sacred Heart was, for the first time, exposed to an 
 admiring throng of faithful worshipers. It is a masterpiece 
 of decorative art. The design of the altar, complete in the 
 main, displays the most perfect unity and harmony in all its 
 details. The emblems employed have reference to the mystery 
 of redemption, and express in silence what man has failed to 
 expound in speech. The altar is situated in the northwest 
 corner of the church, and is a shrine at which a train of 
 the faithful continually kneel. The materials used in the 
 construction of the altar are all wood. Its height is twenty- 
 three feet, and it completely fills the niche prepared for it. It 
 is enclosed by a railing of bronze, gilded and variegated, with 
 clusters of grapes and ears of wheat emblematical of the ele- 
 ments used in the eucharistic sacrifice. The design of the 
 railing which is unique in itself, was arranged especially for 
 the altar. At the base of the altar and under the projecting 
 mensa stand two angels apparently supporting the entire weight 
 of the superstructure. Outside the middle section, which is 
 supported by two Corinthian columns, the most prominent 
 figures appear. On the right is Hope with her left hand on 
 the stem of an anchor, and in her right the palm branch of 
 peace. The figure on the left personates Faith with a chalice 
 in her left hand and a cross in her right. The folds and drapery 
 of both are exceedingly beautiful and chaste. The attitudes 
 are well taken and the faces expressive. Above these are two 
 other figures bearing the emblems of the Savior's sufferings, 
 the scourge, the sponge, and the crown of thorns. The only 
 ornament employed in the interstices of the central entablature 
 is the lily, the symbol of purity. In the center of all is the 
 picture of the Sacred Heart, to which all the rest is subordinate 
 
242 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 and accessory. The figure of the Savior holds in one hand the 
 heart surmounted by a cross, and points to it with the other. 
 The surrounding emblems are exceedingly appropriate, among 
 others that of the pelican which is fabled to nourish its young 
 with its life-blood. This is a copy of Battoni, and is believed 
 to be the best in existence. On the lower portion of the middle 
 section and immediately above the mensa, is arranged a number 
 of finely contrasted candelabra of bronze, and delicate vases 
 filled with flowers. In a direct line beneath the picture of the 
 Sacred Heart are a brazen crucifix and a silver dove with wings 
 expanded and bearing a flower festoon in its beak. Beneath 
 this is the monogram, I. H. S., ornamented with the appro- 
 priate emblems of faith. The upper section of the altar is a 
 panel with a gilded chalice in full relief, from which emanate 
 rays of gold piercing through flakes of snowy clouds, and which 
 on emerging again, resume their golden hues. The group on this 
 ground consists of ten cherubs who display to view only their 
 chubby faces. Two angels in graceful drapery are kneeling in 
 adoration towards the chalice and complete the group. Near 
 the apex of the altar which is sharp and angular, two angels 
 hold a gilt cross which surmounts the whole." The entire altar is 
 of hand carving, and represents a large expenditure of money. 
 But beauty and devotion to the Divine Heart were alone con- 
 sidered by the donor, and the result is an artistic work no less 
 precious than devout. 
 
 On May the 28th, owning to the immense increase in the 
 debt and the consequent increase in interest, Father Varsi 
 found that it would be necessary to ask the voluntary contri- 
 butions of the friends of church and college to enable the 
 Fathers to hold their old property until such time as they 
 could dispose of it at a fair price. The agitation of the sand- 
 lotters had driven capital East; changes in the political admin- 
 istration of the State had rendered investors over-cautious; 
 bad seasons had at times proved serious set-backs just as busi- 
 ness was reviving and prosperity once more seemed assured; 
 perhaps the selfishness of some who expected that the Fathers 
 would be driven to the wall and obliged to part with their 
 property at a great sacrifice was also a factor; but the years 
 were passing and the Market Street property, whose value 
 
CENTER-PIECE OF THE SACRED HEART ALTAR 
 ALTAR OF THE SACRED HEART 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 243 
 
 everybody knew, remained unsold. The "Ignatian Society" 
 was therefore started, the literary society of that name having 
 been discontinued. On the 30th of the month, the notice of 
 the society's inception was published in the church, and printed 
 notices were distributed to the congregation. The debt at 
 this time had grown to be $862,510, on which the yearly interest 
 was $42,492. This debt was made up of the original outlay 
 on the old buildings, the $200,000 paid for the new lot, and 
 the cost of the new buildings. 
 
 The daily papers of the time spoke of the "million-dollar 
 home of the Society of Jesus in San Francisco." Father Varsi 
 did not think that he was called upon to undeceive them, for 
 the matter in question was the mere private business of the 
 Fathers, and as such intimately concerned them alone. More- 
 over, modesty forbade his speaking, where speaking might be 
 misinterpreted as bragging. It sufficed for him to be conscious 
 that owing to his ability, and the honesty and business capacity 
 of Mr. McKeadney and of the various contractors and builders, 
 the magnificent pile had cost up to July, 1880, when the build- 
 ings had been already in use for five months, the compara- 
 tively moderate sum of $323,763. The value of the property 
 on Market Street easily covered the whole debt; but value upon 
 which one cannot realize is not an available asset; and the 
 heavy burden, though it did not discourage Father Varsi nor 
 diminish his trust in Providence, could not but render him 
 solicitous in employing every means to sustain it. 
 
 At the end of the scholastic year in June, it was found, as 
 had been expected, that the number of pupils had somewhat 
 diminished, for the location of the college rendered it difficult 
 for many of the old students to attend. The loss, however, 
 was not great, for there were still 652 students in attendance. 
 For the new scholastic year in August, Father Varsi planned 
 a considerable strengthening of the faculty, and this was in 
 his power, for he had, at the time, more professors at his disposal 
 than ever before. 
 
 On July 7th, Father Robert E. Kenna was announced to 
 succeed Father John Pinasco as president of St. Ignatius, 
 Father Pinasco departing on the 10th to assume charge of 
 
244 THE FIRS? HALF CENTURY 
 
 Santa Clara College. The government of Father Pinasco had 
 given great satisfaction to pupils and faculty, and both were 
 unwilling to part with him, though they felt that St. Ignatius' 
 loss was Santa Clara's gain. Still there was compensation in 
 the new appointment, for it was felt that with the energy and 
 push of Father Kenna, the institution would be well cared for. 
 Father Pinasco's capacity for work was great, and his self- 
 sacrifice equally so; for he toiled uncomplainingly through the 
 long hours of the day in fulfilling the duties of vice-president, 
 and hence was compelled to labor long into the night to attend 
 to the business that fell to his portion as president. Few men 
 could have filled a position so delicate; fewer still could have 
 filled it as he did. 
 
 On the 20th of the month, Father Gregory Leggio became 
 vice-president, thus allowing Father Kenna to devote his whole 
 time to the cares of the presidency. About the same time, 
 Mr. Daniel Crowley, S. J., became prefect of the lower classes, 
 thus lightening the burden of vice-presidency and ensuring 
 greater efficiency; while, as members of the teaching staff, 
 Father Aloysius Brunengo, late president of Santa Clara 
 College, and Messrs. Jerome Ricard, John Walshe, John J. 
 Cunningham, Robert Smith, Joseph Riordan, Michael A. 
 McKey, all of the Society of Jesus, came from Santa Clara. 
 Mr. Julius Egloffstein and Mr. Michael Shallo taught in the col- 
 lege and studied philosophy with Mr. William Melchers, S. J., 
 under the direction of Father Charles Pollano. Of the old pro- 
 fessors, Father Joseph Bayma was transferred to Santa Clara; 
 Father Joseph Isolabella devoted himself exclusively to the 
 domestic duties of Minister; Mr. Dominic Giacobbi left to 
 pursue his theological studies. On August 6th, Father Varsi 
 departed for New York, leaving Father Congiato in tem- 
 porary charge of the Mission. Business kept him absent for 
 nearly six weeks, so that it was the middle of September 
 before he reached home. Two days later, September 17th, 
 Father John Treanor arrived, having come to California in 
 the party of Judge Donoghue of New York. Little were 
 we prepared for the sad event that was to come so soon. 
 On October 4th, a telegram was received stating that the 
 

 
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 SACRED HEART ALTAR, DECORATED 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 245 
 
 Father was dead. He died as the result of a stage accident 
 near a place called Flat Oak on the Calaveras road. On 
 a steep descent, the stage driver was thrown from his seat 
 and Father Treanor attempted to grasp the lines. The stage 
 was upset and the Father's leg broken. He was hurried to 
 the nearest town; a priest was fortunately at hand and admin- 
 istered the last sacraments. The leg was amputated in the 
 hope of saving the Father's life, but, on the following day, he 
 died. 
 
 The body arrived at the college on the evening of the day 
 on which the news had arrived. On the day following the 
 remains were embalmed ; and, dressed in the robes of the priest- 
 hood, they were borne late in the evening to the church. Next 
 morning, a Solemn High Mass was sung by Father Varsi for 
 the repose of the soul of the departed, and, after the Mass, the 
 body was taken to the train to retrace across the continent a 
 journey so filled with innocent happiness a few weeks pre- 
 viously. 
 
 Before the receipt of the news of Father Treanor's death, 
 a little celebration had been planned in the college for the 7th 
 of the month, and, as all arrangements had been made for it, 
 it could not be delayed. It was a reception to Father Villarasa, 
 O. P., Provincial of the Dominican Fathers on the Coast, in 
 honor of the Golden Jubilee of his religious profession. He 
 had celebrated the day itself at Benicia on the 30th of Septem- 
 ber in the midst of his brethren, and he was invited to pass its 
 octave with the children of St. Ignatius, who for thirty years 
 in California had known and appreciated his noble virtues and 
 affection. A dinner was therefore given in his honor at which 
 he presided, and afterwards a modest entertainment in the 
 recreation-room of the Fathers. The tribute was indeed a 
 slight one to sterling virtue, but its very simplicity marked the 
 family affection that bound together the two Orders. 
 
 Some weeks later, Father Brunengo commenced a course 
 of lectures on ethics and natural right to some young gentle- 
 men of the city, chiefly law students. The meetings were held 
 in the evening, since that was the only time at which attend- 
 ance could be assured. It was a step in the right direction 
 
246 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 towards the widening of the sphere of the education imparted 
 by St. Ignatius, and though circumstances prevented its per- 
 petuation, it was another proof of the broad minds of those who 
 directed affairs. 
 
 1881. 
 
 It is with much pleasure that we have mentioned above, 
 the reception given the esteemed Dominican, the Very Rev. 
 Sadoc Villarasa; it is with equal pleasure that we record that 
 given to an equally dear friend among the secular clergy, Rt. 
 Rev. Patrick Manogue, coadjutor of the Bishop of Grass Valley, 
 and afterwards his successor and Bishop of Sacramento. On 
 the 5th of January, Father Manogue took up his abode at St. 
 Ignatius, and, on the 10th, began his retreat preparatory to 
 consecration. On the same day, Bishop O'Connell also took 
 up his residence with us, and likewise entered into retreat. 
 The consecration took place in Old St. Mary's, Father Buchard 
 preaching on the occasion. The reception took place next day 
 at noon in the college hall, after which a dinner was given to 
 the new Bishop, a large number of the clergy of his diocese, 
 and several gentlemen, his intimate friends; for the big-hearted 
 Bishop Manogue was the popular choice of clergy and laity 
 alike. After a visit to Santa Clara and a reception by its faculty, 
 the Bishop remained a guest of St. Ignatius until the 27th of 
 the month, when he left to receive the congratulations of those 
 over whose spiritual welfare he was to watch so loved and 
 loving for many years. 
 
 On the 30th, the Sunday following the Bishop's departure, 
 a work which, while it lasted, did incalculable good, and which 
 was discontinued only when it could be done by others, was 
 started by the ever-active zeal of Father Kenna. It was the 
 Girls' Sunday-school, which in time reached vast proportions, 
 and enlisted the active co-operation of many of the most promi- 
 nent Catholic ladies of the city. It began, as we learn from an 
 account published in the following year, with nine pupils and 
 one teacher; but so rapid was its growth that in a single year 
 the pupils had increased to seven hundred and the teachers 
 to forty-five. 
 
REV. R. E. KENNA, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 247 
 
 It was, as was only proper, a good work under the direction 
 of the Fathers, rather than a work of the Fathers themselves; 
 for its success was the immediate fruit of the labor and self- 
 sacrifice of the devoted lady catechists, among whom Miss Lucas 
 Harvey merits special mention — ladies who gave their time 
 and talents to the instruction of their own sex; but such work 
 needed encouragement, and organization, and a place in which 
 it could be properly performed, and to supply these no one 
 could be better fitted than was Father Kenna. At first the 
 children met in one of the chapels attached to the church, but 
 this was soon too small, and the large exhibition hall was put 
 at their disposal. 
 
 But while interested in this good work, Father Kenna, as 
 college president, was not unmindful of the desirability of 
 cementing the union of college graduates among themselves 
 and with Alma Mater. In early February, therefore, he sent 
 out invitations to attend a meeting having in view the formation 
 of an Alumni Association, and, on the 25th of the month, 
 he succeeded in effecting it with Hon. J. F. Sullivan, A. M. 
 (class '70), president; Robert Tobin, A. M. (class '72), 
 vice-president; Florence McAuliffe, A. B. (class '75 ), sec- 
 retary; Alfred T. Kelly, A. B. (class '75), treasurer. The execu- 
 tive committee consisted of Rev. R. E. Kenna, S. J.; Thomas 
 D. Riordan, A. M., '73; Joseph Pescia, A. B., M. D., '75; John 
 T. Fogarty, A. M., '75; James I. Boland, A. M., '75; Alfred 
 Tobin, A. B., '76; Matt. I. Sullivan, A. B., '76; J. J. Mont- 
 gomery, S. M., '79. 
 
 The devotion of the old boys to Alma Mater, and be it said 
 to their praise, especially of the graduates of the Seventies, had 
 made Father Kenna's task a comparatively easy one. Even 
 as early as May 30th, 1878, the graduating classes of '75, '76 
 and '77 had anticipated the alumni reunions by holding a 
 banquet at the Maison Doree, Alfred Tobin, '76, presiding. The 
 gathering was large and enthusiastic. The trials, and suc- 
 cesses, and varied incidents of college life were rehearsed amid 
 much applause, and when it was proposed to renew college 
 friendships by a yearly banquet, there was no dissenting voice. 
 James I. Boland was chosen to preside at the reunion of the 
 
248 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 following year. The alumni of St. Ignatius had been the first 
 among Catholic colleges on the Pacific Coast, thus to honor 
 Alma Mater. 
 
 The spiritual welfare of the congregation received no less 
 care from the zeal of Father Kenna than did the varied 
 interests of the college; and Rev. Bernard Maguire and Jere- 
 miah O'Connor of the Maryland-New York Province were 
 invited to give a mission. They arrived on Saturday, February 
 26th. The church was over-crowded morning and evening, 
 and the attendance was very large in the afternoon. In 
 fact, so great was the throng of adults that, to give what 
 accommodations were possible, children were not allowed at 
 night to attend the exercises. For them, there was an instruc- 
 tion in the afternoon at 4 o'clock, and they filled the church 
 to overflowing. In the second week of the mission, the 
 numbers were such that they had to be divided, the girls 
 assisting one day and the boys the next. The church soon 
 became too small for the adults that crowded the pews and 
 packed the aisles, and the consequence was that hundreds 
 nightly had to go away, failing to find even standing room. 
 On the Friday and Saturday nights preceding the closing of 
 the mission, five Fathers were employed until midnight in 
 hearing confessions in the basement of the church, besides the 
 dozen ordinary confessors upstairs. On the Sunday itself, Com- 
 munion began to be distributed by two Fathers at a quarter 
 past five o'clock, and continued almost without interruption 
 until late in the morning. 
 
 At 10:30 a. m. the church was a mass of attentive lis- 
 teners, hundreds of them standing, as Father Maguire eloquently 
 discoursed on the "Institution and Beauties of the Divine Sac- 
 rifice." At 2 p. m. the sacred edifice was filled with children, 
 to whom Father O'Connor made a stirring address suited to 
 the needs of childhood. At 4 p. m. the Gentlemen's and Ladies' 
 Sodalities, that of the Sacred Heart and the members of the 
 Bona Mors, gathered for a last instruction; and so packed was 
 the church in the evening, that the Brother Sacristan could not 
 make his way to light the various gas jets, but had to be con- 
 tent with such as he could reach. Memorials of the mission 
 were distributed at the doors of the church during the day, and 
 
ST. JOSEPH'S ALTAR 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 249 
 
 the number given out was fifteen thousand. Well might the 
 Fathers be content with the rich harvest of spiritual blessings 
 reaped in those days. On the 16th of March, carrying with 
 them the benediction of thousands, the good missionaries set out 
 for their Eastern home. 
 
 On the 29th of the month, the new altar of St. Francis 
 Xavier was in course of erection, and, on the 31st, the relics of 
 St. Placidus were placed under it. This altar was the gift of 
 Mr. Daniel Murphy. The following description of it appeared 
 about this time : 
 
 "The altar is a combination of rare marbles, among which 
 verde antico, maroon variegated, blue variegated and white 
 marble predominate. Several panels of chalcedony add beauty to 
 this rare gem of architecture. The altar is twelve feet in length. 
 It is fashioned in a succession of shelves, with a central porch or 
 tabernacle." This tabernacle was subsequently removed. "The 
 holdings are all in blue variegated marble. Within an open 
 sarcophagus, rests upon yellow satin cushions the wax image 
 of Placidus, the martyr. The figure is robed in the most costly 
 vestments of crimson, with white satin tunic, the whole elabo- 
 rately embroidered in gold; sandals are on the feet. The face 
 of the martyr is very beautiful. Brown curls clustering over the 
 brow add a charm to the expression which is calm and strikingly 
 natural. A gaping wound at the throat tells of the tragic death. 
 Above the altar, marble shafts support a marble pediment, the 
 whole about twenty feet in height. The architecture is of Parian, 
 the frieze of red-veined marble, the cornice of white, and the 
 pediment of garnet marble. The shafts are likewise of garnet 
 marble, and with these is a framework of verde antico, with onyx 
 slabs at intervals. St. Francis Xavier's picture adorns the center 
 of the slab. The frescos upon the sides and roof are very beau- 
 tiful. The niche in which the altar stands is 30 feet in height 
 by 15 in width." 
 
 From the same pen we have a description of St. Aloysius' 
 altar, which was erected about the same time. This altar was 
 paid for by the offerings of various persons; the pupils of 
 the college contributing to its erection. The names of the 
 donors, as a memorial of their piety, were placed under the 
 
250 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 cushion that supports the head of the recumbent figure of the 
 Saint. 
 
 "This altar, of the finest marbles, was imported from Rome. 
 It is of purest Parian, built up in various shelves, and supported 
 by fluted and gilded columns of marble. At intervals over the 
 marble faces, bronze-gilt ornaments are affixed. The carvings 
 in basso relievo upon the facades are exquisitely chiseled and 
 bold. Under the center of the altar is an open sarcophagus, in 
 which is the waxen image of St. Aloysius. The following 
 inscription, in intaglio, is over the sarcophagus: 'Consummates 
 in brevi explevit tempora multa' : 'Being made perfect in a short 
 space, he fulfilled a long time.' Above the altar, a couple of 
 artists have executed an exquisite fresco. The interior of a 
 dome, blue as the arch of heaven, caps the fresco. Under the 
 dome, two angels perch upon the cornice, having just made 
 their entrance through the portals on either side of the alcove 
 which holds the altar. Through the oval portals, the blue firma- 
 ment is seen. Angelic hands hold a crown of gold and emerald. 
 The robes of the celestial visitants are of blue and purple. From 
 the crown, gracefully falling in rich folds are warm purple and 
 orange draperies that are looped back over the capitals of the 
 supporting shafts. Around these columns, rolling back, almost 
 hiding them, are pink draperies with broad gold fringes. 
 Across the top of these, a festoon of lilies, emblematical of purity, 
 is suspended from side to side. The center of the fresco is occu- 
 pied by an oil painting of St. Aloysius." 
 
 Holy Saturday, this year, April 16th, brought a repetition 
 of the confessions of Father Maguire's mission, and again the 
 five extra confessors were utilized until midnight. On the same 
 evening, the new throne for the Blessed Sacrament was put in 
 place, to be ready for the Solemn Benediction to be given on 
 Easter night. It is a wood carving of magnificent design. "It 
 is of oak, gilded," says the writer whom we lately quoted when 
 speaking of the altars of St. Francis Xavier and St. Aloysius, 
 "and consists of nine angels effectively grouped. At the sum- 
 mit of the arch are two little cherubs with outstretched wings, 
 each supporting, with chubby hands, the golden drapery which 
 falls in massive folds and is looped on either side. Below this, 
 
ALTAR OI- ST. ALOVSIUS 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 251 
 
 at the supporting columns on either side, are two angels some- 
 what larger, also with outspread wings. At the base of the 
 columns are two angels of grander proportions, each supporting 
 a candelabrum. Within this span of the arch, and kneeling in 
 dissimilar attitudes, are three cherubs. The central figure sup- 
 ports, with arms extended above his head, the book of the seven 
 seals of the Apocalypse. The golden book affords a base upon 
 which to rest the monstrance. One cherub bears aloft a golden 
 chalice, while the other exhibits a cluster of grapes and wisps 
 of wheat, symbolical of the bread and wine, which, in turn, sym- 
 bolize the body and blood of the Redeemer. Within the back- 
 ground afforded by the draperies and columns, is the emblem of 
 the Holy Ghost, the dove with scintillating beams. This rich 
 allegorical group, rising as it does before the elaborate altar 
 painting representing the glory of St. Ignatius, greatly adds to 
 the effect of the main altar." The beauty of the altar had already 
 been further enhanced by deepening the receptacle that held the 
 picture of St. Ignatius; so that the glory of the feast found fit- 
 ting expression in the new splendors of art added to God's temple. 
 
 The statue of St. Joseph, which arrived for the Fathers' 
 garden on April 4th, had its pedestal prepared in the early days 
 of May. The blessing took place on the 8th, and was performed 
 by Rev. Father Kenna in the presence of the assembled Com- 
 munity, and St. Joseph was constituted its patron and protector. 
 It was, however, but the outward manifestation of what had 
 always been in everybody's heart; for he would indeed be a 
 strange follower of Jesus, who would not cherish St. Joseph with 
 filial affection. With the end of the month, the school year came 
 to a close, and crowded halls told of a city's appreciation of the 
 work that was being done. In fact, the number of persons 
 accepting invitations, exceeded the capacity of the hall ; and sev- 
 eral, even intimate friends of the institution, whom circum- 
 stances did not permit to anticipate the commencement of the 
 exercises, could not find even standing room, so dense was 
 the throng. 
 
 With the departure of Mr. Dominic Giacobbi, S. J., during 
 the preceding August, the musical society in the college ceased. 
 It therefore no longer appears in the yearly catalogue. Music, 
 
252 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 however, underwent a partial revival in the following October, 
 when a singing class was organized, and Mr. J. Manning engaged 
 to teach it. 
 
 The church was meanwhile increasing in beauty, as altar 
 after altar was completed. On the ioth of June, the altars of 
 St. Francis Xavier and of St. Aloysius were ready for conse- 
 cration, and the ceremony was performed by His Grace, Arch- 
 bishop Alemany, who afterwards said mass at the altar of St. 
 Francis. On the 19th, the altar was exposed to public view, and 
 Father Varsi said mass at it. The first mass at the altar of St. 
 Aloysius was said by the same Father on the feast of the saint 
 two days later. 
 
 The changes in the faculty this year were less numerous than 
 those of last. In early July, Father Joseph Dossola replaced 
 Father Leggio as vice-president; and later, Father Aloysius 
 Raggio took the place of Mr. Daniel Crowley as prefect of the 
 junior students; Mr. Crowley devoted his time to the study of 
 theology. Mr. John Walshe, S. J., went to Santa Clara, and 
 Messrs. Thomas Boland and Francis Shafer came thence to 
 take charge of classes. 
 
 Rt. Rev. Bishop Raimondi of Hongkong, China, who 
 happened to be in San Francisco at the time, graciously ac- 
 cepted the invitation of the Fathers to pontificate on the Feast 
 of St. Ignatius. On August 12th, the pupils of the college 
 tendered him and Bishop-elect Hermann, coadjutor to Bishop 
 Maigret of Honolulu, a reception in the college hall. Fathers 
 Aubert and Leonor, religious of the Congregation of the Sacred 
 Hearts of Jesus and Mary, to which Congregation Father Her- 
 mann belonged, accompanied him. Our readers will realize 
 better the pleasure of the occasion, when they remember that 
 this Congregation is the Congregation of Picpus, which, in the 
 early Fifties, sent her zealous sons to the shores of California 
 as she has spread them with such glory to the Church, through 
 the islands of the broad Pacific. Thus were the two Orders. 
 Jesuits and Picpus Fathers once more united in a land in which 
 they were the first religious bodies to divide the missionary 
 field after the American occupation. 
 
 On the 19th of the following month, the college was called 
 upon to join in the national mourning caused by the death of 
 

 ALTAR OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 253 
 
 President Garfield. On the 23rd, His Grace, the Most Rev. 
 Archbishop, prescribed that the mass "Pro quacumque necessi- 
 tate" be celebrated on the 26th in all the churches of the Arch- 
 diocese, and that prayers be offered up for our country in its 
 affliction. On the day appointed, the day of the funeral of the 
 deceased President, a Solemn High Mass was celebrated in the 
 church, and a brief but forceful sermon was delivered by Father 
 Kenna, in part eulogistic of the dead, in part a warning to 
 parents concerning the evils that flow from a lack of respect 
 for authority, especially in the young. 
 
 The buildings had been appropriately draped in black, and, 
 after mass, students, and faculty, and members of the Gentle- 
 men's Sodality, left the college to take part in the public 
 procession. 
 
 They formed at the college on Grove Street, then marched 
 in excellent order to the place assigned them. Here the 
 boys waited, as patiently as boys could, for about two hours, 
 until at 1:15 p. m their time came to start. All had proceeded 
 harmoniously up to this. But soon the word was circulated 
 that the Industrial School Band was to head their division. 
 Then the trouble began. The boys protested that they would 
 not budge an inch unless given another band. But wiser coun- 
 sels prevailed, and they allowed themselves to be persuaded 
 by their teachers, not to be a cause of trouble on such an occa- 
 sion. The sacrifice was no slight one in their eyes, for their 
 fancies pictured that the city would take them for Industrial 
 School boys if they followed its band, and this cut their pride 
 deeply. Assured that no sane mind would mistake them for 
 boys from the reformatory, they wheeled into line, and some 
 five hundred strong, were a marked feature of the procession. 
 After two hours of marching, they returned to the college, but 
 there was still the protest about the band. 
 
 "St. Ignatius turned out a large division under Father 
 Kenna," says an eye-witness. "A feature of this body (the 
 nth division) was a large delegation of the juvenile members 
 of the college, who waited patiently, on the sunny sidewalk, 
 to fall in with the column when it came up, and seemed no-wise 
 appalled at the tiresome and tedious march before them." The 
 
254 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 observer was right. The sun, and the wait, and the weary 
 march were patiently borne with; but the band — there was 
 the rub. 
 
 Father Varsi was at this time in the Eastern States, having 
 gone thither on September 8th in the company of Mr. Joseph 
 Donohoe. During his absence, which lasted over two months, 
 Father Congiato supplied his place. Father Varsi was conse- 
 quently absent both from the first entertainment of the 
 Gentlemen's Sodality given in the basement of the church on 
 September 29th, and the first Alumni banquet on October 19th. 
 
 The idea of adding the social to the religious side of the 
 Gentlemen's Sodality, though, of course, in a subordinate de- 
 gree, had not originated with the genial Father Patrick Kelly, 
 who, in August, had replaced Father Joseph Neri as director; 
 but it was his merit, and not a small one, to succeed in devising 
 ways and means by which this praiseworthy object was attained. 
 Even on October 1st, 1873, the Sodality had appointed a com- 
 mittee consisting of the Reverend Father Director, Csesar A. 
 Barchi, S. J.; the Prefect, Mr. J. H. Adams; together with 
 Messrs. P. McEntyre, P. Lynch, and J. F. Sullivan, "to consider 
 the advisability of holding some entertainment for the purpose 
 of bringing the Sodalists together and increasing the funds in 
 the treasury." With the growth of the Sodality, the increase 
 of funds was not pressing, and Father Kelly, therefore, could 
 look solely to the primary object: "The bringing of the Sodal- 
 ists together." The entertainment was held in the basement 
 of the church, in the room now devoted to the Sewing Circle, 
 and about four hundred people were present. It was a family 
 affair for the Sodalists and their friends; given by the Sodalists, 
 among whom talent of all kind was easily found; and so success- 
 ful, that the director resolved to have several others during the 
 winter months. 
 
 1882. 
 The 3rd of February of this year, marks the introduction of 
 the ceremony of the blessing of the throats on the Feast of 
 St. Blasius, a ceremony since adopted by many other churches 
 of the city to the great benefit of the faithful, and, let us hope, 
 even of those who are not of the faith; for not a few non- 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 255 
 
 Catholics and even some Jews are known to have presented 
 themselves for the blessing. On the first of the following 
 month, Fathers Philip Cardella and Francis Crispolti left St. 
 Ignatius for New York to labor among the Spanish-speaking 
 Catholics of that city. They had arrived in San Francisco on 
 July 16th, 1881, having been expelled by the anti-Catholic 
 element of Nicaragua. Though most useful in California, a 
 wider field for their zeal was presented by the Eastern metrop- 
 olis and hence their transference thither. 
 
 A few days passed, and Archbishop Charles Seghers of Port- 
 land, Oregon, the future Martyr-Bishop of Alaska, arrived at 
 the college. As he entered immediately upon a spiritual retreat, 
 it was impossible either for the faculty or the student body to 
 express publicly the esteem in which he was held. His retreat, 
 however, was over by the 14th of the month, and then in verse 
 and prose the young hearts of the students expressed what 
 they sincerely felt. To one of his servers at mass, he presented 
 as a little memento, a picture with . the motto which had had 
 such an influence on his own life, "Crux, lux mea." "O cross, 
 my light." Truly it was love of the cross alone that had induced 
 him to abandon friends and country for our Western shores; 
 that had led him to give up his archbishopric for the bleak and 
 frozen wastes of the Northern wilds ; that had strengthened him 
 to put up with privations and ill-treatment for the love of 
 souls, until a violent death cut him down in the prime of life. 
 The cross had been his light, and, in its brightness, had he walked 
 securely to eternal rest. 
 
 April and May witnessed a couple of pretty ceremonies 
 in our church, when two of the old pupils of St. Ignatius entered 
 into the matrimonial state with nuptial mass and all the bless- 
 ings proper of that happy occasion. The first was the union of 
 Mr. John Parrott and Miss Minnie Donohoe; the second that 
 of Mr. Frank Sullivan and Miss Alice Phelan. Splendor 
 combined with delicate taste characterized each occasion, 
 and seldom had the church, in its beauty, appeared to greater 
 advantage. 
 
 The college was prospering with its 780 pupils and nine 
 graduates received their degrees ; four, that of Bachelor of Arts ; 
 and five, that of Bachelor of Science. 
 
256 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The changes in the faculty were more numerous than usual. 
 Father Florence Sullivan, after years of successful teaching, was, 
 in August, devoted to the works of the ministry, as was also 
 Father Celestine Galliano, though seemingly somewhat later 
 in the year. Father Aloysius Brunengo, Messrs. John J. Cun- 
 ningham, Daniel Crowley, John Moore, Michael McKey, 
 Michael Shallo, Julius Egloffstein and Thomas Boland, S. J., 
 no longer formed part of the faculty. In their places, we find 
 Fathers Joseph Sasia and Paul Mans, Messrs. Dionysius 
 Mahony, Richard Gleeson, William Culligan and Vincent 
 Chiappa. 
 
 On the 24th of September, Father Prelato, by a Solemn 
 Mass, celebrated the Silver Jubilee of his priesthood. On the eve 
 of the celebration, the pupils of the college assembled in the 
 hall to present their congratulations to one who had labored so 
 long and zealously for their welfare; and earnestly did they 
 express their wish that, both he and they, might meet again on 
 the occasion of his Golden Jubilee, a wish which for most there 
 is every hope of realization, as only -two years are now lacking 
 of the happy event. 
 
 "Perhaps we may touch the most tender chord in the loving 
 heart of the zealous priest," writes an admirer in reference to the 
 celebration, "if we say that among the many duties which have 
 filled his active life, none display more fully the entire energy 
 of his broad affections than when we find him engaged in the 
 direction of youth. 
 
 With the exception of two or three years, during which he 
 was the chaplain of the Industrial School, Father Prelato has 
 been director of the Boys' Sodality connected with St. Ignatius 
 Church; and, to be convinced of the mutual attachment between 
 the Father and the boys, one needs but pay them a casual visit 
 when together in their place of meeting. In this trait, the true 
 minister of God imitates the perfect model of our Savior, who 
 pronounced it his delight to be with the children of men. . . . 
 
 That the goodness of God may bless the much-loved Father 
 with a long and happy life of usefulness for his greater glory 
 and the good of souls, is the earnest prayer of his grateful and 
 affectionate children in the classroom, the congregation, and in 
 the world." 
 
FATHER CHARLES MESSEA, S. J. 
 FATHER FLORENCE SULLIVAN, S. J. 
 
 FATHER FRANCIS I. PRELATO, S. J. 
 

ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 257 
 
 Continuous labors for years in the missionary field had 
 begun, only too surely, to undermine the naturally sound consti- 
 tution of Father Buchard; and hence physicians recommended 
 a rest, and a voyage to the Sandwich Islands. The generosity 
 of a kind friend came in to defray expenses, and, in the middle 
 of December, the Father set sail for Honolulu, to return only on 
 the 21st of March of the following year. 
 
 He was not alone, however, the recipient of the kind favors of 
 the benefactors of St. Ignatius. The poor of the city shared 
 with him in their bounty. On December 21st, the Francesca 
 Society gave its gifts to the needy, in even greater abundance 
 than usual. This society, named after St. Frances of Rome, 
 is composed of a number of charitable ladies of the city, who 
 emulate in their love for Christ's needy ones, the charity of the 
 Saint, their patroness. Mrs. Bertha Welch has been the mov- 
 ing spirit of the organization for years, and many and sincere 
 are the benedictions of the poor at Christmas on herself and her 
 devoted associates. 
 
 Requested for a brief account of the organization, we have 
 the following from the lady's pen : 
 
 "In the Lent of 1878, some young ladies, headed by Miss 
 Thompson, met at Mrs. Welch's home to sew for the poor. 
 The first donation of material was obtained for them by Rev. 
 C. A. Barchi, S. J., who, at the same time, placed the little society 
 under the patronage of St. Frances of Rome. 
 
 On the 14th of April, rooms at 11 1 Turk Street were 
 engaged for their meetings, Father Florence J. Sullivan, S. J., 
 having found friends who agreed to become honorary members 
 and help the society by monthly contributions. Among the 
 latter, was Mrs. James Follis, who for several years contributed 
 generously. 
 
 The first election of officers took place the same year, when 
 Mrs. Rosecrans, wife of General Rosecrans, was elected presi- 
 dent; Mrs. James A. Thompson, vice-president; Miss Kathleen 
 Thompson, treasurer; and Mrs. Katherine Walsh, secretary. 
 Among its first members were Mrs. George Knox, Mrs. P. J. 
 White, Mrs. Wm. Bryan, Mrs. George Rossiter, Miss Harriet 
 Skidmore, Miss M. Thompson, Miss Barry, Miss Elsie Pardow, 
 
258 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Miss L. Abbott, Miss Mary Shea, Miss Hoffman, Miss N. Sulli- 
 van, Mrs. Andrew Welch, Mrs. Le Breton. 
 
 At Christmas, 1878, twelve children were clothed in honor 
 of the childhood of our Lord ; and the custom of dressing chil- 
 dren and giving them a Christmas-tree festival, and of giving 
 groceries to poor people, was begun and has since continued. 
 
 The average number of children dressed is now from two 
 hundred and fifty to three hundred. The number of families to 
 whom groceries are given is about one hundred and fifty. This 
 year, 1904, twelve families were given Christmas dinners. 
 
 During 1878 and 1879, years of much misery in the city, 
 groceries were distributed every Tuesday. About Christmas, 
 1878, Rev. A. Varsi, S. J., interested himself in the society, and 
 obtained for it a large gift of goods from Mr. D. Murphy of 
 Murphy, Grant & Co. From that date, Father Varsi assisted it 
 in all its needs, giving it rooms in the church of St. Ignatius, 
 where it has been since May 23rd, 1880, at which time Father 
 Varsi took personal direction of the society and drew up its rules. 
 
 In January, 1899, the society began a training school for 
 girls, which school was placed under the direction of Mrs. 
 Slevin and Miss Mellis. The Francesca Society, after a year, 
 finding that it had grown beyond it, gave up its management." 
 
 A few years before Father Varsi's death he had the Fran- 
 cesca Society incorporated, in order that it might be legally 
 capable of receiving bequests. Of two we have record: one of 
 $3,000 from Mrs. Oliver; the other of $2,000 from Mr. James 
 Russell. May the society long prosper in the generous sacrifices 
 of its friends and associates, for what is done for the poor of 
 the Master, is done for Him! 
 
 1883. 
 With the beginning of January, Father Varsi ceased to be 
 Superior of the Californian Mission, Father Nicholas Congiato, 
 with residence in San Jose, replacing him. The catalogue of 
 the Turin Province assigns the date as January 1st. This, 
 however, seems to mean the day on which the appointment 
 arrived, not the day of its official announcement. On January 
 2nd, Father Varsi made a trip to San Jose and returned to St. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 259 
 
 Ignatius in the evening. Nothing was said of any change and 
 none had taken place. The announcement was made on Janu- 
 ary 6th, and after a little over five years of ceaseless labor, 
 Father Varsi turned the management of affairs over to his suc- 
 cessor, and retired to the ranks of the Order, though by no 
 means to inactivity in the promotion of St. Ignatius' welfare. 
 He had begun the magnificent work, there were still many beau- 
 ties to be added before completion. 
 
 On the 17th of the month, he went to the Presidio to make 
 arrangements for a priest to attend the Catholic soldiers. Father 
 Congiato had, on the preceding evening, come up to the city 
 from San Jose, and there seems to be no doubt that he had asked 
 Father Varsi, as better posted in the matter, to interview the 
 proper authorities. At that time, the church nearest the Pre- 
 sidio, was St. Bridget's, the clergy of which, ever zealous, 
 did what was in their power to attend to the spiritual wel- 
 fare of the Catholic soldiers; but distance and the needs of 
 an extensive parish necessarily crippled their efforts. St. 
 Ignatius, therefore, had again the honor of assisting in a work 
 of zeal in which much spiritual good has been done. 
 
 Father Paul Mans, S. J., who, as a secular priest, had for 
 many years been a missionary in the Northwest, and had 
 attended various military posts, was selected as best suited to 
 understand the needs of the soldiers. Accommodations were 
 indeed primitive. An attic, for church, was the best that Uncle 
 Sam could furnish, and this was in the sheds of the ordnance 
 department. Some two hundred soldiers attended mass on Sun- 
 days, and the Father visited them on Thursdays, besides going 
 on Saturday evenings to give them an opportunity for confes- 
 sion. With the progress of time and the growth of the city, the 
 Church of St. Vincent de Paul has been established within easy 
 reach of the garrison, so that even when there is no Catholic 
 chaplain at the post, urgent calls can easily be attended to. 
 Father Prelato, however, still visits the military hospital, and 
 says mass every Sunday and holy day in the chapel which 
 replaced the original attic, swept away by fire on June 19th, 1895. 
 His seventy-six years are no damper on a zeal which has already, 
 for seventeen years, employed itself in this difficult ministry. 
 
