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At the dinner given to
him on the eve of his departure for England there was a large attendance
of the Bishop's friends of al religious denominations, including nearly
all the prominent residents of the city and the officers of the
garrison, with whom the Bishop always lived on terms of the most
intimate and cordial friendship.
The chair was taken by the Sheriff of the
district, supported on either side by the Bishop and his coadjutor. The
toasts and speeches usual on such occasions were given and made, and the
affair passed off to the satisfaction of all present. Some days
afterwards the Bishop commenced his journey, and was accompanied to the
Steamboat "Dolphin" by a large number of his personal friends, the old
bell of St. Joseph's Church pealing forth a parting salute.
The Bishop and his party landed at Liverpool
on the 1st of August, 1839. Soon after his arrival the Bishop went to
London, where he communicated personally with the Colonial Office
regarding his plan of emigration from the highlands as a measure of
relief to his suffering fellow-countrymen in Scotland, and as a security
and benefit to his fellow-countrymen in Canada; as well as with regard
to the establishing of the College for the domestic education of the
priesthood and other matters. He then visited the scenes of his nativity
and childhood, and was present at the great northern meeting at
Inverness in October. In the same month he passed over to Ireland,
intending to be present at a great dinner given to the Catholic prelates
in the City of Cork, but a dense fog in the Clyde and adverse winds
prevented him from arriving in time for the festival. Nevertheless, he
visited the Bishops, and being unable to obtain, in the West of Ireland,
any other conveyance than a jaunting car, he was exposed during the
entire day to one of the drizzling rains so common to that region. This
exposure brought on inflammation of the lungs. accompanied by a severe
cough and although he placed himself under the care of the President of
Carlow College, and afterwards with the Jesuits of Clongowes Wood, and
received much benefit and every attention, he still continued so
indisposed on arriving in Dublin as to be obliged to keep to his bed for
nearly a fortnight. From Dublin he went to Armagh, and remained a short
time with the Catholic Primate. He then accepted the invitation of his
friend the Earl of Gosford, to Gosford Castle, near Market Hill, Armagh,
where, under the roof of that kind-hearted nobleman, who had been
Governor-General of Canada from 1835 to 1838 (immediately preceding the
Earl of Durham), he appeared to have completely recovered. He then
returned to Scotland, a great meeting of noblemen and proprietors having
in the meantime been held (on the 10th of January, 1840) at the Hopetown
Room, Edinburgh, at which the Bishop's measure of emigration was
discussed, the Bishop's travelling companion, Dr. Rolph, attending it as
his representative. |
