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CHAPTER IX....continued
The population, being chiefly engaged in the fisheries, are necessarily scattered along the sea coast. The labours of the missionaries are consequently very arduous, they being often compelled to travel by water in small boats at the most inclement seasons; while in many parts of the island, owing to the imperfect nature of the roads, land travel imposes on priestly zeal penalties no less severe. Still, so great and increasing are the efforts made by the clergy, that there are few of their flock beyond the reach of their ministrations. The devotedness of the pastors is thoroughly responded to by the fidelity of their flocks. It is no exaggeration to say that in no part of the world is there a more complete union of clergy and people than exists between the Catholic people and clergy of Newfoundland. If we consider the vast undertakings which have been brought to a successful termination by a Catholic population not much exceeding 60,000 souls in all, we cannot but be surprised at the wonderful liberality and zeal of the people, and at the influence exercised over them by the Bishop and his clergy. The value of the Church property, including churches, parochial residences, convents, &c., is little short of 200,000l. In St. John's alone the value of their property is estimated at over 150,000l. In this is included the cost of the cathedral, one of the noblest structures to be found at the other side of the Atlantic. To raise this magnificent temple, the generous colonists subscribed the enormous sum of 120,000l. Were Governor Milbank now in the flesh, and were he to stand on the floor of that great cathedral, glance up to its lofty roof, cast his eyes round at the beautiful works of art brought from the most famous studios of Rome, and then remember his famous letter to Dr. O'Donnell--so coolly insolent and so haughtily contemptuous--he might well feel ashamed of himself and the Government whose miserable policy he represented; and also learn how impossible it is to destroy a living faith, or crush a genuine race.
It was only fifty years after that letter was written that the idea of erecting this stupendous cathedral was conceived by the Bishop of that day, the Right Rev. Dr. Flemming. Few save the Bishop himself dared to hope that anyone then living would ever worship within its walls; but, strange to say, from the commencement of the work its progress was never interrupted from want of funds, and in the comparatively short space of ten years it was so far advanced as to admit of the Holy Sacrifice being offered up under its roof. Dr. Flemming lived long enough to see all doubts removed--not from his mind, for he never entertained one on the subject--as to the ultimate accomplishment of his object; and in leaving the completion of the great work to his successor, he knew that in the piety and indomitable zeal of Dr. Mullock there was the best guarantee for its speedy and splendid completion. Dr. Mullock received it a mere shell--a magnificent exterior, it is true, but nothing more; everything within remained to be done. Taking hold of the work, as it were, with a strong hand and a determined will, Bishop Mullock went forward with such vigour that in the year 1855 its completion was inaugurated by a solemn consecration, at which several of the most eminent prelates of the American Church were present. The Bishop not only completed this grand edifice, but, in the true Catholic spirit, he enriched it with the choicest works of art, rightly thinking that the efforts of human genius cannot be more fittingly employed than in doing honour to the Creator of man--the Author of his power, and strength, and genius; and that by the aid of the productions of the painter and the sculptor the mind may be lifted, or assisted to rise, above the worldly cares and vulgar thoughts which are too often brought to the very porch of the temple.
Within the area of the ample space on which the cathedral stands, are erected the Presentation Convent and the schools attached, the Orphanage, the Convent of Mercy, the College of St. Bonaventure, and the Episcopal Palace--all worthy of being associated with the noble structure which is the centre of the whole. These institutions, now entirely free from debt, have been erected during the spiritual rule of Dr. Mullock, who thus completed the great design of which the cathedral was only the practical commencement.
At River Head another imposing church, only second in grandeur to the cathedral of St. John's, is now in progress of erection; and at Harbour Grace, Dr. Dalton is engaged in the serious undertaking of enlarging his cathedral, which has long since been too small for his increasing congregation. In his diocese, and with smaller resources and a more limited field of action, this zealous prelate is rivalling the successful energy of his distinguished brother of St. John's. Besides the two convents in the capital, there are twelve branch houses in other parts of the island, and these are in a great degree devoted to the training of the female children of the Catholic population. The Catholics of St. John's have no educational grievance to complain of. The principle on which the system is based is that of allowing to each religious denomination the education of its own youth--an arrangement which marvellously simplifies matters, and removes every possible excuse for mischievous meddling, or collision of any kind. More than one hundred students are receiving a first-class collegiate education in the College of St. Bonaventure, such as to prepare them to maintain an honourable position in the various walks of life for which they may be destined; and in the same institution the candidates for holy orders are prepared for the priesthood, the design of the Bishop being to recruit the ranks of the clergy from amongst the natives of the colony, Ireland having hitherto supplied all the priests for the mission.
The zeal and fidelity of the Irish Catholics of Newfoundland may be estimated by the great things they have done for their Church, notwithstanding limited resources and original discouragement. Whenever a great work is to be done, every one assists according to his means; and where money cannot be subscribed, the full equivalent is freely given in work and labour. So thoroughly identified are the people with the cause to be promoted that in a whole parish a single defaulter is rarely to be met with! But if the Bishop calls on his flock to assist him in one of those useful undertakings in which he is so constantly engaged, he himself is the first to afford a signal example of liberality, having contributed the munificent sum of 10,000l. out of his own resources towards the works of his promotion.