260 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 At the end of January, 1883, Father Celestine Galliano left 
 St. Ignatius to become assistant procurator in Santa Clara. In 
 the same place, on March 31st, Mr. Daniel Crowley, S. J., an 
 old student of St. Ignatius, and for many years connected with 
 it as teacher, prefect of the junior students and sanctuary director, 
 peacefully closed a short, but useful career by a pious death. A 
 remarkably sweet disposition, combined with clear, practical judg- 
 ment, made him an excellent worker in the Lord's vineyard; 
 but the Master was satisfied with the labor of life's morning 
 hours, and called his servant to rest before imposing upon him 
 the burden of the day and the heat. 
 
 On the 5th of the month, Rev. Father Kenna commenced, 
 in the church, a mission for the gentlemen of the congregation; 
 and, a week later, Father Varsi commenced a similar one for 
 the ladies. Both missions were eminently successful. Father 
 Varsi was not indeed a specially gifted speaker, when mere 
 oratorical delivery was considered, but his deep, penetrating 
 mind, richly stored with the science of the spiritual life, and 
 his earnest impressiveness of manner, imparted to his words 
 a wonderful efficacy. No one could hear him and not feel his 
 power. The earnestness, too, of Father Kenna was long 
 remembered. 
 
 With the first of May, came Father Xavier Junquito, S. J., 
 from Panama for the benefit of his health — a thin, frail man, 
 whose quiet manner was graced by deep learning and sincere 
 piety. The climate of Santa Clara was thought better suited to 
 his condition, and so his stay in St. Ignatius was short. On 
 November 10th he returned to San Francisco on his way back 
 to the Isthmus, of which he is at present the esteemed Arch- 
 bishop. On the 22nd, came Father Patrick Healy on his way to 
 Alaska; and on the 24th, the Feast of Corpus Christi, Arch- 
 bishop Vaughn of Sidney, Australia, was celebrant during the 
 procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. 
 
 The term of Father Kenna's government of St. Ignatius 
 came to an end on July 25th, and Father Joseph Sasia, bringing 
 to the office equal energy of character and desire of furthering 
 the best interests of church and college, succeeded him. The 
 change, however, brought no rest to Father Kenna, for, on the 
 
FATHER JOSEPH DOSSOLA, S. J. 
 FATHER CELESTINE GALLIANO, S. T. 
 
 FATHER PAUL MANS, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 261 
 
 next day, he became president of Santa Clara College, his prede- 
 cessor, Father John Pinasco, coming to St. Ignatius to profess 
 rhetoric and replace Father Patrick Kelly as director of the 
 Gentlemen's Sodality. 
 
 The government of Father Kenna had, as the source of its 
 inspiration, the zeal of his heart. The Sunday-schools, the col- 
 lege, the church, all bore grateful testimony to it. In laboring 
 for the welfare of souls, he never tired, and he made it a primary 
 object of his presidency to foster zeal in the hearts of others. 
 His rule was popular with the students, and their numbers grew 
 under his administration. They esteemed and loved him, 
 and knew that he really felt for them all the affection of a father, 
 and that, if they had a true friend, he was one. 
 
 Father Kenna was born at Brandon, Mississippi, on Septem- 
 ber 1 6th, 1844. When about five years old, he crossed the plains 
 with his parents, arriving in California in 1849. He received a 
 part of his early education in the San Francisco High School. 
 He was then, for a time, secretary to Archbishop Alemany. 
 After this, he spent a year and a half in the colleges of Ireland, 
 a year at St. Coleman's College, Fermoy County, and half a year 
 with the Vincentian Fathers at Castlenock. Ill health com- 
 pelled a return to California. In 1867, ne entered Santa 
 Clara College, as student, and on August 6th, 1868, became a 
 member of the Society of Jesus. Some three years later we 
 find him a professor in his Alma Mater. On the completion of 
 his theology in 1879, he was ordained priest, and a year later, 
 as we have seen, became president of St. Ignatius. Writing, 
 as we are, in 1905, we may be permitted to sketch Father Kenna's 
 later career: 
 
 During his presidency of Santa Clara College from July 
 26th, 1883, to December 27th, 1888, he renovated the old 
 Mission Church and erected the Students' Memorial Chapel. 
 Transferred to St. Ignatius, he became vice-president in 1890-91. 
 Back again in Santa Clara in 1891, he was appointed pas- 
 tor of the congregation for a year, and then vice-president 
 of the college from 1893-97. Two years of pastorship in 
 San Jose followed, when he was once more made president of 
 Santa Clara. Here he labored until relieved of office on July 
 
262 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 31st of the present year. He is at present with us in St. Ignatius 
 to begin the second half-century of its trials and successes. 
 
 But, to return to 1883. Other changes as radical as this of 
 the presidency took place in the faculty. Father Csesar A. Barchi 
 once more became vice-president. Fathers Paul Mans, Joseph 
 Dossola, Aloysius Raggio and Patrick Kelly were transferred 
 elsewhere. Of the last-named Father an incident is related 
 which will show how he could reach the hearts of children. 
 
 "In 1877, he was back again in St. Ignatius College, San 
 Francisco," says the narrator, "where he divided his labors 
 between the church and the schoolroom. In 1878, the chaplaincy 
 of the Industrial School and the House of Correction was 
 assigned to him in addition. Those who are acquainted with 
 work of this kind in such institutions, need not be told that it 
 is as uninviting as it is laborious. A curious incident occurred 
 in 1880, after he ceased attending there, which shows how thor- 
 oughly he had won the affection and confidence of the waifs 
 and strays confined in the Industrial School. The superintend- 
 ent, wishing to reward them for their extra good behavior, sig- 
 nified his intention of granting them any request that they 
 should make, if it were in his power to grant it. Much to his 
 surprise, the young rascals simply asked him to get them back 
 'the little Father' who used to attend the school." The "little 
 Father" was Father Kelly. 
 
 Besides the Fathers mentioned, the college staff lost Messrs. 
 Dionysius Mahony, Richard Gleeson, Vincent Chiappa and 
 Jerome Ricard, receiving, in return, Fathers John Pinasco and 
 Thomas Leonard, as also Messrs. Felix Weis, Joseph Mulligan, 
 Joseph Hickey and Ignatius Schmitt. Later in the year, Mr. 
 George P. Butler, S. J., was added to it. 
 
 Matters thus harmoniously arranged, church and college 
 resumed their wonted course, until, on October 7th, the 
 laying of the cornerstone of the beautiful Dominican Church, 
 on the corner of Bush and Steiner Streets, permitted again a 
 manifestation of the mutual affection and esteem which had 
 united the Dominicans and Jesuits in California. Rev. Father 
 Sasia, the president, was invited to preach on the occasion, and 
 the sanctuary boys were invited to take part in the ceremony. 
 
FATHER JOSEPH SASIA, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 263 
 
 Both invitations were cordially accepted. Though the hour was 
 somewhat late when the ceremony was over, Father Sasia held 
 the attention of the vast multitude gathered on the occasion ; the 
 sanctuary boys admirably fulfilled their part; and thus, in the 
 sanctity of Christian fellowship, another noble work dedicated 
 to God's glory, and of which our city may well be proud, was 
 auspiciously begun. 
 
 About a month later, on November 6th, Archbishop Patrick 
 W. Riordan, D. D., coadjutor to Archbishop Alemany, arrived 
 in San Francisco, and, on the 16th, was formally received by the 
 college. His kind words were indeed an encouragement to 
 the Fathers to go on zealously in the good work in which they 
 were engaged, for his words were not only those of a sincere 
 friend, but they were those of a broad-minded prelate, who knew 
 the needs of the time and appreciated the difficulties. His 
 remarks, too, made a deep impression on the students, for there 
 was no mistaking the heart that spoke. 
 
 "At the conclusion of the entertainment," says the Monitor 
 of November 21st, "His Grace delivered, in a masterly manner, 
 a brief but telling address to the students, complimenting them 
 on the creditable display of their talents and literary culture; 
 thanking them for the sentiments of loyalty towards the Catho- 
 lic Church and her representatives, which they had so ably 
 expressed; and exhorting them to profit by the golden opportu- 
 nities afforded the youth of San Francisco by this renowned 
 institution of learning. 
 
 Under the able and experienced guidance of the sons of St. 
 Ignatius, they will learn how to associate and harmonize knowl- 
 edge with virtue, science with piety, and pursue the attainment 
 of temporal goods so as not to forget that an eternal fidelity is 
 due the Church of God. Docility and obedience to those zealous 
 teachers and professors will be for them the surest safeguard 
 against all dangers, the bulwark of Christian faith and virtue, 
 and the strongest defense against all the attacks of modern 
 infidelity, materialism and immorality, which poison the atmos- 
 phere that surrounds us." 
 
 A few days later, Bishop Oseuf of Tokio, Japan, honored us 
 with his presence, and remained our guest until he went south- 
 
264 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 ward about the middle of December. The year ended with a 
 Christmas tree for the Girls' Sunday-school, at which a thousand 
 children were present, besides fifteen hundred mothers and lady 
 friends; and the solemn Benediction, on the last night of the 
 year, at which Archbishop Riordan officiated. Each was a mag- 
 nificent spectacle of its kind, the good achieved by the former, 
 being one of the many reasons for the solemn Te Deum preced- 
 ing the latter. How the Sunday-school had prospered under the 
 care of Father Sasia is shown by the numbers. Miss Lucas 
 Harvey, Miss Harriet Skidmore, Miss Kathleen M. Thompson, 
 with sixty-two other teachers, were his zealous co-workers. 
 
 1884. 
 
 On March 9th, 1884, Bishop Healy, with Father Blenkinshop 
 of Boston, came to remain with us for about two weeks, the 
 Bishop preaching the panegyric of St. Joseph at high mass on 
 the Sunday following the Saint's feast. A large congregation 
 gathered to hear him, for his eloquence on former occasions was 
 deeply graven on their memories. In the beginning of May, a 
 pretty ceremony, which of late years had been introduced by 
 Father Prelato, took place. It consisted of a procession of the 
 student Sodalists, with banners and regalia, to the statue of St. 
 Joseph in the Fathers' garden. Hymns were sung and an address 
 was made. This year the address was by Rt. Rev. Bishop 
 O'Connell, just as last year it had been by his coadjutor, Rt. Rev. 
 Bishop Manogue, to the great profit and edification of their 
 hearers. 
 
 In July, Father Caesar A. Barchi was replaced as vice- 
 president by Father Gregory Leggio, and, in other offices, 
 Father John Pinasco and Messrs. Henry Woods, George Butler, 
 Joseph Mulligan and Robert Smith, S. J., were replaced by 
 Father Angelo Coltelli and Messrs. John J. Cunningham, 
 Michael A. McKey, Joseph Landry and Henry Raiders, S. J. 
 Mr. Raiders, however, remained about a week only after the 
 opening of classes, ill health necessitating a return to Santa Clara. 
 
 On August 3rd, the day on which the Feast of St. Ignatius 
 was solemnized, His Grace, Archbishop Riordan, gave another 
 proof of his friendship by pontificating; and similar marks of 
 kindness has he unceasingly shown during the many years that 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 265 
 
 have since intervened, whenever pressing duties have not inter- 
 fered or wavering health forbade. On October 28th, Bishop 
 Manogue, taking Father Varsi with him as his theologian, 
 set out for the Council of Baltimore. His choice was cer- 
 tainly well made, for, though love is proverbially blind, it 
 had excellent sight in the present case. After two months of 
 absence, Father Varsi was restored to us on the 19th of the fol- 
 lowing December. 
 
 As this was the tercentenary year of the establishment of 
 Sodalities of the Blessed Virgin, it was decided to celebrate, with 
 special pomp, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, under the 
 title of which the Gentlemen's Sodality had been organized. 
 Father Joseph Neri was again director of the Sodality, and 
 under him, as under his able predecessors, the membership of 
 the body had been constantly growing. Among the many quali- 
 ties that fitted Father Neri for the directing of societies, that 
 of organization was doubtless paramount. To him the Sanc- 
 tuary Society owed its traditions of excellence; the Philhistorian 
 Debating Society had felt his influence; but the Sodality 
 afforded him by far the amplest and most fruitful field for 
 the exercise of his gifts. Early in November, the Gentlemen's 
 Chapel had become too cramped for the accommodation of 
 increasing numbers and had been widened. Father Neri would 
 enlarge it first, that he might beautify it afterwards; but the 
 improvement of its members, even more so than that of their 
 place of meeting, was the object of his care. A solemn novena, 
 preached by him and attended by the Sodalists in a body, began 
 on the 28th of the month. It was an imposing sight, as it ever 
 is, to see the pews on both sides of the main aisle of the church 
 filled with men. Nor was old age alone represented among 
 them; youth and middle age asserted themselves in preponder- 
 ant numbers, showing that manhood could give of its best to 
 devotion to our Blessed Mother. Sunday, the 7th of December, 
 was appointed as the day of general communion, since many 
 would be unable to attend any save an early mass on the follow- 
 ing day, the day proper of the feast. But all were present on 
 the evening of the 8th, when, to the great edification of the 
 crowds that knelt around, the members of the Sodality renewed 
 
266 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 their consecration to Mary's cause. An entertainment in the 
 college hall, three days later, concluded the celebration. 
 
 The fraternal ties, which had ever bound in closest harmony 
 the colleges of Santa Clara and of St. Ignatius, were drawn 
 even tighter this present year, when Father Kenna, the president 
 of the former institution, permitted his pupils to give a drama 
 in St. Ignatius Hall for the benefit of the Ignatian Society. The 
 young participants in the entertainment played their parts 
 admirably, and, as the attendance was all that could be desired, 
 the glory, from more standpoints than one, was anything but 
 empty; still, alas! the receipts were only a drop in the seem- 
 ingly bottomless abyss of debt. With all the Fathers' economy 
 and self-sacrifice, with all their efforts and unceasing labor, the 
 debt, due principally to accruing interest, had grown to the 
 enormous sum of $1,008,511 ; on which, in eight years, the inter- 
 est alone had amounted to the fabulous sum of $285,264. Such 
 was the burden that the children of St. Ignatius were bear- 
 ing for the cause of religion. 
 
 1885. 
 
 In early January, 1885, Father Mans returned to reside in 
 St. Ignatius, but he went monthly to San Jose to attend to the 
 spiritual needs of the Germans there, a Mission from which the 
 present St. Mary's Church has sprung, with its flourishing school 
 and congregation. 
 
 Thirty-four years of laborious and fruitful episcopacy had 
 now passed for the venerable incumbent of the See of San Fran- 
 cisco, and he saw the spiritual wilderness, into whose soil his 
 careful hands had dropped the seeds of the higher life, already 
 covered with the ripening harvest. He saw, moreover, at his 
 side, a valiant husbandman in the prime of manhood, to whose 
 zealous care he could, with all assurance, confide it to be defended 
 and garnered. Surely he was entitled to desire and ask for 
 rest. On the 28th of the month, the announcement was made 
 that Rome had accepted the resignation of His Grace, Arch- 
 bishop Alemany, and it was soon known that he would return 
 to end his days in his native Catalonia. On the 19th of May, 
 Father Sasia, in company with Fathers Kenna and Congiato, 
 waited on him to wish him Godspeed, and, five days later, he 
 
MOST REV. PATRICK W. RIORDAN, D.D. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 267 
 
 departed. Whatever differences had existed between him and 
 the Fathers had long since been healed — differences, in fact, 
 which were rather due to external influences which had been 
 brought to bear upon the pious prelate, than to anything sponta- 
 neous on his own part. An ornament to his noble Order and 
 to the Archdiocese, he left behind him no sincerer admirers of 
 his many virtues than the Fathers of St. Ignatius. 
 
 The Girls' Sunday-school, which, for some years, had been 
 held in the college hall, was transferred, in the middle of Feb- 
 ruary, to the church. 
 
 About the same time, Father Buchard started on a trip to 
 New Orleans and places connected with his earlier life. The 
 strain of missionary labor was, as we have said, telling on his 
 system, and nature had lost the elasticity of younger years which 
 easily had restored the strength spent in ceaseless teaching and 
 instructing in mining camp and mountain village. The pleasure 
 of old surroundings, even though partly changed ; the sight of 
 old faces, though the number be small ; the hearty welcome that 
 assures us that time and distance have not obliterated us from 
 the hearts that once have loved us, cannot but prove refreshing 
 to tired nature. Five months spent in the Southern and Eastern 
 and Mid-western States, gave back to us Father Buchard, on 
 the 17th of July, improved in health and impatient for work. 
 
 Meanwhile His Grace, Archbishop Riordan, had granted a 
 permission greatly desired by the Fathers, and which has con- 
 tributed so much to foster devotion to the Sacred Heart — the 
 permission, namely, to have the exposition of the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment every first Friday. It was had, for the first time, on May 
 Day, and has continued without interruption ever since. 
 
 Changes, this year, in the college staff were numerous, espe- 
 cially among those who were members of the Society of Jesus 
 and who had not yet arrived at the priesthood. Messrs. John 
 Cunningham, Felix Weis, Thomas Boland, Joseph Hickey, 
 Joseph Landry, William Culligan and Joseph Riordan were 
 destined for Santa Clara, some to teach, and some to employ 
 their time in study. Father Charles Pollano accompanied 
 them. Mr. John Nestor was sent to San Jose ; and, later, Messrs. 
 Edward Allen, Theodore Rinck and Michael McKey departed 
 for Woodstock, Maryland. In their place, we find Father Sulli- 
 
268 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 van again teaching, as also Father Vincent Reitmayr, Messrs. 
 Dionysius Mahony, Henry Woods, William Harty, Patrick 
 Foote and William Barry. 
 
 As a mark of special favor to St. Ignatius, His Grace, the 
 Most Reverend Archbishop, was anxious that the Fathers 
 should once more have a parish. The matter was referred for 
 decision to the higher Superiors of the Order. While sincerely 
 appreciating the generosity and kindly feelings of His Grace, 
 Very Rev. Father Anderledv, General of the Society of Jesus, 
 answered, that, as it was his desire to have the Jesuit Churches 
 as much as possible free from the burden of parish duties, and 
 that, as he had lately refused three parishes in Australia, he 
 thought it would be better to decline the offer. The letter of 
 the Very Rev. Father General arrived about the middle of 
 September. 
 
 Christmas came, bringing with it Christmas trees for the 
 Sunday-schools, and the usual distribution of provisions to the 
 poor : but it brought also its complement of work for the mem- 
 bers of the college. A sample of the help offered by St. Ignatius 
 to the institutions of the archdiocese is furnished us by the diary 
 of the college Minister : 
 
 "Dec. 25th, Xmas. Father Neri said midnight mass at 
 the convent in Oakland; Father Mans in San Jose; Father 
 Leonard at the Presidio; Father Barchi at Mt. St. Joseph; 
 Father Prelato at St. Vincent's School; Father Leggio at the 
 Sisters at Mission Dolores; Father Raffo at the Sisters on 
 Hayes Street; Father Tadini at the Presentation Convent; 
 Fathers Prelato and Reitmayr went to be Deacons of Honor 
 at the Cathedral; Mr. Harty, Subdeacon at the German 
 Church; Father Galliano said mass at the Industrial School." 
 Thus was Christmas made bright in many an institution by 
 the sacrifices of the Fathers, for this scattering of the com- 
 munity robs Christmas of the family nature of the feast; and 
 doubtless, as yearly happens, some requests had to be refused, 
 not from lack of good will, but from lack of available men; for 
 confessions had to be heard, and masses said, and communion 
 distributed to thousands, in St. Ignatius itself. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 269 
 
 1886. 
 
 The year 1886 opened quietly, every department of the 
 church and college active, but with an activity that exercised 
 itself in the ordinary channels. On Septuagesima Sunday, 
 however, March 7th, the devotion of the Forty Hours was in- 
 augurated in the church with much splendor. Large congrega- 
 tions attended the various masses, and larger ones gathered 
 for the evening services, while, all day long, the sacred edifice 
 was never without its scores of devout worshipers. 
 
 Six years and more had now passed since the new church 
 had been dedicated and the college blessed, and excellent had 
 been the work for the divine glory that both had performed. 
 Days of success there had been and days of joy, but behind all 
 and overshadowing all, was the ever-present specter of a 
 gigantic debt which would not down, because, every increasing, 
 it could not. What a load was therefore lifted from the hearts 
 of Father Varsi and the community of St. Ignatius, when on 
 May 7th, Mrs. Abbie Parrott, bought the old property on 
 Market Street for $900,000, a good business investment, it is 
 true, but none the less a sincere act of kindness to the Fathers! 
 Others could have made the same investment and did not. The 
 purchase was intended as an act of friendship, and as such it is 
 gratefully recorded. The deeds were made out on the 14th of 
 the month; the sand wastes of '55, now in the heart of a thriv- 
 ing city, had increased in value nearly fifty fold and were 
 canceling the greater part of the obligations contracted for 
 the new site and for all the buildings, both new and old, a 
 glorious tribute to the foresight of Father Maraschi. Nine 
 days later, the announcement was made that the Ignatian 
 Society was dissolved; for the hope was entertained that, by 
 strict economy, the rest of what was owed would be paid off 
 little by little. If help had been requested, it was only the 
 direst necessity that had extorted the petition. 
 
 A month later, June 24th, Jeremiah F. Collins, S. J., an 
 old student of St. Ignatius, had the honor of being the first 
 priest ordained in the new church. It would have been impos- 
 sible to select a more appropriate day for the ceremony, since 
 it was the Feast of Corpus Christi. The ceremony was per- 
 
270 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 formed by his Grace, Archbishop Riordan. We quote from 
 an account written at the time: 
 
 "The first ordination at the splendid church of the Jesuit 
 Fathers on Hayes Street, took place yesterday morning when 
 Jeremiah Francis Collins, S. J., after sixteen years of prepara- 
 tory labors, was consecrated to the eternal priesthood by 
 Archbishop Riordan, before a vast concourse of people that 
 crowded nearly all of the available space in the immense edifice. 
 The ceremony began with the presentation of the candidate 
 to the Archbishop whose faldstool of carved and gilded wood 
 upholstered with white satin, had been placed upon the 
 elevation in front of the altar. ... At the conclusion 
 of the beautiful ceremony the mother, sisters and near rela- 
 tives of Father Collins, approached the altar railing and 
 received his blessing. 
 
 The personal friends of the newly ordained priest, many 
 of whom had come from adjoining counties to witness the 
 ordination, next came forward to obtain a benediction from 
 his consecrated hands, and so did the people assembled in the 
 church to the number of about three thousand." 
 
 The college exhibitions had passed off quite creditably to 
 Fathers and pupils in the early part of the month, and eight 
 candidates had succeeded in obtaining degrees. Charles B. 
 Lastretto received that of Master of Arts; Andrew Carrigan 
 and Clarence McKinstry that of Bachelor of Arts; Eugene 
 McFadden those of Bachelor and Master of Science; Joseph 
 Stapleton, Andrew G. Maguire and Ernest Hartmann, that 
 of Bachelor of Science. The number of pupils in the college 
 was 838, the highest number ever reached. 
 
 In August, Father Gregory Leggio left for Albuquerque, New 
 Mexico, his place, as Vice-President, being supplied by Father 
 Joseph Dossola. Father Joseph Isolabella exchanged places with 
 Father Henry Imoda, who had been Minister in Santa Clara. 
 To Santa Clara went also Father Telesphorus Demasini and 
 Mr. Patrick Foote; to Woodstock, Mr. Dionysius Mahony. In 
 July, Mr. Felix Weis joined the faculty; in August, Mr. Thomas 
 Boland ; and a little over a month later, Father Philibert Tornielli. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 271 
 
 In response to the Fathers' invitation, His Grace, the Most 
 Reverend Archbishop, consented to deliver the panegyric of 
 St. Ignatius on the solemn celebration of the feast. The occa- 
 sion, the theme, the personality of the Archbishop, his known 
 eloquence, all contributed to pack the pews, and aisles, and 
 vestibule, with an attentive audience. Beauty of figure lent 
 added grace to solid thought, and the commanding presence and 
 the big heart of the pastor speaking to his flock, contributed, 
 each in its own way, to interest and to charm. 
 
 "The splendid altars of St. Ignatius Church," says an account, 
 "never shone more brilliantly than they did on Sunday last, 
 when the large number of lights were reflected from the massive 
 gilt candelabra which adorned them. At 10:30 o'clock, Solemn 
 High Mass commenced with the entrance of the cross-bearer 
 and assistants, followed by eighteen acolytes, a large number 
 of the Jesuit Fathers, and His Grace, Archbishop Riordan, and 
 his attendant priests. 
 
 The several offices of the mass were filled by the following 
 Reverend clergy : Very Rev. Joseph Sasia, S. J., was celebrant, 
 the deacon being Rev. F. Prelato, S. J.; and the subdeacon, 
 Rev. J. F. Collins, S. J. In attendance upon the Archbishop 
 were Rev. A. Varsi, S. J., assistant priest, and Revs. A. Maras- 
 chi, S. J., and V. Reitmayr, S. J., deacons of honor. 
 
 After the first gospel, Archbishop Riordan preached a 
 splendid sermon on the life, labors and example left us of 
 fidelity in God's service, by the great Ignatius of Loyola. He 
 traced the history of the church through her various struggles 
 with Arianism, Nestorianism and Pelagianism, and her victories 
 over them through the power and mercy of God in raising 
 up — in each period of danger — men of mighty intellect and 
 influence, through assistance from on high — in order to defeat 
 the machinations of evil-disposed men who sought to sow 
 dissensions in the Christian world. In the same manner, when 
 the principles of Luther poisoned the minds of men against 
 God's holy Church, and made them falter in their allegiance 
 to her, Christ's visible representative on earth sent his ambas- 
 sadors to combat error, even as he had sent St. Athanasius, 
 St. Cyril and St. Augustine in the earlier ages of the Church's 
 struggle for the supremacy of God's truth. 
 
272 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 The Archbishop then traced the life of St. Ignatius, showing 
 in a very clear light, how each phase of it — whether that of 
 soldier, pilgrim or priest — -had led him closer and closer to God, 
 until at length he had changed himself from a careless Catholic 
 into one of the sublimest characters presented for Catholic 
 contemplation. 
 
 His Grace then paid a beautiful tribute to the grand mis- 
 sionary triumphs achieved by the Society of Jesus through their 
 labors in carrying the Cross of Christ into lands where, neither 
 the avarice of man, nor the enterprising spirit of the age, had 
 led adventurers to visit. And in what way had the world 
 repaid the Jesuit missionaries for thus opening up newly dis- 
 covered nations for the world's benefit? The Order had been 
 hated, even as men hated that God whom St. Ignatius loved 
 so dearly. Yet this very hatred of the world is one of the 
 distinguishing marks of the faithful children of Christ. To 
 be of God and to have God's love in his soul, was the life-long 
 ambition of St. Ignatius; and that he might arrive at this high 
 order of perfection, he suffered sickness, temptation, poverty, 
 hunger and thirst. But he triumphed in the end, and gave 
 to the world a society of men whose works for God's greater 
 honor and glory were a far grander eulogy than the lips of 
 man could pronounce. No one was in a better position to 
 realize the great good which the Jesuit Fathers accomplished 
 for religion than His Grace, and no one appreciated that bene- 
 ficent influence more highly. In their schools and colleges, 
 in their ministrations among the people, they were helping 
 to keep alive the lamp of Christian literature in the world, and 
 they were leading souls on the path which St. Ignatius followed 
 in his journey toward God. May the blessings which their 
 great founder asked at the hands of his Creator, descend upon 
 his sons to-day and throughout all time to come, so that, like 
 him, they may point out to millions of souls the way to 
 Christian perfection, and then receive the crown of everlasting 
 glory promised by Almighty God to all who labor faithfully 
 in His vineyard." 
 
 Some three months later, the Gentlemen's Sodality cele- 
 brated the Silver Jubilee of its institution. The religious 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 273 
 
 celebration was held on Sunday, November 7th. In the 
 morning, Father Buchard, the Sodality's founder and first 
 director, addressed the members on "Societies Catholic, non- 
 Catholic and anti-Catholic." Many Sodalists were present who, 
 in 1 86 1, had laid the foundations of the organization broad and 
 deep on which successive generations had successfully built; 
 and as old memories came back, stirred into life by the familiar 
 tones of the speaker's voice, their hearts reached out to the 
 old wooden church of 1855 in which they had first met, and 
 the brick basement, the school of Father Villiger, which had 
 later been their home. In the afternoon, a procession was 
 held for the gaining of the indulgence of the Jubilee which, at 
 that time, had been promulgated. With quiet and modest 
 demeanor, the Sunday-school children and Sodalists wound 
 their way around the block enclosing the college buildings, and, 
 re-entering the church, listened to the glowing words in which 
 Father Sasia set forth the Church's doctrine on "Devotion to 
 the Mother of God." Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament 
 followed, and the Sodalists dispersed. On the following 
 Thursday, appropriate literary exercises were held in the 
 college hall, at which a masterly address was made by Mr. 
 James R. Kelly, the prefect, on the Silver Jubilee. 
 
 "Two years ago," he said, "the members had met together 
 to commemorate the third centenary of the establishment of 
 Sodalities which, since their birth in the Church, had spread 
 with great rapidity among the Catholics of both continents, 
 but most especially wherever the Jesuits had reared their tem- 
 ples to God. Once more the members had met, this time to 
 celebrate the Silver Jubilee of their own branch which, for a 
 quarter of a century, had flourished so successfully at St. 
 Ignatius under the zealous care of the followers of Loyola. 
 He strikingly contrasted the instability of temporal institutions 
 with the eternal institutions of the Church. Unlike the king- 
 doms and empires of this world, they increase, not decay with 
 the march of centuries. Among the organizations called into 
 existence by the Church for the benefit of her laity, there are 
 few stronger or more noble in their objects than the Sodality 
 of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the means of causing thou- 
 
274 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 sands to approach the altar every month, under the banners 
 of Mary, to partake of the bread of life. Hundreds who but 
 for it would, by their temporal cares, be distracted from their 
 spiritual duties, are maintained by it in the holy recollection 
 of the end for which they were placed on earth. The branch 
 at St. Ignatius Church numbers from its establishment up to 
 the present time 1,600 persons on the roll of membership. In 
 conclusion, the speaker desired that all those who were not as 
 yet Sodalists would enlist themselves as such, for it is impos- 
 sible, he said, to sit at the feet of a Jesuit and not become purer 
 and more fervent in life." 
 
 His Grace, the Archbishop, with a large number of the 
 clergy, was present, and his entrance into the hall was the 
 signal for long and loud applause. 
 
 That he might take part in a celebration that brought so 
 much consolation to his heart, Father Buchard had returned 
 to St. Ignatius about two weeks previously. 
 
 "Rev. Father Buchard, S. J., the veteran missionary," writes 
 a friend, "has returned from his five months' missionary tour 
 through the Northwest, embracing all the Catholic settlements 
 in Montana, also portions of Washington Territory and Ore- 
 gon. After twenty-five years' successful missionary labor on 
 this Coast, it is probable that Father Buchard will be called 
 East to enjoy that rest which his long and arduous labors 
 deserve and which his declining health requires. 
 
 It is a pity that such an ardent apostle of the true faith 
 should ever wear out in physical endurance whilst carrying 
 the glorious tidings of salvation to those outside the Church, 
 and renewing the faith in the hearts of those who were once 
 baptized in the saving waters of baptism. 
 
 But though Father Buchard may personally fade from the 
 sight of his legions of admirers and well-wishers, his memory 
 will live in the hearts of all who have ever had the happiness of 
 hearing him preach Christ crucified; and the recollection of his 
 numerous missionary crusades in the cause of the Cross, will 
 forever enshrine his cherished name in the archives of the 
 Church on the Pacific Coast." 
 
GENTLEMEN'S SODALITY 
 SACRED HEART ALTAR LIBRARY 
 
 ST. JOSEPH'S ALTAR 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 275 
 
 1887. 
 
 On March 4th, though the news reached us on the following 
 day, Very Rev. Father Peter Beckx, General of the Society of 
 Jesus, ended, by a peaceful death, his long and eventful life of 
 ninety-two years. It was he who had formally given existence 
 to the Californian Mission, and had sanctioned the erection 
 of the College of St. Ignatius ; it was he who, by his wise coun- 
 sels, had guided it through its difficulties and perils, and by his 
 words of encouragement had nerved it to bear up bravely when 
 beset by trials ; no wonder that it thought that, do what it could to 
 honor the memory of him who had been a true parent to it, all 
 would still be far from what such loving care deserved. On 
 the 23rd of the month, therefore, solemn funeral services were 
 held. At 9 130 a. m. the Office of the Dead was recited, and at 
 10:30 a Solemn Requiem Mass was sung, at which His Grace, 
 the Archbishop, assisted. 
 
 "An unusually large congregation assembled in St. Ignatius 
 Church on last Wednesday morning," says a contemporary, 
 "the occasion being the celebration of a Solemn Requiem Mass 
 for the lately-deceased and saintly General of the Society of 
 Jesus — Very Rev. Peter J. Beckx. The church was magnifi- 
 cently decorated for the solemn occasion. The High Altar 
 was draped with mourning emblems, divided into panels by 
 tassels and rosettes; and the immense altar piece was covered 
 by a black cloth on which a large white cross appeared in 
 imposing relief. The massive black catafalque occupied the 
 space usually taken up by fourteen pews which had to be re- 
 moved to make place for it. It was elaborately decorated with 
 glittering silver crosses, and, at its summit, was a casket covered 
 with a rich pall of black velvet, appropriately trimmed with a 
 border of deep silver fringe. A hundred waxen candles fixed 
 in gilded candlesticks shed a steady halo of light around the cata- 
 falque, and altogether the scene was one of the greatest sol- 
 emnity, well calculated to vividly impress the congregation 
 with the common end of man, and the fruitlessness of earthly 
 toil which is not spent to merit heaven. 
 
 At 9:30 a. m. the services were begun by an impressive 
 recitation of the Office for the Dead, and an hour later, the 
 
276 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Solemn Mass of Requiem commenced, at which Very Rev. 
 Joseph Sasia, S. J., president of St. Ignatius College, was cele- 
 brant. . . . The acolytes of the Blessed John Berchman's 
 Sodality and the officers of the Young Men's Sodality assisted 
 at the services. At the conclusion of the mass, the clergy 
 surrounded the catafalque, and in slow and solemn voice 
 the Libera was chanted, after which His Grace, the Most Rev- 
 erend Archbishop, gave the final absolution and the impressive 
 ceremonies were over." 
 
 On March 20th, His Grace gave another mark of favor to 
 St. Ignatius by celebrating mass for the Gentlemen's Sodality 
 and addressing the members. He expressed his pleasure at 
 seeing such a body of men united in so worthy a cause; indi- 
 cated the benefits that flowed to themselves, the Church and 
 civil society from organizations such as theirs; and concluded 
 by drawing for their instruction practical lessons from the life 
 of St. Joseph, whose feast had occurred the preceding day. 
 
 Lent was already far advanced and Holy Week was ap- 
 proaching, during which on Good Friday, this year, the touch- 
 ing devotion of the Three Hours' Agony was introduced. The 
 vast concourse that gathered, many of whom had to stand the 
 whole of these three hours, a concourse that on similar occa- 
 sions has never decreased, showed evidently how the sorrows 
 of the God-man never fail to move the human heart; and heard 
 over and over again, ever reveal a new beauty. 
 
 At the exhibition, nine academic degrees were conferred, 
 four graduates receiving that of Bachelor of Arts, and five that 
 of Bachelor of Science. The college catalogue contains the 
 following notice: "Henceforth academical degrees will be con- 
 ferred in this college on such students only as have attended the 
 classical course, and passed, at its close, a successful examina- 
 tion in Latin and Greek. This regulation will be enforced from 
 this date (June 1st, 1887) with all students that will hereafter 
 enter the Literary Department with a view to graduation. To 
 become a candidate for graduation, the student must have an 
 average of 70 per cent in each of the several studies required 
 for the degree to which he aspires." The degree of Bachelor 
 of Science, except for those already in course, was, therefore, 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 277 
 
 a thing of the past, with a consequent limiting of pupils; for 
 not all who are desirous of an academic degree, have the time, 
 or ability, or inclination to take a classical one. 
 
 On June 8th, Father Joseph Sasia was succeeded by Father 
 Henry Imoda as president of the college. 
 
 Father Anthony Tardella was selected as Minister, and 
 Father Vincent Chiappa as vice-president; Messrs. Henry 
 Raiders, Wm, Culligan and John Ford, S. J., came from Santa 
 Clara to assume charge of classes. Fathers Angelo Coltelli, 
 Joseph Dossola, Philibert Tornielli, with Messrs. Henry Woods 
 and Felix Weis were transferred to other places. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Boland, on June 12th, by an unexpected death 
 at the Fathers' Villa near Santa Clara, closed all too soon a pious 
 and useful life. Father Reitmayr remained a member of the 
 faculty until the February of the following year, when, having 
 already during some months suffered from hemorrhages, he 
 went to Santa Clara, where, a little over a year later, he passed 
 to his eternal reward. 
 
 The year, especially in its second half, was remarkable for 
 the number of Church dignitaries that afforded us the pleasure 
 of welcoming them. I shall not mention Bishop Manogue, 
 for he was as much at home in St. Ignatius as in his own resi- 
 dence. In June, Bishop Macheboeuf of Denver paid us a visit; 
 in July, just after his consecration, Bishop Scanlan of Salt 
 Lake; on October 1st, Archbishop Casanova, the exiled arch- 
 bishop of Guatemala; on October 17th, His Eminence, Cardi- 
 nal Gibbons, in company with Their Graces, Archbishop Rior- 
 dan, of the diocese, and Gross, of Oregon. The last three were 
 entertained by the students in the college hall, and they appre- 
 ciated much the literary efforts of the speakers. At the end, 
 the Cardinal, in turn, made an address replete with wise les- 
 sons for the young, and crowned all, in student eyes, by grant- 
 ing three holidays, one for each of the dignitaries present. 
 
 "His Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons, was tendered an enthu- 
 siastic reception by the students of St. Ignatius College on 
 last Monday morning," says an account published soon after- 
 wards. "The spacious college hall was fragrant with flowers, 
 aromatic plants and evergreens. Fronting the stage, a raised 
 
278 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 velvet easy chair was reserved for His Eminence. At the ap- 
 pointed time, the 600 students filed into the hall. His 
 Eminence entered a moment later attended by his secretary, 
 Dr. Chapelle, Archbishops Gross and Riordan, the resident 
 Fathers of the Society of Jesus, General Morgan of the Pre- 
 sidio, and Dr. James Sharkey. His entrance was the signal 
 for an enthusiastic outburst of applause which lasted for some 
 time. 
 
