In his letter of acceptance Rev. Dr. Carroll states that there were at this time in Maryland 15,800 Catholics; in Pennsylvania 7,000; in Virginia 200,- in New York 1500; a few in New England and some scattered along the Missis sippi, formerly under thejurisdiction of the bishop of Quebec. Altogether there were less than 30,000 Catholics in the whole country. The infant Church had some serious troubles, many of them due to what is known as the trustee system. Laymen in control of the funds thought to control also- sacerdotal and even episcopal action. The spirit of independence in the new country readily tempted to abuses in this matter and the first half century of Catholic history has many such disputes, which led to the loss by the Church of a number of Catholics, especially of the older families. In 1789, the year of the organization of the gov ernment, Dr. Carroll was made bishop, so that the State and the Catholic Church run parallel in their formal history. Bishop Carroll at once took up the project of a college, already dis cussed in 1786, and Georgetown College in the District of Columbia was founded in 1789. Bishop Carroll visited Boston and notes with pleasure how the spirit of tolerance is growing. 'It is wonderful to tell what great civilities have been done to me in this town where a few years ago the popish priest was thought to be the greatest monster in creation." Previous intolerance can be best understood from the fewness of the Catholic population in New England, for in 1798 the whole number of Catholics was estimated at only 750, this figure including some 500 Catholic Indians in Maine.
In 1800 Rev. Dr. Matignon erected the first building for Catholic services in Boston worthy of the name of a church, "John Adams, Presi dent of the United States, and other Protestant gentlemen being generous contributors." In 1803 the Louisiana Purchase brought New Or leans into the United States, in which there had been a bishop since 1793, and with a large increase in Catholic population. The religious liberty assured in the country soon brought large numbers of Catholics and led a great many back to the faith which either they or their fathers had abandoned because of re ligious intolerance and the difficulty of prac tising their religion. At Bishop Carroll's suggestion new bishoprics were created in 1808 in Boston, Philadelphia and Bardstown. He recommended that New York be left under the jurisdiction of Boston, but the Irish bishops succeeded in securing the appointment of Father Luke Concanen as bishop of New York. Bishop Concanen died before reaching this country. Dr. Egan was chosen bishou-of Phila delphia, Dr. De Cheverus bishop of Boston and Dr. Flaget of Bardstown. Baltimore then be came an archbishopric. Archbishop Carroll died in December 1815 and was succeeded by Archbishop Neale, who established the Visita tion Convent at Georgetown, D. C., and restored the Society of Jesus, suppressed by the Pope in 1773, but now permitted to revive. Prince Gallitzin of Russia, who had become a priest, did splendid missionary work in western Penn sylvania in the early part of the 19th century, founding in 1799 the town of Loretto, still famous as a Catholic centre.
The American Church was particularly for tunate in the bishops who occupied these first sees. Archbishop Carroll was a valued and respected friend of the patriots who made the country. Bishop Louis de Cheverus, the first bishop of Boston, had been doing heroic mis sionary work throughout New England for more than a quarter of a century before he was made bishop. He was often consulted by the legislature of Massachusetts and accepted many invitations to explain Catholic doctrine, making use for this purpose even of Protestant churches. Speaking of him, William Ellery Channing said: "How can we shut our hearts against this proof of the Catholic religion to form gpod and great men?" Bishop Flaget, another Frenchman, the first bishop of Bards town, was indefatigable in his missionary labors in the immense territory under his jurisdiction, now divided into 28 dioceses, five of them archdioceses. He won the respect and rever ence of all who came in contact with him. The Bardstown bishopric was subsequently transferred to Louisville (1841). Bishop Ro sati, an Italian, the first bishop of Saint Louis, was another one of these marvelous pioneer bisho whose missionary spirit could not be satisfied ps . In one year his converts numbered 300. Bishop Loras became the first bishop of Dubuque in 1837 with but one priest to help him, and yet he succeeded in accomplishing immense good and stamping his personality on all the future history of Dubuque. Another very successful French bishop was Joseph Cretin, the first bishop of Saint Paul. Some of the problems he had to meet will be understood from the fact that within a period of six years his flock grew from 1,000 to 60,000. Like Bishop Loras of Dubuque he was very success ful in promoting Catholic immigration and lay ing deep foundations for the future of his diocese. The bishops were of all nationalities and Frederick Baraga, a Slovenian from the west of Austria, was appointed the first bishop of Marquette in 1853 after having labored for 22 years as a missionary among the Indians of Michigan. His writings are still recognized as of high authority on the languages of the American Indians.
The Church continued to grow rapidly, par ticularly in the South and West, and two new bishoprics were created in 1820 in Richmond and Charleston. Rev. John England of Irish birth, destined to be a great power in the Ameri can Church, was made bishop of Charleston. His writings are still a storehouse of informa tion on Catholic subjects. The bishoprics of Cincinnati and Saint Louis were erected in 1821 and 1826. It was felt that the growth of the Church now demanded that the bishops and prominent ecclesiastics of the country should take council of each, other for the benefit of Catholicity in America, and the first Provincial Council of Baltimore was held in 1829. The records show that at this time Catholics had in creased more than 12 times in numbers in this country and that there was in 1830 a Catholic population here of nearly 400,000.