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In 1816, Mr. Macdonell
returned to England and waited upon Mr. Addington, then Viscount
Sidmouth, who introduced him to Earl Bathurst, then principal Secretary
of State for the Colonies. Part of his mission was to induce the Home
Government to favour the measure proposed by the Bishop of Quebec for
the division of that Diocese, in which undertaking he succeeded to a
certain extent.
In July, the See of Rome
separated Nova Scotia front Diocese of Quebec, and created that Province
into an Apostolic- Vicariate At the same time, Lord Castlereagh induced
the Court of Rome to erect two other Apostolic-Vicariates, one formed of
Upper Canada, and the other of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and
the Magdalen Islands. Mr. Macdonell returned to Canada in 1817. On the
12th January, 1819, he was nominated Bishop of Resina, i.p.i., and
Vicar-Apostolic of Upper Canada, and was consecrated on the 31st
December, 1820, in the Church of the Ursuline Convent, Quebec.
In 1825, Bishop Macdonell
returned to England for two principal objects: to obtain assistance in
his laborious duties and to induce the Home Government to withdraw its
opposition to the appointment of titular Bishops in Canada. On the same
occasion he visited Rome. He succeeded in both instances. and returned
to Canada in 1826. In the same year the Reverend W. P. Macdonald, for
twenty years Vicar-General, and well-known throughout the Province, came
to Canada to take charge of the Bishop's intended Seminary for
ecclesiastics at St. Raphael's. Mr. Macdonald was born at Eberlow,
Banffshire, Scotland, on the 25th March, 1771. He was sent at an early
age by Bishop Hay to the College of Douay, which he was compelled to
leave on the outbreak of the French Revolution. His studies were
finished at the Scots' College at Valladolid. He was ordained there oil
29th November, 1790, and returned at once to Scotland, where for twelve
years he discharged the laborious and humble duties of a Missionary
Priest. About the year i8oi, the British Cabinct, having formed the
projectof conveying Ferdinand VII. from Bayonne, Mr. Macdonald was
recommended as a fit person to be employed in that enterprise,
particularly as he had perfect mastery of the French and Spanish
languages. He accordingly proceeded on his mission, and cruised off
Quiberon for some time; but in consequence of some information received
by the French Directory, the project of the British Government was
abandoned. Mr. Macdonald was afterwards employed on the British Embassy
in Spain for four years, alter which he was appointed a Chaplain in the
regular army. He was a thorough scholar and a polished gentleman. In
1830 he published the "Catholic" newspaper at Kingston and resumed it at
Hamilton from 1841 to 1844. Universally regretted, he died at St.
Michael's Palace, Toronto, on Good Friday, April 2nd, 1847, and was
buried in the Cathedral on the Gospel side of the choir.
The Seminary at St.
Raphael's (College of Iona) was a very modest affair, but it had the
honour to produce some of the most efficient missionaries of the time,
among whom may be mentioned the Reverend George Hay, of St. Andrews, the
Reverend Michael Brennan, of Belleville, and the Reverend Edward Gordon,
of Hamilton. Nature had furnished Mr. Hay with an extra little finger on
each hand, which were amputated prior to his ordination. While at the
Montreal Seminary, one of the professors is reported to have said of
him, "He is a good boy, but he will never sing Mass." Singing was, in
fact, a rare accomplishment among the early Scottish and Irish
missionaries. The Bishop himself always said Low Mass and never
attempted to sing, not even the ordinary Episcopal benediction at the
end. "I once took lessons," he said, "for six months, but after my
teacher got his money he discovered I had no voice."
Upper Canada was erected
into a Bishopric by Leo XII. on the 14th of February, 1826, and Bishop
Macdonell appointed first Bishop under the title of Regiopolis, or
Kingston. His diocese corn- prised the present Province of Ontario. and
has since been subdivided into the Dioceses of Kingston, Toronto,
Hamilton, London, Ottawa, Pembroke, Peterborough and Alexandria.
[Alexandria is named after Bishop Macdonell. It was he who built the
mill there, which was the beginning of the town.]
Advancing age and
increased responsibility forced the Bishop to apply for a coadjutor, and
Mr. Weld, of Lulworth Castle, a descendant and representative of one of
the oldest Catholic families of England, who, on the death of his
wife—like another eminent Cardinal of the present day—had taken orders,
was selected and consecrated Bishop of Amycla and Coadjutor of Upper
Canada, on the 6th of August, 1826. By the advice of his friends and
medical advisers, Bishop Weld remained some years in England and
afterwards went to Rome, where, in March, 1830, he was nominated
Cardinal by Pius VIII.
The Presbytery (abandoned
in 1889 on the erection of the one built on the west side of the Church)
and the present Church at St. Raphael's were built in anticipation of
the arrival of Bishop Weld, but although always fully intending to go to
Canada. he closed his days at Rome on the 10th of April, 1837. His
funeral discourse was pronounced by Doctor (afterwards Cardinal)
Wiseman, Rector of the English College at Rome. Bishop Macdonell
obtained many favours from Rome through the influence of his intended
coadjutor.
After Bishop Macdonell's
last return from England, he resided for some years at York, in the
house still standing on the south-east corner of Jarvis (then Nelson)
and Duchess streets. The Bishop went to Kingston about the year 1836,
and resided there during the remainder of his stay in Canada. The
Chevalier W. J. Macdonell, whose ipsissima verha I have by permission,
in many instances, adopted, states:-
"The Bishop was a
thorough Highlander, and did not relish remarks that seemed to reflect
on the manners and customs of his countrymen. The writer one day gave
his unasked opinion that oatmeal was not wholesome, inasmuch as he had
known several young fellows brought upon on that diet whose skins were
very rough. The Bishop replied rather curtly, 'You don't know what you
are talking about.' On another occasion the writer was reading from
Bercastel's 'History of the Church,' an account of the hardships
undergone by the missionaries sent by St. Vincent de Paul to keep alive
the faith in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The historian states
that the missionaries frequently passed several days without food, and
at the end of that time their only refection was oatmeal cakes or barley
bread, with cheese or salt butter. 'Under the circumstances.' remarked
the Bishop, 'I think they fared very well.' Although the Bishop 'had no
voice,' he was fond of the national music. A great dinner was given at
the old British American Hotel, in Kingston, to Sir James Macdonell,
'the hero of Hougoumont.' The whole town attended. The Bishop was
Chairman. A regimental piper in the garb of old Gaul, with his pibroch
in full blast, marched round the table. Vicar-General Macdonell, who,
though every inch a Scotchman, was a bit of a wag, declared that every
time the piper passed behind the Bishop the latter inclined his head to
one side that his ears might be tickled by the ribbons and tassels of
the passing pipers!" |