 After the Cardinal had been presented with a beautiful silk 
 and gold souvenir programme, the exercises were proceeded 
 with in the following order: Overture, 'Semiramide,' college 
 orchestra; 'Floral Offering,' J. Emery; essay, The Cardinalate,' 
 E. Shortall; poem, F. Haynes; music, 'Rigoletto Fantasie,' col- 
 lege orchestra; recitation, 'The Nun of Nidaros,' F. Burke; 
 Greek ode, J. Gleason; Gratulatio (Latin composition), T. 
 Pawlicki; 'Barber of Seville,' college orchestra; recitation, 
 'Henry V and the Hermit of Dreux,' E. Comyns; A Word 
 of Greeting (German), F. Jung; Welcome (Spanish), C. Berna; 
 The Guest Whom We Love and Revere, L. Bartlett; music, 
 college orchestra. 
 
 The addresses by the students all breathed a spirit of deep 
 welcome to the honored guest, and were meritorious and ap- 
 propriate. When the exercises were concluded, His Eminence 
 ascended the stage and addressed the students. 
 
 He expressed his pleasure at the beautiful reception ac- 
 corded him. He had heard much of St. Ignatius College, but 
 the realization surpassed the anticipation, strong as it had been. 
 The beautiful aroma of the flowers was pleasing, but the sight 
 of so many virtuous young men assembled to do him reverence, 
 was more attractive to his spiritual sense than the flowers were 
 to the grosser sense of smell. His Eminence stated that he 
 did not feel like a stranger in the institution. It had been his 
 honor and privilege to personally confer holy Orders on several 
 of the reverend professors who not only cultivated virtues of 
 the mind but of the heart also. Enemies of the Church persist 
 in saying that science and religion cannot go together. This 
 assertion was essentially wrong, because science and religion 
 emanate from the same Father, and are twin sisters. His 
 
HIS EMINENCE, CARDINAL GIBBONS 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 279 
 
 Eminence then compared science and religion to Mary and 
 Martha of the Bible; and observed that revelation and religion 
 would live to see the downfall of the many erroneous modern 
 scientific theories of Huxley, Darwin and others of their ilk. 
 But, in the meanwhile, the Church requires men of enlightened 
 minds and undaunted hearts to defend her and refute religious 
 and scientific errorists. His Eminence concluded his eloquent 
 address by pointedly urging that the students should ever be 
 ready to defend truth and their religion; and that, next to 
 loving God, they should unswervingly be loyal to the country 
 whose tolerant flag waves over them. His Eminence then 
 announced that, at his request, the students had been granted a 
 three days' vacation. A Solemn Blessing was then pronounced, 
 and, amidst the enthusiastic applause of the delighted students, 
 His Eminence and suite filed out of the hall. The reception was 
 in every way successful, and reflects much credit upon the 
 talented students and the Fathers of the college." 
 
 So the year passed on quietly to its close and was numbered 
 with the many fruitful ones that had gone before. 
 
 i< 
 
 The happenings of 1888 will not detain us long, for even 
 more so than those of most other years, they keep themselves 
 within the routine of ordinary life. Yet some events there are 
 that must not be passed over in silence. On March nth, St. 
 Ignatius added still to its list another of those good works less 
 showy but solid — attendance, namely, on the military garrison 
 at Angel Island. Father Mans was again chosen to start the 
 enterprise, and he set about it with his usual zeal and self-sacri- 
 fice. The work which he established, though interrupted for a 
 time, has gone on steadily since re-established by Father Henry 
 Woods some eight years ago; and on the first Sunday of every 
 month a Father gives the soldiers an opportunity of complying 
 with their religious duties. Doubtless more would have been 
 done, had there been the opportunity for doing it; but as the 
 trip had to be made on Saturday, and the Government tug 
 permitted return to the city only on the first Sunday of the 
 month, nothing more was feasible, under the circumstances. 
 
28o THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 On the 9th of April, Rev. Father Imoda departed for 
 Helena, Montana, on a matter of business, and appointed Rev. 
 Joseph Sasia to direct affairs during his absence. His stay, 
 however, was short, and on the 19th, he was again at his post. 
 
 On the 14th of May, a Solemn Requiem Mass was offered 
 in the church for the repose of the soul of Archbishop Alemany 
 who had passed to his reward at a ripe old age. His dear friend 
 and companion, Father Sadoc Villarasa, O. P., had already 
 entered into eternal life, his body having been laid to rest in 
 Benicia, among those of his brethren, on March 19th, preceding. 
 
 On July 10th, Father Nicholas Congiato, who, during his 
 period of office had resided in San Jose, was replaced as 
 Superior of the Californian Mission, by Father Joseph Sasia. 
 
 In his retirement from office, Father Congiato's immediate 
 influence in the affairs of the Mission ceased, a Mission of which 
 he had been the first Superior, and in the shaping of whose 
 destinies he had had so great a part. He was a man indeed of 
 rare prudence; of tender feelings, though undemonstrative; 
 conservative, and perhaps at times a little too much so, con- 
 sidering the rapid evolution of the State in which we live. The 
 new Superior was a man in the prime of life, full of energy and 
 vigor, and well conversant with the needs of the hour. He 
 had just returned from Oregon, where he had given a retreat 
 to the clergy of the diocese and to the Benedictine Fathers. 
 The official transfer of superiorship took place in San Jose, 
 after which Father Sasia returned to San Francisco. 
 
 A little later, Father Jeremiah Collins replaced Father 
 Anthony Tardella as Minister, and also Father Francis Ignatius 
 Prelato as treasurer of the students, the latter Father having filled 
 the office uninterruptedly for some twenty years. Father Paul 
 Mans was transferred to Los Gatos, where he became master 
 of novices. Father Angelo Coltelli and Mr. Richard Gleeson 
 were once more members of the staff. 
 
 On August 5th, Father Prelato took charge of the Presidio, 
 and from that day to this, in rain and in shine, has devoted 
 himself to the soldiers' care. It is indeed no small matter for 
 a man of seventy-six to fast until late mass, and preach, and 
 labor Sunday after Sunday, and visit the hospital during the 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 281 
 
 week, but Father Prelato's heart is in his work, and love 
 lightens the burden of toil. A few days previously, on the 
 Feast of St. Ignatius, an old pupil of the college, Rev. John J. 
 Cunningham, S. J., assisted by Rev. Father Sasia, said his first 
 mass in the church before a large concourse. Father Cunning- 
 ham had taught for several years in the present college, and 
 his warm, affectionate heart had made him a host of friends. 
 After his near relatives had received his blessing, the congrega- 
 tion was invited to approach the altar railing and participate 
 in the benedictions which the Church dispenses by the hands 
 of her newly-ordained ministers. The multitude responded, 
 eager to honor in every way him whom the Divine Master 
 had so honored. 
 
 November brought with it the celebration of the Feasts of 
 the recently canonized Saints, Peter Claver, John Berchmans 
 and Alphonsus Rodriguez. Three Sundays were chosen to give 
 more time to prepare for each celebration, and to permit of more 
 solemnity. The nth was set aside for St. Peter Claver, the 
 Apostle of the Negroes; the 18th for St. John Berchmans; the 
 25th for St. Alphonsus. Besides a special triduum for each of 
 the three occasions, there was, on the day itself, Solemn High 
 Mass and a panegyric in the morning, and Solemn Vespers and 
 Benediction in the evening. In the evenings, also, of the 18th 
 and 25th there was a sermon. Money was not spared in the 
 adornment of church and altar, and the result was a marvel 
 of artistic beauty. The portrait of each Saint occupied, in 
 turn, the position of honor at the main altar, and, during the 
 day, copies of the Saint's life were distributed to all who entered 
 the church. To speak of the numbers present at the ceremonies 
 would be only to repeat a story already familiar to our readers. 
 
 In the midst of all this festivity, death paid its visit to our 
 household, and selected Father Joseph Tadini to represent St. 
 Ignatius at the glorius triumph in heaven of St. Alphonsus Rodri- 
 guez. On Thursday, November 22nd, the opening day of the 
 Saint's triduum, early in the morning, a sudden change for the 
 worse in the Father's illness, told the Brother Infirmarian that the 
 end was near. Father Varsi hastened from the adjoining room, 
 and imparted the last absolution as the Father breathed his last. 
 
282 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Seventy-three years of life, and thirty-six as a Jesuit, had woven 
 his eternal crown, and the gentlest of men, for such was Father 
 Tadini, entered into the rest promised to God's faithful servants. 
 The community thus rendered less by one member, had the full 
 number restored on the 27th of December, when Father Robert 
 Kenna, having completed his term as president of Santa Clara 
 College, was transferred to San Francisco to employ his well- 
 known zeal in the works of the ministry. His long experience, 
 moreover, with boys and young men, well fitted him for the post 
 of religious instructor to the students, and this office was 
 accordingly confided to him. 
 
 1889. 
 
 On January 4th, 1889, the classes which had hitherto been 
 taught in the lowest story of the college, were transferred to 
 classrooms a story higher. To permit of this change, several 
 rooms had to be taken from the scientific department in the 
 third story, and put at the disposal of the literary classes. This 
 arrangement indeed had its advantages, though it encroached 
 somewhat upon the realms of science; but we suppose that the 
 adage is still true, "Primum est vivere." About two months 
 later, Father Joseph Bixio, the first assistant of Father Maraschi 
 at St. Ignatius, died peacefully in Santa Clara, his more than 
 half a century of religious life being a safe pledge of a blessed 
 immortality. 
 
 The months of February and March brought several distin- 
 guished visitors to the college, Bishop Murray of Australia; 
 Bishop Healy of Portland, Maine; Bishop Borgess of Detroit; 
 and Father Rudolph Meyer, former Provincial of the Jesuits 
 of the Missouri Province, and, at present, assistant to the General 
 of the Society of Jesus. Father Meyer arrived on March 30th, 
 as official Visitor of the Californian Mission. As but four 
 houses constitute this jurisdiction, those of St. Ignatius, Santa 
 Clara, San Jose and Los Gatos, the work assigned him was soon 
 satisfactorily completed, and on June 17th he returned to his 
 Province. 
 
 Though four degrees were conferred in the college this year, 
 two were that of Master of Science; and two, that of Bachelor 
 of Science. No classical degrees were given. The same notice 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 283 
 
 that last year's catalogue contained of the abolition of such 
 degrees, is contained in that of the present year. The doing away 
 with what were called the scientific degrees caused for a time 
 considerable misunderstanding outside the college. Many people 
 thought that the institution had abandoned the study of science, 
 or had degraded it in the college curriculum, seeing that degrees 
 were no longer given in it: and no one could blame them for 
 so natural a mistake. The error had been in specifying the 
 degree as scientific, as if, by antithesis, the classical degrees were 
 not scientific. Now the fact was that the classical degree 
 embraced the scientific in all its fullness, and superadded to it 
 the culture imparted by the classical studies of Latin and Greek. 
 The scientific degree was, therefore, kept in all its entirety, but 
 was no longer imparted as a separate and complete degree, being 
 considered as the complement of the classical studies, and hence, 
 not to be received without them. True science was indeed bene- 
 fited by the change, for the more cultured the mind that devotes 
 itself to science, the more thoroughly is science appreciated; 
 and as, other things equal, the classics are the best mind-formers, 
 their study is the best preparation for science. 
 
 On the departure of Father Vincent Chiappa, Father Robert 
 E. Kenna became vice-president. Messrs. Henry Whittle and 
 Henry Hoffman, S. J., were assistant prefects of discipline; Mr. 
 Walter Thornton, S. J., taught; Father Aloysius Jacquet helped 
 in the work of the ministry; Father Caesar A. Barchi and 
 Anthony Tardella departed for San Jose. 
 
 On the 10th of August, daily mass was introduced for the 
 students, a practice which has continued up to the present time. 
 
 Three of the following months of the year, September, 
 November and December, each took from this present life, one 
 who had earnestly labored for the welfare of St. Ignatius. At 
 Chieri, Italy, on September 28th, Father John B. Ponte was laid 
 to rest. Both as Provincial of the Turin Province, to which the 
 Mission of California belongs, and as Visitor and Superior in 
 San Francisco, he had helped to guide the college in its most 
 difficult days. The love that he bore St. Ignatius was recipro- 
 cated by all who had the happiness of living under his mild 
 and considerate rule, and the prayers that went up for his soul 
 were the prayers of grateful hearts. 
 
284 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Less than two months afterwards, on November 18th, 
 Father Aloysius Masnata, successor to Father Ponte as Superior 
 of the Mission, piously passed away at Los Gatos. He was 
 born on May 2nd, 1823, at Rivarola, Genoa, Italy, and in his 
 eighteenth year joined the Society of Jesus at Chieri on Decem- 
 ber 24th, 1840. Having made his preparatory studies of rhetoric 
 and philosophy, in both of which a naturally clear and logical 
 mind enabled him to make more than ordinary progress, he 
 taught for some years in the Jesuit Colleges in Sardinia. Thence 
 he went to Vals, France, and commenced the study of theology. 
 Revolution, however, and the unsettled state of affairs in Europe, 
 compelled Superiors to send him to America, where, in the 
 scholasticate at Georgetown, District of Columbia, he completed 
 his course. In the beginning of 1854, he was Minister and 
 Socius to the Master of Novices at Frederick, Maryland, and, as 
 we have seen, came in the same year, with Fathers Maraschi and 
 Messea to California. An able professor of classics and a lover 
 of the sciences, he spent many years of successful labor in the 
 classroom. President of Santa Clara College from 1865 to 
 1868, he was next Superior of the residence at San Jose, until 
 relieved by Father Congiato on January 24th, 1870. He con- 
 tinued, however, to labor in the community a year longer, when 
 he became parish priest of Santa Clara. We have seen how, 
 while filling this office, he became Superior of the Californian 
 Mission and President of St. Ignatius. Relieved of both offices, 
 he again became the pastor of Santa Clara, until, in 1886, he 
 went to take care of the spiritual needs of Los Gatos and super- 
 vise the building of the Novitiate. In the midst of his brethren 
 he passed to his reward. 
 
 A little over a month later, death claimed Father James 
 Buchard, whose zeal and eloquence had made the name of the 
 Society of Jesus known and loved all over the Pacific Slope. 
 During the year 1889, he had gone on his missionary excursions 
 as usual, but early in December he was taken seriously ill. Heart 
 trouble was what the physicians had to fight against, and in the 
 case of a man of Father Buchard's years, could not but excite 
 apprehensions. As weeks went on, the seriousness of the case 
 became more and more apparent, and early in the morning of 
 December 27th, the Feast of the Beloved Disciple, Father Buchard 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 285 
 
 went to enjoy the recompense of years of useful toil. In the 
 afternoon, the body was taken to the Gentlemen's Sodality 
 Chapel, which had been suitably draped, in order that the thou- 
 sands who had received instruction from his lips, or poured into 
 his ears the secrets of their hearts, might have a chance to gaze 
 for the last time upon those familiar features. The stream of 
 people continued Saturday and Sunday, and on Sunday evening 
 the body was conveyed to the church. The Office of the Dead 
 was recited on the following morning, and a Solemn High Mass 
 sung, owing to the express wish of His Grace, the Most Rev- 
 erend Archbishop, for it is the custom of the Jesuit Fathers, ordi- 
 narily, to have a low mass for their dead. Both he and Rt. Rev. 
 Bishop Manogue, with a multitude of priests, secular and regu- 
 lar, were in the sanctuary, and, after mass, he pronounced the 
 absolution over the remains. Bishop Manogue, who could tear 
 himself from his friend at the grave only, accompanied the 
 corpse to Santa Clara. 
 
 The account published on the day following the Father's 
 death, contained a simple, but appropriate, eulogy of the departed. 
 "Father Buchard," it says, "was one of the most prominent 
 priests of the Society of Jesus on the Pacific Coast, and all its 
 members here are in deep mourning over his death. His beau- 
 tiful character, combining all the virtues, earned the esteem and 
 love of his community; and his venerable mien and magnetic 
 personality always attracted the attention of those who came 
 in contact with him. So it was that, wherever he went to preach 
 the gospel, the striking missionary earned the affection of the 
 congregations, and so it was that his death was heard with 
 profound expressions of regret on all sides. . . . Father 
 Buchard preached what was destined to be his final sermon on 
 Sunday, November 24th, last, in St. Ignatius Church, in place 
 of Rev. Father Sasia, S. J., Superior of the Jesuit Order in 
 California. Shortly afterwards, the deceased clergyman was 
 taken with the old heart trouble that had threatened him on 
 former occasions. For days he lay in an uncertain condition, 
 but during the last few days of his life he brightened up and 
 apparently improved considerably. The sudden change was, 
 therefore, a surprise. . . . The remains were laid in state 
 on a catafalque in front of the main altar of the Gentlemen's 
 
286 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Sodality Chapel, the interior of which was draped in mourning 
 from ceiling to floor. Large silver and white crosses in somber 
 black drapery covered each panel of the wall ; and the altar rails, 
 pillars and altars, were also clad in black. . . . Inside the 
 casket rested the dead priest, on his breast the crucifix which 
 he had held so often before congregations, his biretta covering 
 his noble brow, and his long white beard reaching down upon 
 the purple chasuble that is his shroud. His face was perfectly 
 calm, with slight blushes on the cheeks and a benign expression 
 brightening the features. In death he lost none of the imposing, 
 venerable appearance which so impressed people who saw him 
 in life." 
 
 The life of Father Buchard had all the charms and elements 
 of a romance. He was born in September, 1823, at Muskagola, 
 Indian Territory. His father was an Indian Chief, Kistalwa, 
 head of the Lenni-Lenappi, a branch of the Delawares. His 
 mother was Marie Elizabeth Bucheur or Beshard, a child of 
 French immigrants from Auvergne. The parents of his mother 
 having been massacred by Comanches, she was adopted by the 
 tribe, and, upon reaching marriageable age, was espoused by 
 Kistalwa. 
 
 Of the two children born of this marriage, Watomika or 
 Swift-Foot, the future Father Buchard was the younger. It is 
 said that even from infancy he showed a remarkably religious 
 spirit, and would gather his little companions around him and 
 tell them what he had learned from his mother about the Great 
 Spirit. In an attack upon the Sioux, his father was slain and 
 the boy left an orphan. At twelve, he was taken by a Pres- 
 byterian missionary to Marietta College, Ohio, and in due time 
 became a minister. Sent to replace a preacher in St. Louis, he 
 was one day passing by a church in which, it is said, Father 
 Damen was giving a catechetical instruction to children. He 
 was prompted to enter to see what was going on. He listened, 
 was impressed by what he heard, sought more light, and was 
 received into the Church in January, 1846. On July 26th, 1848, 
 he became a Jesuit, and was ordained priest in 1856. Five years 
 later he came westward, and, as we know, labored here until his 
 death. His mission, he often said, was to seek out the stray 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 287 
 
 sheep of Christ in mountain town or mining camp, and hence he 
 preferred to leave missions in the large cities to others. He 
 was a man fearless in doing God's work, as he showed on more 
 than one occasion when bigotry sought to keep him from a dying 
 bed. That calm, refined, saintly soul, with every feeling in such 
 perfect check, knew when, in the cause of righteousness, to 
 unchain the lion that was in him, and those that had thought to 
 browbeat, were profuse in apologies. 
 
 On the very night following the Father's decease, the old 
 building on Market Street, within whose walls the voice of the 
 dead missionary had so often been heard, was destroyed by fire. 
 Since its abandonment for church and college purposes, it had 
 been hired out to various parties, who had put it to as varied uses. 
 What had been used as a church, was, at this time, the ware- 
 house and salesrooms of the New York Furniture Manufacturing 
 Company; the old residence was devoted to offices on the three 
 main floors, while the low attic had become a sort of cheap lodg- 
 ing house. 
 
 In this latter, when the fire had been subdued, three charred 
 bodies were found, victims of the fatal conflagration. They, 
 whose remains these blackened corpses were, had been wakened 
 from sleep, only to be stifled by the smoke and consumed by the 
 remorseless flames. The fire had originated "in the extreme 
 rear of the building, devoted to mattress making and upholster- 
 ing," says the account of the disaster. "The wind was from the 
 south, and the flames had a draught 130 feet long." The writer 
 is speaking of the church, which, facing north and south, served 
 as a sort of funnel for the flames. "These," he continues, "went 
 roaring through to Market Street with nothing to even attempt 
 to bar their progress, for fully fifteen minutes after the fire was 
 discovered. 
 
 A small boy first saw the smoke issuing from one of the 
 windows about 10 p. m. He paid little heed, however, and it 
 was left for Officer McLaughlin, fifteen minutes later, to give 
 the alarm. 
 
 Captain Jim Riley was in charge, in the absence of Chief 
 Scannell, and he found his skill taxed to the utmost in overcom- 
 ing the difficulties of getting hose to bear upon the main body 
 of the warehouse where the furniture was stored. A glance suf- 
 
288 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 ficed to let him know that his force was insufficient, and by his 
 orders a new alarm was turned in at once, bringing out the 
 remainder of the engines stationed in this district. By the time 
 the gathering of people commenced, the church roof was in a 
 blaze, presenting an interesting spectacle to all without personal 
 interest in the building and contents. The firemen had two hours' 
 hard work. At first, it looked as though the flames would be 
 confined to the old church building, but they managed to creep 
 through into the attic of the adjoining structure, and there they 
 played sad havoc with the unfortunate dwellers in the tenaments 
 under the roof. It was a hard place to get at a fire, and the 
 fight lasted until i o'clock in the morning, when the flames were 
 beaten down and pronounced within control. 
 
 A dozen little sheds and tents on the space between the 
 building's front and the inner edge of the sidewalk, occupied by 
 small merchants, all took fire and gave the department additional 
 labor. Two of the school buildings in the rear were also on 
 fire at one time, but, unfortunately, the blaze was extinguished 
 with but little damage, and hundreds of little ones will still be 
 condemned to risk their lives daily in the ramshackle old rook- 
 eries." The school buildings of which the reporter speaks, were, 
 doubtless, the Lincoln Primaries, which ran along Market near 
 the corner of Fifth. 
 
 While the loss of life and property was regretted, there was 
 no regret that the old buildings were no more. They had long 
 been an eye-sore to the public and a heart-sore to the Fathers, 
 who, had circumstances permitted, would have torn the buildings 
 down rather than have seen them turned to profane uses. But 
 what could be done with the immense burden of debt that was 
 crushing them? The buildings had never been consecrated, and 
 were, in fact, but a temporary substitute for a church; hence 
 there was nothing wrong in converting them to the ordinary uses 
 of life ; but there was the old sentiment, and the love and ven- 
 eration which could not be dissociated from them, and nature 
 chafed under the humiliation that hard necessity imposed. 
 Hence it was a relief that the old buildings were but a memory, 
 since all that was hallowed could again cluster round them, and 
 not be rudely dashed aside by the unseemly reality. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 289 
 
 1890. 
 
 In January and the early days of February, 1890, the grip 
 made its presence felt in the community of St. Ignatius, and, 
 though no case proved fatal, the number of sick made it difficult 
 to carry on the ordinary work of church and college. On March 
 20th, the community lost one of its most efficient workers, when 
 ill-health obliged Father Charles Messea to seek relief in Santa 
 Clara. He was taken seriously ill about the 10th of the preced- 
 ing December, and had been obliged, on that day, to turn over 
 to Father Prelato the recitation of the beads in the church, and 
 the giving of the little nightly instruction which was so dear 
 to him. His condition was, at first, serious ; but he subsequently 
 rallied, though it was evident to all that the climate of San 
 Francisco could not fail to be prejudicial to the health of one 
 so advanced in years and such a martyr to rheumatism. It was 
 a painful trial for him to feel infirmity sapping his strength, and 
 incapacitating him for the works of active zeal in which he had 
 delighted, but he bore all with admirable patience and never 
 made complaint. 
 
 In the following April, the gift of $50,000 from Mrs. Bertha 
 Welch, in memory of her departed husband, Andrew Welch, 
 permitted Father Varsi to begin his long-cherished project of 
 the interior adornment of the church. The gift did not cover 
 by some tens of thousands the magnificent work, but the addi- 
 tional funds were supplied by the same generous hand, according 
 as they were needed. 
 
 "St. Ignatius Church," says the Chronicle of April 18th, 1890, 
 "is to be decorated in a manner and at an outlay that will make 
 it the most notable building of its kind in San Francisco. The 
 decorations will cost about $30,000, and the new stained-glass 
 windows, twenty-four in number, will, perhaps, cost as much 
 more. The decoration is to be the work of Moretti and Trezzini 
 of this city ; and the designs, the work of A. Moretti, were sub- 
 mitted yesterday for the approval of the Fathers. 
 
 The designs for the decorations belong to the pure classic 
 school of the Italian Renaissance, and the coloring will be the 
 coloring of that age and thought. 
 
290 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 In the ceiling of the church, the huge ventilators that now 
 so disfigure it, are to be taken out, longitudinal beams are to be 
 run the full length of the church, forming, with the cross-beams 
 already there, a succession of panels twenty-four in number. In 
 each of these panels will be a massive centerpiece cast in plaster, 
 and of beautiful design. These will hang far down from the 
 ceiling. The intersecting beams will be decorated, first, by mold- 
 ings carved in Renaissance style, and then by painted ornaments 
 in the flat and lower portions. The panels formed by their inter- 
 sections are to be decorated with a geometrical figure, enriched 
 with gold and color. 
 
 In the main cornice next the ceiling will be a succession of 
 medallions or brackets; in the small, flat spaces between these 
 will be placed several hundred small ventilators. Each ventila- 
 tor will be covered by an ornament in plaster, which will hang 
 below it, thereby completely concealing the aperture from view. 
 
 The frieze, at the top of the wall, will be decorated with a 
 design of angels' heads and wings with connecting festoons. 
 The long, narrow spaces between the side windows will be cut 
 across by a rich heavy molding. Above this will be painted in 
 bas relief, the figures of angels, each seven feet in height. These 
 figures — thirty-two in all — will be surrounded by religious 
 emblems. Below the moldings will be beautiful figured can- 
 delabra, Renaissance in design. 
 
 The columns between the windows will be marbleized and 
 highly polished. Midway up the wall, cutting it in half, is a 
 massive cornice. Below this will be a decorative frieze, and 
 over the arches of the great pillars that support the wall, will be 
 painted heads of saints with emblems — all in bas relief. All of 
 the pillars of the church will be marbleized. 
 
 At the front of the sanctuary, and above the arch, a large 
 angelic group, with emblems, will be painted. 
 
 Back of the altar will be the striking feature of the decora- 
 tion. The wall there is now flat and plain, but the cunning dec- 
 orator will paint a perspective design, making the flat wall appear 
 to recede in a semi-circular shape, and forming a great classic 
 dome that will give to the already spacious church the effect of 
 magnificent distances. The wall back of the altars in the two 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 291 
 
 chapels (Blessed Virgin's and St. Joseph's) will be similarly 
 treated. 
 
 In the treating of the coloring, Mr. Moretti will produce a 
 bold, and, for this part of the country, an original effect. But 
 three colors will be used — white, stucco and blue — these to be 
 supplemented with gold, the church thus gaining that appearance 
 of simple unity so essential to true beauty. 
 
 The windows, which are to be of the most exquisite work- 
 manship, are to be made in Munich. There are to be twenty- 
 four; eight will represent scenes in the life of our Lord; eight, 
 scenes in the life of the Blessed Virgin; four, scenes in the life 
 of St. Ignatius; and four will contain groups of angels." 
 
 Expectations were raised to a high pitch by the amount of 
 the gift, the well-known taste of Father Varsi, and the ability 
 of the decorators to whose brains and hands the designing and 
 executing had been confided ; the result, however, surpassed even 
 expectations. 
 
 On the 14th of April, the work was commenced, and soon 
 the carpenters were busy raising the immense scaffolding. Soon, 
 too, there was plenty of trouble. On May 1st, the carpenters 
 would not work because they were taking part in the general 
 strike. On the next day they were at work. On the 5th, 
 some of them went to work, but soon "struck," to protest 
 against any reduction in their wages: consequently work was 
 suspended until contractors and workmen could come to some 
 agreement. On the 6th the strike continues. On the 7th some 
 of the carpenters return to work, and, thenceforward, things 
 seem to have proceeded smoothly. Some weeks later, when the 
 scaffolding was fairly well advanced, what might have been an 
 unfortunate accident was averted by Divine Providence. A 
 plank fell from on high and was broken into pieces in a pew 
 in which a lady was praying. Apart from a severe fright, she 
 received no injury, but a notice was immediately posted, warn- 
 ing visitors to the church, to avoid the pews in the body of 
 the edifice. 
 
 On his return from Florissant, Missouri, whither he had 
 gone last year, Father Chiappa was made vice-president, and 
 Father Kenna resumed his former office of catechist. Father 
 
292 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Sullivan, relieved from this duty, again devoted himself exclu- 
 sively to the ministry. Mr. Wm. Culligan, S. J., and Mr. Henry 
 Hoffman, S. J., were detached from the college faculty and 
 sent elsewhere; and Fathers John Sardi and Anthony Tardella, 
 together with Messrs. George Butler and Joseph Lydon, replaced 
 them on the college lists. 
 
 On July 7th, at Los Gatos, Father Paul Mans, whose name 
 has so often appeared in these pages, died a saintly death. He 
 had, but a few days before, finished the annual retreat to the 
 secular clergy in Santa Clara, and during this work of zeal had 
 felt himself seriously indisposed. He said nothing, as was his 
 wont, but bore up bravely under intense sufferings. On his 
 return to Los Gatos, he had to take to his bed, a luxury which 
 he had denied himself for years. It was soon evident that all 
 hopes of saving his life would have to be abandoned, and, after 
 a veritable martyrdom, he breathed his last. 
 
 "Father Mans was a true priest," says an admirer, and he 
 speaks truly, "in all that pertains to that sacred office. No labor 
 was too severe for him, no privation too great for him ; his daily 
 life was a sermon to every soul constituting his flock. Simple 
 as a child, devoted to God, with every work undertaken for 
 God's greater honor and glory, he has gone before the Judgment 
 Seat with his hands filled with the good works and the great 
 charities that he performed for the poor, the sick and the orphan, 
 during his holy life of poverty, chastity and obedience." 
 
 The Church of St. Ignatius, on the 4th of August, was the 
 scene of a magnificent display, when some two thousand mem- 
 bers of the Young Men's Institute gathered within its walls to 
 attend Solemn Mass. Rev. Father Sasia addressed them in elo- 
 quent terms, showing forth the beauty and power of Catholic 
 organizations, and what constitutes the Catholic life. 
 
 "As the procession entered the church," says the account of 
 the event, "the flag bearers marched to the altar rails and placed 
 their flags and banners around the sanctuary pillars, so that when 
 mass was begun and the altars brilliantly illuminated, a rare 
 sight was witnessed. American flags hung down in graceful 
 folds over Institute banners, making a pleasant contrast, and 
 the sanctuary was framed in the national colors. Innumerable 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 293 
 
 lights sparkled around the altars like so many jewels in a white 
 and gold diadem, for the high altar of St. Ignatius is rich in 
 these colors. Candelabra burned their many tapers brightly in 
 the sanctuary, and all the altars were illuminated, and bedecked 
 with beautiful flowers. . . . 
 
 'I remember reading not long since,' said Father Sasia in 
 his sermon, 'of the daring project of a clever engineer, who 
 thought of utilizing the powerful momentum of Niagara and 
 transforming it into a vast storage of electrical force. He saw 
 the tremendous rush of the great waterfall that was only wast- 
 ing itself in grinding away its own bed, and he asked why it 
 should not be transformed into a force that might revolutionize 
 the industries and commerce of the land. 
 
 In like manner we behold a vast amount of human energy 
 and moral power, either lying dormant, or spent on purposes 
 that do not rise above the petty interests of earth, but which, if 
 once thoroughly aroused and properly directed, may be made 
 instrumental in achieving the noblest ends and accomplishing 
 the highest results. That power, that energy, we find in the 
 action, courage and intelligence of our Catholic young men, and 
 the secret of its usefulness and strength lies in their union and 
 organization under the auspices, influence and guidance of their 
 Holy Mother, the Church.' " 
 
 Two thousand young men are said to have taken part in the 
 ceremonies; a sight well fitted to stir up all the eloquence of the 
 speaker's soul. 
 
 In September, the pulpit, which hitherto had been movable, 
 was made stationary where the present pulpit is; the position 
 found by experiment to be most convenient for the preacher and 
 his hearers. 
 
 On October 19th, a large audience had gathered in the 
 church to hear Rev. Father Sasia lecture on the "Reasonable- 
 ness of Catholic Belief," the proceeds to be given to the fund 
 which was being raised for the new Cathedral. Suddenly all 
 the gaslights in the Fathers' residence were extinguished, and 
 the flickering jets in the church threatened utter darkness. The 
 condition of affairs was by no means a pleasant one, for there 
 was fear of a panic. The telephone was called into requisition; 
 
294 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 all haste was made by the proper parties to repair the defective 
 meter; and the "Reasonableness of Catholic Belief" was set forth 
 in equal material and mental brilliancy. 
 
 1891. 
 
 The main event of 1891 was the celebration of the tercen- 
 tenary of the death of St. Aloysius. It was for this celebration 
 that the decoration of the church was to be finished, a delicate 
 tribute to St. Aloysius and to Father Aloysius Varsi, his client. 
 As early as April 14th, a temporary altar had been erected in 
 the sanctuary, in order to permit of the embellishment of the 
 main altar. Work went on steadily, and on June 15th the 
 church was closed to the public, masses being said in the Gen- 
 tlemen's Sodality Chapel. On Saturday afternoon, June 20th, 
 the church was opened for confessions, and all was ready for 
 the feast. His Grace, Archbishop Riordan, pontificated, and 
 His Lordship, Bishop O'Connell, was present in the sanctuary. 
 Rt. Rev. James A. Healy, who, with his brother, Father Patrick 
 Healy, had arrived on the 15th inst, delivered the panegyric of 
 the Saint. The closing exercises of the Girls' Sunday-school 
 were held in the college hall in the afternoon. They were destined 
 to close not only the year, but also the school as well, for, on 
 July 25th, Father Henry Imoda became Superior of the Cali- 
 fornian Mission, in place of Father Joseph Sasia, and the Girls' 
 Sunday-school was never reopened; Father Imoda considering 
 that the time had arrived when the work could be conveniently 
 turned over to others. In the evening, Pontifical Vespers and 
 Solemn Benediction by His Grace, Archbishop Riordan, ended 
 the spiritual festivities of the occasion. 
 
 "Four thousand people assisted at the Grand Pontifical Mass 
 in St. Ignatius Church last Sunday," said the Monitor of the 
 following week, "and fully as many more wished to do so, could 
 they but get within the vestibule doors. The announcement 
 that the Jesuit Fathers were to celebrate the tercentenary of 
 the death of St. Aloysius Gonzaga with great pomp and sol- 
 emnity, and that the grand and beautiful improvements that 
 have been made in this church could be seen for the first time on 
 that day, attracted such a large Catholic congregation. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 295 
 
 All the early masses in the church were unusually well 
 attended, and, as the hours grew on, the congregation increased. 
 When the 9 130 o'clock mass was concluded, the people who 
 were anxiously waiting outside the edifice, were admitted. In 
 the body of St. Ignatius Church seventeen hundred people can 
 be seated, but, five minutes after the people were allowed to enter, 
 it was impossible to find a vacant seat. Still the crowd increased, 
 the people only too happy to obtain standing room. 
 
 The aisles were packed from the altar rail to the vestibule 
 doors, the gallery was filled to overflowing, and even the choir 
 loft held a large number of people exclusive of the singers. The 
 long and deep granite steps leading to the church were 
 freighted with men, women and children, who could see 
 nothing and hear but little more. True, the grand, resonant 
 tones of the large organ and the melodious voices of the one 
 hundred singers were occasionally wafted out to them, and it 
 was only then that they could surmise what was going on inside. 
 It was notable, though, at the solemn parts of the mass, when 
 those inside were kneeling, a large number of the people on the 
 steps would follow their example. To see well-dressed men 
 and women, just as those that were poorly clad, kneel on the 
 hard stone, and, with bowed heads, adore their Lord and Savior 
 regardless of surroundings or publicity, shows the true faith in 
 a manner more eloquent and impressive than mere words. 
 
 To look from the choir on the scene within the sacred edifice 
 was a delight which, those fortunate enough to enjoy it, will long 
 remember. To see in the sanctuary prelates and priests in gor- 
 geous gold vestments, dazzling in the sunlight which entered 
 through the magnificent stained-glass windows; to gaze at the 
 work of the artists' hands so beautifully adorning ceiling and 
 wall; to look at the mass of humanity below, and then to have 
 one's very soul elevated by the solemn, sacred music, was indeed 
 entrancing. 
 
 It was exactly 10:35 when the long line of acolytes, clergy 
 and prelates entered from the sacristy, and moved in slow pro- 
 cession to the high altar. First came members of the Altar 
 Society, in crimson cassocks and lace surplices; then the sur- 
 pliced clergy, followed by censor and cross-bearers; then the 
 
296 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 chaplains and assistant chaplains, robed in white silk copes, 
 chasubles and dalmatics, followed by the deacons of honor 
 and attendant clerics, wearing rich robes of woven gold; 
 and, lastly, Archbishop Riordan, in grand pontifical vestments. 
 Seated in the sanctuary were Bishop Healy of Portland, Maine; 
 Rt. Rev. Eugene O'Connell, Bishop of Joppa; and a number of 
 Fathers of the Society of Jesus. The officers of the Grand 
 Pontifical Mass were as follows : 
 
 Celebrant, Most Rev. P. W. Riordan; assistant priest, Very 
 Rev. Joseph Sasia, S. J. ; first assistant deacon, Rev. V. Chiappa, 
 S. J. ; second assistant deacon, Rev. A. Jacquet, S. J. ; officiating 
 deacon, Rev. A. Coltelli, S. J. ; officiating sub-deacon, Rev. J. 
 D'Aponte, S. J. ; crozier bearer, Mr. Jos. Lydon, S. J. ; miter 
 bearer, Mr. John Volio, S. J. ; book bearer, Mr. J. Brown, S. J. ; 
 candle bearer, Mr. R. Dreano, S. J. ; sub-deacon of the cross, Mr. 
 W. Thornton, S. J. ; masters of ceremonies, Rev. Father Collins, 
 S. J., Mr. Ford, S. J., and Mr. Butler, S. J." 
 
 "In this city," says the Call of the following day, "the patron 
 of youth was honored on a scale of grandeur never before 
 attempted within the walls of a San Francisco church. The 
 principal ceremony was, of course, at St. Ignatius, where two 
 joyful events, the reopening of the sacred edifice (which has 
 been in the hands of decorators for a twelvemonth) and the fes- 
 tival itself — each contributed its quota of interest to the day's pro- 
 ceedings and made the celebration an imposing and memora- 
 ble one. 
 
 The reopening itself was attended with no special ceremony, 
 the building having been already dedicated. During the latter 
 days of the week, the canvas which concealed the decorative 
 work was removed, the finishing touches were put on where 
 necessary, and, at the 5 o'clock mass yesterday morning, the 
 congregation, for the first time in a year and over, enjoyed the 
 privilege of gazing at the walls and ceiling, and admiring the 
 adornment. 
 
 From that early hour until 10 o'clock, a conservative esti- 
 mate of the attendance at the hourly masses places the number 
 at twenty thousand ; fully seven thousand attended the Pontifical 
 High Mass between 10:30 and 1:30 o'clock; an even larger 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 297 
 
 congregation assembled for Pontifical Vespers, and between the 
 services over five thousand visitors examined the handsome 
 interior, or paid private devotion at the Saint's shrine — so that 
 a low calculation of the immense throng that surged back and 
 forth, from early morning until late last night, puts the number 
 at forty thousand. 
 