Perhaps the great evil of the colony is the almost exclusive devotion of its inhabitants to the one engrossing pursuit. So long as the fisheries are prosperous the evil is not so manifest; but should this grand resource of the island prove less productive than usual, intense distress is the immediate consequence, there being little else to fall back upon. What agriculture is to Ireland, the fisheries are to Newfoundland; and while Ireland requires the extension of manufacturing industry on a large scale, not only as a means of constant employment, but as a resource in case of failure of crops, Newfoundland has equal need of the cultivation of its soil as a certain source of prosperity, as well as a means of compensating for the casual falling off in the staple industry of the colony. The number exclusively engaged in agriculture is small, and is principally confined to residents in the neighbourhood of St. John's; not that the land in that vicinity is better than elsewhere, but that a valuable market is at hand for the consumption of every kind of animal and vegetable produce. It is found that a judicious combination of fishing with the cultivation of the soil best rewards the labourer; and efforts are now being made to induce the people to give more attention to the latter pursuit. A whole family can seldom find full employment in connection with the fishery, and one of the advantages of the other mode of occupation is that it provides employment for labour that would otherwise be waste.
The importance of cultivating the soil was never fully estimated until in 1847 the mysterious potato disease appeared in Newfoundland, as it did in so many regions of the earth. The distress caused by this event showed how valuable had been that fruitful crop, for which the nature of the soil seems peculiarly adapted. So virulent was the disease in the year mentioned that it appears to have left its sting ever since; for blight, or partial failure, has been of frequent occurrence since then, and even as late as the season of 1866 it assumed a marked character. Good oats and barley are raised in the island, but they are not cultivated to the extent they might be. In fact, farming in Newfoundland is still in a primitive state, few persons being regularly devoted to it as a profession, it being regarded rather as a useful auxiliary to the great staple industry of the inhabitants, than as a valuable source of general wealth. The Government fully appreciate the importance of encouraging the people to adopt the cultivation of the land as a fixed and settled pursuit. In former times it was difficult to obtain a licence from the Governor of the day to till any portion of the soil; but in 1866 an Act was passed offering to the poor cultivator a bonus of eight dollars for every acre up to six acres cleared and fitted for crops, besides a free grant of the land itself. As thousands of acres, suited for cultivation, may be had in various parts of the island, it is to be hoped that the liberal policy of the Colonial Government may be crowned with success. Fisheries, however bountiful, or even inexhaustible, are, from natural causes altogether beyond the control of man, necessarily more or less precarious; and it is wise statesmanship as well as true patriotism to try and lay the foundation of a great branch of industry which, while adding to the wealth of the community, may form the best resource against unexpected calamity.
Efforts are also made to encourage the breeding of sheep, for which the climate and soil seem eminently suited. The attention of the Agricultural Society is being devoted to the subject, and with some success. But Bishop Mullock insists that unless relentless war be waged against the dogs of the colony, sheep-farming will be a matter of impossibility. To destroy, at one fell swoop, the noble breed of dogs which have done much to make Newfoundland known to the world--to annihilate the splendid brute so remarkable for courage, sagacity, and fidelity--may appear to be a proposal worthy of a Draco, and might well stimulate the indignant genius of the poets of the universe; but the Bishop makes out a strong case, which he may be allowed to put in his own words:--
We have, says Dr. Mullock, the means of raising on our wild pastures millions of that most useful animal to man--the sheep. On the southern and western shore, indeed everywhere in the island, I have seen the finest sheep walks; and, what is better, the droppings of the sheep in this country induce a most luxuriant crop of white clover, and prevent the spread of bog plants. If sheep were encouraged, we should have fresh meat in abundance, and their fleece would furnish warm clothing in the winter for our people, of a better quality than the stuff they now buy, 'half waddy and devil's dust,' and which impoverishes them to procure it. Domestic manufactures would be encouraged, the people would become industrious and comfortable, and every housewife in our out-harbours would realise, in some sort, that sublime description of a valiant woman by Solomon, Prov. xxxi., `She hath put out her hands to strong things, and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle; she has sought wool and flax and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands; she shall not fear for her house in the cold of snow, for all her domestics are clothed with double garments; she hath looked well to the paths of her house and hath not eaten her bread idle; her children rose up and called her blessed; her husband had praised her.' But, unfortunately, this great blessing of sheep pasture is marred by one curse, and idleness and poverty are too often the accompaniments of the poor man's fireside in the long winter--as long as a vicious herd of dogs are allowed to be kept in the country, so long will poverty be the winter portion of the poor. In no other part of the world would such an iniquity be permitted. There is a law offering 5l., for the destruction of a wolf, and I never have heard of 5l. worth of mutton being destroyed by wolves since the days of Cabot; but why do not our legislators, if they have the interest of the people at heart (and, according to their election speeches, every member is actuated by the most philanthropic and patriotic motives), pass and enforce a law against dogs, which devour every sheep they can find, and have almost exterminated the breed altogether? for no one will keep sheep while his neighbour is allowed to keep wolves.
Nor are the Bishop's reasons for thus preaching a war of extermination exhausted in the passage quoted; he condemns the use of dogs in drawing firewood, the dogs being assisted in their labour by stalwart men yoked to the same car. The Bishop wisely remarks that one horse would do the work of one hundred dogs, and be always useful; and the man who could not keep a horse might hire his neighbour's for a few days, at an expense far less than what he wastes in boots and clothes. The Bishop apprehends that his remarks may prove unpalatable; but he has the interests of the people too much at heart to conceal his sentiments on a subject of such vital importance to them, and he asserts that `religion, education, civilisation are all suffering from this curse of dogs, worse than all the plagues of Egypt to this unfortunate country.' The lectures from which these strong passages are quoted were delivered in 1860; but I am not aware how far he was successful in turning the public sentiment in favour of sheep and against their implacable enemy, `the noble Newfoundland.' The reader will perceive that this Irish Bishop is as vigorous as a reformer of abuse and promoter of material improvement, as he is energetic as a founder of religious and educational institutions, and builder of cathedrals. There is a genuine ring in this comprehensive counsel: 'My earnest advice would be, kill the dogs, introduce settlers, encourage domestic manufactures, home-made linen and home-spun cloth, and Newfoundland will become the Paradise of the working man.'
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