 Most of the prominent features of the frescos, paintings 
 and improvements have already been noted. The prevailing 
 tint, which might be described as a light russet brown, is one of 
 those pleasing neutral shades, which brings out to the best advan- 
 tage the beauties of the paneled ceiling, the many arched nave 
 and the splendid sanctuary, with their elaborate gildings and 
 frescoings, and the score of stained-glass windows, each worth 
 a small fortune in itself, so artistic are they all in conception 
 and execution. The only exception to the color rule is the 
 bright, high altar, which is thrown into bold relief by a treat- 
 ment of gold and white. 
 
 The windows, from their value as examples of high art, 
 attracted considerable attention on every side. They are twenty- 
 four in number, four being in the choir overlooking the entrance, 
 two on each side of the high altar, and eight on each side of 
 the nave. Those in the choir represent four scenes from the 
 life of St. Ignatius, Founder of the Society of Jesus, the picture 
 of the saint in each instance being a correct reproduction of his 
 features as preserved in oil paintings of his time, still in posses- 
 sion of the Jesuit Fathers. 
 
 The first window shows him in the act of writing the book 
 of the Spiritual Exercises in Manresa, under the special protec- 
 tion of the Mother of God. In the second, he and his first com- 
 panions are pictured consecrating themselves to God by vow in 
 the Chapel of Montmartre, Paris. The third window represents 
 the apparition of our Divine Lord to St. Ignatius on his way 
 to Rome, promising him protection in his undertaking. In the 
 fourth, St. Ignatius is shown before Paul III, presenting to 
 the Pope the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus just founded. 
 
 The four altar windows give an allegorical representation 
 of the glory of Paradise, with the angelic choir singing hymns 
 of praise to the Almighty. The windows on the gospel side of 
 the nave represent eight mysteries in the life of the Mother 
 
298 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 of God, viz : The Immaculate Conception, the Nativity of the 
 Blessed Virgin, the Presentation in the Temple, the Espousals 
 of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, the Annunciation, the 
 Visit to St. Elizabeth, the Presentation of the Infant Savior in 
 the Temple, and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into 
 Heaven. 
 
 On the epistle side of the nave is an equal number of windows 
 representing incidents in the life of Our Lord, viz : His Birth, 
 the Disputing with the Doctors in the Temple, His Baptism in 
 the Jordan, the Last Supper, Our Lord in the Garden of Olives, 
 the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. 
 
 Among the other works of art are the paintings hung above 
 the confessionals. As one makes the round of the church, com- 
 mencing at the gospel side of the entrance, these are met with 
 in the following order : The Jesuit Martyrs of Japan ; St. Fran- 
 cis Borgia seeking admission into the Society of Jesus; St. 
 John Francis Regis; St. Francis de Hieronymo, the Apostle of 
 Naples; St. Peter Claver, the Apostle of the Negroes; St. John 
 Berchmans; St. Stanislas Kostka; St. Alphonsus Rodriguez; 
 the martyrdom of Blessed John de Britto ; that of Blessed Andrew 
 Bobola ; of Blessed Ignatius de Azavedo and companions ; Blessed 
 Charles Spinola blessing the Infant Ignatius and his mother; 
 and Blessed Edmund Campion and other English martyrs — all 
 of whom, Saints and Blessed, were members of the Society of 
 Jesus during their lifetime." 
 
 While, in the preceding account, the number that attended 
 the Solemn Mass is somewhat exaggerated, since it does not 
 seem possible that the number could have exceeded four thou- 
 sand, unless the crowds outside the church, and those that 
 came and went during the service, were taken into considera- 
 tion; it is remarkably correct in other particulars, and in no 
 way overestimates the total number of persons that, on that 
 memorable occasion, visited the church. The money employed 
 had been well spent; God's house had been embellished and a 
 place of beauty erected for God's poor, whither they could come 
 at will to gaze upon the treasures of sacred art, and enjoy a fore- 
 taste of what heaven contains for them if they patiently bear 
 the trials of their present lot. A month later, July 22nd, Bishop 
 Healy and his brother set their faces homeward. 
 
MAIN ALTAR 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 299 
 
 We have already mentioned the appointment of Rev. Henry 
 Imoda as Superior of the Mission on July 25th. It was only 
 the adding of a new dignity to the old, for he still remained 
 president of the college. Rev. Father Sasia returned to the 
 chair of philosophy. Fathers Michael Shallo, Henry Woods, 
 James O'Sullivan and John D'Aponte; Messrs. Richard Bell, 
 Joseph De Rop and Henry Raiders, S. J., were the new members 
 of the faculty. Of the old faculty we miss Fathers Robert 
 Kenna, Aloysius Jacquet and Angelo Coltelli, as likewise Messrs. 
 Henry Whittle, John Ford, Walter Thornton. Joseph Lydon 
 and Richard Gleeson, S. J. 
 
 During the year, the college had been honored by the visit 
 of Archbishop Gross and Bishop Lemmens, in January; and by 
 that of Bishop Grimes of New Zealand on August 2nd, on which 
 occasion he celebrated Pontifical Mass in honor of St. Ignatius. 
 After the gigantic work which we have just described in the 
 matter of church embellishment, it is not to be wondered at, that 
 a period of quiet should ensue, and that the rest of the year 
 should present nothing that calls for special mention. 
 
 1892. 
 
 The year 1892 opened with the death of Mr. Henry Raiders, 
 S. J. He passed away at Santa Clara, whither he had gone 
 on the 1 2th of the preceding December, in the vain hope that 
 life might be prolonged. On January 3rd, death came, and on 
 the following morning the students in their chapel attended a 
 mass sung for the repose of his soul. 
 
 Death still continued to reap his harvest, and, on the 20th 
 of the month, the daily papers announced the decease of Very 
 Rev. Father Anderledy, General of the Society of Jesus, although 
 official information of the fact did not reach us until some days 
 later. The Solemn Mass for the repose of his soul was cele- 
 brated on the 18th of February, His Grace, the Archbishop being 
 present, and giving the last absolution. The decorations of the 
 church were on the same elaborate scale as on the occasion of 
 the death of Very Rev. Father Beckx, his predecessor, and, 
 while new, in design, they were equally a triumph of the decora- 
 tor's art. 
 
3 oo THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 But our death record for these early months is, unfortunately, 
 not yet complete. On February 7th, Father Joseph Bayma, the 
 fourth president of St. Ignatius College, passed peacefully away 
 in Santa Clara. He was born near Turin, on November 9th, 
 1816, and entered the Society of Jesus on February 5th, 1832. 
 When but seventeen years of age, he taught rhetoric in the 
 College of Nobles, a remarkable tribute to his talent and appli- 
 cation. Ordained priest in 1843, he lectured in the Roman Col- 
 lege, and in 1845 became Rector of the Seminary of Bertinoro 
 in the Romagna, lecturing on Scripture at the same time in 
 the Cathedral of the place. In 1848, he was driven to France 
 by the revolution, and in 1857 passed over to England as pro- 
 fessor of philosophy at Stonyhurst. Here many of those who 
 have become prominent in the English Province of the Society 
 of Jesus studied under him, admiring at once the simple straight- 
 forwardness of his nature and the sublimity of his genius. It 
 was during his stay in England that he wrote his "Molecular 
 Mechanics." Coming to San Francisco in 1869, he labored for 
 eleven years in St. Ignatius, at first engaged in the management 
 of affairs, then professor in the classroom and contributor to 
 magazines. In Italian he is said to have been an orator; in 
 Latin, he was certainly a polished scholar and an excellent poet. 
 There was a winning simplicity in his manner, which robbed 
 his imposing form and deeply philosophic mind of anything 
 that savored of pride or pompousness; and when, during the 
 leisure hours of vacation at the Villa, he won a game of checkers 
 or of chess, his face would light up with a pleasure which showed 
 the artlessness of the noble soul within. His "Study of Religious 
 Perfection," so similar in sweetness to the "Imitation of Christ," 
 is the best reflex of a life that we all admired and of a heart 
 that we all loved. 
 
 As the Alumni Society had dropped out of the catalogue 
 of 1891, so the Holy Angels' Sodality drops out of that of 1892. 
 The former had disbanded, owing to the causes, doubtless, that 
 generally bring about a decadence in such organizations; the 
 latter, because the college was endeavoring, little by little, to 
 restrict itself to older pupils. In the present year, Father Edward 
 Allen on August 10th, became Minister in place of Father 
 Jeremiah Collins, who, with Fathers Thomas Leonard, John 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 301 
 
 D'Aponte, Vincent Chiappa, Michael Shallo and Mr. Joseph 
 De Rop, S. ]., went to Santa Clara. Father James O'Sullivan 
 had gone thither earlier in the year. Father Joseph Dossola 
 was again vice-president, replacing Father Chiappa. The 
 other new members of the faculty were Father Dionysius 
 Mahony, and Messrs. James Malone, John Volio, Edmund 
 Gerlach and Lawrence Casserly, S. J. Father Aloysius Jacquet 
 assisted in the ministry. Mr. John Volio, S. J., taught until 
 October 18th only, on which date he started for Spain to 
 pursue his course of theology. He was replaced by Mr. Henry 
 Gabriel, S. J. Messrs. Casserly and Gerlach were to be called 
 to heaven before the school year was over, the latter on the 
 nth of the following April in St. Ignatius, and the former in 
 Santa Clara on the 31st of May. Mr. Pascal Bellefroid, S. J., 
 came from Santa Clara to take the classes of Mr. Gerlach. 
 
 In the beginning of the year, Father Varsi had found himself 
 in a position to carry out a project which he had long in mind. 
 It was the furnishing of the church with rich ostensoria, tributes 
 of his own devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and of that of 
 his friends. Quietly and without ostentation, many of these 
 had, at various times, handed over to him their jewels and 
 trinkets, offering gladly for the service of the altar what they 
 had much prized. For the execution of his design he sought 
 those whom he considered the very best goldsmiths in Paris, 
 the firm of Poussielgue-Rusand Fils, in whose honesty and 
 artistic taste he might well confide. That he planned two 
 ostensoria is clearly contained in the earlier letters of the 
 firm on the subject. "When will you send us the jewels for 
 the ostensoria?" they ask. "We have not yet received them. 
 We intend to participate in the Exposition at Chicago next 
 year, and if you consent to order us to make a beautiful osten- 
 sorium on which your jewels will be mounted, we shall make 
 every effort to produce one of superb workmanship on condi- 
 tion that you will permit it to figure in our exhibit. The work 
 will be with us a question of art, not of mere business." 
 
 The offer was too tempting to be refused, for a personal 
 interest was assured which money cannot purchase. It was 
 decided to have one ostensorium only, but that such as would 
 be worthy of a world's exposition. Although negotiations had 
 
3 o2 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 begun with the year's beginning, the jewels and design were 
 not sent until December, for a letter of January 27th, 1893, 
 acknowledges the receipt of both. "The design is well made," 
 says the letter, "and in the sketch which we shall have the 
 honor of submitting to you, we shall adopt many of the ideas 
 expressed in it." A month later the correspondent of the firm 
 is excusing delay in the forwarding of the sketch. A piece 
 of goldwork of the importance of your ostensorium calls for 
 much thought when one would obtain the best results," he 
 says, " . . . . but having made sketch after sketch, we 
 have decided on the one which we send you." This with 
 various modifications was finally accepted, and word was cabled 
 to begin at once. Meanwhile the firm of Poussielgue-Rusand Fils 
 had determined not to take part in the Chicago Exposition 
 and considered it only right to manifest their decision to Father 
 Varsi. The reasons were certainly good and such as Father 
 Varsi would approve; but lest he might fear that the work 
 would suffer on this account, the assurance is given that "as 
 regards the workmanship, it will be as carefully attended to 
 as if this ostensorium were to have a place at the Exposition. 
 Our earnest desires for your welfare, our professional pride as 
 jewelers, our interests well understood, are securities." Father 
 Varsi was anxious to use the ostensorium on the Feast of 
 Christmas, and hopes were given him that his wishes would be 
 gratified. As the year, however, wore on, the fact became 
 evident that more time would be required; so that it was only 
 with the end of February, 1894, that the monstrance was com- 
 pleted. 
 
 Having won the admiration of such as were fortunate 
 enough to view it, it left Paris on its way to the Pacific Coast, 
 so that voicing the comments of competent and disinterested 
 parties, the firm could say with honest pride, "Truly we think 
 that our work is a success." Our readers will judge from the 
 accompanying half-tone how far they were right. 
 
 Meanwhile, another project of the greatest utility to the 
 church had been conceived and executed. It was a new sacristy. 
 When the church was built, Father Varsi had thought that he 
 had made liberal provision for storing the ornaments of the 
 
THE MONSTRANCE 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 303 
 
 altars and affording room to the clergy when vesting for the 
 various sacred functions. Time, however, had shown that more 
 space was needed. The ladies in charge of the several altars, 
 had been more than generous in supplying flowers, and vases, 
 and candelabra, and whatsoever else could add beauty on the 
 different festivals ; and the long train of acolytes, combined with 
 the clergy on more solemn occasions, filled to overcrowding the 
 existing sacristies. Whose generous hand supplied the needed 
 funds is too well known to require explicit mention; the new 
 gift was merely the increasing of benefactions which were still 
 to grow. 
 
 1893. 
 Towards the end of 1892, Father Edward Allen succeeded 
 in substituting a male choir for the mixed one that had hitherto 
 sung in the church. He entered into the matter with his usual 
 energy, and on the evening of January 8th, 1893, the choir 
 duly organized made a very favorable impression by its first 
 efforts. For a couple of months, not to overtax it, only the 
 evening services were confided to it; but after the lapse of 
 these, it supplied all the vocal music in the church. Its mem- 
 bership in time grew to be about one hundred and thirty with 
 an ordinary attendance of from eighty to one hundred. There 
 were about forty first tenors, thirty second tenors, thirty first 
 and thirty second basses. About one hundred college boys 
 assisted the choir on certain special occasions, and a voluntary 
 orchestra of some forty pieces accompanied it. The choir 
 existed for several years, until the health of Father Allen having 
 failed, the choir disintegrated for lack of a director. 
 
 On March 7th, the Catholic Educational Exhibit opened 
 in the Mechanics' Pavilion, that the public might see the class 
 of work done in Catholic schools and colleges. Among the 
 other exhibits made by St. Ignatius was that of its physical 
 cabinet; and to show the apparatus in actual operation, Mr. 
 Thomas Hickey of the graduating class, lectured on "The 
 Atmosphere, Its Principal Properties and Composition." The 
 lecture was illustrated by experiments. Robert Hicks, Satur- 
 nino Gonzalez, Benj. McKinley and Charles Sweigert assisted 
 the lecturer. The work of St. Ignatius in the field of education 
 
3 04 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 was much appreciated, and the efforts of Father Sasia, to whom 
 the management of the college exhibit had been entrusted, 
 were highly commended. 
 
 On the Feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph, April 23rd, 
 Father Henry Imoda, while continuing Superior of the Cali- 
 fornian Mission, turned the government of the college over 
 to Father Edward Allen, as president, Father Dionysius 
 Mahony becoming Minister. A little over a month later, as 
 Father Imoda was of the opinion that the college could sup- 
 port itself without the charging of fees, he wished that the 
 students of the classical course should be exempt from charges 
 for tuition. His wish was accordingly carried out, and on 
 May 29th the announcement was made, that henceforth no 
 tuition fees would be charged in the college course. The 
 closing exercises were held on June 7th, and the degree of 
 Bachelor of Science was given for the last time. From this 
 day forward, in compliance with the announcement already 
 made, classical degrees alone were to be given in the college. 
 The pupils were fewer than the preceding year and the Junior 
 Philhistorian Debating Society has ceased to exist. 
 
 On July 31st, Father John Pinasco, having been relieved of 
 the presidency of Santa Clara College, relieved, in turn, Father 
 Joseph Dossola of the vice-presidency of St. Ignatius; and early 
 in August, Father Vincent Testa became Minister in place of 
 Father Dionysius Mahony, who was made President of the 
 Jesuit College in San Jose. The additions to the faculty 
 were Fathers Telesphorus Demasini, Joseph Hickey and 
 Angelo Coltelli, S. J. Besides Fathers Mahony and Dossola, 
 the church and college lost Fathers John Sardi, Henry Woods, 
 Joseph Neri and Joseph Sasia, the last mentioned having been 
 called to Italy by the Very Rev. Ludovico Martin, General 
 of the Society of Jesus, and subsequently made Provincial of 
 the Province of Turin, of which Province, California is a 
 dependency. 
 
 Father Joseph Sasia was born in Venasca, Northern Italy, 
 on April 27th, 1843. His classical studies were made in Turin 
 under the celebrated Professor Thomas Vallauri. Having 
 selected an ecclesiastical career as his vocation in life, he entered 
 the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Turin. Called to the Society 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 305 
 
 of Jesus he interrupted his course of studies, though soon 
 to have been ordained, and on August 14th, 1866, entered the 
 Novitiate at Monaco. In 1869 he came to California and, 
 having spent some time in mastering English, taught in Santa 
 Clara and St. Ignatius until 1875, in which year he went 
 to Woodstock, Md., to complete his theological course and 
 receive Holy Orders. On his return in 1878, he was appointed 
 professor of chemistry in St. Ignatius. Two years later, he 
 taught the same branch in Santa Clara College and was chaplain 
 of the students. 
 
 In 1882 he was again in St. Ignatius, this time as professor 
 of mental philosophy. His history from that date to 1893 
 has been told in the preceding pages. He will spend six years 
 in Italy, mainly as Provincial of the Turin Province, then come 
 back to California in 1899, and to San Francisco in 1904, to be 
 with us in the celebration of the golden jubilee. But to return. 
 
 On July 5th, Archbishop Satolli, accompanied by Arch- 
 bishop Riordan, Bishop Grace and Dr. O'Gorman, paid a visit 
 to the college. As it was vacation time, there was no formal 
 reception. His Grace, however, departed much pleased at find- 
 ing, on the Pacific Coast, a church and college so beautiful and 
 so thoroughly equipped. The month of August presents two 
 matters worthy of note. On the 26th, His Grace, Archbishop 
 Riordan, requested the Superior of the Californian Mission to 
 interest himself in obtaining a Father to take care of the Poles 
 in the city. Father Imoda promised to do all in his power, and 
 transmitted the request to Very Rev. Father Martin. The 
 28th witnessed a very pretty ceremony. Mrs. Coleman, a lady 
 of well-known piety and generosity, had presented a beautiful 
 statue of Our Lady of Lourdes as an ornament for the vestibule 
 of the church. Its blessing took place in the presence of the 
 whole community, all admiring the taste and piety of the donor. 
 
 The health of Father Allen had for some time suffered 
 severely under the strain of his many occupations and the doc- 
 tors considered a change and rest indispensable. About the 
 middle of September, therefore, he left for Seattle and the 
 Northern Missions, returning from Spokane on the vigil of 
 the Feast of St. Francis Xavier. Meanwhile in November, 
 
3 o6 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Bishop Healy once more had paid us a visit, but this time shorter 
 than usual, for his health was very poor, and he hastened on 
 to the sanitarium in San Jose. 
 
 1894. 
 
 The year 1894 opened with the appointment of Rev. Joseph 
 Sasia as Provincial of the Turin Province. He entered upon 
 his duties on January 14th, though the news reached California 
 on the 27th. The Fathers of St. Ignatius might well trust that 
 their interests would be carefully looked after by one who, as 
 president of the college and Superior of the Mission, had been 
 in a position to know their interests so well. 
 
 Somewhat earlier, the following notice had appeared : "We 
 fear that many Catholics in this city and State are not aware 
 that, following the rule of their founder, where it is possi- 
 ble to do so, the Jesuit Fathers have made of St. Ignatius 
 College a free college, in all that pertains to superior 
 education, classical and ordinary. To all young men of good 
 character, the Society of Jesus will give education absolutely 
 gratuitous, not an ordinary education but a superior education 
 comprising classics, mathematics, science, philosophy and all 
 cognate matters. To those who do not desire a classical educa- 
 tion, the ordinary commercial branches will be taught. Any 
 young man who may desire to acquire knowledge in its fullest 
 sense, to prepare for the professions, for a full university course, 
 has here an opportunity which few in this country possess. San 
 Francisco is, we believe, the only city in the United States 
 which is so blessed, and our young men ought to take advan- 
 tage of this splendid opportunity offered them. In this respect, 
 the rich have no advantage over the poor, since no other condi- 
 tion is required than a good character and a determination 
 to study." 
 
 Church and college were active, each in doing its allotted 
 work. Had any one been skeptical concerning the popularity of 
 the confessors in the church, a visit to the sacred edifice on 
 Holy Saturday, March 24th, would have dispelled every doubt. 
 All the afternoon and even beyond midnight, many of the 
 Fathers were engaged in their mission of mercy, some spending 
 eleven hours in the confessional. 
 
FATHER EDWARD ALLEN, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 307 
 
 Still, not all the stray sheep are gathered in by the warning 
 voice of Easter, and it was thought well to give the congrega- 
 tion the benefit of a formal mission. Fathers Henry Moeller 
 and Hugh Finnegan of the Missouri Province, were invited to 
 give it. They reached San Francisco on May 4th, and two 
 days later opened the week for men. No better success could 
 have been desired. The fire and eloquence of Father Moeller, 
 the plain and earnest simplicity of the instructions of Father 
 Finnegan, suited admirably the varied tastes of the congre- 
 gation, and produced the desired fruit. 
 
 The catalogue of this year is a vast improvement on its 
 predecessors, and maps out clearly the amount of matter to be 
 mastered in each class. The courses are three, Philosophic, 
 Classical and Preparatory; or, if you wish, these are three parts 
 of the same course leading to a classical degree. For A. M. 
 three years of philosophy and of the natural sciences are 
 required; for A. B., two. The number of students shows a nota- 
 ble increase, for whereas in the preceding year it was 540, this 
 year it is 745. As the course had in no way been modified, 
 the better attendance was quite a compliment to the manage- 
 ment of Father Allen. We are happy to note also the reappear- 
 ance of the Holy Angels' Sodality under the direction of Rev. 
 Joseph Hickey, who began here a work of zeal which, years 
 afterwards, in the broader sphere of the Gentlemen's Sodality, 
 was to make his name revered and loved in many a household. 
 
 The staff lost several valuable members this year and 
 acquired others. Father Vincent Testa went to Santa Clara 
 and was replaced as Minister by Father Bartholomew Calzia. 
 Mr. Richard Bell went to Italy and Mr. James Malone to Los 
 Gatos. Fathers Henry Woods and John Sardi, Messrs. Maurice 
 Joy, Joseph Lydon, William Boland and Salvator Giglio, S. J., 
 took up the work of church and college. Father Stanislas 
 Kusiacki, S. J., a Polish Jesuit, had arrived on May 24th in 
 response to the request of His Grace, the Archbishop; and later 
 in the year, on November 15th, Father Joseph Guidi came from 
 the Rocky Mountain Missions to help in the work of the 
 sacred ministry. 
 
 The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which had flour- 
 ished under Father Florence Sullivan in the form of the Apos- 
 
3 o8 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 tleship of Prayer, was destined, as the League of the Sacred 
 Heart, to receive an infusion of new life under the direction of 
 Father Henry Woods. On the 14th of October, the promoters 
 were organized, and thenceforward progress was still more 
 solid and rapid. Was this, perhaps, one of the reasons why 
 the college annalist wonders at the immense number of com- 
 munions on the following Christmas? No one is ignorant of 
 the close connection existing between devotion to the Sacred 
 Heart and to the Divine Sacrament; nor can any one doubt 
 that of the 4,000 communicants who, on the feast, approached 
 the sacred table in St. Ignatius, a large, and very large propor- 
 tion belonged to the League. 
 
 1895. 
 
 Several of the months of 1895 slipped away unnoticed in the 
 usual routine of church and college, not so, however, April. 
 On the 8th of the month, the body of a dear friend who has 
 more than once been mentioned in the annals of the college, 
 Mr. Joseph Donohoe, was borne into the church to have the 
 last sad rites performed over it. The mass was celebrated by 
 His Grace, the Most Rev. Archbishop, and the sermon was 
 preached by Father Peter Yorke. Everything was extremely 
 simple and suggestive of a depth of sorrow that nothing can 
 express. It was Monday in Holy Week, and all who knew 
 the true Christian character of the deceased felt that he had 
 kept the Feast of Palms in heaven, in recompense of the many 
 deeds of unassuming charity which he had performed on earth. 
 
 On May 20th, ex-Governor Peter Burnett, another friend 
 whose love for St. Ignatius long years had proved, rested peace- 
 fully in his casket before the altar at which, in life, he had so 
 often worshiped. Governor James Budd, attended by his staff, 
 was present at the mass which Father Coltelli celebrated, 
 assisted by Father Ryan of St. Bridget's, deacon, and Father 
 Prelato, subdeacon. Father John Cottle, his parish priest, 
 delivered the sermon. The Gentlemen's Sodality, of which 
 the deceased had been a most faithful member, were present 
 in large numbers; and a vast congregation, filling the church 
 from the railing to the doors, testified the esteem which the 
 city felt for this man of quiet but deep piety who could say 
 
OUR LADY OF LOURDES 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 309 
 
 with the Apostle, "I am not ashamed of the gospel." He had 
 confessed and defended his faith eloquently by word and pen. 
 Having spent his years in well-doing, he had entered into the 
 joy of his Master. 
 
 Another misfortune, though not so immediately affecting 
 St. Ignatius as the deaths just recorded, calls for mention before 
 passing on to a more pleasant theme. It is the burning of the 
 old chapel at the Presidio on June 19th. The loss was a severe 
 blow to Father Prelato, who had labored hard to render the 
 old ordnance attic a place sufficiently decent for the celebra- 
 tion of the Divine Mysteries; but his trust in St. Joseph and St. 
 Joseph's friends was in nowise diminished, and, little by little, 
 he has been able to fit up and adorn the present chapel. 
 
 The 23rd of June was a day of festivity in St. Ignatius, for 
 on that day the Feast of St. Aloysius was solemnized in the 
 church, and Father Aloysius Varsi celebrated the 50th year of 
 his religious life as a Jesuit. The actual day of his entrance into 
 the Order had been May 2nd, but it was thought more fitting 
 to celebrate the event on his patronal feast. Aloysius Varsi, 
 Aloysius Raggio and Aloysius Jacquet were respectively Cele- 
 brant, deacon and sub-deacon, at the Solemn Mass. Rev. 
 Father Kenna, who had been a pupil in Santa Clara under 
 Father Varsi, delivered the sermon. A reception in the after- 
 noon, and in the evening Solemn Vespers followed by Solemn 
 Benediction, at which Father Varsi was Celebrant, brought the 
 festivities to an end. 
 
 "The sunlight streaming half way down the aisles of St. 
 Ignatius, yesterday," says the account published the day after 
 the occasion, "met and mingled with the hundreds of candles on 
 the splendidly decorated altar, and the candles themselves 
 burned golden, harmonizing with all the other accessories of 
 
 the golden jubilee of Father Varsi The vestments 
 
 worn by Father Varsi and his assistants were gorgeous in the 
 extreme. They had been worn only once before. They were 
 of yellow satin, heavily embroidered in gold thread. Every- 
 thing about the altar was golden, in compliment to this fiftieth 
 anniversary." 
 
3 io THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 "The afternoon celebration," writes the same pen, "was held 
 in the Gentlemen's Sodality Chapel. It was crowded with invited 
 guests, and, as Father Varsi entered, an orchestra struck up a 
 march and all stood until the Father had taken his seat. Hon. 
 J. F. Sullivan then made an address, in which delicate compli- 
 ments to the Father's abilities were interwoven with loving 
 tributes to the Jesuit Order. This grand structure shall stand 
 as a monument to you through the years to come,' he said, in 
 conclusion, 'but another, a grander monument you have reared 
 for yourself in the hearts of your grateful fellow citizens, who 
 have been the beneficiaries of your untiring labors. 
 
 Gratified for your services in the past, we are selfish enough 
 to hope that many years more of your kindly and faithful min- 
 istrations will be spent in our midst. Whatever of tribute we 
 render you to-day, can but feebly represent the affectionate regard 
 we entertain for you. In our poverty of speech, we appropriate 
 the language addressed by the poet priest, Father Ryan, to a vet- 
 eran of your Order after fifty years of priestly service. . . .' 
 
 During the address, Father Varsi was visibly moved, as were 
 the audience. At its conclusion, Mrs. Loughborough presented 
 Father Varsi with a huge basket of long-stemmed yellow roses. 
 Upon the handle of the basket was tied a small folded paper. 
 When Father Varsi rose to make his reply there was a storm of 
 applause. Two or three times he essayed to speak, but there 
 were tears in his voice and in his eyes. At length he said : 
 
 Tt is just fifty years since there was put into my hands a 
 little book, upon the same night that I entered the novitiate of 
 the Society of Jesus. I opened the book, and the first words I 
 read were, 'Spiritual Exercises to Conquer Oneself.' In these 
 fifty years I have read over those words many hundred times, 
 and yet, in these years of labor, I have not learned to conquer 
 myself to-day. 
 
 I have no set speech to make you. I am not an orator. I 
 envy those who are. But I feel, my dear friends, the honor you 
 have shown me to-day ; and for the love and sympathy you have 
 manifested, I thank you. 
 
 Only a few moments ago the gentleman by my side said: 
 'You must be happy to-day.' Yes, I do feel very happy — happy 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 311 
 
 for my years in religion, and happy to have met you all. I am 
 happy to have been for fifty years an humble man in the Society 
 of Jesus : I am not the great man they are trying to make me 
 out, but I am a child of the Society of Jesus. I love the 
 Society as a child does a mother, because it has been a mother 
 to me. All the honor of this day is not for the humble person- 
 ality of Father Varsi, but for the honor of the Jesuits. I am 
 glad that God has allowed me to wear the black cassock for 
 fifty years, and I hope to God that I shall die in it. For the 
 honor to the Society : I thank you. 
 
 To the chairman of the committee, I would say, 'I am much 
 obliged to you, but don't praise me so much.' 
 
 Then the good Father thanked Mrs. Loughborough for the 
 flowers, and looked at the beautiful book in which the address 
 was engrossed, which had been presented to him. He unrolled 
 the bit of paper attached to the handle of the basket, and handed 
 it to Father Allen to read; it was a check for $5,000. 
 
 Though we are celebrating this as the day of my Golden 
 Jubilee,' he said, 'it is not the real day. The day when I turned 
 my back upon the world was May 2nd. Some friends, knowing 
 the day, made offerings that would contribute to the beauty of 
 the church. That is my weak point. Among these gifts was a 
 check for $50,000 for a grand new organ and a choir fund. 
 After this I can think of nothing to make our church better — 
 not that it is good enough for God, nothing can be that — but 
 it is as good as we can make it. I want you to join me in 
 thanking the generous donor, who has done much for the church. 
 My prayers are all for you. To-day the mass was for you. 
 To-night the blessing will be for you. I pray that God may bless 
 both you and yours, and that, at last, we shall all go to heaven, 
 where we shall celebrate the real Golden Jubilee ! . 
 
 The donor of the $50,000 check, which will build a beautiful 
 organ for St. Ignatius, is Mrs. Andrew Welch. 
 
 In the evening there was special vesper service. Father 
 Varsi, though fatigued by the high mass and the reception of 
 the day, was again the Celebrant. 
 
 The illumination of the altars and church was extremely 
 beautiful. There was no daylight for the tapers to struggle with. 
 
3 i2 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Hundreds of additional candles and candelabra had been taken 
 from the other chapels in the building. Every altar was ablaze. 
 On every pillar down the long transept, a shield bearing the 
 motto, 'I. H. S.' and a bunch of candles had been placed. These 
 were all illuminated. Above the altar were clusters of candles 
 with golden fairy lamps beneath them. All the gas globes in 
 the church had been replaced by yellow ones, and the light fil- 
 tered golden through them. Around the gallery, hundreds of 
 yellow fairy lamps had been placed, and these added their tips 
 of flame to the glory of the Golden Jubilee. 
 
 When the services were over and the lights out, St. Ignatius 
 had closed the most gorgeous gala day in its history, and the 
 feast of St. Aloysius and the Golden Jubilee of his namesake, 
 who is regarded by his friends as little less than a saint, was 
 over." 
 
 In the apportionment of places, Father Aloysius Jacquet and 
 Messrs. Maurice Joy and Salvator Giglio were sent to San Jose ; 
 Mr. Joseph Lydon to Los Gatos; Father Joseph Guidi returned 
 to the Rocky Mountains ; Father Stanilas Kusiacki had long since 
 returned to Poland. Father Joseph Treca had come from Alaska, 
 and a little later Father Gregory Leggio came back from Denver. 
 Father Caesar Barchi spent the greater part of the year with us 
 on account of ill health, though belonging to the community of 
 San Jose. Messrs. John Hayes, James Hayes, Thomas Hogan 
 and Aloysius Ruth, S. J., became members of the faculty. Mr. 
 Pascal Bellefroid, in early January, had gone to Santa Clara to 
 teach, and had been replaced by Mr. James Morissey; on April 
 17th, Messrs. Morissey and Bellefroid once more exchanged 
 places, the latter returning hither and the former going to Santa 
 Clara; the present August found both of them members of the 
 staff of St. Ignatius. In September, Mr. Henry Gabriel, S. J., 
 departed for Rome. 
 
 During the autumn, assistance equally generous and sponta- 
 neous, allowed Father Varsi to complete the fagade of the 
 church by the erection of the statue of St. Ignatius. Having 
 had experience of the skill of the firm of Poussielgue-Rusand 
 Fils in the making of the ostensorium, he turned to it, inquir- 
 ing whether it could cast an heroic statue of St. Ignatius. An 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 313 
 
 affirmative answer was immediately returned, and, on Sep- 
 tember 19th, a model was on its way to San Francisco. The 
 statue was to be of bronze, some eleven feet high, and to weigh 
 over a ton and a half. Father Varsi could not help admiring 
 the artistic merits of the model, for it represented St. Ignatius 
 as he appears in historic paintings possessed by the Society of 
 Jesus. About the middle of 1896, Mr. Benet, the artist, was 
 engaged in the necessary preparations, but it was not until June 
 29th, 1897, that the statue started on its journey to San Fran- 
 cisco. Shortly after its arrival, it was lifted to its place, midway 
 between the two towers of the church, where it stands, a beautiful 
 example of Christian art. 
 
 For many months the health of Father Joseph Dossola had 
 been failing, and intense suffering, at times almost unbearable, 
 had made life a martyrdom. He had been stationed at Santa 
 Clara since leaving St. Ignatius, but now he was obliged to 
 return to the city, and take up his abode at St. Joseph's Hos- 
 pital. An operation was deemed absolutely necessary, but it was 
 found that even so, nothing could be done to save him. On 
 November 21st, he received the last sacraments from his old 
 friend, Father Leggio, and on the 24th he died. He had been 
 vice-president of St. Ignatius from 1881 to 1883; in 1886, and 
 again in 1892. The history of the year thus began and ended 
 in death. 
 
 1896. 
 
 The year 1896 found the League of the Sacred Heart, thanks 
 to the energy and zeal of Father Henry Woods, in a most flour- 
 ishing condition. Bands were being rapidly formed, and the 
 organization was reaching out on every side; for devotion to 
 the Heart of Jesus is one that cannot but appeal to generous 
 souls. But he needed helpers, and helpers proportionate to the 
 great work that was spreading out before him. On the 6th of 
 January, therefore, in a solemn reception, he added one hundred 
 more promoters to those that had already joined him in his work 
 of zeal, which had and has for its object, the spreading of the 
 spiritual kingdom of Christ in the hearts of men. 
 
 The health of Father Henry Imoda, Superior of the Cali- 
 fornian Mission, had for some time been unsatisfactory. Father 
 
3 i 4 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 John Pinasco, too, had already broken down, the result of a 
 severe cold, the effects of which had never left him. On October 
 7th, 1895, he had gone to Los Gatos in the hope that the lighter, 
 warmer air of the foothills might bring relief, as in fact it did; 
 for just a month later he returned to San Francisco and resumed 
 the duties of vice-president on the following day. It was, how- 
 ever, a respite from suffering, not a cure, for his malady was 
 developing into a serious affection of the lungs. He was soon 
 obliged to return permanently to Los Gatos, where he filled the 
 office of Minister until his death. The college catalogue of the 
 year gives us the name of Father Pinasco as vice-president, but 
 this was rather a matter of courtesy than anything else, for 
 he had retired from the active duties of the office in the preceding 
 December. 
 
 On February 17th, the faculty and pupils tendered Father 
 Peter Yorke, in the form of a simple reception, a slight token 
 of the high appreciation in which they held his defense of Catho- 
 lic doctrine in his controversy with its enemies. The greeting 
 was sincere and hearty, for the cause in which Father Yorke had 
 battled had justly made him the hero of the hour. Receiving 
 kindly their expressions of good will, the Father answered pleas- 
 antly, in one of those happy speeches for which he is well 
 known, and left a deep impression on the minds of his auditors. 
 
 The health of Father Imoda, far from improving as weeks 
 went by, was constantly on the decline; and hence, on March 
 2 1 st, he judged it expedient to name a substitute in the person 
 of Father Telesphorus Demasini, who, later, departed for Rome 
 on business connected with the Mission. 
 
 The changes this year, at the ordinary time of changes, were 
 similar to those of other years. Father John Pinasco was already 
 at Los Gatos, and Father Allen continued to fill the duties of 
 vice-president, as he had done for a great part of the preceding 
 school year. Father Joseph Treca returned to Alaska. Father 
 Pascal Bellefroid, who had been ordained priest in Santa Clara 
 on July 17th, went with Mr. William Boland, S. J., to Los 
 Gatos. Father Gregory Leggio had, on February 10th, left for 
 the Northern Missions. The new members of the faculty were 
 Messrs. Henry Whittle, Cornelius Buckley, Charles Carroll, 
 
STATUE OF ST. IGNATIUS 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 315 
 
 James Malone, and Joseph Lydon, S. J. Father Demasini 
 rejoined the community on October 28th, bringing with him 
 from Italy Mr. Octavius Villa, S. J. 
 
 Before the return of Father Demasini, the career of the old 
 organ in the church had come to an end. On the 6th of Septem- 
 ber it was heard for the last time. With a "Magnificat" and a 
 "Tantum Ergo" its notes ceased to vibrate in the sacred edifice, 
 and like an old and faithful servant, but one that had passed 
 beyond his time, it had to give up its place to another. By the 
 1 6th of the month it had been taken down, and work on the 
 organ loft had begun. When the church was first built, there 
 were two galleries over the entrance, one, the present organ 
 gallery, which was then open to the congregation, and another 
 above it for the organ and the choir. In the new arrangement, 
 the upper gallery was removed and the lower one improved and 
 embellished. 
 
 While all this, which Father Varsi considered the comple- 
 tion of the church, was in progress, Father John P. Frieden, 
 who had filled various offices of importance in the Missouri Prov- 
 ince of the Society of Jesus, was selected to replace Father Edward 
 Allen as President of St. Ignatius College, and Father Henry 
 Imoda as Superior of the Californian Mission. He reached San 
 Francisco on November 19th, and two days later entered upon 
 his double office, Father Allen remaining as vice-president. The 
 administration of Father Allen had indeed been a trying one, and 
 much credit is due him for the ability with which he directed 
 affairs during the years of financial depression with which we 
 are all familiar. The classes of the college showed an increase 
 in numbers, the church was well attended, and music in all its 
 magnificence lent its charm to the divine services. More could 
 not have been expected considering the difficulties of the times; 
 few men, indeed, would have succeeded in effecting so much. 
 
 Father Edward Allen was born in Dublin, Ireland, on August 
 22nd. 1849. When about three years of age, his parents passed 
 over to England, so that he received his education in the Jesuit 
 College of St. Francis Xavier, Liverpool. On leaving college, he 
 successfully followed a business career, which, however, in spite 
 of all inducements, he abandoned to become a Jesuit, at Roehamp- 
 ton, England, September 7th, 1876. Coming to California in 
 
3 i6 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 1877, he passed the first few years after arrival in the ordinary 
 Jesuit training, becoming a professor in Santa Clara College in 
 1879. Two years later he devoted himself to the study of philoso- 
 phy, returning to the classroom, this time in St. Ignatius, in 1884. 
 In the following year he departed for Woodstock, Maryland, to 
 enter upon his theological course; was ordained priest in 1888 
 by Cardinal Gibbons, and returned to California a year after- 
 wards to spend two years in Santa Clara as spiritual Father of 
 the students. 
 
 In 1 89 1, he went to Spain, and, returning in 1892, was, as 
 we have seen, first appointed Minister of St. Ignatius College, 
 and then, on April 23rd, 1893, President. His further labors 
 for the welfare of St. Ignatius, will call for mention in the fol- 
 lowing pages. 
 
 The advent of a new Superior in no wise changed the plans 
 approved by his predecessors, and work on the new organ went 
 on energetically, to have the instrument in readiness for the com- 
 ing Christmas. 
 
 Everything was indeed ready in time, and Mr. Clarence 
 Eddy, the famous soloist, was invited to show forth the power 
 of this admirable organ. What a treat to lovers of music on 
 that Christmas morning, as this artist warmed into sympathy 
 with his instrument, and gave birth to harmonies that seemed to 
 transcend the power of man! Of the organ, Mr. Eddy wrote: 
 
 "The St. Ignatius organ is one of the great ones of the world. 
 I consider it the finest and best church organ in America. I 
 have opened nearly all the great church organs in the United 
 States, and therefore am familiar with them. The organ at St. 
 Ignatius is the most complete of all in its mechanical accessories. 
 It is admirably placed, so that it sends out its full volume all over 
 the church and produces the finest effect. I scarcely took my 
 fingers from the keys for three hours, I was so pleased with it. 
 
 Its action is electric. When its four banks of keys are 
 coupled, its touch is no heavier than when only one manual is 
 played. The voicing is superb and thoroughly artistic. Several 
 of the reed stops were imported from France. I consider the 
 instrument exceptionally fine. There are over eighty stops. 
 
 Musically, it is entirely worthy of the mechanical part. The 
 specification is particularly well designed. It is modeled after 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 317 
 
 the great Columbian organ, which was such a success at Chicago. 
 One feature is the open diapason, thirty-two foot, which has been 
 made in California since the instrument was brought here. It 
 is a remarkably effective stop. By one pressure of the pedal the 
 entire resources of the organ can be operated. 
 
 The crescendo and decrescendo can be produced by the use 
 of one pedal, and I found the effect startling. The soft-to-full 
 organ and the reverse can be played without taking the hands 
 off. By the adjustable combination pistons between the manuals, 
 any combination of manual and pedal stops can be set and locked. 
 Drawing a piston locks the combination and gives perfect con- 
 trol of the organ. 
 
 The voicing of the reeds is characteristic. Remarkably rapid 
 repetitions of combinations can be made without robbing the 
 organ of wind. The diapasons are very full and dignified. To 
 sum it all up, it is one of the greatest and finest organs in the 
 world." 
 
 "When the size and expense of this instrument are reckoned," 
 
 says another account, "one marvels at the promptness of the 
 
 builders in producing such a result in the short time that has 
 
 elapsed since they received the order last March; the last 
 
 three months having been devoted to putting it in place. This 
 
 latter process was impeded by a change regarding its location. 
 
 The old organ stood in the upper gallery; the new one was 
 
 intended to replace it. But when it arrived here the discovery 
 
 was made that it would almost seem to adhere to the ceiling, like 
 
 an escaped toy balloon in a nursery, its height being so great. It 
 
 was, therefore, wisely decided to cut away the upper gallery and 
 
 set the organ in the lower, where it now reposes like a picture 
 
 in a frame — the central glory of the west end of this splendid 
 
 church. 
 
 The instrument weighs over 100,000 pounds. It was neces- 
 sary, therefore, to rebuild the floor and strengthen it with num- 
 erous steel girders. It was necessary, also, to project the gallery 
 front. All of which being accomplished, has resulted in the lib- 
 eral accommodations for a very large choir in front of the 
 instrument." 
 
3 i8 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 "St. Ignatius organ," says the same writer in another account, 
 "contains eighty-five stops and five thousand three hundred and 
 one pipes. In detail the stops and pipes are as follows : 
 The great organ 21 stops and 1,646 pipes. 
 
 Swell organ 20 stops and 1,377 pipes. 
 
 Choir organ 15 stops and 1,098 pipes. 
 
 Solo organ 8 stops and 488 pipes. 
 
 Echo organ 8 stops and 293 pipes. 
 
 Pedal organ 13 stops and 399 pipes. 
 Total : 85 stops and 5,301 pipes." 
 
 Such was the magnificent instrument which was to perpetuate 
 through time the memory of the harmonies of a religious life of 
 fifty years, in which the greatness of noble desires for the glory 
 of God admirably blended with the minute observance of religious 
 rule, for Father Varsi was as exact in the latter as remarkable 
 in the former. 
 
 1897. 
 
 Hitherto the history of St. Ignatius has not lacked its diffi- 
 culties, but they have been mainly those incident to the labor 
 of historic research. The year 1897 presents one of another 
 kind. The death of those who labored long and hard to build 
 up church and college come in such rapid succession, with so 
 little else to offset the gloom with brightness, that this page of 
 history is little more than a series of mortuary notices, telling 
 us that the old generation of pious, noble souls is passing; so 
 that sadness of spirit can impart but little energy to the lag- 
 ging pen. 
 
 The death of Father Benedict Piccardo in Santa Clara, on Feb- 
 ruary 13th, was but the prelude to that of Father John Pinasco at 
 Los Gatos on March 9th. The sickness contracted when vice- 
 president at St. Ignatius had never left him, and when a new 
 cold developed into pneumonia, nature's vitality had been so 
 impaired that there was no resisting the destroyer, Death. Still, 
 as often happens in such cases, the seriousness of the malady did 
 not at first manifest itself, and when it did, life for Father 
 Pinasco was only a matter of hours. He was born at Chiavari 
 near Genoa, on June nth, 1837, and entered the Society of 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 319 
 
 Jesus on December 19th, 1853. Among his fellow novices were 
 Father Joseph Tardini, already a priest, and Angelo Affranchino 
 then a youth of nineteen. Having completed the ordinary two 
 years of novitiate, he studied another of literature at Massa 
 Carrara, and, in 1856, was sent to Stonyhurst, England. Here 
 he remained until 1859, studying English and finishing two years 
 of philosophy. Coming to California, he taught in Santa Clara 
 until 1867, completing meanwhile his third year of philosophy. 
 He was then sent to Georgetown for theology; was ordained 
 priest; and in 187 1 returned to Santa Clara to take up his work 
 in the classroom. On December 8th, 1876, he became, as we 
 have seen, president of St. Ignatius; then, on July 10th, 1880, 
 president of Santa Clara; again returning to the classroom in 
 St. Ignatius in 1883. A year later, he became Master of Novices, 
 and so remained until made president of Santa Clara, December 
 27th, 1888. Relieved of this office on July 31st, 1903, he became 
 once more vice-president of St. Ignatius and remained in that 
 office until the end of 1895, when he retired to Los Gatos to 
 die a death worthy of his truly religious life. Father Pinaso 
 was a man of gentle, lovable disposition and of much kindness 
 of heart; though, underneath that gentleness, there was a firm- 
 ness, which, if need be, soon made its presence felt. That he 
 was thoroughly progressive is evidenced by the fact that he was 
 president when the present College of St. Ignatius was planned 
 and built, and was entirely in sympathy with the broad plans 
 of Father Varsi. He was, at the same time, eminently prudent, 
 and accustomed to decide matters of importance after calm, cool 
 deliberation. His friends were many and warm, and his loss was 
 much regretted by the members of the Californian Mission. 
 
 Only nine days elapsed after the calling away of Father 
 Pinasco when Father Maraschi responded to the same dread sum- 
 mons. His health had been failing for some time, but in his 
 case, as in that of Father Pinasco, death came far more rapidly 
 than expected. Still it found the good Father fully prepared, 
 and at about 6:45 a. m v on the 18th of the month, he quietly 
 passed to a better life. On the afternoon of the same day, his 
 body was borne to the Gentlemen's Sodality Chapel, and the 
 scenes beheld at Father Buchard's death were once more repeated. 
 If anything, the flow of people was greater ; for Father Maraschi, 
 
320 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 in his forty-three years of active life in San Francisco, had come 
 into closer personal contact with thousands of people than Father 
 Buchard. The latter was known for his zeal and eloquence, the 
 former for his active charity. Late in the evening of the 19th, 
 the body was removed to the church, where a dense crowd of 
 people had gathered to gaze once again upon that familiar face 
 and offer a prayer for the departed soul. On the 20th, the Office 
 of the Dead was recited at 8 130 a. m., after which a low mass 
 was celebrated by Rev. Father Frieden, and then the body was 
 taken to Santa Clara for burial, the Southern Pacific R. R. Co. 
 allowing the free use of a car for the purpose, thus repay- 
 ing various acts of kindness received from the Father while 
 he managed the affairs of the college. 
 
 "With impressive simplicity, without pomp of ceremony," 
 says the account of his funeral, "a low mass of requiem was 
 offered yesterday morning at 9:15 in St. Ignatius Church for the 
 repose of the soul of the late Father Anthony Maraschi. . . . 
 
 It was the funeral of a member of the Jesuit Order. There 
 was no sermon, no word of commendation for the dead, no 
 recounting his deeds of sacrifice and acts of holy zeal. But deep 
 in the hearts of the vast concourse that filled pews and aisles, 
 and pressed against the sanctuary rail, the eulogy of that life 
 was engraven in indelible characters. 
 
 Early in the morning, an almost continuous stream of people 
 commenced moving along the line of Hayes Street toward St. 
 Ignatius Church, growing more dense as accessions from the 
 various avenues leading into that thoroughfare joined the main 
 line. 
 
 The casket, with its folds of black broadcloth, handles and 
 plates of silver, was a tribute of gratitude from the members of 
 the Ladies' Sodality, of which for twenty years, Father Maraschi 
 had been director. In the main aisle stood the casket. Upon it 
 loving hands had placed date-palm fronds, bound into a double 
 sheaf. They symbolized the triumphs and the honors of a life 
 well spent. Near them was a laurel crown, typical of the victory 
 of the soul over death, and its eternal reward in the life beyond 
 the grave. 
 
 At the conclusion of the last prayers, the pall bearers, 
 D. Kavanagh, W. Deeney, R. Drathman, E. Wheeler, F. Rup- 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 321 
 
 pert and J. Grisez, scholastics of the Society of Jesus, lifted the 
 casket from the bier and carried it out through the divided lines 
 of the priests and acolytes to the hearse awaiting its reception. 
 As the casket and its bearers passed on, the crowds within and 
 without the church pressed forward silent, reverential and eager 
 to gaze upon the coffin that contained all that was human of 
 the aged and honored priest. 
 
 As the casket rested in the hearse for a few minutes before 
 the funeral procession moved off, there were those in the crowd 
 who pressed forward to touch the coffin with handkerchief, prayer 
 book, rosary or crucifix, all to be treasured as sacred mementoes 
 of him whom some had known from very infancy. 
 
 At the Valencia Street Station, the pall bearers removed the 
 casket from the hearse to the funeral car 'El Descanso,' placed at 
 the service of the Jesuit Fathers for the occasion by the courtesy 
 of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company through General 
 Superintendent Filmore. 
 
 The remains were conveyed to Santa Clara on the noon train, 
 and were taken to St. Claire's Church, where the lid of the casket 
 was removed, in order that friends in Santa Clara might view 
 the features of the dead priest for the last time. 
 
 At 1 130 o'clock the Fathers entered the church, surrounded 
 the body, and the last prayers were said. At the grave the Abso- 
 lution was pronounced by the president of Santa Clara College." 
 
 Father Anthony Maraschi was born at Oleggio, Diocese of 
 Novara, Italy, on September 2nd, 1820, and entered the Society 
 of Jesus on May 31st, 1841. In 1848, he came to Georgetown 
 to complete his theology, and afterwards taught philosophy for 
 some years in Baltimore. He arrived in San Francisco, as we 
 have seen, on November 1st, 1854, and, what is remarkable in 
 the life of a Jesuit, remained for forty-three years in the same 
 place. At first an assistant at St. Francis, he was afterwards, 
 for about half a year, assistant at St. Patrick's, until his own 
 little Church of St. Ignatius lifted its head among the sand hills. 
 From that time to his death, he attended, in great part, to the 
 financial affairs of the institution. A man of much business 
 capacity and foresight, he was never cast down by difficulties ; a 
 
322 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 man of remarkable mortification and confidence in God, he knew 
 where to place his trust. 
 
 Prominent business men of the city sought his advice in busi- 
 ness matters, while the poor and ailing found in him equally a 
 friend, for he was no discriminator of persons. Many believed 
 that he could work miracles and begged his assistance in all 
 manner of diseases; and, indeed, it seems certain that, whether 
 in recompense of their faith or the merits of Father Maraschi, 
 more than one special favor answered their requests. He was a 
 man of action, not words; seemingly cold and distant, but, for 
 all that, possessing a warm heart. He has every right to be con- 
 sidered the founder even of the present church and college, for 
 it was the property on Market Street and the land near Richmond, 
 both acquired through him, that supplied the funds to build St. 
 Ignatius and to liquidate its debt. On the day following Father 
 Maraschi's death, Father Vincent Testa was called from Santa 
 Clara to replace him. 
 
 A month passed and Easter came, and Clarence Eddy was 
 once more invited to preside at the organ. So great was the 
 concourse of people at the High Mass, that the Ladies' Sodality 
 Chapel was utilized for the public, and, through the open windows, 
 a large number of people joined themselves to the worshipers 
 in the aisles below, and listened with rapt attention to the 
 marvelous strains called forth from the organ by Mr. Eddy. 
 
 Some ten days later, on the Wednesday following Easter 
 week, the Gentlemen's Sodality gave a musical and dramatic 
 entertainment to their many friends. The venture was so suc- 
 cessful financially, and reflected so much credit upon the body, 
 that a yearly drama was determined upon. The resolution has 
 been faithfully adhered to, even at the cost of many sacrifices 
 on the part of those who have participated in the plays, but sacri- 
 fices have seemed light which would further the interests of the 
 Sodality. That the public has duly appreciated the efforts of 
 the Sodalists has been shown again and again by crowded 
 houses, even when, as in 1903, "Everyman" was given for two 
 evenings, and in 1904, "Dante" was given for three. 
 
 On May 28th, 1897, the generosity of Mrs. Welch once 
 more enabled Father Varsi to complete a work which he had 
 much at heart, the adorning of the domestic chapel of the 
 

ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 323 
 
 Fathers. The art of Mr. Moretti was again enlisted, plans were 
 formed and submitted on August 13th, and, upon their approval, 
 work was begun. A new tabernacle brought the altar into beau- 
 tiful proportions, the sanctuary was enlarged, a new sacristy fitted 
 up, solid benches of tastefully carved oak were supplied, and its 
 walls and ceiling exquisitely frescoed. 
 
 In the early days of June, Mr. George P. Butler, S. J., was 
 raised to the priesthood, and on the 6th he celebrated in the 
 church his first mass. If it was a happy day for his parents, it 
 was none the less so for St. Ignatius, his Alma Mater, who 
 rejoiced in the thought that one more was added to the line 
 already lengthening of the children whom she had given to the 
 priestly order. He was the first of the pupils of the new college 
 to be ordained in the church. 
 
 The catalogue of this year omits the elementary classes and 
 reduces the preparatory classes from three to two. By the elim- 
 ination of these classes there was naturally a diminution in num- 
 bers. It was hoped, however, that the raising of the standard 
 of the college would more than compensate for any numerical 
 loss. 
 
 The Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus kindly gave 
 efficient help to California, when, in June, it lent Father Henry 
 Moeller for some two months to preach and give retreats; and, 
 in July, it sent Fathers Hugh Finnegan and Aloysius Van der 
 Eerden to give missions in the archdiocese. 
 
 The new members of the faculty were Fathers George P. 
 Butler; Dionysius Mahony, lately relieved of the presidency of 
 the college in San Jose ; and Mr. James Colligan, S. J. Of the 
 former staff, Father Charles Pollano had gone to Los Gatos 
 for his health, whither also had gone Mr. James Malone. Messrs. 
 Joseph Lydon, James Hayes and Aloysius Ruth had departed for 
 Santa Clara, and Mr. Octavius Villa, S. J., for St. Louis. 
 
 But we must turn back a little to May 10th, when death 
 snatched away Father Nicholas Congiato at Los Gatos. Even 
 from his early days in California, his health had been weak, and 
 more than once had the cares of office been beyond his strength ; 
 yet, with wonderful recuperative powers, he had managed always 
 to regain strength enough to labor, passing away at the ripe 
 
324 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 age of eighty-one, sixty-two years of which he had lived as a 
 
 Jesuit. 
 
 He was a native of Roague, Sardinia, where he was born 
 on September 14th, 18 16, at an early age becoming a pupil of 
 the Jesuit College at Sassari. For two years he sought in vain 
 his father's consent to his entrance into the Jesuit Order, but 
 finally succeeded in obtaining it; so that, on May 15th, 1835, 
 when not quite nineteen years old, he entered the Novitiate at 
 Cagliari. After having studied his philosophy in Turin, he was 
 made vice-president of the College of Nobles, and later filled the 
 same position in the College of Freiburg. On November 13th, 
 1847, tne Jesuits were expelled from this latter place, where- 
 upon Mr. Congiato returned to Italy and commenced his study 
 of theology. Owing to the troubled condition of the times, he 
 was soon ordained priest, but was driven to America by the 
 revolution of 1848. He completed his theology at Bardstown, 
 Kentucky, and was at the same time Spiritual Father. Later he 
 was also president of the college. In 1854, he left for the Pacific 
 Coast, and arrived on December 8th, his appointment as Superior 
 of California and Oregon dating from August 1st. The death 
 of Father Nobili, March 1st, 1856, obliged him to take the bur- 
 den of Santa Clara College upon his shoulders, though weak 
 health soon obliged him to transfer the burden to those of Father 
 Mengarini. Most of his succeeding history has been told in 
 these pages. On January 24th, 1870, he was sent to San Jose 
 as Superior of the residence and pastor of the congregation. 
 While thus employed, he built the present beautiful Church of 
 St. Joseph. In 1888, he ceased to be Superior and pastor, but 
 remained laboring in San Jose for two years more. In 1890, 
 broken in health, he retired to Los Gatos, spending his remain- 
 ing years in the loving task of imparting a knowledge of the 
 classics to the young Jesuits. He was a man of sound judgment 
 and great firmness of character, and for about forty years of 
 his life filled some office of superiorship. His self-sacrifice and 
 spirit of prayer were remarkable, and his confidence in St. Joseph 
 knew no limit. 
 
 With the beginning of the school year in August, the pupils 
 had once more the benefit of a special professor of elocution. 
 The modern languages, French, German, Italian and Spanish, 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 325 
 
 received also a new impetus, these branches being open gra- 
 tuitously to all capable of profiting by them. About the same 
 time it was deemed advisable to discontinue the Sunday-school 
 for boys, which had been taught in the student's chapel. The 
 churches of the city had multiplied, classes under able teachers 
 had been organized in the various parishes, the need that had 
 called into existence the Sunday-school of St. Ignatius had 
 ceased, and hence, as in similar cases, the Fathers were only 
 too happy to leave the field to others. 
 
 On August 1 2th, Father Charles Messea, so long connected 
 with St. Ignatius, passed to a better life. The infirmities which 
 in March, 1891, had obliged him to seek relief in Santa Clara, had 
 never left him, and here, having edified all by his patience in 
 suffering, he peacefully yielded his soul into the hands of his 
 Creator. 
 
 The mission of Fathers Finnigan and Van der Eerden, which 
 was eminently successful, aptly completes the items of interest 
 of 1897. It began on September 12th with a week for women, 
 followed by a week for men. The church was packed the whole 
 time with an appreciative audience, and many a wandering soul 
 was brought back to a life more consonant with Christian 
 principles. 
 
 1898. 
 
 In January, a monthly publication, called the St. Ignatius 
 Church and College Calendar, began to be edited by Father 
 Dionysius Mahony, its author's name being ample guarantee of 
 the solidity and beauty of its contents. In its first issue we find 
 mention of the ''League of Study." 
 
 "Under this name," it says, "the League of the Sacred Heart 
 had been adapted to the special conditions of young people who 
 are receiving their education. It has been established in the 
 college for some time, and the students take great interest in 
 its workings, from which they receive no little help in their 
 studies. The first conferring of decorations for the term '97-98 
 took place in the college chapel on December 17th. Rev. 
 Father Frieden, president of the college, officiated. After the 
 usual league devotions and an appropriate discourse by Father 
 Frieden, the decorations were blessed. Those who were to 
 
326 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 receive them rose in their places, and made the promise never to 
 join Freemasonry or any other secret society. The decorations 
 were then distributed. Seventy-five students received the first 
 decoration ; nineteen received the second ; sixteen received the 
 third, and twenty-four received the fourth. Among them were 
 fifteen promoters. The decorations carry with them the right to 
 the papal blessing and a plenary indulgence on the day of recep- 
 tion and at the hour of death. Those who gain the last decora- 
 tion at the end of their college career, gain the same privileges 
 for their parents, and brothers, and sisters. The touching ser- 
 vice was concluded with Solemn Benediction. The college orches- 
 tra and the college choir furnished the music. Father Woods, 
 the director of the League, deserves praise for the zeal displayed 
 in making this form of devotion so popular among the students." 
 
 On January 27th, a peaceful death in Santa Clara, closed 
 the life of Father Michael Shallo who, chiefly in the later 
 Seventies and early Eighties, rendered valuable services to St. 
 Ignatius. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, on September 13th, 
 1853, an d passed his early years under the watchful care of the 
 Carmelite Fathers at Clondalkin. On September 14th, 1872, he 
 became a Jesuit at Milltown Park, Dublin, and two years later 
 passed over to Roehampton, W. London, England. He came 
 to California in 1876, and in 1877 began his course of teaching 
 in St. Ignatius. Of refined literary taste he was much admired 
 by his pupils. 
 
 In 1882, he left for Woodstock, Md., to finish his course of 
 philosophy and enter upon his theology. Returning to California 
 in 1887, he spent most of his remaining years as professor of 
 philosophy and Spiritual Father of the students in Santa Clara. 
 His death was much regretted by all who knew him, for his 
 talents, cultivated by extensive reading, were much above the 
 ordinary, and in personal magnetism he was equaled by few. 
 
 In March, the Philhistorian Debating Society, under the 
 direction of Father Mahony, gave a public entertainment. 
 
 "A very large audience," we are told, "assembled in the col- 
 lege hall to listen to the debate, 'Resolved, That the Annexation 
 of Hawaii is Just and Expedient.' This was the first public 
 appearance of the society in many years, but the literary finish 
 
FATHER TELESPHORUS DEMASINI, S. J. 
 
 FATHER JOSEPH NERI, S. T. 
 FATHER ALOYSIUS BRUNENGO, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 327 
 
 of the different speeches which went to form the programme, 
 showed that the members have been laboring to perfect them- 
 selves. This it was which enabled them to bear themselves like 
 veterans. . . . The success of this entertainment should 
 encourage the members of the Debating Society to appear oftener 
 before the public." 
 
 The May of 1898 was doubly dear to the congregation and 
 friends of St. Ignatius, for not only were there the ordinary ten- 
 der associations that cluster around this, the sweetest month of 
 the year, but there were those also that are associated with the 
 happiness of an old and esteemed friend ; on the 8th of the month, 
 Father Telesphorus Demasini celebrated the Golden Jubilee of 
 his priesthood. He was Celebrant at Solemn High Mass, and, in 
 the afternoon, was the honored guest of the Gentlemen's and 
 Ladies' Sodalities. A substantial purse was presented during 
 the entertainment. The Students' reception was given on the 
 morning following. 
 
 "A largely attended meeting of the Committee of the Gen- 
 tlemen's Sodality was held at its library on Friday evening," says 
 an account printed early in May, "to make arrangements for 
 the Golden Jubilee of Father Demasini. James R. Kelly, who 
 occupied the chair, spoke of the genial manners of Father 
 Demasini, and also of his unselfishness, and of the great amount 
 of good that he has done during his active career. A resolution 
 was passed, and a circular was addressed by John F. Fitzpatrick, 
 calling on all the graduates of Santa Clara and St. Ignatius 
 Colleges to participate with the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Sodali- 
 ties in giving Father Demasini a fitting reception and testimonial. 
 
 A deputation from the Ladies' Sodality expressed the wish 
 to co-operate with the Gentlemen's Sodality and graduates, a 
 desire which was willingly accepted." 
 
 "Rev. Father Telesphorus Demasini, of the Society of Jesus," 
 says another account, "celebrated yesterday the fiftieth anniver- 
 sary of his ordination. There was nothing that the highest 
 respect and tenderest friendship of the clergy and laity could 
 suggest that was not done to honor Father Demasini for the 
 signal distinction attained both in years and good works. The 
 
328 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 best of health and spirits, despite his seventy-five years, speak 
 for him many more useful days. 
 
 Father Demasini is essentially a teacher. For the many years 
 that he has been in California, he has, besides ministering to 
 those who sought his spiritual comfort, and performing the 
 duties of his calling generally, occupied the chair of philosophy 
 in Santa Clara and St. Ignatius Colleges. 
 
 The Golden Jubilee commenced with the Solemn High Mass 
 at 10:30 o'clock, at which Father Demasini was Celebrant. Rev- 
 erend Father Frieden, Superior of the Order in California, 
 preached a sermon appropriate to the occasion, accentuating the 
 peace and the comfort which come in the closing days of a life 
 which has been filled with work, and study, and good deeds. 
 
 At the entertainment and reception held in the college hall, 
 the congratulatory address was made by James R. Kelly, Esq., 
 who, speaking for all, formulated an expression of regard and 
 good wishes for the return of many happy, useful years. Dur- 
 ing the course of this felicitous address, as one who had known 
 Father Demasini every day, since the coming of the Father to 
 California in 1868, Mr. Kelly spoke of the blessing that the 
 Father had been to all who had received his ministrations, and to 
 the thousands of young men who had been under his tutelage." 
 
 The changes in the faculty this year were less numerous than 
 usual. Messrs. Cornelius Buckley, Thomas Hogan, John Hayes, 
 and James Colligan, S. J., left for St. Ignatius Mission, Mon- 
 tana. Three Fathers were added to the community — Father 
 John Forhan, who had come from Canada; Father Richard 
 Bell, returned from Rome; and Father Oswald Miller, of Buf- 
 falo. Mr. Joseph Miller, S. J., had also come from Buffalo for 
 his health; and Mr. Patrick Ryan, S. J., had been lent by the 
 Mission of New Orleans to assist in the college. 
 
 Up to the August of the present year, the college hall had 
 remained in the simple, though tasteful, plainness which it had 
 received when first built. On August 12th, however, a gener- 
 osity which seemed bent on adding a new joy each year to 
 Father Varsi's life in enabling him to see his work perfected in 
 detail, put it into his power to add new beauty to the hall. The 
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ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 329 
 
 exercised in the adornment of church and chapel, was again 
 employed and with equally happy results. On October 19th, at 
 a public specimen of elocution given by the pupils, people admired 
 for the first time the new wonders of the artist's brush. 
 
 To requite benefactions, which had placed St. Ignatius under 
 so great a debt of obligation, Rev. Father Frieden made appeal 
 to the Father General of the Society of Jesus, asking a 
 favor granted to few, viz : that Mrs. Welch should be admitted 
 to a share in all the good works performed by the Jesuit Order. 
 His Paternity, by a letter of September 8th, graciously acceded 
 to the request : 
 "Louis Martin, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, sends 
 
 to the esteemed Lady, Mrs. Bertha Welch, eternal greeting 
 
 in the Lord. 
 
 Such is your virtue and piety, Madam — such your generosity 
 towards our Society — that we consider in justice due you what- 
 ever return we can make. And since in no way can we better 
 show our regard for you than by spiritual favors, we, by that 
 authority which, although unworthy, the Lord has given us in 
 this Society, constitute you a sharer in all and each of the Holy 
 Sacrifices, prayers, fasts and other good works — in a word, in 
 all the pious exercises of soul and body which, by God's grace, 
 are performed throughout the whole Society; and, with all the 
 affection of our heart, we grant you in Christ Jesus a full par- 
 ticipation in them, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Moreover, we beg of God 
 and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He, from heaven, 
 may ratify and confirm this our grant, and that out of the inex- 
 haustible treasury of the merits of His Son supplying for our 
 poverty, He may shower every grace and blessing on you in this 
 life, and with the crown of heavenly glory reward you forever! 
 
 Louis Martin, S. J., 
 
 Ant. Rota, Sec. 
 Given at Rome, Sept. 8th, 1898." 
 
 1899. 
 On February 27th, 1899, Rev. Father Frieden left for Turin 
 on business connected with the Calif ornian Mission, and, before 
 departing, appointed Father Calzia to replace him in his absence. 
 
33 o THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 While he was away, Father Celestine Galliano, whose many 
 deeds of kindness to the poor, and sick, and the outcast, called 
 down many a benediction on his head, went to receive the reward 
 of a virtuous life. Three years of constant suffering had worn 
 him to a skeleton, but, in spite of his infirmities, he had continued 
 to say mass up to the close of March. The end came peacefully, 
 and strengthened by the Sacraments of the Church, he passed 
 away on April 12th. His apostolate had been a silent but a fruit- 
 ful one. Between the years 1880 and 1896 he had baptized one 
 hundred and fifty infants in the hospital, and by his zeal received 
 three hundred and forty-nine adults into the Church. He has 
 left us a list indicating many of the forms of religion to which 
 these converts belonged: Calvinists, 2; Campbellites, 10; Bap- 
 tists, 10; Episcopalians, 45 ; Jews, 2 ; Greek Schismatic, 1 ; Meth- 
 odists, 28; Lutherans, 37; Presbyterians, 31; Quakers, 2; Sal- 
 vationist, 1; Unitarians, 4; Universalists, 19; others, 157. His 
 body was removed to the church on the evening of the 13th, 
 when the Office of the Dead was recited for the repose of his 
 soul. The mass was said on the following morning, and the 
 remains were then taken to Santa Clara for burial. 
 
 A month later, May 13th, Reverend Father Frieden arrived 
 in San Francisco from his trip to Europe, and, four days after- 
 wards, the Sodalities gave him a reception in the college hall. 
 The meeting was most pleasant on both sides. He was pleased 
 to be back with those whom during the preceding year he had 
 made his friends, and they were glad to welcome back one who 
 had ever taken a deep interest in their organizations. 
 
 Father John P. Frieden was born in the Grand Duchy of 
 Luxemburg on November 18th, 1844. After a preliminary edu- 
 cation in the local schools of his district he entered the Normal 
 School of the city of Luxemburg, and, having graduated in 1862, 
 spent some years in teaching. With mind thus prepared for 
 higher studies, he entered upon a college course in the same 
 city, and in due time completed it. Attracted by a life of study, 
 yet wishing to consecrate all to God, he determined to enter 
 the Society of Jesus. 
 
 That the offering might be more complete he left home, and 
 on February 24th, 1869, became a Jesuit novice in Missouri. 
 
FATHER TOIIN V. FRIEDEX, S. T. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 331 
 
 From 1 87 1 to 1874 he taught in the St. Louis University, then 
 studied philosophy and theology in Woodstock, Maryland, being 
 ordained by Cardinal, at that time Archbishop Gibbons, on April 
 3rd, 1880. Completing his course in 1881, he was stationed 
 at Detroit College for three years as Prefect of Studies and Disci- 
 pline, teaching philosophy during one of the years. In July, 
 1885, he became President of Detroit College, and on January 
 27th, 1889, Provincial of the Missouri Province, his jurisdiction 
 comprising the Western States of the Union. On being relieved 
 of this latter charge, he was employed at Florissant in the 
 training of his Jesuit brethren until appointed President of St. 
 Ignatius College and Superior of the Californian Mission ; offices 
 which he fills at the college's Golden Jubilee. 
 
 About the time of Father Frieden's return from Italy, the 
 fact became known that a bequest of $100,000 had been made 
 the Fathers in the will of Mrs. Annie Donohue, widow of Peter 
 Donohue, and had been refused by them. 
 
 "It is not every day," says a daily paper of the time, "that 
 people can be found with courage enough to refuse a legacy of 
 $100,000; no matter how arduous the conditions attached. Still 
 there are some in this city, the trustees of St. Ignatius College 
 being among the number. Under the will of the late Mrs. 
 Annie Donohue, widow of Peter Donohue, there was left to 
 them the sum of $100,000, to be used in the founding and sup- 
 porting for the benefit of Catholic young men, a library to be 
 called, in memory of her husband, the 'Donohue Library.' ' 
 
 The reasons for the Fathers' disinclination to accept the 
 legacy are well set forth in the following letter of Rev. Father 
 Frieden : 
 
 "St. Ignatius College, 
 San Francisco, May 20th, 1899. 
 The Editor of the Examiner, 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 As the public has learned through the daily press that the 
 late Mrs. Donohue bequeathed $100,000 to St. Ignatius College, 
 in trust, to provide a free library for the Catholic young men 
 of San Francisco, and that the trustees of the college have 
 
332 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 refused the trust, I beg to be allowed to state the reasons of this 
 refusal. 
 
 According to the will, the trustees were, for this sum, to 
 furnish a site, to put up a suitable building, to equip a library, 
 and either themselves to provide for its support, or else to form 
 a society for this purpose. 
 
 Struggling as we are here for bare existence, it is clear that 
 we could not take upon our shoulders the additional burden of 
 the support of such a library, even supposing that it could have 
 been established for the sum bequeathed. 
 
 The alternative of forming a society for its maintenance 
 seemed equally impossible. To such a society the testatrix 
 bequeathed $5,000. We should, therefore, have had to solicit 
 further subscriptions to a considerable amount, in order to 
 obtain a capital of which the income would be sufficient to defray 
 the expenses of the library. This would be to divert the funds 
 necessary for the support of our own long-established work to 
 a new one, which, though most excellent in itself, could not 
 have such claims upon our care. 
 
 We deeply regret that the condition of our affairs forbade 
 us to undertake the charge so closely connected with the work 
 of education in which we are engaged ; and hear, with unfeigned 
 satisfaction, that Mrs. Donohue's benevolent intentions are not 
 likely to be frustrated, but that the Most Reverend Archbishop 
 will, in all probability, assume the trust. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 J. P. Frieden, S. J., 
 President of the Board of Trustees 
 of St. Ignatius College." 
 
 The idea of a Catholic library for San Francisco was warmly 
 advocated as early as 1874 and 1875, and various efforts at 
 the time were made to give the library existence. It was to 
 have been a "Catholic Hall and Free Public Library," and the 
 Monitor of May 2nd, 1874. reports the plan as in the hands of 
 a committee. On December 4th, the gentlemen interested in 
 the St. Patrick's Hall and Library Association met in Irish- 
 American Hall. It was proposed to erect a building to cost 
 $150,000. Association members were to have the free use of 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 333 
 
 the hall. The public might use the library, but members alone 
 would be allowed to take out books. The hall was to be free for 
 all Catholic meetings that were held directly under the auspices 
 of His Grace, the Most Reverend Archbishop, and to all Catholic 
 asylums for fairs, etc. 
 
 A fuller study of the subject convinced these gentlemen that 
 even $150,000 were not enough, and hence, on February 7th, 
 1875, we find that the sum estimated is put at $250,000; i. e., 
 $100,000 for the building; $50,000 for the lot, and $100,000 for 
 the books. There were to be 10,000 shares of association stock, 
 purchasable at $25 a share. The moving spirit of the enterprise 
 was Father William Gleeson of Oakland, and he was able to 
 report that 485 shares of stock had been taken and $4,625 raised. 
 The project seems to have rested here. On April 15th, ill health 
 obliged Father Gleeson to take a trip to Ireland. He returned 
 in early December, but we hear no more of hall and library. 
 
 The Fathers in the present case could not have done other- 
 wise than they did. Had they accepted the trust and delayed 
 to carry out its provisions, people would have asked, "What are 
 the Fathers doing with the money?" Had they carried out the 
 wishes of the donor, and, owing to scarcity of funds, given poor 
 service in the library, people would have grumbled that the 
 $100,000 had been poorly spent. A hundred thousand dollars 
 were not sufficient to ensure a proper building, books and service; 
 the Fathers were still heavily in debt, and could not reasonably 
 be expected to assume new burdens; hence, the only honorable 
 course was to decline the trust, and this they did. His Grace, 
 the Most Reverend Archbishop, kindly assumed the obligation, 
 hoping, in time, to bring the affair to a successful issue. 
 
 The new members of the faculty this year were Father 
 William Culligan and Messrs. Henry Fleuren, Thomas Galvin 
 and Joseph Morton, S. J. Father Theodore Sebastiani had come 
 to St. Ignatius on account of his health. Father John Forhan 
 had become Spiritual Father of the students of Santa Clara ; 
 Father George Butler was in Florissant, Missouri ; Mr. James 
 Morrissey, S. J., at Gonzaga College, Spokane. 
 
 On September 10th, Father Calzia began a retreat for the 
 members of the Ladies' Sodality. The exercises were held in 
 the students' chapel, the capacity of which, at night, was taxed 
 
334 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 to the utmost, seven hundred members attending. Even the 
 mass in the morning, at six o'clock, had an attendance of from 
 two to three hundred persons, an excellent index both of the zeal 
 of the director and the correspondence of the Sodalists. God 
 alone can measure the benefits to religion arising from the pres- 
 ence of so many devoted Christian souls in the Catholic house- 
 holds of the city. Father Frieden was unable to attend the clos- 
 ing of the retreat, for business called him on the 16th of the 
 month to Spokane, and he returned to St. Ignatius only on 
 the 25th. 
 
 Shortly after, the Ladies' Sodality began the decoration of 
 the students' chapel, which its members were now using as their 
 own. For several years back, the old chapel had ceased to be 
 used, owing to the rapid increase of the Sodality under Father 
 Calzia. On April 18th, 1897, he had received seventy-five postu- 
 lants as members; on May 30th, sixty more; so that by June 
 27th, 1897, the chapel was too crowded, and hence it was pro- 
 posed to divide the Sodality. As this proposition did not meet 
 with favor, the exhibition hall of the college was used, and here 
 again, on December 12th, one hundred new members gave 
 increased life and vigor to the organization. But, while the hall 
 supplied the pressing need of room, it lacked the sacred asso- 
 ciations so dear to the Sodality, and hence the officers and mem- 
 bers gladly accepted the use of the students' chapel, and set 
 about its decoration. The daily mass of the college, therefore, 
 was said in the main church, the students occupying the pews 
 in front of St. Joseph's altar. As this could not be done on 
 Sundays by the Students' Sodalities, they met in the chapel 
 formerly used by the ladies. 
 
 The main reason, as we have seen, why the Fathers had 
 declined to accept the Donohue bequest, had been the heavy 
 debt that still pressed upon them. In the hope that ordinary 
 sources of revenue would enable them to bear this debt, they 
 had dissolved the Ignatian Society as soon as the old property 
 on Market Street had been disposed of, and had afterwards dis- 
 continued tuition fees in the college, though under considerable 
 expense in the matter of salaries paid the secular professors. A 
 more careful examination of finances, combined with experience, 
 proved, however, that they must abandon such hope. The debt 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 335 
 
 was increasing and hence, on October 5th, much to their regret, 
 they were compelled to re-establish the Ignatian Society and 
 appeal to their friends. We are happy to say that the response 
 was noble and loyal. The Ignatian Society more than paid the 
 interest, and private donations, mainly in response to a per- 
 sonal appeal of Father Varsi, considerably diminished the 
 principal. With such support the outlook became more and 
 more encouraging. 
 
 1900 
 
 The closing of the century brought with it more than its 
 measure of gloom to St. Ignatius. In early February, death 
 carried off from mourning friends and family, Mrs. Alice 
 Phelan, an esteemed friend of the institution. The funeral took 
 place from the church on the 8th of the month. The mass was 
 said by Rev. Father Frieden. The large attendance told of 
 the popularity of this truly Christian lady, and a crowded 
 sanctuary bespoke the esteem of the clergy. 
 
 In May, the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Martinelli, 
 paid a visit to our city, and on the 22nd of the month called 
 on the Fathers at the college. The occupations of a hurried 
 visit did not permit of a reception, much to the regret of the 
 college authorities. 
 
 During vacation, Father Henry Woods replaced Father 
 Edward Allen as vice-president of the college, and Father 
 George Butler likewise replaced him as prefect of discipline. 
 Father John Forhan was back from Santa Clara, and Fathers 
 Joseph Mulligan and Joseph Landry with Messrs. Frederick 
 Ruppert and Anthony Villa, S. J., became members of the 
 faculty. Father Allen devoted himself to the ministry. Messrs. 
 Charles Carroll and Joseph Morton, S. J., left for Spokane. 
 
 The month of July called two away to a better life, Father 
 Theodore Sebastian! on the 18th, and Father Paul Raffo on 
 the 27th. The former was forty-one years of age, and had 
 spent twenty-three as a Jesuit; the latter was eighty, and had 
 been a Jesuit sixty-one. Father Sebastiani belonged to the 
 Missouri Province and came to California when consumption 
 had so fastened upon his system that he seemed to be in the 
 last stages of the dread disease. Still with his indomitable 
 
336 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 courage and remarkable patience, for Father Sebastiani was 
 of noted sweetness of character, he managed to survive for about 
 a year and a half. This cheerfulness of disposition remained 
 with him to the last, and he passed peacefully to the rest of the 
 just. 
 
 Father Paul Raffo, a man of great talent and deep learning, 
 was esteemed by all who came in contact with him as an excel- 
 lent religious. He was born in Genoa, Italy, on July 19th, 
 1 82 1, and became a Jesuit on October 27th, 1839. After 
 finishing his preparatory studies, he taught rhetoric in various 
 Jesuit colleges. We find him in 1851, in Laval in his 3rd year 
 of theology. Having been ordained priest and having finished 
 his theological course, he was sent the following year to St. 
 Beuno's, Wales, and was made professor of Scripture and of 
 Hebrew. In 1854, he was called to France for his third proba- 
 tion, which he made at Notre Dame de Liesse. Another year 
 was spent at Laval; then another at St. Beuno's, followed by 
 two in London in the ministry; so that it was not until 1859 
 that he came to California. For a year he was Master of 
 Novices in Santa Clara; then for a year assistant pastor at St. 
 Ignatius; next he spent two years laboring in San Jose. Ten 
 years followed at St. Ignatius, during one of which he was 
 Minister, and during several of which he taught mathe- 
 matics and directed the Sodality of the Sacred Heart. In 1873, 
 he was transferred to Santa Clara where he labored as parish 
 priest for five years and as assistant for another year, until, in 
 1879, we find him in Reno. In 1880, he was again in San Fran- 
 cisco and worked zealously for souls until his death. His 
 straightforward, upright character endeared him to all, for he 
 was no respecter of persons ; and while never forward in obtrud- 
 ing an opinion, he candidly stated his opinion just as he had 
 it, whenever he was asked. He was of remarkable fertility of 
 thought, so that he sometimes prepared a sermon and when 
 the time for preaching came, put it entirely aside, and delivered 
 one made up on the spur of the moment and on a totally dif- 
 ferent text. 
 
 One might have thought that with these trophies, death 
 would, for this year at least, be satisfied; but such, alas! was 
 not to be the case. On November 27th, Father Aloysius Varsi 
 
ALTAR OF FORMER CHAPEL OF THE LADIES' SODALITY 
 LADIES' SODALITY LIBRARY 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 337 
 
 received from it the dread summons, and calmly obeyed. He 
 had been ailing for some time, and the strain that for so many 
 years had been on his heart, told more and more as age 
 advanced. It was no secret to him that the end was near, but 
 the end was only rest for one who had so lived that he was 
 not afraid to die. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon he received 
 the last sacraments, and then begged pardon of those around 
 if in any thing he had ever given offense; after which, with a 
 smile upon his face, he bade them a last farewell and quietly 
 awaited the end, which came two hours later. On the fol- 
 lowing afternoon, the body was taken to the Gentlemen's Sodal- 
 ity Chapel, and remained there until Thursday evening. The 
 remains were then removed to the church, and the Office for 
 the Dead recited. Next morning, the mass was celebrated by 
 Rev. Father Frieden in the presence of His Grace, the Most 
 Reverend Archbishop, and a numerous body of the clergy. 
 Interment was in Santa Clara, with those who had so zealously 
 labored with him and were already at rest. 
 
 Father Aloysius Varsi was born at Cagliari, in Sardinia, 
 March 9th, 1830, and was educated at the College of St. 
 Theresa in that city. On May 2nd, 1845, he entered the 
 Society of Jesus, and after the usual novitiate and preparatory 
 studies, he was sent in 1850 to Namur, Belgium, to devote him- 
 self to philosophy. In 1852, he proceeded to Paris for a spe- 
 cial course in physics and higher mathematics, for his more 
 than ordinary talent was duly appreciated, and, two years later, 
 he was appointed to teach these branches at Brugelette. A 
 year spent here was the forerunner to three spent at Laval. 
 Here in the chapel of the episcopal residence, on July 6th, 1856, 
 he received sub-deaconship from His Lordship, Casimir 
 Alexius J. Wicart, Bishop of the diocese. On the 13th 
 of the month, and in the same place, he was made deacon; and 
 a week later, he received the priesthood in the chapel of the 
 Ladies of the Sacred Heart in Laval. His ordination was 
 doubtless due to the troubles of the times, for we find him 
 studying his theology in Louvain from 1857 to i860. Thence 
 he came to Boston to complete his course. In 1862, he began 
 his year of third probation in Frederick, Maryland, after 
 
338 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 which he taught physics and chemistry for a year in Boston, 
 then for a year in Georgetown, and in 1865 came to California. 
 Again professor of the sciences at Santa Clara, he became 
 president of the college on January 6th, 1868, and continued 
 in office until December 26th, 1876. During his incumbency 
 he devoted all his energies to the bettering of the college, and 
 built, for the accommodation of the larger students, the Dormi- 
 tory and Theater building. When released from the presi- 
 dency he came, as we have seen, to San Francisco, and on 
 October 2nd, 1877, became Superior of the Mission. The 
 History of St. Ignatius College from that time is, in great 
 part, the history of Father Varsi. He was a great man in 
 every sense of the word. A tall commanding presence admir- 
 ably suited a large mind and a larger heart. He had no need 
 to seek to make an impression, the very simplicity of his man- 
 ners bringing out into more striking relief the real greatness 
 with which Nature and Grace had gifted him. 
 
 His rare prudence made him a favorite counselor with his 
 friends and one never felt embarrassed in his presence, his 
 patient forbearance preventing him from giving any hint that 
 his time was urgently needed by pressing business. He pre- 
 ferred to take hours from his sleep rather than cause pain to 
 those that confided in him. His trust in St. Joseph and in 
 Divine Providence was deep and childlike; and though severely 
 tested by the long years of crushing debt, this trust came forth 
 from the trial purified and intact; the heart of Father Varsi 
 had never faltered in its confidence that the issue would be a 
 happy one. 
 
 1901 
 
 On January 19th, 1901, Fathers Marshal Boarman and 
 Eugene Magaveney arrived, in order to begin on the 27th 
 a mission in our church. The mission was continued for two 
 weeks with most satisfactory results. 
 
 In the May of this year, our city was honored by the visit 
 of President McKinley, and on the 14th of the month a grand 
 procession was held in his honor. Of all the decorations in 
 the city, those of the college were probably the most tasteful 
 and elaborate. The pupils were ranged on the steps and bal- 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 339 
 
 conies of the building and gave three rousing cheers as the 
 President passed. To mark his appreciation, Mr. McKinley 
 stopped his carriage and gracefully returned the salute of the 
 young men. He made no effort to conceal his pleasure, and 
 turned several times to look back and admire the beauty of the 
 buildings in their festive attire. 
 
 The yearly exhibition, besides the interest which such an 
 event naturally excites, brought with it a pleasure and a surprise 
 in the scholarship founded by Mrs. Pescia in memory of her 
 departed husband, Dr. Joseph Pescia, an old graduate of the 
 college. "A scholarship in the college course of one hundred 
 and thirty dollars a year, to be held for four years," says the 
 catalogue, "has been established by Mrs. Regina Anastasia 
 Pescia in memory of her husband, the late Joseph Pescia, M. D., 
 A. B., 1875. It will be competed for immediately after the 
 opening of the term i90i-'o2, and, for this occasion only, stu- 
 dents actually in the college course will be admitted to the 
 competition, as well as those just entering it." Owen McCann 
 was the fortunate competitor. 
 
 A year later two other scholarships were founded, one, 
 "The President's Scholarship," of one hundred and sixty 
 dollars yearly, by a friend of the college and awarded to 
 Anthony Smith; the other a scholarship of one hundred and 
 thirty dollars for four years, given by Gerhard Wempe, Esq., 
 was awarded to Robert F. Snaer. The generosity of these bene- 
 factors was emulated the following year by Mrs. Mary A. 
 Tobin, who established a four year's scholarship of one hundred 
 and thirty dollars, Thomas J. Flaherty being the first to 
 receive it. 
 
 In September, His Grace, Archbishop Riordan, conferred 
 Holy Orders on Mr. Henry Gabriel. The various ceremonies 
 were performed in the church in the presence of a large gather- 
 ing of the faithful. The first mass of the new priest was sung 
 on the 29th, with Father Joseph Landry as deacon, and Mr. 
 Patrick Ryan, S. J., subdeacon. Hundreds of the congrega- 
 tion came after mass for the priestly blessing, which, with full 
 heart, Father Gabriel imparted. 
 
 For some time back, inquiries about the property which 
 the Fathers possessed near the present town of Richmond had 
 
34Q 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 become more frequent, and propositions began to be made to 
 Rev. Father Frieden in reference to its purchase. The tract 
 was of some 804 acres, of practically little or no agricultural 
 value, but a tract rapidly acquiring a commercial one from 
 its proximity to the Santa Fe terminal, the plant of the Standard 
 Oil Co. and similar business properties, which marked the site 
 as a future factor in trade. 
 
 It was a part of the famous San Pablo Rancho, which, for 
 half a century occupied the courts of California, and is said 
 to have cost half a million of dollars in legal fees before the 
 case was finally settled. The Rancho was known as Los 
 Cuchigunes or Cuchillones, or Rancho de San Pablo, and was 
 situated on the bays of San Francisco and San Pablo in the 
 county of Contra Costa, and comprised 17,938.59 acres. 
 
 The land originally belonged to the Mission of San Francisco, 
 as we learn from the petition of Francisco Maria Castro made 
 to the Government of California on April 15th, 1823, in which 
 he asked that he be granted the possession of "three square 
 leagues (sitios) in the place called 'Los Cuchigunes' or 'San 
 Pablo,' formerly occupied by the Mission of San Francisco, 
 and lying opposite to said Mission and the port of said name 
 and upon its shores.' " 
 
 The request was granted on the same day, but Francisco 
 Castro died on November 5th, 1831, without succeeding in 
 obtaining the legal transfer of the property. His son Joaquin, 
 however, obtained the desired document on June 12th, 1834, 
 for the common benefit of his father's heirs, and on the 20th of 
 August, the year following, obtained an augmentation of 
 another square league. Thus far all went well with the widow, 
 Gabriela Berreyesa de Castro and her ten children. But trou- 
 bles came, as troubles will, and towards the end of the Mexican 
 occupancy of California, the Castros and Alvarados were in 
 litigation over the property. Then came the American settlers, 
 and many of the descendents of Don Francisco transferred their 
 rights for a mess of pottage; and with such a number of inter- 
 ests and variety of transactions, it is not to be wondered at 
 that a legal tangle was the result, of which it has been said that, 
 "To tell the judges before whom this case had appeared, in one 
 
FATHER GEORGE BUTLER, S. J. 
 FATHER JOSEPH HICKEY, S. J. 
 
 FATHER HENRY WOODS, S. J. 
 FATHER BARTHOLOMEW CALZ1A, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 341 
 
 way or another, it would be necessary to write the biographies 
 of all the jurists who have occupied the bench in this city since 
 the American occupation of California. Nearly every lawyer 
 of note in the State, both living and dead, has had a hand in 
 the case." 
 
 On November 27th, 1857, Mr. William O'Connell acquired 
 a one-third interest in 1,250 acres of the property and the cor- 
 responding title to any amount of legal trouble. In later days 
 he became financially embarrassed and received help from 
 Father Maraschi. In return he made the following bequest: 
 "I give, devise, and bequeath to Father Maraschi, now 
 residing in San Francisco, the whole of the real estate I now 
 claim or own in the County of Contra Costa in this State, but 
 as the same is now in litigation, I direct that no part of the 
 cost of expenses of said litigation, whether present or future, 
 shall be paid by or become a charge upon my estate, real or 
 personal, and upon the express condition that Father Maraschi 
 or the parties hereafter named as cestuy que trust shall cause 
 to be paid all the necessary expenses of said litigation." Mr. 
 O'Connell died in September, 1881. The famous decision of 
 the Hon. Samuel H. Dwindle, Judge of the Fifteenth District 
 Court, a decision from which we have taken the brief account 
 that we have given of the property, paved the way for a final 
 distribution. This was made in 1893 among some 270 claim- 
 ants. Father Maraschi had meanwhile acquired more interests 
 in the ranch, mainly through the will of Michael Hartnett. He 
 received, therefore, five pieces of land. The first contained 
 501.05 acres; the second, 56.08 acres; the third, 0.21 acres; the 
 fourth, 244.96 acres; the fifth, 19.55 acres. Father Maraschi 
 set a high value on the property; as is well known by those 
 who for years conversed with him, and by the fact that he spent 
 much money in law to defend his title. To struggle for years 
 at great expense for barren hills from which no return was 
 expected, was not the character of Father Maraschi. More- 
 over, he had more than once expressed his conviction to many, 
 that the town of San Pablo would ultimately establish itself 
 where Richmond now is. His foresight in the main was correct, 
 
342 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 though it was not the old town that transferred itself, but the 
 new that took advantage of the situation. 
 
 Owing to the general increase in the value of property in 
 the neighborhood and prudent management, on the 17th of 
 October the preliminaries of a sale were agreed upon for 
 $200,000, and a deposit of $10,000 was made by the purchasers. 
 The transaction was completed on the 31st of the same month, 
 and St. Ignatius, after a struggle of forty-six years, was out of 
 debt. On November 3rd, the public announcement of the sale 
 was made, and the Ignatian Society which had been re-estab- 
 lished to enable us to pay our interest, was dissolved. 
 
 1902. 
 The year 1902 opened with the arrival of Father Henry 
 Bontempo of the Venetian Province. He had come at the 
 earnest request of His Grace, the Most Reverend Archbishop, 
 to attend to the spiritual necessities of the various branches of 
 the Slav race in San Francisco. Missionary life was not new 
 to him, for he had spent many years in it in Albania and the 
 adjoining countries. With all earnestness he set to work, and, 
 on January 12th, called the Slavonians together for mass in the 
 students' chapel, which the college had kindly placed at His 
 disposal. The number attending mass was about three hun- 
 dred; the number estimated to be in the city is about five thou- 
 sand, mainly from Dalmatia, Istria, Croatia, Slavonia and 
 Carniola. But, scattered as the Slavonians are all over San 
 Francisco, it is naturally difficult to bring them together. On 
 February 7th, His Grace, Archbishop Riordan, addressed the 
 congregation of Father Bontempo, exhorting them to erect a 
 church for themselves, and promising every assistance in his 
 power. The result was eventually the present Church of the 
 Nativity on Fell Street, between Gough and Franklin, the 
 cornerstone of which was laid on Rosary Sunday, October 4th, 
 
 1903. Father Bontempo was at this time no longer the pastor 
 of the congregation, for, some months previously, he had 
 handed over the charge to Father Francis Turk, a secular priest. 
 He continued, however, to take great interest in the work and 
 to afford whatever assistance was in his power. On June 6th, 
 
 1904, the building was blessed by Bishop Stariha of Lead, 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 343 
 
 Dakota. Father Bontempo, relieved from the care of the 
 Slavonian congregation, was left free for missions in various 
 parts of the country, and in them he has been zealously engaged 
 ever since. But we must return to 1902. 
 
 On January 29th, the pupils of the elocution classes, under 
 the direction of Father Henry Woods, presented "Richelieu" 
 upon the college stage. The audience was large, and the 
 applause given was well merited by the young actors. Nor 
 was this the first appearance of these classes in the better 
 sort of drama. On January 31st, 1900, "Macbeth" had been 
 excellently rendered, and a year later "Julius Caesar." In 1903, 
 "Richard III" was presented; and in 1905, "Henry V." 
 
 In the early part of March, Father Henry Imoda had 
 become so ill, that even the light labor which had been con- 
 fided to him was beyond his strength, and Father Calzia was 
 appointed to relieve him. He still lingered on, however, until 
 May 1 2th, when death came to put an end to his sufferings. 
 
 Father Imoda was a man of delicate conscience and a lover 
 of religious rule. Of strict observance in his own life, he 
 exacted a similar observance from others. His motives were 
 ever of the purest, and he lived and died respected by all. 
 
 He was born in Turin, Italy, on the eve of the Immaculate 
 Conception, 183 1, and became a member of the Society of 
 Jesus on March 23rd, 1850. He entered the Jesuit Novitiate 
 in Naples, whither he had gone while yet quite young. After 
 his two years of Novitiate he was sent to teach in the college 
 of Aquila, where he remained for four years. He then taught 
 two years at Benevento, and afterwards studied theology pri- 
 vately in the same college for two years more. In 1859, he 
 taught another year in the College of Nobles at Naples and 
 was ordained priest in i860. In that year the Neapolitan 
 Province was dispersed by political troubles, and Father Imoda 
 went to Turin to continue the study of theology privately. 
 He devoted the following year to the same study in Lyons, 
 and, in 1862, began his third probation at Monaco. Here he 
 remained afterwards as prefect in the college until 1867, when, 
 as we have already seen in our history, he came to California 
 with Father Ponte, the intention being that he should labor 
 
344 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 in the Rocky Mountains. His life from that time is already 
 fairly known. When not in St. Ignatius he was Minister in 
 Santa Clara; and when relieved from superiorship in 1896, 
 he was broken in health, though he continued to be Spiritual 
 Father and librarian almost up to the time of his death. He 
 was an excellent rubricist, and for many years arranged the 
 calendar for the Archdiocese. In fact, even as early as 1866, 
 while in Monaco, we find a similar task assigned him. His 
 body was conveyed to Santa Clara and laid by the side of those 
 of his Jesuit brethren. 
 
 The catalogue of the present year mentions the College 
 Glee Club. It was organized by Father Joseph De Rop in 
 September, 1901, a month after he had established the St. 
 Cecilia Choral Society. 
 
 At the closing exercises an announcement was made that, 
 commencing with the coming August, a class of bookkeeping 
 and stenography would be introduced, free to all who, desirous 
 of pursuing these studies, were sufficiently advanced to do so. 
 By the introduction of these classes it was intended to supply 
 the elements of a business education without in any way detract- 
 ing from the purely classical course which had long obtained 
 in the college. 
 
 On June 19th, Father Joseph Landry succeeded Father 
 Bartholomew Calzia as Minister. Shortly afterwards, Fathers 
 Anthony Arnalot, Patrick Foote, William Culligan, Angelo 
 Coltelli, with Messrs. Thomas Hogan, Patrick Ryan and 
 Anthony Villa, S. J., were detached from the staff of St. 
 Ignatius. To supply their places came Fathers Henry Gabriel, 
 Gregory Leggio, Joseph Francis, John Ford, Joseph De Rop, 
 with Messrs. Frederick Ruppert and John Hayes, S. J. Father 
 Francis X. Agreda, S. J., arrived toward the end of September. 
 
 In the beginning of August the authorities of the college 
 decided upon the re-establishment of the Alumni Association, 
 an organization that had been dormant for many years. Steps 
 leading to this end were accordingly taken, and the project 
 was brought to a successful termination on November nth. 
 Much enthusiasm was shown on the occasion, as also at the 
 yearly reunions since; let us hope that it may be lasting, to the 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 345 
 
 mutual honor of the Alumni and of Alma Mater. Hon. J. F. 
 Sullivan, A. M., ,f ]2, was elected president, and Mr. John A. 
 Hicks, A. B., '71, vice-president. The fact that Mr. Sullivan has 
 always been president of the Association, as well during its 
 existence in the Eighties, as during the period of its more recent 
 activity, speaks well for the high esteem in which he is 
 deservedly held by his fellow graduates. 
 
 On the 5th of November, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the 
 ripe age of eighty-three, Father Burchard Villiger ended his 
 earthly labors. He was born on May 14th, 18 19, at Au in Switzer- 
 land. His early education was received in his parish school and in 
 the Benedictine Monastery at Muri. When fifteen years of age 
 he entered the Jesuit College at Schwitz, to pass thence to the 
 Novitiate, on October 4th, 1838. After his Jesuit preliminary 
 studies, he was, for two years, first prefect in Schwitz, and then 
 entered upon his theological studies at Freiburg. On November 
 9th, 1847, he was obliged with his brethren to fly from the city; 
 as later, from Chambery, Savoy, owing to the anti-Catholic 
 hatred of the revolutionists. On May 8th, 1848, he was ordered 
 to Antwerp, Belgium, to sail for the United States, and started 
 on his voyage to America on June 1st. Two years at George- 
 town, one at St. Joseph's, Philadelphia; a year of third probation; 
 another, as Minister of Georgetown, and on August 15th, 1854, 
 he is made president of St. John's College, Frederick. In 1857, 
 he is president of Washington College; and on April 25th, 1858, 
 he is made Provincial of the Maryland Province, with residence 
 at Georgetown. On April 19th, 1861, he starts for the Pacific 
 Coast as president of Santa Clara College and Superior of the 
 Calif ornian Mission. On December 7th, 1866, he is back in 
 New York; and in March, 1868, is selected to build the Gesu 
 in Philadelphia. In this, the crowning of his lifework, he spent 
 about a quarter of a century. In 1893, he is Instructor of his 
 Jesuit brethren at Frederick, Maryland, then, president of Wood- 
 stock College, retaining to the end of his life, the fatherly heart 
 that had ever sweetened his rule. Relieved of superiorship, 
 owing to age and increasing infirmities, he calmly awaited his 
 call to a better life. Of him the saying was true, "He touched 
 
34 6 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 nothing that he did not adorn"; and wherever he was, he left 
 memorials of his zeal and energy. 
 
 On November 25th, the college orchestra gave its annual 
 concert. It had been organized in August, 1898, by Father 
 Edward Allen, and had already won for itself high praise on 
 many preceding occasions. It is composed of such students 
 of the college as are sufficiently proficient, and of other good 
 amateur musicians who are desirous of the self-improvement 
 which necessarily results from such an organization. Labor 
 and self-sacrifice combined with ability and tact, are urgently 
 called for in one who would perpetuate such an orchestra and 
 render it efficient, and its continued success is a flattering trib- 
 ute to those qualities in its present director. 
 
 With the end of the year, athletics in St. Ignatius had taken 
 a forward step in the completion of the handball alleys. The 
 wall and part of the sides had been built in the previous July, 
 and for three weeks, towards the close of December, the car- 
 penters had been busy on roof and remaining sides. The courts 
 are two in number, a single and a double one, of excellent 
 material and corresponding workmanship. 
 
 1903. 
 
 Already in December, 1899, the Gentlemen's Sodality had 
 obtained permission to use, as a gymnasium, several rooms in 
 the college basement, and had fitted them up with suitable 
 apparatus. Here the younger members of the Sodality met for 
 social intercourse and healthful exercise. When, therefore, it 
 became known, in November, 1902, that the college had deter- 
 mined to erect a gymnasium for its students, the Sodality 
 proposed that a joint gymnasium be built, the expenses to be 
 borne by both college and Sodality. The idea was favorably 
 considered, plans were formed and approved, and on February 
 2nd, 1903, after assisting at mass, the students repaired to the 
 college lot on Franklin Street, there to assist at the beginning 
 of the work. 
 
 "A modern gymnasium," says a prospectus published soon 
 afterwards, "was contemplated by the college authorities early 
 in the present term; . . . when the members of the 
 
IJn 
 
 g— \ | 
 
 ^Bb^** r7 *^'f :; * — nH 
 
 wSmk'**'-^ 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 347 
 
 Gentlemen's Sodality, through their director, Rev. Joseph 
 Hickey, S. J., offered to co-operate with the college in the work 
 it had undertaken. The proposal was received favorably, and 
 . . plans were drawn. . . . These call for hand- 
 ball courts and a bath section, together with the gymnasium 
 building proper, in which a billiard-room, a reading-room, a 
 bowling alley, a plunge bath, and a locker-room are con- 
 veniently situated. 
 
 Construction was begun at once upon the hand-ball courts, 
 and they have been in use since December 26th. They are 
 complete in every respect. . . . 
 
 The first ground was broken Monday, February 2nd, 1903, 
 by Very Rev. John P. Frieden, S. J., president of the college, 
 with informal ceremonies. Father Frieden addressed the students 
 and their friends present, announcing the purpose of the college 
 authorities in the erection of the buildings, and remarking the 
 opportuneness of the present time for their erection. Mr. 
 Joseph R. Crowley, vice-president of the Athletic Association, 
 followed Rev. Father Frieden, accepting the gift gratefully as 
 spokesman of the students of the college. The vice-president 
 of the college, Rev. Henry Woods, S. J., next spoke, 'hoping 
 much,' he said, 'for the physical development of the students 
 from the new gymnasium.' Work was begun the next day on 
 the bath section. 
 
 The bath section measures over all 60x25 feet, and will 
 contain 9 showers and needle baths, as well as tubs and lava- 
 tories, to all of which will be fed salt and fresh water, both hot 
 and cold. The floor and walls of this section will be tiled in 
 white vitreous tile, and the partitions between the baths will be 
 of Tennessee marble — a necessary provision against the corro- 
 sion and flaking caused by salt water. Immediately adjoining 
 the baths will be the lockers provided for the students of the 
 college; each student being assigned a locker for his private use. 
 The portions already described, courts and bath section, 
 stand without the gymnasium proper. This building rests on 
 concrete foundations, sunk 12 feet below the street level. Its 
 front, on Franklin Street, will be of brick cemented, as are the 
 other college buildings; its general style, however, is rather 
 
348 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 more severely classical in treatment. The gymnasium floor will 
 be reached from the main entrance through a vestibule, 15x15 
 feet, laid in marble mosaic. From the right of the vestibule, a 
 stairway descends to the locker-room, bowling alley, billiard- 
 room, reading-room, and plunge. On the left is the gymnasium 
 office, and adjoining it, a stairway mounting to the visitors' 
 gallery which stands 12 feet off the gymnasium floor. There 
 are approximately 10,000 square feet covered by the gymnasium 
 floor, and the roof over it is 35 feet high. In the gymnasium 
 will be found all the apparatus necessary to equip it perfectly, 
 and proposals looking to its installment are at present being 
 received. A physician's office adjoins the main entrance, it 
 being- intended that the students submit to examinations at the 
 beginning and during their course, that the work of physical 
 culture may be gone at wisely, and no part that is structurally 
 weak be exposed to undue strain. Next to the physician's 
 office are the rooms of the Instructor, to whom the entire 
 superintendence of the work of the pupils will be given. A 
 running track of 21 laps, partly suspended from the roof girders 
 by iron rods, and 19 feet off the floor, will be reached by a spiral 
 stairway in the southeast corner, and by two others in the west 
 end; the whole will be magnificently lighted by large skylights 
 in the roof, and pivoted windows above and below the running 
 track. In the west end will be the bicycle room. A stairway 
 leads down from the gymnasium to the locker section, in 
 which, room will be found for 1,500 lockers, each perfectly 
 ventilated. From the locker-room is but a step to the plunge, 
 which will be 50x15 feet, and will vary from 9 to 5 feet in 
 depth. . . . This room will also be tiled; the borders 
 about the plunge being 8 and 9 feet where widest. On the 
 locker floor, at the east end, are the reading-room and billiard- 
 room; in the former, all the prominent American, Irish and 
 English Catholic journals will be kept on file. The billiard-room 
 will contain 5 new tables. South of the locker-room and ex- 
 tending along the south wall of the building, will be two 
 bowling alleys of the best construction. 
 
 The building will have a total frontage on Franklin Street 
 of 145 feet, and a depth of 105. Its cost, to be defrayed by the 
 
READING-ROOM OF GYMNASIUM 
 SWIMMING TANK 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 349 
 
 joint contribution of the college, the Gentlemen's Sodality, and 
 the Students' Athletic Association, will be about $20,000." 
 
 The intention to limit the expense to $20,000, like most 
 good intentions, underwent generous modifications in the 
 execution, for it was the desire of the college to have the gym- 
 nasium perfect in its order, and the cost intended was doubled 
 and over, before the building was opened on the 30th of 
 September. 
 
 Two weeks after the starting of the gymnasium a reception 
 was given by the students to His Grace, Most Reverend Arch- 
 bishop Montgomery, the newly appointed Coadjutor of the 
 Archdiocese. It was only the welcoming back of an old friend, 
 and the addresses were made in English, French, German and 
 Spanish, to show the varied accomplishments of the young 
 men, and to represent, we suppose, the varied nationalities over 
 which an American prelate is called to preside. The Arch- 
 bishop answered in a happy speech and granted what is ever 
 dear to the hearts of the students, a holiday. 
 
 Lent soon arrived and those whom piety led to attend 
 morning mass or evening devotions, noticed that work was 
 progressing on a beautiful shrine under the western tower 
 of the church, off the vestibule near Saint Aloysius' Altar. It 
 was the shrine of St. Ann and the gift of Mr. Edward Le 
 Breton. Holy Saturday, April nth, saw the work completed, 
 and after mass, a fit prelude to the joy of Eastertide, the statue 
 was solemnly blessed. It is no slight praise for shrine and 
 statue to say of them, that in richness and in artistic elegance 
 they are on a par with the other ornaments of the church. A 
 few days later, Mr. James Malone, S. J., a former pupil of the 
 new St. Ignatius, received in our church, subdeaconship, 
 deaconship and the priesthood from His Grace, Archbishop 
 Montgomery. He celebrated the holy sacrifice for the first 
 time on April 17th, in the presence of numerous friends and 
 relatives. 
 
 May brought with it to our city the head of the body 
 politic, President Roosevelt, who was soon followed by His 
 Excellency, Most Rev. Diomede Falconio, D. D., Apostolic 
 Delegate to the United States. The solemn procession in 
 
350 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 honor of the former was held on May 12th; the later, two days 
 afterwards, dined with the Fathers, and visited church and 
 college. He expressed much pleasant surprise, regretting, 
 however, that the vacations granted in honor of the President's 
 visit, deprived him of the pleasure of seeing the students. 
 
 On July 1 6th, Father Joseph Landry ceased to be Minister, 
 and Father Henry Whittle succeeded him. In the college 
 changes which took place soon after, Father Joseph Mulligan 
 and Father Joseph De Rop went to San Jose; Mr. John Hayes 
 to Santa Clara ; Mr. Henry Fleuren to Woodstock, Maryland. A 
 little earlier, Father Francis Agreda had departed for St. Louis, 
 and earlier still, Father Henry Gabriel, owing to ill health, had 
 gone to Santa Clara. For like reasons, in the fall of the year, 
 Father Gregory Leggio left for Seattle. The new members 
 of the faculty are : Father Joseph Riordan and Messrs. Charles 
 Carroll, John Laherty, James Hayes, John Madden, and Felix 
 Rossetti, S. J. 
 
 On July 20th, the announcement was made of the death of 
 our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII, and the bell of the church 
 in sad unison with those of the other churches in the city 
 spread the news abroad. Decorators were immediately set to 
 work to drape the church in black, and succeeded in producing 
 an effect strikingly impressive. A magnificent catafalque 
 ornamented with the insignia of the papacy and the pontiff's 
 coat of arms, was erected near the altar rail, and, by the beauty 
 of its proportions and its perfect harmony with its surround- 
 ings, drew forth many a word of praise from the thousands 
 that congregated to do honor to our common Father. A 
 Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated, on the 21st, for the repose 
 of the pontiff's soul, but the chief celebration was reserved for 
 Sunday, the 26th. At the Solemn High Mass celebrated by 
 Rev. Father Frieden, Father Henry Woods drew a vivid 
 picture of the noble life of Pope Leo, and, in the evening, Father 
 Dionysius Mahony to equally dense crowds presented the dead 
 pontiff as "The World's Peacemaker." The celebration was, 
 indeed, a memorable one from every point of view. 
 
 October brought in its train a far different scene when the 
 members of the Alumni Association gathered around the 
 
HIS EXCELLENCY, MOST REV. DIOMEDE FALCONIO, 
 APOSTOLIC DELEGATE 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 351 
 
 festive board to become reminiscent of college days. The 
 meeting was a notable one, and was made up of men who have 
 already achieved success in the various walks of life. 
 
 "In the Marble-room of the Palace Hotel last evening," 
 (October 8th), says a paper of the day, "130 graduates of St. 
 Ignatius College enjoyed a most delightful banquet under the 
 auspices of their Alumni Association. The banquet hall was 
 appropriately decorated for the occasion, and there was music 
 by a stringed orchestra throughout the evening. Dr. A. H. 
 Giannini was the toastmaster, and he was very happy in his 
 introduction of the various speeches, after the serving of the 
 menu. The formal programme opened with a toast to Pope 
 Pius X, the company standing while the toast was drunk. 
 In the same manner, there was a toast to the President of the 
 United States. The Most Rev. Archbishop Montgomery, 
 in an address on 'The Church,' was received with enthusiasm, 
 and he held the attention of the banqueters closely as he spoke 
 about the mission of the Roman Catholic Church. Following 
 the Archbishop's address came the speech on The Faculty 
 of St. Ignatius College,' by the Rev. J. P. Frieden, S. J.; Peter 
 F. Dunne, one of the graduates back in the Seventies, had 
 as his toast, 'Our Country.' Joseph S. Tobin talked pertinently 
 on 'California,' and George A. Connolly on 'St. Ignatius Col- 
 lege.' The last address of the evening was by Hon. J. F. Sul- 
 livan on 'The Alumni Association.' " 
 
 But festivities were not for the Alumni alone; at Christmas- 
 tide the Francesca Society distributed its gifts and the training- 
 school had its Christmas tree. 
 
 "There were yesterday no happier children anywhere," 
 says the account of the event, "than the 240 who comprise 
 the training-school conducted in the basement of St. Ignatius 
 Church by a number of earnest women, directed by Mrs. E. W. 
 McKinstry. This school, in which the girls are taught sewing 
 and cooking, and in which the co-operation of mothers is 
 secured, has almost doubled during the past year. The rooms, 
 and the light, and heat, are given to the cause by the Fathers 
 of St. Ignatius, who address the children from time to time 
 
352 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 as their work permits. All of the teachers give their services 
 free. Material for work is donated, and, with yearly dues from 
 the subscribing members, the enterprise is carried on most 
 successfully. Yesterday there was a brightly dressed Christmas 
 tree and a programme fitting the occasion." 
 
 1904. 
 
 In the middle of February, 1904, the organ newly installed 
 in the Students' Chapel by the Ladies' Sodality was used for 
 the first time. It had been purchased from the Paulist Fathers 
 of the city after it had done excellent service for many years 
 in the old Cathedral. With electrical appliances for keyboard 
 and bellows, and the addition of new pipes to increase its har- 
 monies, the renovated organ gave the greatest satisfaction. 
 
 Several numbers on the instrument by Dr. Maurice O'Connell, 
 appropriate words by Rev. Father Frieden, music and poems 
 by the members of the Sodality, pleasantly and edifyingly filled 
 up an hour in the afternoon. 
 
 Circumstances this year having prevented the elocution 
 classes from giving a drama, as they had done yearly for the 
 past few years, the members of the Junior Philhistorian Debat- 
 ing Society requested that permission be given them to present 
 one. They selected the sacred drama "Sedecias, the Last King 
 of Judah," and on Wednesday evening, February 10th, gave 
 it to their own satisfaction, as was somewhat to be expected, 
 but we are happy to say, to the equal satisfaction of a large 
 audience. 
 
 The society had been out of existence for same years when 
 in 1 90 1 it was once more called into being. Little by little its 
 members had increased, and with numbers came confidence, 
 with the result that it accomplished the no easy task of render- 
 ing a five-act tragedy successfully, all the chief parts of which 
 were sustained by its own members. 
 
 "An attractive and enthusiastic audience," we are told, 
 "greeted the members of the Junior Philhistorian Debating 
 Society of St. Ignatius College last evening. Their attempt 
 was ambitious, for the presentation of a five-act drama — a 
 drama, too, which must rely upon correct interpretation of 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 353 
 
 extremely difficult lines — is a matter which might cause even 
 old-time theatrical men to hesitate. It must be more than 
 satisfactory to the priests and scholars of St. Ignatius to have 
 seen that, even in the face of particularly difficult circumstances, 
 the drama, 'Sedecias,' was produced with the greatest success, 
 and the large crowd which filled the hall of St. Ignatius College 
 went away thoroughly impressed with the dramatic ability of 
 the young men who took part. The whole story of the drama 
 was founded on the history of Nabuchodonosor as it appears 
 in the light of recent investigation." 
 
 When we say that the Junior Philhistorian Society was once 
 more called into being, we are aware that our assertion is not 
 altogether exact. A few words will make our meaning clear. 
 The original Philhistorian Society was, as we have seen, estab- 
 lished by students of the grammar classes on October 8th, 1863, 
 for the "junior students of St. Ignatius College." This an- 
 nouncement continues in the college catalogues until 1867 
 when the limitation "junior students" is dropped, for the 
 obvious reason that some of its members, for instance its vice- 
 President, George F. Harrison, were in Rhetoric. The Society 
 was, at that time, for all the students of the college without 
 discrimination. But the lapse of time brought changes. As 
 the higher classes of the college began to be better attended 
 and the Society could easily recruit its members from these, 
 it no longer cared to receive younger members, who, naturally, 
 were unable to discuss questions that were of interest to pupils 
 older and more advanced. In 1877, therefore, the Philhistorian 
 Debating Society was restricted to senior students; and the 
 junior Philhistorian was instituted for the junior. Mr. Michael 
 Shallo, S. J., was the founder. So matters continued until 
 August, 1892, when the junior was again merged into the 
 senior and there was but one Philhistorian Debating Society. 
 In 1896, it was judged well to extend the scope of the Society 
 whose "object" was declared to be "to foster a taste for 
 eloquence and literature among its members, and to afford 
 them an opportunity for the application of sound principles to 
 social and historical questions. Not only actual students, but 
 graduates and former students of the higher classes of this and 
 
354 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 similar colleges, as well as other young men of good character 
 whose attainments are such as will make them useful to the 
 Society; are eligible to membership." This was virtually the 
 death blow to junior students, and even to seniors, except in 
 the very highest classes, for it would be absurd to expect old 
 graduates and graduates of other institutions to join, in applying 
 sound principles to social and historical questions, those who 
 had never studied such principles. 
 
 The natural result, therefore, was that the number of actual 
 college students dwindled away until, as is at present the case, 
 there are no actual students in the organization, though there 
 are many of the former graduates. 
 
 The real Philhistorian Debating Society which was estab- 
 lished in 1863, and which was intended for the actual pupils 
 of the college had, therefore, in reality ceased to exist, and the 
 Ignatian Literary Society had practically been resuscitated 
 under its name. The Society, consequently, re-established in 
 1901, though called junior to distinguish it from the other 
 which was called senior, is the real successor to the Philhistorian 
 Society of 1863. It includes among its members, students from 
 the class of logic downwards to humanities; the junior Phil- 
 historians of 1877 and succeeding years, did not receive mem- 
 bers except from poetry and under. The name is consequently 
 misleading; and hence when we speak of the re-established 
 Junior Philhistorian Debating Society, we must be understood 
 as speaking of the name rather than of the thing. 
 
 On May 22nd, sixty of the students helped to swell the 
 numbers confirmed at the Cathedral. 
 
 In the beginning of June, the Gentlemen's Sodality entered 
 upon a new departure, or rather succeeded in reaching a point 
 long aimed at, when it gave its first banquet at the Occidental 
 Hotel. Far back in the Sixties, as we have more than once 
 remarked, we find the Sodality yearning after greater social 
 intercourse among its members. The meeting for mass and 
 office is excellent, and piety is the essential of the organization. 
 Still the thoroughly successful Sodality can, not only without 
 detriment to itself but with immense profit, afford its members 
 the innocent enjoyments of social intercourse. 
 
MOST REV. GEORGE MONTGOMERY, D. D. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 355 
 
 On July 1 st, the Fathers withdrew from regular attendance 
 at the City and County Hospital. From the earliest days of 
 St. Ignatius, attendance on the city's sick had occupied a great 
 part of the time of one and sometimes of several Fathers. But 
 there was good work to be done which could not well be 
 attended to by others, and the burden was gladly shouldered, 
 for the spiritual fruit was abundant. When, however, an appro- 
 priation was made by the city, supplying support for a Catholic 
 and a Protestant chaplain, the church of the parish was enabled 
 to keep a curate specially destined for this work, and the Fathers, 
 certain that without detriment to religion's cause they could 
 withdraw, immediately did so. 
 
 The faculty this year lost Father Joseph Hickey, whose 
 excellent work in behalf of the Gentlemen's Sodality was 
 crowned with most consoling success, It was also deprived 
 of Father John Ford and Messrs. James Hayes, Anthony Drath- 
 man and Charles Carroll. It was increased, however, by the 
 gai 1 of Fathers Joseph Saria, Joseph Mulligan and Maurice 
 Joy, as also of Messrs. Hubert Flynn, Patrick Deignan, James 
 C don, Nicholas Bell and Timothy Murphy, S. J. 
 
 Preparations for the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of 
 the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception 
 had already for some time been under way. As early as 
 February nth, a committee had been organized to consider 
 what means should be taken looking to the celebration, and 
 on April 10th, Father Dionysius Mahony had commenced a 
 series of preparatory sermons to be given on the second Sunday 
 of every month, followed by the recitation of the jubilee prayer 
 composed by our Holy Father, and by Solemn Benediction. 
 To allow the congregation to listen to a preacher to whom 
 they were not accustomed, Rev. Father Frieden requested 
 Rev. Father Power, Superior of the New Orleans Mission, 
 to favor him with one. In answer to the request Father Albert 
 Biever was kindly lent for the occasion. On November 24th, 
 Father Biever left New Orleans, where he is President of the 
 rising College of Loyola, and reached San Francisco four days 
 later. On the 30th, he began a retreat which was well attended 
 at all the exercises. The number of confessions and com- 
 
356 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 munions was large. The Feast of our Blessed Mother, the 
 Jubilee, the long months of preparation, the filial interest and 
 love of the Sodalists, the earnestness of the preacher, concurrent 
 missions in other churches, all tended to a success appreciated 
 by everybody. To the Sodalists and their directors too much 
 praise cannot be given, for not only did these bodies supply 
 a good part of the audience, but they generously defrayed all 
 the expenses of the celebration. An entertainment in the 
 college hall, on December nth, by the Sodalities, fittingly con- 
 cluded the festivities of the occasion. In a few words that 
 evidently came from his heart, Father Biever wished the 
 Sodalists farewell, and on the 14th started on his journey 
 homeward, as much pleased with his visit, as he left those who 
 had profited by his zeal. 
 
 "At St. Ignatius Church, the decorations for the Jubilee 
 feast," remarks the Chronicle of December 9th, "were artistic 
 and beautiful, centering in a devotional picture, a copy in oil 
 of Karl Muller's 'Immaculate Conception.' Viewed through a 
 vista of pine boughs and fern fronds set against a background 
 of blue and white veiling, which was looped in cloud effect just 
 above the columns supporting the clerestory of the sacred edi- 
 fice, the effect was excellent. The altar was ablaze with burn- 
 ing wax tapers, and beautiful with white blossoms. The shrines 
 throughout the church were adorned with fresh-cut flowers. 
 The Celebrant at the mass was Very Rev. J. P. Frieden, with 
 Father Francis assisting as deacon, and Messrs. Frederick Rup- 
 pert and J. J. Laherty, S. J., officiating respectively as subdeacon 
 and master of ceremonies. In the choir, the regular male quar- 
 tette gave an excellent rendering of Alary's Mass, the 'Gloria' 
 being especially devotional. The sermon was preached by Rev. 
 D. Mahony. Gilt torches, a gift of a friend of St. Ignatius 
 Church, were used for the first time during the elevation of the 
 mass. The effective decorations throughout the church were a 
 votive offering from the two large Sodalities connected with St. 
 Ignatius. In the evening the brilliant illumination of the entire 
 church emphasized the Jubilee decorations. Solemn services 
 were held, and the sermon was preached by Rev. Father Biever, 
 S. J., of New Orleans, who has been conducting the Jubilee mis- 
 
JUBILEE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 357 
 
 sion in St. Ignatius. Those who viewed the decorations were 
 loud in commending the taste displayed by the Sodalities, as 
 well as by the ladies who have charge of the different shrines." 
 
 On December 27th, a visit to the college from Most Reverend 
 Ambrose Agius, O. S. B., the Apostolic Delegate to the Philip- 
 pines, fitly concluded the year : Bishop Scannell of Omaha and 
 Bishop Costamagna of Equador having already paid their 
 respects in March and June, respectively. 
 
 1905. 
 Although 1905 is the crowning year of our narrative, its his- 
 tory must be rather a brief record of events than an extended 
 commentary upon them; for, to judge rightly of the present, we 
 need the calm, clear light of the future, which, freed from the 
 tinge of bias, will present events in their proper hue and pro- 
 portion. Moreover, the happenings of the present are a matter 
 of common knowledge, and hence can borrow no interest from 
 the attractions of novelty ; they are offered, therefore, simply as 
 giving completeness to the past, that the pen to whose lot it shall 
 fall, in the distant days to come, to record the second half cen- 
 tury of the trials and triumphs of St. Ignatius, may begin its 
 story at the half century's inception. 
 
 In the middle of January, then, of the present year, a new 
 society met for the first time in the sacristy of the church. It 
 was called the "Tabernacle Society," and had for its object, as 
 similar societies have, the repairing of vestments and other arti- 
 cles used in the service of the altar. In its scope, consequently, 
 it is more limited than the Altar Society, of which it may be 
 justly considered the fitting complement. Its associates, owing 
 to the nature of the work, are the ladies of the congregation, 
 who thus, with their own hands, contribute to the decorum of 
 divine worship. 
 
 March opened with an operetta by the junior students. It 
 was called the "Bell of Blenheim," and, while differing in plot 
 and dialogue, was based upon the "Bell of the Forest." Its suc- 
 cess reflected great credit on the abilities of the young actors, 
 several of whom sustained difficult parts in a manner which pro- 
 voked flattering comment. It was the second operetta that had 
 
358 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 appeared on the stage under the direction of Mr. Felix Rossetti, 
 S. J., the preceding year having witnessed "The Boys of '76." 
 
 "The students of the High School Department, assisted by 
 some of the lads from the Preparatory School," says an observer, 
 "presented the operetta, 'The Bell of Blenheim,' on Wednesday 
 evening, March 1st. The hall was taxed to its utmost capacity, 
 and many were obliged to stand during the performance." 
 
 Ever since the city had voted bonds for the purchase of a 
 site for the new Public Library, the choice of location had 
 become an important question. A committee had been appointed 
 to report to the Board of Supervisors on the matter, and, in the 
 beginning, appearances pointed to the block bounded by Larkin, 
 Grove, Van Ness and Fulton Streets as the choice. It was a 
 site sufficiently central, and harmonized with the idea of a Civic 
 Center, an idea popular with many. The Fathers, however, were 
 soon informed that there was no unanimity in the matter, and 
 that many thought that the block immediately in front of our 
 church and residence would be preferable for library purposes. 
 They were informed also, at the same time, that it was reported 
 that they would oppose any such selection. To dissipate this 
 error, and show that they would not stand in the way of any 
 project which would tend to the real beautifying of the city, 
 Father Edward Allen was deputed to appear before the Board 
 of Supervisors on March 3rd, the day appointed for the hearing of 
 parties directly interested in the question, and he clearly exposed 
 the real sentiments of the college authorities. Supporting, as he 
 did, the opinions of prominent men that the site fronting the 
 college would better serve the interests of the public, his remarks 
 made a favorable impression, and doubtless contributed some- 
 what to the decision arrived at later, by which the block bounded 
 by Van Ness, Hayes. Franklin and Fell Streets, received the 
 preference. 
 
 On the 7th of the month, Father William O'Brien Pardow, 
 of the Maryland-New York Province of the Society of Jesus, 
 arrived late in the evening. He had been invited to give a series 
 of Sunday evening lectures during Lent, interspersing them with 
 triduums, talks to various religious bodies, and a public lecture. 
 
STATUE OF ST. ANN 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 359 
 
 Only excellent health, a spirit of indefatigable labor and 
 careful antecedent preparation could have brought to an emi- 
 nently successful termination so many and varied labors. May 
 he long be spared to repeat in San Francisco, and elsewhere, the 
 success achieved ! Having vindicated before large audiences, the 
 Church arraigned before the tribunal of reason and modern 
 thought, he gave a short address to the Ladies' Sodality on the 
 afternoon of Easter Sunday, April 23rd, and a few hours later 
 took train homeward. His last sermon had been during mass 
 in the morning, and all present had pronounced it a masterly 
 effort. 
 
 The subject of this year's scientific lecture, delivered in the 
 college hall by Mr. Frederick A. Ruppert, S. J., was "Discharges 
 in Partial Vacua, Radiant Matter and Radium." The audience 
 was large, and much appreciation was shown at the success of 
 delicate experiments. In several of the preceding years, Mr. 
 Ruppert had lectured on interesting scientific subjects, as had 
 Father Bell on "Wireless Telegraphy," and Father Henry Woods 
 on "Explosives." Father Dionysius Mahony and others had 
 dealt entertainingly with philosophic questions, thus affording 
 the public useful information on the interesting topics of the day. 
 
 On May 1st, to the accompaniment of a heavy downpour, 
 the Philhistorian Debating Society gave a smoker. All things 
 considered, the attendance was large, and many were the stories 
 told of the doings of its members and its presidents in the days 
 long since dead. Among those present were Mr. Robert McGill, 
 who belonged to the Society in the late Sixties and the early 
 Seventies, and Mr. Albert Le Breton, the first vice-president of 
 the Philhistorians. It is a pity that the various calls of duty 
 prevent frequent social meetings of a similar nature, by which 
 the sincere affection which old students bear Alma Mater may 
 be fostered and find expression. 
 
 Two days later, the training-school formally opened its 
 Settlement House on Ninth Street. This extension of charity, 
 under the patronage of several prominent Catholic ladies of our 
 city, is an eloquent witness to their sincere love for the lowly, 
 and is destined to bear proportionate fruits in spiritual benedic- 
 tions for themselves and their families. In June, the Knights 
 
3 6o THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 of Columbus held their conclave in Los Angeles. In passing 
 through San Francisco the Knights of Buffalo expressed a 
 desire to meet the Fathers and visit church and college. The 
 request was readily granted, and, on the afternoon of the 2nd, 
 about 5 o'clock, a large party, accompanied by families and 
 friends, made a tour of the buildings. So pleased were they 
 with their cordial reception, that they asked whether the Knights 
 returning from Los Angeles might not be allowed the same privi- 
 lege. The question admitted of but one answer, and that affirma- 
 tive. On the 13th, accordingly, some twelve hundred people 
 gathered in our church, about five hundred being Knights, and, 
 after appropriate hymns and prayers and a brief welcome by 
 Rev. Father Frieden, the college doors were thrown open, and 
 generous hospitality accorded to all. An hour or two were spent 
 by the visitors in the inspection of Museum, and Cabinet, and 
 Gymnasium, and, profuse in their thanks for the courtesy shown 
 them, they departed. At the commencement exercises this year, 
 no degrees were given, as it was considered more appropriate 
 to defer their granting until the Jubilee exercises in October. 
 The announcement, moreover, was made that classes would in 
 future open in September and close with the end of June, thus 
 returning to the custom that obtained in the earliest days of 
 the college. The change was brought about by the desire of 
 His Grace, the most Reverend Archbishop, who wished, as much 
 as possible, uniformity in this matter in the schools and colleges 
 of the Archdiocese, 
 
 We have seen how in the dark days of the trials and mis- 
 fortunes of Pope Pius IX, the various Sodalities and the pupils 
 of the college contributed, according to their means, to the neces- 
 sities of the Holy Father. Devotion to the Holy See has ever 
 been, and will ever be the characteristic of the Society of Jesus. 
 Hence, it is no subject of wonder that in every appeal made to 
 meet the needs of the throne of Peter, church and college should 
 be found in the forefront of those who answer it. In response, 
 therefore, to the request lately made by His Excellency, the 
 Apostolic Delegate, that societies for the collection of Peter's 
 Pence be established throughout the country, the Fathers, on 
 the 1 6th of July, made announcement at all the masses, that a 
 
BROTHER JOSEPH PIRISI, S. J. 
 
 BROTHER PATRICK HARRICK, S. J. 
 BROTHER EDWARD O'CONNOR, S. J. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 361 
 
 society of the kind had been established in our church, and that 
 collectors would be chosen to solicit subscriptions. The good 
 work was confided to Father Joseph Sasia. 
 
 The letter of His Excellency was in part as follows : 
 
 "I regret to state that, notwithstanding the generous response 
 of the American people, the financial condition of the Holy See 
 is far from being prosperous or satisfactory. The present sad 
 state of some of the most prosperous nations of Europe and the 
 increased demands on the funds of the Church are the principal 
 causes of the actual situation of the Holy See — a situation upon 
 which our Holy Father looks with alarm, because, unless his 
 children come forward more liberally to his assistance, notwith- 
 standing the utmost economy practiced in every department, he 
 can hardly meet the exigencies of the vast administration of the 
 Church, which extends throughout the whole world. . . . 
 
 There is no doubt that the confidence of the Sovereign Pontiff 
 in the generosity of the American Catholics is well grounded. A 
 nation which, in preference to others, God is blessing with wealth 
 and prosperity, and in which, owing to the established principle 
 of religious liberty, the Catholic Church is pursuing her glorious 
 course free and untrammeled, can well afford to supply the 
 deficiency caused by the present abnormal state of the once 
 generous and prosperous nations of the old world." 
 
 That the idea of His Excellency, the Apostolic Delegate, 
 might be more widely diffused, Father Sasia's leaflet containing 
 the certificate of membership in the Peter's Pence Society, touches 
 upon the duties of Catholics in the matter. 
 
 "It is clearly the duty of Catholics to contribute to the support 
 of their pastors," it says, "therefore it is obligatory upon them 
 to contribute to the support of the Supreme Pastor. 
 
 This obligation does not cease when means have been provided 
 sufficient for the bare carrying on of that which is essential in 
 the government of the Church. It is the right of the Vicar of 
 Christ that he and his representatives should be maintained 
 honorably according to their exalted office. 
 
 Few realize how much is required every year to carry on the 
 government of the Church with only that modest dignity which 
 
362 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 characterizes it, and which God's honor cannot allow to be laid 
 aside. Suffice it to say that there is question of providing in 
 a suitable way for the supreme administration of a complete 
 society numbering two hundred and fifty million people. 
 
 Hitherto American Catholics have hardly done their share 
 in this work. On the one hand, the organizing and building 
 up of the Church in this country called for a very large expend- 
 iture that had no place amongst older nations; on the other, 
 the Catholics of Europe, especially the French, provided gener- 
 ously for the wants of the Holy See. Under such circumstances 
 we could be easily excused. But now the religious persecution 
 that has grown steadily during the past few years, is cutting 
 off the Church from these sources of supply ; and we must take 
 upon ourselves to give cheerfully what the Holy Father has a 
 right to expect from us." The response of the congregation has 
 up to the present been most gratifying, and will, we doubt not, 
 furnish ample matter of praise for the future annalist. 
 
 The faculty changes this year consist in the departure of 
 Father Anthony Tardella, Messrs. Patrick Deignan, Cornelius 
 Buckley and James Conlon. The new members of the college 
 are Messrs. William Keany, Eugene Bacigalupi, Eugene Oliver, 
 George Gilbert, S. J., and Rev. Robert E. Kenna, the retiring 
 president of Santa Clara College. 
 
 On the 9th of September, the following affectionate letter 
 of congratulation was sent by the Very Rev. Ludovico Martin, 
 General of the Society of Jesus, to the Fathers and Brothers of 
 the college: 
 
 ** "Tusculi die 9 Septembris, 1905. 
 
 Reverende in Xto Pater, 
 P. X. 
 
 Gratissimum, quam quod maxime, advenit nuncium quinqua- 
 gesimi adventantis anni, ex quo conditum est istud S. Ignatii 
 Collegium mihi carissimum, templumque nostrum a nobilissimis 
 istis civibus felici omine auspicatum. Si enim recolo mente 
 uberrimos laetosque fructus, quos, Deo bene juvante, turn in 
 Collegio turn in templo retulistis, et quibus spectata alumnorum 
 civiumque pietas et gratia labores vestros hactenus rependit; 
 facere non possum quin et de praeteritis summas Deo Optimo 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 363 
 
 Maximo gratias habeam, certamque spem excipiam fore, ut et 
 in posterum pares, immo etiam laetiores fructus colligamus. 
 Omnibus igitur maxime gratulor, pro sua cuique parte tarn 
 liberaliter strenueque gesta. Deum antem preccr ex animo, ut 
 Collegium et templum diu feliciterque servet; vosque obsecro et 
 obtestor in Domino, ut quam de vobis expectationem fecistis, 
 non modo aequetis sed etiam vincatis. 
 
 Vobis omnibus peramanter benedico, vestrisque sacris et pre- 
 cibus me commendo. p^ y^ 
 
 Servus in Xto, 
 
 Rev. P. Joan. P. Frieden, S. J., L ' Mar ™> S - J- 
 
 Sup. Miss. (Ad S. Francisci in Calif orn.) 
 
 Tusculum, September 9th, 1905. 
 Reverend Father in Christ, 
 P. X. 
 
 Happy to me beyond measure have been the tidings of the 
 coming of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of St. Ignatius 
 College, so dear to me, and of our church, begun under happy 
 auspices by your worthy fellow citizens. For if, in thought, I 
 dwell on the very abundant and happy fruit which, with God's 
 help, you have reaped in Church and College, and with which 
 the well-known piety and favor of your pupils and fellow citizens 
 have hitherto requited your labors, I cannot but give thanks to 
 Almighty God for the past, and harbor the assured hope that, 
 for the future also, we shall reap equal, yea even more abundant 
 fruit. 
 
 To all, therefore, I send my congratulations ; to each, for the 
 part so generously and strenuously played. For, from my heart 
 I pray God, that long and dearly he may cherish Church and 
 College ; and I beg and beseech you in the Lord, that you will 
 not only live up to but surpass the hopes to which you have 
 given birth. 
 
 To all, with tenderest love, I give my blessing, and commend 
 myself to your Holy Sacrifices and prayers. 
 
 Your Reverence's 
 
 Servant in Christ, 
 
 Rev. John P. Frieden. S. J., L - Martin , S - J- 
 
 Super, of California." 
 
364 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 But beautiful and consoling as this message is, so expressive 
 of deep affection and fartherly encouragement, the joy of our 
 Jubilee is still further enhanced by the kindness of Our Holy 
 Father, Pope Pius X. 
 
 Early in August, Rev. Father Frieden had taken steps to 
 obtain the blessing of His Holiness for the Jubilee. It would 
 crown all, he justly thought, if the Supreme Head of the Church 
 would send a blessing to his far-off children, in order that the 
 trials and successes of the first half century might end in bene- 
 diction, and those of the second half open with it. 
 
 The presenting of the petition was confided to Father S. M. 
 Brandi, S. J., of Rome, whose generous assistance afforded on 
 more than one occasion, we cannot too warmly thank. The 
 petition was as follows : 
 
 ** "Most Holy Father: 
 
 Father John P. Frieden, S. J., Superior of the Mission of 
 California, postrate at Your Holiness' feet, on the happy occasion 
 of the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the church and 
 college of St. Ignatius in the city of San Francisco, humbly 
 begs for himself, for the Religious of the Mission, and for all 
 the students, friends and benefactors of church and college, the 
 Apostolic Benediction." 
 
 To have merely assented, would have been to grant fully all 
 that had been asked ; but the kindly heart of Pope Pius was not 
 content with this. Taking the petition in his hand, he wrote the 
 gracious reply : 
 
 "In accordance with the request made us and begging of 
 the Lord all that is prosperous and salutary, we to our beloved 
 sons and their works, even in the long line of the coining years, 
 impart our Apostolic Benediction. 
 
 Given at the Vatican, August 28th, 1905. 
 
 Pius X." 
 
 In this blessing, therefore, we shall rest, here in the dawn of 
 the coming Jubilee, hoping, as we well may, that its brightness 
 will not be ephemeral ; and, that the seeds of sacrifice planted 
 in the last half century of effort will take root and prosper unto 
 the ripened ear of success, for the welfare of Catholicity in San 
 Francisco. 
 
**tie btt »*cto fieSt^eM* jfivu^fc. ecca%xt,*x*. Set- 
 
 fain* Si b. *$yp«r M c v, 4 ff*. c'tta i; X &*»*'«», "nit 
 nttrtft Iwfffo**. j?« it, fix I t&aieel Stff* >^<x.fyli„ 
 
 C\m yc-c I A M*a.zicL, . 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 As stated in our introduction, the present volume has been 
 written for its friends — a family history, the warp and woof 
 of which are the common events of daily life, of little or no 
 interest except to those who have, at some time or other, been 
 connected with the household. To these a name, a scene, a 
 passing mention will call back the tenderer associations of early 
 years, often perhaps forgotten in the bustle of the present, but 
 never totally obliterated from the loyal heart. Should our 
 volume contribute to the awakening of old memories in the 
 friends of St. Ignatius, we shall consider that our labor has not 
 been in vain. 
 
 But perhaps our very friends will turn our pages and look 
 in vain for a name that should be there ; will seek some incident 
 that they know so well, and find it missing. Perhaps what was 
 of great importance at the time will be passed over with a word ; 
 and what was of little moment will be found in all the minute- 
 ness of detail. Perhaps even errors will have crept in; for in 
 dealing with such a multiplicity of matters, we dare not promise 
 ourselves exemption from the common lot of man. 
 
 In extenuation of all our shortcomings, we can only say 
 that we did our best with the materials at our disposal. Many 
 things we have heard, which, upon examination, we could not 
 trace to any authentic source; and which, hence, much to our 
 regret, we were forced to pass over in silence. Other things 
 there were, repeated from mouth to mouth and even at times 
 put into print, which were evidently inexact or incorrect, and 
 hence had to be rejected. Sometimes what seemed authentic 
 and reliable was found to be quite the contrary, so that more 
 than once, as new documents came to light, we were obliged to 
 change what we had written. 
 
 Sometimes when we had finished our pages a new benefac- 
 tion came to weave itself into our story, as that of Mrs. Eleanor 
 Martin, on August 23rd of the present year. As a memorial 
 of our Jubilee she has promised a companion piece to the statue 
 
 365 
 
366 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 of St. Ann. It is to be an angel holding a shell for the recep- 
 tion of holy water. The main figure is to be of purest Carrara 
 marble; the shell is to be of marble even more precious. In 
 artistic merit each statue is to vie with the other, for the same 
 artistic brain will have conceived and the same artistic hand will 
 have chiseled both. 
 
 It will be regretted by many, that little has been said about 
 the success of the graduates and old students of St. Ignatius, 
 in the various walks of life. But to this we answer, that to have 
 dealt with all, would have been to swell our volume beyond due 
 proportions, and to have selected a few, would have been to 
 introduce invidious distinctions where all are equally dear to 
 Alma Mater. 
 
 In mutual affection, therefore, let the scroll of the departed 
 years be rolled up, bright as it is with many a deed of self- 
 sacrifice and devotion; and as time unrolls the second half 
 century of church and college's existence, let history's pen find 
 nothing to record save the actions of those whose lives are the 
 reflex of what their motto should be: "Noblesse oblige." 
 
 
Appendices. 
 
PULPIT AND TRIBUNE 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO FATHER LANGLOIS' JOURNAL. 
 
 "Journal Ecclesiastique et Religieus, 
 
 Pour San Francisco Xaverio. 
 La premiere messe dite a la Mission etablie en la ville de 
 San Francisco Xaverio fut le 17 Juin et 3e Dimanche a Pente- 
 cote, 1849. Mr. Brouillet Pretre V. G. de l'ev. de Walla Walla, 
 en Oregon, venu en Calif ornie l'automne precedent, dans 
 l'interet des Missions d'Oregon et occupe depuis a temps comme 
 le seul Pretre qui put parler la langue de tant d'etrangers venant 
 des Etats Unis, de lTrlande, etc., etc., fut specialement charge 
 d'acquiescer au desir des citoyens et de travailler a 1'edification 
 d'une eglise et d'y faire le Service divin. On commence par 
 l'achat d'un terrain de 25 barras sur 50 — , apres avoir assemble 
 les Catholiques les plus zeles et avoir ouvert une souscription de 
 cinq mille piastres pour payer le lot avec la maison batie dessus. 
 On disposa cette maison de maniere a contenir le plus de monde 
 possible, en otant tout ce qui pouvoit la restreindre et la diviser. 
 On la tapissa avec du coton blanc tout au tour et au haut. Les 
 Dames ornerent le petit autel qu'on y plaga; puis nous primes 
 logement au haut : Mr. Brouillet, Mr. Langlois venu de l'Oregon 
 depuis quelques mois et le Capitaine A. Raballon, ami des Pretres 
 et debarque d'un navir dont il etoit fatigue. II se reposait au 
 sein de la Religion, qu'il avoit propagee dans les iles en protegeant, 
 conduisant et aidant les missionnairs ; et il travaillait encore ici 
 a disposer la maison, etc. Dans la semaine Mr. Brouillet partit 
 pour Santa Barbara, pour aller voir le Rd. P. Gonzalez, Superieur 
 et Gouverneur de la Mitra en Californie, sede Episc. vacante, afin 
 de traiter des interets moraux et temporels des missions de tout 
 le pays. II fut deux mois et quelques jours absent. Pendant ce 
 temps la le brave Capitaine frangais mourut, en leguant une 
 moyenne somme a l'hote Ecclesiastique qui le soignoit et devoit 
 arranger toutes ses affaires. La Religion se commenca un peu a 
 pratiquer, malgre les obstacles naturels, cle la soif de Tor que 
 tous etoient venus chercher, arrivant de tous les cotes; les 
 inconvenients, des situations precaires, incommodes, melangees 
 
 369 
 
370 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 entre inconnus et sous des tentes, pour un grand nombre, les 
 occasions de cantines et auberges multipliees ou taut de personnes 
 se trouvaient pour s'amuser, boire et se divertir, la petitesse de 
 l'appartement et le peu d'apparence exterieure de cette maison — 
 Eglise, joints a l'insuffisance du Pretre desservant qui devoit 
 parler 1' Anglais, l'Espagnol et le Franc,ais, dans un meme prone, 
 pour etre entendu de tous et le manque de temps pour aller 
 inviter et faire savoir aux maisons Catholiques, qtj'on pouvoit 
 
 FAIRE SON SALUT A SAN FRANCISCO." 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 CIRCULAR LETTER OF FATHER GONZALEZ, 1848. 
 
 "Nos Fr. Jose Maria de Jesus Gonzalez Rubio, Predicador, 
 Misionero Apostolico de la Regular Observancia de Ntro. S. P. 
 Sri Franco y Vicario Capitular Gobernador de esta Diocesi por 
 la Sta. Yglesia Metropolitana. 
 
 A todos nuestros muy amodos diocesanos salud y paz en 
 Ntro. S. J. C. 
 
 Desde el dia en que a pesar de nuestra insuficiencia nos vimos 
 obligados a llebar sobre nuestros debiles hombros la pesada carga 
 del gobierno de esta sagrada Mitra, no hemos cesado de derramar 
 en la presencia de Dios las mas humildes suplicas por el bien y 
 prosperidad de esta amable grey puesta a nuestro cuidado; pero 
 sin duda el peso de nuestras culpas ha hecho que el Sefior no nos 
 oiga, ni cese en sus justos enojos. Cada dia vemos que las 
 circumstancias son mas dificiles; que los auxilios y recursos son 
 casi ningunos; que la esperanza de reponer el suficiente clero 
 ya casi se extingue ; y sobre todo que el culto divino por f alta de 
 arbitrios y sacerdotes amenaza en toda la Diocesi una completa 
 ruina. Que! las divinas alabanzas, los ejercicios de piedad, de 
 santificacion y religion; los homenages que a la Divinidad deben 
 tributarsele en sus Templos? Acaso seran por parte de este 
 Pueblo tan descuidados, 6 tan tivios e imperfectos que al Sefior 
 ya no le sean agradables ? Que ! la malicia, la corrupcion y 
 pecados de este Pueblo; habran llenado ya su medida y irritada 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 371 
 
 la Divina Justicia? querra que el arbol de la Religion plantado 
 aqui con el sudor y fatigas de tantos zelosos misioneros, sea 
 trasladado a otras partes en donde de mejores frutos? Oh! 
 cuanto debemos temer, mis queridos diocesanos, este formidable 
 castigo! castigo ciertamente el mayor que puede venirnos de la 
 ira del cielo y que parece comensamos a esperimentar ya; pues 
 Dios, por sus impenetrables juicios de pocos anos a esta parte 
 ha permitido que en este pais todo se trastorne, que la mayor 
 parte de los misioneros se hay an muerto, 6 ausentadose sin 
 esperanza de relevo; que la educacion religiosa sea menos cada 
 dia ; que los pueblos, unos esten destruidos, otros en total abandono 
 sin administracion de Sacramentos, sin Sacerdotes, sin culto 
 publico, y todos ellos sin buenas costumbres, y rodeados de la 
 mas peligrosa seduction. 1 dial sera su suerte ? Yo no lo se ; pero 
 si, debemos temer que si en los habitantes de este pais la ignor- 
 ancia religosa aumenta, la caridad se resfria y la fe se debilita 
 un poco mas, luego al primer impulso se lanzaran ciegos, 6 a 
 la impiedad, 6 al protestantismo, 6 a la indiferencia en punto de 
 Religion, y entero olvido de Dios. . . ." 
 
 appendix c. 
 CIRCULAR LETTER OF FATHER GONZALEZ, 1849- 
 
 "Nos Fr. Jose de Jesus Gonzales. 
 
 A todos nuestros muy amados fides actualmente residentes 
 en esta Diocesi salud y paz en Ntro. Senor, J. C. 
 
 Desde que la divina Providencia, por sus inescrutables 
 decretos, dispuso que reportaremos el grave y delicado cargo del 
 gobierno de esta sagrada Mitra, tubimos muy presente el principal 
 e importantisimo deber de poneros Obreros Evangelicos que con 
 su sana doctrina, edificante conducta y apostolico espiritu 
 sostubisen vigorosamente, en esta diocesi Californiense, el 
 compacto edificio de la Religion santa de J. C. ; pero las diversas 
 ocurrencias, la inmensa distancia a las fuentes, y la lamentable 
 indigencia en que nos hallamos, han sido otros tantos obstaculos 
 para que Nos pudiesemos dar su debido lleno a este tan sagrado 
 
372 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 objeto. Posteriormente hemos visto con dolor el regravarse esas 
 mismas causas, y aun revestirse de circunstancias muy dificiles. 
 Podriamos permanecer unos frios expectadores de los males 
 que amenazen a nuestra tan amada grey? Podriamos cumplir 
 nuestros grandes empenos para con esta Sta. Yglesia de Cali- 
 fornias, abandonando nuestra solicitud al eventual curso de los 
 tiempos, hasta que presentara una facil y comoda oportunidad 
 de ordenar nuestras operaciones relativas al cuidado pastoral que 
 gravita sobre nuestros hombros? No, queridos hijos nuestros, 
 vuestra salud y felicidad espiritual imperiosamente demandan 
 que a proporcion que vuestros males se multiplican, tambien Nos 
 redoblemos nuestros debiles esfuerzos para remediarlos. Preciso 
 es pues arbitrar todos los medios posibles para proveer a esta 
 Diocesi del mucho clero que necesita; para que el culto divino 
 no se disminuya, y vuestras necesidades espirituales sean 
 atendidas. Mas, y como resolver un problema tan dificil ? Como 
 allanar las gravisimas dificultades que nos embarazan un bien 
 tan deseado? He aqui, hijos mios, nuestra mas dificil posicion 
 en estos tan desgraciados tiempos. Sabeis bien, y por tan 
 maninesto no podeis ignorarlo, que en esta Diocesi de California, 
 el clero ha sido compuesto de los Rev. Padres Misioneros del 
 Sagrado Orden de Predicadores, y de los Colegios Apostolicos 
 de San Fernando y de Zacatecas; pero estos han minorado tan 
 notablemente que apenas hoy se encuentra un pequeno numero 
 de ellos agravado de los afios, del trabajo, de enfermedades, y 
 principalmente del desconsuelo de no tener esperanza alguna de 
 relevo. Ahora poco hemos sido, es verdad, auxiliado con algunos 
 pocos Sacerdotes seculares; mas en tan corto numero, que no 
 bastan a cubrir una octava parte de los lugares urgentemente 
 necesitados del ejercicio de su sagrado ministerio. De donde 
 pues, nos proveeremos del Clero necesario ? Sera de los Colegios 
 Apostolicos que han f undado y sostenido la Religion en este pais ? 
 No; porque las circunstancias de los tiempos han disminuido 
 tanto su numero, que apenas pueden atender a sus proprios Sem- 
 inarios. Sera del Clero secular de las otras Diocesis de esta 
 Metropoli? Entiendo que no; porque no hay aqui ni un solo 
 beneficio ecclesiastico con que proporcionarles su subsistencia ; 
 pero aunque los hubiese y pingiies, los Sefiores Obispos apenas 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 373 
 
 pueden atender a las necesidades de su propria grey, y aunque 
 sin duda abundan en los mayores deseos, no podran auxiliarnos. 
 Podra crearse aqui mismo el clero necesario? Es evidente que 
 no ; pues un pais naciente como el nuestro, que carece de Colegios, 
 y aun de escuelas de primeras letras no puede todavia producir 
 jovenes, ni personas instruidas, que aspiren al estado ecclesiastico; 
 pero aun cuando abundasen dichos establecimientos literarios, 
 no podria actualmente improvisarse de ellos el Clero suficiente 
 con la urgencia que la necesidad de estos pueblos demanda. 
 De donde, pues, nos proveeremos de Sacerdotes instruidos, 
 zelosos y proporcionados a las actuales circunstancias del pais? 
 Solo de la Europa. Alii si abundan y estan prontos a venir. Mas, 
 y con que fondos, con que rentas podremos conducirlos? Esta 
 Yglesia de California no cuenta con ningunas y aun los recursos 
 que antes tenia en el sistema de Misiones aqui establecido, y los 
 auxilios del Fondo Piadoso y todo este ha desaparecido. Que 
 nos queda despues de Dios? Solo el recurrir a vuestra piedad. 
 O muy amados hijos mios : solo este recurso humano nos queda, 
 y si en el no encontramos el debido apoyo, creedme, lo decimos 
 con dolor, vuestras espirituales necesidades quedaran sin remedio, 
 el culto divino sera destruido, y la Religion misma desaparecera, 
 y con ella todo el consuelo de la presente vida y la felicidad de 
 la eterna. Mas no, no sera asi; porque esperamos en el Sefior 
 ha de vernos con misericordia : confiamos tambien en vuestra 
 piadosa generosidad, y tanto, que en ella creemos tener un seguro 
 recurso para realizar la noble e importante mira que tanto tiempo 
 ha, ocupa nuestros deseos de conducir aqui el competente numero 
 de Sacerdotes los mas aproposito, que os edifiquen con su conducta, 
 os instruyan con su doctrina, y fervorosos cumplidamente os 
 auxilien con su sagrado ministerio. A este importante fin, O 
 amados hijos, y confiados en vuestra noble generosidad, tan luego 
 como tomamos las riendas de este gobierno ecclesiastico, nuestro 
 primer cuidado fue llamar en nuestro auxilio a los distinguidos 
 Sacerdotes de la Congregacion de los Sagrados Corazones de 
 Jesus y Maria. En efecto el Illmo. Sor. Maigret nos remitio a 
 los Rs. Ps. Lebret y Holbein, quienes actualmente sirven en esta 
 Diocesi, y por conducto de ellos mismos hemos pedido al Rmo. 
 e Illmo. Sefior Bonamie algunos otros Misioneros que espero 
 
374 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 llegaran pronto; pero que son estos tan pocos Obreros Evan- 
 gelicos, para sostener el culto divino en tantos Templos; 
 administrar los Santos Sacramentos en pueblos tan numerosos; 
 dirigir la cristiana y esmerada educacion de tantos niiios, y 
 atraher al seno de la Religion tantas tribus de gentiles? Necesario 
 son pues, en tan dilatada Diocesi, al menos unos cuarenta zelosos 
 Misioneros ; pero para que vengan, es indispensable antes crear 
 un fondo suficiente para los precisos gastos de pasaje, subsistencia, 
 etc. Que hara esta sagrada Mitra vacia de todos recursos? Ya 
 lo he dicho, hijos mios, no nos queda otro recurso sino implorar 
 vuestra piedad. Por tanto, O Christianos, todos los que estais 
 en esta Diocesi, si amais verdaderamente a Jesu Christo y su 
 Religion Santa, si quereis que ella arraigue y floresca en medio 
 de nosotros, y que santifique vuestras almas y las conduzca al 
 cielo, preciso es que, con una mano liberal, proporcioneis los 
 recursos temporales necesarios. Cada uno segun su piedad y 
 generosidad, de lo que espontaneamente guste: quiza la divina 
 Providencia solo aguarda probar vuestra mas o menos liberalidad, 
 para otorgarnos el completo remedio a nuestras espirituales 
 necesidades. No dudamos un momento, queridos hijos y muy 
 amados diocesanos nuestros, el que aceptareis gustosos esta 
 sencilla manifestacion que os hacemos de nuestros sentimientos 
 y mas vivos deseos, para que luego al punto veais con el mayor 
 emperio la grande obra que os proponemos. Conocemos bien 
 vuestra piedad y nobles sentimientos, y por lo mismo nos 
 abstenemos de aquellos discursos y exhortaciones pateticas que 
 suelen usarse al implorar la pieddad publica. Que es lo que 
 podriamos deciros? Acaso que se trata de vuestro bien, del 
 honor y culto de Dios, y del lustre y engrandecimiento de vuestro 
 pais? Esto ya lo sabeis y vivimos seguros de vuestra emulacion 
 por conseguirlo. En verdad os hariamos un manifiesto agravio 
 si trataremos ahora de persuadiros que la actual empresa es la 
 mas util, la mas urgente, la mas necesaria, la mas conforme 
 a vuestros sentimientos, a vuestra profesion cristiana, y a 
 vuestra felicidad verdadera, tanto eterna como temporal. Baste 
 pues indicaros, que la Religion Sta. de J. C. sin vuestra 
 cooperacion y sacrificios, no puede permanecer mas en este pais; 
 que el culto divino sin Sacerdotes y rentas suficientes no puede 
 subsistir por mas tiempo; que la administracion de los Sacra- 
 
VESTIBULE 
 FORMER GALLERY 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 375 
 
 mentos e instruction de la juventud, y por ultimo la conversion 
 de los Gentiles, no pueden hacerse sin Operarios evangelicos 
 que consagren sus talentos, su trabajo, y aun la misma vida por 
 tan grandes objetos. Considerad, hijos mios, todo esto : y obrad 
 segun vuestra tan conocida piedad y generosidad. Como para 
 subvenir a las espirituales necesidades de los muchos fieles que 
 actualmente ocurren al Placer, hemos destinado a los Rs. Ps. 
 Ramirez y Holbein; a estos mismos les hemos hecho tambien el 
 encargo de que a su transito por los principales lugares, y el 
 tiempo que permanescan en el Placer, abran suscripciones, colecten 
 y reciban las donaciones, limosnas y oblaciones voluntarias, que 
 les sean ofrecidas para el referido objeto de conducir aqui los 
 sacerdotes necesarios. Por tanto, mis queridos hijos, podeis 
 entregar a los dichos Rs. Ps., 6 a la persona que ellos senalen, 
 cuanto vuestra piedad y liberalidad os inspirare, confiados en 
 me todo redondara en vuestro provecho, ademas de las celes- 
 tiales bendiciones con que el Sefior os premiara la parte que 
 tomareis con vuestras donaciones y limosnas en una obra tan 
 interesante, tan piadosa, y tan del agrado de Dios Nuestro Sefior ; 
 quien os conserve, O mis queridos hijos, y os llene de su santa 
 gracia y amor. Amen. 
 
 Dada en Santa Barbara, firmada y refrendada segun estilo, 
 a trece dias del Mes de Junio de 1849. Fr. Je. Ma. de Jesus 
 Gonzalez. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 DEED OF FATHER SANTILLAN TO 
 JAMES R. BOLTON. 
 
 Jose Prudencio Santillan and 
 M. A. R. de Poli, Agent, 
 
 to 
 Santiago R. Bolton. 
 Deed. 
 En la ciudad de San Francisco, territorio de la Alta Cali- 
 fornia, a los once dias del mes de Abril del ano de N. S. de mil 
 ochocientos cincuenta, por ante mi el infrascrito Notario Publico 
 de la referida ciudad, se presentaron el Sr. D. Jose Prudencio 
 
376 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Santillan cura parroco y ministro de la misma y de la Mision de 
 Dolores y el Dr. Don Manuel Antonio Rodriguez de Poli como 
 un apoderado general y dijeron que venden y dan en venta 
 real y perpetua desde ahora para siempre al Sr. D. Santiago R. 
 Bolton de dicha ciudad de San Francisco todas las fincas y 
 demas bienes que tienen en el distrito de la referida Mision 
 compuestos de todas las casas y las rancherias de la Mision que 
 se hallaban incultas en el mismo dia en el ya citado distrito que 
 seran tres sitios de ganado mayor, poco mas 6 menos, y que 
 lindan por el norte con Yerba Buena, por el noroeste con el 
 presidio de San Francisco, por el oeste con tierras de los herederos 
 de Don Francisco Haro, por el sud con parte del rancho de los 
 Sanchez y por el este con la bahia, cuyas fincas y terrenos han 
 sido concedidos al citado Dn. Jose Prudencio Santillan por el 
 gobierno de las Californias en el referido dia diez de Febrero 
 del afio mil ochocientos cuarenta y seis segun mas terminante- 
 mente consta del documento original de que hacen entrega. 
 
 Asi mismo venden al nombrado D. Santiago R. Bolton la 
 casa y tierras adquiridas del Sr. R. Ridley que se hallan en el 
 centro de la referida Mision detalladas en el documento original 
 de adquisicion que igualmente entregan al comprador al cual 
 ceden todas las regalias de derecho y accion que tenian por el 
 precio y cantidad de doscientos mil pesos fuertes de plata acufiada 
 que el citado D. Jose Prudencio Santillan y su apoderado general 
 confiesan haber recibido y que aunque no parece de presente 
 renuncian a las leyes del caso y de ello le dan recibos y finiquito 
 en forma, declarando ser el justo precio y que si mas fuese, le 
 hacen la gracia y donacion que el derecho llama inter vivos y 
 renuncian tambien a las leyes que tratan de la lesion enorme 
 enormisima queriendo que todo lo que le venden sea para el, 
 sus herederos y sucesores, disfrutandolo libre y pacificamente y 
 tomando la posesion judicial cuando bien creyere conveniente, 
 para lo cual se dan por citados y emplazados en debida forma. 
 
 Le esceptuan de esta venta el cuadro entero de casas de 
 Galeria y el terreno que sea necesario para formar un cuadro 
 completo empezando por el norte con el terreno de Francisco 
 Rufino, siguiendo hasta la esquina del cementerio y de este igual 
 estension al oeste, lo que desde hoy para siempre servira para 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE $77 
 
 subsistencia del culto, parroco y ministros de la Sta. Yglesia 
 Catolica Apostolica Romana. Igualmente se esceptuan de la 
 venta dos lotes de cien varas de cuadro cada uno lindando por 
 el oeste con el cuadro de la Yglesia y casa de la Mision, otro 
 lote de cuatrocientas varas sitas al sud del arroyo del sud de 
 la Mision donde concluye el estero, otro lote de quince mil 
 cuatrocientas doce varas cuadradas sitas en el camino de la 
 Mision al presidio de Sn. Franco, donde se halla establecido 
 Sr. Goux y sus compafieros y otro lote de cuatrocientas varas 
 en cuadro sitas en el valle de Canutal lindando por el este con el 
 camino real, y para que conste asi otorgan siendo testigos Dn. 
 Juan Gutierrez y D. Mariano Rodriguez Palmer de todo lo cual 
 doy fe, fecha ut retro. 
 
 Jose Prudencio Santillan. (No seal) 
 
 Dn. Manuel A. Rodriguez de Poll (No seal) 
 
 Mariano R. Palmer. 
 
378 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 LIST OF PUPILS FROM 1855 TO 1861. 
 
 The following lists have 
 
 books of Father Maraschi, and 
 
 of interest : 
 
 List of Students 
 
 Bowie, Harry 
 Brophey, Edwin 
 Brophey, John 
 Carson, James 
 Conway, James 
 Conway, John 
 Crittenden, Howard 
 Crittenden, James 
 Crittenden, Parker 
 Da vies, John 
 Davies, Thomas 
 Davies, 
 
 List of Students 
 
 Anion, William 
 Bowie, Augustus 
 Bowie, Harry 
 Brannan, John 
 Bryant, John 
 Burke, Thomas 
 Campion, Eugene 
 Carew, John 
 Carew, Thomas 
 Carew, William 
 Carson, James 
 Carton, James 
 
 Caulfield, 
 
 Cavanagh, Edward 
 Cochran, Richard 
 Coffey, Edward 
 Connolly, Nicholas 
 
 Crawley, 
 
 Crittenden, Howard 
 Crittenden, James 
 Crittenden, Parker 
 Davies, John 
 Davies, Thomas 
 
 Davies, 
 
 Duff, Harry 
 Duff, William 
 
 been compiled from the account 
 , though incomplete, will be found 
 
 during '55 and '$6. 
 Egan, Edward 
 Guerin, James 
 Hickey, John 
 McCabe, John 
 McCabe, Richard 
 O'Neil, Alexander 
 O'Neil, Jeremiah Thos. 
 Palliesse, Alexander 
 Sheppard, William 
 Sullivan, Frank 
 Sullivan, Robert 
 
 during '56 and '57. 
 
 Egan, Edward 
 Farrell, Andrew 
 
 Farrell, 
 
 Finnerty, William H. 
 Fuller, Joseph 
 Gallagher, Edward 
 Gallagher, John 
 Gerke, Lewis G. 
 Glynn, Thomas 
 Golden, Thomas 
 Harris, David 
 Harris, John W. 
 Hayes, William 
 Hickey, John 
 Hogan, Robert 
 Huber, Arnaud 
 Huber, Charles 
 Huber, William 
 Humphrey, Charles 
 Hyland, William 
 Inge, Richard 
 Kelly, Charles 
 Kelly, George 
 Kelly, John 
 Kelly, William 
 Kenny, James 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 379 
 
 List of Students during '56 and '57. — Continued. 
 
 Kenny, Joseph 
 Kiernan, Francis 
 Marks, Thomas E. 
 
 Marshall, 
 
 Maume, Matthew J. 
 McCabe, John 
 McCabe, Richard 
 McGowan, Hugh 
 McKnight, Hugh 
 McNamara, John 
 Mitchell, Thomas 
 Mogan, Patrick 
 O'Brien, Charles D. 
 O'Connell, John 
 O'Farrell, Thomas 
 O'Neil, Alexander 
 Pardow, George 
 
 Pardow, 
 
 Piper, John 
 
 Pollock, W. D. 
 Reichert, Lewis 
 Ritchie, Archibald 
 Rogers, Thomas 
 Stone, George 
 Sullivan, Frank 
 Sullivan, John 
 Sullivan, Robert 
 Tignera, Eugene 
 Toote, Richard 
 Tucker, John 
 Verdenal, Dominic 
 
 Washburn, 
 
 White, Lewis 
 Williams, James 
 Wingard, James Benton 
 Wingard, Thomas 
 Zernan, Emanuel 
 
 List of Students during '57 and '58. 
 
 Anion, William 
 
 Baldwin, 
 
 Barry, James 
 Blanchard, Carlisle 
 Blanchard, Charles 
 Blanchard, Claude 
 Blanchard, Wenton 
 Bowie, Augustus 
 Bowie, Harry 
 Brunn, Jacob 
 Cavanagh, Edward 
 Coffey, Edward 
 Coffey, William 
 Connell, Matthew 
 Crowley, John 
 Duff, Harry 
 Duff, William 
 Egan, Edward 
 Ellis, Joseph 
 Etheredge, William H. 
 Garthorne, Charles 
 Garthorne, Henry 
 Gedge, Frank 
 
 Gedge, 
 
 Gilhooly, Thomas 
 Glynn, Thomas 
 
 Green, George 
 Grosso, Costantino 
 Hart, Hugh 
 Hayes, John 
 Hayes, William 
 Heany, Hiram 
 Hill, Joseph 
 Hughes, James 
 Jennings, Henry 
 Kearney, John 
 Kelly, William 
 Kenny, James 
 Kenny, Joseph 
 Kiernan, Francis 
 King, Richard 
 Lawless, Peter R. 
 Ludwig, George G. 
 Maguire, Guthrie 
 Mahony, John 
 Martin, William 
 McCabe, John 
 McCabe, Richard 
 McCord, Edward 
 McGowan, Hugh 
 McGregor, Joseph 
 McManus, James B. 
 
3 8o 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 List of Students during '57 and '58. — Continued. 
 
 McMinn, W. H. 
 McKnight, Hugh 
 McQuaide, Joseph 
 McSweeny, Eugene 
 Mogan, Patrick 
 
 Mogan, 
 
 Noe, Jesus 
 Noe, Vicente 
 O'Connell, John 
 
 O'Hara, 
 
 O'Hara, 
 
 O'Hegan, John 
 Pardow, George 
 
 Pardow, 
 
 Rogers, Thomas 
 
 S kelly, 
 
 Sleven, Thomas M. 
 Splivalo, Caesar 
 Stoltz, Geo. Washington 
 Sullivan, Frank 
 Sullivan, Robert 
 Sweeny, Eugene 
 Tignera, Eugene 
 Vaughn, John 
 Vizgard, Joseph 
 Washington, Frank 
 Washington, John 
 Welsh, Michael 
 
 Welsh, 
 
 Wheaton, Leonard 
 
 List of Students during '58 and '59. 
 
 AmedeE, Ferdinand 
 Blanchard, Carlisle 
 Blanchard, Charles 
 Blanchard, Claude 
 Cavanagh, Edward 
 Egan, Edward 
 Faulkner, William 
 Glynn, Thomas 
 Grosso, Costantino 
 Hart, Hugh 
 Hayes, John 
 Hayes, William 
 
 Hill, Joseph 
 Kelly, John 
 Kelly, William 
 Mogan, Patrick 
 McCabe, John 
 McCabe, Richard 
 McGowan, Hugh 
 McManus, James B. 
 
 McQuaide, 
 
 O'Connell, John 
 Welsh, Michael 
 Welsh, 
 
 List of Students during '59 and '60. 
 
 Cavanagh, Edward 
 Egan, Edward 
 Glynn, Thomas 
 Grosso, Costantino 
 Hart, Hugh 
 Hayes, John 
 Hayes, William 
 Kelly, John 
 
 Kelly, William 
 Mogan, Patrick 
 McCabe, John 
 McCabe, Richard 
 McGowan, Hugh 
 McManus, James B. 
 McQuaide, Joseph 
 O'Connell, John 
 
 The printed catalogues contain the names of pupils in suc- 
 ceeding years. 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 
 
 38i 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY WHO HAVE BEEN 
 PUPILS OF ST. IGNATIUS. 
 
 Rt. Rev. Edward Tohn O'Dea. 
 
 D. D. 
 Rev. John Cassin 
 Rev. John Coyle 
 Rev. John E. Cottle 
 Rev. John Sullivan 
 Rev. Robert Sesnon 
 Rev. P. J. Collopy 
 Rev. Edward P. Dempsey 
 Rev. Joseph Noonan 
 Rev. Thomas CMalley 
 
 Rev. Joseph Gleason 
 
 Rev. John Harrington 
 
 Rev. Thomas P. Heverin 
 
 Rev. William Galvin 
 
 Rev. John W. Brockhage 
 
 Rev. Joseph O'Rourke, O. P. 
 
 Rev. Volney J. Hunt, O. P. 
 
 George Sturla, O. P. 
 
 Rev. Alexander P. Doyle, C. S. P. 
 
 Rev. Henry I. Stark, C. S. P. 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 
 MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS WHO HAVE 
 ENTERED FROM ST. IGNATIUS COLLEGE. 
 
 Rev. James O'Sullivan 
 
 •{•Daniel Crowley 
 
 +Francis Leonard 
 Rev. Jeremiah Collins 
 Rev. John Cunningham 
 Thomas Landers 
 Rev. Dionysius Mahony 
 Rev. Joseph Riordan 
 Rev. Julius Egloffstein 
 
 •{•James Cunningham 
 
 +Richard Redington 
 Rev. William Culligan 
 
 •{"Thomas Boland 
 Rev. Joseph Mulligan 
 Rev. George Butler 
 Rev. Joseph Landry 
 Rev. Patrick Foote 
 Rev. Richard Bell 
 Rev. Henry Whittle 
 Rev. Joseph Lydon 
 
 +lawrence casserly 
 Rev. James Malone 
 
 4"John Malone 
 
 +Joseph O'Connor 
 
 William Boland 
 
 John Hayes 
 
 Denis Kavanagh 
 
 John Brazel 
 
 Anthony Drathman 
 
 John Grisez 
 
 Cornelius Buckley 
 
 Charles Carroll 
 
 Frederick Ruppert 
 
 George Meany 
 
 Joseph Morton 
 ■{•Frederick Peterson 
 
 Edward McCarty 
 +Andrew Ransom 
 +JOHN Clynes 
 
 John Madden 
 
 John Laherty 
 
 Robert Burns 
 
 Hubert Flynn 
 
 Henry Brainard 
 
 Felix Rossetti 
 
 Henry Walsh 
 
 Patrick Deignan 
 
 Nicholas Bell 
 
3 82 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Members of the Society of Jesus who have entered from St. Ignatius 
 College. — Continued. 
 
 Eugene Oliver 
 Timothy Murphy 
 Joseph Sullivan 
 Joseph Stack 
 John Gearon 
 Edmund Wall 
 Charles Walsh 
 James Conlon 
 William Keany 
 Cornelius Deeney 
 Leo Simpson 
 George Fox 
 
 Gregory Kast 
 Zacheus Maher 
 Martin Maher 
 Thomas Flaherty 
 Joseph Crowley 
 Adrian McCormick 
 William Lonergan 
 Victor White 
 Arthur Coghlan 
 Edward Whelan 
 Cornelius McCoy 
 
 APPENDIX H. 
 
 GRADUATES. 
 
 Masters of Arts. 
 
 Alexander A. O'Neill, M. D...1867 
 
 Francis J. Leonard, S. J 1867 
 
 Hon. J. F. Sullivan, LL. B 1872 
 
 Robert P. Tobin 1873 
 
 Thomas H. Griffin 1874 
 
 Thomas D. Riordan 1874 
 
 James I. Boland, LL. B 1876 
 
 John T. Fogarty 1876 
 
 William I. Foley 1877 
 
 Peter F. Dunne, LL. B 1878 
 
 Gustave MahE, Jr., M. D 1878 
 
 Francis C. Cleary, LL. B 1880 
 
 Rev. Henry D. Whittle, S. J. ..1880 
 Joseph J. Dunne, LL. B 1880 
 
 Henry F. Price 1881 
 
 Joseph F. Bluxome, LL. B 1884 
 
 Charles B. Lastreto 1886 
 
 Rev. Joseph M. Gleason 1888 
 
 Thaddeus E. Pawlicki, LL. B. .1892 
 
 Richard V. Curtis, LL. B 1892 
 
 George A. Connolly, LL. B 1902 
 
 John L. Mulrenin 1903 
 
 Francis L. Fenton 1903 
 
 William A. Breen 1905 
 
 Edward A. Foley 1905 
 
 William J. Kieferdorf 1905 
 
 Owen E. McCann 1905 
 
 Stanislaus A. Riley 1905 
 
 Bachelors of Arts. 
 
 Augustus J. Bowie 1863 
 
 Henry P. Bowie 1865 
 
 Francis J. Leonard, S. J 1865 
 
 Alexander A. O'Neill, M. D...1865 
 Major Geo. E. F. Harrison, 
 
 Artillery Corps, U. S. A 1869 
 
 Hon. J. F. Sullivan, LL. B 1870 
 
 John A. Hicks 1871 
 
 James H. Ryan 1871 
 
 Robert P. Tobin 1872 
 
 Thomas H. Griffin 1873 
 
 Thomas D. Riordan 1873 
 
 Rev. J. J. Von Egloffstein, S. J. 1874 
 
 James I. Boland, LL. B 1875 
 
 John T. Fogarty 1875 
 
 Alfred R. Kelly 1875 
 
 Florence J. McAuliffe 1875 
 
 Michael F. O'Connor 1875 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 383 
 
 Graduates — Bachelors 
 
 Joseph Pescia, M. D 1875 
 
 Matthew I. Sullivan, LL. B...1876 
 
 Alfred R. Tobin 1876 
 
 Thomas Boland, S. J 1876 
 
 William I. Foley 1876 
 
 Peter F. Dunne, LL. B 1877 
 
 Gustave Mahe, Jr., M. D 1877 
 
 Henry I. Blaney 1878 
 
 William L. Whelan 1878 
 
 Albert M. Whittle 1878 
 
 Rev. Henry D. Whittle, S. J. . .1879 
 
 Francis C. Cleary, LL. B 1879 
 
 Joseph J. Dunne, LL. B 1879 
 
 Henry F. Price 1879 
 
 William T. Kearns 1881 
 
 Joseph Hughes 1881 
 
 George J. Duraind 1881 
 
 Edmund W. Marks 1881 
 
 Hon. James D. Phelan, LL. B..1881 
 
 Augustus Casserly 1881 
 
 John J. Dillon 1882 
 
 James I. Egan 1882 
 
 John F. Brooke 1882 
 
 John B. Casserly, LL. B 1882 
 
 William J. Sweigert, LL. B 1883 
 
 Thomas F. Connolly 1884 
 
 Charles H. McKinstry, Capt. 
 
 Engineer Corps, U. S. A 1884 
 
 Charles B. Lastreto 1885 
 
 Robert J. O'Connell, M. D 1885 
 
 Andrew Carrigan 1886 
 
 Clarence J. McKinstry, LL. B.1886 
 
 James F. Leddy 1887 
 
 Michael O'Dea 1887 
 
 Joseph S. Tobin, LL. B 1887 
 
 Rev. Joseph M. Gleason 1887 
 
 Henry A. Tobin 1888 
 
 John F. Campbell 1888 
 
 Louis De F. Bartlett, Ph. B . . . 1888 
 
 Francis I. Francoeur 1888 
 
 John S. Drum, LL. B 1891 
 
 Thaddeus E. Pawlicki, LL. B. .1891 
 
 Richard V. Curtis, LL. B 1892 
 
 Robert J. Hicks 1893 
 
 Benjamin L. McKinley, LL. B.1893 
 
 Francis J. Burke, LL. B 1894 
 
 Attilio H. Giannini, M. D 1894 
 
 Bernard F. McElroy, M. D 1894 
 
 Cyril P. Williams, B. Sc 1895 
 
 of Arts. — Continued. 
 
 Luke J. Flynn 1895 
 
 John L. Mulrenin 1896 
 
 Francis G. Reichling 1896 
 
 Robert H. Richards 1896 
 
 Francis A. Morton 1896 
 
 Joseph M. Kelly 1896 
 
 Richard C. Tobin, Jr 1896 
 
 George J. Cleary 1897 
 
 Francis L. Fenton 1897 
 
 Joseph Meagher, M. D 1897 
 
 Milton B. Lennon, A.M., M.D.1897 
 
 William A. Breen, LL. B 1898 
 
 Percy R. Hennessy 1898 
 
 Henry C. Costa 1898 
 
 Walter J. M. Williams, M. D..1899 
 
 Henry D. Fanning, M. D 1899 
 
 George Golden Fox, S. J 1899 
 
 John N. Carrigan 1899 
 
 Clarence Carrigan, Lieut. Ar- 
 tillery Corps, U. S. A 1899 
 
 Joseph G. Freechtle 1899 
 
 Leo. C. Lennon, A. M., Ph. D., 
 
 LL. B 1899 
 
 Wylie J. Dunn 1899 
 
 Michael F. Buckley 1900 
 
 Zacheus J. Maher, S. J 1900 
 
 Edward F. O'Day 1900 
 
 Stanislaus A. Riley, LL. B. .. .1900 
 
 Richard L. Williams 1900 
 
 Constantine R. Bricca 1901 
 
 William P. Golden 1901 
 
 John E. Hughes 1901 
 
 Hubert M. Hussey 1901 
 
 Joseph A. Murphy 1001 
 
 Louis X. Ryan 1901 
 
 George A. Connolly, LL. B 1902 
 
 Francis I. Barrett 1902 
 
 Frederick J. Churchill 1902 
 
 Alfred J. Cleary 1902 
 
 Edward A. Foley 1902 
 
 Owen E. McCann 1903 
 
 Michael I. Coffey 1903 
 
 Francis X. Williams 1903 
 
 Charles A. Schott 1904 
 
 Robert X. Ryan 1904 
 
 William A. Breen 1904 
 
 Joseph R. Crowley 1905 
 
 Thomas J. Flaherty 1905 
 
 Anthony J. Smith 1905 
 
 John L. Whelan 1905 
 
3§4 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Masters of Science. 
 
 John J. Montgomery, Ph. D — 1880 
 
 James F. Tevlin, LL. B 1881 
 
 John E. Fitzpatrick 1881 
 
 Edward P. Luby 1884 
 
 Eugene McFadden 1886 
 
 Frederick H. Jung, LL. B 1889 
 
 James J. Conlon, S. J 1889 
 
 Edward J. Banning, LL. B 1892 
 
 James F. Smith, M. D 1892 
 
 Bachelors of Science. 
 
 Jerome A. Hughes, M. D 1875 
 
 Thomas Tully 1875 
 
 John W. Stateler 1876 
 
 John J. Montgomery, Ph. D...1879 
 
 Edward McGary 1879 
 
 Richard P. Doolan 1879 
 
 William C. Andrews 1879 
 
 James F. Tevlin, LL. B 1880 
 
 William T. Kearns 1880 
 
 John E. Fitzpatrick 1880 
 
 Joseph Hughes 1880 
 
 Francis G. Drum 1881 
 
 James Dunn 1881 
 
 John J. Dillon 1881 
 
 J. Downey Harvey 1881 
 
 Rev. Richard H. Bell, S. J 1881 
 
 Eugene A. Beauce 1882 
 
 Humphrey B. Moynihan 1882 
 
 Frederick Morrison 1882 
 
 Louis Koch 1882 
 
 Joseph F. Bluxome, LL. B 1883 
 
 Thomas F. Connolly 1883 
 
 William Gilbert, LL. B 1883 
 
 Francis P. Hughes 1883 
 
 Edward P. Luby 1884 
 
 Quirino R. Corbala 1884 
 
 Ambrose O'Neill 1885 
 
 Charles W. Callaghan 1885 
 
 William H. Smith 
 
 Joseph W. Stapleton 
 
 Andrew G. Maguire, LL. B 
 
 Eugene McFadden 
 
 Ernest Hartman 
 
 Daniel V. Egan 
 
 John D. Costigan 
 
 Dennis F. Ahern 
 
 Thomas J. O'Brien 
 
 William B. Ryder 
 
 Frederick H. Jung, LL. B 
 
 James J. Conlon, S. J 
 
 Oscar F. Rouleau 
 
 Edward Donohue 
 
 John J. Gallagher, M. D 
 
 Guido E. Caglieri, M. D 
 
 Thomas P. Conlon 
 
 David M. Burnett, LL. B 
 
 James D. Fairchild 
 
 James F. Smith, M. D 
 
 Maurice W. O'Connell, M. D. 
 Edward J. Banning, LL. B.... 
 
 Francis P. Haynes, LL. B 
 
 John A. Lenahan, LL. B 
 
 Casimir F. Pawlicki, M. D — 
 
 Charles W. Sweigert 
 
 Thomas W. Hickey, LL. B 
 
 Saturnino Gonzalez 
 
 885 
 
 886 
 886 
 887 
 887 
 
 887 
 
 800 
 890 
 891 
 891 
 891 
 891 
 892 
 892 
 892 
 892 
 893 
 893 
 893 
 
 Honorary Degrees. 
 
 Doctors of Laws. 
 
 Charles W. Callaghan 1905 
 
 Andrew Carrigan 1905 
 
 James V. Coffey 1905 
 
 J. Downey Harvey 1905 
 
 Eugene P. Murphy 1905 
 
 Capt. Albert H. Payson 1905 
 
 Hon. James D. Phelan 1905 
 
 Richard E. Queen 1905 
 
 Robert X. Ryan 1905 
 
 Hon. Frank J. Sullivan 1905 
 
 Hon. Jeremiah F. Sullivan 1905 
 
 Matthew I. Sullivan 1905 
 
 Hon. Joseph S. Tobin 1905 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 385 
 
 Doctors of Philosophy. 
 Thomas E. Bailly, M. D 1905 John Gallway, M. D. 
 
 Master of Arts. 
 Harry F. Sullivan 1905 
 
 1905 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 SECULAR PROFESSORS IN ST. IGNATIUS, 1860-1905. 
 Lists compiled from catalogues : 
 
 i860 
 
 Mr. F. Seregni 
 Mr. John Egan 
 Mr. W. H. Doyle 
 
 Appointed 
 Mr. J. P. McCurrie 
 Mr. J. O'Donoghue 
 
 Mr. W. J. G. Williams 
 
 Rev. M. O'Reilly 
 Mr. J. P. Grace 
 Mr. H. Maginn 
 Mr. J. D. Boyle 
 
 Mr. John P. Campbell 
 
 '6l 
 
 '62 
 
 '63 
 
 '64 
 
 '65 
 
 '66 
 
 Resigned 
 Mr. W. H. Doyle 
 
 Mr. T. Seregni 
 
 Mr. J. P. Grace 
 Mr. J. D. Boyle 
 
 Rev. M. O'Reilly 
 Mr. W. J. G. Williams 
 Mr. John Egan 
 Mr. Henry Maginn 
 Mr. John P. McCurrie 
 
 Mr. Francis Leonard 
 Mr. John Egan 
 
3 86 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Secular Professors in St. Ignatius College. — Continued. 
 
 >6 7 
 
 Appointed 
 Mr. J. W. Lannon 
 Mr. J. O'Dwyer 
 
 Mr. J. D. Sullivan 
 Mr. J. Gosgrove 
 Mr. D. O'Connell 
 
 Mr. Chas. B. Mahon 
 Mr. J. W. Lannon 
 Mr. D. J. Delay 
 Mr. A. R. Reid 
 
 Mr. J. O'Dwyer 
 
 Mr. J. F. Sullivan, A. M. 
 Mr. W. C. Crook 
 Mr. R. M. Clarken 
 Mr. D. E. Lordan 
 Mr. T. A. O'Sullivan 
 
 Mr. W. B. Cundall 
 Mr. P. J. Cunningham 
 
 Mr. J. C. Robinson 
 Mr. G. W. Rooney 
 
 Mr. L. Von der Mehden 
 
 Mr. J. G. Maguire 
 Mr. M. Hanrahan 
 Mr. D. J. Sullivan 
 
 Mr. P. Chamberlaine 
 Mr. Jas. O'Brien 
 Mr. T. E. Cahill 
 
 Mr. D. J. Sullivan 
 Mr. E. Nichols 
 Mr. J. I. Boland, A. M. 
 Mr. F. McAuliffe, A. B. 
 
 '68 
 
 '69 
 
 > 
 
 '7i 
 
 '72 
 
 73 
 
 '74 
 
 '75 
 
 > 7 6 
 
 Resigned 
 Mr. Francis Leonard 
 
 Mr. J. P. Campbell 
 Mr. J. W. Lannon 
 
 Mr. D. O'Connell 
 Mr. J. O'Dwyer 
 
 Mr. J. P. Cosgrove 
 Mr. J. W. Lannon 
 
 Mr. J. P. O'Donoghue 
 Mr. J. D. Sullivan 
 Mr. J. O'Dwyer 
 
 Mr. Chas. B. Mahon 
 
 Mr. J. Egan 
 
 Mr. T. A. O'Sullivan 
 
 Mr. R. M. Clarken 
 Mr. P. J. Cunningham 
 Mr. J. C Robinson 
 
 Mr. J. F. Sullivan, A. M. 
 Mr. G. W. Rooney 
 
 Mr. D. J. Sullivan 
 Mr. J. G. Maguire 
 
 Mr. W. B. Cundall 
 Mr. T. E. Cahill 
 Mr. P. Chamberlaine 
 Mr. M. Hanrahan 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 387 
 
 Secular Professors in St. Ignatius College. — Continued. 
 
 '77 
 
 Appointed 
 Mr. J. Hughes, S. B. 
 
 Mr. G. M. Hubbard, A. B. 
 
 Mr. W. L. Whelan, A. B. 
 Mr. C. Ryan (Northrop) 
 
 '78 
 
 '79 
 
 '80 
 
 '81 
 
 Mr. J. Manning 
 
 Mr. A. Thornton 
 
 Mr. J. E. Fitzpatrick, S. M. 
 
 Mr. F. Knell 
 
 Mr. E. Beauce, S. B. 
 
 Mr. S. Haskins, A. B. 
 
 Mr. Pedro A. Espina 
 Mr. T. F. Connolly, A. B. 
 
 Mr. F. Lee Chauvin 
 Mr. A. R. Reid 
 Mr. C. Fay 
 
 Mr. W. Sweigert, A. B. 
 Mr. E. Beauce, S. B. 
 Mr. E. J. Ryan, S. B. 
 
 Mr. E. Luby, S. M. 
 
 Mr. D. J. McCann, S. B. 
 
 Mr. S. Haskins, A. M. 
 
 '82 
 
 '83 
 
 '84 
 
 '85 
 
 '86 
 
 Resigned 
 Mr. Jas. O'Brien 
 
 Mr. E. Nichols 
 
 Mr. J. I. Boland, A. M. 
 
 Mr. A. R. Reid 
 
 Mr. G. M. Hubbard, A. B. 
 Mr. W. C. Crook 
 Mr. J. Hughes, S. B. 
 Mr. F. McAuliffe, A. B. 
 Mr. L. Von der Mehden 
 
 Mr. D. E. Lord an 
 Mr. D. J. Sullivan 
 
 Mr. J. Manning 
 Mr. D. J. Delay 
 
 Mr. C. Ryan (Northrop) 
 
 Mr. F. Knell 
 Mr. Pedro A. Espina 
 Mr. E. Beauce, S. B. 
 Mr. T. F. Connolly, A. B. 
 
 Mr. S. Haskins, A. B. 
 
 Mr. E. J. Ryan, S. B. 
 
 Mr. J. E. Fitzpatrick, S. M. 
 
3 88 
 
 THE FIRST HALF CENTURY 
 
 Secular Professors in St. Ignatius College. — Continued. 
 
 '87 
 
 Appointed 
 Mr. C. Lastreto, A. M. 
 Mr. T. Killian 
 Mr. J. Leddy, A. B. 
 Mr. J. Gallagher 
 Mr. V. Tobin 
 
 Resigned 
 Mr. E. Luby, S. M. 
 Mr. F. Lee Chauvin 
 Mr. W. L. Whelan, A. B. 
 Mr. E. Beauce, S. B. 
 
 Mr. F. Jung, S. B. 
 
 Mr. J. Dwyer 
 Mr. G. Connolly 
 
 Mr. M. S. Lehan 
 Mr. W. Bourke 
 
 Mr. T. J. McAuliffe, A. B. 
 
 Mr. C. J. Comyns 
 
 Mr. M. W. O'Connell, S. B. 
 
 Mr. R. M. Barry 
 Mr. F. P. Haynes, S. B. 
 Mr. J. A. Lenahan, S. B. 
 Mr. Edw. J. Banning, S. B. 
 
 Mr. D. M. Burnett, S. B. 
 Mr. A. Thornton 
 Mr. Pedro Espina 
 Mr. Thos. Hickey, S. B. 
 
 Mr. George Wood 
 
 '89 
 
 '90 
 
 91 
 
 '92 
 
 93 
 
 '94 
 
 '95 
 
 Mr. C. Lastreto, A. M. 
 Mr. C. Fay 
 
 Mr. S. Haskins, A. M. 
 Mr. V. Tobin 
 Mr. A. R. Reid 
 
 Mr. J. Dwyer 
 
 Mr. W. Sweigert, A. B. 
 
 Mr. M. S. Lehan 
 Mr. A. Thornton 
 Mr. J. Leddy, A. B. 
 
 Mr. T. J. McAuliffe, A. B. 
 Mr. C. J. Comyns 
 Mr. D. J. McCann 
 
 Mr. J. Gallagher, S. B. 
 Mr. T. Killian 
 
 Mr. D. M. Burnett, S. B. 
 Mr. W. Bourke 
 Mr. A. Thornton 
 Mr. E. J. Banning 
 
 '96 
 
 '97 
 
 Mi;. M. W. O'Connell, S. B. 
 
 Mr. John L. Mulrenin, A. B. Mr. Richard M. Barry 
 
 Mr. C. B. Newton Mr. John A. Lenahan 
 
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH AND COLLEGE 389 
 
 Secular Professors in St. Ignatius College.— Continued. 
 
 '98 
 
 Appointed Resigned 
 
 Mr. Francis I. Fenton, A. B. Mr. Fred. H. Jung, S. M. 
 
 '99 
 
 Mr. Percy R. Hennessy, A. B. Mr. Francis P. Haynes, S. B. 
 
 1900 
 Mr. Edward F. O'Day, A. B. Mr. C. R. Newton 
 
 Mr. Percy R. Hennessy, A. B. 
 
 '01 
 
 Mr. Wm. J. Kieferdorf, A. B. Mr. George A. Connolly 
 
 Mr. Wm. T. Ross, A. M. Mr. Thos. W. Hickey, S. B. 
 
 Mr. Edward F. O'Day, A. B. 
 
 '02 
 Mr. Francis I. Barrett, A. B. 
 
 '03 
 Mr. Owen E. McCann, A. B. Mr. Francis L. Fenton, A. B. 
 
 Mr. John L. Mulrenin, A. B. 
 Mr. Francis I. Barrett, A. B. 
 
 '04 
 Mr. Joseph T. Raphael 
 Mr. Edward L. Kirk 
 
 'OS 
 
 Other professors there have been who have taught for a 
 short time only, and hence their names have not appeared in 
 the college catalogues. 
 
 LJ 
 


:wu. 
 
 
 
 AUG 1 1 1954 
 
I 
 
 >*J&i 
 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 0035518642 
 
 932.5 
 
 R479 
 
 AUTHOR 
 
 Riordan 
 
 CALL NUMBER 
 
 
 932.5 
 R479 
 
 
 VOL. 
 
 
 YEAR 
 
 
 COPY 
 
 
 The first half century of St. 
 
 AUG 1 1 1954 
 
 BR|TTT£0Q m 
 
 fhi n 
 
.w